table to that that followeth Wherein the repentance of Niniveh is first rough hewen and afterwardes revised and gone over againe with more speciall explication For thus it hangeth togither If you will knowe vvhat the people of Niniveh did vpon this strange and vnexpected newes they doubted nothing either of the word or of his calling that brought it but from the greatest to the least olde and young princes and inferiours all orders and states of men they both beleeved the reporte and became spectacles to God and men and angels of admirable contrition condemning themselues in those two thinges especially whereof the whole world might iustly haue condemned them luxuriousnes of meates and drinkes and costlinesse of garmentes But if you will know their order of proceeding more particularly thus it was 1. Worde came vnto the king as to the most excellent power and authority amongst them 2. the king calleth a councell of the princes and peeres as being the pillars of his governement for where there are many counsellors there is strength 3. the king and his counsaile make an acte touching fasting and praier and renouncement of sinne 4. they cause it to bee proclaimed in manner and forme as afterwarde followeth 5. for encouragemente and example to the rest the Kinge is the first man that humbleth himselfe So that in trueth their soveraigne and liege-Lord is first made privie to their service intended wherein for mine own parte simply to speake my minde as one that must giue accompt what I haue built vpon my maisters foundation whether golde silver hay stubble or the like for both my workes and my words must be tryed by fire though I make no question if the prince shoulde be backewarde and carelesse in the worshippe of God but God must be served and so I would wish it yet in a common cause concerning the weale and well-fare of the whole common wealth where it lyeth vpon all sortes of men alike to doe some extraordinary worship to God as the case of Niniveh heere required I holde it a point of disorder and confusion that the foot should run without the head the people or inferiours doe any thing in publique wherevnto the knowledge and authorizement of the prince is not first had Giue vnto Caesar the thinges that belong to Caesar and giue him this for one amongst the rest if Caesar bee willing and ready to ioine with thee in the honor of God leaue him not out I would not open this gate of libertie to any subiect or people in the worlde with whome Christ and his kingdome are harboured that in a common daunger of a country when God is to bee pacified and the land purdged in generall the private members thereof may enter into the action without the vvarrant of the prince both to commaunde and direct the same If such were the king as Darius was Daniell 6. and such his rulers and officers as woulde make a decree to defraude God of his worshippe that whosoever shoulde make a petition to anie either God or man â—n thirtie daies saue onelie to the kinge shoulde bee cast into the denne of the Lyons then be thou also as Daniell was enter into thine house and open thy vvindowes towardes Ierusalem and pray or enter into the house of God and set open the dores and pray or goe into the corners of the streetes or into the market place or climbe vp to the house toppes and pray stay not till the king or his councel release thee therto and if every haire of thy head were a life redeeme thy dutye to God with adventure and losse thereof rather then neglect it and if thou hap to be alone in that action as Elias was yet forgoe it not But if such be the king as Iosias was or the like and such his Princes and officers as make decrees for the worshippe of God and are more wise then thy selfe to knowe the dandger of the state and as zealous to prevent it whatsoeuer thou doest in private betwixt thy selfe and thine owne spirite thy selfe and thine owne houshold yet gather no open assembly sanctifie no publique fast call not to sacke-cloath and mourning before the magistrate haue decreed it It may be a presumption of thine owne zeale an affectation of singularitye a commending and preaching of thy selfe vnto the people but sure I am it is a censure by consequence and a iudgement vnder hande against the rest of thy brethren that they are over-colde in religion a preiudice against the magistrate that he is to slacke a breach of obedience to the powers that God hath ordained and the mother of Anarchie and confusion which within a christian common wealth must carefully be shunned In many the daungers of our lande both at home and abroade many the members and subiects thereof as if our countrey had no more oratours and there were none to stande in the gappe but themselues haue assembled togither either in townes or in hamlets and sometimes in a private house to fast and pray before the Lorde Their humbling of themselues in such sorte confessing of sinnes offering of their heartes in devout supplication singing of Psalmes prophecying in course from morning till evening as they are plausible exercises in the sight of men so I vvill not saye the contrary but full of Godlinesse and Christianity But vnder correction of better knovvledge and iudgemente I thinke that obedience and loue had beene better then all this sacrifice and that thus to minishe the authority of the magistrate by preventing his decree and controlling as it were his governement and to giue sentence against all the children of the lande besides of negligence and vnmindefulnesse in Gods affaires may more offende then their service or devotion can doe good otherwise Much more seemely it vvere that as the Apostle exhorteth the Corinthians not the one to prevent the other vvhen they come to the supper of the Lorde vvhich is a sacrament of communion and fellowshippe so in a calamitie of the realme when all the iointes thereof are disquieted and haue neede to bee salved and holpen by the saving-health of GOD that all mighte concurre and agree for seeking that remedie that the people might stay for the magistrates magistrates lead the people the prophets preach and denounce the king and his counsaile enact and all put in practise that a whole burnt offering might bee made vnto the Lorde from the highest to the lowest a solemne dedication of every person and state that the land hath And as Ierusalem was commended for her building so we for our praying and fasting a people at vnity within our selues vvhere neither the greatest nor the least are excluded But of the nature of a publique fast hereafter Meane-while the dangerous conclusions that haue and might haue ensued out of this maxime to weete that in matters belonging to God wee are not bounde to expect or respect the magistrate make me the more warie and scrupulous in handling this point
iniquities but bring them not to action As much as to say I knowe that the motion of anger is not in your power but take heede of consenting vnto it Cassiodore expoundeth it thus the blessed Prophet permitted that which is vsual and accustomable vnto man which is to bee angry but forbad that vvhich in anger is sinnefull Others are of opinion that hee rather counsailed that which is naturall allowing it to bee good than permitted that which is vsuall Surely to bee angry is not sinne but in the circumstance wee may offende either in regarde of the obiect vvhich is revendge as if wee desire revendge against him who hath not deserved it or more than hee hath deserved or not holding a lavvefull course therein or not observing the right ende that is if wee bende not our selues to the preservation of iustice and the correction of offences but to execute our malice either in regard of the measure when we are angry over-much For anger is a tyrannicall affection if it bee not stayed with lawes and there is litle oddes betweene it and madnesse And as hardely are they ordered and pacified that are throughly possessed vvith a fitte thereof as men possessed with divels To the measure of affection we may also adde the length of time For anger and a sweete conceite of revendge may so long bee kept in the vessels of our hearts til it waxe eager and sower and bee turned into malice For anger and malice differ but in age as newe and olde wine Chrysostome concludeth vpon the wordes of our Saviour Math. 5. VVhosoever is angry with his brother without a cause c. Qui cum causâ non irascitur peccat Therefore hee that is not angry when there is iust cause sinneth for vnreasonable and supine patience soweth vice nourisheth negligence and inviteth not onely the bad and ill disposed but the good to naughtinesse The iustest cause is the cause of God rather than of man publique rather than private when the gospell of Christ is dishonoured iustice troden vnder foote falshod extolled not when our proper iniuries are pursued For as anger in the former place conceaved is not anger but iudgemente and a simple or advised motion of the will in the vpper part of the soule arising by the prescripte and rule of reason not a suddaine and troublesome passion of the sensitiue and lower part so apprehended in the later place for private and personall grudges whither vniustly or vpon deserte it never findeth toleration in the sight of God Cain was angry with Abell vndeservedly and sinned Esau with Iacob vpon the receipt of iniurie yet sinned Vterque punietur in iusté irascens quia in iusté iustà quia iniuriarum memor Both shal be punished the one for being angry without cause because without the other for cause given because he remembreth wrongs Wherefore the schoole-men and divines to keepe vs within our markes haue distinguished anger into two sortes The one agreeing with the commaundement of GOD and lawfull the other flatly against wis will The former zealous officious grounded vpon cause having both radicem bonam finem bonum as Bucer requireth a good roote and a good end such as the anger of Moses was Exodus the two and thirteeth for the golden calfe