deere people in the two first chapters and the other part concerneth their deadly enimies which is deliuered in the thirde chapter That part which concerneth the Iewes containeth most fearefull and forcible reasons to moue their rebellious harts as first a particular rehearsal of those iudgements that now were comming which is in the first chapter and vnto the eighteenth verse of the second Secondly most sweete promises of large liberalitie if yet though sentence of destruction were pronounced they would receiue the pardon before the iudgements is set the stile of the prophet or the inscription of the whole booke contained in the three first verses wherein he describeth the summe of the prophesie by calling it the word of the Lord First by shewing the ministering cause thereof namely The word of the Lord which came to Ioel the sonne of Pethuel verse the first Secondly the subiect or persons whom it concerned in the two next verses by most excellent exhortatiōs first of hearing where he noteth the persons namely the elders and all the inhabitants of the land and then the thing it selfe whether they euer heard of the like in the second verse Heare ye this O elders and harken ye all inhabitants of the land whether such a thing hath beene in your daies or yet in the daies of your fathers c. The other exhortation is to perswade them not to silence the prophesie but to tell and declare it first to their children present Secondly that they shewe likewise the same to other ages following which the prophet expresseth in these words in the third verse saying Tell you your children of it and let your children shew to their children and their children to another generation Thus much for the diuision now to the wordes and exposition Ioel. verse 1. The word of the Lord which came to Ioel the sonne of Pethuel These words of the prophet are thus much in effect This selfe same prophesie which hereafter followeth is the very word of God which he himselfe sent to the people by the ministerie of Ioel the sonne of Pethuel where we obserue these doctrines following First that the sermons of the prophets are the sermons of the Lorde himselfe for so saith this scripture that Ioels prophesie is the word of God In Nehemiah the ninth chapter and the thirtieth verse in that sweete confession which the Leuites made vnto God in the behalfe of that whole people thus they say Thou didst forbeare them many yeeres and protestedst among them by thy spirite euen by the hands of their prophets but they would not heare Euen thus they confesse their rebellion after they had been well whipped with seuentie yeeres captiuitie they had taken foorth this lesson that those despised sermons which once they spurned with their shooes and trod vpon with their feete were now manifestly declared to be the very word of God Wherein no doubt they shewe and testifie vnto vs that the truth of scriptures in the mouthes of Preachers will then be acknowledged when men haue been well nurtured in the schoole of aduersitie in so much that euen these wordes which now are but like the dreames of phrentick men will then become as deere vnto vs as the oracles of heauen Oh how stubborne is the conceite of our hard harts which will not be taught till they smart nor yet be instructed till they be corrected Shall the seruant say he hath no master except euery day he punish his faults or the sonne denie his owne father because in lenitie and fatherly pitie he beareth with his lewdnesse Yet our miserable times are such wherein men thinke preaching to be vaine except in persecution and reading to be needlesse except in calamitie and praier to be friuolous except in their sicknes But bid these wretches to the banket of afflictions wherein they may be throughly scourged with temporall miseries as the proud persons to shame the Atheists to death the swearer to the slaughter the drunkard to famine the gentleman to pouertie and the theefe to the halter then they will crie as lowde as hungrie lions that the scriptures which they neglected the prophets whom they reuiled the sermons which they contemned and the words of preachers which they disobeied are the actes of parliament made by God himselfe like these Iewes which now were humble after they had been in Babylon In the second Epistle of Peter cap. 1. vers 21. the holy Ghost also witnesseth that Holy men of God spake as they were mooued by the holy Ghost What is that but plainly to auerre that not the preachers but the spirit that speaketh in the preachers This also is confirmed by waightie and special arguments or reasons drawne from the very word it selfe First in Numbers the two and twentieth chapter and eighteenth verse where Balaam telleth the seruants of Balaack that if he would giue him his house full of golde he cannot goe beyond the word of the Lord to doe more or lesse If then such sorcerers and diabolicall persons in the cause of God can speake nothing but what he suggesteth much more the prophets and heauenly preachers can vtter nothing but what the holy Ghost inspireth Againe the prophets and true ministers of God for the words sake only aduenture their states and hazard their liues 1. Kings cap. 22. vers 14. 27. which they would not nor could not except vpō sure ground of heauenly warrant Who would except desperate mad men vndoe themselues and suffer most intolerable torments for rebuking of sinne vnlesse they were caried by an ouerruling power euen as Ionah to Niniueth or Micheah to Ahab to eate the bread ofsorrow and drinke the cup of death that when they might ioyfully solace themselues among their friendes or quetly rest in their poore habitations they are sorowfully vexed by their cruell enimies hauing the stinking prison for their easelesse harbour I grant that heathen men haue for vaine deuises endured many torments Popish Iesuits neglecting their owne liues their princes mercy haue do daily imbrace the gallowes but their sufferings are for matters cleane contrary to the worde of truth and therefore with Tertullian it may better be saide to bee desperate presumption then Christian persecution and the diuels souldiers rather then the Lords martyrs Wherein let vs with teares of brine lament our humane miserie that thus casteth it selfe away from worldly comfort and heauenly ioyes vpon bare and weake groundes of vncertaine seruing of God Howe strong are the delusions of subtill Sathan which hath bewitched the mindes of men so farre that they haue also offered their yoong children and tender babes through violent flames for the diuels sacrifice could not their weeping eies and crying teares procure no pittie in their hard harted parents No no where superstition sitteth iudge neither nature nor reason may dare to pleade the cause This is the diuels cunning to bewitch his members imitating the true seruants of God to endure death Augustine said
man but nowe the worlde was turned with them they being bewitched with the false Apostles for at once they had forsaken their faith towards God and their reuerence toward the preacher The diuell is subtill and knoweth very well that so long as the ministers credite raigneth his kingdome decreaseth and therefore where he cannot at the first ouerthrow the doctrine there he laboureth to bring the prophet into disgrace But hearken my beloued I beseech you a while and shut your eares against the diuels accusations If you will euer liue vnder the winges of the Gospell you must euer loue the feete of God his ministers so long as these Galathians bore this minde towardes their Apostle their faith was glorious their church was famous their liues were godly and their endes were happy but when they accounted the Lordes messenger but as a man when they thought him worthy no more then a common person although they would once haue plucked out their eies to haue done him good then followed and fell vpon them like hailestones vpon the Canaanites heresies to disquiet them diuisions to molest them ignorance to condemne them and the wrath of God to consume them Looke to it my beloued the contempt of preachers of ministers and seruants of the Lorde hath already wrought many strange effectes among vs. Those reuerend fathers of our church which haue brought vs out of Babylon as Moses and Aaron brought the Israelites out of Egypt whereof some haue sealed vp our safetie with their owne blood others haue wasted their health and wealth in defence of our religion state and profession and many yet liuing holding great places in the Church of England hauing onely for the Gospell and the Lords Ierusalem endured many strange conflictes and vnknowen troubles these I say euen by the railing libels of counterfaite and vnknowne Christians haue beene laide open to the view offoes and friends both by truthes and vntruthes if it were possible to the vtter ruine of learning extreme sorrow of many good men and euerlasting disgrace of the ministerie As Origen was woont to say Sicut omne bonum ab ecclesia prouenit sic omne malum ab ecclesia egreditur As al goodnesse commeth from the church so all euill commeth from the church so I feare that the Lorde may say to the ministerie