noble Courtier and had a courtly stile Ministers may use all helpes of humane learning but Amos had but an homely stile for he was but an heard-man Paul used a plaine kinde of teaching and as he himselfe confessed he was Rude in speaking Apollos was eloquent Qui dedit Petrum piscatorem dedit Cyprianum Rhetorem he that made Peter a Fisher-man made Cyprian a Rhetorician yet plaine teaching if it edifie is not to be rejected Quid prodest clavis aurea si non aperiat ostium quid obest ferrea si modo aperiat What good doth a golden key if it open not the doore and what hurt doth a key of iron if it open the same and so Quid prodest eloquentia non aedificans what doth eloquence profit if it edifie not and what doth simple and plaine teaching hinder if it edifie Let all things saith the Apostle be done to edifying 1 Cor. 14. 26. Againe in that Iude here teacheth us by spots clouds trees c. we have to observe the liberty of the Ministers of the Gospell not onely nakedly to deliver unto the people the whole Councell of God but also to use helpes of wit invention and art as similitudes allusions applications comparisons proverbs and parables to illustrate the Doctrine delivered Thus did Christ even by similitudes drawne from this and that thing instruct the people So hee taught the Astronomers of the East by a starre and Fishermen by a draught of fish The Woman of Samaria Mat. 2. 10. Luke 5. 6. Iohn 4. 14. that came to draw water at Iacobs Well hee taught her by that corruptible water the water of Life To Mary in the Garden he appeared as a Gardiner to his travelling Disciples he appeared as a traveller so also frequently in the Gospell he teacheth by many exemplary similitudes the rich man by the rich mans Luke 24. care and greedy gathering the Vine-dresser by the Vine-dressers digging and hedging and dressing the Labourer by the Labourers hire and working the Builder by the Builders laying a good foundation the Husband-man by the Husbandmans sowing the Fisher-man by the Fisher-mans casting nets and drawing as here Saint Iude by spots clouds trees waves starres c. And as Christ himselfe so all his Prophets and Apostles have used parables similitudes and other helpes whereby their Doctrine might have a deeper impression in the hearts of their hearers Thus did profound Austen in his questions learned Ierome in his expositions patheticall Chrysostome in his amplifications mellifluent Bernard in his meditations pithy Cyprian in his perswasions sweet Ambrose in his allusions eloquent Nazianzen in moving affections doe make great use of these similitudes and so may Ministers doe Lastly in that Iude teacheth us by spots clouds trees starres c. this teacheth us that of all the creatures of God there is a double use one naturall the other spirituall As a spot naturally defileth the garment of the body so besides this naturall signification it serves to put us in mind that sinne spiritually defileth the soule And as a tree in nature signifieth such plants Every creature afford some profitable meditation of the earth as bring forth fruit so besides this naturall signification it serves to put us in mind that wee ought to bee fruitfull Trees in the Lords Orchard lest that wee prove fuell for the fire for Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall bee hewne Mat. 3. downe and cast into the fire and as cloudes naturally powre downe raine so spiritually it teacheth us to raine downe righteousnesse and to water and refresh the thirstie as the cloudes doe the earth and as starres naturally yeeld light so spiritually should wee Our light must so shine before men that others may see our good workes and glorifie our Father in Heaven So by sowing of corne into the ground to maintaine mans life our Saviour leads us to consider of another thing that as the Sower Mat. 15. casteth his seed abroad into sundry sorts of ground and they according to their nature bring forth fruit accordingly Even so the Minister of the Word scatters and sowes the Seed of Gods Word into the ground of mens hearts and as they bee prepared so they bring forth fruit So by a Weavers shuttle wee see the shortnesse of mans life gone in a moment Doest thou see how Iob 7. the Wind drives the chaffe and dust of the Earth about giving it no rest till it bee dispersed Oh consider how the curse of Psal 1. God shall dogge the wicked and never let their soules bee at rest till it consume them Doest thou lye downe in thy bed every night O remember that ere it be long thou must lye down in thy grave and bee covered in dust and therefore prepare to dye in the Lord. Doest thou see the beautifull grasse and herbes of the earth cut downe and wither away O remember that All Esa 40. flesh is grasse and that it must fade and perish Doest thou put on thy clothes to cover thy nakednesse Labour to put on the Lord Iesus and the robes of his righteousnesse that thy filthy nakednesse Rom. 13. Apoc. 3. 18. doe not appeare Doest thou take a Booke into thy hand and open it leafe by leafe O consider that the time will come when the bookes of thy Conscience shall bee opened wherein all thy sinnes are recorded and thou must receive according Apoc. 20. to thy workes And thus wee see of all the creatures of God there is a double use to bee made of them the one naturall the other spirituall So much for the manner Now for the matter Their first sinne is their Epicurisme in eating drinking c. That which Salomon saith of Princes may bee verified of all private men Woe to thee O thou Land when thy Eccles 10. 16. King is a child and thy Princes eate in the morning Blessed art thou O land when thy King is the sonne of Nobles and thy Princes eate in time for strength and not for drunkennesse So blessed is that place that towne where sober-men are as was Selge in Pisidia voyd of drunkennesse This sinne never goeth alone it hath many other sinnes to wait and attend upon it it is as the nave of the wheele which turning about all the spoakes turne with it there goe with it idlenesse fighting quarrelling whoring stealing it is Drunkards incorrigible gluttons insatiable the anvile whereupon the other sinnes are wrought Hereupon saith Salomon To whom is woe to whom is sorrow to whom is strife to whom is murmuring to whom are wounds without cause and to whom is the rednesse of the eyes Even to him that tarrieth long at the wine Pro. 23. 29 30 31 32 33. to them that goe and seeke mixt wine Looke not thou on the wine when it is red and when it sheweth his colour in the cup or goeth downe pleasantly in the end thereof it will bite
quà m anima dissimulans coram Deo Angelis A dead dogge sauoureth lesse in our noses then a dissembling soule an hypocrite doth in Gods and therefore Let death seaze upon them let them goe downe quicke into the grave for wickednesse is in Psal 55. 15. their dwellings even in the middest of them But in that he compareth us to trees it is to teach us that God will come take an account of our fruit A grievous day it will be when he shall say to these hypocriticall professors Where is prayer knowledge godly conference meditation instruction of your families education of your children love of religion The greater part of Christians hypocrites zeale of my glory When hee shall say Why stand these vineyards and yeeld no grapes why hangeth this ivy-bush here and there is no wine why stand these trees and yeeld no fruit what doe these starres in heaven and yeeld no light why doe these husband-men occupie my farme and pay no rent He will command the clouds to raine no raine upon these vineyards he will Esa 5. 7. Luk. 13. cut downe these trees and burne them he will destroy these husband-men let out his vineyard to other husband-men which shall deliver him the fruits in their seasons When God shall aske for fruits we may say as the woman said of her accusers Lord they are gone either wee never had any or else they are lost Mat. 21. 41. either our brests never had milke or else like dry nurses we have lost our milke either our candles never had light or else are out Iohn 8. 1 Pet. 2. Hebr. 12. either we never had any birth-right or else with Esau wee have sold our birth-right either we never had zeale or else it is quenched like the fire on the Altar in the Babylonicall captivity We heare the word we communicate but where is private praier private conference private meditation private instruction of our families We professe Religion we come to the Church we heare the Word for shew only for fashion only of custome not of conscience Dagon of the Philistines and the Arke of God is all one to us the temple of Salomon and the temple of Rimmon is all one the service of God and the worship of Diana is all one Sion and Samaria Ierusalem and Ierico the Gospeland the Masse to us are both alike Satan may say to us as he did unto the Monke who had his portise in one hand and his harlot in the other Parùm refert atraque enim via ducit ad interitum it is no matter both wayes lead to hell and to destruction so it is not matter whether we professe the Gospell or not so long as wee professe it so coldly and so carnally so hypocritically so dissemblingly both are naught both damnable Our carnall gospelling first tooke King Edward from us then Queene Elizabeth from us then King Iames I pray God at the last it take not the Gospell from us and our Soveraigne from us It is monstrous for trees to stand seven and seven yeeres yea forty fifty nay sixty yeeres and more and to yeeld no fruit For us to live long in the Church and to doe no good Devide the world into an hundred parts scarce one is Christendome and that one devide into tenne and scarce one is sincere voide of hypocrisie Oh remember that yee are washed with the water of Baptisme that yee have God for your Father the Church for your mother that yee have beene fedde