Hierome notably Licèt sparso crine scissis vestibus vbera quibus te nutrier at mâ—ter oftendat licèt in limâ—ne pater iaceat per calcatum perge patreÌ„ siccis oculis ad vexillum crucis euola The most eminent paternes of obedience to father and mother are the Rechabits Isaac Christ Venerabatur matrem cuius ipse erat pater colebat nutritium quem nutriuerat Reuerence Bearing them respect in words and outward behauiour though they be neuer so meane and wee neuer so mightie Prouerbs 23. 22. Honour thy father that begat thee and thy mother that bare thee As if hee should say Be dutifull vnto thy parents not because they be rich and in great place but because they be thy parents how base soeuer they bee Matris angustam domum Iudicas cuius tibi non fuit venter angustus parentes non amare impietas est non agnoscere insania est Examples of this vertue recorded in holy Scriptures are Ioseph and Salomon and in our English Chronicles Sir Thomas More who being Lord Chancellor of England vsually did aske his father blessing in Westminster Hall publikely the which custome of our nation is good and godly Maintenance If the parent be blind the child must be his eye if lame the child must be his foote if in any want the staffe of his decaied age So Christ tooke care for his mother at his death for it is great reason that children hauing receiued life of their father and mother should procure to preserue vnto them the same life Nature doth reade this lesson Valerius Maximus hath a memorable historie of a young woman who gaue sucke to her mother in prison and so kept her aliue who otherwise was adiudged to be famished A pious office so well accepted of the Iudge that he did both pardon the mother and prefer the daughter Aristophanes affirmes also that the young Stroke doth feed the old There is a dutie required of the parent toward the child as well as of the child toward the parent yet the law speaketh expresly to the one and not to the other That the father being in order of nature in wisdome superior might suspect his duty to be written in himselfe father and mother are nominapietatis officiorum vocabula naturae vincula The dutie then of superiours is infolded in the word father a Minister is a father a Master a father a Magistrate a father teaching them to be so well affected to their inferiors as parents are to their children Againe the loue of parents towards their children is so naturall and ordinary that there is lesse need to put parents in mind of their dutie But contrariwise children are not vsually so dutifull to their parents as the Schoole speakes Amor descendit non ascendit benefactor plus dâ—ligit quam beneficiâ—tus and therefore it was necessary to admonish them of their loue neither is God content with a bare precept but hath adioined a promise That thy daies may bee long for there is no reason hee should inioy long life who dishonoureth those of whom hee receiued life but if God shorten the daies of dutifull children and in stead of long life giue them euerlasting life hee doth not breake but keepe his promise for hee doth promise long life not absolutely but so farre forth as it is a blessing that it may be well with thee and that thou maiest liue long on earth Ephes. 6. 3. The 6. Commandement THe negatiue part forbiddeth all euill and that is committed against our neighbour three waies In Thought Word Deed. But because bad deeds are worse then bad words and bad words worse then bad thoughts it pleased the God of order first to forbid bad deeds Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not commit adulterie Thou shalt not steale Then bad words Thou shalt not beare false witnesse Last of all bad thoughts Thou shalt not couet thy neighbors house c. All our bad deeds against our neighbors concerne his Life Thou shalt not kill Honour Thou shalt not commit adultery Goods Thou shalt not steale Thou shalt not kill To wit a man for to kill other liuing things is not forbidden and the reason is plaine because they were created for man and so man is master of their life But one man was not created for another man but for God and therefore not man but only God is master of our life for a magistrate doth not put malefactors to death as master of their life but as a minister of God and so by consequence not murther but an act of iustice Such as strike with the sword shall perish with the sword that is such as take the sword vpon their owne authoritie Dominus iusserat vt ferrum discipuli ferrent non vt ferirent But if God put a sword into their hand then they may then they must strike In a word killing is vniust when either it is done without authoritie or by publike authoritie vpon priuate grudge non amore iâ—stitiae sed libidine vindictae Concerning inward rancour and outward disdaine in deed word or gesture see the Gospell Dom. 6. post Trin. The 7. Commandement IN this Commandement are forbidden all vnchast lusts aswell burning within as breaking forth Into Allurements Ribald talke Ephes. 