the eares of God then a speechlesse repining of the soule Heat is more intended with keeping in but Aarons silence was no lesse inward He knew how little he should get by brawling with God If he breathed our discontentment he saw God could speake fire to him againe And therefore he quietly submits to the will of God and held his peace because the Lord had done it There is no greater proofe of grace then to smart patiently and humbly and contentedly to rest the heart in the iustice and wisedome of Gods proceeding and to bee so farre from chiding that we dispute not Nature is froward and though shee well knowes we meddle not with our match when we striue with our Maker yet she pricks vs forward to this idle quarrell and bids vs with Iobs wife Curse and dye If God either chide or smite as seruants are charged to their Masters wee may not answer againe when Gods hand is on our backe our hand must be our mouth else as mothers doe their children God shall whip vs so much the more for crying It is hard for a stander by in this case to distinguish betwixt hard-heartednesse and piety There Aaron sees his sonnes lye he may neither put his hand to them to bury them nor shead a teare for their death Neuer parent can haue iuster cause of mourning then to see his sonnes dead in their sinne if prepared and penitent yet who can but sorrow for their end but to part with children to the danger of a second death is worthy of more then teares Yet Aaron must learne so farre to deny nature that he must more magnifie the iustice of God then lament the iudgement Those whom God hath called to his immediate seruice must know that hee will not allow them the common passions and cares of others Nothing is more naturall then sorrow for the death of our owne if euer griefe be seasonable it becomes a funerall And if Nadab and Abihu had dyed in their beds this fauour had been allowed them the sorrow of their Father and Brethren for when God forbids solemne mourning to his Priests ouer the dead hee excepts the cases of this neernesse of blood Now all Israel may mourne for these two only the Father and Brethren may not God is iealous lest their sorrow should seeme to countenance the sinne which he had punished euen the fearfullest acts of God must be applauded by the heauiest hearts of the faithfull That which the Father and Brother may not doe the Cousins are commanded dead carkasses are not for the presence of God His iustice was shewne sufficiently in killing them They are now fit for the graue not the Sanctuary Neither are they caried out naked but in their coats It was an vnusuall sight for Israel to see a linnen Ephod vpon the Beere The iudgement was so much more remarkable because they had the badge of their calling vpon their backs Nothing is either more pleasing vnto God or more commodious to men then that when he hath executed iudgement it should bee seene and wondred at for therefore he strikes some that he may warne all Of AARON and MIRIAM THe Israelites are stayed seuen dayes in the station of Hazzeroth for the punishment of Miriam The sinnes of the gouernors are a iust stop to the people all of them smart in one all must stay the leasure of Miriams recouerie Whosoeuer seekes the Land of Promise shall finde many lets Amalek Og Schon and the Kings of Canaan meet with Israel these resisted but hindred not their passage their sinnes onely stay them from remouing Afflictions are not crosses to vs in the way to heauen in comparison to our sinnes What is this I see Is not this Aaron that was brother in nature and by office ioynt Commissioner with Moses Is not this Aaron that made his Brother an Intercessor for him to God in the case of his Idolatry Is not this Aaron that climbed vp the Hill of Sinai with Moses Is not this Aaron whom the mouth and hand of Moses consecrated an high Priest vnto God Is not this Miriam the elder Sister of Moses Is not this Miriam that led the Triumph of the Women and sung gloriously to the Lord It not this Miriam which layd her Brother Moses in the Reeds and fetcht her Mother to be his Nurse Both Prophets of God both the flesh and blood of Moses And doth this Aaron repine at the honor of him which gaue himselfe that honour and saued his life Doth this Miriam repine at the prosperity of him whose life she saued Who would not haue thought this should haue beene their glory to haue seene the glory of their owne Brother What could haue beene a greater comfort to Miriam then to thinke How happily doth he now sit at the Sterne of Israel whom I saued from perishing in a Boat of Bul-rushes It is to mee that Israel owes this Commander But now enuy hath so blinded their eyes that they can neither see this priuiledge of nature nor the honour of Gods choyce Miriam and Aaron are in mutiny against Moses Who is so holy that sinnes not What sinne is so vnnaturall that the best can auoyde without God But what weaknesse soeuer may plead for Miriam who can but grieue to see Aaron at the end of so many sinnes Of late I saw him caruing the molten Image and consecrating an Altar to a false god now I see him seconding an vnkind mutiny against his Brother Both sinnes find him accessary neither principall It was not in the power of the legall Priesthood to performe or promise innocency to her Ministers It was necessary wee should haue another high Priest which could not bee tainted That King of righteousnesse was of another order He being without sinne hath fully satisfied for the sinnes of men Whom can it now offend to see the blemishes of the Euangelicall Priesthood when Gods first high Priest is thus miscaried Who can looke for loue and prosperity at once when holy and meeke Moses finds enmity in his owne flesh and blood Rather then we shall want A mans enemies shall be those of his owne house Authority cannot fayle of opposition if it be neuer so mildly swayed that common make-bate will rather raise it out of our owne bosome To doe well and heare ill is Princely The Midianitish wife of Moses cost him deare Before she hazarded his life now the fauour of his people Vnequall matches are seldome prosperous Although now this scandall was onely taken Enuy was not wise enough to choose a ground of the quarrell Whether some secret and emulatory brawles passed between Zipporah and Miriam as many times these sparkes of priuate brawles grow into a perillous and common flame or whether now that Iethro and his family was ioyned with Israel there were surmises of transporting the Gouernment to strangers or whether this vnfit choice of Moses is now raised vp to disparage Gods gifts in him Euen in fight the exceptions were
looked to Gods hand for right Our fâines exclude vs from Gods protection whereas vprightnesse challenges and findes his patronage An Affe taken had made him vncapable of fauour Corrupt Gouernors lose the comfort of their owne brest and the tuition of God The same tongue that prayed against the Conspirators prayes for the people As lewd men thinke to carie it with number Corah had so farre preuailed that hee had drawne the multitude to his side God the auenger of treasons would haue consumed them all at once Moses and Aaron pray for their Rebels Although they were worthy of death and nothing but death could stop their mouths yet their mercifull Leaders will not buy their owne peace with the losse of such enemies Oh rare and imitable mercy The people rise vp against their Gouernors Their Gouernors fall on their faces to God for the people so farre are they from plotting reuenge that they will not endure God should reuenge for them Moses knew well enough that all those Israelites must perish in the Wildernesse God had vowed it for their former insurrection yet how earnestly doth hee sue to God not to consume them at once The very respit of euils is a fauour next to the remouall Corah kindled the fire the two hundred and fifty Captaines brought sticks to it All Israel warmed themselues by it onely the incendiaries perish Now doe the Israelites owe their life to them whose death they intended God and Moses knew to distinguish betwixt the heads of a faction and the traine though neither be faultlesse yet the one is plagued the other forgiuen Gods vengeance when it is at the hotest makes differences of men Get you away from about the Tabernacles of Corah Euer before common iudgements there is a separation In the vniuersall iudgement of all the earth the Iudge himselfe will separate in these particular executions we must separate our selues The societie of wicked men especially in their sinnes is mortally dangerous whiles we will not be parted how can wee complaine if we be enwrapped in their condemnation Our very company sinnes with them why should wee not smart with them also Moses had well hoped that when these Rebels should see all the Israelites run from them as from monsters and looking affrightedly vpon their Tents and should heare that fearfull Proclamation of vengeance against them howsoeuer they did before set a face on their conspiracie yet now their hearts would haue misgiuen But lo these bold Traitors stand impudently staring in the doore of their Tents as if they would outface the reuenge of God As if Moses had neuer wrought miracle before them As if no one Israelite had euer bled for rebelling Those that shall perish are blinded Pride and infidelitie obdures the heart and makes euen cowards fearlesse So soone as the innocent are seuered the guilty perish the earth cleaues and swallowes vp the Rebels This element was not vsed to such morsels It deuoures the carkasses of men but bodies informed with liuing soules neuer before To haue seene them struck dead vpon the earth had been fearfull but to see the earth at once their executioner and graue was more horrible Neither the Sea nor the Earth are fit to giue passage The Sea is moist and flowing and will not be diuided for the continuitie of it The earth is dry and massie and will neither yeeld naturally not meet againe when it hath yeelded yet the waters did cleaue to giue way vnto Israel for their preseruation the earth did cleaue to giue way to the Conspirators in iudgement Both Sea and Earth did shut their iawes againe vpon the aduersaries of God There was more wonder in this latter It was a maruell that the waters opened it was no wonder that they shut againe for the retiring and flowing was naturall It was no lesse maruell that the earth opened but more maruell that it did shut againe because it had no naturall disposition to meet when it was diuided Now might Israel see they had to doe with a God that could reuenge with ease There were two sorts of Traitors the Earth swallowed vp the one the Fire the other All the elements agree to serue the vengeance of their Maker Nadab and Abihu brought fit persons but vnfit fire to God these Leuites bring the right fire but vnwarranted persons before him Fire from God consumes both It is a dangerous thing to vsurpe sacred functions The ministerie will not grace the man The man may disgrace the ministerie The common people were not so fast gathered to Corahs flattering perswasion before as now they ranne from the sight and feare of his iudgement I maruell not if they could not trust that earth whereon they stood whiles they knew their hearts had been false It is a madnesse to run away from punishment and not from sinne Contemplations THE SEVENTH BOOKE Aarons Censer and Rod. The Brazen Serpent Balaam Phinehas The death of Moses BY IOS HALL D. of Diuinitie and Deane of WORCESTER TO MY RIGHT HONOVRABLE RELIGIOVS AND BOVNTIFVLL PATRONE EDWARD LORD DENNY BARON OF WALTHAM THE CHIEFE COMFORT OF MY LABOVRS J. H. WISHETH ALL TRVE HAPPINESSE AND DEDICATES THIS PART OF HIS MEDITATIONS Contemplations THE SEVENTH BOOKE AARONS Censer and Rod. WHen shall wee see an end of these murmurings and these iudgements Because these men rose vp against Moses and Aaron therefore God consumed them and because God consumed them therefore the people rise vp against Moses and Aaron and now because the people thus murmure God hath againe begun to consume them What a circle is here of sinnes and iudgements Wrath is gone out from God Moses is quick-sighted and spies it at the setting out By how much more faithfull and familiar wee are with God so much earlier doe we discerne his iudgements as those which are well acquainted with men know by their lookes and gestures that which strangers vnderstand but by their actions As finer tempers are more sensible of the changes of weather Hence the Seers of God haue euer from their Watch-tower descried the iudgements of God afarre off If another man had seene from Carmel a cloud of a hand-breadth he could not haue told Ahab he should be wet It is enough for Gods Messengers out of their acquaintance with their Masters proceedings to fore-see punishment No maruell if those see it not which are wilfully sinfull we men reueale not our secret purposes either to enemies or strangers all their fauour is to feele the plague ere they can espy it Moses though he were great with God yet hee takes not vpon him this reconciliation he may aduise Aaron what to do himselfe vndertakes not to act it It is the worke of the Priesthood to make an atonement for the people Aaron was first his brothers tongue to Pharaoh now he is the peoples tongue to God he onely must offer vp the incense of the publike prayers to God Who would not thinke it a small thing to hold a Censer in his
laid to which if they shall adde but one scruple it shall be to mee sufficient ioy contentment recompence From your Hal-sted Decemb. 4. Your Worships humbly deuouted IOS HALL THE FIRST CENTVRIE OF MEDITATIONS AND VOWES DIVINE and MORALL 1 IN Meditation those which begin heauenly thoughts and prosecute them not are like those which kindle a fire vnder greene wood and leaue it so soone as it but begins to flame leesing the hope of a good beginning for want of seconding it with a sutable proceeding when I set my selfe to meditate I will not giue ouer till I come to an issue It hath beene said by some that the beginning is as much as the middest yea more than all but I say the ending is more than the beginning 2 There is nothing but Man that respecteth greatnesse Not God not death not Iudgement Not God he is no accepter of persons Not nature we see the sonnes of Princes borne as naked as the poorest and the poore childe as faire well-fauoured strong witty as the heire of Nobles Not disease death iudgement they sicken alike die alike fare alike after death There is nothing besides naturall men of whom goodnesse is not respected I will honour greatnesse in others but for my selfe I will esteeme a dram of goodnesse worth a whole world of greatnesse 3 As there is a foolish wisdome so there is a wise ignorance in not prying into Gods Arke not enquiring into things not reuealed I would faine know all that I need and all that I may I leaue Gods secrets to himselfe It is happy for me that God makes me of his Court though not of his Counsell 4 As there is no vacuity in nature no more is there spiritually Euery vessell is full if not of liquor yet of aire so is the heart of man though by nature it is empty of grace yet it is full of hypocrisie and iniquitie Now as it is filled with grace so it is empty of his euill qualities as in a vessell so much water as goes in so much ayre goes out but mans heart is a narrow-mouthed vessell and receiues grace but by drops and therefore takes a long time to empty and fill Now as there be differences in degrees and one heart is neerer to fulnesse than another so the best vessell is not quite full while it is in the body because there are still remainders of corruption I will neither be content with that measure of grace I haue nor impatient of Gods delay but euery day I will endeuour to haue one drop added to the rest so my last day shall fill vp my vessell to the brim 5 Satan would seeme to bee mannerly and reasonable making as if hee would bee content with one halfe of the heart whereas God challengeth all or none as indeed hee hath most reason to claime all that made all But this is nothing but a craftie fetch of Satan for he knowes that if hee haue any part God will haue none so the whole falleth to his share alone My heart when it is both whole and at the best is but a strait and vnworthy lodging for God if it were bigger and better I would reserue it all for him Satan may looke in at my doores by a tentation but hee shall not haue so much as one chamber-roome set a part for him to soiourne in 6 I see that in naturall motions the neerer any thing comes to his end the swifter it moueth I haue seene great riuers which at their first rising out of some hills side might bee couered with a bushell which after many miles fill a very broad channell and drawing neere to the Sea doe euen make a little Sea in their owne bankes So the winde at the first rising as a little vapour from the crannies of the earth and passing forward about the earth the further it goes the more blustering and violent it waxeth A Christians motion after hee is regenerate is made naturall to God-ward and therefore the neerer he comes to heauen the more zealous he is A good man must not bee like Ezekias Sunne that went backward nor like Ioshuahs Sunne that stood still but Dauids Sunne that like a Bridegroome comes out of his chamber and as a Champion reioiceth to runne his race onely herein is the difference that when hee comes to his high noone hee declineth not How euer therefore the minde in her naturall faculties followes the temperature of the body yet in these supernaturall things she quite crosses it For with the coldest complexion of age is ioined in those that are truly religious the feruentest zeale and affection to good things which is therefore the more reuerenced and better acknowledged because it cannot bee ascribed to the hot spirits of youth The Deuill himselfe deuised that old slander of early holinesse A young Saint an old Deuill Sometimes young Deuils haue proued old Saints neuer the contrarie but true Saints in youth doe alwaies proue Angels in their age I will striue to bee euer good but if I should not finde my selfe best at last I should feare I was neuer good at all 7 Consent harteneth sinne which a little dislike would haue daunted at first As wee say There would bee no theeues if no receiuers so would there not bee so many open mouthes to detract and slander if there were not so many open eares to entertaine them If I cannot stop another mans mouth from speaking ill I will either open my mouth to reproue it or else I will stop mine cares from hearing it and let him see in my face that he hath no roome in my heart 8 I haue oft wondered how fishes can retaine their fresh taste and yet liue in salt waters since I see that euery other thing participates of the nature of the place wherein it abides So the waters passing thorow the chanels of the earth varie their sauour with the veines of soile thorow which they slide So brute creatures transported from one region to another alter their former qualitie and degenerate by little and little The like danger I haue seene in the manners of men conuersing with euill companions in corrupt places For besides that it blemisheth our reputation and makes vs thought ill though wee bee good it breeds in vs an insensible declination to ill and workes in vs if not an approbation yet a lesse dislike of those sinnes to which our eares and eies are so continually inured I may haue a bad acquaintance I will neuer haue a wicked companion 9 Expectation in a weake minde makes an euill greater and a good lesse but in a resolued minde it digests an euill before it come and makes a future good long before present I will expect the worst because it may come the best because I know it will come 10 Some promise what they cannot doe as Satan to Christ some what they could but meane not to doe as the sons of Iacob to the Sechemites some what they meant for the
nature veniall and not worthy of death more that our originall sinne is but the want of our first iustice no guilt of our first fathers offence no inherent ill disposition and that by Baptismall water is taken away what euer hath the nature of sinne that a meere man let mee not wrong Saint Peters successor in so tearming him hath power to remit both punishment and sinne past and future that many haue suffered more then their sinnes haue required that the sufferings of the Saints added to Christs passions make vp the treasure of the Church that spirituall Exchequer whereof their Bishop must keepe the key and make his friends In all these the gaine of Nature who sees not is Gods losse all her brauery is stolne from aboue besides those other direct derogations from him that his Scriptures are not sufficient that their originall fountaines are corrupted and the streames runne clearer that there is a multitude if a finite number of Mediators Turne your eyes now to vs and see contrarily how we abase Nature how wee knead her in the dust spoiling her of her proud rags loading her with reproaches and giuing glory to him that sayes he will not giue it to another whiles we teach that we neither haue good nor can doe good of our selues that we are not sicke or fettered but dead in our sinne that we cannot moue to good more then we are moued that our best actions are faulty our satisfactions debts our deserts damnation that all our merit is his mercy that saues vs that euery of our sinnes is deadly euery of our natures originally depraued and corrupted that no water can entirely wash away the filthinesse of our concupiscence that none but the blood of him that was God can cleanse vs that all our possible sufferings are below our offences that Gods written Word is all-sufficient to informe vs to make vs both wise and perfect that Christs mediation is more then sufficient to saue vs his sufferings to redeeme vs his obedience to inrich vs. You haue seene how Papistry makes Nature proud now see how it makes her lawlesse and wanton while it teacheth yet this one not so vniuersally that Christ dyed effectually for all that in true contrition an expresse purpose of new life is not necessarie that wicked men are true members of the Church that a lewd mis-creant or infidell in the businesse of the Altar partakes of the true body and blood of Christ yea which a shame to tell a brute creature that men may saue the labour of searching for that it is both easie and safe with that Catholike Collier to beleeue with the Church at a venture more then so that deuotion is the seed of ignorance that there is infallabilitie annexed to a particular place and person that the bare act of the Sacraments confers grace without faith that the meere signe of the Crosse made by a Iew or Infidell is of force to driue away Diuels that the sacrifice of the Masse in the very worke wrought auailes to obtaine pardon of our sinnes not in our life onely but when we lye frying in purgatory that we need not pray in faith to be heard or in vnderstanding that almes giuen merit heauen dispose to iustification satisfie God for sinne that abstinence from some meats and drinkes is meritorious that Indulgences may be granted to dispense vvith all the penance of sinnes afterward to bee committed that these by a liuing man may be applyed to the dead that one man may deliuer anothers soule out of his purging torments and therefore that hee who vvants not either money or friends need not feare the smart of his sinnes O religion sweet to the wealthy to the needy desperate who will now care henceforth how sound his deuotions be how lewd his life how hainous his sinnes that knowes these refuges On the contrary we curbe Nature we restraine we discourage we threaten her teaching her not to rest in implicit faiths or generall intensions or external actions of piety or presumptuous dispensations of men but to striue vnto sincere faith without which we haue no part in Christ in his Church no benefit by Sacraments prayers fastings beneficences to set the heart on worke in all our deuotions without which the hand and tongue are but hypocrites to set the hands on worke in good actions without which the presuming heart is but an hypocrite to expect no pardon for sinne before we commit it and from Christ alone when wee haue committed it and to repent before we expect it to hope for no chaffering no ransome of our soules from below no contrary change of estate after dissolution that life is the time of mercy death of retribution Now let me appeale to your soule and to the iudgement of all the vvorld whether of these two religions is framed to the humour of Nature yea let mee but know vvhat action Popery requires of any of her followers which a meere Naturalist hath not done cannot doe See how I haue chosen to beat them with that rod wherewith they thinke we haue so often smarted for what cauill hath beene more ordinary against vs then this of ease and liberty yea licence giuen and taken by our religion together with the vpbraidings of their owne strict and rigorous austerenesse Where are our penall workes our fastings scourges haire-cloth weary pilgrimages blushing confessions solemne vowes of willing beggery and perpetuall continencie To doe them right we yeeld in all the hard workes of will-worship they goe beyond vs but lest they should insult in the victory not so much as the Priests of Baal went beyond them I see their whips shew me their kniues Where did euer zealous Romanist lance and carue his flesh in deuotion The Baalites did it and yet neuer the wiser neuer the holier Either therefore this zeale in workes of their owne deuising makes them not better then we or it makes the Baalites better then they let them take their choise Alas these difficulties are but a colour to auoid greater No no to worke out stubborne wils to subiection to draw this vntoward flesh to a sincere cheerefulnesse in Gods seruice to reach vnto a sound beliefe in the Lord Iesus to pray with a true heart without distraction without distrust without mis-conceit to keepe the heart in continuall awe of God These are the hard tasks of a Christian worthy of our sweat worthy of our reioycing all which that Babylonish religion shifteth off with a carelesse fashionablenesse as if it had not to doe with the soule Giue vs obedience let them take sacrifice Doe you yet looke for more euidence looke into particulars and satisfie your selfe in Gods decision as Optatus aduised of old Since the goods of our father are in question whither should we goe but to his Will and Testament My soule beare the danger of this bold assertion If we erre wee erre with Christ and his Apostles In a word against all staggering our Sauiours rule
we haue it we must haue it from the blessed ordinances of God his Word and Sacraments which this place can afford vs. In vaine shall yee seeke for this deare Christians in a licentious Tauerne in a rich Counting-house in Chambers of dalliance in full Tables in Pompous Courts no not in thrones of earthly Maiesty Alas many of these are the make-bates betwixt Heauen and vs most of them can marre none of them can make our peace It is onely the despised Ministery of the Gospell the Word of reconciliation as it is called 2 Cor. 5.19 which sounds in Gods House that can doe it As yee loue your soules therefore as you would finde peace at the last and would looke with a comfortable assurance in the face of death and iudgement as yee would see a gracious Mercy-seate in the dreadfull Tribunall of God at the day of our last appearance frequent the House of God attend reuerently and conscionably vpon the sacred Institutions of God yeeld your selues ouer to be wrought vpon by the powerfull Gospell of Iesus Christ Oh be not you wanting vnto God he will not bee wanting vnto you but will make good this promise of his vnfaileable grace In this place will I giue peace It is a great word that is heere spoken Dabo pacem and therefore it is vndertaken by an omnipotent Agent I will giue peace If all the Angels of Heauen should haue said so wee should soone haue replied as Korah and his company did to Moses and Aaron Yee tooke too much vpon you Numbers 16.3 This worke is not for any finite power the stile of peace is the peace of God the stile of God the Mediator betwixt God and man is The Prince of Peace He is the true Salomon the other was but typicall It is hee onely that when the Disciples were tossed with contrary winds and threatning billowes could command the windes and waues to a calme It is hee onely that when his Church is tossed with the winds and waues of raging and impetuous enmitie can giue outward peace It is he onely that when the distressed soule is tossed with the winds and waues of strong temptation of weake diffidence can giue inward peace Iustly therefore doth he challenge this act as his owne I will giue peace We vse to say It is best treating of peace with a Sword in our hand Those who haue the aduantage of the warre may command peace vnderlings must stoope to such conditions as the victor will yeeld To shew vs therefore how easily he can giue peace God stiles himselfe the God of Hosts a title wherein he takes no small delight referring not to the being of the creature but to their marshaling not to their naturall estate but their militarie neither would God be lookt at in it as a Creator but as a Generall In but two of the Prophets Esay and Ieremy no lesse than an hundred and thirty times hath hee this stile giuen him Euery thing as it hath an existence from the Maker so an order from the Gouernour and that order is no other than warlike wherein it doth militare Deo serue vnder the colours of the Almighty All creatures are both mustred and trained and placed in Garrison and brought forth into the field in the seruice of their Creator they are all exercitus pugnatorum If yee looke into Heauen there is a company of heauenly Souldiers Luke 2. Neither was there onely the construction of Idolaters vniuersa militia coeli to which they burnt incense but of Moses himselfe Thus the Heauen and the Earth were finished and all the Host of them Gen. 2.1 If yee looke to the Earth not men only whom reason hath fitted for such designes but euen the brute yea the basest and indociblest of the brute creatures are ranged into arrayes euen the very Locusts though they haue no leader yet Egrediuntur per turmas They goe foorth by bands Prou. 30.27 And if ye looke into Egypt where for the time was Sedes belli you shall finde a band of Frogs that were appointed to march into the very bed-chamber the bed the ouens the dishes of Pharaoh you shall finde an host of Lice of Flies of Caterpillers sent against those Egyptian Tyrants Else-where ye shall finde troupes of Palmerwormes of Locusts of Cankerwormes of Caterpillers to set vpon Israel Ioel 1.4 Shortly where he meanes to preserue the fiery Charets and Horsemen of Heauen shall compasse Dothan Where hee meanes to destroy the most despicable of his creatures shall be armed to the ruine of the proudest Doth Goliah stalke forth to the defiance of the God of Israel A Pibble out of the brooke shall strew him on the ground Doth an Herod heare his flatterers gladly say Nec vox hominem sonat Stay but a while God sets his vermine vpon him all the Kings guard cannot master those Lice Hee hath Hornets for the Hiuites and Canaanites Exod 23. Mice for the Philistims 1. Sam. 6. Rats for the couetous Prelate A Flie for Pope Adrian A world of creatures for either defensiue or offensiue seruices Quare fremuerunt gentes Why doe the Heathen rage and the people imagine a vaine thing The Kings of the Earth set themselues and the Rulers take counsell together against the Lord and against his Annointed Presumptuous dust and ashes that dare rise vp against the God of hosts If a silly Ant out of a Mole-hill should march forth and proffer to wrestle a fall with a Gyant there were some proportion in this challenge there is none of a finite power to an infinite Should all the powers of Hell band themselues with those on earth Quis restitit What power haue they of being Who hath resisted his will of motion but from him whom they oppose How easily can he blow vpon their enterprises How easily can he command these to the dust those to their Chaines Bee confounded therefore O vaine men whose breath is in your nostrils and that not your owne neither when ye thinke of the power and Maiesty of the God of Hosts And why are we dismaid with the rumors or feares of the strongest oppositions Gebal and Ammon and Amelec the Philistims with them that dwell at Tyre Ashur also is ioyned to the incestuous children of Lot ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã O thou of little faith why fearest thou The Lord of hosts is with vs the God of Iacob is our refuge Psa 46. Come all ye Bands of wickednesse and conspire against the Scepter of the Kingdome that is the Gospell of Iesus Christ He hath his Armageddon He hath a feast for the fowles of the aire and the beasts of the field whom he hath inuited to the flesh of Captaines and the flesh of Kings Reuel 19.8 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that haue set themselues against me round about Dominus suscepit The Lord hath sustained me and he is the Lord of Hosts Yea why are we apalled when we see the measures
and bids thee with the Prophet Set thine house in order for thou must dye Yet if he heare thee not goe to the vnder-bayliffe of Death disease see if he can be wrought to forbeare thee hee answers thee with Laban This thing is proceeded of the Lord I cannot therefore say to thee euill or good In summe Disease vvill summon thee vnto death death will arrest thee to the Iudgement seat of God God vvill passe his doome vpon thee and in all these Riches auaile not in the day of wrath And vvho vvould be so mad as to trust a friend that hee knowes will be sure neuer to faile him but vvhen he hath most need Take heed therefore as ye loue your soules how ye bestow your Trust vpon riches Ye may vse them and serue your selues of them yea yee may enioy them in a Christian moderation God vvill allow it you That praise vvhich the Iesuites Colledge at Granado giues of their SancheZ Collegium Granatense Praef ad lectorem contin vitam R.P. Tho. Sanchez praefix Operi Morali in praecepta Decal that though he liued where they had a very sweet garden yet he was neuer seen to touch a flower and that he would rather dye then eate Salt or Pepper or ought that might giue rellish to his meat like as that of some other Monks that they would not see the Sunne not shift their cloathes nor cleanse their teeth caries in it more superstition and austeritie and slouenry then vvit or grace Wherefore hath God made his creatures but for vse This niggardlinesse is iniurious to the bounty of their Maker we may vse them we may not trust to them we may serue our selues of them wee may not serue them we may enioy them we may not ouer-ioy in them so must wee be affected to our goods C. Sol. Apollin Sidon Epist de Theoder as Theoderic the good King of Aquitaine vvas with his play In bonis iactibus tacet in malis ridet in neutris irascitur in vtrisque Philosophatur In good casts hee was silent in ill merry in neither angry a Philosopher in both But if we will be making our wealth a riuall vnto God now the iealousie of God shall burne like fire this is the way to bring a curse vpon our riches and vs if we leane vpon this reede it shall breake and runne into our hand and he that trusteth in riches shall fall Prou. 11.28 Now as the disdainfull riuall will bee sure to cast reproaches vpon his base competitor In vncertaine riches ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã so doth God that we may see how vnworthy riches are of our trust hee tels vs they are vncertaine yea vncertaintie it selfe Were our vvealth tyed to our life it were vncertaine enough what is that but a flower a vapour a tale a dreame a shadow a dreame of a shadow a thought as nothing What are great men but like Hailestones that leape vp on the Tiles and straight fall down againe and lye still and melt away But now as wee are certaine that our riches determine vvith our vncertaine life for goods and life are both in a bottome both are cast away at once so wee cannot bee certaine they vvill hold so long ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Basil in Psal 61. Our life flyes hastily away but many times our riches haue longer wings and out-fly it It vvas a vvitty obseruation of Basil that vvealth roles along by a man like as an heady streame glides by the bankes Time will molder away the very banke it washeth but the current stayes not for that but speeds forward from one elbow of earth vnto another so doth our wealth euen while wee stay it is gone In our penall lawes there are more wayes to forfeit our goods then our liues On our high wayes how many fauourable theeues take the purse and saue life And generally our life is the tree our vvealth is the leaues or fruit the tree stands still when the leaues are falne the fruit beaten downe Yea many a one is like the Pine-tree which they say if his barke be pull'd off lasts long else it rots so doth many a man liue the longer for his losses if therefore life and wealth striue whether is more vncertaine wealth vvill sure carie it away Iob was yesterday the richest man in the East to day he is so needie that hee is gone into a prouerbe As poore as Iob Belisarius the great and famous Commander to whom Rome owed her life twice at least came to Date obolum Belisario one halfe-peny to Belisarius What doe I instance This is a point wherein many of you Citizens that are my Auditors this day might rather reade a lecture vnto me You could tell me how many you haue knowne reputed in your phrase good men which all on the sudden haue shut vp the shop windows and broken for thousands You could reckon vp to me a Catalogue of them vvhom either casualtie of fire or inundation of waters or robberie of theeues or negligence of seruants or suretiship for friends or ouersight of reckonings or trusting of customers or vnfaithfulnesse of Factors or inexpected falls of markets or Pyracie by Sea or vnskilfulnesse of a Pylot or violence of tempests haue brought to an hasty pouertie and could tell me that it is in the power of one gale of winde to make many of you either rich Merchants or beggers Oh miserable vncertaintie of this earthly pelse that stands vpon so many hazards yea that fals vnder them who would trust it who can dote vpon it what madnesse is it in those men which as Menot sayes like vnto hunters that kill an horse of price in the pursuit of an Hare worth nothing endânger yea cast away their soules vpon this worthlesse and sickle trash Glasses are pleasing vessels yet because of their brittlenesse who esteemes them precious All Salomons state was not comparable to one Tulip his royall Crowne was not like the Crowne Imperiall of our Gardens and yet because these are but flowers whose destinie is fading and burning we regard them thereafter No wise man bestowes much cost in painting mud-wals What meane we my beloued to spend our liues and hearts vpon these perishing treasures It was a wise meditation of Nazianzen to his Asterius that good is to no purpose if it continue not yea there is no pleasant thing in the world saith he that hath so much ioy in the welcome as it hath sorrow in the farewell Looke therefore vpon these heapes O ye wise-hearted Citizens with carelesse eyes as those things whose parting is certaine whose stay is vncertaine and say with that worthy Father By all my wealth and glory and greatnesse this alone haue I gained that I had something to which I might preferre my Sauiour And know that as Abraham whiles he was in his owne countrey it is Cyrils note had neuer God appearing to him saue onely to bid him goe forth but after when hee
issue can distinguish betwixt a Dauid and a Doeg when they are both in the Tabernacle Honest Ahimelech could little suspect that he now offered a Sacrifice for his Executioner yea for the Murtherer of all his Family Oh the wise and deepe iudgements of the Almighty God owed a reuenge to the House of Eli and now by the delation of Doeg he takes occasion to pay it It was iust in God which in Doeg was most vniust Sauls cruelty and the trecherie of Doeg doe not lose one dram of their guilt by the Counsell of God neither doth the holy Counsell of God gather any blemish by their wickednesse If it had pleased God to inflict death vpon them sooner without any pretence of occasion his Iustice had beene cleere from all imputations now if Saul and Doeg be in stead of a pestilence or feuer who can cauill The iudgements of God are not open but are alwaies iust He knowes how by one mans sinne to punish the sinne of another and by both their sinnes and punishments to glorifie himselfe If his word sleepe it shall not dye but after long intermissions breakes forth in those effects which wee had forgotten to looke for and ceased to feare O Lord thou art sure when thou threatnest and iust when thou iudgest Keepe thou vs from the sentence of death else in vaine shall we labour to keepe our selues from the execution Contemplations THE FOVRTEENTH BOOKE Containing SAVL in DAVIDS Caue NABAL and ABIGAIL DAVID and ACHISH SAVL and the Witch of Endor ZIKLAG spoyled and reuenged The death of SAVL ABNER and IOAB By IOS HALL D. of Diuinitie and Deane of WORCESTER TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE AND MY SINGVLAR GOOD LORD PHILIP EARLE OF MONGOMERY ONE OF THE GENTLEMEN OF HIS MAIESTIES Bed-chamber and Knight of the most Honourable Order of the GARTER RIGHT HONOVRABLE AFter some vnpleasing intermissions Ireturne to that taske of Contemplation wherin onely my soule findeth rest Jf in other imployments I haue indeuoured to serue God and his Church yet in none I must confesse with equall contentment Me thinkes Controuersie is not right in my way to Heauen how euer the importunitie of an Aduersary may force me to fetch it in If Truth oppressed by an erroneous Teacher cry like a rauisht Virgin for my aid J betray it if J releeue it not when J haue done J returne gladly to these paths of Peace The fauour which my late Polemicall labour hath found beyond merit from the Learned cannot diuert my loue to those wrangling Studies How earnestly doth my heart rather wish an vniuersall cessation of these Armes that all the Professors of the deare Name of Christ might bee taken vp with nothing but holy and peaceable thoughts of Deuotion the sweetnesse whereof hath so farre affected mee that if I might doe it without danger of mis-construction I could beg euen of an Enemie this leaue to bee happy I haue already giuen account to the World of some expences of my houres this way and heere I bring more which if some Reader may censure as poore none can censure as vnprofitable J am bold to write them vnder your Honorable Name whereto I am deeply obliged that I may leaue behinde me this meane but faithfull Testimony of mine humble thankfulnesse to your Lordship and your most honoured and vertuous Ladie The noble respects J haue had from you both deserue my Prayers and best seruices which shall neuer be wanting to you and yours From your Honours sincerely deuoted in all true duty IOS HALL Contemplations SAVL IN DAVIDS CAVE IT was the strange lot of Dauid that those whom he pursued preserued him from those whom he had preserued The Philistims whom Dauid had newly smitten in Keilah call off Saul from smiting Dauid in the wildernesse when there was but an hillocke betwixt him and death Wicked purposes are easily checked not easily broken off Sauls Sword is scarce dry from the bloud of the Philistims when it thirsts anew for the bloud of Dauid and now in a renewed chase hunts him dry-foot thorow euery wildernesse The very Desart is too faire a refuge for innocence The hils and rockes are searched in an angry iealousie the very wilde Goats of the mountaines were not allowed to be companions for him which had no fault but his vertue Oh the seemingly-vnequall distribution of these earthly things Cruelty and oppression reignes in a Palace whiles goodnesse lurkes among the Rockes and Caues and thinkes it happinesse enough to steale a life Like a dead man Dauid is faine to be hid vnder the earth and seekes the comfort of protection in darknesse and now the wise prouidence of God leades Saul to his enemy without bloud He which before brought them within an hils dâstance without interuiew brings them now both within one roofe so as that whiles Saul seekes Dauid and finds him not he is found of Dauid vnsought If Saul had known his own opportunities how Dauid and his men had interred themselues he had saued a treble labour of chase of execution and buriall for had he but stopt the mouth of that Caue his enemies had laid themselues downe in their owne Graues The Wisdome of God thinkes fit to hide from euill men and spirits those meanes and seasons which might be if they had beene taken most preiudiciall to his owne we had beene oft foiled if Satan could but haue knowne our hearts sometimes we lie open to euils and happy it is for vs that he only knowes it which pitâies in stead of tempting vs. It is not long since Saul said of Dauid lodged then in Keilah God hath deliuered him into mine hands for he is shut in seeing he is come into a city that hath gates and bars but now contrarily God deliuers Saul ere he was aware into the hands of Dauid and without the helpe of gates and barres hath inclosed him within the Valley of death How iust is it with God that those who seeke mischiefe to others finde it to themselues and euen whiles they are spreading nets are insnared Their deliberate plotting of euill is surprized with a sudden iudgement How amazedly must Dauid needs looke when hee saw Saul enter into the Caue where himselfe was what is this thinkes he which God hath done Is this presence purposed or casuall is Saul here to pursue or to tempt me Where suddenly the action bewrayes the intent and tels Dauid that Saul sought secrecy and not him The superfluity of his maliciousnesse brought him into the Wildernesse the necessity of nature led him into the Caue Euen those actions wherein wee place shame are not exempted from a prouidence The fingers of Dauids followers itched to sease on their Masters enemy and that they might not seeme led so much by faction as by faith they vrge Dauid with a promise from God The day is come whereof the Lord said vnto thee Behold I will deliuer thine enemy into thine hand and thou shalt do to him as it shall seeme
Ahab shall both bleed Naboth by the stones of the Iezreelites Ahab by the shafts of the Aramites The dogs shall taste of the blood of both What Ahab hath done in crueltie he shall suffer in iustice The cause and the end make the difference happy on Naboths side on Ahabs wofull Naboth bleeds as a Martyr Ahab as a murtherer What euer is Ahabs condition Naboth changes a vineyard on earth for a Kingdome in heauen Neuer any wicked man gained by the persecution of an innocent Neuer any innocent man was a loser by suffering from the wicked Neither was this iudgement personall but hereditarie I will take away thy posterity and will make thine house like the house of Ieroboam Him that dieth of Ahab in the City the Dogs shall eat and him that dieth in the field shall the Fowles of the aire eat Ahab shall not need to take thought for the traducing of this ill gotten inheritance God hath taken order for his heires whom his sin hath made no lesse the heires of his curse then of his body Their fathers cruelty to Naboth hath made them together with their mother Iezebel dogs-meat The reuenge of God doth at last make amends for the delay Whether now is Naboths vineyard paid for The man that had sold himselfe to worke wickednesse yet rues the bargaine I doe not heare Ahab as bad as hee was reuile or threaten the Prophet but hee rends his clothes and wears and lies in sack-cloth and fasts and walks softly Who that had seen Ahab would not haue deemed him a true penitent All this was the visor of sorrow not the face or if the face not the heart or if the sorrow of the heart yet not the repentance A sorrow for the iudgment not a repentance for the sinne The very deuils howle to be tormented Griefe is not euer a signe of grace Ahab rends his clothes he did not rend his heart he puts on sack-cloth not amendment he lies in sack-cloth but he lies in his Idolatry he walks softly he walkes not sincerely worldly sorrow causeth death Happy is that griefe for which the soule is the holier Yet what is this I see This very shadow of penitence caries away mercy It is no small mercy to defer an euill Euen Ahabs humiliation shall prorogue the iudgement such as the penitence was such shall be the reward a temporary reward of a temporary penitence As Ahab might be thus sorrowfull and neuer the better so he may be thus fauoured and neuer the happier Oh God how graciously art thou ready to reward a sound and holy repentance who art thus indulgent to a carnall and seruile deiection AHAB and MICAIAH OR The Death of AHAB WHo would haue look't to haue hard any more of the wars of the Syrians with Israel after so great a slaughter after so firme a league a league not of peace onely but of Brotherhood The haltars the sack-cloth of Benhadads followers were worn out as of vse so of memory and now they are changed for Iron and steele It is but three yeares that this peace lasts and now that warre begins which shall make an end of Ahab The King of Israel rues his vniust mercie according to the word of the Prophet that gift of a life was but an exchange Because Ahab gaue Benhadad his life Benhadad shall take Ahabs He must forfeit in himselfe what he hath giuen to another There can bee no better fruit of too much kindnesse to Infidels It was one Article of the league betwixt Ahab and his brother Benhadad that there should bee a speedy restitution of all the Israelitish Cities The rest are yeelded onely Ramoth Gilead is held backe vnthankfully iniuriously He that beg'd but his life receiues his Kingdome and now rests not content with his owne bounds Iustly doth Ahab challenge his owne iustly doth he moue a war to recouer his owne from a perfidious tributary the lawfulnesse of actions may not bee iudged by the euents but by the grounds the wise and holy arbiter of the world knowes why many times the better cause hath the worse successe Many a iust businesse is crossed for a punishment to the agent Yet Israel and Iuda were now peeced in friendship Iehosaphat the good King of Iuda had made affinity with Ahab the Idolatrous King of Israel and besides a personall visitation ioynes his forces with his new Kinsman against an old confederate Iuda had called in Syria against Israel and now Israel cals in Iuda against Syria Thus rather should it be It is fit that the more pure Church should ioyne with the more corrupt against a common Paganish enemy Iehosaphat hath match't with Ahab not with a diuorce of his deuotion Hee will fight not without God Inquire I pray thee at the Word of the Lord to day Had hee done thus sooner I feare Athaliah had neuer call'd him father This motion was newes in Israel It was vvont to be said Inquire of Baal The good King of Iudah will bring Religion into fashion in the Court of Israel Ahab had inquired of his counsellor What needed he be so deuout as to inquire of his Prophets Onely Iehosaphats presence made him thus godly It is an happy thing to conuerse with the vertuous their counsell and example cannot but leaue some tincture behind them of a good profession if not of piety Those that are truly religious dare not but take God with them in all their affaires with him they can be as valiant as timorous without him Ahab had Clergy enough such as it was Foure hundred Prophets of the groues were reserued from appearing to Elijahs challenge these are now consulted by Ahab they liue to betray the life of him who saued theirs These care not so much to inquire what God would say as what Ahab would haue them say they saw vvhich way the Kings heart was bent that way they bent their tongues Goe vp for the Lord shall deliuer it into the hands of the King False Prophets care onely to please a plausible falshood passes with them aboue an harsh truth Had they seene Ahab fearfull they had said Peace Peace now they see him resolute war and victory It is a fearfull presage of ruine when the Prophets conspire in assentation Their number consent confidence hath easily won credit with Ahab Wee doe all vvillingly beleeue what we wish Iehosaphat is not so soone satisfied These Prophets were it is like obtruded to him a stranger for the true Prophets of the true God The iudicious King sees cause to suspect them and now perceiuing at what altars they serued hates to rest in their testimony Is there not here a Prophet of the Lord besides that we might inquire of him One single Prophet speaking from the Oracles of God is more worth then foure hundred Baalites Truth may not euer be measured by the poll It is not number but weight that must cary it in a Councell of Prophets A solid Verity in one mouth is worthy to
time and after retrait as Laban to Iacob some what they doe also giue but vnwillingly as Herod some what they willingly giue and after repent them as Ioshua to the Gibeonites So great distrust is there in man whether from his impotence or faithlesnesse As in other things so in this I see God is not like man but in what euer he promises he approues himselfe most faithfull both in his ability and performances I will therefore euer trust God on his bare word euen with hope besides hope aboue hope against hope and onwards I will relie on him for small matters of this life for how shall I hope to trust him in impossibilities if I may not in likelihoods How shall I depend on him for raising my body from dust and sauing my soule if I mistrust him for a crust of bread towards my preseruation 11 If the World would make me his Minion he could giue me but what he hath And what hath he to giue but a smoke of honour a shadow of riches a sound of pleasures a blast of fame which when I haue had in the best measure I may be worse I cannot bee better I can liue no whit longer no whit merrier no whit happier If hee professe to hate me what can he doe but disgrace me in my name impouerish mee in my estate afflict me in my body in all which it is easie not to be euer the more miserable I haue beene too long beguiled with the vaine semblances of it Now henceforth accounting my selfe borne to a better world I will in an holy loftinesse beare my selfe as one too good to be enamoured of the best pleasures to be daunted with the greatest miseries of this life 12 I see there is no man so happy as to haue all things and no man so miserable as not to haue some Why should I looke for a better condition than all others If I haue somewhat and that of the best things I will in thankfulnesse enioy them and want the rest with contentment 13 Constraint makes an easie thing toilsome whereas againe loue makes the greatest toile pleasant How many miles doe we ride and runne to see one silly beast follow another with pleasure which if we were commanded to measure vpon the charge of a Superiour we should complaine of wearinesse I see the folly of the most men that make their liues miserable and their actions tedious for want of loue to that they must doe I will first labour to settle in my heart a good affection to heauenly things so Lord thy yoke shall be easie and thy burthen light 14 I am a stranger euen at home therefore if the dogs of the world barke at me I neither care nor wonder 15 It is the greatest madnesse in the world to bee an hypocrite in religious profession Men hate thee because thou art a Christian so much as in appearance God hates thee double because thou art but in appearance so while thou hast the hatred of both thou hast no comfort in thy selfe Yet if thou wilt not be good as thou seemest I hold it better to seeme ill as thou art An open wicked man doth much hurt with notorious sinnes but an hypocrite doth at last more shame goodnesse by seeming good I had rather be an open wicked man than an hypocrite but I had rather be no man than either of them 16 When I cast downe mine eyes vpon my wants vpon my sinnes vpon my miseries me thinkes no man should be worse no man so ill as I my meanes so many so forcible and almost violent my progresse so small and insensible my corruptions so strong my infirmities so frequent and remedilesse my body so vnanswerable to my minde But when I looke vp to the blessings that God hath enriched me withall me thinkes I should soone be induced to thinke none more happy than my selfe God is my friend and my father the world not my master but my slaue I haue friends not many but so tried that I dare trust them an estate not superfluous not needy yet neerer to defect than abundance A calling if despised of men yet honourable with God a body not so strong as to admit security but often checking me in occasion of pleasure nor yet so weake as to afflict me continually A minde not so furnished with knowledge that I may boast of it nor yet so naked that I should despaire of obtaining it My miseries affoord me ioy mine enemies aduantage my account is cast vp for another world And if thou thinke I haue said too much good of my selfe either I am thus or I would be 17 The worldlings life is of all other most discomfortable For that which is his God doth not alway fauour him that which should be neuer 18 There are three messengers of death Casualty Sicknesse Age. The two first are doubtfull since many haue recouered them both the last is certaine The two first are sudden the last leasurely and deliberate As for all men vpon so many summons so especially for an old man it is a shame to be vnprepared for death for where other see they may die hee sees he must die I was long agone old enough to die but if I liue till age I will thinke my selfe too old to liue longer 19 I will not care what I haue whether much or little If little my account shall bee lesse if more I shall doe the more good and receiue the more glory 20 I care not for any companion but such as may teach me somewhat or learne somewhat of me Both these shall much pleasure me one as an Agent the other as a Subiect to worke vpon neither know I whether more For though it be an excellent thing to learne yet I learne but to teach others 21 If earth that is prouided for mortality and is possessed by the Makers enemies haue so much pleasure in it that Worldlings thinke it worth the account of their heauen such a Sunne to enlighten it such an heauen to wall it about such sweet fruits and flowers to adorne it such varietie of creatures for the commodious vse of it What must heauen needs bee that is prouided for God himselfe and his friends How can it bee lesse in worth than God is aboue his creatures and Gods friends better than his enemies I will not onely be content but desirous to be dissolued 22 It is commonly seene that boldnesse puts men forth before their time before their abilitie Wherein we haue seene many that like Lapwings and Partridges haue runne away with some part of their shell on their heads whence it followes that as they began boldly so they proceed vnprofitably and conclude not without shame I would rather be haled by force of others to great duties than rush vpon them vnbidden It were better a man should want worke than that great workes should want a man answerable to their weight 23 I will vse my friend as Moses did his rod While it
death so deiected when hee feeleth sicknesse and so desparate when he feeleth the pangs of death nor that euery Balaam would faine die the death of the righteous Henceforth I will enuie none but a good man I will pittie nothing so much as the prosperitie of the wicked 40 Not to bee afflicted is a signe of weaknesse For therefore God imposeth no more on mee because hee sees I can beare no more God will not make choice of a weake Champion When I am stronger I will looke for more and when I sustaine more it shall more comfort me that God findes me strong than it shall grieue me to be pressed with an heauie affliction 41 That the wicked haue peace in themselues is no wonder they are as sure as Tentation can make them No Prince makes warre with his owne subiects The godly are still enemies therefore they must looke to bee assaulted both by stratagems and violence Nothing shall more ioy me than my inward quietnesse A iust warre is a thousand times more happy than an ill-conditioned peace 42 Goodnesse is so powerfull that it can make things simply euill namely our sinnes good to vs not good in nature but good in the euent good when they are done not good to be done Sinne is so powerfull that it can turne the holiest ordinances of God into it selfe but herein our sinne goes beyond our goodnesse That sinne defiles a man or action otherwise good but all the goodnesse of the world cannot iustifie one sinne as the holy flesh in the skirt makes not the bread holy that toucheth it but the vncleane touching an holy thing defileth it I will loath euery euill for it owne sake I will doe good but not trust to it 43 Fooles measure good actions by the euent after they are done Wise men before-hand by iudgement vpon the rules of reason and faith Let mee doe well let God take charge of the successe If it be well accepted it is well if not my thanke is with God 44 He was neuer good man that amends not For if hee were good he must needs desire to bee better Grace is so sweet that who euer tasts of it must needs long after more and if hee desire it he will endeuour it and if he doe but endeuour God will crowne it with successe Gods familie admitteth of no Dwarfes which are vnthriuing and stand at a stay but men of measures What euer become of my bodie or my estate I will euer labour to finde somewhat added to the stature of my soule 45 Pride is the most dangerous of all sinnes For both it is most insinuatiue hauing crept into Heauen and Paradise and most dangerous where it is For where all other Tentations are about euill this alone is conuersant onely about good things and one dram of it poisons many measures of grace I will not bee more afraid of doing good things amisse than of being proud when I haue well performed them 46 Not onely commission makes a sinne A man is guiltie of all those sinnes he hateth not If I cannot auoid all yet I will hate all 47 Preiudice is so great an enemie to truth that it makes the minde vncapable of it In matters of faith I will first lay a sure ground and then beleeue though I cannot argue holding the conclusion in spight of the premisses but in other lesse matters I will not so forestall my minde with resolution as that I will not bee willing to bee better informed Neither will I say in my selfe I will hold it therefore it shall bee truth but this is truth therefore I will hold it I will not striue for victorie but for truth 48 Drunkennesse and Couetousnesse doe much resemble one another For the more a man drinkes the more hee thirsteth and the more hee hath still the more hee coueteth And for their effects besides other both of them haue the power of transforming a man into a beast and of all other beasts into a Swine The former is euident to sense the other though more obscure is no more questionable The couetous man in two things plainly resembleth a Swine That hee euer roots in the earth not so much as looking towards heauen That hee neuer doth good till his death In desiring my rule shall bee necessitie of nature or estate In hauing I will account that my good which doth me good 49 I acknowledge no master of Requests in Heauen but one Christ my Mediator I know I cannot bee so happie as not to need him nor so miserable that hee should contemne mee I will alwaies aske and that of none but where I am sure to speed but where there is so much store that when I haue had the most I shall leaue no lesse behinde Though numberlesse drops bee in the Sea yet if one bee taken out of it it hath so much the lesse though insensible but God because hee is infinite can admit of no diminution Therefore are men niggardly because the more they giue the lesse they haue but thou Lord maiest giue what thou wilt without abatement of thy store Good praiers neuer came weeping home I am sure I shall receiue either what I aske or what I should aske 50 I see that a fit bootie many times makes a theefe and many would bee proud if they had but the common causes of their neighbours I account this none of the least fauours of God That the world goes no better forward with me For I feare if my estate were better to the world it might be worse to God As it is an happy necessity that inforceth to good so is that next happy that hinders from euill 51 It is the basest loue of all others that is for a benefit for herein we loue not another so much as our selues Though there were no HEAVEN O Lord I would loue thee Now there is one I will esteeme it I will desire it yet still I will loue thee for thy goodnesse sake Thy selfe is reward enough though thou broughtest no more 52 I see men point the field and desperatly ieopard their liues as prodigall of their bloud in the reuenge of a disgracefull word against themselues while they can bee content to heare God pulled out of Heauen with blasphemy and not feele so much as a rising of their bloud Which argues our cold loue to God and our ouer-feruent affection to our selues In mine owne wrongs I will hold patience laudable but in Gods iniuries impious 53 It is an hard thing to speake well but it is harder to be well silent so as it may bee free from suspicion of affection or sullennesse or ignorance else loquacity and not silence would be a note of wisdome Herein I will not care how little but how well He said well for this Not that which is much is well but that which is well is much 54 There is nothing more odious than fruitlesse old age Now for that no tree beares fruit in Autume vnlesse it blossome
