rib out of Adams side thereof built the woman He is not said to make man a wife but to builde him a wife signifiing that man and wife make as it were one house together that the building was not perfect vntill the woman was made as well as the man therefore if the building bee not perfect now it must be destroyed againe Before God made the woman it is sayd that he cast the man into a sleepe and in his sleepe he tooke a rib out of his side and as he made man of earth so hee made the woman of bone while Adam was a sleepe This doth teach vs two things as the first Adam was a figure of the second Adam so the first Adams sleepe was a figure of the second Adams sleepe and the first Adams spouse was a figure of the second Adams spouse That is as in the sleepe of Adam Eue was borne so in the sleep of Christ the church was borne as a bone came out of the first Adams side so blood came out of the second Adams side As Adams spouse receiued life in his sleepe so Christs spouse receiued life in his sleepe that is the death of Christ is the life of the Chruch for the Apostle calleth death a sleepe but Christ which died is called life shewing that in his death we liue Secondly this sleep which the man was cast into while his wife was created doth teach vs that our affections our lustes and our concupiscences should sleepe while we goe about this action As the man slept while his wife was making so our flesh should sleepe while our wife is choosing least as the loue of venison wanne Isaack to blesse one for another so the loue of gentrie or riches or beautie make vs take one for another To honour mariage more yet or rather to teach the married how to honour one another it is said that the wife was made of the husbands rib not of his head for Paul calleth the husband the wiues head nor of the foote for hee must not set her at his foote the seruant is appointed to serue and the wife to helpe If shee must not matche with the head not stoupe at the foote where shall he set her then Hee must set her at his hart and therefore she which should lie in his bosome was made in his bosome and should be as close to him as his rib of which she was fashioned Lastlie in all Nations the day of mariage was reputed the ioyfullest day in all their life and is reputed still of all as though the sunne of happinesse began that day to shine vppon vs when a good wife is brought vnto vs. Therefore one saith that mariage doth signifie merrie-age because a play-fellow is come to make our age merrie as Isaac and Rebecca sported together Salomon considering all these excellencies as though we were more indebted vnto God for this then other temporall gifts saith House and riches are the inheritance of the fathers but a prudent wife commeth of the Lord. House and riches are giuen of God and all things else and yet hee saith house and riches are giuen of parents but a good wife is giuen of God as though a good wife were such a gift as we should account from God alone and accept it as if he should send vs a present from heauen with this name written on it The gift of God Beastes are ordeined for food and cloathes for warmth and flowers for pleasure but the wife is ordeined for man like litle Zoar a Citie of refuge to flie to in all his troubles and there is no peace comparable vnto her but the peace of conscience Now it must needes bee that Mariage which was ordeined of such an excellent author and in such a happie place and of such an auncient time and after such a notable order must likewise haue speciall causes for the ordinance of it Therefore the holy Ghost doth shew vs three causes of this vnion One is the propagation of children signified in that when Moses saith He created them male and female not both male nor both female but one male and the other female as if he created them fit to propagate other And therefore when he had created them so to shewe that propagation of children is one ende of mariage he sayd vnto them Encrease and multiplie That is Bring forth children as other creatures bring forth their kinde For this cause Mariage is called Matrimonie which signifieth mothers because it maketh them mothers which were virgins before and in the seminarie of the world without which all things should be in vaine for want of men to vse them for God reserueth the great Citie to himselfe and this Suburbes he hath set out to vs which are Regents by sea and by land If children be such a chiefe ende of mariage then it seemes that where there can be no hope of children for age and other causes there mariage is not so lawfull because it is maimed of one of his endes and seemes rather to be sought for wealth or for lust then for this blessing of children It is not good grafting of an olde head vpon young shoulders for they will neuer beare it willingly but grudgingly Twise the wife is called The wife of thy youth as though when men are olde the time of marying were past Therefore God makes such vnequall matches so ridiculous euerie where that they please none but the parties themselues The second cause is to auoyd fornication this Paul signifieth when he saith For the auoyding of fornication let euerie man haue his owne wife He saith not for auoiding of adulterie but for auoiding of fornication shewing that fornication is vnlawfull too which the Papists make lawful in maintaining their stewes as a stage for fornicators to play vpon and a sanctuarie to defend them like to Absaloms tent which was spread vpon the top of the house that all Israel might see how he defiled his fathers concubines For this cause Malachie saith that God did create but one woman for the man hee had power to create moe but to shew that he would haue him stick to one therfore he created of one ribbe but one wife for one husband And in the Arke there were no mo women then men but foure wiues for foure husbands although it was in the beginning of the world when many wiues might seeme necessarie to multiplie mankinde If any might haue a dispensation herein it seemes that Kinges might bee priuiledged before any other because of their succession to the Crowne if his wife should happen to be barren and yet the King is forbidden to take many wiues in Deut. 17. 17. as well as the minister in 1. Tim. 3. 2. shewing that the danger of the state doth not counteruaile the danger of fornication For this
haue to liue wil make vs applie our harts to that which is good The first point is that as euery one had a day to come into this world so he shal haue a day to goe out of this world When Moses had spoken of some which liued 700. yeeres and other which liued 800. yeeres and other which liued 900. yeeres shewing that some had a longer time and some a shortet yet he speakes this of all mortuus est at last comes in mortuus est that is he died which is the Epitaph of euery man We are not lodged in a castell but in an Inne where wee are but guests and therefore Peter cals vs strangers We are not Citizens of the earth but Citizens of Heauen and therefore the Apostle saith we haue here no abiding City but we look for one to come As Christ saith my kingdom is not of this world so we may say My dwelling is not in this world but the soule soareth vpward whence she came the body stoopeth downward whence it came as the tabernacles of the Iews were made to remoue so our tabernacles are made to remoue Euery man is a tenant at wil ther is nothing sure in life but deth as he which wrote this is gone so I which preach it you which heare it one comming in one going out is to all Although this is daily seene yet it had need be prooued nay euery man had need to die to make him beleeue that he shall die When Adam Eue became subiect to death because of their sin to teach them to think on death so soon as they were thrust out of paradise God clothed them with the skins of dead beastes which shewed them that now they were cloathed with death and that as the beastes were dead whose skins they wore so they should die also therefore Dauid saith Man being in honour became like the beasts which perish when he saith that hee did become like the beasts which perish he implieth that man should not perish like the beasts but when he did like a beast hee died like a beast From that day euery man might say with Iob Corruption was my father and the worme was my mother For the rich glutton is lockt in his graue as fast as poore Lazarus Therfore God speaking of kings saith I said ye are Gods but ye shal die like men If kings must die like men then the expectation of men is death therefore when this king was readie to die he said to Salomon that he should go the way of all the earth calling death the way of all the earth to which Esay be ares witnesse crying all flesh is grasse that is it falleth and is cut downe like grasse In paradise we might liue or die in the world we liue must die in heauen she shall liue and not die Before sinne nothing could change vs now euery thing doth change vs. For when winter comes wee are cold when age comes wee are withered when sicknesse comes we are weak to shew that when death comes we shal die The clothes which were vpon our backs the sun which sets ouer our heads the graues which lie vnder our feete the meate which goes into our mouthes câ—ie vnto vs that we shall we are and sade and die like the fishes and foules and beasts which euen now were liuing in their elements and now are dead in our dishes Euery thing euerie day suffers some eclipse and nothing stands at a stay but one creature calles to another let vs leaue this world Our fathers summoned vs and we shall summon our children to the graue first wee wax olde then wee wax drie then wee wax weake then wee wax sicke so wee melt away by drops at last as we caried other so other cary vs vnto the graue this is the last bed which euery man shal sleep in we must returne to our mothers wombe Therefore Iacob called his life but a pilgrimage therfore Paul called his life but a race therfore Dauid calleth him selfe but a worme a pilgrimage hath an end a race hath a stop a worme is but troden vnder foote and dead straight so in a houre we are and are not heere we are now and anon we are separated to morrow one sickneth and the next day another sickneth and all that be here neuer meet againe we may well be called earthen vessels for we are soone broken a spider is able to choake vs a pin is able to kill vs all of vs are borne one way and die a hundred waies As Eliah stood in the doore of the caâ—e when God passed by so wee stand in the passages of this world readie to go out whensoeuer God shall cal We loose first our infancie then our childhood then our youth at last as we came in the roomes of other so other come into our roomes If all our daies were as long as the day of Iosua when the sun stood still in the midst of heauen yet it will be night at last our sun shal set like other It is not long that we grow but when we begin to fall we are like the ice which thaweth sooner then it froze so these little worlds are destroied first and at last the great world shal be destroied too for all which was made for vs shall perish with vs. What do you learne when you thinke of this but that which Moses saith to applie your hearts to wisdome death commeth after life and yet it guides the whole life like the sterne of a ship but for death there would be no rule but euery mans lust should be his law he is like a King which frighteth a far oft though he defer his sessions and stay the execution yet the verie feare that he will come makes the proudest peacock lay downe his feathers and is like a dampe which puts out all the lights of pleasure The second note is that the time of man is set his bounds appointed which he cannot passe therfore Moses praieth the Lord that he would teach him to number his daies as though there were a number of our daies Therefore God is called Palmoni which signifieth a secret number because he knoweth the number of our daies which is secret to vs. As it was said to Balthasar God hath numbred thy kingdome so it may be said to all God hath numbred thy life To this Job beareth witnes saying Are not his daies determined thou hast appoynted his bounds which he cannot passe Again Ieremie saith they could not stand because the day of their destruction was come As there is a day of destruction and a day of death so there is a day of birth a day of marriage a day of honour a day of deliuerance according to that the determinatioÌ„ is made that is God hath determined all things As God appointed a time when
and the discouerie of Transubstantiation one of the last heresies which Babylon hatched Now they which haue bene Patrons of it before should doe like the father and mother of an idolater that is laie the first hand vpon him to shorten his life Thus I end Thinke what account ye shall giue of that ye haue heard The end of the first Sermon A TREATISE OF THE Lords Supper THE SECOND SERMON 1. Cor. 11. 25. 26. 27. 28. 25 After the same manner also hee tooke the Cuppe when he had supped saying This Cup is the New Testament in my blood this doe as oft as yee drinke it in remembrance of me 26 For as often as yee shall eate this bread and drinke this Cuppe yee shewe the Lords death till he come 27 Wherefore whosoeuer shall eate this bread and drinke the Cuppe of the Lord vnworthily shall be guiltie of the bodie and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a man therefore examine himselfe and so let him eate of this bread and drinke of this Cuppe HEere I am to speake of the second seruice as it were at the Lordes table and of that preparation which is lyke the Wedding garment that euerie man must bring to this BaÌ„quet These words are diuersly repeated of the Euangelists Here it is sayd This Cup is the New Testament in my blood In Mathew in Mark it is said This Cup is my blood of the new Testament This is the first meÌ„tion which Christ makes of a Testament as though now his promises deserued the name of a Testament because the seale is set vnto them which before this Sacrament was not sealed but like a bare writing without a singet This word Testament dooth implie a promise and therefore teacheth vs that the Sacrament dooth confirme and strengthen and nourish our faith because it sealeth the promise which we should beleeue Here is to be noted that Christ doth not onely speake of a Testament but hee calleth it a New Testament which words neuer met together before as though the Law were for the olde man to mortifie him and the Gospel for the new man to comfort him againe or as if the olde Testament had so washt her face and chaunged her apparell at Christes comming that one would not thinke it the same but a newe Testament because euen now she was shadowed with a thousand Ceremonies and now they are gone from her like a mist at the Sunne rising As Christ calleth Loue A new Commandement because hee renewed it like a Law worne out of memorie so he calleth the promise of saluation a New Testament because as it was renewed to Sem and after renewed to Abraham and after renewed to Dauid so now hee renewed it againe which should bee alway new and fresh vnto vs. Euery Testament is confirmed with blood the olde Testament was confirmed by the blood of Goates and Bullockes and Rammes but the new Testament is confirmed by the blood of Christ My blood saith Christ is the blood of the new Testament nay This Cup saith Christ is the new Testament You may see then that they may gather as well out of Christs words that the Cup is the new Testament as that the Wine is his blood for Christ sayth This Cup is the new Testament as well as he saith this Wine is my blood or this bread is my bodie Beside when Christ speakes of a new Testament he implieth that the old Testament is fulfilled the sacrifices and Ceremonies of the Lawe did signifie Christ before hee came therefore they are fulfilled in his comming no moe Sacrifices no mo Ceremonies for the truth is come Sacrifices and Ceremonies are honorablie buried with the Priesthood of Aaron let them rest it is not lawfull to violate the sepulchers of the dead and take their bodies out of the earth as the witch would raise Samuel out of his graue Therefore they which retaine ceremonies which should be abrogated reliques of Iudaisme or reliques of Papisme may be said to violate the sepulchers of the dead and disturbe the deceâ—sed like the Witch which presumed to raise Samuel out of his graue This Testament is called a Testament in blood because the Testament and Will of a man is confirmed when the man is dead so Christ confirmed his testament by his death Moses saith that life is in the blood so the blood of Christ is the life of this Testament If Christes blood had not bene shed this testament made vnto vs had bene vnprofitable as the Testament of a Father is vnto his sonne if the father should not die but liue therfore the Apostle saith without shedding of blood there is no remission of sinnes Therefore the Testament or Couenaunt of the remission of our sinnes is called the Testament in blood the blood of Christ is the seale of the Testament which wee haue to shew vnto God for the remission of our sins and the two Sacraments are a seale of that blood to witnesse that it was shed Againe this is a matter regarded in testaments and Willes to the Testament of him that is dead no man addeth or detracteth but as the testator made it so it standeth without alteration so should this testament of Christ and this sacrament of Christ no man should alter it now hee is dead for hee which addeth or detracteth hath a curse in Gods booke Therefore Christ when he instituted this Sacrament commaunded Doo this that is doo as I doo least they should swarue one whit from his owne manner yet how many gaudes haue the Papists added to it that he which had heard Christ say Doe this in remembraunce of me and should see how they handle the matter in their Masse coulde see nothing to remember Christ by but a vayle to hide Christ from him Therefore this Commaundement was repeated againe when hee gaue the Wine Doe this c. As hee commaunded them to eate the Bread in remembraunce of him so hee commaundeth them to drinke the wine in remembraunce of him nay hee speakes more precisely of the wine then of the bread for hee saith of the wine Drinke you all of this which hee saith not of the breade Surely Christ did foresee that some proud heretikes would doe otherwise after him euen as it is come to passe for the Papist doth break this Commandement of Christ as flatly as Saul brake the commaundement of Samuell Samuell commanded him to kill the fat and the leane Saul killed the leane but not the fat so Christ commaundeth to receiue bread and wine they teach to receiue breade but not wine Christ sayth Drinke you all of this they say drink not al of this Christ gaue the bread and wine to all they giue the bread to all and the wine to some their Priests receiue all but the people must content themselues with halfe the Priest eates and drinkes but the people must not drinke for spilling on their cloathes Is
