miserable aduersitie Another reason of this doctrine is that which Dauid giueth Psal 17. 14. They haue no portion but in this life they can haue no comfort of the graces of the Lords children so that when they are perplexed and weaned from these things they are more vexed then other men This is the iust iudgement of God that where men haue most of al set their hart there aboue others they should receiue their hurt Now my deere brethren take vp a taste of this foode which I haue prepared for your soules and lust not after the wilde Doe when the tame kid may serue your turne Vse I beseech you these plaine and easie doctrines to shew vs the miserie of our times wherein we liue and of their liues among whome we liue We are altogether set on eating and drinking as if our soules delighted in wine or should be saued by meate wee regarde not the want which the poore endure wee thinke not on the hand which is ready to strike vs and we feare not the calamitie which doth alreadie compasse vs. Make not your belly your God and take not your portion in this life onely knowe you that a good Christian cannot come to heauen but by often fasting and continuall watchfulnesse and see you not how little this was practised till the dearth came and put vs in minde hereof now then let vs redeeme the time that we haue euill spent and spare that meate for the poore which we may saue for our selues We haue long liued by bread but now let vs liue by the word of God let vs I beseech you cast off our carnall desires and take no rest in our owne houses with Vrijah till the Lords people be in quietnesse let this preuaile with vs that looke how much comfort we take in abusing these so much discomfort shall we finde by forsaking them The vses which offer themselues out of this doctrine are these first that the confidence which the wicked raise vp to themselues in the things of this life shall bee their vtter ouerthrowe Isai 20 5 6. that whereas Egypt and Ethiopia were the comfort of Israell contrarie to the expresse commandement of God the Lorde threateneth to captiuate these nations and to destroy the people in their owne expectation that both the comfort and comforters should be at once confounded Euen so doth he in like manner in these daies where men leane more on the weake staffe of meate and drinke then on the strong rocke of God his word he breaketh the staffe in peeces and maketh the flitters to pearse through our owne harts This is the rewarde of belly-gods that their ioyes are remooued their hope is decayed their consolation confoundeth them and the want of those things wherein they most delighted shal procure them most easelesse paine because they most corrupted them The rich glutton which exceeded in delicious fare and in all abundance of wines and pleasant drinks was tormented without all pitie for want of water The prodigall sonne who lauished out riotously his fathers legacy like our English spend-thriftes at tables at drinking at whooring at gaming in brauerie of apparell horses houndes and delicates was constrained for his office to be a swineheard for his meate to want that which his beastes were fed with for his brauerie to bee basely and beggarly araied and his whole felicitie was turned into most lamentable yet due deserued miserie Harken therefore vnto me my brethren and heare me when I tell you the issues of your pleasures If you be aged thinke what were your sorrowe that if those riches which in youth you laboured for with your hands to comfort you withall when you should be olde should be suddenly taken from you then may you say my yoonger yeeres I consumed in vanitie and elder daies must perish in pouertie If you be yoong men consider with your owne harts that if the libertie you tooke should be abridged the pastimes you plaied should cause you so many stripes and your youthfull daies shoulde bee turned into languishing infirmities would not this amaze you to feele it and discomfort you to consider it Yes yes my beloued when your riches are the coles your desires are the fire your pleasures are the bellowes and your owne liues are the irons to be burned in this miserable miserie I delighted shall one say in hunting and nowe the beasts deuoure me I delighted in dauncing but now my woonted mirth is turned into hellish yelling I delighted in drinking but my cuppes are emptie and the naturall heate of my stomacke deuoureth my body like a fire I delighted in stealing but now doth the world rob me of my life the diuel of my soule I delighted in whooring but alas my diseases are become loathsome to God and man I delighted in slandering and hurting other but my lyes are recompensed with my owne life I was a swearer but the Lords wounds which I blasphemed haue witnessed my death I was a coniurer the diuell hath me I desired large fields but now haue I lost mine owne And thus shall all sinners come to their endes as Esau which louing hunting by his loue lost his blessing Another vse arising from the same doctrine shall be this that seeing we which be most abusers of the Lords benefits shall by their want be most of all punished let vs before this time of aduersitie come humble our soules and amende our sinnes as the prophet calleth vpon Babylon many yeeres before shee was destroyed Isa 47. 