better to weepe for your sinnes in your prosperitie then to weepe in aduersitie for the losse of children of goods or health or houses or wiues or husbandes or friends or libertie or foode or raiment or death and not be comforted remember what the prophet heere saith that ioy shall be withered from you in the daies of worldly aduersitie The reasons of this doctrine may bee these first because they are not moued at the troubles of others Amos. 6. 6. If men looke to themselues they shall see that their estate is neuer so secure but that there is left vnto them one iust cause or other to lament bitterly yet if they finde none in themselues let them looke on other and mourne for the affliction of Ioseph The church of God is neuer freed from inward and outward troubles and therefore euer hath occasion of inwarde or outwarde lamentation Now seeing that we should mourne with them that mourne let vs weepe with the saintes of God that suffer although wee suffer not that being made partakers of their afflictions we may also bee made partakers of their glorie It is a token of an vnmercifull hart that doth not looke on the crie of a beast and helpe an vnreasonable creature from his oppressour howe much more vnmercifull are wicked men which will not bee mooued at the lamentable teares of godly men He that stoppeth his eare at the crie of the poore shall crie himselfe and not be heard In like maner those which will not be humbled for their owne sinnes dangers belonging to them nor for the pittifull oppression of good and godly men they shall come into vnauoidable mischiefes bicause they were not mooued in prosperitie for the righteous saith Salomon shall come out of trouble but the wicked shall come in his steade Another reason is because men which haue fat and hard harts do not onely liue in their pride but also desire to draw other into miserie Psal 137. 2. 8. The Edomites that reioyced and encreased the calamitie of the people of God are destinated to eternall and most assured aduersities wherein we may see that if men do not winne themselues to the church they ioyne themselues to the enimies if they take not part with the repentant they take part with the vnrepentant For if we be not possessed with goodnes of necessitie wee must bee professed in euill Oh therefore seeing we cannot walke in any meane betwixt faith and infidelitie religion and Atheisme let vs speedily resort to the bande and army of Iesus Christ for if he finde vs not among his souldiers he will take vs for his enimies although we fight not against him and if we ioine not with the armie of God the diuell will take vs vp for to be of the companie of accursed creatures The vses which arise from this doctrine are these first let vs iudge our selues that wee be not iudged of the Lord 1. Cor. 11. 31. If our estate be so miserable that we cannot auoide iudgement yet the Lord hath shewed vs a meane to mitigate our extremitie if we be but our owne iudges Abigaijl by condemning her husbands hardnes pacified Dauids wrath and saued her whole family from the sword of vengeance And the Syrians by putting halters on their necks comming willingly to the king of Israell saued all their liues Oh with whom haue we to do with meeke king Dauid or with mercifull Ahab No no but with the father of vs all who is king of heauen and earth whose loue towarde vs is more tender then the loue of a mother and more sure then the faith of a friende and more kinde then the bande of the married Let vs therefore be Abigaijles by offering our liues and our wealth accusing our selues and our natures vnto the Lord of hostes and then will he blesse vs as Dauid blessed Abigaile yea and marrie vs to his owne selfe Arise out of your resting places and goe with ful store to appease the wrath of God if you stay till he come vnto you what shall be your ende Oh what shall be your destruction Now accuse your birth though it be noble as stayned with sinne accuse your life though it be christian as defiled with the diuell accuse your wordes though they be humble as sauouring of euill and condemne your workes though they haue beene charitable as desiring death eternall Iudge your selues worthie of all shame because of pride accompt your selues woorthie of all sorrow because of mirth esteeme your selues lesse then all creatures because of death and professe your selues woorse then all men because of sinne Say of your nature that it is Sathans bondslaue say of your beautie that it is the glasse of iniquitie say of your strength that it is the power to euill say of your youth that it is the time of sorrow say of your wealth they are the prouokers of licentiousnes and say of the world it is the bed of danger What shall I say more vnto you Was not Christ made accursed for vs that we might know that we are cursed for our selues Then think how your eies are cursed beholding vanitie your eares are cursed hearing falshood your toongs are cursed speaking lies your legges are cursed running to euill your armes cursed touching pleasures your children cursed borne in sinne yea thinke all accursed that your soules be not cursed in another world Another vse of this doctrine may serue to reprooue their securitie that thinke it is lawfull for them to be mery while they may and neuer to enter into the house of mourning till their mirth and ioy departeth from them and from hence it commeth that they put far away from them the day of wrath Amo. 6. 3. Children are suffered to be wanton because their yeeres are tender youth is permitted to bee licentious because their age is lustie rich men are mooued with vanitie because it is their portion poore men accustomed with folly because they liue in want and old men drowned in one kinde of superstition or other because they are neere their graues Oh would not this grieue the heart of man to see so many so great so aged so wealthie so tender to abhorre all mortification and the sorrowfull way to life but to embrance all condemnation and the ioyfull high way to hell fire Know you not that ease slayeth the foolish and the restie oxe is prepared for the slaughter why then do you thirst still for more pleasure and hunger after more vanitie Man must not liue by bread onely which maketh him full fedde and thorough fat but by the word of God which maketh him many times to fast being sweeter then his meate and many times to be leane being safer then his health Who is he that accounteth not abstinence a God preseruatiue for health and labour an earnest procurer of a good life euen so there is none but must thinke that it is most necessarie for health and most wholesome for life many
deadly warre disquieteth them then are they heauie then onely are they sorrowfull Reu. 18. 9 10 11. Luc. 17. 27. Hose 7. 14. They account it a speciall madnesse to mourne for the affliction of Ioseph that is to weepe for their owne sinnes for the persecution of the Lords flocke for the decrease of the faithfull and contempt of the Gospell also they thinke it a meere follie for men to reioice at the hearing of a sermon or the reproouing of sinne or the planting of a preaching minister and the remoouing of a cypher or the establishing of religion But let them knowe it is a thing accursed to reioice for vanitie and not for godlinesse to weepe more for the losse of a father or the want of bread or the feeling of sicknesse then for the famine of God his worde or the death of a faithfull man The reasons for confirmation hereof may be these because onely in these temporall and worldly things they place the rest of their soules Luc. 15. 19. The rich man hauing new builded his barnes reaped his corne and filled his storehouses biddeth his soule to take her ease for he had store ynough for many yeeres we maruell then that the losse of these things goeth so neere them when with them they loose the very health of their soules What shall wee say to the greedy cormorants which to gather wealth as this man did reposing therein the hope of their health while vnlawfully they would saue their soules vnrighteously they condemne them Oh let them also beware which being the outwarde professors of the Gospell yet neuer make an ende to encroach more liuing I cannot say they hope to be saued by them but I may be bolde to say that they much distaine the glorie of God while they aduaunce their names they endanger their soules Secondly another reason is because the loue of these carnall commodities banisheth away the loue of God 1. Ioh. 2. 16. How shal men which haue denied God and are become idolaters as all worldly men are Ephes 5. 5. care for any religion or reioice for any goodnesse yea rather lament it or how shall they lament any euill but rather reioyce in it because they are voide of all goodnesse themselues A godly father saide of them in this sort that they account that euill which doth not make them euill as famines sicknesse and other calamities but for swearing drunkennes whooredome and other vices they call them not euils They are not ashamed while they praise good things themselues to be euill and they thinke it a greater disgrace to haue a ragged towne a thatched house an vnhansome legge or a poore estate then to haue an ill life This said hee long agoe and now with teares I may say it againe that men in our times through the want of religion which through abundance they haue loathed and rebellion they haue vomited vp feare no God but the enimy loue no knowledge but their law euidence and they care for no health but bodily medicines and thus they weepe when they should reioice and reioice when they should weepe The vses which arise from this doctrine are these First that these carnall mindes and men shall neuer be eased in their carnall sorrowes or comforted in their worldly comforts Therefore Iames said cap. 4. 