as to Israell O Israel thy destruction is of thy selfe but in me is thy saluation The ministerie hath been lamentably diuided and for this cause euen by base persons they haue beene and are scornfully reuiled we our selues haue wrought our discredit but the Lord is our comfort The ignorance of many silly and dumbe fellowes disgraceth the learned the pride of many lofty preachers discrediteth the humble the couetousnesse of many encroching parsons ouerthroweth the liberall minded and finally the negligence of many noble and excellent men in their charges giueth a deadly discouragement to the painfull But yet these are the faultes of the persons not of the places and a personall action dieth with the person therefore my beloued pray vnto the Lord for discerning spirites that you may liue by the line of the word and not by the lines of many although we should forsake the Lord by our falles yet doe not you cast away your selues by our example Maintaine the name and credit of euery one whose ministerie the Lorde vseth in gouerning and instructing his Church stand not vpon titles for they which labour well are woorthy of double honour regarde not garments for Iustine Martyr preached Christ in the attire of a heathen philosopher looke not too much vpon their faultes for euen amongst the Apostles there wanted not diuisions esteeme them as the ministers of God which watch when you sleepe labour when you rest fast when you feast and pray for the saluation of your soules when you are sporting in pleasures Your soules then lye open to the diuell when you are growne in dislike of your pastors for if the man displeaseth we cannot like of the doctrine If our countreymen the Lords flocke can once againe ioine with the preachers and promoters of the Gospell then shall Atheisme be banished Poperie ashamed hypocrisie discouered diuisions ended and truth shall flourish out of our nation Secondly another vse we may profitably make heereof which is this that exhortation of the Apostle Philip. 2. 29. speaking of Epaphroditus a faithfull minister of God whom he sendeth vnto them Receiue him saith he therefore in the Lord with all gladnesse and make much of such we must open our houses and churches with reioycing spirits when we see the embassadours of peace comming vnto vs and account most pretiously of them who trauel with the Lords message for our good Wee reade that the Shunamite to entertaine Elishah built him a chamber that when he came that way he might visite their familie how much more ioyfull ought we to bee to entertaine the messengers of better things then Elishah brought It was a great commendation of the Iewish women that followed our Sauiour vp and downe that they ministred vnto him but most lamentable it is that in our daies the ministers and preachers haue almost as slender entertainment as Christ himselfe had among the Samaritans Their houses be too great their liuings be too large their reuenues say some clawbacks will suffice a good knight or a worshipfull gentleman and why may not a good minister be allowed as well as a good magistrate or a man of learning dwel in as faire a house as a lawyer Indeede our houses in your conceite are too great for vs and in our harts we thanke God that they are too little for you wee see many ministeries and parsonages defaced but none built many gathered but none sowed we are receiued very ioyfully of great numbers where they hope to haue any gaines by vs and their purpose being obtained then they bid a fig for the parson Oh this is the sinne of many gentlemen that they will neuer or seldome allow the fourth part of that which of dutie they owe vnto vs but will wage the customes at the lawe to giue nothing to the Lord. Who seeth not that these men woulde haue offered if they had liued among the Iewes surely I thinke burnt offerings and peace offerings should haue discontinued and the Lord must haue thought him beholding vnto them if they gaue him one for a thousand And for our ministerie and preaching I dare say it was not lesse regarded except persecution one hundred yeere a goe then now it is If gentlemen or noble men receiue their tithes the people are well contented but if the preachers take them it greeueth them deadly belike because they goe to the right owners And thus the world make much of vs our liuings are diminished our labours are neglected our presence despised They account their parishes the happiest where is no preaching ministerie no controlling of sinners no fighting with the diuell no conscience of religion O miserable times O
preachers the carnall and time seruing professours these shall goe to the place from whence they came there to be tormented world without end It is not cold and idle hearing that maketh vs the people of God but a sincere and diligent frequenting the place where his person dwelleth We must not be contented to be the Lords retayners but we must sue to be made his houshold seruants The Apostle Peter in his first epistle cap. 2. ver 5. calleth vs all that professe the Lord Iesus a spirituall priesthood now this was the office in old time of a priest euery day to appeare at the altar and their very lodging was in the Temple therefore must we come often to the Lords house and desire to dwell in his tabernacle that we may euermore heare and speake his worde The second reason of this doctrine is taken from the continuall course of the Iudgements of God All Egypt was plagued because they heard not the worde of God euen their king lost his eldest sonne and afterwarde he himselfe for the same follie was drowned and swallowed vp of the sea The noble man which would not beleeue and harken to the voice of the prophet when he told him of the great and sudden cheapnes of corne answered him that it was impossible except the windowes of heauen shoulde bee opened but he sawe it accomplished and for his infidelitie was troden to death by the people Reade the whole booke of God and you shal euery where plainly perceiue that for disobedience to God his worde and contempt of his messengers Kings haue been deposed and Queenes haue beene punished Lords Ladies Magistrates and subiectes old men and children haue tasted of the deadly cup of the Lords heauie wrath Lay vp this in your harts my bowels in the Lorde happy are they which auoide danger by the fals of other men Oh that the teares of our countrymen couldewash away the guilt of this sinne for our score is growne so great by our long continued credit that we haue made no conscience to pay the Lord his owne and we haue vrgent cause to consider and also to feare least the Lord sue the extremitie of the lawe vpon vs and neuer spare till we haue paide the vttermost farthing and felt the full weight of his hande and spent euery drop of bloud in soule and body for the notorious contempt of his most glorious Gospel There is no sacrifice to be compared to the hearing of the Lords worde and therefore the neglect thereof in whomsoeuer is most fearefull most deadly most damnable The vses which offer themselues vnto vs out of this doctrine are these first that the ancient and great men must suffer the words of the Lords ministers patiently and for this cause the Apostle willeth vs Tit. 2. 2. To exhort the elders to sobernesse and faith There be two things which should shine as bright in age and authoritie as the eies do in the heads of strong yoong men that see and be seene of others and yet see not themselues euen so ought sobrietie and faith to offer themselues vnto the view of all persons where the graie haires appeere like the buddes of an almond tree whereby the aged may see and correct the follies of youth and yoong men may see their example to be drawne in loue with their liues but they themselues ought not to be proud for that honour which the Lord hath bestowed vpon them Oh how vnhappie is that time when olde men and great men are as wanton as children and as faithles as those which neuer knewe God Wo bee to that lande whose Prince is a childe saith Salomon Meaning that the whole countrey is distressed where the gouerners thereof haue as little stay as children or as little faith as children In our daies if the Lords ministers which keepe the soules of our countrymen shall in meekenesse admonish old men they tell them they are but boyes to themselues and they knew what religion was before they were borne not knowing their antiquitie cannot preiudice the spirite of the Lord or not considering what our sauiour saide to the labourers in the vineyard They which were first shall be last and they which were last shall bee first Others thinke that if they beare an office in the common wealth no man may dare to counsell them in the Lorde they themselues thinke they are iniured and their friends thinke they are disgraced if the word of exhortation passe vpon them shall I say they being a gentleman well descended well instructed of so many hundred poundes reuenues bee in as much slauerie to this preaching as the poore artificer But vnto these we may answere that if their natures or offices exempt them from sermons they also exempt them from saluation For it pleased God through