better life is the soule spoiled of when sinne hath taken it captiue The Adultresse will hunt for the precious life She is ambitious and would vsurpe Gods due and claime the heart the soule Hee that doth loue her destroyeth his owne soule Which shee loues not for it selfe but for the destruction of it that all the blossomes of grace may dwindle and shrinke away as bloomes in a nipping Frost and all our comforts runne from vs as flatterers from a falling Greatnesse or as Vermine from an house on fire Nay euen both thy liues are endangered The wicked man goâ—â—h after her as a foole to the correction of the stâ—ckes till a 〈◊〉 strike through his liuer as a bird hasteth to the snare and knoweth not that it is for his life It is as ineuitably true of the spirituall Harlots mischiefe For the turning away of the simple shall slay them Saue my life and take my goods saith the prostrate and yeelding Traueller to the theefe But there is no mercy with this enemie the life must pay for it She is worse then that inuincible Nauy that threatned to cut the throates of all Men Women Infants but I would to God shee might goe hence againe without her errand as they did and haue as little cause to bragge of her conquests Thus haue wee discribed the Temptresse The Tempted followes who are here called the Dead There be three kindes of death corporall spirituall eternall Corporall when the body leaues this life Spirituall when the soule forsakes and is forsaken of grace Eternall when both shall be throwne into hell 1. is the seperation of the soule from the body 2. is the seperation of body and soule from grace 3. the seperation of them both from euerlasting happinesse Man hath two parts by which hee liues and two places wherein he might liue if hee obayed God Earth for a time Heauen for euer This Harlot Sin depriues either part of man in either place of true life and subiects him both to the first and second death Let vs therefore examine in these particulars first what this death is and secondly how Sathans guests the wicked may be said liable thereunto 1. Corporall death is the departure of the soule from the body whereby the body is left dead without action motion sense For the life of the body is the vnion of the soule with it For which essentiall dependance the soule is often called and taken for the life Peter said vnto him Lord why cannot I follow thee now I will lay downe my soule for thy sake 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his soule meaning as it iâ— translated his life And He that findeth his soule shall loose it but hee that looseth his soule for my sake shall finde it Here the Soule is taken for the Life So that in this death there is the seperation of the soule and body the dissolution of the person the priuation of life the continuance of death for there is no possible regresse from the priuation to the habite except by the supernaturall and miraculous hand of God This is the first but not the worst death which sinnâ— procureth And though the speciall deaâ—nesse of the guests here be spirituall yet this which we call naturall may be implied may be applied for when God threatned death to Adams sinne in illo die mâ—riâ—ris in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die yet Adam liued nine hundred and thirtie yeares after There was notwithstanding no delay no delusion of Gods decree for in ipso die in that very day death tooke hold on him and so is the Hebrew phrase dying thou shalt dye fall into a languishing and incurable consumption that shall neuer leaue thee till it bring thee to thy graue So that hee instantly dyed not by present seperation of soule and body but by mortallitie mutabillitie miserie yea by sorrow and paine as the instruments and agents of Death Thus said that Father After a man beginneth to be in this body by reason of his sinne he is euen in death The wicked then are not onely called Dead because the conscience is dead but also in respect of Gods decree whose inviolable substitution of Death to Sinne cannot be euaded auoyded It is the Satute-law decreed in the great Parliament of Heauen Statutum omnibus seâ—el mori It is appoynted vnto men once to die Tâ—is is one speciall kindnesse that sinne doth vs one kisse of her lippes Shee giues her louers three mortall kisses The first kils the conscience the second the carkase the third body and soule for euer Death passed vpon all men for that all haue sinned So Paul schooles his Corinths For this cause many are weaâ—e and sicke among you and many sleepe And conclusiuely peccati stipendium mors The wages of sinne is Death This Death is to the wicked death indeed euen as it is in it owne full nature the curse of God the suburbes of Hell Neither is this vniust dealing with God that man should incurre the death of his body that had reiected the life of his soule nisi praecessisset in peccato mors animae numquam corporis mors in supplicio sequerâ—tur If sinne had not first wounded the body death could not haue killed the soule Hence saith Augustine Men shunne the death of the flesh rather then the death of the spirit that is the punishment rather then the cause of the punishment Indeed Death considered in Christ and ioyned with a good life is to Gods elect an aduantage nothing else but a bridge ouer this tempestuous sea to Paradice Gods mercy made it so saith S. Augustine Not by making death in it selfe good but an instrument of good to his This hee demonstrates by an instance As the Law is not euill when it increaseth the lust of sinners sâ— death is not good though it augmâ—nt the glory of suâ—ferers The wicked vse the law ill though the law be good The good die well though death be euill Hence saith Solomon The day of death is better then the day of ones birth For our death is not obitus sed abitus not a perishing but a parting Non amittitur anima praemittitur tantum The soule is not lost to the body but onely sent before it to ioy Si duriùs seponitur meliùs reponitur If the soule be painfully laid off it is ioyfully laid vp Though euery man that hath his Genesis must haue his Exodus and they that are borne must dye Yet saith Tertullian of the Saints Profectio est quam putas moâ—tem Our dying on earth is but the taking our iourney to Heauen Simeon departs and that in peace In pace in pacem Death cannot be euentually hurtfull to the good for it no sooner takes away the temporall life but Christ giues eternall in the roome of it Alas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Corpora cadauera Our graues shall as
not serue God in action it shall serue him in passion Where voluntarie obedience is denied involuntarie anguish shall be suffered Know this thou swearer that as thy tongue spets abroad the flames of Hell so the flames of Hell shall be powred on thy tongue As the Drunkard will not now keepe the Cup of satietie from his mouth so God shall one day hold the Cup of vengeance to it and he shall drinke the dregges thereof As the Vsurers are tormentors to the Common-wealth on earth so they shall meete with tormentors in Hell that shall transcend them both in malice and subtiltie and load them with bonds and executions and which is strangely possible heauier then those they haue so long traded in The Church-robber incloser ingrosser shall find worse prolling and pilling in Hell then themselues vsed on earth and as they haue beene the worst Deuils to their Countries wealth so the worst of Deuils shall attend them The vncleane adulterer shall haue fire added to his fire And the couetous wretch that neuer spake but in the Horse-leaches language and carried a mouth more yawning then the graues is now quitted with his nunquam satis and findes enough of fire in the depth of Hell The Deuill hath feasted the wicked and now the wicked feast the Deuill and that with a very chargeable Banket For the Deuill is a daintie Prince and more curious in his diet then Vitellius He feedes like the Caniball on no flesh but mans flesh He loues no Venison but the Hart no fowle but the Breast no fish but the Soule As the vngodly haue eaten up Gods people as bread so themselues shall be eaten as bread â—t is iust that they be deuoured by others that haue deuoured others As they haue beene Lyons to crash the bones of the poore so a Lyon shall crash their bones they are Satans Feast he shall deuoure them Thus they that were the guests are now the Banket as they haue beene feasted with euils so they feast the Dâ—uils Make a little roome in your heaâ—ts ye fearelesse and desperate wretches for this meditation Behold now as in aspeculatiue glasse the Deuils hospitalitie Once be wise beleeue without triall without feeling Yeeld but to be ashamed of your sinnes and then I can with comfort aske you â—hat fruit they euer brought you Let me but appeale from Philip of Macedon when hee is drunke to Philip of Macedon when he is sober from your bewitched lusts to your waked consciences and you must needes say that breuis haec non vera voluptas All the workes of darknesse are vnfruitfull except in producing and procuring vtter darknesse Sinne is the Deuils earnest-peny on earth in Hell he giues the Inheritance Temptation is his presse-money by rebellion oppression vsurie blasphemie the wicked like faithfull Souldiours fight his battels When the field is wonne or rather lost for if he conquers they are the spoile in the depâ—h of heâ—l hee giues them pay Who then would march vnder his colours who though he promise Kingdomes cannot performe a Hogge Alas poore beggar he hath nothing of his owne but sinne and death and hell and torment Nihil ad effectum ad defectum satis No positâ—ue good enough priuatiue euill Euen those that passe their soules to him by a reall Couenant he cannot enrich they liue and dye most penurious beggars as pernicious villaines And they vpon whom God suffers him to throw the riches of this world as a sâ—are ouer their hearts which he cannot doe but at second hand haue not enough to keepe either their heads from aking or their consciences from despairing Thus though God permit him â—o helpe the rich man to sill his Barnes the Vsurer to swell his Coffers the Luxurious to poyson his blood the malicious to gnaw his bowels the sâ—crilegious to amplifie his reuenewes the ambitious with credit yet therâ— is neither will in God nor willingnesse in the Deuill that any of these should be a blessing vnto them All is but borrowed ware and the Customers shall pay for day the longer they abuse them the larger arrerages they must returne Onely here I may say that bona sunt quae dona sunt they are goods that are gifts God giues his graces freely the Deuill his Iunkets falsly for the guests must pay and that deerely when the least Item in the bill for paines is beyond the greatest dish of the Feast for pleasures Solomons Sermon spends it selfe vpon Tvvo Circumstances the Persons Tempting Shâ—â— â— right Harlot as appeares by her Prostitution Prodition Perdition Tempted The Dead All death is from sinne whether Corporall Spirituall Eternall Attempted He knoweth not Whose ignorance is either Naturall Inuincible Affected Arroganâ— Place Where their misery is amplified in part personally in part locally Per infirmitatem By their â—eaknes to resist soone in Per Infâ—rnitatem In hell Per profunditatem In the depth of Hell The person tempting or the Harlot is Vice vgly and deformed Vice that with glazed eyes surphâ—ld cheekes pyed garments and a Syrens tongue winnes easie respect and admiration When the heate of tentation shall glow vpon concupiscence the heart quickly melts The wisest Solomon was taken and snared by a woman which foule adulterie bred as foule an issue or rather progeniem vitiosiorem a worse Idolatrie Satan therefore shapes his Temptation in the lineaments of an Harlot as most fit and powerfull to worke vpon mans affections Certaine it is that all delighted vice is a spirituall adulterie The couetous man couples his heart to his gold The Gallant is incontinent with his pride The corrupt Officer fornicates with briberie The Vsurer sets continuall kisses on the cheeke of his securitie The heart is set where the hate should be And euery such sinner spends his spirits to breed and see the issue of his desires Sinne then is the Deuils Harlot which being tricked vp in tempting colours drawes in visitants praemittendo suaâ—ia promittendo perpetua giuing the kisses of pleasure and promising them perpetuall We may obserue in this Strumpet 1. Prostitution Pro. 7.13 So she caught him and kissed him and with an impudent face said vnto him c. Shame now-a-dayes begins to grow so stale that many vices shall vie impudent speeches and gestures with the Harlot Come let vs take our fill of loue as Putiphars wife to Ioseph without any ambagious or ambiguous circumlocutions or insinuations come lye with me Sinne neuer stands to vnty the knot of Gods interdiction but bluntly breakes it as the Deuill at first to the rootes of mankind ye shall not die The Vsurer neuer looseth so much time as to satisfie his conscience it is enough to satisfie his concupiscence A good Morgage lies sicke of a forfet and at the Vsurers mercie It is as surely damned as the Vsurer himselfe will be when he lyes at the mercie of the Deuill These are so farre â—rom that old Quare of Christians
