sinners vnto speedy and serious repentance and amendement of life Moreouer of all other sinnes which wee ought to repent of namely and especially of crueltie and of crueltie against the Lord Iesus This was the crime among many others which principally prouoked God against his owne people and Citie euen for that they crucified the Lord of glory and put to death that iust One after they had rayled and spitted on him and beaten and shamefully entreated him howbeit this sinne of crueltie against Iesus I doubt it is little thought on or mistrusted to be amongst vs because Iesus is long since gone from vs whereas there be sundry wayes how men may now doe often fall into it For euen they which let slip out of minde the bloodshed of Iesus and forgetting they were once purged by it from their old sinnes doe liue securely and presumptuously in a sinnefull course being worldly and prophane what else doe they but what lyeth in them cause Iesus to bleed afresh and againe crucifie him making voyd the force and fruit of his passion to themselues Secondly all distrustfull persons which haue wauering mindes and doubt through vnbeliefe and though Christ haue suffered for sinne and be risen and gone vp into Heauen yet still doe aske how they shall escape death and bee saued what else is this but to call Iesus backe againe vnto the Crosse to bring Christ downe from above Rom. 10.6 Moreouer they which doe in cruell manner oppresse Christians spoyling them wrongfully in goods libertie or life is not this to persecute Christ in his members As it is written Saul Saul why persecutest thou mee Act. 9.4 And what other thing doe they then but kill Christ through vnmercifulnes which doe not feed him when hee is an hungred doe not harbour him when he is harbourlesse and doe not cloath him when he is naked We know that they which doe not these things to the least of Christs they doe it not to himselfe Matth. 25. It is truely sayd of an auncient writer Si non pauisti occidists for the Apostle Iames writeth Chap. 5. of the couetous rich men that they doe kill the iust by vvithdrawing their wages from them vvhereupon they should liue also we perceiue by the vvords of Christ in the Gospell that not to saue life when we may is to destroy and to take away life and the truth is it is a like cruel vtterly to quench ones life by violence or by hardnesse of heart to keepe away that from him whereby hee should preserue life But I vvill shew you a greater cruelty then all this committed against Christ in his members by false prophets by negligent teachers and blinde guides vvhich put the precious soules of Christians in danger to perish euerlastingly eyther by teaching corrupt doctrine or no doctrine eyther by sowing heresies or not by sowing the seed of the word as an vnfaithfull steward doth starue the family by not giuing euery one their portion of meat so are they soule murderers which deny vnto Gods people their appointed food of the word Ezekiel Chap. 13. ver 18. sayth of false prophets that they doe hunt the soules of the people as a wilde beast doth hunt the poore Lambe to kill him It is the sentence of our Sauiour CHRIST Iohn 10. that hirelings doe loue the fleece and lucre better then the soules of the flocke doe come to kill and to destroy Finally it is expresly written in the Prouerbs that there the people doe perish where vision or preaching faileth There is no crueltie to the soule-crueltie which first or last wil call down for wrath vpon the heads of those which are guilty of it If Abels bloud cryed to God for vengeance how much more will the bloud of soules doe it In the first of Daniel when Daniel and the other children of the Iewes desired to be fed vvith pulse and not with meate which came from the Kings table the Eunuch which kept them answered that he durst not For saith he if your faces be not well liked when the King shall looke vpon you he will take away my head from me I doe not say vnto Idoll-Shepheards and dumbe dogges through whose negligence or ignorance the soules of the people haue leanenesse entred into their soules and looke vvith euill fauoured countenances that God will strike their heads from their shoulders but this I dare say auouch that without true repentance he will cast both their boydes and soules into hel and with the euill steward in the Gospell who said in his heart my Master will deferre his comming and so fall to beating his fellow-seruants they shall be cut in pieces and their portion shall be giuen them with Hipocrits and at the last they shall be burned with fire and brimstone O therefore that euill and sloathfull Ministers would consider this in time and lay it neere vnto their heart and repent of their cruelty past and hence forth carrie more mercifull hearts towards the inheritance of Christ yeerning and pittying the spirituall necessities of Christ his sheepe after his owne example Matthew 9. 