debt vvherewith he was oppressed slept quietly and tooke his ease desired to buy the pallet that hee lodged vpon his servants marveâ—ling thereat he gaue them this answere that it seemed vnto him some wonderfull bed and worth the buying whereon a man could sleepe that was so deepely indebted Surely if we consider with our selues the duety and debt vve owe to God and man to our country to our family to homeborne to strangers that is both to Israell and to Niniveh and most especially to those of the houshold of faith that as it was the lawe of God before the law that we shoulde eate our bread in the sweat of our face so it is the law of the gospell also that hee that laboureth not should not eate that the blessed sonne of God ate his bread not onely in the sweate but in the bloud of his browes rather he ate not but it was his meate to doe his fathers will and to finish his worke that even in the state of innocency Adam was put into the garden to dresse it that albeit all labourers are not chosen yet none are chosen but labourers that the figge tree was blasted by the breath of Gods owne lippes with an everlasting curse because it bare but leaues and the axe of heavy displeasure is laide vnto the roote of every tree that is barren of good fruites and if it be once dead in naturall vegetation it shall bee twise deade in spirituall malediction and pluckt vp by the roote It would make vs vow vvith our selues I will not suffer mine eie-liddes to slumber nor the temples of my head to take any rest vntill I haue finished that charge vvhereunto I am appointed Iacobs apologie to Laban may be a mirrour to vs all not to neglect our accountes to a higher maister then ever Laban vvas These twentie yeares haue I beene in thy house I was in the daie consumed with heate and with frost in the night and the sleepe departed from mine eies So industrious vvas Iacob to discharge the dueties of his place and carefull to make his reckoning straight vvith his maister vpon the earth But I speake of an heavier reckoning to an heavier Lord that will aske an account of everie idle worde much more of an idle habite and therefore let them foresee that heate and that frost to come those restlesse eies the hire of their forepassed drowsinesse for daies for nightes for everlasting generations that are ever framing an excuse It is either hotte or cold that I cannot worke there is a Lyon in the streete or a Beare in the way that I dare not goe forth that being called to an office and having their taskes laide forth vnto them say not vvith Samuell at the call of the Lorde Speake Lord thy servant heareth but in a stubborne and perverse veine speake and command Lord and appoint my order wherein I shall vvalke but I neither heare thy voice neither shall my heart goe after thy commaundements I passed by the field of the sloathfull saith Salomon and by the vineyard of the man destitute of vnderstanding and loe it was all growen over with thornes and nettles had covered the face thereof Peruse the rest of that scripture The wise king behelde and considered it well and received instruction by it that a litle sleepe brought a greate deale of poverty and a little slumber a greate deale of necessity And surely as the field of the slouthfull is covered with nettles and thornes so shall his body be overgrowen vvith infirmities his minde vvith vices his conscience shall want a good testimony to it selfe and his soule shal be empty of that hope hereafter which might haue reioiced it I ende this point Ionas his arise and go to Niniveh giueth a warning to vs all for wee haue all a Niniveh to go vnto Magistrates arise and go to the gate to execute Gods iudgementes Ministers arise and go to the gospel to do the workes of Evangelists people arise and go to your trades to eate the labours of your handes eye to thy seeing foote to thy walking Peter to thy nettes Paul to thy tents Marchant to thy shipping Smith to thy anvile Potter to thy wheele vvomen to your whernes and spindles let not your candle go out that your workes may praise you in the gates Your vocations of life are Gods sanctions he ordeined them to mankinde he blesseth them presently at his audite hee will crowne them if when he calleth for an account of your forepassed stewardships you be able to say in the vprightnes of your soule I haue runne my race and as the maister of the house assigned me so by his grace and assistance I haue fulfilled my office But why to Niniveh Niniveh of the Gentiles vncircumcised Niniveh Niniveh of the Assyrians imperious insolent intolerable Niniveh Niniveh swollen with pride and her eies standing out of her heade with fatnesse Niniveh setled vpon her lees not lesse then a thousand three hundred yeares Niniveh infamous for idolatrie with Nisroch her abhomination Niniveh with idlenes so vnnaturallie effeminated and her iointes dissolued vnder Sardanapalus as some conceiue their 38. Monarch who sate and spanne amongst women that as it was the wonder and by-word of the earth so the heavens aboue could not but abhorre it Foure reasons are alleadged why Ionas was sent to Niniveh First God will not smite a citye or towne without warning according to the rule of his owne lawe that no city bee destroyed before peace hath beene offered vnto it The woman of Abell in her wisedome obiected this law vnto Ioab when he had cast vp a mounte against Abel where shee dwelt They spake in olde time and said They should aske of Abell and thus haue they continued that is first they should call a parle and open their griefes before they vsed hostility against it The sword of the Lord assuredly is ever drawne and burnished his bow bent his arrowes prepared his instrumentes of death made ready his cuppe mingled yet hee seldome powreth dovvne his plagues but there is a showre of mercie before them to make his people take heede Pax domui huic peace be vnto this house was sounded to everie doore vvhere the Apostles entered but if that house vvere not vvorthy of peace and benediction it returned backe vnto them Vertues were vvroughte in Chorazin and Bethsaida before the vvoe tooke holde vpon them Noah vvas sent to the olde world Lot to Sodom Moses and Aaron to the Aegyptians Prophets from time to time to the children of Israell Iohn Baptist and Christ and the Apostles togither vvith signes in the host of heauen tokens in the elementes to Ierusalem before it was destroied Chrysostome vpon the first to Timothie giueth the reason hereof that God by threatning plagues sheweth vs howe to avoide plagues and feareth vs with hell before hande that we may learne to eschew it And it was his
of iudgemente But order is taken against such offenders that because they feare not death they should feare somethinge after death So saide the Poet who saw no further into these things than the glasse of nature gaue him light They that haue wrought themselues a causeles death And hating light aboue throwne out their breath How would they ioy to be aliue againe Though put to penury and bitter'st paine And mee thinketh the reason of that law to debarre them from honest buriall can never be disproved Qui sibijpsi non parcit quomodo parcet alijs Hee that spareth not his owne person hâ—vve will hee spare other men There is but one example in the whole booke of God wherein there is any colour of patronage for this prodigious and treacherour sinne against their owne bodies The example of Sampson burying himselfe and the Philistines vvith the fall of an house vvhich is not otherwise excused by â—â—â—ustine but that a secret spirit vvilled him so to doe For it appeareth in the booke of Iudges where the history is written that his strength vvas renewed and hee called vpon the Lorde at the instante of his death And in the eleventh to the Hebrewes hee is well reported of in that cloude of righteous men by the spirite of God I haue helde you longe in disputing this question vvhich manye a one hath disputed to himselfe vvithout replie vvhen the malignaunt spirite hath once but vvhispered it into his cares easilie drawne to make a conclusion againste bodye and soule vvithout longer deliberation Such haue beene the direfull tragoedies which ofte haue beene presented vpon the face of the â—arth carrying alwaies a note of a most distrustfull minde either suspecting it selfe that it is vnable to beare the burthens of calamitye imminent or hating and abhorring it selfe for some iniquity committed Now what shall wee thinke the affection of Ionas was in this case giving and not lesse then thrusting vpon them full power of his person Take mee and cast mee into the sea Iudas we knowe vpon the stinge of his guilty conscience hunge himselfe vpon an alder-tree and burst in the middest Achitophell did the like because his counselles were defeated Saul fell vpon his sworde that hee might not come into the handes of the Philistines Domitius Nero fearing the approch of Galba and hearing that a sentence of the Senate was passed against him to stande in the pillorie and to be beaten with roddes to death for his outragious both tyrannies and impurities of life finding no man to strike him and exclaming against them all vvhat haue I neither friende nor foe I haue lived dishonourably let mee dye shamefullye strake himselfe through with his owne sworde his trembling hand directed thereunto by a beastlye Eunuch Others through other impatience angry with heauen and earth GOD and man haue desperately departed with Aiax in the tragoedie It doeth mee good to haue vanquished heaven the GODS the lightening the sea all oppositions Thus in effecte did Cato triumph Nihil egistâ— fortuna fortune thou haste not sped Thus mighte Ionas cast with himselfe Is there a God in heaven windes in the aire and waues in the sea that crosse my intent I wil haue my will though I die for it Sic sic iuvat ire sub vmbras So even so it easeth my stomacke to take my leaue of this life But never shall it enter into my heart thus to conceiue of a righteous and repentaunt prophet who ratâ—â—â—â—umbleth his soule vnder the handes of GOD framinge these of the like perswasions to himselfe I see the purpose of the most High cannot bee chaunged I kicke against the prickes heauen hath proclaimed mee a traitour the windes and the seas haue hearde it and whiles there is breath in the one and water in the other I shall not goe vnpunished the worde of the Lorde is good that hee hath spoken the wisedome of the Lorde is vviser than the foolishnesse of men and the strength of the Lord stronger than the weakenesse of man the Lorde doe that that is good in his sight Cast mee therefore into the sea throw mee into the mouth of iustice let the hunger and thirst of it bee satisfied for I haue deserved no lesse Surelye there is not a vvoorde in this vvhole speech but full of vertuous charitable and mysticall obedience Wee are nowe come to the ende of his resolution VVherein wee haue two thinges to beare away first his charity to his companions vvherewith hee tendered the safegarde of their liues secondly the figure hee bare For hee vvas a type of that vndefiled Lambe by whome the nations of the worlde shoulde be redeemed His charity appeareth in plaine tearmes that the sea may bee calme vnto you It is no pleasure vnto him to haue the liues of others brought in question for his sake hee is not of the nature of some men neither profitable in their life time and at their deathes of most vngratious desolatory hatefull affections who make it their ease and comforte in some sorte to haue their miseries accompanied and so they bee not alone in destruction they are lesse grieved The Poets expresse the vncompassionate style of these Catilinarie dispositions When I am deade saieth one of them let the earth bee mixed with fire Medaea cryeth in the tragoedy It were the onely felicitie to see all thinges ruinated when I goe my selfe Domitius Nero of whome I spake before caused Rome to bee fired in twelue places togitheir that hee mighte see a patterne howe Troye burnte himselfe the meane while singing verses out of Homer VVhat were their prizes and combates in the theatre of Rome but the slaughteringes of men to mooue pleasure and delight When the people desired Theodosius the Emperour to graunt them those sportes hee aunswered them A milde prince must temper himselfe both from cruell governemente and from cruell spectacles The same matter falling into debate at Athens Demonax gaue iudgemente that if they vvill publickely receaue so greate atrociâ—ye and cruelty amongest them they should first overthrowe the altar of mercy His meaning was that mercy hath no place vvhere there is admission of such heathenish cruelties Cyprian in his seconde booke of Epistles making mention of this custome sheweth their manner thereof that their bodyes were fedde before hande and dieted with stronge meates to fill them with iuice and bloude that beeing fatted to punishment they mighte dye vvith more coste it may bee glorie but with lesse contentation Hee much inveigheth against it that man shoulde bee killed to delighte man and that an arte science or skill thereof shoulde bee practised not onelye vvickednesse vvroughte but taughte by precept They had a custome besides to enter combate vvith wilde beastes men of a sound age lustie able vvell-favoured persons vvell apparelled wente to a voluntary death and fought with the beastes not for any offence committed but in a mad moode And as the actours