surely be Coffins to our bodies as our bodies haue beene Coffins to our soules The minde is but in bondage whiles the body holds it on earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Plato affirmes Of whom saith an Anthony that when hee saw one too indulgent to his flesh in high Diet he asked him What doe you meane to make your prison so strong Thus qui gloriatur in viribus corporis gloriatur in viribus carceris He that boasteth the strength of his body doth but bragge how strong the Prison is wherein he is â—ayled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The body is the disease the graue the destinie the necessitie and burden of the soule Hinc cupiunt metuuntque dolent gaudentque nec auras Respiciunt clausae tenebris et carcere caeco Feares ioyes griefes and desires mans life do share It wants no ills that in a Prison are It was a good obseruation that fell from that Stoicke Homo calamitatis fabula infaelicitatis tabula Man is a Storie of woe and a map of miserie So Mantuan Nam quid longa dies nobis nisi longa dolorum Colluvies Longi patientià carceris aetas It appeares then that Death is to the good a procurer of good Mors intermittit vitam non eripit Venit iterum qui nos in lucem râ—ponat dies Their Death is but like the taking in sunder of a Clocke vvhich is pulled a pieces by the makers hand that it may bee scowred and repolished and made goe more perfectly But Death to the wicked is the second step to that infernall Vault that shall breede either an innouation of their ioyes or an addition to their sorrowes Diues for his momentanie pleasures hath insufferable paines Iudas goes from the Gallowes to the Pit Esau from his dissolution in earth to his desolation in Hell The dead are there Though the dead in soule be meant literally yet it fetcheth in the body also For as originall sinne is the originall cause of Death so actuall sinnes hasten it Men speede out a Commission of Iniquities against their owne liues So the enuious man rots his owne bones The Glutton strangles the Drunkard drownes himselfe The male-content dryes vp his blood in fretting The couetous whiles he Italionates his conscience and would Romanize his estate starues himselfe in plaine English and would hang himselfe when the Market falls but that hee is loath to be at the charges of a Halter Thus it is a Feast of Death both for the present sense and future certaintie of it The dead are there 2. Spirituall death is called the death of the soule which consisteth not in the losse of her vnderstanding and will these she can neuer loose no not in Hell but of the truth and grace of God wanting both the light of faith to direct her and the strength of Loue to incite her to goodnesse For to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace The soule is the life of the body God of the soule The spirit gone vtterly from vs wee are dead And so especially are the guests of Satan dead You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sinnes And the Widdow that liueth in pleaâ—ure is dead whiles she liueth This diuorcement and seperation made betwixt God and the soule by sinne is mors animae the death of the soule But your Iniquities haue seperated betweene you and your God But we liue by faith and that in the Sonne of God His spirit quickens vs as the soule doth a lumpe of flesh when God infuseth it Now because these termes of spirituall death are communicated both to the elect and reprobates it is not amisse to conceiue that there is a double kinde of spirituall death 1. In regard of the Subiect that dieth 2. In regard of the Obiect whereunto it dieth Spirituall death in the faithfull is three-fold 1. They are dead to Sinne. How shall wee that are dead to sinne liue any longer therein A dead nature cannot worke He that is dead to sinne cannot as hee is dead sinne Wee sinne indeede not because wee are dead to sinne but because not dead enough Would to God you were yet more dead that you might yet more liue This is called Mortification What are mortified Lustes The wicked haue mortification too but it is of grace Matth. 8. They are both ioyntly expressed Let the dead burie the dead Which Saint Aâ—gustine expounds Let the spiritually dead bury those that are corporally dead The faithfull are dead to sinne the faithlesse are dead in sinne It is true life to bee thus dead Mortificatio concupiscentiae viâ—ificatio animae so farre is the spirit quickened as the flesh is mortified So true is this Paradoxe that a Christian so farre liues as he is dead so farâ—e he is a Conquerour as he is conquered Vincendo se vincitur à se. By ouercomming himselfe he is ouercome of himselfe Whiles hee ouer-rules his lustes his soule rules him When the outward cold rageth with greatest violence the inward heat is more and more effectuall When Death hath killed and stilled concupiscence the heart begins to liue This warre makes our peace This life and death is wrought in vs by Christ who at one blow slew our sinnes and saued our soules Vna eademque manus vulnus opemque tulit One and the same hand gaue the wound and the cure Vulneratur concupiscentia sanatur conscientia The deadly blow to the concupiscence hath reuiued the conscience For Christ takes away as well dominandi vim as damnandi vim the dominion of sinne as the damnation of sinne He died that sinne might not raigne in our mortall body he came to destroy not onely the Deuill but the workes of the Deuill Hence if you would with the spectacles of the Scriptures reade your owne estates to God Reckon your selues to be dead indeede vnto sinne but aliue vnto God through Iesus Christ our Lord. This triall consists not in being free from lusts but in brideling them not in scaping tentation but in vanquishing it It is enough that in all these things wee are more then Conquerours through him that loued vs. 2. They are dead to the Law For I through the Law am dead to the Law that I might liue vnto God Wherein hee opposeth the Law against the Law the new against the olde the Lawe of Christ against that of Moses This accuseth the accusing condemneth the condemning Law The Papists vnderstand this of the ceremoniall Law but Paul plainely expresseth that the Law morall which would haue beene to vs a Law morâ—all is put vnder wee are dead vnto it As Christ at once came ouer death and ouercame death et super it eâ— superat So we in him are exempted from the condemning power and killing letter of the Law and by being dead vnto it are aliue ouer it
banket haue this death in present the precedent and subsequent are both future the one naturally incurred by sinne the other iustly inflicted for vnrepented sinne For all shall dye the corporall death Hee that feareth an oath as well as hee that sweareth the â—eligious as the profane But this last which is Eternall death shall onely cease on them that haue before hand with a spirituall death slaine themselues This therefore is called the second death Blessed and holy is hee that hath part in the first resurrection which is the spirituall life by grace On such the second death hath no power Hee that is by Christ raised from the first death shall by Christ also scape the second But hee that is dead spiritually after hee hath died corporally shall also dye eternally This is that euerlasting seperation of body and soule from God and consequently from all comfort Feare him saith our Sauiour that is able to destroy both body and soule in Hell And many of them that sleepe in the dust of the earth shall awake some to euerlasting life and some to shame and euerlasting contempt This is that death that God delights not in His goodnesse hath no pleasure in it though his iustice must inflict it Man by sinne hath offended God an infinite Maiestie and therefore deserues an infinite miserie Now because he is a nature finite hee cannot suffer a punishment infinite in greatnesse simul et semel together and at once hee must therefore endure it successiuè sine fine successiuely without end The punishment must be proportioned to the sinne because not in present greatnesse therefore in eternall continuance Christ for his elect suffered in short time sufficient punishment for their sinnes for it is all one for one that is eternall to dye and for one to dye eternally But he for whom Christ suffered not in that short time must suffer for himselfe beyond all times euen for euer This is the last Death a liuing death or a dying life what shall I tearme it If it be life how doth it kill If death how doth it liue There is neither life nor death but hath some good in it In life there is some ease in death an end But in this death neither ease nor end Prima â—ors animam dâ—lentem pellet de câ—rpore secunda mors animam nolentem tenet in corpore The first death driues the soule vnwillingly from the body the second death holdes the soule vnwillingly in the body In those dayes shall men seeke death and shall not finde it and shall desire to dye and death shall flye from them Their worme shall not dye Thus saith the Scripture morientur mortem they shall dye the death Yet their death hath much too much life in it For there is a perfection giuen to the body and soule after this life as in heauen to the stronger participation of comfort so in hel to the more sensible receiuing of torment The eye shall see more perspicuously and the eare heare more quickly and the sense feele more sharply though all the obiects of these be sorrow and anguish Vermis conscientiam corrodet ignis carnem comburet quia et corde et corpore deliquerunt The worme shall gnaw the conscience the fire burne the flesh because both fleâ—h and conscience haue offended This is the fearfull death which these guests incurre this is the Shoâ— at the Diuells Banket God in his Iustice suffers him to reward his guests as hee is rewarded himselfe and since they loued his worke to giue them the stipend due to his seruice These are the tempted guests dead The vlgar Latine translation I know not vpon what ground hath interpreted here for mortui Gigantes thus hee knoweth not that the Gyants are there Monstrous men that would dart thunder at God himselfe and raise vp mountaines of impietie against Heauen As if they were onely great men that feasted at Sathans Banket whose riches were able to minister matter to their pleasures And surely such are in these dayes of whose sinnes when we haue cast an inventory account we might thus with the Poet sum vp themselues Viâ— dicam quid sis magnus es Ardelio Thou hast great lands great power great sinnes and than Dâ—st aske me what thou art th' art a great man The Gyants in the Scripture were men of a huge stature of a fierce nature The Poets fained their Gyants to be begotten and bred of the Sunne and the Earth and to offer violence to the Gods some of them hauing an hundred hands as Briareiu was called centimanus meaning they were of great command as Helen wrot to Paris of her husband Menelaus An nescis longas regibus esse manus This word Gyants if the originall did afford it must be referred either to the guests signifiing that monstrous men resorted to the Harlots table that it was Gigantoum conviuium a tyrannous feast or else and that rather to the tormentors which are laid in ambush to surprise all the commers in and carry them as a pray to Hell But because the best translations giue no such word and it is farre fetched I let it fall as I tooke it vp The third person here inserted is the Attempted the new guest whom she striues to bring in to the rest He is discribed by his ignorance Nescit Hee knoweth not what company is in the house that the dead are there It is the Deuils pollicie when hee would ransacke and robbe the hoâ—se of our conscience like a theefe to put out the candle of our knowledge That wee might neither discerne his purposes nor decline his mischeefes Hee hath had his instruments in all ages to darken the light of knowledge Domitian turnes Philosophie into banishment Iulian shuts vp the Schoole-doores The barbarous souldiours vnder Clement the seauenth burned that excellent Vatican library Their reasons concurred with Iulians prohibition to the Christans 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 least they kill vs with our owne weapons For it is said euen of Gentile learning Hic est Goliae gladius quo ipse Goliah ingulandus est Hic Herculis claua qua rabidi inter Ethnicos canes percutiendi sunt This is that Goliahs sword whereby the Philistine himselfe is wounded This is that Hercules clubbe to smite the madde dogs amongst the heathen Habadallus Mahomets scholler that Syrian Tyrant forbad all Christian children in his dominions to goe to schoole that by ignorance hee might draw them to superstition For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To be destitute of learning is to dance in the darke These were all Sathans instruments yet they come short of the Pope whose pollicie to aduance his Hierarchie is to oppresse mens consciences with ignorance teaching that the fulnesse of zeale doth arise from the emptinesse of knowledge euen as fast as fire flasheth out of a fish-pond There are degrees in sin so in ignorance It is a sin to be ignorant of that we
