among swine by the rules of the Gospell and Lawes of our Land he that wil not labour ought not to eate he that will not learne of the Pismire to prepare his meate in Summer and to prepare his food in haruest hee that is a Ludouicus nihil agens a Lewis Doe nothing should haue nothing of our liberalitie but in extreame necessitie to conclude the loyterer is to bee punished but the labourer to bee cherished If thou bee neighbour to such an one breake thy bread to his hungrie Soule call him to thine house couer him and comfort him There bee foure strings of Gods whip mentioned Ezechiel 14. 21. the Sword Famine Noysom beasts and Pestilence Now the most greiuous of thē all is Famine For what noysome beasts the Sword and the Pestilence kill in a moment there bee many lingring deathes in hunger Famine saith Basile is a disease that doth soone torture yet slowly consume destroying by little and little Well then if the greater miserie be the better obiect of mercy deale thy bread to the hungrie So God which is the father of mercy d satisfied the thirsty soules of Israel in the Wildernesse and filled their hungrie soules with aboundance So Christ which is our way for example so well as trueth in doctrine filled the hungrie with good things Luke 1. 53. This was Solomons precept Pro. 25. 21. If thine enemie bee hungrie giue him bread and it was Tobits practise I gaue my bread to those that were Hungrie Tobit 1. 16. And in the last day the first good deed of the godly remembred by Christ and rewarded is I was hungrie and ye gaue me meat And the first ill obiected vnto the damned I was hungrie and yee gaue mee no meat I thirsted and yee gaue mee no drinke The third point to bee further examined is quid dandum and that is Bread now there bee three sorts of bread mentioned in holy Bible Sacramentall 1 Cor. 11. 28. Let a man examine himselfe and so let him eate of this bread Doctrinall Iohn 6. Labour not saith our Sauiour for the loaues and for the meat which perisheth but for the meate and bread that endure to life euerlasting Corporall Math. 4. 4. Man shall not liue by bread onely but by euery word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God The bread here principally spoken of is neither mentall nor sacramentall but corporall and this kind in a strict acception is the loafe made of wheat or the like graine Gen. 14. 18. Melchisedech King of Salem brought forth bread and wine but in a more generall and large signification it is vsed in holy Scripture pro omni Comestibili for all kind of food as Gen. 3. 19. In the sweate of thy face thou shalt eate bread 2 Sam. 9. 10. King Dauid sayd to Ziba Mephibosheth thy Masters Sonne shall eate bread alway at my Table that is hee shall fare so well as I fare so well as one of the Kings Sonnes as it is sayd verse the 11. And in the Pater Noster giue vs this day our daily bread Where Panis is Pan euery thing fit and necessarie for our present life Well then if in asking of bread from God thou wilt haue it of the largest extent take heed how you curtall it in this and other commandements concerning the giuing of bread to thy poore brethren As you begge bread of God so breake bread to the hungrie deale to him as occasion is offered more then either Crust or crumme of thy loafe Giue so much as is necessarie for his reliefe bring him to thine house couer him and hide not thy face from thy flesh The fourth point is de quo dandum and that is expressed in the word Tuum not the goods of another but thy bread si tuus almes are a sacrifice pleasing vnto God now wee may not present an offering to God of that which cost vs nothing as King Dauid speakes 2 Sam. 24. 24. Honour the Lord with thy riches cast thy bread vpon the waters giue thy garments vnto the naked and of thine aboundance to such as haue neede It must bee thine first and that acquired lawfully not by Bribes or oppression or Forgerie but thine by descent or purchase thine by the sweat of thy Browes in some honest occupation or thine by the sweat of thy braines in some commendable profession Almes are not to bee giuen as one wittily sayd except they first haue sweat in a mans hand It is not an act of Charity to rob Peter and pay Paul or to build an Hospitall for a few by the ruins of many for so you shall haue more to curse you then to blesse you If thou giue giue that which is fit ont of thine ovvne Cesterne and owne Well and owne substance deale thy bread Or thy bread that is such as thou thy selfe dost eate qui tuus thy dole may not bee panis lapidosus as Fibius Verucosus speakes in Seneca so hard to digest as a stone no mouldy bread no mustie bread but wholesome and sauourie such as thou wouldest haue wert thou to begge thy bread Or thy bread that is when it is thine dum tuus est as the blessed Apostle Gal. 6. 