in the Spring to the end that my age may bee profitable and laden with ripe fruit I will endeuour that my youth may be studious and flowred with the blossomes of learning and obseruation 55 Reuenge commonly hurts both the offerer and sufferer as we see in the foolish Bee though in all other things commendable yet herein the patterne of fond spightfulnesse which in her anger inuenometh the flesh and loseth her sting and so liues a Drone euer after I account it the onely valour To remit a wrong and will applaud it to my selfe as right Noble and Christian that I Might hurt and Will not 56 He that liues well cannot chuse but die well For if he die suddenly yet he dies not vnpreparedly if by leisure the conscience of his well-lead life makes his death more comfortable But it is seldome seene that he which liueth ill dieth well For the conscience of his former euills his present paine and the expectation and feare of greater so take vp his heart that he cannot seeke God And now it is iust with God not to be sought or not to be found because he sought to him in his life time and was repulsed Whereas therefore there are vsually two maine cares of good men to Liue well and Die well I will haue but this one to Liue well 57 With God there is no free man but his Seruant though in the Gallies no slaue but the sinner though in a Palace none noble but the vertuous if neuer so basely descended none rich but he that possesseth God euen in rags none wise but hee that is a foole to himselfe and the world none happy but he whom the world pities Let mee be free noble rich wise happy to God I passe not what I am to the world 58 When the mouth praieth man heareth when the heart God heareth Euery good praier knocketh at heauen for a blessing but an importunate praier pierceth it though as hard as brasse and makes way for it selfe into the eares of the Almightie And as it ascends lightly vp carried with the wings of faith so it comes euer laden downe againe vpon our heads In my praiers my thoughts shall not be guided by my words but my words shall follow my thoughts 59 If that seruant were condemned of euill that gaue God no more than his owne which he had receiued what shall become of them that rob God of his owne If God gaine a little glorie by me I shall gaine more by him I will labour so to husband the stocke that God hath left in my hands that I may returne my soule better than I receiued it and that he may take it better than I returne it 60 Heauen is compared to an hill and therefore is figured by Olympus among the Heathen by mount Sion in Gods Booke Hell contrariwise to a pit The ascent to the one is hard therefore and the descent to the other easie and headlong and so as if we once beginne to fall the recouerie is most difficult and not one of many staies till hee comes to the bottome I will bee content to pant and blow and sweat in climbing vp to heauen as contrarily I will bee warie of setting the first step downward towards the pit For as there is a Iacobs Ladder into heauen so there are blinde staires that goe winding downe into death whereof each makes way for other From the obiect is raised an ill suggestion suggestion drawes on delight delight consent consent endeuour endeuour practice practice custome custome excuse excuse defence defence obstinacie obstinacie boasting of sinne boasting a reprobate sense I will watch ouer my waies and doe thou Lord watch ouer me that I may auoid the first degrees of sinne And if those ouertake my frailtie yet keepe me that presumptuous sinnes preuaile not ouer me Beginnings are with more ease and safetie declined when we are free than proceedings when we haue begunne 61 It is fitter for youth to learne than teach and for age to teach than learne and yet fitter for an old man to learne than to be ignorant I know I shall neuer know so much that I cannot learne more and I hope I shall neuer liue so long as till I be too old to learne 62 I neuer loued those Salamanders that are neuer well but when they are in the fire of contention I will rather suffer a thousand wrongs than offer one I will suffer an hundred rather than returne one I will suffer many ere I will complaine of one and endeuour to right it by contending I haue euer found that to striue with my superiour is furious with my equall doubtfull with my inferiour sordid and base with any full of vnquietnesse 63 The praise of a good speech standeth in words and matter Matter which is as a faire and well-featur'd body Elegance of words which is as a neat and well-fashioned garment Good matter slubbered vp in rude and carelesse words is made lothsome to the hearer as a good body mis-shapen with vnhandsome clothes Elegancie without soundnes is no better than a nice vanitie Although therefore the most hearers are like Bees that goe all to the flowers neuer regarding the good herbs that are of as wholesome vse as the other of faire shew yet let my speech striue to bee profitable plausible as it happens better the coat be mis-sâapen than the body 64 I see that as blacke and white colours to the eies so is the Vice and Vertue of others to the iudgement of men Vice gathers the beames of the sight in one that the eie may see it and bee intent vpon it Vertue scatters them abroad and therefore hardly admits of a perfect apprehension Whence it comes to passe that as iudgement is according to sense wee doe so soone espie and so earnestly censure a man for one vice letting passe many laudable qualities vndiscerned or at least vnacknowledged Yea whereas euery man is once a foole and doth that perhaps in one fit of his folly which hee shall at leisure repent of as Noah in one houres drunkennesse vncouered those secrets which were hid six hundred yeeres before the world is hereupon ready to call in question all his former integritie and to exclude him from the hope of any future amendment Since God hath giuen mee two eies the one shall bee busied about the present fault that I see with a detesting commiseration the other about the commendable qualities of the offender not without an vnpartiall approbation of them So shall I doe God no wrong in robbing him of the glorie of his gifts mixed with infirmities nor yet in the meane time encourage Vice while I doe distinctly reserue for it a due proportion of hatred 65 God is aboue man the brute creatures vnder him hee set in the midst Lest he should be proud that he hath infinite creatures vnder him that One is infinite degrees aboue him I doe therefore owe awe vnto God mercie to the inferiour creatures knowing
be yours Vouchsafe therefore to take part with your worthy Husband of these my simple Meditations And if your long and gracious experience haue written you a larger volume of wholesome lawes and better informed you by precepts fetcht from your owne feeling than J can hope for by my bare speculation yet where these my not vnlikely rules shall accord with yours let your redoubled assent allow them and they confirme it J made them not for the eie but for the heart neither doe J commend them to your reading but your practice wherein also it shall not be enough that you are a meere and ordinary agent but that you be a patterne propounded vnto others imitation So shall your vertuous and holy progresse besides your owne peace and happpinesse be my Crowne and reioycing in the Day of our common appearance Halsted Decemb. 4. Your L. humbly deuoted IOS HALL MEDITATIONS AND VOWES 1 A Man vnder Gods affliction is like a bird in a net the more he striueth the more he is intangled Gods Decree cannot be eluded with impatience What I cannot auoid I will learne to beare 2 I finde that all worldly things require a long time in getting and affoord a short pleasure in enioying them I will not care much for what I haue nothing for what I haue not 3 I see naturall bodies forsake their owne place and condition for the preseruation of the whole but of all other creatures Man and of all other Men Christians haue the least interest in themselues I will liue as giuen to others lent only to my selfe 4 That which is said of the Elephant that being guiltie of his deformitie hee cannot abide to looke on his owne face in the water but seekes for troubled and muddie channels we see well moralized in men of euill conscience who know their soules are so filthie that they dare not so much as view them but shift off all checks of their former iniquitie with vaine excuses of good-fellowship Whence it is that euery small reprehension so galls them because it calls the eye of the soule home to it selfe and makes them see a glimpse of what they would not So haue I seene a foolish and timorous Patient which knowing his wound very deepe would not endure the Chirurgion to search it whereon what can ensue but a festering of the part and a danger of the whole body So I haue seene many prodigall wasters run so farre in bookes that they cannot abide to heare of reckoning It hath beene an old and true Prouerbe Oft and euen reckonings make long friends I will oft summe my estate with God that I may know what I haue to expect and answer for Neither shall my score run on so long with God that I shall not know my debts or feare an Audit or despaire of pardon 5 I account this body nothing but a close prison to my soule and the earth a larger prison to my body I may not breake prison till I be loosed by death but I will leaue it not vnwillingly when I am loosed 6 The common feares of the World are causelesse and ill placed No man feares to doe ill euery man to suffer ill wherein if we consider it well we shall finde that we feare our best friends For my part I haue learned more of God and of my selfe in one weekes extremitie than all my whole lifes prosperitie had taught me afore And in reason and common experience prosperitie vsually makes vs forget our death aduersitie on the other side makes vs neglect our life Now if we measure both of these by their effects forgetfulnesse of death makes vs secure neglect of this life makes vs carefull of a better So much therefore as neglect of life is better than forgetfulnesse of death and watchfulnesse better than securitie so much more beneficiall will I esteeme aduersitie than prosperitie 7 Euen griefe it selfe is pleasant to the remembrance when it is once past as ioy is whiles it is present I will not therefore in my conceit make any so great difference betwixt ioy and griefe sith griefe past is ioyfull and long expectation of ioy is grieuous 8 Euery sicknesse is a little death I will be content to die oft that I may die once well 9 Oft times those things which haue beene sweet in opinion haue proued bitter in experience I will therefore euer suspend my resolute iudgement vntill the triall and euent in the meane while I will feare the worst and hope the best 10 In all diuine and morall good things I would faine keepe that I haue and get that I want I doe not more loath all other couetousnesse than I affect this In all these things alone I professe neuer to haue enough If I may increase them therefore either by labouring or begging or vsurie I shall leaue no meanes vnattempted 11 Some children are of that nature that they are neuer well but while the rod is ouer them such am I to God Let him beat me so he amend me let him take all away from me so he giue me himselfe 12 There must not be one vniforme proceeding with all men in reprehension but that must varie according to the disposition of the reproued I haue seene some men as thornes which easily touched hurt not but if hard and vnwarily fetch bloud of the hand others as nettles which if they be nicely handled sting and pricke but if hard and roughly pressed are pulled vp without harme Before I take any man in hand I will know whether he be a thorne or a nettle 13 I will account no sinne little since there is not the least but workes out the death of the soule It is all one whether I be drowned in the ebber shore or in the midst of the deepe Sea 14 It is a base thing to get goods to keepe them I see that God which only is infinitely rich holdeth nothing in his owne hands but giues all to his creatures But if we will needs lay vp where should wee rather repose it than in Christs treasurie The poore mans hand is the treasury of Christ All my superfluity shall be there hoorded vp where I know it shall be safely kept and surely returned me 15 The Schoole of God and Nature require two contrary manners of proceeding In the Schoole of Nature we must conceiue and then beleeue in the Schoole of God wee must first beleeue and then we shall conceiue He that beleeues no more than hee conceiues can neuer be a Christian nor he a Philosopher that assents without reason In Natures Schoole we are taught to bolt out the truth by Logicall discourse God cannot endure a Logician In his Schoole he is the best Scholler that reasons least and assents most In diuine things what I may I wil conceiue the rest I will beleeue and admire Not a curious head but a credulous and plaine heart is accepted with God 16 No worldly pleasure hath any absolute delight in it but as a Bee
All mouthes are boldly opened with a conceit of impunitie My eare shall bee no graue to burie my friends good name But as I will bee my present friends selfe So will I bee my absent friends deputie to say for him what he would and cannot speake for himselfe 70 The losse of my friend as it shall moderately grieue mee so it shall another way much benefit mee in recompence of his want for it shall make mee thinke more often and seriously of earth and of heauen Of earth for his body which is reposed in it Of Heauen for his soule which possesseth it before mee Of earth to put me in minde of my like frailtie and mortality Of Heauen to make me desire and after a sort emulate his happinesse and glory 71 Varietie of obiects is wont to cause distraction when againe a little one laid close to the eye if but of a peny breadth wholly takes vp the sight which could else see the whole halfe Heauen at once I will haue the eies of my minde euer fore-stalled and filled with those two obiects the shortnesse of my life eternity after death 72 I see that he is more happy that hath nothing to lose than he that loseth that which he hath I will therefore neither hope for riches nor feare pouerty 73 I care not so much in any thing for multitude as for choice Bookes and friends I will not haue many I had rather seriously conuerse with a few than wander amongst many 74 The wicked man is a very coward and is afraid of euery thing Of God because he is his enemy of Satan because he is his tormentor of Gods creatures because they ioyning with their Maker fight against him of himselfe because he beares about him his owne accuser and executioner The godly man contrarily is afraid of nothing Not of God because he knowes him his best friend and therefore will not hurt him not of Satan because he cannot hurt him not of afflictions because he knowes they proceed from a louing God and end to his owne good not of the creatures since the very stones of the field are in league with him not of himselfe since his conscience is at peace A wicked man may be secure because he knowes not what he hath to feare or desperate through extremitie of feare but truly couragious he cannot be Faithlesnesse cannot chuse but be false-hearted I will euer by my courage take triall of my faith By how much more I feare by so much lesse I beleeue 75 The godly man liues hardly and like the Ant toiles here during the Summer of his peace holding himselfe short of his pleasures as looking to prouide for an hard Winter Which when it comes he is able to weare it out comfortably whereas the wicked man doth prodigally lash out all his ioyes in the time of his prosperitie and like the Grashopper singing merrily all Summer is starued in Winter I will so enioy the present that I will lay vp more for hereafter 76 I haue wondred oft and blushed for shame to reade in meere Philosophers which had no other Mistresse but Nature such strange resolution in the contempt of both fortunes as they call them such notable precepts for a constant setlednesse and tranquillitie of minde and to compare it with my owne disposition and practice whom I haue found too much drouping and deiected vnder small crosses and easily againe caried away with little prosperitie To see such courage and strength to contemne death in those which thought they wholly perished in death and to finde such faint-heartednesse in my selfe at the first conceit of death who yet am thorowly perswaded of the future happinesse of my soule I haue the benefit of nature as well as they besides infinite other helps that they wanted Oh the dulnesse and blindnesse of vs vnworthy Christians that suffer Heathens by the dim candle-light of Nature to goe further than we by the cleere Sun of the Gospell that an indifferent man could not tell by our practice whether were the Pagan Let me neuer for shame account my selfe a Christian vnlesse my Art of Christianitie haue imitated and gone beyond nature so farre that I can finde the best Heathen as farre below me in true resolution as the vulgar sort were below them Else I may shame Religion it can neither honest nor helpe me 77 If I would be irreligious and vnconscionable I would make no doubt to be rich For if a man will defraud dissemble forsweare bribe oppresse serue the time make vse of all men for his owne turne make no scruple of any wicked action for his aduantage I cannot see how hee can escape wealth and preferment But for an vpright man to rise is difficult while his conscience straightly curbes him in from euery vniust action and will not allow him to aduance himselfe by indirect meanes So riches come seldome easily to a good man seldome hardly to the consciencelesse Happy is that man that can be rich with truth or poore with contentment I will not enuy the grauell in the vniust mans throat Of riches let mee neuer haue more than an honest man can beare away 78 God is the God of order not of confusion As therefore in naturall things he vseth to proceed from one extreme to another by degrees through the meane so doth hee in spirituall The Sun riseth not at once to his highest from the darknesse of midnight but first sends forth some feeble glimmering of light in the dawning then lookes out with weake and watrish beames and so by degrees ascends to the midst of heauen So in the seasons of the yeere we are not one day scorched with a Summer heat and on the next frozen with a sudden extremitie of cold But Winter comes on softly first by cold dewes then hoare frosts vntill at last it descend to the hardest weather of all such are Gods spirituall proceedings He neuer brings any man from the estate of sin to the estate of glory but through the estate of grace And as for grace he seldome brings a man from grosse wickednesse to any eminence of perfection I will be charitably iealous of those men which from notorious lewdnesse leape at once into a sudden forwardnesse of profession Holinesse doth not like Ionas gourd grow vp in a night I like it better to goe on soft and sure than for an hastie fit to runne my selfe out of winde and after stand still and breathe me 79 It hath beene said of old To doe well and heare ill is princely Which as it is most true by reason of the enuy which followes vpon iustice so is the contrary no lesse iustified by many experiments To doe ill and to heare well is the fashion of many great men To doe ill because they are borne out with the assurance of impunitie To heare well because of abundance of Parasites which as Rauens to a carkasse gather about great men Neither is there any so great misery in
good we refuse It is second folly in vs if we thanke him not The foolish babe cries for his fathers bright knife or gilded pilles The wiser father knowes that they can but hurt him and therefore with-holds them after all his teares The childe thinkes he is vsed but vnkindly Euery wise man and himselfe at more yeeres can say it was vsed but childish folly in desiring it in complaining that he missed it The losse of wealth friends health is sometimes gaine to vs. Thy body thy estate is worse thy soule is better why complainest thou SECT XIV The 4. and last part from their issue NAy it shall not be enough mee thinkes if onely wee be but contented and thankfull if not also chearefull in afflictions if that as we feele their paine so wee looke to their end although indeed this is not more requisite than rarely found as being proper onely to the good heart Euery bird can sing in a cleare heauen in a temperate spring that one as most familiar so is most commended that sings merrie notes in the middest of a showre or the dead of Winter Euery Epicure can enlarge his heart to mirth in the middest of his cups and dalliance onely the three children can sing in the furnace Paul and Silas in the stockes Martyrs at the stake It is from heauen that this ioy comes so contrary to all earthly occasions bred in the faithfull heart through a serious and feeling respect to the issue of what he feeles the quiet and vntroubled fruit of his righteousnesse glorie the crowne after his fight after his minute of paine eternity of ioy He neuer lookt ouer the threshold of heauen that cannot more reioyce that he shall be glorious than mourne in present that he is miserable SECT XV. Of the importunitie and terror of Death YEa this consideration is so powerfull that it alone is able to make a part against the feare or sense of the last and greatest of all terribles Death it selfe which in the conscience of his owne dreadfulnesse iustly laughs at all the vaine humane precepts of Tranquillitie appalling the most resolute and vexing the most cheerefull mindes Neither prophane Lucretius with all his Epicurean rules of confidence nor drunken Anacreon with all his wanton Odes can shift off the importunate and violent horrour of this Aduersarie Seest thou the Chaldean Tyrant beset with the sacred bowles of Ierusalem the late spoiles of Gods Temple and in contempt of their owner carowsing healths to his Queenes Concubines Peeres singing amids his cups triumphant carols of praise to his molten and carued gods Wouldest thou euer suspect that this high courage could be abated or that this sumptuous and presumptuous banquet after so royall and iocond continuance should haue any other conclusion but pleasure Stay but one houre longer and thou shalt see that face that now shines with a ruddie glosse according to the colour of his liquor looke pale and gastly stained with the colours of feare and death and that proud hand which now lifts vp her massie Goblets in defiance of God tremble like a leafe in a storme and those strong knees which neuer stooped to the burden of their laden body now not able to beare vp themselues but loosened with a sudden palsie of feare one knocking against the other and all this for that Death writes him a letter of summons to appeare that night before him and accordingly ere the next Sunne sent two Eunuches for his honorable conueiance into another world Where now are those delicate morsels those deep draughts those merry ditties wherewith the palate and eare so pleased themselues What is now become of all those cheerefull looks loose laughters stately port reuels triumphs of the feasting Court Why doth none of his gallant Nobles reuiue the fainted courage of their Lord with a new cup or with some stirring iest shake him out of this vnseasonable melancholy O death how imperious art thou to carnall mindes aggrauating their miserie not onely by expectation of future paine but by the remembrance of the wonted causes of their ioy and not suffering them to see ought but what may torment them Euen that monster of Cesars that had beene so well acquainted with bloud and neuer had sound better sport than in cutting of throats when now it came to his owne turne how effeminate how desperately cowardous did he shew himselfe to the wonder of all Readers that he which was euer so valiant in killing should be so womanishly heartlesse in dying SECT XVI THere are that feare not so much to be dead as to die The grounds of the feare of death the very act of dissolution frighting them with a tormenting expectation of a short but intolerable painfulnesse Which let if the wisdome of God had not interposed to timorous nature there would haue beene many more Lucreces Cleopatraes Achitophels and good lawes should haue found little opportunitie of execution through the wilfull funerals of malefactors For the soule that comes into the body without any at least sensible pleasure departs not from it without an extremitie of paine which varying according to the manner and meanes of separation yet in all violent deaths especially retaineth a violence not to be auoided hard to be endured And if diseases which are destin'd towards death as their end bee so painfull what must the end and perfection of diseases be Since as diseases are the maladies of the body so death is the malady of diseases There are that feare not so much to die as to be dead If the pang be bitter yet it is but short the comfortlesse state of the dead strikes some that could well resolue for the act of their passage Not the worst of the Heathen Emperours made that moanfull dittie on his death-bed wherein he bewraieth to all memory much feeling pittie of his soule for her doubtfull and impotent condition after her parture How doth Platoes worldling bewaile the misery of the graue besides all respect of paine Woe is mee that I shall lie alone rotting in the silent earth amongst the crawling Wormes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. not seeing ought aboue not seene Very not-being is sufficiently abhorred of nature if death had no more to make it fearefull But those that haue liued vnder light enough to shew them the gates of hell after thâir passage thorow the gates of death and haue learned that death is not onely horrible for our not-being here but for being infinitly eternally miserable in a future world nor so much for the dissolution of life as the beginning of torment those cannot without the certaine hope of their immunitie but carnally feare to die and hellishly feare to be dead For if it be such paine to die what is it to be euer dying And if the straining or luxation of one ioynt can so afflict vs what shall the racking of the whole body and the torturing of the soule whose animation alone makes the body
to feele and complaine of smart And if men haue deuised such exquisite torments what can spirits more subtile more malicious And if our momentanie sufferings seeme long how long shall that be that is eternall And if the sorrowes indifferently incident to Gods deare ones vpon earth be so extreme as sometimes to driue them within sight of despairing what shall those be that are reserued onely for those that hate him and that he hateth None but those who haue heard the desperate complaints of some guiltie Spyra of whose soules haue beene a little scorched with these flames can enough conceiue of the horror of this estate it being the policy of our common enemy to conceale it so long that we may see and feele it at once lest we should feare it before it be too late to be auoided SECT XVII Remedy of the last and greatest breach of peace arising from death NOw when this great Aduersary like a proud Giant comes stalking out in his fearefull shape and insults ouer our fraile mortalitie daring the world to match him with an equall Champion whiles a whole host of worldlings shew him their backs for feare the true Christian armed onely with confidence and resolution of his future happinesse dares boldly encounter him and can wound him in the forehead the wonted seat of terror and trampling vpon him can cut off his head with his owne sword and victoriously returning can sing in triumph O death where is thy sting An happy victory Wee die and are not foiled yea we are conquerours in dying we could not ouercome death if we died not That dissolution is well bestowed that parts the soule from the body that it may vnite both to God All our life here as that heauenly Doctor well tearmes it is but a vitall death Augustine How aduantâgious is that death that determines this false and dying life and begins a true one aboue all the titles of happinesse The Epicure or Sadduce dare not die for feare of not being The guiltie and loose worldling dares not die for feare of being miserable The distrustfull and doubting semi-Christian dares not die because he knowes not whether hee shall be or be miserable or not be at all The resolued Christian dares and would die because he knowes he shall be happy and looking merrily towards heauen the place of his rest can vnfainedly say I desire to be dissolued I see thee my home I see thee a sweet and glorious home after a weary pilgrimage I see thee and now after many lingring hopes I aspire to thee How oft haue I looked vp at thee with admiration and rauishment of soule and by the goodly beames that I haue seene ghessed at the glory that is aboue them How oft haue I scorned these dead and vnpleasant pleasures of earth in comparison of thine I come now my ioyes I come to possesse you I come through paine and death yea if hell it selfe were in the way betwixt you and mee I would passe through hell it selfe to enioy you Tull. Tuscul Callimach Epigram And in truth if that Heathen Cleombrotus a follower of the ancient Academie but vpon onely reading of his Master Platoes discourses of the immortalitie of the soule could cast downe himselfe head-long from an high rocke and wilfully breake his necke that he might be possessed of that immortalitie which he beleeued to follow vpon death how contented should they be to die that knew they shall be more than immortall glorious Hee went not in an hate of the flesh August de Haeres as the Patrician Heretickes of old but in a blinde loue to his soule out of bare opinion We vpon an holy loue grounded vpon assured knowledge He vpon an opinion of future life we on knowledge of future glory He went vnsent for we called for by our Maker Why should his courage exceed ours since our ground our estate so farre exceeds his Euen this age within the reach of our memorie bred that peremptory Italian which in imitation of old Romane courage left in that degenerated Nation there should be no step left of the qualities of their Ancestors entring vpon his torment for killing a Tyrant cheered himselfe with this confidence My death is sharpe Mors acerba Fama perpetua my fame shall be euerlasting The voice of a Romane not of a Christian My fame shall be eternall an idle comfort My fame shall liue not my soule liue to see it What shall it auaile thee to be talkt of while thou art not Then fame onely is precious when a man liues to enioy it The fame that suruiues the soule is bootlesse Yet euen this hope cheered him against the violence of his death What should it doe vs that not our fame but our life our glory after death cannot die He that hath Stephens eies to looke into heauen cannot but haue the tongue of the Saints Come Lord How long That man seeing the glory of the end cannot but contemne the hardnesse the way But who wants those eies if he say and sweares that he feares not death beleeue him not if he protest this Tranquillitie and yet feare death beleeue him not beleeue him not if he say he is not miserable SECT XVIII THese are enemies on the left hand There want not some on the right The second ranke of the enemies of peace which with lesse profession of hostilitie hurt no lesse Not so easily perceiued because they distemper the minde not without some kinde of pleasure Surfet kils more than famine These are the ouer-desiring and ouer-ioying of these earthly things All immoderations are enemies as to health so to peace He that desires Hippocr Aphoris wants as much as he that hath nothing The drunken man is as thirstie as the sweating traueller Hence are the studies cares feares iealousies hopes griefes enuies wishes platformes of atchieuing alterations of purposes and a thousand like whereof each one is enough to make the life troublesome One is sicke of his neighbours field whose mis-shapen angles disfigure his and hinder his Lordship of entirenesse what he hath is not regarded for the want of what hee cannot haue Another feeds on crusts to purchase what he must leaue perhaps to a foole or which is not much better to a prodigall heire Another in the extremitie of couetous folly chuses to die an vnpitied death hanging himselfe for the fall of the market while the Commons laugh at that losse and in their speeches Epitaph vpon him as on that Pope He liued as a Wolfe and died as a Dogge One cares not what attendance hee dances at all houres on whose staires he sits what vices he soothes what deformities he imitates what seruile offices he doth in an hope to rise Another stomackes the couered head and stiffe knee of his inferiour angry that other men thinke him not so good as he thinkes himselfe Another eats his owne heart with enuy at the richer furniture and better
in our iourney we long not for home Doest thou see men so in loue with their natiue soile that euen when it is all deformed with the desolations of warre and turned into rude heapes or while it is euen now flaming with the fire of ciuill broiles they couet yet still to liue in it preferring it to all other places of more peace and pleasure and shalt thou seeing nothing but peace and blessednesse at home nothing but trouble abroad content thy selfe with a faint wish of thy dissolution If heauen were thy Iayle thou couldest but thinke of it vncomfortably Oh what affection can be worthy of such an home CHAP. XXVII 10. Consid of fit testimonies of Scripture concerning our Theme LAstly if wee can recall any pregnant Testimonies of Scripture concerning our Theme those shall fitly conclude this part of our Meditation Of Scripture for that in these matters of God none but diuine authority can command assent and settle the conscience Witnesses of holy men may serue for colours but the ground must be onely from God There it is saith the Spirit of God which cannot deceiue thee that all teares shall bee wiped from our eies there shall be no more death nor sorrow nor crying neither shall there bee any more paine yea there shall not onely bee an end of sorrowes but an abundant recompence for the sorrowes of our life as he that was rapt vp into the third Heauen and there saw what cannot be spoken speaketh yet thus of what he saw I count that the afflictions of this present time are not worthy of the glory which shall bee shewed to vs It was shewed vnto him what should hereafter be shewed vnto vs and he saw that if all the world full of miseries were laid in one ballance and the least glory of heauen in another those would be incomparably light yea as that diuine Father that one daies felicity aboue were worth a thousand yeeres torment below what then can be matched with the eternity of such ioyes Oh how great therefore is this thy goodnesse O Lord which thou hast laid vp for them that feare thee and done to them that trust in thee before the sonnes of men CHAP. XXVIII Of our second part of Meditation which is in the affections THe most difficult and knotty part of Meditation thus finished there remaineth that which is both more liuely and more easie vnto a good heart to be wrought altogether by the affections which if our discourses reach not vnto they proue vaine and to no purpose That which followeth therefore is the very soule of Meditation whereto all that is past serueth but as an instrument A man is a man by his vnderstanding part but he is a Christian by his will and affections Seeing therefore that all our former labour of the braine is onely to affect the heart after that the minde hath thus trauersed the point proposed through all the heads of reason it shall endeuour to finde in the first place some feeling touch Wherein is required a Taste and rellish of what we haue thought vpon and sweet rellish in that which it hath thus chewed which fruit through the blessing of God will voluntarily follow vpon a serious Meditation Dauid saith Oh taste and see how sweet the Lord is In Meditation we doe both see and taste but we see before we taste sight is of the vnderstanding taste of the affection neither can we see but we must taste we cannot know aright but we must needs be affected Let the heart therefore first conceiue and feele in it selfe the sweetnesse or bitternesse of the matter meditated which is neuer done without some passion nor expressed without some hearty exclamation Oh blessed estate of the Saints O glory not to be expressed euen by those which are glorified O incomprehensible saluation What sauour hath this earth to thee Who can regard the world that beleeueth thee Who can thinke of thee and not be rauished with wonder and desire Who can hope for thee and not reioyce Who can know thee and not be swallowed vp with admiration at the mercy of him that bestoweth thee O blessednesse worthy of Christs bloud to purchase thee Worthy of the continuall songs of Saints and Angels to celebrate thee How should I magnifie thee How should I long for thee How should I hate all this world for thee CHAP. XXIX AFter this Taste shall follow a Complaint Secondly a Complaint be wailing our wants and vntowardnesse wherein the heart bewaileth to it selfe his owne pouertie dulnesse and imperfection chiding and abasing it selfe in respect of his wants and indisposition wherein Humiliation truly goeth before glory For the more we are cast downe in our conceit the higher shall God lift vs vp at the end of this exercise in spirituall reioycing But alas where is my loue Where is my longing Where art thou O my soule What heauinesse hath ouertaken thee How hath the world bewitched and possessed thee that thou art become so carelesse of thine home so senselesse of spirituall delights so fond vpon thâse vanities Doest thou doubt whether there be an heauen or whether thou haue a God and a Sauiour there O farre be from thee this Atheisme farre be from thee the least thought of this desperate impiety Woe were thee if thou beleeuedst not But O thou of little Faith doest thou beleeue there is happinesse and happinesse for thee and desirest it not and delightest not in it Alas how weake and vnbeleeuing is thy beleefe How cold and faint are thy desires Tell me what such goodly entertainment hast thou met withall here on earth that was worthy to with-draw thee from these heauenly ioyes What pleasure in it euer gaue thee contentment or what cause of dislike findest thou aboue Oh no my soule it is onely thy miserable drowsinesse onely thy securitie The world the world hath besotted thee hath vndone thee with carelesnesse Alas if thy delight be so cold what difference is there in thee from an ignorant Heathen that doubts of another life yea from an Epicure that denies it Art thou a Christian or art thou none If thou bee what thou professest away with this dull and senselesse worldlinesse away with this earthly vncheerefulnesse shake off at last this prophane and godlesse securitie that hath thus long weighed thee downe from mounting vp to thy ioyes Looke vp to thy God and to thy Crowne and say with confidence O Lord I haue waited for thy saluation CHAP. XXX AFter this Complaint must succeed an hearty and passionate Wish of the soule Thirdly an hearty Wish of the soule for what it complaineth to want which ariseth cleerely from the two former degrees For that which a man hath found sweet and comfortable and complaines that he still wanteth hee cannot but wish to enioy O Lord that I could wait and long for thy saluation Oh that I could minde the things aboue that as I am a stranger indeed so I
could be also in affection Oh that mine eies like the eies of thy first Martyr could by the light of Faith see but a glimpse of heauen Oh that my heart could be rapt vp thither in desire How should I trample vpon these poore vanities of the earth How willingly should I endure all sorrowes all torments How scornfully should I passe by all pleasures How should I be in trauaile of my dissolution Oh when shall that blessed day come when all this wretched worldlinesse remoued I shall solace my selfe in my God Behold as the Hart braieth for the riuers of waters so panteth my soule after thee O God My soule thirsteth for God euen for the liuing God Oh when shall I come and appeare before the presence of God CHAP. XXXI 4. An humble Confession of our disability to effect what we wish AFter this Wishing shall follow humble Confession by iust order of nature for hauing bemoaned our want and wished supply not finding this hope in ourselues we must needs acknowledge it to him of whom onely we may both seeke and finde wherein it is to be duly obserued how the minde is by turnes depressed and lifted vp Being lifted vp with our taste of ioy it is cast downe with Complaint lift vp with Wishes it is cast downe with Confession which order doth best hold it in vre and iust temper and maketh it more feeling of the comfort which followeth in the conclusion This Confession must derogate all from ourselues and ascribe all to God Thus I desire O Lord to bee aright affected towards thee and thy glory I desire to come to thee but alas how weakly how heartlesly Thou knowest that I can neither come to thee nor desire to come but from thee It is Nature that holds me from thee this treacherous Nature fauours it selfe loueth the world hateth to thinke of a dissolution and chuseth rather to dwell in this dungeon with continuall sorrow and complaint than to endure a parting although to libertie and ioy Alas Lord it is my misery that I loue my paine How long shall these vanities thus besot me It is thou onely that canst turne away mine eies from regarding these follies and my heart from affecting them thou onely who as thou shalt one day receiue my soule into heauen so now before-hand canst fix my soule vpon heauen and thee CHAP. XXXII 5. An earnest Petition for that which we confesse to want AFter Confession naturally followes Petition earnestly requesting that at his hands which wee acknowledge our selues vnable and none but God able to performe O carrie it vp therefore thou that hast created and redeemed it carry it vp to thy glory Oh let me not alwaies be thus dull and brutish let not these scales of earthly affection alwaies dim and blinde mine eies Oh thou that laiedst clay vpon the blinde mans eies take away this clay from mine eies where-with alas they are so dawbed vp that they cannot see heauen Illuminate them from aboue and in thy light let mee see light Oh thou that hast prepared a place for my soule prepare my soule for that place prepare it with holinesse prepare it with desire and euen while it soiourneth on earth let it dwell in heauen with thee beholding euer the beautie of thy face the glory of thy Saints and of it selfe CHAP. XXXIII 6. A vehement Enforcement of our petition AFter Petition shall follow the Enforcement of our request from argument and importunate obsecration wherein we must take heed of complementing in termes with God as knowing that he will not be mocked by any fashionable forme of suit but requireth holy and feeling intreaty How graciously hast thou proclaimed to the world that who-euer wants wisdome shall aske it of thee which neither deniest nor vpbraidest O Lord I want heauenly wisdome to conceiue aright of heauen I want it and aske it of thee giue me to aske it instantly and giue me according to thy promise abundantly Thou seest it is no strange fauour that I begge of thee no other than that which thou hast richly bestowed vpon all thy valiant Martyrs Confessors Seruants from the beginning who neuer could haue so cheerefully embraced death and torment if through the middest of their flames and paine they had not seene their Crowne of glory The poore Theefe on the Crosse had no sooner craued thy remembrance when thou earnest to thy Kingdome than thou promisedst to take him with thee into heauen Presence was better to him than remembrance Behold now thou art in thy Kingdome I am on earth remember thine vnworthy seruant and let my soule in conceit in affection in conuersation be this day and for euer with thee in Paradise I see man walketh in a vaine shadow and disquieteth himselfe in vaine they are pittifull pleasures he enioyeth while he forgetteth thee I am as vaine make me more wise Oh let mee see heauen and I know I shall neuer enuie nor follow them My times are in thine hand I am no better than my fathers a stranger on earth As I speake of them so the next yea this generation shall speake of me as one that was My life is a bubble a smoake a shadow a thought I know it is no abiding in this thorow fare Oh suffer me not so mad as while I passe on the way I should forget the end It is that other life that I must trust to With thee it is that I shall continue Oh let mee not be so foolish as to settle my selfe on what I must leaue and to neglect eternitie I haue seene enough of this earth and yet I loue it too much O let me see heauen another while and loue it so much more than the earth by how much the things there are more worthy to be loued Oh God looke downe on thy wretched Pilgrim and teach me to looke vp to thee and to see thy goodnesse in the Land of the liuing Thou that boughtest heauen for me guide me thither and for the price that it cost thee for thy mercies sake in spight of all tentations enlighten thou my soule direct it crowne it CHAP. XXXIV AFter this Enforcement doth follow Confidence wherein the soule 7. A cheerefull Confidence of obtaining what we haue requested and enforced after many doubtfull and vnquiet bickerings gathereth vp her forces and cheerefully rowzeth vp it selfe and like one of Dauids Worthies breaketh thorow a whole Armie of doubts and fetcheth comfort from the Well of life which though in some latter yet in all is a sure reward from God of sincere Meditation Yea be thou bold O my soule and doe not meerely craue but challenge this fauour of God as that which he oweth thee he oweth it thee because he hath promised it and by his mercy hath made his gift his debt Faithfull is he that hath promised which will also doe it Hath he not giuen thee not onely his hand in the sweet hopes of the Gospell but his seale
I call it the way or the gate of life Sure I am that by it onely wâ passe into that blessednesse whereof we haue so thought that we haue found it cannot be thought of enough The Description What then is this death but the taking downe of these sticks whereof this earthly Tent is composed The separation of two great and old friends till they meet againe The Gaole-deliuerie of a long prisoner Our iourney into that other world for which wee and this thorow-fare were made Our paiment of our first debt to Nature the sleepe of the body and the awaking of the soule The Diuision But lest thou shouldest seeme to flatter him whose name and face hath euer seemed terrible to others remember that there are more deaths than one If the first death bee not so fearefull as hee is made his horrour lying more in the conceit of the beholder than in his owne aspect surely the second is not made so fearefull as hee is No liuing eye can behold the terrours thereof it is as impossible to see them as to feele them and liue Nothing but a name is common to both The first hath men casualties diseases for his executioners the second Deuils The power of the first is in the graue the second in hell The worst of the first is senslesnesse the easiest of the second is a perpetuall sense of all the paine that can make a man exquisitely miserable The Causes Thou shalt haue no businesse O my soule with the second death Thy first Resurrection hath secured thee Thanke him that hath redeemed thee for thy safetie And how can I thanke thee enough O my Sauiour which hast so mercifully bought off my torment with thy owne and hast drunke off that bitter potion of thy Fathers wrath whereof the very taste had beene our death Yea such is thy mercie O thou Redeemer of men that thou hast not onely subdued the second death but reconciled the first so as thy children taste not at all of the second and finde the first so sweetned to them by thee that they complaine of bitternesse It was not thou O God that madest death our hands are they that were guiltie of this euill Thou sawest all thy worke that it was good we brought forth sinne and sinne brought forth death To the discharge of thy Iustice and Mercie we acknowledge this miserable conception and needs must that childe be vgly that hath such parents Certainly if Being and Good be as they are of an equall extent then the dissolution of our Being must needs in it selfe be euill How ful of darkenesse and horrour then is the priuation of this vitall light especially since thy wisdome intended it to the reuenge of sinne which is no lesse than the violation of an infinite Iustice it was thy iust pleasure to plague vs with this brood of our owne begetting Behold that death which was not till then in the world is now in euery thing one great Conqueror findes it in a Slate another findes it in a Flie one findes it in the kernel of a Grape another in the pricke of a thorne one in the taste of an herbe another in the smell of a flower one in a bit of meat another in a mouthfull of aire one in the very sight of a danger another in the conceit of what might haue beene Nothing in all our life is too little to hide death vnder it There need no cords nor kniues nor swords nor Peeces we haue made our selues as many waies to death as there are helps of liuing But if we were the authors of our death it was thou that didst alter it our disobedience made it and thy mercie made it not to be euill It had beene all one to thee to haue taken away the very Being of death from thine owne but thou thoughtest it best to take away the sting of it onely as good Physicians when they would apply their Leeches scowre them with Salt and Nettles and when their corrupt bloud is voided imploy them to the health of the patient It is more glory to thee that thou hast remoued enmitie from this Esau that now he meets vs with kisses in stead of frownes and if wee receiue a blow from this rough hand yet that very stripe is healing Oh how much more powerfull is thy death than our sinne O my Sauiour how hast thou perfumed and softened this bed of my graue by dying How can it grieue mee to tread in thy steps to glory Our sinne made death our last enemie The Effects thy goodnesse hath made it the first friend that we meet with in our passage to another world For as shee that receiues vs from the knees of our mother in our first entrance to the light washeth cleanseth dresseth vs and presents vs to the brest of our nurse or the armes of our mother challenges some interest in vs when we come to our growth so death which in our passage to that other life is the first that receiues and presents our naked soules to the hands of those Angels which carry it vp to her glorie cannot but thinke this office friendly and meritorious What if this guide leade my carcase through corruption and rottennesse when my soule in the very instant of her separation knowes it selfe happy What if my friends mourne about my bed and coffin when my soule sees the smiling face and louing embracements of him that was dead and is aliue What care I who shuts these earthen eyes when death opens the eye of my soule to see as I am seene What if my name be forgotten of men when I liue aboue with the God of Spirits If death would be still an enemie The Subiect it is the worst part of mee that he hath any thing to doe withall the best is aboue his reach and gaines more than the other can leese The worst peece of the horrour of death is the graue and set aside infidelitie what so great miserie is this That part which is corrupted feeles it not that which is free from corruption feeles an abundant recompence and foresees a ioyfull reparation What is here but a iust restitution We carry heauen and earth wrapt vp in our bosomes each part returnes homeward And if the exceeding glory of heauen cannot countetuaile the dolesomnesse of the graue what doe I beleeuing But if the beautie of that celestiall Sanctuarie doe more than equalize the horrour of the bottomlesse pit how can I shrinke at earth like my selfe when I know my glorie And if examples can moue thee any whit looke behinde thee O my soule and see which of the Worthies of that ancient latter world which of the Patriarchs Kings Prophets Apostles haue not trod in these red steps Where are those millions of generations which haue hitherto peopled the earth How many passing-bels hast thou heard for they knowne friends How many sicke beds hast thou visited How many eies hast thou seene closed
though not so blessed yet so shalt thou be separated that my very dust shall be vnited to thee still and to my Sauiour in thee Wert thou vnwilling at the command of thy Creator to ioine thy selfe at the first with this body of mine why art thou then loth to part with that which thou hast found The Testimonies though intire yet troublesome Doest thou not heare Salomon say The day of death is better than the day of thy birth dost thou not beleeue him or art thou in loue with the worse and displeased with the better If any man could haue found a life worthy to be preferred vnto death so great a King must needs haue done it now in his very Throne he commends his Coffin Yea what wilt thou say to those Heathens that mourned at the birth and feasted at the death of their children They knew the miseries of liuing as well as thou the happinesse of dying they could not know and if they reioiced out of a conceit of ceasing to be miserable how shouldest thou cheere thy selfe in an expectation yea an assurance of being happy He that is the Lord of life and tried what it was to die hath proclaimed them blessed that die in the Lord. Those are blessed I know that liue in him but they rest not from their labours Toyle and sorrow is betweene them and a perfect enioying of that blessednesse which they now possesse onely in hope and inchoation when death hath added rest their happinesse is finished O death how sweet is that rest The taste of our Meditation wherewith thou refreshest the weary Pilgrims of this vale of mortalitie How pleasant is thy face to those eies that haue acquainted themselues with the sight of it which to strangers is grim and gastly How worthy art thou to be welcome vnto those that know whence thou art and whither thou tendest who that knowes thee can feare thee who that is not all nature would rather hide himselfe amongst the baggage of this vile life than follow thee to a Crowne what indifferent Iudge that should see life painted ouer with vaine semblances of pleasures attended with troupes of sorrowes on the one side and on the other with vncertaintie of continuance and certaintie of dissolution and then should turne his eyes vnto death and see her blacke but comely attended on the one hand with a momentanie paine with eternitie of glorie on the other would not say out of choice that which the Prophet said out of passion It is better for me to die than to liue But O my Soule what ailes thee to bee thus suddenly backward and fearefull The Complaint No heart hath more freely discoursed of death in speculation no tongue hath more extolled it in absence And now that it is come to thy beds-side and hath drawne thy curtaines and takes thee by the hand and offers thee seruice thou shrinkest inward and by the palenesse of thy face and wildnesse of thine eye bewraiest an amazement at the presence of such a ghest That face which was so familiar to thy thoughts is now vnwelcome to thine eies I am ashamed of this weake irresolution Whitherto haue tended all thy serious meditations what hath Christianitie done to thee if thy feares bee still heathenish Is this thine imitation of so many worthy Saints of God whom thou hast seene entertaine the violentest deaths with smiles and songs Is this the fruit of thy long and frequent instruction Didst thou thinke death would haue beene content with words didst thou hope it would suffice thee to talke while all other suffer Where is thy faith Yea where art thou thy selfe O my soule Is heauen worthy of no more thankes no more ioy Shall Heretikes shall Pagans giue death a better welcome than thou Hath thy Maker thy Redemer sent for thee and art thou loth to goe hath hee sent for thee to put thee in possession of that glorious Inheritance which thy wardship hath cheerefully expected and art thou loth to goe Hath God with this Sergeant of his sent his Angels to fetch thee and art thou loth to goe Rouze vp thy selfe for shame O my soule and if euer thou hast truly beleeued shake off this vnchristian diffidence and addresse thy selfe ioyfully for thy glory The Wish Yea O my Lord it is thou that must raise vp this faint and drooping heart of mine thou onely canst rid me of this weake and cowardly distrust Thou that sendest for my soule canst prepare it for thy selfe thou onely canst make thy messenger welcome to me O that I could but see thy face through death Oh that I could see death not as it was but as thou hast made it Oh that I could heartily pledge thee my Sauiour in this cup that so I might drinke new wine with thee in thy Fathers Kingdome The Confession But alas O my God nature is strong and weake in mee at once I cannot wish to welcome death as it is worthy when I looke for most courage I finde strongest temptations I see and confesse that when I am my selfe thou hast no such coward as I Let me alone and I shall shame that name of thine which I haue professed euery secure worldling shall laugh at my feeblenesse O God were thy Martyrs thus haled to their stakes might they not haue beene loosed from their rackes and chose to die in those torments Let it be no shame for thy seruant to take vp that complaint which thou mad'st of thy better Attendants The spirit is willing but the flesh is weake The Petition and enforcement O thou God of spirits that hast coupled these two together vnite them in a desire of their dissolution weaken this flesh to receiue and encourage this spirit either to desire or to contemne death and now as I grow neerer to my home let me increase in the sense of my ioyes I am thine saue me O Lord It was thou that didst put such courage into thine ancient and late witnesses that they either inuited or challenged death and held their persecutors their best friends for letting them loose from these gieues of flesh I know thine hand is not shortned neither any of them hath receiued more proofes of thy former mercies Oh let thy goodnesse inable me to reach them in the comfortable steddinesse of my passage Doe but draw this vaile a little that I may see my glory and I cannot but be inflamed with the desire of it It was not I that either made this body for the earth or this soule for my body or this heauen for my soule or this glorie of heauen or this entrance into glory All is thine owne worke Oh perfect what thou hast begun that thy praise and my happinesse may be consummate at once The assurance or Confidence Yea O my soule what need'st thou wish the God of mercies to be tender of his owne honour Art thou not a member of that body whereof thy Sauiour