2 3. Ye lust and haue not ye enuie and haue indignation and cannot obtaine you fight and warre and get nothing be cause you aske not you aske and receiue not bicause you aske amisse that you might consume it on your lustes Wherein the heauenly Apostle hath set out to the full the nature of al worldly wishers carnal criers wherin these things I be seech you to obserue most diligently First that this is the nature of wicked mē in their praiers being in distresse that they enuie and haue indignation euen at God himselfe thinking that he doth them great iniurie thus to disquiet their ease and to trouble them with want Oh fearefull condition of wicked men that their very praiers are nothing else but murmuring against the Almightie Secondly he noteth the verie cause why the wicked craue any thing at the hand of their creator that saith he they might bestow it on their lustes And surely I am much afraid that the feigned praiers of a great number in this time of dearth and famine haue had the like inward motion which is the cause that the Lord regardeth not our praiers and remooueth not his iudgements Thinke not therefore that euer your cries for corne for bread for meate for plentie for cheapnes and for comfort shall take any effect although you fill the aire with your outcries or the earth with your teares vntill your carnall mindes be banished your enuying spirits be humbled your vniust and vnlawfull suites be silenced yea vntill you haue more regard to your soules then to your bodies to the Gospell then to the corne fields and to the glorie of God aboue wife or children life or saluation Another vse belonging to this doctrine our Sauiour giueth Mat. 6. 31. 32. Take no thought saith he what you shal eat or what you shall drinke or wherwithal you shal be cloathed for after these things seek the Gentiles your heauenly father knoweth that you haue neede of those things but seeke you first the kingdome of God and the righteousnes thereof and all these things shal be ministred vnto you Here may we learne the medicine for our sicknes the supply of our want the comfort of our distresse who shall bid vs mourn because we haue no meate Indeed it is to be lamented yet Christ saith take no thought for it thou art a poore man so was he thou hast a familie so had he thou liuest by thy labour so did he thou liuest in times of scarsitie so did he Then he speaketh by experience sorrow not for thy want he was the sonne of God so art thou it was his meate to do his fathers will so let it be thine Say not as the woman did to Eliah we will eate this and then die but rather we will endure this and then die The Gospell is my meate the sonne of God is my cloathing and the kingdome of heauen is my inheritance shall I lust after other meate or desire a woollen garment and wish for a worldly inheritance No no heauen is all things there is for me and my children Christ is all things he will cloath me and my children and the Gospell is all things it shall feed me and my family my soule shall eate my body my body shall not deuoure my soule Thus let vs comfort the poore members of Christ that want and encourage one another in distresse against distrust let vs weep with them that weepe and mourne with them that mourne that we may reioice with them that shall reioice in the kingdome of heauen For it shal be pulled from your mouth Hauing awaked these persons by calling and troubled them
rebukes of sin for the Lord. Hos 4. 4. cōplaineth of the desperate estate of the people for he saide they rebuked the prophet This is the sin of England for there are among vs that will teach wise men and themselues being fooles they will controule learned men themselues being ignorant they will sohoole preachers yet they cannot heare they will rule magistrates themselues being subiects and they will seeme to doe all things being able to doe nothing But this is the point woorthie to be stoode vpon they will reprooue the minister of the Gospell If they suspect vs they condemne vs if there be but an vncertaine rumour they make it a certaine sclander so that our life our liuings our doctrine our calling and all our preaching is contemned by them Our life to be idle our liuings to be too great our doctrine to be suspitious our calling to be burdensome and our preaching to be onely for a worldly respect Oh incurable vndurable mischiefe why do men at once set Christ to schoole teach God to be wise refuse the Gospels gouernment and choose the tyranny of sinne Why do they rebuke vs and yet thinke they do well if the rod of magistrates light on vs for our sinnes let vs abide it but to let euery drunkard and ruffian and seruingman and euery base companion to crow against the Gospell and our calling let vs neuer abide They hate vs because they loue sinne they loue liberty because they abhorre discipline they regard not the ministery because they regard not God and therefore looke for a present and speedie calamitie for since that base fellowes became ministers base fellowes haue regarded none so that now we may preach out our hearts and pray out our soules and weepe out our eies yet we shall receiue nothing but scoffes and scornes rebuke and scander for our labor Weepe and howle hauing bidden them to be ashamed now he biddeth them to bee sorrowfull for well hee knew that their hope and health was lost when their corne and fruites were destroyed wherein they trusted more then in GOD. And from hence wee may obserue that if the worshippe of God bee once decaied there is not any so desperately wicked or dissolute but he shall smart for them we may say Esay 9. 10 11 12. That the wicked make great bragges if they were depriued of preaching the word they say they would turne brickes into hewen stone and tymber into Cedar trees but the Lorde telleth them that their enimies shall beset them and he will cut off both honorable and taile So is the course of his iudgement that when hee hath taken away his worship which is a helmet of proofe to keepe his wrath from vs then he sendeth greatest calamitie when we thinke we shall liue in greatest securitie The filthie Sodomites thought that they were well when Lot was gone from among them but there followed presently fire and brimstone from heauen By this our gallants may perceiue that if the Gospell be in the wrath of God translated from our countrey their brauerie and pride and wealth and prosperitie shall be ouerturned into perpetuall miserie They thinke it a burden intollerable to liue vnder the checke heereof but let them know that the little finger of humane tyrannie shall bee heauier on them then the loines and body of all christianitie Oh how do men deceiue themselues with sweete promises of great and incredible ease which they shall reape by the abasing of the ministerie by the decay of good men and the abandoning of all goodnes when they shall haue libertie to commit any kinde of sinne O miserable wretches saith one to whom it is lawfull to do wickedly surely you shall come out of a little brooke and runne headlong into the maine sea The reason of this doctrine is this bicause the wicked shoulde knowe that all goodnesse which they receiue is for the Gospels and godly mens sake Prou. 11. 11. there is not any thing in the worlde which the godly haue not a title vnto insomuch as all the wicked men are but vsurpers of the goods and landes and wealth and dignities they enioy so long as a godly man is liuing The worlde is a bodie religion is the soule thereof which being remooued is dead and fit for nothing The worlde is a building and the worship is the pillar postes thereof which being remooued it must needes fall as the house wherein Sampson slewe the Philistines So that it is most plaine that when our knowledge is turned to ignorance and the preachers of the worde of God cease to speake in the name of God and when the Gospell is banished from our lande and there bee a free libertie to doe what they list then I saie will the heauens threaten destruction the mindes of men shall be made blinde their vnderstanding shall bee taken from them and they shall liue as other people do without God his word to be slaues to their enimies drudges to their labours beastes in their liues enimies to God haters of good things and diuels by their death The vses which commeth from this doctrine is first of all that wee labour with speede to amende those things which are amisse among vs for else that iudgement which the Lorde once threatened to the Ephesian church Reuel 2. 5. shall take holde namely that the Lord will take away his candlesticke from vs if the light bee gone we shal liue in darknes if the word be gone we shall liue in blindnes if God his worship be taken from vs wee shall die in miserie This onely is the meate which if wee want will consume vs it is a sworde and if it bee not in our handes it will wounde vs it is a scepter which if the king of heauen holde not foorth we shall be condemned Feare the want of the Lords worship for if it goe from vs then he will depart if he depart then our prosperitie will cease and there shall not be a man aliue which will not desire to die Consider I beseech you if you haue enioyed great possessions goodly landes faire houses many friends delicate liues and many children but in one night thy aduersarie stealeth away thy euidence whereby thou holdest thy lande and then thou art turned out of possession thy landes are taken from thee thy friendes forsake thee thy children crie on thee and thou bee constrained either to harde labour or vnlawfull beggerie how wouldest thou take it but wish for a thousande deathes to bee deliuered from this shame So shall it bee with thee in the Gospell which is the euidence of thy peace thy health thy landes thy ioy and the kingdome of heauen the which being taken from thee thou canst neuer enioy any of these then thou shalt weepe without comfort sorrowe without hope liue without ioy die without peace and be damned without mercie Oh whose heart is not cleaued asunder to thinke vpon the danger of his soule Loue the
