fasting and many Mark 7. prayers and some thinges may not be graunted at the first hand Mark ye not how Abraham itterateth his Genes 18. prayers for the intercession of Sodom And Elias must pray seauen 1. Reg. 18. times before he obtayneth raine in the dayes of Ahab Ezech. 5. Our conclusion is as the Lord said to his Prophet whether they heare or heare not sonne of man speake thou So say I to you whether he answere or answere not yet let not vs desist from our cries let vs not giue ouer to call vpon him for though he answere not yet he heareth and in hearing he conceiueth the necessitie of our requests The second point to be considered in this assault giuen to this good womans faith is that he answereth not her who cries out to him for an answere not her that wearieth him and his company with her clamorous noyse and pursueth him with a most pitifull petition Was it not a generall proclamation published vnto all Nations without acceptance of persons by the Prophet Whosoeuer calleth Ioel 2. vpon the name of the Lord shall be saued This woman had heard therof and she fastneth the shoote-anker of her faith vpon this promise and hereupon she is bold to crie and call but he answereth her not a word Marke ye not how he offereth his succouring helpe to vs that sought Gen. 3. it not and calls vpon vs for an answere that would not willinglie haue heard him Yea he continueth his heauenly talke with her that wrangled with him at Iacobs well Iohn 4. but heere to a poore carefull and comfortlesse creature vehemently calling vpon him for it he answereth her not a word Indeede the Prophet protesteth Ezech 11. in the name of the Lord saying are ye come to crie after me As I liue saith the Lorde I will not answere you But this was spoken to a people that had despised his callings and regarded not his admonitions So saith he by the Kingly Prophet The wicked shall cry yea euen vnto Psal 18. the Lord but hee shall not heare them But in another place hee singeth The Lord hath looked down from his sanctuary out of his holy heauēs hath hee behelde the earth that hee might heare the mournings of the prisoner and deliuer the children appoynted vnto death Psalme 102 When Artaxerxes sawe Nehemias Nehem. 1. in the sorrow of his heart with a sad countenāce hanging his head he prouoked him to speake and bewray the griefes of his minde and he answered him kingly and kindely to his hearts liking So the princes Ierem. 38. of Israel had taken vp a prouerb in the dayes of Ieremy The King can deny vs nothing but this prouerb seemeth now to be inuerted for this bounteous King of Israel will graunt vs nothing no not so much as an answer of one word Heereby wee are giuen to learne two lessons First that in all the petitions of our harts we remember to giue God this honor that he knoweth when it is fittest both for vs to be heard and for him to answer vs. This had the prophet Dauid very well practized as himselfe singeth Expectans expectaui Dominum Psalme 40. I waited long and sought the Lord and patiently did beare And so the Prophet Esay testifieth that he Esay 28. 16 which beleeueth maketh no hast for as faith is not at her first conception in her fulnes neither is her strength perfected at her first birth The second is that we must not therefore onely continue the exercise of our faithfull prayers because wee woulde preuayle in our petitions but because howsoeuer it falleth out with vs. Yet we know this is the issue and end of our dooings that heerein wee haue doone that which was commaunded vs. Wee haue obeyed the will of our GOD and we haue beene exercised in that which hath beene well pleasing vnto him So then ex congruo what rewarde may wee looke for dooing no more than our necessary duetie or ex condigno neyther dooing it so often nor so well as it ought to be done Whether then wee be not answered vnto out cries or if we be sometime answered as Salomon 1. Reg. 2. 2◠answereth his mother making an vnaduised sute for his brother Adoniah thou hast asked this against his life wee are neuerthelesse to pursue the practize of our prayers submitting the successe thereof to his fauour that both vnderstandeth them and what is fittest for vs. Our conclusion is let vs not bee wearie of well doing for how soeuer they went foorth weeping in Psalme 126 bearing of their pretious seede yet they made at the last a ioyfull returne bringing their sheaues in their bosome The third thing to be looked into in this greeuous assault is that he aunswered her not a worde herein expressing the maner of the Iewes behauiour towards the Canaanites whome as prophane dogges they thought not woorthy to be spoken vnto So I read of one Pallas whom the Emperour Claudius Caesar made a free man who forgetting his owne late seruile estate would neuer vouchsafe to speake to any seruant but when they mooued any question vnto him hee aunswered either by a nodde or by the poynting of his finger or if the busines so required by writing but they coulde neuer wring a worde out of his mouth vnto them Good Lord that the king of Samaria 2. Reg. 6. 