the angels of GOD. I woulde spend it wholy in the commendation of this graue and serious sentence VVherefore shoulde I feare in the evill dayes when iniquirie shall compasse mee aboute as at mine heeles vvhen it shall presse and vrge me so closely with the iudgementes of God that I am alwaies in daunger to be supplanted nowe vvhat are the pillers of this heavenly security can riches or wisedome or houses and landes after our names or honour sustaine vs these are but rotten foundations to builde eternity vpon But GOD shall deliver my soule from the power of the grave for hee will receive mee I drawe to an ende GOD is faithfull that hath promised heaven and earth shall passe avvay but not a iote of his blessed worde As the hilles vvere about Ierusalem and as these floudes vvere aboute Ionas so is the LORDE aboute all those that feare him Hee hath made a decree in heaven it belongeth to the nevve testamente confirmed by the death of the testatour witnessed by three in heaven and as many in earth and never shall it be altered That at what time soever a sinner whatsoever shall repent him of his wickednes whatsoever from the bottome of his hearte the Lorde will forgive and forget it O heaven before heaven And the contrarye perswasions hell before hell damnation before the time I say againe if hee repent of his wickednesse it is not the misery of this wretched life nor terrour of conscience nor malice of foes let them bee men or devilles let them bee seven in one a legion in another all the principalities and powers of darkenesse in the thirde that shall hinder forgivenesse Beholde the lambe of GOD you that are lions in your house as the proverbe speaketh worst towardes your selves you that are ready to teare and devoure your owne soules with griefe and feare of hearte beholde the Lambe of GOD that taketh avvy the sinnes of the worlde Hath his death put sense into rockes and stones and can it not perswade you shall that bloud of the lambe cleanse you from your guiltinesse and will you in a madde and impatient moode throwe your bloud into the aire with Iulian or spill it vpon the grounde with Saul or sacrifice it vpon an alder with Iudas and not vse the medicine that shoulde ease their maladies shall hee open heaven and will you shutte it hee naile the writings to his crosse and you renue them hee pull you from the fire and you runne into it againe Is this his thankes this the recompence of his labours this the wages yee give him for bearing the heate and burthen of the day in your persons this the harvest for the seede hee sowed in teares this the wine hee shall drinke for treading the wine-presse in steede of a cuppe of salvation which you ought to take in your handes and call vpon the name of the LORD that is as he hath drunke vnto you in a bitter cuppe of passion so you shoulde pledge him in a plesant draught of thanksgiving will you take a cup of death and desperation blaspheme his name evacuate his crosse treade the bloude of his testament vnder you â—eete and die past hope God forbid and the earnest praiers and sobbes of your owne soules hartely forbidde it Ianuas aeternae foelicitatis desparatio claudit spes aperit Desperation shutteth vp hope openeth the dores of eternall felicitie And therefore hee that hath least and nothing at all to hope yet let him despaire of nothing it was the advise of an heathen let it bee the practise of a Christian. Let him hope against hope though the basenesse of his condition horrour of sinne weight of tribulation envy of Sathan rigour of the lawe iustice of the vpright iudge seeme to overthwarte him THE XXVII LECTVRE Chap. 2. ver 5.6 The waters compassed mee about vnto the soule c. Yet hast thou brought vp my life from the pit O Lord my God IN the third and fourth verses before I haÌ„dled first the daunger or feare of Ionas illustrated 1. from the person that cast him into it 2. from the place with the accessaries thereunto the depth the heart the multitude of seas 3. from the passions of the sea which vvere either floudes compassing him about or waves overwhelming him those waves in nature surges touching the author Gods surges touching the number all his surges 4. from the infirmity of his owne conscience wherein 1. advisedly he pronounceth and saith 2. that as an vnprofitable thing he is cast out 3. from the sight that is the favour and grace of his mercifull Lorde Secondlye I added thereunto his hope and confidence as a peece of sweete woode cast into the waters of Marah to take away their bitternesse so this to rellish and sweeten his soule againe and to make some amendes for all his former discouragementes In these two contrary affections feare and hope I tolde you the vvhole songe vvas consumed to the ende of the seventh verse First you shall heare his daunger displaied in sundry and forcible members for his wordes swamme not in his lippes but were drawne from the deepe well of a troubled conscience and then at the end some sentence of comfort added as a counter-verse to alay the rigour of the other partes and to vpholde his fainting soule This was the order that David tooke with his soule in the 42. and 43. Psalmes Why art thou cast downe O my soule Hope in the Lorde for I will yet giue him thankes for the helpe of his presence Likewise in the 80. Psalme Turne vs againe O God of hostes cause thy face to shine and wee shall bee safe They come 〈◊〉 seemeth as so many breathings to a man wearied with a tedious race or rather as so many lines and recollections of spirites after swoonings Now vnlesse I will leaue my texte as Ionas left the way to Niniveh which God had apointed him to walke in I must againe entertaine your eares with the same discourse which before I helde I hope without offence to any man For the hearing of these admirable wordes and workes of God is not or should not be as the drinking of wine wherin they say the first draught is of necessity the second for pleasure the third for sleepe so ever more worse but here it is true which the son of Syrach wrot of wisedome for this is the pure and holy wisedome They that eate her shal haue the more hunger and they that drinke her shall thirst the more The eie is not satisfied with seeing nor the eare with hearing such things And albeit it bee a faulte in musicke evermore to strike vppon the same string yet Ionas I doubt not shall easily bee excused and finde favour in your eares in handling this song of his though he bring nothing for a time but the repetition of the same matters For first hee gaue you the ground and plain-song which I called the proposition in the second
the blessed Virgin from sinne maketh a double kinde of dubitation one of infidelity another of admiration and discussion hovv can this thing be for it is not doubted by any man but the Virgin there doubted and Augustine so expoundeth the svvorde that shoulde pearse through her soule Luke the seconde so may I vvith better reason make a double kinde of infidelity one of abnegation deniall renouncement the other of wrastling combate contention which hath not yet subdued the adversarie force nor gotten the vpper hande I never knew the soule of any man no not of the sonne of man or rather of rhe sonne of woman though anointed with the oile of gladnesse and spirituall comforte aboue all his fellowes I never knew the soule so happily garded with the strength and munition of God that it coulde escape these fightes and terrours of conscience whereof I speake Looke vpon Abraham the father of the faithfull distrusting the providence of God as vnable to defend him his wife from Pharaoh and Abimelech vnlesse he committed an vntruth vpon Moses when hee was called from Egypt Gedeon when the Angell appeared vnto him at the threshing floore Samuell when he was willed to anoint David and he feared the malice of Saul Elias when he hid himselfe and needes would haue died in haste because of the theatnings of Iezabell vpon Mary and Zachary who asked as doubtfull a question as the Ninivites here did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vpon all the Apostles of Christ whom hee often vpbraied with little faith and no faith and Christ the head of his Apostles whē he died vpon the crosse with such passionate outcrying as if all the mercies of God had died with him And this is the lot of all the members of Christ thus they totter and and reele in their soules though the foundation of the Lord standeth sure and hath this seale vpon it the Lorde knoweth who are his I will more say they are the happiest soules and dearest vnto God that are so tried they are as the best gold which hath beene purified in the fire seven times and the LORDE will heape comfortes and ioies seven-folde into their bosomes The certainety of election and grace and our speciall assurance of the mercy of God is mightily oppugned by the adversaries I vvill say for this time no more than what note Catharinus gaue of the decree made against it by the last Councell of Trent hee was Archbishop of Minoria inwarde with the Popes of Rome and himselfe in person present at that Councell Besides his owne private opinion declared at large against Dominicus of Soto confessour to Charles the fifte that a man may bee certaine of his salvation by that assurance which although it be not equall to to the catholique faith yet it is true faith and that by the common lawe namely by that testimony vvhich the spirite giveth vnto our spirites that wee are the sonnes of GOD hee further telleth vs that both the Presidentes of that Synode one of them afterwarde Iulius the thirde did protest that the question did not seeme vnto them sufficiently discussed to decide any thing and that the Synode it selfe twise declared that the definition thereof vvas to bee omitted and put of to another time lastlie that the title thereof did abundantly manifest asmuch the tenour wherof was against the vaine confidence of heritiques not against the certainty of salvation in sounde and sober beleevers Vaine confidence of heretiques Vaine without probability And in heretiques not holdinge the trueth of doctrine Who ever allowed it But is it vaine confidence which is grounded vpon the promises of God watered by the bloud of Christ sealed by sacramentes testified by the spirit and assertained by the fruites of charity and obedience that vaine confidence where and in whome soever we finde we call by no milder names than the Rhemist commenters doe damnable false illusion vnhappy security presumption faithlesse perswasion and not the faith of Apostles but the faith of devilles Against such wee shut vp the bowelles of charitye the bosome of the church the cōmunion of her treasure and dowry which are the merites of Christ and as far forth as the keyes are committed vnto vs the gates of everlasting life Against such wee say not with the Psalme Reioyce and tremble but tremble without reioycing nor with the Apostle 2. Philip. Worke out your salvation with feare trembling but tremble and feare without any hope of salvation We vse nothinge but fretters and corrosives against such to make them smart be not high minded but feare and hee that seemeth to stande in his owne conceipt let him take heede that hee fall not Wee will sooner cast pearles to swine and bread to whelpes than salvation to such men who howsoever they live having no testimony of a good conscience vaunting of hope without the love of God despighting the good spirit of grace treading the bloud of the new testament vnder their feete turning grace into wantonnes and vsing the liberty of the gospell for a cloke of maliciousnesse yet say they are sure to bee saved by the mercy of God Thus far wee both agree but from the assurance of salvation wisely and substantially held neither the learning of our adversaries nor the cunning of devilles shall ever bee able to drawe vs. Wee will saye with Antonius Marinarius in the Counsell before alleadged If heaven fall if the earth vanishe avvay if the whole worlde runne headlonge I vvill looke to the goodnesse of God and stande vpright and if an Angell from heaven shall labour to perswade mee otherwise I will say Anathema vnto him O happy confidence of a christian heart If an honest vertuous man saith Cyprian should promise thee any thing thou wouldest give credit vnto him now when God speaketh with thee promiseth thee immortality doest thou waver in thy mind 〈◊〉 thou so faithles to distrust him this is not to know God at all this is to offend Christ the maister of beleevers with the sinne of vnbeleefe This is to be plāted in the church that is in the house of faith without faith Steuen saw the heavens open vnto him cōmended his spirit vnto God though as his body was overwhelmed with stones so were his eares with contumelies as many stones of temptation were cast by the devill against his conscience For where shoulde the weake haue safty and security but in the wounds of their saviour the mightier he is to saue me the more carelesse I dwell there the worlde rageth the bodye overbeareth the devell lyeth in waite yet I fall not because I am founded vpon a sure rocke I haue sinned a huge sinnne my conscience is troubled but it shall not bee dismaide for I vvill remember the vvoundes of the Lorde VVhat is so deadlye thae may not bee cured by the death of Christ therefore if I call but to minde hovve soveraigne and effectuall a medicine his
