them casting vp white and red earth in abundance Wherewith his amazed eyes growing soone enamoured he desires a participation of their riches They refuse to ioyne him in their gaines vnlesse he wil ioyne himselfe in their paines Hereupon he fals to toyling digging deluing til some of the earth fals so hea uie vpon him that it lames him and he is able to goe no further There he dies in the sight of that Citie to which he could not goe for want of feet looseth a certaine substantial gift for an vncertain shadow of vaine hope You can easily apply it God of his gracious fauour not for our deserts giues man his creature a glorious Citie euen that whose foundations are of Iasper Saphyre and Emerald c. He doth more directes him the way to it Goe on this way Walke in loue He begins to trauell and comes within the sight of heauen but by the way he spies worldlings toyling in the earth and scraping together white and red clay siluer and gold the riches of this world Hereof desirous he is not suffered to partake except hee also partake of their couetousnes and corrupt fashions Now Mammon sets him on worke to digge out his owne damnation where after a while this gay earth comes tumbling fo fast vpon him that his feet be maimed his affections to heauen lost and he dyes short of that glorious Citie which the king of heauen purchased with his owne bloud and gaue him Thinke of this ye worldlings and seeing you know what it is to be charitable put your feet in this way Walke in Loue. There be yet others whose whole course is euery step out of the way to God who is Loue and they must walke in Loue that come vnto him 1. There is a path of Lust they erre damnably that call this the way of Loue. They turne a spirituall grace into a carnall vice and whereas Charitie and Chastity are of nearer allyance then sound these debauched tongues call vncleanesse Loue. Adulterie is a cursed way though a much coursed way for a whore is the high-way to the Deuill 2. There is a path of malice and they that trauell it are bound for the Enemie Their euill eye is vexed at Gods goodnes and their hands of desolation would vndoe his mercies Other mens health is their sicknes others weale their woe The Iesuites and their bloudy Proselyts are pilgrims in this way We know by experience the scope of their walkes Their malice was strong as Sauire in saxa but they would turne Ierusalem in aceruum Lapidum into a heape of stones Yea such was their rage that Nil reliqui fecerunt Vt non ipsis elementis fieret iniuria they spared not to let the elements know the madnesse of their violence They could not draw fire from heauen their betters could not do it in the dayes of Christ on earth therefore they seeke it they digge it from hell Flectere cùm nequeunt Superos Acheronta movebunt Here was a malicious walking 3. There is a counterfeit path the Travellers make as if they walked in loue but their loue is dissimulation It is not dilectio vera true love which S. Ioh. speakes of nor dilectio mera as Luther not a plaine-hearted loue They will cosen you vnseene and then like the whore in the Proverbes wipe their mouthes and it was not they Their art is Alios pellere aut tollere to giue others a wipe or a wound Iudas-like they salute those with a kisse against whome they intend most treason 4. There is a way directly crosse to loue which neither obeyes God for loue keepes the commandements nor comforts man for loue hath compassion on the distressed These haue feete swift enough but swift to shed bloud Destruction and miserie are in their wayes They are in Zedechiahs case both their eyes are put out and their feete lamed with the captiue chaines of Satan so easily carried downe to his infernall Babilon These are they that devoure a man and his heritage Therefore Christ calles their riches not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things without them as if they had swallowed them down into their bowels The phrase is vsed by Iob He hath swallowed downe riches he shall vomit them vp againe God shall cast them out of his belly When this vomit is given them you shall see strange stuffe come from them Here the raw and vndigested gobbets of vsurie there the mangled morsels of bloudy oppressions here fiue or sixe impropriate Churches there thousand acres of decayed tillage here a whole casket of bribes there whole houses and patrimonies of vndone orphans here an Inclosure of commons there a vastation of proper and sanctified things Rip vp their conscie nces and this is the stuffing of their hearts These walke crosse to the Crosse of Christ as Paul sayth they are Enemies cursed walkers Whereupon we may conclude with Bernard Periculosa tempora iam non instant sed extant the dangerous times are not comming but come vpon vs. The cold frost of indevotion is so generall that many haue benūmed ioynts they cannot walke in loue Others so stiffe and obdurate that they will meete all that walke in this way and with their turbulent malice striue to iustle them out of it Therefore David prayes Preserue me from the violent men that haue purposed to ouerthrowe my goings Let vs then vpon this great cause vse that deprecation in our Let any From pride vain-glory hypocrisie from envy hatred malice all vncharitablenes Good Lord deliver vs. I am loth to giue you a bitter farewell or to conconclude with a menace I see I cannot by the times leaue drinke to you any deeper in this cup of Charity I will touch it once againe and let every present soule that loues heauen pledge me Walke in loue The way to life everlasting is loue and hee that keepes the way is sure to come to the end We knowe that we haue passed from death to life because we loue the brethren For this are the workes of mercie charity piety and pitty so much commended in the Scriptures by the Fathers with so high titles because they are the appoynted way wherein we must walke and whereby we must worke vp our owne salvation Therefore the Apostle claps in the necke of good workes laying vp in store for themselues a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternall life Thereby wee lay the ground of saluation in our consciences and take assured hold of eternall life He that goes on in loue shall come home to life This comforts vs not in a presumption of merite but in confident knowledge that this is the way to glory wherein when we find our selues Walking wee are sure we are going to heauen and sing in the wayes of the Lord Great is the glory of the Lord.
Court who often fed vs in the countrey Or if wee vouchsafe to acknowledge them as friends we will not as Sutors Hereon was the verse made Quisquis in hoc mundo cunctis vult gratus haberi Det Capiat Quaerat Plurima Pauca Nihil He that would be of worldly men well thought Must alwayes Giue Take Beg Much Litle Nought Men cannot brooke poore friends This inconstant charitie is hatefull as our English phrase premonisheth Loue me Little and Loue me Long. 3. This Sicut Refines Our loue Walke in loue as Christ loued vs. Where As is not onely similitudinary but causall Loue because Christ loued vs for this cause as after this maner Which serues to putrifie our loue to purge it from corruption and to make it perfect Dilectio Dei nosfacit diligibiles diligentes both such as God can loue and such as can loue God For it is the loue of Christ to vs that works a loue to Christ in vs. A man will euer loue that medicine that hath freed him from some desperate disease Christs Loue hath healed vs of all our sores and sinnes let vs honour and loue this medicine compounded of so precious simples water and bloud And let vs not onely affectionately embrace it our selues but let vs inuite others to it Come and harken all ye that feare God and I will declare what he hath done for my soule Christ. I haue beene so punctuall in this word of Qualitie that I can but mention the rest The word of Maiestie is Christ who being almightie God coequall and coeternall with the Father and the Spirit tooke on him our nature and was factus homo vt pro homine pacaret Deum God was made man that for man he might appease God Thus did so great a maiestie stoupe low for our loue Non exuendo quod habuit sed induendo quod non habuit not by loosing what he had but by accepting what he had not our miserable nature Ipse dilexit nos Tantus tantum gratis tantillos tales Hee that was so great loued so greatly vs that were so poore and vnworthy freely Loued Is that word of Mercy that reconciles so glorious a God to so vngracious sinners The cause which moued Christ to vndertake for vs was no merite in vs but meere mercy inhim He Loued vs because he loued vs in our Creation when we could not loue him in our Redēption when we would not loue him Loued vs notbutthat he loueth vs stil. But the Apostle speaks in this time to distinguish the loue wherewith he now loueth vs from that whereby he once Loued vs. For if when wee were enemies we were reconciled to God by his death much more being reconciled we shall be saued by his life Though it be also true that from euerlasting he Loued vs. Vs Is the word of Miserie Vs hee loued that were so wretched The word is indefinite Us all vs. Vs be wee neuer so vnworthy All vs be wee neuer so many 1. Vs that were vnworthy of his loue from whom he expected no correspondence That hee loued the blessed Angels was no wonder because they with winged obedience execute his hests and doe his word Yea that he loued his very reason-lesse and insensible creatures is not strange for fire and haile snow and vapour stormy wind and tempest fulfill his word But to loue vs that were weake vngodly sinners enemies Rom. 5 weake no strength to deserue vngodly no pietie to procure sinners no righteousnes to satisfie enemies no peace to atone for wee hated him and all his yee shall be hated of all men for my names sake To loue such vs was an vnexpectable a most mercifull Loue. Hee that wanted nothing loued vs that had nothing Immortall eternitie loued mortall dust and ashes O if a man had Ora mille fluentia melle yea the tongues of Angels he could not sufficiently expresse this loue So God loued the world Mundum immundum the vncleane world that not onely not receiued him but euen crucified and killed him 2 All of vs without acception of persons This is the Lambe of God which taketh away the sinnes of the world The Gospell proclaimes an vniuersall Si quis Whosoeuer beleeues and is baptised shall be saued Qui seipsum excipi◅ se ipsum decipit He that excepts himselfe beguiles his owne soule Hence I find three inferences obseruable which I will commend to your consciences and your consciences to God Dilecti diligamus Dilectos Diligentes 1. We are loued our selues therefore let vs loue He that bids vs loue loued vs first This is my Commandement that yee loue one another Why As I loued you Non aliud iussit quam gessit he chargeth vs with nothing in precept which he performed not in practise Therefore Si tardi su◅us ad ◅andum non tardi simus ad redamandum Though we haue not beene forward to loue first let vs not be backward to returne loue Dilecti diligite If God so loued vs we ought also to loue one another Magnes amoris amor and the sole requitall which God requires for his rich loue is our poore loue that onely may loue him but haue nothing to giue him that is not his 2. They are beloued whom thou art charged to loue He that bids vs loue others loues them himselfe It is fit we should loue those whom Christ loues If thou loue Christ thou art bound to loue others because he loues them yea with that very same loue wherewith he loues thee Therefore Dilectos diligamus 3. They also loue God whom God commands thee to loue The loue of Christ is so shed abroad into all Christian hartes that they vnfainedly affect Iesus their Sauiour They loue him whom thou louest therefore loue them It is fit we should loue them highly that loue God heartily Therefore Diligentes diligamus Thus you haue heard Loues Walke or Race now then sayth Paul So runne that you may obtaine I will end with an Apologue an Epilogue a Parable Charitie and certaine other her riualls or indeed enemies would runne a race together The Prize they all ranne for was Felicitie which was held vp at the Gaoles end by a bountifull Lady called Eternitie The runners were Pride Prodigalitie Enuie Couetousnes Lust Hypocrisie and Loue. All the rest were either diuerse or aduerse neighbours or enemies to Charitie I will Herald-like shew you their seuerall equipage how they begin the Race and end it 1. Pride you know must be formost and that comes out like a Spanyard with daring lookes and a tongue thundring out braues mounted on a spritely Iennet named Insolence His Plumes and Perfumes amaze the beholders eyes and nosthrils He runnes as if he would ouerthrow Gyants and Dragons yea euen the great Red-Dragon if he encountred him and with his lance burst open heauen gates But his Iennet stumbles and downe comes Pride You know