is the Head canst thou drowne when thy Head is aboue was it not for thee that hee triumpht ouer death Is there any feare in a foyled aduersarie Oh my Redeemer I haue already ouercome in thee how can I miscarrie in my selfe O my soule thou hast marched valiantly Behold the Damosels of that heauenly Ierusalem come forth with Timbrels and Harps to meet thee and to applaud thy successe And now there remaines nothing for thee but a Crowne of righteousnesse which that righteous Iudge shall giue thee at that Day Oh Death where is thy sting Oh graue where is thy victorie The Thanksgiuing Returne now vnto thy rest O my soule for the Lord hath beene beneficiall vnto thee O Lord God the strength of my saluation thou hast couered my head in the day of battell O my God and King I will extoll thee and will blesse thy name for euer and euer I will blesse thee daily and praise thy Name for euer and euer Great is the Lord and most worthy to be praised and his greatnesse is incomprehensible I will meditate of the beautie of thy glorious Maiestie and thy wonderfull workes Hosanna thou that dwellest in the highest heauens Amen FINIS HOLY OBSERVATIONS LIB I. By IOS HALL SIC ELEVABITVR FILIVS HOMINIS Io 3. ANCHORA FIDEI LONDON Printed for THOMAS PAVIER MILES FLESHER and John Haviland 1624. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE EDWARD LORD DENNY BARON OF WALTHAM MY most bountifull Patron Grace and Peace RIGHT HONOVRABLE THis aduantage a Scholar hath aboue others that hee cannot be idle and that he can worke without instruments For the minde inured to contemplation will set it selfe on worke when other occasions faile and hath no more power not to studie than the eye which is open hath not to see some thing in which businesse it carries about his owne Librarie neither can complaine to want Bookes while it enioyeth it selfe J could not then neglect the commoditie of this plentifull leasure in my so easie attendance here but though besides my course and without the helpe of others writings must needs busie my selfe in such thoughts as J haue euer giuen account of to your Lordship such as J hope shall not be vnprofitable nor vnwelcome to their Patron to their Readers J send them forth from hence vnder your Honourable name to shew you that no absence no imployment can make mee forget my due respect to your Lordship to whom next vnder my gracious Master J haue deseruedly bequeathed my selfe and my endeuours Your goodnesse hath not wont to magnifie it selfe more in giuing than in receiuing such like holy presents the knowledge whereof hath intitled you to more labours of this nature if I haue numbred aright than any of your Peeres I misdoubt not either your acceptation or their vse That God who hath aboue all his other fauours giuen your Lordship euen in these carelesse times an heart truly religious giue you an happy increase of all his heauenly graces by my vnworthy seruice To his gracious care I daily commend your Lordship with my Honourable Lady wishing you both all that little ioy earth can affoord you and fulnesse of glory aboue Non-such Iuly 3. Your Lordships Most humbly deuoted for euer in all dutie and obseruance IOS HALL HOLY OBSERVATIONS 1 AS there is nothing sooner drie than a teare so there is nothing sooner out of season than worldly sorrow which if it bee fresh and still bleeding findes some to comfort and pittie it if stale and skinned ouer with time is rather entertained with smiles than commiseration But the sorrow of repentance comes neuer out of time All times are alike vnto that Eternitie whereto wee make our spirituall mones That which is past that which is future are both present with him It is neither weake nor vncomely for an old man to weepe for the sinnes of his youth Those teares can neuer be shed either too soone or too late 2 Some men liue to bee their owne executors for their good name which they fee not honestly buried before themselues die Some other of great place and ill desert part with their good name and breath at once There is scarce a vicious man whose name is not rotten before his carcasse Contrarily the good mans name is oft times heire to his life either borne after the death of the parent for that enuie would not suffer it to come forth before or perhaps so well growne vp in his life time that the hope thereof is the staffe of his age and ioy of his death A wicked mans name may be feared a while soone after it is either forgotten or cursed The good man either sleepeth with his body in peace or waketh as his soule in glory 3 Oft times those which shew much valour while there is equall possibilitie of life when they see a present necessitie of death are found most shamefully timorous Their courage was before grounded vpon hope that cut off leaues them at once desperate and cowardly whereas men of feebler spirits meet more cheerefully with death because though their courage be lesse yet their expectation was more 4 I haue seldome seene the sonne of an excellent and famous man excellent But that an ill bird hath an ill egge is not rare children possessing as the bodily diseases so the vices of their Parents Vertue is not propagated Vice is euen in them which haue it not reigning in themselues The graine is sowne pure but comes vp with chaffe and huske Hast thou a good sonne He is Gods not thine Is he euill Nothing but his sinne is thine Helpe by thy praiers and endeuours to take away that which thou hast giuen him and to obtaine from God that which thou hast and canst not giue Else thou maiest name him a possession but thou shalt finde him a losse 5 These things be comely and pleasant to see and worthy of honour from the beholder A young Saint an old Martyr a religious Souldier a conscionable Statesman a great man courteous a learned man humble a silent woman a childe vnderstanding the eie of his Parent a merry companion without vanitie a friend not changed with honour a sicke man cheerefull a soule departing with comfort and assurance 6 I haue oft obserued in merry meetings solemnly made that somewhat hath falne out crosse either in the time or immediatly vpon it to season as I thinke our immoderation in desiring or enioying our friends and againe euents suspected haue proued euer best God herein blessing our awfull submission with good successe In all these humane things indifferencie is safe Let thy doubts be euer equall to thy desires so thy disappointment shall not bee grieuous because thy expectation was not peremptorie 7 You shall rarely finde a man eminent in sundry faculties of minde or sundry manuarie trades If his memorie be excellent his fantasie is but dull if his fancie bee busie and quicke his iudgement is but shallow If his iudgement bee deepe his vtterance is
tune of that knowne song beginning Preserue vs Lord. THee and thy wondrous deeds O God Wiâh all my soule I sound abroad verse 2 My ioy my triumph is in thee Of thy dread name my song shall be verse 3 O highest God since put to flight And fal'ne and vanisht at thy sight verse 4 Are all my foes for thou hast past Iust sentence on my cause at last And sitting on thy throne aboue A rightfull Iudge thy selfe doest proue verse 5 The troupes profane thy checks haue stroid And made their name for euer void verse 6 Where 's now my foes your threatned wrack So well you did our Cities sacke And bring to dust while that ye say Their name shall die as well as they verse 7 Loe in eternall state God sits And his high Throne to iustice fits verse 8 Whose righteous hand the world shall weeld And to all folke iust doome shall yeeld verse 9 The poore from high finde his releefe The poore in needfull times of griefe verse 10 Who knowes the Lord to thee shall cleaue That neuer doest thy clients leaue verse 11 Oh! sing the God that doth abide On Sion mount and blazon wide verse 12 His worthy deeds For he pursues The guiltlesse bloud with vengeance due He mindes their cause nor can passe o're Sad clamors of the wronged poore verse 13 Oh! mercy Lord thou that dost saue My soule from gates of death and graue Oh! see the wrong my foes haue done verse 14 That I thy praise to all that gone Through daughter Sions beauteous gate With thankfull songs may loud relate And may reioyce in thy safe aide Behold the Gentiles whiles they made A deadly pit my soule to drowne Into their pit are sunken downe In that close snare they hid for mee Loe their owne feet intangled be verse 16 By this iust doome the Lord is knowne That th' ill are punisht with their owne verse 17 Downe shall the wicked backward fall To deepest hell and nations all verse 18 That God forget nor shall the poore Forgotten be for euermore The constant hope of soules opprest verse 19 Shall not aye die Rise from thy rest Oh Lord let not men base and rude Preuaile iudge thou the multitude verse 20 Of lawlesse Pagans strike pale feare Into those brests that stubborne were And let the Gentiles feele and finde They beene but men of mortall kinde PSALME 10. As the 51. Psalme O God Consider WHy stand'st thou Lord aloofe so long And hidst thee in due times of need verse 2 Whiles lewd men proudly offer wrong Vnto the poore In their owne deed And their deuice let them be caught verse 3 For loe the wicked braues and boasts In his vile and outragious thought And blesseth him that rauines most verse 4 On God he dares insult his pride Scornes to enquire of powers aboue But his stout thoughts haue still deni'd verse 5 There is a God His waies yet proue ãâã prosperous thy iudgements hye Doe farre surmount his dimmer fight verse 6 Therefore doth he all foes defie His heart saith I shall stand in spight Nor euer moue nor danger ' bide verse 7 His mouth is fill'd with curses foule And with close fraud His tongue doth hide verse 8 Mischiefe and ill he seekes the soule Of harmelesse men in secret waite And in the corners of the street Doth shead their bloud with scorne and hate His eies vpon the poore are set verse 9 As some fell Lyon in his den He closely lurkes the poore to spoyle He spoyles the poore and helplesse men When once he snares them in his toyle verse 10 He croucheth low in cunning wile And bowes his brest whereon whole throngs Of poore whom his faire showes beguile Fall to be subiect to his wrongs verse 11 God hath forgot in soule he saies He hides his face to neuer see verse 12 Lord God arise thine hand vp-raise Let not thy poore forgotten be verse 13 Shall these insulting wretches scorne Their God and say thou wilt not care verse 14 Thou see'st for all thou hast forborne Thou see'st what all their mischiefes are That to thine hand of vengeance iust Thou maist them take the poore distressed Rely on thee with constant trust The helpe of Orphans and oppressed verse 15 Oh! breake the wickeds arme of might And search out all their cursed traines And let them vanish out of sight verse 16 The Lord as King for euer raignes From forth his coasts the heathen sect verse 17 Are rooted quite thou Lord attendst To poore mens sutes thou deo'st direct Their hearts to them thine eare thou bendst verse 18 That thou maist rescue from despight The wofull fatherlesse and poore That so the vaine and earthen wight On vs may tyrannize no more FJNJS CHARACTERS OF VERTVES AND VICES JN TWO BOOKES By IOS HALL SIC ELEVABITVR FILIVS HOMINIS Io 3. ANCHORA FIDEI LONDON Printed for THOMAS PAVIER MILES FLESHER and John Haviland 1624. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE MY singular good Lords EDWARD LORD DENNY BARON of WALTHAM AND JAMES LORD HAY HIS RIGHT NOBLE AND WORTHY SONNE IN LAW I. H. HVMBLY DEDICATES HIS LABOVR DEVOTETH HIMSELFE Wisheth all Happinesse A PREMONITION OF THE TITLE AND VSE of Characters READER THe Diuines of the old Heathens were their Morall Philosophers These receiued the Acts of an inbred law in the Sinai of Nature and deliuered them with many expositions to the multitude These were the Ouerseers of manners Correctors of vices Directors of liues Doctors of vertue which yet taught their people the body of their naturall Diuinitie not after one manner while some spent themselues in deepe discourses of humane felicitie and the way to it in common others thought it best to apply the generall precepts of goodnesse or decency to particular conditions and persons A third sort in a meane course betwixt the two other and compounded of them both bestowed their time in drawing out the true lineaments of euerie vertue and vice so liuely that who saw the medals might know the face which Art they significantly tearmed Charactery Their papers were so many tables their writings so many speaking pictures or liuing images whereby the ruder multitude might euen by their sense learne to know vertue and discerne what to detest J am deceiued if any course could be more likely to preuaile for herein the grosse conceit is led on with pleasure and informed while it feeles nothing but delight And if pictures haue beene accounted the bookes of Jdiots behold here the benefit of an image without the offence It is no shame for vs to learne wit of Heathens neither is it materiall in whose Schoole we take out a good lesson yea it is more shame not to follow their good than not to lead them better As one therefore that in worthy examples hold imitation better than inuention J haue trod in their paths but with an higher and wider steppe and out of their Tablets haue drawne these larger portraitures of both sorts More
lies open to sight and were it not for discretion hee neuer thinkes ought whereof he would auoid a witnesse his word is his parchment and his yea his oath which hee will not violate for feare or for losse The mis-haps of following euents may cause him to blame his prouidence can neuer cause him to eat his promise neither saith he This I saw not but This I said When hee is made his friends Executor he defrayes debts payes legacies and scorneth to gaine by Orphans or to ransacke graues and therefore will be true to a dead friend because he sees him not All his dealings are square and aboue the boord he bewraies the fault of what he sells and restores the ouerseene gaine of a false reckoning He esteemes a bribe venomous though it come guilded ouer with the colour of gratuitie His cheekes are neuer stained with the blushes of recantation neither doth his tongue falter to make good a lie with the secret gloses of double or reserued senses and when his name is traduced his innocencie beares him out with courage then loe hee goes on the plaine way of truth and will either triumph in his integritie or suffer with it His conscience ouer-rules his prouidence so as in all things good or ill he respects the nature of the actions nor the sequell If he see what he must doe let God see what shall follow He neuer loadeth himselfe with burdens aboue his strength beyond his will and once bound what he can he will doe neither doth he will but what he can doe His eare is the Sanctuarie of his absent friends name of his present friends secret neither of them can mis-carry in his trust Hee remembers the wrongs of his youth and repaies them with that vsurie which he himselfe would not take Hee would rather want than borrow and begge than not to pay his faire conditions are without dissembling and he loues actions aboue words Finally he hates falshood worse than death he is a faithfull client of truth no mans enemie and it is a question Whether more another mans friend or his owne and if there were no heauen yet he would be vertuous Of the Faithfull man HIs eies haue no other obiects but absent and inuisible which they see so cleerly as that to them sense is blinde that which is present they see not if I may not rather say that what is past or future is present to them Herein he exceeds all others that to him nothing is impossible nothing difficult whether to beare or vndertake He walkes euery day with his Maker and talkes with him familiarly and liues euer in heauen and sees all earthly things beneath him when he goes in to conuerse with God he weares not his owne clothes but takes them still out of the rich Wardrobe of his Redeemer and then dare boldly prease in and challenge a blessing The celestiall spirits doe not scorne his company yea his seruice He deales in these worldly affaires as a stranger and hath his heart euer at home without a written warrant he dare doe nothing and with it any thing His warre is perpetuall without truce without intermission and his victorie certaine he meets with the infernall powers and tramples them vnder feet The shield that he euer beares before him can neither be missed nor pierced if his hand be wounded yet his heart is safe he is often tripped seldome foyled and if sometimes foyled neuer vanquished He hath white hands and a cleane soule fit to lodge God in all the roomes whereof are set apart for his Holinesse Iniquitie hath oft called at the doore and craued entertainment but with a repulse or if sinne of force will be his tenant his Lord hee cannot His faults are few and those hee hath God will not see Hee is allied so high that hee dare call God Father his Sauiour Brother heauen his patrimonie and thinkes it no presumption to trust to the attendance of Angels His vnderstanding is inlightened with the beames of diuine truth God hath acquainted him with his will and what he knowes hee dare confesse there is not more loue in his heart than libertie in his tongue If torments stand betwixt him and Christ if death he contemnes them and if his owne parents lie in his way to God his holy carelesnesse makes them his foot-steps His experiments haue drawne forth rules of confidence which he dares oppose against all the feares of distrust wherein he thinks it safe to charge God with what he hath done with what he hath promised Examples are his poofes and instances his demonstrations What hath God giuen which he cannot giue What haue others suffered which he may not bee enabled to endure Is hee threatened banishment There he sees the deare Euangelist in Pathmos Cutting in peeces he sees Esay vnder the saw Drowning he sees Ionas diuing into the liuing gulfe Burning he sees the three Children in the hot walke of the Furnace Deuouring he sees Daniel in the sealed denne amids his terrible companions Stoning hee sees the first Martyr vnder his heape of many graue-stones Heading loe there the Baptists necke bleeding in Herodias platter He emulates their paine their strength their glory He wearies not himselfe with cares for he knowes hee liues not of his owne cost not idlely omitting meanes but not vsing them with diffidence In the midst of ill rumors and amazements his countenance changeth not for he knowes both whom hee hath trusted and whither death can leade him He is not so sure he shall die as that he shall be restored and out-faceth his death with his resurrection Finally he is rich in workes busie in obedience cheerefull and vnmoued in expectation better with euils in common opinion miserable but in true iudgement more than a man Of the Humble-man HE is a friendly enemie to himselfe for though hee bee not out of his owne fauour no man sets so low a value of his worth as himselfe not out of ignorance or carelesnesse but of a voluntarie and meeke deiectednesse Hee admires euery thing in another whiles the same or better in himselfe hee thinkes not vnworthily contemned his eies are full of his owne wants and others perfections Hee loues rather to giue than take honour not in a fashion of complementall courtesie but in simplicitie of his iudgement neither doth hee fret at those on whom hee forceth precedencie as one that hoped their modestie would haue refused but holds his minde vnfainedly below his place and is ready to goe lower if need bee without discontent When he hath but his due he magnifieth courtesie and disclaimes his deserts He can be more ashamed of honour than grieued with contempt because hee thinkes that causelesse this deserued His face his cariage his habit fauour of lowlinesse without affectation and yet he is much vnder that he seemeth His words are few and soft neuer either peremptorie or censorious because hee thinkes both each man more wise and none more faultie than
himselfe and when he approcheth to the Throne of God he is so taken vp with the diuine greatnesse that in his owne eies he is either vile or nothing Places of publike charge are faine to sue to him and hale him out of his chosen obscuritie which he holds off not cunningly to cause importunitie but sincerely in the conscience of his defects He frequenteth not the stages of common resorts and then alone thinkes himselfe in his naturall element when hee is shrowded within his owne walls He is euer iealous ouer himselfe and still suspecteth that which others applaud There is no better obiect of beneficence for what he receiues he ascribes meerely to the bountie of the giuer nothing to merit He emulates no man in any thing but goodnesse and that with more desire than hope to ouertake No man is so contented with his little and so patient vnder miseries because he knowes the greatest euils are below his sinnes and the least fauours aboue his deseruings He walkes euer in awe and dare not but subiect euery word and action to an high and iust censure Hee is a lowly valley sweetly planted and well watered the proud mans earth whereon he trampleth but secretly full of wealthy Mines more worth than he that walkes ouer them a rich stone set in lead and lastly a true Temple of God built with a low roofe Of a Valiant man HE vndertakes without rashnesse and personnes without feare hee seekes not for dangers but when they finde him hee beares them ouer with courage with successe He hath oft-times lookt Death in the face and passed by it with a smile and when he sees he must yeeld doth at once welcome and contemne it Hee fore-casts the worst of all euents and encounters them before they come in a secret and mentall warre and if the suddennesse of an vnexpected euill haue surprized his thoughts and infected his cheekes with palenesse he hath no sooner digested it in his conceit than he gathers vp himselfe and insults ouer mischiefe Hee is the master of himselfe and subdues his passions to reason and by this inward victorie workes his owne peace He is afraid of nothing but the displeasure of the Highest and runnes away from nothing but sinne he lookes not on his hands but his cause not how strong he is but how innocent and where goodnesse is his warrant he may be ouer-mastered he cannot be foiled The sword is to him the last of all trials which he drawes forth still as Defendant not as Challenger with a willing kinde of vnwillingnesse no man can better manage it with more safetie with more fauour hee had rather haue his bloud seene than his backe and disdaines life vpon base conditions No man is more milde to a relenting or vanquisht aduersarie or more hates to set his foot on a carcase He had rather smother an iniurie than reuenge himselfe of the impotent and I know not whether more detests cowardlinesse or crueltie He talkes little and brags lesse and loues rather the silent language of the hand to be seene than heard He lies euer close within himselfe armed with wise resolution and will not be discouered but by death or danger He is neither prodigall of bloud to mis-spend it idlely nor niggardly to grudge it when either God calls for it or his Countrey neither is hee more liberall of his owne life than of others His power is limited by his will and he holds it the noblest reuenge that he might hurt and doth not He commands without tyrannie and imperiousnesse obeyes without seruilitie and changes not his minde with his estate The height of his spirits ouer-lookes all casualties and his boldnesse proceeds neither from ignorance nor senselesnesse but first he values euils and then despises them he is so ballaced with wisdome that he floats steddily in the midst of all tempests Deliberate in his purposes firme in resolution bold in enterprising vnwearied in atchieuing and howsoeuer happy in successe and if euer he be ouercome his heart yeelds last Of a Patient man THe patient man is made of a metall not so hard as flexible his shoulders are large fit for a load of iniuries which he beares not out of basenesse and cowardlinesse because he dare not reuenge but out of Christian fortitude because he may not he hath so conquered himselfe that wrongs cannot conquer him and herein alone findes that victory consists in yeelding He is aboue nature while he seemes below himselfe The vildest creature knowes how to turne againe but to command himselfe not to resist being vrged is more than heroicall His constructions are euer full of charity and fauour either this wrong was not done or not with intent of wrong or if that vpon mis-information or if none of these rashnesse though a fault shall serue for an excuse Himselfe craues the offenders pardon before his confession and a slight answer contents where the offended desires to forgiue He is Gods best witnesse when he stands before the barre for truth his tongue is calmely free his forehead firme and hee with erect and setled countenance heares his iust sentence and reioyces in it The Iaylors that attend him are to him his Pages of honour his dungeon the lower part of the vault of heauen his racke or wheele the staires of his ascent to glory he challengeth his executioners and encounters the fiercest paines with strength of resolution and while he suffers the beholders pity him the tormentors complaine of wearinesse and both of them wonder No anguish can master him whether by violence or by lingring He accounts expectation no punishment can abide to haue his hopes adiourned till a new day Good lawes serue for his protection not for his reuenge and his owne power to auoid indignities not to returne them His hopes are so strong that they can insult ouer the greatest discouragements and his apprehensions so deepe that when he hath once fastned he sooner leaueth his life than his hold Neither time nor peruersnesse can make him cast off his charitable endeuours and despaire of preuailing but in spight of all crosses and all denials he redoubleth his beneficiall offers of loue He trieth the sea after many ship-wracks beats still at that doore which he neuer saw opened Contrariety of euents doth but exercise not dismay him and when crosses afflict him he sees a diuine hand inuisibly striking with these sensible scourges against which hee dares not rebell nor murmure Hence all things befall him alike and he goes with the same minde to the shambles and to the fold His recreations are calme and gentle and not more full of relaxation than void of fury This man onely can turne necessity into vertue and put euill to good vse He is the surest friend the latest and easiest enemy the greatest conqueror and so much more happy than others by how much he could abide to be more miserable Of the true Friend HIs affections are both vnited and diuided
a few should be the aduantage of many soules Tho why doe I speake of losse I speake that as your feare not my owne and your affection causeth that feare rather then the occasion The God of the Haruest shall send you a Labourer more able as carefull That is my prayer and hope and shall be my ioy I dare not leaue but in this expectation this assurance What-euer become of me it shall be my greatest comfort to heare you commend your change and to see your happy progresse in those waies I haue both shewed you and beaten So shall we meet in the end and neuer part Written to Mr. J. B. and Dedicated to my Father Mr. J. Hall EP. X. Against the feare of Death YOu complaine that you feare death He is no man that doth not Besides the paine Nature shrinks at the thought of parting If you would learn the remedy know the cause for that she is ignorant and faithlesse Shee would not be cowardly if she were not foolish Our feare is from doubt and our doubt is from vnbeleefe and whence is our vnbeleefe but chiefly froÌ ignorance She knowes not what good is elsewhere she beleeues not her part in it Get once true knowledge true faith your feare shal vanish alone Assurance of heauenly things makes vs willing to part with earthly He cannot contemn this life that knowes not the other If you would despise earth therfore think of heauen If you would haue death easie thinke of that glorious life that followes it Certainly if we can endure paine for health much more should we abide a few pangs for glory Thinke how fondly we feare a vanquisht enemy Loe Christ hath triumpht ouer Death he bleedeth and gaspeth vnder vs and yet we tremble It is enough to vs that Christ dyed neyther would he haue dyed but that we might dye with safety and pleasure Thinke that death is necessarily annexed to nature We are for a time on condition that we shall not be wee receiue life but vpon the termes of re-deliuery Necessity makes some things easie as it vsually makes easie things difficult It is a fond iniustice to imbrace the couenant and shrinke at the condition Thinke there is but one common rode to all flesh There are no by-paths of any fairer or nearer way no not for Princes Euen company abateth miseries and the commonnesse of an euill makes it lesse fearefull What worlds of men are gone before vs yea how many thousands out of one field How many Crownes and Scepters lye piled vp at the gates of Death which their owners haue left there as spoiles to the conqueror Haue we been at so many graues so oft seene our selues dye in our friends and doe we shrinke when our course commeth Imagine you alone were exempted from the common law of mankind or were condemned to Methusalahs age assure your selfe death is not now so fearefull as your life would then be wearisome Thinke not so much what Death is as from whom he comes and for what We receiue euen homely messengers from great persons not without respect to their masters And what matters it who he be so he bring vs good newes What newes can be better than this That God sends for you to take possession of a Kingdome Let them feare Death which know him but as a pursuiuant sent from hell whom their conscience accuseth of a life wilfully filthy and bindes-ouer secretly to condemnation We know whither we are going and whom we haue beleeued Let vs passe on cheerfully through these blacke gates vnto our glory Lastly know that our improuidence onely addes terror vnto death Thinke of death and you shall not feare it Doe you not see that euen Beares and Tygres seem not terrible to those that liue with them How haue we seene their keepers sport with them when the beholders durst scarce trust their chaine Be acquainted with Death though he looke grimme vpon you at first you shall finde him yea you shall make him a good companion Familiarity cannot stand with feare These are receits enow Too much store doth rather ouer-whelme than satisfie Take but these and I dare promise you security EPISTLES THE SECOND DECAD BY IOS HALL LONDON Printed for THOMAS PAVIER MILES FLESHER and John Haviland 1624. THE SECOND DECAD To Sir ROBERT DARCY EP. I. The estate of a true but weake Christian IF you aske how I fare Sometimes no man better and if the fault were not mine owne Alwayes Not that I can command health and bid the world smile when I list How possible is it for a man to be happy without these yea in spight of them These things can neyther augment nor impaire those comforts that come from aboue What vse what sight is there of the starres when the Sunne shines Then onely can I finde my selfe happy when ouer-looking these earthly things I can fetch my ioy from heauen I tell him that knowes it the contentments that earth can afford her best Fauourites are weake imperfect changeable momentany and such as euer end in complaint Wee sorrow that wee had them and while wee haue them we dare not trust them Those from aboue are full and constant What an heauen doe I feele in my selfe when after many trauerses of meditation I find in my hart a feeling possession of my God! When I can walke and conuerse with the God of heauen not without an opennesse of heart and familiarity When my soule hath caught fast and sensible hold of my Sauiour and either pulls him downe to it selfe or rather lifts vp it selfe to him and can and dare secretly auouch I know whom I haue beleeued When I can looke vpon all this inferior creation with the eies of a stranger am transported to my home in my thoughts solacing my selfe in the view meditation of my future glory and that present of the Saints When I see wherefore I was made and my conscience tells me I haue done that for which I came done it not so as I can boast but so as it is accepted while my weaknesses are pardoned and my acts measured by my desires and my desires by their sincerity Lastly when I can finde my selfe vpon holy resolution made firme and square fit to entertaine all euents the good with moderate regard the euill with courage and patience both with thankes strongly setled to good purposes constant and cheerfull in deuotion and in a word ready for God yea full of God Sometimes I can be thus and pity the poore and miserable prosperity of the godlesse and laugh at their moneths of vanity and sorrow at my owne But then againe for why should I shame to confesse it the world thrusts it selfe betwixt me and heauen and by his darke and indigested parts eclipseth that light which shined to my soule Now a senslesse dulnesse ouertakes me and besots me my lust to deuotion is little my ioy none at all Gods face is hid and I am troubled Then I begin
god his deuotion can bee but his pleasure whereas the mortified soule hath learned to scorne these friuolous and sinfull ioyes and affects either solid delights or none and had rather be dull for want of mirth then transported with wanton pleasures When the world like an important Minstrell thrusts it selfe into his chamber and offers him musicke vnsought if he vouchsafe it the hearing it is the highest fauour he dare or can yeeld He rewards it not he commends it not Yea hee secretly lothes those harsh and iarring notes and reiects them For he finds a better consort within betwixt God and himselfe when he hath a little tuned his heart with meditation To speake fully the World is like an ill foole in a Play the Christian is a iudicious spectator which thinkes those iests too grosse to be laught at and therefore entertaines that with scorne which others with applause Yet in truth we finne if wee reioyce not there is not more error in false mirth then in vniust heauinesse If worldlings offend that they laugh when they should mourne we shall offend no lesse if we droop in cause of cheerefulnesse Shall we enuy or scorne to see one ioy in red and white drosse another in a vaine title one in a dainty dish another in a iest one in a book another in a friend one in a Kite another in a Dogge whiles wee enioy the God of Heauen and are sorrowfull What dull metall is this we are made of We haue the fountaine of ioy and yet complaine of heauinesse Is there any ioy without God Certainly if ioy be good and all goodnesse bee from him whence should ioy arise but from him And if hee be the author of ioy how are we Christians and reioyce not What do we freeze in the fire and starue at a feast Haue we a good conscience and yet pine and hang down the head When God hath made vs happy doe we make our selues miserable When I aske my heart Dauids question I know not whether I bee more angry or ashamed at the answer Why art thou sad my soule My body my purse my fame my friends or perhaps none of these onely I am sad because I am And what if all these what if more when I come to my better wits Haue I a father an aduocate a comforter a mansion in heauen If both earth and hell conspired to afflict me my sorrow cannot counteruaile the causes of my ioy Now I can challenge all aduersaries and either defie all miseries or bid all crosses yea death it selfe welcome Yet God doth not abridge vs of these earthly solaces which dare weigh with our discontentments and sometimes depresse the balance His greater light doth not extinguish the lesse If God had not thought them blessings hee had not bestowed them and how are they blessings if they delight vs not Bookes friends wine oyle health reputation competencie may giue occasions but not bounds to our reioycings We may not make them Gods riualls but his spokes-men In themselues they are nothing but in God worth our ioy These may be vsed yet so as they may bee absent without distraction Let these goe so God alone be present with vs it is enough He were not God if he were not All-sufficient We haue him I speake boldly Wee haue him in feeling in faith in pledges and earnest yea in possession Why doe we not enioy him why doe we not shake-off that senselesse drowsinesse which makes our liues vnpleasant and leaue-ouer all heauinesse to those that want God to those that either know him not or know him displeased ToM. W.R. Dedic to M. Thomas Burlz EP. IX Consolations of immoderate griefe for the death of friends WHile the streame of sorrow runs full I know how vaine it is to oppose counsell Passions must haue leasure to digest Wisdome doth not more moderate them then time At first it was best to mourne with you and to mitigate your sorrow by bearing part wherein would God my burden could be your ease Euery thing else is lesse when it is diuided And then is best after teares to giue counsell yet in these thoughts I am not a little straited Before you haue digested griefe aduice comes too early too late when you haue digested it Before it was vnseasonable after would be superfluous Before it could not benefit you after it may hurt you by rubbing-vp a skinned sore a-fresh It is as hard to choose the season for counsell as to giue it and that season is after the first digestion of sorrow before the last If my Letters then meet with the best opportunitie they shall please me and profit you If not yet I deserue pardon that I wished so You had but two Iewels which you held precious a Wife and a Sonne One was your selfe diuided the other your selfe multiplyed You haue lost both and well-neere at once The losse of one caused the other and both of them your iust griefe Such losses when they come single afflict vs but when double astonish vs and tho they giue aduantage of respite would almost ouerwhelme the best patient Lo now is the tryall of your manhood yea of your Christianitie You are now in the lists set vpon by two of Gods fierce afflictions show now what patience you haue what fortitude Wherefore haue you gathered and laid vp all this time but for this brunt Now bring forth all your holy store to light and to vse and approue to vs in this difficultie that you haue all this vvhile beene a Christian in earnest I know these euents haue not surprised you on a sudden you haue suspected they might come you haue put-cases if they should come Things that are hazardous may be doubted but certaine things are and must be expected Prouidence abates griefe and discountenances a crosse Or if your affection were so strong that you durst not fore-thinke your losse take it equally but as it falls A wise man and a Christian knowes death so fatall to Nature so ordinarie in euent so gainefull in the issue that I vvonder he can for this either feare or grieue Doth God onely lend vs one another and doe we grudge when he calls for his owne So I haue seene ill debters that borrow vvith prayers keepe vvith thankes repay vvith enmitie We mistake our tenure vve take that for gift vvhich God intends for loane Wee are tenants at will and thinke our selues owners Your vvife and child are dead Well they haue done that for vvhich they came If they could not haue dyed it had been worthy of vvonder not at all that they are dead If this condition vvere proper onely to our families and friends or yet to our climate alone how vnhappie should we seeme to our neighbours to our selues Now it is common let vs mourne that vve are men Lo all Princes and Monarchs daunce vvith vs in the same ring yea what speake I of earth The God of Nature the Sauiour of men hath trod the same
tarry in the suburbs Grant that these were as ill as an enemy can make them or can pretend them You are deceiued if you thinke the walles of Babylon stand vpon Ceremonies Substantiall errors are both her foundation and frame These rituall obseruations are not so much as Tile and Reede rather like to some Fane vpon the roofe for ornament more then vse Not parts of the building but not necessarie appeadances If you take them otherwise you wrong the Church if thus and yet depart you wrong it and your selfe As if you would haue perswaded righteous Lot not to stay is Zoar because it was so neere Sodome I feare if you had seene the money-changers in the Temple how euer you would haue prayed or taught there Christ did it not forsaking the place but scourging the offenders And this is the valour of Christian teachers To oppose abuses not to runne away from them Where shall you not thus finde Babylon Would you haue runne from Geneua because of her wafers Or from Corinth for her disordered loue-feasts Either runne out of the world or your flight is in vaine If experience of change teach you not that you shall finde your Babylon euery where returne not Compare the place you haue left with that you haue chosen let not feare of seeming to repent ouer-soone make you partiall Loe there a common harbour of all opinions of all heresies if not a mixture Here you drew in the free and cleare aire of the Gospel without that odious composition of Iudaisme Arrianisme Anabaptisme There you liue in the stench of these and more You are vnworthy of pitie if you will approue your misery Say if you can that the Church of England if shee were not yours is not an heauen to Amsterdam How is it then that our gnats are harder to swallow then their camels and that whiles all Christendome magnifies our happinesse and applauds it your handfull alone so detests our enormities that you despise our graces See whether in this you make not God a loser The thanke of all his fauours is lost because you want more and in the meane time who gaines by this sequestration but Rome and Hell How doe they insult in this aduantage that our mothers owne children condemne her for vncleane that we are dayly weakened by our diuisions that the rude multitude hath so palpable a motiue to distrust vs Sure you intended it not but if you had been their hired Agent you could not haue done our enemies greater seruice The God of heauen open your eyes that you may see the vniustice of that zeale which hath transported you and turne your heart to an endeuour of all Christian satisfaction Otherwise your soules shall finde too late that it had beene a thousand times better to swallow a Ceremonie then to rend a Church yea that euen wheredomes and murders shall abide an easier answer then separation I haue done if onely I haue aduised you of that fearfull threatning of the Wise-man The eye that mocketh his father and despiseth the gouernment of his mother the Rauens of the valley shall picke it out and the yong Eagles eate it To Sir ANDREW ASTELEY EP. II. A discourse of our due preparation for death and the meanes to sweeten it to vs. SInce I saw you I saw my father die How boldly and merrily did hee passe thorow the gates of death as if they had no terrour but much pleasure Oh that I could as easily imitate as not forget him We know wee must tread the same way how happy if with the same minde Our life as it giues way to death so must make way for it It will be though we will not it will not bee happy without our will without our preparation It is the best and longest lesson to learne how to die and of surest vse which alone if we take not out it were better not to haue liued Oh vaine studies of men how to walke thorough Rome streets al day in the shade how to square cirles how to salue vp the celestiall motions how to correct mis-written copies to fetch vp old words from forgetfulnesse and a thousand other like points of idle skill whiles the maine care of life and death is neglected There is an Art of this infallible eternall both in truth and vse for though the meanes bee diuers yet the last act is still the same and the disposition of the soule need not be other it is all one whether a feuer bring it or a sword wherein yet after long profession of other sciences I am still why should I shame to confesse a learner and shall be I hope whilest I am yet it shall not repent vs as diligeÌt schollers repeat their parts vnto each other to be more perfect so mutually to recall some of our rules of well-dying The first whereof is a conscionable life The next a right apprehension of life and death I tread in the beaten path doe you follow me To liue holily is the way to die safely happily If death be terrible yet innocence is bold and will neither feare it selfe nor let vs feare where contrariwise wickednesse is cowardly and cannot abide either any glimpse of light or shew of danger Hope doth not more draw our eyes forward then conscience turnes them backward and forces vs to looke behinde vs affrighting vs euen without past euils Besides the paine of death euery sinne is a new Fury to torment the soule and to make it loth to part How can it chuse when it sees on the one side what euill it hath done on the other vvhat euill it must suffer it vvas a cleare heart what else could doe it that gaue so bold a forehead to that holy Bishop who durst on his death-bed professe I haue so liued as I neither feare to die nor shame to liue What care we when be found if well-doing What care we how suddenly vvhen our preparation is perpetuall What care we how violently vvhen so many inward friends such are our good actions giue vs secret comfort There is no good Steward but is glad of his Audit his straight accounts desire nothing more then a discharge onely the doubtfull and vntrustie feares of his reckoning Neither onely doth the vvant of integritie make vs timorous but of wisedome in that our ignorance cannot equally value either the life which vve leaue or the death vve expect Wee haue long conuersed vvith this life and yet are vnacquainted how should wee then know that death we neuer saw or that life vvhich followes that death These cottages haue been ruinous and wee haue not thought of their fall our way hath beene deepe and we haue not looked for our rest Shew mee euer any man that knew vvhat life vvas and vvas loth to leaue it I vvill shew you a prisoner that would dwell in his Goale a slaue that likes to be chained to his Galley What is there here but darknesse of ignorance discomfort of euents impotency of
true Messias Let now all the Doctors of those obstinate Synagogues answer this doubt of their owne obiecting But how past all contradiction is the ancient witnesse of all the holy Prophets answered and confirmed by their euents whose foresayings verified in all particular issues are more then demonstratiue No Art can describe a thing past vvith more exactnesse then they did this Christ to come What circumstance is there that hath not his perââction Haue they not fore-vvritteâ who shoâââ be his mother A Virgin Of what Tribe of Iuda Of vvhat house of Dauid What place Bethleem vvhat time vvhen the scepter should be taken from Iuda Or after sixtie nine vveekes What name Iesus Immanuel What habitation Nazareth What harbinger Iohn the second Elias What his businesse to preach saue deliuer What entertainment reiection What death the Crosse What manner piercing the body not breaking the bones What company amidst two vvicked ones Where at Ierusalem Whereabouts vvithout the Gates With vvhat vvords of imploration What draught of Vineger and Gall vvho vvas his Traitor and vvith vvhat successe If all the Synagogues of the Circumcision all the gates of Hell can obscure these euidences let me be a proselyte My labour herein is so much lesse as there is lesse danger of Iudaisme Our Church is vvell rid of that accursed Nation vvhom yet Rome harbors and in a fashion graces vvhiles in stead of spitting at or that their Neapolitan correction vvhereof Gratian speaks the Pope solemnly receiues at their hands that Bible vvhich they at once approue and ouerthrow But vvould God there vvere no more Iewes then appeare Euen in this sense also hee is a Iew that is one vvithin plainely vvhose heart doth not sincerely confesse his Redeemer Tho a Christian Iew is no other then an Atheist and therfore must be scourged else-where The Iew thus answered The Turke stands out for his Mahomet that cozening Arabian vvhose Religion if it deserue that name stands vpon nothing but rude ignorance and palpable Imposture Yet loe here a subtill Diuell in a grosse religion For when he saw that he could not by single twists of Heresie pull downe the well built walls of the Church hee vvindes them all vp in one Cable to see if his cord of so many folds might happily preuaile raising vp vvicked Mahomet to deny vvith Sabellius the distinction of persons with Arrius Christs diuinity with Macedonius the Deity of the Holy Ghost with Sergius two wils in Christ with Marcion Christs suffering And these policies seconded vvith violence how haue they vvasted Christendome O damnable mixture miserably successefull vvhich yet could not haue beene but that it meets with sottish Clients and sooths vp nature and debars both all knowledge and contraction What is their Alcoran but a fardle of foolish impossibilities Whosoeuer shall heare me relate the stories of Angell Adriels death Seraphuels trumpet Gabriels bridge Horroth and Marroths hanging the Moones descending into Mahomets sleeue the Litter wherin he saw God caried by eight Angels their ridiculous and swinish Paradise and thousands of the same bran would say that Mahomet hoped to meet either vvith beasts or mad-men Besides these barbarous fictions behold their lawes full of licence full of impietie in which reuenge is incouraged multitude of vviues allowed theft tolerated and the frame of their opinions such as vvell bewrayes their whole religion to be but the mungrell issue of an Arrian Iew Nestorian and Arabian A monster of many seeds and all accursed In both vvhich regards Nature her selfe in vvhose breast God hath written his royall Law tho in part by her defaced hath light enough to condemne a Turke as the worst Pagan Let no man looke for further disproofe These follies a wise Christian will scorne to confute and fearce vouchsafe to laugh at The Greekish Church so the Russes tearme themselues put in the next claime but with no better successe whose infinite Clergy affords not a man that can giue either reason or account of their owne doctrine These are the basest dregs of all Christians so we fauourably terme them tho they perhaps in more simplicitie then wilfulnesse would admit none of all the other Christian world to their font but those who in a solemne renunciation spit at and abiure their former God Religion Baptisme yet peraduenture wee might more iustly terme them Nicolaitans for that obscure Saint if a Saint if honest by an vnequall diuision findes more homage from them then his master These are as ignorant as Turkes as idolatrous as Heathens as obstinate as Iewes and more superstitious then Papists To speake ingenuously from that I haue heard and read if the worst of the Romish religion and the best of the Moscouitish bee compared the choice will be hard whether should be lesse ill I labour the lesse in all these whose remotenesse and absurditie secure vs from infection and whose onely name is their confutation I descend to that maine riuall of Truth which creepes into her bosome and is not lesse neere then subtle the religion if not rather the faction of Papisme whose plea is importunate and so much more dangerous as it caries fairer probability Since then of all religions the Christian obtaineth let vs see of those that are called Christian which should command assent and profession Euery religion beares in her lineaments the image of her parent the true Religion therefore is spirituall and lookes like God in her puritie all false religions are carnall and carie the face of Nature their mother and of him whose illusion begot them Satan In summe Nature neuer conceiued any which did not fauour her nor the spirit any which did not oppugne her Let this then be the Lydian stone of this tryall we need no more Whether Religion soeuer doth more plausibly content Nature is false whether giues more sincere glory to God is his Truth Lay aside preiudice Whither I beseech you tendeth all Popery but to make Nature either vainly proud or carelessely wanton What can more aduance her pride then to tell her that she hath in her own hands freedome enough of will with a little preuention to prepare her selfe to her iustification that she hath whereof to reioyce some what which shee hath not receiued that if God please but to vnfetter her she can walke alone She is insolent enough of her selfe this flatterie is enough to make her mad of conceit After this That if God will but beare halfe the charges by his cooperation she may vndertake to merit her owne glory and braue God in the proofe of his most accurate iudgement to fulfill the whole royall law and that from the superfluitie of her owne satisfactions shee may bee abundantly beneficiall to her neighbours that naturally without faith a man may doe some good workes that we may repose confidence in our merits Neither is our good onely by this flatterie extolled but our ill also diminished our euils are our sinnes some of them they say are in their
Gods ancient law would haue made a quicke dispatch and haue determined the case by the death of the offender and the liberty of the innocent and not it alone How many Heathen Law-giuers haue subscribed to Moses Arabians Grecians Romans yea very Gothes the dregs of Barbarisme haue thought this wrong not expiable but by blood With vs the easinesse of reuenge as it yeelds frequence of offences so multitude of doubts Whether the wronged husband should conceale or complaine complaining whether he should retaine or dismisse dismissing whether he may marry or must continue single not continuing single whether he may receiue his own or chuse another but your inquiries shall be my bounds The fact you say is too euident Let me aske you To your selfe or to the world This point alone must vary our proceedings Publike notice requires publike discharge Priuate wrongs are in our owne power publike in the hands of authority The thoughts of our owne brests while they smother themselues within vs are at our command whether for suppressing or expressing but if they once haue vented themselues by words vnto others eares now as common strayes they must stand to the hazard of censure such are our actions Neither the sword nor the keyes meddle within doores what but they vvithout If fame haue laid hold on the wrong prosecute it cleere your name cleere your house yea Gods Else you shall be reputed a Pandar to your owne bed and the second shame shall surpasse the first so much as your owne fault can more blemish you then anothers If there were no more he is cruelly mercifull that neglects his owne fame But what if the sinne were shrouded in secrecy The loathsomnesse of vice consists not in common knowledge It is no lesse hainous if lesse talked of Report giues but shame God and the good soule detest close euils Yet then I ask not of the offence but of the offender not of her crime but her repentance She hath sinned against heauen and you But hath she washed your polluted bed with her teares Hath her true sorrow beene no lesse apparant then her sinne Hath she peeced her old vow with new protestations of fidelity Do you find her at once humbled and changed Why should that eare be deafe to her prayers that was open to her accusation why is there not yet place for mercy Why doe we Christians liue as vnder Martiall law wherein we sinne but once Plead not authority Ciuilians haue beene too rigorous the mercifull sentence of Diuinity shal sweetly temper humane seuereness How many haue we known the better for their sinne That Magdalene her predecessor in filthinesse had neuer loued so much if she had not so much sinned How oft hath Gods Spouse deserued a diuorce which yet still her confessions her teares haue reuersed How oft hath that scroll beene written and signed and yet againe cancelled and torne vpon submission His actions not his words onely are our precepts Why is man cruell where God relents The wrong is ours onely for his sake without whose law were no sinne If the Creditor please to remit the debt doe standers-by complaine But if she be at once filthy and obstinate flie from her bed as contagious Now your beneuolence is adultery you impart your body to her she her sinne to you A dangerous exchange An honest body for an harlots sinne Herein you are in cause that she hath more then one adulterer I applaud the rigour of those ancient Canons which haue still roughly censured euen this cloake of vice As there is necessity of charity in the former so of iustice in this If you can so loue your wife that you detest not her sin you are a better husband then a Christian a better bawd then an husband I dare say no more vpon so generall a relation good Physitians in dangerous diseases dare not prescribe on bare sight of vrine or vncertaine report but will feele the pulse and see the symptomes ere they resolue on the receit You see how no niggard I am of my counsels would God I could as easily asswage your griefe as satisfie your doubts To M. ROBERT HAY. EPIST. VIII A Discourse of the continuall exercise of a Christian how he may keepe his heart from hardnesse and his wayes from error TO keepe the heart in vre with God is the highest taske of a Christian Good motions are not frequent but the constancy of good disposition is rare and hard This worke must be continuall or else speedeth not like as the body from a setled and habituall distemper must be recouered by long diets and so much the rather for that we cannot intermit here without relapses If this field be not tilled euery day it will runne out into thistles The euening is fittest for this worke when retyred into our selues we must cheerefully and constantly both looke vp to God and into our hearts as we haue to doe with both to God in thanksgiuing first then in request It shall be therefore expedient for the soule duly to recount to it selfe all the specialties of Gods fauours a confused thankes fauours of carelesnesse and neither doth affect vs nor win acceptance aboue Bethinke your selfe then of all these externall inferiour earthly graces that your being breathing life motion reason is from him that hee hath giuen you a more noble nature then the rest of the creatures excellent faculties of the mind perfection of senses soundnesse of body competency of estate seemlinesse of condition fitnesse of calling preseruation from dangers rescue out of miseries kindnesse of friends carefulnesse of education honesty of reputation liberty of recreations quietnesse of life opportunity of well-doing protection of Angels Then rise higher to his spirituall fauours tho here on earth and striue to raise your affections with your thoughts Blesse God that you were borne in the light of the Gospell for your profession of the truth for the honor of your vocation for your incorporating into the Church for the priuiledge of the Sacraments the free vse of the Scriptures the communion of Saints the benefit of their prayers the ayde of their counsels the pleasure of their conuersation for the beginnings of regeneration any foot-steps of faith hope loue zeale patience peace ioy conscionablenesse for any desire of more Then let your soule mount highest of all into her heauen and acknowledge those celestiall graces of her election to glory redemption from-shame and death of the intercession of her Sauiour of the preparation of her place and there let her stay a while vpon the meditation of her future ioyes This done the way is made for your request Sue now to your God as for grace to answer these mercies so to see wherein you haue not answered them From him therefore cast your eyes downe vpon your selfe and as some carefull Iusticer doth a suspected fellon so doe you strictly examine your heart of what you haue done that day of what you should haue done enquire whether
the other of Tecla What partiality is this to deny that to the children of Christians which they grant to knowne Infidels The promise is made to vs and our seed not to those that are without the pale of the Church Those Innocents which were massacred for Christ are by them canonized for Saints and make one day in their Kalendar each yeare both holy and dismall whereof yet scarce any liued to know water none to know baptisme Yea all Martyrs are here priuiledged who are Christened in their owne blood in stead of water but where hath God said All that die without baptisme shall die for euer except Martyrs why not except beleeuers It is faith that giues life to Martyrs which if they should vvant their first death could not auoid the second Ambrose doubted not to say his Valentinian was baptised because he desired it not because he had it he knew the mind of God who accounts vs to haue what we vnfainedly wish Children cannot liue to desire baptisme if their Parents desire it for them why may not the desire of others be theirs as well as according to Austins opinion the faith of others beleeuing and the mouth of others confessing In these cases therefore of any soules but our owne it is safe to suspend and dangerous to passe iudgement Secret things to God He that made all soules knowes vvhat to doe vvith them neither will make vs of counsell But if wee define either way the errors of charitie are inoffensiue We must honour good means and vse them and in their necessarie want depend vpon him who can vvorke beyond vvithout against meanes Thus haue I endeuoured your Ladiships satisfaction in what you heard not without some scruple If any man shall blame my choice in troubling you with a thornie and scholasticall discourse let him know that I haue learned this fashion of Saint Hierome the Oracle of Antiquitie vvho was vvont to entertaine his Paula and Eustochium Marcella Principia Hedibia and other deuout Ladies with learned canuases of the deepe points of Diuinitie This is not so perplexed that it need to offend nor so vnnecessary that it may be vnknowne To Sir RICHARD LEA since deceased EP. V. Discoursing of the comfortable remedies of all afflictions WISE men seeke remedies before their disease sensible patients when they begin to complaine fooles too late Afflictions are the common maladies of Christians These you feele and vpon the first groanes seeke for ease Wherefore serues the tongue of the learned but to speake words in season I am a Scholler of those that can comfort you If you shall vvith me take out my lessons neither of vs shal repent it You smart and complaine take heed lest too much There is no affliction not grieuous the bone that vvas disioynted cannot bee set right without paine No potion can cure vs if it worke not it vvorkes not except it make vs sicke we are contented with that sicknesse which is the vvay to health There is a vexation without hurt such is this We are afflicted not ouer-pressed needie not desperate persecuted not forsaken cast downe but perish not How should we vvhen all the euill in a Citie comes from the prouidence of a good God which can neither be impotent nor vnmercifull It is the Lord let him doe vvhat hee will Woe were vs if euils could come by chance or were let loose to alight where they list now they are ouer-ruled wee are safe The destinie of our sorrowes is written in heauen by a vvise and eternall decree Behold he that hath ordained moderates them A faithfull God that giues an issue vvith the tentation An issue both of their end and their successe He chides not alwayes much lesse striketh Our light afflictions are but for a moment not so long in respect of our vacancy and rest If wee weepe sometimes our teares are precious As they shall neuer be dry in his bottle so they shall soone be dry vpon our cheekes He that wrings them from vs shall vvipe them off how sweetly doth hee interchange our sorrowes and ioyes that we may neither be vaine nor miserable It is true To be strooke once in anger is fearfull his displeasure is more then his blow In both our God is a consuming fire Feare not these stripes are the tokens of his loue he is no Sonne that is not beaten yea till he smart and cry if not till he bleed no Parent corrects anothers childe and he is no good Parent that corrects not his owne Oh rod worthy to be kissed that assures vs of his loue of our adoption What speake I of no hurt short praises doe but discommend I say more these euils are good looke to their effects What is good if not patience affliction is the mother of it tribulation bringeth forth patience What can earth or heauen yeeld better then the assurance of Gods Spirit Afflictions argue yea seale this to vs. Wherein stands perfect happinesse if not in our neere resemblance of Christ Why was man created happy but because in Gods image The glory of Paradise the beauty of his body the duty of the creatures could not giue him felicitie without the likenesse to his Creator Behold what wee lost in our height wee recouer in our miserie a conformitie to the image of the Sonne of God he that is not like his elder brother shall neuer be coheire with him Loe his side temples hands feet all bleeding his face blubbred ghaftly and spitted on his skin all pearled with a bloody sweat his head drouping his soule heauy to the death see you the vvorldling mercy soft delicate perfumed neuer wrinkled with sorrow neuer humbled with afflictions What resemblance is here yea what contrarietie Ease flayeth the foole it hath made him resty and leaues him miserable Be not deceiued No man can follow Christ without his Crosse much lesse reach him and if none shall raigne with Christ but those that suffer vvith him what shall become of these iolly ones Goe now thou dainty worldling and please thy selfe in thy happinesse laugh alwayes and be euer applauded It is a wofull felicitie that thou shalt finde in opposition to thy Redeemer He hath said Woe to them that laugh Beleeuest thou and dost not weepe at thy laughter and with Salomon condemne it of madnesse And againe with the same breath Blessed are yee that weepe who can beleeue this and not reioyce in his owne teares and not pitie the faint smiles of the godlesse Why blessed For ye shall laugh Behold wee that weepe on earth shall laugh in heauen we that now weepe vvith men shall laugh vvith Angels while the fleering worldling shall be gnashing and howling with Diuels we that weepe for a time shall laugh for euer who would not be content to deferre his ioy a little that it may be perpetuall and infinite What mad man would purchase this crackling of thornes such is the vvorldlings ioy with eternall shrieking and torment hee that is
