sana Gloria secli Haec via certa Vna manebit Haec via pastus Arx paradisi Diriget omnes Caetera fumus Hâcque beatas AD VRSVLAM THOMAE Fulfordiconiugem Orthodoxam Vrsula funesto flerem tua carmina fata Biblia si scirem te coluisâ—e parum Ast munit contra falsi praeludia mundi Messiae pectus pagina sancta tuum AD EANDEM Lesbia cantabat lasciua poemata Sappho Vrsula coelestis clara trophÄ™a Dei. Lesbis amica chelyn Phoebo dedit Vrsula Phoebo Vota feret fido pectore clausa suo Vrsula Sola Deo tua sit seruire voluptas Gaudia vera putes gloria sinis erit AD EANDEM Vrsula collectos cernis flaccescere flores Et verno nitâ—das deperiâ—sse rosas Anglorum spectas marcescere lilia peste Quae fuerant oculis lilia digna tuis Hinc subolere potes quaenam sit gloria mundi Quae tacitè tenues soluitur in cineres IT IS VVRITTEN IN the first Chapter of the Prophet Esaie 2. 3. Heare O heauens and hearken O earth for the Lord hath saide I haue nourished and brought vp children but they haue rebelled against me The Oxe knoweth his owner and the Asse his Masters Crib but Israel hath not knowne my people hath not vnderstand OF these you expect the interpretation and meaning but first let vs pray together that God of whome is euery good giuing and euery perfect gift may giue vnto you eares to heare his worde with frut may open vnto me the dore of vtterance Coll. 4.3 to speake the misterie of Christ that I may vtter it as it becommeth mee to his glorie to your comfort to the increase of his church O Eternall GOD and mercifull father wee thy poore seruaunts present our selues before the throne of thy Diuine Maiestie entirely desiring thy fatherly goodnes to graunt that thy worde may take such deepe roote in our hearts that it may fructifie bring forth an hundreth sixtie or thirtie folde so much as shall seeme best to thy heauenly wisedome And next vnto this we pray thee O Father to bee gratious and mercifull to thy whole militant Church dispersed farre and wide vppon the face of this earth especially to the two principall members of the same 1. Tim. 2. 1.2 England and Ireland And whereas by thy holy Apostle Paul we are willed to make praiers and supplications for all men for Kings and Princes and for all that are in authoritie we humbly and hartily pray and beseeche thee to blesse and preserue thy chosen seruaunt our dread Soueraigne Elizabeth by thy grace of England France and Ireland Queene defendresse of the true auncient and Apostolike faith and in all causes and ouer all persons within these hir Maiesties Dominions next and immediatly on earth vnder thee supreame Gouernesse Blesse O Lord we beseech thee both hir and all hir most Honourable Councellors against all domesticall and forren foes that thy Church so prosperously begunne may bee builded and fullie finished according to the platforme of thy most sacred and holy word And to this ende wee pray thee also O Lorde to visite comfort and cherrish with the spirit of thy grace the Archbishops Bishops and all other inferior Ministers to whom thou hast assigned the preaching of thy Law and the charge of thy chosen that they may bee found good Stewards oâ— thy will and true disposers of thy secretes and that by their labours sanctified of thee thy poore sheep which wander and goe astray in the vale of darkenes and shadow of death may bee brought home to thy sheepe sold vnder one shepheard thy sonne Christ the great shepheard of the sheepe and Bishop of our soules Wee recommende likewise to thy fauour and goodnes O Lord all the Rulers and Commons of this Realme that the Rulers with courage and in a reuerent feare of thee according to the trust committed vnto them may carefully and truely iudge thy people at all seasons and that the Commons in their seuerall degrees may liue and abide in Christian duety and obedience toward their superiors and in Godly loue and charitie one towards another We beseech thee O Lord that in like measure of thy grace thou wilt vouchsafe to water with the dewe of thy blessing the two notable Vniuersities of this Lande Oxford Cambridge that from age to age they may send forth Bezaleels and Aholiabs filled with the spirit of wisedome vnderstanding and knowledge to worke together with all the wise hearted all maner workemanship for the seruice of the Sanctuary for the vniting of the Saints for the worke of the Ministery and for the edification of the body And here O Lord for as much as we are all thy children sheep of thy pasture we call vppon thee for all our poore and afflicted brethren which by any meanes any where do grone vnder the Crosse for the testimony of thy eternall truth that according to thy promise it woulde please thee to giue them the fulnes of consolation patience and constancie that they may chearfully abide whatsoeuer fierie tryall it shall please thy heauenly wisdome to put them vnto that both by their life and by their death thy truth may be sealed Antichrist that man of sinne ashamed and the Kingdome enlarged of thy deare sonne Iesus Christ For these and all other thy graces what so euer which thou knowest to be needfull and necessary for vs and thy whole Church we make our humble hearty praier vnto thee our God and father which art the father of mercies and the God of all comfort according to that maner and forme which Christ thy sonne our Master in his Gospell hath taught vs. Our Father c. A SERMON PREACHED AT EXETER Esaie 1. verse 2. 