but to draw the party to remembrance And so there is place left in the Church as well for Cursing as Blessing for rough as for milde speech so that Gods glory bee sought in the suppression of sinne Vt omne os obstruatur that every mouth may be stopped and that all glory may bee given to God Thus we Gen. 3. cap. 9. Deut. 27. read that God cursed the Serpent that Noah cursed Cham of the twelve tribes sixe of them stood on Mount Garazim to blesse and sixe on mount Hebal to curse all the people to say Amen Iacob uttered a dire imprecation upon Simeon and Levie saying Curbe Gen. 49. 7. Mat. 23. Mat. 13. their wrath for it was fierce and their rage for it was cruell And lest any should restraine this to time of the Law Note that Christ pronounceth many woes against the Scribes Pharisees and Hypocrites in one Chapter And hee cried woe to the impenitent saying Woe be to him by whom offences come And againe Woe bee Mat. 11. Mat. 26. to thee Corazim Woe bee to thee Bethsaida c. And againe Woe to that man by whom the Sonne of man is betraied it were good for that man if 8 Cor. 16. hee had not beene borne And againe Woe to the World because of offences And Simon Peter cursed Simon Magus saying Thy money perish 2 Tim. 4. 14. with thee And Paul cried Maranatha Anathema to them that love not the Lord Iesus And hee cursed Alexander the Copper-smith Act. 13. 10. Gen. 49. He hath done mee saith Paul much evill the Lord reward him according to his workes And so hee cursed Elimas the sorcerer and called him the Child of the divell an enemy to all righteousnesse But yet wee must curse the sinnes not the party So Iacob cursed Apoc. 2 the rage of his Sonnes not themselves So God hated the deeds of the Nicholaitans not the men Yea sometimes both sinnes and men may be cursed if they give signes of reprobation So the Church prayed against Iulian not for him And Saint Iohn 1 Iohn 5. 16. tels us that there is a sinne unto death I say not that thou shouldest pray for it But to leave all this Michael striving with the Divell durst not give him a railing sentence but saith The Lord rebuke thee Let us learne this lesson of Michael in all reproaches and bitter speeches of our brethren to say unto them The Lord reprove thee for passion must not overmaster us But these railers wee must answere sometime with silence for unto many natures to answere againe is to put fuell to the fire for anger is fire and words are fuell But if silence will not serve the turne then it is good to give place unto it I meane to goe away from Rem 12. 19. a railing person till his anger be over and if that will not serve the turne then answere him as Michael did here the Divell The Lord reprove thee And in any wise take heed you prouoke We must give account of idle much more of evill words not anger for the forcing of Wrath bringeth forth strife as the churming of milke bringeth forth butter and wringing the nose bringeth forth bloud Let us therefore avoyd the customary sinnes of passions and not answere evill for evill or rebuke for rebuke but say with Michael The Lord rebuke thee And with David Iudge me o God and Prov. 30. 33. Psal 43. 1. defend my cause against the unmercifull people that is the cruell company of mine adversaries deliver me from the deceitfull and wicked man The Lord rebuke thee This teacheth us as to avoyd all railing so to study carefully and diligently the government of the tongue and to beware of rotten speeches The mouth is the messenger of the heart and from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh A filthy tongue argueth a filthy heart an unbridled tongue a licencious heart A poisoned tongue that belcheth out nothing but banning and cursing railing and reviling speeches doth manifest a cursed and corrupt heart Our Saviour saith A Mat. 12. 13 good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth goodthings and an evill man out of the evill treasure of his heart bringeth forth evill things but I say unto you that of every idle word that men shall speake they shall give account thereof at the day of judgement If then at the end of the end of the world and day of judgement wee must reckon and account for idle words How much more for our railing reviling speeches Let us therefore hearken unto the counsell of the Apostle Let not corrupt communion proceed out of your mouths but that which is good to the use of edifying that may Ephes 4. 29. minister grace unto the hearers Wee should be of a patient nature and follow the example of Michael who striving with the Divell durst not give him a railing sentence but say The Lord rebuke thee If an Archangell abstaine from all railing having to doe with the Divell the greatest enemie of God and his people wee that have to do with bad men must not take liberty to our selves to use reviling speeches We must commit revenge unto God who hath said Vengeance is mine I will repay THE NINETEENTH SERMON VERS X. But these speake evill of those things they know not c. Malice turnes men into dogs THis is the fourth note that he giveth unto the wicked you shall know them by their evill speaking they are like unto blacke-mouthed Rabshakeh they rayle on God and good men He calleth them first sleepers secondly defilers of the flesh thirdly despisers of government and here raylers they speake evill of all things As fire lyeth not long in the stubble or in the flaxe but the flame breaketh out so hatred lyeth not long in these mens hearts but breaketh out in evill speeches and many times They will speake evill of things they know not Munster writeth of men in India Qui non loquuntur sed latrant which speaketh not like men but barke like dogs so these barke like dogs against the Moone Gorgon turned men into stones and Circe changed them into swine and malice turneth these men into doggs like Hecuba at the siege of Troy for their rayling David saith The wicked speake evil from their mothers wombe even from their belly have they erred and speake lyes their poyson is even as the poyson of Psal 58. 3 4. a serpent like the deafe Adder that stoppeth her eare that is they passe in malice and subtilty the crafty Serpent the first thing they doe is to speake evill it is Alpha and Omega first and last with them As the serpent vomiteth up her poyson before she drinketh Malice in the heart â—he cause of rayling in the tongue of a cleare fountaine so this is the sinne that must bee avoided before we drinke of the water of life the Word of God Lay
aside saith the Apostle all maliciousnesse and all guile and dissimulation and envy and all evil speaking as new borne 2 Pet. 2. 1. Babes desire the sincere milke of the Word that yee may growe thereby Among all the indignities that were offered unto Christ this was not the least they nipped his cheekes they buffeted his face they blinded his eyes they nayled his hands they peirced his feet they lanced his heart but especially they rayled on him saying He saved others let him also save himselfe if he be the Christ the Luke 23. 35 36. chosen of God The Souldiers also mocked him and came and offered him vynegar mixt with myrh and gal to hasten his death and said if thou be the King of the Iewes save thy selfe Therefore wee are willed to thinke upon him that endured such speaking against of sinners Heb. 12. 3. As an image is not seene in water that is troubled no more is truth in a mind that is malitious but it sendeth forth with violence all manner of evill speakings A soule mouthed an evill tongued man is worse than the divell not simply but in respect For a man may avoid the divell Resist the divell and hee Jam. 4. 7. will flye from you but we cannot resist a slanderer a rayler And albeit the Apostles charge is Speake not evill one of another brethren he that speaketh evill of his brother or he that condemneth his brother Iam. 4. 11. speaketh evill of the Law and condemneth the Law Yet the world is as full of evill speakers as Nilus of Crokadyles as Sodome of Sulphur and Egypt of Lice In conviviis rodunt in circulis vellicant maledico dente omnia carpunt It is salt to their meat to rayle on men in feasts and bankets A good name is a pretious oyntment and woe to them that bereave a man of it many mens tongues walke at randome and speake evill of the things they know not Can the wound be cured so long as the iron remaine in it Can the iron be cold so long as it is in the Smiths forge Can the River cease running so long as the Fountaine floweth And can the tongue refraine from evill speaking so long as hatred boileth in the heart Of the abundance of the heart the mouth Luke 6. 45. speaketh And as the water turneth the wheele so the heart the tongue Boetius saith Si irâ fremis Leo es si fraude inniteris Vulpes es si inconstans Camaeleon es si luxuriaris porcus es si convitiaris Canis es if thou beest greatly moved with anger thou art a Lion if thou delightest in fraud thou art a Fox if thou beest unconstant thou art a Camaeleon if lecherous a Hog if foule-mouthed or evill-tongued a dogge and Beware of dogges saith the Phil. 3. 2. Apostle they are alwayes barking and biting and snarling One resembleth a foule-mouthed man an evill speaker to the Basiliske for as the Basiliske killeth the Bird that flyeth in the ayre with his breath so doth the evil speaker kil men with his tongue I will say of these foule-mouthed men as Hierom sometime said Brownists raile on our Church doctrin and Ministery of Iovinian Tacere nesciunt maledicere non cessant nunquam enim bene loqui dedicerunt they cannot hold their peace they cannot cease from evill speaking they never yet learned to speake well There is an art in speaking as well as in writing for there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Right speaking as well as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Right writing and both necessary Iudge now of what spirit our Brownists be as Christ said of his disciples that would have fire come downe from Heaven and Luke 9. 35. destroy Samaria Yee know not of what spirit yee are So they know not of what spirits they be of for all their eloquence standeth in biting speeches that our Church is Babylon Sodome as Apoc 11. 8. that our ministers have the marke of the beast as Apoc. 13. 16. that our people are swine and dogges as Mat. 7. 6. that our Communion cup is Calix diaboli the cup of the Divell that Mensa Christi is Mensa diaboli the table of Christ is the table of the Divell as 1. Cor. 10. 20. our pulpits bee tubs our Geneva Psalmes Gehenna Psalmes But I will say to them as one said Hoc genus hominum ridere soleo non odisse I am wont to laugh at these kind of men not to hate them they thinke much to be touched in doctrine but I will answere them as Erasmus answered Longolius deponant gladios nos scuta abiiciemus removeant venena nos antidoto uti cessabimus cessent maledicere nos non regeremus in hoc illis consentire non possumus ut pareamus schismaticis Let them lay away their swords and wee will throw away our shields Let them remove their poyson and wee will cease to use any Antidote Let them refraine from evill speaking and we will not taunt againe In this wee cannot consent unto them in their schismes I but say they wee are willed To come out from Babylon yea and To separate our selves and to touch no uncleane thing I 2 Cor. 6. 14. confesse Schismatikes interpret this discession locally but the Fathers understand it mentally and morally The Prophets and Apostles proclaimed Touch no uncleane thing but how Contactu cordis non corporis Doth hee that commit sinne displease thee thou touchest no uncleane thing Hast thou charitably rebuked him thou art come out from him yet they cry out we have no Ministers no Sacraments no Church at all What is their reason our lives are not answerable to the doctrine of the Gospell Be it so yet this is no reason why they should make discession from us How corrupt was Ierusalem so corrupt that Esay compareth her to Sodome and Gomorah yet hee erected Esa 1. not new Altars whereupon to offer sacrifice apart but entred into the same Temples and celebrated the same Sacraments with them while Moses received the Law in the mount the people made a Golden Calfe below in the valley God shewed Exod. 32. their idolatry to Moses making an offer to destroy them and to multiply him to a greater and better nation Had not Moses now a faire occasion of departing from them lest hee should No men perfectly pure no state totally corrupt touch any uncleane thing yet he leaves them not but goeth unto them reproveth them and maketh intercession to God for them How desperate was the impiety of the Pharisees in the dayes of our Saviour Yet for all that Christ our Saviour frequented their Temple and would not forbeare their religious exercises The Church of Corinth was defiled with many sinnes and horrible out-rages both in life and Doctrine they were deriders sectaries incestuous prophaners of the Lords supper denyers of the most essentiall Article of the Resurrection yet so long as the Ministery of the Word