himselfe of himselfe a worme and no man the shame of men and contempt of the people Who is the King of glory Psal 24.10 the Lord of Hoasts he is the King of glory Set these two together the King of glory the shame of men the more honour the more abasement Looke backe to his Cradle there you finde him rejected of the Bethlemites borne and laid alas how homely how vnworthily sought for by Herod exiled to Aegypt obscurely brought vp in the Cottage of a poore Foster-Father transported and tempted by Sathan derided of his kindred blasphemously traduced by the Iewes pinched with hunger restlesse harbourlesse sorrowfull persecuted by the Elders and Pharises sold by his owne seruant apprehended arraigned scourged condemned and yet it is not finished Let vs with that Disciple follow him a farre off and passing ouer all his contemptuous vsage in the way see him brought to his Crosse Still the further we looke the more wonder euery thing adds to this ignominie of suffering and triumph of ouer-comming Where was it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Act 26.27 not in a corner as Paul saith to Festus but in Ierusalem the eye the heart of the world Obscuritie abateth shame publique notice heightens it Before all Israel and before this Sunne saith God to Dauid when he would thorowly shame him In Ierusalem which he had honoured with his presence taught with his preachings astonisht with his miracles bewayled with his teares O Ierusalem Ierusalem how oft would I and thou wouldest not O yet if in this thy day Crueltie and vnkindnesse after good desert afflict so much more as our merit hath beene greater Whereabouts without the gates in Caluarie among the stinking bones of execrable Malefactors Before the glory of the place bred shame now the vilenesse of it When but in the Passeouer a time of greatest frequence and concourse of all Iewes and Proselytes An holy time when they should receiue the figure they reiect the substance when they should kill and eat the Sacramentall Lambe in faith in thankfulnesse they kill the Lambe of God our true Passeouer in crueltie and contempt With whom The qualitie of our companie either increases or lessens shame In the midst of theeues saith one as the Prince of theeues In ââedio latronuÌ tanquam latronuÌ immanissimus Luthâr there was no guile in his mouth much lesse in his hands yet behold he that thought it no robberie to be equall with God is made equall to robbers and murderers yea superiour in euill What suffered he As all lifes are not alike pleasant so all deaths are not equally fearefull There is not more difference betwixt some life and death than betwixt one death and another See the Apostles gradation He was made obedient to the death euen the death of the Crosse The Crosse a lingring tormenting ignominious death The Iewes had foure kindes of death for malefactors the towell the sword fire stones each of these aboue other in extremitie Strangling with the towell they accounted easiest the sword worse than the towell the fire worse than the sword stoning worse than the fire but this Romane death was worst of all Cursed is euery one that hangeth on a Tree Yet as Ierome well hee is not therefore accursed because he hangeth but therefore he hangeth because he is accursed He was made ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a Curse for vs. The curse was more than the shame yet the shame is vnspeakable and yet not more than the paine Yet all that die the same death are not equally miserable the very theeues fared better in their death than hee I heare of no irrision no inscription no taunts no insultation on them they had nothing but paine to encounter he paine and scorne An ingenuous and noble Nature can worse brooke this than the other any thing rather than disdainfulnesse and derision especially from a base enemie I remember that learned Father begins Israels affliction with Ismaels persecuting laughter The Iewes the Souldiers yea the very Theeues flouted him and triumpht ouer his misery his bloud cannot satisfie them without his reproach Which of his senses now was not a window to let-in sorrow his eyes saw the teares of his Mother and friends the vnthankfull demeanure of Mankinde the cruell despight of his enemies his eares heard the reuilings and blasphemies of the multitude and whether the place were noysome to his sent his touch felt the nayles his taste the gall Looke vp O all yee beholders looke vpon this pretious bodie and see what part yee can finde free That head which is adored and trembled at by the Angelicall spirits is all raked and harrowed with thornes Caput Angelicis spiritibus tremebundum spinis corenatur c. that face of whom it is said Thou art fairer than the children of men is all besmeared with the filthy spettle of the Iewes and furrowed with his teares those eyes clearer than the Sunne are darkned with the shadow of death those eares that heare the heauenly consorts of Angels now are filled with the cursed speakings and scoffs of wretched men those lips that spake as neuer man spake that command the spirits both of light and darknesse are scornfully wet with vinegar and gall those feet that trample on all the powers of hell his enemies are made his footstoole are now nayled to the footstoole of the Crosse those hands that freely sway the scepter of the heauens now carry the reede of reproach and are nayled to the tree of reproach that whole bodie which was conceiued by the Holy-Ghost was all scourged wounded mangled this is the out-side of his sufferings Was his heart free Oh no the inner part or soule of this paine which was vnseene is as far beyond these outward and sensible as the soule is beyond the bodie Gods wrath beyond the malice of men these were but loue-tricks to what his soule endured O all yee that passe by the way behold and see if there bee any sorrow like to my sorrow Alas Lord what can we see of thy sorrowes wee cannot conceiue so much as the hainousnes and desert of one of those sinnes which thou barest wee can no more see thy paine than wee could vndergoe it onely this wee see that what the infinite sinnes of almost infinite men committed against an infinite Maiestie deserued in infinite continuance all this thou in the short time of thy Passion hast sustained Wee may behold and see but all the glorious spirits in Heauen cannot looke into the depth of this suffering Doe but looke yet a little into the passions of this his Passion for by the manner of his sufferings we shall best see what he suffered Wise and resolute men doe not complaine of a little holy Martyrs haue beene racked and would not be loosed what shall we say if the author of their strength God and Man bewray passions what would haue ouerwhelmed men would not haue made him shrinke and what made him
thou mightest neuer taste of it hee would bee in sense for a time as forsaken of his Father that thou mightest be receiued for euer Now bid thy soule returne to her rest and enioyne it Dauids taske Praise the Lord O my soule and What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits I will take the cup of saluation and call vpon the Name of the Lord. And as rauisht from thy selfe with the sweet apprehension of this mercy call all the other creatures to the fellowship of this ioy with that diuine Esay Reioyce O yee heauens for the Lord hath done it shout ye lower parts of the earth burst forth into praises yee mountaines for the Lord hath redeemed Iacob and will bee glorified in Israel And euen now begin that heauenly Song which shall neuer end with those glorified Saints Praise and honour and glory and power be to Him that sitteth vpon the Throne and to the Lambe for euermore Thus our speech of Christs last word is finished His last act accompanied his words our speech must follow it Let it not want your deuout and carefull attention He bowed and gaue vp the ghost The Crosse was a slow death and had more paine than speed whence a second violence must dispatch the crucified their bones must be broken that their hearts might breake Our Sauiour stayes not deaths leisure but willingly and couragiously meets him in the way and like a Champion that scornes to be ouercome yea knowes hee cannot be yeeldeth in the middest of his strength that he might by dying vanquish death Hee bowed and gaue vp Not bowing because he had giuen vp but because he would Hee cryed with a loud voyce saith Matthew Nature was strong he might haue liued but he gaue vp the ghost and would die to shew himselfe Lord of life and death Oh wondrous example hee that gaue life to his enemies gaue vp his owne he giues them to liue that persecute and hate him and himselfe will die the whiles for those that hate him Hee bowed and gaue vp not they they might crowne his head they could not bow it they might vex his spirit not take it away they could not doe that without leaue this they could not doe because they had no leaue Hee alone would bow his head and giue vp his ghost I haue power to lay downe my life Man gaue him not his life man could not bereaue it No man takes it from mee Alas who could The High Priests forces when they came against him armed he said but I am he they flee and fall backward How easie a breath disperst his enemies whom hee might as easily haue bidden the earth yea hell to swallow or fire from heauen to deuoure Who commanded the Deuils and they obeyed could not haue beene attached by men he must giue not onely leaue but power to apprehend himselfe else they had not liued to take him hee is laid hold of Peter fights Put vp saith Christ Thinkest thou that I cannot pray to my Father and hee will giue me more than twelue Legions of Angels What an Army were here more then threescore and twelue thousand Angels and euery Angell able to subdue a world of men he could but would not be rescued he is led by his owne power not by his enemies and stands now before Pilate like the scorne of men crowned robbed scourged with an Ecce homo Yet thou couldst haue no power against me vnlesse it were giuen thee from aboue Behold he himselfe must giue Pilate power against himselfe Quod emittitur voluntarium est quod amââtur aecessarium Ambr. else he could not be condemned he will be condemned lifted vp nailed yet no death without himselfe Hee shall giue his soule an offering for sinne Esay 53.10 No action that sauours of constraint can be meritorious he would deserue therefore he would suffer and die Hee bowed his head and gaue vp the ghost O gracious and bountifull Sauiour hee might haue kept his soule within his teeth in spight of all the world the weaknesse of God is stronger than men and if he had but spoken the word the heauens and earth should haue vanisht away before him but hee would not Behold when hee saw that impotent man could not take away his soule he gaue it vp and would die that we might liue See here a Sauiour that can contemne his owne life for ours and cares not to be dissolued in himselfe that we might be vnited to his Father Skin for skin saith the Deuill and all that hee hath a man will giue for his life Loe here to proue Sathan a lyer skinne and life and all hath Christ Iesus giuen for vs. Wee are besotted with the earth and make base shifts to liue one with a maimed bodie another with a periured soule a third with a rotten name and how many had rather neglect their soule than their life and will rather renounce and curse God than die It is a shame to tell Many of vs Christians doat vpon life and tremble at death and shew our selues fooles in our excesse of loue cowards in our feare Peter denies Christ thrice and forsweares him Marcellinus twice casts graines of incense into the Idols fire Ecebolius turnes thrice Spira reuolts and despaires Oh let mee liue saith the fearefull soule Whither doest thou reserue thy selfe thou weake and timorous creature or what wouldest thou doe with thy selfe Thou hast not thus learned Christ he died voluntarily for thee thou wilt not be forced to die for him he gaue vp the ghost for thee thou wilt not let others take it from thee for him thou wilt not let him take it for himselfe When I looke backe to the first Christians and compare their zealous contempt of death with our backwardnesse I am at once amazed and ashamed I see there euen women the feebler sex running with their little ones in their armes for the preferment of Martyrdome and ambitiously striuing for the next blow I see holy and tender Virgins chusing rather a sore and shamefull death than honourable Espousals I heare the blessed Martyrs Quod si venire nolucrint ego vim faciam vt dââorer intreating their tyrants and tormentors for the honour of dying Ignatius amongst the rest fearing lest the beasts will not deuoure him and vowing the first violence to them that he might bee dispatched And what lesse courage was there in our memorable and glorious fore-fathers of the last of this age and doe we their cold and feeble off-spring looke pale at the face of a faire and naturall death abhorre the violent though for Christ Alas how haue we gathered rust with our long peace Our vnwillingnesse is from inconsideration from distrust Looke but vp to Christ Iesus vpon his Crosse and see him bowing his head and breathing out his soule and these feares shall vanish he died and wouldest thou liue hee gaue vp the ghost and wouldest thou keepe it whom wouldest thou follow if not thy
the condition of our mortalitie are passed ouer It shall be fully when the first things of the world are passed Passed not by abolition but by immutation as that Father said well Not the frame of the world but the corruption of that frame must passe The Spirit of God is not curious he cals those things first which were onely former not in respect of the state which is but that which shall be For those things which were first of all were like their Maker good not capable of destruction Our sinnes tainted the whole creation and brought shame vpon all the frame of heauen and earth That which we did shall be disanulled that which God did shall stand for euer and this dissolution shall be our glory other dissolutions strike teares into our eyes as this day is witnesse it is our sorrow that the first things are passed our offices our pensions our hopes our fauours and which we esteemed most our seruices are gone Let this last dissolution comfort vs against the present Who can grieue to see a Familie dissolued that considers the world must bee dissolued This little world of ours first whereof this day giues vs an image for as our seruice so our life must away and then that great one whose dissolution is represented in these The difference is that whereas this dissolution brings teares to some eies that wipes them away from all For all our teares and sorrow and toile and crying and death are for our sinnes take away corruption and misery goes away with it and till then it will neuer be remoued No man puts new wine into old vessels much lesse will God put the new wine of glory into the old vessels of corruption They are our sinnes which as in particular they haue rob'd vs of our Prince changed our seasons swept away thousands with varieties of deaths so in generall they haue deformed the face of heauen and earth and made all the Creation sigh and groane and still make vs incapable of the perfection of our blessednes for while the first things continue there must needs be teares and sorrow and death Let vs therefore looke vpon heauen and earth as goodly creatures but as blemished as transitory as those which we shall once see more glorious Let vs looke vpon our selues with indignation which haue thus distained them and as those which after some terme of their cottage expired are assured they shall haue a marble palace built for them doe long after the time perfixed them and thinke the dayes and moneths pace slowly away till then so let vs earnestly desire the day of the dissolution of this great house of the world that wee may haue our consummation in the new heauen For so soone as euer the old is past Behold saith God I will make all things new Yea the passage of the one is the renewing of the other As the Snake is renewed not by putting on any new coat but by leauing his slough behind him the gold is purified by leauing his drosse in the fire Therefore hee addes not I will but I doe make all new and because this is a great worke behold a great Agent He that sate vpon the Throne said Behold I make all new A Throne signifies Maiestie and sitting permanence or perpetuity God sayes Heauen is my throne in the Psalme but as Salomons throne of iuory and gold was the best piece of his house So Gods throne is the most glorious heauen the heauen of heauens for you see that tho heauen and earth passe away yet Gods throne remain'd still and hee sitting on it neither sinne nor dissolution may reach to the Empyreall heauen the seat of God Here is a state worthy of the King of Kings All the thrones of earthly Monarchs are but pieces of his foot-stoole And as his throne is maiesticall and permanent so is his residence in it Hee sate in the throne S. Stephen saw him standing as it were ready for his defence and protection S. Iohn sees him sitting as our Creed also runnes in regard of his inalterable glory How brittle the thrones of earthly Princes are and how they doe rather stand than sit in them and how slippery they stand too wee feele this day and lament O Lord establish the throne of thy seruant our King and let his seed endure for euer Let his throne be as the Sunne before thee for euermore and as the Moone a faithfull witnesse in heauen But howsoeuer it be with our earthly Gods of his kingdome there is no end Here is a master for Kings whose glory it is to rise vp from their thrones and throw downe their Crownes at his feet and to worship before his foot-stoole Be wise therefore O ye Kings be learned ye Rulers of the earth serue this Lord in feare and reioyce in him with trembling Yea behold here since wee haue the honour to serue him whom Kings serue a royall Master for vs It was one of our sinnes I feare that wee made our Master our God I meane that we made flesh our arme and placed that confidence in him for our earthly stay which we should haue fixed in heauen Our too much hope hath left vs comfortlesse Oh that we could now make God our Master and trust him so much the more as we haue lesse in earth to trust to There is no seruice to the King of heauen for both his throne is euerlasting and vnchangeable and his promotions certaine and honourable He that sits on the throne hath said it To him that ouercomes will I giue to sit with mee in my throne euen as I ouercame and sit with my Father in his throne Behold yee ambitious spirits how yee may truly rise to more than euer the sonnes of Zebedee desired to aspire to seruing is the way to raigning serue him that sits vpon the Throne and ye shall sit yourselues vpon the Throne with him This is the Agent the act is fit for him I make all things new Euen the very Turkes in their Alcoran can subscribe to that of Tertullian Qui potuit facere potest reficere I feare to wrong the holy Maiesty with my rude comparison It is not so much to God to make a world as for vs to speake He spake the word and it was done There is no change which is not from him He makes new Princes new yeeres new gouernments and will make new heauens new earth new inhabitants how easie then is it for him to make new prouisions for vs If wee bee left destitute yet where is our faith Shall God make vs new bodies when they are gone to dust shall he make new heauens and new earth and shall not he whose the earth is and the fulnesse thereof prouide some new meanes and courses of life for vs while we are vpon earth Is the maintenance of one poore worme more than the renewing of heauen and earth Shall he be able to raise vs when we are not and shall he
it is euen too little for God what doe we thinke of taking an Inmate into this cottage It is a fauour and happinesse that the God of glorie will vouchsafe to dwell in it alone Euen so O God take thou vp these roomes for thy selfe and inlarge them for the entertainment of thy Spirit Haue thou vs wholly and let vs haue thee Let the world serue it selfe O let vs serue thee with all our hearts God hath set the heart on worke to feare the hands on worke to serue him now that nothing may bee wanting he sets the head on worke to consider and that not so much the iudgements of God yet those are of singular vse and may not be forgotten as his mercies What great things hee hath done for you not against you Hee that looked vpon his owne works and saw they were good and delighted in them delights that we should looke vpon them too and applaud his wisdome power and mercie that shines in them Euen the least of Gods works are worthie of the obseruation of the greatest Angell in heauen but the magnalia Dei the great things he hath done are more worthie of our wonder of our astonishment Great things indeed that hee did for Israel he meant to make that Nation a precedent of mercie that all the world might see what he could doe for a people Heauen and earth conspired to blesse them What should I speake of the wonders of Aegypt Surely I know not whether their preseruation in it or deliuerance out of it were more miraculous Did they want a guide Himselfe goes before them in fire Did they want a shelter His cloud is spred ouer them for a couering Did they want way The sea it selfe shall make it and bee at once a street and a wall to them Did they want bread Heauen it selfe shall powre downe food of Angels Did they want meat to their bread The wind shall bring them whole drifts of Quailes into their Tents Doe they want drinke to both The verie Rocke shall yeeld it them Doe they want suits of apparell Their verie clothes shall not wax old on their backs Doe they want aduice God himselfe shall giue his vocall Oracle betweene the Cherubins Doe they want a Law God shall come downe vpon Sinai and deliuer it in fire thundring smoke earth-quakes and write it with his owne finger in tables of stone Doe they want habitations God shall prouide them a land that flowes with milke and honie Are they persecuted God stands in fire betweene them and their harmes Are they stung to death The brazen Serpent shall cure them Are they resisted The walls of Iericho shall fall downe alone hailestones braine their enemies The Sunne shall stand still in heauen to see Ioshuahs reuenge and victorie Oh great and mightie things that God did for Israel And if any Nation vnder heauen could either parallel or second Israel in the fauours of God this poore little ILAND of ours is it The cloud of his protection hath couered vs. The bloud-red sea of persecution hath giuen way to vs and we are passed it dry-shod The true Manna from heauen is rained downe abundantly about our tents The water of life gusheth forth plenteously to vs The better law of the Gospell is giuen vs from heauen by the hands of his Sonne the walls of the spirituall Iericho are fallen downe before vs at the blast of the trumpets of God and cursed be he that goes about to build them vp againe Now therefore that we may come more close to the taske of this day Let me say to you as SAMVEL to his Israelites Consider with mee what great things the Lord hath done for vs and as one wisht that the enuious had eyes in euerie place so could I seriously wish that all which haue ill will at our Sion had their eares with me but one houre that if they belong not to God they might burst with Iudas which repine with Iudas at this seasonable cost of the precious oyntment of our praises If I should looke backe to the ancient mercies of God and shew you that this Kingdome though diuided from the world was one of the first that receiued the Gospell That it yeelded the first Christian Emperor that gaue peace and honour to the Church The first and greatest lights that shone forth in the darkest of Poperie to all the world and that it was the first kingdome that shooke Antichrist fully out of the saddle I might finde iust matter of praise and exultation but I will turne ouer no other Chronicles but your memorie This day alone hath matter enough of an eternall gratulation For this is the communis terminus wherein Gods fauours meet vpon our heads which therefore represents to vs both what we had and what we haue The one to our sense the other to our remembrance This day was both Queene ELIzABETHS Initium gloriae and King IAMES his Initium regni To her Natalitium salutis as the passion-dayes of the Martyrs were called of old and Natalis Imperij to him These two names shew vs happinesse enough to take vp our hearts for euer And first why should it not bee our perpetuall glorie and reioycing that wee were her subiects Oh blessed Queene the mother of this Nation the nurse of this Church the glorie of womanhood the enuie and example of forraine Nations the wonder of times how sweet and sacred shall thy memorie bee to all posterities How is thy name not Parables of the dust Iob 13.4 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as the Iewes speake not written in the earth as Ieremie speaks but in the liuing earth of all loyall hearts neuer to bee razed And though the foule mouthes of our Aduersaries sticke not to call her miseram foeminam as Pope Clement did nor to say of her as Euagrius sayes vncharitably of Iustinian the great Law-giuer ad supplicia iusto Dei iudicio apud inferos luenda profecta est Euagr. l. 5. c. 1. and those that durst bring her on the stage liuing bring her now dead as I haue heard by those that haue seene it into their processions like a tormented ghost attended with fiends and firebrands to the terrour of their ignorant beholders Yet as wee saw shee neuer prospered so well as when shee was most cursed by their Pius 5 so now wee hope she is rather so much more glorious in heauen by how much they are more malicious on earth These arrogant wretches that can at their pleasure fetch Salomon from heauen to hell and Traian and Falconella from hell to heauen Campian and Garnet from earth to heauen Queene Elizabeth from earth to hell shall finde one day that they haue mistaken the keyes and shall know what it is to iudge by being iudged In the meane time in spight of the gates of Rome Memoria iustae in benedictionibus To omit those vertues which were proper to her sex by which she deserued to bee the Queene of women
this day wherein religion is not onely warmed but locked in her seat so fast that the gates of hell shall neuer preuaile against it There haue beene Princes and that in this land which as the heathen Politician compared his Tyrant haue beene like to ill Physitians that haue purged away the good humors and left the bad behind them with whom any thing hath bin lawful but to be religious Some of your gray haires can be my witnesses Behold the euils we haue escaped shew vs our blessings Here hath bin no dragging out of houses no hiding of Bibles no creeping into woods no Bonnering or Butchering of Gods Saints no rotting in dungeons no casting of infants out of the mothers belly into the mothers flames nothing but Gods truth abundantly preached cheerefully professed incouraged rewarded What nation vnder heauen yeelds so many learned Diuines What times euer yeelded so many preaching Bishops When was this City the City of our ioy euer so happy this way as in these late successions Whither can we ascribe this health of the Church and life of the Gospell but next to God to His example His countenance His endeuours Wherein I may not omit how right he hath trod in the steps of that blessed Constantine in al his religious proceedings Let vs in one word parallel them Euseb de vita Const l. 4. c. 36. Constantine caused fifty Volumes of the Scriptures to bee faire written out in parchment for the vse of the Church Lib. 3.61.62 King Iames hath caused the Bookes of Scriptures to bee accurately translated and published by thousands Constantine made a zealous edict against Nouatians Valentinians Marcionites King Iames Lib. 3.63 besides his powerfull proclamations and soueraigne lawes hath effectually written against Popery and Vorstianisme Constantine tooke away the liberty of the meetings of Heretickes King Iames hath by wholesome lawes inhibited the assemblies of Papists and schismatickes Constantine sate in the middest of Bishops Lib. 1. c. 37. In media istorum frequentia ac congressu adesse vna considere non dedâgnatus Basil dor as if hee had beene one of them King Iames besides his solemne conferences vouchsafes not seldome to spend his meales in discourse with his Bishops and other worthy Diuines Constantine charged his sonnes vt planè sine fuco Christiani essent that they should be Christians in earnest King Iames hath done the like in learned and diuine precepts which shall liue till time bee no more Yea in their very coynes is a resemblance Constantine had his picture stampt vpon his mettals praying Lib. 4.15 King Iames hath his picture with prayer about it O Lord protect the kingdomes which thou hast vnited Lastly Constantine built Churches one in Ierusalem another in Nicomedia Lib. 3.43 King Iames hath founded one Colledge which shall helpe to build and confirme the whole Church of God vpon earth Yee wealthy Citizens that loue Ierusalem cast in your store after this royall example into the Sanctuary of God and whiles you make the Church of God happy make your selues so Brethren if wee haue any relish of Christ any sense of heauen let vs blesse God for the life of our soule the Gospell and for the spirit of this life his Anointed But where had beene our peace or this freedome of the Gospell without our deliuerance and where had our deliuerance beene without him As it was reported of the Oake of Mamre that all religions rendred their yeerely worship there Socr. l. 2. c. 3. The Iewes because of Abraham their Patriarch the Gentile because of the Angels that appeared there to Abraham The Christians because of Christ that was there seene of Abraham with the Angels So was there to King Iames in his first beginnings a confluence of all sects with papers in their hands and as it was best for them with a Rogamus Domine non pugnamus like the subiects of Theodosius Ribera in prophet min. ex Ioseph Antiq. lib. 9 vlt. â mritam Iudaeos cognatos appellari soliti quamdiu illis bene erat At vbi contra c. 1 King 12. Flectâre si nequco c. But our cozens of Samaria when they saw that Salomons yoke would not bee lightned soone flew off in a rage What portion haue wee in Dauid And now those which had so oft looke vp to Heauen in vaine resolue to dig downe to Heli for aid Satan himselfe met them and offered for sauing of their labour to bring Hell vp to them What a world of sulphur had hee prouided against that day What a brewing of death was tunned vp in those vessels The murderous Pioners laught at the close felicity of their proiect and now before-hand seemed in conceit to haue heard the cracke of this hellish thunder and to see the mangled carcasses of the Heretickes flying vp so suddenly that their soules must needs goe vpward towards their perdition their streets strewed with legges and armes and the stones braining as many in their fall as they blew vp in their rise Remember the Children of Edom O Lord in the day of Ierusalem which said Psal 117.7 Downe with it downe with it euen to the ground O daughter of Babel worthy to bee destroyed blessed shall hee bee that serueth thee as thou wouldest haue serued vs. But hee that sits in Heauen laught as fast at them to see their presumption that would bee sending vp bodies to heauen before the resurrection and preferring companions to Elias in a fiery Chariot and said vt quid fremuerunt Consider now how great things the Lord hath done for vs The snare is broken and wee are deliuered But how As that learned Bishop well applied Salomon to this purpose Diuinatio in labijs Regis Pro. 16.10 B. Barlow p. 350 If there had not beene a diuination in the lips of the King wee had beene all in iawes of death Vnder his shadow wee are preserued aliue as Ieremie speaketh It is true God could haue done it by other meanes but hee would doe it by this that wee might owe the being of our liues to him of whom wee held our well-being before Oh praised be the God of heauen for our deliuerance Praised bee God for his anointed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Suet. by whom wee are deliuered Yea how should wee call to our fellow creatures the Angels Saints heauens elements meteors mountaines beasts trees to helpe vs praise the Lord for this mercy Addit neque me liberosque meos cariores habebo quam Caium eius sorores Clodoneus Otho Fris l. 4. c. 32. Clodoucus Otho Fris l. 4. c. 31. And as the oath of the Romane souldiers ranne how deare and precious should the life of Caesar bee to vs aboue all earthly things how should wee hate the base vnthankfulnesse of those men which can say of him as one said of his Saint Martin Martinus bonus in auxilio charus in negotio who whiles they
in the graine but in the heart If the hearts of men were not more blasted with couetousnesse and cruell selfe-loue than their graine with distemper of aire this needed not The Barnes and Granaries are full the Markets empty Authority knowes how to remedy this euill how to preuent a dearth in abundance that men may not affamish whom God hath fed and that when God hath giuen vs the staffe of bread it may not bee either hid or broken shortly that our store may not be iudged by the appearance Ciuill Wisemen and statesmen especially may not alwaies looke the same way they would goe like skilfull Sea-men they sometimes lauere and as the wind may stand fetch compasses of lawfull policies to their wished point That of Tiberius was fearefull of whom Xiphiline ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã That he sayled euer against the wind of his words But sometimes a good Constantius or Anastasius will wisely pretend what hee intends not As our Sauiour made as if hee went further when hee meant to turne into Emaus The hearts of Kings are as deepe waters wee may not thinke to draine them in the hollow of our hand Secret things to them of whom God hath said Dixi Dij estis things reuealed to vs and our children Euen we meane ones would be loth to haue alwayes our hearts read in our faces Iudge not therefore according to the appearance Diuine In these our speech must dwell If we should iudge according to the appearance we should thinke basely of the Sauiour of the world Who that had seene him sprawling and wringing in the Cratch flitting to Aegypt chopping of chips at Nazareth famishing in the Desert transported by Satan attended by Fishermen persecuted by his Kinred betraied by one Seruant abiured by another forsaken of all apprehended arraigned condemned buffeted spat vpon scourged to bloud sceptred with the reede crowned with thornes nailed to the Crosse hanging naked betwixt two Theeues scorned of the beholders sealed vp in a borrowed graue could say other than Hee hath no forme nor beauty when wee shall see him there is nothing that wee should desire him Who that should haue seene his skinne all dewed with pearles of bloudy sweat his backe bleeding his face blubbered and besmeared his forehead harrowed his hands and feet pierced his side gushing out his head bowed downe in death and should withall haue heard his dying lips say My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee would not haue said Hee is despised and reiected of men yea in appearance of God himselfe Yet euen this while to the cutting of the sinewes of those stiffe-necked Iewes the Angels owned him for their Lord the Sages adored him the Starre designed him the Prophets foreshewed him the Deuils confest him his Miracles euinced him the earth shooke the Rocks rent the Dead lookt out the Sunne lookt in astonished at the sufferings of the God of nature Euen whiles he was despised of men he commanded the Deuils to their chaines whiles base men shot out their tongues at him Principalities and Powers bowed their knees to him whiles he hanged despicably vpon the tree of shame the powers of hell were dragged captiue after the triumphant chariot of his Crosse the appearance was not so contemptible as the truth of his estate glorious Iudge not therefore according to the appearance Should appearance bee the rule how scornfully would the carnall eye ouer-looke the poore ordinances of God What would it finde here but foolishnesse of preaching homelinesse of Sacraments an inky Letter a Priests lips a sauorlesse message a morsell of Bread a mouth full of Wine an handfull of Water a slander-beaten Crosse a crucified Sauiour a militant Church a despised profession When yet this foolishnesse of preaching is the power of God to saluation these mute Letters the liuely Oracles of God these vile Lips the Cabinets of heauen to preserue knowledge this vnplausible Message Magnalia Dei this Water the Water of Life in the midst of the Paradise of God ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã this Bread the Manna of Angels thi Wine heauenly Nectar this Church the Kings Daughter all glorious within this dying Sacrifice the Lord of life this Crosse the Banner of Victory this Profession Heauen vpon earth Iudge not therefore according to appearance Should appearance be the rule woe were Gods children happy were his enemies Who that had seene Cain standing masterly ouer the bleeding carkasse of Abel Ioseph in his bonds his Mistresse in her dresse Moses in the Flags Pharaoh in the Palace Dauid sculking in the Wildernesse Saul commanding in the Court Elias fainting vnder his Iuniper tree Iezebel painting in her closet Michaiah in the prison Zidkijah in the presence Ieremy in the dungeon Zedekiah in the throne Daniel trembling among the Lions the Median Princes feasting in their Bowers Iohns head bleeding in the Platter Herods smiling at the Reuels Christ at the Barre Pilate on the Bench the Disciples scourged the Scribes and Elders insulting would not haue said O happy Caine Potiphars wife Pharaoh Saul Iezebel Zidkijah Zedekiah Median Princes Pilate Herod Elders miserable Abel Ioseph Moses Dauid Eliah Michaiah Ieremy Daniel Iohn Christ the Disciples Yet wee know Caines victory was as wofull as Abels martyrdome glorious Iosephs irons were more precious than the golden tires of his Mistresse Moses Reedes were more sure than Pharaohs Cedars Dauids Caâe in the Desart more safe than the Towers of Saul Eliahs Rauen a more comfortable purueyor than all the Officers of Iezebel Michaiahs prison was the gard-chamber of Angels when Ahabs presence was the counsell-chamber of euill spirits Ieremies Dungeon had more true light of comfort than the shining state of Zedekiah Daniel was better garded with the Lions than Darius and the Median Princes with their Ianisaries Iohns head was more rich with the Crowne of his martyrdome than Herods with the Diadem of his Tetrarchate Christ at the Barre gaue life and being to Pilate on the Bench gaue motion to those hands that strucke him to that tongue that condemned him and in the meane while gaue sentence on his Iudge The Disciples were better pleased with their stripes and wales than the Iewish Elders with their proud Phylacteries After this who that had seene the primitiue Christians some broyled on Gridirons others boyled in Lead some roasted others frozen to death some fleaed others torne with horses some crashed in peeces by the teeth of Lions others cast downe from the rocks to the stakes some smiling on the wheele others in the flame al werying their tormentors and shaming their Tyrants with their patience would not haue said Of all things I would not be a Christian Yet euen this while were these poore torturing-stocks higher as Marcus Arethusius bragged than their persecutors dying Victors yea Victors of death neuer so glorious as when they began not to be in gasping crowned in yeelding the ghost more than Conquerours Iudge not therefore according to appearance When thou lookest about and seest on
conscience ye finde nothing and all this by the legier-de-maine of the heart Thus Achan hath hid his wedge and now he dares stand out to a lot Thus Salomons Harlot hath wip't her mouth and it was not she Thus Saul will lie-out his sacrilege vntill the very beasts out-bleat and out-bellow him Thus the swearer sweares and when hee hath done sweares that he swore not Thus the vncleane fornicator bribes off his sinne and his shame and now makes challenges to the world of his honesty It cannot be spoken how peeuishly witty the heart of man is this way neither doubt I but this wilinesse is some of the poyson that the subtile serpent infected vs with in that fatall morsell They were three cunning shifts which the Scripture recordeth of three women as that sex hath beene euer noted for more sudden pregnancie of wit Rachel Rahab and the good wife of Bahurim The first hiding the Teraphim with a modest seat the second the spies with flaxe-stalkes and the third Dauids scouts with corne spred ouer the Well but these are nothing to the deuices that nature hath wont to vse for the cloaking of sinne God made man vpright saith Salomon but he sought many inuentions Is Adam challenged for sinne Behold all on the sudden it is passed from his hand to Gods The woman that thou gauest me Is Saul challenged for a couetous and disobedient remissenesse the sinne is straight passed from the field to the Altar I saued the fattest for a Sacrifice to the Lord thy God So the one begins his sin in God and the other ends it in him Is Dauid bewitched with lust to abuse the Wife the Husband must be sent home drunke to hide it or if not that to his long home in a pretended fauour of his valour Is a griping Vsurer disposed to put his money together to breed a monster he hath a thousand quirks to cozen both law and conscience Is a Simoniacall Patron disposed to make a good match of his peoples soules it shall be no bargaine but a gift he hath a liuing to giue but an horse to sell And sure I thinke in this wise age of the world Vsurers and Simonists striue who shall finde the wittiest way to hell What should I speake of the secret frauds in contracts booties in matches subornation of instruments hiring of oathes feeing of officers equiuocations of answers and ten thousand other tricks that the heart of man hath deuised for the conueiances of sin in all which it too well approues it selfe incomparably deceitfull The false semblance of the heart is yet worse for the former is most-what for the smothering of euill this is for the iustifying of euill or the disgrace of good In these two doth this act of falshood chiefly consist in making euill good or good euill For the first The naturall man knowes well how filthy all his brood is and therefore will not let them come forth but disguised with the colours and dresses of good so as now euery one of natures birds is a Swan Pride is handsomnesse desperate fury valour lauishnesse is noble munificence drunkennesse ciuility flattery complement murderous reuenge iustice the Curtizan is bona foemina the Sorcerer a wise man the oppressor a good husband Absolom will goe pay his vowes Herod will worship the Babe For the second such is the enuy of nature that where shee sees a better face than her owne shee is ready to scratch it or cast dirt in it and therefore knowing that all vertue hath a natiue beauty in it she labours to deforme it by the foulest imputations Would the Israelites be deuout they are idle Doth Dauid daunce for ioy before the Arke he is a foole in a Morris Doth Saint Paul discourse of his heauenly Vision too much learning hath made him mad Doe the Disciples miraculously speake all the tongues of Babel They are ful of new wine Doe they preach Christs kingdome they are seditious The resurrection they are bablers Is a man conscionable he is an Hypocrite Is he conformable he is vnconscionable Is he plaine dealing hee is rudely vnciuill Is he wisely insinuatiue he is a flatterer In short such is the wicked craft of the heart that it would let vs see nothing in it owne forme but faine would shew vs euill faire that we might be inamored of it and vertue vgly that we might abhorre it and as it doth for the way so doth it for the end hiding from vs the glory of heauen that is laid vp for ouer-commers and shewing vs nothing but the pleasant closure of wickednesse making vs beleeue that hell is a palace and heauen a dungeon that so we might be in loue with death and thus both in cunning conueyance and false semblance The heart of man is deceitfull aboue all things Ye haue seene the fashion of this deceit cast now your eies vpon the subiect And whom doth it then deceiue It doth deceiue others it can deceiue it selfe it would deceiue Satan yea God himselfe Others first How many doe we take for honest and sound Christians who yet are but errant hypocrites These Apes of Satan haue learned to transforme themselues into Angels of light The heart bids the eies looke vpward to heauen when they are full of adultery It bids the hands to raise vp themselues towards their Maker when they are full of bloud It bids the tongue wagge holily when there is nothing in the bosome but Atheous profanenesse It bids the knee to bow like a Camell when the heart is stiffe as an Elephant yea if need be it can bid a teare fall from the eie or an almes or iust action fall from the hand and all to gâll the world with a good opinion In all which false chapmen and horse-coursers doe not more ordinarily deceiue their buyers in shops and faires than we doe one another in our conuersation Yea so crafty is the heart that it can deceiue it selfe By ouer-weening his owne powers as the proud man by vnder-valuing his graces as the modest by mis-taking his estate as the ignorant How many hearts doe thus grossely beguile themselues The first thinkes hee is rich and fine when hee is beggerly and naked so did the Angell of Laodicea The second is poore in his owne spirit when hee is rich of Gods spirit The third thinkes that he is a great fauourite of heauen when he is rather branded for an out-cast that hee is truly noble when he is a slaue to that which is baser than the worst of Gods creatures sinne Let the proud and ignorant worldling therefore know that though others may mocke him with applauses yet that all the world cannot make him so much a foole as his owne heart Yea so cunning is the heart that it thinkes to goe beyond the deuill himselfe I can thinks it swallow his bait and yet auoid his hooke I can sinne and liue I can repent of sinning and defeat my punishment by repenting I can runne vpon
we would haue peace outward inward priuate publike secular spirituall If we would haue peace in our estate peace in our Land peace in our Church peace in our soules pray for it And if euer wee will pray for it pray here in Gods house for in this place will I giue peace In vaine shall we looke for it elsewhere if we aske it not here It is true we are bidden euery where to lift vp pure hands to God but they cannot bee pure that are profane and they cannot bee but profane that contemne the holy ordinances of God He said well In templo vis orare in te ora for Know you not that your bodies are the Temples of the liuing God but let me as truly returne it In te vis orare in templo ora Wouldst thou pray with effect at home Pray at Church else thy deuotion is but the sacrifice of fooles for he hath said it who hath good reason to appoint the circumstances of his owne beneficence In this place will I giue peace Will yee then see the reason why there is so much emptie Caske in the Celler of God Therefore are men void of grace because they are voyd of deuotion They seeke not God where he may be found and therefore it is iust with God not to be found of them where they pretend to seeke him for In hoc loco In this place will I giue peace Gerson distinguishes well in his Sermon de Angelis that there is Duplex Coelum A double Heauen Gloriae Ecclesiae of Glory aboue of the Church below the Church is the Heauen on earth where God is seene heard spoken vnto where are his Saints whose Assemblies are here where are his Angels Let the woman haue power on her head because of the Angels 1 Cor. 11. As the Iewes then whilest the Church of God was Nationall were wont according to command to looke towards the Temple if they could not come to it in their deuotions So now that the Church is Catholike or vniuersall and euery of our Churches is equally Gods house ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã we shall gladly with Peter and Iohn goe vp to this Temple to pray How can we looke for a better incouragement than God giues vs here In this place will I giue peace In the latter as it is Auditorium so I create the fruit of the lips to be peace saith God Naturally we are all euen those that applaud themselues in the best opinion of their harmeles and faire disposition enemies to God Enemies both actiuely and passiuely Actiuely ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã God-haters Rom. 1. Passiuely Filij irae The sons of displeasure We fell out in Adam through our owne wilfull apostasie and disobedience and we still stand out in the maintenance of our inward corruption There is no way to peace but by reconciliation there is no way to reconciliation but by the Gospel of Iesus Christ which is Euangelium pacis there is no proper element for the Gospell of God The Gospell of peace but the House of God Locus iste In this place will I giue peace It is not I know for euery heart to apprehend either the want of this peace or the misery of this want This is one of those happinesses which is most brag'd of where it is least had The sensual Securitan pleases himselfe in the conceit of his owne peace All is well at home hee quarrels not with himselfe for he denies himselfe nothing God quarrels not with him here are no checks of a chiding conscience no frownes of an angry Iudge nothing but Pulchritudo pacis as the Prophet speakes Alas my beloued call not this peace The beauty of peace I will giue true peace call it stupidity euen Hell it selfe is not a Kingdome diuided in it selfe There is no blessing which is not also counterfeited Pacem veram dabo is the stile of the Prophets Ier. 14.13 This were a needlesse Epithet if there were not a false peace such is this of carnall hearts That Word of eternall Truth must stand There is no peace saith my God to the wicked Haue you seene a sore suddenly fild vp with vnsound flesh and fairely skinned ouer without all offence to the eie which ere long will breake out againe and bewray a secret and so much-more-hardly-cured corruption Such is a wicked mans peace Haue you seene a slaue sit quietly in the Gally not struggling with his chaine not repining at his Oare necessitas fortiter consuetudo facile Necessitie hath taught him to beare it strongly custome easily Haue you heard a dying man professe that he felt no paine Such is a wicked mans peace of which he shall once say though now all seeme smooth and plausible In pace amaritudo mea amarissima In peace I had great bitternesse Esay 38.17 Nether is the want of this peace lesse perceiued than the misery of this want Men see no difference in the face of Heauen whatsoeuer they doe their blasphemies and prayers finde the same intertainement therefore the carelesse man resolues I shall haue peace though I follow the wayes of mine owne heart Oh the miserable sottishnesse of wilfull sinners Sinne lyes like a sleeping Bandog at the doore of their heart they looke vpon him as if hee would neuer wake or as if though hee should yet hee were so clogged and chained and muzled that there can bee no danger of his hurt Let God but rowze him vp a little he shall bay them to despaire he shall flie vpon them and pull out their throats Then shall their troubled heart proiect terrible things and they shall feele what it is to liue in the anger of a God They shall see the Almighty putting himselfe into the fearefull formes of vengeance Who can stand before his indignation And who can abide in the fiercenesse of his anger His furie is powred out like fire and the rocks are throwne downe before him Nahum 1.6 And if his very loue haue drawne bloud of his deare ones Terrores Domini militant contra me saith holy Iob The terrors of the Lord are set in aray against me Iob 6.4 and he that bore the chastisements of our peace the Sonne of his loue could say My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Oh what shall bee the Iudgements of his wrath If this bee the rod of children Oh what shall be the Scorpions for his enemies They shall see that gulfe of fire ready to receiue them into euerlasting burnings They shall see the Deuils their incessant tormentors ready to seize vpon their guilty soules Then O then shall they know too late what an happinesse it is that God here promises Dabo pacem Would wee then auoyde the vnspeakeable horror of this wofull condition Would we finde the bed of our sicknesse and death comforted with the sweete testimony of an heauenly peace betwixt God and our soules See whence we must fetch it In this place will I giue peace If euer
it is not wealth alone that is accessary to this pride there are some that with the Cynicke or that worse dogge the patcht Cistertian are proud of rags there are others that are rich of nothing but cloathes somewhat like to Naziavâcus country of Ozizala that abounded in flowers but was barren of come their cloaths are more worth then all the rest as wee vse to say of the Elder that the flower of it is more worth then all the tree besides but if there be any other causes of our hye-mindednesse wealth is one which doth ordinarily lift vp our heads aboue ourselues aboue others and if there be here any of these empty bladders that are puft vp with the wind of conceit giue me leaue to prick them a little and first let mee tell them they may haue much and be neuer the better The chimny ouer lookes all the rest of the house is it not for all that the very basest piece of the building The very heathen man could obserue ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c Arist That God giues many a man wealth for their greater mischiefe As the Israelites were rich in Quailes but their fawce was such that famine had beene better little cause had they to be proud that they were fed with meate of Princes with the bread of Angels whiles that which they put into their mouthes God fetcht out of their nostrels Haman was proud that he alone was called to the honour of Esters feast this aduancement raised him fifty cubits higher to a stately gibbet If your wealth be to any of you an occasion of fallingâ if your gold be turned into fetters it had beene better for you to haue liued beggers Let me tell them next of the folly of this pride They are proud of that which is none of theirs That which law and case-diuinity speakes of life that man is not dominus vitae suae sed custos is as true of wealth Senec. Nature can tell him in the Philosopher that hee is not Dominus but Colonus not the Lord but the Farmer It is a iust obseruation of Philo that God onely by a propriety is stiled the possessor of heauen and earth by Melchisedech in his speech to Abraham Gen. 24. we are onely the tenants and that at the will of the Lord At the most if we will as Diuines we haue jus adrem not dominium in rem right to these earthly things not Lordship ouer them but right of fauour from their proprietary and Lord in heauen and that liable to an account Doe we not laugh at the groome that is proud of his masters horse or some vaine whiffler that is proud of a borrowed chaine So ridiculous are we to be puft vp with that whereof we must needs say with the poore man of the hatchet Alas master it is but borrowed and whereof our account shall be so much more great and difficult as our receit is more Hath God therefore laded you with these earthly riches be ye like vnto the full eare of corne hang downe your heads in true humility towards that earth from which you came And it your stalke be so stiffe that it beares vp aboue the rest of your ridge looke vp to heaueh not in the thoughts of pride but in the humble vowes of thankfulnesse and be not hie-minded but feare Hitherto of the hye-mindednesse that followes wealth Now where our pride is And that they trust not there will be our confidence As the wealthy therefore may not be proud of their riches so they may not trust in them What is this trust but the setting of our hearts vpon them the placing of our ioy and contentment in them in a word the making of them our best friend our patron our idoll our god This the true and ielous God cannot abide and yet nothing is more ordinary The rich mans wealth is his strong City saith Salomonâ where should a man thinke himselfe safe but in his sort He sees Mammon can doe so much and heares him talke of doing so much more it is no maruell if hee yeeld to trust him Mammon is so proud a boaster that his clients which beleeue in him cannot chuse but be âonfident of him For what doth he not brag to doe Siluer answers to all saith Salomon That we grant although we would be loath it could answer to truth to iustice to iudgement But yet more he vaunts to procure all to pacifie all to conquer all He saies he can procure all secular offices titles dignities yea I would I might not âay in some sacrilegious and periured wretches the sacred promotions of the Church and ye know that old song of the Pope and his Romane trafficke Claues Altariâ Christum Yea foolish Magus makes full account Keyes Altars Christ the Holy Ghost himselfe may be had for money He sayes he can pacifie all A gift in the bosome appeases wrath yea he sayes looke to it ye that sit in the seats of iudicature hee can sometimes bribe off sinnes and peruert iudgement He sayes hee can ouercome all according to the old Greeke verse Fight with siluer launces and you cannot faile of victory yea ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. he would make vs beleeue he thought this a bait to catch the Sonne of God himselfe withall All these will I giue thee briefly hee sayes according to the French Prouerbe Siluer does all And let me tell you indeed what Mammon can doe Hee can barre the gates of hell to the vnconscionable soule and helpe his followers to damnation This he can do but for other things howsoeuer with vs men the foolish Siluer-smiths may shout out Great is Mammon of the worldlings yet if we weigh his power aright we shall conclude of Mammon as Paracelsus doth of the Diuell that he is a base and beggerly spirit For what I beseech you can he doe Can he make a man honest can he make him wise can he make him healthfull Can he giue a man to liue more merily to feed more heartily to sleepe more quietly Can we buy off the gout cares death much lesse the paines of another vvorld nay doth he not bring all these Goe to then thou rich man God is offended with thee and meanes to plague thee with disease death Now try what thy bags can doe Begin first vvith God and see whether thou canst bribe him with thy gifts Micah 6. and buy off his displeasure Wherewith shalt thou come before the Lord and bow thy selfe before the high God Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams or with ten thousand riuers of oyle The siluer is mine and the gold is mine saith the Lord of hosts Haggai 2. If that speed not goe to the fergeant of God death see if thou canst fee him not to arrest thee He lookes thee sternely in the face and tels thee vvith Ehud he hath a message to thee from God