yet be more vile and low in our owne eies and rather than these names shall die and be out of vse we will weare them vpon our garments and if you were sparing to yeeld them vnto vs we would desire you for Christes sake and as you tender our credite not to tearme vs otherwise The Iewes who thought they mocked Christ vvhen they bowed their knees and cried Haile king of the Iewes they knew not vvhat they did they did him an honour and favour against their willes for he was king of the Iewes and of the Gentiles also whatsoever their meaning is who thinke to nicke-name vs by obiecting these names which we will leaue to the censuring of the righteous Iudge in heaven vve embrace them honour them and heartily thanke God for them and desire that they may be read and published in the eares of the world as the most glorious titles of our commission The Angelles of God are ministring spirites and sent forth to minister for the elects sake Christ Iesus himselfe came to minister not to bee ministred vnto We will therefore say as the Apostle said 2. Cor. 11. Ministri sunt plus ego Are Christ and his Angels and all the Apostles of Christ ministers we speake like fooles in the deeming of the world we also will be ministers of the gospell and if it were possible we would bee more than ministers O honourable ministerie what government rule and dominion is it not superiour vnto I conclude with the same Apostle though I shoulde boast somevvhat more of our authoritie vvhich is given vnto vs for edification and not for destruction I shoulde haue no shame By this discourse it may appeare vnto you if this were a motiue in the minde of Ionas as some both Iewes and Christians conceiue how grievous it seemed vnto him to be held in iealousie for deceipt in his calling that any in the world should be able iustly to taxe him for a false prophet and one that prophecied lies in the name of GOD. Notwithstanding the matter is quickely aunswered For whatsoever the event had beene the voice of the Lorde was in reason to haue beene obeyed 1. It was no new thing to be so accompted of it was the portion of Moses and Samuell and Elias before him and thence-forth as many as ever spake vnto the daies of Iohn Baptist which came with the spirit of Elias they haue drunke of the same cuppe and not onely the servauntes but the sonne and heire hath beene dealt with in like manner A Prophet is not without honour saue in his owne countrey Ionas might haue said to himselfe as Elias in another case I am no better than my fathers Thus were we borne and ordained to approoue our selues in all kinde of patience by honour and dishonour by good reporte and evill reporte as deceavers and yet beholde vvee are true and deceiue not The world was never more fortunate for prophets than thus to reward them flatterers may breake the heades of men with their smooth oiles but the woundes that prophets giue haue never escaped the hardest iudgements 2. Why should Ionas feare the opinion of men his duty being done the very conscience of his fact simply and truely performed would haue beene a towre of defence and a castle vnto him It is a verie small thinge for me to be iudged of you or of mans iudgemente for I knowe nothinge by my selfe c. Hee doth not say It is nothing vnto mee but it is a very small thing I esteeme my name somevvhat but I stande more vpon my conscience This is our reioycing the testimony of our conscience that in simplicitie and puritie vvee haue beene conversant in the vvorlde VVhen the princes had given sentence vpon Ieremy this man is vvorthie to die hee aunswered them the Lorde hath sent mee to prophecy against this house therefore amende your vvaies that the Lorde may repente him of the plague vvhich hee hath pronounced against you as for mee beholde I am in your handes doe vvith mee as you please but knovve yee for certainty that if you put mee to death you shall bring innocent bloude vpon your selues for of a trueth the Lorde hath sent mee vnto you to speake all these wordes in your eares This is the brasen wall the soundnes of the cause and the assurance of the conscience which all the malignant tongues cannot pearse through Let the worlde be offended with vs in these latest and sinnefullest times because the tenour of our message is either to sharpe or to sweete to hote or to colde for it can hardelie bee such as may please this way-warde wotld let Satan accuse vs before God and man daie and night yet if wee can say for our selues as the Apostle did Rom. 9. Wee speake the trueth in Christ wee lie not our consciences bearing vs witnes in the holy Ghost who is not onlye the witnesse but the guide and inspirer of our consciences it is a greater recompence than if al the kingdomes of the earth were given vnto vs. 3. He coulde not bee ignoraunt that the truth of God mighte stande though the event followed not because many of the iudgementes of God as I haue else-where said are denoūced with condition In the place of Ieremy before mentioned when the priestes and people so greedily thirsted after his death some of the elders stoode vp and spake to the assembly in this sort Micah the Morashite prophecied in the daies of Hezekiah king of Iuda saying thus saith the Lord of hostes Sion shal bee ploughed like a fielde c. Did Hezekiah put him to death did hee not rather feare the Lorde and prayed before the Lorde and the Lorde repented him of the plague thus vvee mighte procure greate evill against our selues You know the collection those elders make that the iudgement vvas conditional and vpon their vnfeigned repentaunce mighte bee otherwise interpreted Thus much Ionas vvas not to learne for why did he knovv that God vvas a mercifull God but to shew the effects of mercy and the Ninivites themselues had an happye presumption thereof as appeareth by their former speech 4. He was not to stay longe in Assyria if hee had suspected their suspicions Lastly there was no such thinge to bee feared for by that publique acte of conversion which all the orders and states of the citty agreed vpon it is manifest that they received the preaching of Ionas as the oracle of almightie God they beleeved God and his Prophet as the children of Israell 1. Sam. 12. feared the Lorde and Samuell exceedinglie For what greater argument touching their good and reverente opinion of Ionas coulde they giue than their speedy and hearty repentance whereby they assured him that they esteemed not his vvorde as a fable or as a iestinge songe but as a man sent from God and fallen downe from heaven bringing a two edged sworde in his lippes either to kill or to saue so they received him And
than life Deus mitte mihi mortem accelera dies meos O LORDE send death vnto mee shorten my daies And sometimes sicknesse commeth indeede but then there is coursinge to and fro Phisitians are brought mony and giftes are promised and death it selfe perhappes speaketh vnto them Ecce adsum beholde here am I Thou calledst for mee thou desiredest the LORDE not longe since to sende mee VVherefore doest thou flye mee now I haue founde thee a deceaver and a lover of this vvretched life notvvithstandinge thy shew to the contrary It is the vse of vs all with the like forme of petitioÌ„ rather oâ— banning and imprecation to wish for death yea strange and accursed kindes of death wherein God sheweth a iudgement Let mee sinke as I stande let the earth open vnto mee let mee never speake worde more And every crosse and vexation of life make it irkesome and vnsavoury vnto vs vvoulde God I vvere dead If God shoulde then answere vs Ex â—re tuo out of your owne mouthes I graunte your requestes Be it vnto you according to your wordes howe miserable and desperate were our case But as olde Chremes in the Comedy tolde Clitipho his sonne a younge man and without discretion vvho because hee coulde not wringe from his father tenne poundes to bestowe vpon Bacchis his lover had none other speach in his mouth but Emâ—ricupio I desire to die First knovve I praie thee vvhat it is to liue vvhen thou haste learned that then if thy life displease thee vse these vvordes so first knowe my brethren you that are so hastye to pronounce the sentence of death against your selues vvhat belongeth to the life of a Christian vvhy it vvas given you by the LORDE of life to vvhat endes hee hath made you living soules what duties and offices hee requireth at your handes these thinges rightlye weighed if you thinke good call for death for by that time I thinke you vvill learne more vvisedome than to doe it It is good for you to see to the vvhole course and transaction of your liues they shoulde bee prelusions and preparations for a better life to come Beginne not then to liue vvhen you must giue over vvhich is the follie of most men or rather take heede that you giue not over life before you haue begunne it As one haire shall not fall from your heades vvithout GODS providence so nor the least haire and minute of time from your yeares vvithout his account taken But especially remember your end looke to the fallinge of the tree consider hovv the sunne goeth dovvne vppon you Novve if ever before cast your accountes you builde for heaven now if ever before bring forth your armies you fight for a kingdome Lay not more burthen of sinne vppon your soules at their going forth Let the last of your vvay be rest and the closing vppe of the day a sweete and quiet sleepe vnto you My meaninge is vvish not for death before you bee very ready for it Nay rather desire GOD to spare you a time that you may recover I say not your strength and bodilye abilitie but his favour and grace before hee plucke you away and you bee no more seene It is not comforte enough vnto you to saie Vixi quem dederat cursum natura peregi I haue lived indeede and finished some time vpon the earth vnlesse you can also adde your consciences bearing you vvitnesse and ministring ioy to the end of your daies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the seconde to Timothy and 4. chapter I haue finished my race I haue not onelye broughte it to an end but to a perfection though I haue died soone yet I haue fulfilled much time my life hath beene profitable to my countrye and to the Church of God and nowe I depart in his peace THE XLIIII LECTVRE Chap. 4. ver 4. Then saide the Lord Doest thou well to be angry The first of those 3. parts wherinto this chapter was devided touching the impatience discontentment of Ionas we haue in part discovered out of the former verses reserving a remnant thereof to be handled afterwardes The reprehension of God which was the 2. beginneth at these wordes and is repeated againe in the 9. verse vpon the like occasioÌ„ given by Ionas The mercy of God towardes his prophet manifesteth it selfe in this fatherly obiurgation many waies 1. That the Potter vouchsafeth huÌ„bleth himselfe to dispute with his Clay 2. that he is ready to giue a reason of all his actions as a righteous Lord who doth not enforce any thing by his absolute and meere authority but dealeth reasonably and iustly much more that the Lord speaketh vnto him who spake fretted against the Lorde giveth an accouÌ„t vnto him why he spared Niniveh of whoÌ„ no maÌ„ wisely durst to haue demaÌ„ded what dost thou that hee that dwelleth in light vnapproachable his counsailes are so high in the cloudes as who caÌ„ finde theÌ„ out placeth theÌ„ notwithstanding in the eies of the world to be examined sifted by the reason of man But most of all that he ministreth a word in season vnto Ionas wheÌ„ the streame of his anger was so violent that it bare him into an hearty desire longing after death then that the Lord intercepteth him aunswereth in his course as Elihu answered Iob Beholde I haue waited vpon thy wordes and harkened vnto thy speach whilst thou soughtest out reasons I will now speake in my turne shew thee mine opinion Doest thou well to be angry It is the singular wisedome of God without which pollicy it were hard for any flesh living to be saved that when we are running on in our sinnes wearying our selues in the waies of wickednes amongst other his retentiues stops he hath the hooke of reprehension to thrust into our noses pull vs backe againe Our iniquities would wander with out measure become rottennes in our bones our wounds woulde dwell for ever in our bowels and fester to the day of iudgement with out this medicine So wisedome began her lore Pro. 1. O yee foolish how long will ye loue foolishnes the scorner take pleasure in scorning the fooles hate knowledge She giveth vs our right names according to our corrupt natures for wisdome is able to iudge of fooles knoweth that without her instructioÌ„ we are wedded to our follies therefore she addeth turne ye at my correction loe I will powre out my minde vnto you make you vnderstand my words ClemeÌ„s Alexandrinus compareth our Saviour to an expert Musitian such as Terpander or Capito never were for hee singeth new songs hath sundry kindes of moodes and varieties to worke the salvation of man Sometimes he hath spoken by a burning bush vnto him sometimes by a cloude of water sometimes by a piller of fire that is he hath beene light to those that were obedient fire to those that rebelled and because flesh is more
immortality of their soules others disputing doubting knowing nothing to purpose til their knowledge commeth to late others obiecting themselues to death rather in a vaineglorious ostentation then vpon sound reason I say compare with them one the other side christian consciences neither loving their liues more than a good cause and yet without good cause not leaving them and aske them what they thinke of this temporall life they will answere both by speech and action that they regard not how long or how short it is but how well conditioned I borrow his words of whome I may say concerning his precepts and iudgements for morall life that he was a Gentile-christian or as Paul to Agrippa almost a christian as in the acting of a comedy it skilleth not what length it had but how well it was plaide Consider their magnanimous but withall wise resolutions such I meane as should turne them to greater advantage Esther knew that her service in hand was honourable before God and man and her hope not vaine therefore maketh her rekoning of the cost before the worke begun If I perish I perish her meaning assuredly was If I perish I perish not though I loose my life yet I shall saue it If there were not hope after death Iob would never haue said lo though he kill me yet will I trust in him And what availeth it him to know that his redeemer lived but that hee consequently knewe the meanes wherby his life should be redeemed If the presence of God did not illighten darknes and his life quicken death it selfe David woulde never haue taken such hart vnto him Though I shoulde walke through the valley of the shadowe of death I woulde feare no evill for thou art with mee and thy rodde and thy staffe comforte mee If his shepheardes staffe had fayled him against the Lyon and the Beare which hee slevve at the sheepe-foulde or his sling against Golias that he had fallen into their handes yet this staffe and strength of the Lord could haue restored his losses The sentence that all these bare in their mouthes and harts and kept as their watch-worde was this Death is mine advantage The Apostle taketh their persons vpon him and