that was made when hee avendged the quarrell of GOD vpon a fewe and spared the multitude to shevve that hee hated the sinne loved their persons The other vicious affectionate private lightly accepted forgetting iniuries done to God and proposing to please it selfe as Lamech did Truely Lamech shall be avendged seventy times seven-folde and not regarding so much the offense as desirous that the offendour himselfe may bee rooted not The former of these two a little troubleth the eie of reason as eye-salue at the first causeth smarting and hindereth sight but aftervvardes the eye is cleared and amended thereby the other putteth it quite out By this shorte discourse you perceiue vvhat kinde of anger is not onely allowable but necessarie and requisite in those that are zealously zealous for the LORD of hostes as Elias vvas and cannot abide that his name and honour shoulde take harme vvhat kinde vtterlye condemned the originall vvhereof is in the sandes that is for trifles and gourdes the proceeding rest-lesse till a moate becommeth a beame vvhich difference Augustine noteth betvveene anger and hatred the marke the person not the crime and the end not to amende but to destroye him I conclude therefore with Saint Basile if you vvill bee angry vvithout sinning and shew forth the righte vse of this naturall and lavvefull affection knovve that one is allured to sinne another allureth him Converte your anger against the latter of these tvvo a murtherer of the brethren and the father of lies maligne not the other Irascimui vbi est culpa cui irasci debetatis Bee angrie vvhere there is a faulte that maye beare anger VVhich cannot bee private displeasure but a faulte openlye tendinge to the prophanation of Gods fearefull name pollution of his service and sacramentes a publicke scandalous enormous incorrigible and vnsufferable fault whereby his Christ is dishonoured his good Spirit of grace despighted and the whole congregation or family that is named in heaven and earth wounded blasphemed Be angry with those that are angry with God vpon every light occasion for every crosse wherewith they are tried ready to goe backe to walke no longer with him or if their mouthes be not filled with laughter and pleasure to their heartes desire or their bellies with garlicke and onions and flesh-pots as in the daies of darknes breaking forth into tearmes of highest vndutifulnes what profit haue wee by him Be angry vvith those that are angry with the prophets for prophecying right things vnto them and freeing their soules Be angry with Ionas and your prophets if they goe out of the citty to sit and shadow themselves vnder bowers and preach not and be angry with the citty if it repent not at the preaching of her prophets rather when they have pronounced the threatnings and iudgments of the most High take them to be but fables and like the sayings and doings of the madde man Prov. 26. who casteth fire-brands arrowes and mortall things and then saith Am I not in sport Be angry with dogges who returne continually to their vomit though they have bene purdged ten times And finally to knit vp all in one with the wordes of Ludolphus vpon the fourth Psalme irascimini vitijs diabolo vanit atibur mendacijs vobis ipsis c. Be ye angry with sinnes the devill vanities lies your selves with hearty repentaunce for your former misdeedes and zealous indignation that ever you have fallen into so base and beastly corruption nolite peccare vlteriùs and take heede that you fall not the second time as Ionas did into the same faultes THE XLVIII LECTVRE Cha. 4. ve 10.11 Then said the Lord thou hast had pitty on the
Put and Lubim were her helpers yet was shee carried awaie and vvent into captivitie her young children were broken in pieces at the heade of all the streetes and they cast lots for her noble men and all her mightie men were bounde in chaines The reason holdeth by equality the strength and puissance of No was abased and thy mighte shal be cast downe It was afterward accomplished vpon Niniveh because shee was full of bloud full of lies and robbery a maistres of witchcraftes her multitude vvas slaine and the deade bodies were manie there was no ende of her carkases and they euen stumbled as they went vpon her corpses Mercurius Trismegistus sometime spake to Asclepius of Aegypt after this sort Art thou ignorant O Asclepius that Aegypt is the image of heaven c. And if vvee shall speake more truely our land is the temple of the whole vvorlde and yet the time shall come when Aegypt shall be forsaken and that land which was the seate of the Godhead shal be deprived of religion and left destitute of the presence of the Gods It is written of Tyrus in the three and twentith of Esay that shee was rich with the seede of Nilus that brought her abundance the harvest of the river were her revenewes and shee was a mart of the nations c. Yet the Lord triumpheth and maketh disport at her overthrowe Is this that glorious citie of yours vvhose antiquitie is of auncient daies c who hath decreede this against Tyrus shee that crowned men whose marchants are princes and her chapmen the nobles of the worlde the Lord of hostes hath decreede it to staine the pride of all glory and to bring to contempte all the honorable in the earth It is fallen it is fallen saith the Angell in the Revelation Babilon the great citie having the same title of greatnes that Niniveh hath in this place and is become the habitation of divelles and the hole of all fowle spirites and a cage of every vncleane and hatefull birde though shee had saide in her heart I sit as a Queene I am no widovv and shall see no mourning That everlasting citie of Rome as Ammianus Marcellinus called her shall see the day vvhen the eternity of her name and the immortalitie of her soule vvherewith shee is quickned I meane the supremacie of her prelates aboue Emperours and princes shal be taken from her and as Babilon before mencioned hath left her the inheritaunce of her name so it shall leaue her the inheritaunce of her destruction also and she shal become as other presumptuous cities a dwelling for hedghogs an habitation for owles and vultures thornes shall growe in her palaces and nettles in her strong holdes The lamentations of Ieremie touching the ruine of Ierusalem sometimes the perfection of beauty and the ioy of the whole earth as neare vnto God as the signet vpon his right hand yet afterwardes destroyed as a lodge in a garden that is made but for one night if they can passe by the eares of any man and leaue not lamentation and passion behinde them I will say that his harte is harder then the nether milstone How were her gates sunck to the ground her barres broken the stones of her sanctuary scattered in the corners of every streete her mountaine of Syon so desolate that the very foxes runne vpon it whose strength was such before that the Kinges of the earth and all the inhabitants of the worlde woulde never haue beleeved that the enemy shoulde haue entered into the gates of Ierusalem I now conclude Greatenesse of sinnes will shake the foundations of the greatest cities vpon the earth if their heades stoode amongst the stars iniquitie woulde bring them downe into dust and rubble Multitude of offences vvill minish and consume multitudes of men that although the streets were sowen with the seede of man yet they shal be so scarse that a child may tel them yea the desolation shal be so great that none shall remaine to say to his friend leaue thy fatherlesse children behind thee and I will preserue them aliue and let thy widdowes trust in me The daies can speake and the multitude of yeares can teach vvisdome aske your fathers and they can reporte vnto you that grasse hath growen in the streetes of your cities for want of passengers and a man hath beene as precious as the gold of Ophir as rare almost to bee found as if the grounde of your city had beene the moores and wasts where no man dwelleth One would haue wished a friend more then the treasures of the East to haue kept him company releeved his necessity to haue taken some paines with his vviddowe and Orphanes to haue closed his eies at the time of his death to haue seene him laide forth for buriall and his bones but brought to the graue in peace The arme of the Lorde is not shortned hee that smote you once can smite you the second time hee can visit the sonnes as well as the fathers he is a God both in the mountaines and in the vallies in the former later ages he is able againe to measure the grouÌ„d of your citie with a line of vanity pull downe your houses into the dust of the earth and turne the glory of your dwellings into ploughed feilds onely the feare of his name is your safest refuge righteousnes shal be a stroÌ„ger bulwarke vnto you then if you were walled with bras mercy and iudgment and truth and sobriety and sanctimony of life shall stand with your enemies in the gate repell the vengaÌ„ce of God in the highest streÌ„gth therof And so I come to the 2 generall part wherein we are to consider what Ionas was to doe at Niniveh it is manifested in the wordes following Crâ—e against it Laye not thine hande vpon thy mouth neither drawe in thy breath to thy selfe vvhen the cause of thy maister must bee dealt in Silence can never breake the dead sleepe of Niniveh Softnesse of voice cannot pearce her heavy eares Ordinary speaking hath no proportion with extraordinary transgression Speake and speake to bee heard that when shee heareth of her fall shee may bee wounded with it It was not nowe convenient that Ionas should goe to Niniveh as God came to Elias in a still and softe voyce but rather as a mightie strong winde rending the mountaines and breaking the rockes abasing the highest lookes in Niniveh and tearing the hardest hearte in peeces as an earthquake and fire consuming all her drosse and making her quake with the feare of the iudgementes of God as the trees of the forrest Iericho must bee overthrowne with trumpets and a shout and Niniveh will not yeeld but to a vehement outcry A prophet must arme himselfe I say not with the speare but with the zeale of Phinees when sinne is impudent and cannot blush God cannot endure dallying and trifling in weighty matters The gentle spirit of Eli is not