with the milke of the Gospell instructed in the Word of God fed with the bread of Angels with sacramentall bread and will yee yet live like Ethnicks like Pagans like Turkes like infidels and like hypocrites yet most men so live For what forbidden fruit will they not eate Iudgements denounced against hypocrisie with Adam What Babylonish garment will they not take with Achan What usury with Zacheus and what Naboths vineyard will they not covet with Ahab what sinne is there which they can commit but they have committed they bee trees indeed but bad trees without fruit and therfore two things hath God prepared for them a sharp axe and a quicke fire For every tree Mat. 3. that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewne downe and cast into the fire And Saint Iude tells us that these trees be twice dead and plucked up by the rootes dead in worke and deed and inword dead tam in ramis bonorum operum aswell in the boughes of good workes quà m in radicibus fidei as in the rootes of faith twice dead because according to the flesh they be most corrupt and according to the soule most perverse twice dead dead to God dead unto the world both in this world and in the world to come Augustine maketh three deaths the death of the soule the death of the body the death of both body and soule called the second death the first death is here meant But to draw unto a Conclusion If hypocrisie be a sinne so odious and seeing that hypocrites be as clouds without raine as starres without light as trees without fruit and shal be sharply Apoc. 20. 1. punished and pulled up by the rootes Let us stedfastly cleave unto the Lord with full purpose of heart and let us abandon hypocrisie that we may please the Lord and let us reject dissimulation that we may be blessed and let us not presume to carry the name of Christ without sincerity and godlinesse of conversation THE FOVRE AND TVVENTIETH SERMON VERS XIII To whom is reserved blacknesse of darkenesse for ever Hell torments set out by divers names YEE heard before of their sinnes as namely of their Epicurisme in that they did eate and drinke without feare feeding themselves then of their pride in that they were like the waves of the sea swelling high lastly of their hypocrisie in that they were as cloudes that promise raine and had nothing but drynesse in them in that they were as trees that promise fruit and yet they had nothing but leaves And now in these words hee commeth to their punishment and their punishment is that blacknesse of darkenesse is reserved for them for evermote Whereby hee meaneth Hell fire Hell paines For there the Sunne never shineth the Moone and Starres never give light Hell is diversly called by the holy Ghost who taketh great paines in this matter and all to drive us from sin and wickednes He calleth Hell A place for divels Mat. 25. Mat. 18. 8. Mark 9. 2 Thes 1. 8. Psal 11. Vnquenchable fire A worme that ever gnaweth Flaming fire Fire and brimstone A river of hot brimstone All sufferings here but shadowes and beginning of sorrowes A Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone A second death The wine-presse of Gods wrath Damnation of body and soule Esa 30. Apoc. 19. 20. Apoc. 20. Apoc. 14. 19. Mat. 10. 2. 9. Cap. 22. 13. Vtter darkenesse And here in
speaketh this by way of comparison not that the wicked should be rebuked but he sheweth their malice and the small hope of their amendment Well Rebuke not a scorner saith Salomon lest hee hate thee but rebuke a wise man and hee will love thee And the Prophet speaking of the wicked saith They hate him that speaketh in the gate meaning the Prophet that openly Amâ—â— 5. 10. reproveth them and they abhorre him that speaketh uprightly But if a Physician give a sharpe potion or a Surgeon a sharpe corrasive it is not to kill the patient but to recover him If a shepheard after his whistle settes his dogge on his sheepe it is not to woorry them but to returne them home therefore let men suffer the Word of exhortation as the Apostle intreateth them saying I beseech you brethren suffer the Word of Exhortation You are Hebr. 13. 22. sheepe wee shepheards and no difference but this that they in the field have to do with unreasonable sheep wee in the Church with reasonable yet some are woolves not sheep some are unreasonable and evill men yet rebuke them Dilexit Theodosius arguentem non adulantem Theodosius loved a reprover not a flatterer for better are the wounds of a lover than the kisses of an hater David wished to bee rebuked Let the righteous smite me for that is a benefit and let him reprove me and it shall bee a precious oyle Better Psal 141. 5. we chide then God chide And other save with feare The feare here named is not only the denouncing of judgement by way of doctrine against impenitent sinners but also the holy discipline of the Church the fearefull sentence of Excommunication whereby men are delivered up to Satan as was the incestuous Corinthian of whom Paul writeth thus When yee are gathered together and my spirit with you in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ that such one I say by the power 1 Cor. 5. 4 5 of our Lord Iesus Christ be delivered unto Satar for the destruction of the flesh that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Iesus So Hymeneus and Alexander were excommunicate and delivered up to Satan 1 Tim. 1. 20. for their blasphemy For can there be a greater feare then to thinke that wee are estranged from the company of the Saints put out of the Church delivered into the power of Satan wholly committed and commended to the Divell Thus Babilas Bishop of Antioch excommunicated Philip the Emperour for the executing Divers kindâ— of excommunication of an hostage committed unto him thus Ambrose Bishop of Millane excommunicated Theodosius for a murder done at Thessalonica thus Symonachus excommunicated Anastasius the Emperour for blasphemy and Paganisme thus Innocentius excommunicated Arcadius Eudoxia for persecuting Chrysostome Thus are vile men to be handled they are to be excommunicate and delivered up to Satan We must have no fellowship with them Finely saith one Triplex est Communio there is a threefold Hemingius Communion Spiritualis Moralis Sacramentales Spirituall Morall Sacramentall The first with God in a spirituall life the second with men in our daily conversing the third with the Pastor and the Church in partaking of the holy mysteries And againe Triplex est excommunicatio Spiritualis Moralis Sacramentalis Spirituall Morall Sacramentall Spirituall whereby a man is shut out of Heaven and shall never be partaker of the price of our high calling which is in Christ Iesus Morall whereby a man is excluded from the company of men Sacramentall whereby he is excluded from prayer the Word Sacraments And this excommunication is a fearefull thing it is to be cut or divided from the body of Christ and to be delivered up to Satan There is a two fold use of Excommunication First Vt excommunicatus pudore victus ad poenitentiam excitetur deflectat à malo That the excommunicate may bee ashamed of 2 Cor. 2. 7. his sinne and be brought to repentance and so to eschew evill Secondly Ne contagio ad reliquos serpat Lest the contagion should creepe and infect others For a little leaven sowreth a whole lumpe of 2 Cor. 5. 6. dowe And excommunication is sometime just sometime unjust but howsoever it passeth against us justly or unjustly it is to be Greg. feared Sententia excommunicationis sivè justa sivè injusta metuenda est THE SIX AND THIRTIETH SERMON VERS XXIII Pulling them out of the fire The sinner in a dangerous estate BEfore yee heard that we must use discretion and put difference of sinners to pitty some and to reprove some To save them with feare that is by sharp reproofes to draw them out of danger Now here in these words hee sheweth the great danger men are in when they sinne they are in the fire ready to bee consumed and therefore hee saith Plucke them out of the fire And who can pluck them out of the fire but with violence This is the state of the wicked they are as dry trees and rotten wood and two things are prepared for them a sharpe hatchet and a quicke fire for every tree that bringeth Luke 3. 9. not forth good fruit shall be hewne downe and cast into the fire This is that which the Apostle calleth the deceitfulnes of sinne Exhort one Hebr. 3. 13. another daily while it is called to day lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulnesse of sinne It promiseth safety and bringeth destruction so the Apostle affirmeth Sinne saith hee tooke occasion by the Commandement and thereby slew mee We thinke wee are well Rom. 7. 11. inough when wee sinne and yet indeed wee are at the very pits mouth For when the wicked grow as grasse and all workers of iniquity Psal 92. vers 7. flourish then shall they be destroyed for ever And Iob speaking of the wicked saith One dieth in his full strength being in all ease and Iob. 21. 23 24. prosperity his brests are full of milke and his bones full of marrow And as the sudden ruine of the wicked is set out by fire they are The fickle estate of the wicked ready to be burned so againe their state is described by yee they are as men that walking on an yee suddenly fall So saith the Psalmist Thou doest set them in slippery places and castest them Psal 73. 17 18. downe into desolation how suddenly are they destroyed perished and horribly consumed Their estate also is set out by grasse and hearbes which grow to day and are cut downe to morrow so saith David They shall soone bee cut downe like grasse and shall wither Psal 37. 2. as the greene hearbe their estate also is compared to Chaffe which now lies in the floore and by and by is blowne away with the winde The Prophet saith They are as Chaffe which the winde driveth away Alas all their felicity and great pompe it Psal 1. 4. is but a dreame it is but
