had no hope to be deliuered In so great therefore and horrible daunger I was so affected and perswaded that I thought my selfe as touching my corporall health and lyfe to be reiected and cast out of Gods fauour for I neuer looked to escape alyue out of the Whales bellie and to sée and visite the holy temple at Hierusalem to be conuersant among men agayne Thus we haue the Paraphrasticall exposition of these verses in the which the Prophete sheweth the daunger that he was in and the affection of his minde And now let vs sée what thinges ought specially in these wordes to be considered and obserued First of all the Prophete speaketh vnto God and affirmeth that he was cast by him into the sea But it is manifest that the Mariners cast him into the sea And yet notwithstanding we sée that IONAS pretermitting the Mariners sayth vnto God Thou haddest cast me downe Neyther doth he say the rowles and waues of the sea but he sayth thy waues and thy rowles went ouer mée By the which wordes the Prophete teacheth vs that in aduersitie trouble we ought not to haue respect to the instrumentall causes of aduersitie but rather to looke haue regarde vnto God the author of the same For we are so corrupt and affected by nature that we attribute and referre the causes of our afflictions eyther to men or to Sathan And as it is commonly sayd of the Beare that when shée is hurt shée reuengeth hir selfe on that which is next vnto hir euen so man being offended inueyeth agaynst the next or seconde cause by which hée séemeth to bée offended and hurte But if wée consider well wée shall finde it our parts in all aduersitie and trouble to lifte vp our eyes vnto heauen to God the Father the true and first cause of aduersitie and the author thereof For neyther Sathan nor man nor any other creature can hurt vs no they can not moue one heare of our heade vnlesse before power be giuen graunted of God from aboue One heare sayth our sauiour Christ falleth not to the grounde without the will of your heauenly father And the Prophet Ieremie in his lamentations sayth What is he which sayde that neyther good nor euill shall procéede out of the mouth of the most highest The which thing when good and godlye men considered they turned not themselues to contumelious sayinges to blasphemous othes to execrable and bitter cursinges in aduersitie and affliction as though men or anye other creatures had bene the authors of the same But they rather turned themselues by godly obedience and prayer vnto God which is the speciall author of affliction and trouble For althoughe wée our selues are the principall cause of al our afflictions by reason of our sinne yet notwithstanding we speake not of the deseruing cause of affliction but of the inferring and bringinge cause of afflictions the which is God the worker and giuer of all thinges without whose will and prouidence the little Sparrowe falleth not to the grounde So Iobe sayde The Lord giueth and the Lord taketh awaye when the Chaldees tooke awaye his shéepe and oxen when the fire burned his corne and when the winde ouerthrewe the house in the which his sonnes and daughters were banquetting So Daniell sayeth that the Lorde cast the Iewes out of Ierusalem into all landes when as notwithstandinge the Babilonians did it So IONAS in this place affirmeth that the Lorde cast him into the sea when as it appeareth by the text the Mariners did it But we commonly in aduersitie say The Lord gaue and the théeues haue taken The Lorde gaue and the fire consumed The Lorde gaue and the sea hath drowned contrary to the examples of Iob Daniell and IONAS who had not cause vnto the instrumentall cause but vnto the principall cause Let vs learne therfore by this example in all our trouble to lyft vp our eyes vnto the Lorde God of heauen onely and to impute the cause of all our trouble vnto him that we thereby knowing the will of God may conceyue pacience and be stirred vp to repentaunce and inuocation by the which we maye obteyne the true saluation the which we cannot obteyne if we referre the cause of our aduersitie to creatures which are but the instrumentall cause and so fall to banning and cursing them Secondly we sée that IONAS being in the Whales bellie trembled wyth great horror and feare of death When the waters sayth he compassed me euen to the very soule Whereby he declareth that with a fearefull minde he looked euery moment for present death The Legendes of Saynctes doe declare vnto vs that they suffered death voyde almost of all payne and that they went to their death with no lesse courage and ioye than if a Mayde shoulde prepare hir selfe to the daunce And trulye by the goodnesse of God we haue séene by experience that one man hath gone to his death with a more stoute and valiaunt minde than another For we may not thinke that they are in happye state which are withdrawne by great feare of death for God doth oftentimes exercise his Saints with this feare that they maye haue a perfite féeling and vnderstandinge of the imbecilicie and weakenesse of their flesh and may be stirred vp thereby to be the more feruent in prayer to god Who was more stronge more holye and more mightie than the sonne of God And yet notwithstanding when he should suffer death he was vexed with so great feare that hée trembled and