couenaunt in stead whereof wee haue baptisme the whiche whosoeuer shall refuse wee accompt him as cut off from Gods Church Christ Iesus gaue inuisicle grace by visible laying hys handes vppon children and other sicke people So hee gaue the gift of his holy spirite vnto his Disciples when hauing breathed vppon them he sayd receiue you the holy ghost The Sscramentes were ordayned in the church of God for 3. vses first that we should acknowledge al those to be our fellows seruants whom we see to haue put on the same liuerie with our selues and in this sense said the Apostle Paule all those that are baptized into Christe haue put on Christ Secondly the Sacramentes do put a manifest difference betwixt the true church and the false as Peter hath taught vs in saying repent and be baptized euerie one of you in the name of Iesus Christ for to vse the promise made vnto your children all that are yet farre off euen so many as God shall call and our Sauiour saith to such belongeth the kingdomof God that is to such as lead an innocent life The third vse of the Sacraments is to seale vp in the hearts of the elect all those promises which GOD hath made vnto them in Iesus Christ his Son and their Sauiour in the which sense Paule spake when hee said that Abraham receiued the sign of circumcision as a seale of that righteousnes which he had by faith and in the verie same sense our Sauiour saith hee that beleeueth and is baptized shall be saued But it is to bee considered that the Institutor setteth downe the form of administring the sacraments when he saith baptizing them in the name of the father of the sonne and of the holie Ghost Hee commaundeth to baptize in the name of the father and of the son because the holie Ghost proceedeth from the father the sonne and in the name of the holie Ghost for except a man be borne of water and the spirite he cannot see the kingdom of God When our sauior offered to wash Peters feet he imagined it to be a nedles work for thou shalt neuer wash my feet said he but when Christ aunswered that such as are not washed by him haue no part with him that is neither part of his spirite nor of his kingdom Peter bethinking himselfe better would not haue his feet onlie but also his hands aud head washed howbeit it is not necessarie to washe any more then is vncleane as Peters feet defiled vvith dirt and mire so our soules spotted with sins must be cleansed by Christ his bloud onely And after this manner it is necessarie that euerie one of vs should be washed wherof the outward putting of water vpon the partie baptized is a liuelie figure Iohn Baptist was sanctified in his mothers wombe as the Angell had foreshewed But when our Sauiour Christ came to him to be baptized Iohn put him backe and said I haue neede to bee baptized of thee and commest thou to me That kingly prophet Dauid was a man after gods own heart yet he saith of himselfe I was borne in iniquitie and in sin hath my mother conceiued mee Iob was called by God himselfe a iust and vpright man fearing God and eschewing euill whose peere was not found vppon the face of the earth notwithstanding all this he saith of himselfe who can bring a cleane thing out of filthines the which question is all one with Paules affirmation who saieth such as the roote is such are the braunches as if hee had said with Adam the father of vs all was vndefiled then are wee his sons cleane also But if he were once dead in sinne beeing our roote then howe could wee his imps haue life of our selues All this was spoken of originall sinne as for actuall sins namely those sins which we continuallie commit they are as palpable as the darknes of Aegipt the which as Moses saith was so grosse that it might be felt in so much that Dauid saith when God looked down from heauen vppon the children of men that is when hee considered mans conuersation they were all so farre gone out of the way that there was none that did good in so much that the prophet repeateth it with an Emphasis and saith no not one And the man of God Moses saith when God beheld the boldnes of the olde world in sinning it repēted him that he had made man that is he was sorie that man whome he had made to liue well should liue so ill The continuall sinne of Sodome brought fire and brimstone from heauen to consume them in the same Dauid feeling the burthen of his sinnes began to sincke vnder them for saith he my sins are gone ouer my head and are like a sore burthen too heauy for me to beare Paule hauing by the vertue of the law learned his sinnes for he had not knowen sin except the lawe had said thou shalt not sinne fell to lamenting of them thus O wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from this bodie of death where it is to be noted that he calleth his bodie a bodie of death in respect of sinne which giueth power to death ouer our bodies And to conclude of such force is sinne