in the Spring to the end that my age may bee profitable and laden with ripe fruit I will endeuour that my youth may be studious and flowred with the blossomes of learning and obseruation 55 Reuenge commonly hurts both the offerer and sufferer as we see in the foolish Bee though in all other things commendable yet herein the patterne of fond spightfulnesse which in her anger inuenometh the flesh and loseth her sting and so liues a Drone euer after I account it the onely valour To remit a wrong and will applaud it to my selfe as right Noble and Christian that I Might hurt and Will not 56 He that liues well cannot chuse but die well For if he die suddenly yet he dies not vnpreparedly if by leisure the conscience of his well-lead life makes his death more comfortable But it is seldome seene that he which liueth ill dieth well For the conscience of his former euills his present paine and the expectation and feare of greater so take vp his heart that he cannot seeke God And now it is iust with God not to be sought or not to be found because he sought to him in his life time and was repulsed Whereas therefore there are vsually two maine cares of good men to Liue well and Die well I will haue but this one to Liue well 57 With God there is no free man but his Seruant though in the Gallies no slaue but the sinner though in a Palace none noble but the vertuous if neuer so basely descended none rich but he that possesseth God euen in rags none wise but hee that is a foole to himselfe and the world none happy but he whom the world pities Let mee be free noble rich wise happy to God I passe not what I am to the world 58 When the mouth praieth man heareth when the heart God heareth Euery good praier knocketh at heauen for a blessing but an importunate praier pierceth it though as hard as brasse and makes way for it selfe into the eares of the Almightie And as it ascends lightly vp carried with the wings of faith so it comes euer laden downe againe vpon our heads In my praiers my thoughts shall not be guided by my words but my words shall follow my thoughts 59 If that seruant were condemned of euill that gaue God no more than his owne which he had receiued what shall become of them that rob God of his owne If God gaine a little glorie by me I shall gaine more by him I will labour so to husband the stocke that God hath left in my hands that I may returne my soule better than I receiued it and that he may take it better than I returne it 60 Heauen is compared to an hill and therefore is figured by Olympus among the Heathen by mount Sion in Gods Booke Hell contrariwise to a pit The ascent to the one is hard therefore and the descent to the other easie and headlong and so as if we once beginne to fall the recouerie is most difficult and not one of many staies till hee comes to the bottome I will bee content to pant and blow and sweat in climbing vp to heauen as contrarily I will bee warie of setting the first step downward towards the pit For as there is a Iacobs Ladder into heauen so there are blinde staires that goe winding downe into death whereof each makes way for other From the obiect is raised an ill suggestion suggestion drawes on delight delight consent consent endeuour endeuour practice practice custome custome excuse excuse defence defence obstinacie obstinacie boasting of sinne boasting a reprobate sense I will watch ouer my waies and doe thou Lord watch ouer me that I may auoid the first degrees of sinne And if those ouertake my frailtie yet keepe me that presumptuous sinnes preuaile not ouer me Beginnings are with more ease and safetie declined when we are free than proceedings when we haue begunne 61 It is fitter for youth to learne than teach and for age to teach than learne and yet fitter for an old man to learne than to be ignorant I know I shall neuer know so much that I cannot learne more and I hope I shall neuer liue so long as till I be too old to learne 62 I neuer loued those Salamanders that are neuer well but when they are in the fire of contention I will rather suffer a thousand wrongs than offer one I will suffer an hundred rather than returne one I will suffer many ere I will complaine of one and endeuour to right it by contending I haue euer found that to striue with my superiour is furious with my equall doubtfull with my inferiour sordid and base with any full of vnquietnesse 63 The praise of a good speech standeth in words and matter Matter which is as a faire and well-featur'd body Elegance of words which is as a neat and well-fashioned garment Good matter slubbered vp in rude and carelesse words is made lothsome to the hearer as a good body mis-shapen with vnhandsome clothes Elegancie without soundnes is no better than a nice vanitie Although therefore the most hearers are like Bees that goe all to the flowers neuer regarding the good herbs that are of as wholesome vse as the other of faire shew yet let my speech striue to bee profitable plausible as it happens better the coat be mis-sâ—apen than the body 64 I see that as blacke and white colours to the eies so is the Vice and Vertue of others to the iudgement of men Vice gathers the beames of the sight in one that the eie may see it and bee intent vpon it Vertue scatters them abroad and therefore hardly admits of a perfect apprehension Whence it comes to passe that as iudgement is according to sense wee doe so soone espie and so earnestly censure a man for one vice letting passe many laudable qualities vndiscerned or at least vnacknowledged Yea whereas euery man is once a foole and doth that perhaps in one fit of his folly which hee shall at leisure repent of as Noah in one houres drunkennesse vncouered those secrets which were hid six hundred yeeres before the world is hereupon ready to call in question all his former integritie and to exclude him from the hope of any future amendment Since God hath giuen mee two eies the one shall bee busied about the present fault that I see with a detesting commiseration the other about the commendable qualities of the offender not without an vnpartiall approbation of them So shall I doe God no wrong in robbing him of the glorie of his gifts mixed with infirmities nor yet in the meane time encourage Vice while I doe distinctly reserue for it a due proportion of hatred 65 God is aboue man the brute creatures vnder him hee set in the midst Lest he should be proud that he hath infinite creatures vnder him that One is infinite degrees aboue him I doe therefore owe awe vnto God mercie to the inferiour creatures knowing
the present fauour of God we haue many times and feele not The stomacke findes the best digestion euen in sleepe when we least perceiue it and whiles wee are most awake this power worketh in vs either to further strength or disease without our knowledge of what is done within And on the other side that man is most dangerously sicke in whom nature decaies without his feeling without complaint To know our selues happy is good but woe were to vs Christians if we could not be happy and know it not 67 There are none that euer did so much mischiefe to the Church as those that haue beene excellent in wit and learning Others may be spightfull enough but want power to accomplish their malice An enemy that hath both strength and craft is worthy be feared None can sinne against the Holy Ghost but those which haue had former illumination Tell not me what parts a man hath but what grace honest sottishnesse is better than profane eminence 68 The entertainment of all spirituall euents must be with feare or hope but of all earthly extremities must be with contempt or derision For what is terrible is worthy of a Christians contempt what is pleasant to be turned ouer with a scorne The meane requires a meane affection betwixt loue and hatred We may not loue them because of their vanitie we may not hate them because of their necessary vse It is an hard thing to be a wise Oast and to fit our entertainment to all commers which if it be not done the soule is soone wasted either for want of customers or for the misrule of ill ghests 69 God and man build in a contrary order Man laies the foundation first then addes the walls the roofe last God beganne the roofe first spreading out this