soule in death the same day The same day was Q. Elizabeths Initium Regni her Coronation Ianuary 15 following That leasure enough might be taken in these great affaires the See of Canterbury continued void aboue a yeare At last in the second yeare of Q. Elizabeth 1559 December 17 was Matthew Parker legally consecrated Archb. of Canterbury by foure Bishops William Barlow formerly Bishop of Bathe then elect of Chichester Iohn Scory before of Chichester now elect of Hereford Miles Couerdale Bishop of Exeter Iohn Hodgeskins Suffragan of Bedford Mathew Parker thus irrefragably setled in the Archiepiscopall See with three other Bishops in the same Moneth of December solemnely consecrated Edmund Grindall and Edwin Sands The publike Records are euident and particular relating the Time Sunday morning after Prayers The place Lambeth-Chappell The manner Imposition of hands The consecrators Mathew Cant. William Chichester Iohn Hereford Iohn Bedford The Preacher at the Consecration Alexander Nowell afterwards the worthy Deane of Pauls The Text Take heed to your selves and to all the flocke c. The Communion lastly administred by the Archbishop For Bishop Iewel he was consecrated the Moneth following in the same forme by Mathew Cant. Edmund London Richard Ely Iohn Bedford Lastly for Bishop Horne he was consecrated a whole yeare after this by Mathew Cant. Thomas S. Dauids Edmund London Thomas Couentry and Lichfield The circumstances Time Place Form Preacher Text seuerally recorded The particulars whereof I referre to the faithfull and cleare relation of Master Francis Mason whose learned and full discourse of this subiect might haue satisfied all eyes and stopped all mouthes What incredible impudency is this then for those which pretend not Christianitie onely but the Consecration of God wilfully to raise such shamefull slanders from the pit of Hell to the disgrace of Truth to the disparagement of our holy calling Let me therefore challenge my Detector in this so important a point wherein his zeale hath so farre out-run his wit and with him all the Brats of that proud Harlot that no Church vnder Heauen can shew a more cleere eeuen vncontrolable vntroubled line of the iust succession of her Sacred Orders then this of ours if his Rome for her tyrannous Primacie could bring forth but such Cards the world vvould bee too straight for her He shall maugre be forced to confesse that either there were neuer true Orders in the Church of England which he dares not say or else that they are still Ours The Bishops in the time of King Henry the eight were vndoubted If they left Rome in some corrected opinions their Character was yet by confession a a Quis ignorat Cathol c. similiter Ordinatos verè esse Ordinatos quando Ordinator verè Episcopus fuerat adhuc erat saltem quantum ad characterem Bellar. de Rom. Pont. l. 4. c. 10. indeleble They laid their hands according to Ecclesiasticall constitution vpon the Bishops in King Edwards dayes And they both vpon the Bishops in the beginning of Queene Elizabeths They againe vpon the succeeding Inheritors of their holy Sees and they lastly vpon vs so as neuer man could shew a more certaine and exquisite Pedigree from his great Grand-father then wee can from the acknowledged Bishops of King Henries time and thence vpwards to hundreds of Generations I confesse indeed our Archbishops and Bishops haue wanted some Aaronicall accustrements Gloues Rings Sandals Miters and Pall and such other trash and our inferiours Orders haue wanted Gâeazing and Shauing and some other pelting Ceremonies But let C. E. proue these essentiall which we want or those Acts and Formes not essentiall vvhich we haue Et Phyllida solus habeto In the meane time the Church of England is blessed with a true Clergy and glorious and such a one as his Italian generation may impotently enuy and snarle at shall neuer presume to compete vvith in worthinesse and honour And as Doctor Taylor that couragious Martyr said at his parting Blessed bee God for holy Matrimonie SECT XVIII MY Cauiller purposely mistakes my rule of Basil the Great Refut p. 90. 91. and my Text of the Great Apostle whiles from both I resolue thus I passe not what I heare Men or Angels say while I heare God say Let him be the Husband of one Wife he wil needs so construe it as if I tooke this of S. Pauls for a command not for an allowance As if I meant to imply from hence that euery Bishop is bound to haue a Wife Who is so blind as the wilfull Their Leo b b Leo ep 87. abaâ 85. Tam sacra semper est habita ista Praeceptio calls these words a Preception I did not If hee knew any thing he could not be ignorant that this sense is against the streame of our Church and no lesse then a Grecian errour Who knowes not the extreames of Greece and Rome and the Track of Truth betwixt them both The Greeke Church saith Hee cannot be in holy Orders that is not maried The Romish Church saith He cannot bee in holy Orders that is maried The Church Reformed sayes Hee may bee in holy Orders that is maried and conuertibly Some good friends vvould needs fetch vs into this idle Grecisme and to the societie of the old Frisons c c Espenc lib. 1. de Contin c. 1. and if Saint Ierome take it aright of Vigilantius Espencaeus and Bellarmine and our Rhemists free vs. There is no lesse difference betwixt them and vs then betwixt May and Must Libertie and Necessitie If then Let him be the Husband of one Wife argue that a Bishop may bee a maried man I haue vvhat I would and passe not for the contrarie from Men and Angels We willingly grant vvith Luther that this charge is negatiue Refut p. 91 92. Non velut sanciens dicit saith Chrysostome But this negatiue charge implyes an affirmatiue allowance we seeke for no more As for the authorities which my Detector hath borrowed of his Vncles of Rhemes they might haue beene well spared He tels vs Saint Ierom sayes Qui vâam habuerit non habeat He who hath had one Wife not hee that hath one I tell him Saint Paul saith d d Tit. 1.6 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã If any man be the Husband of one Wife not If hee haue beene Let e e Chrysost in 1. Tit. homil 2. Saint Chrysostome therein answer Hierome and Epiphanius and all other pretended opposites Obstruere prorsus intendit haereticorum era qui nuptias damnaât c. He purpos'd in this to stop the mouthes of Heretikes that condemned mariage shewing that that estate is faultlesse yea so precious that with it a man might bee aduanced to the holy Episcopall Chaire Thus he whom their learned f f Esp vbi supra Bishop Espencaeus seconds and by the true force of the Text cleareth this sense against all contradiction Nec enim Paulini de Episcopis c. For
saith he those places of S. Paul concerning Bishops Priests and Deacons cannot be so eluded as that they doe onely belong to men that haue beene sometimes maried and are now Widdowers and single but the Text doth plainely note out Husbands and those that are now found in the present estate of mariage which is implyed both by the word esse and by vnius vxoris vir that is hauing one Wife not as some haue vnderstood it which hath had one for as Chrysostome hath noted the Apostle would by the societie of Mariage and Priesthood stop the mouthes of Heretikes that condemned mariage whereto adde That the Apostle amongst the vertues of a Bishop reckons vp this That he doth gouerne his owne house well not that he did gouerne it Thus he Vnto which let mee yet adioyne this other consideration that the Apostle describes what manner of Wife a Bishop should haue which as in other professions he hath not done so in this would haue beene vselesse if he had onely aymed at an estate past and not present Where it is a cunning tricke of the Rhemists and their Vulgar in stead of Their Wiues to reade The Women quite beside the Scope and Context of the Apostle As to the same purpose Whereas their Leo in the fore-cited Epistle sayes that this Precept of a Bishop to the Husband of one Wife was alwayes so sacred * * That the same condition is to be vnderstood of her that is to be chosen for the wife of the Priest Refut p. 92 93. vt etiam de muliere Sacerdotis eligenda eadem intelligatur seruanda conditio Bellarmine and his Mates would needs face vs out that the Copies are corrupted and contends to haue it read Sacerdotis Eligendi of the Priest to be chosen not of the Wife Whom our industrious and worthy Doctor Iames hath refelled both by the Presse and the Pen by the Coleine Edition and Manuscript authoritie As for that hee cites from Hierome against Vigilantius hee might haue found the Salue together with the Wound Our Rhemists dare vs from the imputation of his opinion For the rest Nothing is more plaine then that our Apostle according to the iust interpretation of Chrysostom Theoderet Theophylact and others alludes to the loose fashion as of the Greekes so especially of the Iewes with whom Polygamy and remariages after vniust diuorces were in ordinarie vse These the Apostolicall Spirit finds vnfit for the Man of God whom he therefore charges to be onely The Husband of one Wife Refut p. 94. 95. Neither doth it argue too much wit in my Refuter to bring two Fathers vpon the Stage for his purpose and then to set them together by the eares with each other Ambrose I meane and Hierome who in this which he cites them for confute one another Hierome though otherwise a backe friend to Wedlocke censuring the opinion of Ambrose as sauouring too strongly of Cainisme and superstition Howeuer euen the more vehement of the two out of this place doth hold Mariage compatible with holy Orders Refut p. 95. which is the onely thing I required So as still This one word shall confirme me against all impure mouthes Impure Not for preferring Continency as my Cauiller vvill take it but for deprauing of Mariage by the foule titles of Fleshlinesse and Sensualitie such as his owne Ibid. a worse we need not Neither doth S. Ambrose at all controll mee herein whiles he teacheth that the Apostle doth not here inuite vs to beget children in the Priesthood Habentem enim dixit filios non facientem wee did not challenge hence any command we challenge an allowance which we haue and proclaime That I may not say some Copies of Ambrose runne according as I haue learned of our eminent Doctor Fulke Habentem filios Espenc l. Praecit aut facientem Hauing children or begetting them The difference is not worth standing for Let it passe after his owne reading I could stop his mouth with the ingenuous answer of his Espencaeus Habentem enim c. For he said Hauing children not begetting them Debellatum hicesset c. This Field were wonne if either this were the Text and not the Glosse or they that thus interpret it were Apostles as they are not Thus their owne Bishop But I need not call for any aide The words of Ambrose doe plainely driue against an inuitation or command which we do willingly disclaime SECT XIX NOw vnhappy is this man that still shoots his Arrowes quite besides the Butt Refut p. 96. He proues forsooth with great zeale that the Fathers neuer vnderstood a positiue command in our Apostles words which I neuer thought so much as in dreame and then he bends his Forces against Byganie which I no where auouched The Man of valour loues to play his prizes alone Here is no command then saith he but a permission How much are we bound to him for his fauour Permission Thus much hee with his holy Father yeelds to their Stewes No here is a direct allowance Let him be the Husband of one Wife Not Hee may be so But this was onely for a time hee saith because of the paucitie of single Clergy-men Let him shew me the Apostles limitation and I am satisfied otherwise this misse-grounded conceit what countenance so euer it may finde in a priuate humane authoritie shall passe with vs as a Glosse of Burdeaux that marres the Text. But how shamelessely how fraudulently how like himselfe Refut p. 96. Chrysost in Tit. Hom. 2. doth my Refuter cite Chrysostomes Castigat impudicos c He checketh the incontinent saith the Father whiles hee permitteth them not after their second mariages to bee preferred to the gouernment of the Church and dignitie of Pastors and there my Refuter stops with So he whereas if he had gone forward the place had answered him and it selfe For saith Chrysostome hee which is found not to haue kept his beneuolence towards his wife which is c c The word is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by them translated falsly Defunctum gone from him how should he be a good Teacher to the Church Plainely shewing vs that hee intends this to those vnchaste Husbands which after an vniust diuorce of their former wiues haue maried also a second not after the death of the first The like Priestly fidelity he vseth in the place of Chrysostome Hom. 2. vpon Iob the poore man had taken vp some scraps of quotations vpon trust hauing neuer seene the Authors For Chrysostome neuer wrote any Homilies vpon the Booke of Iob onely he hath fiue Homilies of the Patience of Iob whereof this cited is the second vvherein his errori ignoscebat hath reference rather to sine crimine which he opposeth to irreprehensibiles then to vir vnius vxoris as the sequel plainely shewes As for Bigamy Refut p. 97. it is out of our way but since his loquacitie will needs roue thither let him shew that
wood which now before-hand burnt inwardly with the heauenly fire of zeale and deuotion And now hauing kissed him his last not without mutuall teares he lifts vp his hand to fetch the stroke of death at once not so much as thinking perhaps God wil relent after the first wound Now the stay of Abraham the hope of the Church lyes on bleeding vnder the hand of a father what bowels can choose but yearne at this spectacle which of the sauagest Heathens that had bin now vpon the hill of Moriah and had seen through the bushes the sword of a Father hanging ouer the throat of such a sonne would not haue been more perplexed in his thoughts then that vnexpected sacrifice was in those briers yet he whom it neerest concerned is least touched Faith hath wrought the same in him which crueltie would in others Not to be moued He contemnes all feares and ouerlookes all impossibilities His heart tels him that the same hand which raised Isaac from the dead wombe of Sarah can raise him againe from the ashes of his sacrifice with this confidence was the hand of Abraham now falling vpon the throat of Isaac who had giuen himselfe for dead and reioyced in the change when suddenly the Angell of God interrupts him forbids him commends him The voice of God was neuer so welcome neuer so sweet neuer so seasonable as now It was the tryall that God intended not the fact Isaac is sacrificed and is yet aliue and now both of them are more happy in that they would haue done then they could haue been distressed if they had done it Gods charges are oft-times harsh in the beginnings and proceeding but in the conclusion alwayes comfortable true spirituall comforts are commonly late and sudden God defers on purpose that our tryals may be perfect our deliuerance welcome our recompence glorious Isaac had neuer been so precious to his father if he had not been recouered from death if he had not been as miraculously restored as giuen Abraham had neuer beene so blessed in his seed if he had not neglected Isaac for God The only way to finde comfort in any earthly thing is to surrender it in a faithfull carelesnesse into the hands of God Abraham came to sacrifice he may not go away with dry hands God cannot abide that good purposes should be frustrate Lest either he should not doe that for which hee came or should want meanes of speedy thanksgiuing for so gracious a disappointment Behold a Ram stands ready for the sacrifice and as it were proffers himselfe to this happy exchange Hee that made that Beast brings him thither fastens him there Euen in small things there is a great prouidence what mysteries there are in euery act of God! The onely Sonne of God vpon this very hill is laid vpon the Altar of the Crosse and so becomes a true sacrifice for the world that yet he is raised without impeachment and exempted from the power of death The Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the World is here really offred and accepted One Sauiour in two figures in the one dying restored in the other So Abraham whiles he exercises his faith confirmes it and reioyces more to foresee the true Isaac in that place offered to death for his sinnes then to see the carnall Isaac preserued from death for the reward of his Faith Whatsoeuer is dearest to vs vpon earth is our Isaac happy are we if we can sacrifice it to God those shall neuer rest with Abraham that cannot sacrifice with Abraham Of LOT and Sodom BEFORE Abraham and Lot grew rich they dwelt together now their wealth separates them Their societie was a greater good then their riches Many a one is a loser by his wealth who would account those things good which make vs worse It had been the duty of yong Lot to offer rather then to choose to yeeld rather then contend who vvould not here thinke Abraham the Nephew and Lot the Vncle It is no disparagement for greater persons to begin treaties of Peace Better doth it beseeme euery sonne of Abraham to winne vvith loue then to sway with power Abraham yeelds ouer this right of his choise Lot takes it And behold Lot is crossed in that vvhich he chose Abraham is blessed in that which vvas left him God neuer suffers any man to leese by an humble remission of his right in a desire of peace Wealth hath made Lot not only vndutifull but couetous he sees the goodly Plaines of Iordan the richnesse of the soyle the commoditie of the Riuers the situation of the Cities and now not once inquiring into the conditions of the Inhabitants hee is in loue with Sodom Outward appearances are deceitfull guides to our iudgement or affections they are worthy to be deceiued that value things as they seeme It is not long after that Lot payes deare for his rashnesse He fled for quietnesse with his Vncle and finds Warre with strangers Now is he caried prisoner with all his substance by great Enemies Abraham must rescue him of whom hee was forsaken That vvealth which was the cause of his former quarrels is made a prey to mercilesse Heathens That place which his eye couetously chose betrayes his life and goods How many Christians whiles they haue looked at gaine haue lost themselues Yet this ill successe hath neither driuen out Lot nor amended Sodom hee still loues his commoditie and the Sodomites their sinnes wicked men grow worse with afflictions as vvater growes more cold after an heat And as they leaue not sinning so God leaues not plaguing them but still followes them with succession of iudgements In how few yeares hath Sodom forgot she vvas spoiled and led captiue If that wicked Citie had been warned by the sword it had escaped the fire but now this visitation hath not made ten good men in those fiue Cities How fit was this heape for the fire which vvas all chaffe Onely Lot vexed his righteous soule with the sight of their vncleannesse Hee vexed his owne soule for who bade him stay there yet because he was vexed he is deliuered He escapeth their iudgement from whose sinnes he escaped Though he would be a ghest of Sodom yet because hee would not entertaine their sinnes he becomes an Host to the Angels Euen the good Angels are the executioners of Gods iudgement There cannot be a better or more noble act then to doe iustice vpon obstinate Malefactors Who can be ashamed of that which did not mis-beseeme the very Angels of God Where should the Angels lodge but with Lot the houses of holy men are full of these heauenly Spirits vvhen they know not they pitch their Tents in ours and visit vs when we see not and when we feele not protect vs It is the honour of Gods Saints to be attended by Angels The filthy Sodomites now flocke together stirred vp with the fury of enuy and lust and dare require to doe that in troops which to act single
Iacob into Esau her desire was good her meanes were vnlawfull God doth oft times effect his iust will by our weaknesses yet neither thereby iustifying our infirmities nor blemishing his owne actions Here was nothing but counterfeiting a fayned Person a fayned Name fayned Venison a fained Answer and yet behold a true blessing but to the man not to the meanes Those were so vnsound that Iacob himselfe doth more feare their curse then hope for their successe Isaac was now both simple and old yet if hee had perceiued the fraud Iacob had beene more sure of a curse then he could bee sure that hee should not be perceiued Those which are plaine-hearted in themselues are the bitterest enemies to deceit in others Rebecca presuming vpon the Oracle of God and her husbands simplicity dare be his surety for the danger his counseller for the cariage of the businesse his cooke for the dyet yea dresses both the meat and the man and now puts words into his mouth the dish into his hand the garments vpon his backe the Goats haire vpon the open parts of his body and sends him in thus furnished for the blessing Standing no doubt at the doore to see how well her lesson was learned how well her deuice succeeded And if old Isaac should by any of his senses haue discerned the guile shee had soone stept in and vndertaken the blame and vrged him with that knowne will of God concerning Iacobs Dominion and Esaus seruitude which either age or affection had made him forget And now she wishes she could borrow Esaus tongue as well as his garments that she might securely deceiue all the senses of him which had suffered himself more dangerously deceiued with his affection But this is past her remedy her son must name himselfe Esau with the voice of Iacob It is hard if our tongue do not bewray what we are in spight of our habit This was enough to worke Isaac to a suspition to an inquiry not to an incredulity He that is good of himselfe will hardly beleeue euill of another And will rather distrust his owne senses then the fidelity of those he trusted All the senses are set to examine none sticketh at the iudgement but the eare To deceiue that Iacob must second his dissimulation with three lyes at one breath I am Esau as thou bââst me my Venison one sinne entertained fetcheth in another and if it be forced to lodge alone either departeth or dyeth I loue Iacobs blessing but I hate his lye I would not doe that wilfully which Iacob did weakely vpon condition of a blessing He that pardoned his infirmity would curse my obstinatenesse Good Isaac sets his hands to try whether his eares informed him aright hee feeles the hands of him whose voice he suspected that honest heart could not thinke that the skinne might more easily be counterfaited then the lungs A small satisfaction contents those whom guiltinesse hath not made scrupulous Isaac beleeues and blesses the younger Sonne in the garments of the elder If our heauenly Father smell vpon our backes the sauour of our elder brothers Robes we cannot depart from him vnblessed No sooner is Iacob gone away full of the ioy of his blessing then Esau comes in full of the hope of the blessing And now he cannot repent him to haue sold that in his hunger for pottage which in his pleasure he shall buy againe with Venison The hopes of the wicked faile them when they are at highest whereas Gods children finde those comforts in extremity which they durst not expect Now he comes in blowing and sweating for his reward and findes nothing but a repulse Lewd men when they thinke they haue earned of God and come pâââdly to challenge fauour receiue no answer but Who art thou Both the Father and the Son wonder at each other the one with feare the other with griefe Isaac tremble ãâã Esau wept the one vpon conscience the other vpon enuy Isaacs heart now told him that he should not haue purposed the blessing where hee did and that it was due to him vnto whom it was giuen and not purposed hence he durst not reuerse that which hee had done with Gods will besides his owne For now hee saw that hee had done vnwilling iustice God will finde both time and meanes to reclaime his owne to preuent their sinnes to manifest and reforme their ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã who would haue looked for teares from Esau Or who dare trust teares when he sees them fall from so gracelesse Eyes It was a good word Blesse me also my Father Euery miscreant can wish himselfe well No man would be miserable if it were enough to desire happinesse Why did hee not rather weepe to his Brother for the pottage then to Isaac for a blessing If he had not then sold he had not needed now to begge It is iust with God to denie vs those fauours which wee were carelesse in keeping and which wee vnder valued in enioying Esaus teares find no place for Isaacs repentance Except it were that he hath done that by wile which he should haue done vpon duty No motiue can cause a good heart to repent that he hath done well how happy a thing it is to know the seasons of grace and not to neglect then how desperate to haue knowne and neglected them these teares were both late and false the teares of rage of enuy of carnall desire worldly sorrow causeth death yet whiles Esau âowles out thus for a blessing I heare him cry out of his fathers store Hast thou but one blessing my Fathers of his brothers subtlety was hee not rightly called Iacob I doe not heare him blame his owne deserts Hee did not see while his Father was deceiued and his brother crafty that God was iust and himselfe vncapable he knew himselfe profane and yet claimes a blessing Those that care not to please God yet care for the outward fauours of God and are ready to murmure if they want them as if God were bound to them and they free And yet so mercifull is God that he hath second blessings for those that loue him not and giues them all they care for That one blessing of speciall loue is for none but Israel but those of common kindnesse are for them that can sell their birth right this blessing was more then Esau could be worthy of yet like a second Cain he resolues to kill his brother because he was more accepted I know that whether he were a worse sonne or brother he hopes for his fathers death and purposes his brothers and vowes to shed blood in stead of teares But wicked men cannot be so ill as they would that strong Wrestler against whom Iacob preuailed preuailed with Esau and turned his wounds into kisses An Hoast of men came with Esau an army of Angels met Iacob Esau threatned Iacob prayed His prayers and presents haue melted the heart of Esau into loue And now in stead of the grim and stern
distinguish in the Sea but he cannot now either consider or feare it is his time to perish God makes him faire way and lets him run smoothly on till he be come to the midst of the Sea not one waue may rise vp against him to wet so much as the house of his horse Extraordinary fauours to wicked men are the forerunners of their ruine Now when God sees the Aegyptians too far to returne he finds time to strike them with their last terror they know not why but they would returne too late Those Chariots in which they trusted now faile them as hauing done seruice enough to carie them into perdition God pursues them and they cannot flye from him Wicked men make equall haste both to sin and from iudgement but they shall one day finde that it is not more easie to run into sin then impossible to run away from iudgement the sea will shew them that it regards the Rod of Moses not the Scepter of Pharaoh and now as glad to haue got the enemies of God at such an aduantage shuts her mouth vpon them and swallowes them vp in her waues and after shee hath made sport with them a while casts them vpon her sands for a spectacle of triumph to their aduersaries What a sight was this to the Israelites when they were now safe on the shore to see their enemies come floating after them vpon the billowes and to find among the carkasses vpon the sands their knowne oppressors which now they can tread vpon with insultation They did not cry more loud before then now they sing Not their faith but their sense teaches them now to magnifie that God after their deliuerance whom they hardly trusted for their deliuerance Contemplations VPON THE PRINCIPALL PASSAGES OF THE Holy Storie The second Volume IN FOVRE BOOKES By I.H. D.D. LONDON Printed for THO PAVIER MILES FLESHER and Iohn Haviland 1625. TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTY PRINCE CHARLES PRINCE OF GREAT BRITAINE Most excellent PRINCE ACcording to the true dutie of a seruant J entended all my Contemplations to your now-glorious Brother of sweet and sorrowfull memorie The first part whereof as it was the last Booke that euer was dedicated to that deare and immortall name of his so it was the last that was turned ouer by his gracious hand Now since it pleased the GOD of spirits to call him from these poore Contemplations of ours to the blessed Contemplation of himselfe to see him as Hee is to see as hee is seene to whom is this sequell of my labours due but to your Highnesse the heire of his Honor and Vertues Euery yeare of my short pilgrimage is like to adde something to this Worke which in regard of the subiect is scarce finite The whole doth not onely craue your Highnesses Patronage but promises to requite your Princely acceptation with many sacred examples and rules both for pietie and wisdome towards the decking vp of this flourishing spring of your Age in the hopes whereof not onely we liue but be that is dead liues still in you And if any piece of these endeuours come short of my desires J shall supply the rest with my prayers which shall neuer be wanting to the God of Princes that your happy proceedings may make glad the Church of God and your selfe in either World glorious Your Highnesses in all humble deuotion and faithfull obseruance IOS HALL Contemplations THE FIFTH BOOKE The Waters of Marah The Quailes and Manna The Rocke of Rephidim The Foyle of Amalek Or The hand of Moses lift vp The Law The Golden Calfe BY IOS HALL D. of Diuinitie and Deane of WORCESTER LONDON Printed for THOMAS PAVIER MILES FLESHER and John Haviland 1624. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE HENRY EARLE OF HVNTINGDON LORD HASTINGS BOTERAVX MOLINES MOILES HIS MAIESTIES LIEVTENANT IN THE COVNTY OF LEICESTER A BOVNTIFVLL FAVOVRER OF ALL GOOD LEARNING A NOBLE PRECEDENT OF VERTVE THE FIRST PATRONE OF MY POORE STVDIES J. H. DEDICATES THIS PIECE OF HIS LABORS AND WISHETH ALL HONOVR AND HAPPINESSE Contemplations THE FIFTH BOOKE The waters of Marah ISRAEL was not more loth to come to the Red Sea then to part from it How soone can God turne the horrour of any euill into pleasure One shore resounded with shriekes of feare the other with Timbrels and Dances and Songs of Deliuerance Euery maine affliction is our Red Sea which while it threats to swallow preserues vs At last our Songs shall be lowder then our cryes The Israelitish Dames wheÌ they saw their danger thought they might haue left their Timbrels behinde them how vnprofitable a burden seemed those instruments of Musick yet now they liue to renue that forgotten Minstralsie and Dancing which their bondage had so long discontinued and well might those feet dance vpon the shore which had walked thorow the Sea The Land of Goshen was not so bountifull to them as these Waters That afforded them a seruile life This gaue them at once freedome victorie riches bestowing vpon them the remainder of that wealth which the Aegyptians had but lent It was a pleasure to see the floating carkases of their Aduersaries and euery day offers them new booties It is no maruell then if their hearts were tyed to these bankes If we finde but a little pleasure in our life wee are ready to dote vpon it Euery small contentment glues our affections to that we like And if here our imperfect delights hold vs so fast that we would not be loosed how forcible shall those infinite ioyes be aboue when our soules are once possessed of them Yet if the place had pleas'd them more it is no maruell they were willing to follow Moses that they durst follow him in the Wildernesse whom they followed through the Sea It is a great confirmation to any people when they haue seene the hand of God with their guide O Sauiour which hast vndertaken to cary me from the spirituall Aegypt to the Land of Promise How faithfull how powerfull haue I found thee How fearelesly should I trust thee how cheerefully should I follow thee through contempt pouerty death it selfe Master if it be thou bid vs come vnto thee Immediately before they had complained of too much water now they go three dayes without Thus God meant to punish their infidelitie with the defect of that whose abundance made them to distrust Before they saw all Water no Land now all dry and dustie Land and no Water Extremities are the best tryals of men As in bodies those that can beare sudden changes of heats and cold without complaint are the strongest So much as an euill touches vpon the meane so much help it yeelds towards patience Euery degree of sorrow is a preparation to the next but when we passe to extreames without the meane we want the benefit of recollection and must trust to our present strength To come from all things to nothing is not a descent but a downfall and it is a rare strength and constancy not to be maymed
What relation hath wood to water or that which hath no sauour to the redresse of bitternesse Yet here is no more possibilitie of failing then proportion to the successe All things are subiect to the command of their Maker He that made all of nothing can make euery thing of any There is so much power in euery creature as he will please to giue It is the praise of Omnipotencie to worke by improbabilities Elisha with Salt Moses with wood shall sweeten the bitter waters Let no man despise the meanes when he knowes the Author God taught his people by actions as well as words This entrance shewed them their whole iourney wherein they should taste of much bitternesse but at last through the mercy God sweetned with comfort Or did it not represent themselues rather in the iourney in the fountaines of whose hearts were the bitter waters of manifold corruptions yet their vnsauourie soules are sweetned by the graces of his Spirit O blessed Sauiour the wood of thy Crosse that is the application of thy sufferings is enough to sweeten a whole Sea of bitternesse I care not how vnpleasant a potion I finde in this Wildernesse if the power and benefit of thy precious death may season it to my soule Of the Quayles and Manna THe thirst of Israel is well quenched for besides the change of the waters of Marah their station is changed to Elim where were twelue Fountaines for their twelue Tribes and now they complaine as fast of hunger Contentation is a rare blessing because it arises either from a fruition of all comforts or a not desiring of some which we haue not Now wee are neuer so bare as not to haue some benefits neuer so full as not to want something yea as not to be full of wants God hath much ado with vs either we lacke health or quietnesse or children or vvealth or company or ourselues in all these It is a vvonder these men found not fault with the want of sweet to their Quailes or with their old cloathes or their solitarie way Nature is moderate in her desires but conceit is vnsatiable Yet who can deny hunger to be a sore vexation Before they were forbidden sowre bread but now what leauen is to sowre as want When meanes hold out it is easie to be content Whiles their dough and other eates lasted vvhiles they vvere gathering of the Dates of Elim vve heare no newes of them Who cannot pray for his dayly bread when he hath it in his cup-bord But when our owne prouision failes vs then not to distrust the prouision of God is a noble tryall of faith They should haue said He that stopt the mouth of the Sea that it could not deuoure vs can as easily stop the mouth of our stomacks It was no easier matter to kill the first-borne of Aegypt by his immediate hand then to preserue vs He that commanded the Sea to stand still and guard vs can as easily command the earth to nourish vs He that made the Rod a Serpent can as well make these stones bread He that brought armies of Frogs and Caterpillers to Aegypt can as well bring vvhole drifts of birds and beasts to the desart He that sweetened the waters vvith Wood can aswell refresh our bodies vvith the fruits of the earth Why doe we not wait on him whom vve haue found so powerfull Now they set the mercy and loue of God vpon a wrong laste vvhiles they measure it onely by their present sense Nature is iocââd and cheerefull vvhiles it prospereth let God vvithdraw his hand no sight no trust Those can praise him vvith Timbrels for a present fauour that cannot depend vpon him in the vvant of meanes for a future We all are neuer vveary of receiuing soone weary of attending The other mutiny vvas of some few male-contents perhaps those strangers which fought their owne protection vnder the vving of Israel this of the whole troope Not that none were free Caleb Ioshua Moses Aaron Miriam were not yet tainted vsually God measures the state of any Church or Country by the most the greater part caries both the name and censure Sinnes are so much greater as they are more vniuersall so farre is euill from being extenuated by the multitude of the guilty that nothing can more aggrauate it With men commonnesse may plead for fauour vvith God at pleads for iudgement Many hands draw the Cable with more violence then few The leprosie of the whole body is more loathsome then that of a part But vvhat doe these mutiners say Oh that wee had dyed by the hand of the Lord And whose hand vvas this O ye fond Israelites if yee must perish by famine God caried you forth God restrained his creatures from you and vvhile you are ready to dye this ye say On that we had dyed by the hand of the Lord It is the folly of men that in immediate iudgements they can see Gods hand not in those whose second causes are sensible whereas God holds himselfe equally interessed in all challenging that there is no euill in the City but from him It is but one hand and many instruments that God strikes vs with The water may not lose the name though it come by chanels and pipes from the spring It is our faithlesnesse that in visible meanes we see not him that is inuisible And when would they haue vvisht to die When wee sate by the flesh-pots of Aegypt Alas what good vvould their flesh pots haue done them in their death If they might sustaine their life yet what could they auaile them in dying For if they were vnpleasant what comfort was it to see them If pleasant what comfort to part from them Our greatest pleasures are but paines in their losse Euery minde affects that which is like it selfe Carnall minds are for the flesh-pots of Aegypt though bought with seruitude spirituall are for the presence of God though redeemed with famine and would rather die in Gods presence then liue without him in the sight of delicate of full dishes They loued their liues well enough I heard how they shrieked when they were in danger of the Aegyptians yet now they say Oh that we had dyed Not Oh that wee might liue by the flesh-pots but Oh that wee had dyed Although life be naturally sweet yet a little discontentment makes vs weary It is a base cowardlinesse so soone as euer we are called from the garison to the field to thinke of running away Then is our fortitude worthy of praise when we can endure to be miserable But what can no flesh-pots serue but those of Aegypt I am deceiued if that Land affoorded them any flesh-pots saue their owne Their Landlords of Aegypt held it abomination to eate of their dishes or to kill that which they did eate In those times then they did eate of their owne and why not now They had droues of cattell in the Wildernesse vvhy did they not take of them Surely if they would haue
Of the Law IT is but about seuen weekes since Israel came out of Aegypt In which space God had cherished their faith by fiue seuerall wonders yet now he thinks it time to giue them Statutes from heauen as wel as bread The Manna and water from the Rocke which was Christ in the Gospell were giuen before the Law The Sacraments of Grace before the legall Couenant The grace of God preuenteth our obedience Therefore should we keepe the Law of God because we haue a Sauiour Oh the mercy of our God! which before we see what we are bound to doe shewes vs our remedy if wee doe it not How can our faith disanull the Law when it was before it It may helpe to fulfill that which shall be it cannot frustrate that which was not The Letters which God had written in our fleshly tables were now as those which were carued in some barkes almost growne out he saw it time to write them in dead tables whose hardnes should not bee capable of alteration He knew that the stone would be more faithfull then our hearts Oh maruellous accordance betwixt the two Testaments In the very time of their deliuerie there is the same agreement which is in the substance The ancient Iewes kept our Feasts and we still keepe theirs The Feast of the Passeouer is the time of Christs resurrection then did he passe from vnder the bondage of Death Christ is our Passeouer the spotlesse Lambe whereof not a bone must be broken The very day wherein God came down in fire and thunder to deliuer the Law Euen the same day came also the Holy Ghost downe vpon the Disciples in fiery tongues for the propagation of the Gospell That other was in fire and smoke obscuritie was mingled with terror This was in fire without smoke befitting the light and cleernesse of the Gospell Fire not in flashes but in tongues not to terrifie but to instruct The promulgation of the Law makes way for the Law of the Gospell No man receiues the Holy Ghost but he which hath felt the terrours of Sinai God might haue imposed vpon them a Law perforce They were his creatures and he could require nothing but iustice It had beene but equall that they should bee compelled to obey their Maker yet that God which loues to doe all things sweetly giues the law of iustice in mercy and wil not imperiously command but craues our assent for that which it were rebellion not to doe How gentle should be the proceeding of fellow creatures who haue an equalitie of being with an inequality of condition when their infinite Maker requests where hee might constraine God wil make no couenant with the vnwilling How much lesse the couenant of Grace which stands all vpon loue If we stay till God offer violence to our wil or to vs against our will we shal die strangers from him The Church is the Spouse of Christ he will enioy her loue by a willing contract not by a rauishment The obstinate haue nothing to doe with God The title of all Conuerts is A willing people Then Israel inclined to God it was from God he enquires after his owne gifts in vs for our capacity of more They had not receiued the Law vnlesse they had first receiued a disposition fit to be commanded As there was an inclination to heare so there must be a preparation for hearing Gods iustice had before prepared his Israelites by hunger thirst feare of enemies his mercies had prepared them by deliuerances by prouisions of water meat bread and yet besides all the sight of God in his miracles they must be three dayes prepared to heare him When our soules are at the best our approch to God requires particular addresses And if three dayes were little enough to prepare them to receiue the Law how is all our life short enough to prepare for the reckoning of our obseruing it And if the word of a command expected such readinesse what shall the word of promise the promise of Christ and saluation The Moraine of Aegypt was not so infectious as their vices the contagion of these stucke still by Israel All the water of the Red Sea and of Marah and that which gushed out of the Rocke had not washed it off From these they must now bee sanctified As sinne is alwayes dangerous so most when we bring it into Gods sight It enuenometh both our persons and seruices and turnes our good into euill As therefore wee must be alwayes holy so most when wee present our selues to the holy eyes of our Creator We wash our hands euery day but when we are to sit with some great person we scowre them with balls And if wee must be so sanctified onely to receiue the Law how holy must we be to receiue the grace promised in the Gospell Neither must themselues onely he cleansed but their very cloathes Their garments smelt of Aegypt euen they must be washed Neither can cloathes be capable of sinne nor can water cleanse from sinnes The danger was neither in their garments nor their skin yet they must be washed that they might learne by their cloathes with what soules to appeare before their God Those garments must bee washed which should neuer waxe old that now they might begin their age in purity as those vvhich were in more danger of being Foule then bare It is fit that our reuerence to Gods presence should appeare in our very garments that both without and vvithin we may be cleanly but little would neatnesse of vestures auaile vs vvith a filthy soule The God of spirits lookes to the inner man and challenges the purity of that part which resembles himselfe Cleanse your hands ye sinners and purge your hearts ye double-minded Yet euen vvhen they vvere washed and sanctified they may not touch the Mount not onely vvith their feet but not with their eyes The smoake keepes it from their eyes the markes from their feet Not only men that had some impurity at their best are restrained but euen beasts which are not capable of any vnholinesse Those beasts which must touch his Altars yet might not touch his hill And if a beast touch it hee must die yet so as no hands may touch that which hath touched the Hill Vnreasonablenesse might seeme to be an excuse in these creatures that therefore which is death to a beast must needs be capital to them whose reason should guide them to auoid presumption Those Israelites which saw God euery day in the pillar of fire the cloud must not come neere him in the Mount God loues at once familiarity and feare Familiarity in our conuersation and feare in his commands Hee loues to be acquainted with men in the walkes of their obedience yet he takes state vpon him in his ordinances and will be trembled at in his Word and Iudgements I see the difference of Gods cariage to men in the Law and in the Gospel There the very Hill where he appeared may not be
touched of the purest Israelite Here the hem of his garment is touched by the woman that had the flux of blood yea his very face was touched with the lips of Iudas There the very earth vvas prohibited them on which he descended Here his very body and blood is profered to our touch and taste Oh the maruellous kindnesse of our God! How vnthankfull are we if we doe not acknowledge this mercy aboue his ancient people They were his owne yet strangers in comparison of our libertie It is our shame and sinne if in these meanes of intirenesse we be no better acquainted with God then they which in their greatest familiaritie vvere commanded aloofe God was euer wonderfull in his workes and fearfull in his iudgements but hee was neuer so terrible in the execution of his will as now in the promulgation of it Here was nothing but a maiesticall terrour in the eyes in the eares of the Israelites as if God meant to shew them by this how fearfull he could be Here was the lightning darted in their eyes the thunders roaring in their eares the Trumpet of God drowning the thunder claps the voice of God out-speaking the Trumpet of the Angell The Cloud enwrapping the smoake ascending the fire flaming the Mount trembling Moses climbing and quaking palenesse and death in the face of Israel vprore in the elements and all the glory of heauen turned into terrour In the destruction of the first World there were clouds without fire In the destruction of Sodom there was fire raining without clouds but here was fire smoake clouds thunder earthquakes and whatsoeuer might worke more astonishment then euer was in any vengeance inflicted And if the Law vvere thus giuen how shall it be required If such were the Proclamation of Gods Statutes what shall the Sessions bee I see and tremble at the resemblance The Trumpet of the Angell called vnto the one The voice of an Archangell the Trumpet of God shall summon vs to the other To the one Moses that climbed vp that Hill and alone saw it sayes God came with ten thousands of his Saints In the other thousand thousands shall minister to him and ten thousand thousands shal stand before him In the one Mount Sinai onely was on a flame all the World shall be so in the other In the one there was fire smoake thunder and lightning In the other a fiery streame shall issue from him wherewith the heauens shall be dissolued and the Elements shall melt away vvith a noise Oh God how powerfull art thou to inflict vengeance vpon sinners who didst thus forbid sinne and if thou vvert so terrible a Law-giuer vvhat a Iudge shalt thou appeare What shall become of the breakers of so fierie a Law Oh vvhere shall those appeare that are guilty of the transgressing that law vvhose very deliuery vvas little lesse then death If our God should exact his Law but in the same rigour wherein he gaue it sinne could not quite the cost But now the fire vvherein it was deliuered was but terrifying the fire wherein it shall bee required is consuming Happy are those that are from vnder the terrours of that Law which was giuen in fire and in fire shall be required God would haue Israel see that they had not to do with some impotent Commander that is faine to publish his Lawes without noyse in dead paper which can more easily enioyne then punish or descry then execute and therefore before hee giues them a Law he shewes them that he can command Heauen Earth Fire Ayre in reuenge of the breach of the Law That they could not but thinke it deadly to displease such a Law-giuer or violate such dreadfull statutes that they might see all the Elements examples of that obedience which they should yeeld vnto their Maker This fire wherein the Law was giuen is still in it and will neuer out Hence are those terrours which it flashes in euery conscience that hath felt remorse of sinne Euery mans heart is a Sinai and resembles to him both heauen and hell The sting of death is sinne and the strength of sinne is the Law That they might see he could finde out their closest sinnes hee deliuers his Law in the light of fire from out of the smoake That they might see what is due to their sinnes they see fire aboue to represent the fire that should be below them That they might know he could waken their securitie the Thunder and louder voice of GOD speakes to their hearts That they might see what their hearts should doe the Earth quakes vnder them That they might see they could not shift their appearance the Angels call them together Oh royall Law and mighty Law-giuer How could they think of hauing any other God that had such proofes of this How could they think of making any resemblance of him whom they saw could not be seene and whom they saw in not being seene infinite How could they thinke of daring to profane his Name vvhom they heard to name himselfe with that voice Iehoua How could they thinke of standing vvith him for a day whom they saw to command that heauen vvhich makes and measures day How could they thinke of disobeying his Deputies whom they saw so able to reuenge How could they thinke of killing when they were halfe dead with the feare of him that could kill both body and soule How could they think of the flames of lust that saw such fires of vengeance How could they thinke of stealing from others that saw whose the heauen and the earth was to dispose of at his pleasure How could they thinke of speaking falsely that heard God speake in so fearfull a tone How could they thinke of coueting others goods that saw how vveake and vncertaine right they had to their owne Yea to vs vvas this Law so deliuered to vs in them neither had there beene such state in the promulgation of it if God had not intended it for Eternity We men that so feare the breach of humane Lawes for some small mulcts of forfeiture how should vvee feare thee O Lord that canst cast body and soule into hell Of the Golden Calfe IT was not much aboue a moneth since Israel made their couenant with God since they trembled to heare him say Thou shalt haue no other Gods but me since they saw Moses part from them and climbe vp the Hill to God and now they say Make vs Gods we know not what is become of this Moses Oh ye mad Israelites haue ye so soon forgotten that fire and thunder which you heard and saw Is that smoake vanished out of your minde as soone as out of your sight Could your hearts cease to tremble with the earth Can yee in the very sight of Sinai call for other Gods And for Moses was it not for your sakes that he thrust himselfe into the midst of that smoake and fire which ye feared to see afar off Was he not now gone after so many sudden
hand yet if any other had done it he had falne with the dead and not stood betwixt the liuing and dead in stead of the smoke ascending the fire had descended vpon him And shall there be lesse vse or lesse regard of the Euangelicall ministerie then the Legall When the world hath powred out all his contempt wee are they that must reconcile men to God and without vs they perish I know not whether more to maruell at the courage or mercy of Aaron His mercy that hee would yet saue so rebellious a people his courage that hee would saue them with so great a danger of himselfe For as one that would part a fray he thrusts himselfe vnder the strokes of God and puts it to the choice of the reuenger whether hee will smite him or forbeare the rest Hee stands boldly betwixt the liuing and the dead as one that will either dye with them or haue them liue with him the sight of fourteene hundred carcasses dismayed him not he that before feared the threats of the people now feares not the strokes of God It is not for Gods Ministers to stand vpon their owne perils in the common causes of the Church Their prayers must oppose the iudgements of the Almighty When the fire of Gods anger is kindled their Censers must smoke with fire from the Altar Euery Christian must pray for the remouall of vengeance how much more they whom God hath appointed to mediate for his people Euery mans mouth is his owne but they are the mouths of all Had Aaron thrust in himselfe with empty hands I doubt whether he had preuailed now this Censer was his protection When we come with supplications in our hands we need not feare the strokes of God Wee haue leaue to resist the diuine iudgements by our prayers with fauour and successe So soone as the incense of Aaron ascended vp vnto God he smelt a sauour of rest he will rather spare the offenders then strike their intercessor How hardly can any people miscary that haue faithfull Ministers to sue for their safety Nothing but the smoke of hearty prayers can cleanse the ayre from the plagues of God If Aarons sacrifice were thus accepted how much more shall the High-Priest of the New Testament by interposing himselfe to the wrath of his Father deliuer the offenders from death The plague was entred vpon all the sonnes of men O Sauiour thou stood'st betwixt the liuing and the dead that all which beleeue in thee should not perish Aaron offered and was not stricken but thou O Redeemer wouldest offer and be strooke that by thy stripes we might be healed So stood'st thou betwixt the dead and liuing that thou wert both aliue and dead and all this that we when we were dead might liue for euer Nothing more troubled Israel then a feare left the two brethren should cunningly ingrosse the gouernment to themselues If they had done so what wise men would haue enuied them an office so little worth so dearly purchased But because this conceit was euer apt to stir them to rebellion and to hinder the benefit of this holy souerainty therefore God hath endeuoured nothing more then to let them see that these officers whom they so much enuied were of his owne proper institution They had scarce shut their eyes since they saw the confusion of those two hundred and fifty vsurping sacrificers and Aarons effectuall intercession for staying the plague of Israel In the one the execution of Gods vengeance vpon the competitors of Aaron for his sake In the other the forbearance of vengeance vpon the people for Aarons mediation might haue challenged their voluntary acknowledgement of his iust calling from God If there had beene in them either awe or thankfulnesse they could not haue doubted of his lawfull supremacie How could they choose but argue thus Why would God so fearfully haue destroyed the riuals that durst contest with Aaron if he would haue allowed him any equall Wherefore serue those plates of the Altar which we see made of those vsurped Censers but to warne all posteritie of such presumption Why should God cease striking whiles Aaron interposed betwixt the liuing and the dead if he were but as one of vs Which of vs if wee had stood in the plague had not added to the heape Incredulous minds will not be perswaded with any euidence These two brothers had liued asunder forty yeeres God makes theÌ both meet in one office of deliuering Israel One halfe of the miracles were wrought by Aaron he strooke with the rod whiles it brought those plagues on Egypt The Israelites heard God call him vp by name to mount Sinai They saw him anointed from God and lest they should thinke this a set match betwixt the brethren they saw the earth opening the fire issuing from God vpon their emulous opposites they saw his smoke a sufficient antidote for the plague of God and yet still Aarons calling is questioned Nothing is more naturall to euery man then vnbeliefe but the earth neuer yeelded a people so strongly incredulous as these and after so many thousand generations their children doe inherite their obstinacie still doe they oppose the true High-Priest the Anointed of God sixteene hundred yeares desolation hath not drawne from them to confesse him whom God hath chosen How desirous was God to giue satisfaction euen to the obstinate There is nothing more materiall then that men should bee assured their spirituall guides haue their Comission and Calling from God The want whereof is a preiudice to our successe It should not be so but the corruption of men will not receiue good but from due messengers Before God wrought miracles in the Rod of Moses now in the rod of Aaron As Pharaoh might see himselfe in Moseses rod who of a rod of defence and protection was turned into a venemous Serpent So Israel might see themselues in the rod of Aaron Euery Tribe and euery Israelite was of himselfe as a sere-sticke without life without sap and if any one of them had power to liue and flourish hee must acknowledge it from the immediate power and gift of God Before Gods calling all men are alike Euery name is alike written in their Rod there is no difference in the letters in the wood neither the characters of Aaron are fayrer nor the staffe more precious It is the choise of God that makes the distinction So it is in our calling of Christianitie All are equally deuoid of possibility of grace all equally liuelesse by nature we are all sonnes of wrath If we be now better then others who separated vs We are all Crabstocks in this Orchard of God he may graffe what fruit he pleases vpon vs onely the grace and effectuall calling of God makes the difference These twelue Heads of Israel would neuer haue written their names in their rods but in hope they might be chosen to this dignitie What an honour was this Priesthood whereof all the Princes of Israel are
in pieces Hee that will iudge and can confound is fetcht into the quarrell without cause But if to striue with a mighty man bee vnwise and vnsafe what shall it be to striue with the mighty God As an angry child casts away that which is giuen him because he hath not that hee would so doe these foolish Israelites their bread is light and their water vnsatisfying because their way displeased them Was euer people fed with such bread or water Twice hath the very Rocke yeelded them water and euery day the heauen affords them bread Did any one soule amongst them miscarie either for hunger or thirst But no bread will downe with them saue that which the earth yeelds no water âut from the naturall Wels or Riuers Vnlesse nature may be allowed to bee her owne caruer she is neuer contented Manna had no fault but that it was too good and too frequent the pulse of Egypt had been fitter for these course mouths This heauenly bread was vnspeakably delicious it tasted like wafers of hony and yet euen this Angels food is contemned He that is full despiseth an hony-combe How sweet and delicate is the Gospel Not onely the Fathers of the Old Testament but the Angels desired to looke into the glorious mysteries of it and yet we are cloyed This supernaturall food is too light the bread-corne of our humane reason and profound discourse would better content vs. Moses will not reuenge this wrong God will yet will he not deale with them himselfe but he sends the fiery Serpents to answer for him How fitly They had caried themselues like serpents to their gouernors how oft had they stung Moses and Aaron neere to death If the Serpent bite when he is not charmed no better is a slanderer Now these venemous Adders reuenge it which are therefore called fiery because their poison scalded to death God hath an hand in the annoyance and hurt of the basest creature how much lesse can the sting of an ill tongue or the malice of an ill spirit strike vs without him Whiles they were in Goshen the Frogs Lice Caterpillers spared them and plagued the Egyptians now they are rebellious in the Desart the serpents finde them out and sting them to death Hee that brought the Quailes thither to feed them fetches these Serpents thither to punish them While we are at warres with God we can looke for no peace with his creatures Euery thing reioyces to execute the vengeance of his Maker The stones of the field will not bee in league with vs while we are not in league with God These men when the Spies had told them newes of the Gyants of Canaan a little before had wisht Would God wee were dead in this Wildernesse Now God hath heard their prayers what with the Plague what with the Serpents many thousands of them dyed The ill wishes of our impatience are many times heard As those good things are not granted vs which we pray for without care so those euils which wee pray for and would not haue are oft granted The eares of God are not only open to the prayers of faith but to the imprecations of infidelitie It is dangerous wishing euill to our selues or ours It is iust with God to take vs at our word and to effect that which our lips speake against our heart Before God hath euer consulted with Moses and threatned ere he punisht now he strikes and sayes nothing The anger is so much more by how much lesse notified When God is not heard before he is felt as in the hewing of wood the blow is not heard till the axe be seene to haue strooke it is a fearfull signe of displeasure It is with God as with vs men that still reuenges are euer most dangerous Till now all vvas well enough with Israel and yet they grudged Those that will complaine without a cause shall haue cause to complaine for something Discontented humours seldome scape vnpunished but receiue that most iustly whereat they repined vniustly Now the people are glad to seeke to Moses vnbidden Euer heretofore they haue been wont to be sued to and intreated for without their owne intreaty now their miserie makes them importunate There need no sollicitor where there is sense of smart It were pity men should want affliction since it sends them to their prayers and confessions All the perswasions of Moses could not doe that which the Serpents haue done for him O God thou seest how necessary it is wee should be stung sometimes else we should runne wilde and neuer come to a sound humiliation wee should neuer seeke thee if thy hand did not finde vs out They had spoken against God and Moses and now they humbly speake to Moses that he would pray to God for them He that so oft prayed for them vnbidden cannot but much more doe it requested and now obtaines the meanes of their cure It was equally in the power of God to remoue the Serpents and to heale their stinging to haue cured the Israelites by his word and by his signe But he finds it best for his people to exercise their faith that the Serpents may bite and their bitings may inuenome and that this venome may indanger the Israelites and that they thus affected âây seeke to him for remedy and seeking may finde it from such meanes as should haue no power but in signification that while their bodies were cured by the signe their soules might be confirmed by the matter signified A Serpent of brasse could no more heale then sting them What remedy could their eyes giue to their legges Or what could a Serpent of cold brasse preuaile against a liuing and fierie Serpent In this troublesome Desart wee are all stung by that fiery and old Serpent O Sauiour it is to thee we must looke and be cured It is thou that wert their Paschal Lambe their Manna their Rock their Serpent To all purposes dost thou vary thy selfe to thy Church that we may finde thee euery-where Thou art for our nourishment refreshing cure as hereafter so euen now all in all This Serpent which was appointed for cure to Israel at last stings them to death by Idolatrous abuse What poyson there is in Idolatry that makes euen Antidotes deadly As Moses therefore raised this Serpent so Ezekias pulled it downe God commanded the raising of it God approued the demolishing of it Superstitious vse can marre the very institutions of God how much more the most wise and well-grounded deuices of men Of BALAAM MOab and Midian had beene all this while standers by and lookers on If they had not seen the patterne of their own ruine in these neighbors it had neuer troubled them to see the Kings of the Amorites and Bashan to fall before Israel Had not the Israelites camped in the Plaines of Moab their victories had beene no eye-sore to Balac Wicked men neuer care to obserue Gods iudgments till themselues be touched The fire of a neighbors house would