into this infinite and boundles Sea I will onely note foure sweete streames of life in his Loue. It was Holy Sine Merits Hearty Mode Kind Despectâ—… Constant Defectâ—… 1. Holy The Loue of Iesus to vs was Sancta sanctificans dilectio a Loue holy formaliter in itselfe and holy effectiuè in making those holy on whom it was set He gaue himselfe to vs and for vs and gaue vs a faith to receiue and embrace him Sine quo nec dilâ—…cti nec diligentes fuissemus Without whom wee neither could haue receiued loue nor returned loue Now his loue did not only extend to our bodyes health but to our soules blisse So he loued vs that he saued vs. Our loue should likewise be holy whole desiring not onely our brothers externall welfare but much more his internall his eternall blessednes He that pitties not a famished body deserues iustly the name of an vnmercifull man but he that coÌ„passionates not an afflicted conscience hath much more a hard heart It is an vsual speech of compassion to a distressed man Alas poore Soule but this same alas poore Soule is for the most part mistakeÌ„ Neither the pittier nor the pittied imagins the soule pittiable Very humanitie teacheth a man to behold an execution of theeues traytours with griefe that men to satisfie their malicious or couetous affections should cut off their owne liues with so infamous a death But who commiserates the endangered Soule that must then ventor and enter on an eternall life or death The story of Hagar with her Son Ishmael is set downe by so heauenly a pen that a man cannot read it without tears She is cast out of Abrahams house with her child that might call her Master father Bread water is put on her shoulder and she wanders into the wildernes a poore reliefe for so long a iourney to which there was set no date of returning Soone was the water spent in the bottle the child cries for drinke to her that had it not and lifts vp pittiful eyes euery glance whereof was enough to wound her soule vents the sighes of a dry panting heart but there is no water to be had except the teares that ran from a sorrowful mothers eyes could quench the thirst Downe she layes the child vnder a shrubbe and went as heauy as euer mother parted from her onely son and sate her downe vpon the earth as if she desired it for a present receptacle of her griefe of her selfe a good way off saith the Text as it were a bow-shoâ—…e that the shrickes yellings dying groanes of the child might not reach her eares crying out Let me not see the death of the child Die she knew he must but as if the beholding it would rent her heart and wound her soule she denyes those windowes so sad a spectacle Let mee not see the death of the child So she lift vp her voyce and wept Neuer was Hagar so pittifull to her Sonne Ishmael as the Church is to euery Christian. If any sonne of her wombe wil wander out of Abrahams familie the House of Faith into the wildernes of this world and prodigally part with his owne mercy for the gawdy transient vanities thereof She followes with intreaties to him and to heauen for him If he will not returne she is loath to see his death she turnes her backe vpon him and weeps He that can with dry eyes and vnrelenting heart behold a mans Soule ready to perish hath not so much passion and compassion as that Egiptian bond-woman 2. Hearty The loue of Christ to vs was hearty not consisting of shewes and signes and courtly complements but of actuall reall royall bounties He did not dissemble liue to vs when he dyed for vs. Exhibitio operis probatio amoris He pleaded by the truest and vndenyable argument demonstration I loue you wherein I giue my Life for you Tot ora quot vulnera tot verba quot verbera So many wounds so many words to speake actually his loue euery stripe he bore gaue sufficient testimony of his affection His exceeding rich gift shewes his exceeding rich loue This heartines must be in our Loue both to our Creator and to his Image 1. To God so he chalengeth thy loue to be conditioned with thy Heart with all thy heart And this saith Christ is Primum Maximum mandâ—…tum the First and the greatest Commandement The first Quasi virtualiter centinens reliqua as mainely comprehending all the rest For he that loues God with all his heart will neither Idolatrize nor blaspheme nor profane his Sabboths no nor wrong his creatures The greatest as requiring the greatest perfection of our loue This then must be a hearty loue not slow not idle but must shew it selfe Et properando operando in ready diligence in fruitfull working obedience There are many â—…otent to loue God alitle because he blesseth them much So Saul loued him for his kingdome These loue God Pro seipsis not Prae seipsis For themselues not before themselues They will giue him homage but not fealtie the calues of their lippes but not the calues of their stals If they feast him with venison part of their Imparked Riches which is deere to them yet it shall be but rascall deere the trash of their substance they will not feast him with the heart that is the best deere in their Parke 2. To man whom thou art bound to loue as thy selfe where say some As is but a Tam not a Tâ—…ntum As thy selfe not As much as thy selfe As for the maner not for the measure But this is certaine true loue begins at home and he cannot loue another soundly that primarily loues not himselfe And he that loues himselfe with a good heart with the same heart will loue his brother In quâ—… seipsum proptâ—…r quod seipsum In that maner for that cause that he loues himselfe This then coÌ„mands the same loue if not the same degree of loue to thy brother that thou bearest to thy selfe This hearty loue is hardly found More is protested now then in former times but lesse done It is wittilyob serued that the old maner of saluting was to take shake one another by the hand now we locke armes ioyne breasts but not hearts That old hand full was better then this new armefull Our cringes and complementall bowings promise great humilitic but the smootherd venime of pride â—…es within We haue low lookes and loftie thoughts There are enough of those Which speake peace to their neighbours but mischiefe is in their hearts Whose smooth habites doe so palliate and ornamentally couer their poyson as if they did preserue mud in Chrystall The Romaynes vsually painted Friendship with her hand on her heart as if she promised to send no messenger out of the gate of her lips but him that goes on the hearts arrand Now we haue studied both textures of words and pretextures of
THE HAPPINES of the Church OR A Description of those Spirituall Prerogatiues vvherewith Christ hath endowed her Considered in some contemplations vpon part of the 12. Chapter to the Hebrewes Together with certain other Meditations and Discourses vpon other portions of holy Scriptures the titles wherof immediatly precede the Booke Being the Summe of diuerse Sermons preached in S. Gregories London By Thomas Adams Preacher there 2. Corin. 12. 15. I will very gladly spend and be spent for your soules LONDON Printed by G. P. for Iohn Grismand and are to be sold at his shop neere vnto the little North dore of Saint Pauls at the signe of the Gun 1619. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE SIR HENRIE MOVNTAGVE the Lord Chiefe Iustice of ENGLAND my very good Lord. RIght Honourable my allegiance to the Almighty King necessitates my endeuours to glorify his Great Name My Profession hath imposed on me all ministeriall seruices My filiall dutie to our blessed Mother the Church hath taught me to help forward her cause both with tongue and penne My thankfulnes to your Lo. tyes me to seeke your honourable authorising of all these labours They run to you first as if they waited your manumission of them to the world If bookes be our children and the masculine issue of our braines then it is fit that your Lo. who haue the patronage of the father should also vouchsafe a blessing to the childrē Nor is this all there is yet a weightier reason why they should refuge themselues vnder your Lo s. protection The world is quickly offended if it be told of the offences men study courses practise them and if the Clergie find fault yea if we doe not iustify and make good what they magnifie make common they will be angry It is the most thanklesse seruice to tell men of their misdeeds Now a busines so distastfull requires a worthy Patron whose Patronage should I desire but your Lo s. whose I am and to whom I owe all duty seruice whose but your Lo s. who are in place to reforme vice and to encourage goodnes to make that practicall and exemplary which is here onely theoricall and preceptory God hath intrusted to your hands his Sword of Iustice draw it in his defence against the enemies of his Grace Gospel You sit at the common sterne and therfore are not so much your owne as your Countreys Helpe vs with your hands we will helpe you with our prayers The God of maiestie mercy sanctifie your heart rectifie your hand iustifie your soule and lastly crowne your head with eternall glory Your Lordships obseruant Chaplain Tho. Adams To the worthy Citizens of Saint Gregories Parish syncere louers of the Gospell present happinesse and euerlasting Peace I Owe you a treble debt of loue of seruice of thankfulnesse The former the more I pay the more still I owe. The second I will be ready to pay to the vttermost of my power though short both of your deserts and my owne desires Of the last I will striue to giue full payment and in that if it be possible to come out of your debts Of all I haue in this volume giuen you the earnest as therfore you vse to doe with bad debters take this till more comes You see I haue venturously trafficked with my poore talent in publike whilest I behold richer graces kept close at home and buried in silence liking it better to husband a little to the common good then to hoord vp much wealth in a sullen niggardice I censure none if all were writers who should bee readers if none idle Pamphlets would take vp the generall eye be read and applauded onely through want of better obiects If the graine be good it doth better in the market