and the intelligencer betweene the vestall and the Nunne betweene the proud Prodigall and his vnconscionable Creditor Indeede the greatest sinner shall haue the greatest punishment And hee that hath beene a principall guest to the Deuill on earth shall and that on earth were a strange priuiledge hold his place in Hell Reward her euen as she rewarded you and double vnto her double according to her workes in the cup which shee hath filled fill to her double How much shee hath glorified her selfe and liued deliciously so much torment and sorrow giue her Diues that fedde so hartily on this bread of Iniquitie and drunke so deepe draughts of the waters of sinne reserues his superioritie in torment that hee had in pleasure Behold hee craues with more floods of scalding teares then euer Esau shed for the blessing but one drop of water to coole his tongue and could not be allowed it But what if all the riuers in the South all the waters in the Ocean had beene granted him his tongue would still haue withered and smarted with heate himselfe still crying in the language of Hell a non sufficit It is not enough Or what if his tongue had beene eased yet his heart liuer lungs bowells armes legges should still haue fryed Thus hee that eate and dranke with superfluitie the purest flower of the Wheate the reddest blood of the Grape his body kept as well from diseasâ—â— as soft linnen and fine rayment could preserue it here findes a fearfull alteration From the table of surfet to the table of torment from feeding on Iunkets to gnaw his owne flesh from bowles of wine to the want of cold water from the soft foldes of fine silkes to the winding lashes of furies from chaines of gold for ornament to chaines of yron for torment from a bed of downe to a bed of flames from laughing among his companions to howling with Deuils from hauing the poore begging at his gates to begge himselfe and that as that Rich-man for one drop of water Who can expresse the horrour and miserie of this guest Non mihi si centum linguae sint oraque centum Ferrea vox omnes scelerum comprendere formas Omnia poenarum percurrere nomina possim No hart of man can thinke no tongue can tell The direfull paines ordain'd and felt in hell Now sorrowes meete at the Guests hart as at a feast all the furies of hell leape on the Table of his Conscience Thought calls to Feare Feare to Horrour Horrour to Dispaire Dispaire to Torment Torment to Extremitie all to Eternitie Come and helpe to afflict this wretch All the parts of his body and soule leaue their naturall and woonted vses and spend their times in wretchednesse and confusion Hee runnes through a thousand deaths and cannot dye Heauie irons are locked on him all his lights and delights are put out at once Hee hath no soule capable of comfort And though his eyes distill like fountaines yet God is now inexorable His Mittimus is without Bayle and the Prison can neuer be broken God will not heare now that might not he heard before That you may conceiue things more spirituall and remote by passions neerer to sense Suppose that a man being gloriously roabed deliciously feasted Prince-like serued attended honoured and set on the proudest height of pleasure that euer mortallitie boasted should in one vnsuspected moment be tumbled downe to a bottome more full of true miseries then his promontory was of false delights and there be ringed about with all the gory Mutherers blacke Atheists sacrilegious Church-robbers and incestuous Rauishers that haue euer disgorged their poyson on earth to re-assume it in Hell Nay adde further to this supposition that this depth he is throwne into was no better then a vast Charnell-house hung round with lamps burning blew and dimme set in hollow corners whose glimmering serues to discouer the hideous torments all the ground in stead of greene rushes strewed with funâ—rall rosemary and dead mens bones some corpses standing vpright in their knotted winding-sheetes others rotted in their Coffins which yawne wide to vent their stench there the bare ribs of a Father that begat him heere the hollow skull of a Mother that bare him How direfull and amazing are these things to sense Or if Imagination can giue being to a more fearefull place that or rather worse then that is Hell If a poore man sodainely starting out of a golden slumber should see his house flaming about him his louing Wife and loued Infants breaâ—hing their spirits to heauen through the mercilesse fire himselfe inringed with it calling for despaired succour the miserable Churle his next neighbour not vouchsafeing â—o answere when the putting forth of an arme might â—aue him such shall be their miseries in Hell and nor an Angell nor a Saint shall refresh them with any comfort These are all but shadowes nay not shadowes of the infernall depth here expressed You heare it feare it fly it scape it Feare it by Repentance flye it by your Faith and you shall scape it by Gods mercie This is their Poâ—na sensus positiue punishmenâ— There is also Poena damni to be considered their priuatiue punishment They haue lost a place on earth whose ioy wâ—s temporall they haue missed a place in Heauen whose ioy is eternall Now they finde that a dinner of greene hearbes with Gods loue is better then a stalled Oxe and his hatred withall A feast of sallets or Daniels pulse is more cherisâ—ing with mercie then Belshazzars Banket without it Now they finde Solomonâ— Seâ—mon true that though the bread of deceit â—e sweâ—t to a man yet the time is come that the mouth is filled with grauell No no â—he blessing of God onely maketh fat and hee addeth no sorrow vnto it Waters the wicked desired and Bread they lusted after behold after their secure sleepe and dreamed ioyes on earth with what hungry soules doe they awake in Hell But what are the Bread and the Waters they might haue enioyed with the Sainâ—s in Heauen Such as shall neuer be dryed vp Ieâ— thy presence is the fulnesse of ioy and at thy right hand there are pleasures for euermore Happy is the vndefiled soule who is innocent from the great offence all whose sinnes are washed as white as Snow in that blood which alone is able to purge the conscience from dead workes He that walketh righteously c. he shall dwell on high his place of defence shall be the munitions of rockes Bread shall be giuen him his Waters shall be sure His ioyes are certaine and stable no alteration no alternation shall empaire them The wicked for the slight breakfast of this world loose the Lambs supper of glory Where these foure things concurre that make a perfect feast Dies lectus locus electus coetus bene collectus apparatus non neglectus A good time eternitie A good place Heauen A good companie the Saints Good cheere
if earth be at once neerer to your standing and vnderstanding and like dissembling Louers that to auoyd suspition diuert their eyes from that cheeke whereon they haue fixed their hearts so you loooke one way and loue another Heauen hauing your countenance Earth your confidence then for Earth read this instruction in all things the destruction of all things For if the raâ—ified and azure body of this lower Heauen shall bee folded vp like a Scrole of Parchment then much more this drossie feculent and sedimentall Earth shall be burnt Vret cum terris vret cum gurgite ponti Communis mundo superest rogus c. The Heauens shall passe away with a â—oyse and the Elements shall melt with feruent heate the Earth also and the workes that are therein shall be burnt vp At least quoad â—iguram though not quoad naturam The forme shall be changed though not the nature abollished Euerie creature on earth may teach vs the fallibillitie of it It is an Hieroglyphicke of vanitie and mutabillitie There is nothing on it that is of it that is not rather vitiall then vitall In all the corrupted parts of this decrepit and doting world mens best lesson of morallitie is a lesson of mortalitie As it was once said Foelix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas so now better Foelix qui poterit rerum cognoscere casus It is good to know the casuall beginnings of things it is better to know their casuall ends It is good to be a naturall Philosopher but better to bee a supernaturall a Christian Philosopher That whiles we intentiuely obserue the creature we may attentiuely serue the Creator That which is said of pregnant wits is more true of Christian hearts that they can make vse of any thing As Trauellers in forraine Countries make euery slight obiect a lesson so let vs thriue in grace by euery presented worke of Nature As the eye must see and the foote walke and the hand worke so the heart must consider What Gods doings which are maruellous in our vnderstandings eyes God looked vpon his owne workes saw they were good and delighted in them sure it is his pleasure also that wee should looke vpon them to admire his wisedome power prouidence mercie appearing both in their nature and their disposition The least of Gods works is worthie the obseruation of the greatest Angell Now what Trewants are we that hauing so many Tutours reading to vs learne nothing of them The Heathen were condemned for not learning the inuisible things of God from his visible workes For shall wee still plod on the great volume of Gods works and neuer learne to spell one word of vse of instruction of comfort to our selues Can wee behold nothing through the Spectacles of contemplation Or shall we be euer reading the great Booke of Nature and neuer translate it to the Booke of Grace The Saints did thus So haue I read that worthy Esay sitting among other Diuines and hearing a sweet consort of Musicke as if his soule had beene borne vp to Heauen tooke occasion to thinke and speake thus What Musicke may we thinke there is in Heauen A friend of mine viewing attentiuely the great pompe and state of the Court on a solemne day spake not without some admiration What shall we thinke of the glory in the Court of God Happy obiect and well obserued that betters the soule in grace But I haue beene prolixe in this point let the breuitie of the next succour it 2. Phisicke and Diuinitie are Professions of a neere affinitie both intending the cure and recouerie one of our bodies the other and better of our soules Not that I would haue them conioyned in one person as one spake merrily of him that was both a Phisitian and a Minister that whom he tooke money to kill by his Physicke he had also money againe to burie by his Priesthood Neither if God hath powred both these gifts into one man doe I censure their Vnion or perswade their separation Onely let the Hound that runnes after two Hares at once take heede least hee catch neither Ad duo qui tendit non vnum nec duo prendit And let him that is called into Gods Vineyard hoc agere attend on his office And beware least to keepe his Parish on sound legges he let them walke with sickly consciences Whiles Galâ—â— Auicen take the wall of Paul Peter I doe not here taxe but rather praise the works of mercie in those Ministers that giue all possible comâ—orts to the distressed bodies of their brethren Let the professions be heterogenâ—a different in their kindes onely respondentia semblable in their proceedings The Lord created the Physitian so hath he ordained the Minister The Lord hath put into him the knowledge of Nature into this the knowledge of grace All knowledge is deriued from the Fountaine of Gods wisedome The Lord hath created Medicines out of the earth The Lord hath inspired his holy word from heauen The good Physitian acts the part of the Diuine They shall pray vnto the Lord that he would prosper that which they giue for ease remedy to prolong life The good Minister after a sort is a Physitian Onely it is enough for the Sonne of God to giue both naturall and spirituall Physicke But as Plato spake of Philosophie that it couets the imitation of God within the limits of possibillitie and sobrietie so wee may say of Physicke it is conterminate to Diuinitie so farre as a Handmaid may follow her Mistresse The Institutions of both preserue the constitutions of men The one would preuent the obstructions of our bodies the other the destructions of our soules Both purge our feculent corruptions both would restore vs to our primarie and originall health though by reason of our impotencie and indisposition neither is able Both oppose themselues against our death either our corporall or spirituall perishing When the spirit of God moued on the waters and from that indigested confused mixture did by a kinde of Alchimicall extraction seperation sublimation coniunction put all things into a sweet consort and harmonious beautie hee did act a Phisitians part God is in many places a Phisitian Exod. 15. I am the Lord that healeth thee Deut. 32. I kill I make aliue I wound and I heale Ier. 17. Heale me O Lord and I shall be healed saue me and I shall be saued Sometimes he is as a Surgion to binde vp the sores of the broken-hearted and to stanch the bleeding wounds of the Conscience Nay Dauid intreats him to put his bones in course againe So Christ hath sent his Ministers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad coagmentationem as Beza reades it to put in ioynt the luxate members of the Church that are compacted by ioynts And in the period or full stoppe of time God will minister to the world the phisicke of Fire to purge the sicke body of it as heâ—