are contentious and disobey the truth and obey unrighteousnesse shall be indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish shal be upon the soule of every man that doth evill Looke not to the beginning of sinne but the end of it the roote of it is a carelesse hard heart and therefore we are commanded to exhort one another daily while it is called Hebr. 3. 13. to day lest we be hardened with the deceitfulnesse of sinne the flower of it is sweet for a time and therefore called by the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrewes The pleasures of sinne the sight of it is like Heva her apple which was faire and pleasant to the eye the taste of Hebr. 11. 25. Gen. 3. 6. 1 Sam. 14. 17. Luk. 3. 7. it is like Ionathans hony combe which cleered his eyes which before were dimme for wearinesse and hunger the committing of it is like the birth of a viper which eateth out the belly of her damme the sting of it as the sting of an Aspe pleasant at the Rom. 3. Cap. 6. 21. 23. first and brings a man asleepe but the fruit of it is shame in this life And therefore saith the Apostle what fruit had yee of those things whereof yee are now ashamed meaning their sinnes and the end of it in the life to come is hell fire For the wages of sinne is death For sinne is as a Tyrant which raigneth by force and at last rewardeth his servants with death and damnation Thus the root the flower the sight the tast the sting the fruit the end of sinne all is damnable Behold this monster this Aesops snake the uglinesse of sinne in Nabuchadenezzar transformed from a man to a beast The terror Dan. 4. 1 Sam. 15. of it in Agag the Amalekite The folly of it in Salomons young man whom Salomon derideth notably saying Rejoyce thou yong man in thy youth and walke in the wayes of thine heart and in the sight of thine Eccles 11. 9. eyes but know that for all these things God will will bring thee to iudgement The bitternesse of it in the rich men named by Iames Goe to yee rich men weepe and howle for your miseries that shall come upon Iam. 5. 1 2 3. you your riches are corrupt your garments moat-heaten your gold and silver is canckred and the rust of it shal be a witnesse against you and it shall eate your flesh as it were fire The unstablenesse of it in the Amalekites now dauncing now dead The reward of it in the fooles named God punisheth not the reprobate till sinne be at the fall by Salomon The end of it in the rich glutton who for his sinne lieth frying in hell in torments The life of the godly is as a Comedie dolefull at the first but joyfull at the last So saith David They that sow in teares shall reape in ioy they went weeping and carried precious seed but they shall returne with 1 Sam. 30. VVisd 5. Luk. 16. Psal 126. 5. 6. ioy and bring their sheaves But the life of the wicked is cleane contrary that is as a Tragedie dolefull at the last so saith our Saviour Woe be to you that laugh for yee shall wayle and weepe and Luk. 6. 25. Pro. 22. 8. Salomon affirmeth That hee that soweth iniquity shall reape affliction and the rod of his anger shall faile that is his authority whereby hee did oppresse others shall bee taken from him and Paul saith That they which sow in the flesh shall of the flesh reape corruption afterwards this afterwards marres all after all pleasure commeth paine and destruction So said Abraham to Dives Sonne remember Luk. 16. 25. that thou in thy life time receivedst thy pleasure contrarily Lazarus paine now is he comforted and thou art punished The pride of Adam was turned into labour and sorrow The stoutnesse of Nimrod into confusion The beauty of Absalom into hanging The strength of Goliah into shame The envie of Caine into desolatition Gen. 3. Cap. 10. 2 Sam. 16. 1 Sam. 17. hee wandred like a Rogue Nec in caeteris est contrarium videre and we may behold the same in the rest when they have added drunkennesse to thirst afterwards commeth God and destroyeth them he wayteth for the ripenesse of our sinnes before he plucke us off the tree or cut us off the earth he tarieth till we be dry before hee burneth us till wee be fat before hee slay us till wee bee withered before hee hew us downe Therefore is it said that the earth was full of cruelty that the sinne of Sodome was Gen. 6. Gen. 18. Amos 8. great that the sinnes of Israel were as ripe apples and when our sinnes be once ripe God will cut us downe with the scithe of his wrath and hacke us downe with the axe of his vengeance And yet we see God to punish some speedily to crop them in their beginning True sometime God killeth the Cockatrice in the egge before it bee a serpent sometime hee plucketh the fruit from the tree before it bee ripe hee rooteth out the pricke before it be a thorne what then differt tamen non aufert God doth deferre but yet hee doth not auferre the punishment of the wicked like Polypheme that would eate Vlysses last but yet eate him though it were long Vt creditor qui debitum ab uno statim exigit alium in diem reponit sed cum foenore solvendum As a Creditor that requireth his debt of one man presently to another hee giveth day and respite yet to be paid with usury God tooke away Caligula in the beginning of his tyrannie but hee suffered Nero to tyrannize longer but Tiberius raged and made havocke of the Church longer than they yet in the end God met with him and freed the earth of so vile a burden God killed Omri in two yeares he suffred Manasses to wallow in blood fifty yeares Tempora mutantur 1 Reg. 16. 2 Reg. 21. nos mutamur in illis the times are changed and we are Infidelity the cause of Israels destruction changed in them Dionysius having a prosperous wind said that God favoured Pirats The Athenians said that Harpalus gave a lively testimony against the Gods for that hee escaped so long unpunished But so long goeth the pot to the water that at last it cometh broken home God met with these two afterwards Looke not on men as they are here in this world here they prosper and flourish like a greene Bay-tree but looke to their end then they wither like trees that cast their leaves in winter then they wish they had never beene borne what good hath our pride done us what profit hath the pompe of riches brought us Thou seest Dionysius spoiling Syracusa many yeares looke againe Wisd 5. 8. and thou shalt see him a poore Schoolemaster in Corinth Asceptro adferulam devolutum devolved fallen from the scepter to the ferula Thou seest Caesar
and from noone unto night In the day Ios 10. of Ezechia the Sunne went tenne degrees backward In the day of Christs passion the Sunne waxed darke and the Moone lost her light the 1 Reg. 20. earth quaked the graves opened the stones brake the dead rose but in the day of Christ there shal be no Sunne no Moone no Heaven no earth For the Heavens shall passe away in manner of a tempest the Element shall melt for fervent heat the 2 Pet. 3. earth and all that is therupon shall burne and yet this burning shall not be a consuming of the substance but only a purging of the creatures from the drosse of those alterable qualities wherunto they are now subject And therfore finely to this purpose saith venerable Bede Per imaginem transeunt per essentiam subsistunt praeterit figura hujus mundi non substantia their image Beda faileth their essence remaineth the figure of this world passeth away not the substance For if the day of Christs humiliation was so glorious what shal be the day of his glorification Where then will appeare those that make the world and the things of the world their stay when the world and all the wealth and substance of the world must passe away And wher ewill the penny-father and covetous person appeare who like the serpent is ever licking up the dust of the earth and scraping up gold and silver that red and white earth when silver and gold and earth shal be no more Where will the proud ones appeare that fold themselves in silkes and loade themselves with pearles and Iewels when Iewels and pearles shal be no more Where then shall appeare the greedie oppressour whose throate hath beene an open sepulcher When he shal not find a man to oppresse any more Where shall the whoremonger appeare whose body hath beene as the Oven of a Baker when he shall find none to defile any more Where shall the slanderer appeare whose tongue hath cut like a sharpe rasor when he shall not finde any to slander any more where will the drunkard appeare that hath washed his soule with wine and strong drinke when there shal be no liquor any more Where will these magnificent and stately builders appeare when building and state shall fall all to the ground Where shall the usurer appeare who is worse than Hell for Hell torments only the bad but the usurer crusheth and oppresseth both good and bad I say where shall he appeare seeing his house here is the banke of the Divell and his purse Os diaboli the mouth of the Divell Surely he with the Divell must abide in Hell and torments surely all these and The fearfull estate of all sinners at the last judgment all other that have sowen in sinne shall reape miserie for these that have plowed wickednesse shall reape iniquitie Vanitie was their traffique and griefe will be their gaine Detestable was their life and damnable shall be their death For as they have sowen Hos 10. 13. so shall they reape they have sowen in the flesh and of the flesh they Gal. 6. 