then in the Garner All I can say for my selfe is I desire to doe good whereof if I should faile yet euen that I did desire it and endeuor it shall content my conscience I am not affrighted with that common obiection of a dead letter I know that God can effectuate his owne ends and neuer required man to appoint him the meanes If it were profitable being spoken sure it cannot be vnnecessary being written It is not vnknowne to you that an infirmity did put me to silence many weekes whilest my tongue was so suspended from preaching my hand tooke opportunity of writing To vindicate my life from the least suspition of idlenesse or any such aspersions of vncharitable tongues I haue set forth this reall witnesse which shall giue iust confutation to such slanders If it be now condemned I am sure it is onely for doing well I very well know the burden of preaching in this Citie wee may say of it in another sense what Christ said of Ierusalem O thou that killest the Prophets Many a Minister comes to a Parish with his veines full of bloud his bones of marrow but how soone doth he exhaust his spirits waste his vigor And albeit there are many good soules for whose sake hee is content to make himselfe a sacrifice yet there are some so vnmercifull that after all his labor would send him a begger to his graue I tell you but the fault of some quitting your particular selues I speake not to diminish the credit of your bounty which I haue found and heere with a thankefull profession acknowledge it In testimony whereof I haue set to my hand and sent it you a token of the gratitude of my heart Receiue it from him that is vnfainedly desirous of your saluation and if he knew by what other means soeuer he might bring you to euerlasting peace would studie it practise it continue it whilst his Organ of speech hath breath enough to mooue it Your vnworthy Preacher Thomas Adams The Contents The Happinesse of the Church Hebr. 12. 22. But ye are come vnto Mount Sion The rage of Oppression Psal. 66. 12. Thou hast caused men to ride ouer our heads The victory of Patience Psal. 66. 12. We went through fire and through water Gods house Psal. 66. 13. I will goe into thy House Mans Seed-time and Haruest Gala. 6. 7. Whatsoeuer a man sowes he shall reape Heauen-Gate Reue. 22. 14. And may enter in through the gates The Spirituall Eye-salue Ephe. 1. 18. That the eyes of your vnderstanding The Cosmopolite Luke 12. 20. But God said vnto him Thou foole The bad Leauen Gala. 5. 9. A little leauen leaueneth the whole lumpe Faiths Encouragement Luke 17. 19. And he said vnto him Arise The Saints meeting Ephe. 4. 13. Till we all meet in the vnity of the faith Presumption running into despaire Reue. 6. 16. They said to the Mountaines Maiestie in misery Math. 27. 51. And behold the vaile of the Temple The Foole and his sport Prou. 14. 9. Fooles make a mocke at sin The fire of contention Luke 12. 49. I come to send fire on the earth The Christians walke Ephe. 5. 2. Walke in loue Loues Copy Ephe. 5. 2. As Christ loued vs.
sayes there are many mansions But now whose Citie is this For it may be some poore decayed thing that hath onely some ruines of remaining monuments No it is the Citie of GOD. They are superlatiue things that haue attributed to them the Name of God Sauls sleepe vvas called Sâ—…por Domini a sleepe of God Rachel said With great wrastlings haue I wrastled Hebr. the wrastlings of God Thy righteousnesse is like the great Mountaines Hebr. the Mountaines of God Niniueh was an exceeding great Citie Hebr. a Citie of God This Hebrew dialect our Apostle followes to the Hebrewes and calls this excellent Citie the Citie of God Not that it is onely Gods â—…y way of asâ—…ription but euen by foundation and euerlasting possession but to vindicate it from any obscureneâ—…se it is the Citie of God But there were many conceiâ—…ed gods it may be this belonged to some Idol as Peorâ—…id â—…id to Paâ—…l and Ekron to Baalzebub No these were all â—…ead gods this is the Liuing GOD. The Psalmist calls â—…hem 〈◊〉 They did eate the sacrifices of the dead but this God is called Uiuens the Liuing and Deus viuentium the GOD of the liuing Well yet what is the name of this Citie Is it a Citie a Citie on a Mount a Citie of God and doth it want a name Not a great man but if he build a faire house hee will giue it some name Perhaps call it after his owne name The name is Ierusalem famous blessed Ierusalem a Citie of Peace But there was a Ierusalem on earth wherof we may onely say Fuit It was That was fulfilled on it which Christ foretold against it There shall not be left one store vpon another But this Citie is built with no other stones then Iaspers Saphirs Emeralds and Amathysts Reue. 21. 19. It is here distinguished from that terrene by the name of Heauenly aboue the wheele of changeable mortalitie it is not subiect to mutation The celestiall Ierusalem But yet though it be a Citie on a Mount though Ierusalem though heauenly yet the perfection of all may be empaired through the want either of Inhabitants or of good Inhabitants There be Cities eminent for situation glorious for building commodious for traffique yet haue all these benefits poisoned by euill Citizens When Alcibiades would sell a house among other conueniences for which he praised it he especially commends it for this that it hath a good neighbour Who bee the neighbours in this Citie Angels glorious excellent creatures the great Kings Courtiers heere our Guardians there our companions Yes you will say one or two Angels yea a company not like Dauids at Adullam nor Absolons in Hebron but innumerable Myriads of Angels Are there none in this Citie but Angels what habitation is there then for men Yes there is an Assembly of men not some particular Synode nor Prouinciall Conuocation nor nationall Councell but a Generall assembly What doe you call it The Church Of whom conâ—…sts it Ex Primogenitis Of the first borne But then it may seeme that younger brothers are excluded No the first borne of the world may bee a younger brother in Christ and the first borne in Christ may bee a younger brother in the world Be they younger or elder all that are written in heauen if their names bee in the Booke of life their soules are in the bundle of life All they none but they Then shall enter into it no vncleane thing but onely they which are written in the Lambes Booke of life But now is it a Citie so pleasant and peopled vvith such inhabitants and hath it no Gouernours Yes God Iudex vniuersorum 〈◊〉 Iudge of all But here is more matter of feare then comfort wee may quickly offend this Iudge so be quite cast out of this Citie the very name of a Iudge implies terror No for it is the part of a iust Iudge Parcere subiectis debellare superbos to punish obstinate Rebels and to protect peaceable and obedient subiects Somewhat was said of adopted Citizens such as were strangers borne and by grace naturalized What manner of creatures are they that GOD hath admitted to dwell there Spirits Why Diuels are spirits No spirits of Men. But many men haue wicked spirits and shall such dwell there No the spirits of Iust men Why Solon Aristides Phocion Scipio were iust men they were morally iust but not truely iustified not perfected These are iust spirits made perfect How came they to be thus perfect By Iesus vvho was deliuered for our offences and was raised againe for our iustification What is this Iesus A Mediator Man was guilty God was angry how should they be reconciled A Mediator must doe it For this purpose Apparuit inter mortales peceatores immortalem iustum mortalis cum hominibus iustus cum Deo Hee appeared betweene mortall sinners and the immortall Iudge mortall with men iust with God so was a perfect Mediator Whereof Noui foederis of the new Couenant The old was forfeited a new one comes by him that renues all Not Doe this and liue but belieue on him that hath done it for thee liue for euer How is this Couenant confirmed It is sealed with Bloud How is this bloud applyed Aspergendo by sprinkling as the dore-posts sprinkled with the bloud of the Paschall Lambe caused the destroying Angel to passe ouer the Israelites So the aspersion of this immaculate Lambes bloud vpon the conscience shall free vs from the eternall vengeance But what 's the vertue of this bloud It speaketh better things then that of Abel That bloud cried for vengeance this cryes for forgiuenesse The voice of that was Lord see and iudge the voice of this is Father forgiue them they know not what they doe Thus briefely haue I paraphrased the Text. Now for methods sake in the tractation wee may consider generally these fiue points 1. There is a Citie Ierusalem the Citie of the liuing God 2. The situation whereon it is built Mount Sion 3. The Citizens who are Angels and men an innumerable company of Angels and spirits of iust men 4. The King that gouernes it GOD the Iudge of all 5. The Purchaser that bought it and gaue it vs Iesus the Mediator of the new Couenant But now the situation hath the first place in the words therfore challengeth the same in my discourse And indeed on good cause should the foundation goe before the building we first seek out a fit ground and then proceed to edifie on it Mount Sion Not literally that Mount Sion whereon Salomon built the Temple and Dauid his Palace That locall Sion became like Shiloh first exceedingly and superlatiuely loued afterwards abhorred and forsaken like the Tabernacle of Shiloh the Tent that he pitched among men This was threatned to that sacred place as a iust punishment of their rebellious profanenesse Therefore will I doe vnto this house
publishing of his benefite Mark 1. to the Leper See thou say nothing to any man of it But he went out and began to publish it much to blaze abroad the matter I know diuerse Diuines by curious distinctions haue gone about to excuse the matter by making this an admonitory not an obligatory precept But I subscribe to Caluin and Marlorat who taxe it for an offence and manifest breach of Christs commandement And Ierome on that place sayes that Non erat necesse vt sermone iactaret quod corpore praeferebat His tongue might be silent for his whole body was turned into a tongue to publish it The act was good but not good at that time Disobedient he was be it granted yet of all disobedient men commend me to him Let not then any politicke or sinister respects tye vp our tongues from blessing him that hath blessed vs. Suffocate not the fire of zeale in thy heart by silent lips lest it proue key-cold But say with our Prophet My foot standeth in an euen place in the congregations vvill I blesse the Lord. We perceiue now the motiue cause that brought Dauid into Gods house I would take leaue from hence in a word to instruct you with what minde you should come to this holy place We are in substance inheritors of the same faith which the Iewes held haue in stead of their Tabernacle Sanctuary Temple Churches places set apart for the Assembly of Gods Saints Wherein wee receiue diuine Mysteries and celebrate diuine Ministeries which are said by Damascen Plus participare operationis gratiae diuinae There is nothing lost by the Gospell which the Law afforded but rather all bettered It is obseruable that the building of that glorious Temple vvas the maturity and consummation of Gods mercy to the Iewes Infinite were his fauours betwixt their slauery in Egypt and their peace in Israel God did as it were attend vpon them to supply their wants They haue no guide why God himselfe is their guide