7. where it is saide that when the worlde shall beholde Christ comming to iudgement all the kindreds of the earth shal waile before him The reasons are First bicause it is the reward of obstinacie Ierem. 15. 8. A guiltie conscience quaketh at the wagging of a leafe and euery little danger doth amaze him Againe it is a most wicked thing to reioice at the hurt of other men either in worde or thought Ezec. 26. 2. Therefore although wee finde ourselues cleere yet wee cannot chuse but sorrowe when it approcheth to other Therfore let vs obserue the times to kensof euill Matt. 24. 33. that wee may alway liue in mourning but especially knowing ourfeare wee may then sorrowe most when danger is neerest that so wee may bee readie to ende our sinnes by repentance and to goe to heauen by affiictions Againe when wee see wicked men taken away and going to destruction let vs feare the searching iustice of God Psalm 52. 6. and say Beholde the man that woulde not beleeue the Gospell nor bee ioyned to our congregation nor forsake his pleasures but persecute good men and flatter euill men and therefore nowe hath hee receiued his recompence Oh let the death of so manie traitours so many theeues and murtherers so many swearers and drunkardes teach vs to feare as a little birde flying from the sparrow-hauke and rather let vs couer our selues in weedes and grasse or in some thinne and open tabernacle then to take the ayre of the sunne or sinne and to abide in the carued and walled cities of the multitude Like the noise of chariots in the tops of the mountaines so shall they leape like the noise of a flame of fire that deuoureth the stubble and as a mighty people prepared to the battle Now he proceedeth to other similitudes wherein I will be short bicause they all touch one thing and the generall is alreadie deliuered In this verse he compareth the voice of their comming to the noise of chariots in the mountaines which keepe a mightie ratling in time of warre for chariots were vsed for great men going to warre as wee may see in the historie of Sisera Ahab and Iehu Againe hee saith They are like the flame that deuoureth the stubble which maketh a kinde of sodaine hollowe and fearefull noise Againe like a people prepared for warre which come with all kinde of warlike instruments and wofull acclamations the which I leaue to euerie mans seuerall consideration whereby they may note howe the Lord can cloth his smallest and basest creatures with infinite power and terror to discomfort euery people in the worlde Oh how much more are the angels of wrath terrible seeing the wormes of the earth are so fearfull wherfore let vs not onely feare the inuasion of Spaniardes or other enimies nor yet serpents lions wolues or wilde dogs but also the seely flies and grashoppers and filthie lice which in time of God his wrath shall haue power to destroy vs Exod. 10. 11. Before his face shall the people tremble all faces shall gather blacknes The meaning ofthese wordes are that in the presence of these beastes shall bee much trembling and feare yea they shall bee verie neere death for blacknes betokeneth death From hence wee may obserue howe God maketh men at their wits ende before destruction Ezech. 26. 16. They goe not to their ruines like sheepe but like swine not like lambes but like lions not peaceablie but furiously The reasons are bicause the feare of the wicked shall come vpon them Prou. 10. 24. Secondly God by this feare and trembling calleth them to repentance Deut. 32. 21. So that if then they coulde bee as angrie with their sinnes as they are with their enimies and fight as christianly with the diuell as they doe manfullie against men although they loose the life of the bodie yet they may keepe the life of the soule Learne therefore to feare God and so thou shalt neuer feare euill Psal 112. 1 6. but thy minde shall bee peaceable in death and not distracted Againe vse thy selfe to mourning before hande Ezechiel 21. 12. that when they come thou maiest more easilie endure them and more happilie auoide them Secondly when he saith all faces shall gather blackenes we may not onely see that the greatest and strongest man in the world can do nothing against the iudgement of God but offer himselfe to death and his heart dieth within him as a stone but we may also see how wicked men in aduersitie become altogither desperate Isa 2. 19. they cry to the hils to saue them to the mountaines to couer them and to the rockes to hide them And this will be then the boldnes and courage of our gallant youthes who in their pride threaten to fight with the diuell and with their oaths will teare the Lord out of heauen who thinke by their worshipfull pedegrees to shame the kirks of Christ and by their golden and silken brauery to dazle the glory of God then then will these things little comfort them But as all the Midianites ran away for the dreame of a barley-cake so shall these runne if they knew whither and take if they knew what and trust if they wist in whom and flie from the great wrath of God if there were any refuge but seeing none they shall fall to the earth as the snow commeth from the cloudes Oh cannot you think of this to put away your sinnes for if you beare them with you they will serue you as Iael serued Sisera and strike into your braines and hart the nailes of deadly poyson there can be no resisting for they haue woon the fort Yet in time craue the helpe of some other to besiege them and to regaine a quiet conscience or else whensoeuer any danger commeth they will do with you as the citizens of Samaria did with Achabs children deliuer you to your enimies and with their owne hands be your butchers and so commend you to the diuels custodie The reasons of this doctrine are these bicause then they haue no hearts to remember what God hath done for them Deut. 7. 18 19. but thinke euermore this is for the sinne this for such an adulterie this is for my pride this for my couetousnes this for my swearing this for my contempt of preaching and all shall be for my damnation Againe then shall they be ouerwhelmed with destruction 1. Sam. 31. 4 5. as Saul was for knowing that his sinne had made God depart from him he slew himselfe in the battle If he had gone to a prophet when hee went to a witch or had beleeued Samuel as wel being aliue as he did the diuel when Samuel was dead his life had then beene spared or if he had put off his sinnes when hee put on his armour to goe to the battle or then fell to prayer when hee fell vpon his sword then had Saul escaped that day But what could the
loueth not euery one that hee chasteneth Christ his best beloued was crucified and yet beloued but Herod was eaten with worms yet hated shal we think that the estate of Herod was any whit better in another life bicause his miserie was begun in this life no verilie no more may wee extoll or accuse those which liue long or miserable daies in this life Iosiah a good king of whom God pronounceth that he shoulde be gathered to his fathers in peace but yet hee was slaine in warres and Ahab an euill king died also in warres was his estate the better bicause he ended his life as a good man did no no it had bin better for him he had neuer bin Yet despaire not in thy afflictions and presume not to aduance worldly sorrow into the place of godly sorrowe and make not thy calamities thy Christ to lift thee vp to heauen Hauing learned that our calamities will not cōmend vs to God let vs do as the prophet here exhorteth Turne vnto the Lord our God Ier. 3. 1. Bloud cannot pacifie him but water can death cannot satisfie him yet teares can bodily plagues will not mooue him but spiritual sorrowes wil vengeance staieth him not but repentance will alter him Therefore turne vnto the Lorde Shall not wee thinke my deere brethren that all these iudgements which wee for these many yeeres haue endured haue wrought mightily in them and on them which were taken by them and is there yet an ende of them either in sight or in hope Haue not many souldiers fighting dying in their owne blood cried alowde in the eares of God Haue not many houses beene suddenly swept away with the pestilence Did not the Lord see it and if hee sawe it why did hee not pitie it and if hee pitied it why did hee not stay it haue not many hundreds in the first yeere of famine perished most miserably for want of bread whose cries must needs pearse the heauens and whose last gaspes might mooue him to pitie yet it hath continued some yeeres since Then may wee see and say if sufferings coulde haue satisfied the Lorde the blood of souldiers the liues of citizens the crie of poore men and the feare of all men might already long agoe haue pleased him but he will neuer be altered till we bee altered Therefore now let me remember you with Ioel Turne vnto me saith the Lord c. Alas alas our health is turned into sicknesse our liues into death our plentie into famine our peace into warres our mirth into mourning our store into want our people into perishing and our poore are turned into their graues and yet we haue not turned vnto the Lorde oh let vs turne before all be ouerturned Let vs fill our chambers with mourning rather then all our land be filled with howling let vs pray for repentance let vs sue for repentance let vs worke for repentance and bestowe all that we haue vpon repentance or else vengeance will come and take all away Another vse is this Rom. 8. 