out of heauen no not one hower This made the Martyres so willing to abide any kinde of death that tyrannie could deuise to be rid of their sinfull bands and this corruptible burthen which presseth downe the soule that looks after Christ like his disciples when he ascended to heauen All is trouble and wearines and vanitie to the godly mind whether he eate or drinke or sleepe he counteth it a seruitude vnto the flesh and wisheth with Dauid to be rid from these necessities so the knowledge and loue of God maketh a man forget his owne flesh maketh him despice the whole world taketh away the difference from life and death changeth his nature which hee could neuer ouercome and teacheth him to renounce his deere selfe and say though he should die Not my will but thy will bee done All this appeareth in this example what operation is in the knowledge and loue of Christ it made the world irksome vnto Paul which all men naturally desire it made death pleasant vnto him which all men naturally abhorre although they bee wearie of their life and haue no pleasure from morning to night yet it will not please them to change which they needes must they neuer loath but loue their miseries I will not dye one houre to liue for euer Doe not the wicked themselues prophecie by their feare of death a worse condition of some dreadfull iudgement after this life prepared for sinners and all that contemne GOD when none but they stande in such feare of death Why dooth one wish for it and another tremble to heare of it If it were but a sleepe no man would feare it at all for who feareth to take his rest when the night approacheth If it did take away sence and feeling and make men trees or stones no man would feare it at all for who would feare strokes if hee could feele no more then a stone or who would care for any thing if he had no sence of anything would any man tremble so to bee as the dead creatures which haue no sence of euill They must needes be in better case than the happiest man in this life which is not without the sence of euill Therefore this feare of death which you see in all but the faithfull dooth presage some strange torment some heauie change and sharpe punishment to those men which they begin to tast alreadie before they dye like the spirite which persecuted Saul before his end They desire not to be dissolued but they feare to bee dissolued they goe not to Christ but their departure is an euerlasting departure from Christ to the damned to the diuels to hell without either end or ease or patience to endure it Thus you see that no man is willing to die before his conscience bee quieted towarde God and that he can catch some hope of a better life after this life He which knowes that he shall go to Christ it is impossible that he should die vnwillingly but he which can not hope for a better world must needs leaue this world grudginglie and feare death more then all the terrors of life He had rather to be sicke and cold and hungry and want and beg then go with death because he knoweth what he suffereth here but hee knoweth not what he shall suffer hereafter Therefore he which is not willing to be dissolued hath not â—earned Christ yet as Paul did for no man esteeme this life when he begins to taste of the next but then the loue of the world doth fall from him like the mantle of Elias when he was rapt into heauen The Apostle had seene many good things in his daies and was neuer satisfied willing to be dissolued but thirsted still and no water could quench his thirst vntill hee dranke of the water of life and then hee thirsted no more so nothing can fill the soule which was made for God but God alone Riches and honors pleasures did not make Simeon willing to die but the sight of Christ happie are the eyes which see him for they are as willing to die as Simeon was So soone as Iohn Baptist did see our Sauiour and knew that it was hee hee debased himselfe as if hee had beene nobodie and would not bee accounted of but sought to loose the opinion of the people that Christ might haue all although he was a Prophet and more than a Prophet and not a greater amongst the sonnes of women So when Paul had seene his Sauiour hee forgot all that he loued all that hee desired and all that hee possessed no ioye no glorie no life now but to die All thinges must yeelde to the Sonne and bee content with Iohn that hee increase and wee decrease This is our glorie and life that hee liueth in glorie It is enough saith Iacob for me that Ioseph my sonne liueth it is enough for vs that Iesus our Sauiour reigneth If the head be crowned all the bodie is more honoured therefore let vs glorie that Christ is glorified and reioyce as much that hee is ascended as our fathers reioyced that he descended for where the head is there the body must needes be I desire to be dissolued he calleth his death not a destruction but a dissolution for three causes First he departeth from this life and hath no more societie with them that liue vpon the earth Secondly his soule departeth from the bodie vntill the day of resurrection then she findeth her owne bodie agayne and they reioyce like friends which are met together Thirdly he departeth from this vale of miserie into the paradise of ioy and all felicitie to liue and reigne with God for euer in assurance whereof he saith that he shall bee with Christ so that death is the way to Christ As the Doue found no rest vntill she came to the Arke so the faithfull find no rest till they come to Christ they goe through the wildernesse like other men Vntill the Iewes arriued at Canaan all their life was spent in sinfull Egypt or in the dreadfull desert during the time of their iourney they had no setled rest or continuing pleasure Peace beginneth when the battell endeth there is the prerogatiue of the dead least death should bee too fearefull to vs. The best of Gods blessings are behind that is euerlasting life and the way to it is death thou art going to ioye therefore looke not for it vntill thou come to thy iourneys ende If Canaan the land of peace the land of plentie the land of pleasure bee in the wildernesse stay heere march no further whither doe you goe like the Pilgrims of Israel if Canaan be in the wildernesse But Paul lookes for the crowne at the gole he is not with Christ but trusts to bee with Christ he is not in heauen but he hopes to come to heauen and this hope led him through the wildernesse that he murmured not like the Israelities but only longed for
that day when Christ shall say vnto him as he said to the penitent theefe This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Thus you haue heard the difference betweene the faithfull and the wicked how the one lotheth this life and the other longeth after it Now wee come to our questions Simeon said Lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace so Paul saith I desire to be dissolued and to be with Christ they doubted not as the Papists doe what should become of them after death for one saith that he goes to Christ the other saith that he goes to peace therefore it seemes that Purgatorie was not yet found when the iust men went to peace This is one of the fruits of a godly life it hath hope saith Salomon in the end in death it warranteth a man of life when the flesh saith feare and the serpent despaire it makes the flesh crouch and the serpent flye the soule reioyce while death is opening the prison doore that she may flie to her countrey from whence she came Therefore what shall I say to Purgatorie if Paul go to Christ Simeon goe to peace Some say that it is in the ayre some say that it is in the earth some vnder the earth some a little aboue hell Thus Nabuchadnezzar cannot assoile his owne dreame You must vnderstand that Purgatorie is like your paynted Sepulchers which are framed more for the liuing then for the dead for you know that the locusts of Rome liue by Trentals and Dirges and Masses for the dead as the Siluersmiths in Ephesus liued by Images and therefore as they were loth that Images should goe downe so they are loth that their Purgatorie should bee quenched for it is the gainfullest lye in all Poperie for out of this lake issue their Masses and Dirges and Trentals for the dead They are sayd for the dead but they make for the liuing For the dead haue no portion of al that is done vnder the sun doe what you will say what you can Masses Dirges or Trentals they haue no portion in it for they haue receiued their reward alreadie and the tree lieth where it fell yet these foolish virgins hope for oyle of the wise virgins and thinke they shall be paied for other mens labours and almes and trentals pilgrimages and Masses as though they neuer read that the iust shall liue by his owne faith that he which beleeueth shal not go to iudgement but passe from death to life that they that die in the Lord rest from their labours how doe they goe presently into Paradise if they stay at Purgatorie and fire torments Hath Christ satisfied for vs must wee now make satisfaction for our selues Whither the glutton and the beggar are gone thither must we all that is to Abrahams bosome or hell fire there are but two kindes of men and therefore but two waies and where then is Purgatorie which the best of the fathers confesseth that he could neuer finde in Scripture Therefore take heed of hell for Purgatorie is but a scarre babe Furthermore when Paul sayth that he shall goe to Christ this seemes to resolue the old question often debated among the simple people once deluded whether the soules of men departed walke after death and appeare vnto men exhorting them to this or that as Gregorie or some counterfeit reporteth in his Dialogues The Apostles before their full groweth might seeme to bee incumbred with this errour because when they saw Christ walking vpon the waters they sayd It is a spirite and when Peter knocked at the doore in the night they sayd to Rhode a Damsell It is his Angel Act. 12. 15. Which errour was drawen from the elusion of Sathan and vulgar opinion receiued from Pythagoras which taught that the soules of men departed did returne into the bodies of other men after death either for correction or for reward if they were good soules then they were preferred to better men if they had been badde soules then they were cast into worse bodies then they had before a fine Philosophicall dreame This deluded Herod when hee heard of Christ he supposed that Iohn Baptist was risen againe whom he had beheaded and the better sort of the people as we reade in Mat. 16. 14. dreamed that Christ was Elias or Iohn Baptist or Ieremie or some of the Prophets risen againe But touching the soule once departed from the body that it returnes not nor can returne into the world many examples and testimonies and reasons the order of our resurrection declareth The soules of the righteous are in the hands of the Lord no man or diuell can take them out of his hands the soules of the wicked are in the hands of the diuell and God will not take them out of his hands and therefore Abraham sayth He which is here cannot come from hence and they which be there cannot come frō thence for then the paines of hell were not euerlasting paynes not the ioyes of heauen euerlasting ioyes but temporal like the paynes and ioyes of this world Therefore it is no soule which walks about How then What is this which I see in the night like such a man and such a man The Diuell which chaungeth himselfe into an Angell of light to deceiue can change himself into the likenes of a man much more that is it which thou seest as Saul sawe Samuel 1. Sam. 28. 8. not Samuel himselfe For could the Witch raise Samuel out of the graue which could not keepe her selfe out of the graue or could the diuell disturbe the Prophet after death Then he should neuer be quiet if the diuell could disturbe him because hee disquieteth the godlie so much while they liue If this apparation bee called Samuel how doth he call it Samuell if it be not Samuel As the Bookes of Caluine are called Caluine as the picture of Beza is called Beza as he which playeth the King vpon a stage is called a King as the golden Myce and Hemerodes which the Philistines layd in the Arke were called Myce and Hemerodes although they were but meere shapes and figures of them so this likenesse of Samuel is called Samuell though it was not Samuel in deede but a counterfeit shape of Samuel For GOD would not answere Saul before by Oracle nor by Priest nor by Prophet and would hee aunswere him by the dead which dooth forbid to aske counsell of the dead No sayth Abraham they haue Moses and the Prophets Luke 16. As if hee should say let them learne of the bookes of the dead for the dead shall not returne vnto them Againe if it had been Samuel himselfe which had taught Saul to worship GOD woulde that holie Prophet haue receiued worship himselfe as this spirit did Againe If it had been Samuel Sauls Schoolemaster which taught him alwayes to repent while hee liued hee would rather haue exhorted him to repentance now
that is to vs which are yong strong that the father should be called a labourer when the sonnes stand by Now the grounde was barren because of the floud and could not bring forth fruite of it selfe because of the curse therefore it pitied Noah to see desolation and barrennesse and slime vpon the face of the earth which he had seene so glorious and sweete and fertill with all manner of hearbes and fruites and flowers before Therefore he setteth himselfe to manure it which wanted for nothing now but a painful labourer to till and dresse it that it might bring forth delights and profites for sinfull man as it did before By this wee may learne to vse all meanes for the obtayning of Gods blessings and not to loose any thing which wee might haue or saue for want of paines for that is sinne as Salomon noteth in the foure and twentith of the Prouerbes when he reproueth the slouthfull husbandman because his fielde brought forth Nettles and Thisâ—les in stead of grapes not because the grounde would not beare grapes but because the slouthfull man would not set them Shall God commaund the earth and all his creatures to encrease for vs and shall not wee further their encrease for our selues As we encrease and multiplie our selues so wee are bound to ioyne hand and helpe that all creatures may increase and multiplie too or els the Fathers should eate the childrens portion and in time there should bee nothing left for them that come after this regard Noah seemeth to haue vnto his posteritie and therefore he gaue himselfe vnto husbandrie which is commended in him vnto this day and shall be recorded of him so long as this booke is read whereby we are warned that he which liueth onely to himselfe is not to bee remembred of them which liue after But as Dauid cared how the Realm should bee gouerned after his death as well as he did during his life so though we dye and depart this world yet we should leaue that example or those bookes or those workes behinde vs which may profite the Church and Common-wealth when wee are dead and buried as much as we did when we liued among them euen as Noah planted a Vineyarde not for himselfe but for the ages to come after Some doe thinke that Noah planted the first Vineyard and drunke the first wine and that there was no vse of grapes before which opinion they are led vnto that they might excuse Noah and mittigate his fault if hee did sippe too deepe of that cup the strength and operation whereof was not knowne vnto him nor vnto any man before but it is not like that the excellent licour and wholesome iuice of the Grape did lye hidde from the world so many hundreth yeres and no doubt but there were Vines from the beginning created with other trees for how coulde Noah plant a Vineyard vnles he had slippes of other Vines or Grapes that grew before seeing hee did not create fruites but plant fruites as we doe For this is principally to be noted that so soone as he had opportunitie to doe good he omitted no time but presently after the floud was gone and the earth beganne to drie hee plied it with seedes and wrought it till hee sawe the fruites of his labour By this we learne to omit no occasion to doe good but whensoeuer wee may doe good to count it sinne if we doe it not But if we be so exercised then all our workes shall prosper like the Vineyard of Noah because the fruite of the Vine dooth cheere the countenaunce and glad the heart of man Therefore some haue gathered vpon the planting of this Vineyard a signification of gladnesse and thankefulnesse in Noah for his late deliuerance as the Iewes by their solemne feastes did celebrate the memoriall of some great benefite but I rather iudge that God would haue vs see in this example what men did in those daies and how we are degenerate from our parents that wee may prepare against the fire as Noah prepared against the water This is worthie to bee noted too that God did not so regarde his husbandrie but that hee had an eye to his drunkennes and speakes of his fault as wel as his vertue wherby we are warned that though God blesse vs now while wee remember him yet hee will chasten vs so soone as we forget him though we be in good name now infamie will arise in an houre though we be rich at this present pouertie may come suddainely though we be well while wee are here yet we may fall sicke before night euen as Noah is praysed in one verse and dispraysed in another euen now God commends him for his lowlines and now discommends him for his drunkennesse as though he had forgot all his righteousnes so soone as he sinned would cal in his praise againe This was to shew that Noah was not saued from the floud because hee deserued to be saued but because God had a fauour vnto him for he which was not drowned with water was drowned after with Wine As the Pharisies when they had doone well were proud of it and lost their reward so when Noah had done a good worke hee spotted it with sinne and was dispraised where hee was praised as though God repented him that he commended him He planted well but he drunke not well therefore that which was good did him hurt then seeing hee was trapped with a good worke whatsoeuer we doo we may remember how easie it is to sinne if wee misse in the matter or in the manner or time or the place or the measure as Noah did He which planteth the vineyard is worthy to taste of the grape but if thou haue found honnie saith Salomon eate not too much least thou surfet So if thou haue found Wine drinke not too much least thou surfet A little Wine is better than a great deale and if thou wilt follow the Apostles counsell thou must drinke it but for thy stomacks sake least that happen to thee which thou shalt heare of this noble Patriarch Though he was neuer so righteous before GOD and men though hee escaped the destruction which lighted vppon all the worlde though hee had all the foules of the ayre and beastes of the land at his commaund though hee passed the pilgrimage of man nine hundreth yeares yet Noah was but a man so auncient so righteous so mightie so happie Noah shewed himselfe but a man for drinking the Wine which himselfe had planted hee was drunken This is Noahs fault he was drunken with his owne Wine as Lot was defiled with his owne daughters If Cham his sonne had taken too much and stript himselfe as his father did the holy Ghost would scarce haue spoken of it because hee was a man of no note but when the father forgat himselfe and gaue this offence marke the manner of the holy Ghost as though he would shew you a wonder hee displayeth Noahs drunkennesse
