Christian is dead to sin and aliue to God Dead to sin as Iudicious Melancthon in respect of sinnes imputation and efficacie In respect of imputation for albeit some reliques of old Adam remaine in the new man yet as the Scripture speakes all his offences are couered there is no condemnatiō vnto them which are in Christ. God sees none iniquity in Iacob no transgression in Israel Num. 23. 21. As for sinnes efficacie whereas the motions of sin in an vnregenerate man haue force to bring forth fruit vnto death Rom. 7. 5. He that is borne of God sinneth not 1 Iohn 3. 9. As being a patient rather then an agent in sin saith Bernard or as Primasius he doth not liue to sin but to Christ who dyed for his sin Thus I liue quoth Paul Gal. 2. 20. Yet not I now but Christ liueth in mee Christ himselfe is the life which I now liue In this regard he and I are both one quoth Luther vpō that place this seemes a very strang manner of speaking I liue I liue not I am dead I am not dead I am a sinner I am not a sinner I liue not now as Paul but Paul is dead who is it then that doth liue the Christian our corrupt estate subiect to sin and concupiscence is called the old man But our person reformed in and by Christ is the new man Augustine pithily Christianus est quod ammodo duplex euery single Christiā susteyneth a double person as Hector Pintus vpon our text duplex est in me ego one I that liues according to the flesh and another I that liues according to the spirit As the penitent wanton in St. Ambrose who courted by his old loue Cur non respicis ego sum answered sed ego non sum ego Though you be still the same woman I am become another man I liue indeed in the flesh but not through the flesh or according to the flesh for I am Crucified vnto the world and the world is Crucified vnto mee The truth is I liue by faith in the Sonne of God I am grafted into Christ and the graft doth liue not of it selfe by the sap of the stocke Wee are twigges and Christ is the tree without him wee can doe nothing Iohn 15. 5. But in him and through him all things Philip. 4. 13. Thus a Christian is dead to sinne dead to the law dead to the world actiuely the which exposition is entertained of many learned interpreters but that Iacob is passiuely dead vnto the world as being hated persecuted of the world as the blessed Apostle speakes of himselfe for Christs glory dying daily is the fitter and as I think the fuller glosse comming neerer home to the point and to the pith of the matter intended heere by the spirit And so by this place you may learne the meaning of another hard phrase 1. Cor. 15. 2◅ Baptized for dead that is afflicted and reputed as dead I know there bee diuerse readings and interpretations of that text but vpon an exact inquirie yee shall vnderstand this to be most agreeable to the words to the scope of Saint Paules argument To the words because Baptisme is vsed elsewhere for affliction as Luk. 12. 50. I must be Baptized with a Baptisme and how am I grieued till it bee ended and Math. 20. 22 Mark 10. 38. Ye know not what ye aske quoth our blessed Sauiour to his ambitious Disciples harkening after earthly preferment in his Kingdome Yee must first drinke of the Cup that I must drinke of and be baptized with the Baptisme that I am baptized with that is in the iudgment of Theophilact Euthymius Ardens and many more learned Diuines Ye must of necessity beare the Crosse before ye can weare the Crowne ye must enter into my Kingdome through many tribulations As for the scope Saint Paul in the words immediately following shewes that by baptized hee meant afflicted why are we Christians in Ieopardie euery houre If I haue fought with Beasts at Ephesus after the manner of men what aduantageth it me if the Dead rise not againe Wherefore should Iacob and Israel indure so many losses and crosses fightings without and terrours within troden vnder foote like wormes and reputed as dead men in this world were there not another world where they shall haue fulnesse of Ioyes and pleasures at Gods right hand for euermore So haue yee the first part of our Text explained concerning the weaknesse of the Church in respect of her selfe the second is the consideration of her strength in respect of her Sauiour Who saith feare not I will helpe thee The which is repeated often in this one Chapter and that within the compasse of a few lines not onely to shew the dulnesse of our fraile flesh needing in aduersitie promise vpon promise so well as in prosperity precept vpon precept But to set forth also the fulnesse of Gods infinite rich mercy towards vs vile Wormes It is reported Apo. 7. 