and goes before them in a pillar of fire They haue no shelter the Lord spreads a cloud ouer them for a Canopy Are they at a stand and want way The Sea shall part and giue them passage whiles the diuided waters are as walls vnto them For sustenance they lacke bread heauen it selfe shall powre downe the food of Angels Haue they no meat to their bread A winde shall blow to them innumerable Quailes Bread and flesh is not enough without drinke behold a hard rocke smitten with a little vvand shall powre out abundance of water But what is all this if they yet in the wildernesse shall vvant apparell their garments shall not waxe olde on their backes Doe they besiege Iericho walls shall fall downe before them for want of engines hailestones shall braine their enemies Lampes and pitchers and dreames shall get them victorie The Sunne shall stand still in Gibeon and the Moone in the valley of Aialon to behold their conquests Lacke they yet a Land to inhabite the Lord will make good his promise against all difficulties and giue them a land that flowes with milke and honey But is all this yet short of our purpose and their chiefe blessednesse They want a House to celebrate his praise that hath done all this for them behold the Lord giueth them a goodly Temple neyther doth hee therein onely accept their offerings but he also giues them his Oracles euen vocall oracles between the Cherubins I might easily paralell England to Israel in the circumference of all these blessings but my center is their last and best and whereof they most boasted The Temple of the Lord and the Law of their God To answere these wee haue the Houses of God and the Gospell of Iesus Christ. We haue all though all in a new manner 2. Cor. 5. Old things are passed away behold all things are become new They had an Old Testament we haue the New Testament They had the Spirit wee haue a new Spirit They had Commandements we haue Nouum mandatum the New commandement They had an Inheritance Canaan we haue a new Inheritance promised Vids nouum coelum nouam terram I saw a new heauen and a new earth To conclude they had their Temple we haue our Churches to which as they were brought by their Sabbath so we by our Lords day wherein as they had their Sacraments so we haue our Sacraments Wee must therefore beare the like affection to ours as they did to that We haue greater cause There was the shadow heere is the substance there the figure here the truth there the sacrifices of beasts heere of the Lambe of God taking away the sinne of the vvorld I finde my selfe here occasioned to enter a great sea of discourse but you shall see I will make but a short cut of it It is Gods house you enter a house vvhere the Lord is present the place where his honour dwelleth Let this teach vs to come 1. With Reuerence Ye shall hallow my Sabbaths and reuerence my Sanctuary I am the Lord. The very mention of this Reuerence me thinkes should strike our hearts with our selfe-knowne guiltinesse How few looke to their feet before they enter these holy dores Eccl. 5. and so they offer the Sacrifice of imprudent and impudent fooles If they are to heare they regard Quis not Quid any thing is good that some man speakes the same in another triuiall If the man likes them not nor shall the Sermon Many thus contend like those two Germans in a Tauerne One said he was of Doctor Martins religion the other protested himselfe of Doctor Luthers religion and thus among their cups the litigation grew hote betweene them whereas indeed Martin and Luther was but one man Others when they come first into the Church they swappe downe on their seates clappe their hattes before their eyes and scarce bow their knees as if they came to blesse God not to intreat God to blesse them They vvould quake in the presence of an offended King who are thus impudent faced in the house of God But saith the Lord whose Throne is the heauen and the earth his footstoole I will looke to him that trembleth at my vvord So Iacob Gen. 28. was afraid and sayd Hovv fearefull is this place This is none other then the house of God and this is the gate of heauen Whereupon Bernard Terribilis planè locus c. A fearefull place indeed worthy of all reuerence which Saints inhabit holy Angels frequent and God himselfe graceth vvith his owne presence As the first Adam was placed in Paradise to keepe it so the second Adam is in the congregation of his Saints to preserue it Therefore enter not without Reuerence I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercies and in thy feare will I vvorship toward thy holy Temple 2. With Ioy. None but a free-will offering is welcome to
prescribes his iourney From Faith to vertue from vertue to knowledge from knowledge to temperance from temperance to patience c. till hee comes to enter into the euerlasting Kingdome of our Lord Iesus Christ. Hence we see there is somwhat more hope of a vicious person that hath a good vnderstanding then of an vtterly darke and blind soule though he walkes vpon zealous feete Let them knovv that they will come to heauen without eyes when the wicked come out of hell without feet Which lets vs see the kind loue of the Popish Clergie to their people and how vnfainedly they desire their going to Heauen when they pluck out their eyes send them thither So they may grope for it as the Sodomites did for the dore of Lots house That which they call the Mother of Deuotion Ignorance Augustine calls Pessimā matrem the worst Mother Pessimae matris Ignorantiae pessimae itidem duae filiae sunt scilicet falfitas et Dubietas illa miserior ista miser abilior illa perniciosior ista molestior There are two euill daughters of the most euill Mother Ignorance Falshood and Doubting the former is more miserable the latter more pityable that more pernicious this more troublesome Let them that plead so impetuously their Religion authenticall from the Fathers not cum Patribus reijci◅r read the opinion of a great Father concerning a maine point of their doctrine Ignorance Chrysostome saies Praecedit scientiae virtutis c◅ltum knowledge of vertue must euer goe before deuotion For no man can earnestly affect the good he knowes not and the euill whereof he is ignorant hee feares not So that true loue to good and hatred to euill cannot occurre to a heart nescient of them both For Scientia conscientiam dirigit conscientia scientiam perficit Knowledge rectifies conscience so well as conscience perfits knowledge Con must euer be in composition and so kindly vniting knowledge to deuotion there ariseth Conscience If they allow not then their people eyes they may as well lame their feet and so send them like the Syrian band in stead of Dothan to Samaria They say This is not the way to heauen nor is this the Citie of life follow me I will bring you to the man Iesus Christ whom yee seeke But he led them to Samaria 2. This reprehends a common fashion of many Auditors When the Preacher beginnes to analyse his Text and to open the points of doctrine to informe the vnderstanding they lend him very cold attention That part of the Sermon is spent in slumber as if it concern'd vs not But when he comes to apply his conclusions and to driue home the vse of his inferences by application then they beginne to rouse vp themselues and lend an eare of diligence As if they had onely need to haue their hearts warmed and not to haue their minds warned enlightned with knowledge But alas no eyes no saluation Your affections are stirred in vaine without a precedent illumination of your soules You must know to doe before you can doe what you know And indeed hee that attends onely to exhortation and not to instruction seemes to build more vpon mans zeale then Gods Word Both doe well together attend to the Doctrine and suffer also the Word of exhortation that you may haue both cleare eyes and sound feete those which God hath ioyned together let no man put asunder I come from the Situation to the Qualification Of this spirituall eye enlightned For this blessing the Apostle prayes to the Father of lights from whom comes euery good and perfect gift from him and from him onely comes this grace of Illumination Mans mind is not onely darke but darknesse till the Spirit of knowledge light on him and lighten him Though Zedekiah was in Nebuchadnezzars Court that great Monarch newly deliuerd of his monstrous ambition to whom all the glories and pleasures of the world came a gossiping yet hee saw none of this pompe and magnificence his eyes vvere wanting So blind Samson among the merry Philistins saw none of their rich apparrell costly cheere and glorious triumphs When the naturall man comes into the Temple among the Cōgregation of Gods Saints his soule is not delighted with their prayers praises psalmes and seruice he sees no comfort no pleasure no content in their actions True he doth not hee cannot for his vnderstanding is not inlightned to see the hope of their calling and the glorious riches which the Spirit of grace and consolation sheds into them Hee sees no whit into the awfull Maiestie of God filling all with his glorious presence and ruling all euents with his prouidence euen disposing euill to his glory Nothing of the beautie mercy pitie of his Sauiour sitting at the right hand of his Father not his Highnesse being in heauen nor yet his Nighnesse to his brethren on earth Nothing of Mount Sion the Citie of the liuing God the celestiall Ierusalem not of the company of innumerable Angels nor of the generall assembly and company of the first borne which are written in Heauen not of God the Iudge of all nor of the spirits of iust men made perfect nor of Iesus the Mediator of the new Testament nor the bloud of sprinkling that speaks better things then that of Abel What more then a world of happinesse doth this mans eye not see Hereupon wee call a meere foole a naturall The worldlings haue esteemed and misnamed Christians Gods fooles but wee know them the fooles of the world The greatest Philosopher is but a sot to the weakest Christian therefore Philosophy vnbaptized vvith grace is said to be monoculate to haue but one eye and that is of naturall Reason a left eye of the soule But the Christian hath two eyes the left eye of Reason whereby he may see into the secrets of nature as farre as the Philosopher and the right eye of faith which the other wanting cannot conceiue the mystery of godlinesse This mysterie to him is but like a high candle to a blind man God onely then must giue Salomon wisedome and to his Father a knowledge aboue his Teachers If any of you lacke wisedome let him aske of God The first Character our forefathers taught vs was Christs Crosse. Our first spelling lesson In the Name of the Father c. To teach vs that euen all humane knowledge much more diuine is deriued from Gods fountaine There are two reasons why we must all begge of God for our selues as Paul did for his Ephesians this grace of Illumination 1. Our spirituall blindnesse came vpon vs by Gods iust curse for our sinnes As the Philistins put out Samsons eyes for his many mischiefes done them so GOD on farre greater cause blinded Adam and his perpetuall issue He had pure and good knowledge but because his ambition was appetere prohibitum to desire that was forbidden his punishment was perdere concessum to lose that hee had