Shall the Gods die too Hee giues them their title but he telles them their lot Though their power though their wealth though their honour though their titles though their train though their friends though their case though their pleasures though their diet though their cloathing be not like other yet their ende shall be like other nay their endes are like to bee more fearefull than other For GOD makes him examples of great men as he did of Pharaoh and therefore wee see so many strange and sodaine deathes of Princes more than of other Therefore hee spake heere with the least when hee saide Yee shall die like other for verie fewe of them escape the Swoorde or knife or poyson which other neuer or very seldome feare But if all your subiectes were your friendes yet yee shall dye like them for are yee not colde when Winter comes are yee not withered when ages comes are yee not weake when sickenesse comes and shall yee not goe aswell as the meanest when death comes Therefore bee not proud of thine honour as though it would last alwaies for thou shalt dye and then all thine honour shall forsake thee and another shall rise in thy place as great as thou and when his glasse is run another shall follow him and so another till death haue all Bee not cruell in thine authoritie as though it woulde laste alwaies for thou shalt dye and then thy Authoritie shall dye with thee and they which remayne aliue will sende infinite curses after thee because thy life was as a scourge vnto them Be not secure for thy wealth as though it would last alwaies for thou shalt die and then another shall take thy riches and thou shalt goe to giue account how thou commest by them How many things dooth hee implie when he saith yee shall die This is a Barre in their armes which makes the proudest peacocke laye downe his feathers when hee thinkes vpon it though he pricke them vp againe whereby the holy ghoste woulde haue them learne that nothing will make them liue and rule and deale so well in their thrones as to remember that they shall die and shortlie giue account for all signifying that prosperitie makes vs forgetfull of our endes and that these mortall Gods liue as though they were immortall A hard thing for Princes to remember death they haue no leasure to thinke of it but chop into the earth before they beware like a man which walketh ouer a field couered with snow and sees not his way but when hee thinketh to runne on sodainly falles into a pit euen so they which haue all things at will and swim in pleasure which as a snowe couereth their waie and dazeleth their sight while they thinke to liue on and reioyce still sodainely rush vpon death and make shipwrack in the calme sea Therefore as it is good for them to heare they are Gods so it is meete to knowe they shall die Wherefore ye shall die saith he in the next wordes as if hee would preuent some conceit that they would take of the wordes which hee cast out before hee cooles them quicklie before they swell and deferres not to another time but where he calles them Gods there hee calles them wormes meate lest they should crow betweene the praise and the checke I haue said ye are Gods but ye shall die c. but for this die manie would liue a merrie life and feast and sport and let the world slide but the remembrance of death is like a dampe which puts out all the lightes of pleasure and makes him rub and frounce and whine which thinkes vpon it as if a moate were in his eie O how heauie tidings is this to heare thou shalt die from him which hath life and death in his owne handes when the message is sent to them which raigne like Gods as if he should say Euen you which glister like Angels whom all the world admires and sues and bowes to which are called honourable mightie and gracious Lords I will tell you to what your honour shall come First ye shall wax olde like others then ye shall fall sicke like other then ye shall die like other then ye shall be buried like other then ye shall bee consumd like other then ye shall bee iudged like other euen like the Beggers which crie at your gates one sickens the other sickens one dies the other dies one rots the other rots looke in the graue and shewe me which was Diues and which was Lazarus This is some comfort to the poore that once he shall be like the rich one day he shall bee as wealthie as mightie and as glorious as a King one hower of death will make all alike they which crowed-ouer other and looked downe vpon them like Oakes other shall walke vpon them like worms and they shall be gone as if they hadde neuer beene Where is Alexander that conquered all the worlde and after sought for an other because one woulde not satisfie him Where is Xerxes which coulde not number his Armie for multitude Where is Nemrod which built his nest in the clowdes Where is Sampson which slewe an armie with the iawe of an Asse Where is Constantine Nero Caligula Titus Vespasian Domitian thunderbolts in their times One hundred Princes of Englande are dead and but one aliue the rest are gone to giue account how they ruled here when they sustained the person of God Who would haue thought saith Ieremie that the enemie shoulde haue entred into Ierusalem and spoyled that faire Citie Yet he brake into it and Ierusalem was ransackt like other Who woulde haue thought that Herod which was honoured like a GOD should haue beene deuoured with wormes and sauoured that none could abide him Yet while hee was in his pompe like an Idol sodainelie hee was stroken and all his glorie like the snuffe of a Candell which all men looked vppon euen nowe when it shined and now it so sauors that they tread it vnder foote Who woulde haue thought Iezabel that beautifull temptation shoulde haue beene gnawed with dogs Yet shee was cast vnto dogs not an eare left to season the graue What woulde he thinke that had seene Salomon in his Roialty after seen him in the clay O world vnworthie to be beloued who hath made this proud slaughter Age Sickenes and Death the three sumners which haue no respect of persons made them paie the ransome themselues and bowe to the earth from whence they came there lie the men that were called Gods How soone the flower of this world is faded yesterdaie the tallest Cedar in Libanus to daie like a broken sticke troden vnder foote yesterday the state lieth vppon earth to daie shrouded in earth forsaken forgotten that the poorest wretch would not bee like vnto him which yesterdaie crouched and bowed to his knees Then woe to them which had the names of God and sinnes of men for the mightie shall be mightilie
single vertue and power of our owne free will without the finger and grace of GOD. For whereas the Papists acquite manie of them and cleare them from sinne as if an vnregenerate man by the strength and abilitie of his owne will as it were mounted vpon his owne wings were able to aspire to the accomplishment of holie desires wee see that the Apostle in this place maketh no other account of the vnregenerate then of dead men and therefore that they must bee quickened and new borne againe before they can practise or performe any vitall action in the life of GOD. Christ is resembled to a vine and wee to the braunches for that all the iuice and sappe whereby the braunches spring and liue issueth and ariseth from the roote of the vine so all the grace and goodnesse that is in vs droppeth and distilleth from the riches of the person of Iesus Christ Before GOD blessed Sara she was barren and childlesse so vntill God blesse our hearts they bee wicked and fruitlesse And therefore as an vncleane fountaine cannot sende foorth sweete water nor a bad tree bring foorth good fruite no more can the corrupt and wicked heart of the vnregenerate bud and bring foorth anie good and vertuous actions Thus much of our condition and preparation whereby wee haue learned with how holie and with how sanctified affections wee ought to repaire to the hearing of the worde Now followeth our duetie and affection when wee are newe borne As newe borne babes desire Wee must not bee children in wauering and inconstancie because the Apostle sayth that GOD hath furnished his Church with Pastors and Teachers That we bee no more children wauering and carried about with euery winde of doctrine reeling from faith to faith from religion to religion like a drunken man from wall to wall Nor we must not be children in vnderstanding and knowledge because the same Apostle sayth Brethren be not children in vnderstanding but concerning maliciousnes bee children but in vnderstanding be of a ripe age But wee must bee children in an ardent and burning affectiō in thirsting and longing for the word of God Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousnes for they shall bee filled because God filles the hungrie with good things but the rich and the wealthie he dismisseth emptie The kingdome of God suffereth violence because none can enter at the narrowe gate but such as striue throng and thrust to enter And therefore as when the damme feedes her young euery bird gapeth and struggleth and stretcheth out the necke to receiue the foode So when wee come to heare euery man must reach and stretch out his heart to receiue the word For then indeede the word worketh most effectually in vs when our hearts before are kindled and inflamed with desire of it like waxe which receiueth any stampe after it is heated The Shunamites child which was raised by Elisha so soone as his flesh beganne to waxe warme neesed and opened his eyes and reuiued agayne So when wee waxe warme in the spirite and conceiue a desire and a thirst of the word of GOD it is an vndoubted token that wee are borne agayne that there is breath and a soule within vs and we are not vtterly dead in the life of grace As contrariwise they which haue not a sharpe and hungrie appetite to bee fedde and satisfied with the milke of the word are but dead carcasses and skinnes full of rotten bones so that this Citie which shoulde bee the glorie of the kingdome may well bee tearmed Golgotha The place of dead mens skulles in regard there are so manie thousand soules dead in sinne dead in desire who haue no thirst and hunger for the word of God If they haue a bare reading Minister as children haue a puppit to play with they thinke themselues in a happy state as if Elishaes staffe could raise the dead child without Elisha and the word giue life without a preacher It may bee they can bee content with Micah to accept a Leuite if they light vpon him But who will sende to Hierusalem the schoole of the Prophets as Saul sent to Bethelem to fetch Dauid for his comfort I thinke you know my meaning I would not wish you wait till preachers offer themselues to instruct you but to sende to the schooles of learning to prouide godly able men who may minister the word in due season Balaake because he longed for Balaam went to the vtmost coast of the countrey to meete him The father because he longed for his prodigall sonne ranne to kisse him a great way off Dauid because he longed for the Arke went and brought it vp from Kiriathaim So then indeed we desire the word of God when we will not stay till it come vnto vs but we will preuent it and goe to the vtmost borders of our coūtrey to fetch it home vnto vs. We must desire the milke of the word and we must desire it as babes that is in three respects First they say children so soone as they are borne into the worlde presently crie out for the mothers dugge so must wee so soone as wee feele the grace of God to haue renewed vs while wee are yet hote from the wombe hunger and thirst for the milke of the word If the mother should deferre to giue her childe sucke were it able to liue a moneth or a weeke or a day No more is our faith able to sustaine and support it selfe vnlesse it be presently nourished with the foode of life Christ so soone as he had raysed vp Iairus daughter commanded her meate as if it were in vaine for vs to be quickned by the finger of his power vnles we be fed by the word of his grace and therfore Eden was watered so soone as it was planted to shew that we must be strengthened so soon as we are instructed so that it is a great fault among vs when GOD hath quickned vs with his spirit we perceiue his graces to budde and to blossome in vs that we presently prouide not moysture to nourish and to preserue them We count it a miracle that Elias liued fortie dayes without foode and yet we after many yeares of famine still poste off the feeding of our soules We thinke it alwayes too soone to beginne though we begin then when we are ready to end as the rich man who then went in hand to inlarge his barnes when hee was euen at deaths doore to resigne his life As Christe was then sent for to heale the Rulers daughter when she was ready to departe so manie neuer desire the preachers company till they be ready to die They say that the time is not yet come that the Lords house shoulde bee built not yet time to sanctifie their soules for God not yet time to prouide for the milke of the word And thus we poste off from day to day from yeare to yeare till wee bee arrested by death
word without further trial If Paul had bid vs examine others we would haue sifted them like Sathan Sathan hath desired to sift thee sayth Christ to Peter so we haue a desire to sift others Euen Peter which was sifted of sathan longed to sift Iohn knowe what he should do before hee hearkened to his owne charge Therefore the helpe of examination is a needfull preseruatiue although we were as sound as Peter They which are suspected of a crime doe not examine themselues but are examined of others least they should be partiall but a Christian must examine himselfe of his crime and be his owne iudge his owne accuser and his owne condemner for no man knoweth the spirite of man but the spirit which is in man which will condemne him if he be guiltie and tell him all that hee hath done and with what minde he did it and what he deserueth for it This is the priuate araignment or close sessions when Conscience sits in her chaire to examine and accuse and iudge and condemne her selfe because she will not bee condemned of God Thus holie men haue kept their sessions at home and made their hearts the fore-man of the iurie and examined themselues as wee examined others the feare of the Lord stood at the doore of their soules to examine euerie thought before it went in and at the dore of their lips to examine euery word before it went out wherby they escaped a thousand sinnes which we commit as though wee had no other worke So thou shouldest sitte in iudgement of thy selfe and call thy thoughts and speeches and actions to giue in euidence against thee whether thou be a Christian or an infidell a sonne or a bastard a seruaunt or a rebell a Protestant or an hypocrite if thou find not faith nor feare nor loue nor zeale when thou examinest thy selfe let no man make thee beleeue that thou art holie that thou art sanctified that thou art a Christian that thou art a beleeuer that thou art a Gospeller because thou art worse then thou seemest thy selfe for euery man is partiall to himselfe when he is most humbled Therefore if my heart tell mee that I doe loue God whome shall I beleeue before my selfe As Salomon sayth No man can search the heart of the king so Paul sayth No man knoweth the spirite of any man but the spirite which is in man that is no man feeleth the heart of man so wel as himself And yet himselfe although hee haue liued with it euer since he was borne doth not know his owne heart vnlesse hee examine it narrowlie no more than hee knoweth his owne bones or his veines or his sinewes or his arteries or his muskles how many are in his bodie or where they lie or what they doe This seemes strange that a man should not know his owne heart yet it is true that the best of all dooth not knowe his owne heart though he hath dwelt with it from his mothers wombe For Christ saith to his Disciples euen to his Disciples you know not of what spirit you are that is you thinke better of your selues then you are and know not what the clocke striketh within There is a zeale without knowledge there is a knowledge without zeale there is a fayth without obedience and there is an obedience without faith there is a loue without feare and there is a feare without loue and both are hypocrites Therefore as Dalilah searched where Sampsons strength lay so let euery man search where his weakenesse lieth and alwaie be filling the emptie gap Now this examination must goe before vs to the Sacrament Euerie meate worketh according as it is digested this meate worketh according as it is receiued Therefore when Christ had taught what we should doe in receiuing the Sacrament now Paul sheweth what we should doe before wee receiue the Sacrament Let a man examine himselfe But some will come before they examine themselues and therefore as the Priestes of the lawe had authoritie to put by lame and blinde sacrifices so the ministers of the Gospell haue power to put by lame and blind receiuers and he which doth not so giueth a sworde into their handes to kill themselues If the Pastor would vse this examination duly it were the onely way to make euery one examine himselfe least he be put by like Non proficients As Iiphtah discerned the Ephramites because when they should pronounce Shibboleth they pronounced Sibboleth so all which cannot pronounce Christ that is giue a reason of their faith are to bee thrust from this table There is a hearing a preparatiue before hearing There is a praying and a preparatiue before praying There is a receiuing and a preparatiue before receiuing which if it be wanting the receiuer receiueth vncomfortablie the prayer praieth idlely the hearer heareth vnfruitfullie like those which doe eate before hunger and drinke before thirst This preparatiue before hearing and praying and receiuing dooth signifie that there is a kind of phisicke in these three for preparatiues are ministred alwaies before Phisicke and as the preparatiue which goeth before maketh way to the phisick or els it would do no good but hurt so vnlesse examination go before the sacrament we seale vp the threatnings which are written against vs in steade of the promises which are made vnto vs for the sacrament is a seale and therefore sealeth good or euill as euerie other seale doth The preparatiue before wee receiue is to Examine As Iohn was the fore-runner of Christ so examination is the fore-runner of the sacrament like the Harbinger which rideth before to prepare the roome For if Iob commaunded his sonnes to sanctifie themselues before they did come to his sacrifice how should we sanctifie our selues before we come to Christes sacrament wherein we are commaunded to doe as the Lorde himselfe did which instituted it It is sayd that the chamber wherein Christ did institute this sacrament was trimmed the chamber wherein the Apostles receiued this sacrament was trimmed If Iudas chamber his inner chamber had bene trimmed so too he had receiued this Sacrament with as much comfort as the other disciples did but because his heart was not trimmed therefore he was the first which was condemned for the vnworthie receiuing of this Sacrament Adam did not thinke that death had bene in an apple so you would not thinke that death should bee in bread but as a coale hath fire in it beside the coale it selfe which fire dooth either warme or burne so this meate hath another meate in it beside that which is seene which dooth either saue or destroy therefore he which commeth to this spiritual meat must examine whether he haue a spirituall mouth as well as a carnall mouth or else he shall receiue no more than he seeth that which he seeth not shall destroy him No man saith Christ putteth new wine into olde vessels lest the