2. That foure bad Angels had power to hurt the Earth and the Sea when wee heare of their number Foure wee may feare and when wee heare of their nature bad Angells wee may feare more When we doe read of a datum est power and authority giuen vnto them of God to hurt wee may feare most of all But when wee finde their power limited that they must not hurt Gods seruants wee need not feare at all I saith the Lord whose power is I am and stile I will Alas man of himselfe is not able to doe any thing hee liues and moues and hath all his being in me my grace sustaineth him by which hee is whatsoeuer is his He speakes optatiuely would to God I will if God will But I the Lord Indicatiuely Imperatiuely I will bee thou cleane I will ease you I will strengthen thee I will helpe thee I the Lord who make the mountaines to skip like Rams the litle hills like young sheepe I who measure the Waters with my little finger and the Earth with three of my fingers and the Heauens with my spanne Esay 40. 12. Before whom all the Nations of the world are but as a drop of the morning dew that falleth vpon the ground Wis. 11. 19. I that am all in all vpholding all things by my power I the Lord against whom there is no wisedome neither vnderstanding nor counsell Pro. 21. 30. No Wisedome of men or Vnderstanding of deuills or counsell of Angells is able to preuaile No Wisedome in Heauenly things or vnderstanding in Earthly things or counsell in any thing against me Neither is my will inferiour to my power for I am thy Redeemer I was borne for thee I was circumcised for thee I fulfilled all righteousnesse for thee I dyed for thee I rose againe for thee what could I haue done more for thee which I haue not done I haue so loued thee that I gaue my selfe for thee to bee both an offering
of the axe saith Gregorie the great to fly from the helme and so they kill vnaduisedly their bretheren And these ghostly Fathers vse Christians as the Iewes did Christ hanging on the Crosse when his thirstie soule called for some comfortable potion they gaue him gall and vineger to drinke The word of God must dwell in vs plenteously but in all wisdome Col. 3. 16. We must heare it in all wisdome read it in all wisdome meditate on it in all wisdome speake of it in all wisdome especially preach of it in all wisdome not only in some but in all wisdom For all is litle enough considering the Lord will not hold him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vaine By Iacob yee which are verst in the Bible know well is ment the seed of Iacob all Gods people descended from his loynes heere called a worme And as Tremellius and our old English translations a little worme in respect of their abiect estate first in Egypt and afterward in Babylon a silly worme In quo saith one nihil est quod quis aut amet aut metuat So the next clause doth expound this in the iudgment of Caluine yee dead men of Israel in such a wretched and base slauerie that ye resemble men which are dead euen past all hope to be restored and raised againe to your former glory Gods people were not dead indeed but as it were dead to many purposes vnder their Captiuity They did not lead vitam vitalem a liuely life being as Socrates and u Plato sayd of marriners neither among the dead nor yet among the liuing And as Saint Paul of a Widdow spending her dayes in pleasure dead while they liue For so the Scripture speaking Hyperbolically calls those dead who liue in extreame perils and deepe dangers as Psalm 116. 3. The snares of death compassed me round about and the paines of hell gat hold vpon me and Psalm 86. 13. Thou Lord hast deliuered my Soule that is my person and life from the nethermost hell euen the pit of the dead or the graue So the Prophet Ezechiel entreating of this argument in his 37. Chapter compares the men of Israel vnder bondage to drie bones in the mids of a field These bones are of the house of Israel behold they say our bones are dryed and our hope is gone and wee are cut off a◅ branches from the tree Therefore Prophecie vnto them and say Thus saith the Lord God behold my people I will open your graues and cause you to come vp out of your Sepulchres and bring you into the Land of Israel againe As there is a spirituall resurrection from sin and an eternall resurrection a◅ the last day from the graue So likewise a temporall resurrection from affliction in this world So the Lawyers terme those ciuilly dead which are banished out of their Country There is between Exilium and Exitium so little difference that it sounds well enouge in a Latine eare to call such as are condemned to perpetuall Exile Capite damnatos men appoynted to dye Other instead of dead men of Israel read few men of Israel as our new Bibles in the margine so the Septuagints and their translator Israel parvulus little Israel and Procopius in his commentarie Perpaucus Israel as being in this aduersitie litle for number and lesse in account despised Israel as the translation Hen. 8. Thus I haue deliuered vnto you the plaine story but for as much as all the faithfull are the Sonnes of Abraham and true Iacobins as Augustine sayd more Israel then Israel it selfe the most and best expositors aswell ancient as moderne