10. While thou hast time make thine owne hands executors and thine own eyes ouerseers and thine owne sonns and seruants in thy houshold witnesses of thy wil in doing good Halfe a loafe broken vnto the hungrie while thou liuest hast it in thine own power and purse procures thee more friends in the court of Heauen then a whole loafe giuen after thy death by heires and asignes If bread bee thine thus as I haue told you si tuus qui tuus dum tuus deale thy bread to the Hungrie A good worke is in it selfe a sufficient reward Pro. 21. 15. It is ioy to the iust to doe Iustice much more to shew mercy for hee which is full of pitty rewardeth his owne soule Pro. 11. 17. Blessed is hee that considereth the poore and needy Psal. 41. 1. Blessed in His Temporall Ciuill Spirituall Eternall Estate Blessed in his temporall estate both in respect of wealth and health As for wealth there is that scattereth and yet is increased more but hee that spareth more then his right shall surely come to pouertie The liberall person shall haue plenty or as other read the soule of blessing shall bee made fatt and hee that watereth shall also haue raine God makes an hedge about him and about his house and about all that hee hath Iob. 1. 10. As for his health the Lord preserueth him and keepeth him aliue that hee may bee blessed vpon earth the Lord deliuers him in the time of trouble the Lord comforts him when he lyeth sicke vpon his couch and makes all his bed in his sicknesse To my remembrance saith Hierom I neuer read of any that dyed an vnhappy death who lead a mercifull life concerning both health and wealth
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
so little regarding the light of Israel and honour of this our braue victorious nation that they resolued vpon the conclusion of the match not onely to be sonnes of the Pope but also the seruants of a strange people Yet God be thanked England had her Dauids who did not cease night and day to call and cry to the Lord For thy sonnes sake for thy Sions sake let not our insulting enemies a bloody generation drunken with the bloâ—…d of the Saints haue their desires ouer vs For their mercies are full of cruelty But let vs fall into thy handes for thy Iudgements are full of mercy And it is vndoubtedly Gods owne worke who brings light out of darkenesse and can doe whatsoeuer he will and will doe whatsoeuer is best for his people sometime by weake meanes and sometimes by no meanes and sometime by contrary meanes against whom there is no wisedome nor vnderstanding nor counsell That our Dauids prayer is heard our religion established our peace setled good men incouraged our open enemies discomfited and our false friends discouered and worthily deluded To whom I 〈◊〉 now no more but only this If you be good Christians and setled Protestants so remaine If you were once anâ—… 〈◊〉 now fallen returne If you neuer were repâ—… If you neuer will be perish Were it not for the honour of God and glory of his people the cast happily might prooue measurable whether it bee better to bee slayne by the sword in warre or by the pestilence in peace But a good man and a good magistrate especially considering barbarus has segetes That the blasphemous aduersaries of God roare in the middes of the congregations and set vp their banners for tokens breaking into Gods inheritance defiling the holy Temple and making Hierusalem â—…n heap of stones And how they giue the dead bodies of his seruants to be meate vnto the foules of the ayre and the flesh of his Saints vnto the beastes of the land I say the new borne babe in Christ vnderstanding these things easily resolues as Dauid here Let vs fall into the hand of the Lord and not into the hand of man 4. Learned Expositours obserue the wisedome of Dauid in chusing é malis minimum of three mischiefes the lesser Abuleâ—…sis vpon the place notes aptly That God made these 3. punishments inequall in time 7 yeares of famine 3 moneths of warre 3 dayes of pestilence that hee might make them equall in magnitude and so put Dauid into his doubts so well as his dumps The time being equall the plague doubtlesse is more grieuous then warre and warre more grieuous then famine But seuen yeeres famine may bee so bad as three moneths fleeing before cruell enemies and three moneths of bloody warre so bad as three dayes of plague Yet Dauid chose the pestilence for these reasons 1. In the rebellion of Absolon he had â—…ryall of the sword for there fell in that ciuill warre 20. thousand of the people And he had felt 3. yeeres famine for the sinne of Sauls house But he neuer yet had experience of the plague as then Ignoti nulla cupido so nulla formidâ—… 2. The plague is Gods immediat hand his sword 1. Chron. 