8. shall reape corruption Tribulation and anguish shall be upon the soule of every one of them when this great day shall be Let us pray therfore that in this great day Christ his wisdome may answere for ourfollie his humilitie for our pride his meekenesse for our crueltie his righteousnesse for our sinnes that this Lambe that was without spot may answere for us who like Iacobs Lambes are full of spots Ostende patri latus vulnera Shew the father thy side and wounds that thy side and wounds may heale us from these sinnes that like the blood of Abel crie against us Amen THE FOVRTEENTH SERMON VERS VII As Sodom and Gomorah and the Cities about them which in like manner as they did c. Sodomesfinne all kind of uncleanesse WEE are come to the third example of Sodome and Gomorah Wherin also he noteth their Sinne. punishment Their sinne was uncleanesse Fornication whordome Incest Buggerie their punishment hell fire the second death the burning lake fletus stridor dentium the horrour of conscience torments unspeakeable Now for their sinne it appeareth how filthy it is seeing that Paul would not have vs eate with whoremongers If any 1. Cor. 5. 11. saith he that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or a rayler or a drunkard or an extortioner With such see yee eate not And in another place he would have us to be so far from this sinne that he would not have it to be once named amongst us much lesse committed For so runne his words But fornication and all uncleannesse or covetousnesse let it not be once named amongst you Ephes 5. 3. The name as it were darkeneth the Ayre and polluteth the earth the Lord Iesus condemneth the very intent of the heart even lusting after a woman though the act be not done you have heard Mat. 5. 27. 28. saith he that it was said unto them of the old time thou shalt not commit adulterie but I say unto you whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath committed adulterie with her alreadie in his heart Whordome is one of the manifest workes of the flesh For the Apostle reckoning up the workes of the flesh nameth adulterie Sodoms sinne all kind of uncleanesse first and placeth is as Vrias in the forefront of the battell The workes of the flesh saith he are manifest adultery fornication uncleanesse wantonnesse c. Yea this sinne brings with it horrible dishonour If a theefe saith Salomon steale to satisfy his soule because Gal. 5. 9. he is hungry men doe not so despise him but he that committeth adultery with a woman is destitute of understanding he shall find a wound Pro. 23. 27. and a dishonour that shall never be put away for a whore is a deepe ditch and a strange woman is a narrow pit Yea this sinne will make a man make shipwracke of innocency and honesty A man may aswell Pro. 6. 27. take fire in his bosome and not be burnt or goe upon coales and his feet not be burnt as goe into his neighbours wife and be innocent Pro. 23. 28. The strange woman increaseth the transgressors among men so that it is impossible to be incontinent and honest It is a sinne Hos 4. 11. Pro. 9. 18. Pro. 18. Pro. 6. 26. of which a man or a woman can hardly repent For whordome and wine as the Prophet notes take away the heart The Guests of a strange woman art most of them in Hell For the wiseman further avoucheth Surely her house tendeth to death and her pathes unto the dead This sinne will bring Gods curse upon a mans estate many a man by it is brought to a morsell of bread For fornication is a fire that will devour to destruction and roote out all a mans increase
and bring him quickly into our Ladies bands and make him sinke by beggerie The Apostle Paul useth many reasons against it able to move an heart of flint if there be any droppe of grace in him if he pertaine to Gods election if he be not vas irae a vessell of wrarh a reprobate a firebrand in Hell 1 Cor. 6. 13 14 a member of the Divell His first reasons is that The body was made for the Lord a swell as the soule his second That the body shall 15 16 18 19. be raised up at the last day to an incorruptible estate His third That our bodies are the members of Christ His fourth He that coupleth himselfe with an harlot is one body with an harlot the fifth This is sinne in a speciall sense against our owne bodies the sixth The body is the temple of the holy Ghost finally The body is bought with a price and therfore is not our owne These are the reasons that the Apostle useth against this sinne to make all men to deny it and defye it But to proceede the wrath of God against this sinne of whordome is as the fire of Aetna not only to burne the whrne and the whoremonger but their seed as one said the bastard shall be a faggot a firebrand in Hell to burne the parents For the children of adulterers shall not be partakers of the holy things and the seed of the wicked bed shall be rooted out and though they Wisd 3. 16 17 18 19. live long yet shall they be nothing regarded and their last age shall be without honor if they dye hastily they have no hope neither comfort in the day of triall For horrible is the end of the wicked generation And againe the bastard-plants shall VVisd 4. 3 4. take no deep root nor lay any fast foundation For though they bud forth in the branches for a time yet they shal be shaken with the wind for they stand not fast they shal be rooted out As The divell prevailes most by uncleannesse one said of the theefe on Christs right hand that Luke nameth one theefe to let us see that all theeves are not damned and yet but one theefe to let us see that all theeves are not saved So say Luke 23. I of Iephta that God nameth one bastard to let vs see that all Iudg. 11. 1. are not rejected of God and yet but one to let us see that all are not accepted of God I exclude them not from the Covenant of life I abridge not the mercies of God I clip not the wings of his compassion towards them For it is as great a sinne to abridge the mercies of God to the penitent as to dilate it and prostitute it to the reprobate For the Lord is stronge mercifull Exod. 34. 6 7. and gracious slow to anger and abundant in mercy and truth reserving mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity transgression and sinne And againe Hee is gracious and slow to anger and of great kindnesse Ioel. 2. 13. and repenteth him of the evill But this is it that I insist upon and take in hand to prove that God punisheth the uncleane and incontinent persons even in their seed aswell as in their bodies goods and name and let all men that take pleasure in this sinne assure themselves that the end will be bitter as worme-wood Prov. 5. 4. and sharpe as a two-edged sword For hee that followeth a strange woman is as an Oxe that goeth to the slaughter and as a foole that goeth Prov. 7. 22. to the stockes for correction till a dart strike thorow his liver as a bird hasteth to the snare not knowing that she is in danger For they that goe to a strange woman seldome returne againe neither take they hold of the Prov. 2. 18. way of life If they reply that David did commit adultery and yet did returne I answer it is true of many thousand adulterers one David did returne but thou hast cause rather to feare to perish wirh the multitude than to returne with David But before I prosecute this point further note the mercy and wisdome of God in the decalogue In the first precept he provideth for our callings that no man contemne us but honour us in the sixth for our bodies that no man kill them in the eighth for our goods that no man steale them in the seventh for our wives that no man abuse them that none violate their chastity and therefore severely hath God revenged this sinne he hath punished it in the great ones hee hath set a marke a brand of vengeance upon them as upon Pharoah in Egypt and Abimilech Gen. 12. Psal 160. 30. in Gerar and yet they touched not Sara but onely intended it So Phinees ranne thorow a Lord and Lady Moses Numb 25. hanged the heads and Princes of the people And if God hath not spared the high cedars of lebanon looke not that he will spare the low shrubs Potentes potenter punientur the mighty shall Wisd 6. 6. Acts 10. 34. be mightily punished and meane men shall bee punished also Deus non est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is no accepter of persons Eusebius Cremonensis reporteth of Ierome that on his death-bed he used these words unto his Disciples Ensis diaboli est luxuria ô quot illa romphaea inter fecit lechery is the sword of the divell ô how many hath this sword slaine Est rete diaboli ô quot illud rete inescavit Many of the Saints have beene overtaken by adultery it is the net of the divell O how many hath it deceived Est esca diaboli it is the bait of the divell O how many hath this baite entrapped There is no sinne in the second table wherein the divell hath more prevailed and gone away a greater conquerer than in this sin of Whoredome and therefore it is noted that in Mary Magdalen there were seven divels For this sinne wee read Luke 7. Gen. 6. that it repented God that ever he made man and indeed the mischiefes that come of this sinne be manifold Nam luxuria corpus debilitat memoriam hebitat cor aufert oculos caecat famam denigrat marsupium evacuat furta homicidia infert iram Dei provocat for lechery weakneth the body infeebleth the minde dulleth the memory taketh away the heart blindeth the eyes hurteth the good name emptieth the purse causeth thefts murders and all other sinnes kndleth Gods wrath For this sinne God brought a floud of water upon the old world and for this sinne the Lord reigned fire and brimstone from the Lord out of heaven and destroyed Gen. 6. Sodome Yea for this sinne God slew foure and twenty thousand Cave vinum cave mulieres take heed of wine take heed of women he that useth wine carryeth fire in his bosome and a woman is sagitta diaboli the arrow of the divell Homo mulier sunt ignis palea