3. Heare O heauens and hearken O earth for the Lord hath saide I haue nourished and brought vp children but they haue rebelled against me The Oxe knoweth his owner and the Asse his Masters Crib but Israel hath not knowne my people hath not vnderstand THese words which I haue read vnto you Men Fathers and BrethreÌ„ beloued in the Lord diuide themselues into two parts an exclamation and a complaint The exclamation is conteined in the first part of this second verse and is made not vnto men but vnto the heauens aboue and vnto the earth beneath Heare O heauens saieth the Prophet and hearken O earth For because the Iewes refused to tread the paths of the Lord and to walke in his waies because they were like vnto the serpent the deafe Adder that stoppeth his eare at the voice of the charme rcharme he neuer so wiselie Psal 58.4.5 Therefore now by the Lords appointment hee speaketh vnto deafe and dumbe creatures and saith Heare O heauens and hearken O earth As if he should haue saide because the ingratitude and impietie of men is such that they will not heare nor hearken vnto the voice of the Lorde I will speake vnto the heauens and earth and the heauens though
they bee farre off shall heare and the earth though it be stonie shall hearken for the eares of men that should heare and hearken indeede are out of course The Prophet doth not this as though the heauens and earth did vnderstande but to signifie and expresse the abhominable wickednes impiety of the Iewes he speaketh vnto these insensible creatures which did more obay the will of their Creatour than did they whom he had blessed with reason and vnderstanding Wherein the Prophet as in this place so in many other followeth the example of the true trustlie seruant of God Moses who in the 4. of Deutronomie against the Israelites calleth heauen and earth to witnes in these wordes I call heauen and earth to record against you this daie Meaning that if they would defile themselues with strange Gods that then if men would not condemn them the very insensible creatures of God woulde beare testimonie against them and their idolatrie So in the 32. of the same booke hee maketh them witnesses against them of their ingratitude and saith Hearken ye heauens and I will speak and let the earth heare the words of my mouth In like manner the man of God in the first of Kings and 13 when he saw King Ieroboam to stand by the Altar in Bethel to offer incense cried out by the commandement of the Lord not against the Prince or people but against the Altar and saide O Altar Altar thus saith the Lord 1. Kings 13.2.5 and immediately the Altar claue asunder and the ashes fell out from the Altar according to the signe which the man of God had giuen by the mouth of the Lord. So that our Prophet Esaie in this place intendeth no new thing for he taketh Moses and others for example who were wont to doo the like A kinde of speech then most vsuall when as iniquitie hath gotten the vpper hand when it is grown to that fulnes of measure that it astonieth not onely creatures sensible but also insensible and when the hearts of the vngodly are so hardned that they cannot be softned be the admonition neuer so gentle or the correction neuer so fearefull But what doth the Prophet require of the heauens and earth verily to heare and to hearken Heare saith hee O heauens and hearken O earth The Prophet requireth not a slack or a negligent hearing but a diligent and careful hearing fit and conuenient for so great a cause But wherefore would the Lord haue the Prophet thus to exclaim and crie out to the heauens and earth Doubtles for two speciall causes The one was that the heauens and earth might be astonished at the ingratitude and rebellion of his people So in the second of Ieremiah because they were vnthankfull because they made the Lords heritage an abhomination because the Priests taught not the people to seeke the Lorde because the Prophets prophesied in Baal and went after thinges that did not profite because they had changed their glorie euen their God which was their glorie and who had made them glorious aboue all other people and to bee short because all estates were corrupt and out of course the Prophet inferreth hereupon O ye heauens be astonied at this hee afraide and vtterlie confounded saith the Lord Iere. 2.12 Hereby declaring that the very insensible creatures of God did detest and abhorre the sinne of ingratitude vnkindnes and as it were did tremble at Gods most seuere