he poares and gapes vpon it by little and little the loue of it growes more and more in his heart vntill at last he haue mind on nothing else This was the first dotage of Nabuchadnezzar the second was which I haue built by the might of my power What a vaunt was this to say that he built Babylon when al histories accorde that it was built by Semyramis before Nabuchadnezzar was borne therfore why doth he boast of that which an other did The answere is easie why doe other men so now wee see that euery one doth labour to obscure the fame of others that they may shine alone beare the names themselues especially in great buildings for if they doe but adde or alter any thing in Schooles or Hospitals or Colledges they looke straight to bee counted the founders of them and so the founders of many places are forgotten So it is like that Nabuchadnezzar did adde or alter some thing in this Citie and therfore hee tooke all to himselfe as the fashion hath bin euer since but if none had built it but he had been the founder of it as some would seeme yet this had been a proude and arrogant speech to say which I haue built by the might of my power for it was not he which could build Babel no more then Nemrod could finish Babel but vnles the Lord build the house the builders build in vaine Therefore when he sayth By the might of my power he should haue sayd by the might of Gods power But by this you plainely discerne how hard and difficult a thing it is to hit vpon a right word or a good worke which hath not a good thought to bring it foorth Therefore make the roote sweete or the fruite will bee sower counterfaite as cunningly as you can Lastly when he putteth in for the honour of my maiestie hee sheweth that he was of Absoloms humour who although he had deserued shame yet he would haue fame because hee had no children to keepe his name in remembrance therefore he erected a piller which hee called Absoloms place so many stately houses and places in England beare their names of those Lords or others that do possesse or owe them for the like vanitie Heere Absolom thought to bee buryed as Nabuchadnezzar thought to dwell in his pallace but he was cast into a pit as Nabuchadnezzar was turned into the wildernesse So Shebna made his sepulchre in one Countrie and was buryed in another for why should pride haue the reward of humilitie Humilitie saith Salomon goeth before honour that is to say honour is the reward of humilitie yet Nabuchadnezzar would bee honoured for his pride What had he or Shebna or Absolom done that they should erect such monuments to bee praised after death which were not worthy to be praised in their life before the building Nabuchadnezzar had done nothing worth speaking of for because he liued alwayes like a beast therefore GOD punished him like a beast and did hee deserue now to bee spoken of in all ages for heaping stones together Wee may see that great men are proude of a small matter and they looke to bee praised for euerie thing they doe But looke how GOD ouerthwarteth them for oftentimes in that they looke to make theyr greatest glorie they shame themselues most of all and that which they practise to exalt them doth disgrace them that which they doe to winne them loue getteth them hatred sinne so deceiueth them like the blinde Aramites that they take a cleane contrarie way to their desires as wee may see in the eleauenth of Genesis they which built Babel said they would build it to get them a name but they got shame for they could not finish it when they had begun it but were cōfounded in such sort that they knewe not what they did so sodainly they vnderstoode not what one another said So when Nabuchadnezzar came to himselfe againe he shewed that when hee sought his owne honour honour departed from him and hee was made like a beast but when hee sought Gods honour honour came to him againe and hee was made a King This would pull away many toyes from womens backs if they did cōsider how God maketh them ridiculous by that they weare to make thēselues amiable if they did thinke that the apparell which they clogge on to please the world by the secret iudgement of God did not please but displease they would be ashamed of their attire as Eue was of her nakednesse would they weare such gardes and paint their faces but to please See now how God doth mocke them for they are not liked but disliked and worse thought of for it than they which go in russet coates seeke no praise at all they think am I not braue others thinke is she not proud they think am I not sweete others thinke is she not light yet they dreame that euerie man praiseth them for their brauery as Nabuchadnezzar thought that euery one would honor him for his pallace If their brauerie condemne them before men how will it condemne them before God Therefore when Nabuchadnezzar saith For the honor of my Maiestie he should haue saide for the honour of Gods Maiestie and then this had been recorded for his honour indeed and his house had bin the house of God for as we should speake and studie labour to Gods glorie so we should build also to Gods glorie that our houses may bee like temples as Obadiahs was But few seeke glorie that way they had rather pull downe than build in such sort Thus you haue heard what Nabuchadnezzar spake in secret as though GOD would display the thoughts and pride of such builders These are the meditations of Princes noble men whē they behold their buildings or open their coffers or lookvpon their traine swinging after them they thinke as Nabuchadnezzar thought Is not this great Babel is not this great glorie is not this the traine that maketh me reuerenced in the streets are not these the things which shall make my children rich is not this the house that shall keepe my name and cause me to be remembred and make them which are childrē now speake of me hereafter when they shall passe by and looke vp and see these antikes and knackes ouer their heads they will say oh he which built this was a great man he bare a sway both in court and countrie who but he while he liued Although this king be dead buried yet his pride is escaped come to vs. Nabuchadnezzar hath children yet aliue which build as high as he looke as high as he goe as braue as he spend as vainly as he and are as proud as he although they bee not Kings nor Dukes nor Earles nor Knights nor yet good Squires looke vpon their pallaces and think whether they bee of Nabuchadnezzars brood Is not this great Babel and is not Nabuchadnezzar Lord of it Oh if they might liue to walke in
which challenged Nabuchadnezzar for twelue moneths since he was warned may challenge vs of twelue yeeres since we were warned yet we looke not for so great punishment as fell vpon Nabuchadnezzar for twelue moneths Daniel names there twelue moneths as though hee would speake of a great matter and shewes how worthie Nabuchadnezzar was to be punished because he might haue reformed his life since he was warned for there were 12. moneths betweene his dreames and his punishment But that yeere wherein he had so many warnings teachings was as vaine as the rest and vainer then the yeres before for now he should haue been a mourner like the King of Niniuie when Ionas threatned destruction vnto them But like a victor of a countrie returned from battell to solemnize his triuÌ„ph first he decked his pallace as braue as himselfe and then he walkes his stations in it and when he hath set al things before him which might make him forget God and like a serpent that would burst vnles he discharged some of his poyson he breaketh out and sayde Is not this great Babel which I haue built by the might of my power for the honour of my maiestie wherein obserue first what a glorious opinion this vaine King had of his vaine buildings Secondly how that he names himselfe the founder of them as though hee had done all without an helpe Thirdly that in all his works he sought nothing but vain-glorie as hee witnesseth against himselfe saying which I haue built for the honour of my maiestie not for the honour of Gods maiestie but for the honour of my maiestie So first that which he should haue contemned as Christ did the beautie of the Temple he admired it nothing seemed so glorious to him as that which made him shamefull to God Secondly that citie which was built by Semiramis he arrogateth to himselfe and neuer ioyned the chiefe workmaster with him but saith which I haue built by the might of my power when he should haue said by the might of Gods power for vnles God build the house the builder saith Dauid buildeth but in vaine Lastly that which hee should haue built for the honour of GOD as the man built a chamber for the Prophet hee builded for his honour as our Nabuchadnezzars doe Therefore when all his pleasures were prepared like a feast and he came to sit downe at the bâ—ket it hapned to him as to the churle in the Gospell after he had filled his barnes when hee came to sing in his heart Be merrie my soule that night his soule was takeÌ„ from him and the diuels made merrie with it in hell so he had fethered his neast and began to crow vpon his roost Is not this great Babel c. As if he shuld say Now Nabuchadnezzar make thee merie that houre his honor was taken from him for a voyce came downe from heauen like the terrible hand which wrote vpon the wall when Baltasar sate at his banquet dasht his pride vpon such a rocke that within an houre all his pomp and pleasures and treasures suffered such a shipwracke that his fall was more admired of all than his glorie and buildings were admired of himselfe Thus all the ioy and pleasures and glory of pride are spoken with a breath and stopt with another You haue heard what the voice spake from earth now ye shal heare what the voice souÌ„ds from heauen These three verses following declare this Kings fall when and howe and from whom it was While the words were yet c. there is the time A voice c. there is the Iudge O king c. there is the arraignement Thy kingdom c. there is the iudgement He was driuen from men liued with beasts in che wildernes till his haires were grown like Eagles fethers There is the execution and maner of his punishment First of the time while c. As Daniel obserued the time when Nabuchadnezzar sinned so he obserueth the time when Nabuchadnezzar is punished as if God had lien in waite to catche him in his words and take him at the trippe euen as he watched Lots wife when shee looked backe and transformed her into a piller of os salte so soone as she looked behind her So now the Lord lay as it were in the scout to watch wheÌ„ Nabuchadnezzar spake treason and to apprehend him vpon it O Nabuchadnezzar thou hast vanted these twelue moneths since I warned thee and I made as though I heard not but suffered thee to doe and speake thy pleasure and vauntest thou still Surely thou shalt escape me no longer I will not heare a word more against mine honour So hee cut him off while the wordes were in his mouth and propoundeth the wordes of iudgement against him If you marke the time when the voice spake from heauen you may see three wisedomes of God First God takes him in his fault that he might see his fault as Ieroboam was striken when he stroke the Prophet that he might know why he was striken Then he takes him sodainly because hee contemneth his warning as the fire came vpon Sodome while they contemned Lots warning Thirdly God takes him where he is pleasantest and lustiest and safest in his pallace which was like a Castle as he took Herod when his gard stood by him that he might see that nothing can garde him from God but God must gard him from danger or else Princes bee no safer than subiects so though a man sin often and steale his sins as it were without punishment yet at the last he is tooke napping while the wickednesse is in his hand as the Iewes were while the quailes were in their mouthes and his day is set when hee shall pay for all whether it bee after 12. moneths or 12. yeeres whensoeuer it commeth it wil seem too soon Vengeance doth stay till sin be ripe watch the time when they are most occupied then iudgement steps forth like the Angel to stop Balaam in his way because the punishment is more grieuous terrible wheÌ„ they look not for it for the worst that is wish like Balaam to die the death of the righteous therefore God will crosse them in that though they prosper alwayes before yet their ends shall be a kinde of iudgement vpon all their life a prophesie of torment for all men to see what become of the wicked after death that they may feare to be like vnto them As when we see some fall down vnder the table while they sit swilling at the Wine some striken dumbe in the pulpit while they preach vntruths eueÌ„ as the Philistines were slain while they feasted and as Herod was shamed while he vanted and as Ieroboam was striken while he stroke What doth this teach vs but that our sinnes depart from vs so soon as they are done vnto the Iudge there they accuse vs as Cains murther cried out against
followeth that all the rest might bee cast vpon him as when Salomon desired wisdome before honour God gaue him wisdome and honour too because he sought the best first There was a poole in Iurie where the sicke and Leprous laye for at one time of the daye the Angell came and stirred the water and then he which stept in first was healed of his disease hee which stept in first was healed saith Iohn none but hee which stept in first so he which taketh time is sure but he which foresloweth time oftener faileth then speedeth For when golden opportunitie is past no time will fit for her If Elias would bee serued before the widdow when shee had but a little cruse of Oyle which was not enough to serue her selfe will God be serued after Elias will God bee serued after thee Nay after the flesh and after the diuell Thou maist reade in the 19. of Leuit. and the 13. that GOD would not haue the labourers hire staie in thy hands all night but would haue thee pay him before thou sleepe If God would not haue the labourers due stay in thy hands one night how darest thou keepe his due from him day and night so many dayes and nights and weekes and moneths and yeares together where is the morning sacrifice which God requireth nay where is the euening sacrifice which God requireth the glomy morning hath ouercast the whole day doest thou thinke it enough if thou do not sit in the chaire of scorners or if thou do not staÌ„d in the waie of sinners hee which standeth stayeth not he which sitteth taketh his ease but he which walketh goeth his way Yet he which walketh in the way of sinners though hee neither sit nor stand is not of the blessed number But hee which neither sitteth nor standeth nor walketh is blessed saith Dauid Psalm 1. ver 1. Alas then why doe we sit if they which stande are accurssed and they which walke are not blessed Christ saieth First seeke the kingdome of God and wee say first let mee burie my father first let me bid my friendes farewell and so many things first So long in burying our Father and bidding our friends farewell that is the riches and honours and pleasures of this worlde that there is no time left to seeke the kingdome but followe mee is turned to followe vs Christ must followe our sinnes and come after our pleasures or else he shall not be serued at al. When we were Children we deferred tyll we were men when we are men we deferre tyll wee bee olde men when wee are olde men wee deferre tyll death in all our lyfe wee finde no leasure to liue well but flit from sinne to sin from wicked thoughts to wicked speeches from wicked speeches to wicked deedes as the flie skippeth from scab to scab vntill wee bee cast so farre behinde that we haue no courage to goe forward or else straied so far out of our way that wee care not to seeke it againe Therefore I cannot say to you as Christ saide First seeke the kingdome of heauen for then you should haue sought it long agoe but now I must say with the Apostle Redeeme the time and at last Seeke the kingdome of heauen For it is to be feared that as little flies when many came together plagued and destroyed the Egyptians so short houres but many in sinne and securitie will steale away our whole life and deceiue our repentance while wee liue like beasts longer then Nabuchadnezzar There be not many Lots but many linger like Lot loth to depart vntill they see the fire burne If the Angell had not snatched him awaie Lot had perished with Sodome for his delaye There be not fiue foolish Virgins and fiue wise but fiue for one knock when the doore is shut There bee not many Simeons but many as old as Simeon which neuer yet imbraced Christ in their hearts They thought to repent before they were so olde yet now they doate for age they are not olde enough to repent yet Naye I answere many Masters of Israell Maiors Aldermen Sheriffes Iustices Baâ—liffes Constables Gentlemen know no more what it is to be borne againe than Nicodemus which came by night line after line sermon after sermon and the Black more like himselfe All their tearms are vacations all their religion promises and all their promises hypocrises In stead of catechising their children as Salomon teacheth them they catechise them to hunt hawke to ride and vaute to ruffle sweare to game and daunce as they were catechised themselues least the childe should prooue better than his father and then he is qualified like a Gentleman Is this to seeke the kingdome of heauen first or last or not at all Woe to the securitie woe to the stubbornnesse woe to the drousinesse of this age The theefe commeth at midnight and we sleep till the dawning of the day we let in sathan before wee bid him auoyd we sell our birthright before it come to our hands we seek for oyle when our lampes should burne this daye passeth like yesterday and to morrowe we will spend like this day So hee which should haue the first fruites can get no fruites because we mar the ground before we sowe it Consider this ye which might haue known a thousand things more than yee doo if yee had begun when Salomon taught you God will not alway knocke at the doore Christ will not alway clocke like an Henne Iohn will not alway crie in the wildernesse but mercy is in the foreward and iudgement in the rereward They which can saye now We haue a prophet shall say We had a prophet but wee entertained him like the Gergesites so God sent him awaie from vs like Ionah to the Niniuites when the Israelites despised him Yet Wisedome cryeth in the streetes Let euerie Ioseph store vp before the famine come for he which promiseth thee pardon when thou doost returne dooth not promise that to morrowe thou shalt returne Repentance is a gift and a gift must be taken when it is offered The time past is gone and thou canst not recall that to repent in the time to com is vncertaine thou canst not assure that to repent in the present time is onely thine and thou maiest repent in that but anone that will be gone too Therefore as Samuell began to serue God in his minoritie as Timothie read the Scriptures in his childhood and Iohn grewe in spirit as hee rypened in yeares so whether thou be olde or yong thy repentance caÌ„not come too soone because thy sinne is gone before If thou lackest a spurre to make thee runne see how euerie day runneth awaye with thy life youth commeth vpon childhood age commeth vpon youth death commeth vpon age with such a swift saile that if all our minutes were spent in mortifying our selues yet our glasse would bee runne out before wee had purged halfe our corruptions All these examples sentences and Prouerbs and