earth Ezech. 22. 14. shall tremble before him All faces shall gather blackenesse the earth shall tremble before him the heavens shall shake the Sun and the Moone Ioel 2. 6. 10. shall be darkned and the starres shall withdraw their shining If a Barne were full of Corne having tenne thousand quarters of wheate in it and a bird should every yeere carry away one kirnel in her neb it would have an end at last If a Mountaine were twenty miles high and but one shovell full of earth in a yeere taken from it in time it would deminish and come to nothing but hell deminisheth not there is no end of it When the wicked have beene frying in hell so many hundred yeeres as there be piles of grasse growing upon the face of the earth nay so many thousand yeeres as there be sands or drops of water in God usually proportions punishment to sinne the Sea nay so many million of yeeres as there be creatures in heaven and in earth yet are they as farre from being delivered out of the captivity of hell as they were the first day of their entrance I say therefore of Gods judgements as Paul said of Gods wisedome O alitudo O the depth of the riches both of the wisedome and knowledge of God! O the depth of the justice and judgements of God how unsearchable are his judgements and his wayes past finding out Now the very Papists make foure places of torment 1. Infernum Hell 2. Purgatorium Purgatory 3. Limbum puerorum non baptizatorum A place where were children that dye without baptisme and 4. Limbum patrum A place where the Fathers were Now saw they Christ never descended into Hell to deliver any from thence but he brought the Fathers E limbo patrum in his passion for in hell there is no redemption Sermones discipuli Ser. 156. By the way note that as the Sodomites burned in the fire of uncleane lust so God burned them with the fire of his vengeance Poena saepe peccato respondet the punishment is oftentrmes answerable to the sinne committed and done God punisheth men Aug. according to the quality of their sinnes The Philistines adored 1 Sam. 5. Mice and rattes so they were plagued with mice and rattes And as they drew the arke out of his boundes so God drew their intrales out of their course And as Ieroboam overthrew Gods worship in one Altar erected at Ierusalem So God overthrew his 1 Reg. 13. Altar at Bethel And as he restrayned the hands of Israel to offer to the true God but to his golden Calves so his hand dried up God punisheth drunkards with dropsies and then Woe to the Crowne of pride the drunkards of Ephraim And he punisheth the Esa 28. 1. covetous men with theeves who spoise them as they have spoiled Cap. 30. And he punisheth the adulterers with pox and such like evills For the Adulterer many tymes carieth a body to the grave full of maladies and a soule to hell to eternall fire full of iniquities and he punisheth Tyrants by men as bloody as themselves and thus he punished Adonizedeck For he had cut off the fingers and toes of many kings at last his owne fingers and toes were Iudg. 1. cut off For With what measure we mete to others the same shall be measured to us againe The howse of valois having druncke blood voided blood and of English persecuters died many strangely oh then let us take heed how we offend For God will come in judgement he will be a swift witnesse and a sharpe Iudge against vs as here against the Sodomites who were not only destroied with fire and brimstone from Heaven temporally but also suffer the vengeance of eternall fire And this example of Gods vengeance is so famous that it is recorded by most writers both prophane and divine Among prophane Solinus Cornelius Tacitus Strabo Stephanus Pliny Aristotle have written of it Among divine Moses Deut 29. and Esay cap 1. Sodome not punished alone but those that partooke with her and 13. Ieremy also cap. 23. and 44. Ezekiel in like manner writeth of it as it appeareth cap. 16. Amos in his fourth chapter Sophany in his second chapter and the Lord Iesus in the 16. of Mathew mentioneth it and so also doth S. Paul Rom. 9. and S. Peter in his second Epistle and second chapter and S. Iohn in the 11. of the Apocalips Let us therfore make profit and Clense our selves 2 Cor. 7. 1. of all filthynes of the flesh and spirit lest we also suffer The vengeance of eternall fire And further observe with me that not only Sodome was destroied and suffered the vengeance of eternall fire but many Cities besides Moses Deut. 29. and the Prophet Hosea cap 11. besides Sodome nameth 3. Citties more Gomorra Zeboim Admah and unto these some other writers ad Phagor so that five Cities suffred the vengeance of eternall fire Egesippus and Stephanus say that 10. Cities were destroied and some say 13. Iosephus Tertullian Augustine and others write that the aire there is so infectious that if a bird flieth over it it dieth presently and that no creature can live there and the apples and other fruite that grow there howsoever they seeme pleasant unto the eye yet if you do but touch them they fall to Cinder and ashes The summe of all is to admonish us not to follow strang flesh as they did But to keep our vessels in holynesse and not in the lust of concupiscence As Sodome and Gomor 1 Thess 4. And the Cities about them did lest God destroy vs with fire as hee did them and lest we suffer The vengeance of eternall fire as they doe And now brethren you looke that I should say some thing as touching the fearefull accident of fire that since my last being in this chaire of Moses have happened among you and hath burnt up and consumed not an house or two but almost your whole towne and that no small towne but the chiefest and the greatest in these parts being the chiefest mart towne in all the hundred as the Lord hath come to Dereham and Aylisham Beckles and other neighbour townes so now at the last hee is come to you your sinnes have brought downe this judgement of God upon you therefore Washe you make you Esa 1. 16. 17. cleane put away your evill intents from before God cease from doing evill learne to doe well otherwise the Lords hand wil be Amoâ— 3. stretched out still against you and doe not thincke that this fire came by chance For There is no evill done in the City but the Lord doth it himselfe And note the providence of God that the Psal 118. Lament 2. 1. doctrine of burning of Sodome should be now handled when this fearefull judgement of fire fell upon you This is the Lord doing and it is marveilous in our eyes As David speaketh in another case As The Lord
so carefully keepeth all our members Custodit omnia ossa he keepeth all our bones abstergit lachrymas ab oculis hee wipeth the teares from our eyes docet manus praeliari he teacheth our hands Psal 34. Psal 116. Psal 144. 1. to warre and our fingers to fight dirigit gressus nostros in via pacis he directeth our going in the way of peace totum denique corpus custodit to conclude he keepeth the whole body For the Lord saith David is thy keeper the Lord is the shadow at the right hand Ought we not then to give our eyes our hands our feet and the Psal 121. 5. whole body unto his service that as we have given our members servants to uncleannesse and to iniquity to commit iniquity So now to give over our members servants unto righteousnesse in holinesse for being freed from sinne and made the servants of God our fruit must be in holinesse and our end shall be life eternall Againe God punisheth uncleannesse many waies our members are the members of Christ shall we take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot God forbid Againe they are the Temples of the Holy Ghost If any man defile 1 Cor. 6. 2 Cor. 3. the Temple of God him shall God destroy A Noble man will not lodge in a hoggs coat nor Gods Spirit in a filthy uncleane unchast body Quid luci cum tenebris what communion hath light 2 Cor. 6. 14. with darkenesse what concord hath Christ with Belial what part hath the beleever with the unbeleever or what agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols Againe our members shall be glorified in heaven Let them therefore glorifie God in this life for as no uncleane beast might tarry upon the Lords Mountaine so no polluted person shall passe thorow the gates Apoc. 221 of the new Ierusalem God punisheth this sinne many wayes First with beggery for he that feedeth harlots shall never bee rich for indeed it is a sinne Prov. 29. 3. against nature for whereas other men sowe for an Harvest these defilers of the flesh which plough with othermens heifers sowe that which they dare not reape Secondly he punisheth defilers of the flesh with infamy for their reproach shall never be done away Prov. 6. 33. Thirdly with lothsome diseases for the most righteous God hath appointed that they which will taste of the sweet of sinne shall be filled with the gall of punishment it bringeth corruption of the blood dissolution of the sinewes rottennesse of the marrow aches in the joynts crudities in the stomacke paines in the head gowtes and palsies heavinesse in the heart and stinging of the conscience Fourthly Yea and after all these it shall be punished with hell fire For it is written for fornication uncleannesse inordinate Col. 3. 6. affection c. the wrath of God remaineth on such And againe whoremongers Heb. 13. 4. and adulterers God will judge for is stabunt moechi without shall be dogges and inchanters and whoremongers c. onely Apoc. 22. 15. such as be Virgins follow the Lambe Know ye therefore yee Apoc. 14. Gal. 4. Numb 5. Deut. 23. 3. defilers of the flesh there is no place for you in heaven you must rest and dwell in the tenement in hell The Bastard Ismael hath no place in Abrahams house the unclean Canaanite hath no room in the host of Israel The misbegotten Ammonite hath no accesse into Gods Tabernacle As the whoremongers and defilers of the flesh have neither foot nor furrow nor inch of roome in Gods Kingdome Sunt in felle nequitiae they are in the gall of Acts 8. 21. bitternesse as Simon Peter said of Simon Magus The holy Ghost joyneth a whore and a dogge together Thou shalt not bring the Deut. 23. 18. hire of an whore nor the price of a dogge into the house of God And Ieremy compareth these adulterous beasts unto neighing horses and Ier. 5. 