the earth Most miserable then is the estate and condition of a people or a land when the sinnes of that people or land become to be crying sinnes for in vaine is it for a people or a land to cry for mercy vnto God wheÌ„ their sins cry for vengeance In vaine doest thou hold vp thine hands or lift vp thine eyes to y e heauens for fauor when thy sins with their cry haue sollicited against thée for iudgement When Ziba hath once accused Mephibosheth vnto Dauid it is in vaine for Mephibosheth to excuse himselfe so if thou hast practised sin so long that it now beginnes to cry vnto heauen God that is in heaueÌ„ wil heare the cry thereof he will send downe some strange punishment or other vpon thée to destroy thée As Abigail therfore preuented the wrath of Dauid by méeting him before he came at her husband so preuent thou the cry of thy sins méete God with thy repentance before the cry of thy sinnes bring him downe to take vengeance vpoÌ„ thée cry thou for mercy before thy sins cry for iudgement stop the mouth of thy sins with contrition sorrow stil their cry with repentance amendment of life as Pharaoh dealt w t the children of the Israelites in Egypt so deale thou with thy sins kil them in the birth neuer let theÌ„ trouble the house with their cry so shalt y u find God mercifull vnto thée the heauens fauorable vnto thée otherwise if thy sins send their cryes before thée into heauen look for some fearefull iudgemeÌ„t froÌ„ heauen to light vpoÌ„ thée The fourth thing we are to obserue in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is the generality of the destruction Wherein we are to consider 3. things First that the whole countrey was destroyed Secondly the whole people man woman and child old and young were all taken away in this iudgement Thirdly all that grew vpon the earth which Tremelius calls foetum terrae the brood of the earth whatsoeuer the earth brought foorth or nourished was all destroyed in the destruction of these cities Concerning the countrey we are to consider it in two respects First in regard of the largenesse and greatnesse of the countrey and secondly in regard of the excellency of the countrey The largenesse of the countrey may be considered either in the number of cities which it contained or in respect of the scite and circuite of the soyle within the compasse and territories whereof it was bounded Concerning the greatnes of this country in respect of y e cities thereof Moses describeth them to be fiue Sodom Gomorrha Admah Zeboim Zoar which was also called Bela of these fiue cities foure were ouerthrowne in this iudgement of fire and brimstone as you may read Deut. 29.23 for Zoar was preserued at the entreaty of Lot And the cause why Sodom Gomorrha are onely named in this place which we haue now in hand is because these were the chiefe cities of this countrey more populous then the rest more abounding in wealth and more abominable in their sinnes The first thing then which we are to consider concerning the generality of this destructioÌ„ is that not villages but cities not one or 2. cities but 4. cities not 4. poore base beggerly cities but foure great populous rich cities were ouerthrowne in this fearefull ouerthrow executed w t fire brimstone The second thing to be considered in the largenesse of this countrey is the scite and circuite of it which was as Pliny reporteth one hundred miles in length 25. miles in bredth But Iosephus whose report is thought more true and certaine describeth this countrey to bée but thréescore and twelue miles long ninetéene miles broad Whereby we gather that not a fewe fields or acres of ground not a small parcel or quantity of ground but a large country was ouerthrowne in this destruction Concerning the excellency of this countrey Moses sets it foorth vnto vs Gen. 13.10 by comparing it to the Garden of God or to that part of the land of Egypt which is watered with the ouerflowing streames of the riuer Nilus so that out of all question this countrey of Sodom Gomorrah was a most goodly countrey fertil pleasant delightfull for as Paradise was watered with the swéete fresh wholsome waters of Euphrates Egypt with y e faire soft sliding streames of Nilus so this land of Sodom lying aloÌ„gst the ouerflowing banks of IordeÌ„ might wel be compared to either of them for all â—ind of riches pleasures and delights And surely the sins of this countrey declare that it was a goodly rich pleasant countrey for as it is in the prophecy of Ezechiel the sins of this country were pride fulnes of bread and abundance of idlenes The pride of this people shewed their riches their fulnesse of bread the fruitfulnesse and fertilitie of the soyle and the abundance of idlenes in this people shewed the pleasures and delights of the countrey but how populous soeuer this countrey was by reason of the cities that were in it how large and great soeuer this countrey was in respect of the soyle and