as haue been healed by her that as the Author of the Hebrewes saith By faith Abel offered a better Sacrifice than Caine by faith Enoch was translated before he sawe death by faith Noah prepared the Arke and was preserued from the Floud by faith Abraham was content to sacrifice his Sonne and yet beleeued that in his seede all the world should be blessed by faith Sara receiued strength to bring foorth a child when she was strooken in yeres and past the strength of the wombe So I may say of patience by patience Iob did beare all the torments that the diuell could heape vpon him by patience Iacob put vp a thousand wrongs from Laban and his children and neuer complained in one twentie yeares before he departed by patience Ioseph forgaue his brethren when hee might haue put them to death and gaue thē food when they feared reuenge by patience Christ suffered banishment and reproaches and scourges vntill he went to his death like a Lambe to the slaughter Among the strange cures of patience Dauid may report of his experience what this plaister hath done for him for being a figure of Christ he was alwaies hedged about with the crosse which prooued his patience like a Touchstone euery day As Christ was contemned of his Countreymen so Dauid was contemned of his brethren as Christ fled to Egypt so Dauid fled vnto Gath as Christ receiued foode of women so Dauid receiued food of Abigail as Herod persecuted Christ so Saul persecuted Dauid and the wrath of the King brought many enemies with it that when hee was annointed yet hee coulde not reigne and when he reigned yet his reigne was but a warfare the Philistines agaynst him the Ammonites agaynst him the Edomites agaynst him the Moabites agaynst him and Absolon his owne bowels agaynst him for whom he cryed Would God I had died for thee This sonne which was his dearling was his traytor and sought his death that brought him to life as though Saul had been risen from the graue againe In all these troubles Samuel shewes what was this pilgrimes comfort But Dauid comforted himselfe in the Lord his God as though hee had no comfort but in GOD alone This was the stone vpon which he leaned his head Be patient for Manie are the troubles of the righteous but the Lord deliuereth him out of all When hee did behold his trouble like the hoast of the Aramites he looked backe vnto God like Elisha and spied one with him stronger then all against him Therfore respecting his afflictiōs he crieth Many are the troubles of the righteous respecting the promise he singeth The Lord deliuereth them out of all Thus by his owne foote Dauid measureth the condition of the righteous and saith Many are the troubles of the righteous and then by his owne cure hee sheweth how they shall bee healed saying The Lord will deliuer him out of all If ye marke the spirite hath directed Dauid to those two things which make vs take our troubles grieously one because we doe not looke for them before they come Therefore as Christ told Peter before he suffered to strengthen him when he suffered so the holy Ghost doth run vpon the Crosse to keep vs in expectation of troubles that wee might prepare faith and patience and constancie for thē as Noah prepared an Arke for the floud The second thing which makes vs to start so at the Crosse is because we are like the Prophets seruant which did see his foes but not his friēds so we see our sore but not our salue Comfort seemes a far off like Abraham in the heauens as though it would neuer come so low therefore wee goe about to deliuer our selues as it is said Let vs breake his bands as though we could deliuer our selues But Hold your peace saith Moses the Lord shall fight for you So Dauid comes in like a pacifier and saith Vexe not your selues for the Lord will deliuer you Beare both these sentences in mind that you must go through a sea of troubles then that you shall come to a hauen of rest and no affliction shall take you before you be armed for it and in euery trouble you shall know where to haue your remedie Many are the troubles of the righteous but the Lorde deliuereth him out of all Here bee the two hands of God like a wound and a plaister one casteth downe the other raiseth vp It is good for a man to knowe his troubles before they come because afflictions are lightned in the expectation Therefore GOD sayth of Paul I will shewe him how many things he shall suffer for me God dealeth plainlie and tels vs the woorst at the first what wee shall trust to as Christ told his Disciples at the first If ye will bee my Disciples yee must take vp the Crosse cold entertainment to breake their fast with the rod. Other feastmakers sayth Christ broach the best wine first but Christ himselfe keepeth the best till the last This is the manner of Gods proceedings to send good after euill as hee made light after darknesse to turne iustice into mercie as he turned water into wine for as the beasts must be killed before they could be sacrificed so men must be killed before they can bee sacrificed that is the knife of correction must prune them and dresse them and lop off their rotten twigs before they can bring forth fruite these are the cordes which binde the ram vnto the Altar least when he is brought thither hee should runne from thence agayne this is the chariot which carrieth our thoughts to heauen as it did Nabuchadnezzars and our assumption before our assumption This is the hammer which squareth the rough stones till they be plaine and smooth and fit for the Temple This is the fierce messenger which is sent to compell them to the banquet which will not come when they are inuited Because we are naturally giuen to loue the world more then is good for vs therefore God hath set an edge of bitternesse vpon it to make vs to loath it like a Nurse which layeth Mustard vpon her breasts to weane the childe from the dug so Many are the troubles of the righteous to weane vs from the dugge of the world The crosse is one of our Schoolemasters in this life and the best wisdome is deerest bought prosperitie seeketh for nothing but necessitie seeketh and studieth and laboureth and prayeth for her wants As the rodde maketh the Scholler to applye his booke so all our knowledge is beaten into vs some learne theyr goodnesse of pouertie some of sicknesse some of troubles aduersitie is the fit time to learne the iustice mercie power and prouidence of GOD a fit time to learne the patience wisedome faith and obedience of man a fit time to learne the subtiltie frailtie and miserie of this worlde All this thou buyest for troubles yet
our sinnes are washed with Christes bloud when our bodies are washed they are taken out of the water againe to signifie how we shall be raised from death to life by the resurrection of Christ and how we should rise from sinne to righteousnesse thus we begin our life with a solemne promise to God before the Church to serue him with our bodies and soules till death vs depart Now let vs remember how we haue kept this promise with the Lord or rather how we haue broken promise with him then we gaue our selues to GOD but since we haue giuen our selues to sinne then wee promised to renounce the world but euer since we haue embraced the world therefore now let vs begin to pay that which we ought so long and pray the Lord which hath instituted this Sacrament as a seale of his mercie to receiue this child into his fauour as we receiue it into his Church to baptize it with his spirit as wee baptize it with water and powre vpon it his grace as we giue it the signe of grace FINIS THE PILGRIMS WISH PHILIP 1. 23. I desire to bee dissolued and to bee with Christ. HEere is Pauls desire to be dissolued and the cause that he might be with Christ wherein first you shal see the difference betweene the faithfull and the wicked how one loatheth this life and the other longeth after it Secondly because the Apostle seemes to desire death you shall see whether any man may wish to die Thirdly because after his dissolution hee hopes to bee with Christ you shall see the diuersitie of iudgements betweene Paul and the Papists which think when they are dead that they shall goe on to Purgatorie Lastlie because the soules which are with Christ cannot walke as they did when they liued vpon the earth you shall heare a little of walking spirits which haue beene so much talked of in the time of poperie and were taken for the soules of them which were dead after wee will speake a little of the Sacrament which yee come to receiue and so commit you to God I desire to be dissolued Before Christes comming when the Kings or Patriarches died it is said that they went to their fathers as we read of Dauid and Salomon c. but after Christs comming when the faithfull die they are said to go to Christ as we read of the penitent thief Luke 23. 43. Not because the Patriarches went not to Christ as well as they but because yet Christ was not ascended to heauen therefore they are not to go to Christ although if they went to heauen they must needes go to Christ because Christ touching his Godhead was alwaies in heauen I desire to be dissolued As the wordly long for Christ to come to them so the faithful long to go to Christ for vnlesse we ascend to him as he descended to vs his descending is in vaine because he came downe that we might go vp he descended to take our flesh we ascende to take his kingdom he descended to be crucified we ascende to be glorified he descended to hell we ascend to heauen that is to ioy to glory to blisse to our father to our Sauiour to our comforter to Angels to Saints to eternall life therefore good cause had Paul to desire to be with Christ that he might be at rest for no doubt it was the sweetest voice that euer the theefe heard in this life when Christ said vnto him This day shalt thou bee with me in Paradise Luke 23. chapt vers 45. Besides as Paul persecuâ—ed before so he was after persecuted himselfe as he tels the Corinthians 2. Cor. 11. 24. I was thrise beaten with rods I was once stoned I suffered thrise shipwrake c. Therefore good cause had Paul to desire to be with Christ that he might be out of trouble Yet he wil not dissolue himself but desireth to be dissolued that is that he which brought him into this world would take him out of the world neither doth he wish or pray or make any petitioÌ„ to God to take away his life but tels him his desire desiring to be dissolued to desire is not to pray but shewes what we approue neither doth he desire so to be dissolued as though he were weary of his labors would suffer no more for Christ but he is content to liue as he saith in the 24. vers Neuertheles for me to abide in the flesh were better for you as if he should say to do you good I am content to suffer euil and stay still from Christ whom I long to be with Seeing then that he wil not dissolue himself nor pray to be dissolued but is content to liue stil why doth he say I desire to be dissolued Onelie to shew what he preferreth in his desire if hee might choose life or death for his owne respect he could be content to leaue friends and riches and pleasures and life and all onely to bee with Christ This seemes to be a good lesson for sickemen when they can liue no longer then to be with Christ were better then to be with the glutton which neuer thought of heauen til he was in hell but Paul was not sicke nor sore when he desired to be dissolued therefore this is not onely for the sicke but for the whole If he had wished to liue stay still in the world no man need to be taught to say after him for yong old desire not to be dissolued but few are content to bee dissolued To a naturall man in this life nothing is so sweete as life it selfe and he which is in loue with this world seldome dyeth quietly vpon his bed but to a minde which misliketh this worlde nothing can come so welcome as death because it takes him out of the world This it is which Paul would haue vs learne that nothing in this world is so pretious or pleasant that for it we should desire to liue or stay from God one hower though all may not wish to die yet all must subscribe to this that death is better then life because it leads to Christ which when Paul had throughlie tasted he was satisfied for all things else and desired to liue no longer that he might bee with Christ heerein appeareth the end of mans life which when he hath obtayned he desireth to liue no longer how great riches and honours and friends soeuer he leaue behind him From the time he knoweth Christ crucified and begins like Enoch to walke with God he cryeth euer after with the Apostle I desire to be dissolued and to be with Christ who shall deliuer mee from this bodie of sinne death weare to me aduantage Euen as Simeon reioiced that Christ came to him so the faithfull reioice that they shall go to Christ The necessitie of sinne is so irksome to him which knoweth the vilenesse of sinne that the faithfull man but to doe good would not liue
then before seeing the daye of his death was so neere But you will say Whatsoeuer it was it seemes that he could prophecie of things to come for hee foretold Sauls death Can the diuell prophecie This was an easie matter for the diuell to prophecie because he knew that Dauid was annoynted before and therefore Saul must be remooued that he might reigne as he was annoynted Secondly he knew that Samuel had prophecied his confusion and therefore hee must bee degraded that the Prophecie might bee fulfilled Thirdly hee did see the Philistins comming against him and therefore no meruaile if he did aime that his death was neere at hand seeing a man might prophecie the same If any man bee not satisfied with this to beleeue that the soules of the dead doe not walke after their dissolution let mee reason with him thus Is it a soule which thou seest Why a soule is a spirit and cannot bee scene no more then a voyce or an Eccho diddest thou euer see thine own soule though it hath been euer with thee since thou was borne Doest thou thinke it is a bodie Why a bodie cannot walke without a soule for the soule is the life which mooueth the bodie If thou say it is a bodie and soule too then why doth Paul call death a dissolution It is a separation of the soule from the bodie if the bodie and soule bee not dissolued then the man is not dead but liuing still If thou say the soule is come to the bodie and the bodie is risen to the soule for that time then I can say no more to thee but beleeue thine owne eyes If thou thinkest that it is such a mans bodie which thou seest looke in the graue and open the ground and there thou shalt see the bodie where it was laide euen while this vizard walkes in thy sight therefore apparitions are no other then that which appeared to Saul Thus the Diuel hath many wayes to deceiue and this is one a dangerous one to draw vs from the word of God to visions dreames and apparitions vpon which many of the doctrines of the Papists are grounded They had neuer heard of Purgatorie but for these spirites which walked in the night and tolde them they were the soules of such and such which suffered in fire till their masses and almes and pilgrimages did raunsome them out So these night spirits begate Purgatorie and Purgatorie begate trentalles as one Serpent hatcheth another Yet a third question riseth out of these wordes and that is this Whether a Christian may wish for death As Paul desired so may wee desire if wee haue Pauls spirit As Christ told his Disciples when they asked him whether they should pray for fire from heauen as Elias did Christ answered that they knewe not of what spirit they were as if he should say If you were of Elias spirit and did praye with the same mind and to the same end that he did then you might pray as he prayed The wicked wish to die because they would bee rid of the crosse and suffer no more for God as Cain so soone as he was cursed and knew that his life should be a torment he sought to dye to preuent the iust iudgement of God spight him as it were which shuld punish sinnes So doe the people oftentimes which haue not to satisfie hunger the sicke which saint of an incurable disease and the wearie captiues in prison galleis and bonds As for the faithfull if they at any time wish to die they pray for death as the last remedy against sinne and Sathan euen as they pray in the Reuelation for the hastening of Christs comming to iudgement Come Lord Iesus come quickly for the shortening of the daies of sinne least all flesh should perish But they which wish for death in this sorte would dye as the will of God hath ordained and mortifie their flesh to abide these troubles and still by fayth suppresse the doloruos griefe of sin by frequent meditation of inward ioy receiued by grace in Christ and therein reuiue themselues as with the earnest pennie of their inheritance which they shall receiue at the fit time when it shall comfort them much to haue suffered so long Much therefore haue they to answere which are not contented to die in peace and stay till they bee dissolued but as though themselues were the authors of life death from cruell heart giue wrongfull commission to the bloodie hand to cut asunder that which God hath ioyned the louing soule and their body as Iudas Achitophel Saul and Pilate did not one of these was good in life or death Yet the Author of the Macchabees commendeth Raz is most of all for that which was the greatest sinne that euer he did for killing himselfe Man was not borne of his owne pleasure neither must hee die at his owne lust or else it had been good for Iob which suffered more than any Saint except Christ to make away himselfe as Iudas did But why is it commanded then thou shall nor kill If thou maist not kill another much lesse maist thou kill thy selfe As for the example of Sampson Iud. 16. 30. which may seeme to oppose against this in that he killed himselfe when as he pulled the house vpon his owne head and all that were with him vnderstand that hee was a figure of Christ which vanquished moe in his death than in all his life and it appeareth that he had warrant from God in that his strength being taken from him was for the acte in a moment restored to him vpon his prayer And the Epistle to the Hebr. 11. 13. to cleere that fact saith that he did it of faith that is knowing that he had deserued to die and that by these meanes the enemies of God should bee destroyed he submitted himselfe to the good will of GGD like a good Captaine which ventured his life to kill his enemies therefore we must not looke to particultr examples but to the generall law Wherfore let no man doe this euill that any good may come of it but rather follow the aduise of the holy Apostle as it becommeth vs with patience let vs runne out the race which is set before vs. Here I might shew you that they are guiltie of their owne death that kill themselues with surfetting intemperance drunkennesse c. although they loue their life too deare yet they take all meanes to hasten their deaths Thus much of Purgatorie night spirits and praying for death Nowe it remaneth that as the Leuites sanctified their brethren before they did eate the Passeouer so I would prepare you before yee eate this holy Sacrament of which the passeouer was but a signe The Iewes were taught of God before they did eate the Passeouer to put away leauen out of their houses the daie before Exod. 12. 15. Hath God care of leauen No this is it which the Apostle teacheth 1. Corinth 5.