bled a bloudie sweate What shall we saye then Did he not knowe that by this death he shoulde redéeme mankinde and enter into the glorie of his father Yes vndoubtedly he knew it What did he feare then He feared to declare himselfe to be a perfite man and by this feare to satisfie for man and to haue the victory ouer the feare of death that if we at any time shoulde be troubled with feare shoulde not dispaire but haue a certayne and sure hope and call vpon God for deliueraunce For he doth not reiect vs for our imbecilitie but the more weake and fearefull wée are the more care hée hath ouer vs Was not Dauid a valiant man a mightie a worthie and a holy Prophete And yet notwithstanding when hée thought vpon the deceytes and crueltie of his enimies he sayde Fearefulnesse and trembling are come vpon me and an horrible dread of death hath ouerwhelmed me By the which he was made so timerous and so fearefull that he sayde O that I had winges like a Doue for then would I flie away and be at rest What was therfore done to so valiant a Worthie that so childishly he should feare death This feare of it selfe is not impietie but it is partly a punishment of impietie For if man had not sinned he had not béene subiect to the feare of death This part therefore of punishement is left euen in the most holye men first that they maye acknowledge
sayth if thou walke thorow fyre it shall not burne thée So the children of Israell went out of Egypt into the desert for although there was not corne in the desert yet notwithstanding God brought to passe that they might beare it bicause he sent them Manna and gaue them water out of the rock Hieremy walked in the calling of God when he prophesied of the destruction of Hierusalem for the which he was cast not onely into prison but also into the mire to the ende he might séeme to perishe with hunger But God made him able to beare it and wrought meanes by his friendes to delyuer him and to set him at libertie The Apostles were sent out to preache the Gospell throughout the whole worlde but wythout prouision God therefore brought to passe that they hauing nothing possessed all things These sayings and examples of Scripture are set downe vnto vs to this ende that although we must suffer great perils in the vocation wherevnto God hath called vs yet notwithstanding we must go forward voyde of feare hauing a certaine hope that he will delyuer vs in the same ¶ But vpon the next morow against the spring of the day the Lord ordayned a worme which smote the wylde Vine so that it withered away And when the Sunne was vp God prepared a feruent east wind and the Sunne bet ouer the heade of IONAS that he faynted againe and wished vnto his soule that hee might dye and sayde it is better for me to die than to liue IONAS is refreshed and recreated with the shadowe of the wylde Vine but hys ioye lasteth not long bicause the wylde Vine is by and by striken with a worme that it perisheth and IONAS againe is so greatly afflicted that he wysheth death vnto himselfe This is a liuely Image and spectacle of the variety alteration and chaunge of humane thinges in thys worlde And yet notwithstanding we must consider that this alteration was not rashely brought to passe but by the iuste and wise councell of God. At the first IONAS reioyced for the shadowe of the Vine nowe he sorroweth for the destruction of the same Such is the course and rase of mans life One while he reioyceth bicause of prosperitye another while he lamenteth bicause of aduersity And yet notwithstanding these things come not to passe by hap or by chance but by the ordinaunce of god For in that the wylde Vine perished and IONAS thereby brought into great sorrowe and indignation God had a secret meaning For he ment thereby to teache IONAS that if he sorrowed so much for the destruction of a wylde Vine for the which he neuer labored how much more shoulde God be sory for the destruction of so great a Citie as Niniue was of the which he was the creator and gouernour and how much more should he spare so great a multitude Let vs learne therfore by this place that God doth neuer cast vs into any sorrowe or affliction but that he meaneth to teache vs somewhat as to prooue our faith to stirre vs vp to repentance or else to set forth the glorie of his name Furthermore this is not to be pretermitted that IONAS so often wisheth death vnto himselfe when as he greatly feared death before he was swallowed vp of the Whale Here againe the inconstancie of man is plainely set forth vnto vs Oftentimes I wishe for death sayth the Poet and oftentimes I refuse it agayne So Elias one whyle fléeth death and another whyle wisheth for the same This inconstancie of mans nature is diligently to bée noted euen in the holyest men not that we ought to alowe or excuse the same but bicause it is our dueties to correct and amende the like in our selues We can not put from vs all feare of death neyther can we let or cease to wyshe for death in great aduersitie But we must specially beware least wée dispaire in the feare of death whereas we ought to haue a sure trust in Christ and to suffer death with a valyant minde Also we must beware least in wyshing for death we bring death to oure selues but rather we must persist in our vocation hauing a sure hope that although