suertie for his neighbor in such a case what doth he but hold his brother fast that the vsurer like some wild beast may pray vpō Therfore if thou become suertie for any see whether his cause be good or no. Next if the cause begood see whether he be able to discharge thee or no for who will giue his word y t a begger which goeth frō doore to doore shal giue a 1000. poūd for a purchase except he meaneth to pay it himself If the party be welthy cōsider whether that abūdāce of wealth which he possesseth be his owne or no or whether he came vnto it with a good conscience lest the spoiles of the poore come into thy possession while thou become Suertie perhaps for a theefe or for a vile person And then feare lest the cry of the poore preuaile against both him thee too And know for a certaine that the vengeance of the Almightie doth hang ouer thy house while thou keep in possession the goods of other mē although thou takest them to be his goods As the plague of God hanged ouer the house of Abimelech the king of Gerar for keeping of Abrahams wife though he tooke her but for Abrahams sister and therfore thought it lawful inough for him to keep her And consider againe that some are like the diuell in promising for as hee shewed Christ the kingdomes of the world and said All these will I giue thee if thou wilt fall downe and worship me when indeede he had no right to any part or parcell thereof So it may be some may come to thee or haue thee home and shew thee a great deale more then is his owne and say All this wil I pledge to thee if thou wilt be my Suertie for so much c. whē in truth it is not his to pledge then thou art in the briers Therfore whē thou wouldest enter into Suertiship without any hurt to thy selfe thy family know thy friend wel how able he is in truth to discharge thee Last of all if his cause be good his wealth his owne before God and man then cōsider of his religion that is whether he be a man fearing God or no and one that in trueth without hypocrisie worshippeth God for he that is a stranger or a professor of a strange religion is the greatest stranger in the world and he that is false to God wil hardly be true to men especially to those that are of a contrary religion no more then Hagar and Sarah could dwell quietly in one house togither And yet I deny not out an idolater as Papists c. may and many of them do keepe their word and so do many of the Turkes c. keepe promise better then many others do And this is but Sathans pollicie to credite a bad religion with the shewe of a good life as also to discredite the truth with some shew of euill in the professours of the same so much for thy frends cause abilitie religiō Many men complaine and sorrow for their goods because they are gone from them as Rachel mourned for her children because they were not but they haue more cause to weepe then Rachel had because she lost her children whē she could not keepe them but they through their owne folly haue lost their goods when they might haue kept them still for they were in their owne power as Peter said to Ananias they were no more cōstrained to giue their word thē Ananias was compelled to lie vnto God Amongst men which complaine of their losses by sueriship commonly the burden of their dolefull song is this I will take heede while I liue how and for whom I giue my word againe which in effect is but this much if they had bene well aduised at the first they had done wel enough And so it is indeede that for want of consulting with the word of God it commeth to passe that many in a vaine vaine to be coūted kind hearted I cannot tell what do feed others till they starue themselues they cloth others and goe naked themselues they saue others from drowning and sinke themselues they discharge others and charge themselues they also release others and lie by it themselues what shall I say they doe for others and vndoo themselues like the builders of Noes Arke which prepared for others and perished themselues On the other side it commeth to passe that they which listen to Gods counsell and follow that they lend and borrow not they giue and take not they feast and fast not they redeeme others and come in no bondage themselues yea they doo for others and neuer vndoo themselues but the more they helpe the more they may helpe like the blessed widow of Sarepta whose oile and meale were no whit diminished but rather encreased and yet were daily spent of for the nourishing of Elias and herselfe all hir debts discharged The reason hereof was this if she had bestowed her meale and her oile vppon euerie one that had come without respect of persons to haue bene counted a good fellow or a kind hearted woman as the manner of some is no doubt but all had bene consumed long before but she kept her liberalitie for Elias the Lords Prophet who was in great distresse and could no where else be relieued but at her hands and then she succoured him according to her poore abilitie of loue and conscience for the Lordes sake and therefore the Lord blessed her So let vs do God will likewise blesse vs wouldest thou then giue to others and not want thy selfe wouldest thou redeeme others and be at libertie thy selfe wouldest thou feede others and not starue thy selfe wouldest thou reioice others not mourne thy selfe In a word because the duties of loue are infinit wouldest thou do for others and not vndo thy selfe then giue not to al lend not to all prouide not for all promise not for all lest in the end thou be driuen to pay for all and then be constrained to beg of all not onely thy goods but thy selfe too when thou shalt be shut vp and thrust out from the companie of all but giue to those to whom God hath appointed thee to giue and God will giue it thee againe help those whom God hath sent vnto thee to be relieued and that according to thy abilitie and God will helpe thee againe To conclude this point be thou aduised by thy heauēly father and take counsell of his word and in so doing thou shalt both saue thy selfe and helpe others The sinnes which Gods spirit reproueth in suerties are especially two the one is amibition the other is rashnesse the one begetteth the other when a mās friend commeth vnto him he giueth his word because hee would seeme to be courtous and kind hearted to bepraised of men not considering whether he be able to discharge it or no nor his familie nor