or ill motion is his whether wee lift vp our hands to prayer or murder but the prauity and corruption of these is none of his Is any part of body or power of soule depraued This commeth not from him that calleth vs. What is then the cause of sinne I answere properly nothing it hath indeed a deficient cause but no efficient cause It is a defect priuation or orbity of that God made the thing it self he neuer made Will you aske what is the cause of sickenesse I answere the destitution of health If what 's the cause of darknes the absence of the Sunne if of blindnesse the deficiency of seeing What is the cause of silence no cause there are causes of speech organs ayre c. take away these what followes but silence you see the light who euer saw darkenesse you heare speech who euer heard silence Man forsooke grace sinne came in at the backe-dore It is a bastard brought into Gods house by stealth Woe to them that shall roote their filthinesse in the deity If they bee seduced to cry Lord thou hast deceiued vs. No destruction is of thy selfe O Israel in mee is thy 〈◊〉 We haue all gotten this sinne from Adam Mulier quam tu c. The woman which Thou gauest me as if GOD had giuen him a woman to tempt him Haec est ruina maxima Deum putare causam ruinae This is the greatest destruction that can be to charge God with the cause of our destruction No O Father of heauen be thou iustified and the faces of all men ashamed Let vs looke home to our owne flesh from thence it commeth that destroyeth Me me adsum qui feci The Lord put not onely this confession in our mouthes but this feeling in our hearts that all our euill commeth from our selues all our good from Iesus Christ. Of him that called you He hath called you to liberty will you intangle your selues in new bondage who pitties him that being redeemed from prison wilfully recasts himselfe into it Or that saued from the fire will runne into it againe Art thou Titio ereptus and yet hast a mind to be burned He hath called you not to the ceremonies but to their Antitype not to those legall Lambes but to that Euangelicall Lambe of God that taketh away the sins of the world Will you be directed by Lampes when the Sunne is risen no hee hath called you to the truth and comforts of the Gospell obey that call And then he that hath perswaded you to vertue by calling you to grace shall crowne you with eternall glory Now one argument whereby the Apostle deterres them from blending Iudaisme with Christianity is deriued from the danger of corrupting the doctrine of the Gospell A little Leauen leaueneth the whole lumpe One ceremony of the legall rites obserued with an opinion of necessity sowreth all that sweetnesse of redemption that commeth by Christ. This Diuine Aphorisme may thus logically be resolued into a Predicate Subiect and Copula The Predicate leauen the Subiect lumpe the Copula leaueneth Or thus there is a thing Actiue Leauen Factiue sowreth Passiue the lumpe But because the whole speech is allegoricall let vs first open the metaphor with the key of proper analogie and then take out the treasure such obseruations as may be naturally deduced from it Most properly our Apostle by leauen vnderstands false doctrine and by lumpe the truth of the Gospell so the sense is this one heresie infects a masse of truth Or if we restraine it to persons by leauen he meaneth false Teachers and by lumpe the Church of Galatia and so a teacher of the bondage to the Law sowres the liberty of the Gospell Behold I Paul say vnto you that if ye be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing Or if yet we will looke vpon it with more generall view we may by leauen vnderstand sinne by lumpe man by leauening Infection Here are three respondences and all worthily considerable First taking leauen for false Doctrine so we find in the new Testament foure sorts of leauens Math. 16. Beware of the leauen of the Pharises and of the Sadduces there bee two of them the Pharisaicall and the Sadducean leauens Mark 8. Beware of the leauen of Herod there 's the third The fourth is my Text the leauen of mingling Mosaicall ordinances with Christs Institutions It will not bee amisse to take a transient view of these Leauens for though former times had the originals wee haâ—…e the Counterpaines we haue paralell leauens 1. To begin with the Pharises to these I may well liken our Seminaries one egge is not liker another Euen a Iesuite wrote in good earnest Non malè comparari Pharisaeos Catholicis Papists are fitly compared to the Pharises Whether he spake it ignorantly or vnwittingly or purposely I am sure Caiphas neuer spoke truer when he meant it not Shall we take a little paines to confer them The Pharises had corrupted yea in a manner annulled the Law of God by their Traditions and for this Christ complaines against them Now for the Papists this was one of their Tridentine decrees With the same reuerence and deuotion doc we receiue and respect Traditions that wee doe the bookes of the olde and new Testaments Shut thine eyes and heare both speake and then for a wager vvhich is the Pharise which the Seminary Indeed to some traditions we giue locum but locum suum a place but their owne place They must neuer dare to take the wall of the Scripture Again the Pharises corrupted the good Text with their lewd Glosses The law was that no Leper might come into the Temple their traditionall Glosse was that if hee were let downe through the roofe this was no offence As that drunkard that hauing for sworne going to a certaine Tauerne yet being carried thither euery day on mens shoulders thought hee had not broken his oath Their Sabbath dayes iourney was a thousand Cubits their Glosse vnderstood this without the walls and walking all day through the city no sinne The Papists are not behinde them in their foule interpretations not shaming to call that sacred Writ a nose of waxe formable to any construction Paul subscribes his two Epistles to the Thessalonians thus Missa fuit ex Athenis a Papist cryes out strait Here 's a plaine text for the Masse Psal. 8. Omnia subiecisti pedibus eius Thou hast put all things vnder his feete This is spoken of the beasts subiection to man their Glosse construes it of mens subiection to the Pope So Esa. 49. They shall bow downe to thee with their face toward the earth and licke vp the dust of thy feete Here saith their Glosse is a plaine proofe for kissing the Popes feet Our Sauiour sayes Except ye become as little children ye shall not enter the kingdome of heauen Heereupon Saint Francis commands one Massaeus to tumble round on the earth like a little childe that he might
communicate with it in something Prodigality is lesse noxious then Auarice because it hath this coÌ„mon with liberalitie to giue which the other hath not Fiery zeale is dangerous by this Paul persecuted Christ by this the Iewes crucified Christ. But profane coldnesse is worse because it is further from the meane which is zeale in religion By these wretches lewdnes among vs the Romish aduersaries take aduantage to slander our Religion They say our Profession is a doctrine of liberty that we preach for faith and against works but Wisedom is iustified of â—…er children Thus we preach Tribulation and anguish vpon euery soule of man that doth euill but glory and peace to euery man that worketh good And euery man that hath hope in Christ purifieth himselfe And this is Pure religion and vndefiled before God to visite the fatherlesse and widowes in their affliction and to keepe our selues vnspotted from the World Our faith is not an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imagined in the braine but an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seene in our life We teach that Iustification and Sanctification are inseparable friends If men wil not be reformed wee conceale not from them Gods renuntiation If any man will be filthy let him be filthy still Our dissolute conuersation cannot annihilate the truth of our doctrine Howsoeuer the Samaritan not the Iewe relieued the wounded man yet the Iewes religion vvas true and not the Samaritans How polluted soeuer vvee are yet their hands are not cleane enough to take vp stones against vs. If they reioyce and tryumph in mens wickednesse they professe imitation of the deuill in a cursed mirth Good Christians haue learn'd to mourne for abominations not to laugh at them To returne to those dissolute wretches they sing not with the Church a Tenebo tâ—… Domine I held him and I would not let him goe all their delight is in a Nunc dimittis they are glad to be gone It were not amisse if we were well ridde of them being thus incorrigible Purge out therefore the old leuen that ye may be a new lumpe What leuen the Apostle there meanes he declares ver 13. Put away from among your selues that vvicked person When Ionah was cast out of the Ship the Sea ceased from her raging when Zimri was slaine the plague stayed when Baal was destroyed Israel had peace If these cursed Levens of Superstition Atheisme and Profanenesse were purged how sweet a lumpe would the Church of England be Wee cannot hope it yet let vs pray for it Miserere Deus cleanse vs from these levens for the merits of thy Sonne our blessed Sauiour Iesus Christ. 4. There is a fourth Leuen to which Saint Paul hath principall respect in this place and that is the mixing of Law with Gospell I meane Ceremoniall and legall rites with the truth of Iesus Christ. This leven might well die in forgetfulnesse and haue moulded away if there had not beene a late generation of Thraskites to deuoure it as bread They must abstaine from Swines flesh and from bloud and that vpon conscience to the Ceremoniall law But he that thus abstaines from bloud and flesh the flesh and bloud of Christ shall doe him no good What is this but to licke vp the Galatians vomit to swallow that hard and indigestible leven which Saint Paul tooke so much paines about to get out of their stomacks But let it sleepe with them in the dust it is dead and buried let vs not disquiet the graue to reuiue it Now to the second way of considering these words taking leven personally for Leueners false Teachers indeed Heretikes I will onely note two things one of doctrine another of discipline For doctrine out of my Text that they sowre the whole lumpe for discipline that therefore the Church should restraine and correct them The leven of Heresie spreads farre Their word will eate as doth a canker or a Gangrene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an Option or Election of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to make choice A laudable word at first among Philosophers taken for a right forme of learning In Diuinitie it is a word of disgrace and intends a stubborne deuiation from the receiued Truth It is more then Error Aug. Errare possum Haereticus esse non possum I may erre I cannot be an Heretike Qui sua pestifer a dogmata defendere persistunt hâ—…retici sunt They that wilfully goe on to maintaine their pestilent opinions are Heretikes It hath the right property of a Gangrene it frets as it goes vires acquirit eundo Heresies in the soule are like vlcera depascentia in the body they eate vp the parts about them Of this God is the deficient cause who suffers it 1. In respect of the wicked that their iust condemnation might not be hindered For this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should bâ—…leeue a lye 2. In regard of the faithfull that their tentation might assure them Gods There must be heresies or schismes that they which are approued may be made manifest among you With this premonition God prepared Israel that when a false Prophet or Dreamer should come vnto them God doth proue you to know whether you will loue the Lord with all your heart For this cause are Heresies Vt fides habendo tentationem haberet etiam probationem that faith admitting a triall might receiue an approuall Of this Satan is the efficient cause the father of lyes neuer lou'd the Father of Truth Wicked and peruerse men are the instrumentall causes they are so ouer-vvise that the curdle of their wit procures a breaking out into faction Cùm discipuli veritatis non erunt magistri erroris sunt Refusing to be the scholers of Truth they become the Schoolemasters of errour So the precedent cause in such is selfe-loue the cause that growes out of the other and neerer to the maine effect or rather defect is discoÌ„tent If the Church forget theÌ„m in dealing her legacies of preferment they will teare her bowels for it If their mother pleaseth not their humours with an expected indulgence they will be so bold as kick her sides Pride steps in for a third cause vnlesse I forget her place for shee disdaines an inferiour roome and yet of all sinnes as none presumes higher so none is thrust lower euen to the bottomlesse pit Saint Iohn doth witnesse thus much of Diotrephes I wrote vnto the Church but Diotrephes who loueth to haue the preheminence among them receiueth vs not He is called by Beda Haeresiarcha superbus Hypocrisie must needs be admitted for a fourth motiue to heresie Applause must be had if not by beeing good yet by seeming so Omnes haeretici sunt hypocritâ—… saith Ierom Euery heretike is an hypocrite Like Vipers they neuer come to light but with some rupture to the vvombe of their mother Thus heresie creepes in at a little hole but infects infests the whole house