of the law as judgement and mercie that they make cleane the out-side of the cup and platter but inwardly are full of briberie and excesse One saith that hypocrisie is the Greg. l. 8. moral cloaking of a secret vice under the shew of vertue and that the life of an hypocrite is nothing else but Quaedam visiâ— phantasmatis the shew of an imaginary matter which appeares some thing and is nothing and compares the hypocrite to Simon of Cyrene that bare Christs Crosse but dyed not with Christ so every hypocrite professeth to live to Christ but will not dye to sinne and the world and Saint Chrysostome likens the hypocrite to Herod Super Mat. 12. that promised devotion and performed persecution he saith that a sincere man is like to a faire woman that needs no external ornaments but hath naturall beauty but the hypocrite is like Hom. 57. a filthy deformed harlot which useth many meretricious colourings that cannot cover her filthinesse but the neerer any drawes vnto her the more hee mislikes her And againe hee saith that an hypocrite is like a Woolfe clothed in a sheeps skin Super Mat. 7. but that he is found out by his voyce and by his doing for the sheepe bleats and lookes toward the earth and eateth grasse which is a signe of humility but the Woolfe howles and looks towards heaven which is a signe of pride and cruelty the hypocrite hath Iacobs voyce but the hands of Esau that is hee talketh religiously and zealously but hee walkes impiously and prophanely the hypocrite is like the statues of Mercury that were wont to be set in high wayes to direct travellers to some Citie or Towne but did not travell nor move themselves the Hypocrisie hath many woes denounced against it hypocrite is like the Stage-player that when he cried O heaven he pointed with his finger to the earth when he cryed O earth hee pointed with his finger to Heaven and therefore the wise Polemon gave him no reward being Iudge of the Actors saying Hic manu Solaecismum fecit he hath spoken false Language and committed an errour with his hand And to conclude the hypocrite is like a deafe and hollow Nut which hath no kernell within but is wasted with the worme and fit for nothing but the fire Heereupon it came to passe that Christ dealt not so hardly with any sinners no not with Atheists that denied the Resurrection and Gods power nor with Temporizers that are alwayes of the same Religion that the company is that can blow hot and cold with one breath as with hypocrites for having to deale with Sadduces he shaketh them off as damned creatures as vessels of destruction children of wrath whose judgement was just and their damnation slept not hee telleth them that they erred Ye erre saith hee not knowing the Scriptures neither Mat. 22. 29. the power of God but when hee hath to doe with Pharisees with Hypocrites he doubleth and redoubleth and tripleth and multiplieth woes and curses hee thundereth like Iames and Iohn his zeale stayeth not with a little O woe to you Scribes and Pharisees yee Hypocrites and so the second the third the fourth the fift the sixt time Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees yee Hypocrites as though all the woes and curses in this life and in the life to come were not ynough for them And it is not to bee forgotten that God calleth it blasphemie to speake one thing and to doe another with man it is hypocrisie but to doe so with God it is blasphemy the sinne increaseth as the dignity of the person increaseth as for example speake a word against a common person and hee hath but his action of the Case against thee speake against a noble man it is Scandalum Magnatum against the Prince it is death against God it is damnation of body and soule double and dissemble with men it is hypocrisie halt with God counterfeit with him it is blasphemy Therefore saith Christ to the Church of Smyrna I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Apoc. 2. 19. Iewes and are not but are the Synagogue of Satan And it is further to be observed that Christ speaketh of hypocrites as if Hell were onely prepared for them for intreating of the evill servant that said in his heart My master will defer his Mat. 24. 51. comming he saith that he will cut that servant in pieces and give him his portion with hypocrites there shall bee weeping and gnashing of teeth And Christ our Saviour asketh them how they shall escape Hell O yee Serpents and generation of Vipers how shall yee escape Mat. 23. 33. the damnation to come And to shew the certainty of their damnation besides this interrogation how shall yee escape the damnation to come As if he should say It cannot bee but yee must Hypocrites make a shew of Religion being irreligious be damned For the interrogation implieth an affirmation He saith of the wicked that They shall have their portion with Hypocrites to shew that the condemnation of hypocrites is most surely sealed And this aggravated the sinne of Corazin and Bethsaida and Mat. 24. 51. Capernaum that they pretended Religion but in painted boxes they did hide deadly poysons in beautifull sepulchers rotten bones and under Iezabels painted face a whores behaviour Woe therfore to thee Corazin woe to thee Bethsaida for if so be the miracles Mat. 11. 21 23. that had beene done in thee had beene done in Tyre and Sidon they bad repented long agoe in sackloth and ashes And thou Capernaum which art lifted up on high shalt be brought dowue to hell And verily of all sinners the hypocrite is the worst he is ovis habitis vulpis actu crudelitatelupus Eern. a sheep in shew a fox in deed and a wolfe in cruelty for an hypocrite hath vulpem in cerebro a Fox in his braine milvum in manu a kyte in his hand lupum in corde and a woolfe in his heart a fox in his braine subtill and crafty to insnare hee hath a kyte in his fist to hold fast and when hee hath caught hold he hath a wolfe in his heart to devoure and therefore saith our Saviour Christ Beware of false prophets which come to Mat. 7. 16. you in sheeps cloathing but inwardly they are ravening woolves beware of them they are like Swannes that have white feathers black flesh and one thinkes the Swanne was forbidden to be eaten of the Iewes to shew that God abhorres all hypocrisie But in that he compareth hypocrites to clouds that have no raine in them to trees that have no fruite to starres that have no light and some others doe compare them to the raine-bow that hath many colours and yet never a colour to broken glasses that have many faces and yet never a face to Copper that resembleth gold and is nothing lesse We have to note that none make greater shewes of
Christ as though God did beseech you through us wee pray you in Christs stead that ye be reconciled unto God For hee hath made himselfe Iustification upon remission of sinnes and Christs righteousnesse imputed sinne for us that we might be made the righteousnesse of God through him Remission of sinne is the first part of Reconciliation whereby the guiltinesse and punishment of our sinnes is removed from us by Christs sufferings For thus it is written and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise againe the third day that Repentance and Remission of sinnes might bee preached in his name to all nations And Hee through Death hath destroyed him that had the power of Death that is the Divell and that hee might deliver all them which for feare of Death Hebr. 2. 14 15. were all their life time subject to bondage Yea it is Christ alone That Apoc. 1. 5. hath washed us from our sinnes with his bloud Yea His bloud it is that cleanseth us from all sinne 1 Iohn 1. 7. Imputation of righteousnesse is the other part of Reconciliation whereby by Christs righteousnesse being imputed unto us we appeare just and blamelesse before God our Father For by him wee have received the attonement And as by the offence of Rom. 5. 11 16. one the fault came on all men to condemnation So by the justifying of one the benefit abounded towards all men to the justification of life And Hee hath now reconciled us in the body of Col. 1. 22. his flesh through Death to make us holy and unblameable and without fault in the sight of God his Father Now againe of Remission and Imputation spring Iustification and Adoption For Being justified by Faith wee have Peace Rom. 5. 1. towards God through our Lord Iesus Christ For when the fulnesse of time was come God sent foorth his Sonne made of a woman and made under the Law that hee might redeeme them which were under the Law that wee might receive the adoption of Sonnes Iustification is that wherby we being delivered before God of the guiltinesse of sin are accounted just For Who shall lay any thing Rom. 8. 33. to the charge of Gods chosen It is God that justifieth who shall condemne As by one mans disobedience many are made sinners so by the obedience Rom. 5. 19. of one shall many also bee made righteous Adoption is that whereby wee are accounted Sonnes and heires of God For yee have not saith Paul received the spirit of Rom. 8. 15. bondage to feare againe but yee have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we crie Abba Father And hee further affirmeth That we are all the Sonnes of God by Faith in Christ Iesus From these two wee obtaine these two blessings First that all crosses turne to us to the best so saith the Apostle All Rom. 8. 28 things worke together for the best â—o them even them that are called of purpose For though hee visit 〈◊〉 sinnes with rods and our offences with scourges yet his loving kindnesse will hee never take from us nor suffer his truth to faile Secondly by Iustification and Adoption wee obtaine a chiefety or rule over all Creatures except Angels For so saith David Thou hast made him little lower than Angels and crowned him Psal 8. 5 6. with glory and worship Thou hast made him to have dominion in the Workes of thy hands thou hast put all things under his feete And the Sanctification in Mortification and viyification Sanctification imperfect in this life same also the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrewes affirmeth Now for Sanctification whereby God beginneth in us holinesse that hath two members Mortification to sinne and Resurrection to righteousnesse Mortification is the first part whereby the power of sinne is killed in us and of this Mortification Paul speaketh thus Our old man is crucified within that the body of sinne might bee destroyed that henceforth wee should not serve sinne And againe That Rom. 6. 6. Gal. 2. 19. I might live unto God I am crucified with Christ Resurrection unto righteousnesse is whereby sanctity holinesse is really inherent and begun in us and is increased dayly more and more For Wee are buried with Christ by Baptisme unto his death that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of his Rom. 6. 4. Father So wee also should walke in newnesse of life These parts of Sanctification referred unto the Soule are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but referred to the Body they are called frustus seu 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fruits This 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a renewing of all the faculties of the Soule a converting them from evill to good A bringing foorth of fruits worthy amendment of life And Luke 3. 