sufficient to amend children past grace a prophet like Mitio doth but bolster a sinner in his froward waies Hee chargeth his messenger otherwise in the prohecie of Esay Cry aloude spare not lifte vp thy voice like a trumpet shew my people their transgressions and to the house of Iacob their sinnes Much lesse can hee abide flattery and guilefullnes in his busines for cursed be he that doth the worke of the Lorde negligently or rather as the word importeth with deceit Woe vnto them that sowe pillowes vnder mens arme-holes when it is more time to pricke them vp with goades that sell the cause of the Lorde for handfulles of barley and peeces of bread for favour for feare for lucre or any the like worldly respects and vvhen the people committed vnto them shall say vnto their seers see not and to their prophets prophecie not right things loquimini placentia speake pleasinges and leasinges vnto vs prophecie errours are easilie drawen to betray the will of their Lord and to satisfie their humours God hath disclosed his mind in this trechery Behold I wil come against the prophets that steale my word from their neighbours beholde I will come against the prophets that haue sweete tongues that cause my people to erre by their lies and flatteries For then is the word of the Lord stollen and purloined from our brethren when we iustifie the wicked and giue life to the soules that shoulde not liue when we heale the hurtes of Israell with sweete wordes when wee annoint the heads of sinners with precious baulmes vvhose harts we should rather breake with sharpe corrosiues when wee put hony into the sacrifice in steede of salte when vve should frame our song of iudgment and we turne it into a song of mercy when we should mourne to make men lament and vve pipe to make them daunce putting the evill day farre from them and hunting for their praise and acceptation of vs vvith pleasing discourses affected eloquence histrionicall iests rather then graue and divine sentences Hierome gaue an other exhortation to Nepotian Let the teares of thy auditours bee thy prayses And Augustine had a stranger opinion of these applauses and acclamations of men These praises of yours saith he to his hearers do rather offend and endaunger me we suffer them indeed but we tremble when we heare them We cannot promise you such deceitfull handling and battering of the word of God for whether you heare or heare not the prophecie that is brought vnto you yet you shall know that there haue beene prophets amongst you we will not suffer your sinnes to sleepe quietly in your bosomes as Ionas slept in the sides of the shippe but we will rouse them vp if we see your pride your vsury your adulteries your oppressions we wil not only cry them but cry against them lest they cry against vs we will set vp a banner in the name of the Lorde of Hostes and proclaime them in your hearing and if our cry will not helpe we wil leaue you to that cry at midnight vvhen your bodies that sleepe in the dust of the earth and your sinnes that sleepe with your bodies both shall be awaked and receiue their meede at Gods hands we will charme your deafenes vvith the greatest cunning we haue if our charming cannot mooue you wee will sende you to the iudgement seate of God with this writing vpoÌ„ your foreheads Noluerunt incantari They would not be charmed The reason of his crying against Niniveh is this For their wickednes is come vp before me They that are skilfull in the originall obserue that the name of vvickednesse heere vsed importeth the greatest extremity that can be and is not restrained to this or that sinne one of a thousande but is a most absolute and all-sufficient tearme for three transgressions and for fowre as it is in Amos thaâ— is for seuen that is for infinite corruption Whatsoeuer exceedeth modesty and is most contrary to the will of God beyonde all right or reason setled into dregges frozen like yâ—e given over solde to the will of Satan is heere meant vvhere every person in the common wealth is degenerated There is none good no not one and every part in the body soule of man doth his part to lift vp the head of sinne the throate an open sepulchre the tongue vsed to deceit the poison of Aspes vnder the lips the mouth full of cursing and bitternes the feete swift to shed bloud destructioÌ„ calamity in all their waies no knowledge of the way of peace no feare of God before their eies And whether the word hath that power yea or no it skilleth not much to dispute for the words adioined in the text make it plaine without further amplification First it is wickedmesse Secondly it ascendeth Thirdly into the presence of God himselfe Whereby you may perceiue that the wickednesse of Niniveh was not base and shamefast fearefull to advance it selfe but an high kinde of vvickednesse swelling like Iordan aboue his banckes It lay not close in the bottome of the sea nor in the holes of rockes nor in the covert and secrecie of private chambers it had an whorish forhead and could not bee ashamed they declared their sinnes as Sodom they hid them not and as a fountaine casteth out waters so they their malice 1 The phrase heere vsed noteth a greate aggravation of the thing intended So in the sixt of Genesis it is saide that the earth was corrupt before the Lorde and in the tenth of that booke Nimrod was a mightie hunter before the Lord that is the corruptions of the world and the violence of Nimrod vvere so grosse that the Lord coulde not choose but take knowledge of them So it is here said Their vvickednesse is come vp before me It knoweth no end it climbeth like the sun in the morning and passeth the boundes of all moderation it is not enough that the bruite and fame thereof is blowen into the eares of men but it hath filled the earth possesseth the aire lifteth it selfe aboue the stars amongst the angelles of God offereth her filthines and impurity before the throne of his maiesty and if there vvere farther to go such is her boldnesse and shamelesnesse shee would forbeare no place What are there seasons and times when the Lord beholdeth sinne and wickednesse and when hee beholdeth it not hee that made the eie doth hee not see doth Hee slumber or sleepe that keepeth Israell or hath he not torches and cresset light at all times to descrie the deedes of Babylon or is he subiect to that scoffe which Elias gaue Baal It maie bee he sleepeth and must bee awaked or what els is the meaning of that phrase Their vvickednesse is come vp before mee As if there vvere some vvickednesse vvhich came not to his notice Surely besides the increase and propagation of their wickednesse for there is difference betwixt creeping and climbing
of the whole sentence doth amply disclose it 1. But Ionas Ionas was the author writer of this history yet Ionas reporteth the fault in himselfe as if some stranger person without his skin had committed it He forgetteth as it were his owne people and his fathers house and setting affection aside to his owne credite maketh a simple and plaine declaration namely singularly of the transgression of Ionas A wise man by the rule of Salomon in the beginning of his speech will accuse himselfe so doth Ionas not shrowding his head nor running into a bush as Adam did but vvriting his fault in his brow and pointing with his finger at the very transgressor vnder his proper and individual name hee bringeth the accusation Then Ionas arose the party not long since mentioned even the son of Amittai he that immediatly before received the word of the Lord to go to Niniveh let his name be registred and his fault be published to the whole world Ionas arose 2. Arose Will you now see his readines in an evill cause no sooner called but he arose forthwith Hee might haue excused himselfe as Moses did in the 3. and 4. chapters of Exodus when he was called to his burthensome office who am I that I should go to Pharaoh bring the children of Israell out of Aegypt againe O Lord send by the hands of him whome thou shouldest send It hath bene the vse of Gods seruants vvhen they haue found their ability vnmeete to vndergo the duties of their provinces allotted them in modesty humility to withdraw themselues So did Gedeon in the 6. of Iudges For when the Lorde had encouraged him Goe in thy might thou shalt saue Israell out of the handes of the Midianites he aunswered againe Ah my my Lord whereby shall I saue Israell Behold my father is poore in Manasses and I the least in my fathers house Likewise when Samuel asked Saul On whome is all the desire of Israell set Is it not vpon thee and all thy fathers house he returned this answere vnto him Am not I the son of Iemini of the smallest tribe of Israell c. wherefore then speakest thou so to me But Ionas hath no such excuse nor that he is the son of Amittai nor of the least tribe nor of the poorest family nor himselfe the vnfittest of all the rest to be sent to Niniveh but at the first call and summons of the Lord he ariseth vp 3. To flie When he is vp he flieth his driving is as the driving of Iehu the sonne of Nimshi saith the watch-man in the seconde booke of the Kings and the ninth chap. for he driveth as if hee were madde So driveth Ionas as if he had received that postinge commission which the Apostles received Salute no man by the way or rather as if he had vowed a fast with himselfe neither to eate nor drinke till he had frustrated Gods commandement Cyprian wrote to Cornelius of fiue Schismatickes that had taken shipping and sailed to Rome with their mart of lies as if the Lord of heaven who rideth vpon the Cherubins could not overtake them 4. To Tharsis If he had fled to the right place the hast he made had added much to the commendation