vault of heauen ere hee laid the Base of the earth Our thoughts must follow the order of his workmanship Heauen must be minded first earth afterward and so much more as it is seene more Our meditation must herein follow our sense A few miles giue bounds to our view of earth whereas we may neere see halfe the heauen at once Hee that thinkes most both of that which is most seene and of that which is not seene at all is happiest 70 I haue euer noted it a true signe of a false heart To be scrupulous and nice in small matters negligent in the maine whereas the good soule is still curious in substantiall points and not carelesse in things of an inferiour nature accounting no duty so small as to be neglected and no care great enough for principall duties not so tything Mint and Cummin that he should forget iustice and iudgement not yet so regarding iudgement and iustice that he should contemne Mint and Cummin He that thus misplaces his conscience will be found either hypocriticall or superstitious 71 It argues the world full of Atheists that those offences which may impeach humane society are entertained with an answerable hatred and rigour those which doe immediately wrong the supreme Maiestie of God are turned ouer with scarce so much as dislike If we conuersed with God as we doe with men his right would be at least as precious to vs as our owne All that conuerse not with God are without God not onely those that are against God but those that are without God are Atheists Wee may be too charitable I feare not to say that these our last times abound with honest Atheists 72 The best thing corrupted is worst An ill man is the worst of all creatures an ill Christian the worst of all men an ill professor the worst of all Christians an ill Minister the worst of all professors 73 Naturally life is before death and death is onely a priuation of life Spiritually it is contrary As Paul saith of the graine so may we of man in the businesse of regeneration He must die before he can liue yet this death presupposes a life that was once and should be God chuses to haue the difficultest first we must be content with the paine of dying ere we feele the comfort of life As we die to nature ere we liue in glory so we must die to sinne ere we can liue to grace 74 Death did not first strike Adam the first sinfull man nor Caine the first hypocrite but Abel the innocent and righteous The first soule that met with death ouercame death the first soule that parted from earth went to heauen Death argues not displeasure because he whom God loued best dies first and the murtherer is punished with liuing 75 The liues of most are mis-spent onely for want of a certaine end of their actions wherein they doe as vnwise Archers shoot away their arrowes they know not at what marke They liue onely out of the present not directing themselues and their proceedings to one vniuersall scope whence they alter vpon all change of occasions and neuer reach any perfection neither can doe other but continue in vncertaintie and end in discomfort Others aime at one certaine marke but a wrong one Some though fewer leuell at the right end but amisse To liue without one maine and common end is idlenesse and folly To liue to a false end is deceit and losse True Christian wisdome both shewes the end and findes the way And as cunning Politikes haue many plots to compasse one and the same designe by a determined succession so the wise Christian failing in the meanes yet still fetcheth about to his steady end with a constant change of endeuours such one onely liues to purpose and at last repents not that hee hath liued 76 The shipwracke of a good conscience is the casting away of all other excellencies It is no rare thing to note the soule of a wilfull sinner stripped of all her graces and by degrees exposed to shame so those whom we haue knowne admired haue falne to be leuell with their fellowes and from thence beneath them to a mediocritie and afterwards to sottishnesse and contempt below the vulgar Since they haue cast away the best it is iust with God to take away the worst and to cast off them in lesser regards which haue reiected him in greater 77 It hath euer beene counted more noble and successefull to set vpon an open enemy in his owne home than to expect till he set vpon vs whiles he make onely a defensiue war This rule serues vs for our last enemy Death whence that old demand of Epicure is easily answered Whether it be better Death should come to vs or that we should meet him in the way meet him in our minds ere he seize vpon our bodies Our cowardlinesse our vnpreparation is his aduantage whereas true boldnesse in confronting him dismaies and weakens his forces Happy is that soule that can send out the scouts of his thoughts before-hand to discouer the power of death a farre off and then can resolutely encounter him at vnawares vpon aduantage such one liues with securitie dies with
to feele and complaine of smart And if men haue deuised such exquisite torments what can spirits more subtile more malicious And if our momentanie sufferings seeme long how long shall that be that is eternall And if the sorrowes indifferently incident to Gods deare ones vpon earth be so extreme as sometimes to driue them within sight of despairing what shall those be that are reserued onely for those that hate him and that he hateth None but those who haue heard the desperate complaints of some guiltie Spyra of whose soules haue beene a little scorched with these flames can enough conceiue of the horror of this estate it being the policy of our common enemy to conceale it so long that we may see and feele it at once lest we should feare it before it be too late to be auoided SECT XVII Remedy of the last and greatest breach of peace arising from death NOw when this great Aduersary like a proud Giant comes stalking out in his fearefull shape and insults ouer our fraile mortalitie daring the world to match him with an equall Champion whiles a whole host of worldlings shew him their backs for feare the true Christian armed onely with confidence and resolution of his future happinesse dares boldly encounter him and can wound him in the forehead the wonted seat of terror and trampling vpon him can cut off his head with his owne sword and victoriously returning can sing in triumph O death where is thy sting An happy victory Wee die and are not foiled yea we are conquerours in dying we could not ouercome death if we died not That dissolution is well bestowed that parts the soule from the body that it may vnite both to God All our life here as that heauenly Doctor well tearmes it is but a vitall death Augustine How aduantâ—gious is that death that determines this false and dying life and begins a true one aboue all the titles of happinesse The Epicure or Sadduce dare not die for feare of not being The guiltie and loose worldling dares not die for feare of being miserable The distrustfull and doubting semi-Christian dares not die because he knowes not whether hee shall be or be miserable or not be at all The resolued Christian dares and would die because he knowes he shall be happy and looking merrily towards heauen the place of his rest can vnfainedly say I desire to be dissolued I see thee my home I see thee a sweet and glorious home after a weary pilgrimage I see thee and now after many lingring hopes I aspire to thee How oft haue I looked vp at thee with admiration and rauishment of soule and by the goodly beames that I haue seene ghessed at the glory that is aboue them How oft haue I scorned these dead and vnpleasant pleasures of earth in comparison of thine I come now my ioyes I come to possesse you I come through paine and death yea if hell it selfe were in the way betwixt you and mee I would passe through hell it selfe to enioy you Tull. Tuscul Callimach Epigram And in truth if that Heathen Cleombrotus a follower of the ancient Academie but vpon onely reading of his Master Platoes discourses of the immortalitie of the soule could cast downe himselfe head-long from an high rocke and wilfully breake his necke that he might be possessed of that immortalitie which he beleeued to follow vpon death how contented should they be to die that knew they shall be