8. this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath his Initium beginning comitem and his companion His beginning is is godly sorrow for whose heart Gods spirit doth touch is sorry for his sinnes committed against so mercifull a Father His Companion is a spirituall combate for the Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh Gal. 5. 17. This Sanctification being the second principall part of our Redemption is the quallity whereby Gods spirit doth renew us and begin in us newnesse of life but it is not perfect absolute in us Paenitentia amor sequuntur noticiam nostram Repentance and Love follow our Knowledge but our knowledge is 1 Cor. 13. 9. but in part And this I note against the blasphemy of Osiander who saith that the essentiall righteousnesse of Christ is in us but the righteousnesse of Christ is without us not within us and is apprehended by Faith And therefore Pauls care was to bee found in him that is in Christ Not having saith Paul mine Phil. 3. 9. own righteousnes which is of the Law but that which is through the Faith of Christ even the righteousnesse which is of God through Faith For the righteousnesse whereby wee are justified is the meere imputation of Christs worke unto us and therefore this word Imputation is tenne times recited in one Chapter When a friend Rom. 5. of his owne goods and not of mine payeth debt that I owe that payment or satisfaction is mine it is imputed to mee when as yet it is the worke of my friend and none of mine After the same manner the righteousnesse of Christ is ours This righteousnesse therefore whereby wee are justified is Grace and not Nature Imputation not Essence it is a Communication of the benefit of Christ not a commixion of essence it is Holinesse is said in diverse senses an effect of the proper worke of Christ non substantia ipsa Christi not the very substance of Christ The other righteousnesse wherewith he sanctifieth us is but begun onely it is not absolute For as the Sunne shineth and as the fire warmeth us and yet doe not transferre their essence into us
Satanam ut ipsi etiam suas agunt partes non per illos agit ut per truncos lapides sed ut per creaturas rationales qui sponte ruunt First God so worketh by the wicked and by Satan as that they also play their owne parts hee worketh not by them as by blockes or stones but as by reasonable creatures which runne headlong of their owne accord Secundò magnam esse differentiam inter opus Dei impiorum there is great difference betweene God Satan Men concurre in the same action but have different ends the worke of God and the worke of the wicked in respect of the end of their worke The Sunne draweth stench out of a dead carkase Non immittit he doth not send it in So God worketh by the wicked and yet so that his justice doth not justifie them nor their wickednesse contaminate him as it appeareth in Iobs example God Satan and the Chaldees concurre move Iob 1. worke yet is God cleare and they guilty Inspecto fine agendi considering the end of their worke God did it to trie Iob Satan to destroy Iob and the Chaldees to inrich themselves So saith S. Augustine of Christ Pater tradidit filium filius corpus Iudas magistrum In hac traditione cur Deus justus homo injustus nisi quod in re una quam fecerunt non est causa una ob quam fecerunt The Father delivered the Sonne the Son his body Iudas his master in this tradition or delivering why is God just and man unjust because that in that one thing which they did there was not one cause for the which they did it Deus in dilectione Christus in obedientia Iudas ab avaritia Iudaei ob invidiam God delivered him in love Christ delivered himselfe in obedience Iudas of covetousnesse the Iewes of envy Thus they all did one action but not to one end And yet true is the saying of Fulgentius Malos ad poenam non culpam praedestinari the wicked to be predestinate to punishment not to sinne non ad hoc quod malè operantur sed ad hoc quod justè patiuntur not to this that they worke evilly but to this end that they suffer justly For God ordaines no man to be evil though he hath ordained the evill unto punishmēt for should God ordaine men unto sin then should God be the Author of sin he ordaines indeed the incitements and occasions of sin to try men withall he also orders sins committed and does limit them and in these regards is said as before to worke in them and to will them in which regards also they are in Scripture attributed unto him sometimes as 2 Sam. 12. 11 12. and 15. 16. But yet wee must not say as some do that God is the Author of sinne or predestinates men unto it Sed quia Dei mysteria non capimus corripimus because wee cannot conceive Gods mysteries wee will cavell and carpe at them Nunquid negandum quod verum est quia comprehendi non potest quod occultum est Is that to be damned which is true because it cannot be comprehended for that it is secret Eate hony but not too much hony so search Gods mysteries but not too far I say of the proud men of this age as Chrysostome said of the Hereticks called Anomei Hanc arborem Anomaeorum Paulus nec plantavit Apollo non rigavit this tree of the Anomaei neither hath Paul planted nor Apollo watered nor God increased but curiosity planted it pride watered it and ambition increased it Lipsius Lipsius de constantia pag. 36. useth all these similitudes A man rideth upon a lame horse and stirs him the rider is the cause of the motion but the horse himselfe of the halting motion so God is the Author of every action but not of the evill of the action The like is in the striking All sinne from Saten or evill men none from God of a jarring and untuned Harpe the fingering is thine the jarring or discord is in the Harpe or instrument The earth giveth fatnesse and juyce to all kind of plants some of these plants yeeld pestilent and noysome fruits where is the fault in the nourishment of the ground or in the nature of the hearbe which by the native corruption decocteth the goodnes of the ground into venime and poyson the goodnes moisture is from the earth the venime from the hearbe the sounding from the hand the jarring from the instrument So the action is from God the evill in the action from the impure fountaine of thy owne heart I will conclude this point with the saying of the Learned Impossibile est Deum Confessie qui est lux justitia veritas sapientia bonitas vita causam esse tenebrarum peccati mendacii ignorantiae maliciae mortis sed horum omnium causa Satanas homines sunt It is impossible that God who is Light Iustice Truth Wisedome Goodnesse Life to bee the cause of Darkenesse Sinne Dissembling Ignorance Malice and Death but the Divell and Men are the cause of all these THE ELEVENTH SERMON VERS V. I will therefore put you in remembrance forasmuch as yee once knew this c. The often inculcating the same doctrine needfull WEE are now come unto the third part of this Epistle which containeth a confirmation of Iudes purpose by divers examples The first of the Israelites The second of the Angels The third of the Sodomites In the first he noteth their Infidelitie In the second their Apostasie In the third their Adultery and Buggery The first were destroyed of God in the wildernesse The second fell from Heaven The third were burned and thus much for their sinnes and their punishments Now for the first he saith that they Knew it howbeit he will put them in remembrance saying they had forgotten it We may not thinke much to heare that which we have heard and known were our knowledge never so great like Salomons who had A large heart hee was filled with understanding as a floud his minde compassed the Earth hee filled it full of darke and grave sentences yet wee 1 Reg. 4. Ecclus 47. 14 15 may be remembred of it againe Paul was not ashamed to write The memorie must be often admonished one thing often For so hee saith to the Philippians It grieveth me not to write the same thing unto you viz. that which yee have often heard of me for unto you it is a sure thing and we are not ashamed to preach one thing often it leaveth a surer print and a deeper Phil. 3. 1. stampe in our minds doctrine delivered is as a nayle driven but doctrine repeated is as a nayle rivetted then it sticketh sure Such a Simile Salomon useth saying The words of the wise are like goods and like nayles fastened by the masters of the assemblies that is Eccles 12. 11. Ezech. 36. Ier. 23. Iohn 6. 27. Iohn 6. the Ministers
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
the old world there were but eight beleevers but two Iosua and Caleb and in Christs time we read but of an hundred and twenty beleevers As Aegypt was full of lice Nilus full of Crocodyles Golgotha full of dead mens skulls so is the world full of Infidells He destroyed them that beleeved not And hence commeth it to passe that so many are damned even because they want faith Perditio tua ex te ô Israel thy destruction commeth of thy selfe ô Israel Ex nobis quod damnamur It is of our selves that wee bee damned blame not God but thine owne infidelity For all things Hos 13. Man 5. are possible to them that doe beleeve And therefore Hemingius in his Enchiridion distinguisheth of the word that There is Duplex verbum Damnans Salvans That there is a double word a Damning and a Saving word The damning word is the Law the saving word is the Gospell The Law offereth grace to them that doe it Yee shall keepe therefore Deut. 2. 27. Gen. 3. 5. Levit. 18. 5. Rom. 10. 4. 9. my statutes and my iudgements which if a man doe he shall live in them But the Gospell offereth grace to the beleevers For Christ is the end of the Law unto every one that beleeve For if thou shalt confesse with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and beleeve in thy heart that God raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved Faith is ever a chiefe doer in matters of salvation and therefore said Hemingius in his Enchiridion that Causa imperans salutis est pater the Iohn 3. 16. commanding cause of our salvation is God For God so loved the world that hee gave his only begotten Sonne to save the world Causa obsequens est filius the obedient pliant cause is the Psal 40. 7. Sonne In the volume of thy booke it is written of me that I should doe thy will I am content to doe it thy Law is written in my heart Causa consummans est Spiritus Sanctus the consummating cause is the holy Ghost so saith the Apostle But yee are washed but yee are sanctified 1 Cor. 6. 11. but yee are iustified by the grace of the Lord Iesus and by the spirit of God The instrumentall cause is double Exhibens Recipiens Rom. 1. 18. The exhibiting Cause is the word the receiving cause Faith as therefore a Smith worketh not in cold iron so a preacher worketh not on an Infidell There is no life of God in us till we beleeve Ephes 4. 18. till then our cogitation is darkened and we are strangers from the life of God He that beleeveth in him shall not be condemned but hee that Iohn 3. 18. beleeveth not is condemned already because he beleeveth not in the name of the only begotten Sonne of God A tree liveth not without moisture Without faith no accesse to God nor a bird without aire nor a fish without water nor a Salamander without fire So the soule liveth not without faith The just doth live by his faith this is the spirit and soule of the inward man we Hab. 2. have a name to live yet are we dead if we want faith I live by faith in the Sonne of God saith Paul who loved me and gave himselfe for Gal. 2. 20. me Infidels therefore are dead men What is the cause that wee profit no more by the word wee beleeve not the preacher that may bee verified of our people which God said to Ezechiel concerning the Iewes They come unto Ezech. 33. 31 32. thee saith God as people useth to come and my people sit before thee and he are thy words but they will not doe them For with their mouthes they make jests and their heart goeth after their covetousnesse and loe thou art unto them as a jesting song of one that hath a pleasant voice and can sing well for they heare thy words but doe them not So we come to the Sermon heare the preacher but we doe not heare him with such zeale and affection as we should wee beleeve not but abuse the word to our owne condemnation why care wee no more for heaven but are so worldly truely we beleeve not God what is the cause that wee live in sinne seeing it is damnable For the wayes of it is death wee beleeve not the Scriptures what is the Rom. 6. 