18. seeing God regardeth not our miseries then it followeth that all our sufferings are not woorthie of the life to come Art thou good then despise these worldly sorowes and hope for heauenly ioyes art thou an euill man then repent with speede least thy intolerable euils be turned into intolerable woe Wouldest thou by paine seeke aduauncement they deserue it not wouldest thou by paine bee amended then pray for repentance Oh how are we punished in this life nay rather how shall we be blessed in another life Couldest thou which liest in some strange torments bee content to end thy life in sorrowe to spende thy good for ease or to become any base seruant that thou mightest be released are thy paines so great so comfortlesse and so continuall yet for all this be not disquieted be not discouraged for anon thy ioyes may be farre more pleasant and continuall But why doe I spend time in vaine fearest thou any of those euils which happen in the world for thou canst not but feare all wherefore a Father said it is better to suffer one death and so to die then by liuing to feare all manner of deathes Then I say consider with thy selfe whether is greater thy sorrowes or thy comforts thy body or the heauens thy sufferings or the ioyes of the world to come there shall famine be banished warres shall be conquered sicknesse shall bee cured labour shall be ceased pouertie be forgotten enmitie shall be cooled paines shall be remooued teares shall be dried vp and death it selfe be euerlastingly destroied therefore suffer much to liue so labour much to die so and die in despite of death to raigne so All the miseries of this life are not worthie of this blessednesse but there is not any man liuing that can endure the one halfe of them therefore precious is the bountie of God who giueth vs this glorie for his promise not for our crosses nor yet for our vertues for our crosses are the deserts of sinnes and our vertues are imperfect goodnesse Thirdly in these words we may obserue the definition of repentance namely that it is a turning vnto the Lord so that so long as we are vnrepentant so long we goe from the Lord. I might also make many words on the metaphor turne and not without profit to shew you how our life is a iourney our faith the legs whereon we walke the scripture our guide the church our companion and heauen our waies end seeing all is done elsewhere I will not now stand vpon it Onely in these words I will vrge this that there is no repentance except the whole hart be changed it is not in good words nor yet in an outwarde good practise but in the motions and affections of the hart 1. King 8. 47 48. for this cause our Sauiour biddeth first cleanse that which is within and then that which is without As men doe first cleanse the inside of a vessell not the outside and then put goodnesse therein so must the hart which is a vessell be first cleansed or else all is vaine which the hande doth the mouth speaketh and the minde beleeueth Thy memorie must bee turned thy vnderstanding will and affections must bee changed thy memorie by remembring God and his truth thy vnderstanding by knowing God and his Gospell thy will by beleeuing God and his promises and thy affections by louing desiring meditating and reioycing in and on heauenly things and then is thy whole hart conuerted Some haue knowledge and vnderstanding but no sounde faith or sweete loue some againe loue but they want knowledge and so some haue a good will to the Gospell but they want memorie For the amending of all this follow my direction conferre and you shall haue memorie read and you shall haue knowledge heare and you shall haue faith pray often and you shal haue al good affections all which must be done before you can be saued The first
sinne which they doe not in other corporall plagues Psal 74. 1. The wrath of God made our Sauiour to sweate water and blood which comming vpon men although they cannot sweate as he did because they cannot resist as he did yet they feele in themselues such terrible horrours as amaze the strong and confound the weake From hence it commeth that some in this extremitie thinke that all that they do is for their condemnation their meat drinke apparell health and libertie are vnto many weake minds tokens of the Lords wrath Indeed they which are burned with this iron thinke that euery house will ouerwhelme them and euerie leafe that falleth on the ground will hurt them the noyse of any thing doth trouble them and a sharpe worde almost killeth them Terrible is a life lead vnder such conflicts for euery howre threatneth a thousand deathes the hart euer accuseth the memorie witnesseth against it selfe his owne reason condemneth him and his continuall feare is his cruell tormentor The first vse Let vs not be discouraged in these woefull torments but take example by our Sauiour Christ who for the glorie that was set before him most patiently endured the greatest crosse A hell thou must needs haue thou canst not eschue it therefore chuse it in this world where thou shalt finde mercie with God comfort in his word and solace in his church in the world to come thou shalt haue none of these Make heere thy apprentiship vnto sorrows where thy friends may accompany thee thy praiers may quiet thee and thy ioyes may recompence thee Why art thou afraid that thou canst not abide such paines then looke vnto God the author and finisher of thy faith Art thou in doubt to suffer shippewracke and despaire then knowe that GOD tempteth none beyonde their power Are thy friendes against thee yet the Aungels are with thee Louest thou not sorrowes then shalt thou neuer gaine ioyes if thou wouldest haue learning thou must endure the rodde if thou wilt haue golde thou must crosse the seas if thou wilt bee famous thou must take much paines and if thou wilt haue heauen thou must winne it by repentance Art thou yet afraide of thy selfe and canst not willingly vndergoe it set before thee the paines of this life and the plagues of the other life these are temporall those are eternall these are sufferable those are intollerable these are among men those among diuels these come of loue those of wrath and to conclude God shall mittigate these but hee will augment and aggrauate them Howe canst thou auoide death no more canst thou auoide hell If thou wouldest neuer die thou must neuer be borne and if thou wouldest neuer repent thou must neuer liue Let repentance bee thy purgatorie sinnes thy paines sorrowes thy tormentors and saie with Elijah Poure on more water that God may the more be glorified in thy saluation The second vse is the same that Dauid maketh Psalm 31. 23. after hee had tolde of this great extremitie and howe the Lord did set him at libertie he calleth vpon al the godlie saying Loue yee the Lorde yee his saints for he preserueth the faithfull and rewardeth abundantly the euill dooers Hearken vnto this you sorrowfull doues of the Lord your cause is not wicked your case is not desperate and your hope shall not be frustrate for the Lorde will deliuer you Is it not as easie for him to free you from sinne as from hell and from sorrowe as from damnation Yes verily and therefore loue the Lorde if you bee his saints Loue him I saie and hee shall loue you nay hee loued you first and therefore loue him againe Hee loueth you for hee looketh still vpon you and doe you loue him by looking stil vnto him hee loueth you and watcheth for your safetie do you loue him watch in his praises Which of vs liuing that were born in his church cannot say that the Lord hath wrought wonders for his annointed Tell thy soule what the Lorde hath done for it howe hee cast out the diuell and planted his spirite howe hee freede it from wrath and gaue it grace how he gained it from vengeance gaue it repentance Repentance I say with waterie eies leane bodie mournefull minde and miserable wounded heart and now for all this thou liuest in greater peace Therfore loue yee the Lorde yee his saints loue him as your husbande you are his wife loue him as your father you are his children loue him as your God you are his creatures and loue him as your life you are his ofspring Labour for him you loue pray to him you loue thinke vpon him you loue reioice in him you loue and then die to liue with him you loue thinke it long till you see him thinke it little that you giue him count it woe to forsake him and count it blessednes to loue him After hee had told them what they shoulde doe nowe hee telleth them what they shoulde not doe namely Not cut their garments Wherein he rebuketh the follie raigning in their and our times when they vsed to rent their clothes what careth the Lorde for a newe garment agaie cloke or a costly pearle All these shall perish but he endureth for euer And therefore rent not your garments onely not meaning it to bee vnlawfull to shewe an outward token of sorrowe but hee blameth curiositie and hypocrisie without inwarde sinceritie such as was in the high priest when he heard Christ say hee was the sonne of God hee rent his garments From hence we may gather that outwarde holines is abhominable All such religion as is onely for fashion praying and receiuing the Sacraments hearing of sermons and such like for meere shewe and companie Esay 57. 3 4. And if it bee lawfull to say that men are onely cyphers in religion when they know little or nothing and practise euill then may wee saie that there are more cyphers then figures in our daies You shall knowe them bicause they come but nowe and then to church where they fetch many a fained sigh and speake many ignorant Amen thinking that the worship of the Sabbaoth lieth in putting on their best apparrell and yet simple soules they are perswaded they be as good christians as can be of flesh and bloud and so they bee as Christes disciples were when hee saide vnto them O yee of little faith how long shall I bee with you how long shall I suffer you and so wee may saie to them howe long shall this simplicitie bee called christianitie and howe long shall faith giue place to opinion and howe long shall euerie base person extoll vaine profession against true Religion Oh I woulde they coulde bee brought vnto vs that wee might cast out this diuell from them The reasons of this doctrine are these because the Lorde trying the secret disposition of euery hart pronounceth that he is wearie of such fained worship and that his soule abhorreth it Isai 12.