extend this not onely to the sonnes of Iacob according to the flesh but also to the seed of Iacob according to the spirit that is to the Church of Christ afflicted and persecuted vnder Antichrist in in spirituall Babylon And so these times haue made a large Commentarie vpon this text For Iacob is a worme troden vnder foot in Italie troden vnder foot in Spaine troden vnder foot in France troden vnder foot in Austria troden vnder foot in Poland troden vnder foot in Germanie Persecuted by the red Dragons might and malice throughout the Wildernesse of the whole world and the friends of Iacob are but louing wormes a few men and they by the designes of Antichrist his bloody ministers the Iesuits appoynted to dye for Christs sake killed all the day long This Scripture then is a parallell vnto that Cant. 2. 2. Like a Lillie among the thornes so is my loue among the Daughters and to that Ecclesiastes 9. 14. There was a little City and few men in it a great King came against and compassed it about and built forts against it And to that of our blessed Sauiour in the Gospell affirming that his Church is a little flocke in the mids of Wolues Now that which is sayd in generall of Christs whole body mysticall is verified in particular of euery member as euery sliuer of a bone is bone So euery sonne of Iacob euery true beleeuer baptized into Christ is a worme and as a man that is dead A worme not in respect of his humane condition onely Iohn 23. 6. Man is a worme euen the Sonne of man but a worme saying to corruption thou art my Father and to the worme thou art my Mother and my Sister But in respect of his Christian estate much more being vilified and accounted in the worlds esteeme a worme and no man a scorne of men and outcast of the people yea the filth of the world and off-scouring of all things 1. Cor. 4. 13. His soule quoth Dauid is filled with the contemptuous reproofe of the rich To good Men and Angels an obiect of pittie To bad Men and Angels an obiect of enuie To both a gazing stocke Bernard Ser. ◅1 Inter paruos sermones And with the despightfullnesse of the proud a gazing stocke to Men and Angels infaelicitatis tabula Calamitatis fabula the Map of miserie the table talke yea tabret as Iob speakes vnto the wicked Yee beleeue this I know because ye daily see this not in the tents of Kedar onely but in the high streets of Hierusalem also the greater doubt is how the Christian is sayd here to bee Dead For the better vnderstanding whereof obserue that spirituall death in Iacob is threefold to witt A Death of Sinne For how shall we that are dead to sin liue therein Rom. 6. 2. The Law Through the Law I am dead to the law Gal. 2. 19. That is saith Luther against that accusing condemning Law I haue an other law which is Grace Libertie which accuseth the accusing and condemneth the condemning Law The world Actiue Whereby the world is dead vnto Iacob renoūcing the pompes thereof and accounting all things losse to winne Christ. Passiue Whereby Iacob is dead to the world which hateth and persecuteth him for Christs sake The summe of all is that a
7. verse all the people nations and languages fell downe and worshipped the golden image Dauid often said thou art my king O God but a meere Courtier on the contrary thou art my God O King It is court language to terme the followers and flatterers of Nabuchodonosor his creatures But beloued it is not any person in any place who may either preiudice a trueth or priuiledge an errour If it bee true doe as they say though a pharisee bee teacher Mat. 23. 3. If false hold him accursed though an Angel be preacher Gal. 1. 8. That which is bad in it selfe by defending is made worse causa patrocinio non bona peior erit as Augustine writes of Petilian contradicting the trueth vbi respondere conatus est magis ostendit quod non potuit respondere The more hee would answere the more hee shewed hee could not answere That which is crooked none can make straight saith Ecclesiast as there be some diseases which are called Dedecus medicorum a shame to Physicians so there are some questions which are Dedecus theologorum a shame to Diuines The religion of the Gentiles hath no constant confession or beliefe but leaueth all to the strength of argument on the contrary the religion of Mahumet interdicteth all argument and inioynes a strict confession only but holy religion doth both admit and reiect disputation with difference Dubious Problems may be discussed in 〈◊〉 schooles and accuratly handled in the pulpit to but euident oracles and articles of faith are simply to bee beleeued Litigando saith one pithily res non dirimitur sed perimitur If Nabuchodonosor as King command to worship false gods obey passiuely not actiuely suffer his will as being in higher power but doe the will of God as being higher then the highest here say with the three children O king we are not carefull to answere thee in this matter The 1. reason on which they ground their resolutioÌ„ is Gods omnipotency behold the God whom we serue is able to deliuer vs from the hot fiery fornace Nothing saith Tertullian is impossible to God but that hee will not for whatsoeuer pleaseth him hee doth in heauen and in earth and in the sea and in all deepe places Psal. 135. 