more than immortall glorious Hee went not in an hate of the flesh August de Haeres as the Patrician Heretickes of old but in a blinde loue to his soule out of bare opinion We vpon an holy loue grounded vpon assured knowledge He vpon an opinion of future life we on knowledge of future glory He went vnsent for we called for by our Maker Why should his courage exceed ours since our ground our estate so farre exceeds his Euen this age within the reach of our memorie bred that peremptory Italian which in imitation of old Romane courage left in that degenerated Nation there should be no step left of the qualities of their Ancestors entring vpon his torment for killing a Tyrant cheered himselfe with this confidence My death is sharpe Mors acerba Fama perpetua my fame shall be euerlasting The voice of a Romane not of a Christian My fame shall be eternall an idle comfort My fame shall liue not my soule liue to see it What shall it auaile thee to be talkt of while thou art not Then fame onely is precious when a man liues to enioy it The fame that suruiues the soule is bootlesse Yet euen this hope cheered him against the violence of his death What should it doe vs that not our fame but our life our glory after death cannot die He that hath Stephens eies to looke into heauen cannot but haue the tongue of the Saints Come Lord How long That man seeing the glory of the end cannot but contemne the hardnesse the way But who wants those eies if he say and sweares that he feares not death beleeue him not if he protest this Tranquillitie and yet feare death beleeue him not beleeue him not if he say he is not miserable SECT XVIII THese are enemies on the left hand There want not some on the right The second ranke of the enemies of peace which with lesse profession of hostilitie hurt no lesse Not so easily perceiued because they distemper the minde not without some kinde of pleasure Surfet kils more than famine These are the ouer-desiring and ouer-ioying of these earthly things All immoderations are enemies as to health so to peace He that desires Hippocr Aphoris wants as much as he that hath nothing The drunken man is as thirstie as the sweating traueller Hence are the studies cares feares iealousies hopes griefes enuies wishes platformes of atchieuing alterations of purposes and a thousand like whereof each one is enough to make the life troublesome One is sicke of his neighbours field whose mis-shapen angles disfigure his and hinder his Lordship of entirenesse what he hath is not regarded for the want of what hee cannot haue Another feeds on crusts to purchase what he must leaue perhaps to a foole or which is not much better to a prodigall heire Another in the extremitie of couetous folly chuses to die an vnpitied death hanging himselfe for the fall of the market while the Commons laugh at that losse and in their speeches Epitaph vpon him as on that Pope He liued as a Wolfe and died as a Dogge One cares not what attendance hee dances at all houres on whose staires he sits what vices he soothes what deformities he imitates what seruile offices he doth in an hope to rise Another stomackes the couered head and stiffe knee of his inferiour angry that other men thinke him not so good as he thinkes himselfe Another eats his owne heart with enuy at the richer furniture and better
tune of that knowne song beginning Preserue vs Lord. THee and thy wondrous deeds O God Wiâ—h all my soule I sound abroad verse 2 My ioy my triumph is in thee Of thy dread name my song shall be verse 3 O highest God since put to flight And fal'ne and vanisht at thy sight verse 4 Are all my foes for thou hast past Iust sentence on my cause at last And sitting on thy throne aboue A rightfull Iudge thy selfe doest proue verse 5 The troupes profane thy checks haue stroid And made their name for euer void verse 6 Where 's now my foes your threatned wrack So well you did our Cities sacke And bring to dust while that ye say Their name shall die as well as they verse 7 Loe in eternall state God sits And his high Throne to iustice fits verse 8 Whose righteous hand the world shall weeld And to all folke iust doome shall yeeld verse 9 The poore from high finde his releefe The poore in needfull times of griefe verse 10 Who knowes the Lord to thee shall cleaue That neuer doest thy clients leaue verse 11 Oh! sing the God that doth abide On Sion mount and blazon wide verse 12 His worthy deeds For he pursues The guiltlesse bloud with vengeance due He mindes their cause nor can passe o're Sad clamors of the wronged poore verse 13 Oh! mercy Lord thou that dost saue My soule from gates of death and graue Oh! see the wrong my foes haue done verse 14 That I thy praise to all that gone Through daughter Sions beauteous gate With thankfull songs may loud relate And may reioyce in thy safe aide Behold the Gentiles whiles they made A deadly pit my soule to drowne Into their pit are sunken downe In that close snare they hid for mee Loe their owne feet intangled be verse 16 By this iust doome the Lord is knowne That th' ill are punisht with their owne verse 17 Downe shall the wicked backward fall To deepest hell and nations all verse 18 That God forget nor shall the poore Forgotten be for euermore The constant hope of soules opprest verse 19 Shall not aye die Rise from thy rest Oh Lord let not men base and rude Preuaile iudge thou the multitude verse 20 Of lawlesse Pagans strike pale feare Into those brests that stubborne were And let the Gentiles feele and finde They beene but men of mortall kinde PSALME 10. As the 51. Psalme O God Consider WHy stand'st thou Lord aloofe so long And hidst thee in due times of need verse 2 Whiles lewd men proudly offer wrong Vnto the poore In their owne deed And their deuice let them be caught verse 3 For loe the wicked braues and boasts In his vile and outragious thought And blesseth him that rauines most verse 4 On God he dares insult his pride Scornes to enquire of powers aboue But his stout thoughts haue still deni'd verse 5 There is a God His waies yet proue 〈◊〉 prosperous thy iudgements hye Doe farre surmount his dimmer fight verse 6 Therefore doth he all foes defie His heart saith I shall stand in spight Nor euer moue nor danger ' bide verse 7 His mouth is fill'd with curses foule And with close fraud His tongue doth hide verse 8 Mischiefe and ill he seekes the soule Of harmelesse men in secret waite And in the corners of the street Doth shead their bloud with scorne and hate His eies vpon the poore are set verse 9 As some fell Lyon in his den He closely lurkes the poore to spoyle He spoyles the poore and helplesse men When once he snares them in his toyle verse 10 He croucheth low in cunning wile And bowes his brest whereon whole throngs Of poore whom his faire showes beguile Fall to be subiect to his wrongs verse 11 God hath forgot in soule he saies He hides his face to neuer see verse 12 Lord God arise thine hand vp-raise Let not thy poore forgotten be verse 13 Shall these insulting wretches scorne Their God and say thou wilt not care verse 14 Thou see'st for all thou hast forborne Thou see'st what all their mischiefes are That to thine hand of vengeance iust Thou maist them take the poore distressed Rely on thee with constant trust The helpe of Orphans and oppressed verse 15 Oh! breake the wickeds arme of might And search out all their cursed traines And let them vanish out of sight verse 16 The Lord as King for euer raignes From forth his coasts the heathen sect verse 17 Are rooted quite thou Lord attendst To poore mens sutes thou deo'st direct Their hearts to them thine eare thou bendst verse 18 That thou maist rescue from despight The wofull fatherlesse and poore That so the vaine and earthen wight On vs may tyrannize no more FJNJS CHARACTERS OF VERTVES AND VICES JN TWO BOOKES By IOS HALL SIC ELEVABITVR FILIVS HOMINIS Io 3. ANCHORA FIDEI LONDON Printed for THOMAS PAVIER MILES FLESHER and John Haviland 1624. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE MY singular good Lords EDWARD LORD DENNY BARON of WALTHAM AND JAMES LORD HAY HIS RIGHT NOBLE AND WORTHY SONNE IN LAW I. H. HVMBLY DEDICATES HIS LABOVR DEVOTETH HIMSELFE Wisheth all Happinesse A PREMONITION OF THE TITLE AND VSE of Characters READER THe Diuines of the old Heathens were their Morall Philosophers These receiued the Acts of an inbred law in the Sinai of Nature and deliuered them with many expositions to the multitude These were the Ouerseers of manners Correctors of vices Directors of liues Doctors of vertue which yet taught their people the body of their naturall Diuinitie not after one manner while some spent themselues in deepe discourses of humane felicitie and the way to it in common others thought it best to apply the generall precepts of goodnesse or decency to particular conditions and persons A third sort in a meane course betwixt the two other and compounded of them both bestowed their time in drawing out the true lineaments of euerie vertue and vice so liuely that who saw the medals might know the face which Art they significantly tearmed Charactery Their papers were so many tables their writings so many speaking pictures or liuing images whereby the ruder multitude might euen by their sense learne to know vertue and discerne what to detest J am deceiued if any course could be more likely to preuaile for herein the grosse conceit is led on with pleasure and informed while it feeles nothing but delight And if pictures haue beene accounted the bookes of Jdiots behold here the benefit of an image without the offence It is no shame for vs to learne wit of Heathens neither is it materiall in whose Schoole we take out a good lesson yea it is more shame not to follow their good than not to lead them better As one therefore that in worthy examples hold imitation better than inuention J haue trod in their paths but with an higher and wider steppe and out of their Tablets haue drawne these larger portraitures of both sorts More
I might see thee my Sauiour clothed in flesh Oh that thou which art my euerlasting Husband mightest also be my Brother in partaking the same humane nature with me that so I finding thee below vpon earth might familiarly entertaine thee and conuerse with thee without reproach of the world yea might be exalted in thy glory 2. I will lead thee and bring thee into my mothers house there thou shalt teach me I will cause thee to drinke spiced wine and new of the Pomegranats Then would I though I be now pent vp in the limits of Iudaea bring thee forth into the light and knowledge of the vniuersall Church whose daughter I am and then and there thou shouldst teach me how perfectly to serue and worship thee and I shall gladly entertaine thee with a royall feast of the best graces that are in my holiest seruants which I know thou wilt account better cheere then all the spiced cups and Pomegranate wines in the world 3. His left hand shall be vnder my head and his right hand shall embrace me Then shall I attaine to a nearer communion with him and both his hands shall bee employed to sustaine and relieue me yea he shall comfort my head and my heart my iudgement and affections with the liuely heat of his gracious embracements 4. I charge you O daughters of Ierusalem that you stirre not vp nor waken my Loue vntill he please I charge you O all ye that professe any friendship to me I charge you deeply as ye will auoid my vttermost censures take heed how ye vex and disquiet my mercifull Sauiour and grieue his Spirit and doe not dare by the least prouocation of him to interrupt his peace CHRIST 5. Who is this that commeth out of the Wildernesse leaning vpon her Well-beloued I raised thee vp vnder an Apple-tree there thy mother conceiued thee there she conceiued that bare thee WHo is this that from the comfortlesse deserts of ignorance of infidelity of tribulations ascendeth thus vp into the glorious light and liberty of my chosen relying her selfe wholly vpon her Sauiour and solacing her selfe in him Is it not my Church It is she whom I haue loued and acknowledged of old for euen vnder the tree of offence the forbidden fruit which thou tastedst to thy destruction I raised thee vp againe from death Euen there thy first mother conceiued thee while by faith she laid hold on that blessed promise of the Gospell whereby she and her beleeuing seed were restored The Iewish Church 6. Set me as a seale on thy heart and as a signet on thine arme for loue is strong as death Ielousie it cruell as the Graue the coates thereof are fiery coales and a vehement flame ANd so haue thou mee still O my Sauiour in a perpetuall and deare remembrance keepe me sure in thine heart yea in thine armes as that which thou holdest most precious and let me neuer be remoued from thy loue the least shew and danger whereof I cannot endure for this my spirituall loue is exceeding powerfull and can no more be resisted then death it selfe and the ielous zeale which I haue for thee and thy glory consumes me euen like the Graue and burnes me vp like vnto the coales of some most vehement and extreame fire 7. Much water cannot quench loue neither can the flouds drowne it if a man should giue all the substance of his house for loue they would greatly contemne it Yea more then any fire for any flame yet may be quenched with water but all the water of afflictions and terrors yea whole streames of persecutions cannot quench this loue and for all tempting offers of wealth of pleasures and honour how easily are they all contemned for the loue of my Sauiour 8. We haue a little sister and she hath no brests what shall we doe for our sister when she shall be spoken for We haue a sister as thou knowest O Sauiour ordained through thy mercy to the same grace with mee the vncalled Church of the Gentiles small as yet of growth through the rarenesse of her Conuerts and destitute of the help of any outward ministery whereby shee might either beare or nourish children vnto thee when shee growes vnto her maturity and the mystery of calling her vniuersally to thee shall be reuealed to the world and her selfe what course will it please thee to take with her CHRIST 9. If she be a wall we will build vpon her a siluer Palace and if she bee a doore wee will keepe her in with boords of Cedar IF she shall continue firme and constant in the expectation of her promises and the profession of that truth which shall be reuealed we will beautifie and strengthen her with further grace and make her a pure and costly Palace fit to entertaine my spirit and if she will giue free passage and good entrance to my word and grace we will make her sure and safe from corruption and reserue her to immortality The Iewish Church 10. I am a wall and my brests are towers then was I in his eyes as one that findeth peace BEhold that condition which thou requirest in the Church of the Gentiles thou findest in me I am thus firme and constant in my expectation in my profession and that want thou findest in her of ability to nourish her Children by the brest of thy Word is not in me who haue abundance both of nourishment and defence vpon which my confession and plea I found grace and peace in the eyes of my Sauiour and receiued from him assurance of his euerlasting loue to me CHRIST 11. Salomon had a Vine in Baalhamon he gaue the Vineyard vnto keepers euery one bringeth for the fruit thereof a thousand peeces of siluer MY Church is my Vine and I am the Owner and Husbandman our thrift and profit thereof farre exceedeth the good husbandry of Salomon he hath a rich Vineyard indeed in a most fruitfull soyle but he lets it forth to the hands of others as not being able to keepe and dresse it himselfe and therefore he is faine to be content with the greatest part of the increase not expecting the whole 22. But my Vineyard which is mine is before mee to thee O Salomon appertaineth a thousand pieces of siluer and two hundred to them that keepe the fruit thereof But my Vine is euer before me I am with it to the end of the world I reserue it in mine owne hands and dresse it with mine owne labour and therefore if thou O Salomon canst receiue from thine to the proportion of a thousand thy workmen and farmers will look for the fift part to come vnto their share wheras the gaine of my Vineyard ariseth wholly and onely vnto my selfe 13. O thou that dwellest in the gardens the companions hearken vnto thy voice cause me to heare it Sith therefore such is my care of thee and ioy in thee O my Church which consistest of the particular assemblies of men professing my Name see