charge his communing is for peace and not for wrath and his call is more for thy good then for his bee not discomforted because thou hast a guiltie crying conscience for thou seest that the Lorde is as vnwilling to strike as thou art to beare But thou wilt say that hee hath alreadie witnessed thy destruction yea but I say hee will repent him of the euill seeing thou repentest of thy sinnes his iudgements are conditionall hee which gaue the worde can recall it and who can saie he doth not his word Feare not I say though thou be as neere to death as Isaac was to be sacrificed for the Lorde hath an angell in heauen to saue thy life the godly shall come out of trouble but the wicked shall come in his steade Seeing the Lorde is vnwilling to take vengeance of our sinnes let vs bee as vnwilling to grieue him with our sinnes that so wee may bee the children of the most high For it cannot bee but that hee is mightily grieued when wee fall into newe follies in that hee is enforced to open once againe to vs the woundes of Christ and let more bloude issue foorth out of the side of his mercy Iacob was much offended with his two sonnes Simeon and Leui Gen. 34. when they slewe the Sichemites for saide he you haue made my presence to stinke in the sight of this people much more must the Lorde be offended with vs his sonnes being a more tender father then euer was Iacob when we grieue him with our sins for we bring his glorious name into contempt and religion into hatred Once bee thus affected and assured that thou art the childe of God then take part of the godly nature loue all as hee doth doe good to all as hee doth repent of euill as he doth and be as much afraide to sinne as hee is vnwilling to punish thee He euer thinketh on thee doe thou so on him he euer watcheth for thy sake do thou so for his he euer worketh for thy profite doe thou euer liue for his praise He woulde forgiue thee if thou offend and therefore although thou canst offende yet do not he endureth griefe to saue thy health and do thou endure tentation to saue his truth hee coulde reuenge yet doth not that thou mightest learne not to followe what thy hart suggesteth and thy flesh allureth The xxiij Sermon Vers 14. Who knoweth whether he will returne and repent and leaue a blessing behinde him euen a meate offring and a drinke offering vnto the Lord your God THis vers containeth another reason taken from the works of God to mooue them to repentance which is this that God will spare them and leaue something for his owne seruice although it be but a little For I take not this question for a simple affirmation as in other places but rather if it please him he may leaue an offring and for any thing they knew to the contrarie hee woulde From hence wee learne that God concealeth from vs the issue of our sorrowes and the ende of our liues that we may be kept in a continuall practise of repentance as appeareth by Dauid 2. Sam. 12. 23. Some are desperate in their miseries bicause they know not howe or by what meanes they shall be deliuered from it But good men and good mindes must take another course seeing they cannot know in these thinges the minde of the Lorde nor as Salomon saith who shall bee after them therefore their watch and care ouer their liues must bee more continuall This is a good lesson for vs to marke bicause our case is the verie same with the case of the Iewes wee are threatened as they were and we knowe no more then they did Let vs therefore watch in repentance that if our calamitie encrease we may bee readie for the graue and if it be reuersed we may be readie for praise Art thou desirous to make profite of the thing thou knowest not then be repentant for death and life ioy and sorrowe paine and ease riches and pouertie freedome and danger are both alike to a repentant man The first reason bicause by this meanes we are taught humilitie Rom. 9. 20. bicause wee are not able to reason with God or to plead against him for we are in his hande as clay in the hande of the potter Where are all our gallant youthes and lustie minded persons whose heades are so full of knowledge that they are able to teach the Apostles and no maruaile for it appeereth by their liues bearing themselues like Gods in the worlde But looke on your mindes againe you shall finde them stuffed with vanitie and not filled with knowledge if you knowe one thing you are ignorant of a thousande Therefore let this teach you that your mindes are carnall your liues bee sensuall and your soules endangered except you thinke better of others and baser of your selues Learne humility of thy selfe thy body is earth thy glory is earth thy brauery is earth and no maruaile for gold is but earth Why shouldest thou be lifted so high canst thou number thy sinnes or saue thy life or tell when or what death shall take thee away cast thy minde to the earth for then it will looke vpwarde for as yet it looketh downward and deceiueth it selfe Another reason No man can tell things to come Eccl. 7. 2. no not so much as the worke of an howre hence therefore seeing we are assured of nothing but death let death be our life that is let the death of our sins be the life of our soules But we can neuer slay them but by repentance and therefore euerie hower of our life to come calleth for it at our hands we know not when therefore now is the time we know not how therefore this is the meane we know not where therefore this is the place Youth biddeth vs repent age biddeth vs repent sickenes biddeth vs repent and all that is to come calleth vs to amendment because we know not what is to come From hence let vs learne to be contented with that ordinarie and certaine knowledge which the Lord hath shewed vs in his worde I meane to make vs repentant Paul telleth of himselfe that he regarded to know nothing saue Iesus Christ him crucified 1. Cor. 2. 2. the which hee learned from the Lord himselfe This was certaine that Christ was crucified therefore oughtwe to learne the same This is heauenly this is comfortable and this is glorious heauenly for God did it comfortable for it was for our sinnes and glorious for neither man nor angell could do the like and in this short sentence the Apostle hath lapped vp all religion Wouldest thou knowe how to be saued looke to the death of Christ Wouldest thou know how to liue looke on the crosse of Christ and wouldest thou know what to professe then consider the sorrowes of Christ This is heauenly wisedome not knowen of the angels this is
Oh how doth this magnifie religion the professors therof vnto the which they are more indebted then to their own liues let vs offer this sacrifice for the Lord will take any thing at our hand in good part ifit be little because we haue but little he maketh much therof if it be much because we haue much he maketh more thereof then say we all If God doc thus accept then will we giue it Let vs not reason with him as the woman of Samaria did Iohn 4. when hee asked for water but let vs speedily giue him his request as Rebecca did to Abrahams seruant who asking but a little yet she gaue him more Another vse let vs serue the Lord before our liues for else we make our selues gluttons and feede our bellies and the Apostle saith of this kinde 1. Cor. 6. 15. Meate for the belly and the belly for meate but God shall destroy both it and them Wilt thou spende all on thy belly and nothing on the Lorde thinkest thou that thou possessest all for thy selfe and nothing for the Lorde doest thou so liue to thy meate and with thy meate as if thou were onely borne for it and that were onely made for thee then surely take thou heede for God shall destroy both it and thee Giue therefore to him and to his vses in his church if thou faile thy store shall faile and if thou repent not thy life shall perish Who was euer famished for meate that gaue it to the Lord or begged for his bread which spent it at the altar or was empouerished by maintaining religiō surely none but with them was the saying of Salomon performed There is that giue and haue nothing the lesse Eate not I beseech you your destruction in your meat and drinke not your damnation in your abundance if you will saue your life you shal lose it but if in this case for the Lords cause you wil lay downe your life you shall finde it If when wee haue but little we giue from our selues to the Lorde we do as poore Iacob did which sent his store into Egypt with his sonnes where was more store but through his little hee gained both his sonnes he saued his owne life and sustained all his familie so let not vs doubt or feare to bestow on the Lord for looke what wee loose we sowe for more encrease what we giue we shall gaine and what in peasure we dispende in paine we shall lament The xxiiij Sermon Vers 15. 16. Blowe the trumpet in Sion sanctifie a fast call a solemne assemblie gather the people sanctifie the congregation gather the elders assemble the children and those that sucke the brests let the bridegroome go foorth of his chamber and the bride out of hir bride chamber OF the blowing of the trumpet wee haue spoken in the beginning of this chapter so also we haue handled the proclaiming of a fast the calling of an assemblie both of the people and of their elders al which to stande vpon againe were but needlesse Therefore wee will to the next wordes The yoong children and them that sucke the breasts That is euery one among you from the least to the most Some will saie vnto me what good can the sucking children do in the Lordes seruice I grant in sight they cannot but seeing Dauid saith that the brute beastes do seeke their meate at God which they doe not by praying or speaking so may Ioel assigne the yoong sucking babes to want their meat that with their mothers they might poure foorth most lamentable teares and terrible cries into the eares of the Lord and for this cause to increase mourning doth the prophet inuite them to the fast From hence we may obserue that the wrath of God must bee appeased with a generall repentance Olde men and babes yoong men and maidens rich and poore prince and people must all bee humbled at the Lordes anger as we may reade Ion. 3. 