and bitter iudgements against the same The other was that the heauens and earth hearing the complaints of the Lord against his people might iudge and determine between him them So in the Prophet Micah 6.2 the high hills and mountaines the hard rocks and mighty foundations of the earth are taken to witnes and to decide betwixt him and his in this sort Heare ye O mountains the Lords quarrell and ye mightie foundations of the earth for the Lord hath a quarrell against his people and he will pleade with Israell The summe whereof is this that of the one part the wickednes of the people was such and so notorious and of the other the cause and quarrell of the Lorde so iust that if the case were to be decided of the heauens earth of the hills and mountaines of the rocks mighty foundations of the earth they wold stand all together on the Lords part against his people they would giue sentence with him against them and not without astoniednes would iudge and condemne them of extreamest madnes and impietie But alas that the heauens and earth that the hills and mountaines that the rocks and mightie foundations of the earth that such senseles creatures should condemne mankinde of ingratitude and vnkindnes That they should condemne Man the most excelent creature of God indued with reason vnderstanding That the heauens should be summoned to testifie against him which are the Lords seate and the earth to witnes against him which is his footestoole That dull and dumme creatures should be more prompt and readie to follow and obey the Lords will than they his people vnto whō he had giuen eyes to see eares to heare and an heart to perceiue But so it is they that should haue liued best in order are found to liue most out of course For if the worlde be considered together with the partes and portions thereof in order and as they lie we by searching shall see and by seeing shal confesse euerie member thereof Man only excepted diligentlie and truely to doe his dutie Saith Dauid The heauens declare the glorie of God and the firmament sheweth the workes of his hands Psa 19.1 The Sun Moone and Starres do keepe their courses the earth bringeth forth frute the Sea passeth not his appointed bounds in all other things a singular dutie and obedience toward their creatour and yet they all without vnderstanding But Man for whose sake all thinges were created and whome God hath inriched with singular gifts farre beyond any other of his creatures and vnto whom he hath giuen the vse of his word a lanterne vnto his feete and a light vnto his pathes Psa 119.105 this Man will not be reclaimed but walketh on still in the stifnes stoutnes of heart that now the prophet is forced to appeale vnto deafe and dumme creatures and saith Heare O Heauens and harken O earth But what Doth the prophet make this exclamation and outcrie to the heauens earth of his own mind Not so for he saith Quoniam Dominus locutus est for the Lorde hath saide As who should say I speake not this of mine owne minde I doe not this of mine owne authoritie I came not before I was sent I vtter nothing of my selfe but what the Lord did first reueale vnto me which yee are bound to heare and hearken beleeue and obey And therefore Heare O heauens and hearken O earth It might haue seemed more methodically done and fitter for manner and order of teaching if the prophet straight way
vpon this his vehement exclamation and outcrie vnto the heauens and earth had shewed thē first what they should heare than whome they should heare But it was more forcible and pearcing yea and more requisite too that the prophet shuld first shew them whome they should heare than what they should heare VVhen Man doth speake the word is not so wel accepted receiued as when the Lorde doth speake The message that is done from a Prince is more highly esteemed than that which cometh from a Subiect VVhen the Prince speketh let the Subiect hold his peace but when the Lord speaketh let all flesh giue eare The Lion hath roared saith Amos who will not bee a fraide the Lord God hath spoken who can but prophesie Amos. 3.8 worthie is his Maiestie to bee reuerenced and obeyed of all his creatures which are in earth whose voice nothing whether aboue or beneath whether in heauen or in earth sensible or insensible ought to disobey Heare then O heauens and hearken O earth for the Lord hath saide In which latter words for the Lord hath saide the Prophet commendeth vnto vs three speciall points 1 First the excellencie and worthines of the word of God which Dauid preferreth before gold before much fine gold which hee counteth sweeter than hony the hony comb Psal 19.10 For it is that honye whose sweetnes doth both delight the soule and also temper the troubles of this life that they become tollerable and easie It is that fire which burneth vp and consumeth the figge leaues of vanitie and wickednesse of mans hart whatsoeuer It is that which dropeth as the rain which stilleth