23. 2 Cor. 4. 4. cause of all disorder even infidelity The God of this world hath blinded their eyes our eares are open to heare but not our hearts to beleeve Satan stealeth away the word lest we should beleeve and so be saved But let us make much of the word that wee may Mat. 13. 19. have faith to beleeve For faith nay one dramme of faith is of more worth than all the treasure in the world This that good merchant well knew that sold all to buy it For hee that beleeveth shall not be condemned for every beleevers cause is removed Mat. 13. 24. from the Court of Gods justice into the Court of Gods mercy where hee that beleeveth is not condemned Therefore our care must be with S. Paul that we may be found having the righteousnesse of Christ by faith For there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Phil. 3. 9. Rom. 1. Iesus as all beleevers are and untill thou beest a beleever thou belongest not to God For as the Eagle refuseth her birds till they can mount and soare to the Sunne and as the Raven acknowledgeth not her young ones till they be blacke So God rejecteth the infidels and receiveth none till they beleeve None are the Sonnes of God but the faithfull the rest are bastards I confesse there be degrees in faith The first is a rudiment or entrance Gal. 3. Mat. 12. 20. Rom. 14. 1. Hebr. 10. 22. Rom. 4. 18. which Christ calleth Smoking flaxe The second is a weake faith Him that is weake in faith saith Paul receive unto you The third is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 assurance of Faith Such a faith was in Abraham who above hope beleeved under hope But no faith is abominable and may easily be discerned from a weake faith As a sicke man is knowne from a dead man So a weake faith from no faith Even a desire of Faith is a token of faith For Gods spirit worketh God giues grace according to the measure of Faith that but no faith is accursed For he that beleeveth not is còndemned already There be degrees in faith three examples we have The first of the Ruler of the Synagogue who beleeved that his daughter should revive if Christ would but touch her But the Iohn 3. 18. Iohn 4. woman with the bloody issue beleeved that she should be whole if she touched but the hemme of his vesture But the Centurion beleeved that his servant should doe well if Christ spake but the Luk. 8. Mat. 8. word here is Gradus positivus the positive degree the
contemner of the Word hath an evill and an uncircumcised eare the slanderer hath an evill a railing tongue the covetous man hath a devouring throat like a sepulchre the murtherer hath a bloudy hand the glutton hath an evill bellie the voluptuous man hath an evill a vaine foot like Hazael who ran like a wilde Roe the adulterer hath an evill a whorish uncleane heart but the envious man hath a Divellish eye But such eares shall have no mercy such tongues shall burne in Hell such throats shall be filled with gravell such hands shall wyther as did Ieroboams such eyes shall be darkened The Divell is the Father of envy hee envied Gods glory at the first and he envieth mans felicitie at the last Hemmingius divideth all affections into Corporall and Animall The poyson of envy make the heart unfit for grace The Mother of all corporall affections is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the love of a mans selfe now Primogenita her first borne daughter is Superbia pride her second daughter is Invidia Envy her third is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 covetousnesse all come from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which now reigneth in the world and like another Alexander hath conquered the same for men are lovers of their owne selves covetous boasters proud c. As Demosthenes being asked what was the first part of an orator what the second what the third Answered Action so if you aske me what is the first the second the third part of a vile man I must say Envy What is the cause of quarrels What raiseth slanders What multiplyeth suits Envy Invidia est arcus diaboli Envy is the bow of the divell detraction is the arrow she shooteth out of this bow envy is a fire raked up in the heart detraction is as the flame Wee all complaine of envy and say Anger is cruell wrath is raging but who can stand before envy and yet we are as Caine envious A mad dogge infuseth his venome into him whom he biteth so doth envy by the tongue it is the string and pulse of the soule we marvell why men are so vile why they are tainted with a mad dogge and what wisdome is in them If ye have bitter enoiing and strife in your hearts rejoyce not for this wisdome doth not descend Iam. 3. 14. from above but is earthly sensuall and divellish saith the Apostle Chrysostome exclaimeth against this envy thus O invidia pessima fera per te mors intravit in mundum tu occidisti Abelem vendidisti Gen. 3. Iosephum in Aegyptum fugasti Davidem decollasti Babtistam crucifixisti Christum O envy the worst of all wild beasts through thee death entred into the world thou hast killed Abel sold Ioseph into Aegypt persecuted David beheaded the Baptist and crucified Christ All mischiefes flow from envy as all light from the Sun and all water from the Sea Envy is a worke of the flesh a note of a Reprobate Envy blindeth a man Vt proximi bona videre non possit that he canot see his neighbours Gal. 5. Rom. 1. good for envy is like unto sore eyes that are offended at the light Envy overthroweth all love and charity amongst men for love envieth not 1 Cor. 13. Envy is contrary to God and all proceedings for God is so good a God that he can draw good out of evill but the envious they are so evill and mischievous that they can draw evill out of good But you give us but the hearing of this and God will one day give you but the hearing also you shall cry but he will not regard The envious man is his own tormentor you I speake boldly for that the cause is Gods for the manner it may exceed but for the matter I crave no pardon I have as good right to speake it as the Lord Chancellour hath to Zach. 7. carry the broad Seale of England kill this Cockatrice therefore in the egge before it be a serpent kill it in the heart before it breake out into action For even the wicked are not to be envied so saith the Psalmist Fret not thy selfe because of the wicked neither be thou envious for Psal 37. 1. the evill doers Leave him to God pray for him we must be like fishes which live in the salt Sea and yet are fresh so wee in an uncharitable world and yet be charitable though we be reviled yet we blesse though persecuted yet we suffer though evill 1 Cor. 4. 12 13. spoken of yet we pray though envyed and maliced yet we love And yet further observe with me that though envy is a most mischievous sin and is the cause of all the uprores of the world yet it is a thing of that nature that it indamageth and hurteth him most that hath it For this cause envy is compared to fire to a moth to a Bee for as the fire consumeth the matter that nourisheth it and the moth the garment thar breedeth it So doth envy him that envieth Invidus alterius rebus macrescit opimis The man whom envy doth possesse Doth pine at others wealth and good successe He thinketh his Neighbours Oxe fatter than his his neighbours pasture greener than his his Neighbours Corne better than his his Neighbours building stronger and gayer than his And as a Bee stinging a man loseth her sting and never can make hony after So the envious man loseth his labour and the grace of God Envy is to him that envieth as the rust to the iron as the Viper that eateth out the belly of her damme The envious man is as Sysiphus who rolling up a stone it reboundeth on him with a greater force Envy tormenteth the mind it wasteth the body it fretteth the heart it shortneth our daies and damneth our soules it setteth a man awork to backbite slander his Neighbour and to deny him all duties of humanity So then envy hatred and backbiting alwayes goe together as three cankers and evill sores that consume the body hurt the good name lessen the gifts and repine at the good of our brethren Basill compares envious men to Ravens that flye over sweet Gardens and at last seize upon a Carrion He likeneth them to Flies who passe over sound flesh and light upon a sore a galled place so the envious passe over all the rare graces that be in men but Cain prophane and grudgeth at Gods Sacrifice if there be any imperfection in them that they blaze abroad and cover it not they doe not with Sem and Iaphet spread a garment over their Fathers nakednesse I confesse that there is as little good to bee done on these men as most sinners for as a Gen. 9. Smith cannot worke but on hot Yron so a preacher can doe but little good but in a charitable minde Plutarch to teach men to hate envy calleth it sorcery because that through the poyson thereof it doth not onely fil the envious body with a naughty and hurtfull disposition
but the infection disperseth it selfe thorow the eyes even upon them that behold it so that they are touched therewith as it were by some poysonable influence But besides envie there were many other sinnes in Cain hee walked many wayes there was in him profanenesse contempt of God irreligiousnesse God rejected his sacrifice for it was not Hebr. 11. 4 5. offered in faith It is like that hee offered an evill pinching grudging sacrifice with an evill heart So many of us offer the sacrifice of Cain Wee grudge God any thing every little is too much in his service We build our owne houses faire but wee thinke much to give any thing to Gods house and service we wil rather take from the Temple with Balthazar and rob it with Dionysius than give to it As in the land of Israel looke what the Dan. 5. Palmer worme left that the Grashopper devoured and what the Grashopper left that the Canker devoured and what the Canker left that the Caterpiller devoured So in our Church looke what Impropriations have left that have Patrons deuoured what Patrons have left that evill Customs have devoured and what evill Customes have left that have contentious and covetous parishioners as with the teeth of a Lion greedily gained O that these taking hands might one day see the hand which Balthazar saw upon the wall they would then bring every Tythe into the Lords barne and robbe God and his Church no longer Dan. â— Mal. 3. Againe let a man have many children if there bee but one lame and deformed or simple in wit that is given to God and the ministerie the eldest is made a Gentleman the rest Lawyers but the most silly simple deformed is made a Minister he is good enough for God and his Church this is the offering of Cain Againe of duties appertaining to the Ministery if there bee any thing worse than another that wee give to the Minister of God Wee give not to a Prophet in the name of a Prophet therefore we shall not receive a Prophets reward And though the Apostle saith Let him that is taught in the Word make him that taught him partaker of all his goods yet by their wills they shall Mat. 10. 41. Gal. 6. 6. have nothing they would have us live of their almes and of benevolence stand to their good wils and courtesies and take what The Heathen observed the gods to be severe punishers of sacriledge they will give Yet saith Saint Paul Who goeth on warfare at any time of his owne cost Who planteth a vineyard and eateth not of the fruit of it Who feedeth a flocke and eateth not of the milke of it And again Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things eate of 1 Cor. 9. 7 13 14. the things of the Temple they which waite at the Altar are parertakers of the Altar So also hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the Gospell should live of the Gospell This plainely sheweth that the maintenance of the Minister is not a voluntary and beggerly Almes but an honourable stipend allotted of God according to that which Christ saith Dignus est operarius mercede the laborer is worthy of his reward And Paul saith that Hee is worthy of double honour that is reverence and maintenance and whosoever shall robbe him of his due the thing so taken will ring him such a peale to Hell that he will wish he had never beene borne Laqueus est hominis devorare sancta It is a destruction to a man to Prov. 21. 