A CAVEAT FOR SVERTIES Two Sermons of Suertiship made in Bristoll by VV. Burton LONDON Printed by Richard Field for Tobie Cooke dwelling in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Tygers-head 1593. ACAVEAT FOR SVERTIES Prou. 6. 1. My sonne if thou be Suerty for thy neighbour and hast stricken hands vvith the straunger 2. Thou art snared vvith the vvordes of thy mouth thou art euen taken vvith the vvordes of thy own mouth 3. Do this novv my sonne and deliuer thy selfe seeing thou art come into the hand of thy neighbour go and humble thy selfe and sollicite thy friends 4. Giue no sleepe to thy eyes nor slumber to thy eye liddes 5. Deliuer thy selfe as a Doe frō the hād of the hunter as a bird from the hande of the fowler THis text is a schoole wherin Suerties are taught to flie such discommodities and annoyaunces as commonly come to Suerties by vndiscretenesse and rashnesse And it may be called the Suerties text because it prouideth for the securitie of Suerties as Suerties prouide for the securitie of others wherein almightie God giueth counsell vnto Suerties as vnto his children which if they follow then are they sure to stand when other are like to fall Therfore as S. Paul saith to Timothy in an other case Take heede to thy selfe to learning and continue therein for in so doing thou shalt saue thy selfe them that heare thee So I say to Suerties take heed to your selues and to your heauenly Fathers counsell and continue therein for in so doing you shall saue both your selues and others The candle that is carried in a lāterne shall light many cādels yet loose no part of his owne light be the winde neuer so boisterous but that candle that is opē to the weather a litle puffe of winde or one drop of raine shal put it out that it can neither giue light to others nor to it selfe So he to whom the word of God is a lanterne a light shall helpe himselfe and others when he that ventureth without it shall put out his owne light and the light of others also Here therefore the Lord doth teach mē to auoide such discommodities and annoyances as many through rashnesse and for want of discretion do fall into for the Lordes people must be a wise people And God would not haue thee to helpe thy neighbour without any care to saue thy selfe for although he hath said Loue thy neighbour as thy selfe yet he neuer said loue thy neighbour better thē thy selfe or loue thy selfe lesse then thy neighbour but loue him as thy selfe that is helpe him and saue thy selfe too or else thou shouldest loue him and hate thy selfe which in the same wordes is condemned For this end and purpose it hath pleased the Lord that dwelleth in the heauens to stoupe downe so low as to take order for our businesse here vpō earth that we following his orders it might go well with vs and our children for euer And this counsell concerning Suerties though it be an oeconomicall thing yet it is not a base thing as some haue thought the spirite of God to occupie himselfe in base matters But by this we may perceiue how carefull the spirite of God is for vs in all things he is become our ouerseer and would keepe vs euen in the smallest things that we are to take in hād He hath giuen vs this warning as if he were an ouerseer of our money and our losses but yet he doth not so much prouide for the benefite of the body as of the soule God hath set down a perfect rule for all things which is able to make the man of God perfect yea he hath vouchsafed to stoupe so low as to come home into euery mans familie and to haue a care of our domesticall affaires that though we care not how we go to worke yet our heauenly Father hath a care that we should walke according to his word which he hath set vp to be a lanterne to our feete and a light vnto our pathes This being true as it is most true we may be bold to lay downe these three conclusions following First that the word of God containeth a perfect rule for the ordering of all our affaires And whatsoeuer is requisite either to be beleeued in matters of doctrine or to be practised in matters of manners either towards God or man is from that fountaine to be drawen and in that schoole most exactly and perfectly taught It teacheth the King to raigne the Iudge to giue iudgemēt the Magistrate to beare rule the subiect to obey The Minister from hence may learne how to preach and the people may learne how to heare Here the Captaine may learne how to pitch his battaile and the common souldier is taught his dutie If thou be a husband here thou mayst learne how to rule thy wife and the wife may see in this glasse how to obey and to please her husbād The word of God hath layd downe most absolute instructions for fathers and children for masters and seruaunts for superiours and inferiours and for all estates In prosperitie and aduersitie in sicknesse and in health in warre in peace in youth in old age in the field at home at bed and at bord in all places and at all times thou mayst here learne how to behaue thy selfe Here is order taken for our eating and drinking for feasting and fasting for sportes and pastimes how to recreat the body and how to solace the minde for the apparell we put on and for the very haire of our head for the gestures of our body and the whole behauiour of our life It hath taken order for buying and selling for borrowing and lēding for giuing taking for finding and loosing there is a rule layd downe in the word of God how to become Suertie and how to escape the daunger of Suertiship here may the man of God be instructed in a word whatsoeuer belongeth to pollicie to ciuilitie or to Christianitie for this life or for the life to come it is most exquisitly most plentifully and most plainly layd downe in the booke of God If thou delightest to read Histories or Chronicles read Gods booke If thou wouldest see the creation of the world and how the same is preserued and the nature of the creatures read Gods booke If thou louest to tell and to heare of famous Kings Captaines of wonderfull battailes and victories of excellent Iudges and Magistrates of renowned Preachers and Prophets of cōstant professours and martyrs peruse the booke of God If thou wouldest see cōmon-wealthes florishing and going to ruine with the causes of both be acquainted with the booke of God If thou wouldest see the Church of God in her infancie and in her riper age in her rags and in her robes clensed and polluted increasing and decreasing with her enemies and her friends be not straunge to the word of God Would any see the