in vs that if the goodnes of God had not so praeordained that the vnbeleeuing husband is sanctified by the beleeuing wife and the vnbeleeuing wife by the beleeuing husband our children should be verie vncleane Againe beeing washed or baptized in the name of the father sonne and holie Ghost wee are aduertised that wee must giue godlie christian and holy names vnto our children in in token of their sacred profession for holie is he that hath called vs and that we may be the more forward so to doe It will be worth our labour to consider of a few examples tending to the same purpose as of Zachary the father of Iohn the Baptist who being dum when that his son was born his friends made signes vnto him howe he would haue him called and askeing for writing tables writte saying his name is Iohn the which vvorde Iohn is as much as to say Grace and thus was Zacharie commaunded by the Angell to name him The scripture accordeth plentifull examples of those that haue giuen names to their children affoordeth to suche occasions as haue been offered in the time of their trauell As when Raell went with her husband Iacob toward Bethell to builde an aultar vnto God She trauailed in child-birth and in trauelling dyed but before shee departed shee called his name Benony that is the sonne of her sorrowe but his father Iacob called him Benony that is the sonne of his right hand So Leah hauing born to Iacob foure sons she said now will I prayse God c. And that shee might the better beare in minde her promise she named her last son Iudah
When the man of Beniamin came frō the Israelites with his clothes rent and dust vpon his head in token of heauinesse and certified father Ely that Gods Arke was taken by the Philistines and that his two sonnes were slaine the old father fel backeward out of his seate and broke hys necke and his daughter in lawe Phynies wife being flighted with feare fell in trauell and dyed in child bed but before her death she called her sonne Icabod that is the glorie of God meaning thereby that she accōpted the glorie of God to be taken from Israel when Gods Arke which was a figure of his Churche wherein wee glorifie his name was taken awaie by the enemie And secondly to admonishe all parentes so to nuiture vp their children that they may seeke to maintaine the glorie of God better then Ely did for the wickednesse of whose children As also for the fathers default in not correcting them God had threatned before that if he once began with him he would make an end with him so that as the Prophet saith children being the fruite of the wombe as they are come from God are a good blessing and an heritage that commeth of the Lord because hee it is from whom euerie good and perfect gift doth proceede yet in respect of men so may the matter be handled that they shall finde no such crosse or curse as gracelesse or vnruled children such as Esau and his two wiues who were a griefe of minde and a heart breaking to Isaak their father and Rebekah their mother It is true that the verie godliest men and women haue rather desisired sonnes then daughters at the handes of God but they did it for good and godly purposes As when Abraham desired a sonne to the end that Eliezer the steward of his house being a stranger Namely a man of Damascus should not be the heyre of his goods So did Anna pray to God for a sonne when she said O Lord of hostes if thou wilt looke on the trouble of thine handmaid remember me c. And giue vnto thine handmayd a manchilde then will I giue him vnto the Lord al the daies of his life c. And as the verie name of a sonne is in price and preferred at this day so hath it beene heeretofore as when Phineas wife being neere her deathe in trauell the midwife with the rest thinking to comfort her said feare not for thou hast borne a sonne when the angell sayd to Abraham this time twelue monethes Sarah thy wife shall beare a sonne Sarah laughed as partly doubting and partly ioying that so sage a woman as shee should conceiue a sonne by so aged a man as Abraham was That same Angell that certified Zachario that Elizabeth his wife shoulde beare Iohn the Baptist said not onely that it should be a sonne but such a sonne as should bring ioy to him and many more And that Angel Gabriell that was sent of God Mary the mother of our sauiour according to his humanitie saith that in stead of feare shee had found fauour with God and his reason is this for thou shalt beare a son and shalt call his name Iesus As if he had said it is a great blessing of God to beare a childe and a greater to beare a man childe but to be so farre in Gods fauour as to beare such a sonne as shal be the sauiour of the worlde it is the greatest grace which hath beene heard of in the which God make his Church ioyfull and for the which in speciall and for all the rest of his blessinges in generall God make vs thankefull Amen Iohn 10. 