the foolishnes of preaching to saue them that beleeue What is a King better then a farmer a noble man better then an artificer a gentleman better then a plowman and a magistrate better then a subiect without true religion and obedience to the gospel Surely nothing for now whether had you rather bee poore Iacob bowing to the earth alone or rich Esau attended with fowre hundred men whether had you rather bee Pharaoh or Moses Ieroboam or the prophet Ziakijah or Ieremie the rich man or Lazarus Pilate or Christ Herod or Iohn Baptist the Apostles or the high Priests stagger not heereat but shew your consciences whether of these you woulde be you cannot bee both therefore choose one The way to heauen is narrowe and we being clothed with our owne conceites can neuer enter in there is too little roome for both we cannot beare the yoke of Christ and the worlde at one time the least of both requireth a whole man Therefore you my beloued fathers beare with the voice of vs your yoongers for when we exhort you it is not done in our name but in his who is the ancient of daies elder then the oldest wiser then the wisest stronger then the strongest and yoonger then the yoongest who is euery day borne in his members It is not vs but him that you heare who knoweth your harts seeth your liues and shall condemne your incredulitie The Lord told the rebellious Israelites when they refused Moses and Aaron that it was not against them but him that they had murmured and refused so it is not our youth it is not our frailtie it is not our weaknes that you blame for if wee were not ministers you woulde loue vs the better for it but it is against the Lorde that you striue Oh staie your toongs before they go too farre God which dasheth in peeces yoong infants careth not for your gray haires your swordes auaile not against him neither can your reuenues redeeme your soules Secondly we may make this one vse of this That forsomuch as the Elders and Magistrates must aboue others vse the hearing of the worde of God what is their estate
bodie of Saul doe when his soule was so laden with sin for he knew that the Philistines must needes haue his life and the diuell his soule in like manner will the enimie bewitch you when you are in aduersitie Therefore cast down your castles and defences for sin as the Lord exhorteth Hos 10. 14. before the diuell make them inuincible For as the raigne of Abimelech was the slaughter of Gedeons sonnes and the raigne of Athaliah was the ouerthrow of all the kings seede so is it betwixt vs and our sinnes if they raigne we must die if we put them downe we shall liue Let vs therefore cast them downe betimes for as the Israelites did at the first spare the Canaanites afterwarde they could neuer destroy them so if at the first we dallie with our sinnes in the end they will grow vnresistable Oh that we might liue to say of our sinnes as Christ said of the temple that there might not one sinne be left vpon another Let vs bury our sinnes as Ieremy said Iehoijakim should be buried Ierm 22. 18 19. that their deaths be not lamented but let them be cast out of our soules as a dead asse is cast out of a citie for as a dead corps procureth nothing but wormes and stinke and feedeth fowles so our sinnes cause nothing but woe and sorrow and feed diuels Againe let vs not onely cast away our sinnes in heart as many say they haue done but in words and works professe and shew the same Hos 14. 3. for by our words we shall be saued and by our words we shall be condemned A repentant man is knowne by his confession as Rahabs house was knowne by the thred that was tied in her window which caused her all her kindred to be spared and so if we would be spared at the great day of the Lord let vs confesse our selues to be of his family Many I know there be which thinke it sufficient to leaue sin and neuer to make confession thereof so also there be many that thinke it sufficient to beleeue the Gospell although they neuer professe it but in my opinion the one and the other are both deceiued For wee must not bee of Abrahams heart and of Belials life wee may not beare the soule of Dauid and the shewe of Pharisees Good king Iehoshaphat being in shewe like wicked Ahab was in danger to be slaine for Ahab so are all those in danger of death who haue inwardly good heartes and outwardly euill liues Confesse thy sinnes thy faith thy God thy sinnes to thy brethren thy faith to the church and thy God to the whole worlde that thou maiest bee as farre from note of euill as euer is light from the shewe of darknes The xviij Sermon Vers 7. They shall runne like strong men and goe vp to the wall like men of warre and euery one shall goe forwarde in his way and they shall not staie in their paths NOwe the Prophet commeth to the last similitude wherein he compareth these deuourers to souldiours for in truth there is not any mischiefe like to the mischiefe of warre which is well termed the slaughter house of mankinde and the hell of this worlde And in this treatise following I must enter into martiall affaires that as I haue hitherto taught you to be christians so now I must instruct you to bee soldiours and learne you the arte of warre Wherein this Prophet toucheth two things The first is the order of an armie vers 7. 8. Secondly the ouerthrowe or sacking of the conquered For the first he noteth what manner of men souldiors shoulde be namely Strong men Exod. 17. 10. For God hath so ordeined that all men haue their crosses and callings to humble them If thou be bee wise thou art emploied in gouernment if thou bee strong thou art busied in warre if thou be weake thou art tormented in want if thou be a woman thou art vnder subiection if thou bee a foole thou liuest in contempt Therefore thou which art a souldier make this vse of this point that thou encrease thy strength and cast away feare Deuter. 31. 8 Vndoe not thy strength by quarrelling or drinking or watching or fasting or feasting or whooring but keepe thy body in strength to benefite thy countrey Againe make another vse which the Lorde taught Iosuah the most noble captaine and souldier of the worlde who had the leading of sixe hundred thousand men and ouercame thirtie and one seuerall kinges in a little time this exhortation is set downe Ios 1 8. That alway in warre thou looke to the worde of God whether thy cause bee iust thy heart bee willing and thy calling be lawfull whether thy handes strike when God biddeth and thy foote stande when God calleth Looke to this I saie and robbe not kill not and fight not but against a lawfull enimie But alas Iosuah is dead and al those which sawe his doings now in warres there is gaine in steade of godlines courage in steade of equitie bloudthirstines in steade of valour policie in steade of iustice and you seldome see a souldier of any religion and neuer praieth till he bee in danger of death Another instruction ariseth out of this verse when the prophet saith Like men of warre whereby we obserue that souldiers should bee disciplined and instructed before they be sent into wars or else they cannot be like men of war This benefite Dauid acknowledged that he receiued of God Psal 18. 34. it is a dangerous matter to aduenture a whole army vpon yoong souldiers and more dangerous it is to vndoe any through want of skill The reason is bicause men must not onely haue strength but wisedome and cunning in their weapons and sometime vse the stratagems of warre where policie and experience is woorth tenne thousand mens handes as wee may see in Iosuah cap. 8 4 5 6. and in the Israelites Iudg. 20. Wherfore make this vse in thy warfare of this doctrine howsoeuer thy cause be good thy strength be great and thy experience much yet neuer fight til thou haue cōmended the victorie to God 2. Sam. 10. 12. for God is the warrior which daunteth euery enemy and directeth euerie dart to the person appointed Be not too bold as the Israelites were Deut. 1. and were chased backe againe by the Amorites but vse deuotion to God and discretion in thy busines remember well that the sword cannot cut except the Lord whet it that thy arme cannot strike except God enable it that the enimie will not flie except he discomfort him and that victorie will not follow thee except God be on thy side Againe if thou bee an able man for the warre both in strength and skill come willingly when thou art called and refuse not to fight in a good cause although it bee against thy own brother Yeeld obedience to them that shall teach thee and as the captaine in the Gospell said that his souldiers did