6. To compasse his designes he doth vse sometime weake meanes sometime no meanes sometime contrary meanes Weake meanes for it is not hard with the Lord to saue with many or with few 1. Sam. 14. 16. He can as easily blow downe the walles of Iericho with the sound of Rams horns as with the thunder of roaring canons Sometime he workes without meanes as he created all thinges of nothing and Christ immediatly cured many maladies without any medicines The Centurions seruant was healed with his bare word â—…ayrus daughter with the touch of his hand the woman which had a bloody flux twelue yeares by touching the hemme of his garment only Mat. 9. 20. Sometimes hee doth vse contrary meanes as Christ opened the eyes of one that was borne blind by annoynting them with clay and in the work of our redemption hee gaue life not by life but by death and that a most accursed death Opâ—…imum fecit instrumentum vitae quâ—…d erat pâ—…ssimum mortis genus And in our effectuall vocation hee calleth vs by the preaching of the Gospel vnto the Iewes a stumbling blocke and vnto the Grecians foolishnesse In reason more likely to draw men from God then to win and woe men to God Sampson in slaying a thousand Philistines with the iaâ—…bone of an asse was a type hereof as Prosper obserues insinuating that Christ by the foolishnesse of preaching should confound his enemies and â—…aue such as beleene which occasioned that blessed Apostle to call godlinesse a great mystery 1. Tim. 3. 16. It is true that God can neither dye nor lie because these are not acts of power but defects of infirmity Dicitur enim omnipotens saith Augustine faciendo quod vult non patiendo quod non vult God is able to doe whatsoeuer hee will and more then hee will too more by his absolute power then hee will by his actuall and as God can doe what hee will haue done so hee will doe whatsoeuer is best vnto those that loue him and therefore Shadrach Meshach and Abednego further added he will deliuer vs out of thine hand O King They speake concerning his power most absolutly but concerning his pleasure which is secret with an If conditionally but if not and the reason hereof is playne because God in his infinite wisedome suffers his people many times to be murthered and martyred by the hands of vngodly men 1. To manifest his prouidence who brought light out of darknesse and life out of death and ordereth all wickednesse for his owne good endes and glory making the blood of his Martyrs the seed of his Church 2. To shew his omnipotency for if he should neuer vse ordinary meanes but alwayes extraordinary miracles in deliuering his seruants out of their troubles it would be thought an act of fate rather then of fauour done not by his might or mercy but ascribed only to nature and necessitie 3. To try his seruants obedience faith humility patience magnanimity perseuerance for men vndoubtedly shew their loue to God in their doings more then in their sayings in their sufferings more then in their doings in Christs cause to suffâ—…r death is the way to heauen on horsebacke quoth blessed Bradford 4. For the good of his people for that hee doeth hereby hasten their immortality receiuing them into an euerlasting habitation and making them partakers of a better resurrection It is sweetely sayd that persecutors are goldsmiths to make crownes for the Martyrs and Martyrs in the iudgement of the Fathers shall haue greater crownes then other And therefore the finall determination of these worthles vnto Nabuchodonosor is briefly this If our god will deliuer vâ—… out of thine hand O King our hearts are ready to glorifie him in our liues If not our hearts are ready to glorifie him in our deaths If he will accept this our burnt offering his shal be the glory but ours the good O King be it 〈◊〉 vnto thee that wee will not serue thy gods nor worship the golden Image which thou hast set vp And as they sayd they suffered the which is an actuall commentary vpon Christs iniunction â—…f any man will follow mee let him forsake himselfe They did in the quarrell of God not only forsake 〈◊〉 their houses and lands and goods or suâ—…s their father mother wife and children brothers and sisters but also se their own selues euen that which was most themselues their owne souâ—…es and 〈◊〉 loosing them here that they may find them and saue them hereafter in a better estate Queene Hester in the like case had the like resolution If I perish I perish in the like case St. Paul had