of his painefulnes God loveth cheerefulnes alacrity in his worke excuses dislike him much The delay that Elizeus made let mee goe kisse my father and those shiftes in the gospel let mee go bury my father or take my leaue of my friends are not admitted in his businesse Paul witnesseth of himselfe in the 1. to the Galathians that when hee was called by the grace of God to preach his sonne amongst the Gentiles immediatly hee communed not with flesh and bloud neither came he againe to Ierusalem but went into Arabia and so forwardes for the execution of that message That vvhich hee did hee did presently and his hast is praise worthy because hee followed the will of the Lorde rather then the motions of fleshe and bloud In this sense it is true that the kingdome of heaven suffereth violence and the violente catch it away A man can never runne too fast that runneth in these waies I will run the waies of thy commaÌ„dementes saith David when thou hast set my hart at liberty Otherwise to run the way of our owne devises is cursus celerrimus praeter viam a swift race besides the way So run saith the Apostle that ye may obtaine run wisely run aright run by the levell and rule of Gods statutes Philosophers hold that if the inferiour spheres were not governed and stayed by the highest the swiftnesse of their motion would quickly fire the world And if the affections of men were not moderated by the guidance of Gods holy spirit it could not be chosen but this litle image of the world would soone be overthrovvne Hast in Ionas was not amisse but there was more hast then good speede in his travell because hee went to the wrong place This is to go I graunt but not with a right foote as the Apostle speaketh in the second to the Galathians The wicked haue their waies but they are crooked and circular endlesse waies as it is noted of them in the 12. Psalme Impij in circuitu ambulant they walke by compasse they walke not towards the marke the price that is set before them and therefore loose both their paines and their recompence they followe their father the Divell in these walkes who testifieth of himselfe in the first of Iob that he had compassed the whole earth These crooked waies are ever applied by the iudgment of Cassiodore to evill manners They shall never come to the rest of the eight day that thus goe wheeling about to no purpoâ—e like the turning of Sampsons mill which when it hath laboured the whole day long is founde at night in the selfe same place where it first began Thus the wicked haue their compassing waies the devil hath his outwaies and by-waies but happy is that man that ordereth his feete in the pathes of Gods commandements Now whether the place here mentioned signifie the sea as the Chaldaik paraphrast and Ierome and others according to the Hebrew name so importing expounde it whose reason is not much amisse that being amazed and at his wits ende more confused in his minde then the windes and waues that draue him he cared not whether hee went so hee walked not with God as Henoch did taking his marke at large and putting him selfe vnto the sea to fall by adventure vpon any country or whether Tharsis were that famous haven-towne of Africke of which wee reade Ezech. 27. They of Tharsis were thy marchantes for the multitude of all riches for silver iron tinne and lead which they brought to the faires the riches wherof may bee esteemed by that report which is made in the 2. of the Chronicles that silver was nothing accounted of in the dayes of Salomon
rusteth in the skabberd of his long sufferance his hands are so fraught with mercy that iudgment is laide aside hath not roome to be spaÌ„ned in them But if he once whet his glittering sword his hand take hold of iudgment then will he doe it The iustice of God goeth slowlye and orderly but for the most parte it recompenceth the slacknesse of iudgment with the heavines therof It is long before he coÌ„meth but but wheÌ„ he coÌ„meth he commeth indeede he coÌ„meth in the cloudes he commeth in a chariot of whirle-wind swifter then the flight of an eagle he commeth to begin and to make an ende he commeth not to giue a second wound for he will fasten the first so sure that there shall bee no neede of a latter punishment There never lived vnrighteous man vpon the face of the vvhole earth that had a sinne in his breast but hee had vengeance attending at his backe waiting perhappes by leasure and following vvith wollen feete but smiting with an arme of iron when the sinne was ripe It was not enough for God to bring Ionas into reproch with straungers and to make him subiect to the checke of vncircumcised lippes wondering and howting at him as at a birde of diverse colours but his iustice yet cryeth giue giue and will not be satisfied with the morsel before thrown but Ionas himselfe must also be cast out The Lorde woulde never haue saide in the booke of Leviticus that the lande should spew out her inhabitantes but that the wicked are as it were the oppression of nature the surcharge and surfet of the stomacke vvithout the avoidaunce of whome shee shall never be eased I come now to the purpose of my speech The daunger was imminent and called vpon the marriners Yelde Ionas or yeeld your selues the sea importunate and woulde not be answered Two irrefragable argumentes the one fighting against the nature and beeing of man vvith whom it is no easie thing to forgoe his interest of life before hee needes must the other expressing the iustice aboue to be vnexorable vnlesse it be satisfied They haue these argumentes before their eies they ponder and peruse them in their heartes yet beholde their compassion their tender regarde to the life of man they are not so hasty as the sea but put it to his conscience What shall vvee doe with thee it standeth not vvith nature and humanity to make thee away Their commendation briefly is that the life of a straunger to them all a straunger of that land which vvas most hatefull vnto them the life of an open and convicted malefactour the onely matter of their woe is so precious vnto them Surely man was made vnto man as Moses was to Aaron in some sense a God for succour and comforte according to the auncient exiled proverbe Homo homini Deus Man vnto man is or should bee a God It is now varied Homo homini lupus Man vnto man is a wolfe The first that was created after Adam which was the woman vvas given him for his helper because the life and welfare of man cannot consist vvithout association but the next that ever was borne by naturall and kindely generation both of father and mother became a destroyer Saint Augustin reporteth of that sentence in the comoedie I am a man I thinke no parte of humanitie impertinent vnto mee that the whole theatre being full of idiotes and vulgar persons gaue applause vnto it it did so naturally touch the affections of them all When Vedius Pollio a Romane at a supper provided for Augustus the Emperour would haue throwne his servant into his fish-ponde where he kept his lampryes because hee had broken a cuppe of christall the Emperour withhelde and controlled him with these wordes A man of what condition soever hee bee if for no other cause yet because hee is a man is more to bee valued than all the cuppes and fish-pooles in the worlde How is mankinde become so degenerate and wilde in that which nature shaped it vnto howe is our golde become so dimme our bloud so stained for now we may rightly complaine with that noble and vertuous Frenchman whome double honour waiteth vpon What is more rare amongst men than to finde a man that is as he interpreteth it amongst men how many beastes are there for want of vsing reason and for not vsing it well how many Devilles Lyons fight not against lyons serpents bite not serpents but soothly the most mischiefe that man sustaineth commeth from man Thou art deceaved saith Seneca if thou givest credit to the lookes of those that meete thee they haue the faces of men the mindes of wilde beastes Surely we haue iustified the madnesse of the most savage and vntractable beastes and steeled our affections with more cruelty and barbarity than ever lyons and serpents could learne in the wildernesse And therfore I blame not David who having his choice of plagues presented vnto him made a present exception to his owne nature and kinde let mee not fall into the handes of man Barbarous and vncivill Christendome we may say in comparison of these barbarous men many whole regions and tractes thereof but singular persons in her best composed partes without number whose harts are so bound confirmed with sinewes of yron that they are no more moved with the life of a man than if a dogge had fallen before them Why should they thinke that the life of an other as fearefull made as ever their owne was as dearely redeemed as tenderlye cherished by the providence of God as serviceably framed for Church or common wealth as carefully nursed in the mothers wombe and by father and mother as painefully brought vp and maintained many yeares togither now to be spilt and ruinated in a minute of time why should they thinke that it beareth not as high a price both with God and man as their owne liues Yet such is the nature of some so fallen from their kind as if rocks had fathered them and they had sucked the dragons in the desert rather than the daughters of men their delight is in nothing so much as in the slaughter of their brethren and the stile of that auncient murtherer whose children they shew themselues to bee is ever in their mouthes Vre seca occîde burne cut kill poison crucifie take no pitty straungers knowne persons olde young men woemen brethren sisters whosoever doth but crosse them with a mistaken worde or wrye countenaunce non in compendium sed occidendi causà occîdunt they will murther vpon every occasion and though they gaine not by their death yet they will kill because they take pleasure in killing whereas the care and charge I saye not of Christian but of civill and well natured people shoulde be parce â—ivium sanguini spare the bloud of citizens or rather spare the bloud of men because they are all kinsmen brethren in the flesh I am amazed to thinke