as the dew as the shower vpon the hearbes and as the great raine vpon the grasse Deut. 2.2 It is the sword of the spirit Eph. 6.17 Sharper than any two edged sword entring through euen to the deuiding a sunder of the soule and the spirit and of the ioyntes and marowe Heb. 4.12 It is that graine of mustard seede Math. 13.31 which at the first is verie small but taking roote increasing in the children of God groweth to such an height that it reacheth the verie hart minde of man It is that seed whose rootes take such deepe hold are so firmelie fastned that it neuer ceaseth from growing till it bring the whole man into the quiet possession of the kingdome of God It is the forcible seede of regeneration by which through the working of the spirite of God all must be regenerate and borne a new as many as desire to bee made partakers of the eternall inheritance It is that word of truth by which God the father the fountaine and welspring of all goodnes according to his free mercie euen of his owne will begate vs that we should be as the first frutes of his creatures Ia. 1.18 So writeth Saint Peter in his 1. Epistle 1. Chapter verse 23. Borne a new not of mortall seed but of immortall by the word of God who liueth for euer If I might stand vpon this point I could bring many most excellent places of Scripture for the worthines hereof and for the great benefits which Salomon describeth and which Dauid confesseth to haue receiued by the same as namely that hee had perished in the multitude of his sorrowes if the comforts thereof had not refreshed his soule Pro. 4. Psa 94.19 Secondarilie the prophet in these words For the Lord hath saide declareth in what estimation and reuerence his word is to bee had the ministers thereof that his word is to be receiued not as the word of men but as it is indeede the word of God which also worketh in them that beleeue 1. Thes 2.13 that the Ministers thereof are to bee esteemed as the Ministers of Christ disposers of the secrets of God 1. Cor. 4.1 whome hee that contemneth contemneth God himselfe For as Moses saide vnto the Isralites The Lord hath heard your murmurings which ye murmur against him for what are we Your murmurings are not against vs but against the Lord. Ex. 16.8 Againe concerning them the Lord from his owne mouth saith vnto Samuell they haue not cast thee away but they haue cast mee awaie that I shoulde not reigne ouer them 1. Sa. 8.7 Our Sauiour to the Disciples he that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent mee Lu. 10.16 And the Apostle vnto the Thessalonians he that despiseth vs despiseth not man but God who hath sent his holie spirite among vs. 1. Thes 4.8 3 Thirdly out of these wordes For the Lord hath said we learne that the Prophets of God were wont as often as they published any thing worthy admiration whether it were to set forth Gods iustice or to recōmend his mercie to say This saith the Lord or the Lord hath spoken it thereby declaring that they vttred nothing of their own minde but that which they had receiued from the mouth of the Lord. Which practise was vsuall not only with the prophets but also with Christ and his Apostles For Christ said vnto the Iewes I doe nothing of my selfe but as my Father hath taught me so I speake these things Io. 8.28 Againe I haue not spoken of my selfe but the Father which sent me he gaue me a commandement what I should saie what I should speake Io. 12.49 S. Iohn his Apostle likewise That which we haue seene and hearde declare wee vnto you 1. Io. 1.3 S. Paul in like sort That which I deliuered vnto you I receiued of the Lord. 1. Co. 11 23 So in his Epistle to the Romanes intreating of the manner and order of Iustification he putteth this queston for what saieth the scripture Rom. 4.3 And in sundry other places when hee laboureth to proue what he had saide he citeth the Scriptures giuen by inspiration of God therefore profitable to teach to improue to correct and to instruct in righteousnes that the man of God may bee perfect and prepared vnto euerie good worke 2. Tim. 3.16 VVhich diuine and heauenly practise of the Prophets of Christ and his Apostles would God the Papists of our daies would once endeuour to imitate and followe But they still like vnto their forefathers plunged with them in the bottomles pit of ignorance or rather giuen in the haughtines and mallice of hart to deceiue preferre the Popes holines before the Scriptures and the Scriptures which our Sauiour Christ vsed and confirmed with so manie miracles and at last sealed vpp with the effusion of his precious blood which came by inspiration of God 2. Tim. 3.19 which the Prophets Apostles Fathers as often as was needfull alleged for testimonie and proofe these men haue vsed and yet vse to call a bare dumme vnprofitable and deade Letter They tell vs not what the Lorde hath saide but what men haue saide as Pardoners Priests Friers and Popes them selues as Alexander Gregorie Iohn Clement and others like They note vnto vs