speaketh for them all Therefore we faint not because we know that if our outward man perish yet the inward man is renued daily God buildeth as fast as nature and violence can destroy Wee know againe that if our earthly house of this tabernacle bee destroyed wee haue a building given of God that is an house not made with handes but eternall in the heavens Vpon the assurance of this house not made of lime and sande nor yet of flesh and bloude but of glorie and immortalitie hee desireth to bee dissolved and to bee with Christ and by his reioycing that hee hath bee dyeth dayly though not in the passion of his body yet in the forwardnesse and propension of his minde and and he received the sentence of death in himselfe as a man that cast the worst before the iudge pronounced it I may say for conclusion in some sort as Socrates did Non vivit cui nihil est in mente nisi vt vivat He liveth not who mindeth nothing but this life or as the Romane orator well interpreteth it cui nihil est in vitâ iucundius vitâ who holdeth nothing in his life dearer then life it selfe For is this a life where the house is but clay the breath a vapour or smoake the body a body of death our garment corruption the moth and the worme our portion that as the wombe of the earth bred vs so the wombe of the earth must againe receiue vs and as the Lorde of our spirites said vnto vs receiue the breath of life for a time so he will say hereafter returne yee sonnes of Adam and go to destruction By this time you may make the connexion of my text The master of the shippe and his company 1. worshippe and pray vnto false Gods that is builde the house of the spider for their refuge 2. Because they are false they haue them in ielousie and suspicion call vpon thy God 3. because in suspicion they make question of their assistaunce if so bee 4. because question of better thinges to come they are content to holde that which already they haue in possession and therefore say that wee perish not With vs it fareth othervvise Because our faith is stedfast and cannot deceiue vs in the corruption of our bodies vexation of our spirites orbity of our vviues and children casualty of goods wracke of ships and liues wee are not removed from our patience we leaue it to the wisedome of God to amend all our mishappes we conclude with Ioab to Abishai The Lorde doe that which is good in his eies honour and dishonour good reporte and evill reporte in one sense are alike vnto vs and though wee bee vnknowne yet wee are knowne though sorrowing yet wee reioyce though having nothing yet wee possesse all thinges though wee bee chastened yet are we not killed nay though we die yet we liue and are not dead we gather by scattering we win by losing we liue by dying we perish not by that which men call perishing In this heauenly meditation let me leaue you for this time of that blessed inheritance in your fathers house the peny nay the poundes the invaluable weight and masse of golde nay of glory after your labours ended in the vineyard meate drinke at the table of the Lord sight of his excellēt goodnes face to face pleasures at his right hand and fulnes of ioy in his presence for euermore Let vs then say with the Psalmist my soule is a thirst for the living God oh whē shall I come to appeare in the presence of our God For what is a prison to a pallace tents boothes to an abiding citty the region of death to the land of the living the life of men to the life of angels a bodie of humility to a body of glory the valley of teares to that holy and heauenly mounte Sion whereon the lambe standeth gathering his saints about him to the participation of those ioies which himselfe enioieth and by his holy intescession purchaseth for his members THE NINTH LECTVRE Cap. 1. ver 7. And they saide euery one to his fellowe Come and let vs cast lottes c. AS the māner of sick men is in an hote ague or the like disease to pant within themselues and by groning to testifie their pangs to others to throw of their clothes and to tosse from side to side in the bed for mitigation of their paines which whether they doe or do not their sicknes still remaineth till the nature thereof bee more neerely examined and albeit they chaunge their place they change not their weaknes so do these Marriners sicke of the anger of God as the other of a feuer disquieted in al their affectiōs
but woulde haue it doone by the ministerie of the marriners But the oddes is not greate in effecte if you obserue vvhat is mentioned For Ionas setteth on the marriners and not onely counselleth but in a sorte compelleth them to caste him foorth Saul was not deade by the woundes which hee gaue himselfe till an An alekite came and dispatched him yet was Saul an homicide against his owne person and the other that made an ende of him filius mortis the childe of death Surelye GOD hath given a commaundement in expresse tearmes against this horrible practise Non occîdes Thou shalt not kill praesertim quia non addidit Proximum tuum especiallye because he added not Thy neighbour thou maiest the rarher vnderstand thy selfe as in the other commaundement vvhen hee forbâ—d false witnesse hee saide Thou shalt not beare false witnesse against thy neighbour Althoughe if the lawe had spoken more fullye Thou shalt not kill thy neighbour thou haddest not beene freed thereby quomam regulam diligendi proximum à semetipso delector accipit because hee that loveth taketh the rule of loving his neighbour first from himselfe And the conclusion holdeth good Non occîdes non alterum ergo nec te Nec enim qui se occîdit altum quà m hominem occîdit Thou shalt not kill no other man therefore not thy selfe for he that killeth himselfe killeth no other but a man I will require your bloud saith the Lord at the handes of beastes at the handes of man himselfe at the handes of every brother will I require it Will hee require bloud at the handes of beastes in whome there is no vnderstanding and at the handes of every brother which coniunction of brotherhood is the effectuall cause why we should spare one the others life and will hee be slacke to require it at thine owne handes vvho art nearer to thy selfe than thy brother is Tho. Aquinas giveth three reasons to condemne the vnlawfulnes of these bloudy designments 1. They are evill in nature because repugnant to that charity wherewith a man should loue himselfe And death wee all know is an enemy in natuâ—e and life is a blessing of God in the fifth commaundement 2. Each man is a part of the communion and fellowship of mankinde and therfore he doth iniury to the common wealth that taketh away a subiect and member thereof 3. Life is the gift of God and to his onely power subdued who hath saide I kill and I giue life Therefore Ierome writing to Marcell of Blesillaes death in the person of God abandoneth such soules Non recipio tales animas quae me nolente exierunt è corpore I receiue not such soules which against my will haue gone out of their bodies And he calleth the Philosophers that so dyed Martyres stultae philosophiae Martyrs of foolish philosophy There were two vile kindes of deathes wherewith of olde it seemeth they were wont to finish their vnhappy daies Laqueus praecipitium either they hung themselues or brake their neckes from some steepe place Petilian an enemy to the catholicke church had thus reproachfully spoken against the sound belevers The traitour Iudas died by an halter and the halter he bequeathed to such as himselfe was meaning the orthodoxe Christians No saith Augustine this belongeth not to vs for we doe not honour those by the name of Martyres who halter their ovvne neckes Howe much more doe we say against you that the Devill the maister of that traitour woulde haue perswaded Christ to haue fallen dovvne from the pinnacle of the temple and tooke repulse then what are they to be tearmed whome hee hath both counsailed so to doe and prevailed with truely what else but the enemies of Christ the friendes of the Devill the disciples of the seducer fellowe disciples with the traitour for both from one maister haue learned voluntary deathes the one by strangling himselfe the other by falling downe headlong The same father bringeth these murtherers into streightes and holdeth them in so closely on both sides that there is no escapinge from them When thou killest thy selfe either thou killest an innocente whereby thou becommest guiltye of innocente bloud or an offendour which is as vnlawefull to doe because thou art neither thine owne Iudge and thou cuttest of space of repentance Iudas vvhen hee slewe himselfe hee slewe a vvicked man notvvithstanding hee is culpable both for the bloude of Christ and for his owne bloude because though for his wickednesse yet was hee slaine by an other wickednesse Some haue offered themselues vnto these voluntarie deathes to leaue a testimony of courage and vndaunted resolution behinde them of whome Saint Augustine speaketh Perhappes they are to bee admired for stoutnesse of minde but not to bee commended for soundnesse of wisedome Albeit if reason may be iudge wee cannot rightly call it magnanimity for it is a far greater minde which can rather endure than eschew a miserable life I am sure the Patriarchs the Prophets the Apostles never did thus and though they were pâ—nched in their reines and their soules heavy vnto the death as Christes was insomuch that they cried out take my life from mee my soule chooseth to be strangled oh that my spirit were stifled within my bones and wretch that I am who shall deliver me yet they never paide their debte of nature till their creditour called vpon them which time they would never haue staied if in a moment of an houre the service of their owne handes might iustly haue released them Cleombrotus Ambraciote having red Plato his bookes of the immortality of the soule threw himselfe headlong from a wall and brake his necke that he might the sooner attaine to immortality He had another reason than the former It was rather a great then a good act Plato woulde haue done so himselfe or at least haue advised it but that in that learning wherwith hee sawe the immortality of the soule hee also sawe such meanes to attaine it vtterly vnlawfull Some to avoide a mischiefe to come haue fallen into the greatest mischiefe As virgins and honest matrones in a time of warre to avoide the rapes and constuprations of enemies In two wordes doe they consent to that filthines or doe they not consent if they consent not let them liue because they are innocent Non inquinatur corpus nisi de consensu mentis The body is not defiled but when the minde agreeth If they consent yet let them liue too that they may repent it Whether is better adultery to come yet not certaine or a certaine murther presently wrought Is it not better to commit an offence which may be healed by repentaunce than such a sin wherein no place is lefte for contrition O rather let them liue who sinne that they may recover themselues before they goâ— hence and bee no more seene It is a reason sufficient to raze the history of the Machabees out of the canon of the scriptures that the
author therof commendeth the fact of Razis who being beset by Nicanor â—ounde aboute and having no meanes to escape fell on his owne sword and missing his stroke ranne to a wall to breake his necke and yet his life being whole within him ranne through the people and gate to the top of a rocke and when his bloud was spent gushing out from him like a founteine hee tooke out his bowels with both his handes and threw them vpon the people calling vpon the Lord of life and spirit that hee woulde restore them againe vnto him and so he died This the story commendeth for a manfull and valiant act Aquinas thinketh otherwise There are some saith he that haue killed themselues to avoide troubles and vexations of which number was Razis thinking they doe manfully which notwithstanding is not true fortitude but rather a certaine effoâ—minatenesse of minde not able to endure their crosses I will pronounce nothing rashlye The mercy of God may come inter pontem fontem as the proverbe is betweene the bridge and the brooke inter gladium iugulum betweene the sworde and a mans throate and the laste wordes of Razis testifie his petion to the father of life and spirit that his bowelles might be restored him But excepting that conclusion what difference I pray you betweene him and Cato of whome Seneca writeth at large that the last night hee lived hee red Plato his bookes as Cleombrotus did and taking his sworde in his hand said fortune thou hast done nothing in withstanding all my endevours I haue not hitherto fought for mine owne liberty but for the liberty of my countrey neither haue I dealt so vnmoueably to liue free my selfe but that I might liue amongst free men now because the affaires of man-kinde are irrecoverable let Cato bee horne to rest so he stabbed his body and when his wound was bounde vp by the physitians having lesse bloud lesse strength than before yet the same courage and novve not angry againste Caesar alone but against his owne person hee tumbleth his handes in his wound and sendeth not forth by leasure so properly as by violence eiecteth his generous spirit skorning and disdeigning that any higher power should commaunde him Both these you heare betake themselues to a desperate refuge the pointe of the sworde Razis to avoide Nicanor Cato Caesar both alleadge the good of their countrey not their private estates both are impatient of the misery to come the reproach and disgrace that captivity might bring vpon them both misse their fatall strokes both are implacably bent to proceede in their voluntary homicides both tosse and embrue their handes in their owne bowelles and as the one reposeth himselfe vpon Gods goodnesse so the other was not without hope of rest when hee cried Cato deducatur in tutum let Cato goe to a quiet place both are commended for their valiant death But it is certaine that Cato died through impatience of minde Occîdit enim se ne diceretur Caesar me servavit For hee killed himselfe