briers and thornes or if there be anie hearbes they are buried choaked with weedes that no man can see them There are a number within these walles to whome if a man woulde say I will walke in the spirit of falsehood and flatterie another while I will lie vnto you I wil leaue this sowre and vnplausible veine of reprehension cal you to the tabret and harpe and put you in minde of Sabothes and new moones and festival daies I will prophesie vnto you of wine and strong drinke oh this were a prophet fit for this people they are the wordes of Micheas But I rather say for my part as Samuell to the people of Israell God forbid that I should sinne against the Lord and cease praying for you but I will shew you the good and the right way That is He that heareth let him heare and he that leaveth of let him leave of Ezech. 3. Hee that is vnrighteous let him be more vnrighteous and he that is filthy let him be more filthy but he that is righteous let him be righteous still and he that is holy let him be holy still Revel 22. For that was the purpose of my note that as God hath continued a chaine of his graces 1. by predestinating 2. by calling 3. by iustifying 4. by glorifying vs so wee should continue a chaine of our graces towardes him that there may be grace for grace by giving all diligence to ioine vertue with faith and with vertue knowledge and with knowledge temperance not to leave ioyning the other linkes of the chaine there added till our owne bodies and soules come to be disioyned THE XXI LECTVRE Chap. 1. ver 16. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered asacrifice to the Lorde and made vowes VPon the event of their fact in casting Ionas forth I meane the stilnes of the sea I noted before the behaviour of the mariners first in their inward affection the nature wherof was fear the measure great feare the matter or obiect the Lord of hostes then in the outward declaration of their mindes partly by sacrifices in agnition of their present service partly by vowes as an obligation of duety for time to come The beginning to the rest is feare For as Lactantius wisely reasoneth without it there can be no religion That that is not feared is contemned if contemned it cannot be worshipped For which cause it commeth to passe that religion maiestie and honour must needes consist by feare For even the kingdomes of the earth would be dissolved vnlesse this proppe held them vp Therefore the zealous Lord calleth for his tribute and due belonging to his excellencie If I bee amaister where is my feare But of this heretofore The first Mercurie or messenger to publish a broade their feare is their offering of a sacrifice Which whither they presently did at the sea of the remainder of such thinges as were left vnto them or whither vpon their landing or whither their purpose and promise to offer a sacrifice were taken for a performance according to the mind of the Caldaieke paraphrast and others who interpret the wordes thus They offered a sacrifice that is they had an intent and gaue their worde to doe it or whither be meant an inward and spirituall sacrifice of praise and thankesgiving and a contrite heart as Ierome coniectureth it is vnnecessary to dispute seeing the text defineth it not Againe what were the profit of my labour to go about Sion and to tell her turrers to enter the large fielde of sacrifices and to number all the kindes of them Which either the booke of God or other authors haue put downe it were to compell the scripture when it offereth her company a mile to go twaine with me and to stretch it beyonde the line which the holye ghost hath laide forth If any desire to know the causes of sacrifices and to call them by their names let him resort to Carolus Sigonius in his Hebrewe common wealth who from the authority of Philo the Iew handleth this matter at large The materiall pointes indeed to be considered in this worship of theirs are two 1. the antiquity 2. the life soule of a sacrifice It cannot be denied but from the auncientest age of the world in al the nations wherewith it hath been replenished before there was any precept of God expresly to require such forme of devotion there hath ben offering of sacrifices as voluntary religious actes a kinde of sensible homage to testifie the power of some nature superior able to auenge it selfe of dishonour and contempt done and not vnable on the other side to regratifie them with kindenes that sought vnto it Cleo the flattering Sicilian in behalfe of Alexander the greate whome he laboured with vehment perswasions to make a God craved no more of his fellowes but exiguam thuris impensā the bestowing of a litle frankincense as an essential marke to notifie his Godhead The angell bad Manoah in the booke of Iudges when he requested him to stay the dressing of a kidde if hee purposed therewith to make a burnt offering to offer it to the Lorde where it is added immediately that Manoah knewe not that it was an angell of the Lorde a person was meant of meaner condition than to whome a sacrifice belonged Aquinas resolveth vs thus that howsoever the determinatiō of the kinds of sacrifices togither with the circumstances of persons time and place be by the positiue law yet the common receaved acknowledgement that sacrifice must be offered is by the law of nature For what reason can be given of so vniforme a consent of sacrificing in so many sundry languages and manners of men but that everye one groweth after the seede which nature hath sowed in him And therefore in effect they say with the headstrong kings in the Psalme Let vs breake the cordes of nature a sunder and cast her yoke from vs vvho as if the service of GOD vvere inventum humanum the devise of man when they coulde not availe by reason to maister them by religion thinke it as cheape an offence to contemne the maiesty of God as humane authority to deny the rightes of the godhead which they vainely imagin is but imagined as their fealty allegiance to earthly princes Tell such of the iudgments of God and the tormentes of hell you tell them a tale of Cocytus Phlegeton other fabulous inventions of licentious poets Vrdge thē with the verdicte of the scriptures you may better vrdge the history of Herodotus or Lucians true narrations A degenerate generation of men monstrously mishapen in the powers of the soule and transformed from the vse of reason whose iudgment is already past because they beleeve not or rather because they roote vp those maximes and principles of reason which the hand of nature it selfe had planted in thē I take but a little peece of
same meaning yet we may not take theÌ„ for an idle repetitâ—oÌ„ the later of the two rising in degree in some sort giving elucidation to that which went before it And as nature in the body of man hath doubled his eies his eares and other partes that if the one should faile in his office charge the other might supplie the defecte so in the body of this sentence the wisedome of the prophet hath doubled every word that if those of the former ranke faile in their office and message wherevnto they are sent the other in the later might helpe them out For thus mee thinketh they found Is any man desirous to vnderstand my case I was in affliction and that affliction so great as if I had been pinched and thronged in some narrowe roume as if the Lord had hedged aboute mee that I shoulde not get foorth and mured mee vp within hewen stone they are the words of Ieremy to shewe the nature of extreme tribulatioÌ„ If you will know my refuge I weÌ„t vnto the Lord not with a cold carelesse devotioÌ„ nor with a duÌ„be spirit but with as earnest impatient a voice as the affections of my hart could send forth If you will also learne the successe what coÌ„fort speed my crying had the Lord gaue eare and answere vnto it Now in the second clause of my text though neither the order of the partes nor the substaunce of the words disagreeth yet their vertue and power is much more significant For that which he called before tribulation and anguish is now the belly of hell And the cry that he vsed before is now vociferation an other kinde of crie And whereas he said before the Lord hath heard me as one that were farther removed from him now by changing the person he coÌ„meth nearer to his throne of grace delivereth his tale as it were in the eares vnder the eies of the author of his deliverance Thou Lord hast answered me FroÌ„ this difference of stiles that when he speaketh froÌ„ himselfe he vseth greater force of wordes theÌ„ when the history speaketh of him I make this briefe collection that Ionas interpreted aright the afflictions sent of God mistooke not the end why he was chastened For what was the cause of them but to put a sensible liuely feeling into the soule of Ionas that he might see and say in himselfe I am sicke indeed and that his soule refusing all other comfort he might run to the succours of God there to be refreshed God did iustly complaine against Israel in the second of Ieremy I haue smitten their children in vaine they received no correction The prophet in the 5. chap. findeth the same fault Thou hast striken them but they haue not sorrowed thou hast consumed them but they refuse to be corrected they haue made their faces harder then a stone and refuse to returne But what wil be the end of this stupidity blockishnes in appreheÌ„ding the chastisements of God the same which is spoken of Ezec. 16. recessit zelus meus à te my wrath is departed froÌ„ thee I wil cease bee no more angry Wherupon sweet S. Barnard I treÌ„ble at the very hearing of it Now thou perceivest that God is then more angry when he is not angry God keepe me froÌ„ such mercy this pitty is beyonde all wrath Let theÌ„ consider this wel that take the afflictions of God