THE CRIE OF ENGLAND A Sermon preached at Paules Crosse in September 1593. by Adam Hill Doctor of Diuinitie published at the request of the then Lord Maior of the Citie of London and others the Aldermen his brethren LONDON Printed by Ed. Allde for B. Norton 1595. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE THE Lord Maior of the famous Citie of London and the right Worshipfull the Aldermen his Bretheren and the Commons of the same Adam Hill Professor of Diuinitie wisheth grace peace and life euerlasting THere be foure things in the earth verie smal verie wise as witnesseth wise Salomon Prou. 30.25 c. the Pismires a people not strong yet prepare they their meate in the summer the Cunnies a people not mightie yet make they their houses in the rocke the Grashopper hath no King yet go they foorth all by bands the Spider taketh hold with his handes and yet is he in Kings Pallaces So must we prouide now in the summer time while the Gospell shineth out of the face of Christ Iesus against the winter which hath in it three moneths death iudgement and hell that as the Emmet escapeth the annoyance of the three winter moneths so wee may escape the terrour of death the rigor of Gods iudgement and the torments of hell The Cunnies build their house in the rocke so we may not trust to our riches which are vncertaine to our bowe which will breake to our speare which shall bee knapt asunder to our horse which is a vaine thing to our hoasts of men which are but flesh to our Captaines which are but locusts to men which are mortall or to Princes which shall die but to the Lord which can keepe our eyes from teares our feete from falling and our life from death The Grashoppers albeit they haue no king yet they goe foorth by armies we haue a father to rule in the house a preacher to teach in the Church a gracious Prince with manie honorable Senators to rule our Realme yet there is strife in euerie house sedition in euerie Citie and sects in euerie Church and therefore our house will fall our kingdome shall be desolate and our church will be the sinagogue of satan The spider is in Kings pallaces but wee dwell some of vs in the lusts of the flesh some in the treasures of the world and some are as enuious as the diuell fewe there are that say with Dauid Psal 84.2 My soule longeth yea and fainteth for the Courtes of the Lord for my hart and my flesh reioice in the liuing God To moue my countrimen therefore to a generall speedie and heartie repentaunce I haue laid downe in this treatise the crie not of Sodome but of England which if it be diligentlie weighed Luke 21.34 I doubt not but we shall take heede to our selues least our hearts be oppressed with surfetting and drunkennes and cares of this life We shall be watchfull Matt. 24.24 Mich. 6.8 Rom 12.12 Rom. 12.11 we shall doo iustlye and loue mercie we shall be instant in praier we shall be feruent in the spirit we shall not perseuere in sinne but continue in praier without ceasing saying Turne thy face away froÌ„ our sins Psal 51.9 O Lord blot out al our offences Psa 19.8 c. remeÌ„ber not against vs the former iniquities but make hast let thy tender mercy preuent vs help vs O God of our saluation for the glorie of thy name and deliuer vs and be mercifull to our sinnes for thy names sake so we thy people and sheepe of thy pasture shal praise thee for euer and from generation to generation will set forth thy praise which God giue vs grace to doo for his sonnes sake Christ Jesus to whom with the holie Ghost be all honor and glorie for euer and euer Amen Yours in the Lord Adam Hill Minister THE CRIE OF ENGLAND Genes 18. ver 21 22. Because the crie of Sodome Gomorrha is great and because their sinne is exceeding greeuous I will goe downe now and see whether they haue done altogether according to that crie which is come vnto me and if not that I may know OF all the holie Scriptures there is not one example more frequently vsed of the Prophets Apostles to feare the people from sinne than thys generall seuere and fearful destruction of the Sodomites The Prophet Jeremie saith Ier. 49.40 As God destroyed Sodome and Gomorrha with the places thereabout saith the Lord so shall no man dwell there neither shall the sonne of man remain there Amos. 4.11 So saith the Prophet Amos I haue ouerthrowen them as God ouerthrew Sodome and Gomorrha and ye were as a firebrand pluckt out of the fire yet haue yee not repented And the Prophet Zephanie saith Zeph. 2.9 Surely Moab shall bee as Sodome and Ammon as Gomorrha