from Him and though shee brought Him into the world yet Hee redeemed her out of the world Some out of vanity will call her the Queene of heauen shee is in truth a Saint in heauen shining in heauenly glory more then any Queene or Empresse in earthly here below yet shee is not the Queene of heauen For her Son receiued not his Royalty of her neither hath Hee inuested her with any other Royalty then such as Hee hath bestowed on all whom Hee hath loued and washed from their sinnes whom Hee hath made Kings and Priests to GOD. It is the pleasure of some to call her our Lady a Title which shee knowes belongs not to her though perhaps endowed with greater grace and glory then any other Saint besides For CHRIST IESVS is our onely LORD and hers as well as ours and as Hee receiued not His Lordship from her so Hee hath not bestowed it on her Hee is the onely Head and Husband of the Catholique Church Militant and Triumphant whereof His mother is not a Mistresse but a Member and which hath indeed a LORD but not a Lady This onely will I adde he that speakes or onely thinkes a thought dishonourable of the Mother it is pitty hee should receiue any honour by her SON Of the Incarnation of Christ THE WORD was made Flesh Hee that was true GOD became also true Man without diuision of Person or confusion of Natures assuming that Hee had not and continuing what Hee was Being Creator Hee became a creature that wee creatures might be brought into fauour with our great Creator Being GOD Hee was made Man that what wee had lost by man wee might recouer by Him that was GOD and Man Being GOD Hee tooke the nature of man vpon Him and marryed our flesh vnto His Deity that man which was for his adultery separated frō his GOD might by Him who was truely Flesh be marryed and ioyned anew vnto his GOD. It was miraculous that a Virgin chast shold bring forth a Sonne but not to be doubted of considering Gods Omnipotēce For He that could make the world of nothing Hee that was able to take Adā out of the earth He that could giue Sarah a child in her old age He that made Aarons rod bud He was as able doubtlesse to make the wombe of a virgin fruitfull For with him nothing is impossible if he doe but speake the word it is done It is strange that God should bee man that a virgine should be a mother that the mother should bee daughter to her owne sonne and that a mortall and weake woman should conceiue bring forth the immortall and Almighty God But let vs turne vp our eyes to God and grant that he is able to doe that which wee are not able fully to comprehend In things of wonder we must ascribe the reason of worke to the power of the worker In a word our Sauiour by his Incarnation hath honoured both sexes Mans in taking of his shape and Womans by being conceiued borne brought vp by a Woman And so amends hath beene made in that Sexe For as a Woman brought sinne into to the world so a Woman also brought forth and brought vp that SAVIOVR by whom alone wee are deliuered from our sinnes As by a Woman came Sinne Sicknesse Sorrow Bondage Errour Death So in a Woman came a Sauiour for Sinners a Physitian for the Sicke a Comforter of the Heauy-hearted a Redeemer for Captiues a Guide for Straglers and euen Light and Life it selfe for them that sit in darknesse and in the shadowe of Death Of Miracles A Miracle is some extraordinary thing done by the power of God aboue the course of nature such as was the creatio of the world of nothing the diuiding of the red sea the standing of the Sunne in the dayes of Iosua the Mother-hood of that vntouched Maiden the turning of Water into Wine and such like Some things may bee aboue nature as the conuersion of a sinner or true saith in Christ which is aboue created and corrupted nature and yet no miracle being common ordinary and vsuall in the Church Some things are strange and wonderfull yet no miracles because there are naturall causes of them though perhappes not certainly discerned alwayes nor of all as Comets Earth quakes Eclipses excepting that Eclipse of the Sunne at the Crucifixion of Christ which to see it was ashamed and amazed so it is maruailous but not miraculous that the Crocodile should eate and not moue his neatheriaw that the Salamander should indure the fire vnburnt that Pismires shold prouide for Winter that the King amongst the Bees should onely want a sting that a Worme should worke out Silke and that a Spider should draw a Webbe out of his owne bowels to intangle the Flies with Furthermore some things are strange and beyond nature yet not miraculous not truely miracles because they are done by the power and assistance of the Diuell as are many things said and done by such are possessed of Diuels Miracles were wrought in the Primitiue Church very often till the Christian Faith was sufficiently confirmed but now hauing beene so aboundantly confirmed so generally beleeued hee