vpheld vs whether by remouing occasions or by casting in good instincts As our good indeuours are oft hindered by Satan so are our euill by good Angels else were not our protection equall to our danger and wee could neither stand nor rise It had beene as easie for the Angell to strike Balaam as to stand in his way and to haue followed him in his starting aside as to stop him in a narrow path But euen the good Angels haue their stints in their executions God had somewhat more to doe with the tongue of Balaam and therefore he will not haue him slaine but withstood and so withstood that hee shall passe It is not so much glory to God to take away wicked men as to vse their euill to his owne holy purposes How soone could the Commander of heauen and earth rid the world of bad members But so should hee lose the praise of working good by euill instruments It sufficeth that the Angels of God resist their actions while their persons continue That no man may maruell to see Balaam haue visions from God and vtter prophecies from him his very Asse hath his eyes opened to see the Angell which his Master could not and his mouth opened to speak more reasonably then his Master There is no beast deserues so much wonder as this of Balaam whose common sense is aduanced aboue the reason of his rider so as for the time the prophet is brutish and the beast propheticall Who can but stand amazed at the eye at the tongue of this silly creature For so dull a sight it was much to see a bodily obiect that were not too apparent but to see that spirit which his rider discerned not was farre beyond nature To heare a voice come from that mouth which was vsed onely to bray it was strange and vncouth but to heare a beast whose nature is noted for incapacity to our reason his Master a professed Prophet is in the very height of miracles Yet can no heart sticke at these that considers the dispensation of the Almighty in both Our eye could no more see a beast then a beast can see an Angell if he had not giuen this power to it How easie is it for him that made the eye of man and beast to dimme or inlighten it at his pleasure And if his power can make the very stones to speake how much more a creature of sense That euill spirit spake in the Serpent to our first Parents Why is it more that a spirit should speake in the mouth of a beast How ordinarily did the heathen receiue their Oracles out of stones trees Do not we our selues teach birds to speak those sentences they vnderstand not We may wonder we cannot distrust when we compare the act with the Author which can as easily create a voice without a body as a body without a voice Who now can hereafte plead his simplicity and dulnesse of apprehending spirituall things when he sees how God exalts the eies of a beast to see a spirit Who can be proud of seeing visions since an Angell appeared to a beast neither was his skinne better after it then others of his kind Who can complaine of his owne rudenesse and inability to reply in a good cause when the very beast is inabled by God to conuince his Master There is no mouth into which God cannot put words and how oft doth hee choose the weake and vnwise to confound the learned and mighty What had it beene better for the Asse to see the Angell if he had rushed still vpon his sword Euils were as good not seen as not auoyded But now he declines the way and saues his burthen It were happy for peruerse sinners if they could learne of this beast to run away from fore-seene iudgements The reuenging Angell stands before vs and though we know we shall as sure die as sin yet we haue not the wit or grace to giue backe though it be with the hurt of a foot to saue the body with the paine of the body to saue the soule I see what fury and stripes the impotent prophet bestowes vpon this poore beast because he will not goe on yet if he had gone on himselfe had perished How oft do we wish those things the not obtaining whereof is mercy We grudge to be staid in the way to death and fly vpon those which oppose our perdition I doe not as who would not expect see Balaams haire stand vpright nor himselfe alighting and appaled at this monster of miracles But as if no new thing had happened he returnes words to the beast full of anger voyd of admiration Whether his trade of sorcering had so inured him to receiue voices from his Familiars in shape of beasts that this euent seemed not strange to him Or whether his rage and couetousnesse had so transported him that he had no leasure to obserue the vnnaturall vnusualnesse of the euent Some men make nothing of those things which ouercome others with honor and astonishment I heare the Angell of God taking notice of the cruelty of Balaam to his beast His first words to the vnmercifull prophet are in expostulating of this wrong We little thinke it but God shall call vs to an account for the vnkind and cruell vsages of his poore mute creatures He hath made vs Lords not tyrants owners not tormenters hee that hath giuen vs leaue to kill them for our vse hath not giuen vs leaue to abuse them at our pleasure they are so our drudges that they are our fellowes by creation It was a signe the Magician would easily wish to strike Israel with a curse when hee wished a sword to strike his harmelesse beast It is ill falling into those hands whom beasts find vnmercifull Notwithstanding these rubs Balaam goes on and is not afraid to ride on that beast whose voice he had heard And now Posts are sped to Balac with the newes of so welcome a ghest Hee that sent Princes to fetch him comes himselfe on the way to meet him Although he can say Am not I able to promote thee yet hee giues this high respect to him as his better from whom hee expected the promotion of himselfe and his people Oh the honour that hath beene formerly done by Heathens to them that haue borne but the face of Prophets I shame and grieue to compare the times and men Onely O God bee thou mercifull to the contempt of thy seruants As if nothing needed but the presence of Balaam the superstitious King out of the ioy of his hope feasts his gods his prophet his Princes and on the morrow caries him vp to the high-places of his Idol Who can doubt whether Balaam were a false prophet that sees him sacrificing in the mount of Baal Had he beene from the true God he would rather haue said Pull me downe these altars of Baal then Build mee here seuen others The very place conuinces him of fashood and Idolatry And why seuen Altars What
Ioshua that succeeded Moses no lesse in the care of Gods glory then in his gouernment is much deiected with this euent Hee rends his clothes fals on his face casts dust vpon his head and as if he had learned of his Master how to expostulate with God sayes What wilt thou doe to thy mighty Name That Ioshua might see God tooke no pleasure to let the Israelites lye dead vpon the earth before their enemies himselfe is taxed for but lying all day vpon his face before the Arke All his expostulations are answered in one word Get thee vp Israel hath sinned I do not heare God say Lye still and mourne for the sin of Israel It is to no purpose to pray against punishment while the sinne continues And though God loues to be sued to yet he holds our requests vnseasonable till there bee care had of satisfaction When we haue risen and redressed sin then may we fall downe for pardon Victory is in the free hand of God to dispose where hee will and no man can maruell that the dice of Warre run euer with hazard on both sides so as God needed not to haue giuen any other reason of this discomfiture of Israel but his owne pleasure yet Ioshua must now know that Israel which before preuailed for their faith is beaten for their sin When we are crossed in iust and holy quarrels we may well thinke there is some secret euill vnrepented of which God would punish in vs which though we see not yet he so hates that he will rather bee wanting to his owne cause then not reuenge it When we goe about any enterprise of God it is good to see that our hearts be cleere from any pollution of sin and when wee are thwarted in our hopes it is our best course to ransack our selues and to search for some sin hid from vs in our bosome but open to the view of God The Oracle of God which told him a great offence was committed yet reueales not the person It had been as easie for him to haue named the man as the crime Neither doth Ioshua request it but refers that discouery to such a meanes as whereby the offender finding himselfe singled out by the lot might bee most conuinced Achan thought he might haue lyen as close in all that throng of Israel as the wedge of Gold lay in his Tent. The same hope of secresie which moued him to sinne moued him to confidence in his sinne but now when hee saw the lot fall vpon his Tribe hee began to start a little when vpon his family he began to change countenance when vpon his houshold to tremble and feare when vpon his person to be vtterly confounded in himselfe Foolish men thinke to runne away with their priuie sinnes and say Tush no eye shall see me but when they thinke themselues safest God puls them out with shame The man that hath escaped iustice and now is lying downe in death would thinke My shame shall neuer be disclosed but before Men and Angels shall he be brought on the scaffold and find confusion as sure as late What needed any other euidence when God had accused Achan Yet Ioshua will haue the sinne out of his mouth in whose heart it was hatched My sonne I beseech thee giue glory to God Whom God had conuinced as a malefactor Ioshua beseeches as a son Some hot spirit would haue said Thou wretched traitor how hast thou pilfred from thy God and shed the blood of so many Israelites and caused the Host of Israel to shew their backes with dishonour to the Heathen now shall we fetch this sin out of thee with tortures and plague thee with a condigne death But like the Disciple of him whose seruant he was he meekely intreats that which he might haue extorted by violence My son I beseech thee Sweetnesse of compellation is a great helpe towards the good entertainment of an admonition roughnesse and rigor many times hardens those hearts which meekenesse would haue melted to repentance whether we sue or conuince or reproue little good is gotten by bitternesse Detestation of the sin may well stand with fauour to the person and these two not distinguished cause great wrong either in our charity or iustice for either we vncharitably hate the creature of God or vniustly affect the euill of men Subiects are as they are called sonnes to the Magistrate All Israel was not onely of the family but as of the loynes of Ioshua such must be the corrections such the prouisions of Gouernorus as for their children as againe the obedience and loue of subiects must be filiall God had glorified himselfe sufficiently in finding out the wickednesse of Achan neither need he honour from men much lesse from sinners They can dishonour him by their iniquities but what recompence can they giue him for their wrongs yet Ioshua sayes My sonne giue glory to God Israel should now see that the tongue of Achan did iustifie God in his lot The confession of our sins doth no lesse honour God then his glory is blemished by their commission Who would not be glad to redeeme the honour of his Redemer with his owne shame The lot of God and the mild words of Ioshua wonne Achan to accuse himselfe ingenuously impartially a storme perhaps would not haue done that which a Sun-shine had done If Achan had come in vncalled and before any question made out of an honest remorse had brought in this sacrilegious booty and cast himselfe and it at the foot of Ioshua doubtlesse Israel had prospered and his sinne had caried away pardon now he hath gotten thus much thanke that he is not a desperate sinner God will once wring from the conscience of wicked men their owne inditements They haue not more carefully hid their sinne then they shall one day freely proclaime their owne shame Achans confession though it were late yet was it free and full For he doth not onely acknowledge the act but the ground of his sinne I saw and coueted and tooke The eye betrayed the heart and that the hand and now all conspire in the offence If wee list not to flatter our selues this hath beene the order of our crimes Euill is vniforme and beginning at the senses takes the inmost fort of the soule and then armes our own outward forces against vs This shall once be the lasciuious mans song I saw and coueted and tooke This the theeues this the Idolaters this the gluttons drunkards All these receiue their death by the eye But oh foolish Achan with what eyes didst thou looke vpon that spoile which thy fellowes saw and contemned Why couldest thou not before as well as now see shame hid vnder that gay Babylonish garment and an heape of stones couered with those shekels of siluer The ouer-prizing and ouer-desiring of these earthly things caries vs into all mischiefe and hides from vs the sight of Gods iudgements whosoeuer desires the glory of metals or of gay clothes or
longest intermission they haue now the sorest bondage None of their Tyrants were so potent as Iabin with his nine hundred Chariots of yron The longer the reckoning is deferred the greater is the summe God prouides on purpose mighty Aduersaries for his Church that their humiliation may be the greater in sustayning and his glory may be greater in deliuerance I do not finde any Prophet in Israel during their sinne but so soone as I heare newes of their repentance mention is made of a Prophetesse and Iudge of Israel There is no better signe of Gods reconciliation then the sending of his holy messengers to any people He is not vtterly faln out with those whom he blesses with prophecy Whom yet doe I see raised to this honour Not any of the Princes of Israel not Barac the Captaine not Lapidoth the husband but a woman for the honour of her sex a wife for the honour of wedlocke Debora the wife of Lapidoth He that had choyce of all the millions of Israel culs out two weake women to deliuer his people Deborah shall iudge Iael shall execute All the Palaces of Israel must yeeld to the Palme-tree of Deborah The weaknesse of the instruments redounds to the greater honour of the Workman Who shall aske God any reason of his elections but his own pleasure Deborah was to sentence not to strike to command not to execute This act is masculine fit for some Captaine of Israel She was the Head of Israel it was meet some other should be the hand it is an imperfect and titular gouernment where there is a coÌmanding power without correction without execution The message of Deborah findes out Barac the sonne of Abinoam in his obscure secrecy and cals him from a corner of Nepthali to the honour of this exploit He is sent for not to get the victory but to take it not to ouercome but to kill to pursue not to beat Sisera Who could not haue done this worke whereto not much courage no skill belonged Yet euen for this will God haue an instrument of his owne choice It is most fit that God should serue himselfe where he list of his owne neither is it to be inquired whom we thinke meet for any employment but whom God hath called Deborah had been no Prophetesse if she durst haue sent in her owne name Her message is from him that sent her selfe Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded Baracs answere is faithfull though conditionate and doth not so much intend a refusall to goe without her as a necessary bond of her presence with him Who can blame him that he would haue a Prophetesse in his company If the man had not been as holy as valiant he would not haue wished such society How many think it a perpetuall bondage to haue a Prophet of God at their elbow God had neuer sent for him so farre if he could haue bin content to goe vp without Deborah He knew that there was both a blessing and incouragement in that presence It is not putting any trust in the successe of those men that neglect the messengers of God To prescribe that to others which we draw backe from doing our selues is an argument of hollownesse and falsity Barac shall see that Deborah doth not offer him that cup whereof she dare not begin without regard of her sex she marches with him to Mount Tabor and reioyces to be seene of the tenne thousand of Israel With what scorne did Sisera looke at the gleanings of Israel How vnequall did this match seene of ten thousand Israelites against his three hundred thousand foot ten thousand horse nine hundred charets of yron And now in a brauery he cals for his troupes and meanes to kill this handfull of Israel with the very sight of his picked chariots and only feared it would be no victory to cut the throats of so few The faith of ãâã and Barac was not appalled with this world of Aduersaries which from mount Tâoâ they saw hiding all the Valley below them they knew whom they had beleeued and how little an arme of flesh could doe against the God of Hosts Barac went downe against Sisera but it was God that destroyed him The Israelites did not this day wield their owne swords lest they should arrogate any thing God told them before-hand it should be his owne act I heare not of one stroke that any Canaanite gaue in his fight as if they were called hither onely to suffer And nâw proud Sisera after many curses of the heauinesse of that yron carriage is glad to quit his Chariot and betake himselfe to his heeles Who euer yet knew any earthly thing trusted in without disappointment It is wonder if God make vs not at last as weary of whatsoeuer hath stolne our hearts from him as euer we were fond Yet Sisera hopes to haue sped better then his followers in so seasonable an harbour of Iael If Heber and Iael had not been great persons there had been no note taken of their Tents There had been no league betwixt King Iabin and them now their greatnesse makes them knowne their league makes them trusted The distresse of Sisera might haue made him importunate but Iael begins the courtesie and exceeds the desire of her guest He askes water to drinke she giues him milke he wishes but shelter she makes him a bed he desires the protection of her Tent she couers him with a mantle And now Sisera pleases himselfe with this happy change and thinkes how much better it is to be here then in that whirling of chariots in that horror of flight amongst those shriekes those wounds those carcasses Whiles he is in these thoughts his wearinesse and easie reposall hath brought him asleepe Who would haue looked that in this tumult and danger euen betwixt the very iawes of death Sisera should find time to sleepe How many wordly hearts doe so in the mids of their spirituall perils Now whiles he was dreaming doubtlesse of the clashing of armours ratling of chariots neighing of horses the clamor of the coÌquered the furious pursuit of Israel Iael seeing his temples lye so faire as if they inuited the naile and hammer entred into the thought of this noble execution certainly not without some checks of doubt and pleas of feare What if I strike him And yet who am I that I should dare to thinke of such an act Is not this Sisera the famousest Captaine of the world whose name hath wont be fearefull to whole Nations What if my hand should swarue in the stroke What if he should awake whiles I am lifting vp this instrument of death What if I should be surprized by some of his followers while the fact is greene and yet bleeding Can the murder of so great a Leader be hid or vnreuenged Or if I might hope so yet can my heart allow to be secretly trecherous Is there not peace betwixt my house and him Did not I inuite him to my Tent Doth he
brethren Craftily yet and vnder pretence of a false title had they acknowledged the victory of Gideon with what forehead could they haue denied him bread Now I know not whether their faithlesnesse or enuy lie in their way Are the hands of Zeba and Zalmunna in thy hands There were none of these Princes of Succoth and Penuel but thought themselues better men then Gideon That he therefore alone should doe that which all the Princes of Israel durst not attempt they hated and scorned to heare It is neuer safe to measure euents by the power of the instrument nor in the causes of God whose calling makes the difference to measure others by our selues There is nothing more dangerous then in holy businesses to stand vpon comparisons and our owne reputation sith it is reason God should both chuse and blesse where he lists To haue questioned so sudden a victory had been pardonable but to deny it scornfully was vnworthy of Israelites Carnall men thinke that impossible to others which themselues cannot doe From hence are their censures hence their exclamations Gideon hath vowed a fearefull reuenge and now performes it the taunts of his brethren may not stay him from the pursuit of the Midianites Common enmities must first be opposed domesticall at more leysure The Princes of Succoth feared the tyranny of the Midianitish Kings but they more feared Gideons victory What a condition hath their enuy drawne them into that they are sorry to see Gods enemies captiue that Israels freedome must be their death that the Midianites and they must tremble at one and the same Reuenger To see themselues prisoners to Zeba and Zalmunna had not been so fearefull as to see Zeba and Zalmunna prisoners to Gideon Nothing is more terrible to euill mindes then to reade their owne condemnation in the happy successe of others hell it selfe would want one piece of his torment if the wicked did not know those whom they contemned glorious I know not whether more to commend Gideons wisedome and moderation in the proceedings then his resolution and iustice in the execution of this businesse I doe not see him run furiously into the City and kill the next His sword had not been so drunken with bloud that it should know no difference But he writes down the names of the Princes and singles them forth for reuenge When the Leaders of God come to a Iericho or Ai their slaughter was vnpartiall not a woman or child might liue to tell newes but now that Gideon comes to a Succoth a City of Israelites the rulers are called forth to death the people are frighted with the example not hurt with the iudgement To enwrappe the innocent in any vengeance is a murderous iniustice Indeed where all ioyne in the sin all are worthy to meet in the punishment It is like the Citizens of Succoth could haue been glad to succour Gideon if their rulers had not forbidden they must therefore escape whiles their Princes perish I cannot thinke of Gideons reuenge without horror That the Rulers of Succoth should haue their flesh torne from their backs with thornes and briers that they should bee at once beaten and scratcht to death What a spectacle it was to see their bare bones looking some-where thorow the bloudy ragges of their flesh and skinne and euery stroke worse then the last death multiplied by torment Iustice is sometimes so seuere that a tender beholder can scarce discerne it from cruelty I see the Midianites fare lesse ill the edge of the sword makes a speedy and easie passage for their liues whiles these rebellious Israelites dye lingringly vnder thornes and bryers enuying those in their death whom their life abhorred Howsoeuer men liue or dye without the pale of the Church a wicked Israelite shall be sure of plagues How many shall vnwish themselues Christians when Gods reuenges haue found them out The place where Iacob wrestled with God and preuailed now hath wrestled against God and takes a fall they see God auenging which would not beleeue him deliuering It was now time for Zeba and Zalmunna to follow those their troops to the graue whom they had led in the field Those which the day before were attended with an hundred thirty fiue thousand followers haue not so much as a Page now left to weep for their death and haue liued onely to see all their friends and some enemies dye for their sakes Who can regard earthly greatnesse that sees one night change two of the greatest Kings of the World into captiues It had been both pitty and sinne that the Heads of that Midianitish tyranny into which they had drawn so many thousands should haue escaped that death And yet if priuate reuenge had not made Gideon iust I doubt whether they had died The bloud of his brothers cals for theirs and awakes his sword to their execution He both knew and complained of the Midianitish oppression vnder which Israel groned yet the cruelty offered to all the thousands of his Fathers sonnes had not drawne the bloud of Zeba and Zalmunna if his owne mothers sonnes had not bled by their hands He that slew the Rulers of Succoth and Penuel spared the people now hath slain the people of Midian and would haue spared their Rulers but that God which will finde occasions to winde wicked men into iudgement will haue them slaine in a priuate quarrel which had more deserued it for the publike If we may not rather say that Gideon reuenged these as a Magistrate not as a brother For Gouernours to respect their owne ends in publike actions and to weare the sword of iustice in their owne sheath it is a wrongfull abuse of authority The slaughter of Gideons brethren was not the greatest sinne of the Midianitish Kings this alone shall kill them when the rest expected an vniust remission How many lewd men hath God payd with some one sinne for all the rest Some that haue gone away with vnnuturally filthinesse and capitall thefts haue clipped off their owne dayes with their coyne Others whose bloudy murders haue been punished in a mutinous word Others whose suspected felony hath payd the price of their vnknowne rape O God thy iudgements are iust euen when mens are vniust Gideons young soone is bidden to reuenge the death of his Vncles His sword had not yet learned the way to bloud especially of Kings though in yrons Deadly executions require strength both of heart and face How are those aged in euill that can draw their swords vpon the lawfuly Anointed of God These Tyrants plead not now for coutinuance of life but for the haste of their death Fall thou vpon vs. Death is euer accompanied with paine which it is no maruell if we wish short We doe not more affect protraction of an easefull life then speed in our dissolution for here euery pang that tends toward death renewes it To lye an houre vnder death is tedious but to be dying a whole day we thinke aboue the
been so scrupulously carefull that be should eate no vnclean thing and shall we now consent to an heathenish match Now therefore they grauely indeuour to coole this intemperate heat of his passion with good counsell as those which well knew the inconueniences of an vnequall yoke corruption in religion alienation of affections distraction of thoughts conniuence at Idolatry death of zeale dangerous vnderminings and lastly an vnholy seed Who can blame them if they were vnwilling to call a Philistim daughter I wish Manoah could speake so loud that al our Israelites might heare him Is there neuer a woman among the daughters of thy brethren or among all Gods people that thou goest to take a wife of the vncircumcised Philistims If religion be any other then a cypher how dare we not regard it in our most important choyce Is she a faire Philistim Why is not this deformity of the soule more powerfull to disswade vs then the beauty of the face or of metall to allure vs To dote vpon a faire skinne when we see a Philistim vnder it is sensuall and brutish Affection is not more blinde then deafe In vaine doe the parents seeke to alter a young man not more strong in body then in will Though he cannot defend his desires yet he pursues them Get me her for she pleases me And although it must needs be a weake motion that can plead no reason but appetite yet the good Parents sith they cannot bow the affection of their sonne with perswasion dare not breake it with violence As it becomes not children to be forward in their choyce so parents may not be too peremptory in their deniall It is not safe for children to ouer-run parents in settling their affections nor for parents where the impediments are not very materiall to come short of their children when the affections are once setled The one is disobedience the other may be tyranny I know not whether I may excuse either Samson in making this sute or his parents in yeelding to it by a diuine despensation in both For on the one side whiles the Spirit of God notes that as yet his parents knew not this was of the Lord it may seeme that he knew it and it is likely he would know not impart it This alone was enough to winne yea to command his parents It is not mine eye onely but the counsell of God that leads me to his coyce The way to quarrell with the Philistims is to match with them If I follow mine affection mine affection followes God in this proiect Surely hee that commanded his Prophet afterwards to marry an harlot may haue appointed his Nazarite to marry with a Philistim On the other side whether it were of God permitting or allowing I finde not It might so be of God as all the euill in the City and then the interposition of Gods decree shall be no excuse of Samsons infirmity I would rather thinke that God meant onely to make a Treacle of a Viper and rather appointed to fetch good out of Samsons euill then to approue that for good in Samson which in it selfe was euill When Samson went on wooing hee might haue made the sluggards excuse There is a Lion in the way but he that could not be staid by perswasion will not by feare A Lion young wilde fierce hungry comes roaring vpon him when he had no weapon but his hand no fence but his strength the same prouidence that carried him to Timnah brought the Lion to him It hath been euer the fashion of God to exercise his Champions with some initiatory incounters Both Samson and Dauid must first fight with Lions then with Philistims he whose type they bore meets with that roaring Lion of the wildernesse in the very threshold of his publike charge The same hand that prepared a Lion for Samson hath proportionably matches for euery Christian God neuer giues strength but he imployes it Pouerty meets one like an armed man Infamy like some furious Mastiue comes flying in the face of another the wilde Bore out of the forrest or the bloudy Tyger of persecution sets vpoÌ one the brawling curs of hereticall prauity or contentious neighbourhood are ready to bait another and by all these meaner and brutish aduersaries will God fit vs for greater conflicts It is a pledge of our future victory ouer the spirituall Philistims if we can say my soule hath been among Lions Come forth now thou weake Christian and behold this preparatory battell of Samson Dost thou thinke God deales hardly with thee in matching thee so hard and calling thee forth to so many fraies What doost thou but repine at thine owne glory How shouldst thou be victorious without resistance If the Parents of Samson had now stood behind the hedge and seen his incounter they would haue taken no further care of matching their sonne with a Philistim For who that should see a strong Lion ramping vpon an vnarmed man would hope for his life and victory The beast came bristling vp his feareful mane wafting his raised stem his eyes sparkling with fury his mouth roaring out knels of his last passage brething death from his nostrils now reioyced at so faire a prey Surely if the Lion had had no other aduersary then him whom he saw he had not lost his hope but now he could not see that his maker was his enemy The Spirit of the Lord came vpoÌ Samson what is a beast in the hand of the creator He that strooke the Lions with the aw of Adam Noah Daniel subdued this rebllious beast to Samson what maruell is it if Samson now tore him as if it had been a young Kid If his bones had been brasse and his skinne plââes of yron all had bin one The right hand of the Lord bringeth mighty things to passe If that roaring Lyon that goes about continually seeking whom he may deuoure finde vs alone among the vineyards of the Philistims where is our hope Not in our heeles he is swifter then we not in our weapons we are naturally vnarmed not in our hands which are weake and languishing but in the Spirit of that God by whom we can doe all things if God fight in vs who can resist him There is a stronger Lion in vs then that against vs. Samson was not more valiant then modest he made no words of this great exploit the greatest performers euer make the least noyse He that works wonders alone could say See thou tell no man whereas those whose hands are most impotent are busiest of their tongues Great talkers shew that they desire onely to be thought eminent whereas the deepest waters are least heard But whiles hee concealed this euent from others hee pondred it in himselfe and when hee returned to Timnaâh went out of the way to see his dead Aduersary and could not but recall to himselfe âis danger and deliuerance Heere the beast met me thus he fought thus I slew him The very dead
salute those Cherubims to welcome that God whose absence had beene their death But as it is hard not to ouer-ioy in a sudden prosperity and to vse happinesse is no lesse difficult then to forbeare it These glad Israelites cannot see but they must gaze they cannot gaze on the glorious out-side but they must be whether out of rude iollity or curiositie or suspition of the purloining some of those sacred implements prying into the secrets of Gods Arke Nature is too subiect to extremities and is euer either too dull in want or wanton in fruition It is no easie matter to keepe a meane whether in good or euill Bethshemesh was a City of Priests they should haue knowne better how to demeane themselues towards the Arke this priuiledge doubled their offence There was no malice in this curious inquisition the same eyes that lookt into the Arke lookt also vp to heauen in their Offerings and the same hands that touched it offered sacrifice to the God that brought it Who could expect any thing now but acceptation who would suspect any danger It is not a following act of deuotion that can make amends for a former sinne There was a death owing them immediately vpon their offence God will take his owne time for the execution In the meane while they may sacrifice but they cannot satisfie they cannot escape The Kine are sacrificed the Cart burnes them that drew it Here was an offering of prayse when they had more need of a trespasse-offering many an heart is lifted vp in a conceit of ioy when it hath iust cause of humiliation God lets them alone with their Sacrifice but when that is done he comes ouer them with a backe reckoning for their sinne Fifty thousand and seuenty Israelites are strucke dead for this vnreuerence to the Arke A wofull welcome for the Arke of God into the borders of Israel It killed them for looking into it who thought it their life to see it It dealt blowes and death on both hands to Philistims to Israelites to both of them for prophaning it The one with their Idoll the other with their eyes It is a fearfull thing to vse the holy Ordinances of God with an vnreuerent boldnesse Feare and trembling becomes vs in our accesse to the Maiesty of the Almighty Neither was there more state then secresie in Gods Arke some things the wisedome of God desires to conceale The vnreuerence of the Israelites was no more faulty then their curiosity secret things to God things reuealed to vs and to our children The remoue of the Arke I Heare of the Bethshemites lamentation I heare not of their repentance they complaine of their smart they complaine not of their sinne and for ought I can perceiue speake as if God were curious rather then they faulty Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God and to whom shall he goe from vs As if none could please that God which misliked them It is the fashion of naturall men to iustifie themselues in their owne courses if they cannot charge any earthly thing with the blame of their suffering they will cast it vpon Heauen That a man pleads himselfe guiltie of his owne wrong is no common worke of Gods Spirit Bethshemesh bordered too neere vpon the Philistims If these men thought the very presence of the Arke hurtfull why do they send to their neighbours of Kiriath-iearim that they might make themselues miserable Where there is a misconceit of God it is no maruell if there be a defect of Charity How cunningly doe they send their message to their neighbours They doe not say the Arke of God is come to vs of it owne accord lest the men of Kiriath-iearim should reply It is come to you let it stay with you They say onely the Philistims haue brought it they tell of the presence of the Arke they doe not tell of the successe lest the example of their iudgement should haue discouraged the forwardnesse of their reliefe And after all the offer was plausible Come ye downe and take it vp to you as if the honour had been too great for themselues as if their modestie had beene such that they would not forestall and engrosse happinesse from the rest of Israel It is no boot to teach Nature how to tell her owne tale smart and danger will make a man wittie He is rarely constant that will not dissemble for ease It is good to be suspitious of the euasions of those which would put off miserie Those of Bethshemesh were not more craftie then these of Kiriath-iearim which was the ground of their boldnesse faithfull So many thousand Bethshemites could not be dead and no part of the rumour flie to them They heard how thicke not onely the Philistims but the bordering Israelites fell downe dead before the Arke yet they durst aduenture to come and fetch it euen from amongst the carcasses of their brethren They had beene formerly acquainted with the Arke they knew it was holy it could not be changeable and therefore they well conceiued this slaughter to arise from the vnholinesse of men not from the rigour of God and thereupon can seeke comfort in that which others found deadly Gods children cannot by any meanes bee discouraged from their honour and loue to his Ordinances If they see thousands strucke downe to Hell by the Scepter of Gods Kingdome yet they will kisse it vpon their knees and if their Sauiour be a rocke of offence and the occasion of the fall of millions in Israel they can feed temperately of that whereof others haue surfeted to death c. Bethshemesh was a Citie of Priests and Leuits Kiriath-iearim a Citie of Iuda where wee heare but of one Leuit Abinabab yet this Citie was more zealous for God more reuerent and conscionable in the entertainment of the Arke then the other Wee heard of the taking downe of the Arke by the Bethshemites when it came miraculously to them we doe not heare of any man sanctified for the attendance of it as was done in this second lodging of the Arke Grace is not tied either to number or meanes It is in spirituall matters as in the estate Small helpes with good thrift enrich vs when great patrimonies lose themselues in the neglect Shiloh was wont to be the place which was honoured with the presence of the Arke Euer since the wickednesse of Elies Sonnes that was forlorne and desolate and now Kiriath-iearim succeeds into this priuiledge It did not stand with the royall liberty of God no not vnder the Law to tie himselfe vnto places and persons Vnworthinesse was euer a sufficient cause of exchange It was not yet his time to stirre from the Iewes yet he remoued from one Prouince to another Lesse reason haue we to thinke that so God will reside amongst vs that none of our prouocations can driue him from vs c. Israel which had found the misery of Gods absence is now resolued into teares of contrition and
thankfulnesse vpon his returne There is no mention of their lamenting after the Lord while he was gone but when he was returned and setled in Kiriath-iearim The mercies of God draw more teares from his children then his iudgements doe from his enemies There is no better signe of good nature or grace then to be wonne to repentance with kindnesse Not to thinke of God except we be beaten vnto it is seruile Because God was come againe to Israel therefore Israel is returned to God If God had not come first they had neuer come If hee that came to them had not made them come to him they had beene euer parted They were cloyed with God while he was perpetually resident with them now that his absence had made him dainty they cleaue to him feruently and penitently in his returne This was it that God meant in his departure a better welcome at his comming backe I heard no newes of Samuel all this while the Arke was gone Now when the Arke is returned and placed in Kiriath-iearim I heare him treat with the people It is not like he was silent in this sad desertion of God but now he takes full aduantage of the professed contrition of Israel to deale with them effectually for their perfect conuersion vnto God It is great wisedome in spirituall matters to take occasion by the fore-locke and to strike while the iron is hot We may beat long enough at the doore but till God haue opened it is no going in and when he hath opened it is no delaying to enter The triall of sincerity is the abandoning of our wonted sinnes This Samuel vrgeth If ye be come againe vnto the Lord with all your heart put away the strange gods from among you and Ashtaroth In vaine had it beene to professe repentance whilst they continued in idolatry God will neuer acknowledge any conuert that stayes in a knowne sinne Graces and Vertues are so linckt together that hee which hath one hath all The partiall conuersion of men vnto God is but hatefull hypocrisie How happily effectuall is a word spoken in season Samuels exhortation wrought vpon the hearts of Israel and fetcht water out of their eyes suits and confessions and vowes out of their lips and their false gods out of their hands yet it was not meerly remorse but feare also that moued Israel to this humble submission The Philistims stood ouer them still and threatned them with new assaults the memory of their late slaughter and spoile was yet fresh in their minds sorrow for the euils past and feare of the future fetcht them downe vpon their knees It is not more necessary for men to be cheared with hopes then to bee awed with dangers where God intends the humiliation of his seruants there shal not want meanes of their deiection It was happy for Israel that they had an enemy Is it possible that the Philistims after those deadly plagues which they sustained from the God of Israel should think of inuading Israel those that were so mated with the presence of the Arke that they neuer thought themselues safe till it was out of fight doe they now dare to thrust themselues vpon the new reuenge of the Arke It slue them whiles they thought to honor it and doe they thinke to escape whilst they resist it It slue them in their owne Coasts and do they come to it to seeke death yet behold no sooner do the Philistims heare that the Israelites are gathered to Mizpeh but the Princes of the Philistims gather themselues against them No warnings will serue obdurate hearts wicked men are euen ambitious of destruction Iudgements need not to goe finde them out they runne to meet their bane The Philistims come vp and the Israelites feare they that had not the wit to feare whilst they were not friends with God haue not now the grace of fearlessenesse when they were reconciled to God Boldnesse and Feare are commonly misplaced in the best hearts when we should tremble we are confident and when wee should be assured we tremble Why should Israel haue feared since they had made their peace with the God of Hosts Nothing should affright those which are vpright with God The peace which Israel had made with God was true but tender They durst not trust their owne innocency so much as the prayers of Samuel Cease not to cry to the Lord our God for vs. In temporall things nothing hinders but we may fare better for other mens faith then for our owne It is no small happinesse to be interessed in them which are Fauourites in the Court of Heauen one faithfull man in these occasions is more worth then millions of the wauering and vncertaine A good heart is easily wonne to deuotion Samuel cries and sacrificeth to God he had done so though they had intreated his silence yea his forbearance Whiles he is offering the Philistims fight with Israel and God fights with the Philistims The Lord thundred with a great thunder that day vpon the Philistims and scattered them Samuel fought more vpon his knees then all Israel besides The voyce of God answered the voyce of Samuel and speakes confusion and death to the Philistims How were the proud Philistims dead with feare ere they dyed to heare the fearfull thunder claps of an angry God against them to see that Heauen it selfe fought against them He that slue them secretly in the reuenges of his Arke now kils them with open horror in the fields If presumption did not make wicked men mad they would neuer lift their hand against the Almightie what are they in his hands when he is disposed to vengeance The meeting of SAVL and SAMVEL SAMVEL began his acquaintance with God early and continued it long He began it in his long Coats and continued to his gray hayres He iudged Israel all the dayes of his life God doth not vse to put off his old Seruants their age indeareth them to him the more If wee be not vnfaithfull to him hee cannot be vnconstant to vs. At last his decayed age met with ill partners his Sonnes for Deputies and Saul for a King The wickednesse of his Sonnes gaue the occasion of a change Perhaps Israel had neuer thought of a King if Samuels Sonnes had not beene vnlike their Father Who can promise himselfe holy children when the loynes of a Samuel and the education in the Temple yeelded monsters It is not likely that good Samuel was faulty in that indulgence for which his owne mouth had denounced Gods iudgement against Hely yet this holy man succeds Hely in his crosse as well as his place though not in his sinne and is afflicted with a wicked succession God will let vs find that Grace is by gift not by inheritance I feare Samuel was too partiall to nature in the surrogation of his Sonnes I doe not heare of Gods allowance to this act If this had beene Gods choice as well as his it had beene like to haue receiued more
against this Philistim to fight with him for thou art a boy and hee is a man of warre from his youth Euen Saul seconds Eliab in the conceit of this disparitie and if Eliab speake out of enuy Saul speakes out of iudgement both iudge as they were iudged of by the stature All this cannot weaken that heart which receiues his strength from faith Dauids greatest conflict is with his friends The ouercomming of their disswasions that he might fight was more worke then to ouercome his enemy in fighting Hee must first iustifie his strength to Saul ere he may proue it vpon Goliah Valour is neuer made good but by tryall He pleads the tryall of his puissance vpon the Beare and the Lyon that hee may haue leaue to proue it vpon a worse beast then they Thy seruant slew both the Lyon and the Beare therefore this vncircumcised Philistim shall be as one of them Experience of good successe is no small comfort to the heart this giues possibilitie and hope but no certainty Two things there were on which Dauid built his confidence on Goliahs sinne and Gods deliuerance Seeing he hath railed on the host of the liuing God The Lord that deliuered me out of the pawes of the Lion and the Beare he wil deliuer me out of the hand of this Philistim Well did Dauid know that if this Philistims skin had beene as hard as the brasse of his shield his sinne would make it penetrable by euery stroke After all brags of manhood hee is impotent that hath prouoked God Whiles other labour for outward fortification happy and safe were wee if we could labour for innocence Hee that hath found God present in one extremitie may trust him in the next Euery sensible fauour of the Almightie inuites both his gifts and our trust Resolution thus grounded makes euen Saul himselfe confident Dauid shall haue both his leaue and his blessing If Dauid came to Saul as a Shepheard hee shall goe toward Goliah as a Warriour The attire of the King is not too rich for him that shall fight for his King and Country Little did Saul thinke that his helmet was now on that head which should once weare his crowne Now that Dauid was arrayed in the warlike habit of a King and girded with his sword hee lookt vpon himselfe and thought this outside glorious but when he offred to walke and found that the attire was not so strong as vnweeldy and that it might be more for show then vse hee layes downe these accoustrements of honor and as caring rather to bee an homely victor then a glorious spoile he craues pardon to goe in no clothes but his owne he takes his staffe in stead of the speare his shepherds scrip in stead of his brigandine and in stead of his sword hee takes his sling and in stead of darts and iauelins hee takes fiue smooth stones out of the brooke Let Sauls coate bee neuer rich and his armour neuer so strong what is Dauid the better if they fit him not It is not to bee enquired how excellent any thing is but how proper Those things which are helpes to some may be encombrances to others An vnmeet good may be as inconuenient as an accustomed euill If we could wish another mans honor when wee feele the weight of his cares we should be glad to be in our owne cote Those that depend vpon the strength of Faith though they neglect not meanes yet they are not curious in the proportion of outward meanes to the effect desired Where the heart is armed with an assured confidence a sling and a stone are weapons enow to the vnbeleeuing no helps are sufficient Goliah though he were presumptuous enough yet had one shield caried before him another hee caried on his shoulder neither will his sword alone content him but he takes his speare too Dauids armour is his plaine shepheards russet and the brooke yeelds him his artillery and he knowes there is more safety in his cloth then in the others brasse and more danger in his peebles then the others speare Faith giues both heart and armes The inward munition is so much more noble because it is of proofe for both soule and body If we be furnished with this how boldly shall wee meet with the powers of darknesse and goe away more then conquerors Neither did the quality of Dauids weapons bewray more confidence then the number If he will put his life and victory vpon the stones of the brooke why doth he not fill his scrip full of them why will he content himselfe with fiue Had he been furnished with store the aduantage of his nimblenesse might haue giuen him hope If one faile that yet another might speed But now this paucity puts the dispatch to a sudden hazard and he hath but fiue stones cast either to death or victory still the fewer helps the stronger faith Dauid had an instinct from God that he should ouercome he had not a particular direction how he should ouercome For had he beene at first resolued vpon the sling and stone he had saued the labor of girding his sword It seemes whiles they were addressing him to the combat he made account of hand-blowes now he is purposed rather to send then bring death to his aduersarie In either or both he durst trust God with the successe and before-hand through the conflict saw the victorie It is sufficient that wee know the issue of our fight If our weapons and wards vary according to the occasion giuen by God that is nothing to the euent sure we are that if we resist we shall ouercome and if wee ouercome wee shall be crowned When Dauid appeared in the lists to so vnequall an aduersarie as many eyes were vpon him so in those eyes diuers affections The Israelites lookt vpon him with pitty and feare and each man thought Alas why is this comely stripling suffred to cast away himselfe vpon such a monster why will they let him goe vnarmed to such an affray Why will Saul hazard the honour of Israel on so vnlikely an head The Philistims especially their great Champion lookt vpon him with scorne disdayning so base a combitant Am I a dog that thou com'st to me with staues What could be said more fitly Hadst thou beene any other then a dog O Goliah thou hadst neuer opened thy foule mouth to barke against the host of God and the God of hosts If Dauid had thought thee any other then a very dogge hee had neuer come to thee with a staffe and a stone The last words that euer the Philistim shall speak are curses brags Come to me and I will giue thy flesh vnto the Fowles of the heauen and the beasts of the field Seldome euer was there a good end of ostentation Presumption is at once the presage and cause of ruine He is a weake aduersary that can bee killed with words That man which could not feare the Gyants hand cannot feare his tongue If words shall
good to thee This argument seemed to carry such command with it as that Dauid not onely may but must embrew his hands in bloud vnlesse hee will bee found wanting to God and himselfe Those temptations are most powerfull which fetch their force from the pretence of a religious obedience Whereas those which are raised from arbitrary and priuate respects admit of an easie dispensation If there were such a prediction one clause of it was ambiguous and they take it at the worst Thou shalt doe to him as shall seeme good to thee that might not seeme good to him which seemed euill vnto God There is nothing more dangerous than to make construction of Gods purposes out of euentuall appearances If carnall probabilities might be the rule of our iudgement what could God seeme to intend other than Sauls death in offering him naked into the hands of those whom he vniustly persecuted how could Dauids souldiers thinke that God had sent Saul thither on any other errand than to fetch his bane and if Saul could haue seene his owne danger he had giuen himselfe for dead for his heart guilty to his owne bloudy desires could not but haue expected the same measure which it meant But wise and holy Dauid not transported either with mis-conceit of the euent or fury of passion or sollicitation of his followers dares make no other vse of this accident than the triall of his loyalty and the inducement of his peace It had beene as easie for him to cut the throat of Saul as his garment but now his coat onely shall be the worse not his person neither doth he in the maiming of a cloake seeke his owne reuenge but a monument of his innocence Before Saul rent Samuels garment now Dauid cutteth Sauls both were significant The rending of the one signified the Kingdome torne out of those vnworthy hands the cutting of the other that the life of Saul might haue beene as easily cut off Saul needes no other Monitor of his owne danger than what he weares The vpper garment of Saul was laid aside whiles he went to couer his feet so as the cut of the garment did not threaten any touch of the body yet euen the violence offered to a remote garment strikes the heart of Dauid which findes a present remorse for harmefully touching that which did once touch the person of his Master Tender consciences are moued to regret at those actions which strong hearts passe ouer with a careles ease It troubled not Saul to seeke after the bloud of a righteous seruant there is no lesse difference of consciences than stomacks some stomachs will digest the hardest meates and turne ouer substances not in their nature edible whiles others surfet of the lightest food and complaine euen of dainties Euery gracious heart is in some measure scrupulous and findes more safety in feare than in presumption And if it be so strait as to curbe it selfe in from the liberty which it might take in things which are not vnlawfull how much lesse will it dare to take scope vnto euill By how much that state is better where nothing is allowed than where all things by so much is the strict and ânnorous conscience better than the lawlesse There is good likelihood of that man which is any way scrupulous of his wayes but he which makes no bones of his actions is apparently hopelesse Since Dauids followers pleaded Gods testimony to him as a motiue to bloud Dauid appeales the same God for his preseruation from bloud The Lord keepe me from doing that thing to my Master the Lords Annointed and now the good man hath worke enough to defend both himselfe and his persecuter himselfe from the importunate necessitie of doing violence and his Master from suffering it It was not more easie to rule his owne hands than difficult to rule a multitude Dauids troupe consisted of Male-contents all that were in distresse in debt in bitternesse of soule were gathered to him Many if neuer so well ordered are hard to command a few if disorderly more hard many and disorderly must needs bee so much the hardest of all that Dauid neuer atchieued any victory like vnto this wherein hee first ouercame himselfe then his Souldiers And what was the charme wherewith Dauid allayed those raging spirits of his followers No other but this Hee is the Annointed of the Lord. That holy Oyle was the Antidote for his bloud Saul did not lend Dauid so impearceable an Armour when hee should encounter Goliah as Dauid now lent him in this plea of his vnction Which of all the discontented Out-lawes that lurked in that Caue durst put forth his hand against Saul when they once heard Hee is the Lords Annointed Such an impression of awe hath the diuine Prouidence caused his Image to make in the hearts of men as that it makes Traytors cowards So as in steede of striking they tremble How much more lawlesse than the Out-lawes of Israel are those professed Ring-leaders of Christianitie which teach and practise and incourage and reward and canonize the violation of Maiestie It is not enough for those who are commanders of others to refraine their owne hands from doing euil but they must carefully preuent the iniquitie of their heeles else they shall bee iustly reputed to doe that by others which in their owne persons they auoyded the Lawes both of God and man presuppose vs in some sort answerable for our charge as taking it for granted that wee should not vndertake those raynes which wee cannot mannage There was no reason Dauid should lose the thankes of so noble a demonstration of his loyalty Whereto hee trusts so much that hee dares call backe the man by whom hee was pursued and make him iudge whether that fact had not deserued a life As his act so his word and gesture imported nothing but humble obedience neither was there more meeknesse than force in that seasonable perswasion Wherein hee lets Saul see the error of his credulity the vniust slanders of maliciousnesse the oportunity of his reuenge the proofe of his forbearance the vndeniable euidence of his innocence and after a lowly disparagement of himselfe appeales to God for iudgement for protection So liuely and feeling Oratory did Saul find in the lap of his garment and the lips of Dauid that it is not in the power of his enuie or ill nature to hold out any longer Is this thy voice my sonne Dauid and Saul lift vp his voice and wept and said Thou art more righteous than I. Hee whose harpe had wont to quiet the frenzy of Saul hath now by his words calmed his fury so that now he sheds teares in steed of bloud and confesses his owne wrong and Dauids integrity And as if hee were new againe entred into the bounds of Naioth in Ramath hee prayes and prophesies good to him whom hee maliced for good The Lord render thee good for that thou hast done to mee this day for now behold I know that
