they had no answere they cried lowde nay they cut themselues with kniues and launcers till the bloude flowed out so they prayed not only in teares but in bloud that they might be heard I would the children of the lighte vvere as zealous in their generations But rather let them receiue their lighte and directions for the framing of this holie exercise from the sunne of righteousnesse of vvhome the Apostle vvitnesseth that in the daies of his flesh hee offered vp praiers and supplications with strong crying and teares vnto him that vvas able to helpe him And the gospel further declareth not only that he kneeled at the naming of whose name all knees haue bowed both in heauen and earth and vnder the earth but that hee fell vpon the grounde the foote-stoole of his owne maiesty and laie vpon his face which never Angell behelde without reverence and when he had praied before he praied more earnestly as the scripture recordeth hee once praied and departed and a second time departed and yet a third time and departed evermore vsing the same petition his praier ascended by degrees like incense and perfume and not only his lips went but his agony and contention within was so vehement that an angell was sent from heaven to comfort him and whereas the Priestes of Baal vsed art to make them bleede cutting their flesh with launcers and kniues to that purpose he with the trouble of his soule swet a naturall or rather vnnaturall sweat like dâ—oppes of bloude trickling downe to the earth Wee when wee goe to praier as if our soules and tongues were straungers the one not weeting what the other doth the lippes babbling without and the hearte not pricked with any inwarde compunction honouring GOD with our mouthes and our spirites farre from him deserue to bee answered as hee answered the Iewes Esay 1. When you stretch foorth your handes I will hide mine eies from you and though you make many praiers I will not heare you The reason is there your hâ—ndes are full of bloud the reason to vs may be your heartes bleede not you call me Lord Lord but meane it not the alter is without fire praier without heate wordes without intention gesture of the body without the consent of the inwarde man They cried vnto the Lord. It is not lesse then a miracle that men so newely endued with the knowledge of God can so presently renounce their ancient idolles which they had ever served and within but few minutes of time most religiously adored they call vpon Iehovah that hidden and fearefull name which earst they had not knowne and neither the accustomed maner of their countries nor colour of antiquity nor want of experience in another Lorde nor the simple narration of one singular prophet nor any the like motions can holde them in awe of their former imaginary GODS and keepe them from invocation of the Lorde of hostes No reason can bee yeelded but this The winde bloweth where it lifteth and the spirite breatheth where it will and the mercy of God softneth vvhere his pleasure is It is a gifte from him alone who giveth the new hart and putteth the new spirit within a man who taketh the stony hart from him and giveth him an hearte of flesh in steede thereof who of the stones by the bankes of Iordan saith Iohn Baptist is able to raise vp children to Abraham daily doth raise vp children to himselfe to do him worship and service of those that were hardned in idolatry before like flintes in the streetes Turne vs O Lord and we shall be turned wash vs with cleane water and we shall be cleansed renue vs as the eagle her daies and we shall be renued gather thy chosen flocke from the mountaines and desertes wheâ—n they stray to fulfill thy fold and we shall be gathered say thou wilt sweepe thy house and finde thy groat and we shall be found Nature cannot make a newe birth entring into our mothers wombe againe is vnable to worke it the gold of Sheba and Seba cannot purchase it No man commeth to the sonne vnlesse the father drawe him and if the father haue once given him into his handes all the devils in hell cannot pull him out againe I make it the wisedome of him that praieth to levell his heart and affections at the very right center and marke of praier which is God alone hee is the sanctuary to whome we must flie the periode and scope in whome our requestes must end Praier and faith if the Apostle deceiue vs not must kisse each other howe shall they call on him in whome they haue not beleeved faith is the ground of praier First we beleeue and then speake so was the order of David Doe wee my brethren beleeue in Angels for that is the Apostles phrase howe shall they call on him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in whome or vpon whome they haue not beleeved We beleeue that there are