8. Yea the very cattle of the Niniuites were couered with a mourning weede wherein wee may see that it is no maruaile if the Lorde were so long angrie with vs bicause we were not generally humbled If parents haue repented yet children haue not sorrowed if children mourne parents haue beene dissolute if the old men were humbled the yoong men rebelled Therefore our misery remaineth bicause some remaine obstinate The reasons First bicause the Lord hath a quarrel against al sexes ages degrees and conditions of men Ierem. 12. 12. the which ought to be a sufficient cause to haue euery one to be humbled and let not one escape I muse much that many christian parents haue so little regarde to their children that they care not with what vanities and toies they delight and allure them thinking they are not bounde to any exercise on Sabbaoth daies nor that any oath or foolish talke doth annoy them But heere wee see not onelie those which can speake must practise religion but also if they bee able to crie let them feele the Lordes commandement Some will thinke that these little children are innocent and therefore neede no repentance for it is a common saying if it goe not well with children howe shall it goe with olde men meaning that children are without sinne Vnto which I answere that they are sinfull by nature euen the heires of wrath Eph. 2. 2. and if they were not yet bicause God requireth it who dare refuse it and the rather bicause the brute beastes are inuited thereto which neither can nor euer shall sinne Another reason bicause whosoeuer doth not thus humble himselfe shall be iudged of God 1. Cor. 11. 31. We know it an vsuall thing in the worde of God to spare neither man woman nor childe and to take the sucking babes and to dash their braines against the wall If they be subiect to punishment why not to religion if to death why not to the Lordes seruice Therefore let all bee humbled children because they are borne in sinne olde men bicause they are weary of sin yoong men bicause they liue in sin and striplings bicause they grow in sin or else shall euerie one die in condemnation Let vs not therefore prouoke the Lord 1. Cor. 10. 22. but consider how fearefull it is to stirre a lion from his den or to meete a Beare robbed of hir whelpes or to prouoke a prince to displeasure of which it is saide That the anger of a king is the messenger of death but I saie if the Lorde more fierce then a lyon more raging then a Beare and more powerfull then a prince bee stirred vp to strike vs wee can hardely hurt him hee can easilie destroie vs wee can hardlie mooue him but more hardly pacifie him See you not that the newe borne babes shall repent it yea sometime they feele it before they bee borne Oh thinke vpon it the blood of olde men the strength of yoong men the beautie of women and the loue of children
doe not alway mooue him and shall we then tempt him to our and others euerlasting destruction in his wrath hee is an vnquenchable fire an vnresistable flood an vnpacifiable iudge and a destroyer of all that come in his way But alas with teares we may lament to see him prouoked euery day who is so sicke that sinneth not against him who is so weake that striueth not with him who is so vnwise that pleadeth not with him Looke with teares ouer all sorts of men the poore despise him the lame run from him the blinde come not at him the dumbe speake against him the rich will not feare him and the dead will not confesse him By all meanes we prouoke his wrath by tempting by murmuring by denying by abusing and abasing his glorie We tempt him in thinking he will pardon whatsoeuer we commit we murmur when wee haue not all our desires we denie him when we esteeme not his gospell we abuse him vsing our wealth to luxurie and our meate to gluttonie and wee abase him when wee more feare a mortall mans displeasure then the wrath of the highest When we see the Lord being angrie and so hardly pacified let vs vse all meanes to please him againe although it bee with the hazard of our owne liues as Moses did Deut. 9. 18 19. perceiuing the Lord to be mooued to wrath he fell downe on his face to entreate him for his people tarrying with him fortie daies and fortie nights neither eating nor drinking yea he desired God to be pacified with his people although he rased his name out of the booke of life What coulde bee done with greater zeale or more earnest affection the Lorde was angrie who coulde appease him but Moses and how could he be satisfied but with offering his body to death through fasting and his soule vnto condemnation Marke it I beseech you that we al learne with more zeale to entreate the Lord to be turned towarde vs. Offer we must our bodies to pining our members to tortures our health to sicknesse our wealth to pouertic our pleasure to paine and our life to death rather then the wrath of God shoulde proceede vpon vs. Oh let vs come vnto the Lord and offer him his whole man to satisfie his mercies neither be afraide to doe so but put it in speedie practise Come to him though thou be lame run to him though thou be blinde pray to him though thou be sicke and trust in him though thou be poore Abide not one miserie but all miseries that thou maist dwell with him neither care for the rage of man the want of maintenance the loue of friends or the feare of death for if thou loue these more then him thou art not woorthy of him Hauing willed the sucking babes to come to mourning he also inuiteth the new married folkes bridegroomes and brides to leaue of their vsuall dalliance and come among their neighbours to this sorrowfull banket From whence we obserue that wee must not in any thing be it neuer so lawfull hinder true repentance or the profession of godlinesse For there is nothing more honaurable then marriage more lawfull then a wedding feast more vsuall then pleasant mirth and more commendable then a ioyfull marriage day but all these being hinderances vnto repentance must bee laide aside as a mourner doth his daily attire Wee may reade Luc. 14. 21. how they were cursed that came not to the Lords feast among whome there was one that had married a wife it shall be no excuse before the Lord that they did but the course of the world in vsing these things it were better for vs to forsake our wiues then to loose our soules to renounce our mirth then to relinquish our liues to deferre our pleasure then to depart from the Lord. Let this I beseech you be your care in the Lord that you offend him not in the vse of his creatures neither let those comforts which you receiue in wedlocke in feasting in riches in beautie and the like worke your euerlasting discomfort in another worlde Liue not in mirth for then thou canst not repent reioice not in youth for it is but vanitie distrust thy ioyes for they are deceitfull be not alway mourning for thou canst not be thankfull bee euer repentant that thou maiest bee faithfull One reason heere of is giuen by the Lorde himselfe Ierem. 7. 34 bicause a desolation shall come and of all reasons there is none more forcible then the rod of vengeance and desolation so that in this sort might Ieremy and Ioel and other the Lordes ministers reason with the worlde Laie away your mirth let not the voice of musicke the day of marriage the means of ioyfulnesse or the comfort of pleasure bee had or heard among you for a desolation shall come Drawe the childe from the breast the elders from their ease the married from their loue and the people from their vanitie for a desolation commeth Houses shall be desolate without inhabitants parents shall be desolate without children cities shall be desolate without citizens and whole kingdomes shall bee desolate without professors Therefore put away this ioy like an vnlawfull wife come againe to the Lord with much weeping and reioice not in thy youth or thy age or thy wealth or thy friends or thy marriage Another reason bicause by this kinde of mirth we growe to hardnes of hart and neglect the wrath of God Amos 6. 1 5. It is much that men esteeme not the faire promises and sweete blessings of God but yet it is more fearefull when they make light account of his heauy iudgements Now if you marke who they be that care not for iudgement you shall see that they are those who eate in abundance liue in pleasure enioying wealth and children at their will and want is not knowne vnto them Againe poore people liuing in continuall scarsitie and are content with simple allowance hauing learned the feare of God a shower of raine and a cloudie day humbleth their knees to the earth and lifteth their praiers to heauen Let vs learne not to reioice in any vnlawfull manner all the time that the church of God is in aduersitie Psal 137. 2 3 4. Good men in captiuitie commanded by their enimies to sing one of the songs of Sion refused it bicause they were in a strange lande and so if we hope for mirth and ioy in another worlde let vs refuse it as much as may be in this life present for we be but strangers and pilgrims on the earth And verily if wee consider the matter well we haue as many causes to lament olde and yoong married and vnmarried as these people had to whom Ioell preached Famine was threatned to them but felt of vs they were vnder the Babylonian gouernment and we are subiect to the tyrannie of sathan they had abused manie benefites and prophets of God and so haue we they had reioiced in many worldly pleasures and