remittentis not natura transgressionis the mercy of the forgiuer not the qualitie of the sin that maketh it veniall All transgressions are mortall in themselues and by repentance all veniall in Christ. The least sinne legally considered is mortall the greatest sin Euangelically considered is pardonable This difference we approoue yea wee say that small sinnes are more easily pardoned and great sinnes when they are remitted are more hardly remitted For certainly offenders are more or lesse punished accoding to the qualitie of the offence An eye with an eye but bloud with bloud and life with life Yet still say we not that a sinne is in it owne nature veniall For euen the least is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the transgression of the Law It is for the doctrine of Rome to lessen sinne and to extenuate punishment and that for two reasons First that they might please the people with some liberty and next that hereby they might build vp their Purgatory For they assigne mortall sinnes to hell and veniall to that purging fire They offer herein a double wrong both to their owne modestie and to Gods mercy To their owne modestie for they extenuate their faults in sinning to Gods mercy for they disparage his goodnesse in forgiuing They affirme that sinnes of omission weakenesse forgetfulnesse and ignorance be Praeter legem Dei but not contra legem Dei that they be Besides the Law of God not Against the law of God This doctrine like the lippes of that strange woman drop as an hony-combe and are smooth as oyle But their end is bitter as worme-wood sharpe as a two-edged sword This is a dangerous delusion for hence they come so to neglect those lesse sinnes that Peccata minima be at last thought Nulla As they haue certaine Orders among them Fryers Minorites Fryers Minim's and then Nullani Nullans So sinne bates and dwindles from a Minorite or lesse sinne to a Minim or least sinne and from a Minim to a Nullan to be no sinne at all Thus Incipit esse licitum quod folet esse publicum The commonnesse takes away the haynousnesse from being generally practised it comes to be vniuersally allowed Euery sinne is committed against God Against thee thee onely haue I sinned Looke vpon the infinite Maiestie offended and by that iudge the quality of thy offence There be sinnes of weaknesse sinnes of ignorance and sinnes of malice Those of weakenesse are said to be committed against God the Father whose speciall attribute is Power Those of Ignorance against God the Sonne whose speciall attribute is wisedome Those of malice against God the Holy Ghost whose speciall attribute is loue Whether then they be of weakenesse of ignorance or of malice they offend either the Power of God or the Wisedome of God or the Loue of God therefore acknowledge Secundum magnitudinem Dei magnitudinem peccati confesse the least sinne great and bad that hath offended a Maiestie so Great and Good 2. Minima plurima sinnes lesse haynous are the most numerous Many littles make a mickle Small droppes of raine commonly cause the greatest flouds Quò minus violentum eò magis perpetuum the lesse violence the longer continuance The drisling sleete that falls as it were in a mist fills the chanels they swell the riuers the ouercharged riuers send foorth their superfluous waters ouer the conteyning bankes now the medowes are polluted the Corne-fields spoyled the Cattell drowned yea euen houses and townes and inhabitants endangered and firme continents buried vnder a deluge of waters Many little sands gather'd to an heape faile not to swallow a great Vessell De paruis grandis aceruus erit You haue Eagles Hawkes Kites and such great fowles of rapine flying alwaies alone but the sparrowes and pidgeons that deuour the graine by innumerable troupes There were not more grieuous plagues to the Egyptians then came by the contemptiblest creatures as frogges lice flyes locusts by reason of the monstrous swarmes couering the face of the earth and darkning the Land and deuouring the fruit of the whole Country Yea euen killing the people that there was no remedie found for their life Thus great destruction ariseth from little causes therefore Non contemnenda quia parua sed metuenda quia multa Let vs not despise our sinnes because they are little but feare them because they are many saith Augustine The smal drops of sinne continually falling haue drowned many soules As they haue been our Armes to fight against GOD so God will make them his Armies to confound vs. Timenda ruina multitudinis etsi non magnitudinis Let vs feare them for their number though we slight them for their nature A pace is but a little space of ground yet a thousand paces make a mile and many miles bring to hell Si negligis quia non pessima caueas quia plurima If they be not the worst they are the most and is it not all to one purpose vvhether one Goliah or a thousand Philistims ouercome thee The bird brings so many little strawes as makes vp her nest the reprobate so many little sticks as makes vp his owne burning pile Augustine saith there is in Sinne both weight and number Et si non timeas quando expendis time quando numeras Iudge them by tale and not by waight Put a wanton speech a loose gesture into the balance though Christ found it heauy euery soule shall for whom he did not beare it yet it is censured vix culpa a little faulting a little failing so little that vvere it lesse it were nothing But now leaue thy Geometry come to Arithmetike beginne to number thy vvanton works and vnchristian gestures and carnall thoughts now loe they come in by troupes and heards thicker then the frogges into Egypt miraris numerum thou standest amazed at their number and now cryest Miserere mei Deus Lord haue mercy on me a most wretched sinner Yet when thy recognition hath done the best and thy memory represented those swarmes of sinnes to thy conscience thy view is as farre short as will be thine answer neither can extend ad millesimam vel minimam partem Thou hast not seene one of a thousand Who can vnderstand his errors O Lord cleanse thou mee from my secret faults Thus it is not Trutina but ScrutinuÌ„ that will teach thee the danger of these little sinnes Thou didst neuer stâ—…ale thy neighbours goods by breaking into his house therefore pleadest not guiltie to that Law Thou shalt not steale Examine thou shalt find past from thee so many couetous wishes as make vp a robberie Thou art no swearer yet through the dore of thy lips haue scaped out so many idle words as being put together will make vp a blasphemie Thou neuer madest the member of Christ a member of a harlot by vncleannesse yet thou hast giuen indulgence to as many lustfull thoughts and desires as beeing summed will make vp a great adultery I feare that many who
through with reward Let the Philosophers stop their mouths Scelus aliquis tutum nemo securum tulit Some guiltie men haue beene safe none euer secure This euerie eye must see Let adulterie plead that nature is encourager and directer of it and that she is vniust to giue him an affection and to barre him the action yet we see it plagued To teach vs that the sin is of a greater latitude then some imagine it vncleane fedifragous periured Broad impudence contemplatiue Bauderie an eye full of whores are things but iested at the committers at last find them no iest when God powres vengance on the body and wrath on the naked conscience Let drunkennes stagger in the robes of good fellowship and shrowdit selfe vnder the wings of merriment yet we see it haue the punishment euen in this life It corrupts the bloud drownes the spirits beggers the purse and enricheth the carcase with surfets a present iudgement waites vpon it He that is a theefe to others is at last a theefe also to himselfe and steales away his owne life God doth not euer forbeare sin to the last day nor shall the bloudy Ruffian still escape but his owne bloud shall answere some in present and his soule the rest eternally Let the Seminary pretend a warrant from the Pope to betray and murder Princes and build his damnation on their tetricall grounds which haue Parum rationis minus honestatis Religionis nihil Little Reason lesse Honestie no Religion Yet we see God reueales their malicious stratagems and buries them in their owne pit Piercies head now stands Centinell where he was once a Pioner If a whole land flow with wickednes it escapes not a deluge of vengeance For England haue not her bowells groaned vnder the heauy pestilence If the plague be so common in our mouthes how should it not be common in our streets With that plague wherwith we curse others the iust God curseth vs. Wee shall find in that Emperiall state of Rome that till Constantines time almost euery Emperour dyed by treason or massacre after the receiuing of the Gospell none except that reuolter Iulian Let not sinne then be made a sport or iest which God will not forbeare to punish euen in this life 3. But if it bring not present Iudgement it is the more fearefull The lesse punishment wickednes receiues here the more is behind God strikes those here whom he meanes to spare hereafter and corrects that sonne which he purposeth to saue But hee scarce meddles with them at all whom hee intends to beate once for all The Almond tree is forborne them who are bequeathed to the boiling Potte There is no rod to scourge such in present so they goe with whole sides to hell The purse and the flesh scapes but the soule payes for it This is Misericordia puniens a greeuous mercie when men are spared for a while that they may be spilled for euer This made that good Saint cry Lord here afflict cut burnt torture me Vt in aeternum parcas that for euer thou wilt saue me No sorrow troubles the wicked no disturbance embitters their pleasures But remember sayth Abraham to the merry-liu'ed rich man Thou wert delighted but thou art tormented Tarditas supplicij grauitate