20. devoure that which is sanctified The very Heathen observed that after such time as the Grecians once offered violence to the Virâ—il lib. 2. Aeâ—eid Lactan. de origin cap. 8. Temple of Pallas that they never prospered And Lactantius writeth of divers who have beene grievously punished for offering violence unto holy things as namely of Fulvius the Censor who taking away certaine Marmoreas tegulas tyles of Marble out of the Temple was within a short time after distract of his wits and had two of his sonnes slaine for griefe whereof he dyed also Of Appius Claudius who for alienating those things that were consecrated to Hercules lost his eyes And although Dionysius made a jest of sacriledge in taking a golden Cloake that was upon the image of Iupiter Olympius and putting a linsie woolsie cloake upon it in the stead thereof saying That a golden cloake was too heavy in Summer and too cold in Winter but a linsie woolsey cloake was fit for both Also in cutting off a golden beard that Aesculapius did weare saying That it was no reason that the son should have a beard when as Apollo his father had none Furthermore in taking away certaine golden cups which they held forth in their hands saying That it were folly not to take them being so kindly offered yet this went not without punishment for at the last hee was driven out of his kingdom So Xerxes sending foure hundred of his souldiers to Delphos to spoile the Temple of Apollo they were every one of them destroyed with lightening thunder So Marcus Crassus for taking a great summe of money out of the Temple of Ierusalem viz. ten thousand Talents within a while perished miserably with his whole Army But to let these passe If you would be pleased to cast your eyes a little upon divine Histories and the Histories of the Church yee shall see this sinne horribly punished Balthazar for prophaning and abusing the holy vessels received presently a fearefull doome and sentence by a hand-writing upon a wall Antiochus Epiphanes for taking the vessels of Gold and Silver God punished sacriledge in all ages out of the Temple and for destroying the Inhabitants thereof without cause suffered most grievous paine and misery Herod surnamed the Great having opened Davids sepulchre to 1 Mach. 6. 12. take money out of it as Hircanus had done before divers of his men were consumed with a flash of fire that brake from a secret place Ioseph Ant. lib. 26. cap. 11. Looke to the age succeeding I meane the time of the Gospell and yee shall see Ananias and Saphira for with-holding secretly a part of that which they had voluntarily given to the vse of the Church most severely punished with sudden death Act. 5. 5. After this when the Church was endewed with great riches and possessions by the bountifull donations of godly Emperours and other devoute Christians Iulian the Apostata and Foelix his companion for taking away the holy vessels of the Temple and making but a jest of sacriledge receiued both of them their just punishments the one hauing his mouth which was an instrument of blasphemy made a seige or passage to avoide his filthy excrements which are naturally egested another way the other having all the blood of his body gathered to his mouth as to a sinke which he never left spetting and spawling out till all was
Woe be to them that joyne Esa 5. 8. to house and lay field to field till there be no place that they may bee placed by their selves in the middest of the earth And againe Esay 30. 1. Woe to the rebellious children saith the Lord that take councell and Esa 30. 1. not at mee and cover with a covering but not by my Spirit c. And Habakuk 2. 9. Woe be to him that coveteth an evill covetousnesse to his Hab. 2. 9. house that he may set his nest on high and escape from the power of evill And Amos 6. 1. Woe to them that are at ease in Sion and trust in the mountaine of Samaria And Luke 6. 24. Woe bee to you that are Amos 6. rich for yee have received your consolation And Saint Iames saith Luke 6. 24. Iam. 5. 1 2 3. Plorate divites Goe to now ye rich men weepe and howle for the miseries that shall come upon you your riches are corrupt your garments moth-eaten your gold and silver is cankered and the rust of them shall be a witnesse against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire And no marvell though so many woes are threatned against this sinne of covetousnesse for it is the originall of all sinne committed against God or man Against God the covetous man maketh gold his hope and saith to the wedge of Gold Thou art my confidence His Oxen his wealth his Iob 31. 24. riches is his creator redeemer and sanctifier his God the Father his God the Sonne his God the Holy Ghost His Creator for when he gets abundance of riches he thinks himselfe made but when by some accident he loseth a yoake of Oxen or some other temporall thing hee thinkes himselfe undone The Father Almighty maker of heaven and earth is not his Creator he sings that old song Sol re me fa sola res me facit only his wealth makes him God the Sonne is not his Redeemer his money delivers him from evill Hath he escaped any danger He thankes not God he thankes his gold Is he like to fall into any mischiefe hee puts his trust in his uncertaine riches Soule thou hast much goods in store take thy rest Luke 12. The Holy Ghost is none of his Sanctifier Ille sanctior qui ditior he is best that hath most he is good enough that hath gold enough goods enough And as covetousnesse is hatefull to God so is it to men Avarus nemini bonus sibi verò pessimus hee is good to none but worst to himselfe for covetousnesse exposeth the heatt to all manner of lothsome sinnes for the divell hath the covetous alwayes upon Covetousnesse makes uncapable of all the eight beatitudes the hip as we speak that is ever at such advantage that he will be sure to overthrow him for whatsoever sinne hee will have him to commit let him but hollow and cast up the lure of commodity he stoopes presently and falls upon it Would ye have him lye promise him but profit and he will tippe his tongue with lyes Will ye have him forsweare himselfe shew him but a commodity use silver perswasions he will pollute the name of God with a thousand othes Would ye have him murther shead blood the glistring shew of gold will make him wade up to the chin in a streame of blood This mercinary souldier doth never thinke himselfe too good for any service the Divell will command him Covetousnesse is the Divels great Ordnance wherewith he hath battered the wals of mens consciences as it is most pittifull to consider yea and farther a man may fall into other sinnes and repent for them but this sinne of covetousnesse is like the harlot a deepe and a narrow ditch and like the wicked woman Prov. 23. 27. Prov. 5. that Salomon calls more bitter than death whose heart is as nets and snares and her hands as bands to keepe a man fast in the ward and prison of the divell For whosoever is overtaken with this sin cannot set one step to heauen his couetous desires are as lead to pull him downe Yee know that our Saviour hath Mat. 5. 3 4 c. eight beatitudes The first to be poore in spirit The second to mourne inwardly The third to be meeke The fourth to hunger and thirst after righteousnesse The fifth to be mercifull The sixth to be pure in heart The seventh to be a peace maker The eighth to suffer persecution for righteousnesse sake These are the steps and stayres to bring men to Heaven and and therefore so long as men be covetous it is impossible for them to come there First poore in spirit he cannot be for he so feareth purse-poverty that he feeles not the misery into which the fall of Adam and his owne sinnes have cast him Secondly he cannot mourne for his sinnes for worldly sorrow and vexation doe turne the streame of weeping quite another way Thirdly he cannot be meeke in spirit for the Spirit of God calls him a trouble-house saying Hee that is greedy of gaine troubleth Prov. 15. 27. his owne house and it is impossible that his heart should bee mâ—eke and quiet when hee cannot suffer his owne house so to bee Fourthly for hungring and thirsting after righteousnesse it cannot be that his appetite should stand that way for the dogs-hunger and the dropsie-thirst of wealth doth so gnaw and torment his The covetous subiect to all the curses contrary to the eight beatitudes soule that hee makes no account of CHRISTS righteousnesse Fifthly to bee mercifull stands not in any sort with his profession to open his heart to pitty and his purse to relieve a poore man he thinkes will undoe him a piece of money goes from him as a drop of blood from him heart with griefe and sorrow enough Sixthly Pure in heart hee cannot be for he that hath the root of all evill in his heart cannot have a pure heart Seventhly he is no peacemaker crosse him in his penny and he will trouble all the world for all the world can tell that covetousnesse is the father mother and nurse of most debates and strifes that are in the world covetousnesse wil not lose a penny he will give the Lawyer a pound first Eighthly the covetous man will never suffer persecution for righteousnesse sake his goods are his god and if he come to those termes that he must either leave riches or righteousnesse 't is righteousnesse that hee will forsake before riches the world is his Mistresse hee must embrace her then farewell righteousnesse So that now a man may very truely turne the speech of our Saviour against the covetous man and say Cursed be the covetous for he is not poore in spirit and therefore the kingdome of Hell is his Cursed be the covetous for he cannot mourne for his sinnes but for his losses onely therefore hee shall never bee comforted Cursed be the covetous for he is not meeke but froward
that we could learne to abhorre pride Pride hath been in all places in all sorts even in the godly and swelling by considering how much the Lord abhorreth it as many Scriptures shew Salomon saith that The feare of the Lord is to hate evill as Pride and arrogancie c. And againe hee saith All that are proud in heart are an abomination to the Lord. And Prov. 8. 13. Cap. 16. 5. 19. againe he saith He that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction And againe the Holy Ghost affirmeth that the Lord beholdeth every one that is proud and abaseth him For certainely when the Lord shall Iob 40. 6. come to judgement that day of his comming shall burne like an Oven and all the proud yea and all that doe wickedly shall bee as stubble and Mal. 4. 1. the day that commeth shall burne them up and shall leave them neither root nor branch therefore let us not be high-minded proud and swelling as many are for it is a thing most vaine 1 Tim. 64. First in respect of God for he resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble he putteth downe the mighty from their seat and exalteth Luke 1. 51. the humble and meeke Secondly in respect of men who will not regard it When pride commeth saith the Wise man then commeth shame for when men Prov. 11. â— will be exalted above their vocation then God bringeth them to confusion Thirdly in respect of themselves who inherit nothing by it but folly for The foolish that is the proud inherit folly yet Cap. 14. 18. this sin of Pride hath troubled all places yea the whole world it troubled Paradise for Adam was proud and would be like unto Gen. 3. Aug. God Sed dum rapere voluit Divinitatem amisit foelicitatem but whilest he endeavoured to snatch the Divinity he lost his felicity It troubled the Israeliticall Church they would be as good as Moses in the Kingdome and as Aaron in the Priest-hood it troubled the Apostles for they strove for superiority yea it Numb 16. Mat. 18. 2. Pet. 2. 4. troubled heaven it selfe for pride was the sinne of the Angels Let all men therefore beware of this sinne for first it is naturall for every one hath some sparkes of pride in him Againe whereas all other sinnes are occupied about evill subjects or about indifferent things as drunkennesse about wine whoredome about women covetousnesse about wealth gluttony about meat only pride is to be feared in well doing and therfore the better that a man doth the more jelous let him be of himselfe to look to himselfe that this sinne of pride overtake him not for what hast thou that thou hast not received Nay Paul beganne to be proud through the abundance of his revelations but lest he should be exalted above 1 Cor. 4. 