36. Lastly it is greatly to be wished that all vniust and Sacriligious persons and Patrons who are the direct and effectuall occasions of plunging many soules into endlesse perditions by wrongfully detaining the hyers of Gods labourers by which meanes the Church of Christ is pestered with foolish Ministers and blinde Shepherds that God I say would giue them better mindes and change their bloudy hearts into pittifull hearts to take compassion on their brethren which doe by heapes runne vnto destruction For Christ Iesus will not for euer put it vp to be so cruelly dealt with in his people which be deere and precious to him as the apple of his eye Verse 30. Then shall they begin to say vnto the Mountaines fall on vs c. THese wordes are borrowed out of the Prophet Hosea Chap. 10. ve 8. Where God threatneth vnto sinnefull Idolatrous Samaria such extreme iudgments as they should rather chuse to suffer any violence then to liue and languish in their miseries Here Christ foretelleth the Iewes that this shall be iust their case euen such a miserable condition they should be in as they should seeke death and it should flye from them desire to be crushed by the waight of hils and mountaines rather then to enioy life with such anxitie and vnhappinesse How this was fulfilled is reported by Iosephus a Iew himselfe an eye and eare witnes of all that horrible calamitie that came vpon Ierusalem according to this prediction of Christ. Hardly without abundance of teares can one read the most bitter euils and perplexed afflictions and shifts which partly by famine partly by sword partly by flight running into Caues and Mountaines to hide themselues they were plunged into such an heape of most comfortlesse miseries as the very Romaines their enemies pittied and grieued to looke vpon their desolations Where obserue
of our Text was the euent that followed this mourning namely a graue speech which our Sauiour vttered by occasion thereof ver 28. Which speech is partly prohibitory Weepe not for me secondly exhoriatory but weepe for your selues thirdly comminatory threatning not a few or light ones but an heape of heauy iudgements declared by the sayings of women that had children Blessed c. and of persons of all sexes and degrees then shall they begin c. Fourthly confirmatorie rendring a reason why the Iewes must be so plagued in an allegorical sentence wherein Iesus for his innocencie and good workes which he did is likened to a greene Tree which is both fruitfull and vnfit for burning the Iewes for their wickednesse are compared to a drie tree which is both barren and meet for burning these must in no wise escape the fire of Gods vengeance when his owne Sonne a greene tree is so sore afflicted And there followed him That is came neere vnto him euen behind his backe They bewailed and lamented him that is their inward sorrow was so vehement as it brast out into teares as appeares by vers 28. What women these were that thus followed lamented though not expressed in the Text yet probable to haue beene such as had heard his doctrine of whom reade in Luke 8.2.3 Iohn 11. 1. 2. and elsewhere It is the manner at Executions and Funerals of persons of note and name that many flocke and follow to the place some out of curiositie to heare and see some out of compassion to bewaile and lament their case and their losse So it was here many followed Christ as enemies some as friends out of loue much grieued that a man so innocent and so beneficent vvhich had done so much good to so many by his doctrine miracles should so vniustly suffer First of all note here how manifold testimonie vvas giuen to Iesus of his innocencie from all sorts of persons and creatures Iudas which betrayed him affirmed him to be an innocent Matt. 27.4 Pilate which condemned him not onely with his mouth sayd What euil hath hee done Matth. 27.23 and againe I finde no fault in him at all Iohn 19.4 but by the Ceremonie of washing his hands publikely protested so much Matth. 27.24 His Wife being troubled about Iesus in her dreame sent her husband this message Haue thou nothing to doe with that iust man Matth. 27. 19. The Centurion seeing what hapned sayd Of a truth this was the Son of God Luke 23. Many people and women in our Text by their teares condemne the crueltie of the Priests and Elders and other Iewes and iustifie his integritie Yea not reasonable but euen vnsensible creatures as the Graues which opened the stones which cleft asunder the Sun which was Eclipsed the Ayre darkened all these as with one voyce did proclaime him an innocent person We read of a certaine Heathen Philosopher who vpon the strange accidents about the suffering of Iesus vttered these vvords Aut mundi machina dissoluitur aut Deus naturae patitur This serueth to the confutation and confounding of these wicked Iewes vvhich thought and still do thinke that Christ suffered as an euill doer a seducer or seditious person whereas his death had not taken away sinne from others if any sinne had beene in himselfe It became vs to haue a Sauiour separate from sinners holy vndefiled c. Hebr. 7.26 Secondly here is matter of comfort