Bernard out of that text reasoned thus with an Archbishop in France Let euery soule be subiect Ergo yours I pray who doth exempt you Bishops â—…i quiâ—… tentat excipere conatur decipere So Chrysostome Theodoret Oecumen Theophilact vpon the place Clergie men are not excepted Ergo not exempted Concerning causes Ecclesiasticall it is auowed and prooued by Protestant Diuines that a King and euery other supreame gouernour is Custos vtriusque tabulae the Lord-Keeper of both tables of Gods Law that wee may lead vnder him a quiet and a peaceable life in all godlinesse and honesty We doe not imagine this of our owne heads we find it annexed vnto the Crowne by God himselfe who when he first gaue his people leaue to chuse them a King withall appoynted that the Law truly coppied out of the Leuites originall which was keptin the Tabernacle should be deliuered vnto the King sitting on his Royal seat with this Charge that booke shall remaine with the King hee shall read in it all the dayes of his life that hee may learne to feare the Lord his God obserue all the words of the Law written therein and these statutes to doe them This was not done till hee was placed in his throne so saith the text therefore this touched not the Kings priuate conuersation as a man but his Princely function as a Magistrate which stands in commanding other and not in guiding his owne person as a man he serues God one way sayth Augustine as a King another way as a man in ordering well his own life but as a King in seeing that other liue soberly toward themselues righteously toward their neighbours holily toward God So that Kings as Kings serue God in doing that for his seruice which none but Kings can do Well then if the whole Law were committed to the King as King at his Coronation It is plaine that the publishing preseruing and executing of the first table touching the sincere worship of God is the chiefe part of the Princes Charge And according to this commission and authority the godly Kings of Israel and Iudah remoued Idols razed hill alters slew false Prophets purged the land from all abominations not sparing the brazen serpent made by Moses wheÌ„ they saw it abused and by the same power they caused the Temple to be cleansed the Law to bee read the Passeouer to be kept the Leuites to Minister in their courses inuented by Dauid and by the same power Solomon deposed Abiather the chiefe Priest and set Zadock in his roome And of the Christian Church it is sayd Esay 49. 23. Kings shall bee thy nursing Fathers and Queenes thy nursing mothers And it is apparant that Constantine Iustinian Charles the great and many moe religious Princes enacted Ecclesiasticall lawes and were super-visors of the Bishops in their seuerall Empires For although a King may not administer the Sacraments or preach the word or execute the Ministers office de facto Yet as our diuines haue determined it belongs to the Kings cure de iure to see that all things concerning Gods holy worship should bee done in the Church orderly vos intra sayd Constantine the great to his Bishops ego autem extra ecclesiam à Deo Episcopus constitutus sum The last enemies vnto ciuill Magistrates are such as arme themselues and stand in actuall rebellion against authority For whatsoeuer faire pretence of doing good traytors may seeme to haue the State doubtlesse is in a miserable case when as commotioners are become commissioners and coÌ„mon woe named common wealth and a Ket obeyed more then a King Rebels are like a Bile in a body or like a sinke in a rowne gathering together all the nastie vagabonds and idle loyterers to warre with almighty God and his lieurenants and so being a beast of many heads they place treason aboue reason and make might to rule right If thy gouernour bee good vse him as thy nursing Father If bad commanding as a Tyrant that which is euill simply take vp against him a buckler and not a sword obey ferendo non feriendo suffering the payne not resisting the power impetere or competere are both vnlawfull albeit Kings deface in themselues Gods first Image in their owne soules yet no man hath leaue to deface Gods second Image imprinted in their name iudelibly Hitherto touching the Magistrates authority now for his vtilitie For thy good Higher powers are protectours of Gods Church ordeined for our temporall good and spirituall good and so consequently for our eternall good all which our Apostle sheweth in his 1. Epist to Timothie Chap. 2. verse 2. Pray for Kings and for all in authority that wee may lead a quiet and a peaceable life in all godlinesse and honesty our temporal good consists in a quiet and a peaceable life our spirituall good in godlinesse and honesty so that Magistrates are called of God to be Iustices of the peace for our temporall good and defenders of the faith for our spirituall good Concerning the first holy writ mentioneth a two-fold peace to wit an inward peace which is the peace of conscience proper onely to the Church and not commonicable to the world for there is no peace to the wicked