brought vpon theÌ„ as an horse or mule taketh the braÌ„ding of an hote iron which they presently forgeâ— who wheÌ„ they are smitten with sorrow sicknes infamy losses or such like teÌ„ptations are no more moved therwith theÌ„ when they see the wether or winde in the aire chaÌ„ged O Lord they wil not beholde thine high hand but they shall see it If they will not apply it to amendmente of life they shall receiue it to their further iudgement The partes severally to be handled in the present words are these 1. the gravity of his afflictions declared by two metaphors straightnes the belly of hell what effect those afflictions drew froÌ„ him prayer 2. the vehemency of that praier expressed both by the ingemination increment of 2. wordes crying vociferation or outâ—crying 3. the successe of his praier in two other words laide downe and amplified by changing the person he heard thou heardest The first metaphor or translation bewraying his misery vnto vs is angustia narrownes strictnes of roume as it were a little-ease whence I suppose we deriue our english name anguish The reason of this metaphor in afflictions is because the heart countenaÌ„ce at such times indure a kinde of coÌ„pression coartation a shrinking togither are drawne as it were into a lesser roume the spirites not diffusing themselues so freely as when there is occasion of mirth cherefulnes For it is not vnknowne in common experience that laughter dilateth spreadeth the face abrode which sorrow contracteth therefore God promiseth in the 60. of Esay that the heart of the church shall be enlarged that is filled with ioy Or this may be an other cause that in a narrow close roume say for exaÌ„ple the prison of Iohn Baptist or the grate wherein TaÌ„berlaine kept the great Turke there is not that scope and freedome of passage there is not that plenty and variety of necessary helpes as in a larger place Therefore David giveth thankes in the Psalme at his first comming to the kingdome that after he had been chased like a flie from cuntry to cuntry first to Samuell in Ramah then to Abimelech in Nob afterwardes to Achis in Gath sometimes into a caue sometimes into a wildernesse at lengh the Lord had delivered him and set his feete in a large roome The afflictions of Iob you all know how vehmeÌ„t they were he never more kindly expressed theÌ„ then by this translaâ—ioÌ„ in the 7. of his booke Am I a sea or a whale fish that thou keepest mee in warde afterwardes hee expoundeth his meaning that God did try him every moment that hee would never depart from him nor let him alone till he might swallow his spittle downe such were the straightes he was hemd in The like manner of speech he vsed in the 11. He hath put my feete in the stockes looketh narrowlie to al my waies There were enough in this former borowed tearme to shew the affliction of Ionas which by the grace that is vsed in the words seemeth to haue sitten as close to his soule as a garment to his skin or as the entrals of the fish lay to his body wherin as the spaces of groÌ„d which he vsed to walke were stinted abridged him so the pleasure feeedome of his mind solace of his frinds comfort of the lighte of heaven were taken from him but the other without comparison let the worlde be sought through from the vtmost
the thirde was vnto GOD as rawe and vndigested meate which his hearte coulde not brooke His lukenesse and neutralitye of dealing in his service did so much offende him that although he had beene received into some inwarde favour as sustenaunce is taken into the stomacke yet hee is threatned to bee spued vp againe The phrase is some-what infrequent and rare in the scripture yet is it no where vsed but it deserveth wisely and waightily to bee considered In this place to conclude the meaning is that Ionas was not descended into the bellie of the fish to become a pray vnto him but to dwell in a desert and solitarie house for a time as Ieremie wisht him a cotage in the wildernesse and as it were to goe aside and hide himselfe from the anger of the Lord till the storme might be overpast The vvoordes of Micheas doe rightelye expresse my minde heerein I vvill beare the vvrath of the LORDE because I haue sinned against him vntill hee pleade my cause and execute iudgemente for mee Then vvill hee bringe mee foorth to the lighte and I shall see his righteousnesse VVhen thou that arte mine enemie shalt looke vpon it and shame shall cover thee vvhich sayest vnto mee vvhere is the LORD thy God Lastlye the place vvhich received Ionas was the drye lande VVhich noteth a qualitye of the earth commodious and fitte for habitation Hee felte the grounde before vvhen hee went downe to the bottome of the mounetaines and the earth vvas aboute him vvith her barres but he felte not the drie grounde He vvalked not then vpon the face of the earth vvhich is the manner of living soules but vvas vnder the rootes of the mounetaines vvhere hee had not libertye nor power to breath but by speciall providence In the beginning of the creation the vvaters were aboue the earth til the LORDE saide Let the vvaters vnder the heaven bee gathered into one place and let the drie lande appeare and it vvas so According to the vvordes of the Psalmes Hee hath founded it vpon the seas and established it vpon the flovvdes And againe Hee hath stretched out the earth vpon the vvaters for his mercie endureth for ever A straunge kinde of building when others lay the foundations vpon rockes the LORDE vpon the vvaters And yet hee hath so set the earth vpon those pillers that it shall never mooue VVhen thou callest to minde that thou treadest vpon the earth hanging like a ball in the aire and floting in the waters is it not evidente enough vnto thee even by this one argument that there is a God By the confession of all the naturall place of the waters is aboue the earth This at the first they enioyed and after repeated and recovered againe in the over-whelming of the worlde when the LORD for a time delivered them as it were from their bandes and gaue them their voluntarie and naturall passage And at this day there is no doubte but the sea which is the collection of waters lyeth higher than the lande as sea-faring men gather by sensible experimentes and therefore the Psalme saith Thou coveredst it with the deepe as with a garment For as a vesture in the proper vse of it is aboue the bodie that is clothed therewith so is the sea aboue the lande and such a garmente woulde it haue beene vnto the earth but for the providence of GOD towardes vs as the shirte that was made for the muthering of Agamemnon where the heade had no issue out Therefore the Psalme addeth immediately The vvaters woulde stande aboue the mounetaines but at thy rebuke they flee at the voyce of thy thunder they haste away And the mounetaines ascende and the vallies descende to the place which thou haste established for them But thou haste set them a bounde which they shall not passe neither shall they returne to cover the earth The like in the booke of Iob vvhere the phrases are that the LORDE hath established his commaundement vpon the sea though a wilde and vntamed creature and sette barres and doâ—es aboute it and saide Hitherto shalt thou come and no further heere vvill I staie thy prowde waues VVhat from the chambers that are aboue and from the fountaines and sluces that lie beneath howe easie a matter vvere it for the former of all thinges to set open his vvindowes and dammes and every howre of our life to over-runne vs with a newe deluge Nay he hath vvater enough to drowne vs vvithin our owne bodies Hee caâ—â—e there commaunde a full sea of distempered and redundant humors to take our breath from vs. VVee little bethinke our selues howe daylie and continually vvee stande beholding to the goodnesse of GOD for sparinge our liues VVho though hee with holde the forces of those outwarde elementes vvater and fire and the rest that they doe vs no harme yet vvee haue elementes vvithin whereof wee are framed and composed wee haue heate and colde moysture and drought which hee can vse at his pleasure to our owne destruction Let these brethren of one house but withall the fathers and founders as it vvere of our nature fall at variance within vs and they vvill rende our liues a sunder like vvilde boares Howe manye haue beene buryed aliue in the graues of their earthlye and melancholicke imaginations Howe many burned in the flames of pestilent and hote diseases Their bowelles set on fire like an oven their bloude dryed vp their inwardes withered and wasted vvith the violence thereof The vapours and fumes of their owne vicious stomacke as a contagious aire howe manye haue they poysoned and choked vp Finallye howe manye haue beene glutted and overcharged with waters betweene their owne skinne and bones And therefore we must conclude and crye with the Prophet It is the mercie of the LORDE that wee are not consumed both from without and from within because his compassions faile not Hitherto of the myracles the former parte of my promise and the seconde experimente of the ever-flowing mercye of GOD continued towardes Ionas his servaunt O livinge and large fountaine of grace alvvayes drawne yet never dryed vp because it runneth from the breast and is fed with the good pleasure of an infinite and immortall GOD. For what better reason canne bee given of his lovinge affection tovvardes vs than that which Micheas hath in the ende of his prophecie Because mercy pleaseth him VVhat other cause hath induced him not to remooue in haste from the sweete songue of that Prophete to take awaie iniquitie and passe by the transgressions of his heritage not to retaine his anger for ever though for ever deserved but to returne and haue compassion vpon vs to subdue our vnrighteousnesse and cast all our sinnes into the bottome of a sea deeper and farther from his sighte than were these seas of Ionas to perfourme his trueth to Iacob and kindnesse to Abraham accordinge to his othe in auncient time but because