what Counsells haue decreed what custome hath confirmed and what the Pope his vnlawfull soueraignetie hath established which seemeth to vs all one as if he had said The Scriptures are to no purpose or as good as nothing Of which opinion was Cardinall Hosius who in his booke De expresso Verbo Dei Fol. 242. in lit F. writeth thus Vanus est labor qui scripturis impenditur It is but lost labour that is spent in the scriptures Nos Dei de caelo sententiam potius expectabimus VVee will rather expect Gods pleasure from heauen Scriptura enim creatura est egenum quoddam elementum For the Scripture is a creature and a certaine needy element And in conclusion he pronounceth Sentence definitiue in this wise in Epilogo ad Sigismundum regem Poloniae Quod Ecclesia docet expressum Dei verbum est quod contra sensum et consensum Ecclesiae docetur expressum Diaboli verbum est That which the Church teacheth by the Church I trow meaning the Pope and his Cardinalls is the expresse worde of God what is taught against the meaning and consent of the Church is the expresse word of the Deuil And long before him Guido editus An. 1495. hee which compiled that sottish booke Manipulus curatorum to iustifie the whole matter stuffe of Confirmation putteth this downe for a Maxime infallable truth In Tract 3.1 Par. 2. de mat confir Licet non inueniatur in canonicis epistolis Diui Petri tamen Dominus Papa habet in decretis Romanae ecclesiae c. That though it bee not found in the canonicall Epistles of S. Peter yet our Lord the Pope hath it in the decrees of the Church of Rome this mounteth farre aboue and beyond all other authoritie whatsoeuer Thus Christ must Surrender to Beliall the Spouse must giue place to Babilon Truth to falsehood and the written worde to vnwritten verities humane traditions must be hote and liuelie letters and the scriptures cold dead Elements if wee hunger our meate must bee chaffe in steed of wheate and if we call for drinke it must come from their broken and puddlepits full of mire and filth Ier. 2.13 which neither haue nor are able to hold the water of power to refreshe the withered soule of man for the veines of the fresh and cleare springing waters they haue stopped vp that by this drift the sayings both of Ieremy and Esaie verified in the Iewes as well pore as rich haue beene brought on vs. The Elders of the Iewes saith Ieremie sent their little ones to the wells and they finding no water with shame and confusion returned with their vessels emptie The poore and the needye saith Esaie 41.17 sought water but no where found they any their tongue was euen withered with thirst Euen so these men by breaking in peeces the pipes and conduits and by damming and choaking the fountaines of liuing waters with dirte and mire haue brought the people of God into a pittifull thirst and this was a misery and a rufull state we haue felt it let vs beware We are counselled if we will follow counsell and we are warned if we will take warning to beware of such deceiuers least otherwise it come to passe that as the Serpent beguiled Eue through his subtiltie so our minds should be corrupt from the simplicity that is in Christ 2. Cor. 11.3 If they bring with them Esaies commission and crie as he doth Heare and hearken for the Lord hath said Let vs receiue them as embassadours sent vs from God and let vs beleeue them Otherwise if they breed suspition let vs make proofe as did those noble men of Beroea noble not so much for birth as for courage in embracing the word of God with all readinesse and as they did Act. 17.11 let vs searche thr scriptures daylie and diligentlye whether the thinges which they teach be so or not And then if vpon due trial proofe wee finde that they bring vs counterfet coyne that they come with the Reuelations of men which flow not from the mouth of the Lorde what countenance soeuer they carry where they Angells from heauen that did vs the message by the commandement of Saint Paul to the Galathians 1.8 let vs hold them accursed And yet there are that say and will say The Lord hath said it when the Lord neuer spake the worde Such are the Prophets of Antichrist not vnlike vnto those of Israel which Prophesied after their own fantasie and said the Lord saith it albeit the Lorde had not spoken Eze. 13.7 But beholde what the worde of the Lorde is against such Prophets which follow their owne spirite and teach the people the counsailes of their own hearts I am against them mine hand shal be vpon the Prophets that see vanitie diuine lies they shall not be in the assemblie of my people neither shall they bee written in the writing of Israel Verse 8.9 to wit in the booke of life in which the true Israelites are written neither shall they enter into the land of Israell and that because they haue deceiued my people saying peace which Ieremie 6 14. calleth a sweet word but it was not so for there was no peace one built vp a wall