we be beset with daunger on euerie side God will make away in the midst whereby we shall escape ¶ And God sayde vnto IONAS art thou so angry for the wilde Vine And he sayde yea verie angry am I euen vnto the death And the Lorde sayde thou hast compassion vpon a wylde Vine whereon thou bestowedst no labor nor madest it growe which sprang vp in one night perished in another And shoulde not I then haue compassion vpon Niniue that great Citie wherein there are about an hundred twenty thousande persons that knowe not their right hande frō their left besids much cattell God prepared as we hearde before a wylde Vine for IONAS that vnder the shadowe of it he might be defended from the heate of the sunne This wylde Vine being withered IONAS was full of indignation and wrath The Lorde therfore reprehendeth his wrath and declareth for what cause he brought to passe that the wylde Vine should spring vp in one night and vanish away agayne in another For before when IONAS sawe that God did spare the Niniuets he tooke it grieuouslye that the Lorde shoulde shew such clemencie towardes them and was greatly angry Now therfore the Lord teacheth IONAS howe vniust vncharitable and cruell his anger is by a comparison of the wilde Vine Thou art sorye sayth he for the wilde Vine which thou hast not made to growe and shoulde not I be sorie and spare so great a Citie which first of all by my benediction is come to so great maiestie and by the benifites which I haue bestowed vppon them is at this time the monarchie of the whole worlde In the which Citie also there are so manye thousands of infants and yong children which as yet are not come to the age of discretion besides thousandes of cattell which neuer did harme We haue therefore here an example of that saying which is in S. Paules Epistle to the Romanes where it is sayde the inuisible things of God are knowne by visible creatures But among all creatures the naturall affections of men are spoken of For we speake not of corrupt or vicious affections as of pride of enuie of couetousnesse of crueltie of desiring other mens goods or such like which are sinnes the author wherof is Sathan and not god But we speake of the affections of men which God by nature hath ingraffed in vs Of the which affections one is to be sorie if any thing profitable prosper not but perishe as in this place IONAS is sory that the Vine a thing very profitable for him should so sodenly perishe For although this affection was not in IONAS without sinne yet notwithstanding the affection of it selfe was not sinne So the disciple of Elizeus was sory bicause his Axe being a thing profitable
Niniue was a great Citie vnto God namely of three daies iorney And IONAS went to and entered into the Citie euen a dayes iourney IONAS at the length escaped oute of the Whales belly that is from extréeme death and hell For after that IONAS had repented and called vpon the name of the Lorde by true fayth the Whale was constrayned to cast him out aliue and to let him go frée For God being reconciled vnto vs all creatures are constrayned to minister vnto vs and to serue our necessitie and those thinges also which before were hurtfull vnto vs bring then muche profite and commoditie with them to oure great comfort and consolation Therefore nowe consequently the ministerie to the which IONAS after hys deliueraunce was called by the mouth of God must be declared For he is now sent of God as he was before to Niniue to the ende he might preach there the destruction of the Citie Vp sayth he and get thée to Niniue that great Citie As concerning the greatnesse of the Citie of Niniue it was before declared And now the things which are to bée considered in this place are these First IONAS after his deliueraunce is not placed of God in a soft Fetherbed but he is sent to preache the worde of God in Niniue which was a worke not onely laborious but also daungerous Here therefore wée are taught whervnto we are called of God and what we ought to doe when we haue receyued any benifite at his hande For we truly are so corrupted by nature with sinne that after we haue receiued benifites we are more peruerse and disobedient vnto God than we were before And we sée by experience that they which haue come from extréeme beggery and penury to great riches and possessions and from the dunghill to Nobilitie haue béene then more insolent and vnthankefull then they were before But the example of IONAS in this place teacheth vs true obedience and pietie For after that we are deliuered out of great perils and daungers we must not be ydle neyther must we then begin to dispise God but rather it is our duties to obey God and his calling and to bée thankefull for those benifits that wée haue receyued at his handes In the fift Chapter of Saint Iohn our Sauiour Christ sayth to the man that was restored to hys helth Behold thou art now made whole go and sinne no more least some worse thing happen vnto thée So IONAS also séemed to say within himselfe beholde thou art now deliuered from the perill of death and the goulfe of hell sée therefore that thou be no more disobedient but obey the calling of God least a worse thing happen vnto thée Euen so it is our partes to thinke also after that we are deliuered eyther from the perill of pouertie from the perill