Suertie nor peace could be preserued amongest mē and so much for the first point Now as touching the second point in a word There be diuerse kindes of Suerties for some are Suerties for mens persons that they shalbe forth cōming by a day either to answere such matters as shalbe obiected against them before some Iudge or to receiue such punishment as is already awarded for his misdemeanour In such cases commonly the prison is the best Suerty Some are Suerties for mens debtes and bargaines that they shalbe payd and performed accordingly as they be made and promised Some are Suerties for mens behauiour that it shalbe good honest and peaceable towardes all men in generall or towardes some one especiall partie and towardes his goods and familie and this is cōmōly required of notorious offēders in cases of slandering and quarrelling against a mans person or deprauing of a mās good name lest a mans good name should be more impeached and his credite more hindred then it was before Men in such cases become Suerties for their friendes in hope of their amendement And Suertiship in such cases do more binde a mans toung then the prison can because most men if there be but common ciuilitie in them will forbeare many times for their friendes sake lest they should be endamaged to whō they are so much beholding then for all the extremitie that can be vsed There is no man so wicked but he shall finde some body ready to promise for him as one theefe for another or one bankerupt for another or one beastly person for the honestie of another or one rakehel for another now this it but a mockery as if one should say Aske my fellow if I be theefe or if I be dishonest or if I be not a mā of my word c. And therfore haue Christian lawes well prouided that euery mans word or bond is not to be admitted neither shall all persons and causes passe and repasse vnder Suerties for though some might flie to the hornes of the alter haue the benefite of a priuiledged place yet Ioab the man of bloud shalbe smitten before the alter neither shall the sanctuarie saue his life when he flieth vnto it much lesse shall any Suerties giue their word for him We are all bound to do what we can to winne men to God and to perswade all men vnto holy obedience but to answer vnto God whatsoeuer his law can charge vs withall is a thing which belongeth onely and properly to the Lord Iesus Christ that great Suertie of mankind and so much for the 2. point Now for the lawfulnesse of Suertiship we are to know that it is a dutie both Christian and necessarie and therfore it cannot be vnlawfull That it is a dutie of Christianitie may appeare two wayes first by the rule of charitie secōdly by the exāples of godly men which haue practised the same The rule of charitie we know and that is to do for others as we would be done vnto our selues If therefore Christians would be glad of a Suertie when they are in necessitie then Christians must also when neede requireth do so much for others To become Suertie for mēs persons is no doubt a worke of charity for what if mē be arrested of mallice euill will as many be or what if such extreme actiōs be layd by vnreasonable men vpon thy neighbour as shall make a man afrayde to speake for him as many do or what if such practises be vsed of purpose to discredite thy neighbour in a strange place where he is not knowen shall it not be then lawful to relieue thy neighbour by thy word vntil his cause may be knowē verely if thou wilt not rescue him and shrowde him vnder the shadow of thy wings but let the prison consume his body and wicked men make a pray of his goods thou thy selfe mayst one day come into the like predicament and then thou wilt cōfesse that Suertiship in such a case is a worke of charitie But further what if thy Christian brother be arrested vpon suspition of euill when notwithstanding he is innocent if he go to prison his good name is called into question if he lye in prison his goods go to wracke his health is in hazard his life is in danger both he and his are like to smart for it Now if any man thinke it vnlawfull to giue his neighbour leaue to refresh himselfe and to saue his life his goodes and his good name vnder the shadow of his credite protection of his promise let him imagine himselfe to be the man that is so handled and then he will confesse that Suertiship for mēs persons is a worke of charitie and therefore lawfull But yet further what if thy Christian brother be falsely accused and wrongfully imprisoned as Ioseph was and it is yet vnknowen is it not lawfull nay are we not bound in such a case to redeeme the libertie of our brother with our word or bonds if it may be or what if a man had bene Suertie for Iosephs appearance if his libertie might haue bene obtained shall we say that such a man had sinned God forbid if any thinke so let him know that Iosephs case may one day proue his case and then he will confesse that Suertiship for mens persons is a worke of charitie and therefore lawfull But what if my brother be in debt must either go to prison or finde Suerties for the payment of the debt by a day Surely if he be a Christian he is thy brother how canst thou see thy Christian brother by languishing in prison where he doth onely spend but not get when if he were abroad to worke in his calling he might both helpe himselfe and pay his debtes Imagine that rich Iob were the man when all was gone frō him and he left as naked in the world as he was when he came into the world what if his creditors should then take him by the throate and say pay that thou owest or else put me in sufficient Suerties lest thou go to prison as the manner of many is when they see their debters fall in decay shall we say that he should haue sinned against the law of charitie which is the rule of Christianitie that should haue giuen his word with Iob for the payment of his debt by such a time and in such a reasonable maner as might be agreed vpon If this be not sufficient to perswade thee remember that no man is so high but may be brought low as there is no full sea but hath his ebbing and Iobs case may proue thy case and then thou wilt hold that Suertiship is a dutie both necessarie and Christian and therfore very lawfull But put case that my brother hath offended some body by word or deede and must either finde Suerties for his good behauiour or else go to prison Surely if he be sorie for his offence and if he shall craue