and others daubed it with vntempered morter Eze. 13.10 But saith the Lord Ver 13.14 I will destroy the wall which they haue daubed with vntempered morter and bring it downe to the ground by a stormy wind which shall breake forth in my wrath and by a greate shower in mine anger and hailestones in mine indignation so that the foundation thereof shall be discouered and it shall fall they shall be consumed in the midst therof and shall know that I am the Lord. Thus will the Lorde accomplish his wrath vpon the wall and vpon them that daubed it with vntempered morter euen with their own deuises vnder the authoritie of Gods word If then the Lord will thus deale with the wall and with the daubers that daubed it with vntempered morter let the builders take heed how they build the wall and the daubers howe they daube it least the Lorde pull downe both wall and morter Ver 15. and they say the wall is no more neither the daubers thereof And this much of the first part namely how Esaie by way of exclamation hath inioyned by the commaundement of God the heauens to heare and the earth to hearken vnto the message which hee is willed to doe vnto them from the mouth of the Lord. Nowe the Prophet goeth onward with the Lords most lamentable complaint concerning the ingratitude of his people for whome he had done many and great good turnes The complaint is this I haue nourished and brought vp children but they haue rebelled against me A most grieuous complaint which consisteth of two partes In the first he expresseth his benefits bestowed vpon them In the second hee declareth their ingratitude and rebellion against him Hee expresseth his benefits towardes them in
these wordes I haue nourished and brought vp children He declareth their ingratitude rebellion against him in these but they haue rebelled against me This their ingratitude and rebellion hee amplifieth in the verse following by way of comparison or example of brute and dul beasts The Ox knoweth his owner and the Asse his Masters Cribbe but Israel hath not knowne my people hath not vnderstand Thus you haue the summe of the complaint by which almighty God as a most vnhappie father with lamentable voice doth deplore and bewaile the vnkindnes of his people and withall doth recite what how great benifits hee had bestowed vpon them but to no purpose The complaint is verie short if we marke the words but verie haynous and weightie if wee diligentlie weygh and examine the thing it selfe For the Lord seemeth thus to say Oh what an vnhappy father am I to haue such vnthankfull children whome I neither could nor ought more to haue loued than if they had come forth of mine owne loynes For behold he brought them out of the iron furnace of Egipt Deu. 4.20 where their liues were bitter vnto them by sore labor in clay and bricke Ex. 1.14 He went before them by day in a piller of a cloude to lead them the way and by night in a piller of fire to giue them light that they might goe both by day and by night Exod. 13.21 He deuided the red sea in two parts and made Israell to passe through the midst of it which when the Egyptians attempted to do they were drowned Exod. 14.21 Psa 136.13 At their desire he brought Quailes and filled them with the bread of heauen Ps 105.40 in so much that as Dauid saith Man did eate the bread of Angels Psal 78.25 When they were thirstie and had no water to drinke Psal 105.41 he opened the rocke and the waters flowed out and ran in the drie places like a riuer For their sakes he smote diuers nations Psal 135.10 and slew mightie kings Psal 136.19 as Sihon king of the Amorites Og king of Basan and all the kingdomes of Canaan Num. 21.33 and gaue their land to be an heritage euen an heritage vnto Israel his people He made them a mightie nation a fearfull and a terrible to all the princes and potentates of the earth Deut. 32.10 He found them in the land of the wildernesse in a waste roaring wildernesse he led them about he taught them and kept them as the apple of his eye As an Eagle stirreth vp her nest fluttereth ouer her birdes stretcheth out her winges taketh them and beareth them on her wings So the Lord alone led them and caried them vp to the high places of the earth that they might eate the fruits of the fields and suck honie out of the stone and oile out of the harde rock Butter of kine and milke of sheepe with fat of the Lambes and Rams fed in Bashan and goats with the fat of the graines of wheate and drinke the licour of the red grape So in the second of Ieremie the Lorde ringeth in the eares of Ierusalem the summe of his benefits in this sort Iere. 2.2 I remember thee with the kindenesse of thy youth and the Ioue of thy marriage when thou wentest after me in the wildernesse in a land that was not sowne Israel was a thing halowed vnto the Lord and his first fruites chosen aboue all other to serue the Lorde onely and the first offered to the Lord of all other nations And by Ezekiel amongst other his benefites towarde Ierusalem thus saith the Lorde Ezech. 