9. I am the doore by me if any man enter in he shal be saued and shall go in and go out and shall find pasture FINIS A MEMENTO FOR MAGISTRATES By Henrie Smith LONDON Printed by Iohn Wolfe are to be sold by William Wright 1592. A Memento for Magistrates THe Apostle Paul writing to Timotheus amongst manie other things assureth him that those Elders which rule well are worthie of double honour And the Authour of the 45. Psame speaking of the gouernement of Salomon saith The Scepter of thy kingdoome is a right Scepter for thou louest righteousnes and hatest iniquitie in which words the Author aduoucheth that he cannot rule rightlie that loueth not to iudge iustlie and that he vsurpeth aucthoritie that dealeth partiallie for wee must remember that hee measurerh Salomons worthinesse to raign by his wel swaying of the scepter the which Salomō could not haue handled so commendablie as he did if he had not bene carried away with an earnest desire to deale indifferentlie amongst men in causes of controuersie but most plainly appeareth his great desire of godly gouernment in that heartie praier which hee vttered vnto almightie God when he said giue vnto thy seruant O Lord an vnderstanding and a wise hart to iudge thy people that I may discerne betwixt good and euill In this praier it is plaine that although hee was a King yet he calleth himselfe the seruaunt of God for promotion commeth neither from the East nor from the West nor yet from the south but from God who plucketh down one and setteth vppe another And Salomon hauing praied for wisdome and vnderstanding hee sheweth wherevnto he wold applie those good gifts of God euen vnto the glorie of him that gaue them to iudge thy people that I may discerne betwixt good euill saith hee for by him Kinges raigne and by him Princes decree Iustice When Iethro the father in law of Moses came out of the land of Madian to see Moses being at the mount of God which was mount Sinai and beheld how the people flocked vnto Moses their magistrate for iudgement iustice by due consideration therof Iethro found these three in conueniences First that Moses wearied himselfe with sitting in iudgement from the morning vntill night Secondly that he was too tedious vnto the people which attended vppon him in all that time And thirdly that notwithstanding his carefulnesse in iudgement and their earnest expectation of iustice hee was not able to dispatche so manye matters as vvas brought before him but with a light hearing and a little regarding of manie mens causes Wherefore Iethro beeing a man verie desirous that iustice might proceede that no mans matter should sleightlie be slipt ouer counsaileth Moses to make more Magistrates in Israel and to the end that this might be perfourmed the better Iethro dooth point at the disposition of those men which should bear rule for saith he thou shalt choose out amongest all the people men of courage dealing trulie fearing God and hating couetousnes and them shalt thou make gouernours ouer the people By this you may perceiue how Iethro in counsailing and Moses in practising did both aime at iustice and true iudgement For it is not a meane matter or light labour for men of yeeres to sit
shrowded frō the sharp showers is oftē forced to leaue hir fleece behinde whose vnworthy comming to their places Ioatham hath well described in the person of Abimilech when he saide the trees of the woode went to annoint a king ouer them and saide vnto the Oliue tree Reigne thou ouer vs but the Oliue tree answered shall I leaue my satnesse which both Gods and men praise in me and go to be promoted ouer the trees Then they came to the fig-tree and saide come thou and reigne ouer vs the fig-tree aunswered shall I leaue my sweetnesse and good fruit and go to be promoted ouer the trees They said vnto the vine Reigne thou ouer vs but the vine aunswered shoulde I leaue my wine wherewith I cheere God and men to be promoted ouer the trees then they said vnto the bramble wilt thou raigne ouer vs. Then saide the bramble if it be true indeed that you will submit your selues to my authoritie and put your trust vnder my shadow or else fire proceed from the bramble and consume you By this parable we are taught generally that euerie man is to be content with that estate wherin God hath placed him and that for the moste part the verie best worthie do refuse profered promotion and on their part well deserued whereas on the contrarie the moste vnfitly furnished with iustice and true iudgement and the least deseruing in a commonwealth are of al other most ambitious Such an one was Absalon who stole awaie the heartes of Israel with this flattering speech Oh that I were made Iudge in the land that euerie man whiche hath any plea or matter in the lawe might come to me that I might do him iustice but this is the iust reward of such as before conuenient time and apt occasion to be offered do