and looketh with a wry mouth But yet they do obiect and say that by the rule of charitie one man ought to beleeue another vpō his word and charitie is not suspitious and the Apostle saith that loue thinketh no euil but iudgeth the best and hopeth the best therfore if one promise payment or if one promise appearance by a day or if one promise amendement of his fault we ought to beleeue him without any further bōds or Suerties And if we do not it is a signe that we suspect his credite or his honestie or that he will not do as he said but will breake promise so deceiue vs and if we thinke so of him then we iudge vncharitably of him for charitie is not suspitious Now for an answer this I say First as charitie is not suspitious without cause so charitie is not blockish and foolish whē there is cause but doth and may learne to iudge of one thing by another Our Sauiour Christ would not commit himselfe vnto the Iewes because he knew what was in mā shall we therefore say that our Sauiour Christ brake the rule of charitie so whē we know what is in men we shall not breake the rule of charitie though we do not commit our selues to the curtesie of all men without the vse of some honest meanes for our safetie Now that which he knew was by his diuine knowledge without any signe or token for he was God and knew the hearts of all men and therefore it is said he needed not that any man should testifie of man for he knew what was in man but he hath taught vs to iudge the tree by the frutes that is to know what is in mā by his wordes and his deedes Secondly I answere that charitie is not suspitious but yet charitie worketh by ordinarie meanes and iudgeth according to the working of meanes when one seeth a smoke he suspecteth presently that there is fire but what saith the Lord Can the blacke more chāge his skinne and the Leopard his spots thē may ye also do good that are accustomed to do euill as if he should say it is impossible Therefore if we see a man that hath accustomed to do euill or that is a common lyer a cōmon cosoner and deceiuer a common barriter a common beast c. Charitie is not suspitious but by the Lordes owne rule we may doubt of his goodnesse and we may suspect his credite and his bonesty c. because he is accustomed to do euill And because the Prophet saith that all men are lyers therefore there is cause of suspitiō in all yea and in our selues too Thirdly I answere that this rule of the Apostle may be returned vpon themselues thus Charitie is not suspitious loue thinketh no euill but iudgeth and hopeth the best Therefore if their brother shall require their word or bonde in time of need and shall promise them that it shall no way be a hinderance vnto them they ought not to deny them for feare that they shall be driuen to answere the debt for if they thinke of their Christian that he will either runne away or suffer the matter to fal vpon the head of his friend then he iudgeth euill and therefore vncharitably of his neighbour doth not according to the rule of loue iudge the best hope the best Last of all to this it may be answered that there ought to be indeede such faithfulnesse such constancie and such vpright and simple hearted dealing amongest men that euery mans word should be as sure as his bonde and the bonds of Suerties with him But it is not so and therefore were bondes and Suerties appointed There ought to be such trustinesse in seruants and children and in all commers and goers to mēs houses that nothing should neede to stād vnder locke and key but there is not therfore lockes and keyes were ordained There ought to be such peace vnitie amōgst men that there should neede no bearing of weapons but there is not therefore weapons are ordained and for this cause were walled Cities strong holdes and all prouision of warre appointed If there were no coueting of other mens goods and hatred of other mens persons what need we haue doores and barres to our houses if there were that peace and loue which ought to be what needed so many lawes and so many lawyers amongst men If Adam had kept his first innocencie and puritie shame had not entred with his transgression and if shame had not come with sinne he might still haue bene naked and neuer haue blushed at his nakednesse but he did not keepe his first innocēcie therfore shame came vpō him and so apparell was ordained to couer his shame withall So that all these meanes which are now appointed for mans honestie for mans safetie and securitie what are they else but badges tokēs of mans shame and dishonestie of mans crueltie trecherie so we see how sinne and deceit brought in Suertiship and Suertiship is a badge of sinne and deceit when man kept not touch with God God would neuer haue had any thing to do with him againe neither would he trust him with any of his creatures except his own sonne Iesus Christ had become Suertie for man And therfore whē mē became trecherous against God no maruell though they be so vnfaithful full of trechery one against an other therfore there is no cause why we should be proude of our suerties but rather take occasion thereby to bewaile that horrible corruption of Adam and all Adams posteritie the very name of a Suertie should humble vs howsoeuer the Lord doth in mercy encline mens hearts vnto men In a word as the theefe hath no cause to be proude of his prison and fetters so hath no man cause to be proude of suertiship but yet that is lawfull to be vsed which must also serue to humble vs and so much for the lawfulnesse of Suertiship THE SECOND SERMON WE haue heard already what Suertiship is how many sortes of Suerties there be and the lawfulnesse of Suertiship as also how selfe-loue doth play her part in those men which do binde themselues from so necessarie and so Christian a duty we will now consider how it commeth to passe that so many men are hindred by it yea and beggered by it as by dayly experience we see in the world then we will see how men in auncient time became Suerties and lastly Gods counsell vnto Suerties for their safetie As touching the first point of these three we are to know that the God of all wisedome and Lord of mercy hath not commanded any thing for the vndoing and destroying of men but whatsoeuer he hath ordained is for the singular benefite and comfort of man but such is our corruption that we abuse all the ordinances of our most gracious God to our owne hinderance and destruction Meates and drinkes were appointed