for all such as see and feele their owne iniquities with godly sorrow being humbled for them and displeased with them because they are sinnes the offences of a iust GOD and the causes of the death of an immaculate Lambe let such reioyce and be glad because Christ hauing no sinnes of his owne to suffer for therefore it must needs be he came to saue such sinners the iust to die for the vniust to seeke vp that vvhich is lost Secondly learne here our Christian dutie which is to mourne and bee touched with heauinesse for the death of godly persons as the Israelites mourned for Iacob a right good man and afterwards for Mosesan vpright Maiestrate and singular Prophet Deut. vlt. Also the Iewes lamented sore for zealous Iosiah that restorer of Religion keeping a yearely remembrance of his death see Lam. 1. ver 2. When Stephen the protomartyr a man full of Fayth and the holy Ghost dyed there was great lamentation made for him Act. 8.2 and Paul hauing said to the Christians at Melitum that they should see his face no more they fell vpon his necke and weptsore Act. 20.38 There be diuers reasons why we ought to bee affected with sorrow vvhen righteous persons are taken from vs. First Gods Commandement 1 Thessal 4.13 Eccles. 7.4 Secondly the example of holy men and of Iesus vveeping at the death of Lazarus Iohn 11.35 Thirdly because the world is continued and spared for the sake of good men Gen. 18. If ten righteous men had beene found in Sodome God had not punished it To Paul Act. 27.24 God gaue all the liues of those vvhich were in the Ship with him Certainely the iust by their prayers stand in the gap and doe stay and hold backe many iudgements that they breake not out and fall downe vpon the heads of the vvicked Againe the taking away of good men is commonly the fore-runner of some calamitie When Lot was out of Sodome then came downe fire from heauen to consume them And after the death of Iosiah Gods people vvere carried captiues into a strange Land Esay saith generally that righteous persons are remoued hence that they may not see the euill to come At a word godly persons be the props and pillers of Church and Common-wealth The meditation of this doctrine will help vs First to make better account of good men to whom wee are so much beholden that we haue them in singular loue honouring a Prophet and a righteous man because they be such Secondly this checketh three sorts of persons First those which hate the iust as Cain hated Abel and thinke them to be the troublers of the world as Achab falsly thought of Elias accusing them as enemies to Kings and States as CHRIST and his Apostles were iudged of putting them to death as euill doers as Antipas was Reu. 3. Secondly those which being shamelesly wicked doe reioyce at the fall of good men esteeming it a great benefit to be without them as they in the Psalme cheered themselues with Dauids sickenesse saying There there so would wee have it hee is downe and shall neuer rise againe Or as the Iewes triumphed when they had nayled IESVS to the Crosse and that hee had giuen vp the Ghost Thirdly such as through senselesse blockishnesse are without all feeling of sorrow when God strikes at such famous Lampes as this lying before vs which long gaue shine vnto the world by his wholesome doctrine and good life Lastly it must prouoke
vs all in such cases to be touched in heart working our selues to grieue at such Iudgements when they happen that wee be not found hardened like those of whom Esay complaineth that vvhen mercifull men vvere taken from the Church they did not consider it in their heart they regarded not that God deliuered them from future euill Esay 57.1 Thus much of the first generall part The lamentation made for Iesus But Iesus turned backe to them Here beginneth the second generall part to wit the Speech or Sermon of Iesus occasioned by this Lamentation And ere wee come to examine the particulars I commend this Lesson as to all Christians yet more specially to the Ministers of Christ that they attend their Calling to the vtmost being prompt to instruct reproue and admonish as long as they may See how Iesus being set in great affliction neare to a cruell death led betweene Souldiers bound with cords yet remembreth his vocation and being sent of God into the vvorld vvith commandement from his Father to teach his will to call men to repentance hee accordingly euen to the last period of his life warneth the Iewes of their sinne and threatneth Gods iudgements for the same and as a Prophet fore-telleth their misery Thus did Ieremie vvhen the King and Princes by the malice of the Priests had cast him into prison yet euen then hee causeth Baruch to vvrite his Prophesies and to reade them to the people Also Paul being prisoner at Rome Act. 28. 31. yet euen there hee taught the kingdome of God by mouth to such as came to him and remembring Gods Word was vnbound wrote many diuine Epistles as that to Galat. Ephes. Philip. Collos. 