that it might not bee said Caesar hath saved me and Seneca affirmeth as much that it might not bee happy to any other man either to kill or to preserue Cato Valerius Maximus reporteth the wordes of Caesar when hee found him dead Cato I envie thy glory for thou enviedst mine It was a candle before the deade and as messes of meate set vpon a graue but a trueth which an other told him thou shouldest haue red and vnderstoode Plato otherwise If thou haddest well considered what Plato vvrote thou mightest haue founde reasons sufficient to haue staied so vnnaturall a fact 1. that God is angry with such as a Lorde with his bondmen that slay themselues 2. that the relinquisher of his owne life is more to be punished then a reneger of his service in warre And therefore there is no doubt but the fact of Razis also must haue very favourable interpretation if it bee any way excused Albeit Seneca in the place before alleadged commended the dying of Cato in some sorte yet it is not amisse to consider with what golden sentences hee endeth that Epistle It is a ridiculous thing through wearisomenesse of life to runne to death when by the kinde of life thou hast so handled the matter that thou art driven to runne vnto it Againe so greate is the folly or rather the madnesse of men that some for the feare of death are enforced to death Hee addeth singular preceptes A wise and a valiant man must not flie but goe from life and aboue all thinges that affection must bee shunned vvhich hath taken holde vpon many a longing and lustfulnesse of dying Hee vvoulde haue vs prepared both waies neither to loue nor to hate this life too much and some times to finish it when reason calleth vs foorth but not with a fease and impotent forwardnesse His counsell certainelye agreeth vvith divinitie For our Saviour exhorted his disciples If they persecute you in one citie flie into another Notvvithstanding hee had vvarned them vvhosoever will finde his life and not forsake it vvhen the time and cause require him to laye it dovvne that man should lose it Which lawe and precept of Christ by the iudgement of Gregory Nazianzene compelleth no man to offer himselfe vvilfullye to death or to yeelde his throate to him that seeketh it least through a desire vvee haue to please GOD in povvring foorth our bloude vvee either compell our neighbour to breake that commaundement Thou shalt not kill or seeke to purchase and procure our owne deathes but vvhen the time calleth vs to the combate then vvee must cheerefully stande foorth So saieth Ierome vpon these woordes of Ionas Non est nostrûm mortem arripere sed illatam ab alijs libenter excipere It is not for vs to catch after death but when it is offered by others then willingly to receiue it Seneca in his eighth booke of controversies setteth downe a lawe against fellones of themselues and debateth it both waies The lawe is vvhosoever murthereth himselfe let him bee cast forth without buriall The declaration on the one side in defence of the felon is made to say somthing for fashion sake Be angry with the murtherer but pittie him that is murthered I aske not that it may be honour for him thus to die but that no daunger They are as cruell that hinder those that are willing to die as others that kill them when they are willing to liue But on the other parte vvhat vehemency and eagernesse doth hee vse It is a shamefull parte that any handes shoulde bee founde to burie him whome his owne handes haue slaine Hee vvoulde haue attempted any thinge that coulde finde in his hearte to kill himselfe No doubte hee had greate crimes in his conscience that draue him so speedilie to his ende and this amongest the rest is one that vvee cannot proceede against him as against other malefactours by course
for thou must die and not liue though we turne our faces to the wal pray weepe mourne like a doue beg for life as he did yet if the purpose of God be fixed let vs patiently entertaine it Cur quod necesse est non voluntas occupat Prudentius a Christian prudent Poet spake it That that must be shal be blessed be the name of God let vs not refuse it Let a beast be pulled from his den by force but let a Christian be taken froÌ„ his life with patience For it is not inheritance but debt and he that is the Lord of the spirites of all flesh will as gloriously restore as he will certainely require it Ionas is now at length executed if this had beene done before the sea had beene quiet but the Lord loveth to hold suspend an actioÌ„ for he hath many works in one this amongst the rest that maÌ„ may know that howsoever he be favoured by the intercession respite of time and by other helpes he cannot striue with a mightier nor go to law with his maker but his reckonings and accounts must be made when all is done Adam may runne into thickets and spend the time a while and cover himselfe with leaves and thinke to beguile Gods eie but Adam shall be called forth of his bushes stript of his garments as thinne as spiders webbes and cast out of paradise and haue a sentence of death pronounced and performed to vpon him and his whole linage Doth Sisera thinke by running away to runne from the iudgements of the Lord though there be peace betweene Iabin his master and the house of Heber the Kenite yet that peace shal bee turned into warre hee shall come into the tent of Iahell the wife of Heber and finde the hande of the Lorde as ready to encounter him there as if he had fallen vpon the host of Barake a draught of milke which he beggeth for his comfort shal be his last deadliest draught and insteed of rest to the temples of his head a naile shall be driven into his temples to dispatch his life The Iews may say in the Prophet they vvill ride vpon horses they will flie avvaie vpon the swiftest but their persecutours shall bee swifter than they Others may goe to the mountaines and rockes and say they will lie in the closest but mountaines shal be made as valleyes rocks shall yeeld at the pleasure of God as wax before the sun to open and disclose his enimies Ionas shall haue his leaue to run away on foote with Sisera to ride vpon the swiftest with the Iews to ship himselfe in a vessel lie as close in the shrouds therof as the ribbes wil giue him leaue he shal one while sleepe another draw lots a third discourse now be chid theÌ„ examined afterwards consulted with fairelie entreated hee shal see the losse of all their wares thinke his life may be saved by that losse behold millians of waues broken against the side of the ship and hope that millians more shall passe not touch him he shall haue what friendship helpe the whole company of mariners may afford him either by their praiers or by their advise or by the haÌ„dling of their ores yet the end shal be Ionas must be cast forth This is the wages of sin this is the way of all sinfull flesh When we haue stood long and foughte with the dangers of the world both by land sea when thousandes haue falleÌ„ at our right haÌ„d teÌ„ thousands at our left we haue not fallen wheÌ„ we are coÌ„passed with friends so far forth that we may saie with the woman of ShuneÌ„ I neede not speaking for me either to the king or to the captaine of the host I dwell amongst mine owne people where I may coÌ„mand when we haue walked in the light of the sun our prosperity I meane waxen so great that we haue wanted nothing wheÌ„ we thinke that we are in league with death in covenant with the graue and promise our selues that we shal multiplie our dayes as the sandes by the sea side even when we haue sailes and ores at pleasure that vvee may saie with Antiochus I will not saile in the sea with Ionas but I will saile vpon the mountaines and walke vpon the seas as vpon dry lande yet there must bee a time when all these helpes shal bee frustrated and Ionas shal be cast forth Though wee escape the pit vve shal be taken in the snare Ierom. 48. wee shall flie from a Lyon and a beare shall meete vs or leane our hand vpon a wall and a serpent shall bite vs Amos 5. we maie bee delivered in sixe troubles and the seventh shall dispatch vs him that escapeth from the sworde of Hazâ—ell shall Iehuslaie and him that escapeth from the sword of Iehu shall Elisa slaie 1. Kings 19. As one that shooteth at a marke sometimes is gone and sometimes is shorte sometimes lighteth on the right hand sometimes on the left at leÌ„gth hitteth the marke so death shooteth at noble meÌ„ beyoÌ„d vs at meane men short of vs on the right hand at our friends at our enimies on the left at length hitteth our selues the longer her hande is practised the more certaine it is She was aiming at Adam 900. 30. yeares at last smote him at Methusaleh 969. yeares in the end overthrew him now shee striketh within the compasse of threescore yeares or threescore ten or fourescore at the most sometimes at the first stroke euen in the day of our birth Câ—st them out of my sight saith God to his prophets and let them depart some to captivitie some to the sword some to pestilence some to the water as Pharaoh and the Princes of Egypt soÌ„e to the fire as the king of Edom whose bones were burnt to lime soÌ„e to the bowelles â—awes of the earth as the coÌ„gregation of Abirà Haman to the gallous Iesabel to the dogs Herode to wormes the disobedient Prophet to a lion the sons daughters of Iob to the fall of an house the mothers infantes of Ierusalem to a famine some to a plague some to the edge of the sworde some to a sicknes by the hand of God one crieth my head my head as the Sunamites son another my bowels my bowels as Antiochus another my feete my feete as Asa one complaineth of a palsey another of a burning fever a third of an issue of bloud but whatsoever the meanes be the ordinance of God in the end is this Ionas must be cast forth the ship eased the worlde emptied by degrees new generatioÌ„s successiuely take place If this were remeÌ„bred by vs that as Ionas slept in the sids of the ship we in security so we must both sleep in the dust of the earth as the lot fel vpon Ionas in his time so the lot must fal vpon vs in ours
and the like so vvhen the soule is taken from the body either of man or beast there remaineth but a carkas Therefore the Apostle calleth death the dissolution or pulling downe of our earthly house Peter the deposition or laying along of a tabernacle And our saviour bade the Iewes speaking of his bodilie death Destroie this temple and in three daies I vvill reare it vp againe There are many phrases throughout the scripture abroad wherby the terrour of death is lenified and tempered vnto vs and the very nature thereof wholy changed For whereas the nature of death is to kil and to spoile the being of living things by these we may gather that touching the elect death it selfe is slaine and deprived of it owne being God telleth Abraham Gen. 15. that his seed should be a stranger in a land that was not theirs but himselfe shoulde goe to his fathers in peace What is that shall hee travaile againe as hee did to Chanaan or Egypt no but hee shall bee buried in a good age not prevented by vmtimely death nor carried into captivity but laide in the graue amongst his auncient friendes and acquaintance A thing vvhich a man vvoulde desire with much suite if hee were held from it To Moses his servant hee altereth the phrase For Numb 27. hee shall bee gathered to his people as one that were scattered and straied from the rest of the flocke and Deut. 31. he must sleepe vvith his fathers and take a comfortable rest wiâ—h others that haue laboured in their times David beginning as it vvere vvhere Moses leaveth calleth it the rest of the flesh in hope Psalme the sixteenth Esay addeth the place and noteth where that rest shall bee They shall enter into their chambers and shutte the dores vnto them and hide themselues for a time But in the fifty and seventh of his prophecie more perfitely speaking of the deliverance of the righteous they rest in their beddes So first they go to their fathers as men left behinde to the company of strangers after their going they are gathered vnto them that as there vvas but one folde of the living so there may bee but one folde and condition of the deade after their gathering vnto them they sleepe and take their rest the visions of their heades not making them afraide nor breaking their quiet as in their life time not vpon a stone as Iacob did nor in the tent of an enemy as Sisera but in their chambers and vpon their beddes the dores beeing close about them and their bones delivered from former disturbances But all these concerne the bodie alone The sweetest and ioyfullest of them all I meane to the Lordes inheritance is the surrendring of the soule into the LORDES custodie and protection and the resigning vp of the spirit to him that is the LORDE of the spirite of all flesh Numbers the sixteenth So was the praier or rather bequest of David Psalme 31. leaving his crowne to Salomon his body to wormes and rottennesse or to their lodging in darkenesse as Iob called it Lorde into thy handes I lay downe or pavvne my spirite And CHRIST of the seede of David commended his spirite to none other keeper nor in other tearmes And that you may know how vniforme like it selfe the Spirit of God is the blessed Apostle keepeth the same stile 2. Tim. 1. These things I suffer but I am not ashamed for I know whom I haue trusted I am perswaded that he is able to keepe my pledge that I haue coÌ„mitted vnto him against that day To those that must die more surely than they liue for Iosuah calleth it the way custoÌ„e of the whole earth can there be a greater coÌ„fort than this that when the dust shall returne to the earth as it was yet in fulnesse of time to be formed into a new Adam as that first originall dust the spirit returneth to God that gaue it that we may as boldly go to our maker as ever Paul weÌ„t to Carpus at Troas to leaue his cloke bookes parchments in his handes so we to commend the richest iewels we haue vnto his fidelity to say with his holy martyr Lord Iesu receaue our spirtes But to cease from farther discussion of the phrase wee may a