after she hath clocked called her chickins keepeth them warme vnder her soft downe walleth them in with her winges and watcheth for them whiles they sleepe After I had called you my children or chickens vnder my winges which is into my Church I would haue beene a stronger wall vnto you then the wall of the Tower of Babell which as Writers affirme was the eight part of a mile thick I would haue sette an Angell with a fiery sword in your gate to keepe out your enemies Still would I with the heat and warmth of my Spirit haue cherisht and encreast the strength and growth of your fayth and keep it from beeing dead and cold My vigilance should haue sentineld for all your sleepes neither the terror by night nor the Arrow of temptation that flieth by day should haue frighted you Sathan whom you now hold for such a subtile vnderminer should haue beene your foole and your iestingstocke and a feare-bugge to your Babes only All things should haue prosperd and gone wel which you had taken in hand Happy is that man that sitteth in the shaddow of the winges of the almighty vnhappy are you that haue rather sought to dwell in the shaddow of death then vnder the shaddow of the winges of the Almighty O Ierusalem Ierusalem that killest my Prophets and stonest them I sent vnto thee How often would I haue gathered thy children together as a Henne gathereth her Chickins vnder her winges but you woulde not What is more tender then a Henne ouer her Chickins So tender and more O Ierusalem haue I beene ouer thy Children yet would they neuer tender themselues but tend and bend all their courses to ruine Neuer could I gette them to flocke vnder my Wing or come vnder my roofe Who takes charge of him that in a Towne of warre will not come into the Towne but lye wilfully without the walles No charge doe I take of any that will not come within my walles be gathered vnder my wing but liue out of the Church Knew you what a fearefull thing it were to liue as Out-lawes from the winges of my Church to let ritches promotion or any worldly respect hinder you from being gathered into the vnity of my body and communion of Saints you would vndoubtedly forsake all and follow me All those that repayred not in time into Noahs arke the waters ouertooke and drowned Those that gathered not Manna in the morning it did them no good Those that made excuses and came not to the wedding when they were bidden the King sent forth his Warriours and destroyed them and burnt vp their Citties Sencelesse stones are more obedient vnto Gods voyce then you for the stony-walls of Iericho after God had summoned them by his Priests sounding their Trumpets seauen times at the third sound they prostrated themselues flat Not the third or the fourth or the fift sound haue you with stood but fiue hundred solemne summons and sounds No iudgement that in your eares I or any can sound can make you fall prostrate or humble your selues Stil you wil liue as runnagates and banished men from Gods iurisdiction you hadrather the diuell should gather you vp then he I haue piped and you haue not daunced I haue lamented and you haue not mourned The dayes will come when I shall be taken away from you and then you shall wish in vayne that you had danct after my pipe and borne a principall part in my Consort of mourning Let all successions and Citties be warned by you how you neglect Gods calling let euery priuat man be admonished by you how he neglecteth Gods calling By benefites by sicknes by outward crosses signes and wonders he calleth men To day if yee will heare my voyce harden not your hearts That is at this present when I call you harken to mee Who doth not harken at the first let him looke to be hardned Pharao for hee would not at the first voyce or message let the children of Israell goe his hart was hardned God when his voyce will not bee hearde permitteth the diuell to go and try if his voyce will be heard if they heare the diuels and not his then hath he where-withall to conuince them Ierusalem hath hearde the voyce of God crying out loud in her streetes and hie places vnto her to gather herselfe Her streetes and al her hie places are filled with the ecchoes of Gods voyce The stones of her Turrets haue beene so mou'd with it that they haue opened their eares receiued his eccho into them and that the Cryer might knowe they attended the wordes which he spake they ecchoing repeated them againe The very eccho of the walls and the stones shall eccho vnto God for sharpe punishent against you And let any but reade or rehearse this sentence O Ierusalem Ierusalem how often would I haue gathered thy chyldren together as the Henne gathereth her Chickins the eccho shall replye But they would not They would not Thou wouldest not indeede And no damnation hast thou but thou wouldst not I offered thee peace but thou wouldst not I offred thee to repent be baptized but thou wouldst not I offred thee if thou labourdst and wert loden to ease thee but thou wouldst not I offerd thee to aske