2 to Timothy c. to the great edification of Gods Church present and future The Martyres in Q. Maries dayes Ridly Bradford Rogers c. being barred from preaching Christ out of the Pulpit yet from the prison-house wrote many godly Letters to the Brethren First these examples serue to condemne such as in health prosperitie and libertie doe grosly forget and foreslow the vvorke of their Calling whose end must be like vnto his that buryed his Talent in the earth He was bound c. Secondly they must be as a spur in the sides of good Ministers to quicken them to continue to walke in the worke of their Calling so long and so farre as they can knowing that there will be an end and their labour in the Lord shall not be in vaine And said weepe not for mee but c. This which is here translated for mee and for your selues in the originall it is read vpon me and vpon your selues that is to say weepe not for my sake but for your owne cause which prohibition is not so to be vnderstood as if Iesus had simply disallowed their weeping for him but in some respect onely for these that vvept for him vvere ignorant of the true cause of his death which they ascribed vnto his owne infirmitie and to the violence of his enemies as if he had beene compelled to dye and could not haue resisted their rage whereas none did take away from him his life he laid it downe of himselfe partly out of the great loue that hee bare to mankinde and partly to declare the obedience toward his heauenly Father vvho had appointed to redeeme the vvorld by the death of his Sonne Rom. 5. 8. Philip. 2.8 Christ therefore vvorthily blamed these Mourners weeping for him as for one enforced to dye against his will for hee dyed most voluntarily suffering death because hee would not as one that could not auoid it hauing Legions of Angels at commandement Againe this particle not is found in Scripture to signifie not alwayes an absolute but a comparatiue denyall sometimes as in Hosea Chap. 6. 6. I will haue Mercy not Sacrifice that is I desire Mercy rather then Sacrifice Likewise in Psalme 51.16.17 1 Cor. 1.17 Ephes. 6.12 and often else-where so it is here not for me but for your selues that is more and rather for your selues then for me who shall reape no losse and damage but much gaine by my death after which I shall rise againe and ascend into heauen and there raigne in glory for euer but vnto you the Iewes my death shall not be the end but the beginning of sorrows therefore mourne for the horrible Iudgements hanging ouer your owne heads and weepe not on my behalfe whose death is to my selfe both aduantage and aduancement Hence wee may learne how hard a thing it is euen for the godly to keepe a measure eyther in ioy and gladnesse or in sorrow and heauinesse but eyther wee shall vveepe more then vve should or lesse or for what cause vvee ought not so vveake and vnable vvee are to gouerne our passions Therefore vve ought to watch and pray to God to moderate them by his good Spirit If Moses that man of God and Paul that chosen vessell vvith Barnabas that Sonne of Comfort vvere foyled by their passions if Iob and Iacob so much yeelded to heauinesse as the one cursed his birth-day and the other refused to be comforted what cause haue others farre inferiour to them in graces to mistrust their owne frailetie and to flye to the throne of Grace both for pardon of all excesse in affections and for power to stay them in compasse for time to come Verse 29. For behold the dayes will come when they shall say c. THese be words of Propheticall commination or threatning prediction fore-telling the most grieuous and great tribulations which are noted and set forth by the speeches of Mothers in respect of their Children for whom they should be so distressed and perplexed as to doe contrary to custome and reason For Children and the fruit of the vvombe are a reward and heritage of God both for an ornament to their Parents as Oliue branches set about their Table Psal. 128.4 And for their adiument and defence being as sharp arrowes drawne out of a quiuer wherewith the enemy in the gate is repelled therefore such were accustomed to be held happy which had their quiuer full of them Psal. 127.4.5 Contrariwise barrennesse among the Iewes was vvont to be accounted a malediction Whence it came that Rachel did so take on with Iacob for a childe vvhen shee vvas barren Gen. 30. And that Sarah did so much couet a childe as shee gaue her Maid Agar to Abraham to vvipe away the infamy of sterilitie Hannah likewise 1 Sam. 1.7 vvept and mourned vnder this curse of an vnfruitfull vvombe yet loe such vnheard of and intollerable calamities should light vpon the Iewes for murthering Christ their Sauiour as childing and fruitfull women should pronounce them happy which were childlesse and reckon it their greatest vnhappinesse to haue Sons and Daughters and that for these considerations partly because when those euill and wofull times should come mothers should be grieued not so much for themselues