little enquire whither it were lawfulll for Ionas to wishe for death Many I graunt oppressed with misery and not able or willing to beare their crosse doe little lesâ—e than call to mountaines and rockes to fall vpon them and to end their wretched daies I am sure they complaine that light shoulde bee giuen vnto those men whome God hath hedged in and they reioyce for gladnes when they can finde the graue For then they say wee shoulde haue lien and beene in quiet vvee shoulde haue slept then and beene at rest As if they had beene borne with any other coÌ„dition theÌ„ to walke a pilgrimage of few evill daies or as if the evill day which the Apostle warneth vs of were not the whole course of our life partely through him who is principally evill breathing out his malice against vs partly through evill men infesting and disturbing our peace but rather through the evill of sinne procuring wrath and the evill of adversity ensuing thervpon In consideration of which troubles of life it was that Simonides being asked as Iacob was by Pharaoh how long he had lived made answere but a little though many yeares For if wee remember how much of our better and vitall life goeth away in agues and feeblenesse and other the like annoiances we may seeme perhappes olde men and are indeede but children It was a worthy aunswere that Artabanus gaue to Xerexes the mighty Emperour of Persia when viewing his huge army of at least a thousand thousand men drinking whole rivers dry as they vvent and commaundinge both hilles and seas to giue vvay vnto them hee vvepte because it came to his minde that vvithin the space of an hundreth yeares not one of that goodlye companye shoulde bee founde aliue I vvoulde that vvere the vvorst saith hee For vvee endure much more sorrowe by retayning life Neither is there any one of these nor of all men living besides so happye vpon the earth that hee doth not once and often cast in his minde how much more pleasure there were in dyinge than in living As our life is replenished with all kinde of misery so death by nature is an enemy to life which both man and beast flye from All thinges desire being And God never created death amongst his good workes It came partlye through the envye of the devill vvho lied vnto man saying yee shall not die partely through the transgression of Adam and partlye through the anger of God rendring the right stipend due to sinne VVherefore hee threatned it as a punishment Genesis the second The day vvherein thou shalt eate of the forbiedden fruite thou shalt dye the death Afterwardes vvhen
the Lawe had beene given Moses in the name of GOD protesteth vnto them by heaven and earth that hee had set before them life and death and wisheth them to choose life that they might liue they and their seede Death is called an enimy in open tearmes 1. Cor. 15 The last enimie that shall bee subdued is death But who loveth an enimy simply and for his owne sake And amongst orher blessings betrothed to the elect of God one is that Death shal be no more Revelation 21. And to reason with Augustine Si nulla esset mortis amaritudo non esset magna matyrum fortitudo If there vvere no bitternesse and discontentment in death the constancy of martyrs were not great Therefore when Elias heard the worde of Iezabell The Gods doe so and much more vnto mee if to morrowe by this time I make not thy life as the life of one of those vvhome thou hast slaine it is saide that he arose and went for his life to Beer-sheba Howe did David pleade for his life Psalm 30. What profit is there in my bloude when I goe downe into the pit shall the dust giue thankes vnto thee or shall it declare thy truth as if hee vvoulde mooue the Lorde for his owne good and glorye sake not to cut him of but aftervvardes vvith respecte to himselfe Staye thine anger a vvhile that I may recover my strength before I goe hence and am no more seene And being assured elswhere of that request graunted him hee sange ioyfullye to his soule vvithin Returne vnto thy rest O my soule the LORDE hath beene mercifull or beneficiall vnto thee Because thou hast delivered my soule from death mine eies from teares and my feete from falling and I shall walke before the Lord in the land of the living I speake not of the moane that Ezechias made howe hee turned his face to the vvaâ— after the Prophet gaue him vvarninge of his death and prayed vnto the Lorde and wept sore and like a crane or a svvallovv so did hee chatter and mourne like a doue and lifting his eyes vp on high said O Lorde it hath oppressed mee comfort mee and after his life was freed from the pit of corruption as it were leapt for ioy the living the living hee shall confesse thee as I doe this day when the beloved and blessed sonne of God hee that had power to lay downe his life and to take it vp againe against that time began to bee verye sad and grievously vexed and in the presence of Peter and the two sonnes of Zebedee let not to disclose his passion My soule is vvonderfullye heavy vnto death And but that the will of his father was in the midst of his bowelles and his obedience stronger than death hee vvould haue begged three times more that the cup might haue passed from his lippes Likewise Ioh. 12. vvhen Andrew and Philip tolde him of certaine Greekes that were desirous to see him hee seeing an image of his death before his eies witnessed vnto them saying Now is my soule troubled And what shall I say father saue mee from this howre and but that an other respect called him backe therefore I came and father glorifie thy name hee would still haue continued in that praier· Quis enim vult mori prorsus nemo ita memo c. For who is willing simply to die surely no man And so vndoubtedly no man that it vvas said to blessed Peter An other shall guide thee and leade thee to the place whither thou wouldest not goe Peter would not vnlesse he were carried But what then was the reason that the Apostle desired to bee dissolved and to be with Christ which hee said was best of all Philip 1. that the Saintes which were racked Heb. 11. cared not to be delivered that they might obtaine a beetter resurrection that Peter and Andrew welcommed their crosses as they were wont their dearest friendes embraced theÌ„ in their armes saluted them with kisses of peace that Ignatius called for fire sworde and the teeth of wilde beasts and other martyrs of Christ went to their deathes with cheerefullnes reioycing and singing and not lesse than ran to the stake as if they had run for a garland Wee may easily answere partly from the former authorities that they might bee with christ and that they might obtaine a better resurrection But the Apostle in excellent tearms decideth the question in the 2. to the Corinthians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 VVee will not be vnclothed and stripte of our liues we take no pleasure or ioy therein but wee woulde bee clothed vppon wee haue no other meanes to get that better clothing than by putting of this or that vpon this that mortality may bee svvâ—llowed vp of life and corruption of incorruption So that their thoughts subsist not in death but haue a further reach because they know it to bee the high way which must bring them to felicitie And it is no small perswasion vnto them when they thinke that by the ending of their liues they make an end of sinning For whilest they are in the flesh they see a law in their members striving against the lawe of their minde and subiecting them to the lawe of sinne Therefore they cry as hee did VVretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death In which postulations not witstandinge they evermore submit themselues to the straigtest and equallest rule of the will of God desiring no otherwise to haue their wishes acomplished than with that safe and wary condition Si dominus volet If the Lorde bee pleased with them And as they regarde their owne good therein so because the bloud of Martyrs is the seede of the Church and that which is fire to their flesh bones is water to the gospell to make it florish a good â—onfession witnessed before the vvicked tyrants of the world doth good service to the truth in this respect also they are not sparing of themselues that Christ may be magnified in their bodies whither it bee by their life or death Now Ionas hath more of all these fore-named endes to alleage for himselfe why hee desireth to die neither the glory of God nor the good of his brethren nor profit of his owne soule but in a peevish and froward moode because his minde is not satisfied and to avoide some little shame or to rid himselfe from the grievances of life which are not reasons sufficient hee will needes die and followe the streame of his foolish appetite with some such like affection as Dido at her departure expresseth Sic sic iuvat ire sub vmbras Thus I am disposed to dye not otherwise But to leaue generalities let vs looke a while into the partes of his wishe 1. It is his greate fault as Ioab offered his trechery to Abner vnder the pretence of a friendly and peaceable parle and Iudas his treason
terrâ Zach. 13. wickednesse out of the land or an vncleane spirit from the earth but a wicked and vncleane spirit from out his owne breast whereby hee was driven to so franticke a passion 5. Hee will also proove which is the reason annexed to the petition that it is better for him to die than to live and he prooveth it by comparing two opposites death and life the horrour of one of which he shoulde rather have commended the svveetenesse and comfort of the other Thales on a time giving forth incredibly and strangely enough that there was no difference betweene life and death one presently closed vpon him Cur ergo non moreris why then diâ—st thou not because saith hee there is no difference Albeit it appeareth sufficiently that hee shâ—wed a difference by refusing it But the paradoxe which Ionas heare alleadgeth addeth much to that of Thales For hee affirmeth in peremptory tearmes havinge them laide before his eies to compare togither and to make his choice Death is better than life Howbeit hee saith not simply it is better to die than to live but better for mee One as wise as ever Ionas was who had beene taken vp into the third heavens seene revelations in this very question betweene life and death gave no other answere or solution vnto it but per hoc verbum Nescio by this word I knowe not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what to choose I knowe not And hee confessed that hee vvas streightened or pinched betweene these two whither it were better for him to abide in the flesh or to be with Christ. No doubt simply to bee with Christ. For that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but onely better but much and very much better but to abide in the flesh was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more needefull and profitable for the Church For wee were not borne to our selves but for the good of our parents countrey kinred and friendes saide Plato and much more for the flocke of Christ which he hath purchased with his bloud whither they bee Iewes or Gentiles weake or stronge Israelites or Ninivites to further their faith and to helpe them to salvation for thus we are debters to all men The speeches of Caesar were wont to be that hee had lived long enough whither hee respected nature or honour Tully aunswered him It may bee for honour and nature longe enough but that vvhich is chiefest of all not for the common wealth Againe I haue heard thee say that thou hast lived longe enough to thy selfe I beleeue it But then I would also heare If thou livedst to thy selfe alone or to thy selfe alone wert borne Wee are all placed and pitched in our stations and haue our watches and services apointed vs. Let vs not offer to depart thence till it bee the pleasure of our God to dismisse vs. Vnlesse wee haue learned that vndutifull lesson which the messenger vsed at the dores of Elizeus 2. of Kinges and the 6. Beholde this evill commeth of the Lorde should I attend on the Lord any longer It is better for mee to die than to liue Say not so for how knowest thou If thou wilt harken to counsaile leaue it to the wisedome of God to iudge what is best for thee for he will not giue that which is most pleasant but most convenient Charior est illis homo quam sibi A man is dearer to God than to himselfe Socrates in Alcibiades woulde not haue any man aske ought at Gods handes in particular but in generality to giue him good thinges Because he knew what was most behoofe-full for each one whereas our selues craue many thinges which not to haue obteined had bene greater ease At length hee concludeth For hee that is vvont to giue good thinges so easily is also able to choose the fittest The promises in the gospell I graunt are verye lardge Whatsoever you shall aske in my name that will I doe Ioh. 14 And Aske and it shall bee given you Math. 7. For every one that asketh receaveth Howe commeth it to passe then that the sonnes of Zebedee aske and receave not Wee woulde that thou shouldest doe for vs that that we desire Marke 10. The reason is given there by our Saviour Nescitis quid petatis You knowe not what you aske This is also the cause that Ionas receaveth not his asking he knoweth not what hee asketh You haue not because you aske not Iam. 4. that is one cause Yea but you aske and haue not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Because you aske amisse both concerning the end to consume it on your lusts and touching the maÌ„ner because without faith and for the matter it it selfe because it is hurtfull vnto you And if you obserue it you shall espie a condition conveyed into the promise of Christ If you being evill giue good thinges to your children how much more shall your father in beaven giue good things to them that aske him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 good thinges not such as may doe you hurt Another evangelist faith for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the holy or good Spirite Which is all in all able ready to rectifie your mindes order your affections set you to craue more holesome and profitable giftes For if vvee aske the contrary except when the Lorde is pleased to lay a curse vpon our praiers though wee call never so loude and impatientlye in his eares Vsque quó domine clamabo non exauâ—ies O Lorde hovve longe shall I cry vnto thee and thou wilt not heare me he answereth at least by his silence and deniall even as long as a man in a burning ague shall say to his Phisitian vsque quó how longe shall I cry for colde water I burne I am vexed I am tormented I am almost out of breath and hee answereth againe Non misereor modo I cannot yet pittye thee Such mercy were cruelty and thine owne will and wishe is daungerously bent against thee This is the cause to conclude that Ionas his suite speedeth not Ionas thinketh it better to die It is onely better in seeming as a distasted palate is soonest pleased with the worst meate God thinketh the contrary Naye Ionas thinketh God knoweth that hee dieth indeede if he die out of charity and that if hee shoulde giue his bodie to the fire or againe to the water or a thousand deathes more without loue it could not profite him Therefore hee is not suffered to dye when he would but by another mercy of God not inferiour to that in his former deliverye is reserved to an other repentance and to more peaceable dayes Saint Augustine vpon the wordes of the Evangelist If thou wilt enter into life keepe the commaundementes where hee proveth that there is no true life but that which is blessed nor blessed but that which is eternall noteth the manner of men to be in their miseries to call for death rather