21. 30. His arrow Psal. 91. 5. The physitians haue termed it fulmen coeleste The thunderbolt of heauen and the canonists Bellum Dei contra homines the warre of God against men Happily you will obiect is there any euill in the city and the Lord hath not done it Amos. 3. 6. It is true that warre and famine are from the Lords hand but herein hee doth vse other instruments as the sword of men in warre and other deuouring creatures in famine and so consequently whereas in the pestilence wee seeke onely to the mercies of God in warre and famine we are to wrestle with the cruelties of men also whose heart saith Esay is to destroy To take the spoyle to tread their enemies downe like the mire in the streetes saith the Lord was a little displeased but they helped forward the affliction Zach. 1. 15. As if he should haue sayd my purpose was only to try you but theirend to destroy you now we beare more then patiently the Lords rod then the hand of man 3. Dauid did chuse that punishment which was most agreeable to his sinne his fault in numbring the people was to try his power and to put his affiance therein and therefore being sorry for his errour he desired the plague that he might not trust any more to the arme of flesh but altogether rely vpon the Lord. For had he chosen warre men of valour would haue resisted and imagined that their sword should haue saued them And if he had chosen famine money-men would haue trusted in their purse making gold their hope and saying to the wedge of gold thou art my confidence Hee that hath siluer may buy bread and hee that hath enough bread need not to starue for hunger but a man infected and afflicted wiâ—…h the plague hath no weapons or meanes to relieue his distressed estate but onely prayers and teares Mysticallâ—… this numbring of the people saith Ruperius vpon the place figures carnall Israelites boasting in the works of the Law for to thinke that a man is iustified by works when as Abraham was iustified by faith is to trust in chariots and horse Lastly Diuines obserue Dauids faith and affiance in the Lord as being assured that all things worke together for the best vnto those that feare him he well vnderstood that God haâ—…h a left hand of Iustice so well as a right hand of mercy But the godly feele each hand gentle both hands of God are right hands vnto them Is there dearth in the land Daniel will thriue with water and pulse so well as other with wine and Iunkets Is there persecution in the Church To suffer death in Christs cause quoth holy Bradford is the high way to heauen on horsbacke Though Esaâ—… bee stronger then Iacob yet the greater shall serue the lesser The number of Gods elect is small the number of reprobate fooles infinite The Church is a little flocke of lambes in the mids of wolues and yet populus maior seruit minori many that are bad serue those few which are good non obsequendo quoth Augustine sed persequendo not by doing good but by doing mischiefe to them and so they turne Goldsmiths of God to make crownes for all such as in his battailes haue fought a good fight If other troubles arise touching our goods or good name Dauids resolution is It is good for me that I haue beene in trouble For affliction holdes men in as hauing little outlets or leasure for idlenesse and luxury Doth sicknesse and of all sicknesse in many respects the most vncomfortable the pestilence come nigh our dwelling Yet let vs not be afrayd for any terrour by night or the arrow that flyeth by day
But instantly and that constantly resolue with Dauid here let vs fall into the hand of God and not into the hand of man As we feele more sensible comfort of the Sunnes heate when we are cold So the greater our danger and extremity the greater is that power and piety that deliuereth vs. These vertues are the brightest starres in the sphere of maiestie manifesting Dauids duty to God and man and the reason of all this high and holy resolution is because the mercies of the Lord are great great in their nature as being riches of his goodnesse Rom. 2. 4. Exceeding riches of his grace Ephes. 2. 7. Great in their number as being multitudes of mercies Psal. 51. 1. Great in their continuance as being for euer and euer Psal 103. 