with the hurt done vnto the truth than vnto himselfe Moreouer his constant faith continuing to trust in God euen then when he did more then kill him for death was more to be chused then his tedious calamitie his fixed hope and feruent calling vpon that God which so frowned vpon him and strooke him so rigorously his plentifull prayers for his Wife and Children that they might be kept vpright and vnspotted in this peruerse and slippery age His godly comforts and counsell to his Wife to depend vpon Gods prouidence to bring vp his Children well in the knowledge of Christ also to his children that they would truely and greatly feare God least together with an earthly parent they lost their heauenly father and so have no father at all His religious education of his children out of a great desire that they might serue God either in Church or Common-wealth as God should dispose them These his graces doe strongly and sufficiently testifie what a good Christian he was Which yet was further manifested by his singular humility behauing himself lowly in an high estate so farre from being high-minded or wise in his own eyes as he did euer thinke meanely of his owne gifts which were rich and many when he was very ready both to speake and iudge reuerently of other mens gifts being sometime both poore and few Now what a good Deuine hee was I referre you to these proofes following First to his learned iudicious expositions and Meditations vttered in this Church in a frequent and learned assembly vpon sundry Texts of holy Scripture as namely vpon the whole 8. Psalme and 127. Psal. and Math. 7. verse 24. to the end of the Chapter and 1 Cor. 14. and on the Epistle of Christ sent to the Church of Laodicea Reu. 3. but especially on 2. Thes. Chapter 2. from verse 6. to the end wherein he demonstratiuely and substantially proued the Papacy to be Antichristianity there so liuely and fully described by Paul Further whereas the Apostle saith that to euery man is giuen his proper gift of God to some after this manner to another after that Gods seruants and children amongst many graces haue some one gift which doth chiefly grace them whereby they excell both others and themselues I may truly say and let it be said without offence that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of this our Brother was a speciall sleight and faculty in reuealing and preaching Christ which hee did with that dextoritie as sundry both godly and learned persons haue heard him not onely with affection but with admiration also Thirdly the Vniuersitie his mother conferred vpon him the greatest dignitie which she had to giue vnto her children and that not without due desert on his part as some of the Heads of houses who heard his Diuinitie Acts or exercises haue reported and affirmed them to haue beene performed with generall approbation and great credit Whereof I doe not meruaile for certainly hee was a very great student and of long continuance hee was well seene and expert in the three languages namely in the holy tongue the language of Canaan by the benefit whereof as also by much reading of our moderne writers together with most learned interpreters both euangelicall and pontificiall namely Vatablus Arias Montanus Tremelius Beza and others hee became an excellent Text-man and so an excellent Diuine Bonus enim Textuarius est bonus Theologus Hee was conuersant with good fruit in the ancient Fathers acquainted himselfe with the Scholemen also Not aboue sixe dayes before his death hee shewed himselfe in conference as ready in Schole-distinctions as if he had but newly come out of the Schooles Hee gaue a taste how good a Pastor he was both by personall paines in preaching the Word vnto his flocke plainely without ostentation of wit or learning Also by his prouision of a well qualified man to be his assistant in that waighty charge And as a good Scribe taught to the kingdome of GOD hee would haue drawne things both old and new more plentifully out of his store if he had recouered his health againe for he often wished that hee might liue to preach Christ lamenting it that hee was not able But he hath serued his time and finished his course and his flocke hath lost a skilfull Shepheard his Wife a louing Husband his Children a kind Father his Seruants a milde and iust Master his acquaintance a fast friend his reuerend Brethren a faithfull fellow and companion This is all that I haue to say of him such as loue him will thinke it too little and such as did not will iudge it too much but lesse I could not say and more I neede not say The summe of all is Qualis vita finis ita hee liued well and dyed well full of dayes in a good age in the fauour both of God and good men God be praised that hath happily ended his painfull pilgrimage and the same God giue you all grace to come after him in the same steps of faith and patience wherein he went before Amen A SERMON Preached in the Cathedrall Church of Canterbury Octob. 12. 