to sustaine nature but not to surfet nature yet many do surfet of their excessiue eating and drinking and immoderat dieting of themselues Water is appointed for mē to wash themselues in not to drowne themselues yet many foole-hardie men by venturing too far haue bene drowned when by taking heede they might haue bene saued The horse is made to carrie but if he be ouerladen he will sinke downe vnder the burden And so is suertiship a burden which hath made manie to lie downe but that was when the burden was too heauie and themselues were too weake Suertiship is like a deepe water and a mightie streame that hath drowned some carried other some away God knowes whither that they could neuer recouer themselues againe therefore when a man seeth his neighbour in this deepe let him do what he can to helpe him out but so as hee may saue himselfe let him not run in at all aduentures but first feele the bottom as hee goeth lest he be drowned together with his neighbour Zacheus because he is a little man and of a low stature must runne vp into a tree to see Christ as hee passed by when tall men may goe vpon the plaine ground and see him And the child must be carried in his fathers arms amidst the prease if he will see as much as his father but if he will presume to goe vpon the ground aswel as his father a thousand to one but the throng of people will beare him downe and treade vpon him Some men wil by suertiship take vppon them to beare other men when they had more neede to be borne themselues like children Some are as little and as low in credit and welth and abilitie euerie way as Zacheus was in bodily stature and yet they will presume to goe amongst the highest and strongest when they had more neede clime vp into a tree to saue themselues and hereof commeth all their ruine and decay And to speake more plainlie the cause why manie men are impouerished by suertiship is because they are not so carefull and circumspect in giuing their word as they should be Therefore saith Salomon A māvoid of vnderstanding toucheth the hand and is suertie for his neighbour to shew that such matters must not rashly be taken in hand but euerie man must vnderstand what he doth and not promise rashlie and vaingloriouslie we care neither what nor yet for whom Therefore in another place hee saith Take his garment that is suertie for a stranger and take a pledge of him for the stranger as if he were not to be trusted without a pledge that will promise hee care not for whom And he nameth his garment to shew that if a man promise he must performe his promise though it be to his owne hinderance euen to the losse of the garment from his backe which can worst be spared And therefore it standeth Christians in hand which make a consciēce of their word to take great heede both what they promise and for whom they giue their word In all these places the Lords meaning is that we must not so vnaduisedlie as manie doo giue our wordes or passe our promise for such deceiuers as care not whether euer or neuer their debtes be paid and hauing once vnburdened themselues vppon other mens shoulders would neuer trauel or labour to get any thing to pay their debt Therefore when Christians are about to become Suerties for other men they must first sit downe and wisely consider with themselues of these three pointes First thine own abilitie if thou be a single man Secondly the estate and condition of thine owne familie if thou haue one to looke vnto Thirdly the estate and condition of that partie for whom thou art to giue thy word Thy owne abilitie is to be considered for what wise man will vndertake to beare more thē he is able to carry As in vowes to God mē must cōsider whether it be in their power or no to performe that which they vow so in making of promises to men thou must consider whether thou be able to performe that which thou hast promised if it be required at thy hands for when thou doest promise thou must thinke that it may fall vppon thee by one meanes or other Further in regard of thy owne credit it will stand thee in hand to looke to thy owne estate as he that is about to build a house must first sit downe and cast his account whether he be able to finish it or no lest when it is begun it stand still at a staie and so turne to the reproach of the builder Thy owne estate is further to be considered in respect of thy person and in regard of thy profession for if thou be not able to performe that which thou hast promised for an other man then thy person must answere the matter in prison or if the fairest come thou art driuen for feare to keepe thy house or with shame to flie thy countrey which way so euer thou goest be sure that feare care and shame will attend vpon thee And if thou be a yoong man discredite wil hunt thee but if thou be an old man sorrow griefe will surprise thy soule heauinesse will lodge in thy heart vexation of spirit will be sawce to thy meate and many troublesome thoughtes will busie thy head if grace do not preuent them and all these will gnaw vpō thee as a dog vpon a bone vntil thy bones be dried vp and thy health be decaied and thy bodie be consumed thy strength be wasted and thy heart be broken and thy life ended and thy olde age carried with dishonour to the graue and therefore in regard of thy person take heede what thou doest promise lest thou become a murtherer of thy selfe Againe thou must remember that when thy person is arrested thy profession is also arested therewithall Therefore for thy profession sake thou shouldest looke vnto thy selfe lest the name of God be euil spoken of by thy fal as it was by Dauids For what wil the enemy of the Gospell say or rather what will he not say to make the profession thereof to becom odious Is this the man that was so strict precise in all his waies Is this the wisedom of the Gospel is this the life of a professor doth it become a Christian to be so vnaduised or doth rashnesse and vaine glorie beseeme the sonnes of God And surely it is no maruell though religion thriue no better in many which are accounted good men for through their rashnesse foolish kindnesse they are so ouer reached and entangled that afterward their heads are wholly possessed with care partly how to keep credit and partly how to recouer themselues again like the vniust steward in the Gospel that could not tel what to do whē he had wasted his maisters goods to labour some cannot some wil not and to beg some are ashamed And ifthere