who are converted by the word of faith should no otherwise be confirmed and strengthened than by that only word For our owne partes we cannot worke wonders we cannot call downe lights visions from heaven we must vse such meanes as God hath enabled vs vnto And therein tell mee also by experience If as in former times the Gentiles were confuted by the writings of the Gentiles which is either a parte or at least a preparatiue to conversion for wee must first remooue the preiudices conceaved against the trueth by the philosophy of Plato Trismegistus and others vvhich Iulian a wise but wicked Emperour saw beholde vvee are wonded vvith our owne quilles out of our bookes they take armour vvhich in fighte they vse against vs and therefore made a lawe that the children of the Galilaeans shoulde not reade philosophers nor Poets and as the Iewes in later yeares by the Talmud of the Iewes for proofe whereof I send you to the Truenes of ChristiaÌ„ religion written both in Latin French put into English by as honorable a translator as the author was So in the winning reclaiming of Papistes at this day it bee not an ordinary way to roote vp their errors besides the scriptures of God not onlie by consent of Fathers decisions of Councels but even by principles of philosophy by reason outward sense from the verdict wherof in many questioÌ„s amongst them they are wholy departed In TransubstantiatioÌ„ by name do we not shake coÌ„vince their in extricable absurdities by evidence of sense by that which our hands handle our eie declareth vnto vs by natural demensions which a natural body is subiect vnto by circuÌ„scriptioÌ„ of place collocatioÌ„ in one place at once how vnsensible a thing it is to have accideÌ„ts without their subiect roundnes whitenes the rellish of bread without bread even as the Lord himselfe proved the truth of his body by a truth of philosophy when they tooke him for a spirit touch me handle me see me TaÌ„gere enim tangi nisi corpus nulla potest res for nothing caÌ„ touch or be touched but a true body Is it enough in this coÌ„flict to tel a Papist that Christ is ascended into heaven there must sit til al things be restored doth he not drive thee froÌ„ thine holde put thee to a further replication So do they also in many other questions wherin if we rest vpon scripture alone we shall send them away vnsatisfied because they admit not this iudge without other copartners to sit give sentence alone in the ending of our controversies And therefore they must be vanquished as Basilides Saturninus were in Eusebius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both by written demonstrations and by vnwritten redargutions Is this now to make the pulpit a philosophers schoole or rather the philosophers schoole a foote-stoole to the pulpit and to vse it as a servant to Divinity that it may the better proceede in the necessarye vvorke The histories of the Heathen as lightly as we reckon of them of Moab and Ammon and all the cuntries of Canaan in former times of the Medes Persians auncient Romanes Graecians at this day of the Mores Moscovites Turkes and Tartarians their religion sacrifices manners lawes leagues wars stratagemes and even the wars of HaÌ„niball and Scipio wherin the providence of God mightily wrought and the pollicy of men carefully bestirred it selfe have they nothing in them fit for the vse of the teÌ„ple for the building of Gods house Then why do we traine vp our children in poets orators histories Greekc Latine old new not presently set theÌ„ to the testaments everlastingly keepe theÌ„ in the reading conning of only catechismes if all that elementary learning for so I confesse with Seneca rudimenta sunt non opera they are rudiments beginnings not workes must be wholy forgotten and laide aside in the exercising of an higher calling Or is it a point of wisedome thinke we to season these new vessels when their taste of life to come is especially to be framed with such vnprofitable licour wherof ther is no good vse to be made in riper yeares and at sounder discretion If such were the vanity and no better fruites of these yonger studies when an elder profession and a more settled iudgment hath them in handling let Licinius be cleared of that infamous speech of his in tearming good Letters the poison of a coÌ„moÌ„-wealth let al our bookes be heaped togither burnt in the market-place as those books of curious arts Act. 19 let their barbarous opinion who cry to pull downe schooles vniversities find favour good speed in the wishings of al men But I ever retained til I am better informed wil endevor to maintainea more honorable opinioÌ„ of learning such poore friendship as I am able to lend to the defence of it I wil ever be ready to shew as Ionatha did to David not only in the field where no man seeth it but even to the face of those by whoÌ„ it is most discredited Because I have ever found by my little simple experience that neither the vse of GraÌ„mer in the proprieties of words nor of Logicke in distinguishing ambiguities nor Rhetoricke in following precepts rules of speech nor Philosophy in scaÌ„ning causes their effects nor history in calculating times nor of any of these in many other vses and services could at any time be missing to the mistres Queen of al these arts I meane to the handling of Divinity which is the scieÌ„ce of sciences S. Austin writing against Petilian telleth vs that his adversary sometimes with open mouth and full breath would accuse him for a Logician bring Logicke it selfe to her triall before the people as the mistresse of forgery lying because he shewed some Rhetoricke would note him by the name of Tertullus the orator charge him with the damnable wit of Carneades the Academicke but you must know the reason CuÌ„ ad interrogatum respondere non posset when he was not able to answere the question propounded No doubt it was some great disgrace to that learned father to be blamed for good artes and to beare an obiection and reproach for too much schollership Thus let ignorance ever be able to obiect to the champians of the true church and propugners of the faith of Christ. And because I am falleÌ„ into the testimony of S. Austin let me further acquaint you what hee writeth of this very argument in his 2. booke of christiaÌ„ learning His iudgement is ample plaine that if the philosophers so called especially the Platonickes had spokeÌ„ any truth consonant to our faith we should be so far of from fearing it that we should bereaue them thereof as vniust owners and possessioners apply it to our owne vse For as the Egyptians had not onâ—ly idols burthens
the sight of God speake we in Christ. Againe vvee walke not in craftinesse neither handle vvee the worde of God deceiptfullie but in the declaration of the truth vvee approoue our selues to every mans conscience in the sighte of God Nay to every conscience of men that is bee the conscience good or bad light or darkenesse they shall haue no iust cause against vs. What needeth longer discourse the sonne of God himselfe Ioh. 18. confesseth before Pilate For this cause am I borne and for this cause came I into the vvorlde that I mighte beare vvitnesse vnto the truth For when the truth of God is wronged then the advise of Cyprian taketh place wee must not holde our peace least it begin to savour not of modestie and shamefastnesse but distrust of our cause that wee keepe silence And vvhilst vvee are carelesse to refute false criminations vvee seeme to acknowledge the crime The trueth of Christians is comparably fairer than that Helen of the Greekes and the Martyres of our Church haue foughte more constantly in her quarrell against Sodome than ever those nobles and Princes for Helen against the Troianes There was never prophet true nor false in Israell nor Canaan but tooke it a greate reproach and stayne vnto them to bee toucht with falshood Micheas whome neither the court-like perswasions of the Eunuch that went for him nor the consent of foure hundred prophetes nor the favour of tvvo kings nor danger of his owne heade coulde drawe from the word of God standeth firmely in defence of the trueth Zedechias the false prophet in seeming as earnestly for the trueth likevvise yet these as contrary one to the other as Hiena and the dogge the one saieth goe to Ramoth Gilead and prosper the other sayth if thou returne in saftie the LORDE hath not sent mee The one to expresse it in life and by a visible signe maketh hornes of yron and telleth Ahab vvith these thou shalt push at Aram till thou haste destroyed him the other hath also an Image and a vision whereby to describe it I savv all Israell scattered vpon the mountaines like sheepe that had no shephearde Yet both for the truth Ieremy and Hanany agreeing like fire and vvater the one bidding the king to goe vnto Babylon the other advising the contrary the one sending fetters to the king and the nobles the other pulling the yoke from the necke of Ieremy and saying thus shall the yoke of Babell bee broken the one affirming the other denying yet both are champians for the trueth The devill a lyar and the father of lyes vvho abode not in the trueth because there is no trueth in him vvho vvhen he speaketh a lye speaketh of his ovvne that is his naturall and mother tongue is lying Ioh. 8. yet hee transformeth himselfe into an Angell of lighte therefore it is no greate thinge sayeth the Apostle though his ministers transforme themselues as though they vvere the ministers of righteousnesse vvhose ende shall bee according to their workes Christ is truth indeede Antichrist truth pretended The dayly exclamations of the Donatistes in Africke against the Orthodoxe and sounde beleevers was that they vvere traitours against the holy bookes and themselues the propugners of them Augustine answereth traitours not by conviction but by confiction and false accusation of their enemies Dioscorus crieth out himselfe an heretique in the Councell of