solemnized it himselfe Then it is honourable for the time for it was the first ordinance which GOD instituted euen the first thing which he did after man and woman were created that in the state of innocencie before either had sinned like the finest flower which will not thriue but in a cleane ground Before man had any other calling he was called to be a Husband therefore it hath the honour of antiquitie aboue all other ordinances because it was ordained first and is the ancientest calling of men Then it is honourable for the place for whereas all other ordinances were instituted out of Paradise Marriage was instituted in Paradise in the happiest place to signifie howe happie they are which marrie in the Lord they doo not only marrie one another but Christ is maried vnto them so Mariage hath the honor of the place aboue all other ordināces to because it was ordained in Paradise As God the Father honored Mariage so did God the Sonne which is called the seede of the woman and therefore Mariage was so honored amongst women because of this seede that when Elizabeth brought foorth a sonne she said that God had taken away her rebuke counting it the honor of women to beare children and by consequence the honour of women to be maried for the children which are borne out of Mariage are the dishonor of women and called by the shamefull name of Bastards As Christ honoured Mariage with his birth so he honoured it with his miracles for the first miracle which Christe did hee wrought at a Mariage in Chanaan where he turned their water into wine so if Christ be at your Mariage that is if you marie in christ your water shall bee turned into wine that is your peace and your rest and your ioy and your happines shal begin with your Mariage but if you marrie not in Christ then your wine shall be turned into water that is you shall liue worse hereafter than you did before As he honoured it with miracles so he honored it with praises for hee compareth the kingdome of God to a Wedding and he compareth holines to a Wedding garment And in the 5. of Canticles he is wedded himselfe We reade in Scripture of three Mariages of Christ. The first was when Christ and our nature met together The second is when Christ and our soule ioyne together The third is the vnion of Christ and his Church These are Christs 3. wiues As Christ honoreth Mariage so doo Christs Disciples for Iohn calleth the Coniunction of Christ and the faithfull a Mariage And in Reuel 21. 9. the Church hath the name of a Bride whereas Heresie is called a Harlot Further for the honour of Mariage Paule sheweth how by it the curse of the woman was turned into a blessing for the womans curse was the paines which she should suffer in her trauaile Now by Mariage this curse is turned into a blessing for children are the first blessing in al the Scripture And therefore Christ saieth that so soone as the mother seeth a man child borne into the world she forgetteth all her sorrowes as though her curse were turned into a blessing And further Paule saith that by bearing of children if she continue in faith and patience she shall bee saued as though one curse were turned into two blessings For first she shall haue children and after she shall haue saluation What a mercifull God haue wee whose curses are blessings Who would haue thought that God had hid a blessing in his curse So hee loued our parents when hee punished them that hee could scarse punish them for loue and therefore a comfort was folded in his iudgement To honour Mariage more it is said that God tooke a rib out of Adams side and thereof built the woman He is not saide to make man a wife but to build him a wife signifying that man wife make as it were one house together that the building was not perfect vntil the womā was made aswell 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 the man of earth so he made the woman of bone while Adam was a sleepe This doth teach vs two thinges As the first Adam was a figure of the second Adam so the first Adams sleepe was a figure of the second Adams sleepe 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 sleepe of Christ the Church was borne as a bone came out of the first Adams side so bloud 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 Church for the Apostle calleth Death a sleepe but Christ which dyed is called Life shewing that in his death we liue Secondly this sleep which the mā was cast into while his wife was created dooth teach vs that our affections our lusts our concupicenses should sleepe while wee 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 wan Isaak 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 maried how to honour one another it is saide that the wife was made of the husbands rib not of his head for Paule calleth the husbande the wiues head nor of the foote for he must not set her at his foote the seruant is appoynted to serue and the wife to helpe If she must not match with the head nor stoope at the foote where shall he set her then He must set her at his heart and therefore she which should lie in his bosome was made in his bosome and should bee as close to him as his ribb of which she was fashioned Lastly 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 happines began that day to shine vpon vs when a good wife is brought vnto vs. Therfore one saith that Mariage doth signifie Merriage because a playfellow is come to make our age merrie Salomon considering al these excellencies as though wee were more indebted to God for this thā 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 els yet hee saith house and riches