4. 29. Wanton lookes Gen. 6. 2. 39. 7. Lasciuious attire Esay 3. 16. Acts of vncleannesse Acts of vncleannesse vnnaturall as Committing filthinesse with A man of the same sex Rom. 1. 27. Abeast Leu. 18. 23. A Diuell as witches doe by their owne confession Naturall Adulterie when both or one of the parties are married Deut. 22. 22. Fornication between single persons as Deflouring of virgins Deut. 22. 28. Hunting of common whores 1. Cor. 10. 8. Incest with such as be within the degrees of consanguinitie or affinitie prohibited in law Leuit. 18. 6. Sinne in this kind is more dangerous then in another because a man can hardly repent heartily for it The murtherer and swearer and theese become many times exceeding sorrowfull after the fact but the wanton as Hierome notes euen in the middest of his repentance sinneth afresh the very conceit of his old pleasure doth occasion a new fault so that when his deuotion ends he presently begins to repent that he did repent Example hereof Augustine who being in the heat of his youth as himselfe writes of himselfe begged of God earnestly the gift of continencie but saith he to tell the truth I was afraid lest hee should heare me too soone Malebam enim explers concupiscentiam quà m extinguâ— See the Gospell Dom. 15. post Trin. The 8. Commandement THis ouerthroweth Anabaptisticall and Platonicall communitie for if all things ought to be common and nothing proper in possession how can one man steale from another All lawes of giuing buying selling leaseing letting lending are vaine si teneant omnes omnia
magnifie the Lord. THis Hymne is nothing else but a grace for grace great thankes for great things receiued of the Lord. Wherein obserue the manner and matter of the Virgins exultation or a thanksgiuing in the two former verses and a reason in the rest For he hath regarded c. I purpose to â—ift euery word of the former part seuerally and because there is as Luther saith great Diuinitie in pronounes I will first examine the pronoune My my soule my spirit my Sauiour It is not enough y t other pray for vs except our selues praise God for our selues He that goeth to Church by an attorney shal go to heaueÌ„ also by a proxie There is an old Legend of a Merchant who neuer would go to Masse but euer when he heard the Saints bell he said to his wife Pray thou for thee and me Vpon a time hee dreamed that hee and his wife were dead and that they knocked at heauen gate for entrance S. Peter the porter for so goeth the tale suffered his wife to enter in but thrust him out saying Illa intrauit pro se te as thy wife went to Church for thee so likewise she must goe to heauen for thee The morall is good howsoeuer the storie be bad insinuating that euery one must haue both a personalitie of faith my Sauiour and a personalitie of deuotion my soule my spirit Officium is efficium it is not enough that the master enioyne his familie to pray or the father heare his child pray or the Teacher exhort his people to pray but as euery one hath tasted of Gods bountie so euery one must performe this dutie hauing oyle of his owne in his owne lampe saying and praying with the blessed Virgin My soule my spirit Soule As if she should thus speake Thy benefits O Lord are so good so great so manifest so manifold that I can not accord them with my tongue but only record them in my heart It is truly said he loues but little who tels how much he loues and so surely hee praiseth God but little who makes it a tongue-toile and a lip-labor only Mark 7. 6. This people honoureth me with their lips but their heart is farre from me God who gaue all will haue all and yet aboue all requireth the soule Sonne giue me thy heart for that alone commands all other members as the Centurion did his souldiers It saith to the foote goe and it goeth vnto the hand come and it commeth vnto the rest doe this and they doe it It doth bend the knees and ioyne the hands and lift vp the eye composeth the countenance disposeth of the whole man and therefore as that other Mary chose the better part so this Mary bestowed vpon God her best part her soule did magnifie her spirit reioyced Some Diuines expound these words ioyntly some seuerally The word spirit is vsed in the holie Scripture sometime for the whole soule 1. Cor. 7. 