shall bee more against them then all the worlde and their helpes of nature shall giue them ouer and they left destitute of all hope shall be deliuered into the hande of diuels and surely they which scorne the companie of God his saints on the earth are woorthie to bee torne by the teeth and clawes of diuels in hell But hast thou no grace to consider this before hand and to thinke with thy selfe howe thou shalt see an infinite companie of Angels driuing thee to iudgement and then presently all the diuels in hell haling thee to damnation Be willing therefore to come to God in earth that thou maiest bee desirous to goe to God in heauen for bee assured that if thou feare iudgement and wishest it might neuer be thou art in a pitifull case for thy conscience doth alreadie condemne thee and if thou despise iudgement and watch not for it thou art more retchlesse for thou resistest God but if thou crie for the last day and say Come Lorde Iesus come quickly thou art a happie man for the Lorde is in thee Christ hath clensed thee sinne is dying in thee thou louest God his kingdome and therefore thou shalt possesse his kingdome Oh that we coulde willinglie submit our hearts to the Gospell and then shoulde wee not vnwillingly offer our soules to iudgement The reasons of this doctrine are these First because they shall be compelled by the power of God Matth. 26. 64. They which will not feele the power of God in sauing them shal feele it in condemning them and therfore as the power of God made Pharaoh to yeeld to Moses and Aaron and made Sisera to yeelde to Deborah and made Goliah to yeelde to Dauid and made the temple to rende a sunder when Christ was crucified and the sunne to loose hir light shall compell the wicked to the iudgement seate of God Another reason is bicause their hope for helpe or mercie or pardon is but in vaine Lam. 4. 17. And therefore although they woulde escape yet their hope shall deceiue them as the mother and wife of Sisera which told of the victorie when in the ende it turned to their owne ouerthrow I doe but briefly touch these things bicause I haue handled them more at large alreadie The vses which arise from hence are these First that wee come willinglie to the throne of grace Rom. 5. 2. or else we shall be vnwillingly drawne to the throne of wrath Come to all godlie exercises ioyfully heare the Gospell diligently reade the scriptures zealously loue the godly tenderly and praie to the Lorde comfortablie and then shalt thou come to grace not to wrath to glorie not to shame to life not to death to heauen not to hell Make no excuses for thy absence admit no delaies for thy hinderance suffer no temptations for thy allurement and let not the wife of thy youth keepe thee from praier and the throne of grace Feare God more than loue the worlde hate euill more than loue thy wife Saie vnto all cumbrancers awaie from mee for I will keepe the Gospell of my God I had rather loose my finger than my hande my haire than my heade my bodie than my soule my friendes than my GOD. I will feare the Lorde before wrath that I may reioice in iudgement Againe let vs learne to acknowledge and perswade our selues of this terror of God 2. Cor. 5. 11. for except wee consider before hande howe the heauens shall be consumed howe the earth shall bee burned howe the worlde shall bee ended and howe the Lorde shall be manifested the Gospell will be but a weake worde and an idle tale vnto vs But if thou canst beleeue the last iudgement and with the eie of faith beholde it a farre off and tremble at the secret meditation thereof then thou maiest easily feele the power of life vnto life and happily forsake the sentence of death Therefore euermore remember iudgement at thy feast in thy bed on thy table in the morning at thy labour before thy sleepe and with thy friendes that thou and they be not of the kindreds of the earth which shall waile and lament before the comming of Christ Reuel 1. 7. There will I pleade with them Hauing finished the gathering togither of the wicked into the place of iudgement now it remaineth that wee goe on to the causes of their destruction which the Lord heere openeth as pleaders do in their courts at the law and therefore he saith that he will plead with them for his people alluding to the manner of worldly iudgements so that heere wee may see that the Lord is both iudge counsellor for his church which may greatly comfort vs and discomfort our enimies for the Lord who is to tally for vs and eagerly against them hath the whole law in his owne hand But in this that he saith he will plead with them we may note that God will open all the sinnes of the wicked in iudgement Eccles 11. 9. For pleaders will not omit any thing which may discredit their aduersarie or the cause against which they speake yea they will suspect those things which they cannot gainesay and condemne those things very peremptorily which they can any way blemish In like sort the Lord when he shall draw thee to iudgement will there open all thy life and tell thy secret whooredome thy hidden theft thy often blasphemies thy idle words thy vaine expences thy proud gestures thy idle worship thy friend-pleasing vanitie and all thy hypocrisie Thy charitie he will defame with vaine-glorie thy prayers hee will account abhomination thy fasting he will call dissembling and thy gentle nature shall be accounted a flattering vertue All this will hee bring to iudgement hee will prooue it by thy conscience he will condemne it by his Gospell and he will punish it by condemnation oh then shall thy faults be written in thy forehead that al may know them and thy priuie doings blowen with a trumpet that all may heare them and thy forsworne sinnes opened by a crier that all may loath them Oh wretched wretches which had rather abide this iudgement of God then that which is in this life but if thou haue any meanes to perswade thy soule vnto goodnes or to terrifie thy flesh from euill let this helpe it forward that God shal open all thy faults at the day of iudgement and discredit all thy vertues be they neuer so many or neuer so glorious Thinke not that thy good deedes shall ouercome thy euil but as one blemish disfigureth a whole bodie so one sinne will disgrace a whole bodie of vertues The reasons of this doctrine are these because the counsell of euerie hart shall then be manifested whether it be good or euill 1. Cor. 4 5. and if the counsels of men be opened much more their sinnes Another reason is because they are remembred before God Reuel 20. 12. and if all the sinnes of the wicked be in the Lords
sorrie if any blood beshed or any violence bee executed in his ouerthrowe But I knowe some will say how shall wee warre against the papists may we not triumph with all manner of warlike and lawfull ioy at their ouerthrowe as we would doe against heathens Surely I answere we may so warre with them as with idolators not with heathens and so to triumph in their conquest as Iudah was woont against Israel that is being prouoked by them to trie it to the vttermost and to spare no person that is an aduersarie yet to suffer the remnants to enioy their countrie if they will embrace the truth and forsake idolatrie The reasons of this doctrine are these first because as men spoile the godly so shall they bee spoiled againe Ier. 30. 16. Againe good men are at peace in the land and therefore it were crueltie to rage against the peaceable And therefore make this account that God will reuenge the iniurie offered to his people vpon the children and childrens children of them that were the workers thereof Isa 13. 16. As Dauid commaunded Salomon that he should not suffer the hoare head of Ioab to go into the graue in peace because he had slaine two men more righteous then himselfe in the time of peace so God will not suffer them to come in peace to their graues that haue had any hand against the righteous of the world Learne therefore as the Prophet exhorteth Ierem 39. 12. that in warres or in any common slaughter thou euer vse gentlenes to them that thou shalt know haue liued godly And therefore in all the warres betwixt Iudah and Israell you shall neuer read of a priest or prophet of the Lord to be slaine but they were slaine in the time of peace when men were wearie of the word of God Be a valiant souldier but bee also a mercifull christian if any yeeld himselfe then giue not his life to thy sword Remember that glorie doth not onely dwell in fighting and killing but in ouercomming and if thou ouercome by any means or stratagems thy conquest is neuer the lesse Spare them that pray for thee for all christians pray one for another and as the King of Syria fought no more after he had ouercome Ahab but let all Israell goe home in peace so after thou hast ouercome the principall actors and procurers of the warre then let the residue goe scotfree Thinke also that the warres are mutable and if they giue thee victorie at one time yet they may let thee be conquered at another time and therefore so spare as thou wouldest bee spared and as Abner would haue perswaded Asahel Ioabs brother to depart from him because he should slay him and then would Ioah be wroth with him so if words may pacifie thy enimie rather vse them then weapons And as I would haue thee deale in warres so thou must deale in peace that thou take not euerie aduantage against thy brother but spare him when thou hast him in thy hand whether it be in combate or in suite at the law or in complaint before a magistrate or in any extremitie Do thou nothing against him but let the law do all rather silence some bitter things then inuent any new occasions of strife and to the vttermost of thy endeuour labour to buy peace although it cost thee deerely for whether thou winne or lose thou shalt be polluted by trouble The xxxv Sermon ANd they haue cast lots This is another cause why the Lord doth enter into so sharpe a iudgement against the wicked and that is as you see bicause they vsed them most vilely and not onely them but the holie ordinance of God which is casting of lots So that they as it were plaied at dice for the people of God they cared not who wonne them nor howe they greeued them for it coulde not choose but offend them to see the lottery made vpon them which God had appointed for another vse But in this that they cast lots for the people of God and the lot beeing the verie ordinance of God not to bee vsed in sport or pastime wee may note that euill and ignorant men doe profane and abuse euery thing yea though in it selfe it be neuer so good Tit. 1. 