27 in that extreame famine being called vppon by an vnnaturall mother for some helpe at the last he giueth her this answere seeing the Lorde dooth not succour thee how can I helpe thee And yet this our King of heauen in whom all health help and succour is heaped vp being so instantly vrged by so faithfull a woman will not vouchsafe her the answer of one woord Doubtlesse this temptation was exceeding greeuous Had hee saide to her but as hee did to blinde Bartimeus What wilt thou that I do to thee Or as he did Luke 19. to Zacheus I will to day dine with thee or but as he said to the Diuell Marke 5. Hold thy peace it had bin some cōfort But behold the heauenly treasury of eternall happinesse is close shutte vp and he answers her not a worde Peter saide very truely of this our sweet Sauior Thou hast the words Iohn 6. of eternal life not only the words of authority to commaunde creation and the wordes of wisedome to direct and order but also the words of grace and health to recouer and cure and the wordes of power to conuert and saue and the words of wonder to confound destroy and yet at this instant he wil not answere with one of all these woordes If it had pleased him to deigne her but that cold answere which Phillip of Macedon sometime gaue to the poore widdow who had been a long suter in a lawfull cause Nondum est mihi otium As yet I haue no leasure yet this might haue breathed
from the testimonie of the diuell who is an vnanswerable witnesse against all their soules that haue sought to him for their succour Our conclusion is in this case he that seeketh for any succour and hee that helpeth by any extraordinarie diuellish meanes to succour any man in his troubles they are both flat Apostatas from the sound faith of our Lord Iesus Christ The second point to be followed is that this seelie woman so weak by nature so base by birth so rude by education brought vp in the midst of an Idolatrous generation should notwithstanding thus crie out vpon a nature aboue all natures yea vppon two natures in one person a perfect God for euer Well said the Oratour there is no nation so barbarous that is not seasoned with the sauour of some god this is that Natura naturans nature her selfe which nurtureth and nuzleth vs in this opinion If there were no other helpes to proue the eternall deitie Yet there is a hellish broode of Atheists proude in their own wits who suffocating all light of nature light of the creatures and the glorious light of the Scriptures dare denie the manifest incomprehensible maiestie of our euer-lyuing God Did the Athenians banish Protagoras because he set out a book doubting whether there were any Gods and may any Christian common wealth honour them that deride the blessed Trinitie These hell hounds should be answered with arguments of bloud which we dailie pray for In the meane time cursed be they with the great curse of death and may it cleaue to them and al their fauorites for euer if they repent not that maintaine so foule a blasphemie The third point to be followed is that this good woman in this her prayer giueth vnto our Lord Iesus the true titles both of his Godhead and of his Manhood for she calleth him her Lord and the sonne of Dauid In that she acknowledgeth him her Lord she belieueth his deitie And in calling him the sonne of Dauid she approueth his humanitie This Lord is the gratious beginning the defensing continuing and finall ending of all creatures This Lord hath a name not to be named a name aboue all names the Lord strong and mightie the Lord of hostes the Lord our light and our saluation our glorie our tower our refuge and our protection for euermore And as he is the Lord euen the the God of our fore-fathers so is he also the sonne of Dauid a man made of our seed lineally descended from the loynes of Iesse a branch of the same bough a twig of the same tree but a righteous not a rotten branch and therefore is there more in him then in all the sonnes of men the posteritie of Adam Our conclusion is Let vs with both eyes behold faithfullie in all our prayers these two natures in one person Christ Iesus his Lordship wherin his might his manhood wherin his mercie may be extended towards vs that so his mercifull might and his might full of mercie may gratiouslie accept of our petitions and gratious requests Amen Tractatus Quartus Verse 22. My daughter is pitteously tormented with a Diuell THIS is the first assault giuen to this good VVomans Faith which is expressed in a most tragicall complaint euery woorde hauing his weight of sorrow Therefore wee will the deeper looke into the greeuousnesse of this temptation by these foure circumstaunces considered therein First that her Daughter Secondly is tormented Thirdly pitteously or greeuously Fourthly by the Diuell In that she complaineth that her daughter a colop of her owne flesh her deare childe weake by nature because a woman fearefull by kind because a maide and as neere to her as the skinne of her browes because her owne daughter Thus wee might stay a while to aggrauate the greeuousnesse of this temptation but it seemeth that this woman was no sooner conuerted to the true religion of the God of Israel but the diuell by and by assaulteth her daughter shee findes him not onely in her owne house in her owne mind in her heart and in her concupiscence but in her owne limbes and in her owne bowelles This was a weary welcom at the first vnto this true religion Shee might very well haue imagined 〈…〉 either this not to be the true religion of God which bringeth such a sowre taste with it at the first rellish or else God regardeth not them who in the trueth of his religion worship him because he suffereth the professors thereof to bee so greeuously tormented But it is vsuall with the Israel of God no sooner to set forward toward the land of Promise according to Gods appoyntment but they shall finde infinite troubles vexations and hinderances in their iorney Man and the Diuell on euery side rising vp against them For in this case the Diuel is like a wilde Tygre robbed of her whelpes raging furiously So we find in the Parable of the Luk. 11. â—4 vncleane spirit cast out of the man he taketh no rest vntill if it be possible he hath made his reentry that the end of that man may be woorse than the beginning And this is that Math. 10. 