before ye come to the Lords Supper Purge the olde leauen of maliciousnes and wickednesse out of your hearts that is the leauen which you should purge out of your houses Therefore marke what the Apostle writeth to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 11. I beleeue it is a matter which you did neuer consider For this cause many are weake and sicke among you and many sleepe or die For what cause Because they receiued this holy Sacrament vnworthily and vnreuerently before they were prepared with faith and hope and repentance for this cause many are weak and sicke among you and many die Who did euer thinke that his sicknes or his wants or his infirmities did grow for that he receiued the Lords supper vnworthilie Many causes haue bin supposed but this cause was neuer thoght of Haue any of you said in distresses of bodie or minde This is come vnto me because I did receiue the blessed Sacrament of Christ vnworthilie because I came not prepared with that minde as they which beleeue and know God Yet the Apostle which by his diuine spirit knewe the cause of these calamities among the Corinthians dooth depute their strange diseases sodain death to none other cause but to their vnworthie and vnreuerent receiuing of this holy Sacrament Nay hee saith further That hee which eateth and drinketh this Sacrament vnworthilie eateth and drinketh his owne damnation that is he taketh possession of death hell and damnation euen while he eates as the diuell entred into Iudas while he receiued Nowe if your Phisitian should warne you of such a thing that you take it in season in measure or els it is poison wil kil you I suppose you wold obserue the season and measure and take it in such order as he prescribeth as neere as you could if you beleeue him so if yee beleeue the Apostle that you receiue the Sacrament to your damnation if you receiue it vnworthilie I am sure you will not take it vnreuerently or rashly for all the world If I had the words of motion to speak that which might be spoken of this matter it would fright Iudas himselfe that no man would come to this holy banquet without his wedding garment Consider but this how you would come into the presence of God how would you prepare your selues to come before the maker of heauen and earth which searcheth the reynes knoweth euery corner of the heart If euer ye did approach vnto God if euer yee came neere vnto the Lord you neuer came so neere as now when you come to receiue his bodie and blood and are vnited vnto him in one spirituall body and yet peraduenture many come not so prepared so clensed so dressed so trimmed into the presence of God as Hester did into the presence of Assuerus What doe you thinke of these elements what doe you imagine of this bread and wine They are seales What seales Seales of his word seales of Gods promise seales of your adoption If euer you were instructed or comforted out of this book that instruction comfort is confirmed and ratified vnto you now by Christs seale Christ hath not ordained Sacraments in his church for a fashion or dumb shew that you should feele or see or tast but as the woman which had a bloodie flix when she touched the hem of Christs garment hee said that vertue was gone out of him that is all the graces which these signes represent that is all the blessings that Christ Iesus hath purchased vnto man by his death Now because if you receiue this Sacrament rightly you are vnited vnto Christ as the members with the head if euer you did beleeue or loue or repent before this requireth you to beleeue and loue and repent more because now you are Christs body which shewes that ye must obey Christ the head like members of the bodie for the bodie is ruled by the head What haue you now to receiue al these blessings If ye haue not faith how can you lay hold of any promises or merits of Christ to say this is mine If you had a hand to take and a fayth to apprehend now you might eat of that bread which is better then Manna which he that tasteth doth not hunger again after any pleasure in the worlde Heere is enough for Abraham and Abrahams seede Come vnto it all that thirst and it will refresh you Happiâ—r is that man nowe that hath his wedding garment than the rich glutton that fareth deliciously and goeth in purple euerie day Now you are the Lords guests and the Lord himselfe is your feast and this feaste is before you the holiest meat that euer you did eate and the comfortablest meate that euer ye did eate and yet the dangeroust meate that euer you did eate you stand vpon life or death you eate to saluation or damnation there is nothing in this world which you can receiue with greater benefite or with greater perill Adam did not eate the forbidden fruite with greater danger Adam could not tast the tree of life with greater fruite than you may taste and receiue this Sacrament The Arke was a signe of mercie yet Vzziah was slaine for touching the Arke vnreuerentlie Circumcision was a good thing yet Circumcision did not profite the Sichemites but was away to make their enemies slaie them because they were not circumcised for Religion but for lucre so if ye receiue for custome and not for deuotion this Sacrament shall bee to you as Circumcision was to them Therefore take heede how you receiue as they receiued least you meere with a curse when you looke for a blessing If thou remembrest any sin against God or against thy neighbour leaue thine offering at the Altar and be reconciled before thou come into his presence for if stubble come to fire there is no waie but burne now beloued let faith and loue and repentance haue their perfect worke that you may receiue this Sacrament as Christ would haue you rceiue it God grant you as much profit by it as is offered in it so much comfort of it as it hath brought to any whosoeuer haue receiued it faithfully reuerently and worthily before you FINIS THE GODLIE MANS REQVEST PSALM 90. 12. Teach vs O Lord to number our daies that wee may applie our hearts to wisedome THis Psalme was compyled by Moses as ye may see by the title at what time the Spies returned from the land of Canaan and God for the murmuring of the people pronounced that al which were aboue twentie yeares old should die in the wildernes except Caleb and Iosua that encouraged their brethren to goe to Canaan Now when Moses heard the sentence of death pronounced against himselfe and all the Iewes which came out of Egypt except only two Caleb and Iosua that all should die before they came to the land which they sought he prayeth thus for himselfe and the rest Teach vs O Lord to number our daies
that we may apply our hearts to wisdome that is seeing we must needes die teach vs to thinke of our death that wee may die in thy feare to liue againe shewing vs how the consideration of our mortalitie will make vs applie our hearts to godlines He which is tottering himselfe had need to leane vnto a stable thing therefore a wauering man is commended here to constant wisedome Man is mortall wisdome is immortall yet by wisdome man becomes immortall too therefore Moses thinking of his death runneth to wisdome as a remedie against death I haue chosen a text fit for the time which warneth vs how our yeres passe that when we think of the old yere how soone it is gone yee may see vpon what a whirling wheele we are set which putteth vs in minde euery day of that last day which is comming for vs when we shall giue account how euerie day was spent before it So many yeares as are past so many yeares we are neerer to the last and though the old yeare be gone and a new yeare come yet whether another shall come after this as this came after the former no man I thinke hath any promise of him â—hat made time for euen these two dayes since the old yeare went out manie haue gon â—he way which we all shall follow Now why â—re daies or weeks or yeeres but for vs But for man there should be no winter nosummer no spring no autumne that wee seeing how the seasons are renued at last with them wee may learne to renue our selues for to celebrate new yeares with old sinnes is to let euery thing goe before our selues and suffer the time to condemne vs which was giuen to saue vs God hath shewed vs new yeares but he would haue vs shew him new men This is Gods new yeares gift not sheepe nor doues nor fruites which the Iewes offered neither myrth frankincense gold which the Gentiles offered Mat. 2. but a new creature Gal. 6. 15. Therefore wee must come to some schoolemaster which teacheth vs like Iohn Baptist what wee should doo that we may growe in knowledge as we growe in yeares Teach mee to number my dayes saith Moses that I may apply my heart to wisdome Whereby Moses telleth vs that this was one of his helps which made him profite in the knowledge of God to number his daies as a man that hath a set time for his taske listens to the clock and countes his houres so we haue a set time to serue God Worke while it is daye saith Christ What hee dooth meane by this day The Apostle sheweth you This is the daye of saluation that is this life is the daye wherein you should worke What worke haue you to doo The Apostle tels you Woorke out your saluation This is a long taske therefore we had neede to number our dayes and not loose a minute least wee be benighted before our worke be done Teach mee O Lord to number my daies Hee which in the Lande of Midian learned to number sheep now he is come into the wildernes lerneth to number his daies Teach vs O Lord to number our daies Not teach vs the number of our daies for we shall forget it againe and the knowledge of times is Gods knowledge but Teach vs to number our daies that is that wee may bee still numbring and counting our daies houres and minuts to see how fast we die that euery day and houre we may learn some thing As God hath numbred our daies so we must learne to number our daies or else it seemes that wee cannot apply our harts to wisdome that is vnles we think vpon death we cannot fashion our selues to a godly life though we were as well instructed as Moses This we find daily in our selues that the forgetfulnes of death makes vs to apply our harts vnto folly pleasure all voluptuousnes that contrarie to his aduice Work your saluation we work our damnation We are so far from numbring our daies that wee doe not number our weekes nor our monethes nor our yeares but as the Apostle saith A thousand yeares with God are as one day so one day with vs is a thousand yeares that is our time seemes so long that we think we shall neuer die but he which made this praier is now dead the number of his daies is ended nothing is left but his holy books which bring this praier vnto vs that we may learne to pray so too Now I must pray Teach me O Lord to number my daies and thou must pray Teach me O Lord to number my daies that we may apply our hearts to wisdome that is so to pray fast and watch and heare do as becommeth him which shall shortly giue account of his Stewardship This is the fruite which comes to a man by nuÌ„bring his daies God teacheth a man to applie his hart to wisdom and this is his lesson which he giues for that purpose number thy daies that is thinke that wisdome is a long studie and that thou hast but ashort time to get it this wil make thee get ground of vertue for there is no such enemie to repentance as to thinke that wee haue time inough to repent hereafter which makes a man say when any good motion coÌ„meth nay I may stay yet yet I may stay like the sluggard which turnes vpon his bed like a doore vpon the hinges and saith yet a little more a little more sleepe a little more slumber I may lie stil a while this is not to number our daies but to stretch our daies make them seeme more then they are and they that do so neuer applie their harts vnto Wisdom so you see what a preseruatiue Moses vsed against sin and pleasure he kept a calendar as it were of his daies which called vpon him Be diligent for thou hast but a short time Fiue things I note in these words first that death is the hauen of euerie man whether hee sit in the throne or keepe in a cottage at last he must knock at deaths doore as all his fathers haue done before him Secondly that mans time is set and his bounds appointed which he cannot passe no more then the Egyptians could passe the sea and therfore Moses saith Teach vs to number our daies as though there were a number of our daies Thirdly that our daies are few as though we were sent into this world but to see it and therfore Moses speaking of our life speaks of daies not of yeeres nor of moneths nor of weekes but teach vs to number our daies shewing that it is an easie thing euer for a man to number his daies they be so few Fourthly the aptnes of man to forget death rather then any thing els and therfore Moses praieth the Lord to teach him to number his daies as though they were still slipping out of his minde Lastly that to remember how short a time we
his Sonne should come into the world he came at the same time as the Prophets and the Euangelists accord so he hath appointed a time when all his blessings shall come vnto vs they come at the same time As we reade of Ioseph when his appointed time came shewing that God appointed a time when to exalt him and before that time came hee could not bee exalted therefore Christ saith so often My time is not yet come shewing that he knew the time of his baptizing the time of his preaching the time of his working the time of his rising and the time of his ascending As for that which is obiected of Ezechias because Esaie shewed him that hee should die and after tolde him that fifteene yeres were added to his life it is like the preaching of Ionas to the Niniuits Fortie daies and Niniue shall be destroyed and yet Niniuie was not destroied because they repented so Ezechias was not abridged because he repented Therefore you must vnderstand the phrase of God as when we say that wee will iourney to morrow we vnderstand If God will so when God saith I will destroie he vnderstands if we persist As al the promises of God are coÌ„ditional to take place if we repent so all the threatnings of God are conditionall to take place if we repent not and therefore some time this woord if is put in as where there is no blessing nor cursing without an if I may answere againe that God is a iudge and spake like a iudge to Ezechias a iudge dooth not condemne all whom he saith he will condemne nor a Schoolemaster beate euerie one whom he saith he will beat to make him learne yet the iudge and schoolemaster doe not dissemble but menace this is not lying but threatning But you will say if any time be set thus long I shal liue and I cannot pasâ—e then I will take no phisicke You may as well say I will take no meat God hath not ordained the end without meanes but the meanes as well as the end If he haue appointed one to die in his youth he hath appointed some meanes to shorten his life as he did Absolons if he haue appointed one to liue long he hath appointed also some meanes to preserue his life as Ioseph cherished Iacob in his age Therefore though God had promised Paul that his company should not be drowned yet he told the marriners that vnlesse they kept in the ship they should bee drowned as if their safety should not bee without meanes but a good minde dooth neuer quarrell about these things The third point is that our life is but a short life as many little skuls are in Golgaâ—ha as great skuls for one apple that falleth from the tree ten are pulled before they bee ripe and the parents mourne for the death of their children as often as the children for the decease of their parents This is our Aprill and May wherein we florish our Iune and Iuly are next when wee shall bee cut downe What a change is this that within fourescore yeares not one of this assemblie shall bee left aliue but another preacher and other hearers shall fill these roomes and tread vpon vs where our feete tread now The Rauen and the Phoenix and the Elephant and the Lyon and the Hart fulfill their hundreds but man dieth when he thinks yet his sunne riseth before his eye bee satisfied with seeing or his eare with hearing or his heart with lusting death knockes at his doore and will not giue him leaue to meditate an excuse before hee come to iudgement To shew the shortnesse of mans life Moses vsed the shortest diuision in nature to expresse it by he might haue said Teach me O Lord to number my moneths or my yeares but he speakes of dayes so the Scripture is woont to number our life by dayes and houres and minutes to shewe vs that wee shall giue account for houres as well as for daies for daies as well as for weekes for weekes as well as for moneths for moneths as well as for yeares which warneth vs to make vse of all our time and euerie daie to thinke vpon the last This was the Arithmeticke of holie men in former times to reckon their dayes so that their time might seeme short to make them applie their hearts to wisdome The Hebrewes did number their dayes thus first they did deduct the time of sleepe so that if our yeeres bee threescore and tenne as the Prophet saith fiue and thirtie of these yeares are striken off at one blow because wee spend halfe our time in sleepe then they did deduct the time of youth which Salomon calleth vanity as though it were not worthy to be called life but vanitie Then they did deduct the daies of sorrow because in sorrow a man had rather dye then liue so when the houres of sleepe the houres of youth and the houres of sorrowe are taken away what an Epitomie is mans life come to The Fathers vsed an other account First they did deduct all the time which is past for the time which is past is nothing then they did deduct the time to come because the time to come is vncertain and no man can say that he shall liue Now when the time past and the time to come is set aside there is nothing left but the time present that is a moment which is not so much in respect of eternitie as a little mote to the whole earth Dauid numbered his daies by a measure My life saith he is like a span long Psal 39. 5. when he measured his life he took not a pole nor an ell nor a yard to measure it by but a short measure his short span My life is like a span long Thus you haue learned to number your daies or rather the houres of your daies as some came into the Vineyard in the morning and some at noone and some at night so some goe out of this Vineyard in the morning some at noone some at night some mans life hath nothing but a morning some haue a morning and noone he which liueth longest liueth all the day and therefore the yongest of all pray but for this day if he liue till to morrow then he prayeth for that day saying still Giue vs this day our daylie bread So that a pleasant life may bee compared but to a glorious day and a sorrowfull life to a clowdie day and a long life to a summers day and a short life to a winters day How comes it to passe that when a man dies all his yeares seeme but so many dayes and before hee dyes all his daies seeme so many yeares Iob speaketh of all a like Man which is borne of a womaÌ„ hath but a short time to liue Iacob was 130. yeares old and yet when hee came before Pharaoh he sayd Fewe and euill haue my daies been Though Pharaoh did not