Rhodes in the armes of his three sonnes returning victorers from the games of Olympus The highest degree of ioy is that vvhich they call Iubilee described by Gregory thus vvhen an vnspeakeable gladnesse is conâ—eaved in the mind which neither can bee hidde nor speech vttered and although it be not expressed by any proprieties yet it is signified by some kindes of gesture Or when the abundance of the heart is not answered by sufficiency of wordes but he which reioyceth is neither able to rule his ioye nor to fulfill it I thinke the ioy of Ionas was a Iubilee he is so ravished and overcome with the pleasure of the gourd that hee knoweth not hovve to containe himselfe Alas a gourd was not worth thus much if the rule be true that the measure of our ioy should be according to the newes that is brought the cherefulnesse of the minde no more than is the thing which wee reioyce for If Ionas had receaved tydinges of deliverance from the belly of the fish or of redemption from eternall death if a Prophet had sung vnto him as hee did vnto Sion reioyce and bee glad Ionas beholde thy King commeth or Angelles had brought him worde as they did the shephardes beholde we bring thee news of great ioy that shal bee to all people what coulde Ionas more haue done For these and such like are the thinges wherein our greatest ioy should bee placed and there can bee no intemperancy of reioycing where these are affected So witnessed one Apostle God forbid that I should reioyce in any thing but in the crosse of Christ and the other agreeth vnto him in whome though you see him not yet doe you beleeue and reioyce with ioy vnspeakable and glorious For that is the true and principall ioy which is conceaved not from the creature but from the Creator which when thou hast receaved no man can take from thee wherewith compare what pleasure soever it is griefe all sweete is sowre vnto it and there is nothing that may delight but seemeth troublesome and offensiue There are many that say who will shew vs any good they are auÌ„swered by the prophet in one word Lorde lift thou vp the light of thy countenance vpon vs open but our eies that they may beholde thy merices For thou hast given mee more ioy of heart by the light of thy face than wordlinges haue felt when their wheate and their wine hath most abounded And therefore blessed is the man whose strength is in thee whose heart is in thy waies who going through the vale of this worlde make welles therin that is vse such commodities as this valley of teares affordeth them to relieue their present wantes but stay themselues vppon the hope and expectation of better thinges to come The Scripture doth everye where call vs to higher pleasures so doth wisedome Prov. 8. vvith mee are dureable riches the riches of this worlde are uariable So doth Esay in the 55. of his prophecie vvhy lay you out your money and not for bread but bestow it vpon akorns and branne that cannot feede So doth the sonne of God Mat. 6. Lay vp treasures for your selues in heaven And Ioh. â— labour not for the meate vvhich perisheth but for the meate which endureth vnto everlasting life So likewise hee adviseth the Church of Laodicaea Revel 3. I counsaile thee to buy golde of mee that thou maiest bee made rich and white rayment that thou mayest bee clothed and that thy filthinesse appeare not As for the mutable and transitorye either pleasures or profittes of this life which are ever comming going it shal bee good for a man so to loue them as that he may find in his heart to leaue them vvhen neede requireth And as Fabricius told Pyrrhus who one day tempted him with golde another day terrified him with an Elephant which hee had never seene before yesterday I was not mooved with thy money nor to day with thy beast so whether wee were tempted with the gaine or terrifiâ—d with the losse of these wordly commodities wee doe not trouble ouâ— selues either way because they vvere given vs but for vse and not everlastingly to enioy No man knoweth either loue or hatred by all that is before him for all thinges come alike to all the same condition I meane in these outward things is both to the iust and the wicked And therefore happy are wee if therein we can compose our selues to that indifferent resolution that David had when hee fled from Absalon his sonne touching his comming or not comming backe againe to Ierusalem to take his former comforts behold here am I let him do to me as it seemeth good in his eies But God prepared a worme when the morning rose the next day and it smoâ—e the gourd that it withered The pleasure of Ionas is quite dasht hee litâ—le thought of so speedie an alteration who seemed to say in his heart not longe before I shall never bee grieved but the Lorde hath given and the Lorde hath taken away and he that hath power over the blessings hath power also over the plagues Rev. 6 And as every good gift commeth downe from aboue so there is not an evil in the cittie nor in the world that the Lord doth not And his provideÌ„ce is as mightie in vsing rhe service of a worme as of Leviathan I neede not trouble you either with the author whome I haue often mentioned before or with his manner of working for hee doth not onely create al thinges but hee ordereth and fitteth them in such sorte that they are readie at all times to worke his will There is nothing sodaine or new or vnprovided vnto him but all his creatures both greate and small as if they watched their turnes stand forth to giue their attendance The instrument that God vseth to afflict Ionas with is very vile coÌ„teÌ„ptible he that could haue sent a wind to haue turned thâ— gourd vpside down or lightning to haue blasted it or an whole army of wormes caterpillers to haue devoured it or withered it with his word as Christ did the figtree never beare leaues henceforth prepareth a worme but one worme to execute that busines The scripture no where speaketh of wormes but with a kinde of coÌ„teÌ„pt as of a base and silly creature as Psa. 22. but I am a worme no maÌ„ the reproach of meÌ„ the scorne of people where the later expouÌ„deth the former Esay 41. feare not worme Iacob though thou art the least amoÌ„gst the nations al the people of the earth set themselues against thee The Hebrewes haue an opinion that enchaÌ„ters cannot shew their skill in litle things if they be lesse they say thaÌ„ a barly corne therefore the sorcerers of Egypt failed in producing lyce But our God is as cunning and artificial in the smallest creature of the world as in the greatest the organical
not in Princes even for this very cause because they are Princes and in least safetye themselues O happye governours sayeth one if they knevve their miseries more vnhappye if they knovve them not Tam ille timere cogitat quà m timeri it vvas Cyprians iudgement of one in governmente that hee hath as greate cause to feare as to bee feared The authoritye or preheminence of Princes amongst menne is great if the kinge saie kill they kill if spare they spare and but that it is the ordinaunce of GOD a thinge vvhich his ovvne righte hande hath planted not possible to stande for they maie all saye It is thou that subduest my people vnder mee and their promotion commeth neither from the East nor from the VVest nor from the suffrages of the people nor from the line of their auncient progenitours nor from the conquest of their swordes but from the Lord of hoastes GOD telleth Cyrus Esay the fiue and fortieth his servant his anointed to vvhome hee had opened the dores of the kingdome and whose hande hee helde I haue called thee by thy name and surnamed thee though thou hast not knowne mee I finde it noted vpon that place that his name was Spaco before which by the testimony of Herodotus and Iustine in the language of the Medes signifieth a dogge but God chandged that name and called him Coresch or Cirus which in the Persian language soundeth a Lorde Iob in his ovvne person describeth the state of Princes and rulers That vvhen he vvente out of the gate to the seate of iudgemente the young men sawe him and hid themselves the aged arose and stoode vp the princes stayed their talke and laide their handes vpon their mouthes vvhen the eare hearde him it blessed him and when the eie sawe him it gaue witnesse vnto him after his wordes they replied not and his talke dropped vpon them and they waited for him as for the raine neither did they suffer the light of his countenance to fall to the ground This is the reason that men are so willing to seeke the face of the ruler for being in the highest places they are able to gratifie their followers vvith highest pleasures They that haue power are called benefactours Luke 22. Elizaeus asked the woman of Shunem 2. Kings 4. in whose house he had lodged what he might do for her is there any thing for thee to bee spoken for to the king or to the capitaine of the host as the greatest remuneration that his heart could then thinke vpon Now as their port and presence is very glorious vpon the earth so neither is it permanent and vvhilst it hath beeing it is dailie assaulted both with domesticall and forreigne daungers He that created great lightes a greater to rule the day and a lesse the night he hath also created great rulers on the earth some to be Emperours some kings some subordinate governours some in Continents some in Ilands some in provinces c. And as he shall chandge the glory of the former that the sunne shall bee darkened and lose his shining and the moone shall bee turned into bloude so hee shall staine the beauty of the latter and lay their honour in the dust and those that haue beene clothed in purple maie happe to embrace the dunghill Hee saith in the Psalme I haue saide that yee are Gods and the children of the most High but yee shall die like men and fâ—ll like the rest of the princes It is a prerogatiue that God hath to call thinges that are not as if they were but if they themselues shall take vpon them to bee Gods vvhen they are but men the Lord will quickely abase them Zenacharib is in his ruffe for a time vvhere is the King of Hâ—math and the King of Arpad Kings which he had destroyed and haue the Gods of the nations delivered their clients and oratours out of my handes and Hezechias let not thy God deceaue thee prowde challendges But a man might soone haue asked him where is the King of Assur and hath Nisroch the God of Assyria delivered Zenacharib himselfe out of the handes of God and Zenacharib let not thy God deceaue thee nay take heede that thine owne sonnes deceaue thee not thy bowelles thy flesh and bones shall murther thee vvhere thou art most devoute Herod is content at the first to admit the perswasion of the people the â—oice of God not of man but as hee receaved his glory and pride in a theatre so his shame and downefall in a theatre the people showted not so fast in his eares but another people sent from God gnaweth as fast within his bowelles and maketh him alter the stile of his oration I that but lately vvas called a God and thought to be immortall by you am now going to my death But take them in their happiest and fortunatest courses both kings and kingdomes as they haue their beginnings and their full strength so they haue their climacterical dangerous years as he spake of France so also their periodes and determinations And these are the lottes they must all dravve in their courses as I haue found them recited regnabo regno regnavi sum sine regno I shall reigne I doe reigne I haue reigned I haue nowe done reigning Surely those that are good princes indeede whose thrones are established with mercy iudgemeÌ„t they haue neede daily hourely to be commended vnto God Good lucke haue yee with your honour vvee wish you prosperity O Lord giue thy iudgementes vnto the King and thy righteousnesse vnto the Kings son send them helpe from thy sanctuary and strengthen them out of Sion for their honour is dearely bought they drinke worme-wood in a cup of gold they lie in a bed of Ivory trimmed with carpets of Egypt but over their heads hangeth a naked sworde the point down ward by a small horse-haire threatning their continual slaughter They might al pronounce but that they are strengthned with the arme of God of their honourablest robe and ensigne of their maiesty O nobilem magis quà m foelicem pannum O rather noble than happy garment if men did throughly know how many disquietments daungers and miseries it is replenished with if it lay vpon the ground before their face they would hardly take it vp That which seemeth high to others is steepe and headlong to them Isboseth never wanteth a maÌ„ in his owne campe nor Elah a servant in his owne house nor David a sonne from his owne loines besides Doegs and Shemeis and Achitophels wicked counsailours blasphemous railers traiterous spies to doe them mischiefe To conclude therefore our duety to princes is not confidence and faith in them but faithfulnesse and obedience towards them Giue vnto Caesar that which is Caesars giue him tribute custome honour feare serue him with your fieldes and vineyardes for his maintenance with your liues and the liues of your sonnes for his defence pray