hell will once againe commit and bequeath you to condemnation as the fruitles fig tree was Thinke not your selues happie that you liue so long before you bee called to beare for verily long agoe were you appointed and called to yeelde him his haruest If therfore you wil not striue to yeeld it thinke that God wil reape where he did not sowe and gather where he did not lende and hee will tarrie no time for the figge tree bore no fruit bicause the time of fruites was not come yet was it reprobated So if God come to thee although thou neuer were able to yeelde him any commoditie yet he will regarde himselfe and not thee his expectation and not thine his glory and not thy welfare for he which is hardlie prouoked is more hardly pacified neither sparing in his rage man woman beast or angell That the heathen These wordes containe another grounde of their praier wherein they desire that the Lorde woulde spare them least that by reason of famine they shoulde be driuen to the Lordes enimies for succour or else they feared that when their scarsitie shoulde bee noised abroade the heathen woulde come conquer them From hence we may obserue that there is not any thing more odious to godly mindes then that the heathen idolatrous men without religion should rule ouer them Psal 74 4 5. As it is vnnaturall and dangerous that men shoulde bee ruled by beastes sheepe by woolues and little birdes by the great hauke euerie minute threatening to teare them in peeces so is it when good men are driuen through want or warre or loue or feare of life to seeke harbour among the enimies of God Well they know that their libertie is woorse then imprisonment and that the highest place of dignitie among the wicked is inferior to the lowest in the church of God as Dauid saide I had rather keepe a dore in the house of God then to dwell in the tents of wickednes What pleasure haue we of sight liuing in darknes or of health liuing in imprisonment or of strength liuing in bondage or of meate liuing in sickenes and no more shall we haue of all worldly things when we are in the lande of heathens The first reason bicause in the dominion of the wicked there is no conscience of bloode or care of equitie Ezech. 22. 27. They turne their subiects to slauerie their widowes to destruction their children to beggerie and they send heapes of dead carkeises at one time to the graue they care not for religion neither respect the king of heauen and earth Although the streetes flowe with bloode and the liuing be not sufficient to burie the dead yet if they may raigne they care not Life and liuing and honestie is nothing woorth among them They denie God persecute his church and burne his worde most wickedly they regard not olde men rauish women and murther children villanouslie They take away houses landes rentes goods patrimonies and wiues from them that possesse them and therefore there is no greater crosse then to liue vnder the gouerment of a heathen Another reason bicause their wickednes shall be a continuall heart-burning vnto them 2. Pet. 2. 7. Psalm 120. 5. Their eares shall heare their blasphemies their eies shall see their idolatrie and their liues shall feele their treacheries All thinges shall bee lawfull among them saue goodnes for nothing is lawfull that tendeth to godlines Oh how will this grieue a godly soule to heare his Sauiour reuiled true religion slandered the godly to be hated the worlde to bee loued the diuell to bee worshipped and heauen to bee neglected Hee must not speake for feare of death he must not pray but in secret hee shall not dare to disclose himselfe hee shall finde no neighbours nor friends nor followers nor comfort among them The first vse Let vs therefore forsake the fellowship of vnbeleeuers Esay 52. 12. whose presence is damnable whose liues are abhominable whose profession is execrable and whose ende is condemnation of these the worlde is filled and yet we must auoide them Let vs not bee defiled with their sinnes nor corrupted with their manners nor allured with their pleasures but go out from the middest of them They are hated of God possessed of diuels bewitched with vanities and professed miscreants Howe shall wee loue God and dwell among them but either the anger of God or the loue of the worlde or the baite of lustes or the inchantments of vanities will drawe vs away Oh let vs take our selues to desolate places and rather dwell with the brute beastes then with these godles persons we cannot trust them we may not liue with them we must flie from them or else be condemned among thē therefore put them from your houses and from your tables and from your conference and from your friendship I knowe you woulde bee ashamed to bee seene daily conuersing with an open and shamelesse harlot therefore much more be ashamed and forsake their company whose liues are like beasts whose hearts are like heathens whose faces are like harlots and whose actions proceed of euill I tell you their waies do leade vnto death and their lodgings are chambers of hell Where is nowe their God That is either they are not the Lordes people that are thus afflicted or else their God is no God that cannot deliuer them From hence wee may gather that it is the propertie of wicked men if they get aduantage against a professour of religion then presently they turne it against God himselfe and fall to reuiling his glorious maiestie Psal. 74. 10. So in our times if any haue any small profession of religion and doe fall into the handes of the worlde then presentlie they scoffe and scorne and laugh and deride Christ the Gospell religion and all the followers thereof If they happen to be poore why wil an atheist say canst thou not get thy liuing by hearing of Sermons If they bee rich men their faults shall be aggrauated The reason heereof is bicause they might be knowne to be not so much enimies to the godly as to God himselfe like the Iewes that crucified Christ Matth. 27. Let vs rather lament them that fall into their enimies handes then reioice at their sinnes and ouerthrowes let vs know that the Lord will surely take their cause into his owne hande and seuerely punish such intollerable blasphemie as he did in Rabsakeh and the king of Syria Esay 37. although their wordes bee great their pride be infinite their power glorious their mindes ambitious and their crueltie extreme yet will and shall the Lorde defende his name and truth and children from all their blasphemies and this shall bee a cause of their more speedy destruction The xxvj Sermon Vers 18. Then will the Lorde be iealous ouer his people and spare his land NOw at the length by the mercifull assistance of the Almightie are we come to the last part of this prophesie wherein as in the
away their children whom they had taken prisoners vnto heathens and infidels as the Lord here saith that the Iewes should sell them to the Sabeans who were infidels First for the opening of this place it was lawfull for the Iewes so to doe because they had the expresse commaundement of God as it is here set downe and if at the commaundement of God they must in their warres kill man woman and childe much more at his commaundement may they sell their prisoners to heathens Secondly wee must not make this place any rule or example for vs to imitate but take it for a speciall curse vpon the enemies of the Iewes at this time because they should sell them as they had sold theirs Then to the question I thinke it not lawfull for vs to sell any vnto heathens yea though they be heathens and our enemies The reasons are these first because Deut. 20. 11 12. the Lord propoundeth an euerlasting lawe for warre standing vpon these conditions first that they offer peace secondly if they ouercome their enimies then shall they make them their tributarie seruants and not sell them away or if they refuse peace being offered then shall they destroy them all so then selling of men and women becommeth barbarous and heathen men and not the children of God Secondly by selling away our enimies wee doe not weaken the common enemie of our faith but rather strengthen him for a bond-slaue can fight as well against the gospell as a free man therefore it is better to slay them outright than to make a gaine of them vnto heathens or men of no faith Thirdly it is not lawfull to sell them because it is an vnnaturall thing for one man to buie another or to sell another as we may see in the historie of Ioseph Fourthly they were better bee among vs and bee the least in our congregation where they may possibly come to learne Iesus Christ than to be among heathens where Christ is hated and so I cannot see how wee can wash our hands cleane from the guilt of their damnation So that now it appeereth that men must looke especially that they vndoe not those whom the Lord hath commended to their safetie and preseruation besides many other reasons which I could adde vnto the former And againe by this verse we may see how the children of the wicked beare their fathers faultes for here are the sonnes and daughters to bee solde so may wee reade Psal 127. 9. that they are blessed that reuenge the fathers crueltie on the children Oh my deere brethren let your tender babes procure pitie and pietie in your soules for you see how their liues shall pay for your wrongs and their butcherie for your tyrannie It were an easier calamitie if the hand that sinned should onely be cut off but wee see that if the right hand slay a man the whole body must perish thereby It is a singular blessing of God to be descended of godly parents yea the wicked brag thereof Ioh. 8. 39. Matt. 3. 