15. To euill men and defiled all thinges saith the Apostle are polluted their toonges are adders speares their lips are instruments of guile their handes worke iniquitie and their feete runne to euill and shed blood and if they thus abuse their naturall parts what will they doe with the spirituall benefits Oh it greeueth my hart to tell you for their praiers they vse to curse and banne them with whom they are angrie their knowledge they abuse to beguile and deceiue the simple and vnstable soules they will haue the Scriptures to couer their profanenesse and when they be espied they say they can approoue their sinnes by holie warrant Oh damnable blasphemie they vse their wits to cauill their wealth to oppresse their strength to steale their friendes to bolster out their offences and their naturall wisedome to maintaine their vnnaturall blasphemie they are hungrie to be gluttons they are thirsty to be drunkards they are clothed to be proud they are honored to be disdainful they are wel borne that they may liue ill vncontrolled with a thousand such like enormities which we may find in the cōtinual practise of the wicked they abuse their marriage for lust their children for couetousnesse their offices for bribing their ministerie for reprehension their lawe for delay of truth the day for open euill and the night for secret shame If a good man fall into their hands they wil vse him scurrilously the holy worde of God either they despise or wrest damnablie the ordinances of God they profane wickedly and the societie of men they dishonour shamefully and yet still they liue and still shall liue that they may so abuse death as they haue abused life that as they make life a time of sinne so they may finde death a day of destruction The reasons of this doctrine are these First because they are blinded of the diuell 2. Corint 4. 4. And therefore they cannot see so much as that which nature teacheth for the diuell neuer ceaseth to toule on a man till hee haue made him defie the grace of God and to defile the nature of man Another reason is bicause such is the poison of sinne that it defileth the very garments of a man and the walles of a house Iud. 23. wherefore it will worke more effectually in man who is a more meete and apt subiect for the same The vses which come of this doctrine are these First that we learne to discerne a man that is thus giuen ouer to abuse verie lawfull thinges woe be to them saith the prophet that speake euill of good and good of euill Isai 5. 20. For men in this estate will not sticke to commende any kinde of filthinesse because
worthie learning not knowen to many learned kings and princes and this is true felicitie not felt of euerie one therefore Paul said I esteeme to know nothing but Christ and him crucified It maketh no matter to be ignorant of thy owne death if thou knowe the death of Christ it skilleth not to know what shall bee if thou know that he died for thee if thou know him his death will mortifie thee his wounds will wash thee and his stripes will saue thee He died wilt not thou repent He was condemned wilt not thou be saued He was crucified wilt not thou be sorrowful Study not to liue but to be leeue care not what shal be after thee in this world so thou be assured of the world to come Thou knowest not what shall be to morrow therefore repent to day thou knowest not whether God will hereafter therfore do it now learne this lesson speedily for as the Israelites could not gather Manna after the sunne was risen so thou canst not haue repentance after time is ouerpassed Seeing God concealeth many things from vs therefore let not vs curiously enquire after secret and hid things the which fault our Sauiour reprooueth in his disciples Act. 1. 7. In our times there be many which busie themselues about idle and vnprofitable questions as whether they shall know one another in the next life what God did before he made the world whether Christ should haue beene borne if Adam had stoode in innocencie and when or what time of the yeere shal be the latter day of which questions the schoolmen abound Againe there be other that thinke themselues verie christianly busied if they let alone the studie for knowledge the practise of prayer and the keeping of the morall law yea they are ignorant of the order of saluation but they turne to fro to find plat-formes of gouernment to speake against authoritie to erect new states and to prie and enquire into the secret liues and sinnes of men vnto whom I say with our Sauiour it is not for you to know these things I might wearie you to tell the conceits of them which take themselues for wise men and the dreames of the simpler sort vnto whom I say you teach and learne the lighter points of the lawe but iudgement and knowledge and sanctification you let alone Amend this fault for it is good to be ignorant of some things and what the Lord saith not beleeue not what is not disclosed enquire not what cannot be prooued receiue not and what the Lord hath silenced know thou not A meate offering we haue declared in the former chapter that there was no sacrifice but there was a meat and drink offering annexed vnto it for as the sacrifice was for God so was this for man And herein the Prophet teacheth vs seeing his desire is not for continuance of plentie or restitution of aboundance but for a meate offering and a drinke offering which was a small portion of meale and oyle and wine vsed in the seruice of God that we must rather impart our goods to the Lords worship then to the maintenance of our owne liues as Dauid did with the water of Bethleem 2. Sam. 23. 16. 17. I say wee must haue more care to serue God then to liue at ease and we must rather want for our selues then let religion go to the wall This I may teach but I know there are few that haue any wealth but had rather to depart with their profession church temple ministerie sacrifice gospell and God then with the Sarephthian widow to giue their little to Elijah I know what I speake I see much taken frō the Lord but little giuen to him Woe worth these lamentable times wherein already wise men may see that if want shoulde encrease surely the name of God would be forgotten vnles it were to be blasphemed Do we not see that a feast hath more guests then a sermon and a dinner more eaters then a church hath hearers Doe you thinke that they would desire but a meate offering for the Lords seruice nay rather they will weepe if their bellies be not serued before the Lord would they which gaine their meate by the life and sweat of other men do as Dauid did offer it to the Lorde no no we haue them among vs which care not what paine and danger and trouble they procure to other so themselues may eat the flesh drinke the best The first reason because it is the Lords portion that is allotted thereto Numb 18. 8. The Lord for the rent of all our goodes and lands which we holde of him as our cheefe Lorde hath reserued but two partes the one for the church and the other for the poore if we pay not these we forfeit all yea more then all into the hands of his maiestie Grudge not therefore at the charges of the gospel for thouseest how good thy farme is how smal thy rent is how large thy lease is how few are thy couenants and how easie to be kept depart with it willingly it is the Lords shal not the maister be serued before the man and shall not the Lord be paid though our cofers say nay O my brethren pay him cheerefully for you are bound by blood you are in danger to loose all and that woorthily if you giue not that little Another reason because it is better to die in miserie then to liue in impietie therefore it is better to liue godly with want then wickedly with abundance Psal 37. 16. A little thing that the righteous hath is better then the great riches of the vngodly Therefore serue the Lord before thy life and preferre his worship before thy appetite let not distrust hinder it the Lorde hath ynough for thee let not pouertie stay thee for thou must liue by the worde as well as by bread doe not refraine because thou hast little for if thou hadst much he can scatter and hauing little he can multiplie it Feare not want in age doubt not of helpe in sicknesse and despaire not of a supply when all is spent as God commanded thee The first vse we must knowe that God loueth that most deerely which we offer to him with the hazard of our owne want for this cause did our Sauiour so much commend the action of the poore widow Luc. 21. 4. before all the abundant offerings of the wealthy saying that her two mites were more then all theirs because she did it of meere loue to the Lord but the other of superfluitie And we if we haue any minde to the like commendation let vs put on the like affection although wee labour with our hands watch aboue our howers and fast aboue our ordinarie to giue the bread of our liues into the treasurie of the Lorde Neither ought wee to thinke but that the Lord doth highly accept the willing and rich offerings of the wealthy especially if they reserue it from vaine and proud expences