thou mightest neuer taste of it hee would bee in sense for a time as forsaken of his Father that thou mightest be receiued for euer Now bid thy soule returne to her rest and enioyne it Dauids taske Praise the Lord O my soule and What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits I will take the cup of saluation and call vpon the Name of the Lord. And as rauisht from thy selfe with the sweet apprehension of this mercy call all the other creatures to the fellowship of this ioy with that diuine Esay Reioyce O yee heauens for the Lord hath done it shout ye lower parts of the earth burst forth into praises yee mountaines for the Lord hath redeemed Iacob and will bee glorified in Israel And euen now begin that heauenly Song which shall neuer end with those glorified Saints Praise and honour and glory and power be to Him that sitteth vpon the Throne and to the Lambe for euermore Thus our speech of Christs last word is finished His last act accompanied his words our speech must follow it Let it not want your deuout and carefull attention He bowed and gaue vp the ghost The Crosse was a slow death and had more paine than speed whence a second violence must dispatch the crucified their bones must be broken that their hearts might breake Our Sauiour stayes not deaths leisure but willingly and couragiously meets him in the way and like a Champion that scornes to be ouercome yea knowes hee cannot be yeeldeth in the middest of his strength that he might by dying vanquish death Hee bowed and gaue vp Not bowing because he had giuen vp but because he would Hee cryed with a loud voyce saith Matthew Nature was strong he might haue liued but he gaue vp the ghost and would die to shew himselfe Lord of life and death Oh wondrous example hee that gaue life to his enemies gaue vp his owne he giues them to liue that persecute and hate him and himselfe will die the whiles for those that hate him Hee bowed and gaue vp not they they might crowne his head they could not bow it they might vex his spirit not take it away they could not doe that without leaue this they could not doe because they had no leaue Hee alone would bow his head and giue vp his ghost I haue power to lay downe my life Man gaue him not his life man could not bereaue it No man takes it from mee Alas who could The High Priests forces when they came against him armed he said but I am he they flee and fall backward How easie a breath disperst his enemies whom hee might as easily haue bidden the earth yea hell to swallow or fire from heauen to deuoure Who commanded the Deuils and they obeyed could not haue beene attached by men he must giue not onely leaue but power to apprehend himselfe else they had not liued to take him hee is laid hold of Peter fights Put vp saith Christ Thinkest thou that I cannot pray to my Father and hee will giue me more than twelue Legions of Angels What an Army were here more then threescore and twelue thousand Angels and euery Angell able to subdue a world of men he could but would not be rescued he is led by his owne power not by his enemies and stands now before Pilate like the scorne of men crowned robbed scourged with an Ecce homo Yet thou couldst haue no power against me vnlesse it were giuen thee from aboue Behold he himselfe must giue Pilate power against himselfe Quod emittitur voluntarium est quod amâ—â—tur aecessarium Ambr. else he could not be condemned he will be condemned lifted vp nailed yet no death without himselfe Hee shall giue his soule an offering for sinne Esay 53.10 No action that sauours of constraint can be meritorious he would deserue therefore he would suffer and die Hee bowed his head and gaue vp the ghost O gracious and bountifull Sauiour hee might haue kept his soule within his teeth in spight of all the world the weaknesse of God is stronger than men and if he had but spoken the word the heauens and earth should haue vanisht away before him but hee would not Behold when hee saw that impotent man could not take away his soule he gaue it vp and would die that we might liue See here a Sauiour that can contemne his owne life for ours and cares not to be dissolued in himselfe that we might be vnited to his Father Skin for skin saith the Deuill and all that hee hath a man will giue for his life Loe here to proue Sathan a lyer skinne and life and all hath Christ Iesus giuen for vs. Wee are besotted with the earth and make base shifts to liue one with a maimed bodie another with a periured soule a third with a rotten name and how many had rather neglect their soule than their life and will rather renounce and curse God than die It is a shame to tell Many of vs Christians doat vpon life and tremble at death and shew our selues fooles in our excesse of loue cowards in our feare Peter denies Christ thrice and forsweares him Marcellinus twice casts graines of incense into the Idols fire Ecebolius turnes thrice Spira reuolts and despaires Oh let mee liue saith the fearefull soule Whither doest thou reserue thy selfe thou weake and timorous creature or what wouldest thou doe with thy selfe Thou hast not thus learned Christ he died voluntarily for thee thou wilt not be forced to die for him he gaue vp the ghost for thee thou wilt not let others take it from thee for him thou wilt not let him take it for himselfe When I looke backe to the first Christians and compare their zealous contempt of death with our backwardnesse I am at once amazed and ashamed I see there euen women the feebler sex running with their little ones in their armes for the preferment of Martyrdome and ambitiously striuing for the next blow I see holy and tender Virgins chusing rather a sore and shamefull death than honourable Espousals I heare the blessed Martyrs Quod si venire nolucrint ego vim faciam vt dâ—â—orer intreating their tyrants and tormentors for the honour of dying Ignatius amongst the rest fearing lest the beasts will not deuoure him and vowing the first violence to them that he might bee dispatched And what lesse courage was there in our memorable and glorious fore-fathers of the last of this age and doe we their cold and feeble off-spring looke pale at the face of a faire and naturall death abhorre the violent though for Christ Alas how haue we gathered rust with our long peace Our vnwillingnesse is from inconsideration from distrust Looke but vp to Christ Iesus vpon his Crosse and see him bowing his head and breathing out his soule and these feares shall vanish he died and wouldest thou liue hee gaue vp the ghost and wouldest thou keepe it whom wouldest thou follow if not thy
Egypt thorow the Sea and wildernesse within the sight of their promised Land and now himselfe must take possession of that Land whereof Canaan was but a type When we haue done that we came for it is time for vs to be gone This earth is made only for action not for fruition the seruices of Gods children should be ill rewarded if they must stay here alwaies Let no man thinke much that those are fetcht away which are faithful to God They should not change if it were not to their preferment It is our folly that wee would haue good men liue for euer and account it an haâ—d measure that they were Hee that lends them to the world owes them a better turne then this earth can pay them It were iniurious to wish that goodnesse should hinder any man from glory So is the death of Gods Saints precious that it is certaine Moses must goe vp to mount Nebo and die The time the place and euery circumstance of his dissolution is determined That one dyes in the field another in his bed another in the water one in a forraine Nation another in his owne is fore-decreed in heauen And though we heare it not vocally yet God hath called euery man by his name and saith Die thou there One man seemes to dye casually another by an inexpected violence both fall by a destiny and all is set downe to vs by an eternall decree He that brought vs into the world will cary vs out according to his owne purposes Moses must ascend vp to the hill to dye He receiued his charge for Israel vpon the hill of Sinai And now hee deliuers vp his charge on the hill of Nebo His brother Aaron dyed on one hill hee on another As