16.6 When thou wast polluted in thy owne bloud to wit when thou wast in thy filthinesse and forsaken of all men I tooke thee and gaue thee life for I saide vnto thee thou shalt liue I caused thee to multiplie as the budde of the fielde and thou hast increased and waxen great and thou hast gotten excellent ornaments thy breasts are fashioned thine haire is growne verse 11. I decked thee vvith ornaments and I put bracelets vppon thine handes and a chaine on thy necke I put a frontlet vppon thy face and earings in thine eares and a beautifull crowne vppon thine head Thus wast thou deckt vvith golde and siluer and thy raymâ—nt was of fine linnen and silke and broidered worke thou diddest eate fine flowre and Honie and Oile and thou vvast verie beautifull and thou diddest growe vp into a kingdome And to bee shorte what benefite was there which the Lorde bestowed not vppon his people What could hee haue doone more vnto his Vineyarde Esay 5.4 which he did not doe vnto it He planted it in a very fruitfull hill he hedged it and gathered out the sâ—ones of it he planted it with the best plantes hee built a tower in the middest thereof and made a wine presse therein This did the Lorde for his Vineyard Surelye the Vineyarde of the Lorde of hoasts was the house of Israell and the men of Iudah were his pleasant plante verse 4. Then the Lorde looked that his Vineyarde shoulde bring foorth sweete Grâ—pes but it brought foorth wilde and sowre grapes hee looked for iudgement but beholde oppression verse 7. for righteousnesse but beholde a dolefull crying for obedience but behold a rebellion I haue nourished brought vp chillldren saith he but they haue rebelled against me I haue nourished and brought them vp I haue done the duty of a father I haue performed what was required of my part I haue caried them out of all danger I haue made them the lot and portion of mine inheritance I haue fed them with the best and cheefest things of the earth I haue bestowed many and infinite good turnes vpon them as before expressed and yet see this is the recompence which they yeeld vnto me for all that I haue done They haue rebelled against me But it may seeme that the Lord doth not iustly charge his people with ingratitude and disobedience for they offered many sacrifices Esa 1.11 they offered the burnt offrings of rammes the fat of fed beasts the bloud of bullocks of Lambes and of goats They did what the law could require They obserued the new moones vers 13. Sabbaths and solemne dayes They had their assemblies and appointed feasts they stretched out their hands and made many praiers And yet for all these which they did or could do they are counted a sinfull nation a people laden with iniquitie a seed of the wicked corrupt children which had forsaken the Lord prouoked the holy one of Israel to anger ver 4. and in such sort as that he hated abhord their feast daies would not smel in their solemne assemblies Amo. 5.21 nor accept their burnt offrings meate offrings nor regarde the peace offerings of their fat beasts and all was because they did these and such like without faith and mercie euen in the full measure of hypocrisie and dissimulation King Vzziah himself called also Azariah 2. Kin. 15.1 in whose time this our
his sonne Christ shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost vnto eternall life This our God for our peace hath smitten of late yeares Sihon of Rome and Og of Spaine who sought to make the Lords heritage an abhomination that so to this very day the heritage standeth as it did it is as it was and in as good plight if not better it remaineth in the hand of the right owner we trust that it shall still remaine euen in the hand and possession of Israel his seruant for which we do and shall praise his holy blessed name for euer This our God the lord God of hosts hath made vs a mighty nation a fearefull and a terrible to all the Princes Potentates of the earth He conducteth vs not by Iosua but by a Iesus not to a terrestrial but to a celestial Canaan the lād of eternall felicitie whose brightnesse is God whose light is the lambe the lot of the faithfull and the possession of the saued The Lord finding vs in this vale of miserie as he found Iaacob in the land of a roaring wildernesse Deuteronomie 23.9.10 hath ledde vs by his spirite taught vs by his worde gouerned vs by his grace and kept vs as the Apple of his eye As the Eagle he stirreth vp his nest he fluttereth ouer vs his young ones stretcheth out the winges of his mercie taketh and beareth vs on the same to the best and surest places of the earth that so we eate the fruites of the fields and sucke honie not from the stone as did the Iewes but from the Bee and oile not from the rocke as they but from the Oliue we eate the butter of kine and the milke of sheepe with the fat of Lambes and Rams fed not in Bashan but in England with the fat of