1. 23. Come downe and sit in the dust O virgin daughter Babell sit on the ground for there is no throne O daughter of the Chaldeans for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate So my beloued come you downe now while you heare me calling vnto you and while this wrath is but comming vpon you you haue euery one aduanced a throne for your sinnes to sit on but pull it downe or else it shall defile your soules Yet there is time turne you from your euils you drunkards to sobernes you wantons to modestie you swearers to pitie you idle ones to diligence you rich men to humility you gentlemen to religion you women to righteousnes you yoong men to learning you old men to praying and you poore men to patience turne turne I say before this aduersitie that either your chaunge may change the Lords meaning or vse may ease the rigour of your punishment Come downe I beseech you take vp your crosse and follow Iesus Christ let temperance rule you let religion perswade you let your Sauiour win you let his ministers warne you let the earth speake vnto you and be yee all conuerted or else continue in your delights and cease not to offend God which hateth your liues or the church which wisheth your wealth or the poor which pray for your peace or the earth which threatneth want or the diuell that gapeth for your soules Howle allye drinkers of wine Now the prophet telleth
soule that it may stande in all stormes swimme in all seas abide in all dangers liue in all deathes and raigne in all glorie So you shall know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion my holy mountaine then shall Ierusalem be holy and no strangers shall goe through her any more Now the Prophet drawing to a conclusion of his Sermons shutteth them vp with many sweete promises of the Lords fauour as first of all his presence then his bountie his presence in this verse which shall sanctifie them and keepe them from enimies Concerning the former part of this verse where the Prophet saith they shall know him to be their God dwelling in Zion sufficient hath beene alreadie spoken and I will not stand any longer thereon but referre you to the former chapter This therefore his promise vnto Ierusalem that it should be holy teacheth vs the perfection or greatest honour of the church namely Holines Ephes 1. 4. when the Lord promiseth that his church should bee holy hee thereby teacheth vs that all gifts and goodnes and mercy and glorie and dignitie of the church proceedeth from this that she is holy neither can the Lord in this world bestow any greater benefit vpon his church then hir sanctication This Holines consisteth not in learning nor in studying nor in knowledge nor in prophesie nor in miracles nor in church-offices but in a good life and in all them so that a holy man is a perfect christian Now verily when the Lord promiseth Ierusalem to be Holy he giueth hir all things for he giueth hir grace to be righteous his fauour to be honorable and his benefits to be glorious Without holynes men are heathens but with it they are christians without it they cannot enioy the earth but with it they may enioy the heauens without it they are sathans slaues but with it they are the Lords sonnes and to conclude Holines is the will of God the ende of our redemption the fruit of the Spirit the cloathing of our soules the ioy of the godly and the perfection of the church By Holynes landes are established euil is banished kings thrones are maintained and it maketh a nation dwell without danger no enimie can touch them no famine can dismay them no misery can ouerthrow them because they be holy and so may euery mans soule by Holynes driue away the diuell continue in the church and obtaine the kingdome of heauen The first reason because in nothing do we resemble God more then in holines Exod. 22. 23. who is only holy Reuel 15. 4. Holines and righteousnes was the image wherein God created vs and therefore he caused to bee wrote vpon the breast of the high Priests roabes Holines to the Lord. Contrarie vnto this holines is prophanesse when men abuse whatsoeuer is appointed to be holy whereby I see that they are verie iustly termed prophane men who haue no maner of shew of holines God his fearefull name which is holy they blaspheme the sabbaoths which are holy they prophane religion which is holy they contemne the congregation which is holy they persecute praiers which are holy they seldome vse and to be briefe al the lawes of God which are holy they violate these are carnall men these are miserable men these are subiect to all abhominations So that as there is no blessing but it belongeth to the holy so there is no curse but it belongeth to the prophane Another reason is because holynes is freed from sin hell Isa 11. 