Father or a Doctor to inquire whether this doctrine bee like Christs doctrine I doo verely thinke that none heere is so simple but that he seeth that if any thing can bee contrarie to Christs speech this is contrarie to it But this is onely their detraction from the Sacrament Now you shall heare their additions to the Sacrament looke vpon their vestures and their gestures and their Altars and their pix and their incense and their becks and their nods and their turnings all this is more than Christ did and therefore the Prophet may say againe Who hath required this of you Did Christ commaund you to doe more than he did and not doe as he did therefore let them which haue eyes to see be thanckfull for their light when they heare how blind they were whome God gaue ouer to be seduced The fruite of this Sacrament is noted in these words which is broken for you which is shead for you that is as Mathew intreateth shed for the remission of sinnes As al was made for vs so all which Christ spake hee spake for vs and all which Christ did he did for vs and all which Christ suffered he suffered for vs that the sinnes of men might be forgiuen and yet so few apprehend this benefit that the way to Heauen is called a narrow way as though all these paines did raunsome but a small number certaine order of men All are not saued by Christes death but all which are saued are saued by Christes death his death is sufficient to saue all as the sunne is sufficient to lighten all but if any man wincke the sunne will not giue him light so if any man contemne and will not receyue Christ will not thrust him into heauen but euery man shall haue that which he chooseth as Dauid saith Blessing to him that loueth blessing and cursing to him which loueth cursing There wants not a hand to giue but a hand to take I would sayth Christ but you would not Stretch forth thy hand and heere is Christes hande which takes Gods hand and mans hand and ioynes them together and then the remission of sinnes is sealed This is the will and testament of Christ. He had no goods nor lands nor money to giue by his testament A rich man when he dieth bestoweth the money which he hath gathered and forgiueth many debts which are owing him but Christ had nothing to giue nor any thing to forgiue The Lord of all had least of all and he might say like his seruant Peter Gould and siluer haue I none no not a graue to burie his body in but the graue which Ioseph made for himselfe serued to burie Christ. His Father was a Carpenter but neuer made any house for himselfe his Mother lay in a stable for want of a Chamber his Disciple was faine to borrow twentie pence for him of a fish therefore when one offered Maister I will follow thee thinking to gaine by his seruice like them which retaine to noble men he replied vnto him The foxes haue holes and the fowles haue nests but the sonne of man hath not a house to hide his head shewing that the beasts fowles were richer than hee therefore when he had nothing to giue he gaue himselfe and when he had no debters to forgiue he forgaue his enemies what then this is a poore and weake testamēt which gaue nothing oh the goodlyest testament that euer was made for it bringeth to vs the remission of sinnes Is it such a matter to forgiue sinnes yea the greatest benefit in all the world nay a greater benefit than all the world for thus it stoode thou haddest committed high treason against the Queenes person thou art detected apprehended accused conuicted and condemned vpon it to bee hanged and drawne and quartered and thy quarters to bee set vp for a spectacle like a carkasse which thou hast seene hanging vpon a gibbet the Crowes pecking vpon it What a horror and shaking to thy mind to think of that day when all these torments and shame and feare shall surprise thee at once which wold make thee quake and tremble if thou shouldest see but another so dismēbred before thy face Thou hast no comfort now but this when I haue suffered I shall bee free before to morrowe at this time all my paine will bee past though my shame continue and my children bee beggers What grace what fauour what mercie now to pardon thee all this and saue thy life and set thee at libertie as though thou haddest neuer offended So I and thou and euerie one here had committed treason against the King of Kings and stoode condemned for it not to suffer then to be free like them which breake the lawes of men but to suffer and suffer and euer to suffer all that the diuells would heape vppon vs. Then came the mercie of God for Christ which shed his bloud like an vmpire betweene God and vs and sayd as Esaiah said to Hezekiah Thou shalt not die but liue loose him let him goe for he is mine So wee were stayed like the widdowes sonne when he was carried to his graue This is the benefite of Christes death and this Sacrament is the remembrance of it and therefore whensoeuer we receiue it this addition commeth with it which is shed for the remission of sinnes our fault was so hainous grieuous that no raunsome could counteruaile it vnlesse God himselfe had suffered for vs. Being in this extremitie neither man nor Angell offered his life for vs but the Prince himselfe which should haue crucified vs came to be crucified of vs for vs that wee might say with stedfast faith I beleeue the remission of sinnes not the satisfaction of sinnes but the remission of sinnes Marke this distinction against Popish merites of workes or penance Christ hath satisfied and not we we are remitted and not Christ therefore wee say in our Confession I beleeue the remission of sinnes which I may call the mercifull Article because it is the quintessence and sweetnesse of all the twelue Therefore who but Antichrist durst depraue it If there bee a satisfaction for our sinnes by our workes or by our Pilgrimages or by our Masses or by our penance let Christ neuer bee called a forgiuer but an exchanger like the Pope which selleth his pardons Wretched creatures which will not receiue the Lord whē he comes to their dore Christ saith take for nothing and they say no wee will not take but buy Vile base miserable men disdaine to take grace of God without satisfaction but they will cope with the Lord and giue him so many Pilgrimages fast so many daies heare so many Masses and pay so many workes for it vntill they haue done as much good as they haue done euill Our sinnes are infinite God is infinite but our workes are finite in number and measure how can