or to this Balme fastning their eyes and hopes on that whereas Balme with the destitution of Gods blessing doth as much good as a branch of hearbe-Iohn in our Pottage Nature it selfe declines her ordinary working when Gods reuocation hath chidden it The word without Balme can cure not the best Balme without the word 2. So this naturall Balme when the blessing of the word is euen added to it can at vtmost but keepe the body liuing till the lifeâ— taper be burnt out or after death giue a short and insensible preseruation to it in the sarcophagall graue But this Balme giues life after death life against death life without death To whom shall we goe Lord thou hast the words of eternall life The Apostle doth so sound it the Saints in Heauen haue so found it and we if we beleeue it if we receiue it shall perceiue it to be the word of life And as Augustine of God Omne bonum nostrum vel ipse vel ab ipso All our good is either God or from God so all our ordinary meanes of good from God is vel verbum vel de verbo either the word or by the word The Prophet deriues the Balme from the Mount Gilead demaunding if Gilead be without Balme It seemes that Gilead was an aromaticall place and is reckoned by some among the Mountaines of spice It is called in some places of Scripture Galaad and by an easie varying of the points in the Hebrew writing Gilead This Mountaine was at first so called by Iacob by reason of that solemne Couenant which hee there made with his Father in law pursuing Laban Though it be called Mount Gilead before in the chapter ver 21.23.25 He set his face toward Mount Gilead c. Yet it is by anticipation spoken rather as the hill was called when the Historie was written by Moses then as it was saluted and ascended by Iacob who abode in it till Laban ouer-tooke him where the pacified Father and the departing Sonne made their Couenant Laban called it Iâ—gar-Sahadutha but Iacob called it Galeed It signifies a heape of witnesse a name imposed by occasion of the heape of stones pitched for the league betweene them Laâ—an said this heapâ— is a witnesse betweene mee and thee this day Therefore was the name of it called Galeed There was one Gilead sonne of Machir sonne of Manasseh of whom because it is said that Machir begat Gilead and of Gilead â—â—me the family of thâ— Gileadites some ascribe the attribution of this name to Mount Gilead But this Mount had the name long before the sonne of Machir was borne We read of it that it was 1. a great mountaine 2. fruitfull 3. full of Cities 4. abounding with Spices 1. It was a great Mountaine the greatest of all beyond Iordan in length fifty miles But as it ranne along by other Coasts it receiued diuers names From Arnon to the Citie Cedar it is called Gilead From thence to Bozra it is named Seir and after Hermon so reaching to Damascus it is ioyned to Libanus So Hierome conceiteth on those words of God vnto the Kings house of Iudah Thou art Gilead vnto me and the head of Lebanon that therefore Lebanon is the beginning of Gilead 2. Fruitfull abounding with great varietiâ— of necessarieâ— and delights yeelding both pleasure and profit This euery part and corner thereof afforded euen as farre as Mount Sâ—ir which the Edomites the generation of Esau chose for a voluptuous habitation This the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and halfe the Tribe of Manasseh when they saw the land of Gilead that the place was a place for catâ—ell desired of Moses and of the Princes of the Congregation that they might possesse it for it is a land for cattell and thy seruants haue cattell The condition that Moses required beâ—ng by them graunted that they should goe armed with their brethren till the expulsion of their enemies had giuen them a quiet seate in Canaan Thy seruanâ—s will doe as my Lord commandeth Onâ—ly our little ones our wiâ—es our flockes and all our cattell shall be in tho Cities of Gilead The fertillitie of Gilead contented them though with the separation of Iordan from their brethren Our Sauiour describing the beautie of his Spouse Behold thou art faire my Loue behold thou art faire inwardly faire with the gifts of his spirit and outwardly faire in her comely administration and gouernment Thou hast Doues eyes within thy lockes thy eyes of vnderstanding being full of puritie chastitie simplicitie hee addes withall that her haire her gracious profession and appendances of expedient ornaments are as comely to behold as a Flocke of well-fed Goates grasing and appearing on the fruitfull hills of Gilead Which made them so pregnant that like a Flocke of sheepe euery one brings out Twinnes and none is barren among them The same praâ—se is redoubled by Christ chap. 6. c. 3. It was full of Cities a place so fertile that it was full of Inhabitants â—lair the Gileaeditâ— who iudged Israel had thirty sonnes that rode on thirty Asse-Colts and they had thirty Cities which are called Hauâ—th-â—aiâ— vnto this day which are in the land of Gilead It was as populous as fructuous and at once blessed with pregnancie both of fruits for the people and of people for the fruits It was before Israel conquâ—red it in the dominion of the Amoritâ—s and more specially of Og king of Bashan that remained of the remnant of the Giants whose bedsted was a bedsted of yron nine cubites long and foure cubites broad after the cubite of a man It was not onely full of strength in it selfe but guarded with Cities in the plaine All the Cities of the plaine and all Gilead and all Bashan c. So the Inheritance of Gad is reckoned by Iosuah Their coast was lazer and all the Cities of Gilâ—ad It appeares then that Gilead was full of Cities So blessed as if the Heauens had made a Couenant of good vnto it as Iacob did erst with Laban vpon it A hill of witnesse indeede for it really testified Gods mercie to Israel God calls it his owne Gilead is mine Manasseh iâ— mine The principall or first name of Kingdome that vsurping Iâ—â—bosheth was by Abner crowned ouer was Gilead And hee made him King ouer Gilead and ouer the Ashurites c. 4. It was lastly a Mountaine of Spices and many Strangers resorted thither for that Merchandise Euen when the malicious brethren hauing throwne innocent Ioseph into the pit sate downe in a secure neglectfulnesse to eate bread Behold surely the Lord sent and directed a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their Camels bearing Spicery and Balme and Myrrhe By which it appeares to be mons aromatum a hill of Spâ—ces Therefore God here Is there no Balme at Gilead The Iewâ—s were neerâ— to Gilead it was but on
Eden whence runne those foure Riuers of Wisedome to direct vs of oyle to soften vs of comforts to refresh vs of promises to confirme vs. As lightly as you regard the word and as slightly as you learne it you shall one day finde more comfort in it then in all the world Lye you on your Death-beds grone you with the pangs of nature-oppressing Death or labour you with the throbs of an anguished conscience when neither naturall nor spirituall Phisitian stands by you to giue you succour then oh then one dramme of your old store taken from the treasurie of the Scriptures shal be vnto you of inestimable comfort Then well-fare a Medicine at a pinch a drop of this Balme ready for a sodaine wound which your memory shall reach forth and your faith apply to your diseased soules afflicted hearts Thinke seriously of this and recall Gods Booke from banishment and the Land of forgetfulnesse whither your securitie hath sent it Shake off the dust of neglect from the couer and weare out the leaues with turning continually imploring the assistance of Gods spirit that you may read with vnderstanding vnderstand with memorie and remember with comfort that your Soules Closset may neuer be vnstored of those heauenly recâ—ites vvhich may ease your griefes cure your wounds expell your sicknesses preserue your healths and keepe you safe to the comming of Iesus Christ. Trust not all on your Ministers no nor on your selues but trust on the mercies of God and the merites of our blessed Sauiour Nothing now remaines but to shew you in what need you stand of this Phisicke by reason of your ill heâ—lths and the infected ayre of this world you breath in Meane time preserue you these instructions and God preserue you with his mercies For which let vs pray c. FINIS a Hâ—br 11.25 b Hebr. 3.13 c 2 Tim. 3.16 d 2 Thes. â— 11 1 King 22 2â— Verse 17. Verse 18. f Psal. 1.1 g 1 Kin. 21.10 h 1 King 10.18 i Verse 20. 1 King 4.31 k Act. 9.1 l Ezâ—k 2.9 m Esa. 6..6 n Iob 1.19 o Iudg 16.30 Verse 17. Verse 18. 1 Tim. 2.14 Gal. 4.4 p Gen. 3.4 q Luke 1.35 Iosh. 2.1 Matth. 22.1 Canâ— 5.1 Reuel 2â— 17 r Luke 14.21 s Reu. 19.9 t Gen. 21.8 u Iudg. 14.10 * Primum miracuâ—um aâ—firmatur quod ex primis non dubitatur a Ioh. 2.11 b 1 Sam. 25 36 c Dan. 5.2 d Iudg 16 23. e Mark 6.28 f Luke 16.19 g 1 Kin. 12.28 2 Sam. 15. Matth. 4 9. h Matth. 2.16 i 1 King 21.4 k Acts 23.14 l Reuel 17.4 Obseruat Marke 5.9 Iob 2.2 Psal. 105.30 f Ier. 2.13 g Luke 22.38 h Matth. 16.19 Common Barrâ—tours Prou. Iudg. 15.5 Esa. 3.18 c. Vse Rom. 8. Esay 10 5. with Esay 14.25 Iob. 21.17.30 Psal. 73.19 Claudian a Gen. 1.2 b Esay 44.3 c Ioh. 5.4 d Ezek. 47.8 e Exod. 15.25 f Psal. â—44 7 g Exod. 7.17 h 2 Sam. 22 17. 1 Sam. 14.43 Exod. 14. Psal. 51.7 Luk. 16.24 a Ioh. 4.14 b Reuel 22.1 d De aquis non supâ—r aquas Obseruat 1. Exodus 36. * The foure mother-elements alter one into another earth to water water is raâ—ified into ayâ—e aire râ—fined c and so backe agâ—â—ne Inde râ—trâ— redâ—unt idemque râ—â—â—xitur ordo Metam 15. Act. 28 1â— a Esa. 29.9 Dan. 5 Pers. Non principalis a Principâ— â—ed principalis a prinâ—ipio * Acrasia praeiâ— Acrisia sequitur b Reuel 17.2 c Esay 5.11 d Act. 2.13.15 e Matth. 6.34 â— Obseru 2. Matth. 3.11 f 1 Cor 5 7. g Luk. 13.21 Amos. 3.8 Râ—uâ—l 5.5 1 Pet. 5.8 Ioh. 3 14. 2 Cor. 11.3 Matth 3.9 1 Pet. 2.5 Psal. 118.22 Obseru 3. a Psal. 108 23. Similitudes of sinnes to waters Iohn 4. Matth. 5. a Ioh. 4.10 Iosh 7. 2 King 5. Carmina non scribunâ—ur aquae potoribus Hor. Ser 2. Acts 2.3 Matth 3.11 2 King 2.11 1 Thes. 5.19 b Holinesse and Wickednesse 2 Cor. 6.14 c Esa. 51.17 d Phil 3.20 Psal. 104.9 Though no Element is simply heauy but Earth yet Water is coâ—paratiuely heauy e Amos 4.1 f Amos 6.6 Plin. Et terit et teritur The dissimilitude of sinnes to waters Non maculati sed maculae Iude 12. Obseru 4. Plato Hose 4.3 Vâ—rse 1. Verse â— Iam. 3. 1 Cor. 10.7 Matth. 7.13 Eccles. 4.10 Rom. 13.13 Ier. 23.10 â—er 2.13 Phil. 3.19 Gal. 5.26 Amos 1.3.6 c 1 Ioh. 2.16 Gal. 5.19 Chrys. Serm. de Ielunijs Vse 1. Alexius lib. 5. cap. 2. Mich. 2.11 Matth. 4.9 Iudg. 15. Ion. 2.8 Vse 2. Matth. 20.22 Diodor. Sicul. Psal. 49.5 Vse 3. Ier. 9.1 a Psal. 119.136 b Psal. 6.6 c 2 King 4.19 d Ier. 4.19 Orig. hoâ— 5. in Lâ—uit Vse 4. Ioh. 4.14 Matth. 5. Cant. 2.4 Bed Exhortat 139. 1 Chron. 11.19 Esa. 55.1 Reu. 22.1 Ver. 17. Rom. 14.17 1 Cor. 2.9 August Ioh. 2.10 Psal. 16.11 Seâ— 1 Cor. 10.11 Eccles. 1.14 2 Sam. 18.22 Valer max. lib. 1. cap. 2. Hor. 2 Sam. 1.20 Marl. in 2 Pâ—t 3 Matth. 11.12 Luke 16 16. Iustice giueâ— cuique suum Deo religionem sibi munditiam parentibus honoreâ— familiaribus prouidentiam filijs cor rectionem â—ratribus amorem Dominis subiectionem subiectis benigâ—itatem aequitatem omnibus Ardens a Peccare est quasi pâ—ccucare to play the beast or â—ather neerer to the Scripture phrase peccare est quasi pellicare to be an Harlot or an Harloâ—-hunter to comâ—it spirituall adulterrie b Pro. 17.18.19 a Psal. 10.11.13 b Psal. 14.1 c Matth. 26.63 d Iam. 2.19 e Matth. 8.29 f 2 Pet. 3.4 Leâ— 10. Baleus Met. lib. 7. a Act. 19.15 b Esa. 1.12 c Mal. 3.8 The sacrilegious that I specially meane amongst vs are such as with-holde those rights from the Church that the law of the land rightly vnderstood alloweth her As those that will not present without reseruation c August Nehe. 13.5 Ier. 5.9 B. Babing in Gen. cap. 47. a Gal. 6.6 b Mal. 3.10 2 Macch. 3. c Gen. 13.8 Instit. lib. 4. cap. 17. Sect. 43. d Ioh. 14 9. e 2 King 15.16 e Reuel 3.20 f Cant 3.4 g Mattâ— â— 34 h Matth. 3.10 i Ier. 3.3 k 2 Tim. 3.5 Guid. Carthus l Phil. 3.18 m Heb. 10.29 Aelian Var. hist. lib. 4. Iob 21. Cic. de Fate n Gen. 21. o Mark 6. p Prou. 16.31 q Rom. 13.5 r Prou 30.17 Ouid. de rem amor lib. 1. * Psal. 12.4 s Iam. 3.8 Vers. 6. t Numb 16.3 Est haec rudis cacodamâ—nis techna Luth. v Psal. 106.38 * Microcosmos est Homo x Exod 7.19 y Heb. 12.24 z Mumb. 35.33 Owen Adrian a Heb 13.4 Ier. 23.10 Alea vina Venus c. b 1 Cor. 7.9 Gen. 3.1 Mâ—â—aâ— 10. Triâ—t 2. Gell. lib. 3. Act. 19. Esa. 5.20 Mart. Epig. Aen. Sylu. Ephes. 4.28 Prou. 22.1 a Gen. 9.22 25. b 1 Sam. 23.19 c 1 Sâ—â— 22.9 d Iosh. â— 5 Iâ—ro Psal. 37.6 Ber. Reu. 3.17 f Iam. 3. g Lukâ—