were himself a very wonderment that will not now beleeue it without a wonder And because that Antichrist shall come with his lying wonders that is either not true but appearing to bee true or truely tending to maintaine his lies and errors therefore we must take heed of wonders that we be not by new wonders misled and drawne away from the old way For his wonders serue not to confirme the faith but to try the faithfull This is a Lesson neuer to be forgotten No signe no wonder no miracle must withdraw vs from Christ and his faith but and if any Man or Angell should preach otherwise then we finde written in the holy Scriptures or shall presume to adde to substract from or to change the faith receiued wee are to hold him as accursed If there arise among you a Prophet or a dreamer of dreames saith Moses and giue thee a signe or a wonder and the signe wonder which he hath told thee come to passe saying Let vs goe after other Gods which thou hast not knowne and let vs serue them What then Thou shalt not quoth he giue eare to the words of the Prophet or dreamer of dreames Why so For the LORD your GOD proueth you to know whether you loue the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soules Of Marriage MArriage is the Coniunction of but one man and but one woman for if it were lawfull to haue two wiues at once our Sauiour would not haue said that hee that puts away his wife except for adultery and marries another commits adultery The Man and his Wife are a matrimoniall Creature the Man is as the soule and the Woman is as the body The Man as Soule is to animate and rule the Woman as body is to be animated and ruled
made Saints dead men are made aliue From it all manner of vertues spring and with it are nourished And were it not for it the whole world and euen the Church it selfe would be worse then a wildernesse and turned into Sodom and Gomorrah But as it is in vaine to sow Seed in the fire aire or water or any where but in the earth which is in the middle of the world and that it may prosper well the ground must be quiet not troubled or tossed nor continually troden on and both it and the seed to be cast into it must be pure and good not mingled or corrupt So it is bootlesse to sow the Word in the eares onely or in the eyes or vnderstanding and memory or indeed any where if not in the heart which is in the midst of a man And that it may thriue and flourish the heart must be quiet and not disturbed or tossed with the stormes and tempests of fleshly passions It must be cleansed of noysome and stinking weeds It must not be troden vnder foote and continually walkt vpon by wordlly cares carnall desires and foolish fansies which keepe a great coile and are alwaies trotting vp and downe in worldings belly-gods and naturall men and the seed must be sowne purely and not mingled with the tares and darnell of heresies and errours A Ship cannot saile without Sea-roome and seed cannot thriue without Earth-roome No more can the Word without Heart-roome If the ground receiue not the seed into it and cherish it and giue it scope to roote it selfe in it the seed cannot prosper and come to perfection So the Word of GOD thriues not except the heart receiue it meekely cherish it louingly and giue it roome to roote it selfe throughly Drunkennesse and gluttony doe drowne this Seed couetousnesse and worldly cares do choke it vnchaste desires do scortch and burne it rage and contumacy repell it hatred and malice pinch and bite it hardnesse of heart and double mindednesse will not suffer it to roote well Euery man would haue his ground good yea what is there that a man would not haue to be good his wife his childe his seruant his friend his fellow his apparell his house his horse his dogge hee would haue all good and shall himselfe be naught Shall the heart which is the onely seed-plot of the Word which is able to saue his soule shall it be euill and suffred to be euill and ouergrowne with euill weedes Why is it that the raine falling and the Sunne shining vpon a well ordered Garden makes it sweete and flourishing but vpon some other peece of ground and it brings out nothing but Mosse and Weedes The fault is in the ground not in the Sunne or Raine So one man is benefited by the Word it takes well and bringeth forth fruites in him and another doth not reap any good by it it proueth not in him by reason of his vncapablenesse and wicked lusts that will not giue way vnto it but makes him to resist it and rebell against it A man may set or sow in our fields whiles wee sleepe or though wee would not But the Minister cannot sow the Word of GOD in our hearts if wee snort in sin if wee bee regardlesse of the Word and will not receiue it Seed may bee pickt out of the ground and eaten of birds whether a man will or no his corne may bee burnt his plants may be stollen or puld vp and broken downe though hee