8. the Wise man likens them to an Oxe going to the slaughter and cals Prov. 7. 22. the whore a deepe ditch and a narrow pit And they that enter into her Prov. 2. 19. hardly returne againe to take hold of the way of life The guests and Whoredome and all uncleannesse odious companions of harlots are in Hell nay in the depth of Hell Heaven will not receive them O that men could-see into Hell they should see as many defilers of the flesh as many whoremongers as of any sin against the second table Many make little reckoning of this sin of whoredome which the Apostle meaneth by defiling of the flesh but if the punishment provided for it already spoken of cannot let you see the grievousnesse of this sinne then listen to that which now I shall say unto you First it taketh away the heart of a man so saith the Prophet Whoredome and wine and new wine take away the heart As Hos 4. 11. Nabuchadnezzar had the heart of a beast so these defilers of the flesh have beastly hearts Et praestat bestiam esse quà m bestialiter Seneca vivere A man had better be a beast than live beastly Secondly This sinne is so much the greater because it hath a lawfull remedy To avoid fornication saith the Apostle let every 1 Cor. 7. 2. man have his wife and every wife her husband And againe They that cannot abstaine let them marry A poore theefe is pittied that stealeth to satisfie hunger but he that stealeth and hath enough of his owne his sinne is the greater and the more to be punished Prov. 6. 33. so hee that hath a lawfull remedy and such a remedy as God hath ordained and yet runnes a whoring his sinne is the more abominable and deserveth greater punishment Such was Davids sinne hee had many wives and concubines and yet hee 2 Sam. 11. 5. c. tooke another mans Wife and therefore his sinne was horrible Thirdly by this sinne of whoredome Satan gaineth two soules at once a theefe may steale alone the drunkard may be drunken alone the murtherer blasphemer idolater usurer c. may sinne alone but the whoremonger killeth two soules at one clap If the blood of Abel cryed for vengeance how much more shall those soules cry for vengeance whom these defilers of the flesh have brought to destruction yet these defilers care not how many they abuse and whores and harlots care not how many they lead to the divell they open their quiver against every arrow Eccles 26. 22. Fourthly Defilers of the flesh whoremongers are the Divels factors Satan is a tempter so are they and therefore when they goe about to defile any they should answere them as Christ answered Mat. 4. 1. Peter when hee counselled him to save himselfe Come behind mee Satan thou art an offence unto mee I reade of a certaine Matron Mat. 16. 23. that being intised by a desire of the flesh an
World and he shall not iudge it as God because that as Esay saith Tollatur impius The wicked must be taken away that he may never see the glory of God but Iohn 12. 47. as man Vt homines videant that men might see the Iudge of men August saith Quamvis non recedat pater à filio unum enim sunt tamen ad iudicium veniet filius non Pater although the Father departeth not from the Sonne for they are one yet the Sonne shall come to iudgement and not the Father Quia ibi nec Deitas Filij nec Patris videbitur for there neither the Deity of the Father nor of the Sonne shall be seene The third thing to bee handled is the manner of his comming to iudgement it will be a most fearefull yet a glorious comming he will come with thousands of his Saints For if other Benches be furnished with Iustices of Peace Gods Bench shall bee furnished with Angels Thousand thousands shall minister unto him and tenne thousand thousand shall stand before him and when hee shall thus come in his glory fulminabit è Coelo the Lord will thunder from Heauen and the highest will give his voyce Now if the thunder and and crackling of a cloud be so terrible what terror shall there be when hee shall thunder that sitteth above the clouds The thunder doth but demolish Mountaines and roote up trees but when God shall thunder out his judgements hee will crush and cast downe King Prince and People that have not made him their fortresse and their tower The thunder doth but shake the clouds make them to flye up and downe as birds in the ayre but when God shall thunder out his judgements hee will shake and astonish the heart and conscience Yet shall there bee then a great difference betwixt a good and a guilty conscience for a good conscience shall bee moved sed ut folium but as a leafe with a little winde and breath of Gods displeasure but the guilty shall bee removed as the foundations of the Earth are shaken with the full rigour of Gods wrath For then as Saint Ierome hath it Terra tremet mare mugiet the Earth shall quake the Sea roare the Ayre ring the World burne And all this all becommeth as a fire-brand or burning coale O miserable sinner how wilt thou tremble when the Lord shall come with thousands of his Saints to judgement and if the just and upright man Iob was afraid of this judgement and therefore cryed out and said Quid agam quo me convertam cum veniet Dominus ad iudicum What shall I doe or whither shall I turne Iob 31. 14. me when the Lord commeth to judgement If Blessed Hillary who from the fourteenth yeere of his age served the Lord in feare and rejoyced before him with trembling as David did By the terror of particular iudgements we may gather the generall who was affraid of this day as it appeareth by his speech upon his death-bed Egredere anima egredere quid dubitas quid times Goe forth O soule go forth why art thou afraid why doubtest thou thou hast served God these seventy yeeres and art thou Psal 14. afraid now to depart If these holy men were afraid of this day how oughtest thou O sinner which hast drunke iniquity like water hast not served thy God one day as thou oughtest to doe I say how oughtest thou to quake and to tremble If the iust shall scarce be saved where shall the poore wretch appeare then thou wilt cry to the Mountaines Fallon us and to the Hils Cover us hide us from the presence of the Lord and from the wrath of the Lambe For the great day of the Lords wrath is come and who can abide it but all will be in vaine If Zephanie spake so tragically of the particular judgement of God by Nebuchadnezar saying The great day of the Lord Zeph. 1. 14 15. is come a day of wrath a day of trouble and heavinesse a day of destruction and desolation a day of obscurity and darkenesse a day of cloudes and blackenesse a day of the trumpet and alarme If Ieremy spake sorrowfully and lamentably of the particular judgement of God upon Ierusalem saying How is the gold become dimme the most fine gold is changed and the stones of the Sanctuary are scattered in the corner of Lament 4. 1. 2 4 5 10 11. every streete The noble men of Sion comparable to fine gold how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers the tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roofe of his mouth for thirst and the young children aske bread and no man breaketh unto them They that did feed dilicately perish in the streets and they that were brought up in scarlet imbrace the dung The hands of the pittifull women have sodden their Children which were their meate in the destruction of the daughter of my people The Lord hath accomplished his indignation he hath powred out his fierce wrath he hath kindled a fire in Sion which hath devoured the foundations thereof what may be said of the generall judgement when not one Citie but all Cities shall bee destroyed The reprobates shall see above them an angry Iudge beneath them Hell fire on the right hand their Sinnes accusing them on the left hand the Divels tormenting them within them their gnawing conscience without them the damned spirits bewayling on every side the World burning Vbi regredi impossibile progredi intolerabile where to goe backeward it is impossible and to goe forward intolerable The glorious manner of Christs comming is described by the Apostle The Lord saith hee shall descend from Heaven with a shout and with the voyce of the Archangell and with the trumpet of God then hee shall come not with twelve poore Apostles but with twelve thousand thousand Angels Wel the Lord shall come with thousands of his Angels where note that his second comming shal not be like his first At the first he came in poverty now shall he In Christs humility his glory appeared come in glory at the first he came in humility now shall hee come in Majestie at the first he came with the tongues of men now shall he come with the voice of an Archangell and trumpe of God At the first he came in misery now shall he come in Mat. 24. Luk. 9. 58. Majesty at the first he came with Glory be to God on high now shall he come with vae vae vae with a threefold woe upon them that dwell upon the face of the earth At the first he came with tidings of great joy that shall come upon all people now shall he come with feare and trembling upon all the nations of the earth At the first he came 1 Tim. 1. 17. Apoc. 1. 7. Apoc. 5. as a servant now shall he come as a King At the first he came as a prisoner betweene two theeves now shall he come as a Iudge