and thou shouldst haue but thou wouldst not To knocke and it should be opend but thou woldst not Great euils shalt thou endure for thou wouldst not Great euils did I say alas little euils compared to the euils I must endure onely for these 4. words But thou wouldst not Heu melior quanto sors tua sorte mea est My body shall finde a Sepulcher but my sorrow neuer any for thou wouldst not For euer I must mourne what thou for euer must suffer for thou wouldst not This will be thyne vtter impeachment that the very Samaritans whome thou accountest Infidels receiued and acknowledged me but thou wouldst not That the vncleane spirits departing out of men cryde and confest mee to be the Sonne of God but thou wouldst not And lastly that the Spirite of God himselfe discending on my head like a Doue gaue testimony of me yet thou wouldst not Clamor Sodomorum multiplicatus est The cry of thee Ierusalem the second Sodom that thou wouldst not in Gods eares is doubled To what Nation shall I now preach or appeale since my elected people that should harken to me haue aunswered me they would not Niniuie repented at the preaching of Ionas but Ierusalem at the preaching of her Iesus she would not I offerd to wash her feete with the waters of my tribulation and heale euery disease and malady she had with them as I healed the leprosie of Naaman with the waters of Iordan but ouer the waters of my Teares and tribulation shee passeth on drie-foote as once they past ouer Iordan The riuer of God is full of water Ierusalem were thine eyes the riuers of God they would bee full of water The Snow on thy
my Brother and Sister In slaying them that are sent to declare the wil of God you resist the will of God and are guilty of all their damnations which are yet vnconuerted whom liuing their preaching might haue reduced The violating of any of the Cömmandements is death Thou shalt not kill is one of the principall Commaundements your fault at the first sight deserueth Hell-fire What doe you but proclaime open warre against heauen when you destroy or ouer-throwe any of the Temples of the holy Ghost which are mens bodies They are the Tabernacles which the Lord hath chosen by his Spirit to dwell in But the bodies of my Saints and Prophets vvhich you slay and stone are no triuiall ordinary Tabernacles such as Peter my Disciple would haue had me to make in the Wildernesse for Moses Elias and my selfe but Tabernacles like the Tabernacle at Ierusalem where I haue ordained my name to be worshipped Their words as my words I will haue worshipped Their heads are the Mounts from whence I speake to you in a holy flame as to your fore-fathers wandring in the desert I haue tolde you here-to-fore they are the Salt of the Earth with whose Prayers and Supplications if this masse of sinne were not seasoned it would sauour so detestably in Gods nostrils hee were neuer able to endure it They are the eyes and the light of the world if the eye lose his light all the whole body is blind and hence it came that they were surnamed Seers for they only foresaw praied and prouided for the people I tell you plainly if it were possible for you to plucke the Sunne out of Heauen and you should do it so consequently leaue all the world in darknesse you should not be liable to so much blame as you now are in killing them I send vnto you They are your Seers your Prophets your chiefe Eyes which you haue slaine destroied and put out Was Caine a Vagabond on the face of the earth for killing but one Abel tenne thousand iust Abels haue you slaine that were more neere and ought to haue beene more deere to you then Brothers and shall I not destitute your habitation for it scatter you as vagabonds through-out the Empires of the world As you haue made no conscience to stone my Prophets and slay them I sent vnto you so shall the strange Lords that leade you captiue and they amongst whom many hundred yeers you shal soiurne make no coÌ„science to cut your throats for your treasure and giue a hundred of you together to their Fencers and Executioners to try their weapons on for a wager and winne maisteries with deepe wounding you O Ierusalem Ierusalem deepe woes and calamities hast thou incurd in stoning my Prophets and slaying them I sent vnto thee How often would I haue gathered thy children together when they went astray How often would I haue brought them home into the true sheep-fold when I met them straying I came into the World to no other end but to gather together the lost Sheepe of Israell You are the flock and Sheepe of my pasture when I would haue gathered you together you would not heare my voice but hardned your harts You gather your selues in counsaile against me euery time I seeke to call you or to gather you Deny if you can that I sent not my Prophets in all ages to gather you That with my Rodde and my staffe of correction I haue not sought from time to time to gather you that by benefits and manifold good turnes I haue not tryde all I might to tye you or gather you