would not But wee and the Word that is sowne or grafted in vs cannot bee separated against our wils our Bibles may bee taken from vs by force but the Word ingrafted in vs cannot bee taken from vs against our will the birds of hell cannot steale it from vs and pick it out except we our selues be willing if euer wee and it do part wee must thanke our selues Seed sowne in the ground after a time comes vp and flourishes for a time but at length it decayes and withers For this is the nature of seed it is partly turned into the ground and turnes the ground partly into it It turnes and is turned it suckes and drawes to it a certaine nurriture out of the ground at length shootes out growes vp and increaseth a certaine space then in processe of time it decayeth and at length dyeth But the Word doth otherwise For the Word being sowne in the heart that entertaines it taketh thriueth comes vp and beareth fruite It is not turned but it turneth the heart It is not corrupted but rather corrupteth and killeth the euill qualities that are within vs It it is no whit turned into man but it rather turnes a man into it and workes him to it will It suckes no nourishment from man but it affoords strength and comfort vnto man and it neuer decayeth of it selfe It dies not neither can it bee by any meanes rooted vp or taken from vs but by our wils Wee yeelding consent thereto If euer it faile and die if it bee parched and dryed vp it is long of vs and not of it There is no plant which time killeth Nature hath appointed it a time to liue and a time to die be the ground neuer so good the yeares neuer so seasonable the heauens neuer so benigne yet it must decay and die But if the Word be planted in a good and honest heart it cannot be rooted out nor perish except the ground proue barren and naught except a man do waxe weary of the Plant vnlesse a man would be ridde of it it will not away but will grow vp with him and will saue his soule by the blessing of GOD. This Seed is at this day scattered in all places amongst vs yet it takes but badly in the most The Seed is good but the ground as it seemes is for the most part naught That is the onely good ground which receiues it gladly giues it free passage willingly and brings sorth the fruites thereof patiently Men neuer more delighted in goodly Gardens and Orchards in variety of fruites and flowers then at this day But without doubt there is none of all their Seedes or Sets comparable to this For this brings fruites of all kindes that are good Fruits of which a man cannot surfet Fruits without which a man is more miserable than a very beast Fruites for the which a man shall bee crowned with life eternall Fruites which themselues are fruitfull one fruite bringeth forth another without the corruption losse or lessening of it selfe And whereas all their feedes are not able to saue the body from death this Seed is able to saue the soule from hell and to giue a man assurance that his dead body also shall be raised vp from death to life Their seeds and their plants and flowers do replenish and beautifie their grounds but this Seed and the fruites there of doe fill and garnish the soule Those if they prosper doe commend the soyle but this if it thriue doth commend the
Whom doth GOD admit into heauen which is not admitted by the Minister into the Church To whom will GOD giue His Sonne for foode to his hungry soule but to him that receiues Him in the Sacrament Whose sinnes are loosed in heauen but hee that is loosed by the Minister on earth Who is wedded vnto CHRIST IESVS as a Virgine but hee that is prepared and fitted for Him by the Minister Or who is receiued of GOD as an holy liuing and accceptable sacrifice but hee that is as it were tyed to the hornes of the Altar and presented of the Priest perfect in IESVS CHRIST And if it happen that a man bee saued without the Ministery of man say it is a rare and extraordinary fauour and a thing whereof no man should dare to presume least by presuming vpon extraordinary grace and contemning the ordinarie meanes a man doe iustly for presuming depriue himselfe of grace as by his negligence hee depriued himselfe of the meanes of grace But yet there are which meanely esteeme of the Priest-hood because they spie vices in Priests But it were wisedome to distinguish betweene a man and his manners betweene a Priest and his vices and equity not to contemne all for some It were better to make much of the euill for them that are good rather then for them that are euill to contemne the good For it is better to do good vnto the euill though vndeserued then to depriue good men of the good which they doe deserue And hee is a very Cham that will blaze or sport at the nakednesse or infirmities of his Father Arise ô LORD and looke vpon Thy Seruants Let Thy Priests bee cloathed with Righteousnesse And praise yee the LORD all ye Seruants of