Angels which the Sadduces denied And if an Angell should come from heaven vnto vs with a message from God as he came to Mary and others we would beleeue Angels that is giue credence vnto them as they did But if we beleeue in Angels we forget their place of ministration which they are apointed vnto and make them our Gods Much lesse beleeue we in the sonnes of men which are lesse than Angels Therefore the gleaning of these Marriners is more worth than the whole vintage of Rome who in a moment of time haue gathered more knowledge howe to informe their praiers aright than they in the decourse of many continued generations These pray to Iehovah the true subsisting God they not only to God but to Angels and men and stockes and stones and metalles and papers and I knowe not what It may be a challenge sufficient vnto them all to say no more that in so many praiers of both auncient and righteous patriarkes prophets Iudges kings registred in the booke of GOD and in an hundreth and fiftie Psalmes an hundreth whereof at least are praiers and supplications and in all the devout requestes that the Apostles of Christ and other his disciples sent into heaven if they take the pen of a writer and note from the beginning of Genesis to the end of the Revelation they cannot finde one directed to Cherub or Seraphin Gabriel or Raphael Abraham or Moses or Iohn Baptist after his death or any other creature in heaven or earth saue only to the Lord and his annointed Haue these all erred Even so will we and more sweete shall our errour be vnto vs with these of whome we make no question but that they are bounde vp in the bundell of life with the congregation of first-borne than a newe and recent devise of praier obtruded vnto vs by those who falsly suppose themselues to bee the pillers and staies of Gods militant church The 86. Psal. to giue you a little portion of foode to ruminate vpon as some
ages were heapes of ashes and cloudes of pitch but fire and brimstone from a bottomlesse mine which burneth in the lake of death and shall never cease from burning Lastly this is that greate wine-presse of the wrath of God where the smoke of torment ascendeth for evermore and there is no rest day nor night those endlesse and vnmercifull plagues which the angels powre out of their vialles when men have given them bloude to drinke and boile in heate and gnaw their tongues for sorrowe And yet are these but shadowes and semblances which the scripture hath vsed therein to exemplifie in some sorte the calamities to come fearefull enough if there were no more to make the heart of the strongest melte and fall asunder within him as the yce against the summers sunne but that as the ioyes of heaven are vnmeasurable for their parte so concerning the paines of hell the eye hath never seene the eare not hearde the tongue not vttered the heart not conceived them sufficiently in their nature and perfection That accursed glutton in the gospell who coulde speak by experience of his vnestimable discruciatioÌ„s as Aeneas did of the troubles of Troy Et quorum pars vna fut what I haue felt and borne a parte of he giveth a warning to al his brethren in the flesh not to accounte so lightly as they doe of the tormentes of that place The flames fervour wherof were so importunate to exact their due of him that hee craved with more streams of teares thaÌ„ ever Esau sought his blessing but one drop of water to coole his tongue with could not obtaine it And what if all the rivers in the South if all the waters in the Ocean sea had bene graÌ„ted him his tongue notwithstanding would haue smarted and withered with heat stil he would haue cried in the laÌ„guage of hel It is not enough Or what if his toÌ„gue had bene eased his hart his liver his lunges his bowels his armes his legs would haue fried stil. O bitter day when not the least finger I say not of God whose hand is wholy medicinal but not of the poorest saint in heaven nor the skantest drop I say not from the waters of life but not of the waters of the brooke shal be spared to a soule to giue it comfort Which if the latest day of al the running generations of men if the great yeare which Plato dreamed of might ever end the ease were somewhat for hopes sake But it is apointed for a time times no time even when time shall be no more then shal it continue The gates are kept from egresse as the gates of paradise were warded from entrance not by the Cherubines with the blade of a sworde but by the angels of Sathan with all the instrumentes of death and the seale of Gods eternal decree set thereunto as the seale of the high priestes and rulers were set vpon the tombe-stone of Christ. The covenant of day and night shall one day bee changed The starres shall finish