the breeding of nettles and salt pits and a perpetuall desolation So likewise it is said in the Euangelists And whosoeuer shall not receiue you Mat. 10.14 Mat. 6.11 Luke 9.5 nor heare your words when ye depart out of that house or that citie shake off the dust of your feete truly J say vnto you it shall be easier for them of the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of iudgement than for that citie And in the second Epistle of S. Peter it is said 2. Pet. 2.6 And turned the cities of Sodom Gomorrha into ashes condemned them made them an ensample vnto them that should afterward liue vngodly Iude 7. So in Iude As Sodom and Gomorrha and the cities round about them which in like manner as they did committed fornication and followed strange flesh are set downe for an ensample and suffer the vengeance of eternall fire As all the Prophets and Apostles yea and Christ himselfe haue vnto their hearers set downe Sodome and Gomorrha as an ensample of Gods iustice against sin impenitent sinners so doo I purpose by Gods grace to handle this fearfull panolethrie or vtter destruction to this Citie of London assuring my selfe that if this exhortation worke not in you a broken heart you shall by the yron rod of Gods wrath be broken in peeces like a potters vessell you shall be like the breeding of nettles and salt pits you shall not onely haue a perpetual desolation in earth which is lamentable but also suffer the vengeance of eternall fire which is intollerable A comparison betwâ—ene Sodom and London Sodom was in a frutefull valley so is London in Sodome there were gorgeous houses and fayre workes so there are in London in Sodome they did eate and drinke and fulfill the lusts of the flesh so doo they in London Sodom was in captiuitie vnder Chedor Laomer and freed by Abraham London all England was in subiection to the Pope hath been freed by our gracious Queene Elizabeth Sodome had Lot the Preacher of righteousnes sent vnto them whose spirit they vexed London hath had manie godly Fathers sent
here and there in euene place Saint Paul against whoredome thus writeth Meates are ordained for the belly 1 Cor 6.13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20. the belly for the meates but God shall destroye both it and them now the bodie is not for fornication but for the Lord and the Lord for the bodie and God hath also raised vp the Lord shall raise vs vp by his power Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot God forbid Doo ye not know that he which coupleth himselfe with an harlot is one bodie for two saith he shal be one flesh but he that is ioyned to the Lord is one spirite Flee fornication euerie sinne that a man doth as without the bodie but hee that committeth fornication sinneth against his owne bodie Know you not that your bodie is the temple of the holy ghost which is in you Whom ye haue of God and ye are not your owne for ye are bought for a price therefore glorifie God in your owne body and in your spirit for they are Gods Here are 7 arguments against whoredome 7. arguments against whoredome the first is of the punishment in the 13. vers where he saith that meates are for the belly the belly for meates but God will destroy both it and them for gluttonie and drunkennes are maintainers of venerie the second argument is drawen from the condition of our bodies in the same verse the bodie is not for fornication but for the Lord for as God is worshipped in heauen of angels which are spirites so will he be worshipped in earth of men which haue bodies and therefore our bodies shall be raised vp to glorie the third argument is drawen from an absurditie It is against reason saith the apostle that our bodies being the members of Christ should be made the members of an harlot so to bring them from high dignitie to most vile indignitie the 4. argument is drawen from the comparison of God and an harlot for he that ioyneth himselfe with an harlot is one with an harlot in affection and shal be one with an harlot in affliction but he that coupleth himselfe to the chast God shall be one with God in glorie for euer the fifth argument is drawen from the effects of fornication for the fornicator defileth his bodie with the pockes leprosie and many other loathsome diseases and therefore vnnaturally sinneth against his owne bodie shortning his life by wasting the vigor of his bodie The sixt argument is drawen from the purposes whereunto the body is destinated your body is the temple of the holy Ghost and you are not