17. That is as the doctours expound it from euerlasting predestination to euerlasting glorification euery way so great that our Prophet saith in the 145. Psal. at the 9. verse His mercies are ouer all his workes Of which I find a two fold construction and each of them exceeding comfortable 1. His mercies are ouer That is greater then all his works not in propriety for all the vertues of God are equal as being essential attributes But in effect and extent greater For whereas Gods indignation is but vpon the 4. generation of such as hate him his mercies are vpon thousand generations of those that loue him and keepe his Commandements Among the 13. properties of God Exod. 34. Almost all of them appertaine to his mercy whereas one concernes his might and only two his lustice The 2 construct on is his mercies are ouer all that is shâ—…wed in all and towards all his works for the latter clause his mercies c is nothing else but a repeâ—…ition of the former The Lord is good vnto all His goodnesse is the same with his mercy and all is all his works The mercies of God then are great to the whole vniuerse more specially to the reasonable creatures and among those principally to such as loue him and feare him and call vpon him faithfully As our Prophet in the before cited Psalme verse 18. 19. 20. His mercies compasse them about on all sides and at all seasons on euery side for hee maketh an hedge about them and about their houses and about all they haue Iob. 1. 10. They bee his enclosed vineyards of whom hee saith Esa. 5. What could I haue done more for my vinyard which I haue not done for it and his mercies are toward them at al seasons as the blessed Virgin in her Magnificat throughout all generations To speake more distinctly the mercies of God toward vs are seene in two things especially donando et condonando That is in giuing vs whatsoeuer is good for vs and in forgiuing whatsoeuer is euill euill of sinne euill of punishment for sinne pardoning all our offences against himselfe against our other selfe against our owne selfe lastly his mercies are great in Inferendis Differendis Auferendis supplicijs Mercifull in inferring punishment for when as we deserue to be scourged with Scorpions he chastiseth vs only with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men 2. Sam. 7. 14. We confesse that we sinne greatly So Dauid verse 10. of this chapter But the Lord saith I was but a little displeased Mercifull in deferring punishment as being full of pitty slow to wrath long suffering of great goodnesse cito struit tarde destruit making the whole world in sixe dayes and yet was in destroying one citie seuen dayes Mercifull in remouing punishments as in this present example For the Rabbines haue a fable that the plague threatned here 3 dayes continued only for one houre Ioscphus writes that it continued only from morning till noone others conceiue that it continued onely till the time appointed for euening sacrifice that day when it begun They who stand vpon the precise letter of the text say that the time was shortned for the Lord repented him and sayd to the Angel that destroyed the people it is enough And that was in the beginning of the third day For had not the Lord stayed the Angels hand hee would haue gone on siniting till that day had beene expired and finished It is reported of one that hauing a booke of 2 leaues only hee could not in all his life read it ouer one leafe was red wherein was registred the Iudgements of God in consideration whereof he cryed out enter not into iudgement with thy seruant O Lord c. The other was white in which were written the mercies of God in admiration whereof hee cryed out what is man that thou art so mindfull of him as being lesse then the least of thy mercies If he could not read them in his whole life how shall I repeate them in this munite of time Giue mee leaue onely to conclude in the words of our mother Church O God whose nature and property is euer to haue mercy and to forgiue grant vs thy grace that in all time of our tribulation in all time of our wealth in the houre of death and as the day of iudgment we may put our whole trust and confidence in thee resoluing always as Dauid here let vs fall into the hand of the Lord and not into the hands of man for thy mercies are great 2. KINGS 19. 36. 