34. The woman vnmaried careth for the things of the Lord that she may be holy both in body and in spirit that is in soule So S. Augustine thinks that these two words here signifie the same because the latter phrase my spirit reioiceth in God my Sauiour is nothing else but an exegesis of the former my soule doth magnifie the Lord insinuating by this repetition my soule my spirit that her deuotion was not hypocriticall but cordiall and vnfained It is obserued in nature that the Fox doth nip the necke the Mastiue the throat the Ferret the liuer but God especially careth for the heart being as Ambrose speakes excellently Non corticis sed cordis deus And therefore Mary was not content to praise the Lord from the rine of her lips only but also from the roote of her heart So Dauid did pray Praise the Lord O my soule and all that is within mee praise his holy name So Paul would haue vs pray Sing to the Lord with a grace in your hearts And so the Church doth desire that the Priest who is the mouth of the people should pray The Lord be with you saith the Minister and the whole congregation answereth And with thy spirit Heereby signifying that this holy businesse ought to be performed with all attention and intention of spirit Diuines interpreting these two seuerally distinguish betweene soule and spirit and so doth the Scripture 1. Cor. 15. 45. The first man Adam was made a liuing soule the last Adam a quickening spirit Soule is that by which we liue naturally spirit is that by which we liue through grace supernaturally Or as other soule signifieth the will and spirit the vnderstanding as Heb. 4. 12. The word of God is liuely and mighty in operation and sharper then any two edged sword and entreth thorow euen vnto the diuiding asunder of the soule and spirit that is of the will and vnderstanding So that Mary saying here my soule and my spirit doth intimate that she did praise the Lord with attention in her vnderstanding and deuotion in her affection They praise God with halfe an heart who either hauing deuotion want vnderstanding or else indued with vnderstanding want deuotion and so while men pray with the soule without a spirit or with the spirit without a soule their heart is diuided as the Prophet Ose Diuisum est cor eorum and God hath but one part happily the least peece The line then to be drawne from this example is first that we pray with our heart secondly with our whole heart with all our soule with all our spirit Doth In the present For as a gift to man so glory to God is most acceptable when as it is seasonable not deferred but conferred in time Gratia quae tarda est ingrata est gratia Proprium est libenter facientis citò facere Magnifie The word signifieth highly to commend and extoll Magnum facere to make great Now God is optimus maximus already most great and therefore cannot be made more great in regard of himselfe but all our vilifying and magnifying the Lord is in respect of others onely When wee blasheme the most holy name of God as much as in vs lieth we lessâ—n his greatnes when we blesse his name so much as in vs is we magnifie his glory making that which is great in it selfe to be reputed great of other As one fitly Magnificare nihil aliud est nisi magnum significare This magnifying consists in our conuersation especially Noli saith Augustine gloriari quia lingua benediâ—is si vita maledicis Haue your conuersation honest among the Gentiles that they which speake euill of you may by your good works which they shall see glorifie God in the day of the visitation God is magnified of vs as Ambrose and Origen note when as his image is repaired in vs. He created man according to his likenes that is
of nothing and therefore wee being his creatures owe obedience to his commands in euery thing especially seeing he doth not only presse vs with his greatnes but allure vs also with his goodnes being our God by couenant in holie baptisme wherein hee tooke vs for his adopted children and we tooke him for our heauenly father he tooke vs for his spouse wee tooke him for our husband he tooke vs for his people wee tooke him for our God A some therefore must honour his father and a seruant his master If he be ours and we his as he doth prouoke vs in bountie so we must answere him in dutie In more speciall as God brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage so hath he deliuered vs from the seruitude of Satan and sinne prefigured by that bondage of Egypt and Pharao that being deliuered out of the hands of all our enemies we might serue him in holinesse and righteousnesse all the daies of our life Egypt was a countrie giuen exceedingly to superstition and Idolatrie worshipping the most base creatures as Rats Onyons and Garlike so that to live in such a place was very dangerous to the soule and bondage to natures ingenuous is an estate of all other most grieuous to the bodie Deliuerance then out of both as benefits in their owne nature very great and in memorie most fresh were good motiues vnto regardfull obedience The Lord hath done so and more then so for vs he hath freed vs from the Romish Egypt and Spanish bondage with lesse difficultie and more ease for we are translated out of Babel and Egypt without any trauell or iourney Rome is swept away from England and Ierusalem is brought home to our doores If arguments drawne either from Gods infinite might