likewise Lazarus euill things but now hee is comforted and thou art tormented AVGVST de Ciuitate Dei Lib. 22. Cap. 3. Prima mors animam dolentem pellit de corpore Secunda mors animam nolentem tenet in corpore The soule by the first death is vnwillingly driuen from the body the soule by the second death is vnwillingly held in the body LONDON Printed by Thomas Snodham for Ralph Mab and are to be sold in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Grey-hound 1614. TO THE VERY VVORTHY GENTLEMAN Mr. FRANCIS CRAVVLEY sauing Health SYR There are foure sorts of Bankets which I may thus distinguish Laetum letiferum bellum belluinum The first is a ioyfull Feast Such was the Breake-fast of the World in the Law or the Dinner in the Gospell or yet the future more fully the Lambes Supper of Glory this is a delicate Feast Yet not more then the next is deadly the blacke Banket which is prepared for the wicked in Hell Which consists of two Dishes sayth the Schoole Poena damni and poena sensus or as the Philosopher distinguisheth all miserie into copiam inopiam copia tribulationis inopia consolationis Or after some of three amissio coeli priuatio terrae positio inferni the missing of that they might haue had the priuation of that they had the position of that they haue and would not haue torment or according to others of foure Mercilesse miserie extremitie vniuersallity eternitie of anguish Our Sauiour abridgeth all into two or rather one for they are homogenea weeping and gnashing of teeth This is a bloody Banket where crosse to the festiuall prouerbe the more the merrier the multitude of guests shall adde to the horror of miseries so afflicting one another with their ecchoing and reciprocall grones that it shall be no ease socios habuisse doloris This is a lamentable but the third a laudeable Feast It is that the Christian maketh eyther to man which is a Feast of Charitie or to God which is a Feast of Grace Whereunto God hath promised to be a Guest and to suppe with him The last is a beastiall Bankeâ— wherein either man is the Symposiast and the Deuill the discumbent or Sathan the Feastmaker and man the Guest Sinne is the food in both The dyeâ— is not varied but the Host. Sathan feasts the wicked whiles they feed on his temptations to surfet The wicked feast Satan whiles their accustomed sinnes nourish his power in their hearts Sâ— Sâ— Hierome Daemonum cibus ebrietas luxuria fornicatio vniuersa vitia Our iniquities are the very dyet dainties of the Deuils With this last onely haue I medled endeuouring to declare it to disswade it according to the dichotomiz'd carriage of all our Sermons by explication by application Sin is the white or rather the blacke marke my arrow flies at I trust he that gaue ayme to my tongue will also direct leuell and keepe my Penne from swaruing But since reproofes are as Goads and Beasts will kicke when they are touched to the quicke and he that speaks in Thunder shall bee answered with Lightning by which consequence I may suspect stormes that haue menaced stormes therefore behold it runnes to you for shelter not to instruct your knowledge who can giue so exquisite counsell to others in the Law to your selfe in the Gospell being qualified as that perfect Rhetorician should be vir bonus dicendi peritus but that through your Name I might offer and adde this poore Mite into the treasurie of the Church ascribing the Patronage to your selfe the vse to the world the successe to God Accept then this poore testimonie of my gratitude who haue vowed my selfe Your VVorships in all faithfull seruice THOMAS ADAMS THE SHOT OR The vvofull price vvhich the wicked pay for the Feast of Vanitie The fourth Sermon PROVERB 9.18 But hee knoweth noâ— that the dead are there and that her guests aâ—e in the depth of Hell SAtans guests are vnhappily come from the end of a Feast to the beginning of a fray As the Sodomites eate and drunke till the fire was about their eares so these are iouiall and sing care away but it seemes by the sequell that the Deuill will not be pleased with a Song as the Host in the Fable with the singing guest Hee cries out as the Vsurer at his spawning houre Giue mee my money Arguments are held complements perswasions intreaties promises of speedie satisfaction will doe no good on him that hath no good in him hee is like the Cuckoe alwaies in one tune Giue mee my money The Debter may intreat this Creditour will not retreat he will to warre you know the Vsurers warre except he may haue his money So the great Vsurer the Deuill I hope Vsurers doe not scorne the comparison when the Feast is done lookes for a reckoning The Vsurer perhaps will take securitie so will the Deuill Securitie and deadnesse of heart will a great while please him But when Diues hath dined the Deuill takes away Death is his knife and Hell his voyder Hee takes away one Dish more then he set downe in stead of the reuersion the Feasters themselues nay the Feast-maker too for Diues is the founder and Sathan is the confounder the one prouides meate for the belly the other by Gods sufferance destroyes them both Sathan according to the tricks of some shifting Hostes bids many friends to a Feast and then beates them with the Spit Dainty cheere but a sawcie reckoning The Feast is vanitie the Shot vexation Thus they that worship their belly as God temple themselues in Hell and as their end is damnation so their damnation is without end Therefore shall they goe captiue with the first that goe captiue and the banket of them that stretched themselues shall be remoued I would willingly lead you through some Suburbs before I bring you to the maine Citie of Desolation and shew you the wretched conclusion of this Banket and confusion of these Guests All which arise from the conterminate scituation or if I may so speake from the respondent opposition of these two Sermons Wisedomes and Follies that is Gods and Sathans For this sad sequell is if not a relatiue yet a redditiue demonstration of their miserie for after the infection of sinne followes the infliction of punishment The turrets I would leade you by are built and consist of Farewels and Welcomes of some things deposed and some things imposed positiue and priuatiue circumstances valedictions and maledictions they take their leaues of temporall and affected ioyes and turne vpon eternall and cursed sorrowes I will limit these generall obseruations into foure All sinfull ioyes are dammed if not damned vp with a But. They are troubled with a But-plague like a Bee with a sting in the taile They haue a worme that crops them nay gnawes asunder their very root though they shoote vp more hastily and spread more spatiously then Ionas gourd There is great preparation
and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them But when they are once in they finde themselues deceaued for the dead are there c. Then put no trust in so weake comforts that will be vnto you as Egypt to Israel a Reed which when you leane vpon it will not onely faile you but the splinters shall run into your hand You shall be ashamed of your weake confidence The Burden of the beasts of the South Into the land of trouble c. I am no Prognosticator Yet if Cosmographie affirme that wee liue in a Southerne Climate and experience testifie that wee haue many beasts among vs methinkes these words lie as fit for vs as if they were purposely made How many in our land by losse of Conscience are become Atheists and by losse of Reason beasts who run so fast to this Egiptian feast of wickednesse that hee speakes easiest against them that speakes but of a Burden These hauing found Sathans temptations true for the daintinesse iudging by their owne lusts dare also take his word for the continuance But if the great Table of this Earth shall be ouerthrowne what shall become of the dainties that the hand of nature hath set on it To which purpose saith Ierome Oh si possemus in talem ascendere speculam de qua vniuersam terram sub nostris pedibus cerneremus iam tiâ—i ostenderem totius orbis ruinas c. If it could be granted vs to stand on some lofty Pinacle from which wee might behold the whole earth vnder our feete how easily perswasion would make these earthly pleasures seeme vile in thy opinion You saâ— your pleasures are for number manifold for truth manifest for dimension great grant all though all be false yet they are for time short for end sowre Breue est quod delectat aeternum quod cruciat It is short that pleaseth them euerlasting that plagueth them Pleasure is a channell and Death the sea whereinto it runs Mellifâ—uus ingressus fâ—llifluus regressus yeeld your ioyes sweet at the Porch so you grant them bitter at the Posterne Securus et Securis must meete Wickednesse and wretchednesse must be made acquainted The lewd mans dinner shall haue that rich mans Supper Thou foole this night thy soule shall be required of thee The Deuill then you see is a crafty and cheating hoast whose performance falls as short of his promise as time doth of eternitie Let then the Apostles caueat be the vse of this obseruation Let no man deceiue you with vaine words for because of these things commeth the wrath of God on the children of disobedience The punishments of the wickâ—d are most vsually in the like proper and proportionable to their offences 1. Solomon here opposeth the house of mourning to the house of feasting as in expresse termes Eccleâ— 7. for as it is fit in the body that surfet should be followed with death so these that greedily make themselues sicke with sinne become iustly dead in soule 2. They haue affected the workes of hell therefore it is iust that hell should affect them and that euerie one should be granted their â—wne place 3. As they would not know what they did till they had done it so they fitly know not the place whither they shall goe till they are in it Nescit hee knoweth not c. 4. For the high places which their ambition climbed to Ver. 14. They are cast downe like Lâ—cifer to the lowest place the depth of Hell As Simon Magus would flye with arrogance so he came dowâ—e with a vengeance and broke his necke See how fitly they are quâ—ted They eate the bread of wickednesse and drinke the wine of violence now they are scanted of both except they will eate the bread of gall and drinke their owne teares Thus Pharaoh drownes the Hebrew males in a Riuer Exod. 1. therefore is drowned himselfe with his army in a sea Exod. 14. He had laide insupportable burdens on Israell God returnes them with full weight number measure When Israell had cut off the thumbs and great toes of Adoni-bezek heare the maimed King confesse the equitie of this Iudgment Threescore and ten Kings hauing their thumbs and great toes cut off gathered their meate vnder my table as I haue done so God hath requited me As proud Baiazeth threatned to serue Tamberlaine being conquered to imprison him in a cage of iron and carry him about the world in triumph so the Scithian hauing tooke that bragging Turke put him to the punishment which hiâ—selfe had lesson'd carrying and carting him through Asia to be scorned of his owne people Thus Haman is hanged on his owne gallowes Perillus tries the tricke of his owne torment The Papists that would haue fired vs in a house were themselues fired out of a house Gunpowder spoyled some of their eyes Musket-shot killed others the Engines of their owne conspiracie and the rest were aduanced higher by the head then the Parliament-house that would haue lifted vs higher of purpose to giue vs the more mortall â—all God hath â—etaliated their workes into their owne bosomes They trauelled with iniquitie conceiued mischiefe and loe the birth is their owne sorrow They haue digged a pit for vs and that low vnto Hell and are falne into it themselues Nec enim lex aequior vlla est Quà m necis artifices artâ— perire sua No iuster Law can be deuis'd or made Then that sinnes agents fall by their owne trade The order of Hell proceedes with the same degrees though it giue a greater portion yet the same proportion of torment These wretched guests were too busie with the waters of sinne behold now they are in the depth of a pit where no water is Diues that wasted so many Tunnes of Wine cannot now procure water not a Pot of water not a handfull of water not a drop of water to coole his tongue Desiderauit guttam qui non dedit micam A iust recompence Hee would not giue a crumme he shall not haue a drop Bread hath no smaller fragment then a crumme water no lesse fraction then a drop As he denied the least comfort to Lazarus liuing so Lazarus shall not bring him the least comfort dead Thus the paine for sinne answeres the pleasure of sinne Where now are those delicate moisels deepe carowses loose laughters proud poâ—t midnight reuels wanton songs Why begins not his fellow-guest with a new health or the Musicke of some rauishing note or if all faile hath his foole-knauish Parasite no obscene iest that may giue him delight Alas Hell is too melancholly a place for mirth All the Musicke is round-ecchoing groanes all the water is muddie with stench all the food anguish Thus damnable sinnes shall haue semblable punishments and as Augustine of the tongue so wee may say of any member Si non reddet Deo faciendo quae debet reddâ—t ei patiendo quae debet If it will