of infirmitie or from the perill of death Beholde thou hast receyued an excellent benefite at the handes of God bée not therfore vnthankefull but séeke by all meanes thou canst to shewe a thankefull minde by dooing thy dutie For God most liberally bestoweth his benifites not that we shoulde be worse but to the ende wée should be better But and it we abuse the benifites of God as riches to luxvrie and to fulfill our pleasure wyne to drunkennesse and health to dishonestie and wicked lyfe then let vs looke for nothing else but to be depriued not onely of these corporall benifits but also of heauenly treasure and felicitie and to perish with euerlasting paine and punishment Wherefore let vs consider that after the benifits receyued we are called to thankfulnesse and obedience the which if we perfourme we shall prouoke the Lorde to bestowe greater benifites vpon vs Furthermore we must consider in the example of IONAS hys singuler obedience For the Text sayth IONAS arose and went to Niniue according to the worde of the Lorde Before IONAS arose to flie from the presence of God. But nowe he ariseth not to flie but to obey the calling of the Lorde What was the cause that IONAS is thus altered and chaunged and that he is so prompt and readie to perfourme the wil and commaundement of God Surelye the affliction perill and trouble was the cause as hath béene alreadie at large declared We sée therefore what is the principall reason why God doth oftentymes lay crosses and sundry afflictions vpon vs IONAS would not simplye at the first obey the worde of the Lorde he is cast therfore into the sea that séeing he would not by the worde and in prosperitie learne to obey he might learne the same by crosse in aduersitie The lyke oftentimes happeneth vnto vs For God first of all calleth vs being sinners and disobedient to righteousnesse and obedience by the preachinge of his worde when we are in prosperitie But when we flie obedience then he casteth vs into the sea of diuers afflictions to the ende we might learne that in aduersitie and trouble which we refused in prosperitie and ease So the Lorde God of our fathers sent to the Citizens of Hierusalem that they should forsake their idolatrie but when they woulde not obey his worde in libertie they were constreyned to learne obedience in captiuitie Wherefore when we flourishing in prosperitie are called to repentance let vs not despise the voyce of the Lord but let vs obey him in time least with the wicked wée be afflicted and destroyed ¶ And he cried saying there are yet fortie dayes and then shall Niniue be ouerthrowne This is the sermon which IONAS made in Niniue being very briefe and short if we haue respect to the number of the words but if we consider the sentence it is very long and containeth much matter First of all let vs weye and consider the place of the Citie in the which IONAS began to preache When he had entred sayth the text into the citie euen a dayes iourney and so forth Therefore IONAS preached euen in the middest of the citie almost not in the comming in nor in the going forth to the ende the fame of his sermonde or preachinge might the more easily be spred among al the citizens and inhabitants thereabout For the word of the Lorde must be preached not to a fewe men onely neyther in an obscure place but to all men openlye to the ende no man might haue excuse Herevppon it came to passe and was accustomed that alwayes from the beginning of the world the word of God was preached in the chiefe Monarchies Cities of the earth For as IONAS could not go from house to house generally throughout the Citie of Niniue but stoode in a conuenient place of the City that the fame of his preaching might come to all men euen so the word of the Lord is not wont to be caried to euery corner of euery region but it is reuealed published in the speciall and principall kingdomes that by them the fame thereof might be spred abrode throughout the whole world that no man might haue excuse So
layde him downe and slumbered So the maister of the shippe came to him and sayde vnto him why slumberest thou vp call vpon thy God if God happilye will thinke vpon vs that we perishe not And they sayde one to another come let vs cast lots that we may know for whose cause wee are thus troubled And so they cast lottes The Maryners and the rest in the ship were wonderfullye vexed wyth horror of minde bicause of the extréeme daunger in the which they were without all hope of recouerie They take in hande notwithstanding thrée thinges to deliuer themselues from perill if it were possible The first is inuocation the seconde is the vnlading of the shippe and the thirde is lots 1 The Mariners did very wel and godly to call vppon God in daunger and perill For this is a spéedye way to escape perils or at least to mittigate the same But they being Gentiles and heathen called not vpon the true God and therfore they helde this pietie and truth in a lye as sayth the Apostle Paule They haue not called vpon the true God by fayth of the séede of Abraham but euery one sayth he calleth vpon his owne god Wherevppon the Mariners exhorted IONAS that he woulde call vpon his god And truely the same was done in this Shippe which was woont to bée done throughout the whole worlde yea amongest vs Christians also