or mercie ought to preuaile let England shew the greatest obedience for England hath had the greatest deliuerance The Precepts LOue is the complement of the Law Christ therefore reduced all the ten Commandements vnto these two Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart and thy neighbour as thy selfe The which as Tertullian obserues is not dispendium but compendium legis not a curtalling but a full abridgement of the whole law Yet I finde three sundrie partitions of the seuerals Iosephus and Philo part them equally making fiue Commandements in each table the curious and learned may peruse Sextus Senensis Bibliothec. sanct lib. 2. pag. 59. Gallasius annot in Irenaei lib. 2. cap. 42. Lombard out of Augustine and generally the schoole men out of Lombard in honour of the Trinitie diuide the first table into three Commandements and the second into seuen But all our new writers and most of the old Doctors ascribe foure to the first sixe to the second among the Hebrewes Aben Esra the Greekes Athanasius Origen Chrysostome the Latines Hierome Ambrose in epist. ad Ephesios cap. 6. Wherefore being compassed about with such a cloud of witnesses I follow the Churches order assigning foure concerning our dutie to God and sixe touching our dutie to man The first table then is a lanthorne to guide vs in the worship of God as some write The two first commandements concerne God the Father as our Creator the third God the Sonne as our redeemer the fourth God the holy Ghost as our sanctifier Yet so that we worship the Trinitie in vnitie and vnitie in trinitie neither confounding the persons nor diuiding the substance Or as other the two first Commandements intimate how we must worship God in our heart the third how we must worship God in our tongue the fourth how we must worship God with both in sanctifying the Sabbath Or the first table doth set down two points especially 1. The hauing of the true God for our God in the first Thou shalt haue no other gods but me 2. The worshipping of this one God in the other three The first Commandement is obserued in exercising the three theologicall vertues Faith Hope Charitie He that vnfainedly beleeueth in God hath God for his God because he taketh God for the chiefe veritie and in this vnbeleeuers and misbeleeuers offend Hee that hopeth in God hath God for his God in that hee takes him for most faithfull most pitifull and also most potent as being assuredly perswaded that hee can and will helpe him in all his necessitie And in this they sinne who despaire of the mercies of God or doe trust more in men then in God or so much in men as in God He that loueth God aboue all things hath God for his God in holding him for the chiefe good and in this they trespasse who loue any creature more then God or equall with God and much more they that hate God for it is a sound conclusion in Diuinitie that is our God which we loue best and esteeme most Concerning the worship of God note the Manner in the 2. Commandement End in the 3. Commandement Time and place in the 4. Com. The second doth describe the manner of his worship Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any grauen image c. forbidding all strange worship and inioyning pure worship according to his word for to deuise phantasies of God is as horrible as to say there is no God And therefore though wee should grant that Images and pictures of God are as it were the Laymans Alphabet and the peoples Almanacke yet forasmuch as these bookes are not imprinted Cum priuilegio but on the contrarie prohibited it is vnlawfull to learne what God is by them or to worship God in or vnder them And lest any should presume God hath fensed in this commandement with a very strong reason I am the Lord and therefore can punish a iealoâ—s God and therefore will punish grieuously such as giue that honour to another which only belongs vnto me The end of Gods worship is his glorie prouided for in the third Commandement Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vaine The which is done two waies in our Workes Words In our conuersation when as our leaud life doth occasion enemies of religion to reuile the Gospell and blaspheme God It is to take Christs name in vaine when wee play the Gentiles vnder the name of Christians as Paul to Titus professing God in word but denying him in our works Hoc ipso Christiani deteriores quô meliores esse deberent He that calles on the name of Christ must depart from iniquitie Secondly wee take Gods name in vaine by speech and that without an oath or with an oath without an oath when we talke of himselfe his essence titles attributes holie word wonderfull workes irreuerently and vnworthilie without any deuotion or awfull regard of his excellent Maiestie We blaspheme God with an oath by swearing either Idlely Falsly Idlely out of Weaknesse when in our ordinary talke through a