1613. Luke 23. vers 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. And there followed him a great multitude of people and of women which women bewailed and lamented him c. THese words are a part of that peerelesse and matchlesse story concerning the pretious passion of our blessed Sauiour And whereas both before and after this text many and sundry reproachfull and painefull things are reported to be done vnto him Yet this present parcell of scripture doth mention some honourable things that did befall him about his death as namely the lamentation of diuers women and good people in witnesse of his innocencie that he died a iust and good a man in which behalfe they bewayled him and not for the cause of his miserie alone for then they vvould haue mourned for the two theeues that vvere crucified with him Againe the horrible iudgement threatned here by Iesus vnto the Iewes for putting him so cruelly to death is an euidence of his vprightnesse and how deere and beloued hee was vnto God his father howsoeuer for a time hee did forsake him that hee might suffer afflictiue things to merit the redemption of mankinde This Text is deuided into two generall parts the first is a report of a lamentation set forth by three circumstances first of the persons that mourned vvho were certaine people and women which came after him euen at the heeles secondly of the person for whom to wit Iesus thirdly the measure of their sorrow which was very great like to the sorrow of a mother that laments at the funerall of her onely begotten childe as the Greeke word here vsed doth import funerall sorrow and as the Prophet Zachary did foretell in Chap. 12. ver 10. of his prophesie they shall lament him as one lamenteth for her onely sonne The other part
as for their Children vvhose harmes vse to moue the bowels of tender mothers very greatly no compassions to the compassions of a mother toward her distressed babes 1 Kings 3. 26. Partly for that a thing horible to thinke of more direfull to act it many mothers through rage of hunger occasioned by famine in time of the Seige should be forced to broyle and eate their owne children for food to saue their liues with the death of their sweet infants as it hapned by Iosephus report Lastly Children would be a great hinderance and clogge as it vvere at the heeles of their Parents to stay their flight by which they otherwise might haue preserued themselues as some did Wherevpon our Sauiour vttereth Mat. 24. a vvoe to such women as should be with childe or giue sucke in those dayes The cause of all these terrible Iudgements were amongst other sinnes of the Iewes as their infidelitie hypocrisie contempt of the word hardnesse of heart yet especially the extreame sauage vnthankefulnesse and barbarous crueltie in putting causlesse to a shamefull death the innocent man Iesus hauing had Prophets and iust men sent vnto them some they reuiled others they beat and ill entreated God at last sending his owne and onely Sonne him they cast out of the Vineyard and slew therefore the Lord of the Vineyard waxed hot vvith indignation and vvhetting his sword came against those Husband-men in his fierce vvrath and destroyed them with a vvoderfull destruction some fortie yeeres after the Passion of our Lord for the vvhich Christ admonisheth these people that bewayled him telling them they had greater reason to lament their owne heauie case and the affliction of their Children then to vveepe for his cause From hence wee haue sundry things for our instruction and admonition First of all we may hereby discouer the errour of such men as though there vvere two Gods one of the olde Testament and another of the new and that the God of the new Testament of the twaine vvas the milder whereas there is but one onely God and the same alwayes like to himselfe God is euer but one both for nature and for will as extreamely hating and punishing sin now vnder the Gospell as he vvas vvont to doe vnder the Law nay more extreamly because now hee hath afforded greater grace and afforded more meanes against sinne All the olde Testament cannot yeeld an example of such seueritie in punishing sinne as here is threatned touching the destruction of Ierusalem and downe-fall of the Iewes No sorrow vvas like their sorrow nor no plague vvas like vnto their plague Therefore let all men greatly feare the diuine Iustice and he vvarned to take heed how they offend and prouoke it Secondly vvee may obserue the force and poyson of sinne when it is continued in impenitently it is able to turne the nature of things to change blessings into cursings and comforts into plagues and confusions What greater earthly blessings then the fruit of the wombe Children are called a treasure giuen from God Gold and Siluer cannot purchase it Kings and Princes haue desired to haue them and could not yet through sinne these impenitent Iewes were brought to this passe through their vvickednesse I say as that they accounted their Children accurst and their greatest miserie the fruit of their vvombe Wonder not at this for seeing obstinacy in sinne can make God of a Father to be a Iudge Christ of a Sauiour