their race the elements melt with heat heaven and earth be renued sommer and winter have an end but the plagues of the prisoners in hell shall never be released If you aske the cause why I enter so large and vngratefull a discourse of hel vpon so smal an offer in my text as some may conceive I will not dissemble it Some may be deceived by the translation impropriety and abuse of words For because they heare the name of hell alleadged and applied to the present tribulations of this life they are induced thereby to thinke that there is no other hell nor sorer vexations elswhere to be sustained as some on the other side hearing the rest of God to be called by name of Ierusalem that is aboue the wals foundations wherof are saphires carbuncles c. take it to be no more thaÌ„ IerusaleÌ„ in Palestina or Venice in Italy or any the like glorious and sumptuous cittie vpon the face of the earth and therefore dispose themselues with so much the colder affection to the attainment of it Some haue taught and commaunded their tongues to speake a lye to say that there is no hel for I caÌ„not thinke that ever they shal commaÌ„d their harts to deny it as Tully spake of Metrodorus an atheist of his time I never sawe any man that more feared those â—hings which he said were not to be feared I meane death the gods so I wil never perswade my selfe but the atheists of our times hartilie feare that which they are content to say they feare not Now lest these sleepy adders should passe their time in a dreame or rather in a lethargy no man awaking theÌ„ vp from their carelesse supine opinions wherwith they enchant their soules infect others Let not the watchman hold his peace least they die in their sins for waÌ„t of warning let the truÌ„pet of iudgmeÌ„t ofteÌ„ be blowne vnto theÌ„ let it be published in their eares 7· times as the rams-horns 7 times souÌ„ded about the wals of Iericho that their ruine downfal is at hand that hel gapeth for theÌ„ that God hath ordained long since their impious blasphemous spirites to immortal malediction Of others that is true which God complaineth in Esay Let mercy be shewed to the wicked yet he wil not learne righteousnes Preach honor glory peace a garlaÌ„d of rightousnes an vncorruptible crowne fruit of the tree of life sight of the face of God following the laÌ„be fellowship with angels saintes the congregatioÌ„ of first-borne new names and white garments pleasures at the right hand of God and fulnes of ioy in his presence for evermore they are as obstinately bent vnmovably setled against these blessings of God as Daniel against the hire of Balthazar keepe thy rewardes to thy selfe and giue thy giftes to an other They are not wonne nor enarmoured with the expectation of good thinges and the revelation of the sons of God which the whole creature longeth groneth for savoureth no more vnto them than a boxe of putrified ointment What is there no way to quicken put life into them yes If the blessings of sixe Levites vpon mount Garizzim will not mooue them let them heare the cursing of sixe others vpon mount Ebal if they take no pleasure in the beautie of Sion let the thundering lightning of Sinai fire to the midst of heaven mistes cloudes smoke ascending like the smoke of a fornace the exceeding lowde sounde of a trumpet put them in feare make them beleeue that there is a God of iudgment if the spirit of gentlenes take no place shake the rod over them as the Apostle speaketh Giue theÌ„ mourning for ioy ashes for beauty the spirit of heavines for the oile of gladnes a rent insteed of a girdle teare I say not their garments but their hearts a sunder pull their bodies
enquire because they applie it not to the true and living GOD. But let this be observed as a matter saith the Psalme of deepe vnderstanding and one of the secrets within the sanctuarie of the Lorde that sea-beaten Marriners barbarians by countrey and men as barberous for the most parte for their conditions fearing neither God nor man of sundry nations some and most of sundry religions it may be Epicures but as my text bewraieth them idolatours they all know that there is a God whome they knowe not they feare a supreme maiesty which they cannot comprehend they reverence invocate and cry vpon a nature aboue the nature of man and all inferiour things potent benevolent apt to helpe whereof they never attained vnto any speciall revelation This man adoreth the God of his countrey that man some other God and Ionas is raised vp to call vpon his God but all haue some one God or other to whome they make supplication and bemone their daunger If Ionas had preached the living and immortall God vnto them the God of the Hebrewes the God of Abraham Isaac Iacob the holy one of Israel I would haue