34. sword which our Sauiour saith he is come to bring into this world Whilest Dauid is at home with his father all is wel with him but when he comes to the battell and specially when hee settes forwarde to fight with Goliah his owne brethren become 1. Samu. 17 his heauie hatefull enemies Our conclusion is happy is hee who through the greeuousnesse of these temptations fastening vpon him whilest hee is yet but as a greene blade in the first spring is not so offended heerewith that hee falleth quite away from the truth of his profession Chrysostome supposeth this childe to haue beene her onely daughter and therefore the temptation was so much the more greeuous for if a man hath but one pretious Iewell which he esteemeth aboue all his riches in the world to loose that or to be robbed of it it were an exceeding griefe to him but to bee dispossessed of it by his greatest ennemy who in despite of him makes a spoyle of it before his face this is a most intollerable iniury When Abraham hath but one Genes 22. sonne the onely hope of the Promise and yet he must sacrifice him this toucheth to the quick and runneth very neare the heart vna salus victis But this womans case by many degrees is more miserable then was Abrahams for he hath an other sonne an Ismael this hath no childe but her onely daughter himselfe sacrificeth his childe The Diuell butchereth her childe He knoweth heerein he pleaseth God shee knoweth that neyther God nor Man is pleased in this deede And yet these bitter pilles and vnsauory sawces are sometimes most wholesome for our crazed soules For Physitions holde there is no surffet more perillous then that which is taken of too much honnie Therefore the dungeon in Babylon 2. Reg. 21. was lesse daungerous to Manasses
Treatise of Diuinitie longer than they shall runningly reade it ouer and marke the mans methode and wit that made it thou heauenly Theologie mayest be perchaunce reuerently regarded whilest thou arte for an houre with sweet vtterance and graue gesture deliuered but if euer thou com to the publike Presse thou shalt feele and finde thy selfe too publickely oppressed by the multitude of these thy malignant ennemies Neuerthelesse I could wish from my heart that in these diuine Discourses if any things iustly mislike the Reader as many things may he woulde remember Saint Paules counsell to followe the trueth in loue considdering as Saint Iames saith In many things we may erre all of vs. The God of all trueth I hope will so blesse these Labours in the trueth that whosoeuer commeth not with a preiudicate contemptuous conceit to the reading of these Conclusions hee shall wyth the strength of this small Cake and wyth the comforte of this colde water walke foorth with Elias euen to Horeb the Mountaine of GOD And thus I leaue thee committing these my first fruites vnto the blessing of Gods holy Spirite who grant vs a right vnderstanding hart wyth a charitable friendly iudgement in all things R. Wilmott The Cananitish womans Conflicts Matth. 15. verse 21. Then Iesus went thence and departed into the Borders of Tyrus and Sydon GOD saith 1. Corin. 1. vers 27. 28. the apostle hath chosen the foolishe things of this world to coÌ„founde the Wise the weake things of the worlde to confound the mighty and vile things which are despised hath God chosen to bring to naught things that are And this hath beene the Lords practise of olde for by Hushai hee 2. Samu. 17. 8 effatuated the counsell of wise Ahithophel by Dauids weake meanes he brought downe mightie Goliah 1. Sam. 17. â—0 and by despised Iphtah vile in the eyes of his brethren he vanquished Iudg. 11. 33. the huge hoste of the Ammonites But if yee desire in one person to see all these three things palpably performed looke then into this history and consider with me howe by this foolish weak and despised woman the Lord hath confounded condemned the wise the mighty and the scornefull generation of the Iewes Therefore saieth Austen this Austin ser 74. memorable historie is neuer to bee forgotten for it serueth as a liuely mirrour of true godlinesse wherein an inuincible faith may be seene lincked to an humbled spirit and I haue obserued in the discourse of this Storie fiue notable pointes for our instruction well woorthy eternall remembrance First the miserable condition of our naturall man which is such as is not onely subiect to the possession of the diuell but also to his extreame torments and that euen in this life Secondly with what faith feare and reuerence Iesus Christ our Sauiour is to