saith my God and an outward peace which is common vnto both and therfore the Lord sayd to his people whom Nabuchodonosor had carried away captiue from Hierusalem to Babel seeke the prosperity of the city whither I haue caused you to bee carried away captiue pray for it for in the peace therof you shal haue peace This owtward peace may bee disturbed either by Domesticall enemies or by forreine foes as our Apostle sayd in another case fighting without and terrours within In respect of intestine iarres vnder the gouernment of Princes we lead a life a life which is quiet and in respect of forreine wars vnder the gouernment of Princes wee lead a life which is peaceable a Prince protects the persons of his subiects from murtherers and the goods of his subiects from theeues and the good name of his subiects from liâ—…ellers and slanderers hee beares not the sword for nought but is the Minister of God to take vengeance on such as are disturbers of his subiects quiet a-against his Crowne and Dignity Now that a Christian Magistrate may put to death a traytor a murtherer and other notorious offenders we proue first by the Scriptures secondly by the Fathers and thirdly by reason The Scriptures afford precepts and examples hereof afore the Law vnder the Law and after the Law before the Law Gen 9. 6. Who so sheddeth mans blood by man shall his blood be shed The which is not a meere Prophecy that euery murtherer should come to mischiefe but a plaine precept that the Magistrate being armed by Gods authority must execute such a bloody malefactor And we read a patterne hereof in the 38. of Gen verse 24. Iuda sayd bring her
whether it be good or bad A sweet speech according to Godsowne heart for as S. Ambrose doth auow whosoeuer speakes a thing which is true speaketh it from the spirit of trueth Not to trouble you with any further discourse the consideration of this one poynt that God is omni-present conteineth in it all other rules for the well ordering of whole life so that if any be deiected in his mind for that he cannot remember the good lessons hee dayly reades in bookes and heares in Sermons let him be con tented againe because this one prescript comprehends omnia media et remedia all meanes and medicines for the curing of his sicke soule but because Gershon a great clearke professeth hee hath sometimes beene foure houres together in working his heart ere hee could frame it to he Diuine meditation of God I purpose to treate first of the meanes how to get it and then of the fruites arising from it For the first euery good gift is from aboue comming downe from the Father of lights and prayer is like the fiery chariot of Elia where by we mount vp and conuerse with God on high It is the key of Paradise gates and the hand of a Christian able to reach from earth to heauen and to take foorth vnsearchable riches ouâ—… of the Lords treasure the Scripture saith as much in plaine termes aske and yee shall haue seeke and yee shall find knocke and it shall be opened vnto you what soeuer ye shall aske the Father in my Name he will giue it you Feruent prayer then vnto which almighty God denyes nothing is a maine meanes of this holy deuotion and pious exercise Another way to seeke Gods face continually is to haue some remarkeable sentences concerning this argument written in the roomes wee most vse for example that of Solomon Prou. 15. 3. The eyes of the Lord in euery place behold the euill and the good Or that of Dauid I haue set God alwayes before me Or that of Paul Heb. 4. 13. All things are naked and open to his eyes with whom wee haue to doe Or that of Augustine God is all eye Totus oculus qui minime fallitur quià minime clauditur saith Bernard Or that of Lipsius eum nulla vis humana elidet aut acumen eludet God commanded in the 15 of Numb 38. and Deut 22. 12. That his people throughout their generations should make them fringes vpon the borders of their garments and put vpon the fringes of the borders a ribband of blew silke that when they looked vpon them at any time they might remember all the commandements of the Lord and doe them He did inioyne likewise to bind the wordes of his Law for a memoriall vpon their hands and as fronâ—…lets betweene their eyes And these scrolles of paitchâ—…ents wherein the commandements were written are termed by the Hebrew Doctor Tephillim prayermonuments and by Christ Mat. 23. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Interpreters coniecture quasi conseruatoria because they kept and preserued men in awfull obedience to the law and howsoeuer the Pharisees abused these things vnto superstition and vaine-glory yet God assuredly will be well pleased if we shall vse sincerely the like monuments and figures for the like good purposes and ends especially to put vs in mind of his holy presence A third profitable meane to seeke Gods face continually is a particular examination of our selues at our vprising and downe-sitting and if wee find that wee haue walked all the day long in Gods sight to make songs of him and prayse him for his strength and grace If otherwise to be sory for this omission and hereafter to bee more studious of this good worke The last and best helpe to further this deuotion is our vnfeined loue of God for as S. Augustine sayd animus velut pondere amore fertur quocunque fertur ibi est vbi amat non vbi animat A man is where he loues not where he liues as Origene writes of Mary Magdalene visiting Christs Sepulchre ibi non erat vbi erat quià tota ibi erat vbi magister erat So beloued it is with vs al our mind is where our pleasure is and our heart is where our treasure is Matth. 6. 21. If then we loue God aboue all things our hearts will likewise reioyce in his holy Name more then in all things If wee remember the marueilous workes that hee hath done his wonders and the iudgement of his mouth what do we but seeke his strength and his face euermore The fruites rising from this holy deuotion are manifold The first is purenesse of heart which is such an excellent vertue that Solomon saith He that loueth purenesse of heart the King shall be his friend That is the King of glory the King of heauen and earth the King of kings is a louer of him Now that purenesse is attayned by this exercise as Dauid telleth vs in the 10. Psalme reporting the wayes of the wicked man to bee most impure because God is not in all his thoughts and the fathers of our law put these words into the enditement of a malefactour that in committing his foule fact he had not God before his eyes When Christ entred into my soule saith Bernard hee mooued and mollified and wounded mine hard and stony heart he did roote out and destroy throw downe build and plant he did enlighten that which was darke water that which was dry coole that which was too hot and inflame that which was too cold He did exalt valleys and depresse mountains the crooked wayes he made straight and the rough places plaine and so saith he with our Prophet Psalme 103. My soule did prayse the Lord and all that is within mee prayse his holy Name We find in Ecclesiasticall history that Paphnutius conuerted Thais and that Ephram conuerted another famous strumpet from vncleannesse onely with this argument that almighty God seeth all thinges in the darke when all doores are fast all windowes shut all curtaines close And as this exercise causeth vs to repent sin which is past so likewise to preuent sinne which is to come for if once we can contemplate God as present we shall instantly consider him as our Father and so honour him or as our Lord and so feare him and he that doeth either of these will flee sinne as a serpent as for example Ioseph assaulted by his mistrisle to lie with her answered How can I doe this great wickednesse and so sinne against God Susanna tempted by the libidiâ—…ous Elders to the like folly gaue the like answere sighing and saying I am in danger on euery side For if I doe this thing it is death vnto me and if I do it not I cannot escape your hanâ—… it is better for mee to fall into your hands and not to doe it then to sinne in the sight of the Lord A learned doctour in â—…ur time
the soule of the world the Clergie of the Church and the Iesuites of the Clergie Iesus in this answere to the Pharisees expressed equity trueth piety but the Iesuites in their disputes regarde quaestum magis quam quaestionem All seeking their owne and not the things of Iesus Christ as S. Paul phraseth it Philip. 2. 21. Which occasioned a learned Diuine to say that they were Suitae not Iesuitae louers of themselues and not followers of Christ. Iesus here would haue scandalous accusations of our brethren written in the dust and trodden vnder feet of all that passe by But their doctrine is composed of lyes and libels and all thinges are fed and mainteined by such things of which they are bred and made the aliments of Popery must be correspondent to the elements of which it consisteth aequiuocation is their Diana lying their best helpe Machiauel their fifth if not first Euangelist as Caesar sayd si ius violandum est regni causa violandum and I haue heard that Sambucus alluding to that Apophâ—…egme should say when he had stolen a manuscript out of a library si ius violandum est eruditionis causa violandum so these men are resolued if a man must lye hee must lye for the good of the catholike religion and if lye in so good a cause lye to some purpose Iesus is a Sauiour of his people the Prince of Peace the God of loue but the Iesuites are destructiue doctors as rash Empiricks they can cure none but by letting of blood no treason plotted as Camerarius obserues in any state but a Iesuit hath a finger if not his whole hand in it either at the beginning middle or end so drunken with the blood of the Saints that as their old acquaintance writes the very Canibals and