soule her true forme and playes the make-bate betwixt God and thee betwixt thee and thy selfe So long as securitie hath kept thee sleeping in thy delighted impieties this quarrell is not commenced The mortallest enemies are not alwayes in pitched fields one against another This truce holds some till their death-beds neither doe they euer complaine till their complaints can doe them no good For then at once the sicke carkase after many tossings and turnings to finde the easiest side moanes his vnabated anguish and the sicker conscience after triall of many shifts too late feeleth and confesseth her vnappeased torment So Cain Iudas Nero in vaine seeke for forraine helps when their executioner is within them The wicked man cannot want furies so long as he hath himselfe Indeede the soule may flye from the body not sinne from the soule An impatient Iudas may leape out of the priuate hell in himselfe into the common pit below as the boyling fishes out of the Caldron into the flame But the gaine hath beene the addition of a new hell without them not the losse of the old hell within them The worme of Conscience doth not then cease her office of gnawing when the fâ—ends begin their office of torturing Both ioyne their forces to make the dissolutely wicked desolately wretched If this man be not in the depth of Hell deepely miserable there is none Loe now the Shot at the Deuils Banket A reckoning must be payd and this is double 1. the earnest in this life 2. the full payment in the life to come The earnest is whiles Hell is cast into the wicked the full satisfaction is when the wicked shall be cast into Hell Whosoeuer was not found written in the booke of life was cast into the Lake of fire I will take leaue to amplifie both these a little further 1. The earnest is the horrour of an euill conscience which sparkles with the beginnings of future torments I know that some feele not this in the pride of their vanities or at least will not seeme to feele it Some whorish for-heads can out-face their sinnes and laugh them out of countenance Wide gorges that can swallow periuries bloodynesse adulteries vsuries extortions without trouble But it may be the heart doth not laugh with the looke He dares be an hypocrite that durst be a villaine If hee would speake truth of himsâ—lfe he would testifie that his thoughts will not affoord him sleepe nor his sleepe affoord him rest but whiles his senses are bound his sinne is loose No command of reason can quiet the tempest in his heart No sonne of Sceua no helpe of the world can cast out this Deuill The blood of the body often being stopped in the issue at the nostrils bursts out at the mouth or finds way into the stomach The conscience thus wounded will bleed to death if the blood of Iesus Christ doe not stanch it Thinke of this ye that forget God and are onely indulgent to your selues the time shall come you shall remember God neither to your thankes nor ease and would forget your selues Happy were it for you if you hauing lost your God could also loose your selues But you cannot hide your selues from your selues Conscience will neither be blinded in seeking nor bribed in speaking You shall say vnto it as that wicked Ahab to Elias hast thou found me oh thou mine enemie yet alas all this is but the earnest A hell I may call it and a deepe hell and as I â—ay say a little smoake reâ—king out of that fiery pit whereby the afâ—licted may giue a guesse at Hell as Pythagoras guessed at the stature of Hercules by the length of his foote But else per nulla figura gehâ—nnae nothing can truely resemble Hell 2. The earnest is infinitly short of the totall summe And his Lord was wroth and deliuered him to the tormenters till hee should pay all that was due vnto him The guest must indure a death not dying liue a life not liuing no torment ends without the beginning of a worse The sight afflicted with darknesse and vgly Deuills the hearing with shrikes and horrible cries the smelling with noysome stenches the tast with rauenous hunger and bitter gall the feeling with intollerable yet vnquenchable fire Thousands poynting at not one among thousands pitying the distressed wreâ—ch I know this Earth is a dungeon in regard of Heauen yet a Heauen in respect of Hell wee haue miserie enough here it is mercie to what is there Thinke of a gloomy hideous and deepe Lake full of pestilent dampes and rotten vapours as thicke as cloudes of pitch more palpable then the fogs of Egipt that the eye of the Sunne is too dull to peirce them and his heate too weake to dissolue them Adde hereunto a fire flashing in the reprobates face which shall yeeld no more light then with a glimpse to shew him the torments of others and others the torments of himselfe yet withall of so violent a burning that should it glow on mountaines of steele it would melt them like mountaines of Snow This is the guests reckoning a sore a sowre payment for a short and scarce sweet Banket All his senses haue been pleased now they are all plagued In stead of perfumes fragrant odors a sulphurous stench shall strike vp into his nosthrils In stead of his lasciuious Dalila's that fadomed him in the armes of lust behold Adders Toades Serpents crawling on his bosome In stead of the Dorian musicke charming his eares Man-drakes and Night-rauens still shriking to them the reuerberating grones of euer and neuer dying companions tolling their funerall not finall knels and yels round about him In stead of wanton kisses snakes euer sucking at his breath and galling his flesh with their neuer blunted stings Thinke of this feast you riotous feasters in sinne There is a place called Hell whither after the generall and last assises the condemned shall be sent through a blacke way death is but a shadow to it with many a sigh and sobbe and grones to those cursed fiends that must be their tormentors as they haue beene their tempters Behold now a new feast a fatall a finall one To suppe in the vault of darknesse with the princes and subiects of horror at the table of vengance in the chaire of desperation Where the difference on earth betwixt Master and Seruant drudge and commander shall be quite abolished Except some Atheisticall Machiauell or trayterous Seminary or some bloody delegate of the Inquisition be admitted the vpper-end of the table But otherwise there is no regard of age beauty riches valour learning birth The vsurer hath not a cushion more then his broker There is not the bredth of a bench betweene Herod and his Parasites The Pope himselfe hath no easier a bed then the poorest Masse-priest Corinthian Lais speeds no better then her chambermaid The Cardinall hath not the vpper hand of his Pander There is no prioritie betweene the plotter
diuided to our hands by the rule of three A tripartite Metaphore that willingly spreads it selfe into an Allegorie 1. Gods word is the Balme 2. The Prophets are the Physitians 3. The People are the Patients who are very sicke Balme without a Physitian a Physitian without Balme a Patient without both is in fausta separatio an vnhappy disiunction If a man be ill there is neede of Physicke when he hath Physicke he needes a Physitian to apply it So that here is miserie in being sicke mercie in the Physicke Not to disioyne or disioynt the Prophets order let vs obserue that the words are spoken 1. In the person of God 2. In the forme of a question 3. By a conclusiue inference Onely two things I would first generally obserue to you as necessarie inductions to the subsequent Doctrines Both which may naturally be inferred not tyrannously enforced from the words That which first obiects it selfe to our consideration is the Wisedome of God in working on mens affections which leades vs here from naturall wants subiect to sense to supernaturall inuisible and more secret defects from miseries to mysteries That as if any man admired Solomons House they would be rauished in desire to see Gods House which transcended the former so much as the former transcended their expectation So heere wee might be led from mans worke to Gods worke from things materiall to things mysticall and by the happinesse of cure to our sicke bodies be induced to seeke and get recouerie of our dying soules The second is the fit collation and respondent relation of Diuinitie and Physicke the one vndertaking to preserue and restore the health of the body the other performing much more to the soule 1. God leades vs by sensible to the sight of insensible wants by calamities that vexe our liuing bodies to perils that endanger our dying Consciences That wee might inferre vpon his premisses what would be an eternall losse by the sight of a temporall crosse that is so hardly brooked If a famine of bread be so heauie how vnsupportable is the dearth of the Word saith the Prophet Man may liue without bread not without the word If a wearie Traueller be so vnable to beare a burden on his shoulders how ponderous is sinne in the Conscience which Zacharie calls a talent of Lead If blindnesse be such a miserie what is â—gnorance lf the night be so vncomfortable what doth the darknesse of Superstition afford If bodily Disease so afflict our sense how intollerable will a spirituall sicknesse proue Thus all earthly and inferiour Obiects to a Christian soule are like Marginall hands directing his reading to a better and heauenly reference I intend to vrge this poynt the more as it is more necessarie both for the profit of it being well obserued and for the generall neglect of it because they are few in these dayes that reduce Christianitie to Meditation but fewer that produce Meditation to practise and obedience Diseases destined toward Death as their end that can by Nature neither be violently endured nor violently repelled perplexe the flesh with much paine but if Diseases which be Deaths capitall Chirurgions his preceding Heraulds to proclaime his neerenesse his Ledgers that vsurpe his place till himselfe comes be so vexing and full of anguish what is Death it selfe which kils the Diseases that killed vs For the perfection of sicknesse is Death But alas if the sicknesse and Death of the body be such what are Sinne the sicknesse and Impenitencie the death of the soule What is the dimmed eye to the darkned vnderstanding the infected members to the poysoned affections the torment of the reynes to the stitches girds and gripes of an aking Consciencâ— what is the Childes caput dolet my head akes to Ierusalems cor dolet my heart akes The soule to leaue the body with her offices of life is not so grieuous as Gods spirit to relinquish the soule with the comforts of grace In a word it is farre lesse miserable to giue vp the ghost then to giue vp the holy Ghost The soule that enters the body without any sensible pleasure departs not from it without extreame paine Hee that is animans animas the soule of our soules forsakes not our spirits but our paine is more though our sense be lesse As in the Warres the cut of a sword crossing the Fibres carries more smart vvith it though lesse mortallitie then the fatall charge of a Death-thundring Cannon The soule hath two places an Inferiour which it ruleth the body a Superiour wherein it resteth God! Mans greatest sorrow is when hee dyes vpwardly that GOD forsakes his God-forsaking soule His greatest sense when he diâ—s downewards and sicknesse disperseth and dispatcheth his vitall powers Let then the inferiour suffering vvaken vs to see the Superiour that doth vveaken vs. Thus God drawes our eyes from one obiect to another nay by one to another by that which wee loue on earth to that which wee should loue in Heauen by the prouidence for our bodies to the prouision for our soules So our Sauiour hauing discoursed of carefulnesse for terrene wants drawes his speech to the perswasion of celestiall benefits giuing the coherence with a But. But first seeke ye the Kingdome of God and his righteousnesse and all these inferiour things shall be added vnto you Vt ad excellenâ—iam diuinarum rerum per corporalia homines attollat That at once hee might lesson vs to holy duties and lessen our care for earthly things Thus quios homini sublime dedit cor subliâ—ius eleuare voluit Hee that gaue man a countenance lifted high meant to erect his thoughts to a higher contemplation For many haue such groueling and earth-creeping affections that if their bodies curuitie was answerable to their soules incederent quadrâ—pides they would become foure-footed beasts It is a course preposterous to Gods creation disproportionable to mans fabricke that he should fixe his eyes and thoughts and desires on the base earth made for his feete to stand on and turne his feete against Heauen in contempt lifting vp his heele against God Hee whose ill-ballancing Iudgement thinkes Heauen light and Earth onely weightie and worthie doth as it were walke on his head with his heeles vpward I haue heard Trauellers speake of monstrous and praeternaturall men but neuer any so contranaturall as these Christ knew in the dayes of his flesh what easie apprehension worldly things would finde in vs what hard impression heauenly would finde on vs therefore so often by plaine comparisons taught secret Doctrines by Histories Misteries How to the life doth he explaine the mercie of God to the miserie of man in the lost Sheepe in the lost Groat in the lost Sonne How sweetly doth hee describe the different hearers of Gods Oracles in the Parable of the Seede which howsoeuer it seemed a Riddle to the selfe-blinding Iewes yet was a familiar demonstration to the beleeuing Saints So the Prophets found