naturam in his quae verbo Dei prohibentur Bridle and restraine nature in those things that are forbidden in the Word O Ierusalem saith God wash thy heart from wickednesse that thou maiest be saved how long shall thy wicked Ier. 4. 14. thoughts remaine within thee A naturall man through sinne is like the man that travelled from Ierusalem to Iericho and fell among theeves and was robbed of his rayment wounded c. So the Luk. 10. naturall man is spoyled of all his goods of grace wounded in all the goods of nature his understanding is blinded his will is weake his memory wandring his imagination restlesse his appetite rebellious his senses curious his flesh inclined to all filthinesse What good is to be expected of an Infant sitting upon an untamed horse holding weake reines in his hand in an hilly way full of breaknecks In the same state and condition abideth man destitute of the grace of the Spirit of the Word of God his appetite is as an untamed horse his reason which should rule his appetite is weake and the world is full of breake-necks and snares how miserable therfore is our nature which is carried Lust stirreth to all sinnes head long into wrath envy pride covetousnes whoredome and all uncleannesse Our owne will doth oppugne and fight against God spoileth Paradise enricheth hell evacuateth the blood of Christ subjects the world unto the Divell in this part of the soule is the shop of sinne out of which Satan draweth all his sorce and armour to wound us this is the vineyard in which we ought to labour in this garden let us alwayes walke having the hooke in our hand whereby we may cut off all these noisome Mat. 20. plants if they happen to increase and grow Thy will saith Vlciscere invide extolle teipsum Revenge envy extoll thy selfe noli pacem quaerere seeke not peace iura periura ede bibe lude sweare forsweare eate drinke play But let the Word of God rule thee Put off the old man which is corrupt with his deceiuable lusts and put Ephes 4. 23. on the new man which after God is shapen in righteousnesse and true holynesse Mortify your earthly members fornication uncleanesse unnaturall lusts and covetousnesse which is Idolatry crucify the flesh with the affections Col. 3. 3. Gal. 5. 24. and lusts The Fowler knoweth with what lure to take hawkes the fisher knoweth with what baite to catch the fishes and the Divell knoweth to what sinnes and vices we incline and leane unto and thither he carrieth us headlong whither our lusts carry us Vince ergo libidinem vicisti diabolum Vanquish thy lusts and thou hast vanquished the Divell Herupon saith Iohn I write unto you yong men because yee are strong and the Word of God 1 Iohn 2. 14. abideth in you and yee have overcome the wicked Such yong men God send us many they shall be like little David to overthrow Goliah like the three Worthies that brake thorow the hoast of the Philistines like Gedeons pitcher that drave backe the Madianites Fraena libidinem aliter ingratus es Bridle thy lusts otherwise thou art unthankefull to God which hath given thee so many weapons dedit legem per quam vivis hee hath given thee his Law by which thou livest he hath given grace to performe it he hath given Doctours to instruct us he hath given Sacraments to increase our faith hee hath given inspirations by his Spirit Doe not therefore quench them he hath given us himselfe give then therefore thy selfe and offer thy body and soule a quicke an holy and acceptable sacrifice unto him and walke not after thine owne lusts For lust is the mother of all wickednesse if it bee not betimes killed in the conception The Apostle shewes that lust will bee quickly enticed and being inticed it will conceive and being conceived it will bring forth the birth of some notable evill action and when it is gone so farre like an impudent beldame it will egge on still to the finishing of sinne that so it may bring us to death and destruction But it will be said that the best men have their lusts and sometimes follow them It is true so the brightest fire hath some smoake the soundest oake his sap the purest gold his drosse the fairest body his fleame choller and excrements yet is Lust brings forth sinne and sinne destruction there difference between all smoake and some smoake all drosse and some drosse all evill some evill the evill are notably evill For as they regard not to know God even so God delivereth them up to a reprobate minde to doe those things which are not convenient being Rom. 1. 28 29. full of all unrighteousnes fornication wickednesse covetousnesse maliciousnesse full of envy of murther of debate of deceit c. but good men they are evill onely in part the spirit of Sanctification is sometimes interrupted in the regenerate but never quite abolished while lusts beare sway in the heart it is hindred but not extinguished For the seede of God abideth in them even as madnesse 1 Iohn 3. interrupteth reason sunt enim lucida intervalla as drunkennesse doth not take away the minde it selfe but the use of the minde for a time so doth our lusts yet wee returne as David 1 Sam. 12. Iohn 21. to his chastity as Peter to the confession of Christ for he which thrice together denied him thrice together did confesse him as he fell he rose he fell thrice together and thrice together rose againe The Iebusite did dwell in Ierusalem but he did not dominiere nor rule in Ierusalme So lust dwelleth in the godly but it raigneth not in them He that wanteth all affections is either Rom. 6 a God or a stone and hee that obeyeth all is either damned or a Divell cut them off therefore though they be as an eye or an hand unto thee yet plucke out that eye smite off that hand Mat. 18. that thou mayest enter into Heaven come unto Christ that hee may ease thee of the burthen of thine affections Mundus clamat Ego deficiam te the World cryeth I will faile thee For the World passeth away and the lusts thereof Caro clamat Ego inficiam 1 Iohn 2. 17. te the flesh cryeth I will infect thee Fulfill not therefore the lusts of the flesh diabolus clamat Ego decipiam te the Divell cryeth I will Gal. 5. 16. 1 Pet. 5. deceive thee For hee goeth about like a roaring Lion seeking not onely to deceive but to devoure At Christus clamat Ego reficiam te but Christ cryeth I will refresh thee Come to mee all that travell Mat. 11. 29. and are heavy loden and I will refresh you Vtrum sequi sequi vis Whether of these wilt thou follow the World failing the flesh infecting or the Divell deceiving or Christ refreshing Satan requireth no more of thee but to follow
thy lusts Sequere carnem ducet te adinteritum Follow the flesh and it will lead thee to destruction For if yee live after the flesh yee shall dye Now to live Rom. 8. 13. after the flesh is to commit the workes of the flesh and the Gal. 5. 19 20 21. workes of the flesh are first Adultery secondly Fornication thirdly Vncleanenesse fourthly Wantonnesse fifthly Idolatrie sixthly Witch-craft seventhly Hatred eighthly Debate ninthly Emulations tenthly Wrath eleventhly Contentions twelfthly Seditions thirteenthly Here sies fourteenthly Envy fifteenthly Murders sixteenthly Drunkennesse last of all Gluttony and they that doe these things shall not inherit the Kingdome of God Divide the World into an hundred parts and scarce one is Christian and among a hundred Lust promiseth pleasure but brings damnation that are called Christians scarce one can say with Paul Miserable man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of sinne The flesh speaketh guilefully to the Spirit that hath left her with her lusts as Laban did to Iacob to cause him to retire and goe Rom. 7. 24. home againe with him so saith the flesh to the spirit and body I would have filled thine eyes with goodly sights thine eares with sweete musicke thy palat with dainty dishes thy appetite with all lusts and pleasures So Augustine bringeth in his affections lusts and concupiscences thus speaking unto him and crying Dimittes ne nos nunc Wilt thou leave us now and shall we not be with thee for ever The flesh fighteth against the spirit herein it resembleth Eva alluring Adam to the forbidden fruit like Gal. 5. 16. Gen. 3. Gen. 39. Iudg. 4. Iudg. 16. Putiphars wife solliciting Ioseph to all filthinesse like Iael who slew Sisera under the shew of love like Dalila who delivered Samson sleeping in her lap into the hands of the Philistians Sed opera carnis damnabilia the workes of the flesh are damnable Gal. 5. â—2 If wee live after the flesh wee shall dye Seneca a Gentile could say Major sum ad majora natus quà m ut carnis mancipium fiam I am greater and borne to greater things than to bee a slave unto the flesh So must a Christian say I am borne to greater things than to serve the flesh which yeeldeth nothing but corruption For hee that soweth in the flesh shall of the flesh reape corruption I Gal. 6. 8. Gen. 2. 1 Pet. 1. 18. 1 Cor. 6. 11. Ephes 4. 1 Cor. 10. 3. Phil. 3. 21. am created after Gods image redeemed with his Bloud sanctified by his Spirit instructed by his Word fed by his Sacraments appointed to be glorified that I may live to God here in Heaven hereafter What man having two servants the one wise the other foolish wold have the foole to over-rule the wiseman So we let the flesh over-ruel the Spirit Our lusts are as fire unquenchable as a devouring beast that is not satisfied as the horse-leech which sucketh till she burst Quod solatiuÌ„ habere potest pater What coÌ„fort or joy can a Father have that having 10 or 12 hungry sons ready to starve for want heare them cry out for food succor hath not wherwith to feed still them So what quiet can a man have whose appetites desires cry out yet caÌ„not satisfie nor suffice theÌ„ Clamat luxuria Leachery crieth Give me women yet thy strength caÌ„not performe that thou lustest after Clamat superbia Pride cryeth Be liberall a good companion Tuae tamen facultates hoc negant Thy wealth denyeth this Clamat invidia Envy cryeth Revenge thy selfe of such such injury yet thy weakenesse will not suffer thee to bee revenged Clamat voluptas Pleasure cryeth Ede bibe Eate drinke fish fowle hunt hawke rush ride reclamat tamen senectus but old age cryeth againe Desunt vires Strength is wanting to performe these things hee must sit coughing in his chaire and grunting in his bed his will is good to follow these delights but poore man he wanteth strenght Miserè torquentur isti libidinosi nunquam explentur these libidinous men are miserably tormented but never filled like the horse-leech daughters they are never satiate quot sensus tot arma so Lust poysons all the powers of the soule many senses so many weapons our words blow our works wound our eyes and eares open gates for the Divell to send loads of sinne into our mind our taste and senses and feeling are Prov. 30. 