that day vpon which they receyue like a Schollers Thurseday which he loues better then all the dayes in the weeke only because it is his play day Maruell not now if you haue not felt that comfort after the Sacrament which you looked for for it is comfortable to none but to thē which prepare their harts and examine themselues before because it is not the mouth but the heart which receiueth comfort Now it may be that the most which are heere haue brought a mouth and not a heart these goe away from the Sacrament to despight Christ as Iudas went from the Sacrament to betraye him The other goe away like one which hath receyued a cheerefull countenance of the Prince all his thoughts are ioy and the countenance of the Prince is still in his eye As hee which hath eaten sweet meate hath a sweet breath so they which haue eaten Christ all their sayings and dooings are sweete like a perfume to men and incense to GOD their peace and conscience and ioy of heart and desire to doo good will tell them whether they haue receiued the bare signes or the thing signified Euerie one which receiueth this Sacrament shal feele himselfe better alter it like the Apostles or els he shall finde himselfe worse after it like Iudas Hereby ye shal know whether yee haue receiued like the Apostles or like Iudas Thus we haue ended the doctrin of the Lords Supper Now if you can not remember all that I haue said yet remember the text that is Examine your selues before you receiue this Sacrament hereafter FINIS THE Examination of Vsurie in two Sermons Taken by Characterie and after examined Imprinted at London by Thomas Orwin for Thomas Man dwelling in Paternoster row at the signe of the Talbot 1591. To the Reader HEere thou hast the Sermons which haue bin often desired because of the matter fit for this Citie One sayth that he would neuer speake to Vsurers and Bribe-mongers but when they be vpon their death beds for he which liueth by sin resolueth to sin that he may liue But when he goeth to hanging Iudas will say I haue sinned If I speake not to Vsurers vppon their death-bed yet I speake to Vsurers which shall lye vppon their death-bed Three things do giue me hope One is that all harts are in the hands of God to call them at what houre he list and therefore Saul may become an Apostle The next is that the third crow doth waken moe then the former and therefore after the crowing of other this crow may happily be heard The last is that there is no sinne but some men haue bin reclaimed from it and so may Vsurers from their sinne Therefore goe my booke like Dauid against Goliah and sight the Lords battells against Vsurers The Lord giue that successe to his doctrine in these leaues that it may consume Vsurers as Ioshuah droue out the Chananites before him If I could take but this one weede out of the Londoners Garden I were answered for my health and my strength spent amongst them Reade with thy best minde and thou shal profit more Thine H. S. The Examination of Vsurie in two Sermons The first Sermon Psal. 15. vers 1. 5. Lord who shall dwell in thy tabernacle Who shall rest in thine holie mountaine He that giueth not his money to Vsurie THese two verses must bee considered together because one is the question and the other is the answere Dauid demands who shall come to heauen and GOD tels him that Vsurers shall not come thether as if hee should say They shall goe to hell Therefore as Paule taught Timothie to warne thē which are rich as though they had more neede to be warned than other so this sentence seemeth to bee penned for a warning to the rich because it strikes vpon the rich mans vice I haue spoken of Briberie and Simonie and now I must speake of their sister Vsurie Manie times haue I thought to speake of this Theame but the argumēts which are alleaged for it haue made mee doubtfull what to say in it because it hath gone as it were vnder a protection At last you see it falleth into my text and therefore now I cannot bauke it any longer Therefore if any heere haue fauoured this occupation before let him now submit his thoughts vnto Gods thoughts for I will alleage nothing against it but that which is built vppon the rocke Vsurie is the sin which God wil trie now whether you loue better than his worde that is whether you will leaue it if he forbid it for if hee flatly forbid it and yet you wilfully retaine it then you loue Vsurie better than Gods worde Therefore one saith well that our Vsurers are Hereticks because after manie admonitions yet they maintaine their errour and persist in it obstinatly as Papists doo in Poperie For this cause I am glad that I haue any occasion to griple with this sin where it hath made so many spoyles where it hath so many patrons for it is said that there be moe of this profession in this Citie than there bee in all the land beside There be certaine sins which are like an vnreasonable enemie which will not be reconciled to death and this is one of those euerlasting sins which liue and die with a man For when he hath resigned his pride and his enuie and his lust yet Vsurie remaineth with him he saith as Naaman said Let the Lord bee mercifull vnto me in this let me haue a dispensation for this as though this were a necessarie sinne and hee could not liue without it There be three sinnes which are counted no sinnes and yet they doo more hurt than all their fellows those are Briberie Nonresidencie and Vsurie these three because they are gainful are turned from sinnes to occupatiōs How many of this Citie for all that they are Vsurers yet would be counted honest mē and would faine haue Vsurie esteemed as a trade whereas if it were not so gainfull it would bee counted as great a sinne as any other and so it is counted of all but them which liue by it This is the nature of pleasure and profite to make sinnes seeme no sinnes if we gaine any thing by them but the more gainfull a sinne is the more daungerous it is and the more gainfull Vsurie is the more daungerous it is I will speake the more of it because happely you shall not heare of this matter againe First I will define what Vsurie is then I wil shew you what Vsurie doth signifie then I will shewe the vnlawfulnes of it then I will shewe the arguments which are alleaged for it then I will shewe the punishment of it then I will shewe you what opinion wee should holde of them which doo not lend vpon Vsurie but borrow vpon Vsurie Lastly I will shewe you what they should doo which haue got their riches by Vsurie Touching the