pensatur and hee will strike with iron hands that came to strike with leaden feete Tuli nunquid semper feram no their hell-fire shall be so much the hoter as God hath beene coole and tardy in the execution of his vengeance This is a Iudgement for Sinne that comes inuisible to the world insensible to him on whom it lights To be giuen ouer to a reprobate mind to a hard and impenitent heart If any thing be vengance this is it I haue read of plagues famine death come temperd with loue and mercie this neuer but in anger Many taken with this spirituall lethargie sing in Tauernes that should howle with dragons and sleepe out Sabboths and Sermons whose awaked soules would rend their hearts with anguish Fooles then onely make a mocke at sinne 4. Sinne that shall at last be laid heauy on the conscience the lighter the burthen was at first it shall be at last the more ponderous The wicked conscience may for a while lie a sleepe but Tranquilitas ista tempestas est this calme is the greatest storme The mortallest enemies are not euermore in pitched fields one against the other the guiltie may haue a seeming truce true peace they cannot haue A mans debt is not payd by 〈◊〉 bring euen while thou sleepest thy arrerages run on If thy conscience be quiet without good cause remember that Cedat iniustissima pax iustissimo bello a iust warre is better then vniust peace The conscience is like a fire vnder a pile of greene wood long ere it burne but once kindled it flames beyond quenching It is not pacifiable whiles sinne is within to vexe it the hand will not cease throbbing so long as the thorne is within the flesh In vaine he striueth to feast away cares sleepe out thoughtes drinke downe sorrowes that hath his tormentor within him When one violently offers to stoppe a sourse of bloud at the nostril it finds a way downe the throate not without hazzard of suffâ—…cation The stroken deare runs into the thicket and there breakes off the arrow but the head stickes still within him and rankles to death Flitting and shifting ground giues way to further anguish The vnappeased conscience will not leaue him till it hath shewed him hell nor then neither Let then this Foole know that his now feared conscience shall be quickned his death-bed shall smart for this And his amazed heart shall rue his old wilfull adiournings of repentance How many haue there raued on the thought of their old sinnes which in the dayes of their hote lust they would not thinke sinnes Let not then the Foole make a mocke at sinne 5. Sinne which hath another direfull effect of greater latitude and comprehensiue of all the rest Diuinam incitat iram It prouokes God to anger The wrath of a king is as messengers of death what is the wrath of the king of kings For our God is a consuming fire If the fire of his anger be once throughly incensed all the riuers in the South are not able to quench it What piller of the earth or foundation of heauen can stand when he will wake them Hee that in his wrath can open the iawes of earth to swallow thee sluce out flouds from the sea to drowne thee raine downe fire from heauen to consume thee Sodome the old world Corah drunke of these wrathfull vialls Or to goe no further he can set at iarre the elements within thee by whose peace thy spirits are held together drowne thee with a dropsie bred in thy owne flesh burne thee with a pestilence begotten in thy owne bloud or bury thee in the earthly graue of thy owne melancholy Oh it is a fearefull thing to
euill will persecute the good and the good may not partake of the vices of the bad What agreement hath the temple of God with Idols Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord and touch not the vncleane thing and I will receiue you Out of the Egypt of this world hath God called his Sonnes We are forbidden all fellowship with the vnfruitfull workes of of darkenes not altogether with the workers For then wee must needs goe out of the world It is commanded Ierem 15. that the precious be separated from the vile yet so that they may returne to the good though the good may not turne to them It is good for the good to sunder themselues from the incorrigible wicked as being the first stayre of the ladder that leaues the earth and sets the first step of our iourney to heauen God in his eternall decree separated the elect from the Reprobate in his Vocation he sequesters them from nature and sinne When hee executes particular iudgement hee takes Israell from the Tabernacles of Corah when he will giue the generall he will seuer the Sheepe from the Goates Christ then who is the Prince of Peace causeth not quarrels betweene man and man as they are creatures but betwixt goodnesse and euill as they are contrarie natures That the sonnes of Beliall hate the sonnes of God Christ is not the cause but the occasion For when the Gospell separates vs from the world the world then bends his malicious forces against vs. So that Peace in sinne Ver. 51. Christ came not to send but Peace of conscience Phil. 4. The peace of God which passeth all vnderstanding c. Which because the wicked will not embrace therfore Fiue in one house shall be diuided the Father against the Sonne and the Sâ—…nne against the Father c. The Gospell doth not otherwise worke this diuision then the Law is sayd to make sinne because it made sinne knowne Or the Sunne is sayd to cause mothes because it causeth their appearance Let Paul continue a Pharise and the Pharises will loue him conuert he to a Christian and they will hate him Whiles we liue after the world we haue peace with the world none with God when we are turned to Christ we haue peace with God none with the world This ground laid we will consider for the better exposition of the words fiue circumstances The Fire Fewell Kindlers Smoake Bellowes Wherein we shall find Christs willing and the fires kindling Who wils goodnesse to his chosen which he is sure will enrage the wicked to their persecution The cause thus giuen the fire is left to be kindled by others For though Non sine Deo patimur yet non a Deo petimur The instruments of our afflictioÌ„ will be found vngodly who though they plead we haue done the will of the Lord shall goe to hell for their labour The Fire Is discord debate contention anger and hatred against the godly Euery man is composed of foure elementall humours whereof one is Choler resembled to Fire In whom this Choler is most adust puissant they are vsually most hote furious fiery But I speake here of nature for grace can alter nature and purge this corruption Regeneration is the best physicke to purge Choler Many medicines hath Philosophie prescribed against this spirituall disease but in vaine The Philosophers seruant could scoffe his Maister He inueighes against anger writes volumes against it ipse mihi irascitur and yet he is angry with me Onely grace can more then giue rules giue power to master this madnesse Fire and Contention haue some resemblances 1. Debate is like Fire for as that of all elements so this of all passions is most violent The earth is huge yet we walke quietly on it it suffers our ploughes to rend vp the entrals of it to teach vs patience The aire is copious yet admits our respiration The waters boystrous yet sayle we vpon them against them But Fire especially getting the vpper hand is vnmercifully raging it left nothing behind to witnesse the former happynes of Sodome The worlds last destruction shall be by Fire and God vseth that of all elements to expresse the very torments of hell adding Brimstone to it To this is the anger of God likened Our God is euen a consuming fire So doth debate exceede all passions flouds of correction can quench the turbulent an fiery spitit which is set on fire of hell Onely one extreame may driue out another as we hold our burnt finger to the fire by a new heat to extract the former So the fire of grace onely must draw out the Fire of debate or send it to the euerlasting fire to purge it 2. Contention is like Fire for both burne so long as there is any exustible matter to contend against Only herein it transcends fire for fire begets not matter but consumes it debate begets matter but not consumes it For the wicked study cause of contention as Benhadad against Ahab 1. king 20. So when the Pope could find no iust exception against Fredericke the Emperour he quarrell'd with him for holding the wrong stirrop when the great Prelate should mount his palfrey and thought he might easily mistake for Emperours are not vsed to hold stirrops yet hee was persecuted almost to excommunication for it It is wofull dwelling amongst debatefull men whose soules hate peace that are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without naturall affection which Paul makes a reprobates marke striking all that stand in their way and not ceasing to burne till all matter cease to feede them Salomon discribes such with a firie comparison First ver 17. he cals him a Busi-body he passeth by and meddleth with strife belonging not to him he thrusts himselfe into impertinent busines and is like one that taketh a dog by the eares which hee can neither hold nor well let goe ver 18. He notes his politicke villanie As a mad-man who casteth firebrands arrowes and death and saith Am I not insport he scattereth abroad mortall mischiefes vnder the colour of iest And ver 20. lest the fire should goe out hee administers fewell himselfe Where no wood is there the fire goeth out ver 21. when he hath kindled this flame hee striues to spread and disperse it and is as coales to burning coales and wood to the fire The words of a tale-bearer are wounds and they goe downe into the innermost parts of the belly They penetrate and cruciate the most tender and sensible places 3. As a litle sparke growes to a great flame so a small debate often proues a great rent Behold how great a matter a litle fire kindleth The wind at first a small vapour yet gets such strength in going that it ouer-turnes trees and towers A back-biting tongue hath pulled downe strong citties and ouerthrowne the houses of great men Warre is compared to fire