and the Philistims How doth he wish now that hee had rather stood to the hazard of Sauls persecution than to haue put himselfe vpon the fauour of Achish Hee must fight on one side and on whether side soeuer he should fight hee could not auoyd to bee treacherous a condition worse than death to an honest heart which way he would haue resolued if it had comne to the execution who can know since himselfe was doubtfull either course had bin no better than desperate How could the Israelites euer haue receiued him for their King who in the open field had fought against them And contrarily if hee would haue fought against his friend for his enemy against Achish for Saul hee was now inuironed with iealous Philistims and might rather looke for the punishment of his Treason than the glory of a Victorie HIS heart had led him into these straits the Lord finds a way to leade him out The suggestions of his enemies doe herein befriend him The Princes of the Philistims whether of enuie or suspition pleade for Dauids dismission Send this fellow backe that hee may goe againe to his place which thou hast appointed him and let him not goe downe to the battle lest hee bee an Aduersary to vs. No Aduocate could haue said more himselfe durst not haue said so much Oh the wisdome and goodnesse of our God that can raise vp an Aduersary to deliuer out of those euils which our friends cannot That by the sword of an enemie can let out that Apostume which no Physician could tell how to cure It would be wide with us sometimes if it were not for others malice There could not bee a more iust question than this of the Philistim Princes What doe these Hebrewes here An Israelite is out of his element when hee is in an Armie of Philistims The true seruants of God are in their due places when they are in opposition to his enemies Profession of hostilitie becomes them better than leagues of amity Yet Achish likes Dauids conuersation and presence so well that hee professeth himselfe pleased with him as with an Angell of God How strange is it to heare that a Philistim should delight in that holy man whom an Israelite abhorres and should bee loth to be quit of Dauid whom Saul hath expelled Termes of ciuilitie be equally open to all religions to all professions The common graces of Gods children are able to attract loue from the most obstinate enemies of goodnesse If we affect them for by-respects of Valour Wisedome Discourse Wit it is their praise not ours But if for diuine Grace and Religion it is our prayse with theirs Such now was Dauids condition that he must pleade for that hee feared and argue against that which he desired What haue I done what hast thou found in thy seruant that I may not goe and fight against the enemies of my Lord the King Neuer any newes could be more cordiall to him than this of his dismission yet must he seeme to striue against it with an importunate profession of his forwardnesse to that act which hee most detested One degree of Dissimulation drawes on another those which haue once giuen way to a faulty course cannot easily either stop or turne backe but are in a sort forced to second their ill beginnings with worse proceedings It is a dangerous and miserable thing to cast our selues into those actions which draw with them a necessitie either of offending or miscarriage SAVL and the Witch of Endor EVen the worst men may sometimes make head against some sinnes Saul hath expelled the Sorcerers out of the Land of Israel and hath forbidden Magick vpon paine of death Hee that had no care to expell Satan out of his owne heart yet will seeme to driue him out of his Kingdome That wee see wicked then oppose themselues to some sinnes there is neither maruell nor comfort in it No doubt Satan made sport at this Edict of Saul what cares he to be banished in Sorcery whiles he is entertayned in malice He knew and found Saul his whiles he resisted and smiled to yeeld thus farre vnto his Vassall If we quit not all sinnes hee will bee content wee should either abandon or persecute some Where is no place for holy feare there will bee place for the seruile The gracelesse heart of Saul was astonied at the Philistims yet was neuer moued at the frownes of that God whose anger sent them nor of those sinnes of his which procured them Those that cannot feare for loue shall tremble for feare and how much better is awe than terror preuention than confusion There is nothing more lamentable than to see a man laugh when he should feare God shall laugh when such an ones feare commeth Extremitie of distresse will send euen the prophanest man to God like as the drowning man reacheth out his hand to that bough which he contemned whiles hee stood safe on the banke Saul now asketh counsell of the Lord whose Prophet hee hated whose Priests hee slew whose Annointed he persecutes Had Saul consulted with God when hee should this euill had not beene but how if this euill had not beene hee had consulted with God The thanke of this Act is due not to him but to his affection A forced piety is thanklesse and vnprofitable God will not answer him neither by Dreames nor by Vrim nor by Prophets Why should God answer that man by Dreames who had resisted him waking Why should hee answer him by Vrim that had slaine his Priests Why should he answer him by Prophets who hated the Father of the Prophets rebelled against the word of the Prophets It is an vnreasonable vnequality to hope to finde God at our command when wee would not be at his To looke that God should regard our voice in trouble when wee would not regard his in peace Vnto what mad shifts are men driuen by despayre If God will not answer Satan shall Saul said to his seruants Seeke me a woman that hath a familiar spirit If Saul had not knowne this course Deuillish why did he decree to banish it to mulct it with death yet now against the streame of his conscience hee will seeke to those whom he had condemned There needes no other iudge of Sauls act than himselfe had he not before opposed this sinne he had not so hainously sinned in committing it There cannot bee a more fearefull signe of an heart giuen vp to a reprobate sense than to cast it selfe wilfully into those sinnes which it hath proclaimed to detest The declinations to euill are many times insensible but when it breakes forth into such apparant effects euen others eyes may discerne it What was Saul the better to fore-know the issue of his approaching battell If this consultation could not haue strengthened him against his enemies or promoted his victory there might haue beene some colour for so foule an act Now what could he gaine but the satisfying of his bootlesse curiositie in
the goods Wise and holy Dauid whose prayse was no lesse to ouercome his owne in time of peace than his enemies in warre cals his contending followers from Law to equitie and so orders the matter that since the Plaintifes were detained not by will but by necessity and since their forced stay was vse-full in garding the stuffe they should partake equally of the prey with there fellowes A sentence wel-beseeming the Iustice of Gods Annoynted Those that represent God vpon earth should resemble him in their proceeding It is the iust mercie of our God to measure vs by our wils not by our abilities to recompence vs graciously according to the truth of our desires and endeauours and to account that performed by vs which hee only letteth vs from performing It were wide with vs if sometimes purpose did not supply actions Whiles our heart faulteth not wee that through spirituall sicknesse are faine to abide by the stuffe shall share both in grace and glorie with the Victors The death of SAVL THe Witch of Endor had halfe slaine Saul before the Battell it is just that they who consult with Deuils should goe away with discomfort Hee hath eaten his last bread at the hand of a Sorceresse and now necessitie drawes him into that field where hee sees nothing but despaire Had not Saul beleeued the ill newes of the counterfeite Samuel hee had not beene strooke downe on the ground with words Now his beliefe made him desperate Those actions which are not sustayned by hope must needes languish and are only promoted by outward compulsion Whiles the mind is vncertaine of successe it relieues it selfe with the possibilities of good in doubts there is a comfortable mixture but when it is assured of the worst euent it is vtterly discouraged and deiected It hath therefore pleased the wisdome of God to hide from wicked men his determination of their finall estate that their remainders of hope may harten them to good In all likelihood one selfe-same day saw Dauid a victor ouer the Amalekites and Saul discomfited by the Philistims How should it bee otherwise Dauid consulted with God and preuailed Saul with the Witch of Endor and perisheth The end is commonly answerable to the way It is an idle iniustice when wee doe ill to looke to speede well The slaughter of Saul and his sonnes was not in the first Scene of this Tragicall field that was rather reserued by God for the last act that Sauls measure might bee full God is long ere hee strikes but when hee doth it is to purpose First Israel flees and fals downe wounded in Mount Gilboa They had their part in Sauls sinne they were actors in Dauids persecution Iustly therefore doe they suffer with him whom they had seconded in offence As it is hard to bee good vnder an euill Prince so it is as rare not to bee enwrapped in his iudgments It was no small addition to the anguish of Sauls death to see his sonnes dead to see his people fleeing and slaine before him They had sinned in their King and in them is their King punished The rest were not so worthy of pittie but whose heart would it not touch to see Ionathan the good sonne of a wicked father inuolued in the common destruction Death is not partiall All dispositions all merits are alike to it if valour if holinesse if sinceritie of heart could haue beene any defence against mortalitie Ionathan had suruiued Now by their wounds and death no man can descerne which is Ionathan The soule onely findes the difference which the body admitteth not Death is the common gate both to Heauen and Hell wee all passe that ere our turning to either hand The sword of the Philistims fetcheth Ionathan through it with his fellowes no sooner is his foot ouer that threshold than God conducteth him to glory The best cannot bee happy but through their dissolution Now therefore hath Ionathan no cause of complaint hee is by the rude and cruell hand of a Philistim but remoued to a better Kingdome then hee leaues to his brother and at once is his death both a temporall affliction to the sonne of Saul and an entrance of glorie to the friend of Dauid The Philistim-archers shot at randome God directs their arrowes into the bodie of Saul Lest the discomfiture of his people and the slaughter of his sonnes should not bee griefe enough to him hee feeles himselfe wounded and sees nothing before him but horror and death and now as a man forsaken of all hopes he begs of his Armour-bearer that deaths-blow which else hee must to the doubling of his indignation receiue from a Philistim Hee begges this bloudie fauour of his seruant and is denyed Such an awefulnesse hath God placed in souereigntie that no intreatie no extreamitie can moue the hand against it What metall are those men made of that can suggest or resolue and attempt the violation of Maiestie Wicked men care more for the sâââe of the World than the danger of their soule Despââââ Saul will now supply his Armor-bearer and as a man that ãâã armes against himselfe he falls vpon his owââ Sword What if he had died by the ãâã of a Philistin So did his sinne Ionathan and lost no glory These conceits of disreputation preuaile with carnall hearts aboue all spirituall respects There is no greater murderer ãâã glory Nothing more argues an heart voide of grace than to bee transporte onâ idle popularity into actions preiudiciaâââ to the Soule Euill examples especially of the great neuer escaped imitation the Aâââor-beateâ of Saul followes his Master and came doe that to himselfe which to his King hee durst not as if their owne Swords had beeing more familiar executions ãâã they yeelded vnto them what they grudged to their pursuers From the beginning was Sauls euer his owne enemy neither did any hands hurt him but his owne to and now his death is sutable ãâã his life his owne hand paies his âââard of all his wickednesse The end of Hypocrites and enuious men is commonly fearefull Now is the bloud of Gods Priests which Saul shed and of Dauid which hee would haue shed required and requited The euill spirit had said the euening before To âârrow thou shalt bee with mee and now Saul hasteth to make the Deuill no Liemâââââer than faile he giues himselfe his owne Mittimus Oh the wofull extremities of a despairing soule plunging him euer into a greater mischiefe to auoide the lesse He might haââ beene a patient in anothers violence and faultinesse now whiles hee will needs act the Philistins part vpon himselfe he liued and died a Murderer The case is deadly when the Prisoner breakes the Iayle and will not stay for his deliuery and though we may not passe sentence vpon such a soule yet vpon the fact we may the soule may possibly repent in the parting the act is hainous and such as without repentance kils the soule It was the next day ere the Philistims knew
how much they were victors then finding the dead corps of Saul and his sonnes they begin their triumphs The head of King Saul is cut off in lieu of Goliahs and now all their Idoll temples ring of their successe Foolish Philistims if they had not beene more beholden to Sauls sins than their gods they had neuer carried away the honour of those Trophees In stead of magnifying the iustice of the true God who punished Saul with deserued death they magnifie the power of the false Superstition is extremely iniurious to God It is no better than Theft to ascribe vnto the second causes that honor which is due vnto the first but to giue Gods glory to those things which neither act nor are it is the highest degree of spirituall robbery Saul was none of the best Kings yet so impatient are his subiects of the indignity offred to his dead corps that they will rather leaue their owne bones amongst the Philistims than the carcasse of Saul Such a close relation there is betwixt a Prince and Subiect that the dishonour of either is inseparable from both How willing should wee bee to hazard our bodies or substance for the vindication either of the person or name of a good King whiles hee liues to the benefit of our protection It is an vniust ingratitude in those men which can endure the disgrace of them vnder whose shelter they liue but how vnnaturall is the villany of those Miscreants that can bee content to bee actors in the capitall wrongs offered to soueraigne authoritie It were a wonder if after the death of a Prince there should want some Picke-thanke to insinuate himselfe into his Successor An Amalekite young man rides post to Ziklag to finde out Dauid whom euen common rumour âad notified for the annointed Heire to the Kingdome of Israel to bee the first Messenger of that newes which he thought could be no other than acceptable the death of Saul and that the tidings might be so much more meritorious hee addes to the report what hee thinkes might carrie the greatest retribution In hope of reward or honour the man is content to bely himselfe to Dauid It was not the Speare but the Sword of Saul that was the instrument of his death neither could this stranger finde Saul but dying since the Armour bearer of Saul saw him dead ere hee offered that violence to himselfe The hand of this Amalekite therefore was not guilty his tongue was Had not this Messenger measured Dauids foote by his owne Last hee had forborne this peece of the newes and not hoped to aduantage himselfe by this falshood Now he thinkes The tidings of a Kingdome cannot but please None but Saul and Ionathan stood in Dauids way Hee cannot chuse but like to heare of their remouall Especially since Saul did so tyrannously persecute his innocence If I shall onely report the fact done by another I shall goe away but with the recompence of a ââckie Post whereas if I take vpon mee the action I am the man to whome Dauid is beholden for the Kingdome hee cannot but honour and require mee as the Authour of his deliuerance and happinesse Worldly mindes thinke no man can be of any other than their owne dyet and because they finde the respects of selfe-loue and priuate profit so strongly preuailing with themselues they cannot conceiue how these should be capable of a repulse from others How much was this Amalekite mocked of his hopes whiles he imagined that Dauid would now triumph and feast in the assured expectation of the Kingdome and Possession of the Crowne of Israel he findes him renting his clothes and wringing his handes and weeping and mourning as if all his comfort had bin dead with Saul and Ionathan and yet perhaps hee thought This sorrow of Dauid is but fashionable such as greate heires make shew of in the fatall day they haue longed for These teares will soone be dry the sight of a Crowne will soone breed a succession of other passions But this errour is soone corrected For when Dauid had entertayned this Bearer with a sadfast all the day hee cals him forth in the euening to execution How wast thou not afraid saith he to put forth thy hand to destroy the Annoynted of the Lord Doubtlesse the Amalekite made many faire pleas for himselfe out of the grounds of his owne report Alas Saul was before falne vpon his owne Speare It was but mercie to kill him that was halfe dead that hee might die the shorter Besides his entreaty and importunate prayers mooued mee to hasten him through those painefull gates of death had I striken him as an enemy I had deserued the blow I had giuen now I lent him the hand of a friend why am I punished for obeying the voyce of a King and for perfiting what himselfe begun and could not finish And if neither his owne wound nor mine had dispatched him the Philistims were at his heeles ready to doe this same act with insultation which I did in fauour and if my hand had not preuented them where had beene the Crowne of Israel which I now haue here presented to thee I could haue deliuered that to King Achish and haue beene rewarded with honour let me not dye for an act well meant to thee how euer construed by thee But no pretence can make his owne tale not deadly Thy bloud be vpon thine owne head for thine owne mouth hath testified aganst thee saying I haue slaine the Lords Annoynted It is a iust supposition that euery man is so great a Fauourer of himselfe that hee will not mis-report his owne actions nor say the worst of himselfe In matter of confession men may without iniury be taken at their words If hee did it his fact was capitall If hee did it not his lye It is pitty any other recompence should befall those false Flatterers that can be content to father a sinne to get thankes Euery drop of royall bloud is sacred For a man to say that hee hath shed it is mortall Of how farre different spirits from this of Dauid are those men which suborne the death of Princes and celebrate and canonize the Mutherers Into their secret let not my soule come my glory be thou not ioyned to their Assembly ABNER and IOAB HOw mercifull and seasonable are the prouisions of God Zildag was now nothing but ruines and ashes Dauid might returne to the soile where it stood to the roofes and wals he could not No sooner is he disappointed of that harbour than God prouides him Cities of Hebron Saul shall die to giue him elbow-roome Now doth Dauid finde the comfort that his extremity sought in the Lord his God Now are his clouds for a time passed ouer and the Sunne breakes gloriously forth Dauid shall reigne after his sufferings So shall we if we endure to the end finde a Crowne of Righteousnesse which the Lord the righteous Iudge shall giue vs at that day But though Dauid well knew
that his head was long before anointed and had heard Saul himselfe confidently auouching his Succession yet he will not stirre from the heapes of Ziklag till he haue consulted with the Lord It did not content him that he had Gods warrant for the Kingdome but he must haue his instructions for the taking possession of it How safe and happy is the man that is resolued to do nothing without God Neither will generalities of direction be sufficient euen particular circumstances must looke for a word still is God a Pillar of fire and cloude to the eye of euery Israelite neither may there be any motion or stay but from him That action cannot but succeed which proceeds vpon so sure a warrant God sends him to Hebron a City of Iudah Neither will Dauid goe vp thither alone but he takes with him all his men with their whole housholds they shall take such part as himselfe As they had shared with him in his misery so they shall now in his prosperity Neither doth he take aduantage of their late mutinie which was yet fresh and greene to cashire those vnthankfull and vngracious followers but pardoning their secret rebellions he makes them partakers of his good successe Thus doth our heauenly Leader whom Dauid prefigured take vs to reigne with him who hath suffered with him passing by our manifold infirmities as if they had not beene he remoueth vs from the Land of our banishment and the ashes of our forlorne Ziklag to the Hebron of our Peace and glory The expectation of this day must as it did with Dauids Souldiers digest all our sorrowes Neuer any calling of God was so conspicuous as not to finde some Opposites What Israelite did not know Dauid appointed by God to the succession of the Kingdome Euen the Amalekite could carry the Crowne to him as the true Owner yet there want not an Abner to resist him and the Title of an Ishbosheth to colour his resistance If any of Sauls house could haue made challenge to the Crowne it should haue beene Mephibosheth the sonne of Ionathan Who it seemes had too much of his Fathers bloud to be a Competitor with Dauid the question is not who may claime the most right but who may best serue the faction Neither was Ishbosheth any other than Abners Stale Saul could not haue a fitter Courtier whether in the imitation of his Masters enuy or the ambition of ruling vnder a borrowed name he strongly opposed Dauid there are those who striue against their owne hearts to make a side with whom conscience is oppressed by affection An ill quarrell once vndertaken shall be maintained although with bloud Now not so much the bloud of Saul as the ingagement of Abner makes the Warre The sonnes of Zerniah stand fast to Dauid It is much how a man placeth his first interest If Abner had beene in Ioabs roome when Sauls displeasure droue Dauid from the Court or Ioab in Abners these actions these euents had beene changed with the persons It was the only happinesse of Ioab that he fell on the better side Both the Commanders vnder Dauid and Ishbosheth were equally cruell both are so iniured to bloud that they make but a sport of killing Custome makes sinne so ââmiliar that the horror of it is to some turned into pleasure Come let the young mân play before vs. ABNER is the Challenger and speeds thereafter for though in the matches of Duell both sides miscarryed yet in the following conflict Abner and his men are beaten By the successe of those single Combates no man knowes the better of the cause Both sides perish to shew how little God liked either the offer or the acceptation of such a tryall but when both did their best God punisheth the wrong part with discomfiture Oh the misery of ciuill dissention Israel and Iudah were brethren Our carried the name of the Father the other of the Sonne Iudah was but a branch of Israel Israel was the roote of Iudah yet Iudah and Israel must fight and kill each other onely vpon the quarrell of an ill Leaders ambition The speed of Asahel was not greater than his courage It was a mind fit for one of Dauids Worthies to strike at the head to match himselfe with the best He was both swift and strong but the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong If hee had gon neuer so slowly he might haue ouer-taken death now hee runnes to fetch it So little lust had Abner to shed the bloud of a sonne of Zerniah that hee twice aduises him to retreate from pursuing his owne perill Asahels cause was so much better as Abners successe Many a one miscarries in the rash prosecution of a good quarrell when the Abettors of the worst part goe away with victory Heate of zeale sometimes in the vndiscreet pursuit of a iust Aduersary prooues mortall to the agent preiudiciall to the seruice ABNER whiles hee kils yet hee flyes and runnes away from his owne death whiles he inflicts it vpon another Dauids followers had the better of the field and day The Sunne as vnwilling to see any more Israelitish bloud shed by brethren hath withdrawne himselfe and now both parts hauing got the auantage of an hill vnder them haue safe conuenience of parley Abner beginnes and perswades Ioab to surcease the fight Shall the sword deuoure for euer Knowest thou not that it will bee bitternesse in the end How long shall it bee ere thou bid the people returne from following their Brethren It was his fault that the sword deuoured at all and why was not the beginning of a ciuill Warre bitternesse Why did hee call forth the people to skirmish and inuite them to death Had Abner beene on the winning hand this motion had beene thanke-worthy It is a noble disposition in a Victor to call for a cessation of Armes whereas necessitie wrings this suite from the ouer-mastered There cannot be a greater prayse to a valiant and wise Commander than a propension to all iust termes of peace For warre as it is sometimes necessary so it is alwayes euill and if fighting haue any other end proposed besides peace it proues murder Abner shall finde himselfe no lesse ouercome by Ioab in clemencie than power Hee sayes not I will not so easily leaue the aduantage of my victory since the Dice of warre runne on my side I will follow the chace of my good successe Thou shouldest haue considered of this before thy prouocation It is now too late to moue vnto forbearance But as a man that meant to approue himselfe equally free from cowardise in the beginning of the conflict and from crueltie in the end hee professeth his forwardnesse to entertaine any pretence of sheathing vp the swords of Israel and sweares to Abner that if it had not beene for his proud irritation the people had in the morning before ceased from that bloudy pursuit of their brethren As it becomes publike persons to bee louers of peace
is peace euer our friend but when it is a seruant of Piety The vse of Warre is not more pernicious to the body than the abuse of peace is to the soule Alas the Riot bred of our long ease rather driues the Arke of God from vs so the still sedentary life is subiect to diseases and standing waters putrifie It may be iust with God to take away the blessing which we doe so much abuse and to scoure off our rust with bloudy Warre c. The Arke of God had now many yeeres rested in the obscure lodge of Abinadab without the honour of a Tabernacle Dauid will not endure himselfe glorious and the Arke of God contemptible his first care is to prouide a fit roome for God in the head of the Tribes in his owne City The chiefe care of good Princes must be the aduancement of Religion What should the Deputies of God rather doe than honour him whom they represent It was no good that Israel could learne of Philistims Those Pagans had sent the Arke backe in a new Cart the Israelites saw God blessed that conduct and now they practise it at home But that which God will take from Philistims hee will not brooke from Israel Aliens from God are no fit patterns for children Diuine institution had made this a cariage for the Leuites not for oxen Neither should those sonnes of Abinadab haue driuen the Cart but carried that sacred burden Gods businesses must be done after his owne formes which if we doe with the best intentions alter we presume It is long since Israel saw so faire a day as this wherein they went in this holy Triumph to fetch the Arke of God Now their Warlike Trumpets are turned into Harps and Timbrils and their hands in stead of weilding the Sword and Speare strike vpon those musicall strings whereby they might expresse the ioy of their hearts Heere was no noise but of mirth no motion but pleasant Oh happy Israel that had a God to reioyce in that had this occasion of reioycing in their God and an heart that embraced this occasion There is nothing but this wherein wee may not ioy immoderately vnseasonably this spirituall ioy can neuer bee either out of time or out of measure Let him that reioyceth reioyce in the Lord. But now when the Israelites were in the midst of this Angel-like iollitie their hearts lifted vp their hands playing their feet mouing their tongues singing and shouting God sees good to strike them into a sudden dumpe by the death of Vzzah They are scarce set into the tune when God marres their Musicke by a fearefull iudgement and changes their mirth into astonishment and confusion There could not bee a more excellent worke than this they were about there could not bee more chearefull hearts in the performing of it yet will the most holy God rather dash all this solemne seruice than indure an act of presumption or infidelity Abinadab had beene the faithfull Host of Gods Arke for the space of twenty yeeres euen in the midst of the terrors of Irael who were iustly affrighted with the vengeance inflicted vpon Beth-shemesh did hee giue harbour vnto it Yet euen the sonne of Abinadab is stricken dead in the first departing of that blessed guest The Sanctitie of the Parent cannot beare out the sinne of his Sonne The Holy one of Israel will bee sanctified in all that come neere him He will be serued like himselfe WHAT then was the sinne of Vzzah What was the capitall crime for which hee so fearefully perished That the Arke of God was committed to the Cart it was not his deuice onely but the common act of many That it was not carryed on the shoulders of Leuites was no lesse the fault of Ahio and the rest of their Brethren onely Vzzah is stricken The rest sinned in negligence hee in presumption the Arke of God shakes with the agitation of that carriage hee puts forth his hand to hold it steddie Humane iudgement would haue found herein nothing haynous God sees not with the eyes of men None but the Priests should haue dared to touch the Arke It was enough for the Leuites to touch the barres that carryed it An vnwarranted hand cannot so lightly touch the Arke but hee strikes the God that dwels in it No maruell if God strike that man with death that strikes him with Presumption There was wel-neere the same quarrell against the thousands of Bethshemesh and against Vzzah They died for looking into the Arke hee for touching it lest Israel should grow into a contemptuous familiarity with this Testimony of Gods presence hee will hold them in awe with iudgements The reuenging hand of the Almighty that vpon the returne of the Arke stayed at the House of Abinadab vpon the remooue of the Arke beginnes there againe Where are those that thinke God will take vp with a carelesse and slubbred seruice Hee whose infinite mercy vses to passe by our sinnes of infirmitie punisheth yet seuerely our bold faults If we cannot doe any thing in the degrees that hee requireth yet wee must learne to doe all things in the forme that he requireth Doubtlesse Vzzah meant no otherwise than well in putting forth his hand to stay the Arke Hee knew the sacred Vtensils that were in it the Pot of Manna the Tables of the Law the Rod of Aaron which might bee wronged by that ouer-rough motion to these hee offers his aide and is stricken dead The best intention cannot excuse much lesse warrant vs in vnlawfull actions where wee doe ought in faith it pleaseth our good God to winke at and pitty our weaknesses but if wee dare to present God with the wel-meant seruices of our owne making wee runne into the indignation of God There is nothing more dangerous than to be our owne caruers in matter of Deuotion I maruell not if the countenance of Dauid were suddenly changed to see the pale face of death in one of the chiefe Actors in this holy Procession Hee that had found God so fauourable to him in actions of lesse worth is troubled to see this successe of a businesse so heartily directed vnto his God and now hee beginnes to looke thorow Vzzah at himselfe and to say How shall the Arke of the Lord come to mee Then onely shall wee make a right vse of the iudgements of God vpon others when wee shall feare them in our selues and finding our sinnes at least equall shall tremble at the expectation of the same deserued punishments God intends not onely reuenge in his execution but reformation As good Princes regard not so much the smart of the euill past as the preuention of the future which is neuer attained but when wee make applications of Gods hand and draw common causes out of Gods particular proceedings I doe not heare Dauid say Surely this man is guilty of some secret sinne that the World knowes not God hath met with him thereis no danger to vs why should I be discouraged to
time The outer Temple was the figure of the whole Church vpon earth like as the holy of holiest represented heauen Nothing can better resemble our faithfull prayers than sweet perfume These God lookes that wee should all his Church ouer send vp vnto him Morning and Euening The eleuations of our hearts should be perpetuall but if twise in the day we doe not present God with our solemne inuocations we make the Gospell lesse officious than the Law That the resemblance of prayers and incense might be apparent whiles the Priest sends vp his incense within the Temple the people must send vp their prayers without Their breath and that incense though remote in the first rising met ere they went vp to heauen The people might no more goe into the Holy place to offer vp the incense of prayers vnto God than Zacharie might goe into the Holy of holies Whiles the partition wall stood betwixt Iewes and Gentiles there were also partitions betwixt the Iewes and themselues Now euery man is a Priest vnto God Euery man since the veile was rent prayes within the Temple What are wâ the bââter for our greater freedome of accesse to God vnder the Gospell if wee doe not make vse of our priuiledge Whiles they were praying to God hee sees an Angell of God as Gedeââs Angell went vp in the smoke of the sacrifice so did Zacharies Angell as it were come downe in the fragrant smoke of his incense It was euer great newes to see an Angell of God but now more because God had long with-drawne from them all the meaneâ of his supernaturall reuelations As this wicked people were strangers to their God in their conuersation so was God growne a stranger to them in his apparitions yet now that the season of the Gospell approached he visited them with his Angels before he visited them by his Sonne He sends his Angell to men in the forme of man before hee sends his Sonne to take humane forme The presence of Angels is no noueltie but their apparition they are alwayes with vs but rarely seene that wee may awfully respect their messages when they are seene In the meane time our faith may see them though our senses doe not their assumed shapes doe not make them more present but visible There is an order in that heauenly Hierarchie though wee know it not This Angell that appeared to Zacharie was not with him in the ordinarie course of his attendances but was purposely sent from God with this message Why was an Angell sent and why this Angell It had beene easie for him to haue raised vp the propheticall spirit of some Simeon to this prediction the same Holy Ghost which reuealed to that iust man that he should not see death ere hee had seene the Messias might haue as easily reuealed vnto him the birth of the fore-runner of Christ and by him to Zacharie But God would haue this voice which should goe before his Sonne come with a noyse Hee would haue it appeare to the world that the harbinger of the Messiah should bee conceiued by the maruellous power of that God whose comming hee proclaimed It was fit the first Herald of the Gospell begin in wonder The same Angell that came to the blessed Virgin with the newes of Christs conception came to Zacharie with the newes of Iohns for the honour of him that was the greatest of them which were borne of women and for his better resemblance to him which was the seede of the woman Both had the Gospell for their errand one as the messenger of it the other as the Author Both are foretold by the same mouth When could it bee more fit for the Angell to appeare vnto Zacharie than when prayers and incense were offered by him Where could hee more fitly appeare than in the Temple In what part of the Temple more fitly than at the Altar of Incense and where abouts rather than on the right side of the Altar Those glorious spirits as they are alwayes with vs so most in our deuotions and as in all places so most of all in Gods house They reioyce to be with vs whiles we are with God as contrarily they turne their faces from vs when we goe about our sinnes Hee that had wont to liue and serue in the presence of the master was now astonished at the presence of the seruant so much difference there is betwixt our faith and our senses that the apprehension of the presence of the God of spirits by faith goes downe sweetely with vs whereas the sensible apprehension of an Angell dismayes vs Holy Zacharie that had wont to liue by faith thought hee should die when his sense began to bee set on worke It was the weaknesse of him that serued at the Altar without horror to bee daunted with the face of his fellow seruant In vaine doe wee looke for such Ministers of God as are without infirmities when iust Zacharie was troubled in his deuotions with that wherewith hee should haue beene comforted It was partly the suddennesse and partly the glory of the apparition that affrighted him The good Angell was both apprehensiue and compassionate of Zacharies weaknesse and presently incourages him with a cheerefull excitation Feare not ZACHARIAS The blessed spirits though they doe not often vocally expresse it doe pittie our humane frailties and secretly suggest comfort vnto vs when we perceiue it not Good and euill Angels as they are contrarie in estate so also in disposition The good desire to take away feare the euill to bring it It is a fruit of that deadly enmitie which is betwixt Sathan and vs that hee would if hee might kill vs with terrour whereas the good spirits affecting our reliefe and happinesse take no pleasure in terrifying vs but labour altogether for our tranquilitie and cheerefulnesse There was not more feare in the face than comfort in the speech Thy prayer is heard No Angell could haue told him better newes Our desires are vttered in our prayers What can we wish but to haue what we would Many good suites had Zachary made and amongst the rest for a sonne Doubtlesse it was now some space of yeares since he made that request For he was now stricken in age and had ceased to hope yet had God laid it vp all the while and when hee thinkes not of it brings it forth to effect Thus doth the mercie of our God deale with his patient and faithfull suppliants In the âââuout of their exspectation he many times holds them off and when they leaââ thinke of it and haue forgotten their owne suite hee graciously condescends Delay of effect may not discourage our faith It may bee God hath long granted ere wee shall know of his grant Many a father repents him of his fruitfulnesse and hath such sonnes as he wishes vnborne But to haue so gracious and happie a sonne as the Angell foretold could not bee lesse comfort than honour to the age of Zacharie The proofe of children makes
an habit of seruility and now they are so acquainted with the yoke that the very noise of liberty which they supposed would not come with ease began to be vnwelcome To turne the causes of ioy into sorrow argues extreme deiectednesse and a distemper of iudgement no lesse than desperate Feare puts on a visor of deuotion Herod calls his learned councell and as not doubting whether the Messiah should be borne he askes where he shall be borne In the disparition of that other light there is a perpetually fixed Starre shining in the writings of the Prophets that guides the chiefe Priests and Scribes directly vnto Bethleem As yet enuy and preiudice had not blinded the eies and peruerted the hearts of the Iewish teachers so as now they clearely iustifie that Christ whom they afterwards condemne and by thus iustifying him condemne themselues in reiecting him The water that is vntroubled yeeldes the visage perfectly If God had no more witnesse but from his enemies we haue ground enough of our faith Herod feared but dissembled his feare as thinking it a shame that strangers should see there could any power arise vnder him worthy of his respect or awe Out of an vnwillingnesse therefore to discouer the impotency of his passion hee makes little adoe of the matter but onely after a priuy inquisition into the time imploies the informers in the search of the person Goe and search diligently for the Babe c. It was no great iourney from Ierusalem to Bethleem how easily might Herods cruelty haue secretly suborned some of his bloudy Courtiers to this enquiry and execution If God had not meant to mocke him before he found himselfe mocked of the wise men he had rather sent before their iourney than after their disappointment But that God in whose hands all hearts are did purposely besot him that he might not finde the way to so horrible a mischiefe There is no villany so great but it will maske it selfe vnder a shew of piety Herod will also worship the Babe The courtesie of a false Tyrant is death A crafty hypocrite neuer meanes so ill as when he speakes fairest the wise men are vpon their way full of expectation full of desire I see no man either of the City or Court to accompany them Whether distrust or feare hindred them I inquire not but of so many thousand Iewes no one stirs his foot to see that King of theirs which strangers came so farre to visit yet were not these resolute Sages discouraged with this solitarinesse and small respect nor drawne to repent of their iourney as thinking What doe we come so farre to honour a King whom no man will acknowledge What meane wee to trauell so many hundred miles to see that which the inhabitants will not looke out to behold but cheerfully renew their iourney to that place which the ancient light of prophesie had designed And now behold God incourages their holy forwardnesse from heauen by sending them their first guide as if he had said What neede ye care for the neglect of men when ye see heauen honours the King whom ye seeke What ioy these Sages conceiued when their eies first beheld the re-appearance of that happy Starre they onely can tell that after a long and sad night of tentation haue seene the louing countenance of God shining forth vpon their soules If with obedience and courage we can follow the calling of God in difficult enterprises we shall not want supplies of comfort Let not vs be wanting to God we shall be sure he cannot be wanting to vs. Hee that led Israel by a Pillar of fire into the Land of Promise leads the wise-men by a Starre to the Promised seede All his directions partake of that light which is in him For God is light this Starre moues both slowly and low as might bee fittest for the pace for the purpose of these Pilgrimes It is the goodnesse of God that in those meanes wherein we cannot reach him he descends vnto vs. Surely when the Wise-men saw the Star stand still they looked about to see what Palace there might be neare vnto that station fit for the birth of a King neither could they thinke that sorry shed was it which the Starre meant to point out but finding their guide setled ouer that base roofe they goe in to see what ghest it held They enter and O God what a King doe they finde how poore how contemptible wrapt in clouts laid in straw cradled in the manger attended with beasts what a sight was this after all the glorious promises of that Star after the predictions of Prophets after the magnificence of their expectation All their way afforded nothing so despicable as that Babe whom they came to worship But as those which could not haue bin wise-men vnlesse they had knowne that the greatest glories haue arisen from meane beginnings they fall downe and worship that hidden maiesty This basenesse hath bred wonder in them not contempt they well knew the Starre could not lie they which saw his Star a far off in the East when hee lay swadled in Bethleem doe also see his royalty further off in the despised estate of his infancy A royalty more than humane They well knew that stars did not vse to attend earthly Kings and if their ayme had not beene higher what was a Iewish King to Persian strangers answerable therefore hereunto was their adoration Neither did they lift vp emptie hands to him whom they worshipt but presented him with the most precious commodities of their country Gold Incense Myrrh not as thinking to enrich him with these but by way of homage acknowledging him the Lord of these If these Sages had beene Kings and had offered a Princely weight of gold the blessed Virgin had not needed in her purification to haue offered two young pigeons as the signe of her penury As God loues not empty hands so he measures fulnesse by the affection Let it be Gold or Incense or Myrth that we offer him it cannot but please him who doth not vse to aske how much but how good The Purification THere could be no impurity in the Sonne of God and if the best substance of a pure Virgin carried in it any taint of Adam that was scowred away by sanctification in the wombe and yet the Sonne would be circumcised and the Mother purified He that came to bee sinne for vs would in our persons be legally vncleane that by satisfying the law he might take away our vncleannesse Though he were exempted from the common condition of our birth yet he would not deliuer himselfe from those ordinary rites that implied the weakenesse and blemishes of humanity He would fulfill one law to abrogate it another to satisfie it He that was aboue the Law would come vnder the Law to free vs from the Law Not a day would be changed either in the Circumcision of Christ or the Purification of Mary Here was neither conuenience of place nor of necessaries
draw blood of that backe which is yet blew from the hand of the Almighty If Shimei had not presumed vpon Dauids deiection he durst not haue beene thus bold now he that perhaps durst not haue lookt at one of those Worthies single defies them all at once and doth both cast and speak stones against Dauid and all his army The malice of base spirits sometimes caries them further then the courage of the valiant In all the time of Dauids prosperity we heard no newes of Shimei his silence and colourable obedience made him passe for a good subiect yet all that while was his heart vnsound and trayterous Peace and good successe hides many a false heart like as a Snow-drift couers an heap of dung which once melting away descries the rottennesse that lay within Honour and welfare are but flattering glasses of mens affections aduersity will not deceiue vs but will make a true report as of our owne powers so of the disposition of others He that smiled on Dauid in his throne curseth him in his flight if there be any quarrels any exceptions to be taken against a man let him look to haue them laid in his dish when he fares the hardest This practice haue wicked men learnt of their master to take the vtmost aduantages of our afflictions Hee that suffers had need to bee double armed both against paine and censure Euery word of Shimei was a slaunder He that tooke Sauls speare from his head and repented to haue but cut the lap of his garment is reproched as a man of blood The man after Gods owne heart is branded for a man of Belial Hee that was sent for out of the fields to be anointed is taxed for an vsurper If Dauids hands were stained with blood yet not of Sauls House It was his seruant not his master that bled by him yet is the blood of the Lords anointed cast in Dauids teeth by the spight of a false tongue Did we not see Dauid after all the proofes of his humble loyalty shedding the blood of that Amalakite who did but say he shed Sauls Did wee not heare him lament passionately for the death of so ill a master chiding the mountaines of Gilboa on which he fell and angerly wishing that no dew might fall where that blood was poured out and charged the daughters of Israel to weepe ouer Saul who had clothed them in scarlet Did we not heare and see him inquiring for any remainder of the House of Saul that he might shew him the kindnesse of God Did wee not see him honouring lame Mephibosheth with a princely seat at his owne table Did we not see him reuenging the blood of his riuall Ishbosheth vpon the heads of Rechab and Baanah What could any liuing man haue done more to wipe off these bloody aspersions Yet is not a Shimei ashamed to charge innocent Dauid with all the blood of the House of Saul How is it likely this clamorous wretch had secretly traduced the name of Dauid all the time of his gouernment that dares thus accuse him to his face before all the mighty men of Israel who were witnesses of the contrary The greater the person is the more open doe his actions lie to mis-interpretation and censure Euery tongue speakes partially according to the interest he hath in the cause or the patient It is not possible that eminent persons should be free from imputations Innocence can no more protect them then power If the patience of Dauid can digest this indignity his traine cannot their fingers could not but itch to returne iron for stones If Shimei raile on Dauid Abishai ralies on Shimei Shimei is of Sauls Family Abishai of Dauids each speakes for his owne Abishai most iustly bends his tongue against Shimei as Shimei against Dauid most vniustly Had Shimei beene any other then a dog he had neuer so rudely barked at an harmlesse passenger neither could he deserue lesse then the losse of that head which had vttered such blasphemies against Gods anointed The zeale of Abishai doth but plead for iustice and is checked What haue I to doe with you ye sonnes of Zeruiah Dauid said not so much to his reuiler as to his abettor Hee well saw that a reuenge was iust but not seasonable he found the present a fit time to suffer wrongs not to right them he therefore giues way rather meekly to his owne humiliation then to the punishment of another There are seasons wherein lawfull motions are not fit to bee cherished Anger doth not become a mourner One passion at once is enough for the soule Vnaduised zeale may be more preiudiciall then a cold remisnesse What if the Lord for the correction of his seruant haue said vnto Shimei Curse Dauid yet is Shimeies curse no lesse worthy of Abishaies sword the sinne of Shimeies curse was his owne the smart of the curse was Gods God wils that as Dauids chastisement which hee hates as Shimeies wickednesse That lewd tongue moued from God it moued lewdly from Satan Wicked men are neuer the freer from guilt or punishment for that hand which the holy God hath in their offensiue actions Yet Dauid can say Let him alone and let him curse for the Lord hath bidden him as meaning to giue a reason of his owne patience rather then Shimeies impunity the issue shewed how well Dauid could distinguish betwixt the act of God and of a traytor how hee could both kisse the rod and burne it There can be none so strong motiue of our meek submission to euils as the acknowledgement of their originall Hee that can see the hand of God striking him by the hand or tongue of an enemy shall more awe the first mouer of his harm then maligne the instrument Euen whiles Dauid laments the rebellion of his sonne he gaines by it and makes that the argument of his patience which was the exercise of it Behold my son which came forth of my bowels seeketh my life how much more now may this Beniamite doe it The wickednesse of an Absalom may rob his father of comfort but shall helpe to adde to his fathers goodness It is the aduantage of great crosses that they swallow vp the lesse One mans sin cannot be excused by anothers the lesser by the greater If Absalom be a traytor Shimei may not curse and rebell But the passion conceiued from the indignitie of a stranger may be abated by the harder measure of our owne If we can therefore suffer because we haue suffered we haue profited by our affliction A weake heart faints with euery addition of succeeding trouble the strong recollects it selfe and is growne so skilfull that it beares off one mischiefe with another It is not either the vnnaturall insurrection of Absalom nor the vniust curses of Shimei that can put Dauid quite out of heart It may be that the Lord will looke on mine affliction and will requite good for his cursing this day So well was Dauid acquainted with the proceedings of
out the ringleader of this hatefull insurrection and will at once serue for his hangman and gallowes by one of those spreading armes snatching him away to speedy execution Absalom was comely and hee knew it well enough His haire was no small peece of his beauty nor matter of his pride It was his wont to cut it once a yeere not for that it was too long but too heauy his heart could haue borne it longer if his necke had not complained And now the iustice of God hath platted an halter of those locks Those tresses had formerly hanged loosely disheueld on his shoulders now he hangs by theÌ He had wont to weigh his haire and was proud to find it so heauy now his haire poyseth the weight of his body and makes his burden his torment It is no maruell if his owne haire turn'd traitor to him who durst rise vp against his father That part which is misused by man to sinne is commonly imployed by God to reuenge The reuenge that it worketh for God makes amends for the offence whereto it is drawne against God The very beast whereon Absalom sat as weary to beare so vnnaturall a burden resignes ouer his lode to the tree of Iustice There hangs Absalom betweene heauen and earth as one that was hated and abandoned both of earth and heauen As if God meant to prescribe this punishment for Traytors Absalom Achitophel and Iudas dye all one death So let them perish that dare lift vp their hand against Gods anointed The honest souldier sees Absalom hanging in the Oke and dares not touch him his hands were held with the charge of Dauid Beware that none touch the yong man Absalom Ioab vpon that intelligenceâ sees him and smites him with no lesse then three darts What the souldier forbore in obedience the Captaine doth in zeale not fearing to preferre his Soueraignes safety to his command and more tendering the life of a King and peace of his Countrey then the weake affection of a father I dare not sit Iudge betwixt this zeale and that obedience betwixt the Captaine and the Souldier the one was a good subiect the other a good Patriot the one loued the King the other loued Dauid and out of loue disobeyed the one meant as well as the other sped As if God meant to fulfill the charge of his Anointed without any blame of his subiects it pleased him to execute that immediate reuenge vpon the rebell which would haue dispatcht him without hand or dart only the Mule and the Oke conspired to this execution but that death would haue required more leasure then it was safe for Israel to giue and still life would giue hope of rescue to cut off all feares Ioab lends the Oke three darts to helpe forward so needfull a worke of iustice All Israel did not afford so firme a friend to Absalom as Ioab had beene who but Ioab had suborned the witty widow of Tekoah to sue for the recalling of Absalom from his three yeeres exile Who but he went to fetch him from Geshur to Ierusalem Who but he fetcht him from his house at Ierusalem whereto he had beene two yeeres confined to the face to the lips of Dauid Yet now he that was his sollicitor for the Kings fauor is his executioner against the Kings charge With honest hearts all respects either of blood or friendship cease in the case of Treason well hath Ioab forgotten himselfe to be friend to him who had forgotten himselfe to bee a sonne Euen ciuilly the King is our common father our Country our common mother Nature hath no priuate relations which should not gladly giue place to these He is neither father nor sonne nor brother nor friend that conspires against the common parent Well doth he who spake parables for his masters sonne now speake darts to his Kings enemy and pierces that heart which was false to so good a father Those darts are seconded by Ioabs followers each man tries his weapon vpon so faire a marke One death is not enough for Absalom he is at once hanged shot mangled stoned Iustly was he lift vp to the Oke who had lift vp himselfe against his father and soueraigne Iustly is hee pierced with darts who had pierced his fathers heart with so many sorrowes Iustly is he mangled who hath dismembred and diuided all Israel Iustly is he stoned who had not only cursed but pursued his owne parent Now Ioab sounds the retrait and cals off his eager troupes from execution howeuer he knew what his rebellious Countrymen had deserued in following an Absalom Wise Commanders know how to put a difference betwixt the heads of a faction and the misguided multitude and can pity the one whiles they take reuenge on the other So did Absalom esteeme himselfe that hee thought it would bee a wrong to the world to want the memoriall of so goodly a person God had denied him sons How iust it was that he should want a sonne who had robd his father of a sonne who would haue robd himselfe of a father his father of a Kingdome It had beene pity so poysonous a plant should haue beene fruitfull His pride shall supply nature hee reares vp a stately pillar in the Kings dale and cals it by his owne name that hee might liue in dead stones who could not suruiue in liuing issue and now behold this curious pile ends in a rude heape which speakes no language but the shame of that carkasse which it couers Heare this ye glorious fooles that care not to perpetuate any memory of your selues to the world but of ill-deseruing greatnesse the best of this affectation is vanity the worst infamy and dishonour whereas the memoriall of the iust shall be blessed and if his humility shâll refuse an Epitaph and chose to hide himselfe vnder the bare earth God himselfe shall ingraue his name vpon the pillar of eternity There now lies Absalom in the pit vnder a thousand graue-stones in euery of which is written his euerlâsting reproach well might this heape ouer-liue that pillar for when that ceased to be a pillar it began to bee an heape neither will it cease to bee a monument of Absaloms shame whiles there are stones to bee found vpon earth Euen at this day very Pagans and Pilgrimes that passe that way cast each man a stone vnto that heape and are wont to say in a solemne execration Cursed bee the paricide Absalom and cursed bee all vniust persecutors of their parents for euer Fasten your eyes vpon this wofull spectacle O all yee rebellious and vngracious children which rise vp against the loynes and thighes from which yee fell and know that it is the least part of your punishment that your carkasses rot in the earth and your name in ignominie these doe but shadow out those eternall sufferings of your soules for your foule and vnnaturall disobedience Absalom is sped who shall report it to his father Surely Ioab was not so much afraid of
our pride and false confidence in earthly things then with a fleshly criââ though hainously seconded It was an hard and wofull choise of three yeares famine added to three fore-past or of three moneths flight from the sword of an enemie or three dayes pestilence The Almighty that had fore-determined his iudgement referres it to Dauids will as fully as if it were vtterly vndetermined God hath resolued yet Dauid may choose That infinite wisdome hath foreseene the very will of his creature which whiles it freely inclines it selfe to what it had rather vnwittingly wils that which was fore appointed in heauen We doe well beleeue thee O Dauid that thou wert in a wonderfull strait this very liberty is no other then fetters Thou needst not haue famine thou needst not haue the sword thou needst not haue pestilence one of them thou must haue There is misery in all there is misery in any thou and thy people can die but once and once they must dye either by famine warre or pestilence Oh God how vainely doe we hope to passe ouer our sinnes with impunitie when all the fauour that Dauid and Israel can receiue is to choose their bane Yet behold neither sinnes nor threats nor feares can bereaue a true penitent of his faith Let vs fall now into the hands of the Lord for his mercies are great There can bee no euill of punishment wherein God haue not an hand there could be no famine no sword without him but some euils are more immediate from a diuine stroke such was that plague into which Dauid is vnwillingly willing to fall He had his choyce of dayes moneths yeares in the same number and though the shortnesse of time prefixed to the threatned pestilence might seeme to offer some aduantage for the leading of his election yet God meant and Dauid knew it herein to proportion the difference of time to the violence of the plague neither should any fewer perish by so few dayes pestilence then by so many yeares famine The wealthiest might auoid the dearth the swiftest might runne away from the sword no man could promise himselfe safety from that pestilence In likelihood Gods Angell would rather strike the most guilty Howeuer therefore Dauid might well looke to be inwrapped in the common destruction yet he rather chooseth to fall into that mercy which hee had abused and to suffer from that iustice which he had prouoked Let vs now fall into the hands of the Lord. Humble confessions and deuout penance cannot alwayes auert temporall iudgements Gods Angell is abroad and within that short compasse of time sweepes away seuenty thousand Israelites Dauid was proud of the number of his subiects now they are abated that he may see cause of humiliation in the matter of his glory In what we haue offended we commonly smart These thousands of Israel were not so innocent that they should onely perish for Dauids sinne Their sinnes were the motiues both of this sinne and punishment besides the respect of Dauids offence they die for themselues It was no ordinarie pestilence that was thus suddenly and vniuersally mortall Common eyes saw the botch and the markes saw not the Angell Dauids clearer sight hath espyed him after that killing peragration through the Tribes of Israel shaking his sword ouer Ierusalem and houering ouer Mount Sion and now hee who doubtlesse had spent those three dismall dayes in the saddest contrition humbly casts himselfe downe at the feet of the auenger and layes himselfe ready for the fatall stroke of iustice It was more terrour that God intended in the visible shape of his Angell and deepeâ humiliation and what he meant he wrought Neuer soule could be more deiected more anguished with the sense of a iudgement in the bitternesse whereof hee cryes out Behold I haue sinned yea I haue done wickedly But these Sheepe what haue they done Let thine hand I pray thee be against me and against my fathers house The better any man is the more sensible he is of his owne wretchednesse Many of those Sheepe were Wolues to Dauid What had they done They had done that which was the occasion of Dauids sinne and the cause of their owne punishment But that gracious penitent knew his owne sinne he knew not theirs and therefore can say I haue sinned What haue they done It is safe accusing where wee may be boldest and are best acquainted our selues Oh the admirable charitie of Dauid that would haue ingrossed the plague to himselfe and his house from the rest of Israel and sues to interpose himselfe betwixt his people and the vengeance He that had put himselfe vpon the pawes of the Beare and Lyon for the rescue of his Sheepe will now cast himselfe vpon the sword of the Angell for the preseruation of Israel There was hope in those conflicts in this yeeldance there could be nothing but death Thus didst thou O sonne of Dauid the true and great Shepheard of thy Church offer thy selfe to death for them who had their hands in thy blood who both procured thy death and deserued their owne Here he offered himselfe that had sinned for those whom he professed to haue not done euill thou that didst no sinne vouchsauest to offer thy selfe for vs that were all sinne Hee offered and escaped thou offeredst and diedst and by thy death we liue and are freed from euerlasting destruction But O Father of all mercies how little pleasure doest thou take in the blood of sinners it was thine owne pitie that inhibited the Destroyer Ere Dauid could see the Angell thou hadst restrained him It is sufficient hold now thy hand If thy compassion did not both with-hold and abridge thy iudgements what place were there for vs out of hell How easie and iust had it beene for God to haue made the shutting vp of that third euening red with blood his goodnes repents of the slaughter and cals for that Sacrifice wherewith he will be appeased An Altar must be built in the threshing floore of Araunah the Iebusite Lo in that very Hill where the Angell held the sword of Abraham from killing his Sonne doth God now hold the Sword of the Angel from killing his people Vpon this very ground shall the Temple after stand heere shall be the holy Altar which shall send vp the acceptable oblations of Gods people in succeeding generations O God what was the threshing-floore of a Iebusite to thee aboue all other soyles What vertue what merit was in this earth As in places so in persons it is not to bee heeded what they are but what thou wilt That is worthiest which thou pleasest to accept Rich and bountifull Araunah is ready to meet Dauid in so holy a motion and munificently offers his Sion for the place his Oxen for the Sacrifice his Carts Ploughs and other Vtensils of his Husbandry for the wood Two franke hearts are well met Dauid would buy Araunah would giue The Iebusite would not sell Dauid will not take Since it was for