your owne therefore in it God must be worshipped not the diuell The seuenth and last argument is taken frō the lawe in the last verse you are bought with a price that is not with gold nor siluer but with the most precious blood of Christ therefore not onely our soule must magnifie the Lorde and our spirit reioyce in God our Sauiour but also our flesh must reioyce in our God and in the life and death of our bodies God must be glorified bowing our knees to GOD the father of our Lord Iesus Christ which leadeth vs to life and not to whores and harlottes Pro. 7.27 Whose waies goe downe to hell Jeremies prophecie is fulfilled in them will be fulfilled in vs Ier. 5.7.8.9 Though I fedde them to the full yet they committed adulterie assēbled themselues by companies in the harlots houses they rose vp in the morning like fedde horses for euerie man neighed after his neighbours wife Shall J not visite these things saith the Lorde shall not my soule be auenged on such a nation as this climbe vpon their walles and destroy them take awaie their battlements for they are not the Lordes The harlot calleth her pleasure solace and so do our delicate dames of England but Jeremie saith this sweete sinne wil haue soure sauce For it will cause the walles of our Cities to be rased the battlements of our house to be beaten downe God bee mercifull vnto this pleasant Iland blesse it for if euerie house of our lande shall bee destroyed where this loathsome sinne of leacherie hath bene shamefully committed as the monkes houses were our fairest Cities no doubt will come to ruinous heapes GOD brought the Sodomites into captiuitie to shewe them that he did hate their sinne yet would they not repent GOD brought thē out of slauerie by Abraham to teach them that he was mercifull to the contrite yet would they not repent We haue bene vnder the tyrant of Spaine in the late dayes of Queene Marie yet we forsake not our former fornications we haue bene deliuered by her Maiestie yet we runne on desperately into all manner of abhominations forgetting the greefe of our calamitie and the comfort of our deliuerance the quietnesse of our priuate estate the peace of our kingdome or the felicitie which we haue by the word of God Oppression of the poore is another sinne that prouoketh GOD to plague vs. Oppression of the poore crieth for vengeance Exo. 3.7 J haue surely seene the affliction of my people which are in Egypt haue heard their crie because of their taskmasters for J know their sorrowes Iam. 16. Do not the rich oppresse you by tyrannie and draw you before iudgement seates who oppresseth Pharaoh the tyrant Nimrod the mightie and Nabal the rich Those that should giue do take awaie those that should feede do fleese those that should be mercifull be vnmercifull Whome do they oppresse their brother their owne flesh the Lords brother and the Lords apple of his eye And what brother his poore needie destitute and afflicted brother and to whome he should giue from him he doth take by violence whom he shuld cōfort him he doth spoile How doth he oppresse by his mony his might God hath giuen them riches and authoritie to defend the poore fatherlesse to see such as be in neede and necessitie to haue right and with their wealth and might they oppresse deceiue they grind the face of the poore and braye them as it were in a morter Ier. 5. their houses are full of riches gotten by deceipt When do they oppresse in the time of the Gospel Elisha said vnto his man when he had taken gold and garments of Naaman is this a time to take mony to receiue garments and oliues 2. King 5.26 and vineyardes and sheepe and Oxen and men seruants and mayd servants So say I to the Nimrodical oppressors of England is this a day of peace and of ioy is this a time to smite downe the people of the Lord to murther his heritage and to deuour widowes houses to eate vp the people like bred Gal. 6.10 While we haue time we should do good to all 2. Cor. 6.2 especially