ambitiously seek the seat of iudgment euen vntimely and vnnaturall death for Absolon was hanged by the hayre of his head a woman with a peece of a milstone dashed out Abymelechs brains though Absalon be absent Abimilech brained long since yet it is to be suspected that many mē get preferment by their practises cōming in such sheep skins as are fayre wordes and flattering speeches but God graunt that they proue not like vnto those iudges whome Zophonie feared not to liken vnto Lyons who finding their praie in the euening chop vp all not leauing so muche as the bones vntill the morning Salomon said wel that many would be accompted good doers but where shal we finde a faithfull man some men haue said well with Absolon before they came to preferment but they can nowe bee contented to see many men to sue seuen yeares for their right and yet suffer them to sustaine wrong because necessitie hathe no law forsooth Go to go to some body will answere for that one day A man woulde thinke that necessitie should haue the moste lawe because he hath least money fewest frends Magistrates might learne such a lesson of God himself as it being rightly practised they could not chuse but do iustice this is it when almigtie God intended to destroy Sodome and Gomora before he would do so thogh their sins were monstrous great he considered thus of the matter the crie of Sodome and Gomorrha is great and their sinne is exceeding greeuous I will go downe nowe and see whether they haue done altogether according to that crie which is come vnto me or not that I may know Lo let all magistrates learne by the example of God himslfe to go down and see that is to apply their eares to heare dilligentlie and their mindes to meditate iustlie of each mans matter if you aske me why I answere as God himselfe doth that they may know vidz that they may discerne betwixt truth and falshood right and wrong this is that question which Dauid demanded of Saules counsellors that egged him on to hurt him that neuer harmed them are your mindes set vpon righteousnes O ye congregation and do you iudge the thing that is right O yee sonnes of men saith he the same prophet in all his troubles desiring God to stand on his side against his oppressors thought it as conuenient to craue of God the consideration of his cause as to aske his aid against his aduersaries and therefore prayeth thus Ponder my words O Lord consider my meditation c. So Magistrates haue not onelie authoritie to make and establise good lawes but also to determine betwixt men according to the same vnto whose sensor the subiect must submit himselfe as the Apostle prooueth to the Romaines when hee saith let euerie soule submit it selfe vnto the authoritie of the higher powers for all power is of God wherefore whosoeuer resisteth that power resisteth the ordinance of God and purchaseth vnto himselfe damnation For Magistrates are not to bee feared of them that doe well but of them that doe nill wilt thou not feare do wel then so shalt thou haue praise for he is the minister of God for thy wealth but if thou doest euill then feare for hee beareth not the sworde for naught but is the minister of GOD to take vengeance vpon them that doe euill where it is to be remembred that the ciuill magistrate who beareth the sword is called the minister of God as well as that spirituall magistrat that preacheth the woorde and that no doubt to the intent hee might take care as well to maintaine true religion as to minister deserued discipline for it standeth with all diuine and humaine reason that if all maisters fathers ought to haue a more thē ordinarie care to instruct and helpe forward their families in Christian religion so much as in them lyeth much more ought the magistrate to meditate by all meanes possible to performe his dutie therein who is a father ouer all families I cannot set this forth in any playner speach then Dauid hath done in this short saying kisse the sonne least hee be angrie and so you perishe in the right way by which speache the prophet teacheth that God cannot be honored by any other means then by that which Christ his sonne hath taught who saith himselfe in the fift of Iohn hee that honoureth the sonne honoreth the father hee that dishonoureth the sonne dishonoureth the father so that hee meaneth in this place that if you worshippe not the sonne as he hath commanded then you dishonor him if you dishonour him then you anger him if you anger him he casteth you off if he casteth you off then you are from the right waye and if you are from the right way then you perish For the auoyding whereof all godly Magistrates haue had a speciall care to meditate in the lawe of the Lord such were Moses Iosua Dauid Salomon Asa Iosophat Isachias c. Of whose good example God grant all godly magistrates to make good vse Amen Psalm 98. 10. With righteousnesse shall hee iudge the world and the