Christ was transfigured on an hill so was this excellent type of his neither doubt I but that these hills were types to them of that heauen whither they were aspiring It is the goodnesse of our God that hee will nor haue his children dye any where but where they may see the Land of Promise before them neither can they depart without much comfort to haue seene it Contrarily a wicked man that lookes downe and sees hell before him how can hee choose but find more horrour in the end of death then in the way How familiarly doth Moses heare of his end It is no more betwixt God and Moses but goe vp and dye If he had inuited him to a meale it could not haue beene in a more sociable compellation No otherwise then he said to his other Prophet Vp and eate It is neither harsh nor newes to Gods children to heare or thinke of their departure To them death hath lost his horror through acquaintance Those faces which at first sight seemed ill-fauoured by oft viewing grow out of dislike They haue so oft thought and resolued of the necessity and of the issue of their dissolution that they cannot hold it either strange or vnwelcome He that hath had such entire conuersation with God cannot feare to goe to him Those that know him not or know that he will not know them no maruell if they tremble This is no small fauour that God warnes Moses of his end he that had so oft made Moses of his counsel what he meant to do with Israel would not now do ought with himselfe without his knowledge Expectation of any maine euent is a great aduantage to a wise heart If the fiery chariot had fetcht away Elias vnlookt for wee should haue doubted of the fauour of his transportation It is a token of iudgement to come as a theefe in the night God forewarnes one by sicknesse another by age another by his secret instincts to prepare for their end If our hearts bee not now in readinesse we are worthy to be surprized But what is this I heare Displeasure mixed with loue and that to so faithfull a seruant as Moses He must but see the Land of Promise he shall not tread vpon it because he once long agoe sinned in distrusting Death though it were to him an entrance into glory yet shall be also a chastisement of his infidelity How many noble proofes had Moses giuen of his courage and strength of faith How many gracious seruices had he done to his Master Yet for one act of distrust he must bee gathered to his Fathers All our obediences cannot beare out one sinne against God How vainly shall we hope to make amends to God for our former trespasses by our better behauiour when Moses hath this one sinne laid in his dish after so many and worthy testimonies of his fidelitie When we haue forgotten our sinnes yet God remembers them and although not in anger yet he cals for our arrerages Alas what shall become of them with whom God hath ten thousand greater quarrels that amongst many millions of sinnes haue scattered some few acts of formall seruices If Moses must die the first death for one fault how shall they escape the second for sinning alwayes Euen where God loues he will not winke at sinne and if he doe not punish yet he will chastise How much lesse can it stand with that eternall Iustice to let wilfull sinners escape iudgement It might haue beene iust with God to haue reserued the cause to himselfe and in a generalitie to haue told Moses that his sinne must shorten his iourney but it is more of mercy then iustice that his children shall know why they smart That God may at once both iustifie himselfe and humble them for their particular offences Those to whom he meanes vengeance haue not the sight of their sinnes till they be past repentance Complaine not that God vpbraides thee with thy old sinnes whosoeuer thou art but know it is an argument of loue whereas concealement is a fearefull signe of a secret dislike from God But what was that noted sinne which deserues this late exprobation and shall cary so sharpe a chastisement Israel murmured for water God bids Moses take the rod in his hand and speak to the rock to giue water Moses in stead of speaking and striking the rocke with his voice strikes it with the rod Here was his sinne An ouer-reaching of his commission a fearefulnesse and distrust of the effect The rod he knew was approued for miracles he knew not how powerfull his voyce might be therefore hee did not speake but strike and he strooke twice for failing And now after these many yeares hee is striken for it of God It is a dangerous thing in diuine matters to goe beyond our warrant Those sinnes which seeme triuiall to men are haynous in the account of God Any thing that fauours of infidelity displeases him more then some other crimes of morality Yet the mouing of the Rod was but a diuerse thing from the mouing of the tongue it was not contrary He did not forbid the one but he commanded the other This was but acrosse the streame not against it where shall they appeare whose whole
God moued and Satan moued Neither is it any excuse to Satan or Dauid that God moued neither is it any blemish to God that Satan moued The rulers sinne is a punishment to a wicked people though they had many sinnes of their owne whereon God might haue grounded a iudgement yet as before he had punisht them with dearth for Sauls sinne so now hee will not punish them with plague but for Dauids sinne If God were not angry with a people hee would not giue vp their gouernors to such euils as whereby he is prouoked to vengeance and if their gouernours be thus giuen vp the people cannot be safe The body drownes not whiles the head is aboue the water when that once sinkes death is neere Iustly therefore are we charged to make prayers and supplications as for all so especially for those that are in eminent authoritie when we pray for our selues we pray not alwayes for them but we cannot pray for them and not pray for our selues the publique weale is not comprised in the priuate but the priuate in the publique What then was Dauids sinne He will needs haue Israel and Iudah numbred Surely there is no malignity in numbers Neither is it vnfit for a Prince to know his owne strength this is not the first time that Israel hath gone vnder a reckoning The act offends not but the mis-affection The same thing had bin commendably done out of a Princely prouidence which now through the curiositie pride mis-confidence of the doer proues hainously vicious Those actions which are in themselues indifferent receiue either their life or their bane from the intentions of the agent Moses numbreth the people with thankes Dauid with displeasure Those sinnes which carie the smoothest foreheads and haue the most honest appearances may more prouoke the wrath of God then those which beare the most abomination in their faces How many thousand wickednesses passed through the hands of Israel which wee men would rather haue branded out for a iudgement then this of Dauids The righteous Iudge of the world censures sinnes not by their ill lookes but by their foule hearts Who can but wonder to see Ioab the Saint and Dauid the trespasser No Prophet could speake better then that man of blood The Lord thy God increase the people an hundredfold more then they be and that the eyes of my Lord the King may see it but why doth my Lord the King desire this thing There is no man so lewd as not to be somtimes in good moods as not to dislike some euill contrarily no man on earth can be so holy as not sometimes to ouerlash It were pitie that either Ioab or Dauid should be tryed by euery act How commonly haue we seene those men ready to giue good aduice to others for the auoiding of some sins who in more grosse outrages haue not had grace to counsell their owne hearts The same man that had deserued death from Dauid for his treacherous cruelty disswade Dauid from an act that caried but a suspition of euill It is not so much to be regarded who it is that admonisheth vs as what hee brings Good counsell is neuer the worse for the foule cariage There are some dishes that wee may eate euen from sluttish hands The purpose of sinne in a faithfull man is odious much more the resolution Notwithstanding Ioabs discreet admonition Dauid will hold on his course and will know the number of the people onely that he