For there haue béene some which in daunger called one while vpon our Ladie another while vpon Saint Peter sometime vpon this Saint and sometime on that Saint And if one Saint help not they runne from Saint to Saint leauing to call vpon the true god This is plaine impietie and heathenish Idolatrie For the Saintes in heauen are set foorth vnto vs to declare the clemencie and loue of God and for examples for vs to imitate their godlinesse and vertue and not for vs to call vpon them But God onely in all perill trouble and aduersitie ought to bée called vpon by his sonne Christ For there are as well commaundements as promises for the true inuocating vpō God alone by fayth in Iesus Christ Furthermore we are here admonished what vtilitie and profite there commeth by affliction and trouble Men are secure and carelesse when al things are in peace and quiet but when trouble aryseth they lift vp their heades they cast vp their eyes to the heauen they call vpon god Let vs vnderstand therefore whensoeuer it pleaseth God to send a swoord famin or pestilence to rayse vp storme tempest or whatsoeuer for to punishe our sinnes let vs I say knowe that he doth it to styrre vs vp to prayer to inuocation and repentaunce By externall tempestes the Lorde séeketh oftentymes to styrre vp internall tempests in the heart that we may consider of the wrath of God towardes sinners We sée here that men in this ship were voyde of care before the tempest but the tempest and storme béeing vp they made haste to prayer they enquire diligently for the cause of the tempest they consider of the wrath of God and they seke for a remedie This ship therefore is a figure of this world in the which men walk secure before afflictions come But God sendeth afflictions to driue securitie from them to cal them to repentance Therefore let vs vse swoorde famine pestilence storme tempest and all kind of plagues punishments to our helth that we knowing the wrath of God may obey his will. 2 The seconde thing that these Mariners take in hande is the vnlading of the ship and the casting of the goodes into the sea that the ship might be more light and escape drowning A singuler example of wisdome set forth vnto vs to folow These Mariners were so discrete and wise that they rather sought to lose all theyr Marchaundice and goodes which were in the ship than to forsake their lyfe And it is likely that this ship was fraught and laden with precious Marchandise and yet notwithstanding they are cast into the sea to preserue lyfe This example is set foorth vnto vs to admonish vs that as the Mariners to saue their corporall and corruptible life cast frō them all their riches so also we ought much more to cast from vs al things whatsoeuer to saue preserue and kepe our spiritual heauenly life And if the state and condition of things be such and if the time so serue that we may enioy our spirituall lyfe with the preseruation of our temporall goodes God is well pleased therewith But if the case so stande that we cannot kéepe and saue our earthly substaunce vnlesse we offende and disobey the will of God then we must rather lose and forsake our momentany and rustie riches than our heauenly treasure which béeing once lost can neuer bée recouered and gotten againe Wherevpon our sauiour Christ sayth It is better for thée to enter into life hault or maymed rather than thou shouldest hauing two hands or two féete be cast into euerlasting fire But beleue mée that the greatest part of men amonge vs Christians are not so wise as these heathen Mariners For there are not a few which had rather not onely that the worde of God but also that God himselfe shoulde be forsaken and dispised of them than that they will suffer any thing of their gaine to be cut off In their occupasion they séeke to deceyue in office they enuy one another and are ambicious These and such like vnlade not their ship in perils but rather fraught the same so full that ship and all perisheth in the waues of this worlde before it come to the prosperous hauen of the heauēly kingdome Wherefore these Mariners shall rise in the last daye and shall condemne the greatest part of Christians which so estéeme riches honors and the pleasures of this worlde that they regarde not true godlynesse or at the least they make small account of the same 3 The thirde thing is the casting of lots the which they take in hand to search out and knowe for whose sake it was that so great a tempest arose But although it be lawfull ciuillye to vse lots in deuiding inheritaunces as Iosua deuided the land of Canaan by lot or in choosing of magistrates as the Apostles choose Mathie by lot this is the ciuille vse of lots and lawfull of the which Salomon speaketh saying The Lots are cast into the lappe but the ordering thereof standeth all in the Lord yet notwithstanding the examples of IONAS of Achan and of Ionathas are not to be imitated and folowed of vs without the speciall calling of god It is not lawfull for vs by lotte to séeke out those thinges that are secret and hydden If any man haue robbed his brother or stollen anye thing in the Citie and the théefe vnknowne it is not lawfull to trye the Citizens by lotte and to apprehende him for the théefe vpon whome the lot chaunceth For as it doth not follow that all dreames are true