37. So Senacherib King of Ashur departed and went his way and returned and dwelt in Niniue And as he was in the Temple worshipping Nisroth his god Adramelech and Sharezer his sons slew him with the sword THis scripture reports two things specially to wit the flight and fall of Senacherib King of Ashur a great Monarch and a great boaster of his greatnesse saying in the pride of his heart verse 23. By the multitude of my chariots I am come vp to the top of the mountaines by the sides of Lebanon and will cut downe the tall Cedars thereof and the firre trees thereof and I will goe into the lodging of his borders and into the forrest of his Carmel I haue digged and drunke the waters of others and with the plant of my feete haue dryed all the riuers of besieged cities Affronting Gods people with insolent language Let not Ezechia deceiue you neither let Ezechia make you to trust in the Lord saying the Lord wâ—…ll surely deliuer vs. Hath any of the gods of the nations deliuered his land out of the hand of the King of Ashur Where is the God of Hamath and of Arphad where is the God of Sepharuaim Hena and â—…ua How haue they deliuered Samaria out of mine hand Now the Lord when this huge Leuiathan had in his owne conceit swallowed vp Iuda put a hooke into his nostrils and a bit into his mouth and so brought him backe againe the same way that he came making him in the mids of his fury first to fly then afterward to fall His flight is reported here to bee full of
pride of their hearts who shall bring vs downe to the ground Though thou exaltest thy selfe as an Eagle and make thy nest among the starres Yet thence will I bring thee downe saith the Lord The Lords hand found out Nabuchadnezzar being at rest in his owne house flourishing in his owne palace saying in vaine boasting Is not this great Babel which by the might of my power I haue built for the honour of my maiesty While the word was in his mouth a voyce came downe from heauen O King Nabuchadnezzar to thee be it spoken Thy kingdome is departed from thee and they shall driue thee from men and thy dwelling shall be with the beastes of the field and the very same houre was the thing fulfilled vpon Nabuchadnezzar and he was driuen from men and did eate grasse as oxen and his body was wet with the dew of heauen till his hayres were growen like Eagles feathers and his nayles like birdes clawes When Phocas had built a strong wall about his palace for security hee heard in the night a voyce O King though thou build as high as the cloudes yet the city may be taken easily for the sin within marres all The Lords hand found out Simon Magus as hee was presuming to fly vp into heauen in the publique theater of Rome and there he gaue him such a fall as that hee could neuer rise more The Lords hand found out Siluester the second who to get the Popedome gaue himselfe to the deuill as hee was in a chappell singing of a masse the Lords hand found out Nitingall a blasphemous popish priest in the very pulpit No place be it neuer so high or so holy so deepe or so darke so foule or fayre can exempt the wicked from the wrath of the Lord It is true that Gods dwelling is in Sion onely Psal. 76. 2. as Hugode S. victor gloseth it in mundo est vt imperator in regno in ecclesia vt pater familias in domo in anima fideli vt sponsus in thalaâ—…o He dwelleth in the world as an Emperor in his kingdome for the earth is the Lords and all that therein is Psal. 24. 1. He dwels in the Church as a master in his house for the house of God is the Church of God 1 Tim. 3. 15. In a faithfull soule as the bridegrome in his chamber there he suppes and refresheth himselfe apoc 3. 20. but our iniquities on the contrary make a separation betweene God and vs Esay 59. 2. And so God is sayd in the holy scripture to be faâ—…re from the wicked and the wicked to goe farre from God The which is proued in the prodigall câ—…ild who tooke his iourney into a farre country that is far from God farre from goodnesse Answere is made by St. Augustine in one word Deus non ibi deest vbi longe est quia vbi non est per gratiam adest per vindictam Although in respect of saluation and grace God be farre from the wicked yet in respect of his power and punishment alway so nigh that his out stretched arme can euery where reach and ruine them God dwels in Sion only but is present in Babylon also Secondly we note from this circumstance Gods exact Iustice who would haue Sennacherib to perish in the same place where hee had offended most he was a great Idolater and he committed that Idolatry most in the chappell of his Idoll Nisrock And therefore Gods reuengefull hand did find and confound him in the right vbi so the Prophet Elia sayd to King Ahab Hast thou killed and gotten possession also thus saith the Lord in the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs euen licke thy blood also The corps of Mr Arden slaine by the consent counsel of his own wife was laid as a spectacle to men and Angels in the very same field which he had vniustly taken from a poore widdow and it is well ordered in our State that where men commit outragious murthers there they should dye the death for it The iudgements of God is at all times terrible but being executed in the same place where the malefactour acted the fault it is more fearefull it putteth him in mind of his offence with all