Dauid cannot bee iustified in the sight of GOD neither can the proude Pharisey saucye Sadducey or popish Pelagian Such arrogant Papistes are well tearmed to bee full of winde For as the winde first distinguisheth the light secondly extinguisheth the dewe and thirdly bloweth vp the dust so this vaunting of merites darkeneth the pure light of Gods glorye it dryeth vp the dewe of his grace in them and so puffeth them vp with a swelling conceite of their owne holynesse that they attribute that to nature which is due to grace and that to merite which is due to the promise and that to the fleshe which is due to the spirite and that to works which is due to faith and that to the Lawe which is due to the Gospel and finally that to man which is due to God Vaine glory the sin of Sodome and of England Apoc. 3 16 17. Vaineglorye is another kinde of pride this was in the Church of Laodicia Thou sayest J am riche and encreased with goods and haue neede of nothing and knowest not how thou art wretched and miserable and poore and blinde and naked This vaineglory was in Alexander whome parasites had perswaded that hee was a God but in the end when he perceiued hee must dye hee vttered these woordes Now I perceiue I am but a mortal man Let vs not be desirous of vaineglory Gala. 6.26 saith the Apostle We cannot glory of things past for in times past wee haue committed more offences then good deedes wee cannot glorye of thinges present because wee are in exile wee cannot glorye of thinges to come because there is comming death and iudgement Vaineglorye is hardlye shunned for three causes first because it ariseth of well doing euen as the moth is bred in the garment when it consumeth and the worme in the wood which it rotteth Secondly al other vices are ouercome of some vertue as adultery by chastitye couetousnesse by mercifulnesse and hatred by loue but vaineglorye ariseth of well doing Thirdly by how much the more vainglory is kept down by so much the more it is encreased For euerye euill ariseth of an euill but onely vaineglory proceedeth of well doing Praise is desired ordinatly or inordinatly ordinately for the glory of God Mat 5 16. But let your light so shine before men that they may see your good woorkes and glorifye your Father which is in Heauen And secondlye for the profite of our Neighbour procure thinges honest in the sight of all men Rom. 12.17 1. Cor. 10.33 I please all men in all thinges not seeking myne owne profite but the profit of many that they might be saued Inordinatly men seeke praise first when they desire to bee praised for those thinges that be not worthye of praise as for riches and temporall thinges which are but vaine Secondly if they glorye in their sinnes why boastest thou O tyrant that thou art able to doe mischeefe Psal 52.8 Thirdlye when it is doone in contempt of our neighbour or of God For they loued the prayse of men Iohn 12.43 more then the praise of God Now vnto tht King euerlasting 1. Tim. 1.17 immortall inuisible vnto God onelye wise bee honour and glorye for euer and euer Amen Fourthlye when a man sinneth to get praise Mat. 6.1 Beware that yee giue not your almes before men to bee seene of them or else you shall haue no rewarde of your Father which is in Heauen How manye vaineglotious persons are in England which boast of the multitude of their riches reioyce in iniquitie and loue the praise of men more thē the glory of God you may know by Catoes rule for he saith Neither shalt thou praise nor dispraise thy selfe for this doe fooles that are vexed with vaineglory If all those that praise themselues be fooles then the world is full of fooles and these say there is no GOD But hee that sitteth in heauen will laugh them to scorne yea Psal 2.4 the Lord will haue them in dirision An other kinde of pride is selfe-loue Self-loue the sin of Sodom and of England Mal 2 10. of the which Malachie writeth Haue wee not all one Father hath not one God made vs why doe wee transgresse euerye one against his Brother This vice was in the Pharisey Luke 18.11 J am not saith hee as other men are extortioners vniust adulterers nor as this Publicane When Saul was little in his owne sight 1. Sam 15 17 hee was the head of the trybes of Israell But when hee despised Dauid a better man then himselfe God brought him low againe John Baptist humbled himselfe and saide Mat. 3.11 Hee was not worthye to vnloose the latchet of our Sauiours shooe But Christ saide Hee was a Prophet and more then a Prophet Mat. 11.11 Iohn 8 33. The Iewes saide that they were the children of Abraham and neuer serued any man But Christ saide Iohn 8 44. Yee are of your Father the Diuell Wee may not therefore with the Pharisies iudge others and preferre our selues before them Fiue reasons why we may not ivdge our brethren For first humanitie doth require that we should not rashly censure the faults of other men Secondly our owne infirmitye should moue vs to the same Iam 3 2 for in many thinges we offend all Now doe wee see our owne faultes which are in the peece of the wallet that hangeth behinde