a man verè voluit tamet si non valuit adimplere faithfully would though not fully could accomplish There are that will restore some but not all to this they haue Posse but no velle let the creditors be content with one of foure But this litle detinie is great iniquitie For a mite is debt as well as a million Tam though not Tantum so good a debt though not so great a debt And he that is faithfull in a litle shall bee made ruler ouer much What shall we then say of their goods that breake and defraud others Come they from Gods hand or from the deuills Surely Satans right hand gaue them not Gods Left Haec mea sunt sayth the Deuill meae diuitie mei diuites These are mind my riches and my rich men O that men would see this damnable sinne mee thinkes their terrified consciences should feare that the bread they eate should choake them for it is stolne and stolne bread fills the belly of grauell They should feare the drinke they swallow should poyson them being the very bloud of good housholders mixed with the teares of widowes and orphanes The poore creditor is often vndone and glad of bread and water whiles they like hogges lurking in their styes fatte and lard their ribbes with the fruite of others labours They robbe the husband of his inheritance the wife of her dowry the children of their portions the curse of whole families is against them And if this sinne lye vpon a great mans foule hee shall finde it the heauyer to sinke him lower into perdition They are the Lords of great lands yet liue vpon other mens moneys they must riot and reuell let the poore commoners pay for it They haue their Protections their bodyes shall not bee molested and their Lands are exempted what then shal they escape no their soules shall pay for it When the poore creditor comes to demand his owne they raile at him they send him loden away but with ill words not good money In the Countrey they set labourers on worke but they giue them no hire Tut they are Tenants vassalls must they therefore haue no pay Yet those very Land-lords will bate them nothing of their rents But the riches so hadde are not of Gods giuing but of the Deuills lending and hee will make them repay it a thousand fold in hell 2. Promises are due debts and must not be detained If the good man promise though to his owne hurt he changeth not Indeed now Promissis diues quilibet esse potest men are rich in promises but they are poore in performance More respect is had to commoditie then to honestie Men haue their euasions to disanull their promises either they aequiuocate or reserue or being vrged plead for getfullnesse But the truth is they haue sufficient memorie but not sufficient honestie It is said that a good name is the best riches Qua semet amissa postea nullus eris But what care they for a name so long as they saue their money Quid enim saluis infamia nummis A Pilate could say Quod scripsi scripsi What I haue written I haue written and shall not a Christian say Quod dixifaciam what I haue promised I will performe Hence it comes that there is so litle fayth in the world that scriueners haue so much worke that the prouerbe runns in euery bodies mouth Fast bind fast find that there is no hope of good deeds but Sealed and deliuered that there is more trust to mens seales then to their soules For the Law of God holds vs not so fast as the lawes of men There is more awe of iudgement in the common Pleas then of a sentence of condemnation in the Court of heauen The Sherife is altogether feared not God their is no dread of any Execution but his Is the wealth thus detained in your owne consciences Gods blessing deceiue not your owne soules God requires vs to be iust in all our words as righteous in all our wayes A Christians word should bee as currant as his coine Thus you see this first circumstance of Iniustice taxed Therefore Withhold not good from them to whom it is due when it is in the power of thy hand to doe it 2. By putting forth base things for good The Prophet Amos speakes of some that sell the refuse of their wheat the basest wares neither doe they sell them for base but for good If halfe a score lies back'd with as many oathes will put off their vile commodities they shall not lye vpon their hands Not vpon their hands I say though vpon their consciences Plenius aequo Laudat venales qui vult extrudere merces Their rule for themselues is Vincat vtilitas for others Caueat emptor Either they will shew you one thing sell you another and this cosenage hath longer armes then all other trickes and ouer reaches them Or they will conceale the insufficiencie of the wares and for this cause they darken their shops lest the light should reueale their workes of darkenesse They loue darkenesse more then light let them take heed least it be vnto them according to their desires least as they haue brought hell into their shops so their shops send them into hell Or if the commoditie bee discerned bad you must haue that or none If your necessity forceth you to buy it shall force you to buy such base stuffe This is a grieuous sinne in all professions especially amongst Apothecaries because with their iniustice may be also mixed a spice of murder But you will say wee compell none to buy our commodities we but shew them and make the price But it is craft tendere plagas etsi agitaturus non sis to lay snares though you driue not men into them Or be it what it will yet rather then refuse your money they will protest to giue you the buying Yea rather then faile they will sell it you cheaper then before they swore it cost them Quis metus aut pudor est properantis auari What sell cheaper then they buy How should they then liue The answere is easie they liue by their lying Now doth this wealth come on Gods name is this the blessing of Heauen Which of your consciences dare thinke so Saint Augustine speakes of a certaine Iester that vndertooke to tell the people what they all did most desire Multitudes came to heare this to whose expectation he thus answered 〈◊〉 vultis emere chare vendere You would buy cheape and sell deare And this is euery mans desire that desires to bee rich more then to be iust 3. By making others bad with his goods and here we may fitly proceed to the condemnation of Bribery A gift blindeth the eyes of the wise They that see furthest into the Law and most clearly discerne the causes of iustice if they suffer the dusts of bribes to be thrown into their sight their eyes will water and
It is not the death but the cause that giues the honour of Martyrdome Indeed there is no man that suffers contrary to the will of God but many suffer not Secundùm not according to the will of GOD. In his concealed will he allowes the sufferings of the Reprobates this is his iust iudgement They are smitten but for their faults Moerent merentur they lament and deserue to lament When the Adulterer is wounded for his lust he cannot thinke himselfe a patient secundum beneplacitum Dei according to the will of God When the vsurer is fetch'd ouer for his extortion the depopulator for his enclosing the slanderer for his libelling all these suffer but not for conscience toward God not according to his will They onely are said to suffer according to his will that suffer first innocently then patiently 1. Innocently for the wicked suffer mali malè sed meritò Euill men beare euill things but after their deserts The Pope hath made many Saints from this kind of suffering Straw-saints such as Garnet was If they be first drench'd at Tyber and after hang'd at Tyburne Martyres sunt they can be no lesse then Martyrs Not seldome their names are put into the Rubricke but they stand there in those red letters for nothing els but to remember their red bloudie actions They may pretend some shew of religion as if for cause thereof they suffered but it is not a meene but a mixt cause not for faith but for faction not for truth but for treason It is obserued that as the Physitians say none die of an ague nor without an ague so none of them suffer for the Romish religion nor without the Romish religion Therfore as Aristides dying of the bite of a Weasell exceedingly lamented that it was not a Lyoâ—…so these Seminaries may greatly lament that they die not for the Lyon of Iudah but for the Weasell of Roe Not secundum voluntatem Dei but secundum voluptatem Antichrists not according to the will of Christ but according to the lust of Antichrist But hee can make them amends with Sainting them men shall kneele to them pray to them climbe to heauen by the ladder of their merites Alas poore Saints the Pope sends them to heauen but how if they were in hell before May wee not say of them as Augustine did of Aristotle woe vnto them they are praysed and prayed vnto where they are not and condemned where they are Vnlesse as the vision was to Ormus that among the Apostles and Martyrs there was a vacant place left in heauen which sayth he was reserued for a Priest in England called Thomas Becket and this reuelation was full twelue years before Becket dyed So except the Pope can make them Saints before they die I feare his authoritie can doe little afterwards Yet indeed the Pope is a great Saint-maker and hath helped abundance of men to heauen For he sent them thither through the fire for the cause of Christ he condemned cursed burnt them to ashes and thus spight of his teeth he hath helped to make them martyrs and Saints For our selues if wee suffer any wrong of men let vs be sure we haue not deserued it Our Innocence cómends our suffering for this is according to the good will and pleasure of God 2. Patiently a murmuring mind evacuates the vertue of thy sufferings For what glory is it if when ye bee buffetted for your faults ye shall take it patiently but if when ye doe well and suffer for it ye then take it patiently this is acceptable to God Let me therefore helpe your patience by two considerations 1. What Christ our head suffered for vs bitter words and more bitter wounds Obserue him Looke to Iesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the ioy that was set before him endured the crosse and despised the shame So let vs run with patience the race that is set before vs. If we cannot endure an angry word from our brothers mouth how would we suffer boyling lead boyling coales as the Martyrs did How to be crucified as our Lord Iesus was What would we doe then Shew me now one dram of this patience Among gallants a word and a blow among ciuill men a word and a writ The backe of Patience can beare no load But ought not Christ first to suffer these things and then to enter into his glory First he was crowned with thornes then crowned with honours Caput spinosum in terris si sit gloriosum in coelis That head must first weare a wreath of sorrow on earth that shall weare a wreath of ioy in heauen Hereunto are we called because Christ suffered for vs leauing vs an example that we should follow his steps 2. That all this is according to the will of God Our blowes come at least mediately from the hand of God And this hand is guided with prouidence temperd with loue Distressed worldlings cry out it was my owne folly that ran me into this danger or the malice of mine enemy vndid me or surfeit on such meat made me sicke So the cur bites the stone which could neuer haue hurt him but from the hand that threw it Looke vp to the first mouer O mad man and discharge the meanes The Instrument may be vniust in thy wrongs but the cause is iust from him that inflicted it What rod soeuer beats thee consider it according to the will of God and be patient His hand sets theirs on worke I hope thou wilt not dispute with thy maker The medicine of thy passion is composed by God himselfe no euils nor deuils shall put in one dram more then his allowance no man nor Angell can abate one scruple The impatient man wants eyther wisedome or obedience Wisedome if he be ignorant from whom his crosses come obedience if he knowes it and is not patient This is the Integritie of the Suffering now followes The Comfort of this Integritie Let him commit the keeping of his soule to God Euery man cannot with this confidence but qui patitur propter Deum recurrit ad Deum He that suffers for Christs testimonie is confident of Gods mercie Let vs come therefore vnto the throne of grace boldly that we may obtaine mercie and find grace to helpe in the time of need Here let vs obserue three circumstances Quis Quid Cui Who What to Whom Who They that suffer according to the will of God Felicitie thinkes it hath no neede of God But God is more daintie of spirituall comforts then to giue them to such as are confident in worldly comforts The Balme of the Spirit shall not be sophisticated or mixed veneno mundi with the poyson of this world Giue strong drinke to the heauie sayth Salomon God will not giue his consolations to those that are drunke with prosperitie mad-merry with the world but his wine to the heauy heart He will comfort them that mourne Let them that