circuit of it how rich fruitfull and pleasant soeuer this countrey was the Lord ouerthrew those cities and al the plaine euen the whole countrey with fire and brimstone so that it is now as vnpleasant as euer it was pleasant for there arise such filthy and foggy vapours and mists out of the ground as none is able to abide the smell of them and as Borchardus reporteth the neighbour mountaines are made barren with the contagion thereof and how fruitfull soeuer it was before the desolation of it vndoubtedly it is now as fruitles and barren the waters are so bitter and vnsauoury that nothing liues in them for if any fish doe happen to fal into the waters of this country out of the riuer Iordan by reason of the inundation of y e said ryuer they dye presently no grasse growes in the countrey Trées there be which beare fruite which outwardly séemeth very faire but within y e rine there is nothing but dust ashes And lastly this countrey is now as desolate as euer it was beautiful and goodly for there is not a man inhabiting there no creature abiding there not a cottage or a houell standing in all the countrey for the Lord destroyed all the cities and al the whole countrey with fire and brimstone FroÌ„ whence we for our instruction may learne and know that when Almighty God takes vengeance vpon any land or countrey for sinne he respects neither greatnesse nor excellency nor goodlinesse nor beauty nor any other outward thing whatsoeuer A fruitfull land maketh hée barren a populous countrey makes he waste a beautifull countrey makes he desolate and all this he doth for the sinne of the people that dwell therein Though Babylon sit as a Quéene and saith she is no widow neither shall sée any
hard and vnmercifull dealing Then shall they haue as much torments as euer they had pleasure and as little comfort as euer they had mercie depart they must from the presence and fauour of God for euermore If vnmerciful and vncharitable persons would but think of such a day of such a spéech of such a departure and of such a fire they would distribute and giue to the poore they would make friends of their vnrighteous Mammon that in the world to come they might be receiued into euerlasting habitations and not thrust into euerlasting fire The last sinne of Sodom was that vnnaturall sinne which taking the name of that citie hath carried it euer since and is called Sodomy In speaking whereof I will follow the aduice of Simmachus who saith that it is the safest not once to name it Paul had not knowne what lust meant but that the Law said Thou shalt not lust So that sinne tooke occasion by the Law to worke concupiscence in Paul So if I should discourse of this sinne you might haply say vnto mee Wée had not knowne what this sin meant if you had not taught vs. Therefore Solō would not make any law against parricide lest whiles he went about to represse it by law hee should teach it rather So if I should lay open this sinne at large I should rather teach the world it then doe any thing else I will therefore passe it ouer in silence as not worthy once to be named Thus haue we heard the destruction of Sodom and the sinnes of Sodom which were the cause of her destruction and now it remaines that wee compare the sinnes of Sodom and the sinnes of England together For if we find our sins to be as great as the sinnes of Sodom we haue iust cause to expect some such like fearefull iudgement to bee inflicted vpon vs as was vpon that Citie people and countrie And first concerning the sin of pride it is notorious that we of England are no whit inferiour to those of Sodom in this sinne For whether we consider pride as it is the botch of Nobilitie Honour or the leprosie of riches or the bile of apparell or the scourge of authoritie or the madnes of building or the bane of good learning certayne it is that pride was neuer at such an height as it is amongst vs in this age The Noble man will not be reproued the rich man must not be mated y e gay coate must be honored authority will not yéelde sumptuous building must looke ouer the whole country and learning makes vs swell aboue the banks of modesty and sobriety So euery one thinks better of himselfe then of others and euery one in the height of their pride scorneth another and herevpon comes those dissensions oppositions contentions diuisions enuy emulation amongst vs for as Deborah sung of Ruben so may we sing of our selues The diuisions of England are great thoughts of heart Aske the poore country Farmer wherevpon it is that such vnreasonable fines are exacted of him why his rents are so rackt and enhaunst and hee will tell thee it is to maintaine the pride of his Land-lord Land-lady Hospitalitie charitie patience humilitie almost all vertue both diuine and morall are by pride exiled and banished this land The subiect is like the Prince the seruant like the master the maid like the mistresse and such a confusion and disorder