Chalcedon I defende the opinions of the holy fathers I haue their testimonies not by snatches or at the seconde hande but vttered in their owne bookes I am cast out vvith the holy fathers as if truth it selfe had beene condemned in the condemnation of Dioscorus So is it at this day the Prophets of BabyloÌ„ though they haue received the marke of the beast in their foreheades that all the worlde may knowe them to bee such yet as Cyprian in his Epistle to Iubaianus wrote of the Novatian heretique that after an apish manner hee taketh vnto him the authority of the Church so these by the like imitation take vnto them the Church trueth Scriptures Fathers all antiquity consent perpetuity vnto the ende of the world and rather than the worlde shall thinke that they deale not truely in defense of truth they spend both conscience and sometime life vpon it O quantum tegmen est falsitatis O howe greate a shew doth falshod make For our owne partes vvho by the grace of God are that wee are put in chardge for the gathering togither of Gods Saintes if we be harmed in our goodes or good names or in the carriage of our liues or in our wiues and children as sometimes the maner is we accompt them our private wronges and easilye may digest them It hath beene done in the greene in all the times that haue beene ever of olde much more in the drie they haue called the maister of the house Belzebub much more those of the housholde We preach not our selues but Christ Iesus the Lorde and our selues your servauntes for Iesus sake and for his sake we will endure it We are fooles for Christs sake and you are wise wee are weake and you are strong you are honourable and we despised Be it so But we will never abide that the honour of Christ Iesus himselfe shal be wounded through our loines that the rebukes which fall vpon vs shal redound to his disgrace that his gospell and truth shall be defamed the doctrine which we preach discredited our calling reproached which though in vessels of earth yet he hath sanctified and blessed to such a worke I meane the saving of soules as by the pollicy of man all forcible engins could never haue beene coÌ„passed How vsual a thing it is vpon every light surmise not only to chardge vs for false prophets but because we are prophets at al to coÌ„teÌ„ne vs to disdain vs for that wherin we are most to be 〈◊〉 I report me to that common phrase of speech when if men will shooâ—â—oorâ—h arrowes against vs with poisoned heads even bitter sharpe worâ—es they thinke it the greatest ignominy to cal vs Priests or Ministers Herein if the zeale of gods house his holy ordinaÌ„ce coÌ„sume vs if the maintenance of his cause our calling beare vs away make vs forget the spirit of gentlenes for a time let no man blame vs. For is our office dishonored amongst you We tel them whosoever they be as David told Michol who scorned him for dancing before the Arke it was before the Lord which chose me rather than thy father and all his house commaunded mee to be ruler over the people And therefore I will play before the Lord and I will yet be more vile than thus and will bee low in mine owne sighte It is before the Lord that we are Priestes and Ministers to serue in his house and at his table who hath chosen vs rather than their fathers and whole stocke to serue in this office And therefore we will
yet be more vile and low in our owne eies and rather than these names shall die and be out of vse we will weare them vpon our garments and if you were sparing to yeeld them vnto vs we would desire you for Christes sake and as you tender our credite not to tearme vs otherwise The Iewes who thought they mocked Christ vvhen they bowed their knees and cried Haile king of the Iewes they knew not vvhat they did they did him an honour and favour against their willes for he was king of the Iewes and of the Gentiles also whatsoever their meaning is who thinke to nicke-name vs by obiecting these names which we will leaue to the censuring of the righteous Iudge in heaven vve embrace them honour them and heartily thanke God for them and desire that they may be read and published in the eares of the world as the most glorious titles of our commission The Angelles of God are ministring spirites and sent forth to minister for the elects sake Christ Iesus himselfe came to minister not to bee ministred vnto We will therefore say as the Apostle said 2. Cor. 11. Ministri sunt plus ego Are Christ and his Angels and all the Apostles of Christ ministers we speake like fooles in the deeming of the world we also will be ministers of the gospell and if it were possible we would bee more than ministers O honourable ministerie what government rule and dominion is it not superiour vnto I conclude with the same Apostle though I shoulde boast somevvhat more of our authoritie vvhich is given vnto vs for edification and not for destruction I shoulde haue no shame By this discourse it may appeare vnto you if this were a motiue in the minde of Ionas as some both Iewes and Christians conceiue how grievous it seemed vnto him to be held in iealousie for deceipt in his calling that any in the world should be able iustly to taxe him for a false prophet and one that prophecied lies in the name of GOD. Notwithstanding the matter is quickely aunswered For whatsoever the event had beene the voice of the Lorde was in reason to haue beene obeyed 1. It was no new thing to be so accompted of it was the portion of Moses and Samuell and Elias before him and thence-forth as many as ever spake vnto the daies of Iohn Baptist which came with the spirit of Elias they haue drunke of the same cuppe and not onely the servauntes but the sonne and heire hath beene dealt with in like manner A Prophet is not without honour saue in his owne countrey Ionas might haue said to himselfe as Elias in another case I am no better than my fathers Thus were we borne and ordained to approoue our selues in all kinde of patience by honour and dishonour by good reporte and evill reporte as deceavers and yet beholde vvee are true and deceiue not The world was never more fortunate for prophets than thus to reward them flatterers may breake the heades of men with their smooth oiles but the woundes that prophets giue haue never escaped the hardest iudgements 2. Why should Ionas feare the opinion of men his duty being done the very conscience of his fact simply and truely performed would haue beene a towre of defence and a castle vnto him It is a verie small thinge for me to be iudged of you or of mans iudgemente for I knowe nothinge by my selfe c. Hee doth not say It is nothing vnto mee but it is a very small thing I esteeme my name somevvhat but I stande more vpon my conscience This is our reioycing the testimony of our conscience that in simplicitie and puritie vvee haue beene conversant in the vvorlde VVhen the princes had given sentence vpon Ieremy this man is vvorthie to die hee aunswered them the Lorde hath sent mee to prophecy against this house therefore amende your vvaies that the Lorde may repente him of the plague vvhich hee hath pronounced against you as for mee beholde I am in your handes doe vvith mee as you please but knovve yee for certainty that if you put mee to death you shall bring innocent bloude vpon your selues for of a trueth the Lorde hath sent mee vnto you to speake all these wordes in your eares This is the brasen wall the soundnes of the cause and the assurance of the conscience which all the malignant tongues cannot pearse through Let the worlde be offended with vs in these latest and sinnefullest times because the tenour of our message is either to sharpe or to sweete to hote or to colde for it can hardelie bee such as may please this way-warde wotld let Satan accuse vs before God and man daie and night yet if wee can say for our selues as the Apostle did Rom. 9. Wee speake the trueth in Christ wee lie not our consciences bearing vs witnes in the holy Ghost who is not onlye the witnesse but the guide and inspirer of our consciences it is a greater recompence than if al the kingdomes of the earth were given vnto vs. 3. He coulde not bee ignoraunt that the truth of God mighte stande though the event followed not because many of the iudgementes of God as I haue else-where said are denoūced with condition In the place of Ieremy before mentioned when the priestes and people so greedily thirsted after his death some of the elders stoode vp and spake to the assembly in this sort Micah the Morashite prophecied in the daies of Hezekiah king of Iuda saying thus saith the Lord of hostes Sion shal bee ploughed like a fielde c. Did Hezekiah put him to death did hee not rather feare the Lorde and prayed before the Lorde and the Lorde repented him of the plague thus vvee mighte procure greate evill against our selues You know the collection those elders make that the iudgement vvas conditional and vpon their vnfeigned repentaunce mighte bee otherwise interpreted Thus much Ionas vvas not to learne for why did he knovv that God vvas a mercifull God but to shew the effects of mercy and the Ninivites themselues had an happye presumption thereof as appeareth by their former speech 4. He was not to stay longe in Assyria if hee had suspected their suspicions Lastly there was no such thinge to bee feared for by that publique acte of conversion which all the orders and states of the citty agreed vpon it is manifest that they received the preaching of Ionas as the oracle of almightie God they beleeved God and his Prophet as the children of Israell 1. Sam. 12. feared the Lorde and Samuell exceedinglie For what greater argument touching their good and reverente opinion of Ionas coulde they giue than their speedy and hearty repentance whereby they assured him that they esteemed not his vvorde as a fable or as a iestinge songe but as a man sent from God and fallen downe from heaven bringing a two edged sworde in his lippes either to kill or to saue so they received him And