be no remedie but either some protection must be procured or some collection must be made for one that is decaied by suertiship workes of charitie no doubt but what infamie and slaunder do fall vnto the Gospell thereby besides the wounding of many a weake conscience who doth not see by daily and woful experience Thus we see how our profession as wel as our person doth earnestly craue this at our hands that we will take heed how and what we do promise The 2. thing that a christian is to consider of before he become suertie is the state of his owne familie ouer which the lord hath made him an ouerseer He is worse then an infidel saith the Apostle and hath denied the faith which will not prouide for his familie that is for his wife for his children and for his seruantes Then what account shalbe made of thē that do whollie defeat their families of their right or shal willingly carelesly put that in hazard which is alreadie prouided for their maintenāce Therfore as S. Paul saith Do good to all men but especially to the houshold of faith So againe he restraneth that doing of good more especially to thy owne houshold because he that doth not good especially to his own houshold hath denied the faith Therefore as Ioseph sent meat to all his brethren so we must help to our power all our brethren both according to the flesh according to the faith but as Beniamins messe had fiue times so much as the rest of his brethren because he loued him best So our care must be for our family fiue times greater then for any body else or else we cannot say that we loue our familie best And whom should a man loue better then his owne wife and children When the famine was in Samaria the womē went to the king with their children in their armes crying most pitifully Helpe O king we perish else Some bread O king we die else Now euerie mā in his own family is as a king whose office is not onely to make lawes for his family but to prouide also all necessaries for the same And when want shal come to whō shall the wife go but to her husband to whom shall the children go but to their father to whō shall the seruant go but to his maister And wil not all of them call cry vnto thee Husband giue vs bread or else we perish shall thy wife say father giue vs meate or else we die shall thy children say Maister giue me my meate drinke and giue me my wages or else I starue or else I must beg shall thy seruant say What a lamentable hearing wil this be but what answere wilt thou giue vnto them whē the woman of Samaria cried vnto the king his answere was Seeing the Lord doth not succour thee how should I helpe thee with the barne or with the wine presse That is seeing God doth deny thee meat and drinke how should I giue it thee but thou canst not say so for God gaue thee things necessarie for thy family but through thy folly rashnesse strangers haue seazed vppon them therefore thou maist say to thy own shame and to their litle comfort O my wife and children seeing as suertiship hath eaten vp me how should I succour you And when that day commeth thou wilt saie that the mā which is brought into the fooles paradise by the allurements of a harlot is in as happy a case as thou art and thou art at as good a staie as he and all one For the lips of a strange woman saith Salomon drop as an hony combe her mouth is more soft then oyle but the foolish man doth not consider that the end of her is bitter as wormewood and sharp as a two edged sword So the lips of a strange man may drop words vpon thee as sweet as hony and his mouth may be more soft then oyle but remember be wel aduised for if thou haue a family thou be not able the ende will be as bitter as wormewood and sharpe as a two edged sword Therefore take now that counsel which is there giuen to that man that is this If rashnesse vainglory do entise thee to be suertie for a straunger or for anie bodie else to thy owne vndoing Keepe thy way farre from them and come not neare the doore of their house lest thou giue thy honour vnto others and thy yeares vnto the cruell lest the straunger should be filled with thy strength thy labours be in the house of a straunger and thou mourne at thy end euen when all is gone and say How haue I wanted I say not hated instruction and my heart despised correction And thus we see how our familie doth also request this at our hands namely that we take great heed both how and for whom we passe our promise The third thing that Christians are to consider of in becomming suerties is the condition and dispositiō of the partie for whom he doth promise for else thou maist be soone ouerreached with counterfet cōpanions as Ioshua was with the Gibeonites who made him beleeue that they had trauelled from a far when indeed they dwelt fast by so some in the world perhaps may make thee beleeue that they are in more need thē they be of purpose to deceiue thee As S. Paul said to Timothy in another case Lay not hāds rashly vpon euery one so I say to thee giue not thy hand rashly to euery one but know him well In the party for whom thou woldest be suerty cōsider 3. things 1. His cause 2. His abilitie 3. His religiō As touching his cause so it be lawful before God and man or else the filthinesse therof wil cleaue vnto thee as the leprosie of Naamā did cleaue to Gehezi And he that vndertaketh for a bad man in a bad matter shalbe suspected to be but litle better thē an accessary vnto it as for example what if two be consenting in euil agreed vpō the price as Iudah Thamar his daughter in law were Iudah promiseth Thamar akid of the goats for the vnlawful vse of her body who shalbe suerty for Iudah to Thamar for the paiment of the goat at the day appointed or what if Iudah wold giue ready mony that Thamar shall meete him in such a place at such a time for such a purpose who shal without suspitiō of a common bawde make promise for such a harlot Again what if a broker bring a gētlemā the vsurer togither for the loue of mony or the price of any fained cōmoditie y e gētlemā the vsurer be agreed for the vsury if he cā find suerties for M. vserer And what if thou be required to come in bonds for thy friend to the vsurer Maist thou knowing the case without checke of cōscience vphold them in sin And he that is