imputed their devotion to the preaching of Ionas Or had there bene any other soule in the ship belonging to the covenaÌ„t born within the house as the prophet speaketh that might haue informed theÌ„ in this behalfe Ther was not one who theÌ„ instructeth theÌ„ Nature Nautae intellexèruÌ„t aliquid esse veneranduÌ„ sub errore religionis the marriners vnderstood even in the falshod of that religioÌ„ which they held that somthing was to be worshiped It is not denied by any sort of divines auncient or recent but that by nature it selfe a man may conceiue there is a God There is no nation so wild and barbarous which is not seasoned with some opinion touching God The Athenians set vp an alter Ignoto Deo to an vnknowne God Act. 17. The Gentiles not having the lawe doe by nature the things conteined in the lawe and are a lawe vnto themselues and shewe the effect of the lawe written in their heartes their conscience bearing witnesse and their thoughtes accusing one another or excusing the second to the Romanes For the invisible things of him that is his eternall power and Godhead are seene by the creation of the world being considered in his workes to the intent that they should be without excuse Rom. 1. These are common impressions and notions sealed vp in the mind of every man a remnant of integrity after the fall of Adam a substance or blessing in the dead Elme sparkles of fire raked vp vnder the ashes which cannot die whilest the soule liveth Nature within man and nature without man which Ierome calleth Naturam facturam nature and the creature our invisible consentes and Gods visible workes an inward motion in the one and an outward motion of the other if there were no further helps shew that there is a God leaue vs without excuse Protagoras Abderites because he began his booke with doubt de dijs neque vt sint neque vt non sint habeo dicere I haue nothing to say of the Gods either that they be or that they be not by the commandement of the Athenians was banished their city countrey his bookes publiquely solemnly burnt to ashes I may call it a light that shineth in darknes though the purity and beames therof be mightely defaced which some corrupt abuse so become superstitious vanish away in their vaine cogitations others extinguish so become meere Atheists For so it is as if we tooke the lights in the house and put them out to haue the more liberty in the works of darknes Thus do the Atheists of our time the light of the scripture principally the light of the creature and the light of nature they exinguish within the chaÌ„bers of their harts with resolute dissolute perswasioÌ„s threape vpon their soules against reason coÌ„science that there is no God least by the sight of his iustice their race of impiety should bee stopped I trust I may safely speake it There are no Atheists amongst you though many happily such as Agâ—ippa was but almost christiaÌ„s I would to God you were not only almost but altogither such as you seeme to professe But there are in our land that trouble vs with virulent pestâ—lent miscreant positioÌ„s I would they were cut of the childreÌ„ of hel by as proper right as the divel himselfe the savour of whose madnes stinketh from the center of the earth to the highest heavens Let theÌ„ be confuted with arguments drawne from out the skabberds of Magistrates argumeÌ„ts without reply that may boâ—h stop the mouth choke the breath of this execrable impiety as the angel cursed Meroz 5. Iudg. so cursed be the man let the curse cleaue to his children that cometh not forth to helpe the Lord in this cause It is fit to dispute by reasoÌ„ whether there be a God or no which heaveÌ„ earth angels men divels al ages of the world all languages in the atheist himselfe who bindeth a napkin to the eies of his knowledge shame feare and 1000. witnesses like gnawing wormes within his breast did ever heretofore to the end of the world shal acknowledge Let vs leaue such questioÌ„s 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 incredible inglorious infamous questions to the tribunal trial of the highest iudge if there be no throne vpon the earth that wil determine them for our own safety the freeing of our souls let vs hate the very aire that the Atheist draweth as Iohn eschewed the bath wherin Cerinthus was let their damned spitits having received damnation in themselues ripen and bee rotten to perdition let them sleepe their everlasting sleepe in filthines not to be revoked when death hath gnawne vpon them like sheepe for a taste before hand let them rise againe from the sides of the pit maugre their stout gaine saying at the iudgement of the great day to receiue a deeper portion As for our selues my brethren which knowe and professe that one and only