his creature for wishing the best to it selfe and because Salomon hath asked what he should hee shall now receiue both what he asked and what hee asked not Riches and honour shall bee giuen him in to the match So doth God loue a good choyce and hee recompences it with ouer-giuing Could we but first seeke the Kingdome of God and his righteousnesse all these earthly things should be super-added to vs Had Salomon made wealth his boone he had failed both of riches and wisdome now he askes the best and speeds of all They are in a faire way of happinesse that can pray well It was no dis-comfort to Salomon that he awaked and found it a dreame for hee knew this dreame was diuine and oracular and he already found in his first waking the reall performance of what was promised him sleeping Such illumination did he sensibly find in all the roomes of his heart as if God had now giuen him a new soule No maruell if Salomon now returning from the Tabernacle to the Arke testified his ioy thankfulnesse by burnt-offerings and peace offerings and publique feastings The heart that hath found in it selfe the liuely testimonies of Gods presence and fauour cannot containe it selfe from outward expressions God likes not to haue his gifts lie dead where hee hath confer'd them Israel shall soone witnesse that they haue a King inlightened from heauen in whom wisdome did not stay for heires did not admit of any parallel in his predecessors The all-wise God will find occasions to draw forth those graces to vse and light which he hath bestowed on man Two Harlots come before yong Salomon with a difficult plea It is not like the Princes eare was the first that heard this complaint there was a subordinate course of iustice for the determination of these meaner incidences the hardnesse of this decision brought the matter through all the benches of inferior iudicature to the Tribunall of Salomon The very Israelitish Harlots were not so vnnatural as some now adaies that counterfait honesty These striue for the fruit of their wombe ours to put theÌ off One son is yet aliue two mothers conteÌd for him The children were alike for features for age the mothers were alike for reputation here can be no euidence from others eyes Whethers now is the liuing Child and whethers is the dead Had Salomon gone about to wring forth the truth by tortures hee had perhaps plagued the innocent and added paine to the misery of her losse the weaker had been guilty and the more able to beare had caried away both the child and the victory The countenance of either of the mothers bewrayed an equality of passion Sorrow possessed the one for the sonne she had lost and the other for the sonne shee was in danger to leese Both were equally peremptory and importunate in their claime It is in vaine to thinke that the true part can bee discerned by the vehemence of their challenge Falshood is oft-times more clamorous then truth No witnesses can be produced They two dwelt apart vnder one roofe and if some neighbours haue seene the children at their birth and circumcision yet how little difference how much change is there in the fauour of infants how doth death alter more confirmed lines The impossibility of proofe makes the guilty more confident more impudent the true mother pleads that her child was taken away at midnight by the other but in her sleepe she saw it not she felt it not and if all her senses could haue witnessed it yet here was but the affirmation of the one against the deniall of the other which in persons alike credible doe but counterpoise What is there now to lead the Iudge since there is nothing either in the act or circumstances or persons or plea or euidence that might sway the sentence Salomon well saw that when all outward proofes failed there was an inward affection which if it could be fetcht out would certainely bewray the true mother he knew sorrow might more easily bee dissembled then naturall loue both sorrowed for their owne both could not loue one as theirs To draw forth then this true proofe of motherhood Salomon calls for a sword Doubtlesse some of the wiser hearers smiled vpon each other and thought in themselues What will the yong King cut these knottie causes in peeces Will he diuide iustice with edge tooles will hee smite at hazard before conuiction The actions of wise Princes are riddles to vulgar constructions neither is it for the shallow capacities of the multitude to fadome the deepe proiects of Soueraigne authority That sword which had serued for execution shall now serue for triall Diuide ye the liuing child in twaine and giue the one halfe to the one and the other halfe to the other Oh diuine oracle of iustice commanding that which it would not haue done that it might find out that which could not be discouered Neither God nor his Deputies may bee so taken at their words as if they alwaies intended their commands for action and not sometimes for probation This sword hath already pierced the brest of the true mother and diuided her heart with feare and griefe at so killing a sentence There needs no other racke to discouer nature and now she thinks woe is me that came for iustice and am answered with cruelty Diuide ye the liuing child Alas what hath that poore infant offended that it suruiues and is sued for How much lesse miserable had I beene that my childe had beene smothered in my sleep then mangled before mine eies If a dead carkasse could haue satisfied me I needed not to haue complanied What a wofull condition am I falne into who am accused to haue beene the death of my supposed childe already and now shall be the death of my owne If there were no losse of my childe yet how can I endure this torment of mine owne bowels How can I liue to see this part of my selfe sprawling vnder that bloody sword And whiles she thinks thus shee sues to that suspected mercy of her iust Iudge Oh my Lord giue her the liuing child and slay him not as thinking if he liue he shall but change a mother if he die his mother loseth a sonne Whiles he liues it shall be my comfort that I haue a son though I may not call him so dying he perisheth to both it is better he should liue to a wrong mother then to neither Contrarily her enuious competitor as holding her selfe well satisfied that her neighbor should be as childlesse as her selfe can say Let it be neither mine nor thine but diuide it Well might Salomon and euery hearer conclude that either shee was no mother or a monster that could be content with the murder of her childe and that if she could haue been the true mother and yet haue desired the blood of her infant shee had been as worthy to bee stript of her childe for so foule vnnaturallnesse as the other had
mother neither words nor teares can suffice to discouer it Yet more had she beene ayded by the counsell and supportation of a louing yoke-fellow this burden might haue seemed lesse intolerable A good husband may make amends for the losse of a sonne had the root beene left to her intire she might better haue spared the branch now both are cut vp all the stay of her life is gone and shee seemes abandoned to a perfect misery And now when shee gaue herselfe vp for a forlorne mourner past all capacity of redresse the God of comfort meets her pities her relieues her Here was no solicitor but his owne compassion In other occasions he was sought and sued to The Centurion comes to him for a seruant the Ruler for a sonne Iairus for a daughter the neighbours for the Paralyticke here hee seekes vp the patient and offers the cure vnrequested Whiles wee haue to doe with the Father of mercies our afflictions are the most powerfull suitors No teares no prayers can moue him so much as his owne commiseration Oh God none of our secret sorrowes can be either hid from thine eyes or kept from thine heart and when wee are past all our hopes all possibilities of helpe then art thou neerest to vs for deliuerance Here was a conspiration of all parts to mercy The heart had compassion the mouth said Weepe not the feet went to the Beere the hand touched the coffin the power of the Deity raised the dead What the heart felt was secret to it selfe the tongue therefore expresses it in words of comfort Weepe not Alas what are words to so strong and iust passions To bid her not to weepe that had lost her onely sonne was to perswade her to be miserable and not feele it to feele and not regard it to regard and yet to smother it Concealement doth not remedy but aggrauate sorrow That with the counsell of not weeping therefore she might see cause of not weeping his hand seconds his tongue He arrests the Coffin and frees the Prisoner Yongman I say vnto thee arise The Lord of life and death speakes with command No finite power could haue said so without presumption or with successe That is the voice that shall one day call vp our vanished bodies from those elements into which they are resolued and raise them out of their dust Neither sea nor death nor hell can offer to detaine their dead when he charges them to be deliuered Incredulous nature what doest thou shrinke at the possibility of a resurrection when the God of nature vndertakes it It is no more hard for that almighty Word which gaue being vnto all things to say Let them be repaired then Let them be made I doe not see our Sauiour stretching himselfe vpon the dead corps as Elias and Elisha vpon the sonnes of the Sunamite and Sareptan nor kneeling downe and praying by the Beere as Peter did to Dorcas but I heare him so speaking to the dead as if he were aliue and so speaking to the dead that by the word hee makes him aliue I say vnto thee arise Death hath no power to bid that man lye still whom the Sonne of God bids Arise Immediately he that was dead sate vp So at the sound of the last trumpet by the power of the same voice we shall arise out of the dust and stand vp glorious this mortall shall put on immortalitie this corruptible incorruption This body shall not be buried but sowne and at our day shall therefore spring vp with a plentifull increase of glory How comfortlesse how desperate should be our lying downe if it were not for this assurance of rising And now behold lest our weake faith should stagger at the assent to so great a difficulty he hath already by what hee hath done giuen vs tasts of what he will doe The power that can raise one man can raise a thousand a million a world no power can raise one but that which is infinite and that which is infinite admits of no limitation Vnder the old Testament God raised one by Elias another by Elisha liuing a third by Elisha dead By the hand of the Mediator of the New Testament hee raised here the sonne of the Widow the daughter of Iairus Lazarus and in attendance of his owne resurrection he made a gaole-deliuery of holy prisoners at Ierusalem Hee raises the daughter of Iairus from her bed this widowes sonne from his Coffin Lazarus from his graue the dead Saints of Ierusalem from their rottennesse that it might appeare no degree of death can hinder the efficacie of his ouer-ruling command Hee that keepes the keyes of death cannot onely make way for himselfe through the common Hall and outer-roomes but through the inwardest and most reserued closets of darknesse Me thinkes I see this yong man who was thus miraculously awaked from his deadly sleepe wiping and rubbing those eies that had beene shut vp in death and descending from the Beere wrapping his winding sheet about his loines cast himselfe down in a passionate thankfulnesse at the feet of his Almightie restorer adoring that diuine power which had commanded his soule back again to her forsaken lodging though I heare not what he said yet I dare say they were words of praise wonder which his returned soule first vttered It was the mother whom our Sauior pitied in this act not the sonne who now forced from his quiet rest must twice passe through the gates of death As for her sake therefore he was raised so to her hands was he deliuered that she might acknowledge that soule giuen to her not to the possessor Who cannot feele the amazement and extasie of ioy that was in this reuiued mother when her son now salutes her from out of another world And both receiues and giues gratulations of of his new life How suddenly were all the teares of that mournfull traine dried vp with a ioyfull astonishment How soone is that funerall banquet turned into a new Birth-day feast What striuing was here to salute the late carkasse of their returned neighbour What awfull and admiring lookes were cast vpon that Lord of life who seeming homely was approued omnipotent How gladly did euery tongue celebrate both the worke and the author A great Prophet is raised vp amongst vs and God hath visited his people A Prophet was the highest name they could finde for him whom they saw like themselues in shape aboue themselues in power They were not yet acquainted with God manifested in the flesh This miracle might well haue assured them of more then a Prophet but he that raised the dead man from the Beere would not suddenly raise these dead hearts from the graue of Infidelitie they shall see reason enough to know that the Prophet who was raised vp to them was the God that now visited them and at last should doe as much for them as hee had done for the yong man raise them from death to life from dust to glory The
Rulers Sonne cured THe bounty of God so exceedeth mans that there is a contrarietie in the exercise of it We shut our hands because we haue opened them God therefore opens his because he hath opened them Gods mercies are as comfortable in their issue as in themselues Seldome euer doe blessings goe alone where our Sauiour supplyed the Bridegroomes wine there he heales the Rulers sonne Hee had not in all these coasts of Galilee done any miracle but here To him that hath shall be giuen We doe not finde Christ oft attended with Nobilitie here hee is It was some great Peere or some noted Courtier that was now a suitor to him for his dying sonne Earthly greatnesse is no defence against afflictions Wee men forbeare the mighty Disease and death know no faces of Lords or Monarks Could these be bribed they would be too rich why should we grudge not to be priuiledged when wee see there is no spare of the greatest This noble Ruler listens after Christs returne into Galile The most eminent amongst men will be glad to hearken after Christ in their necessitie Happy was it for him that his sonne was sicke he had not else been acquainted with his Sauiour his soule had continued sicke of ignorance and vnbeliefe Why else doth our good God send vs pain losses opposition but that he may be sought to Are we afflicted whither should we goe but to Cana to seeke Christ whither but to the Cana of heauen where our water of sorrow is turned to the wine of gladnesse to that omnipotent Physitian who healeth all our infirmities that we may once say It is good for mee that I was afflicted It was about a dayes iourney from Capernaum to Cana Thence hither did this Courtier come for the cure of his sonnes Feuer What paines euen the greatest can be content to take for bodily health No way is long no labour tedious to the desirous Our soules are sicke of a spirituall feuer labouring vnder the cold fit of infidelitie and the hot fit of selfe-loue and we sit still at home and see them languish vnto death This Ruler was neither faithlesse nor faithfull Had he been quite faithlesse he had not taken such paines to come to Christ Had he been faithfull hee had not made this suit to Christ when he was come Come downe and heale my sonne ere he die Come downe as if Christ could not haue cured him absent Ere he die as if that power could not haue raised him being dead how much difference was here betwixt the Centurion and the Ruler That came for his seruant this for his sonne This sonne was not more aboue that seruant then the faith which sued for that seruant surpassed that which sued for the sonne The one can say Master come not vnder my roofe for I am not worthy onely speake the word and my seruant shall be whole The other can say Master either come vnder my roofe or my sonne cannot be whole Heale my sonne had been a good suit for Christ is the onely Physitian for all diseases but Come downe and heale him was to teach God how to worke It is good reason that he should challenge the right of prescribing to vs who are euery way his owne it is presumption in vs to stint him vnto our formes An expert workman cannot abide to bee taught by a nouice how much lesse shall the all-wise God endure to bee directed by his creature This is more then if the patient should take vpon him to giue a Recipe to the Physitian That God would giue vs grace is a beseeming suit but to say Giue it me by prosperitie is a sawcy motion As there is faithfulnesse in desiring the end so modesty and patience in referring the meanes to the author In spirituall things God hath acquainted vs with the meanes whereby he will worke euen his owne Sacred ordinances Vpon these because they haue his owne promise we may call absolutely for a blessing In all others there is no reason that beggers should be choosers He who doth whatsoeuer he will must doe it how he will It is for vs to receiue not to appoint He who came to complaine of his sons sicknes heares of his own Except ye see signes and wonders ye will not beleeue This noble man was as is like of Capernaum There had Christ often preached there was one of his chiefe residencies Either this man had heard our Sauiour oft or might haue done yet because Christs miracles came to him onely by heare-say for as yet we finde none at all wrought where hee preached most therefore the man beleeues not enough but so speakes to Christ as to some ordinarie Physitian Come downe and heale It was the common disease of the Iewes incredulitie which no receit could heale but wonders A wicked and adulterous generation seekes signes Had they not been wilfully gracelesse there was already proofe enough of the Messias the miraculous conception and life of the fore-runner Zacharies dumbnesse the attestation of Angels the apparition of the Starre the iourney of the Sages the vision of the Shepheards the testimonies of Anna and Simeon the prophesies fulfilled the voice from heauen at his baptisme the diuine words that hee spake and yet they must haue all made vp with miracles which though he be not vnwilling to giue at his owne times yet he thinkes much to be tied vnto at theirs Not to beleeue without signes was a signe of stubborne hearts It was a foule fault and a dangerous one Ye will not beleeue What is it that shall condemne the world but vnbeliefe What can condemne vs without it No sin can condemne the repentant Repentance is a fruit of faith where true faith is then there can be no condemnation as there can be nothing but condemnation without it How much more foule in a noble Capernaite that had heard the Sermons of so diuine a Teacher The greater light we haue the more shame it is for vs to stumble Oh what shall become of vs that reele and fall into the clearest Sunâshine that euer looked forth vpon any Church Be mercifull to our sinnes O God and say any thing of vs rather then Ye will not beleeue Our Sauiour tels him of his vnbeliefe hee feeles not himselfe sicke of that disease All his mind is on his dying for As easily do we complaine of bodily griefes as we are hardly affected with spirituall Oh the meeknesse and mercy of this Lambe of God When wee would haue lookt that hee should haue punished this suitor for not beleeuing hee condescends to him that hee may beleeue Goe thy way thy sonne liueth If wee should measure our hopes by our owne worthinesse there were no expectation of blessings but if we shall measure them by his bountie and compassion there can bee no doubt of preuailing As some tender mother that giues the brest to her vnquiet childe in stead of the rod so deales hee with our peruersnesses How God differences
though grieuous yet might be remote therefore for a present hansell of vengeance she is dismissed with the sad tidings of the death of her sonne When thy feet enter into the Citie the child shall dye It is heauy newes for a mother that shee must leese her sonne but worse yet that shee may not see him In these cases of our finall departures our presence giues some mitigation to our griefe might shee but haue closed the eyes and haue receiued the last breath of her dying sonne the losse had bin more tolerable I know not how our personall farewell eases our heart euen whiles it increases our passion but now she shall no more see nor bee seene of her Abijah She shall no sooner be in the City then hee shall bee out of the world Yet more to perfect her sorrow shee heares that in him alone there is found some good the rest of her issue are gracelesse she must leese the good and hold the gracelesse he shall die to afflict her they shall liue to afflict her Yet what a mixture is here of seueritie and fauour in one act fauour to the sonne seueritie to the father Seueritie to the father that hee must leese such a sonne fauour to the sonne that he shall be taken from such a father Ieroboam is wicked and therefore he shall not enioy an Abijah Abijah hath some good things therefore hee shall be remoued from the danger of the deprauation of Ieroboam Sometimes God strikes in fauour but more often forbeares out of seueritie The best are fittest for heauen the earth is fittest for the worst this is the region of sinne and misery that of immortalitie It is no argument of dis-fauour to be taken early from a well-led life as not of approbation to age in sinne As the soule of Abijah is fauoured in the remouall so is his body with a buriall he shall haue alone both teares and tombe all the rest of his brethren shall haue no graue but dogs and fowles no sorrow but for their life Though the carkasse be insensible of any position yet honest Sepulture is a blessing It is fit the body should bee duely respected on earth whose soule is glorious in heauen ASA THe two houses of Iuda and Israel grow vp now together in an ambitious riuality this splitted plant branches out so seuerally as if it had forgotten that euer it was ioyned in the root The throne of Dauid oft changeth the possessors and more complaineth of their iniquity then their remoue Abijam inherits the sins of his father Rehoboam no lesse then his Crowne and so spends his three yeares as if had been no whit of kinne to his grandfathers vertues It is no newes that grace is not traduced whiles vice is Therefore is his reigne short because it was wicked It was a sad case when both the Kings of Iudah and Israel though enemies yet conspired in sinne Rehoboam like his father Salomon began graciously but fell to Idolatry as he followed his father so his sonne so his people followed him Oh what a face of a Church was here when Israel worshipped Ieroboams calues when Iudah built them high places and Images and groues on euery high Hill and vnder euery greene tree On both hands GOD is forsaken his Temple neglected his worship adulterate and this not for some short brunt but during the succession of two Kings For after the first three yeares Rehoboam changed his fathers Religion as his shields from gold to brasse the rest of his seuenteene yeares were ledde in impietie His sonne Abijam trod in the same mierie steps and Iudah with them both If there were any doubtlesse there were some faithfull hearts yet remaining in both Kingdomes during these heauy times what a corrosiue it must needs haue been to them to see so deplored and miserable a deprauation There was no visible Church vpon earth but here and this what a one Oh God how low doest thou sometimes suffer thine owne flocke to bee driuen What wofull wanes and eclipses hast thou ordained for this heauenly body Yet at last an Asa shall arise from the loynes from the graue of Abijam hee shall reâiue Dauid and reforme Iudah The gloomie times of corruption shall not last alwayes The light of truth and peace shall at length breake out and blesse the sad hearts of the righteous It is a wonder how Asa should bee good of the seed of Abijam of the soyle of Maachah both wicked both Idolatrous God would haue vs see that grace is from heauen neither needes the helps of these earthly conueyances Should not the children of good parents sometimes be euill and the children of euill parents good vertue would seeme naturall and the giuer would leese his thankes Thus we haue seene a faire flower spring out of dung and a well-fruited tree rise out of a fowre stocke Education hath no lesse power to corrupt then nature It is therefore the iust praise of Asa that being trained vp vnder an Idolatrous Maachah he maintained his piety As contrarily it is a shame for those that haue beene bred vp in the precepts and examples of vertue and godlinesse to fall off to lewnesse or superstition There are foure principall monuments of Asaes vertue as so many rich stones in his Diadem He tooke away Sodomie and Idols out of Iudah Who cannot wonder more that he found them there then that he remoued them What a strange incongruity is this Sodom in Ierusalem Idols in Iudah Surely debauched profession proues desperate Admit the Idols ye cannot doubt of the Sodomy If they haue changed the glory of the vncorruptible God into an Image made like to corruptible man and to birds and foure-footed beasts and creeping things it is no maruell if God giue them vp to vncleannesse through the lusts of their owne hearts to dishonour their own bodies betweene themselues If they changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and serued the creature more then the Creator who is blessed for euer no maruell if God giue them to vile affections to change the naturall vse into that which is against nature burning in lust one towards another men with men working that which is vnseemely Contrarily admit the Sodomy yee cannot doubt of the Idols Vnnaturall beastlinesse in manners is punished iustly with a sottish dotage in religion bodily pollution with spirituall How should the soule care to bee chaste that keepes a stewes in the body Asa begins with the banishment of both scouring Iudah of this double vncleannesse In vaine should he haue hoped to restore God to his Kingdome whiles these abominations inhabited it It is iustly the maine care of worthy and religious Princes to cleare their Coasts of the foulest sinnes Oh the vnpartiall zeale of Asa There were Idols that challenged a prerogatiue of fauour the Idols that his father had made all these he defaces the name of a father cannot protect an Idoll The duty to his Parent cannot winne him
with thee is mercy and plentious redemption thine hand is open before our mouthes before our hearts If we did not see thee smile vpon suiters we durst not presse to thy footstoole Behold now we know that the King of heauen the God of Israel is a mercifull God Let vs put sackcloth vpon our loynes and strew ashes vpon our heads and goe meet the Lord God of Israel that he may saue our soules How well doth this habit become insolent and blasphemous Benhadad and his followers a rope and sackcloth A rope for a Crowne sackcloth for a robe Neither is there lesse change in the tongue Thy seruant Benhadad saith I pray thee let me liue Euen now the King of Israel said to Benhadad My Lord O King I am thine Tell my Lord the King all that thou didst send for to thy seruant I will doe Now Benhadad sends to the King of Israel Thy seruant Benhadad saith I pray thee let me liue Hee that was erewhile a Lord and King is now a seruant and he that was a seruant to the king of Syria is now his Lord he that would blow away all Israel in dust is now glad to beg for his own life at the doore of a despised enemy no courage is so haughty which the God of hosts cannot easily bring vnder what are meÌ or deuils in those almighty haÌds The greater the deiection was the stronger was the motiue of commiseration That haltar pleaded for life and that plea for but a life stirred the bowels for fauour How readily did Ahab see in Benhadads sudden misery the image of the instability of all humane things and relents at the view of so deepe and passionate a submission Had not Benhadad said Thy seruant Ahab had neuer said My brother seldome euer was there losse in humility How much lesse can we feare disparagement in the annihilating of our selues before that infinite Maiestie The drowning man snatches at euery twig It is no maruell if the messengers of Benhadad catch hastilie at that last of grace and hold it fast Thy brother Benhadad Fauours are wont to draw on each other Kindnesses breed on themselues neither need wee any other perswasion to beneficence then from our owne acts Ahab cals for the King of Syria sets him in his owne Charet treats with him of an easie yet firme league giues him both his life and his Kingdome Neither is the Crowne of Syria sooner lost then recouered Onely hee that came a free Prince returnes tributarie Onely his traine is clipt too short for his wings an hundred twentie seuen thousand Syrians are abated of his Guard homeward Blasphemy hath escaped too well Ahab hath at once peace with Benhadad warre with God God proclaimes it by his Herald one of the sonnes of the Prophets not yet in his owne forme but disguised both in fashion and complaint It was a strange suit of a Prophet Smite me I pray thee Many a Prophet was smitten and would not neuer any but this wished to bee smitten The rest of his fellowes were glad to say Saue mee this onely sayes Smite me His honest neighbour out of loue and reuerence forbeares to strike There are too many thinkes hee that smite the Prophets though I refraine What wrong hast thou done that I should repay with blowes Hadst thou sued for a fauour I could not haue denyed thee now thou suest for thine hurt the deniall is a fauour Thus he thought but Charitie cannot excuse disobedience Had the man of God called for blowes vpon his owne head the refusall had beene iust and thanke-worthy but now that he sayes In the Word of the Lord Smite me this kindnesse is deadly Because thou hast not obeyed the voyce of the Lord behold assoone as thou art departed from me a Lyon shall slay thee It is not for vs to examine the charges of the Almighty Be they neuer so harsh or improbable if they bee once knowne for his there is no way but obedience or death Not to smite a Prophet when God commands is no lesse sinne then to smite a Prophet when God forbids It is the diuine precept or prohibition that either makes or aggrauates an euill And if the Israelite bee thus reuenged that smote not a Prophet what shall become of Ahab that smote not Benhadad Euery man is not thus indulgent an easie request will gaine blowes to a Prophet from the next hand yea and a wound in smiting I know not whether it were an harder taske for the Prophet to require a wound then for a well-meaning Israelite to giue it Both must bee done The Prophet hath what hee would what hee must will a sight of his owne blood and now disguised herewith and with ashes vpon his face hee way-layes the King of Israel and sadly complaines of himselfe in a reall parable for dismissing a Syrian prisoner deliuered to his hands vpon no lesse charge then his life and soone receiues sentence of death from his owne mouth Well was that wound bestowed that strucke Ahabs soule through the flesh of the Prophet The disguise is remoued The King sees not a souldier but a Seer and now finds that he hath vnawares passed sentence vpon himselfe There needs no other doome then from the lips of the offender Thus saith the Lord Because thou hast let goe out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to vtter destruction therefore thy life shall go for his life and thy people for his people Had not Ahab knowne the will of God concerning Benhadad that had beene mercy to an enemy which was now cruelty to himselfe to Israel His eares had heard of the blasphemies of that wicked tongue His eyes had seene God goe before him in the example of that reuenge No Prince can strike so deepe into his state as in not striking In priuate fauour there may bee publike vnmercifulnesse AHAB and NABOTH NAboth had a faire Vineyard It had beene better for him to haue had none His vineyard yeelded him the bitter Grapes of death Many a one hath beene sold to death by his lands and goods wealth hath beene a snare as to the soule so to the life Why doe wee call those goods which are many times the bane of the owner Naboths vineyard lay neere to the Court of Iezebel It had beene better for him it had beene planted in the wildernesse Doubtlesse this vicinity made it more commodious to the possessor but more enuious and vnsafe It was now the perpetuall obiect of an euill eye and stirred those desires which could neither be well denyed nor satisfied Eminency is still ioyned with perill obscuritie with peace There can bee no worse annoyance to an inheritance then the greatnesse of an euill neighbourhood Naboths vines stood too neere the smoake of Iezebels chimneys too much within the prospect of Ahabs window Now lately had the King of Israel beene twice victorious ouer the Syrians no sooner is he returned home then hee is ouercome with euill desires The foyle
diuine wee cannot better know what we are indeed then by what we would be Elijah acknowledges the difficultie and promises the grant of so great a request suspended yet vpon the condition of Elishaes eye-sight If thou see me when I am taken from thee it shall be so vnto thee but if not it shall not be What are the eyes to the furniture of the soule What power is there in those visiue beames to draw downe a double portion of Elijahs Spirit God doth not alwaies look at efficacy merit in the conditions of our actions but at the freedome of his own appointments The eye was onely to bee imployed as the seruant of the heart that the desires might bee so much more intended with the sight Vehemence is the way to speed both in earth and in Heauen If but the eye-lids of Elisha fall if his thoughts flacken his hopes are dashed There must bee fixednesse and vigilance in those that desire double graces Elijah was going on and talking when the Charet of heauen came to fetch him Surely had not that conference been needfull and diuine it had giuen way to meditation and Elijah had been taken vp rather from his knees then from his feet There can be no better posture or state for the messenger of our dissolution to finde vs in then in a diligent prosecution of our calling The busie attendance of our holy vocation is no lesse pleasing to God then an immediate deuotion Happy is the seruant whom the master when he comes shall finde so doing Oh the singular glory of Elijah What mortall creature euer had this honour to bee visibly fetched by the Angels of God to his heauen Euery soule of the elect is attended and caried to blessednesse by those inuisible messengers but what flesh and blood was euer graced with such a conuoy There are three bodily Inhabitants of Heauen Henoch Elijah our Sauiour Christ The first before the Law the second vnder the Law the third vnder the Gospell All three in a seuerall forme of translation Our blessed Sauiour raised himselfe to and aboue the heauens by his own immediate power he ascended as the Sonne they as seruants hee as God they as creatures Elijah ascended by the visible ministerie of Angels Henoch insensibly Wherefore O God hast thou done thus but to giue vs a taste of what shall be to let vs see that heauen was neuer shut to the faithfull to giue vs assurance of the future glorification of this mortall and corruptible part Euen thus O Sauiour when thou shalt descend from heauen with a shout with the voice of an Archangell and with the trumpe of God we that are aliue remaine shall bee caught vp together with the raised bodies of thy Saints into the clouds to meet thee in the aire to dwell with thee in glory Many formes haue those celestiall Spirits taken to themselues in their apparitions to men but of all other most often hath the Almighty made his messengers a flame of fire neuer more properly then here How had the Spirit of God kindled the hot fires of zeale in the brest of Elijah How had this Prophet thrice commanded fire from heauen to earth How fitly now at last do these Seraphicall fires cary him from earth to heauen What doe wee see in this rapture of Elijah but violence and terrour whirlewinde and fire two of those fearfull representations which the Prophet had in the Rocke of Horeb Neuer any man entred into glory with ease Euen the most fauourable change hath some equiualency to a naturall dissolution Although doubtlesse to Elijah this fire had a lightsomnesse and resplendance not terrour this whirlewinde had speed not violence Thus hast thou O Sauiour bidden vs when the Elements shall be dissolued and the heauens shall be flaming about our eares to lift vp our heads with ioy because our redemption draweth nigh Come death come fire come whirlewinde they are worthy to bee welcome that shall carie vs to immortalitie This arreption was sudden yet Elisha sees both the Charet and the horses and the ascent and cries to his now changed Master betweene heauen and earth My father my father the charet of Israel and the horsemen thereof Shaphat of Abel-meholab hath yeelded this title to Elijah the naturall father of Elisha to the spirituall neither of them may bee neglected but after the yoake oâ oxen killed at the farewell wee heare of no more greetings no more bewailings of his bodily parentâ and now that Elijah is taken from him hee cries out like a distressed Orphane My father my father and when he hath lost the sight of him he rends his cloathes in pieces according to the fashion of the most passionate mourners That Elisha sees his master halfe-way in heauen cannot take away the sorrow of his losse The departure of a faithfull Prophet of God is worthy of our lamentation Neither is it priuate affection that must sway our griefe but respects to the publike Elisha sayes not onely My father but the charet and horsemen of Israel That we haue forgone a father should not so much trouble vs as that Israel hath lost his guard Certainly the view of this heauenly charet and horses that came for Elijah puts Elisha in minde of that charet and horsemen which Elijah was to Israel These were Gods charet Elijah was theirs Gods charet and theirs are vpon the same wheeles mounted into heauen No forces are so strong as the spirituall the prayers of an Elijah are more powerfull then all the Armies of flesh The first thing that this Seer discernes after the separation of his Master is the nakednesse of Israel in his losse If wee muster Souldiers and leese zealous Prophets it is but a wofull exchange Elijahs Mantle fals from him in the rising there was no vse of that whither hee was going there was whence he was taken Elisha iustly takes vp this deare monument of his glorified master A good supply for his rent garments This was it which in presage of his future right Elijah inuested him withall vpon the first sight when he was ploughing with the twelue yoke of oxen now it fals from heauen to his possession I doe not fee him adore so precious a relique I see him take it vp and cast it about him Pensiue and masterlesse doth hee now come backe to the bankes of Iordan whose streame hee must passe in his returne to the Schooles of the Prophets Ere while he saw what way that riuer gaue to the Mantle of Elijah hee knew that power was not in the cloth but in the spirit of him that wore it to try therefore whether hee were no lesse the heire of that spirit then of that garment hee tooke the mantle of Elijah and smote the waters and said Where is the Lord God of Elijah Elisha doth not expostulate and challenge but pray As if hee said Lord God it was thy promise to mee by my departed master that if I should see him in
in at the eye 1198 F FAction How to quell it drawne from an order in the body and soule 55 Falshood where that is in any it makes vs to suspect others 1134 Fame the vanity of being caried away with the affectation of fame 66 Fame is alwaies a blabbe oftentimes a lyar 1270 Fashion an excellent description of a man of fashion 700 immodesty of outward fashion bewrayes ill desires 851 Of the fashions out-running modesty 1135 Fasting it merits not but it prepares for good 908 Fathers what they owe to their children 242 Fauour it makes vertues of vices 67 Extraordinary fauours to the wicked make way for iudgments and are forerunners of their ruine 876 The purpose of any fauour is more then the value 1088 Fauour not vsed aright doth iustly breake out into Indignation 1135 Faith sudden extremity is a notable tryall of faith 15 The bond of faith is the strongest bond 29 A discourse of the proofes and signes of true faith 348 Of sense and faith 437 Of the power of faith 704 A notable meanes to hearten our faith 894 No life to that of faith 908 A pretty obseruation of the difference of sense faith 916 1162 All our actions done in faith and charity shall bee sure of pay 953 Faith euer ouerlooks the difficulties in the way and hath eye to the end 972 The strongest faith hath euer some touch of infidelity 977 1106 Faith giues both heart and armes in Warre 1084 The weake apprehensions of our imperfect faith are not to be so much censured as pitied 1162 Where our faith is not wanting to God his care cannot be wanting to vs. 1331 Faithfulnesse a faithfull man hath three eyes Of sense of Reason of Faith 34 The Character of a faithfull man 174 175 Faithfulnesse in reproofe 216 None so valiant as the beleeuer 918 It is no smal happinesse to be interessed in the faithfull 1052 Faithlesse no charity binds vs to trust those whom we haue found faithlesse 1102 Feare Feare and seruice must goe together 474 Feare distinguished 474 It fits the minde for Loue. ibid. Loue and feare neuer goe asunder where they are true 475 Feare what it signifies in the originall ibid. Distinguished ibid. Defined ibid. Our feare must bee reduced to seruice 476 A notable encouragement against feare of all oppositions 531 Meere feare is not sinfull 892 Feare and familiaritie God loues in the vse of his Ordinances 897 The most secure heart hath its flashes of feares 951 A fearfull man can neuer be a true friend 1004 Boldnesse and feare are commonly mis-placed in the best hearts 1052 Where there is no place for holy feare there will be place for the seruile 1109 Feasts A checke for our new-found feastings 476 Fight How all the creatures fight for God 531 Fishing Of the Ministers being compared to Fisher-men 1201 Flatterer or flatterie Its character 192 His successe remedy 218 Fatterie what it doth 280 Flattery a sure token of a false teacher 920 A iust doome for false flatterers fully described in the Amalekite that brought tydings to Dauid of Sauls death 1117 1118 A flatterer most notably discouered 1132 1133 Flesh in the matters of God we must not consult with flesh and blood 835 Flight whether wee may fly in time of danger 1177 Follow neuer was seene so bad course but had some followers or applauders 138 Food the soule is fed as the body with milk strong meat 145. 146 Fooles three sorts 213 The successe of their follie ibid. All sinne hath power to befoole a man 1006 Force a pretty Embleme of force and wylinesse ioyned together to worke mischiefe 1002 Fortitude in generall and speciall 226 True ChristiaÌ fortitude what it teacheth 918 True Christian fortitude wades through all euills 1023. A note of true fortitude 1027 Forwardnesse It argues insufficience 871 Foâce a pretty Embleme of the Foâces tayes tyed together 1002 Freedome none free but Gods seruants 9 Freewill That errour foysted on the Church of England by the Parlour of Amsterdam 583 The Romish errour of free-will 645 Friend how to vse him 5 When knowne 25 Friendship Three grounds of friendship 29 What only should part frieÌds 30 True friendship necessarily requireth patience ibid. No time lost that is bestowed on a true friend 31 The right behauiour of a true friend ibid. Of the losse of a friend 31 32 How to make men our frieÌds perforce that will not be so in loue 47 A true friend the sweetest contentment in the world 53 How to deale with an offending friend 55 What we must doe in medling with friends faults 57 Rich men can hardly know their friends 59 The character of a true friend 177 A fearfull man can neuer be a true friend 1004 The fruition of friends a great comfort 1016 The purpose of any friendship is more then the value 1088 Fulke Doctor Fulke commended 287 Funerals Our Churches practice in them commendable 591 G GAderens Christ among their herds 1293 Why they besought Christs departure 1303 Gaine How many in feare of pouerty seâk to gaine vnconscionably and dye beggers 1003 No gaine so sweet as that of a robbed altar 1054 Gallant His description in his iollitie 493 Gamester hee is prettily deciphered 1001 Gergesens Christ among them 1293 Gesture vid. body Gibeonites Their wisdome but not falshood commended 958 Their smooth tale told for themselues ibid. The rescue of Gibeon 965 The Gibeonites reuenged 1243 Gideon His calling 957 His preparation victories 981 There is no greater example of modestie then in Gideon 985 Gifts or giuing God loues not either grudged or necessary gifts 39 Gods former gifts arguments of more 144 Speed in giuing how acceptable 966 In gifts intention is the fauour not the substance 972 God will find a time to make vse of any of his gifts bestowed on any man 991 We measure the loue of God by his gifts 1027 God loues not to haue his gifts lie dead where hee hath conferred them 1265 Glory Gods glory must bee the chiefe of all our actions and desires 902 God The vse of his presence p. 12 13 The absurd impiety of Israels desire of hauing other gods 899 A miserable god that wants helping 1044 With what securitie they walke that take their directions from God 1047 Godlinesse Neuer was any man a loser by true godlinesse 1129 Goliah Of him and Dauid 1080 How fitly he termes himselfe a dogge 1084 His end is a picture of the end of insolency and presumption 1085 Good Of doing good with an ill meaning 63 64 Of good ill vsed 64 All our best good is insensible 146 A good man wil euer be doing good 868 Good done but not out of conscience what they meet with 1090 Goodnesse Its power 7 No good man that mends not 8 It is of a winning qualitie 1023 Those men are worse then deuils that hate any for goodnesse ibid. Gospell The enioyment of it what a fauour it is 907 Its sweetnesse 929 Gouernours
calling Gideons preparation and victory The reuenge of Succoth and Penuel Abimelech's vsurpation AT LONDON Printed by IOHN BEALE and NATHANIEL BVTTER Ann. Dom. 1624. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE MY SINGVLAR GOOD LORD SIR THOMAS EGERTON KNIGHT LORD ELLESMERE LORD CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND CHANCELLOR OF THE VNIVERSITIE OF OXFORD THE SINCERE AND GRAVE ORACLE OF EQVITIE THE GREAT AND SVRE FRIEND OF THE CHVRCH THE SANCTVARY OF THE CLERGIE THE BOVNTIFVLL ENCOVRAGER OF LEARNING I. H. With Thankfull AcknowledgeMENT OF GODS BLESSING VPON THIS STATE IN SO WORTHY AN INSTRVMENT AND HVMBLE PRAYERS FOR HIS HAPPY CONTINVANCE DEDICATES THIS POORE AND VNWORTHY PART OF HIS LABOVRS CONTEMPLATIONS THE NINTH BOOKE The Rescue of GIBEON THe life of the Gibeonites must cost them seruitude from Israel and danger from their neighbours if Ioshua will but sit still the deceit of the Gibeonites shall be reuenged by his enemies Fiue Kings are vp in Armes against them and are ready to pay their fraud with violence What should these poore men doe If they make not their peace they die by strangers if they doe make their peace with Forrainers they must dye by Neighbours There is no course that threatens not some danger Wee haue sped well if our choice hath light vpon the easiest inconuenience If these Hiuites haue sinned against God against Israel yet what haue they done to their Neighbours I heare of no trechery no secret information no attempt I see no sinne but their league with Israel and their life yet for ought wee finde they were free-men no way either obliged or obnoxious As Satan so wicked men cannot abide to lose any of their community If a Conuert come home the Angels welcome him with Songs the Diuels follow him with vprore and fury his old Partners with scornes and obliquie I finde these Neighbour Princes halfe dead with feare and yet they can finde time to be sicke of enuy Malice in a wicked heart is the king of Passions all other vaile and bow when it comes in place euen their owne life was not so deare to them as reuenge Who would not rather haue lookt that these Kings should haue tried to haue followed the coppy of this League Or if their fingers did itch to fight why did they not rather thinke of a defensiue warre against Israel then an offensiue against the Gibeonites Gibeon was strong and would not be wonne without bloud yet these Amorites which at their best were too weake for Israel would spend their forces before hand on their Neighbours Here was a strong hatred in weake brests they feared and yet began to fight they feared Israel yet began to fight with Gibeon If they had sate stil their destruction had not been so sudden the malice of the wicked hastens the pase of their owne iudgement No rod is so fit for a mischieuous man as his owne Gibeon and these other Cities of the Hiuites had no King and none yeelded and escaped but they Their elders consulted before for their League neither is there any challenge sent to the King but to the City And now the fiue Kings of the Amorites haue vniustly compacted against them Soueraigntie abused is a great spurre to outrage the conceit of authority in great persons many times lies in the way of their owne safety whiles it will not let them stoope to the ordinary courses of inferiours Hence it is that heauen is peopled with so few Great-ones hence it is that true contentment seldome dwels high whiles meaner men of humble spirits enioy both earth and heauen The Gibeonites had well proued that though they wanted an Head yet they wanted not wit and now the same wit that wonne Ioshua and Israel to their friendship and protection teacheth them to make vse of those they had won If they had not more trusted Ioshua then their wals they had neuer stolne that League when should they haue vse of their new Protectors but now that they were assailed Whither should we flie but to our Ioshua when the powers of darkenes like mighty Amorites haue besieged vs If euer we will send vp our prayers to him it will be when we are beleagured with euils If we trust to our own resistance wee cannot stand we cannot miscarry if we trust to his in vaine shall we send to our Ioshua in these straits if we haue not before come to him in our freedome Which of vs would not haue thought Ioshua had a good pretence for his forbearance and haue said You haue stolne your League with me why doe you expect helpe from him whom ye haue deceiued All that wee promised you was a sufferance to liue enioy what wee promised we will not take your life from you Hath your faithfulnesse deserued to expect more then our couenant wee neuer promised to hazard our liues for you to giue you life with the losse of our own But that good man durst not construe his owne couenant to such an aduantage he knew little difference betwixt killing them with his owne sword and the sword of an Amorite whosoeuer should giue the blow the murder would be his Euen permission in those things we may remedy makes vs no lesse Actors then consent some men kill as much by looking on as others by smiting We are guilty of all the euill we might haue hindered The noble disposition of Ioshua besides his ingagement will not let him forsake his new Vassals Their confidence in him is argument enough to draw him into the Field The greatest obligation to a good minde is anothers trust which to disappoint were mercilesly perfidious How much lesse shall our true Ioshua faile the confidence of our faith Oh my Sauiour if we send the messengers of our praiers to thee into thy Gilgal thy mercy bindes thee to reliefe neuer any soule miscarried that trusted thee we may be wanting in our trust our trust can neuer want successe Speed in bestowing doubles a gift a benefit deferred loses the thankes and proues vnprofitable Ioshua marches all night and fights all day for the Gibeonites They tooke not so much paines in comming to deceiue him as he in going to deliuer them It is the noblest victory to ouercome euill with good If his very Israelites had been in danger he could haue done no more God and his Ioshua make no difference betwixt Gibeonites Israelited and his owne naturall people All are Israelites whom he hath taken to league we strangers of the Gentiles are now the true Iewes God neuer did more for the naturall Oliue then for that wilde Impe which he hath graffed in And as these Hiuites could neuer bee thankfull enough to such a Ioshua no more can we to so gracious a Redeemer who forgetting our worthinesse descended to our Gibeon and rescued vs from the powers of hell and death Ioshua fought but God discomfited the Amorites The praise is to the workman not the instrument Neither did God slay them onely with Ioshuas sword but with his own
haile-stones that now the Amorites may see both these reuenges come from one hand These bullets of God doe not wound but kill It is no wonder that these fiue Kings flie they may soone runne away from their hope neuer from their horror If they looke behinde there is the sword of Israel which they dare not turne vpon because God had taken their heart from them before their life If they looked vpwards there is the haile shot of God fighting against them out of heauen which they can neither resist nor auoid If they had no enemie but Israel they might hope to runne away from death sith feare is a better footman then desire of reuenge but now whither-soeuer they runne heauen will be about their heads And now all the reason that is left them in this confusion of their thoughts is to wish themselues well dead there is no euasion where God intends a reuenge We men haue deuised to imitate these instruments of death send forth deadly bullets out of a cloud of smoke wherein yet as there is much danger so much vncertaintie but this God that discharges his Ordinance from heauen directs euery shot to an head and can as easily kill as shoot It is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the liuing God he hath more waies of vengeance then he hath creatures The same heauen that sent forth water to the old world fire to the Sodomites Lightning and Thunder-bolts to the Egyptians sends out hailestones to the Amorites It is a good care how we may not anger God it is a vaine study how we may flie from his iudgements when we haue angered him if we could runne out of the world euen there shall we finde his reuenges farre greater Was it not miracle enough that God did braine their Aduersaries from heauen but that the Sun and Moone must stand still in heauen Is it not enough that the Amorites flie but that the greatest Planets of heauen must stay their own course to witnesse and wonder at the discomfiture For him which gaue them both being and motion to bid them stand still it seemes no difficultie although the rarenesse would deserue admiration but for a man to command the chiefe Starres of heauen by whose influence he liueth as the Centurion would doe his seruant Sunne stay in Gibeon and Moone stand still in Aialon it is more then a wonder It was not Ioshua but his faith that did this not by way of precept but of praier If I may not say that the request of a faithfull man as wee say of the great commands Gods glory was that which Ioshua aimed at he knew that all the world must needs be witnesses of that which the Eye of the world stood still to see Had he respected but the slaughter of the Amorites he knew the Haile-stones could doe that alone the Sunne needed not stand still to direct that cloud to persecute them but the glory of the slaughter was sought by Ioshua that he might send that vp whence those Haile-stones and that victory came All the Earth might see the Sunne and Moone all could not see the Cloud of Haile which because of that heauy burden flew but low That all Nations might know the same hand commands both in Earth in the Clouds in Heauen Ioshua now praies that he which disheartned his enemies vpon earth and smote them from the cloud would stay the Sunne and Moone in Heauen God neuer got himselfe so much honour by one dayes worke amongst the Heathen and when was it more fit then now when fiue Heathen Kings are banded against him The Sun and the Moone were the ordinary gods of the world and who would not but thinke that their standing still but one houre should be the ruine of Nature And now all Nations shall well see that there is an higher then their highest that their gods are but seruants to the god whom themselues should serue at whose pleasure both they and Nature shall stand at once If that God which meant to work this miracle had not raised vp his thoughts to desire it it had beene a blameable presumption which now is a faith worthy of admiration To desire a miracle without cause is a tempting of God O powerfull God that can effect this O power of faith that can obtain it What is there that God cannot doe and what is there which God can doe that faith cannot doe The Altar of the Reubenites REuben and Gad were the first that had an inheritance assigned them yet they must enioy it last So it falls out oft in the heauenly Canaan the first in title are the last in possession They had their lot assigned them beyond Iordan which though it were allotted them in peace must be purchased with their warre that must be done for their brethren which needed not be done for themselues they must yet still fight and fight formost that as they had the first patrimony they might endure the first encounter I doe not heare them say This is our share let vs sit downe and enioy it quietly fight who will for the rest but when they knew their owne portion they leaue wiues and children to take possession and march armed before their brethren till they had conquered all Canaan Whether should we more commend their courage or their charity Others were moued to fight with hope they only with loue they could not win more they might lose themselues yet they will fight both for that they had something and that their brethren might haue Thankfulnesse and loue can doe more with Gods children then desire to merit or necessity No true Israelite can if he might chuse abide to sit still beyond Iordan when all his brethren are in the field Now when all this warre of God was ended and all Canaan is both won and diuided they returne to their owne yet not till they were dismissed by Ioshua all the sweet attractiues of their priuate loue cannot hasten their pace If heauen be neuer so sweet to vs yet may we not runne from this earthen warfare till our great Captaine shall please to discharge vs. If these Reubenites had departed sooner they had been recalled if not as cowards surely as fugitiues now they are sent backe with victory and blessing How safe and happy it is to attend both the call and the dispatch of God! Being returned in peace to their home their first care is not for Trophees nor for houses but for an Altar to God an Altar not for sacrifice which had been abominable but for a memoriall what God they serued The first care of true Israelites must be the safety of Religion the world as it is inferiour in worth so must it be in respect hee neuer knew God aright that can abide any competition with his Maker The rest of the Tribes no sooner heare newes of their new Altar but they gather to Shiloh to fight against them they had scarce breathed from the Canaanitish