9. Therefore if you will make your posteritie happie and blessed make your owne soules godly and your works holy Let not your children be made slaues to the wicked and bondslaues to the diuell for your follie but be you gentle that they may liue bee you patient that they may be beloued bee you honest that they may bee honoured and be you good to the godly that they may possesse your reuenues Publish this among the Gentiles prepare warre wake vp the mightie men let all the men of warre drawe neere and come vp Nowe are wee come to the second meanes whereby the Lorde taketh vengeance on the enimies of his church that is by warre for as by warre they had wasted the Iewes so by warre shoulde themselues be confounded In this warre we are to consider First the preparation thereof by souldiers verse 9. then the instruments or weapons verse 10. Secondly the execution in the verses following First then in this verse he calleth for the souldiers and biddeth that the warre shoulde be proclaimed and that all the men fitted thereunto shoulde come vp to fight Whereby wee must first of all obserue that warre must bee proclaimed before it be waged Ios 22. 12. For it becommeth not anie prince or great person so to deale with his enimies that he ouercome them before they haue intelligence of him The reason First bicause peace must be first of all offered Deuter. 20. 10. For warre which is the slaughter of mankinde must be the last meanes for princes to right and trie their iniuries It must be taken in hande for necessitie not for pleasure and it must bee executed with mercie not with crueltie Another reason bicause victorie onely dependeth on God 2. Chron. 13. 12. and therefore wee must vse all good meanes in the vndertaking thereof least beginning without the Lordes counsell wee ende with his curse being guiltie of our own death others Let vs not then in this latter age of the world fear any of the rumours of warre Mat. 24. 6. for the Lord of hostes is the great warriour whose souldiers wee are and if hee can vse the roaring of the diuell to driue vs from hell then thinke also he will vse the trumpets of warre to bring vs into heauen Feare not I say all the rumours of warre in France Flanders Hungarie Turkie or in other places of the worlde for if the wicked die in them it is for sinne if good men by the punishment for sinne they kill sinne and all this shall promote the Gospell and preserue the church Secondly when he biddeth to awake the mightie men we may note that men of greatest courage and valour are fit for the warres 2. Sam. 10 9. But of this matter we haue spoken in the second chapter Againe when he calleth them to draw neer and to come vp we note that souldiers should beware that they haue a calling from God and a commandement from him to fight 1. King 22. 7. Iehoshaphat woulde not fight with Ahab against the Syrians till hee had inquired of the Lorde and this wee may see in Dauid many times For seeing warres are the cause of many mens death let vs beware that we adde not curse to curse like the king of Moab who being ouercome by the Israelites went home and sacrificed his owne sonne in the fire The reasons are First because they cannot prosper that waite not for the Lordes calling Ios 1. 17 18. Secondly he giueth power to fight Psalm 18. Let vs therefore bee so minded in warres that wee neuer vndertake them when the Lorde disalloweth them Numb 14. 44 45. The Israelites fighting with the Amorites contrarie to the Lordes wil were slaine and driuen backe againe whereas at other times they lost not a man but returned in victorie Againe let souldiers learne to keepe themselues from euill Deuter. 23. 9. For the battle or warfare is like a mans
comming secondly by hoping for our glorification and thirdly by purging our selues in a word this is all We are made holy by regeneration and sanctification for a new minde is a holy minde as a new life is a holy life So then wouldest thou be holy the word must beget thee in the wombe of the church and the blood of Christ must purge thee in the tabernacle of thy flesh this is the way to make a saint first by the word thē by the blood of Christ and all of this must bee done in this life for they doe but mocke and delude the world which canonize saints after they be dead except they can bring them to life againe So then a pure life maketh not a saint that is holy without a new minde nor another minde without a cleane life Some are of opinion that there are no saints but in the kingdome of heauen but they are easily confuted by the scripture which calleth the godly at Corinth at Ephesus at Colossa and many other places by the name of saints But they say we do all them saints which the scripture calleth holy men and I pray what difference is there betwixt a saint and a holy man surely none at all but euery holy man is a saint in all toongs that euer I learned But if they vnderstand saints to be the soules of godly men in heauen then I say that in all good diuinitie and sound writers there are none such spoken of I meane that the blessed soules in heauen are onely called saints To conclude heare the gospell beleeue the promises waite for the appeering of our Sauiour and take but a drop of his blood to purge thy soule and life and thou shalt bee holy thou shalt be a saint otherwise thy life lead in long iniquitie shall ende in euerlasting woe paine and miserie And no strangers In these words he telleth them one benefit of his presence and their sanctification or holynes which is this that no strangers shall any more go thorough Israell meaning that they should neuer be ouercome by any enimies otherwise to harbour strangers is the commandement of God But by these wordes we are taught that onely religion maketh a common-wealth or kingdome to bee peaceable and happie 1. Sam. 12. 14 15. Although humane policie and worldly wisedome do much in the gouernment of any nation yet there is not any thing that so establisheth a people and maketh them happie as religion which is the wisedome and written word of God Why was not Ahabs gouernment as good as Dauids or Ieroboams a most politike king as good as Salomons Surely because the one was stablished in the law of God and the other was mingled with filthie idolatrie Let all the Polititians of the world and cursed Machiuillian Atheists murmur what they dare into the eares of kings and great persons that they must sometime regard Stratagems contrary to the Scriptures or else thrones cannot stand yet they are all deceiued for no policie nor counsell can stande against the Almightie Oppression breach of promise toleration of malefactors insinuations examinations extortions creations of offices and all the like policies cannot stand without religion for there was neuer yet any Polititian but he ended his life in great sorrow as did Achitophel I meane such as are not ruled by the scriptures We haue reade many policies of wicked men as of Pharaoh to keepe the Israelites in Egypt of the Philistims to keepe them without weapons of Ieroboam to keepe them from Ierusalem of the kings of Assyria to keepe them from returning home againe of Herod to kill our Sauiour Christ but what gained they all by their policie◠surely nothing but their owne sorrow and death for as Dauid saith The Lord intrappeth the wicked in the net that he laid for other Psalm 9. The reasons of this doctrine are these First because for sinne God dissolueth kingdomes Prouerb 28. 2. and therefore for religion he establisheth them for there is not any thing so contrarie to sinne as is the Lords worship I meane religion for all other humane vertues are rather in the compasse of sinne then in the shadow of true godlinesse Neither yet are all policies so condemned as it is vtterly vnlawfull to vse any for some are godlie and may bee practised as wee may see in Ioseph with his brethren who was a great courtier and yet vsed no vnlawfull extremitie of his authoritie so wee may reade of Moses that sent spies into the land of Canaan of the Israelites fighting with the Beniamites and of Gedeon when he slew so many of the Ephramites whom he found out by pronuntiation of the word Shibboleth but if policie bee grounded vpon any sinne or accompanied with any vnlawfull thing then better abide the hazard than that wee should do euill that good may come of it Another reason because Kings raigne by the Lord and by him Princes beare rule Now we must not thinke that he fauoureth or accounteth any nation blessed without his worship for he regardeth not a soule that feareth him not For this cause he droue Nebuchadnezzar from the throne to the heards of cattle that he might teach him that his throne depended vpon him Now shall we say that God is where there is no God accounted or if accounted yet not worshipped or if externally worshipped yet not sincerely where euery fancie of a worldly wise man is preferred before that truth which is sealed with the Lords blood I graunt that Iethro a heathen gaue Moses counsell how to behaue himselfe in his gouernment but GOD approoued it and so let euerie man speake for the good gouernment of a nation but let the word of GOD gouerne their sayings The vses first let vs take that counsell of the wisest king that euer was Prou. 25. 5. Take away the wicked from the king and his throne shall be established in righteousnesse If the wicked be remooued wicked counsell will be silenced and if wicked counsell be silenced then will the princes throne bee established in righteousnesse Dauid would not haue them to be his courtiers that slew Ishboseth his enemie and no more woulde he haue any vaine persons or liers to bee his seruants Psalm 101. 5 6. for as Gedeons armie was most honorable when he had sent away all dastardes and fearful soldiers although it was small so a kings court is most glorious when all wicked are banished from it although very fewe be left Multitudes are verie dangerous many men many wicked men Our Sauiour Christ had but twelue and yet one of them was a traytour and so it is most likely there is not any great company liuing in court or countrey but there are some wicked among them Although wicked men may bee good for the common wealth yet they cannot establish the kings throne in righteousnesse therefore I woulde that all the princes of the world would say with Dauid Psal 119. Awaie from me yee wicked