7. measure there was given unto him a pricke in the flesh the messenger of Satan to buffet him because he should not be exalted above measure Augustine 2 Cor. 12. 7. having overcome many sinnes yet overcame not the sinne of pride it did dog him like a blood-hound Luther strove more with this sinne than any sinne doe what hee could like a sea it came upon him This stained all the workes of the Pharisees they fasted but then they disfigured their faces they prayed Mat. 6. but it was in the Market-place they gave almes but yet they Pride expressed many wayes in things that pertaine to God and man blew the trumpet Habet quisque naevos superbiae every man hath staines and markes of pride in him secundum plus aut minus either more or lesse the most godly have it but some are all pride as Erasmus said of the Fryer that hee was all belly Generally pride is expressed either in things concerning God Ierome or in things appertaining to men In the things that concerne God there is the pride of the Atheist whereby he striveth to remove the sense of the being of God and the pride of the heretike when he assaults the attributes of God or his persons and the pride of the Papist who will scale the high Fort of heaven by the broken ladder of his owne merits and the pride of the curious who will search into things not revealed and the pride of the persecutor who will pursue by slaunders or violence the power of Gods ordinances and the pride of the impenitent who dare live and dye in his sinnes without care of Gods threatnings Againe pride is expressed against God as first when a man imagineth himselfe to be God and would bee so conceited of men as Caligula who being an open mocker of all religion at length fell to thinke that there was no other God but himselfe Secondly when men imagine that what they have they have it of themselves and so sacrifice to their nets as the Prophet speaketh Thirdly when in their hearts they say He shall not raigne over us Who shall controle us and so contemne the ordinances of God his Word his Sacraments their worke their power Fourthly when a man shall thinke he is perfect and breakes not the Law and that they can by their owne strength runne the way of Gods Commandements Psal 119. Fifthly when in heart they say We will do this and this who shall let us we will go thither and thither who shall hinder us Sixthly when men will disobey the will of God breake his yoke and burst his bonds asunder Thus is pride against God shewed manywayes Pride against man discovereth it selfe sundry wayes also As by oppugning the fame of the best men By bragging and boasting By striving for offices and highest places By costly apparell of purpose to be counted better men then they be By painting of the face to be thought a beautifull creature not being so By envying the good of another as if he deemed himselfe either only worthy or else the most worthy The proud man will acknowledge no superiour nor equall by his good will hee useth his equals as inferiours his inferiours as servants his servants as slaves his slaves as beasts and when he is climed up on high he pluckes up the ladder Vsually the basest are proudest after him if he can that no man shall come up after or but such as he pleaseth Thus pride is expressed both to God and man David was farre from this pride Lord saith he I am not Psal 113. 1. high-minded I have no proud lookes I do not exercise my selfe in matters that are too high for me c. But few are like David many men forget themselves to be men they take to them the name of God Act. 12. Esa 14. 13. as Herod did they will make their nests in the starres as Nabuchadnezer did The Bactrians said of Alexander that his pride was such that if his body had been answerable to his heart he would set one foot on the land and the other on the sea For
against their teachers as Israel did For they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron saying Yee take too much upon you seeing all the congregation Numb 6. 16 3 13 14 32. is holy every one of them and the Lord is among them wherefore doe yee lift up your selves above the congregation of the Lord Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us out of a land that floweth with milke and honey to kill us in the Wildernesse except thou make thy selfe Lord and ruler over us also Also thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milke and hony neither given us inheritance of fields and vineyards c. But yet know their end The earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up with their families and all the men that were with Corah Against these kindes of murmurers Saint Gregory hath a good saying in his moralls Qui contra suprapositam fibi potestatem Murmurat liquet quòd illum redarguit qui eandem potestatem dedit Who so murmureth against authority set over him it is manifest he reproveth him that gave him the same authority and upon the seventh Psalme murmurantes dicuntur intrare in judicium cum Deo Murmurers are said to enter into judgement with God They are like saith another to a filthy swine who whether he wake or sleep is alwayes grunting Murmur atores similes sunt versantibus in gyrum donec capite sensibus perturbati caetera omnia perturbari putant Murmurers are such as turne round about till their heads and senses being turned they imagine all Pythag. things to turne round Sed noli versus quenquam murmurare est enim abjectorum be not thou a murmurer against any man for it is a base thing and a quality of a base person yet men will be murmuring against Governours as Corah against Moses but let his fearefull punishment make us to fly murmuring as a sinne odious to God and man Many againe that are Governours repine at the people calling Our mutuall wants should make us not repine them cursed men rude men as the Pharisees did So Harding calleth them swine that treade pearles under their feete Staphilus calleth them dogges unto whom we must not give holy things Hosius calleth them bestiam multorum capitum a beast of Iohn 7. 49. Mat. 7. many heads who are not to meddle with sacred things The Subjects repine against their Rulers and call them Tyrants Oppressours as the tenne Tribes did the rulers make small accompt of their people and use them as vassals and peasants 1 Reg. 12. 16. as Rehoboam did The poore envy the rich and say These Churles eate up all they have all no man can have an acre of 1 Reg 12. 10. land for them their throats are never full Thus beganne the rebellion in Kent in the dayes of Richard the second and Henry the sixth When under Wat Tyler and Iacke Cade they beheaded all Lawyers and learned men they fired the Savoy they beheaded the Archbishop of Canterbury and put the King in great danger at Mile-end Greene. Thus beganne the rebellion of Ket in Norff. in casting downe inclosures The rich on the other side call the poore Mice Snakes Vermine unprofitable men as Hatto Bishop of Mentz did who burned a barne full of poore folke calling them Mice and afterward was eaten of Rats in a towne built on the Sea called to this day Rats Tower To conclude all men for the most part are malecontented as Nazianzene said Miles dux erit the souldier will be a Captaine Ovis pastoris muâ—â—s vendicat the sheepe challengeth the sheap-heards office Pes caput fieri contendit the foot striveth to be the head Optat Ephippiam bos optat arare Caballus the Oxe wisheth to beare the saddle and the Horse to goe to plough the Merchant repineth against the Lawyer and the Lawyer against the Merchant the Till-man against the Souldier and the Souldier against the Tilman But if all were Merchants where were Lawyers if all were an eye where were the hearing one have need of another the rich of the poore and the poore of the rich they of the 1 Cor. 12. 19. poore in respect of their worke and the poore have need of them in respect of their money How should the rich doe their worke if there were no poore and how should the poore be releeved if there were no rich Pretty is the Fable of the Lion delivered out of the snare by the gnawing of the Mouse For the greatest needeth the helpe of the basest and the rich of the poorest Away therefore with murmuring and all evill speaking for a man is knowne by his speech as metall is by his sound and no glasse sheweth more plainely the spots of the face than the tongue will shew the spots of the heart Secondly Hee describeth the wicked by their lusts They walke after their owne lusts sunt carnis mancipia servi voluptatum they are the slaves of the' flesh and servants of pleasures they walke at randome neither fearing God nor reverencing man like the unrighteous Iudge they doe not as they are injoyned The flesh must be subiect to the Spirit by the Apostle Put on the Lord Iesus and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts of it but they are all for the flesh nothing for the Spirit explent libidinem they deny the flesh nothing that it would have Here beginneth all mischiefe that we leave the Luk. 18. Rom. 13 14. ordinance of God and are ruled by our lusts the Word of God not our owne will should rule us Wherewith shall a yong man redresse his way Bytaking heed thereto according to thy Word We must Psal 119. 9. frame our lives to Gods Word and not walke after our owne lusts It is true in yong old and in all men Verbum ut Sara voluntas Gen. 21. ut Hagar the word must be as Sara the will like Hagar if Hagar be disobedient froward stubborne sullen selfe-willed Let Sara correct and chastice her that the handmaid may not bee proud and of a lofty and hawty stomacke against her mistrisse So the flesh if it rebell against the Spirit snibbe her punish her chastice and tame her And for the taming of the flesh God hath taken divers excellent courses first he hath laid a necessity of mortality upon it All flesh is grasse Secondly he hath enacted terrible decrees against such as walke after the flesh Thirdly hee hath placed the spirit within us to lust against the flesh Lastly he hath delivered us many rules wherby wee may subdue the flesh as when he telleth us First that we must be sober sober in our diet sober in our apparell sober in our recreations Secondly that wee must mortify the flesh by godly sorrow And thirdly We must put no confidence in the flesh The flesh is one of the three great enemies of God and mans salvation it is a