the LORD yee that stand in the house of the LORD Praise the LORD yee sonnes of Aaron Praise the LORD yee house of Leui All yee that serue the LORD praise the LORD Holinesse becommeth His House for euer Of the Scriptures or Word of God THE Scriptures containe sufficient matter for a mans direction to eternall life They are the rule of faith and the measure of good manners Wouldst thou know what to beleeue They will instruct thee Wouldst thou know how to liue They will teach thee Wouldst thou discerne thine errours They will enlighten thee Wouldst thou amend thy life They will perswade thee Wouldst thou finde comfort They will affoord it thee Thou art blind but They are Light Thou art diseased but They are Sound Thou art euill but They are Good Thou art deceitfull but They are Faithfull For thy wants there is in Them a supply for thy superfluities They haue a remedy The ignorance of the Scriptures is the ignorance of CHRIST Neither can hee know GOD that is ignorant of his Word GODS Word a Meate Drinke and Physicke or the soule Yet as these things hurt the body rather then helpe it if they bee not well entertained so is it with the Word Yet the hurt lies not in the Word which is good but in the heart which is naught The Sunne shining vpon a bed of Roses makes it smell well but vpon a dunghill it makes it stinke The fault is not in the Sunne but in the dunghill To some the Word is the sauour of life to others it is the sauour of death the more they heare the worse they are but this is through their owne corruption Raine falling on a medow makes it flourish but on a flint it doth but wet it And water which quencheth fire inflameth lime And such the Word appeareth by reason of the diuerse obiects whereon it worketh The waters of Marah being bitter were made sweete by a Tree throwne into them The waters of Iericho being vnwholesome and the soile sterile were healed and corrected after Elishah had cast his salt into them So are mens hearts amended by the Word applyed to them and of bitter are made sweete of barren fruitfull by the blessing of GOD vpon it And as Ionathan recouered his sight and strength by the hony which hee tasted of in his faintnesse So the children of GOD are comforted and refreshed by the good Word of GOD which they receiue with hunger into their soules This Word is in it selfe the same though it bee not brought by the same men or in the same language to vs as gold is gold whether it be giuen a man in a purse of veluet or a pouch of leather and the selfe-same man may bee clad either in silke or home-spun russet It skils not therefore so much who brings it as if hee bring it Wee will take money out of a slouens hands Elias will eate his meate though a Rauen bring it And thirsty Sampson will take his drinke out of the iaw-bone of an Asse The light is not the worse because it stands vpon a wodden candlesticke nor learning any whit the lesse to bee respected because it is couered vnder a threed-bare gowne Well howsoeuer the Word comes or whosoeuer brings it it shall bee welcome to mee so long as it is the Word of GOD and not the fables of men It is mine appointed food I will receiue it whether it come in a platter of wood or in plate of siluer or whether the Cooke that drest it be vertuous or ill disposed Of Hearers IT is good to take heed not onely what wee heare but how As it is not amisse for a man to consider what he eates and drinkes as in what fashion Some times death is in the pot and poyson mixed in the cup. I would be loath to let venome in at mine eares or let-them swallow poyson And though a man should receiue that that is good if hee receiue it not well it will rather do him hurt then good Euen good food doth sometimes turne to bad humours though the fault bee not in the foode but in the feeder And workes though externally good yet if they bee not well performed will proue but little beneficiall to the worker There are some that like the Athenians haue their eares open onely for nouelties Some come to heare and not to learne some regard delight and not profite and words rather then matter some wil giue a man the hearing but they will beleeue no more thenlikes their humors And many shew themselues Censurers not Schollers Some are pleased with the voyce and delight in great sounds but whatsoeuer the sense be it is not of so great request Yee shall haue many quarrell with the Preacher his speech is plaine his voyce low he hath no good action his wordes stuck like burres in his throate Hee whips his Auditors hee is too full of the Fathers hee meddles too much with Controuersies hee railes vpon the Parish hee is an easy Diuine it was a plaine Sermon hee Preaches nothing but Law or hee is meale-mouthed hee Preaches his hearers a sleepe hee sings Placentia hee is loath to offend Or hee is neuer well but when hee is inueighing hee speakes daggers and hee aimed