the graines of wheate and for good and perfect digestion we drawe from the enemy the licour of the red grape This our good and gratious God hath caused vs to multiply as the bud of the field We are to the knowledge of the nations round about vs increased and waxen great many of vs haue gotten many goodly and excellent ornaments Our breasts are fashioned our haire is growne The Lorde hath giuen vs riche and precious iewels bracelets for our hands chaines for our necks frontlets for our faces earings for our eares beautifull things for our heads in which would God we did not delight and reioyce so much as we do The Lord hath decked vs with gold and siluer our raiment is of the finest linnen and silke and broidered worke we eate fine floure and honie and oile yea better things than euer did the Iewes and thus wee become beautifull more than the sonnes and daughters of Zion and we are growne into a kingdom God graunt not into pride The Iewes in the first of Haggei vers 8. are commanded to go vp to the hill Lebanon which was not within the borders of Iewry but of Zidon Tyrus Ezra 3.7 frō thence to bring home Cedarwood for the building of the Temple Truly a figure of the Lordes aboundant mercie and most comfortable for vs Gentiles that albeit wee bee not borne of Iewes yet we are trees meete to builde Gods house with and God willeth vs to bee brought home vnto him by the preaching of his worde that wee may be plankes or boardes bases or props sides or postes pillars or beames rafters or tenons one thing or other of that house wherein himselfe will dwell and he delighted with vs and among whome he will declare his glorie Beside all these which hath beene alreadie obserued for a blessing vpon Israell and Iudah Esa 5.1.2 the Lord hath planted his vineyard in a very frutful soile he hath giuen it a skilfull vinitor one indued with all gifts and qualities necessarie for regiment euen a learned religious gentle mercifull gracious and louing Prince by name Elizabeth the rest of God the seauenth of God and fulnes of the othe of God a great blessing the Lorde continue it and make vs thankfull for it This skilfull vinitor our gracious Soueraigne comparable for fortitude with Iosua for magnanimitie with Gedeon for victories with Macchabeus for wisedome with Salomon for zeale with Hezekiah for deutoion with Dauid hath caused the stones that pestered the vineyard to bee gathered out the briers and thornes to be grubbed vp rubbidge and whatsoeuer was noysome to be remooued 2. Thes 2.3 Antichrist the man of sin with his trash and traditions to bee exiled that nowe the fielde is cleared the vineyard clensed the Church purged and all this concluded and more without any great sedion or tumult at all It was the Lordes doing and it is wonderfull in the eyes of as manie as doe truely behold it No vineyard no Church no people vnder the heauens more inriched with the blessings of God so that the Lord may iustly say vnto vs as he did vnto his people of old Es 4.5 what more could I haue done vnto my vineyard which I haue not done vnto it The Lord haue the glorie for it and he in his mercie preserue keepe and maintaine the vinitor our gracious queene in health wealth peace and prosperitie that to the ioy and comfort of all her loyall heartie true trustie subiects she may long continue liue and reigne an old mother in Israel he that from the verie bottome of his heart doth not so wish and praie and say Amen the rauens of the valley pick out his eyes and the young Eagles eate them vp Pro. 30.17 This vineyard so planted in a most fruitful ground cleansed from stone thorne brier watered with the dew of Gods truth cherished with his Sacramentes pruned with the two edged sword of his most holy spirit vnder propped with the authoritie of zealous magistrates fortified with good and godly lawes to keepe both roote and braunche in order hath brought foorth many a goodly and pleasaunt grape amongst others peace spirituall and peace ciuill peace toward God peace amongst men and amongst our selues and so the peace of conscience which passeth all wisdome and vnderstanding pleasant grapes and a riche blessing He that hath felt the euill of warre can best speake of the good of peace Warre as a Locust maketh scarcitie but peace like vnto the morning and euening dew worketh plenty as Eras Apo. lib. 6. noteth Croesus king of Lydia by this onely argument preferred peace before warre Quòd pacis tempore filii sepelirent patres in bello contrà patres sepelirent liberos that in the time of peace children did burie their fathers contrariwise in warre fathers did burie their children So contrarie is the fruite of warre to the fruite of peace which we through the benefit of God vnder his Anointed haue enioyed long time without any effusion of bloud to speake of except of a sort of Archtraitors who receiued but the rewarde they deserued and which I pray God all traitours with their adherents may receiue