treacherous domesticall enemy and not only so but also a tyrannicall enemy it will not be pleased except it raigne a most secret enemy for she sits at the fountaine and poy soneth all she lets in the Divell and suffers him to set up his holds and fortifications in us and is never quiet till it bring the soule into actuall high treason against God snibbe her punish her chastise her tame her therefore lead all thy thoughts into captivity and bring them to the obedience of Christ The Iewes would not listen to the Prophets but walked after their owne fleshly 2 Cor. 10. lusts and therefore saith God unto his Prophet Speake thou now unto the men of Iudah and to the Inhabitants of Ierusalem saying Ier. 18. 11 12. Thus saith the Lord Behold I prepare a plague for you and purpose a thing against you returne you therefore every one from his evill way and make your wayes and your works good But they said desperately as men that had no remorse but were altogether bent to rebellion and to walke after their fleshly lusts Surely we will walke after our owne imaginations and doe every man after the stubbornesse of his own wicked heart This is our case thus wee say Let them teach let them preach their bellies full it is but one Doctours opinion The Iewes for all Ezechiel followed their covetousnesse They come unto you saith God as a people useth to come and my people sit before thee and heare thy words but they will not doe them for with their Bad thoughts must be banished mouthes they make iests and their heart goeth after their covetousnesse and lo thou art unto them as a iesting song of one that hath a pleasant voice and can sing well for they heare thy words but do them not This English people in the like sort giveth us the hearing but not the doing they are covetous still bribers oppressours usurers and still they follow their lusts c. Quid odit Deus nisi propriam voluntatem What doth God hate but our owne proper will What doth God punish but our will Let thy will cease and Hell shall cease Non erit tibi infernus Thou shalt feele no hell for if thou turne away thy foote from the Sabbath from doing thy will refraine from wicked workes and honour thy God not doing thine owne wayes nor seeking thine owne will nor speaking a vaine word I will cause thee to mount upon thâ— high places of the earth and feed thee with the heritage of Iacob c. The heart is warily to be kept from two things A vanis cogitationibus inordinatis affectibus from vaine cogitations and inordinate affections or wandrâ—ng lusts From these two let thy heart bee free wherein the Spirit dwelleth As Painters use to blanch and make white their tables wherein they doe paint and to draw out the shape and forme of any thing so make thou cleane and expunge the tables of thy soule thy understanding and will as touching thy desires and lusts that is as touching thy thoughts and cogitations that the finger of God that is the Holy Ghost may paint good things in thy heart The heart of the evill is as an high-way continually trampled upon worne with their affections by the instigation of Satan For what affection doe the wicked represse What lust doe they resist What did they ever deny the flesh that it longed for or desired God may now complaine of us as hee did of his owne people Wherefore is this people of Ierusalem turned backe with a perpetuall rebellion they gave themselves to deceit and would not returne I harkened Ier. 8. 5 6. and heard but none spake aright none repented him of his wickednesse saying What have I done every one turned to his race as the horse rusheth into the battell drawing iniquity with cordes of vanity and sinne like Esay 5. 18. cart-ropes they use allurements occasions and excuses to harden their hearts in sinne and as the Apostle speaketh They are past feeling and have given themselves to wantonnesse to worke all uncleannesse Ephes 4. 19. with greedinesse The malicious pursue their revenge the drunkard his cups the whoremonger his pleasures the covetous their gaine Sed aequum est ut qui nunquam voluit carere vitio nunquam careret supplicio It is meete and right that he that would never want sinne should never want punishment but that God should raine upon them snares and fire and brimstone storme and tempest evermore To these men it shall be said as unto Babylon Reward her even as she rewarded you and give her double according Psal 11. Apoc. 18. 8. to her workes and in the câ—p that shee hath filled to you fill her the double in asmuch as she glorified her selfe and lived in pleasure so The Word of God the chiefest meanes to restraine lusts much give you to her torment and sorrow Cor verò bonorum est ut hortus conclusus the heart of good men is as a garden shut up and as a fountain sealed whereof no man must taste no man must drinke Cant. 3. 7. but God as the bed of Salomon that had threescore strong men round about it of the valiant men of Israel but the heart of the wicked is as a vessell withour a cover ad accipiendam omnem spurcitiem to receave all filthinesse all uncleannesse as Paul speaketh of the Gentiles They kept not their vessels in holinesse but in the lust of concupiscence 1 Thess 4. 5. It intertaineth any sin whatsoever Againe Let thy heart be free and at liberty from affections there is nothing that troubleth and disquieteth the heart so much as our naturall affections and passions as are love and hatred joy and sorrow hope and feare anger and desire c. These are the winds which vehemently tosse and trouble this sea these are the clouds which darken this Heaven these are the weights which doe depresse the spirit Let us therefore cast away every thing that presseth downe Hebr. 12. 1. and the sinne that hangeth on so fast As our bodily eyes cannot behold the Sunne and the starres in cloudy and darke weather so our spirituall eyes the eyes of our soule cannot see God nor heaven the seate of God when they are obscured and darkened with the clouds of lusts passions As in a cleere pure water all things are seene even unto the least sand which in a troubled foule water cannot bee so the soule is blind and seeth not when passions and lusts obscure her Beware therefore lest the two wings of thy soule understanding and will bee not defiled with the bird-lime of earthly things that is to say wicked affections Rule therefore thine affections by the Word of God Let this Word be a lanterne unto thy feet and a light unto thy pathes For Psal 119. 105. of our selves we are but darkenesse and cannot see except we bee lightened with Gods Word Refraena
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
read the ancient Fathers to prove and trie every thing and Sectaries seek novelties and admire them to hold that which is good and not to depart from the faith of the Catholicke Church For there is but one dove one spouse one body of Christ Of this sinne the Apostle giveth the Church warning saying Let us consider one another and provoke unto love Hebr. 10. 24 25. and unto good Workes not forsaking the fellowship that we have among our selves as is the manner of some It is the manner of some to turne with the spiders breath the sweet iuyce of flowers into poison to seeke knots in bulrushes to stumble at every straw that stoppeth the course of their eager spirit to breake the bonds of peace to forsake this fellowship that wee should have among ourselves and to single and sever themselves by themselves they busie their braines about Pythagoras numbers Plato's Idea and Aristotles commonwealth they see not at Damascus a strange 2 Reg. 16. 10 11 Altar with Ahaz but they strait-way get the patterne and Vrias the Priest must make them the like at home But what saith Paul concerning these Sectaries I beseech you brethren saith he marke them diligently which cause division and offences contrary to the Rom. 16 17 18. doctrine which yee have learned and avoid them for they that are such serve not the Lord Iesus Christ but their owne bellies and with faire speeches and flattering deceive the heart of the simple The Prophet David saith Ierusalem a figure of the Church is built as a City that is at unity in it selfe and when the Holy Ghost Psal 122. 3. Act. 2. 1. Act. 4. 32. Iudg. 20. 1. came downe in visible signes upon the Apōstles They were all with one accord in one place and it is said that the whole multitude of them that beleeved in the first times had but one heart and one Soule It is said of Israel that they came together as it had beene one man with the same mind and intent not with as many opinions as persons The Iewes had but one kind of worship prescribed and 2 Chro. 30. 12. that in one only Temple And it is said of Iuda that the hand of the Lord was in Iuda so that he gave them one heart to do the commandement of the King and of the rulers according to the Word of the Lord So if we will become a spirituall building unto God if wee will receive the promise of the Holy Ghost if we will worship God in Spirit and truth if we will have the hand of the Lord upon us we must be at unity and concord with our selves we must abide with one accord and one mind in an house wee must have one heart to doe the commandement of the King and of the rulers we must not leave the Temple to follow every opinion but we must be no makers of Sects but must keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace S. Peter prophesied and foretold of these Sectaries Ephes 4. 3. which privily should bring in damnable heresies even denying the 2 Pet. 2. 1 2 3. Lord that hath bought them and bring upon thmselves swift damnation and that many should follow their damnable wayes by whom the way of truth saith he shall be evill spoken of and through covetousnesse shall they with fained words make marchandize of you c. There is in a naturall body a quicking soule a radicall humour and a naturall heate and there is in the spirituall body Division sometime more dangerous than Idolatry of the Church the Holy Ghost to give life to it Faith is the radicall humour to continue it and charity as the naturall heate or vitall Spirit carried throughout the Arteries or parts of the Church For All things must be done in love Division and discord 1 Cor. 10. 14. Sects and Schismes are the cause of all evill of all mischiefe this is that Pandoras boxe that Trojane horse from whom all evill and mischiefe doe proceed Example among many other may be the Church of Corinth who beginning about matters of ceremonies and policie proceeded first to division and separation some holding of Paul some of Apollo some of Cephas and some of Christ and so to false doctrine denying the Resurrection 1 Cor. 1. 12. and therefore by the Canon of the Apostle to be avoided and Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria told Novatus that it was Euseb de vit Const 2. more grievous to breake the unity of the Church then to commit Idolatry For this saith hee was punished but with the sword but the other with the opening gulfe of the earth swallowing up the Authors and confederates thereof Et non dubitabitur sceleratius esse commissum quod gravius erat vindicatum And there is no doubt but that was more haynously committed which was more sharply and severely punished If yee have bitter Iam. 3. 14 16. envying and strife in your hearts saith the Holy Ghost reioyce not for where envying and strife is there is sedition and all manner of evill wayes There be three Furies in Hell Heresy Schisme Apostacy Saith a learned man Haeresis errorem fundamentalem in side tuetur Heresy defendeth some fundamentall error in the faith Schisma unitatem Ecclesiae ob minuta discindit Schisme cutteth in sunder the unity of the Church for small and trifling things Apostasia rectam fidem religionem penitùs abdicat Apostasie utterly rejecteth and forsaketh the right Faith Religion of God and turneth from the holy Commandements given of God For heresy is occupied about dogmaticall conclusions concerning Faith and beliefe Schisme about rites and ceremonies and other things of no moment For whosoever shall obstinately defend any perverse corrupt opinion is an Hereticke whosoever shall divide himselfe from the Church for manners and rites is a Schismaticke Againe one and the selfe-same errour in divers men hath divers names For a false opinion of God is in a Iew Infidelity in an Ethnike Paganisme in a Christian heresy in a Turke Ignorancy Heresy is only in such as are baptized even as Schisme is Finely said Bibliander that one sinne according to divers effects hath divers names For to doe any thing against the Scriptures saith hee it is sinne or rebellion rather to thinke any thing contrary to the Scriptures it is foolishnesse to contradict them is error to forsake them Apostacy Pride the cause of heresy schisme All these are pardonable if they be not wilfull we must therefore be very watchfull that Satan possesseth not our mind heart or life our mind with perverse doctrine our heart with wicked affections our life with evill manners Study therefore day and night to keep the mind in purity and in the knowledge Hemming of the trueth the heart with pious and holy cogitations and thy life with chast manners and good examples Cyprian saith Vnum tentat diabolus tentat ut