and corner-stone to support to be a stone of offence to stumble at the Gospell of the sauour of life to be a sauour of death the Sacraments to be a Iudgement and not a nourishment if in spirituall things Sinne haue this power to alter their propertie what maruell though in worldly things it can preuaile so farre as to cause that to be occasion of euill which was ordayned for our good and welfare as our Table to be our snare our riches to become thornes to choake our Children to be our vnhappinesse and woe Let all obstinate sinners which liue in the seruice of sinne and notwithstanding all admonitions from Gods Word Works and Spirit and from their owne conscience also yet hate to be reformed let such take knowledge of this doctrine and lay it to heart and hasten to be reclaimed else let them feare least an houre come when those things which are now a delight to them as their wiues children siluer gold houses lands meat drinke yea the very creatures of God which be so comfortable as Sunne Moone Starres doe through their stubbornesse in sinne proue bitternesse to them euen as bitter as gall and wormewood so as it be grieuous vnto them to looke vpon these good things and to thinke that euer they enjoyed them be as heauy to them as death This God can bring to passe that men shall curse their parents their birth-day their benefits themselues and all For if God did such strange things vnto the Iewes his chosen and peculiar people his treasure whom hee tooke out of all nations to be his owne to whom he made such great promises and gaue so many and notable priuiledges the Law the Couenant the seruice of God the Adoption the Arke of the testimonie visible token of his presence If Ierusalem the Citie of the great King where was the Temple the Altar the Sacrifices the Priest-hood and where God sayd he would for euer rest and dwell yet for impenitency in their sinne were made desolate and not onely depriued of Gods protection but contrary to the order set in nature had all their blessings accursed then wee the Inhabitants in England howsoeuer wee be blessed with many prerogatiues fauours the word of God the Ministery the Sacraments good Lawes and Maiestrates long and great Peace and Plenty yet if wee will not turne from our pride couetousnes ambition vncleannesse and other sins which are too ripe and rife amongst vs wee may looke when God should bring the like confusion among vs and make vs to be a prouerbe a reproach and pointing of the finger vnto al our neighbour nations as he did the Israelites before vs. Are we better then they should God change the course of his Iustice for our sakes Furthermore if the iust God haue such sharpe and terrible vengeance to powre out against vnrepentant sinners in this world where there is a time of patience and mercy Oh how horrible and intollerable torments may the wicked which goe on in their iniquities expect to suffer in the world to come when iudgement shal be executed without mercy and where the fury of Gods wrath like a consuming fire shall breake forth in all extremity for the full and perfect punishment of sinners vvho shall be bitten and vexed with the euer-gnawing worme of a guiltie conscience and burned in a fire of hot indignation that neuer shall go out All good things being taken away nothing but euill shall be present let this be as an Iron rod to driue
open sinners which like Swine and Dogs doe obstinately continue in their vncleannes contemning all admonitions hating and hurting their admonishers hauing shaken out of their heart both feare of God and shame of men like that euill Iudge in the Gospell Luke 18.3 did I say these men belieue firmely and seriously consider this their basenesse and barrennesse that they be but vnprofitable burdens of the earth borne to consume fruits not to beare fruits Oh how might it strike them with dread and horrour and cause them speedely and earnestly without daliance or delay to change their mindes and to hasten their amendment especially if so they looke into themselues what they be for lacke of grace as they ponder vvhat the most iust and seuere Iudge of the vvorld will be and doe to them through the rigous of his Iustice which shall be at length when his patience is expired as a consuming flame to deuoure such dry stickes When Esay writeth this of the obstinate Iewes vvhich despised the warnings of the Prophets and cast off the Law of the Lord of hostes As the flame of fire deuoureth the stubble and as the chaffe is consumed of the flame so their root shall be rottennesse and their bud dust Cha. 5.24 and in Chap. 33.11 Yee shall conceiue chaffe and bring forth stubble and the fire of your breath shall deuoure you Also in Chap. 47.14 Behold they shall be as stubble the fire shall consume them they shall not be able to deliuer their liues from the power of the fire Lastly vvhen Malachie denounceth thus against despisers Chap. 4.1 The day commeth that shall burne as an Ouen and the proud and all that doe wickedly shall bee stubble and the