noble actes of God the wonderfull deliuerances of Gods people and the horrible confusion of wicked men let him hearken to the word of God If thou wouldest know thy maker thy redeemer thy sāctifier if thou wouldest know the vanitie the miserie and the wickednesse of the world with the subtilties sleightes of Sathan if thou wouldest know the happinesse the ioyes and felicities of heauen and finde the way thither if thou wouldst know the paines tormēts of hell and how to escape them enquire of Moses and the Prophets and they will tell thee What shall I say for one thing ouer-taketh another in such sort that confusion wil ouerwhelme vs before we can tell what riches are contained in the storehouse of Gods booke for who can sound the depth of a bottomlesse sea but in a word if a man desire to know himselfe throughly within and without in all his affaires betweene God and man let him behold himselfe in the glasse of Gods booke and when we haue so done we will say as the woman of Samaria said whē she had reasoned with the Lord Iesus Be hold one that hath told me all that euer I did and more euē al that euer I should do Therfore let no man maruell what we meane being the Ministers of God to speake of such and such matters or to medle in the businesse and dealings of mē for the word of God doth take order for all our affaires neither wonder who told tales of thee as the king of Aram did for the word doth rifle the hiddē corners of the heart But how are our aduersaries the Papistes deceiued which hold that the word of God doth not containe all things necessarie to the saluation of the elect but ô Lord what spirite of Atheisme and blasphemie doth possesse those men which durst compare Plimes Philosophie with the bookes of Moses Aristotles Ethickes and Politiques with the Prouerbes of Salomō Marcus Aurelius with Marke the Euangelist Marlins Prophesies with the Prophesies of Esay and the rest the eloquence of Cicero or Demostenes with the eloquēce of the holy ghost in the mouths of the Prophets and Apostles and in all the Scriptures or any doctours or fathers before the Doctours and Fathers of the Bible For what is lead to gold what is water to wine what is ignorance to learning what is darknesse to light what is the chaffe to the wheate what is falsehood to truth what is earth to heauen what comparison can there be betweene God and man and so much for that point Secōdly we may learne here that except God doth teach vs direct vs as it were by line by leuell by precept vpō precept by litle and by litle as the Prophet speaketh we know not how to order rightly our common businesse and dayly affaires of this life but we shalbe snared and entangled with our owne words or ouertakē one way or other to our own hinderance so foolish ignorant is man by nature And againe whē we are snared and brought into danger we know not how to helpe our selues except the Lord do teach vs but if he should let vs alone to shift for our selues we would neuer leaue vntill we had wrapped our selues in ten times more danger thē we were in before Adam hauing transgressed will thinke to hide himselfe frō God in the trees of the garden to couer his nakednesse with fig leaues His faulte he will excuse by the fault of another and rather then fayle he will not sticke to lay it vpō God him selfe so foolish was Adam and so are all his posteritie Cain will incurre the vengeance of God by killing of his brother when he hath done he thinkes to saue himselfe by outfacing of the matter but it will not be and so do all Cains brood Saul will disobey Gods cōmaundement like an hypocrite and then like a foole he will say he ment no harme he did it of a good intent and such fooles are we all by nature We are become like foolish marriners which will runne vpon the rockes to auoide the sandes We are become like Sisera who flying for his life will runne into Iaells tent for succour where the nayle and the hammer is prepared for his head and whē he thinketh to take vp his rest and sleepe most soūdly then is he nearest his destruction We are like children and sicke folkes which do desire nothing so much as those things which may hurt them We are become like the Philistines which were most merry when the house was ready to fall vpon their heades We are secure like the men of Laish which mistrusted nothing vntill the children of Dan did smite them with the edge of the sword and burnt their Citie with fire Now if we be so foolish for this life how foolish are we for the life to come we see that except our heauenly father doth direct vs by his counsell as he led Israell by the cloud and warne vs by his messengers as he warned the wisemē by his Angell we know not how to order our commō businesse the affaires of this life much lesse do we know by nature how to serue the Lord our God and how to worship him aright If by all our cunning which we haue by nature we cānot auoide the snares of men how shall we thinke by our naturall wit and cunning to auoide the snares of the deuill if we know not how to get out of bodily dāger without Gods direction how shall we thinke to get out of spiritual dāger without Gods direction for there is no craftinesse like spiritual craftinesse as there was no beast so subtill as the serpent Againe if we cā not of our selues get out of trouble whē we are in trouble how do we thinke of our selues to winde out of the temptations of Sathan except God do teach vs. For all the wayes of sinne are like the wayes of a harlot vvhich are moueable saith Salomō thou canst not know thē that is there is such varietie and store of them to bewitch men that we can neuer know which is which so in the crooked wayes of the deuill there be so many windings and turnings that whē a man is once in he cānot finde the way out againe vntil the Lord do bring him out againe And yet euery one thinketh that he may aduenture vpon any temptation and he shall easily get out againe when he list by his mother wit c. and no maruell for it is the easiest thing in the word for a man to deceiue his owne soule and so much for the 2. point Thirdly we may learne here that almightie God doth not leaue his childrē to thēselues but cōsidering how simple they are by nature he doth take paines to teach them how and which way to helpe themselues in euery action and for this cause hath he set down rules and instructions for all their affaires in