be sought after for helpe and succour in this life Thirdly what greeuous temptations and domesticall afflictions remayne for the elect of God sometime to be winnowed withall in this life Fourthly what louely care and carefull loue Parents and Tutors ought to haue of the children committed to their charge as also what a charitable minde euery Christian ought to beare towards his afflicted neighbour Fiftly the triumphant victorie and healthfull rewarde wherewith our inuincible faith is crowned These thinges so excellent so comfortable and so worthy the learning I beseech you accept as friendly as they come from the ground of a kinde heart vnto yee The Euangelist aimeth at these two markes and hitteth them both in this discourse The one is a most euident proof of the deitie in Christ Iesus who with his very woord casteth out vnseene diuells and healeth her without applying any thing vnto her whom he neuer beheld The other is the inuincible faith of a weake woman greeuously afflicted since her conuersion to the true religion of God In these wordes which are vsed as an induction vnto this historie the holy-ghost seemeth orderly to obserue these three descriptions First the Chronographie or description of the time when this miracle was wrought Secondly the Topographie or description of the place where it was wrought Thirdly the Prosopographie or description of the person vpon whom it was wrought Our Sauiour Christ had been in the land of Gennezaret and thither came the Scribes Pharises and Elders of Ierusalem with a great multitude vnto him of purpose to cauell with him and to catch him or his Disciples in a snare But when he had roundly threatned them with the iudgements of God and soundly laid open vnto them the naturall filthinesse of their owne harts then saith the Euangelist Iesus went thence that is from Genezaret as appeareth and came into the coasts of Tire and Sidon Thus may we read that our Sauiour Iesus Christ was twice forced to depart and leaue their companie amongst whom he was working the will of his father once was from the Gaderenes and that was because of Mark 5. 17. their Couetousnes for they feared the loosing of their Swine An other was in this place from the learned of Ierusalem because of the contempt hardnes of their harts so that these two things will enforce Christ Iesus to depart from our companie and to leaue our coasts Couetousnes Contempt the one sauoureth too much of grosse Idolatrie and the other smelleth of prophane Atheisme Two things which the Lord abhorreth Therefore he saith for his wicked couetousnes I am angry with him I Esay 57. 17 haue hid my selfe am gone away And of the three caueats in the gospell which our Sauiour Christ hath Luke 12 15. giuen vnto vs this is one Take heed and beware of Couetousnes for though a man haue abundance yet his life or safetie standeth not in his riches Hereuppon dooth the Authour Hebr. 13. 5. of the Epistle to the Hebrewes exhort all Christians that their conuersation be without Couetousnes desiring them to be content with that they haue for saith he the Lord hath said Non deseram neque destituam I will not faile thee nor forsake thee The Lion they say cannot endure the sauour of an hogge but whether it be so or no this I am sure of The victorious Lion of the tribe of Iuda cannot abide the smell of Couetousnes The other thing that driues Christ Iesus our Sauiour out of our companie and Countrie is contempt hardnes of heart which is alwaies the fore-runner of confusion And of all kind of people there are none so much taxed with this fault as Pharises Lawyers and Hypocrites of whom the holy ghost saith They despised the counsel of God against Luk. 7. 30. them selues But to meet with the contemptuous despisers the Lord enacted a very good statute that is this He that blasphemeth the Lord or speaketh presumptuously or coÌ„temptuously Numb 15. 31 of his holy word whether he be borne in the land or a stranger he shall die the death The reason is added
because he despised the word of the Lord Therefore doth the Apostle S. Paul exhort the Thessalonians neither to despise prophecying 1. Thess 4. 8. nor the Prophet for saith he he that despiseth these things despiseth not man but God and in this respect our Sauior Christ warranteth the departure of his Disciples Math. 10. 14 from that place and from that people which neither reuerently receiue them nor regard their words protesting it shall be easier for the land of Sodom and Gomorra in the day of iudgement then for that place and people Thus you see what driueth Christ Iesus our Lord out of our companie coasts and ye know when the Prince remoueth all the honour of the court departeth with him So when our Sauiour Christ departeth from vs all his graces and heauenly blessings take their fare-well of vs for when the Lord departeth from Saul by and by an euill spirit 1. Samu. 16. 14. possesseth vexeth him As when the Sun is fallen from our Horizon darknes couereth the face of the whole earth Our conclusion is let vs detest Couetousnes and beware of contempt for where these two infectious plagues are nourished our Lord Iesus Christ cannot abide to stay within their noysome sauours Now followeth the second description of the place wherunto our Lord Iesus went He departed into the coasts of Tirus and Sidon These two Cities were great sea townes or markets of exchange mightilie frequented rich and populous yea and famous to the verie dayes of S. Ierome they were scituated in the region of Phoenitia bordering vpon the vttermost parts of Palestine determining Iosua 19. 