God for ever to be blessed let vs be zealous of good workes according to the measure of our knowledge which we haue received Let vs feare him without feare as his adopted sonnes and serue him without the spirit of bondage in righteousnesse all the daies of our liues that at the comming of the sonne of God to iudge the endes of the eatth we may be found faithfull fervants and as we haue dealt truely in a little we may be made rulers over much through the riches of his grace who hath freely and formerly beloved vs not for our owne sakes but because himselfe is loue and taketh delight in his owne goodnes THE FIFT LECTVRE Cap. 1. ver 5. And cried every man vpon his God and cast the wares in the shippe into the sea to lighten it of
a marveilous worke a wonder For the wisdome of the wise men shal perish the vnderstanding of the prudent men shall be hid Before he bad them stay themselues wonder that men should be drunken but not with wine stagger but not with strong drinke The cause followeth the Lord had covered them with a spirit of slumber and shut their eies There are many and mighty nations at this day their soile most happy their aire sweetly disposed people for flesh and bloud as towardly as the ground carrieth most provident to forecast most ingenious to invent most able actiue to performe of whoÌ„e you would say if you tried them Surely this is a wise people and of great vnderstanding To whome notwithstanding if Christ shoulde speake in person as he spake to Saule before his illumination why persecutest thou mee why do you stumble at my gospell and are offended at my name and account the preaching of my crosse foolishnesse they woulde aske as hee did who art thou or what is thy gospell name and crosse that thou tellest vs of So blind they are to beholde our day-spring so ignorant and vntaught touching Iesus of Nazareth Or if we should aske them of the holy ghost haue you received the holy ghost since you beleeved nay doe you beleeue that there is an holy ghost they would answere as the Ephesians did to Paul we haue not so much as heard whether there be an holy ghost What new doctrine is this they seeme to bee setters forth of new Gods and though they acknovvledge some God which nature it selfe obtrudeth vnto their thoughts yet they know not the God of Sydrach Misach Abednego whom Nabuchodonosor with that difference confessed after his vnderstaÌ„ding was restored vnto him nor the God of Daniell whome Darius by that name magnified after he saw the deliveraÌ„ce of his prophet from the lions den nor the God of Abraham Isaac Iacob to whom the promises were made nor the Lord God of heaven which hath made the sea and the dry land here specified Is it not a wonder thinke you that the people of the Turkes the hammer of the world as sometimes Babylon the rod of christendome able to say as the Psalme spake of Gilead and Manasses c. Asia is mine Africke is mine over Europe haue I cast my shooe a warlike politicke stately magnificent nation shoulde more bee carried avvaie by the enchantmentes of their lewde Prophet Mahomet then by the celestiall doctrine of the everlasting sonne of GOD who shed his bloud and gaue his soule a ransome for the sinne of mankinde what is the reason heereof vvant they nature or an arme of flesh are they not cutte from the same rocke are they not tempered of the same moulde are not thâ—ir heades vpwarde towarde heaven as the heades of other men haue they not reasonable soules capable and iudicious VVhat wante they then It is rectus spiritus a right spirite whereof they are destitute they haue a spirite I graunte to enliue their bodies but not rectified sanctified regenerated renewed to quicken their soules They haue an hearte to conceiue but it is a frowarde hearte a slowe hearte a stonie hearte a vaine and foolish hearte a skornefull contemptuous insolent incredulous heart against him that framed it Now if AEgypt bee so darke that the darkenesse thereof may be felt and it is a wonder in our eies to see such mistes in other places yet let Goshen reioyce that it standeth illightned still And those that haue seene an happye starre in the East to leade them to Christ which Herode and his princes the Turke and his Bassaws never sawe let them come and worship and bring presentes vnto the king of glory not of golde mirrhe and frankincense but of the finest mettall purest odours frankest offering of thankfull harts And let them not thinke but where more is received more vvill bee required and that they must answere to the Lorde of these talentes not onelye for nature but for a speciall inspiration besides wherewith they are endued And so to ende this point Blessed are your eies for they see and your eares for they heare I will not