any blood Secondly the nature of it is to crie for vengeance in the eares of God Gen. 4. 10. as the Lord saide to Cain and therefore I thinke verily there will come a day that our recusants which are the ofspring of many bloodie persecutours shall haue the blood of the Lords saints reuenged vpon them But if the blood of saints shall be so reuenged then much more shall the blood of Christ Heb. 10. 29. There are only two kinds of people vpon whom the Lord wil bring the blood of his son the Iewes whom we see scattered ouer all the world being accounted a verie miserable and forlorne people the other are the contemners of the Gospell which make no account to be saued thereby who are in a maner as guiltie of the death of Christ as were the soldiers Iewes that nayled him on the crosse Wherfore God will not forget how they tread vnder their feete his pretious blood Againe let vs take occasion to praise the Lord which letteth not the blood of his children be shed in vaine Deut. 32. 43. as he blesseth them that take reuenge vpon his enimies make them fall to the earth so he curseth thē that cause any of his seruants to com to their latter end Again by this verse we may note that the blood of the Lords saints is innocent 2. King 21. 16. whatsoeuer lawes of princes or decrees of men be laide to their charge yet this must stil comfort them that if they die for the Lords cause they are innocent and shall certainly receiue life eternall The reasons because thorough hatred and malice of the world are they deliuered Ioh. 17. 4 Secondly being the seruants of righteousnes they cannot bee iustly executed for the same Rom. 6. 18. Let vs bee heereby encouraged not to feare death 1. Pet. 2. 19. for if we die naturally we die happily and if we die violently we die innocently Againe let not any of vs that are Christians suffer for our euill doing 1. Pet. 4. 15. but rather let vs watch ouer our liues that no sinful danger of humane lawes doe euer ouertake vs. But Iudah shall dwell for euer and Ierusalem from generation to generation For I will clense their blood that I haue not clensed and the Lord shall dwell in Zion These verses containe the last promises of the Lord vnto his church grounded vpon the presence of God among them First for their perpetuitie Secondly for the declaration of their innocencie which hee noteth when he saith that he will clense their blood c. when as vpon the report of the iniuries receiued in the former verse he presently addeth that they shall dwell for euer we may note that the wrongs which good men in this life endure shall bee one meanes to forwarde their rest and glorification Psa 12. 5. For this is the fruit of our afflictions to perswade the Lord for our immortalitie for as when the Israelites cried in Egypt then the Lord brought them into Canaan so when wee crie for our wrongs we are readiest for heauen The reasons God euermore hath an eie to the afflicted Psal 9. 13. Secondly then are we most like to the sonne of God and when we are likest to him on earth wee are neerest to him in heauen Let vs so beare our afflictions and wrongs as if we were borne for them 1. Cor. 4 9. for we see they shall turne to our greater ioy But of this matter we haue spoke often I might also remember out of this verse when he saith that Iudah and Ierusalem shall dwell for euer hee meaneth not the citie Ierusalem for that is long agoe destroied but he meaneth that the Iewes shall neuer be vtterly destroied but many of them shal be saued in the world to come When he saith that he wil clense their blood that is hee will manifest to all the worlde that they were not iustly executed but vniustly murdered whereby we may see at length that the wicked whether they were wilfully blinded or ignorantly affected in persecuting good men yet they shall know and so shall other that they murdered them vniustly as the Iewes which shall see Christ whom they pearced Reuel 1. 7. Mat. 27. 3 4. for wilfull murders cannot be euerlastingly concealed and it is al one before God to steale by authoriti◠or without law to kill by law or without authority Lastly we may see when he saith he will dwell in Zion that the presence of God preserueth the church Reuel 1. 13. how can it euer perish when the Lord maintayneth it Surely sathan told Christ that he could not do amisse for the Angels watched about him and held him vp that at no time he should dash his foot against a stone If the helpe of Angels in the diuels conceit was so great to preserue Christ then much greater is the presence and hand of God to vphold his church Hee alone buildeth it that it fal not keepeth it that it fade not dresseth it that it may be holy preserueth it that it may be godly so that so long as the Lord endureth so long shall the church stand maugre the might of all the diuels in hell To the which God euerlasting immortall and onely wise the most glorious Trinitie the Father the Sonne the holy Ghost let vs render all praise ascribe all maiestie and giue our whole spirits soules and bodies that he may be glorified in vs and we be glorified in him Amen Amen FINIS Cassianus Ioseph de antiq lib. 12. Herod lib. 7. Sabel Enn. lib. 9. Enn. 5. Ioseph lib. 7. cap. 24. Stobaeus ser 96 Fulg. lib. 1. 2. Cypr. aduers Demetr Aug. de Ciuit. lib. 7. cap. 11. Sab. lib. 4. Ennead 6. Plutarch Boeth lib. 8. Eurip. Plut. de amore Duditius de cometis The time of this prophesie The scope of this labour The diuision of this prophesie Cap. 1. vers 1. The prophets sermons are the Lordes owne words Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. Vse 2. If God did not send his word none would aske for it Reas 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Men preferred before angels in the preaching of the word Reas 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 The ministers must call on the people to heare Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 The greatest men should be the greatest professors Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. a Principes cum ad limen delubri veniunt proinde sunt atque priuati 2 None must liue in the Church vnlesse they outwardly bee subiect to the Gospell Reason 1. 2 Vser 2 God his works must be perpetually remembred Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 We must tell our children what God hath done in our daies Reason 1. 2 Vse 1 2 Be carefull what we commit to posteritie Reason 1. No impiety but it will find some followers 2 Vse 1. 2 A speciall iudgement to increase hurtfull beastes Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Euery little beast can ouercome the welfare of man * Ecce me inquit qui vobis Deus videor
for other for their cause that is for our peoples cause are we tormēted Againe how fearful are those places to be considered where it may bee saide as it was of Rachels children that preachers and good pastors were and are not you shall haue some gentleman or ruffian or carnall companion reioicing that he was the meanes to sende their priest packing and to depriue their pastor of his liuing So did Rabsakeh bragge of his crueltie as these wicked and damnable wretches of their impietie they haue brought the bloude of the Lordes prophets vpon their owne heades and the heade of their neighbours and let them assure themselues it will be reuenged Another reason of this doctrine may be this bicause if there be any perplexitie God doth want his honour and then the ministers are filled with danger If men be sicke for vs they send whereby contagion we are infected if men be imprisoned they come not at vs if they be souldiers they serue the campe and not the Lorde so that as Augustine saide they cannot be the ouerthrowers of a citie except first they ouerthrow all ciuilitie So that when the Lord is abridged of his right we must not accoūt it strange to be abridged of our libertie we are not better then our fathers yea then our Sauiour who being best of al was taken before his disciples as wee must bee before our flocke The vses which come from this doctrine are these first that wee thinke not that they alone which beare the place of God before his people to inform them in the way of godlines shal liue in this danger or that those poople are most miserable which endure most aduersities but as the prophet speaketh Ier. 25. 