may know it Ioab and the Captaines addresse themselues to the worke In things which are not in themselues euill it is not for subiects to dispute but to obey That which authoritie may sinne in commanding is done of the inferiour not with safety onely but with praise Nine moneths and twenty dayes is this generall muster in hand at last the number is brought in Israel is found eight hundred thousand strong Iudah fiue hundred thousand the ordinary companies which serued by course for the royall guard foure and twenty thousand each moneth needed not be reckoned the addition of them with their seuerall Captaines raises the summe of Israel to the rate of eleuen hundred thousand A power able to puffe vp a carnall heart but how can an heart that is more then flesh trust to an arme of flesh Oh holy Dauid whither hath a glorious vanity transported thee Thou which once didst sing so sweetly Put not your trust in Princes nor in the sonne of man for that is no helpe in him His breath departeth and hee returneth to his earth then his thought perish Blessed is he that hath the God of Iacob for his helpe whose hope is in the Lord his God How canst thou now stoope to so vnsafe and vnworthy a confidence As some stomackfull horse that will not be stopt in his career with the sharpest â—it but runnes on heaâ—ily till he come to some wall or ditch and their stands still and trembles so did Dauid All the disswasions of Ioab could not restraine him from his intended course almost ten moneths doth hee runne on impetuously in a way of his owne rough and dangerous at last his heart smites him the conscience of his offence and the feare of iudgement haue fetcht him vpon his knees O Lord I haue sinned exceedingly in that I haue done therefore now Lord I beseech thee take away the trespasse of thy seruant for I haue done very foolishly It is possible for a sinne not to bait onely but to soiourne in the holiest soule but though it soiourne there as a stranger it shall not dwell there as an owner The renued heart after some rouings of errour will once ere ouer-long returne home to it selfe and fall out with that ill guide wherewith it was misled and with it selfe for being misled and now it is resolued into teares and breathes forth nothing but sighs and confessions and deprecations Here needed no Nathan by a parabolicall circumlocution to fetch in Dauid to a sight and acknowledgement of his sinne the heart of the penitent supplyed the Prophet no others tongue could smite him so deepe as his owne thoughts But though his reines chastised him in the night yet his Seer scourges him in the morning Thus saith the Lord I offer thee three things choose thee which of them I shall doe vnto thee But what shall we say to this When vpon the Prophets reproofe for an adultery clokeâ— with murder Dauid did but say I haue sinned it was presently returned God hath put away thy sinne neither did any smart follow but the death of a mis-begotten infant and now when he voluntarily reproued himselfe for but a needlesse muster and sought for pardon vnbidden with great humiliation God sends him three terrible scourges Famine Sword or Pestilence that he may choose with which of them he had rather to bleed he shall haue the fauour of an election not of a remission God is more angred with a spirituall and immediate affront offered to his Majestie in
then thy fathers and thou shalt liue to honour him Toile and sorrow haue lulled the Prophet asleepe vnder his Iuniper tree that wholesome shade was well chosen for his repose whiles death was called for the cozen of death comes vnbidden The Angell of God waits on him in that hard lodging no wildernesse is too solitarie for the attendance of those blessed spirits As hee is guarded so is hee awaked by that Messenger of God and stirred vp from his rest to his repast whiles hee slept his breakfast is made ready for him by those spirituall hands There was a cake baked on the coales and a cruse of water at his head Oh the neuer-ceasing care and prouidence of the Almigâ—tie not to bee barred by any place by any condition when meanes are wanting to to vs when we are wanting to our selues when to God euen then doth hee follow vs with his mercy and cast fauours vpon vs beyond against expectation What varietie of purueyance doth he make for his seruant One while the Rauens then the Sareptan now the Angell shall be his Cator none of them without a miracle Those other prouided for him waking this sleeping O God the eye of thy prouidence is not dimmer the hand of thy power is not shorter onely teach thou vs to serue thee to trust thee Needs must the Prophet eate and drinke and sleepe with much comfort whiles hee saw that hee had such a guardian attendant purueiour and now the second time is he raised by that happy touch to his meale and his way Arise and eate because the iourney is too great for thee What needed hee to trauell further sith that diuine power could as well protect him in the Wildernesse as in Horeb What needed hee to eate since hee that meant to sustaine him forty dayes with one meale might as well haue sustained him without it God is a most free Agent neither will be tied to the termes of humane regularities It is enough that hee knowes and approues the reasons of his owne choice and commands once in forty dayes and nights shall Elijah eate to teach vs what God can doe with little meanes and but once to teach vs what hee can doe without meanes Once shall the Prophet eate Man liues by bread and but once Man liues not by bread onely but by euery word that proceeds out of the mouth of God Moses Elijah our Sauiour fasted each of them forty daies and forty nights the three great fasters met gloriously in Tabor I finde not where God euer honoured any man for feasting It is abstinence not fulnesse that makes a man capable of heauenly visions of diuine glory The iourney was not of it selfe so long the Prophet tooke those wayes those houres which his heart gaue him In the very same Mount where Moses first saw God shall Elijah see him one and the same caue as is very probable was the receptacle to both It could not bee but a great confirmation of Elijah to renue the sight of those sensible monuments of Gods fauour and protection to his faithfull predecessor Moses came to see God in the Bush of Horeb God came to finde Elijah in the Caue of Horeb What doest thou here Elijah The place was directed by a prouidence not by a command Hee is hid sure enough from Iezebel hee cannot bee hid from the all-seeing eye of God Whither shall I goe from thy Spirit or Whither shall I fly from thy presence If I ascend vp into Heauen thou art there if I make my bed in Hell behold thou art there If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the vttermost parts of the Sea euen there shall thine hand finde me and thy right hand shall hold mee Twice hath God propounded the same question to Eljiah Once in the heart once in the mouth of the Caue Twice doth the Prophet answer in the same words Had the first answer satisfied the question had not beene re-demanded Now that sullen answer which Elijah gaue in the darknesse of the Caue is challenged into the Light not without an awfull preface The Lord first passeth by him with the terrible demonstrations of his power A great strong wind rent the Mountaines and brake the Rocks in pieces That tearing blast was from God God was not in it So was hee in it as in his other extraordinarie workes not so in it as by it to impart himselfe to Elijah it was the vshier not the cariage of God After the winde came an Earthquake more fearfull then it That did but moue the aire this the earth that beat vpon some prominences of earth this shooke it from the Center After the earth-quake came a fire more fearfull them either The other affected the eare the feeling but this lets in horrour into the Soule by the eye the quickest and most apprehensiue of the senses Elijah shall see Gods mighty power in the earth aire fire before hee heare him in the soft voice all these are but boistrous harbingers of a meeke and still word In that God was Behold in that gentle and mild breath there was omnipotency there was but powerfulnesse in those fierce representations There is not alwaies the greatest