8 9. now to be freed from sin is the greatest blessing in this world to be freed frō hel is the greatest blessing in the world to come indeed one followeth another for whosoeuer is freed from sin is also freed from hell But there are many that thinke it a great paine vnto them to be free from sin because they cannot endure to be free from the meanes of sinning yet let vs know that this is or ought to be our prayer that wee may once be freed from committing of sinne that whereas we haue a minde to idolatrie or Poperie it may be turned from it or if we be inclined to swearing we may fall to leaue it and hate it and if we be addicted to be enuious we may be charitable or to lusts we may be chaste or to falshood we may bee true or to couetousnes we may be liberall or ignorance of the scriptures we may be learned in them and finally if to any vaine or vnlawfull thing we may no more desire it then children do the rod oh happy were we if we were thus cleansed from sinne that we might be thus sanctified Let vs learne that exhortation of the Apostle 1. Pet. 1. 15 16. That seeing God which hath called vs is holie so let vs bee holie that wee may purge our selues from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirite And surely this reason of the Apostle is very effectuall to mooue vs vnto holinesse when hee telleth vs that God which called vs is holie Therefore looke to thy selfe that hearest the Gospell preached and leadest a lewde and prophane life for I tell thee that this very call of God whereby thou art seuered from Iewes and Turks shall at the latter day tell thee of thy euill which wouldest not walke in holinesse although God which called thee were holie The first image of God created in thee is decaied and it can neuer be repaired but by holinesse wouldest thou be glorified thou must first be sanctified thy bodie must be holy abstaining from pleasure thy soule must be holy not yeelding to temptation thy affections must be holy not corrupted with vanitie and thy life must be holy not drowned in sinne Oh be holy as God is holy it is a part of his essence so let it be of thine it is neuer parted from him so let it be euer with thee it is alway found in him so let it be alway found in thee God is holy in the earth so be thou he is holy in the church so be thou he is holy in the day so be thou he is holy in the night be thou so also and he is holy in heauen oh that we may be so his iudgements are holy so let thine be his words are holy so ought thine to be and his works are holy so let thine be Oh that we could be holy as he is holy that we might be perfect as he is perfect holy without sinne holy without want holy without loue without sinne that they were pardoned without want that all graces might be supplied and without loue that life and health and world and pleasure and lands may giue place to holinesse for holy people are redeemed of the Lorde but the wicked and prophane are damned to hell Another vse is that now we are exhorted to holinesse let vs learne how to bee holy which Iohn teacheth vs 1. Ioh. 3. 2 5. which is first by expectation of Christs
such bridegromes which keepe them for to serue the lustes of their owne bellies haue no care to marrie thē to the Lord. Take you heed you that haue the wealth of the world search and rake in the sinkes of your houses in the stables of your horses in the staules of your oxen and in the harts of your seruants that you may bring soules into the kingdome of heauen a pearle taken out of the dung is as good as that which is hoarded vp in a princes treasurie and a simple soule saued from the walking of horses or turning of spits is as glorious to the Lorde as he that ruleth in the throne Another reason for the çonfirmation of this doctrine our sauiour giueth Iohn 10. 26 27. There are none that heare not Christ which beleeue in Christ and there are none the sheepe of Christ but those that heare the voice of Christ meaning that at that time when he was liuing in the worlde and preaching to the Iewes they could not be his flocke that came not at the call of the Gospell and when he should be dead and taken from the earth they shoulde not bee reckoned for the lambes of his church which flocked not to the cries and sermons of the preachers So that in one word he setteth vs downe thus much that they are none of the Lordes which are not hearers of his worde Therefore one saide well Ecclesiae non iungitur qui ab Euangelio separatur Hee which is separated through ignorance or idlenes from the Gospell is also through infidelitie parted from the church for they which heare not Christ are none of his The weight of this reason must be put into the balance of euery ones hart and let him reason thus with himselfe My poore seruant my drudge my simple slaue my maid my cooke and euery one of my familie they knowe nothing of