Anthropophages shall condemne them at the last day Thus haue they nothing of Iesus except only the bare name and nomen inane saith a Father is Crimen immane for their nature they resemble more Christs aduersaries the Scribes and Pharisees as being their offall and off-spring not so much flesh of their flesh as spirit of their spirit Now beloued I beseech you giue me leaue to say that vnto you which Moses in the 30. Chap of Deuter. to his auditours I haue set before you this day life and death good and euill blessing and cursing chuse therefore life shun the wayes of Antichrist which are the paths of death and follow Christs example which is the way the truth and the life that foâ—… both you and your seede may liue good subiects in his kingdome of grace and blessed Saints in his kingdome of glory IAMES 5. 16. Confitemini invicem peccata vestra Confesse your faults one to another OVr iniquities make a separation betweene God and vs and withhold his good thinges from vs Ierem. 5. 25. Now then vt cessante causa cesset effectus that the cause ceasing its effect also may cease S. Iames in the closing vp of his Epistle prescribeth a three-fold remedie for the remouing of our sinnes Eclipsing the Sunne of righteousnesse and hiding his face from vs. The first is confession of our faults one to another in our present text The second is prayer one for another in the words immediatly following The third is exhorting one of another in the 19. and 20 verses Concerning confession hee sets downe fiue conditions especially to wit that it be 1 Non involuta sed aperta not inuoluved and intricate but ingenuous and plaine noted in the verbe fatemini 2 Non diuisa sed integra not a partiall acknowledgement but a Plenarie noted in the preposition Con. Confitemini 3 Non reciproca sed transitiua not recoyling toward our selues but vttered vnto others also noted in the Aduerbe Inuicem 4 Non defensiua sed accusatiua not defensiue but accusatiue noted in the Nowne peccata faults 5 Non aliena sed Propria not another mans but our own noted in the Pronoune Vestra your faults Touching prayer one for another he shewes the great power thereof illustrated by the Prophet Elias example who being a man subiect to the like passions as wee that is frayle both in respect of his mind and body in respect of his mind as fleeing from angry Iesabel 1. Kings 19. In respect of his body as being fed by Raueâ—…s and by the little cake of a poore widdow dwelling in Zarepta 1. Kings 17. Yet with one prayer he shut vp the windowes of heauen and it rained not on the earth for three yeeres and sixe moneths And with another earnest prayer hee did open them againe and the heauen gaue raine and the earth brought soorth her increase As for exhorting one another he doth vrge that duty from the most excellent reward thereof If any of you haue erred from the trueth and some man hath conuerted him let him know that hee that hath conuerted the sinner from going astray out of his way shall saue a soule from death and shall hide a multitude of sinnes It is the worke of God only to saue soules causally but occasionally good men as Ministers and Instruments of God are sayd to saue soules in conuerting sinners from euill courses vnto the right way by fruitfull instructions and good examples So the Scripture speakes Matth. 18. 15. If hee heare thee thou hast won thy brother and more plainly 1. Tim. 4. 16. Take heede vnto thy selfe and vnto thy doctrine continue therein for in so doing thou shalt both saue thy selfe and them that heare thee I am at this time to treat of confession and the condition thereof I therefore resume my text Confesse your faults one to another A sinner vnregenerate is like Sampson grinding in the prison house corne for his enemies the greater his labour the more his losse Now the first step out of this vnhappy prison is the acknowledgement of his faults as the reuerend Father Nilus initium salutis est sui ipsius accusatio The condemning of his infirmities is the beginning of his sauing health Adam in couering his offence did offend more then in committing it all the sonnes of Adam haue this imbred cunning to hide their nakednesse with fig-leaues that is their naughtinesse with idle cloaks and excuses it is mother-wit to post and passe sinne from our selues vnto some other As when almighty God arraigned Adam in Paradise for transgressing his commandement in eating of the forbidden fruit hee presently layd the fault vpon Eua his wife she being questioned layd it vpon the serpent and the serpent vpon God Albeit vngodly men as our notes declines their sinnes throughout all the cases in the Nominatiue by their pride to get them a name in the Genitiue by their fornication in the Datiue by their Bribes in the Accusatiue by their Detracting and backbiting In the Vocatiue By their adulation and flattering In the Ablátiue By their oppression and robberies Yet they will not