29. If God plague the citie or person by whom his name is called vpon howe shall other men thinke to goe free nay rather then that should be so his sword saith the prophet shal destroy al the inhabitants of the earth Thinke not that your estate who are gentlemen or rich men or secular men or peraduenture carnall men for all this is better then the spirituall mans calling if it go not well with vs how can it euer long continue well with you no verilie no more then when the captaine wanteth his pay the souldiers are well satisfied Looke vpon the whole course of the world you shal find them to be most wretched that are most secure most damnable that liue in smallest danger Most wicked Iulianistes scoffe at the ministerie bicause they are contemned of the greater sort and they say they must laie load on the cleargie bicause they teach other men to be patient but if this were a good reason then might seruants set their masters to labour bicause they exhort them to diligence Howe vniust is it that wee which are borne to miserie for the peoples sake for the Lordes sake shoulde haue our miserie to bee encreased as it were by our owne children whom wee haue fostered in the church Go on you scoffers and most accursed Atheists when we are in sorrow yee liue in ioy when wee are reuiled you are regarded when we are impouerished you are enriched and therefore when we are in danger you shall be in damnation Another vse which we must make heereof is this that we must not auoide the ministerie bicause it is full of danger no more then men auoide the sea bicause it is full of rockes or else abandon husbandrie bicause it is full of labour The crowne of a good minister is inestimable as Paul sheweth 2. Timoth. 4. 8. From hence foorth there is laide vp for mee a crowne of righteousnesse which the Lorde the iust iudge will giue vnto me If men will weare and winne this crowne they must first fight that good fight which the Apostle speaketh of in the former verses So that nowe let vs reason our case in this manner wee are of all men most miserable our bodies are weake our studies are tedious our labours are greeuous our liues are odious our welfare is dangerous and before all wee goe to the wall Who would bee a minister to endure all these Nobles will scorne him the gentrie will abase him rich men will enuie him and the poore must speake against them he must eate their leauings he must weare that they refuse he must abide that which they offer and hee must mourne when they are ioyfull Oh be not discouraged but come into the Lords haruest speedily thy health shall be encreased thy paines shall be well paied thy pouertie shall be enriched and thy reprochfull ignominie shall be turned into crowns of glorie thy teares shall be sweeter then wine thy want shall be more tolerable then wealth thy labour shall bee more easie then pleasure and thy death shall be more acceptable then life feare not to take vpon thee a ministers calling euill words are but winde euill men are but chaffe euill wealth is but rust euill ioy is but sinne and another calling is but base Christ triumpheth in thee 2. Cor. 2. 14. thou shalt reioice in thy flocke 1. Thess 2. 19. and the world shall be subdued by thy word Ierem. 1. 19 20. the actes of God shall be in our mouth and a two edged sworde in our handes to pronounce sentence against kings and iudgement against angels The tenth Sermon Vers 10. The field is wasted the land mourneth for the corne is destroyed the new wine is dried vp and the oyle is decayed NOw the prophet sheweth the cause of that doctrine in the former verse why the worship of God was laide waste because the field is wasted and the land mourneth that it is barren the corne wine and oyle are all destroied The which thing being so out of this verse we first of all note that God giueth vs these fruites of the earth to worship his maiestie therewithall Psal 67. 6 7. So that men must turne themselues and looke vpon all the creatures of God which will tell them to their face they must serue God the better for them what groweth in thy field which singeth not this song the naturall herbe the planted corne grasse growing foode for cattell and all other things teach vs more earnestly to serue the Lorde And for this cause ought we onely to possesse them for assuredly if men doe couet after much lande and many fieldes and plant much corne and many fruites onely that themselues may haue much to serue them being aliue and leaue much for their children being dead they are those that the Lorde threateneth a woe vnto by the prophet They haue not these things for the Lorde but these things haue seised on their harts for the diuell vse therefore thy wealth not to liue in pleasure but in religion not in pride but in godlinesse not in honour of men but in the crosse of Christ And as an olde man hath his staffe to stay him from falling because he is weake so doe thou possesse those to
loueth not euery one that hee chasteneth Christ his best beloued was crucified and yet beloued but Herod was eaten with worms yet hated shal we think that the estate of Herod was any whit better in another life bicause his miserie was begun in this life no verilie no more may wee extoll or accuse those which liue long or miserable daies in this life Iosiah a good king of whom God pronounceth that he shoulde be gathered to his fathers in peace but yet hee was slaine in warres and Ahab an euill king died also in warres was his estate the better bicause he ended his life as a good man did no no it had bin better for him he had neuer bin Yet despaire not in thy afflictions and presume not to aduance worldly sorrow into the place of godly sorrowe and make not thy calamities thy Christ to lift thee vp to heauen Hauing learned that our calamities will not cōmend vs to God let vs do as the prophet here exhorteth Turne vnto the Lord our God Ier. 3. 1. Bloud cannot pacifie him but water can death cannot satisfie him yet teares can bodily plagues will not mooue him but spiritual sorrowes wil vengeance staieth him not but repentance will alter him Therefore turne vnto the Lorde Shall not wee thinke my deere brethren that all these iudgements which wee for these many yeeres haue endured haue wrought mightily in them and on them which were taken by them and is there yet an ende of them either in sight or in hope Haue not many souldiers fighting dying in their owne blood cried alowde in the eares of God Haue not many houses beene suddenly swept away with the pestilence Did not the Lord see it and if hee sawe it why did hee not pitie it and if hee pitied it why did hee not stay it haue not many hundreds in the first yeere of famine perished most miserably for want of bread whose cries must needs pearse the heauens and whose last gaspes might mooue him to pitie yet it hath continued some yeeres since Then may wee see and say if sufferings coulde haue satisfied the Lorde the blood of souldiers the liues of citizens the crie of poore men and the feare of all men might already long agoe haue pleased him but he will neuer be altered till we bee altered Therefore now let me remember you with Ioel Turne vnto me saith the Lord c. Alas alas our health is turned into sicknesse our liues into death our plentie into famine our peace into warres our mirth into mourning our store into want our people into perishing and our poore are turned into their graues and yet we haue not turned vnto the Lorde oh let vs turne before all be ouerturned Let vs fill our chambers with mourning rather then all our land be filled with howling let vs pray for repentance let vs sue for repentance let vs worke for repentance and bestowe all that we haue vpon repentance or else vengeance will come and take all away Another vse is this Rom. 8. 