hath pride brought into this land that euery one hath forgottē their duetie calling and condition The faces of the Elders are not had in honor that ancient reuerence which sometime was giuen to the sacred calling of the Clergie pride hath now turned into great contempt deuotion is scorned we giue nothing for pride perswades vs that all is too little for our selues We forgiue nothing for our pride still prouokes vs to crueltie and reuenge That humble homely habite which kings in former times haue vsed in their apparell is now of euery base vnthrift and prodigall companion scorned Those frugall fashions course stuffes both for woofe and workemanship which ancient times delighted in are now turned into veluets and silks of most strange and hellish deuices The pride and profusion in apparell together with the fashions and inuentions which are vsuall in England were not once heard of in Sodom in the day of her iniquitie Our women as soone as they rise put on a Pedlers pack vpon their backs they paint their faces pinne their ruffes frizzle their haire then their dayes work is done Many there be whose apparell is more worth then all their estate beside and very few there be but their apparell is better then themselues Our Sauiour Christ noted the rich gluttō for that he was clothed in purple fine linnen but how many may he brand with y e mark of his heauy displeasure which amōgst vs go as braue as he euery day O that lawes could redresse y e pride of England shame suppresse it or preaching breake the neck of it but all men women haue so generally taken it vp that neyther lawes shame nor preaching can take it away There is nothing that hath vndone Gentlemen men of other ranck so much as pride and profusion Neyther are we euer to expect or looke for happy good dayes till such time as authority deuise some meanes to purge out of the body of this Realme the superfluous humour of this sinne for it confounds all consumes all vndoes all Thus by wofull experience we haue foūd our pride to be growne to the highest pitch so that the pride of Sodom could not excéede it Now in the second place we are to compare the excesse in meate drinke which was in Sodom to that of our countrey of England of whom it may be truely sayd that we build houses as though we should neuer dye and we eate and drinke as though we should dye to morow The very creatures cry out vpon vs for this sinne because we abuse them and kill them not for our necessity onely but also for our excesse and riot we kill them not to eate onely but to eate them deliciously and intemperately Our fasting dayes are despised and we estéeme it a poynt of superstitious Popery to obserue dayes and abstayne from meats The Church in the time of Saint Ambrose condenmed y e Iouianists for heretikes because they called fasting delirium a mockery or madnes And haue not we them amongst vs at this day that hold fasting to be superstitiō And although in former times the time of Lent was approued and commaunded by nine seueral Councels and Synodes besides the Canon of the Apostles commaunding the same yet we making a God of our bellies do without any difference serue the beastly desires of the same And although authority hath taken order often to restraine this our excesse in eating and drinking yet when did wee pull one dish from our tables or withhold one morsel
causes and in respect of our selues it extinguisheth the feare of God in vs it hinders our repentance and conuersion vnto God it drawes vs to Atheisme and to a flat contempt both of God and his Iudgements Pharaoh was not mooued with all the miracles that Moses Aaron could doe so long as hée saw his Sorcerers could doe the same because he attributed whatsoeuer was in those miracles to Art and Nature and not to the power of God The beasts of the field doe not tremble at the braying of an Asse but they are horrible afraid at the roaring of a Lyon So we tremble not we are nothing afraid we are not mooued with any thing be it neuer so strange so long as we are perswaded it comes from naturall causes but when we acknowledge the hand of God in such things as befall vs this bréeds in vs a feare of his Maiestie and we are the sooner mooued to repentance and amendment of life Origen is very bitter against these starre-gazing Naturalists and sayth of them that Dum alias stellas beneficas alias maleficas faciunt os suum in coelum aperiuno Whiles they make some Planets beneuolent and some maleuolent they open their mouth against heauen it selfe And that ancient Counsell of Toledo holden in the foure hundreth yéere after Christ decréed thus against them Si quis Mathesi aut Astrologiae existimat credendum Anathema sit Let him be accursed y t thinks there is any credit to be giuen to Astrology or Mathematisme What comfort I pray you can any man haue to thinke y t the Planets are the causes of such things as happen in the world Admit the Planets could