vnto me Lastly that in mine own person I haue not practised a thousand waies to gather you to repentance and amendment of life If you should deny it and I not contradict it the diuell my vttrest enemy would confirme it Let me speake truely and not vauntingly although it be lawfull to boast in goodnes such hath alwaies bin my care to gather you that I thought it not enough to gather my selfe but I haue prayed to my Father to ioyne more Labours and Gatherers with me to reape and gather in his Haruest How often haue I gathered the multitude together and spoke vnto them When the people were flocked or gathered vnto mee out of all Citties and had nothing to eate I fed them myraculously with fiue Barlie-loues two fishes I would not haue shewd the wonders of my God-head but to gather you together The first gathering that I made was of poore Sea-faring men whome I haue preferd to be myne Apostles Would you haue beene gathered together when I would haue had you you had gathered to your selues the Kingdome of Heauen and all the riches thereof Now what haue you gathered to your selues but ten thousand testimonies in the Sonne of Gods testimony that he desired and besought you to suffer your selues to be gathered by him and you would not Souldiours that fight scatteringly and doe not gather themselues in ranke or battaile array shall neuer winne the day If you knew how strong and full of stratagems the diuell were with how many Legions of lustfull desires he commeth embattailed against you that secret ambushes of temptations he hath layde to intrappe you then would you gather your selues into one body to resist him then would you gather your selues to gather in prayer to with-stand him then would you gather for the poore which is to gather for Souldiers to fight against him Eâ—…eemosyna a morte liberat et non patitur hominemire in tenebras Almes deedes deliuer a man from death and keepeth his soule from seeing confusion As water quencheth fire saith the Wise-man so almes giuing resisteth sinne And if it resisteth sinne it resisteth the Diuel which is the father of sinne All my Fathers Angels stand gathered together about his Throne No bread is made but of graines of Corne gathered together no building is raysed but of a number of stones glued and gathered together There is no perfect society or Citty but of a number of men gathered together Geese which are the simplest of all foules gather themselues together goe together flie together Bees in one Hiue hold their consistory together The starres in Heauen do shine together What is a man if the parts of his body bee disparted and not incorporated and essentiate together What is the Sea but an assembly or gathering together of waters and so the Earth a congestion or heaping vp of grosse matter together A Wood or Forrest but an host of Trees encampt together A generall Counsaile or Parliament but a congregation or gathering together of special wise men to consult about Religion or lawes O what a good thing is it sayth Dauid for Bretheren to liue or be gathered together in vnity If there were no other thing to ratifie the excellence of it but the euill of his diameter opposite which is diuision or distraction it were infinitely ample to establish the title of his dignity Nor Dauid nor all
thousand Plagues Him as a timerous milke-soppe we deride that takes any antidote against it Vpon the poynt of Gods sword wee will runne as he is in stryking rush into houses that are infected as it were to out-face him My sonne sayth the Apostle dispise not the chastisement of the Lord. The Lords chastising we thinke to escape by despysing it Quod in communi possidetur ab omnibus negligitur That which is disperst of all is despised Est tentatio adducens peccatum et tentatio probans fidem There is a temptation leading to sinne and a temptation trying our fayth The temptation of this our visitation hath both ledde vs to sinne and tryed our fayth It hath ledde vs to sinne in that it hath hardned our harts we haue not humbled our selues vnder it as wee should It hath tryed our fayth to be a presumptuous and rash fayth and that it is built on no firme foundation Blessed is the man saith Iob whom God correcteth Cursed are we for God correcteth vs and we regard it not As the holy Ghost willeth vs not to despise the chastising of God so he would haue vs not to faint when we are rebuked of him and therefore hee giueth a reason For whom the Lord loueth he chastiseth and hee scourgeth euery sonne he receiueth As there be drunken despysers of Gods present chastisement so are there them that faint too much vnder it that thinke it lyes not in the Lordes power to restore them that no prayers or repentance may repriue them that imagine since GOD in this world hath forsooke them he wil for euer forsake them Thus they argument against themselues He that denieth vs a small request of the prolongment of a few earthly dayes he will surely stoppe his eares when in a greater sute for the life