day commeth that shall burne them and leaue them neither root nor branch I pray you what else may these comminations meane but so much in effect as Dauid speakes in the Psalm 37.19 That the wicked after they haue long liued in prosperity and glory flourishing as a Bay tree shall at length suddenly and horribly perish and as he sayth in another Psalme They shall come to a fearefull end and the transgressour shall be destroyed Psal. 37. Or as Salomon his sonne sheweth their ruine They that harden their necks shall perish and shall not be cured they shall be broken downe and neuer be built vp as it is Psal. 28.5 or as Christ threatneth they shall be gathered bound vp and cast into the fire Iohn 15.5.6 As thornes and Briers and dry rotten braunches they shall be sewell for the flame of Gods indignation which vvhen the houre of his iudgement commeth shall as easily speedily and vnrecouerably ouerthrow his enemies as the fire licketh vp and consumeth eyther stubble or chaffe or drie wood or as the winde disperseth the dust or as the Husbandman cutteth downe the fruitlesse Figge tree Wherefore let not vvicked doers and vnfruitfull Christians who liue to themselues and not to Christ please themselues or take their case to be good because they are boren with and blessed doe prosper and finde God patient for this mirth and pleasure vvill last but a while a moment as it vvere as craking of thornes and shall be turned into eternall woe the good things which they see and vse are but temporall and momentanie and light but the euils which they see not haue an eternall waight Woe be to them which are rich saith Christ they haue receiued their comfort Woe be to them that now laugh for they shall waile and weepe These words plainely speake of a change a wofull change which shall beside vngodly rich men and no meruaile if it goe full ill vvith the vvicked at length seeing it goeth so hard with good men When the greene tree is brought to the fire the drye vvood can not long scape scot-free no not euen in this life many times they are many of them euen here strangely plagued and the longer suffered the heauier is their wounds in the end as a hand lifted vp on high giues the more grieuous blow the slownesse of reuenge is recompensed with heauines and waight of the paine God strucke Abell put Iacob to much trouble afflicted the Israelites in AEgypt greatly exercised Elias chased Dauid out of his country put him in danger of his life oftentimes the waters came ouer his soule yet winked in the meane time at Cain Esau Egiptians Pharaoh Saul Achab and Iezabel as if he had forgotten them but in fine he set their sins in order before them and tare them in pieces when there was none to deliuer them Though Christ be a man of sorrowes become a worme and no man be rayled vpon by vvicked mouthes murthered by vnrighteous hands and the Iewes his crucifiers in the meane while and sometime after laugh reioyce and triumph yet will not God alwayes keepe silence but payeth them home their wages euen full measure into their bosome he rendreth them vengeance What horrible iudgements did God execute vpon those bloudy persecuters in Queene Maries dayes euen in the eyes of men howsoeuer vvith great and long sufferance hee had spared them But if the vvicked as innumerable heapes of them doe after a prosperous life haue a peaceable death liue in vvealth and goe to their Graues vvith honour and pompe yet afterwards there abides for them the more fearefull and grieuous torments and damnation For looke how much they haue had of pleasure so much shall they taste of torment Reuel 18. And as they haue heaped sinnes vpon sins so shall they stacke and store vp wrath as a man should euery day carry a sticke toward a pile of wood therewith at last to be burned against the day of wrath and of the iust declaration of the righteous iudgment of God Rom. 2. 5. The Rich-man is now in hell in flaming fire and torment who once fared deliciously and was costly clothed euery day The vse whereunto this estate of the wicked thus wofull and vnhappy must serue if wee deale wisely is first of all in respect of the righteous to holde them from impatiencie and fretting such as Dauid Psal. 37. and 73. and Ieremie did fall into when they saw the outward felicitie of the wicked how they liued without perill or feare in all plentie and glory it had almost made them trip and thinke them the onely blessed men certainely it vvrought repining griefe and impatiency in them I fretted saith Dauid to see the vngodly so prosper howbeit looking forward to their end they saw how they were set in slippery places and must come downe in a moment and miserably perish If such holy men vvere offended how may we mistrust our selues lest the honour and riches of euill men be a scandall and an offence to vs and make vs vveary of all and to giue ouer our vprightnesse and to like of their wayes and chuse their conuersation Howbeit arme your selues against such stumbling blockes by this meditation that when the green