the Gospell but some voices that there is a Sauiour and a Christ that they must come once in a yeere or peraduenture once in seauen yeere and receiue the Lords Supper and neuer know or thinke more of it they are diligent to me they worke when I play they runne when I ride they watch when I sleepe they fare hard when I feast and they finde me all things keeping nothing to themselues onely indeede through my busines they come not at the church except very seldome they know little more then infants they haue beene baptized when they were yoong they may follow any religion or rather superstition their obedience is so little to the Scriptures yea they hardly can tell me whether there be any Scripture whether the holie Ghost had any hande therein or no if I will let them plaie on the Sundaies according to their pleasures the popes profession the Turkish religion the Infidels practise and all heretikes opinions may be sected in them But what shall become of their soules Surely it greeueth vs that such diligent and faithfull seruants shoulde after a miserable and slauish life haue a mercilesse and a cursed death Yet Christes words are generall they are none of his that heare not his voice and follow not his call O consider this you wealthy and poore people of this lande thinke on the miserable condition of these your owne flesh and fly from that terrible danger which threatneth your soules horror all yea euery mothers childe must be present when the worde is preached bicause this trieth vs whether we bee ashamed of Christ or no. When Dauid was absent from Saules court the king presently missed him and asked after him for his place was voide In like maner if we be absent from the assemblies of the faithfull the king of heauen and earth seeth our roomes be emptie and calleth for our presence Let this therefore perswade vs that we cease not hearing the Lordes word and following his heauenly call least of sheepe we become goates wanton and wilde and so when the generall appeering shall be the Lorde separate the goates from the sheepe and sende them to euerlasting perdition The vses which may arise from this doctrine are these first that sharpe sentence of our Sauiour Mark 10. 14. Suffer little children to come to me and forbid them not for vnto such belong the kingdome of heauen The well minded people desiring the blessing of Christ to rest vpon them their posteritie brought their little babes to be touched by our Sauiours hande the which thing was reprooued and forbidden by the disciples and therefore they were rebuked and reprehended by Christ There is none though they be as yoong as babes as simple as children as weake as women as base as seruants or as bonde as apprentices but if at the ordinarie times of preaching I meane the Sabbaoth they will trauell to the Lords house and there spend their time they must not be restrained they must not be forbidden I am not ignorant of the vaine and wicked authoritie which some chalenge to haue ouer their families thinking that their duties are discharged although their seruants be wandring from the Lorde about their idle busines and seruants thinke themselues satisfied bicause their masters who haue rule ouer their bodies command them thereunto And thus men crosse one line of their reckoning and leaue a whole sheete behinde and race out the condition letting the obligation stande they heape vp one sinne vpon another and while they mende one breach in a christian life they make two more For by this meanes it commeth to passe that masters thinke it lawfull to busie their seruants whom they hire for their money at al times when any smal occasion offereth it selfe sending them on messages in keeping them at home to waite on themselues and in sauing an houre or two or three to worke in the weeke daies they make bolde with the Lorde and giue them leaue on the Sabbaoth daies to visite their friendes Doe we not thinke that the ministers of God may haue their actions of maintenance against such carelesse masters which beare out their seruants and themselues contrarie to the law of God whereby their owne hearts are hardened their neighbours offended the glorious worke of the minister despised the heauenly voice of the Gospell neglected and themselues with their seruants in danger both body and soule to be damned May we not call for the law if not of man yet of God to turne away these euils from vs But Oh lamentable maners in this latter ende of the world which regardeth as little the voice of Christ as wise men do the noise of yoong children Againe sometime the seruants are of godly disposition and would willingly vse the libertie of Christians to goe as the Israelites did and sacrifice to the Lord but then commeth one or other and many times their parents and gouernours of their owne mother wit forbiddiding them to vse it encreasing as Pharaoh did the measure of their workes and forbidding them to come neare vnto Christ as these disciples