once gaue it a Potion of Water to cleanse it Quas olim intulerant terris contagia sordes vos olim vltrices ablueratis aquae At nunc cum terras cum totas aequoris vndas polluerit manus quà m fuit ante scelus Quiá superest caelo nisi missus vt ignis ab alto Ipsas cum terris deuoret vlter aquas Once in Gods sight the World so filthy stood That hee did wash and soake it in a flood But now it 's growne so foule and full of mire Nothing remaines to purge it but a fire Which Strabus writing on the worlds destruction by fire would seeme to gather from those two coulours in the Rainebow caeruleo et igno blew and red The first cataclysme of water is past the second deluge of fire is to come So saith the Apostle The heauens being on fire shall be dissolued the Elements shall melt with feruent heate Nouam qualitatem induent manente substantia All earthly things shall waxe old and dye Mors etiam saxis nominibusque venit but the substance shall remaine It is but the fashion of this world that passeth away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 figura non natura When all the putrified fâ—ces drossie and combustible matter shall bee refined in the fire all things shall be reduced to a christaline clearenesse Thus though the heathen prophanely made the Phisitian a God yet the Christian may say truely Our God is become our Phisitian And his Ministers are his deputies vnder him bringing in their lips the sauing Medicines that God hath giuen them You see the willing similitude of these professions Indeed the Phisitian cannot so aptly and ably challenge or make bold with the Ministers office as the Minister may with his The Clergie-man may minister medicines the Phisitian may not administer the Sacraments It is true thus farre Euery Christian is a Priest to offer vp prayers for himselfe and the whole Church although not publikely and ministerially and none but a Cain will deny himselfe to be his Brothers keeper Though exhortation be the Ministers dutie yet exhort one another daily And if wee serue one another in loue we must carry euery one a conuerting Ministrie though God alone haue the conuerting power Turne one another and liue Now as this conuerting worke is a conuertible worke I meane reciprocall and mutuall from one to another the Phisitian may apportion to himselfe a great share in it Who may better speake to the soule then hee that is trusted with the body or when can the stampe of grace take so easie impression in mans heart as when the heat of Gods affliction hath melted it What breast is vnvulnerable to the strokes of death The miserable carkase hath then or neuer a penetrable conscience This conscience is so deafed in the dayes of our iollitie with the loud noyse of Musicke Oathes Carowsings Clamours Quarrels Sports that it cannot heare the Prophets cry All flesh is grasse When sicknesse hath throwne him on the bed of anguish and made his stomacke too queasie for quaffes too fine and daintie for euen Iunkets naked him of his silkes paled his cheekes sunke his eyes chilled his blood and stunted all his vigorous spirits the Phisitian is sent for and must scarce be let out when the Minister may not be let in His presence is too dull and full of melancholy no messenger shall come for him till his comming be too late How iustly then should the Phisitian be a Diuine when the Diuine may not be a Phisitian How well may hee mingle Recipâ— and Resipisce penitentiall exhortations with his medicinall applications and praescripts Thus memorable and worthy to be our precedent was that Italian Phisitians course that when dissolâ—te Ludouicus lay desolate in his sicknesse and desired his helpe hee answered him in his owne tune If you shall liue you shall liue though no Phisicke be giuen you If you shall dye you shall dye Phisicke cannot helpe you According to the sicke mans libertine and hereticall opinion concerning Praedestination If I shall be saued I shall be saued howsoeuer I loue or liue If I shall be damned I shall be damned howsoeuer I doe or dye The Phisitians answere gaue him demonstratiue conuiction taught him the vse of meanes as well for his soules as bodyes health and so cured recanting Ludouicus of both his diseases at once A godly practise worthy our Phisitians imitation But with vs Gracâ— waites at the heeles of Nature and they diue so deepe into the secrets of Philosophie that they neuer looke vp to the misteries of Diuinitie As some Mathematicians deale so much in Iacobs Staffe that they forget Iacobs Ladder so some Phisitians God decrease the number are so deepe Naturalists that they are very shallow Christians The best cure depends â—pon Gods care It is poore and eneruate help to which Gods blessing hath not added strength If God doth not heare the heauens for vertue and heauen heare the earth for influence and earth the Phisitian for ingredients all their receits are but deceits and the paper of their Bils will doe as much good as the praescripts in it Simples are but simple things and all compounds idle when they want the best ingredient of Gods blessing Let Plato then hold the candle to Moses and all Phisitians drinke at the well of the sons of the Prophets As their purpose aimeth at our healths so let them intreat God to leuell their hands their direction and successe stands in the name of the Lord of Hostes. The forme of the words is Interrogatorie Is there no Balme at Giliad are there no Phisitians there It is most true Balme is not scarce nor are the Phisitians few yet Israell is sicke God doth conuince that by a question which might be without question affirmed but would not be without question graunted The best insinuation or piercing assertion is ex interrogando by way of question not onely for explication but for application of truth God doth as it were appeale to mans conscience and fetch euidence from the impartiall testimonie of his heart That here what is true in Gods reprehension may appeare true in mans apprehension The first word that euer God spake to man after his fall was a question ADAM vbi es where art thou Hee continues the same formam loquendi normam arguendi forme methode of speech Who told thee that thou was naked Hast thou eaten of the Tree whereof c. And to the woman What is this that thou hast done Before man fell to sinne God fell not to questioning All his speeches were to him either commendatory or commandatory approbationis non exprobationis verba words of approuall not of exception Hee createth ordereth blesseth man and all things to him but when man fell to sliding God fell to chiding Because man turned his heart to another obiect God turned his voyce to another accent Gods questions are not of the
should heare the crackling of his Sauiours bones Digitis tunc obserat aures Nâ— collisa crepent Christi quem conterit ossa So these become voluntarily deafe Adders and will not heare Christ crucified the preaching of the crosse of Christ as Paul calls it which is able to kill our sinnes and quicken our soules I haue read it reported that the Adders in the East and those hote Countries did so subtilly euade the Charmers thus When she heares the Pipe she will couch one eare close to the ground and couer the other with her taile So doe worldlings they fill one eare with earth as much couâ—tous dirt as they can cramme into it the other eare they close vp with their lewd lâ—sts as the Adder with her winding taile that they haue none left for their God for their good And being thus deafe to holy and heauenly incantations they are easily by Sathan oueâ—-reached ouer-rul'd ouer-throwne So vnweldy is Christs yoake to the raging Mule so heauie his burden to the reluctant horse so hard his Law to the carnall Capernaite so sowre his Balme to the wicked palate Though to the godly his yoake is easie and his burden light Woe vnto them for they call sweet sowre Gods Balme distastfull and sowre sweet the worlds Boleno sauoury They are not more propitious to vice then malicious to goodnesse For others they loue a Barrabas better then a Barnabas For themselues euery one had rather be a Diues then a Diuus a rich sinner then a poore Saint No maruell if the blinde man cannot iudge of colours nor the deafe distinguish sounds nor the sicke rellish meates Gods word is sweet how euer they iudge it and their hearts are sowre how euer they will not thinke it My wayes are equall but your wayes are vnequall saith the Lord of hoasts 3. They write of the Balsamum that the manner of getting out the iuyce is by wounding the tree Sanciata arbor praebet opobalsamum Prouided that they cut no further then the â—â—nde for if the wound extends to the body of the tree it bleedes to death I haue read no lesse of Vines that vniustly pruin'd they bleede away their liues with their sappes The issuing Balme is called opobalsamum as some from the Greeke opo which signifies a Denne or rather of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iuyce A trebble lesson here inuites our obseruation 1. The Balsame tree weepes out a kinde of gumme like teares the word of God doth compassionately bemoanâ— our sinnes Christ wept not onely teares for Ierusalem but blood for the world His wounds gush out like fountaines and euery drop is blood Ecce in lachrimis in sanguine locutus est mundo His whole life was a continuall mourning for our sinnes Nunquam ridere dictus flere saepissimè Hee may adiure vs to repentance and obedience by more forcible arguments then euer Dido vsed to Aeneas Ego vos per has lachrymas per hos gemitus per haec vulnera per corpus sanguine mersum I entreate you by teares by groanes by wounds by a body as it were drown'd in it owne blood by all these mercies of Christ whereby wee doe not onely perswade you of our selues but God doth beseech you through vs. If those teares sighes wounds bloud moue not our consciences we haue impenetrable soules If the heart-blood of Christ cannot make thy heart to relent and thy feete to tremble when thy concupiscence sends them on some wicked errand thy hands tongue and all parts and powers of thee to forget their office when thou wouldst sinne obstinately thou art in a desperate case These were the teares of this Balme tree The word doth in many places as it were weepe for our sinnes panting out the grieuance of a compassionate God Why will ye dye oh you house of Israell What Prophet hath written without sorrow One of them Threnos suspirat sighes out a booke of Lamentations which Greg. Nazianzene saith Nunquam à se siccis oculis lectos esse that he could neuer read with dry eyes The other Prophets also like Quailes curas hominum gesserunt tooke on them the burden of many mens sorrowes Cyprian had so compassionate a sympathie of others euill deedes euill sufferings that cum singulis pectus meum copulo cum plangentibus plango saith hee I ioyne my breast with others and challenge a partnership in their griefes A Minister saith Chrysostome debet esse lugens sua et aliena delicta should be still lamenting his owne sinnes and the sinnes of his people Monachus est plangentis officium The office of a Minister is the office of a Mourner All these are but as Canes to deriue to our obseruation the teares of this Balme 2. The way to get out the iuyce of Balme from Gods word is by cutting it skilfull diuision of it which S. Paul calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rightly diuiding the word of truth It is true that Gods word is panis vitae the bread of life but whiles it is in the whole loafe many cannot helpe themselues it is needfull for children to haue it cut to them in pieces Though the Spice vnbroken be sweet and excellent yet doth it then trebble the sauour in delicacie when it is pounded in a Morter All the Balme-tree is medicinall yet the effectuall working is better helped by cutting the stocke by taking out the iuyce and by distributing to euery man a portion according to the proportion of his wants With no lesse heedfulnesse must the word be diuided that some may receiue it gentle and mollifying and others as a sharper ingredient As there is a double composition in men pride and humillitie so there must be a double disposition in preaching the word of meekenesse of terrour Aarons Bells must be wisely rung sometimes the Trebble of Mercie sometimes the Tenour of Iudgement sometimes the Counter-tenour of Reproose and often the Meane of Exhortation There is no lesse discretion required to application then to explication As Phisitians prescribe their Medicines by drammes or ounces according to the Patients strength or weakenesse So Diuines must feed some with milke others with stronger meate The learned should haue deeper points the simple plainer principles How easie is it for many a weake stomach to surfet euen on the food of life though the fault lies not in any superfluitie of the word but in the deficiencie of his vnderstanding The absence of sobrietie in the speaker is more intollerable then in the hearer The people must take such meate as their Cookes dresse to them Let none of Eli's Sonnes slubber vp the Lords Sacrifice or Seruice Let not good Balme be marr'd by a fustie vessell Seasonable discretion must attend vpon sound knowledge Wisedome vvithout Wit is meat without salt Wâ—t without Wâ—sedome is salt without meate Some Wells are so deepe that a man can draw no water out of them these bury their gifts in the graue