18. seeing God regardeth not our miseries then it followeth that all our sufferings are not woorthie of the life to come Art thou good then despise these worldly sorowes and hope for heauenly ioyes art thou an euill man then repent with speede least thy intolerable euils be turned into intolerable woe Wouldest thou by paine seeke aduauncement they deserue it not wouldest thou by paine bee amended then pray for repentance Oh how are we punished in this life nay rather how shall we be blessed in another life Couldest thou which liest in some strange torments bee content to end thy life in sorrowe to spende thy good for ease or to become any base seruant that thou mightest be released are thy paines so great so comfortlesse and so continuall yet for all this be not disquieted be not discouraged for anon thy ioyes may be farre more pleasant and continuall But why doe I spend time in vaine fearest thou any of those euils which happen in the world for thou canst not but feare all wherefore a Father said it is better to suffer one death and so to die then by liuing to feare all manner of deathes Then I say consider with thy selfe whether is greater thy sorrowes or thy comforts thy body or the heauens thy sufferings or the ioyes of the world to come there shall famine be banished warres shall be conquered sicknesse shall bee cured labour shall be ceased pouertie be forgotten enmitie shall be cooled paines shall be remooued teares shall be dried vp and death it selfe be euerlastingly destroied therefore suffer much to liue so labour much to die so and die in despite of death to raigne so All the miseries of this life are not worthie of this blessednesse but there is not any man liuing that can endure the one halfe of them therefore precious is the bountie of God who giueth vs this glorie for his promise not for our crosses nor yet for our vertues for our crosses are the deserts of sinnes and our vertues are imperfect goodnesse Thirdly in these words we may obserue the definition of repentance namely that it is a turning vnto the Lord so that so long as we are vnrepentant so long we goe from the Lord. I might also make many words on the metaphor turne and not without profit to shew you how our life is a iourney our faith the legs whereon we walke the scripture our guide the church our companion and heauen our waies end seeing all is done elsewhere I will not now stand vpon it Onely in these words I will vrge this that there is no repentance except the whole hart be changed it is not in good words nor yet in an outwarde good practise but in the motions and affections of the hart 1. King 8. 47 48. for this cause our Sauiour biddeth first cleanse that which is within and then that which is without As men doe first cleanse the inside of a vessell not the outside and then put goodnesse therein so must the hart which is a vessell be first cleansed or else all is vaine which the hande doth the mouth speaketh and the minde beleeueth Thy memorie must bee turned thy vnderstanding will and affections must bee changed thy memorie by remembring God and his truth thy vnderstanding by knowing God and his Gospell thy will by beleeuing God and his promises and thy affections by louing desiring meditating and reioycing in and on heauenly things and then is thy whole hart conuerted Some haue knowledge and vnderstanding but no sounde faith or sweete loue some againe loue but they want knowledge and so some haue a good will to the Gospell but they want memorie For the amending of all this follow my direction conferre and you shall haue memorie read and you shall haue knowledge heare and you shall haue faith pray often and you shal haue al good affections all which must be done before you can be saued The first
reason hereofmay be this because no man can haue a perfect faith without the totall conuersion of the hart Rom. 10. 9. and men can neuer liue well that beleeue not well saith Augustine If thou haue one part of thy heart with the Lord bicause thou knowest the truth thou hast another part with the world in louing thy life so in part thou beleeuest God and beleeuest the diuell Canst thou brag of faith when thy heart is distracted louing and liking two contrarie maisters no verily thou deceiuest thy selfe thou canst not loue gold and beleeue in God thou canst not haunt thy pleasures and yet delight in the Gospell Therefore if thou wouldest haue a sound faith thou must first haue a sound hart conuert thy hart and then thy faith will follow if it bee thoroughly thou shalt haue a perfect faith but if thou doe it in part then is it but a painted bodie which can neither goe nor see Another reason because regeneration maketh the heart to bee one Ierem. 32. 39. Indeede they which wander in wickednes haue a hart and a hart but when we come to the Lord we must haue but one hart for the hart is the man wherein are treasured all kind of vnderstanding and knowledge therefore it must not be halfe of flesh and halfe of stone Ezech. 11. 19. but either all flesh or all stone for he that is in part prophane and in part a christian in very deede is no man And for this cause is hypocrisie of all sinnes most abhominable which maketh a man no man dissembling with God the world and himselfe with God in his hart with the world in his life and with himselfe in that he dissembleth Of all sinners fewest hypocrites are conuerted and of all persons are they most odious and therefore hell is called the lake burning with fire and brimstone prepared for hypocrites vnlesse then we will liue as they liue and die as they die we must turne our whole hearts to the Lord. The vses are these First that we draw neere vnto the Lord with a pure hart Heb. 10. 22. Puritie is ioyned with integritie therefore when our hearts be purest then are they fittest for the Lord. In olde time there straite steps to our feete least that which is halting be turned out of the way Heb. 12. 12. 13. we are in great danger by prolonging our amendment to haue all marred and turned out of the way therefore let vs awake ouer our soules that wee may saue those parts which are vnsound for there is not any man but hee hath some woundes and maymes in his soule which must bee speedilie cured or else the longer they runne the more miserable they growe It is a lamentable thing to see men to deferre their conuersion saying one yeere they will doe it next yeere and the next season they will plowe their harts and sowe it with the worde It is also a thing dangerous to lodge but one night in a knowne sinne and therefore as the Apostle saide of anger so we must of euerie other transgression Let not the Sunne goe downe thereon Make speede I beseech you to amende your liues to reclaime your hearts to forsake your vanities to renounce your errours and to put away your pleasures for if your hart delight in any thing beside God it denieth God if it keepe hir naturall corruption and cast it not foorth it blasphemeth God if it delay to returne it abuseth his mercie it despiseth his grace and condemneth it selfe Say not saith Salomon I will giue thee to morrowe when thou maiest to day The whole time of this life is a time of repentance and therefore looke howe much thereof wee spende not in repentance so much we shall want to doe it in which must euery day make vs neerer to the Lorde or neerer to hell The xx Sermon HAuing handled the exhortation vnto repentance nowe let vs proceede to the manner thereof With weepings fastings and mournings the which wordes require a seuerall treatise And first in that they are commanded to weepe we may obserue that with inwarde repentance there must be ioyned outwarde signes thereof and in occasion of greater and more forcible feeling of our sinnes wee shall wring out sorrowes more abundantly This thing is taught by the prophet Hos 14. 3 4. where hauing exhorted the Israelites to a newe life hee biddeth them to take the wordes of repentance and to make a publike profession thereof Peter repented and it was with teares for the Scripture saith hee wept bitterly The selfe same thing doe good men finde in themselues at this day for as where the bodie is wounded there issueth foorth some bloude so where repentance hath wounded the soule there will follow some bloud I meane the teares therof Carnall men thinke they haue repented if they say God forgiue me or I am sorrie for it although afterward they liue neuer so lewdly Looke vpon thy life and see what gutters the teares haue made in thy face which haue distilled from thy eies for thy sinnes looke also vpon the sacrifices of thy lips how lamentable thy praiers haue been before the Lord account with thy self where when thou diddest offer them for without praier thou couldest neuer be conuerted It may be thou hast not wept by reason of some natural infirmity but it must be that thou hast praied or else it cannot be that thou hast repented Therefore let not any man deceiue himselfe think that he hath repented till his life be turned from the world his minde from pleasure his face from ioye and his bodie from desire of sinning The first reason hereof may be this because the Lord hath redeemed vs Isa 44. 22. that is as the Lord hath shewed open tokens of his fauour toward vs so we must shewe open tokens of our repentance towarde him The which reason well considered will teach vs that there ought to bee as great loue in vs for our saluation as was in Christ for our redemption He cared not for his life that hee might saue vs why then should wee care for our owne liues and spare our sinnes he shed his blood and we sent our follies he gaue himselfe for our sinnes and yet we will not let him haue them There is none that is ignorant of this except he had repented hee must haue perished and therefore if thou repent not thou must be damned The Lord hath not beene carefull for thy soule that thou shouldest bee secure but his loue must be a patterne for thee to loue thy selfe All that he did was for thy soule he was reproched he was empouerished he was condemned and crucified for it that thou mightest endure all shame to repent them all pouertie to preuent them all iniuries to lament them and all deaths to mortifie them He walked many miles watched many nights fasted many daies and endured many afflictions that thou mightest labour much watch carefully abstaine continually and endure