vs. Thirdly we are fellow-seruants and being therfore in the same condition wee should liue in charitie which couereth the multitude of sinnes Fourthly Christ is the onely iudge of the quicke and the dead and therefore we may not male partly ascend into his tribunall seate Fifthlye our iudgemēts are to be suspected because we see only the outward and not the inward partes Basil Basill saith The wicked man doth most easily condemne the good but the good doth not easily condemne the wicked Most iustly therefore saith the Apostle Rom 14 4. Who art thou that misdeemest an other mans seruant hee standeth or falleth before his Lord. Saul breathing out mischeefe against the church of God was suddenly called and of Saul became Paul of a proud Pharisie an humble penitent of a malicious persecutor a zealous Apostle and laboured more in his vocation then all his fellowes Augustine saith Au. de verb. dom ser 1◠we must despaire of none as long as the patience of God doth lead him to repentance neither he that will not haue the death of a sinner but that he should turn and liue doth take him out of this life He is a Pagan to day how knowest thou but he may be a Christian to morrow he is an vnbeleeuing Iew to day what if to morrow he attaine to the Catholique religion he is a Schismatique to day what if to morrowe hee embrace the vnitie of the Church what if those in whom you finde all kinde of error and condemne as most desperate shall repent before they
Augustine it a treatise of the contrition of the heart For as much then as the sinfull generation of this realme of England will neuer repent but stop their eares when God calleth them fleeth from the Lord when he seeketh them and shutteth vp their hearts when he knocketh to come into them there must be either a generall tepentance as there was in Niniuie or else there will he a generall destruction as ther was in Sodom which was in this maner In Gen. 19.24.25 Gen. 19.24.25 Then the Lord rained vpon Sodom vpon Gomorrha brimston and fire from the Lord out of heauen and ouerthrewe those cities and all the plaine and all the inhabitantes of the cities and that that grew vpon the earth Of this dreadfull desolation you shall reade in Deutronomium 26.23 Esay 13.14 Iere. 50.40 Eze. 18.49 Hos 11.8 Amos 4.11 Luke 17.29 and Iude 7. First he is noted who destroyed Sodome the Lord secondly how he did raine vpon Sodom and Gomorrha brimstone and fire thirdly from whence from the Lord from heauen The Lord which made Sodome Gomorrha a pleasant and frutfull vale for the sinnes of the people brought it vnto vtter desolation He did raine the end of raine is the fertilitie of the earth the Sodomites turned the fertilitye of the earth into pride Ezek. 16. fulnesse of bread idlenesse and vnmercifulnes to the poore and therefore when this wickednesse was to be punished it was reuenged not with famin pestilēce or sword but as the wicked had peruerted themselues so the Lord peruerted the raine not to the nourishment of the earth but to the sterilitie of it and gaue them for dew brimstone and for water fire Strabo in his booke seemeth to giue some naturall causes of this destruction But Moses sheweth it came from the Lord who is able and willing to punishe strange sinnes with strange plagues Further we are here to learne in that it did raine that abundance of fire fell from heauen so great is the treasure in heauen of those thinges whereby vengeance is to be taken on the reprobate on the earth Deut. 32.34.35 Deut. 32.34.35 Js not this laid in store with me and sealed vp among my treasures vengeance and recompence are mine Moreouer where he saith he ouerthrewe the cities and all the plaine and all the greene things of the earth we are to remember there are two sorts of destructions the one 2. Sortes of destruction whereby cities are so ouerthrowne that after peace made they may bee reedified againe These kindes of subuersions haue but a temporall scourge to chastise the wicked The other whereby in a perpetuall destruction both the inhabitants and cities and fieldes are vnrecouerably destroyed So was Sodome and Gomorrha destroyed with all their inhabitants and in all the plaine with trees herbes and plants the monuments of this destruction remaine to be seene at this day the shadowes of cities the rockes exust the earth full of ashes heapes of salt a filthie smell a dreadfull sight and a filthie lake Here let euery good man thinke A note for England that if the Sodomites prouoked so great wrath against them which were guided but only by the law of nature how much more detestablye doe they offend which haue receiued the light of the Gospel yet commit the sins of Sodome Matth. 