efficacie where is the greatest noise God loues to make way for himselfe by terrour but he conuayes himselfe to vs in sweetnesse It is happy for vs if after the gusts and flashes of the Law wee haue heard the soft voice of Euangelicall mercy In this very mount with the same horror God had deliuered his Law to Moses and Israel It is no maruell if Elijah wrap his face in his Mantle His obedience drawes him forth to the mouth of the Caue his feare still hides his head Had there not beene much courage in the Prophets faith hee had not stood out these affrightfull fore-runners of the diuine presence though with his face couered The very Angels doe no lesse before that all-glorious Maiestie then vaile themselues with their wings Farre be it from vs once to thinke of that infinite and omnipotent Deitie without an humble awfulnesse Feare changes not the tenour of Elijahs answer Hee hath not left one word behinde him in the Caue I haue beene very iealous for the Lord God of Hosts because the children of Israel haue forsaken thy Couenant throwne downe thine Altars and slaine thy Prophets with the sword and I euen I onely am left and they seeke my life to take it away I heare not a direct answer from the Prophet to the demand of God then hee had said I runne away from the threats of Iezebel and here I hide my head from her malicious pursuit His guiltinesse would not let him speake out all Hee had rather say I haue beene iealous for the Lord God of Hosts then I was fearfull of Iezebel Wee are all willing to make the best of our owne case but what hee wants of his owne accusation hee spends vpon the complaint of Israel Neither doth he more bemone
to see how wilfully godlesse men striue against the streame of their owne hearts hating that which they know good fighting against that which they know diuine What a grosse disagreement is in the message of this Israelitish Captaine Thou man of God the King hath said Come downe If hee were a man of God how hath hee offended and if he haue iustly offended the anointed of God how is hee a man of God And if he be a man of God and haue not offended why should he come down to punishment Here is a kinde confession with a false heart with bloody hands The world is full of these windy courtesies reall cruelties Deadly malice lurkes vnder faire complements and whiles it flatters killeth The Prophet hides not himselfe from the pursuit of Ahaziah rather hee sits where hee may bee most conspicuous on the top of an Hill this band knowes well where to finde him and climbes vp in the fight of Elijah for his arrest The steepnesse of the ascent when they drew neere to the highest reach yeelded a conuenience both of respiration and parle thence doth the Captaine imperiously call downe the Prophet Who would not tremble at the dreadfull answer of Elijah If I be a man of God then let fire come downe from heauen and consume thee and thy fifty What shall wee say That a Prophet is reuengefull that Souldiers suffer whiles a Prophet strikes that a Princes command is answered with imprecation words with fire that an vnarmed Seer should kill one and fiftie at a blow There are few tracks of Elijah that are ordinarie and fit for common feet His actions are more for wonder then for precedent Not in his own defence would the Prophet haue beene the death of so many if God had not by a peculiar instinct made him an instrument of this iust vengeance The diuine iustice finds it meet to doe this for the terrour of Israel that hee might teach them what it was to contemne to persecute a Prophet that they might learne to feare him whom they had forsaken and confesse that heauen was sensible of their insolencies and impieties If not as visibly yet as certainly doth God punish the violations of his ordinances the affronts offered to his messengers still and euer Not euer with the same speed sometimes the punishment ouertakes the act sometimes dogs it afarre off and seizeth vpon the offender when his crime is forgotten Here no sooner is the word out of Elijahs mouth then the fire is out of Heauen Oh the wonderfull power of a Prophet There sits Elijah in his coorse Mantle on the top of the Hill and commands the heauens and they obey him Let fire fall downe from heauen Hee needs no more but say what hee would haue done The fire fals down as before vpon the sacrifice in Carmel so now vpon the Souldiers of Ahaziah What is man in the hands of his Maker One flash of lightning hath confumed these one and fifty And if all the hosts of Israel yea of the world had beene in their roomes there had needed no other force What madnesse is it for him whose breath is in his nosthrils to contend with the Almightie The time was when two zealous Disciples would faine haue imitated this fierie reuenge of Elijah and were repelled with a checke The very place puts them in minde of the iudgement Not farre from Samaria was this done by Elijah and wisht to bee done by the Disciples So churlish a reiection of a Sauiour seemed no lesse hainous then the endeuour of apprehending a Prophet Lord wilt thou that wee command fire to come downe from heauen and consume them as Elias did The world yeelded but one Elias That which was zeale in him might be fury in another the least variation of circumstance may make an example dangerous presently therefore doe they heare Ye know not of what spirit yee are It is the calling that varies the spirit Elijah was Gods Minister for the execution of so seuere a iudgement they were but the Seruants of their owne impotent anger there was fire in their brests which God neuer kindled farre was it from the Sauiour of men to second their earthly fire with his heauenly Hee came indeed to send fire vpon earth but to warme not to burne and if to burne not the persons of men but their corruptions How much more safe is it for vs to follow the meeke Prophet of the New Testament then that feruent Prophet of the Old Let the matter of our prayers be the sweet dewes of mercy not the fires of vengeance Would not any man haue thought Ahaziah sufficiently warned by so terrible a iudgement Could he chuse but say It is no medling with a man that can speake lightening and death What hee hath said concerning mee is too well approued by what hee hath done to my Messengers Gods hand is with him mine shall not bee against him Yet now behold the rage of Ahaziah is so much the more kindled by this fire from heauen and a more resolute Captain with a second band is send to fetch Elijah to death This man is in haste and commands not onely his descent but his speed Come downe quickly The charge implyes a threat Elijah must looke for force if hee yeeld not There needs no other weapon for defence for offence then the same tongue the same breath God hath fire enough for all the troopes of Ahaziah Immediately doth a sudden flame breake out of heauen and consume this forward Leader and his bold followers It is a iust presage and desert of ruine not to be warned Worthily are they made examples that wil not take them What Marble or Flint is harder then a wicked heart As if Ahaziah would despightfully spit in the face of heauen and wrestle a fall with the Almighty hee will needs yet againe set a third Captaine vpon so desperate an imploiment How hot a seruice must this Commander needs thinke himselfe put vpon Who can but pity his straits There is death before him death behinde him If he goe not the Kings wrath is the messenger of death if he goe the Prophets tongue is the executioner of death Many an hard taske will follow the seruice of a Prince wedded to his passion diuorced from God Vnwillingly doubtlesse and fearfully doth this Captaine climbe vp the Hill to scale that impregnable Fort but now when hee comes neere to the assault the battery that hee layes to it is his prayers his surest fight is vpon his knees Hee went vp and came and fell vpon his knees before Elijah and besought him and said vnto him O man of God I pray thee let my life and the life of these fifty thy seruants bee precious in thy sight he confesses the iudgement that befell his Predecessors the monuments of their destruction were in his eye and the terrour of it in his heart of an enemy therefore he is become a suppliant and sues not so much for the