28. 29. the boundes of the try be of Ashur southward Into these coasts that is into the borders or suburbes of these cities came Christ Iesus at this time But it may be asked wherfore our Sauiour should goe to this place Obiectio whereas he had heretofore charged his Disciples not to go into the way Matth. 10. 5 of the Gentiles neither to enter into the Citie of the Samaritans It may be answered First it was Responsio not a fit season for them as yet to vndertake so great a labour but vnto him now was the hower and fulnes of the season come to do his fathers will for now when he saw this region began to be white vnto the Iohn 4. 35. haruest therfore was the sickle to be thrust in Againe he would not haue them to go into the way of the Gentiles to preach or to bring vnto them the glad tydings of the Gospell Neither doth he come hither at this time to that purpose but as Saint Marke hath it he came to be alone Mark 7. 24. neither would he that any man should haue knowen of his comming But there are two speciall reasons to be giuen which moued our Sauiour to go to this place The one is saith S. Chrysost Palam aperta The other is secreta incognita The one is plainely to be gathered which was to refresh and ease himselfe after his wearisome labors amongst the Iewes for this cause he entred into a priuate house in the Suburbs to be obscure for a season in a place where he was not knowen prefiguring thereby in a mysterie the ruinous fall of the synagog and the beautifull erection of the church of God amongst the Gentiles But if this weake body wherewith our sauior Christ was clothed had neede of the refreshing of his tyred members what vnnaturall men are they that will not alowe to his ministers men of as weak constitution as our sauiour Christ was their christian recreation The Apostle saint Paule as hee chargeth vs to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 labourers so also he woulde haue vs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 louers of our labours but he that is tired like an horse in the mill or an oxe in the plough cannot long loue his labours and then woe be to him that dooth the worke of the Lorde Ierem. 48. vers 10. negligently Our conclusion is It is both godly and lawfull for the minister of the Gospell when hee feeleth himselfe weary in his holy labours to refresh himselfe with some christian recreation so it be doone according to our Sauiours example in this place discreetely The other reason which moued our Sauiour at that time to come to these coasts was vnknowen to the world but well knowne to him before whom the extreame minute of the last houre is present and that was to bring to light to the publike view of the whole worlde the wonderfull faith that was in this weake woman so rudely so idolatrously and so ignorantly brought vp and yet nowe in the first fruites of her knowledge so vehemently so religiously and so learnedly conflicting with Christ Iesus Wherefore as Elias had a hartier welcome of the poore widdow of Zareptah then of 1. Reg. 17. Ahab and all his counsellors so are the mercies of our sauior Christ more magnified by this miserable woman than by all the Rabbies of the Iews for such is the blessed virgines Luk. 1. 53. song He hath filled the hungry with good things and the rich he hath sent emptie away But let vs therein considder the wonderful secret of Gods wisedom whilest our Lord Iesus Christ walked openly in the land of Iewrie amongest the peculiar people vnto whome hee was specially sent alluring all men vnto him hee findeth but few that regarde his proffered grace but so soone as hee steppes out of Iewry towarde the Gentiles desiring not to be knowen behold how quickely he is found out and his louing kindenesse most thankefully receiued So falleth it foorth with vs euen in these dayes marke yee not howe the sweete secrets of Gods word are hidne from the wise Math. 11. 25. et ver 5. and prudent of this worlde And are reuealed vnto babes and sucklings and the poore very ioyfully and greedily receiue the gladde tidings of the Gospell such is the diuine wisedome pleasure and will of our heauenly Father to him bee glorie Amen ¶ Haec rerum capita in hoc Tractatu vt in reliquis in longiorem orationem dilata auditoribus applicata fuêre quae nunc de industria solummodo capitulata abbreuiata sunt Tractatus secundus Verse 22. And behold a woman a Canaanite came out of the same coastes and cryed saying WE are now come to the third description of the person vppon whome or for whose sake this same miracle was wrought In the which description wee haue orderly these foure poyntes to be examined First that the Euangelist sayeth she was a Woman Secondly a Cananite or a Cananitish woman Thirdly shee came out of the same coasts Fourthly she cryed saying c. But first in that the Holy-ghost vseth this watchwoorde Beholde which is a word of admiration and attention Wheresoeuer you meete with it throgh the whole Scriptures of God noting some rare and wonderfull matter well worthy the obseruation