and God honoured For after that Iosua had quietly possessed the Lande of Canaan he builded a Tabernacle wherein to call vppon the Lorde not perfect Nowe it followeth in the Text But the Lorde was angrie with mee for your sakes and would not heare me c. So soone as Moses changed his praier God turneth from him and will not heare him So soone we make God to forsake vs if wee doe not according to his will Moses sheweth the cause why God woulde not heare him although he were a great man and in high authority yet he is not ashamed to confesse his fault which hee might haue kept secrete if he would for the people knewe not that he had sinned because the sinne which he committed was not open but secret yea it was but a little repine as in the eleuenth of Numbers the eleuenth verse therefore Moses might haue kept it from them but because hee woulde not iustifie himselfe hee telleth them that the Lorde was angry with him and because hee would not haue the people to iustifie themselues he telleth them it is for their sakes Thus when Moses changeth his prayer God will no longer heare him so wee see that where sin is their prayer is not effectuall so that if wee will hope to receiue by prayer any thing at Gods handes wee must first remooue and take a way the cause of our hinderance which is sinne before wee can receiue the thing wee pray for For here we see that prayer which before pacified the wrath of God which healed Meriam being striken with Leprosie which raised the widdowes Sonne from death to life by which Dauid obtayned victorie which brought downe fire from heauen to consume the Idolaters Sacrifices which brought Ieremiah out of prison and Ionah out of the Fishes belly and made the Sunne to stande stil and the raine to fall from heauen and triumphed ouer all is heere by a little sinne quite ouerthrowne euen like a greate Monarke poysoned with a little Spider But the Lord was angrie with me for your sakes and would not heare me God when Moses had prayed did not graunt his request but was angrie with him but lest Moses should be quite discouraged he straight wayes mitigateth his anger biddeth him be content and speake no more vnto him of that matter God doth not bid him that hee shoulde not praie any more vnto him but that he should pray no more for that thing First God biddeth him to be content as if he should haue said although thou maist not enter into the land yet I will content thee other waies thus God woulde haue vs in what estate soeuer we be to be content with our calling for it is his appointment And seeing he hath in ough to content vs all therefore wee shoulde not murmure nor grudge one at another but be thankfull vnto him because it is his good will and pleasure it shoulde bee so And surelie Moses woulde and was willing that the Iewes should profite by his Doctrine for he hath set it downe in the 20. of Numbers twise and in the 27. 13. in the 32. Deut. 49. and in this place all to the intent to shewe that God is able to content all He is not like to Iacob who when hee had blessed one of his sonnes could not blesse the other but he when hee had blessed the poore blessed the hungry and when hee had blessed the hungrie he blessed them that wept when he had blessed them that wept he blessed them that were reuiled and suffered for Christes sake There is no ende of his blessing because his mercie indureeh for euer God is so mercifull that though we are nor able to praie aright yet he considereth of our praiers and turneth to the best for our good not graunting our request manie times but a better thing than we doe desire of him as when Dauid praied that the Childe gotten in adultery might liue God heard him and did consider of it yet did not graunt his request but a better thing that was that his Sonne Salomon should raigne after him And when our Sauiour Christ praied that that houre might passe ouer him God heard him and did consider of it yet did not grant his request but a better thing that his death should take away the sinnes of the world and here in this place where Moses priaeth God heareth his praier and doth consider of it yet doth not grant his request but a better thing that is that he shall goe into heauenly Canaan Thus wee see that God is so mercifull that hee can scarce punish sinners hee is so louing that often he giueth vs better things than wee can desire who then will offend so merciful and louing a father Let vs seeing God is so merciful vnto vs take heede that we abuse not his mercies lest in so dooing we prouoke him vnto iudgement Now God hath told Moses that he shall not goe into the Land he beginneth to teach him how hee shall doe to see it and biddeth him goe vp into the top of Pisgah and cast his eies Estward and westward and Northward and Southward and behold it c. As a Bird staied with a little string or a strong man in swimming held backe by a small twig so a little sinne staieth this great Captaine that he cannot come within the land of Canaan First God is angry with him enuies him altogether as though hee were not worthy so much as to go vp the mount thus we may see how one of the least sinnes is able to turne from vs all the goodnes all the fauour which God beareth to vs. After God commands Moses to go vp the mount Here Moses obeieth Gods cōmandement but if he had bin like many a murmuring man he would haue denied to go vp the moūt saying what banquet is this to me but a dainty dish set before one forbiddē to eate but Moses had rather die than anger the Lorde againe when he had bid him be content Thus we may learne of Moses to bee content with our calling whether wee haue little or much For God contented Moses as wel with the sight of Canaan as those who possessed it So when GOD hath not ordained vs to see great substance as he hath some of our brethren yet because we should not be discontent he will giue vs as much pleasure at the sight of them in others as though we our selues enioyed them So GOD contenth Moses and he contenteth Iosua for as Iosua came into the land as Moses could not so Moses saw it as Iosua coulde not So I say God contenteth all that Iosua should not enuie Moses nor Moses enuie Iosua And this was the great power of God who although Moses were very old yet was his eie-sight most perfect insomuch that hee could see farther than any of all his company For being vpon the
neuer brought Agrippa to altogether Therefore they which fishe for soul 〈◊〉 must take Paules net and remember what God saith to Ieremie 15. 19. Let them bee conuerted vnto thee But be not thou conuerted vnto them for then thou shalt neuer conuert them Signifiing that our constancie in goodnes shall induce others to turne from their wickednes and make him which is but almost come to altogether This is the substance of Paules replie that it is not enough to be a Christian almost that is to haue a kinde of religion a little knowledge a little faith a cold zeale a flattering holines like the touch of the hem but we must march to perfection and doe his will vpon earth as it is in heauen and contend to be holie as hee is holie This is religion saith Iames to keepe thy selfe vnspotted like a glasse which is still wiped To this end saith Paul 2. Tim. 3. The Scripture doth teache and reproue and instruct and comfort That the man of God might bee absolute And in the 1. to the Ephe. 41. To this ende wee were elected that wee might be holie and without blame And Rom. 1. He describes our iourney from faith to faith not from faith to distrust As Dauid describes the waie of the righteous Psal 840. 7. From vertue to vertue as a trauailer goes from towne to towne till he come to his Inne What a foolish thing were it for the Scribe to stay there whē our Lord telles him Thou art not farre from the kingdome of heauen for therefore Christ telleth him that he is not farre from heauen to incourage him lest he should giue ouer before he come to it So if yee staie at almost and repente in some sort as Esau did when hee wept you may hunt for the blessing as Esau did and goe without it for God is not mocked but God is mocked if colours and shewes will serue When GOD said Seeke my face mine heart aunswered said Dauid I will seeke thy face Psalme 27. 8. So wee must aunswere the Lorde to that which he asketh and not when hee biddes vs seeke his face seeke his backe when he requireth al giue him halfe God asketh Art thou a Christian and thou aunsweres O Lord I am almost a Christian What niggardlie aunswere is this to him which deserueth a thousande times more than the best can giue If thy maister aske thee art thou my seruant wilt thou aunswere him I am almost thy seruant If the Prince aske thee Art thou my subiect wilt thou aunswere I am almost thy subiect If thy father aske thee art thou my sonne wilt thou answere I am almost thy sonne If thou art but almost his son then he is but almost thy father And so it is with God a son or no sonne halfe a sonne is a bastard How doest thou know God to be thy God but as thou art his seruant How doest thou knowe God to be thy father but as thou art his son By thy loue thou shalt know Gods loue for according to thy minde towards him is his minde of thee whereby thou maist truelie iudge whether he fauour thee or hate thee and no way else God loueth nothing almost therefore he doth not loue almost Therefore loue as thou maist be loued or else thy loue is lost Thou must seeke as thou maist finde or else thy labour is lost They shall seeke and finde me saith God because they shall seeke with all their hearts as in Ieremie 29. Chapter and the 13. verse as though they should not finde him though they sought him vnlesse the sought him with all their hearts Naaman is not onelie commaunded to wash himselfe in Iordan but to washe himselfe seuen times and then he shall bee healed So man is not onely commaunded to obey God but to obey him while hee liues and then he shall be saued Be faithfull saith the Angell vnto death and then I will giue thee the Crowne of life Reuel 2 10. When Saul was commanded to kill the Idolatrous beasts he was commaunded to kil all and because he spared some God reiected him Yet God hath more mercie on beasts than on sins Would he haue the beasts of sinners die their vices liue No saith Christ Make cleane within that is leaue no filth behind Whensoeuer Christ cast out one deuill we read that he cast out al euē the legion together so when thou castest out one vice cast out all for one is not worthier than another The Prophet doth teach vs to power out our sins like water which leaueth no taste or colour or sent behinde There is a whole old man and there must be a whole newe man The old man must change with the new man wisedome for wisedome loue for loue feare for feare his worldlie wisedome for heauenlie wisedome his carnall loue for spirituall loue his seruile feare for Christian feare his idle thoughts for holy thoughtes his vaine wordes for wholesome wordes his fleshlye workes for righteous workes This is a Christian altogether as if he were cast in a newe mould As a Painter woulde drawe a beautifull picture which should bee fairer than all women in the worlde hee would marke the speciall grace of euerie one and make one beautie of all so we must make vp a Christian and take modestie from him faith from him loue from him patience from him zeale from him and humility from him vntill it be like the Image of Christ This is the building of a Christian First his foundation is laide and then his walles and then his roofe and then a Christian like Adam in Paradise God made all things good therefore if we bee but almost good all thinges are better than wee The wicked man speaketh out of the corruption of his fleshlie heart and shall not the righteous speake of the aboundance of his spirituall heart Hee which is merrie would be merrier if he knew how He which is enuious would looke sterner if he could He which is proud would goe brauer if hee had it and all if wee could bee worse wee would but let them amend which looke to die For what kinde of man should hee bee which must beare the Image of God be the Temple of the holie Ghost and inherite the kingdome of heauen Who is fit for these things saith Paul Nay who is fit for these things Do ye know no enough in riches nor pleasure nor sinne and thinke that you haue enough of religion before yee haue any The good are knowne because none but they which are good striue to be better Wee are inuited to a banquet shall we go but halfe the way vnto it Were it not better that the fig-tree had borne fruites than leaues that the Virgins had carried oyle than lamps So is it not better for vs to be vessels of gold that come to the Lords table than like the image in Daniel part of gold part of siluer part of brasse part of iron part of clay
Thou art bound by this commaundement to doe it with all thy strength Therefore when Dauid went about the seruice of God he called al his powers together summoning them like a Cryer All that is within me praise the Lorde If euery parte looke to be glorified of GOD it is reason that euery part should glorifie him for this is all that they pay As euery subiect oweth loyaltie vnto his Prince so euerie member oweth a duety vnto his Creator The heart to loue him the tongue to praise him the eye to marke him the eare to attend him the hand to serue him the foote to followe him and euery parte shoulde serue GOD as it serueth vs Nay more than it serueth vs because wee are bound to loue GOD more than our selues For it is saide Loue God aboue all therefore we must giue more to Gods desire than to our owne desire Christ hath a parte in euery parte Nay euery parte is his parte because hee gaue all for all Shall the hande saye to the heart serue thou him or the heart say to the tongue serue thou him or the tongue say to the eye serue thou him or the eye say to the foote serue thou him Nay if Christ bee the head euery part will serue him for all the bodie is ruled by the head and therefore if hee bee the head euery parte of the bodie will serue him like a head Nowe if you will knowe how euery part may be a sacrifice thus it is When thou canst say with the Virgin Mine heart doth magnifie the Lorde then thine hearte is a sacrifice to God When thou canst saie with Samuell speake Lorde for thy seruant heareth then thine eare is a sacrifice to God When thou canst saie with Dauid Mine eies are euer towarde the Lorde then thine eie is a sacrifice vnto God When thou canst say with Dauid All the daye long I stretch out mine hand to thee then thine handes are a sacrifice to GOD. When thou canst say with Dauid as it appeareth in the 25. Psalme and the twelfth verse My foote standeth in vprightnes then thy feete are a sacrifice to God So at length by following of these examples euerie member is a sacrifice Hee which offereth this sacrifice is freely excused of all sacrifices besides For since Christ sacrificed himselfe God hath required none other sacrifice of Iewes nor Gentiles But that they sacrifice themselues Nowe when God doth require of thee to sacrifice thy bodie he doth but require thee to sacrifice the sinnes of thy body as you may picke out of the next wordes Be chaunged that is chaunge thy thoughts chaunge thy wordes chaunge thy workes Let thy tongue speake no more idelly Let thine eies looke no more to vanitie Let thine eares hearken no more to folly Let thine handes worke no more iniquitie and then thou hast Sacrificed thy bodie This seemes a deare sacrifice to sacrifice the bodie yet thou seest it is but a cheape sacrifice for it is nothing but to sacrifice thy sinnes which woulde Sacrifice thee If GOD had required thee to Sacrifice thy Sonne to him as hee required Abraham Genesis the twentie two Chapter and the second verse Wouldest thou not giue him But nowe he requireth nothing of thee but thy sinnes it is as if he should sue vnto thee for thy shame and thy trouble and thy guilt and thy feare that he might haue all which hurtes thee What wilt thou parte from if thou wilt not part from thine hurte Therefore sacrifice thy bodie and thou hast Sacrificed all that hurts thee Heere Christ is the alter and we the sacrifice and the fire which kindleth it the loue of God and the smoake which goeth vp the cōsumption of our sinnes but a worldly man killed and a spirituall man reuiued and the sacrifice is ended This sacrifice goeth vnder three titles liuing holie and acceptable Euerie one perswades with the Apostle that they shoulde offer it for in it is a holie sacrifice it cannot but please because hee is holy which takes it in that it is a liuing sacrifice it cannot lose them any thing because there is no death nor losse in it as there was in the Iewes sacrifices in that it is an acceptable sacrifice it must needs benefite thē for when the sacrifice is accepted the sacrificer is accepted too as Abel pleased when his sacrifice pleased First it is called a liuing sacrifice because the beasts died when they were sacrificed but men liue when they are sacrificed nay they die vnles they be sacrificed As Abraham did not lose his sonne when he was cōtent to sacrifice him to God so mē do not lose their pleasures when they sacrifice thē to God But as Christ saith He which leaueth father or mother for me shall receiue an hundred folde So he which leaueth any cōfort for God shall receiue an hūdred comforts for it For Gods demands are not onely demands but gifts Hee bids thee sacrifice thy bodie that thou mightest partak the sacrifice of his body Here then is but one Sacrifice for an other one body for another a beggers body for a Kings body Well may he require a liuing sacrifice which hath giuen a dead sacrifice Christ died for vs but hee desireth not our death but our life that we would serue him with our life It is called an holy sacrifice because our bodies are the temples of the holie ghost that is if they are not they shoulde be the Temples of the holy Ghost But as the Iewes abused the Temple of stone so we haue abused the Temple of flesh and there is no waie to make it holy againe but for the holy ghost to dwell in it that is to sacrifice it to God then it is holie because as vertue came out of Christ to heale the womans disease so holynes commeth out of Christ to heale euerye mans sinnes and then they are holie As nothing dooth please vs vnlesse it bee some waie like vs and agreeable to our nature so nothing doth please God but that which is like God therefore because God is holy no sacrifice doth please him but the holie sacrifice therefore holie goeth before acceptable to shewe that our sacrifice is not acceptable vnlesse it be holie Aliniug holy and acceptable sacrifice 3 It is called an acceptable sacrifice because no sacrifice is so accepted as when we offer our selues Therefore Sāuel saith obediēce is better than sacrifice that is it pleaseth God better than sacrifice Now if we must sacrifice to God we should doe as we doe to Princes that is offer that which may be accepted that we may be accepted for our gift or els better vndone than done When Caine had sacrificed to God because his sacrifice was not accepted therefore Moses saith that his countenance was cast downe but if wee sacrifice our bodies our countenance neede not bee cast downe for Paul saith that this sacrifice is accepted All other sacrifices