15. Rom 6. 1 Cor. 6. tinder and fewell to feed the fire of our concupiscence our bodies which should have beene Templum Spiritus Sancti the Temple of the Holy Ghost a haunt of Divels and a sepulcher of a corrupted soule the soule betrothed to Christ in Baptisme a 1 Cor. 2. 14. riotous disloyall losell our understanding darkened our will with her affections a common Curtisan lusting after every offer Ephes 2. 3. of the flesh in so much as one Father bringeth in the Divel speaking thus to Christ I have more right to this man than thou Iudge him to be mine I never loved him and yet he served me I never did him good yet hath he obeyed me what I suggested he performed what I proffered he imbraced Meus est per naturam tuus est per gratiam he is mine by nature he should have been thine by grace mine he is by transgression but thine he should have been by redemption but he gave himselfe to lust and lust being conceived brought forth sin therefore he is mine mine mine An elegant Prosopopeia without us are our affections to seduce us within our conscience to accuse us above us Gods justice beneath us hell fire Let us not therefore lust after evill things but crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts Where lust is there is no mortification and where no mortification is there is no rising againe with Christ where there is no rising againe with Christ there is no salvation For Peter Martyr devided mortification into two members patience in bearing aduersity and temperancy in brideling the lusts of the flesh Now measure our Christianity by this and Lord how little would be found in the world as one said Call on houses and chambers under which thou hast lived aske the fields gardens where thou hast walked summon seates whereon thou hast sitten examine thy pillowes upon which thy head hath rested all these will cry with one mouth that we have walked after our lusts that we have lived at randon that wee have followed our pleasures that we have lived in gluttony in chambring and wantonnesse that we take no thought but for the flesh To fulfill the lusts of it this is not to walke honestly as in the day time The Image of God is not restored in us till our lusts be subdued and we cease to walke after our lusts Imaginis Dei duae sunt partes sanctitas intellectus sanctitas voluntatis
243 The envious is fretted at good and glad at the evill betides any ibid. Cain was prophane and grudged at Gods sacrifice 244 Many like Cain grudge to give that is good to God ibid. Gods Ministers are to have honourable maintenance 245 Sacriledge odious among the Heathen they have observed the vengeance of their gods have followed such as have beene sacrilegious ibid. God himselfe hath punished sacriledge in all ages 246 Hypocrites and dissemblers pretend good intend evill ibid. God detesteth hypcrisie and falshood 247 Desperation the bane of the soule excluding Gods mercie ibid. Sermon 21. COvetousnesse the roote of evill and ruine of good 249 Many woes against covetousnesse 250 The covetous man trusteth more in his riches than in the blessed Trinity ibid. Covetousnes deprives the covetous of the 8. beatitudes and makes them subject to the contrary curses 251 Covetousnesse insatiable 253 Covetousnes excludes out of Heaven ibid. Riches unprofitable to soule and body credit and estate 254 A couetous minde never satisfied 255 Vsurers more cruell than wilde beasts ibid. Riches uncertaine not to bee relied on 256 Riches unprofitable if in superfluity 257 Riches preserve not neither from temporall nor spirituall evils 258 Riches not hurtfull by nature but by corruption ibid. Riches hurtfull to the outward and inward man 259 Sermon 22. GOds mercy contemned draweth on judgement 261 The utility and necessity of both Magistracie and Ministery in Church and Common-wealth 262 Government necessary for preservation of states ibid. Three formes of Government viz. Monarchy Aristocracy Democratie ibid. Reasons why Monarchy the best 263 All lawfull government of God ibid. Rebellion pernicious not onely to states but to the Rebels themselves 264 Resemblances being ordinary teach best 266 Preachers may use humane learning but the Word must be his ground to give light 268 The creatures afford a double consideration one naturall another morall or spirituall 269 Epicurisme hath many sinnes accompanying it ibid. Drunkennesse and glutonny odious and pernicious 270 Nature teacheth temperance and sobrietie 271 Wee are most prone to sinne in our drunkennesse ibid. Drunkennesse makes uncapable of Gods spirit and spirituall graces 272 Gluttonous Epicures neither glorifie God nor releeve the poore ibid. Dangerous to converse with Epicures lest stained by them 273 How one may converse with the wicked 274 Love-feasts how used abused abolished 275 Sermon 23. PRide many wayes occasioned every way odious to God 277 Pride vaine in three respects 278 Pride hath beene in all places and all sorts ibid. The godly sometime overtaken by it ibid. Pride is expressed in the things that pertaine to God sixe wayes 279 Pride shewes it selfe many wayes ibid. The proud man insulteth over all 280 Though all prone to pride yet usually the basest proudest ibid. Pride the cause of contention ibid. Pride makes us forget our mortalitie ibid. The proud odious to all God Angels Men onely please the Divell 281 God detesteth pride ibid. Pride is both in Church and Common-wealth and causes heresie in the one and disorder in the other 282 Pride so puffes up men as they become not onely foolish but phrentike ibid. Pride brings shame and destruction 283 Pride will shew it selfe after the death of the proud 284 Knowledge and riches the cause of pride ibid. True zeale like fire that kindleth and burneth by degrees till it come to a full flame 285 Hypocrisie most odious to God and severely punished by him ibid. Sincerity most pleasing to God 286 Christ pronounced against no sinne so many woes as against hypocrisie 289 Hypocrisie blasphemy ibid. Hypocrites make faire showes without truth inwardly pretend religion when they intend the subversion of it 290 Sincerity very rare hypocrisie hath banished 292 Men often compared to trees to shew that God lookes for fruits or wee must looke for the axe ibid. Many carnall gospellers few true professours 293 Most like trees twice dead both in words and deeds 294 Wee must take heed of the sinne of hypocrisie lest wee indure the punishment ibid. Sermon 24. HEll set out by divers names yet none sets it out sufficiently but are as shadowes or the beginning of sorrowes 213 Hell torments amplified being opposed to the joyes of Heaven 297 The damned every way tormented 298 The effects of Gods wrath in afflicting Christ bearing our sinnes and punishing others temporally may serve to set out the torments of the damned whom he punisheth eternally 299 The damned suffer all punishments both of losse and sense 300 The horror of hell should make us abhorre sinne 301 Nothing more hard then the impenitent heart 302 Hell torments as unspeakable so everlasting and irremissible 303 Hell fire compared with our elementary fire in five respects 304 Iudgement and damnation necessary to be preached in time of sinne and security 306 The wicked shall be tormented according to their sinnes the greater sinnes the greater punishment 307 Sermon 25. THere must bee a tyme of manifesting Gods Iustice as well as his power and mercy 301 Antiquity with verity most authentike 308 Traditions equalled with Scriptures by Bellarmine and the Papists ibid. The Scriptures all sufficient for faith and manners 311 Though some scriptures are lost yet so much as is necessary to salvation is preserved ibid. Iudgement fourefold 312 Iudgement generall must needs be as prooved by Scripture ibid. The second person of the Trinity shall judge 313 Christ shall judge as man and why 314 Though Christ shall come in his humanity to judge yet with power and great glory 315 Iudgement fearefull to all much more to the wicked ibid. Christs second comming to judgement compared with his first 316 Christs glory appeared in his humility at his first comming 317 The greatnes of Gods mercy at first aggravates the severity of his justice at the last 318 God hath two Courts Forum misericordiae Forum justitiae Ibid. Gods judgement impartiall 319 Iudgement shall be generall of all men and of every Worke Word Thought 320 Swearers blasphemers most abominable 322 Gods judgement most certaine 324 The conscience of the wicked tell him there will be a judgement 325 The consideration of Christs comming to judgement ought to terrify the wicked comfort the godly instruct all 326 Sermon 26. MVrmuring two-fold against God and against men 329 Murmuring and discontent in most ibid. Murmuring the sinne of the Israelites 330 Murmurers never content ibid. Murmurers severely punished 331 We must patiently subject our wils to Gods 332 The remedies against murmuring ibid. The Saints have bene discountenanced yet subjected their wils to Gods will and have been pacified and comforted 334 Man murmures against man for diuers causes 335 All estates are discontent and murmure against others 336 Murmuring the property of base and envious persons ibid. The lusts of the flesh must be tamed 337 God uses many meanes to teach us to tame our lusts ibid. Most men rather follow their lusts than obey Gods Word 338 Evill thoughts and inordinate affections must be vanquished ibid.