of a fierce countenance and vnknowne language all the commoâ—ions and perturbations of kingdomes invasions of kings one vpon the others dominions rebellions of subiectes and so much of Christendome at this day buried in the very bowels of Turcisme and infidelity yea the extirpation of the Iews and planting of the Gentiles vpon their stocke and hereafter the casting out of the Gentiles and filling of the Iewes againe they are al rightly and orderly derived from the former cause For the sins of the people the princes the people themselues the government the policy the religion the peace the plenty of the land shal often be chandged We haue long and faithfully preached against your sinnes the dissolvers you see of kingdomes common weales that if it were possible we might bring them also to their periode and set some number and end of them VVill you not be made cleane when shall it once be But if our preachings cannot mooue you he that in times past at sundry times and in sundry manners spake vnto our fathers hath also sundry voices and sundry kindes of preachers to speake vnto you You heare that the chandge of a Prince is one of his Preachers It shall preach more sorrow vnto you more wringing of your hands rending of your harts than ever erst you were acquainted with Remember the vision that Michaeas saw all Israell scattered like sheepe because their king was taken from them and thinke how wofull a day it will bee when this faithfull shepheard of ours which hath fed her Iacob with a true heart Formosi pecoris Custos formâ—sior ipsa an happy Queene of an happy people the Lord yet saving both her vs with the healthfull power of his right hand shall be pulled from vs. Wee haue hitherto lived in peace equall to that in the daies of Augustus such as our fathers never sawe the like and vvhen wee shall tell our childrens children to come thereof they will not beleeue it VVe haue sitten at ease vnder the shaddowe of our vines nay vnder the shaddow of this vine wee haue shaded solaced our selues and lived by her sweetnes But it may fall out that as when the Emperour Pertinax was dead they cried with redoubled showtes into the aire till they were able to cry no longer while Pertinax lived and governed wee lived in safety and feared no man so wee may send our late and helpelesse complaintes into heaven O well were wee in the daies of Queene Elizabeth when perfite peace was the walles of our country and the malice of the enemy prevailed not against vs. The sword of a forrein foe bandes and captivitye is an other of his preachers Will you not feele the warnings of Gods wrath till the yron haue entred into your soules and drawne bloud after it you knovv vvho it is that hangeth over your heades of vvhome and other princes I may say as they said in Athens of Demades and Demosthenes their oratours Demosthenes is meete for Athens iustly assised and fitted to the city Demades over-great so vvhen other kinges holde themselues contended vvith their kingdomes he is too greate for Spaine and many other kingdomes and Dukedomes cannot suffice him but he yet devoureth in hope all the dominions of Christendome and drinketh downe with vnsatiable thirst the conceipt of a Monarch and for this cause there is a busye spirite gone forth in the mouthes of all his Prophets Vnus Deus vnus Papa vnus rex Christianismi Magnus rex Catholicus vniversalis There is but one God one Poâ—e one King of Christendome the greate and Catholicke and vniversall Kinge Hee hath once already buckled his harnesse vnto him with ioye and assured presumption of victory But they that pulled it of by out-stretched arme of one more mighty than himselfe more reioyced God graunt that they bee not found in England vvho haue saide vpon that happye and miraculous event in discomfiting his forces vvee vvill trust in our bovves and our svvordes and speares shall heereafter deliver vs. There touching of late in Cornevvale the vtmost skirt of our lande no doubt vvas some little vvarning from God But it vvas no more vnto vs than if the skirt of our cloake had beene cutte avvay as it vvas to Saule vvee say our skinne is not yet rased The commotion in Irelande thoughe a quicker and more sensible admonition is but a dagger held to our side and till the pointe thereof sticke in our heart till there bee firing of our tovvnes ransackinge of our houses dashinge of our infants against the stones in the streetes vvee vvill not regarde O cease to incense the iealous God of heaven Turne not his grace and mercie into wantonnes Let not his strength bee an occasion vnto you to make you vainely confident nor his peace licenciouslye secure nor the abundance of his goodnesse abundant and intolerable in transgressing his lawes And if there were no other reason to make you tremble before his face yet do it for your owne politicke good because you are threatned by a deadly enimy vvho accompteth himselfe the cedar and vs but the thistle in Libanon and whose povver is not contemptible though God hath often cast him downe Neveuiant Romani auferant regnum à nobis at least that the Romanes and Spaniardes for they are brethren in this case come not vpon vs by the righteous sufferaunce of our God and take away our kingdome Surely our sinnes call for a skourdge and they shall receaue one For they even whip and torment the patience of God The arrowes of death are prepared against vs and they shall shine with our gall if with humble repentance we prevent them not Our pride calleth for humiliation shee is ascended on high and asketh who shall fetch me downe yet I haue red of those whose wimples and calles and perewigges haue beene turned into nakednes and baldnes and they haue run too and fro smiting their breastes and tearing the haire of their heades suffering it to be blowne about their eares with the wind and not regarding to bind it vp so much as with an haire-lace Our clocks are not vvell kept nor our chimneyes good which I haue heard to be two signes of a well ordered common wealth that is our hours are mispent our callings not followed and the breathing of the chimneies is choked vp hospitalitie and reliefe to the poore almost banished The poorer haue had their plagues already skarsitie of bread within these few yeares often renewed Their teeth haue beene cleanâ— and white through want of food when yours haue beene furred with excesse of meats and drinkes But rich men gentlemen looke also for your draught in the cup of the Lord either some mortal sickenes to your bodies to eate vp your flesh as you haue eaten others and then whose shall these thinges bee which with so much sweat of your browes carefulnes of heart wracke of conscience breach of charitie wrong to humane
death is I cannot bee daunted by the malignitye of anye disease VVherefore as Christ admonished the church of Thyatira so I in the name of Christ exhort you that vvhich you haue alreadye holde fast till hee come Let not your hope and consolations in the mercies of GOD bee taken from you let others for their pleasure and for want of better groundes because they leane vpon a staffe of reede masses merites indulgences the like make shipwracke of this sweete article and bee carued away as the windes and seaes of their owne opinions shall driue them till they finde some other haven to rest in But shall ever raigne and beare the scepter in our consciences as an article of that price without the which our liues are not deare vnto vs· The sunne may bee vnder a cloude at times but feare not it vvill shine againe the may fire be buried vnder ashes but it vvill breake forth the arke may bee taken by the Philistines but it shall bee restored to Israell and these heavenlye perswasions may sometimes bee assaulted and battered but they shall eftsoones returne vnto vs. I dare affirme that there was never elect soule vpon the earth redeemed by the bloud and sanctified by the spirit of God but hath drunke largelye of these comfortes wherof I speake and then their largest draught when they haue most thirsted after it that howsoever their life hath beene tempered of good bad daies and good againe as those that are helde with agues of honour and dishonour health and sicknesse warre and peace ioy and heavinesse yet the betrer of these two conditions hath ever had the later and the vpper hand and to haue ended their liues I say not in their beddes but vnder a showre of stones as Steven did or by the sworde of a tyrant or amongst the teeth of wilde beastes hath beene no more vnto them than if a ripe figge had beene pluckte from the tree which it grewe vpon For they haue gone avvaye with a sentence of peace in their lippes as the doue came backe to the arke with an oliue branch Christ is my life death mine advantage Thus much of the Phrase who knoweth if God will returne The matter which they hope for in a worde and to conclude is the mercy of God In the explication whereof they vse an order of wordes 1. that God must returne as if hee were nowe absente and had withdrawen himselfe from them 2. that God must repent not by changing his minde but by callinge in the decree vvhich vvas gone forth 3. that the furie of his wrath must be pacified Lastly to this ende that destruction may bee averted from them as much as to say if God vouchsafe not his presence vnto vs or if hee holde his former intendment or if the heate of his fierce wrath be not quenched wee are sure to perish And so it fareth vvith vs all that except the Lorde doe illighten vs with his favourable and gracious countenance except hee apply himselfe with his whole heart and with all his soule as it is in Ieremy to doe vs good and vnlesse the fire of his anger bee drowned in the bowelles of compassion and his rage burning downe to hell bee swallowed vp into pitty aboue the cloudes what else can follow but the wracke of our bodyes and soules the eversion of our houses and families and vtter desolation to townes citties and entire countries Therefore let vs beseech God that hee ever vouchsafe to dwell with vs as he sometimes dwelt in the bush to change his cursing into blessings to quench his deserved wrath kindled like a whole river of brimstone with his streames of grace that it may bee well with vs and our children our whole land and our last end may be that which is the end and conclusion of the kings edict that wee perish not THE XXXIX LECTVRE Chap. 3. vers 10. And God saw their workes that they turned from their evill waies THE grounde which the people of Niniveh tooke for repentance was faith which although it appeareth by their manner of speech having scruple vncerteinty in it to have beene an vnperfect faith not throughly strengthned and fighting as yet against the horrour of their owne sinnes and terrour of Gods iudgements yet an vnperfect faith is faith more or lesse and the best that ever were have not escaped such distractions and disquietinges of their soules and when they have wrastled a time against the adversarye powers they have returned with the victory and have set vp their banners of triumph in the name and vertue of the Lord of hostes their foundations are in the holy hilles not in the vallies of their owne infirmities for then they must despaire but in the might and mercye of almightye God which stande for ever The matter of their faith consisting of foure members three of them appertaining to God his returne repentance and leaving of his fierce wrath the fourth and last to themselves I went over in hast and will briefly repeate vnto you 1. They beleeved that God might returne and vouchsafe them his presence and company againe taken from the manner of men who in their anger and displeasure forsake the verye place where their eye-sore lyeth and being reconciled vse it for an argument of their revived frendshippe to returne to those houses which they had forsaken So saith God Ose◠5. I vvill goe and returne to my place till they acknowledge their faultes and seeke mee In their affliction they will seeke mee diligently and say come let vs returne vnto the Lorde So they depart from God and God from them They withdraw their obedience hee his blessinges and although he bee in the middest of them nearer than their flesh to their spirites yet by any demonstration of love they cannot perceave his presence God was ever in Niniveh no doubt by his essence his power his overlooking providence for in him they lived mooved and alvvaies had their being but hee vvas not in Niniveh by grace by the guiding and goverment of his holy spirit neither by speciall favour assistance hee had fotsaken their citty and consciences as thorny vnprofitable ground fitter for idols and abominations than for himselfe to dwell in 2. They beleeved that God might repent which is also borrowed from the affections of men whose māner is to be sory in their harts for their former displeasure conceived and to wish it had never bin and asmuch as possible they may to revoke vvhatsoever in the heat thereof they had determined The 3. is consequent to the former for if he returne and repent his anger must needes bee remooved Al these motions either of the body in going from place to place or of the soule in altering her passions are attributed vnto vs truly but vnto God in no other māner than may stand with the nature and honour of his vnmooueable maiesty Now lastly where God is departed and