his word Our heauenly Father I say doth not adopt any in Christ Iesus to be his sonnes and daughters and then leaue thē to thēselues to be guided or rather beguiled by the counsell of their owne hearts nor by custome nor by worldly reason nor by the examples of their forefathers in any thing whether it concerneth this life or the life to come for then there were no difference betweene the elect and the reprobate whom God hath deliuered vp vnto a reprobate minde to do those things that are not conuenient because they regarded not to know God But the Lord wil instruct his children in the way which he hath appointed for them and wil guide them with his eye Yea with his counsell he will guide them and afterward receiue them to glory and therefore will he guide them with his counsell that he may receiue them into glory because ordinarily no man is glorified in heauen that is not first sanctified by the word of God vpō earth Therefore doth the Prophet Dauid call the word of God a lanterne to his feete and a light vnto his pathes as if the Lord should go before his children with a candle and a lanterne to guide their feete into the wayes of peace to teach vs that if we were as wise and as holy as Dauid was yet without the discretion of Gods word we do but grope in the darke like the men of Sodome and go we cannot tell whither like the mē of Samaria In another place he calleth the statutes of the Lord his coūsellers as if he knew not what to do without thē And surely so it was for in another place when he was ruled by his owne heart affectiō he saith that he plaied both the foole the beast vntill he went to schoole in the house of God where he learned that holy wisedome which he had not before so that this point is manifest and plaine that God doth not leaue his childrē to themselues in any thing but as a most mercifull father doth teach and instruct them by his word and spirite And therefore who soeuer shall either refuse to be ordered by the same or shal prefer his own wisedome or any mans workes before it or cōpare them with it may iustly suspect himselfe to be none of Gods children vntill he repent for the children of God knowing their owne ignorāce weaknesse euery manner of way are glad to be counselled by their heauenly father But what hath the lord takē order for Suertiship and all other of our worldly businesse and hath he not likewise takē order for his owne businesse will he not leaue vs to our selues in the lesser things wil he leaue vs to our selues in greater matters will he not let vs serue one another otherwise then himselfe hath appointed and will he be content that we shall serue his maiestie otherwise then he hath appointed himselfe Would he giue a paterne and direction to his people for making of the Tabernacle and building of the Tēple to that end that they might do euery thing or any thing thereunto belonging as they listed no surely and therfore he himselfe set down an order for the very vessells for the ashe-pannes the beesomes the flesh-hookes yea and euery pinne about the worke beyōd which paterne they might not go much lesse hath he left his worship vnder the Gospell vnto our discretion and he that is so carefull as that he would not leaue men to themselues and to their own deuises in matters of Suertiship affaires of the world surely he would neuer be so carelesse as to leaue men to themselues in the ordering and gouerning of his Church To conclude he that hath in his word set downe orders for oeconomical matters no doubt but he hath also in his word set downe orders for Ecclesiasticall matters for seeing as he will not allow men to haue more care for the ordering of other mēs houses then their owne farre be it from vs that we should thinke so of the Lord that he would haue greater care for the ordering of our houses then for the gouernement of his owne house which is his Church but as we finde certaine rules and perpetuall directions for the one so shall we finde in the same booke most certaine rules and perpetuall instructiōs for the other if we do not put some thing before our eyes and say we cānot see And so much for this 3. point Now we will come to the matter of Suertiship it selfe My sonne if thou be Suertie for thy neighbour c. Concerning Suertiship we will consider vpon this text of VI points 1. What Suertiship is 2. How many sorts of Suerties there be 3. Whether it be lawfull for Christiās to become Suerties one for another 4. How men in Salomons time became Suerties 5. How men are hindred by Suertiship 6. We will see what counsell God giueth vnto Suerties for their safetie As touching the first point To become a Suertie is nothing else but by word or writing or by pledge to make another sure so farre as man can of that which before he was not sure of or to put a man out of doubt so farre as law and equitie will require for the receiuing or enioying or recouering of some thing whereof he stood in doubt before therefore it is called securitie I reckon pledges amongest Suerties because a pledge is a kinde of Suertie for if the principall do faile the Suertie must answere the debt but when Suerties cānot be gotten then men lay somewhat to pledge that is better or as good as the debt commeth vnto And if the partie faileth the pledge must answere the debt sometime a pledge is layd because the thing is so small that one would be loth to haue his friend come in bandes or giue his word for the same and yet that which is but a smal matter amōgest rich men may be a great matter amōgest poore men And sometimes pledges are vsed in things vnlawful dishonest that is when mē do promise a thing vpō such conditions as they are ashamed to make knowē vnto any as Iudah promised his daughter in law Thamar a kid of the goates vpō cōditiō that he might lye with her but he knew her not well saith Thamar if thou vvilt giue me a pledge till thou send it that is if thou wilt put me in good securitie and that must be by some pledge at this time so he gaue her his signet his cloake and his stasse for a pledge that if the kid came not they must answere the matter And this was such a matter that when she was gone Iudah was ashamed to send after her for his pledge he had rather loose it then to recouer it with so much infamie as he was sure would ensue The end of Suertiship and pledges c. is that all men might haue their owne without which no trade nor traffique nor