as a Hammer to breake the stone in the heart The stone in the reines is dangerous in the bladder painefull but none so deadly as the stone in the heart This Balme supples the stonie heart and turnes it into a heart of flesh 3. They commend their Balme for a speciall ease to the anger of a venomous biting But our Balme is more excellent in aculeum Draconis imò mortis against the sting of that great red Dragon nay of Death it selfe Oh Death where is thy sting Three Serpents giue vs vâ—nomous wounds Sinne first stings vs the Deuill next and Death last This Balme of Christ fetcheth out all their poysons 4. Others say of this Balme that it is the best solution to the obstructions of the Liuer I haue heard the Liuer in the body compared with zeale in the soule The Liuer according to Phisitians is the third principall member wherein rest the animall spirits In the soule two graces precede Zeale Faith and Repentance I say not this in thesi but in hypothesi not simply but in respect and that rather of order then of time For a man is begotten of immortall seed by the Spirit at once Now as the Liuer calefies the stomach like fire vnder the Pot and thence succours digestion so doth zeale heate a mans workes with an holy feruour which are without that a cold sacrifice to God A soule without zeale doth as hardly liue as a body without a Liuer Haly calles the Liuer the Well of Moisture wee may say of zeale it is the very Cisterne whence all other graces as liuing there doe issue forth into our liues The Liuer is called Hepar and Iecur because it draweth iuyce to it selfe turneth it into blood by vaines serueth the body as the water-house doth a Citie by pipes Nay it ministreth a surging heate to the braine to the eyes to the wits saitâ— Isidore The Pagan Nigromancers sacrificed onely Liuers on the alâ—ar of their God Phaebus before his oraculous answeres were giuen In the soule other graces as Faith Hope Charitie Repentance did first rather breede zeale but zeale being once inkindled doth minister nutrimentall heate to all these and is indeede the best sacrifice that wee can offer to God Without zeale all are like the oblation of Caine. Now if any obstructions of sinne seeme to oppresse this Zeale in vs this Balme of Gods word is the onely soueraigne remedy to cleanse it For the zeale is dangerous as the Liuer either by too much heate or too much cold to be distempered To ouerheate the Liuer of zeale many haue found the cause of a perillous surfetin the Conscience whiles like the two Disciples nothing could content them but fire from heauen against sinners If euer Bishop was in the time of Poperie away with the office now If euer Masse was said in Church pull it downe Though some depopulatours haue now done it in extreame coldnesse nay frozen dregges of hart making them either no Churches or polluted ones whiles those which were once Temples for Gods shepherds are now coates for their owne Yet they in vnmeasurable heate wished what these with vnreasonable cold Liuers affected Such miserable theeues haue crucified the Church one by a new religion in will the other by a no religion in deed They would not onely take away the abuse but the thing it selfe not onely the Ceremonie but the substance As the Painter did by the picture of King Henry the eight whom hee had drawne fairely with a Bible in his hand and set it to open view against Queene Mary's comming in triumph through the Citie for which being reproued by a great man that â—aw it and charged to wipe out the booke he to make sure worke wiped out the Bible and the hand too and so in mending the fault hee maymed the picture This is the effect of praeter-naturall heate to make of a remedie a disease Thus whiles they dreame that Babilon stands vpon Ceremonies they offer to race the foundations of Ierusalem it selfe Well this Balme of Gods word if their sicke soules would apply it might coole this vngentle heate of their liuers For it serues not onely to inkindle heate of zâ—ale in the ouer-cold heart but to refrigerate the preposterous feruour in the fiery-hote This is the sauing Balme that scoures away the obstructions in the Liuer and preuents the dropsie For the dropsie is nothing else saith the Philosopher but the errour of the digestiâ—e vertue in the hollownesse of the Liuer Some haue such hollownes in their zeale whiles they prâ—tend holinesse of zeale as was in the yron hornes of that false prophet Zedekiah that for want of applying this Balme they are sicke of the dropsie of hipocrisie Innumerable are the vses of Balme if wee giue credit to Phisitians vel potum vel inunctum It strengthens the nerues it excites and cherisheth the natiue heate in any part it succoureth the paraliticke and delayeth the fury of convulsions c. And last of all is the most soueragine help either to greene wounds or to inueterate vlcers These all these and more then euer was vntruely fained or truely performed by the Balsame to the body is spiritually fulfilled in this happy heauenly and true intrinsique Balme Gods word It heales the sores of the conscience which either originall or actuall sinne haue made in it It keepes the greene wound which sorrow for sinne cuts in the hart from ranckling the soule to death This is that Balsame tree that hath fructum vberrimum vsum saluberrimum plenteous fruit profitable vse and is in a word both a preseruatiue against and a restoratiue from all dangers to a beleeuing Christian. It is not onely Phisicke but health it selfe and hath more vertue sauing vertue validitie of sauing vertue then the tongues of men and Angels can euer sufficiently describe You haue heere the similitudes Heare one or two discrepancies of this naturall and supernatural Balmes For as no Metaphore should of necessitie runne like a Coach on foure wheeles when to goe like a man on two sound legges is sufficient so eartâ—ly things compared with heauenly must looke to fall more short then Linus of Hercules the shrub of the Cedar or the lowest Mole-banke of the highest Pyramides 1. This earthly Balme cannot preserue the body of it selfe but by the accession of the spirituall Balme Euen Angels food so called not because they made it but because they ministred it cannot nourish without Gods word of blessing For euery creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be receiued with thanksgiuing for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer If the mercie of God be not on our sustenance we may dye with meate in our mouthes like the Israelites If his prouidentiall goodnesse with-hold the vertue were our garments as costly as the Ephod of Aaron there is no benefit in them When many are sicke they trust to the Phisitians as Asa
then your obedient workes We must free our soules that we haue not administred soothing Sermons least at once wee flatter and further you in your follies You are apt enough to deriue authoritie for your sinnes from our liues and make our patternes patrons of your lewdnesse As I wish that our life were not so bad so withall that you would not out-goe out-doe it in euill You goe dangerously farre whiles you make our weaknesse a warrant to your presumption But if you fasten so wickedly on our vices you shall neuer finde countenance from our voyces Wee condemne our owne ills and you for aduenturing your soules to Satan on so silly aduantage Stand forth and testifie against vs Did we euer spare your vsuries depopulations malice fraudes ebrietie pride swearing contempt of holy things and duties Could any Pharise euer tye our tongues with the strings of Iudas purse and charme our conniuence or silence with giftes Wretched men if there be any such guilty of so palpable adulation qui purpuram magis quà m deum colunt Call them your owne common slaues not Gods seruants that to gaine your least fauours are fauourable to your greatest sinnes and whilst they winne your credites loose your soules We must follow our Master who gaue vs a Commission and giues vs direction to performe it Hee came once with pax vobis peace be vnto you at another time with vae vobis woe be vnto you We must be like him who was that good Samaritane putting into your wounds as well the searching wine of reprehension to eate out the dead flesh as the oyle of consolation to cheare your spirits Sometimes with Ieremies Hammer bruising your strength of wickednesse though here with Ieremies Balme binding vp your broken hearts And for you my Brethren know that the things which cure you doe not euermore please you Loue not your palates aboue your soules Thou lyest sicke of a bodily disease and callest on the Phisitian not for well relished but healthfull Potions thou receiuest them spight of thy abhorring stomach and being cured both thankest and rewardest him Thy soule is sicke God thy bâ—st Phisitian vnsent to sends thee Phisicke perhaps the bitter Pils of affliction or sharpe prescripts of repentance by his word thoâ— loathest the sauour and wilt rather hazard thy soule then offend thy flesh and when thou shouldest thanke grumblest at the Phisitian So farre inferiour is our loue of the soule to that of our bodie that â—or the one wee had rather vndergoe any paynes then death for the other wee rather chuse a wilfull sicknesse then a harsh remedie Giue then your Physitian leaue to fit and apply his medicines and doe not you teach him to teach you Leaue your olde adiuration to your too obsequious Chaplens if there be any such yet remayning Loquimini placentia Prophecie not vnto vs right things speake vnto vs smooth things prophecie deceits Get you out of the way c. Threaten your Priests no longer with suits and quereles and expulsions from their poore Vineyards which you haue erst robbed because they bring you sowre grapes sharpe wine of reproofes Doe not colour all your malice against them with the imputation of ill life to them when you are indeede onely fretted with their iust reprehension of your impieties Barre not the freedome of their tongues by tying them to conditions this you shall say and this not say on paine of my displeasure You may preach against sinnes but not meddle with the Pope or you may inueigh against Rome Idolatrie so you touch not at my Herodias or you may taxe Lust so you let mee alone for Nabaoths Vineyard As if the Gospell might bee preached with your limitations and forsaking the holy Ghost wee must come to fetch direction from your lippes Ionas spared not Great Niniueh nor the great King of Great Niniueh why should we spare your sinnes that would saue your soules You will loue vs the better when you once loue your selues better If any gaine were more valuable then that of godlines or any means more auailable then spirituall Physicke to your saluations we would hearken to it and you He that is wisest hath taught vs it we are rebels if we not obey it Your exulcerated sores cannot bee healed with incarnatiue salues 4. Spirituall Phisitians no lesse then the Secretaries of Nature must haue knowledge and Art Empirickes endanger not more bodies then ideotish Priests soules He that cannot powre healthfull moisture and iuyce of life into the gasping spirit and fill the veines that affliction hath emptied deserues not the name of a spirituall Phisitian Arts haue their vse and humane learning is not to be despised so long as like an obedient Hagar she serues Sara with necessary helpe Onely let the Booke of God stand highest in our estimation as it is in Gods eleuation and let all the sheaues doe homage to it But Empirickes cannot brooke Craterus saith the Prouerbe sottish Enthusiastes condemne all learning all premeditation This is to tye the holy Ghost to a Pen and Inkhorne c. They must runne away with their Sermons as Horses with an emptie Cart. But now he that wil flie into Gods mysteries with such sicke feathers shall be found to flagge low with a broken pineon or soaring too high without sober direction endanger himselfe Barbarisme is grosse in an Orator Ignorance in a Phisitian Dulnesse in an Aduocate rudenesse in a Minister Christ chose Fishermen but made them Fishers of men gaue them a Calling and vertues for it Shall therefore any phantasticall spirit thinke that Christs singular action is our generall patterne As if men were the more faulâ—ie the more fit the more silly the more sufficient Christ so furnished â—is with knowledge and language that the people wondred at their wisedome and knew or rather acknowledged that they had beene with Iesus It is said of Emperickes that they haue but one medicine for all diseases if that cure not they know not how to doe it but the Scribe instructed for Heauen and instructing for Heauen drawes out of his treasure both old and new which he hath carefully laid vp by his former studie high points for forward Schollers easier â—essons for those in a lower forme To children milke such things as may nourish not oppresse aptanon alta to the profound as Demosthenes said he desired to speake non modo scripta sed etiam sculpta matters of weight and diligence The truth is that wee must preach Christ not our selues and regard the peoples benefit more then our owne credite being content to loose our selues to winne others to God And to this purpose is required learning as a Phisitian is not lesse knowing because hee giues an easie and common receite to a certaine Patient but rather out of his iudgement findes that fittest for him It is no small learning to illustrate obscurities to cleare the subtilties of the Schoole to open Gods mysteries to