were all damned for so must they bee if they savour not of Gods Spirit For the Wisdome of the flesh is death the Wisdome of the Spirit is life and Rom. 8. 6 8 13. peace and againe They that are in the flesh cannot please God and againe If yee live after the flesh yee shall dye but if yee mortify the deeds of the body by the Spirit yee shall live and againe Whatsoever a man soweth that shall hee reape hee that soweth Gal. 6. 7 8. to his flesh shall of the flesh reape corruption and hee that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reape life everlasting Now temporall and eternall are opposite The things that are seene are temporall but the things which are not seene are eternall But not 2 Cor. 4. 18. Temporall and Spirituall But this was the policy of the Papists to name themselves spirituall that they might withdraw themselves from the Magistrate as though they pertained to God only not to Caesar Secondly they called their The regenerate onely have the Spirit of God in them lands and livings spirituall to exempt them also from the Magistrate and yet Paul calleth all these earthly commodities carnall as in his Epistle to the Corinthians If wee have sowne unto you spirituall things is it a great thing if wee reape 1 Cor. 9. 11. your carnall things And againe If the Gentiles bee made partakers Rom. 15. 27. of their spirituall things their duty is also to minister unto them in carnall things And to the end to defeate Caesar they set the Image of the Church upon their Coyne not Caesars Image Thirdly to make the more gaine they tooke to the punishment of Adultery Incest Drunkennesse Vsury Perjury Simony Sorcery under the colour of spirituall things and so they caught Testaments Legacies Marriages Dowries Ierome calleth the people Secular men but Temporall no man calleth them as though their hope reached but unto this life only whereas they are to bee saved aswell as Church-men To whom wrote Paul but unto the people For whom else prayed hee His words are plaine Brethren my hearts desire for Israel is that they might bee saved Well They have not the Spirit not the Spirit of Regeneration and sanctification but they have the Spirit of illumination but Gods children they have Gods Spirit of regeneration they are led by Gods Spirit and the Spirit of God certifieth Rom. 8. 16. their Spirits that they are the sonnes of God and he that hath not the Spirit of God is none of Gods it is the Spirit of God that worketh in us all in all The bath of regeneration and the renovation of the Spirit saveth us Wee are justified sanctified and Tit. 3. 1 Cor. 6. Gal. 5. 22. washed by the Spirit All good works are the fruits of the Spirit untill Gods Spirit hath renewed us wee are stables for the Divell Si durus sit hic sermo as the Disciples said Iohn 6. Luk 11. 21. blame him that spake it O there is No medium betwixt these two either Gods Spirit dwelleth in us or Satan Know yee 1 Cor. 6. 16. not that yee are the Temple of God and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you The Spirit is the same in the Church as the soule in the body it is it that quickneth us hee leadeth us into all Iohn 16. 3. truth hee sealeth up all graces in our hearts hee applieth all the mercies of God all the merits of Christ Iesus unto us hee worketh all graces and giveth all spirituall gifts unto us The Apostle making the comparison betweene the 1 Cor. 6. 11. 1 Cor. 13. 3. 8. Gal. 5. 2. flesh and the Spirit resembleth it to a tree that yeeldeth all manner of good fruits like the apple-tree of Persia or like the Tree of life Let us then intertaine Gods Spirit make much of him nourish every good motion that is wrought in us by him and every sparke will bee a fire flaming out of us every drop will bee a river issuing out of us to eternall life if wee nourish it but let us not quench the Spirit All grace and goodnesse flowes from Gods Spirit nor grieve the Spirit lest Saint Iude his Prophesy bee verified of us that wee are naturall men fleshly not having the Spirit but let us stirre up the gift of God in us blow at the coale and put spurres to this horse 1 Thess 5. 19. THE ONE AND THIRTIETH SERMON VERS XX. But yee beloved edifie your selves in your most holy faith praying in the holy Ghost The godly and the wicked every way opposite STill hee proceedeth in the comparison betwixt the godly and ungodly the elect and the reprobate the lambes on the right hand and the goates on the left hand of the Lord Iesus noting that the godly remember the words of the Lord they are peaceable without sects spirituall they increase in faith they pray in the Holy Ghost they keepe themselves in the love of God they looke for eternall life but on the contrary the wicked remember nothing they scoffe at Religion they be scorners they bee unquiet they be meere naturall men they decrease in goodnesse they pray not they love not God they cannot looke for life but death and destruction Tribulation and anguish shall bee upon the soules of them Vpon Rom. 9. Psal 11. 6 7. them God will raine snares fire and brimstone storme and tempest this shall be their portion to drinke A Lion out of the forrest shall slay them and a Woolfe in the wildernesse shall destroy them a Ier. 1. 5 6. Leopard shall watch over their Cities every one that goeth out shall bee torne in pieces because their trespasses are many and The Church and Saints as houses must be edified or builded dayly their rebellions are increased Sed but yee beloved but this Conjunction discretive here is emphaticall Sed vos autem dilecti but you beloved as if hee should have said You must not be like the wicked they be mockers they walke after their ungodly lusts they are makers of sects fleshly having not the Spirit but you must not doe so but you must turne over another leafe learne a new lesson This teacheth all Christians to live like Christians not as miscreants the true Christian turnes away his eyes from vanity as Iob the miscreant applies his senses to folly as Holofernes The Iob. Iudith 10. true Christian setteth a watch before his mouth and keepeth the doore of his lips the miscreant gives liberty to his tongue to speake evill and raile like Rabshakeh the true Christian is alwayes doing good as Abraham the miscreant alwayes doing 2 Reg. 18. evill as Achab the one loveth goodnesse the other badnesse the one setteth Gods judgements before his face the other puts them from his sight the one kils sinne in the thought the other suffers it to raigne in the heart the one knowes the end of his sinne
Wisedome let him aske of God Iam. 1. 5. who giveth to all men liberally and reprocheth no man and it shall be given him Ieremie speaketh generally Every man is a beast in his owne Ier. 10. 14. knowledge not some but all not a few men but every man So saith David The Lord looked downe from Heaven upon the children of Psal 14. 2. men to see if there were any that would understand and seeke after God but all are gone out of the way all are corrupt c. Paul calleth the Ephesians darkenesse not darke but darkenesse night it selfe Yee Ephes 5. 8. were sometime darkenesse quoth hee and hee prayeth God to lighten them The God of our Lord Iesus Christ and Father of Glory give unto yo◠the Spirit of Wisedome and Revelation through the knowledge Ephes 1. 17. of him And let this be our prayer that the God of our Lord Iesus Christ and Father of Glory would give us the Spirit of Wisedome and he give us all the Spirit of Wisedome that wee may bee wise unto Salvation for that which Christ said of Laodicea is true of all Thou saiest thou art rich and increased in Apoc. 13. 17 18. goodnesse and hast neede of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poore and blinde and naked I counsell thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou mayest be made rich and white raiment that thou maiest bee cloathed and that thy filthy nakednesse doe not appeare and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve that thou maiest see that is suffer the eyes of thy understanding to be opened We are blind not as whelpes that see after nine dayes not as the man in the Gospell who saw men walke like trees but wee be as blind as beetles as blind as the men of Sodom who groped for Lots doore for what see wee that the Gentiles saw not And Gen. 19. yet saw they nothing for the Apostle affirmeth that they walked Ephes 4. 17 18. in the vanity of their minde having their cogitation darkened and being strangers from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardnesse of their hearts God by the Gospel openeth our eyes that wee may turne from darkenesse to light and from Act. 26. 18. Col. 2. 3. the power of Satan unto God All the treasures of Wisedome and Knowledge are in Christ Wisedome and Knowledge are in Angels and in No true wisedome in man till God infuse it men as well as in Christ how can then all Wisedome and Knowledge bee hid in him Yes they have it from Christ for Wisedome and Knowledge is in Angels by Vision in Men by Revelation Col. 2. 3. 1 Cor. 1. 22. Prov. 9. 1. but in Christ by union for hee is the Power and Wisedome of his Father he is Wisedome and the Church and House Wisedome wherein all must learne Wisedome wee know not all things that appertaine to God nor are we ignorant of all things which are proper to beasts but we know some things and are ignorant of others which are peculiar to men and so far we see as God hath illuminated us and no further for as all fountaines come from the Sea and all lights from the Sun so all Wisedome from God there may bee Science in the wicked but not Sapience Scientia est rerum humanarum Sapientia rerum divinarum Aug Science is of humane and earthly things Sapience of divine and heavenly things there is in the wicked Wit but not Wisedome or if there bee any Wisedome it is the wisedome of the world and of the flesh but the Wisedome of the Spirit they have it not They that are of the flesh saith the Apostle savour Rom. 8. 5 6 7. the things of the flesh but they that are of the Spirit savour the things of the Spirit for the Wisedome of the flesh is Death but the Wisedome of the Spirit is Life and Peace because the Wisedome of the flesh is enmitie to God Achitophel was wise but not in God nor for God the Grecians were wise but not spiritually the Philosophers 2 Sam. 17. 1 Cor. 1. 22. 1 Cor. 2. 14. were wise but yet in part and in the least part for from whence commeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from whence came this division of the gods into majores minores into greater and lesser gods from whence came the furies of Epicures with their Attomies which cannot bee divided from whence the fate of Stoickes bending fast and tying straight Iehova himselfe from the doting of Aristotle dreaming of the Worlds eternity which of these knew the World to be made of nothing the Word to bee made flesh Christ to be borne of a virgin the righteousnesse of one man to be conferred to another to make him righteous in three substāces or parts to be but one God For all Wisedome Religion flow from one fountaine that is God Quem qui nescit licèt videat caecus Lactantius est licet audiat surdus est licet loquitur mutus est licet vivat mortuus est Whom whoso knoweth not though he seeth yet is he blind though he heareth yet hee is deafe though he speaketh yet is he dumbe though he liveth yet is he dead for this is life nay life eternal To know God to be the only very God Iesus Christ whom he hath Iohn 17. 3 25. sent The World knowes not God saith our Saviour But I have knowne you and these have known me Seneca the Philosophers said Fortunam à Deo petendum sapientia à nobis Fortune is to be begged and craved of God Wisedome of our selves Nemo inquit Deo ob sapientiam gratias egit No man hath thanked God for Wisedome But there was no grace in these lips they spake proudly The Philosophers affirme reason to be seated in the head as in a Tower and from thence as a lampe to shine unto our counsels God saves by Christ and as a Queene to moderate the will Well it is God that is onely Wise and his Wisedome appeareth in the creation in disposing so orderly and placing so seemely all things in their place and degree as is most wonderfull to behold with such beautie and proportion in every creature that unlesse wee bee too too blockish wee may cry out with David O Lord how wonderfull are thy workes in Wisedome hast Psal 8. thou made them all And again Great is our Lord and great is his power yea his Wisedome is infinite To see the goodly order of Heaven it will make a man to be astonished at the Wisedome of God more than the Queen of Saba was at the wisedom of Salomon to see how God preserveth his Church by his power and knowes wayes and meanes by his Wisedome to deliver it might ravish us with the consideration of his wisedome to cry out with Paul O the depth Rom. 11.