hurt vs can they heale vs when they haue hurt vs can they relieue vs when they haue plagued vs can they helpe vs when they haue crost vs That man therefore must néeds be comfortles in his afflictions that attributes the cause of them to the influence of the Starres or to Fortune or to necessity or to any other secondary cause whatsoeuer But as the Lord Iehouah did execute this terrible iudgement vpon Sodom and Gomorrha by the Lord Christ so we must confesse and acknowledge that it is God and not Nature the Almighty and not the Planets the Lord of heauen and earth and not Lady Fortune that is the cause of all such things as happen here in the world whether they be particular or generall whether they be cursings or blessings safety or destruction losse or gaine iudgements or mercies prosperity or aduersity This doth the Almighty himselfe witnes of himselfe Esay 45.7 I make peace and I make euill And the Prophet Amos affirmeth the same thing of God Is there any euill in the City and the Lord hath not done it sayth the Prophet Both which places do pregnantly proue vnto vs that whether it be good or euill that happeneth vnto vs God is the Author of it and it commeth from him as the true and onely cause thereof Therefore the Prophet Ieremy demaunds this Question of these that do so curiously obserue the rules of Nature Can the heauens giue showres is it not thou O Lord our God saith the Prophet God being the God of nature ouer-rules nature he calleth the starres by their names and therefore disposeth them at his pleasure guides the Planets after his will Let vs not therefore employ our studyes in such vaine Arts which haue no certainty in them Let vs not beléeue nor consent nor consult with the rules therof for as Hierome well saith such Arts and the professours practisers and inquirers after the same doe more harme in a citie then fire And therefore the Councell of Venice holden in the foure hundred and sixtieth yéere after Christ decréed that if any man did study Astrologie or gaue credit to any such as did studie that Art if he were a minister he should be depriued whatsoeuer he were he should be excommunicate For indéede these inferiour though celestiall creatures were made to serue man and not to rule man Let vs not therefore obserue them attribute any thing vnto them feare them nor consult with them for thereby we prooue both iniurious to God to our selues to the creatures But this is our wisdome to follow the counsel of the prophet which is acknowledge the rod who hath appointed it when any crosse affliction iudgement losse or tribulation doth befall vs we must confesse acknowledge that by our sins we haue iustly deserued the same in the second place we must confesse acknowledge that God hath appointed ordeined inflicted laid the same vpon vs not the starres nor Fortune nor Planets nor Destiny nor the diuell nor man nor any other creature in heauen or earth but as the Lord rayned fire and brimstone from the Lord out of heauen vpon these cities this countrey of Sodom Gomorrah so al our crosses losses afflictions and tribulations come from the Lord out of heauen This Iob wel vnderstood acknowledged for although the Chaldeans and Shabeans spoyled him of his Oxen Asses and Camells yet Iob ascribes it all to God The Lord hath taken it away sayth he So likewise Sathan is said to haue smitten Iob with sore biles from the crowne of the head to the sole of his foote yet he lays it vpon God The hand of God hath touched me sayth Iob. When Shemei cursed Dauid threw stones at him and rayled vpon him howsoeuer the sonnes of Zaruiah tooke it to be the cursing of a dead dog yet Dauid ascribed it to God The Lord sayth he hath bidden Shemei to curse Dauid Whereby it is apparant that there is no euill that happens vnto vs I mean the euill of punishment or affliction but God is the Author of it and layes the same vpon vs and to know and acknowledge this is great comfort vnto vs for as God woundeth vs so he is able to heale vs as he afflicteth vs so he can remoue our afflictions from vs and therefore this bréedeth in vs a feruency in prayer according to the counsell of the Apostle Is any man afflicted amongst you let him pray But to whom should he pray in his afflictions to the Starres and Planets to Fortune and Chance to Fate Destiny None of these can relieue vs they cannot heale vs they cannot helpe vs. But heere is our comfort that God afflicting vs he can also comfort vs therefore this prouoketh vs to be instant with God by prayer Againe to acknowledge God to bée the Authour of our afflictions it bréedeth patience in vs Euery one of vs by Nature are wonderfull impatient euen in the least crosses which can befall vs and the reason is because we do not acknowledge from whence our crosses come for it we did we would neuer be found to striue against God Dauid confessing his infirmity in this case teacheth euery man his duety and how to carry