the circumstances thereof and so makes his conscience to denounce his owne condemnation Euery day should be to the good man a Sabbath and euery corner of his mansion a priuy chappell as occasion is offered for deuotion O then I beseech you by the mercies of the Lord Iesu take heed of sinne in your secret closets and chambers for nothing is hid from Gods al-piercing eyes which are as a flame of fire who can make your very table a snare to take you withall and the thinges which should haue beene for your wealth an occasion of falling hee can make the stone out of the wall and the beame out of the timber to cry for Iudgement against you Dauid afflicted heauily said euery night wash I my bed and water my couch with my teares He had offended most in his bed hee did act his repentance therefore most in his couch Imitate Dauids example who was a man according to Gods owne heart when thou commest into the roome defiled with any filthinesse of thine sinne no more but water the place with teares otherwise God may smite thee with a sudden and vnhappy death as hee did Sennacherib in his temple where he transgressed most It was in God also great Iustice that he should perish by the sword who had abused the sword in shedding innocent blood It was a iust iudgement vpon the cruell Egyptians to be drowned in the sea because they cast all the male children of the Hebrewes into the riuer It was a iust iudgement vpon Adonibezek that the thumbes of his hands feet were cut off hauing before â—…one the like cruelty to seauenty kings and constraining them to gather crumbs vnder his table Iudg. 1. 6. It was a iust iudgement vpon the tyrant Maxentius that hee was ouerthrowen in the same bridge which he craftily built as a snare for the destruction of Constantine It was a iust iudgement vpon Pope Alexander the 6. who was poysoned at supper with the very same wine his seruant mistaking a bottle which hee had prepared as a deadly draught for his familiar friend Cardinall Adrianus It was a iust iudgement vpon the chiefe plotter of the most execrable gunpowder treason that being pursued he should himselfe bee first scorched with powder and afterward killed with a gunne and so the mischiefe fell vpon his owne head and his wickednesse vpon his own pate Non est lex aequior vlla Quam necis artifices arte perire sâ—…a No iudgement more sit then that they who dig a pit for others should fall into the mids of it themselues as Dauid phraseth it Psalme 57. 7. The third circumstance to be further examined is the
a cherefull thankesgiuer one that serues him with gladnesse and comes before his presence with a song It is a seely thing for a Priest or people to dissemble with God and to become Hermaphrodites in the businesse of religion A seely thing to halt betweene God and Baal A seely thing to receiue the wages of the Gospell and to doe the worke of Antichrist A seely thing to looke vp to Hierusalem and to goe downe to Iericho to gaine preferment in the Church of England and yet vnder hand craftily to repaire the tottering walles of Babylon the Lord knoweth who are his and he knowes those which haue but a sâ—…cret marke of the beast as well as wee know those which openly worship a wodden blocke magnifie the masse make new sauiours yea for king killers a new heauen and for such as please not their confessours well a purgatorie which is a new hell and so withall that is within them and all that is without them exalt the man of sinne aboue all that is called God Beloued if ye desire to seeke the Lord happily seeke him heartily and that not only once or twice during the sun-shine of prosperity or in the time of trouble in the houre of death in the day of Iudgment only But as our Prophet exhorâ—… euermore When a man hath done his best he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 againe saith Ecclesiasticus he that 〈◊〉 he hath sought enough is like to find bâ—… 〈◊〉 saith Leo the great so Bernard qui dixit suffâ—…t d ficit continually to seeke is constantly 〈◊〉 seeke neuer to fâ—…int in doing this duty Happily some will obiect if the Lord bee found of such aâ—… seeke him faithfully what need is there to seeke any more Are christians in this respect like to the foolish gossips of whom St. Paul euer learning and yet neuer able to come to the knowledge of the trueth or like carnall Israel who following the law of righteousnesse could not attaine to the law of righteousnesse Rom. 9. 