the way for other that they may fall too Therefore Let him that thinketh he standeth take heede lest he fall So earnestly must we call vpon our soules that we be not wearie of well doing for happier are the children that neuer began then Iudas whose ende was worse then his beginning Wisedome and Righteousnesse are angrie with him that leaueth his goodnesse to become worse if thy spouse had committed fornication thou mightest haue diuorsed her but he which leaueth his righteousnes to liue in wickednes forsakes his spouse to commit fornication and is diuorsed from Christ himselfe If thou wert like the Vine or the Oliue or the Figge tree they would not leaue their grapes or their fatnesse or their sweetnesse to get a kingdome but the Bramble did If thou be like the Bramble what wilt thou doe when the fire comes As this is a memorandum to all so especially let him that ruleth and him that teacheth take heede lest he fal for if the Pillers shrinke the Temple shakes as when a great Tree is hewen downe which is a shadowe to the beasts and a nest to the birdes many leaues and bowes and twiggs fall with it so many stande and fall with them whose lampes giue light to others Euen as Ieroboams sinne made Israel to sinne therefore Paul hath giuen you a watchword which euery one should write vpon his table vpon his bed vpon his nayles lest he forget in one houre for he which standes now may fall before night Sinne is not long in comming nor quickly gone vnles God stop vs as he mette Balaam in his way stay vs as he staied the womans sonne when he was a bearing to his graue we runne ouer Reason and tread vpon Conscience and fling by Counsel and goe by the Word and poast to Death as though we ran for a kingdome like a Larke that falles to the ground sooner then she mounted vp at first she retires as it were by steps but when she commeth neerer the ground she falles downe with a iumpe so wee decline at first and wauer lower and lower till we be almost at the worst and then we runne headlong as though wee were sent poast to hell from hot to luke-warme from luke-warme to key cold from key cold to starke dead so the languishing soule bleedes to death and seeth not his life goe till he be at the very last gaspe Woe bee vnto him that is guilty of this murther if the bloud of Abel cried for vengeance against his brother Caine which slew his bodie shall not GOD bee reuenged for the death of the Soule where is thy brother saith God Nay where is thy soule hast thou slaine it which was my spouse my temple mine owne Image If the seruāt which hid his Talent was cast into darknesse what shall be done vnto thee which hast lost thy Talent For he which falles from his righteousnesse dooth not hide his Talent but more he doth lose it Thus if you neuer knewe what good to make of euill this you may learne in the sinners Schoole let them which thinke they stand take heed lest they fall and let them which are downe care to rise and the Lord so direct our steppes that wee may rise againe FINIS THREE PRAYERS ONE FOR THE MORNING ANother for the Euening the third for a sicke man Whereunto is annexed a godly Letter to a sicke friend and a comfortable speech of a Preacher vpon his death bed Anno. 1591. A Morning Prayer O Lord prepare our hearts to praye ETernall God giuer to them which want Comforter to them wich suffer and forgiuer to them which repent we haue nothing to render thee but thine owne If we could giue thee our bodies and soules they should be saued by it but thou wert neuer the richer for them Al is our duetie al of vs cannot performe it therefore thy son died thy spirite descended and thy Angels guide and thy Ministers teach to helpe the weakenes of men All things cal vpon vs to cal vpon thee and we are prostrate before thee before wee know how to worship thee euē since we rose we haue tasted many of thy blessings thou hast begun to serue vs before wee begin to serue thee Why shouldst thou bestow thy health and wealth and rest and libertie vpon vs more then other we can giue no reason for it but that thou art mercifull And if thou shouldst drawe all backe againe we haue nothing to say but that thou art iust Our sinnes are so grieuous and infinite that we are faine to say with Iudas I haue sinned and there stop because we cannot reckon them All things serue thee as they did at first onely men are the sinners in this world Our heart is a roote of corruption our eies are the eyes of vanitie our eares are the eares of follie our mouthes are the mouthes of deceipt our hands are the hands of iniquitie and euery part doth dishonour thee which would be glorified of thee The vnderstanding which was giuen vs to learne vertue is apt now to apprehend nothing but sinne the will which was giuen vs to affect righteousnes is apt now to loue nothing but wickednes The memorie which was giuen vs to remember good things is apt now to keep nothing but euill things There is no difference betweene vs and the wicked we haue doone more against thee this weeke then we haue doone for thee since we were borne and yet we haue not resolued to amende but this is the course of our whole life first we sinne and then we pray thee to forgiue it and then to our sinnes againe as though we came to thee for leaue to offend thee And that which should get pardon at thy hands for all the rest that is our prayer is so full of toyes and fancies for want of faith and reuerence that when we haue praied we had need to praie againe that thou wouldest forgiue our prayers because wee thinke least of thee when wee pray vnto thee what Father but thou could suffer this contempt and bee contemned still Yet when we thinke vpon thy sonne all our feare is turned into ioye because his righteousnesse for vs is more then our wickednesse against our selues Settle our faith in thy beloued and it sufficeth for all our iniquities necessities and infirmities Now Lord we goe foorth to fight against the world the flesh and the diuell and the weakest of our enemies is stronger than wee therefore wee come vnto thee for thy holy spirite to take our part that is to change our mindes and wils and affections which wee haue corrupted to remooue all the hindrances which lets vs to serue thee and to direct all our thaughts speeches and actions to thy glorie as thou hast directed thy glorie vnto our saluation Although we be sinners O Lord yet we are thine and therefore we beseech thee to separate our sins from vs which would separate vs from thee that we may be ready
what passion expelled what sin repented what good performed since we began to receiue thy benefites this day wee must confesse against our selues that all our works words thoughts haue been the seruice of the world the flesh and the diuell we haue offended thee and contemned thee all the day and at night wee pray vnto thee Father forgiue vs all our sins which haue dishonored thee while thou diddest serue vs run from thee while thou didst call vs and forgotten thee whilest thou didst feede vs so thou sparest vs so we sleepe and to morrow we sinne againe this is the course of al our pilgrimage to leaue that which thou commandest and doe that which thou forbiddest Therefore thou mightest iustly forsake vs as we forsake thee and condemne vs whose conscience condemnes our selues but who can measure thy goodnesse which giuest all and forgiuest all Though we are sinfull yet thou louest vs though wee knocke not yet thou openest though we aske not yet thou giuest what should wee haue if wee did serue thee which hast done all these things for thine enemies Therefore thou which hast giuen vs al things for thy seruice O Lord giue vs a heart to serue thee let this be the houre of our conuersion let not euill ouercome good let not thine enemie haue his will but giue vs strength to resist patience to endure and constancie to perseuere vnto the end Instruct vs by thy word guide vs by thy spirite mollifie vs by thy grace humble vs by thy corrections winne vs by thy benefites reconcile our nature to thy will and teach vs to make profite of euery thing that wee may see thee in all things and all things in thee because O most mercifull father we walk between thy mercie and iustice through many temptations gouerne our steps with such discretion that the hope of mercie may preuent dispaire the feare of iustice may keepe vs from presumption that in mirth wee bee not vaine in knowledge we be not proude in zeale we bee not bitter but as the tree bringeth foorth first leaues then blossomes and then fruit so first wee may bring foorth good thoughts then good speeches and after a good life to the honor of thy name the good of thy children the saluation of our soules remembring the time when we shall sleepe in the graue and the day when wee shall awake to iudgement Now the time is come O Lord which thou hast appointed for rest and without thee wee can neither wake nor sleepe which hast made the day and night and rulest both therefore into thy hands we commend our soules and bodies that thou hast bought that they may serue thee restore them O Lorde to their first Image and keepe them to thy seruice and resigne vs not to our selues againe but finish thy work that we may euery day come neerer and neerer to thy kingdome till we hate the way to hell as much as hell it selfe and euery cogitation and speech and action be so many steps to heauen For thy names sake for thy promise sake for thy sonnes sake O Lord wee lift vp our hearts hands voyce vnto thee in his name which suffered for sinne and sinned not Our Father c. A Prayer for a sicke man ALmightie God and all mercifull Father which art the Phisition of our bodies and soules in thy hands are life and death thou bringest to the graue and pullest backe againe we came into this world vpon condition to forsake it whensoeuer thou wouldest call vs and now the Somners are come thy â—etters hold me and none can loose me but he which bound me I am sicke in bodie and soule but he hath stroken me which in iudgment sheweth mercie I deserued to dye so soone as I came to life but thou hast preserued me till now and shall this mercie bee in vaine as though wee were preserued for nothing Who can praise thee in the graue I haue done thee no seruice since I was borne but my goodnesse is to come and shall I dye before I begin to liue but Lord thou knowest what is best of all and if thou conuert me I shall be conuerted in an houre and as thou acceptedst the will of Dauid as well as the act of Salomon so thou wilt accept my desire to serue thee as well as if I did liue to glorifie thee The spirit is willing but the flesh is fraile and as I did liue sinfullie whensoeuer thy spirite was from mee so I shall dye vnwillingly vnlesse thy spirite prepare mee therefore deare father giue mee that minde which a sicke man should haue and increase my patience with my payne and call vnto my remembrance all which I haue heard or read or felt or meditated to strengthen mee in this houre of my triall that I which neuer taught any good while I liued maye nowe teach other how to dye and to beare theyr sicknes patiently apply vnto me all the mercies and merites of thy beloued sonne as if he had dyed for me alone Be not from me when the enemie comes but when the tempter is busiest let thy spirite bee busiest too and if it please thee to loose me out of this prison wheÌ„ I shal leaue my earth to earth let thine Angel carrie vp my soule to heauen as they did Lazarus and place me in one of those mansions which thy sonne is gone to prepare for me This is my mediator which hath reconciled me and thee when thou didst abhorre mee for my sinnes and thou didst send him from heauen to vs to shew that thou art bound to heare him for vs. Therfore in him I come vnto thee in him I call vpon thee O my redeemer my preseruer and my sauiour to thee be all prayse with thy father and the holy spirite for euer Amen What shall stay me from my Father my brother and my Comforter A comfortable speech taken from a godly Preacher lying vpon his death-bed written for the sicke I Owe to God a death as his Sonne died for me Euer since I was borne I haue been sailing to this hauen and gathering patience to comfort this houre therefore shal I be one of those guestes nowe that would not come to the banquet wheÌ„ they were inuited what hurt is in going to Paradise I shal loose nothing but the sence of euil and anon I shall haue greater ioyes then I feele paines For my head is in heauen already to assure mee that my soule and body shall follow after O death where is thy sting why should I feare that which I would not escape because my chiefest happinesse is behinde and I cannot haue it vnles I go vnto it I would go through hell to heauen and therefore If I martch but through death I suffer lesse then I would suffer for God My paines doe not dismay mee because I trauaile to bring forth eternall life my sinnes doe not fright me because I haue Christ my redeemer the iudge doth not
Doe this in remembrance of me that is these signes shall bee a remembrance of my death when you breake the bread you shall remember the wounding of my body and when you drinke the wine you shall remember the sheading of my blood If wee doe this is remembraunce of Christs bodie which was broken like the bread it is an argument that his bodie is not there because remembrance is not of thinges present but of things absent we remember not but wee see that which is before vs. This might put the Papists in remembrance that Christ is not sacrificed now when we do but remember his sacrifice this is not Christes sacrifice but a remembrance of his sacrifice he was sacrificed before and now it is applied lest his sacrifice should be in vaine This was done once reallie when he offered himselfe vpon the crosse therefore that offering was called a sacrifice because he was sacrificed indeed but this offering is called a Sacrament because it is but a signe of his sacrifice If Christ in this Sacrament were offered indeede then it should bee called a sacrifice as his once offering was but because it is but a remembrance of his sacrifice therefore it is called a Sacrament This is not a sacrifice of Christ but a sacrifice of our selues Lest we shoulde take it to bee a sacrifice of Christ Christ himselfe calleth it a remembrance of his sacrifice Do this in my remembrance Here is our worke as Christ hath done so must we doe so we minister and so you receiue wee can giue you nothing but that which we haue receiued from him as Paul saith Therefore if Christ did not giue his mortall bodie which stood before them and could not profite them nor his glorified bodie which was not glorified then and when it was glorified ascended vp vnto heauen and there abideth how can these iugling Priests make their God againe which made them They can no more turne wine into blood bread into flesh than they can commaund a gnat to become a camell for it is a greater worke to make God than to make the world Therefore as Christ saith When they tell you here is Christ and there is Christ beleeue them not So when they tell you that Christ is in heauen and that Christ is in earth in this place and that place beleeue them not for Elias ascension was a figure of Christes ascension when Elias was ascended yet some sought for his bodie vpon earth so though Christ be ascended yet manie seeke his bodie vpon earth but as they could not finde Elias bodie so these cannot finde Christes bodie although they haue sought three hundred yeares But if his bodie were vpon earth as they say should we handle it and touch it now it is glorified After his resurrection he sayd vnto Marie Touch me not because his bodie was glorified that is not to bee touched with fingers any more but with faith Therefore we reade of none which touched his bodie after it was risen but onely Thomas to settle his faith Thus you see wee neede to suborne no witnesses for euerie word in this Text which they alleadge for Transubstantiation doth make agaynst Transubstantiation whereby if Antichrist doth signifie those which are against Christ you see who may be called Antichrist There is no question in Poperie except Purgatorie the Popes publican and tasker about which the Papistes are at such ciuill warres among themselues as about this Transubstantiation They cannot tell when the chaunge beginneth nor what manner of change it is nor how long the change continueth some hang one way and some another like the Midianites which fought one against another And no maruell though their consciences stagger about it for to shew you the right father of it it was one of the dreames of Innocentius the third in the yeare of our Lorde 1215. so manie yeares passed before Transubstantiation was named and then a Pope set it first on foote so it came out of Rome the grandame of all heresies and for want of scriptures hath bene defended with fire and sword and swallowed mo Martyrs than all the gulfs of the Papall sea beside Now when the doctrines of men goe for scriptures you shal see how many errors rush into the Church for graunt but this to Pope Innocentius as the Papists do that the bread and wine are chaunged into Christes bodie First it wil follow that Christs body is not ascended vp to heauen because it remaineth vpon earth and so one of the articles of our faith shalbe falsified which saith He is ascended into heauen or if he be ascended and descended againe another article will be falsified which saith That hee sitteth at the right hand of his father that is as Peter saith he abideth in heauen Secondly it will follow that Christ hath not a true bodie but a fantasticall bodie because it may bee in manie places at one time for if his bodie be in the Sacrament he must needes haue so many bodies as there bee Sacraments nay hee must haue so many bodies as there be bittes in euerie Sacrament Thirdly it will follow that his bodie is diuided from his soule and consequentlie is a dead bodie because the bread is onely changed into his bodie and not into his soule Fourthly it will follow that the wicked and prophane reprobate may receiue Christ as well as the godlie because they haue a mouth to eate as well as the best Fiftly it will followe that Christes Sacrifice once for all was not sufficient because we must sacrifice him againe and breake his bodie and shed his blood as the Iewes crucified him vpon the Crosse Sixtly it will follow that the bread being turned into the bodie of our Redeemer hath a part of our redemption as well as Christ Seuenthly it wil follow that Christ did eate his owne bodie for all the fathers saie that hee did eate the same Bread which he gaue to his Disciples Lastly it will follow that a Massing Priest shalbe the creator of his Creator because hee makes him which made him All these absurdities are hatched of Transubstantiation Thus when men deuise Articles of their owne while they strike vppon the anuill the sparkes flie in their face and they are like the man which began to build and could not finish it When I see the Papist in so many absurdities for entertaing one errour me thinks hee seemeth like a Collier which is grymed with his owne coales Therefore as in maners we should thinke of of Peters saying Whether is it meete to obey God or men So in doctrines we should thinke whether it be meete to beleeue God or men Thus haue you heard the Author of this Sacrament The Lord Iesus the time when it was instituted in the night that he was betraied the manner how it was instituted after thankesgiuing the end why it was instituted for a remembrance of his death