eternall we shall importune him O no foolish men you erre though long life on earth be a blessing yet it followes not by contradiction that GOD curseth all those whose daies hee shortens Many except their dayes were shortned would neuer be saued Many in their prime and best yeares are raught hence because the world is vnworthy of them and they are more worthy of heauen then the world The good King Iosias was taken away in his youth Our Sauiour was taken vp in his best youthly age Others fortheir sins the Lord by vntimely death punishethin this world that they may bee absolued in the world to come A large account of them shall he demaund to whom he lendeth long life Whome God chastiseth or cutteth off he loueth halfe his account he cutts off Euery son he scourgeth that he receiueth Hath GOD chastised or scourged such a man by the sicknes he is not a greater sinner then thou whō he hath not chastised but he loueth him better then thee for in his chastising he hath shewed more care ouer him then he hath ouer thee Few men defamed with any notorious vice can I heare of that haue dyed of this sicknesse God chastiseth his Sonnes and not bastards No Sonnes of God are we but bastards vntill we be chastned The Fathers of our earthly bodies for a few daies chastise vs at their pleasure but God chastiseth vs for our profite that we may be partakers of his holines The Fathers of our earthly bodies though they beate vs and chastise vs yet cannot for all the paine they put vs to enfeofe vs in glory perpetuall for how shoulde they doe that for vs which they cannot doe for them-selues Onely because they are to benefite vs with a litle transitory chaffe they tyrannise and raigne ouer vs and therefore more austere are they to keepe vs in obedience for we should not after their death lauishly mispende the labours of their parsimony The guerdon they giue vs for all their inflicted sorrow and smart is that which they must leaue in spite of their harts and cannot themselues keepe any longer They giue vs place that in selfe-same sort wee may giue place to others But God our Redeemer Chastiser and Father corrects vs that wee may receiue no corruptiue inheritance such as in this life we receiue by the wayning of our earthly Fathers but a neuer fayling inheritaunce where wee shall haue our Father himselfe for our inheritance O what a blessed thing is it to bee chastised of the Lord Is it not better O London that God correct thee and loue thee then forbeare thee and forsake thee He is a iust God and must punish either in this life or in the life to come Though thou considerest onely the things before thee yet he being a louing fore-seeing father for thee and knowing the intollerablenesse of the neuer-quenched Fornace which for sinne he hath prepared will not consent to thine owne childish wishes of winking at thee heere on earth where though he did spare thee thou shouldst haue no perfect tranquillity but with a short light punishment acquitteth thee from the punishment eternall eternally incomprehensible tortorors When Preachers threaten vs for sinne with this adiunct eternall as paynes eternall eternall damnation eternall horror and vexation we heare them as words of course but neuer diue right downe into the bottomlesse sence A confused modell and misty figure of Hell haue wee conglomorate in our braynes drowsily dreaming that it is a place vnder earth vncessantly vomiting flames like Aetna or Mongibell and fraughtfull of fire Brimstone but we neuer follow the meditation of it so farre were it nothing els as to thinke what a thing it is to lyue in it perpetually It is a thousand thousand times worser then to be staked on the toppe of Aetna or Mongibell A hundred thousand thousand times more then thought can attract or supposition apprehend But eternally to liue in it that makes it the hell though the torment were but trifling Signified this word eternall but some sixe thousand yeeres which is about the distance from Adam in our comprehension it were a thing beyond mind inso much as wee deeme it an impatient spectacle to see a Traytour but halfe an houre groning vnder the Hangmans hands What then is it to liue in threescore times more grinding discruciamēt of dying a yere a hundred yeere a thousand yeere sixe thousand yeere sixty thousand yeere more thousands then can bee numbred in a thousand yeares so much importeth this word eternall or for euer Though all the men that euer God made were hundred handed like Briareus and should all at once take pennes in their hundred handes and doe nothing in a whole age together but sette downe in figures characters as many myllions or thousands as they could so many millions or thousands could they neuer set down as this worde of three sillables Eternall includeth an Ocoan of yncke would it draw dry to describe it Hell is a circle which hath no breakings of or discontinuing Hence blasphemous Witches and Coniurers when they raise vp the deuill draw a ringed circle all-about him that hee