10.14.15 Mat. 10.14.15 And whosoeuer shall not receiue you nor beare your words when you departe out of that house or that citie shake off the dust of your feete Truely I say vnto you it shall be easier for them of the land of Sodome and Gomorrha in the day of iudgement then for that citie 5 God doth not only say that the contemners of the Gospell shall be grieuously punished but he saith it shall be more easie for the Sodomites and more grieuous to the contemners of his word Right instructions to be learned out of the subuersion of Sodome and Gomorrha In this subuersion are these thinges to be committed to memorie First it is an easie thing with God to punish the wicked and euen as easie as to send downe raine from aboue Secondly many waies hath God to subuert the wicked the olde worlde he drowned with water the AEgiptians had diuers plagues their waters were turned into bloud the frogs crept into the kings chamber they were punished with gnats flies pestilence biles haile locusts darknesse and the sudden death of the first borne of AEgipt The murmurers in the booke of Numbers some were swallowed vp into the earth some were consumed with fire from heauen and the tempters were all destroyed in the wildernes with fierie serpents The third thing memorable is this that the iudgement of God commeth suddenly for when they were eating drinking building and planting suddenly came fire from heauen and consumed them 1. Thes 5.3 So Paul saith it shall be in these later daies For when they shall say peace and safetie then shall come vpon them sudden destruction as trauell vpon a woman with child and they shall not escape Fourthly the wicked shal not escape when the iudgement of God commeth on them Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift Amos 2.14 and the strong shall not strengthen his force neither shall the mightie saue his soule Amos. 9. ◠And hee that flieth of them shall not flie away and hee that escapeth of them shall not be deliuered Fiftly sinnes do shorten our liues for the most part of the Sodomites were no doubt in their youth when the fire fell on them Psal 55.23 And thou O God shalt bring them downe into the pitte of corruption the bloudie and deceitfull men shall not liue halfe their dayes Sixtly sinnes being continued do alwaies bring newe plagues The olde worlde was drowned with water but Sodome was destroyed with fire therfore it ought not to be incredible that all the worlde shall be burned with fire The heauen of heauens is the Lords but the earth hee hath giuen to the sonnes of men so he gaue a fruitful plaine to the Sodomites but when they abused it hee rayned downe fire brimstone as plentifull as raine So because in these last times wee abuse the creatures in riot and excesse God no doubt will according to his word cōsume the whole world with fire Seuenthly they that liue wickedly shal dye miserable The Sodomits liued in pride therfore they came to shame they were vnmercifull to the poore therfore they had iudgement without mercie Lastly God will reuenge all iniuries done especially those that are committed against his ministers Zach. 2.8 For hee saith Hee that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye And Psal 105.15 Psal 105.15 Touch not mine annointed and do my Prophets no harme C ham for mocking the minister of God Noah was cursed in himselfe in his children in earth in heauen of God and of men so the viperous brood of Cham which scorne the reuerend fathers of the Church shal be accursed for euer The vnclean Sodomites were burned to ashes and condemned because they vexed the righteous soule of Lot so our murmurers shal taste of the like fearful iudgemēt and also the whole land for soothing them in their Ismaeleticall scorning if speedilye and heartily they do not repent which God giue them and vs also grace to doe that we being deliuered from the dreadfull wrath of God which hangeth ouer our heads for our many manifest and exceeding great sins may from one generation to another liue to praise the Lord all the daies of our life Num. 6 2◠25. The Lord blesse and keepe this Realme The Lord make his face to shine vpon vs and be mercifull vnto vs the Lord lift vp his countenance vpon vs and giue vs his peace for his sonnes sake Christ Iesu To whom with the holy spirit be all honor and glory for euer and euer Amen FINIS