31. Answere is made by Augustine that wee seeke Gods face by faith and they seeke it more by hope Melior fit quaerens tam magnum â—…m quod et inueniendum quaeritur et quaerendum inuenitur nam et quaeratur vt inueniatur dulcius et inuenitur vt quaeritur auidius He doth alwayes better himselfe who seekes so great good which is to bee sought that it may be found and found that it may be sought sought that it may be found with greater delight and found that it may bee sought with greater desire Now we behold Gods face by faith and hope through a glasse darkely but we shall hereafter see him as S. Paul speakes euen face to face and then as wee shall euer loue him so doubtlesse euer seeke him and as the want of the beautifull vision in the iudgement of Diuines is the hell of hell so the fruition of Gods face contrarily the heauen of heauen The Father of mercy bee mercifull vnto vs and blesse vs and shew vs the light of his countenance that wee may grow from strength to strength and goe from grace to grace from seeking him in this earthly tabernacle to seeing him vpon his holy mountaine Hierusalem aboue where with him and of him and through him and for him we shall haue fulnes of ioyes and incomparable pleasures for euermore Amen IOHN 8. 6. Iesus stouped downe and with his finger wrote on the ground THere be so many questions vpon this text that the text it selfe is a little called into question it being in the iudgment of Erasmus Caietan Iansenius Beza rather a patch then a parcell of the Gospel If any list to be contentious hee may read Erasmus answered by Bellarmin de verbâ—… dei lib. 1. Chap. 16. Caietan answered by his Antagonist Ambros us Catharinus in his annotations against the nou ll opinions of Caietan § de historia adulterae Iansenius answered by Maldonate Beza by Melancton Caluin Aretius Piscator in their commentaries vpon the place For my part I was euer and am still an oâ—… 〈◊〉 of the Church hearing the instâ—…uction of my Father and not forsaking the eaching of my Mother and therefore beholding this pecce with the eyes of all antiquity to bee prot 〈◊〉 and altogether authenticall I foâ—…beare further inquisition and come presently to the worke of this houre which is to deliuer vnto you first an explication of the wordes and then an application of the doctrines arising from the same Our text then is a Iudicious answere of Christ vnto a captious question of the Scribes and Pharisees in the words immediatly going before Master this woman was taken in the very act of adulterie now Moses in the law commanded vs that such should be stoned but whatsayest thou hereby tempting him that they might haue to accuse him either before the Priests or the people before the Priests If contrary to the commandement of Moses hee should absolue this adulteresse before the people If contrary to the profession of his meekenesse and mercy he should vtterly condemne her and therefore being in a great strait he doth answere by not answering or he giueth vs his answere by deed whereas they did obiect by word this action of deed is two fold 1 He stouped downe to the ground 2 He wrote with his finger on the ground In stouping downe to the ground he doth intimate that if they would set apart their supercilioâ—…s pride descend into themselues and contemplate that in the beginning they were dust and in the end shall againe returne to dust If they would consider seriously that it is appointed vnto men once to dye and after death a iudgment followeth in which all receiue their doomes according to their deedes If they would examine their owne selues and vnderstand their owne case they would not bee so foreward in censuring nor so malitious in condemning others O earth earth earth heare the word of the Lord thou which art earth by procreation earth by sustentation earth by corruption in principio sperma faetidum in medio 〈◊〉 corumi in fine cibus vermium Heare the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord what word euen that of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sauiour Mat 7. 1. Iudge not that yeâ—… bee not iudged Iudge not rashly Iudge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iudge not vnseasonably lest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the whole world conâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So S. Paul expounds his Lord â—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—… If we would iudge our selues wee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iudged Iâ—… is a conclusion in architecture that the foundation requires the most exact care for if that happen to dance it will marre all the mirth in the house and it is another rule he that will build high must lay his foundation low So beloued it is in the spirituall building of Gods house which are we Heb. 3. 6. 〈◊〉 euer exalteth himselfe shall be humbled and 〈◊〉 that humbleth himselfe shall be exalted The proâ—…d