say that which many Prophets and righteous men haue desired but to change the speech a little that which many mighty Empires and large Continentes and not small cantons or corners but vvhole quarters of the world never attained vnto and will bitterly rue the time and wish to redeeme vvith the losse of both their eies that they haue not heard and seene as much as you haue done To come now to my purpose these marriners feare but where no feare is they feare nothing because they feare but idols and fansies the suppositioÌ„s of their owne braines And as they feare so they pray which was the second action and their errour therein being pardoned a naturall necessary service belonging to every mortall man their praier is consequent to their feare For vpon the reverence they carried towards their imaginary Gods they betooke themselues to this submissiue and suppliant service Primus in orbe Deos fecit timor Vnles we feared we could not thinke that there were a God But this actioÌ„ of theirs hath something good in it something to be reproved 1 In that they pray it sheweth the debility and weaknes of the nature of man if it be not holpen and commendeth the necessity and vse of prayer in all sorts of men 2 In that they pray with crying vehemency it noteth that their harts were fixed earnestly loÌ„ged for that which their lips craved 3 In that they cry to their Gods it proveth it a tribute due vnto God alone by the practise of heathen men 4 In that they pray every man as if in a common cause though they had not a common religion yet they had one soule hart and tongue common to them all it noteth the communion and fellowship of mankinde Thus far the observations hold good Their praying sheweth the misery of mortall men crying in praier their earnest desire to obtaine praying to Gods the maiesty of the immortal power praying togither that bond of humanity and brotherhood wherewith we are coupled 5 Their errour is a part of their obiect in the number of the Gods which they invocate that every person in the ship hath a proper and peculiar God whome he calleth vpon The Gods of the nations haue beene multiplied as the sandes of the sea what haue they not deified it cost but a little frankincense to giue the godhead vvhere it pleased them they haue turned the glorye of the immortall God into the similitude of the image of corruptible man and of birdes and foure footed beastes and of creeping thinges Besides the sunne and moone and the whole hoast of heaven they haue consecrated for Gods the sonnes of men vvhose breath is a vapour in their nostrels vvho shall be consumed before the vnprofitable mothes of
thousand times many a ship perhaps vpon the sea at this present that felt the wrath of the storme yet entred not into any the like coÌ„sultation But God the disposer of all things having his fugitiue Prophet in chase putteth it into the harts of the marriners 1. that there is some man whose iniquity hath brought their liues in question 2. that there must bee some meanes for his deprehension Now what should they doe in a matter of fact there were no witnesses to detect neither the conscience of the offender nor happily his countenance nor anie the like presumption to disclose it and if an othe had beene ministred which is the ende of controversie perchance it might haue beene falsified as Lysander sometimes spake Children must bee deceaved by dice and blanckes men by othes therefore they put it to lottes as indifferent vmpires and arbitratours for all partes as who would say Because art faileth we will go by chance and in a matter of secrecie let God be iudge and giue sentence For so doth Tully define Sortition that it is nothing els but hap-hazard where neither reason nor counsel can take place It was a custome amoÌ„gst the Gentiles to do many things by lottes Valerius Maximus writeth of the Romanes that by an auncient ordinance amongst them if they commended any thing to their Gods it was by praier if they desired or craved it was by vowe if they rendered or repayed by thanksgiving if they enquired by the inwarde part of beasts or lottes if they did any thinge solemnly by sacrifice He further reporteth that it befell Lucius Paulus their Consull by lotte to fight against Perses king of Macedon and that going from the court to his owne house and finding Tertia his young 〈◊〉 very sad he kissed her and asked her what shee ailed sheâ— auâ—swered that Persa her litle whelpe was deade which saying of â—ers hee tooke as a token of good lucke for the affinity of the names to encourage him the rather against Perses The Greekes at the siege of Troye cast lottes who should â—ight with Hector and the lotte fell vpon Aiax as appeareth by a part of his own oration vnto them In the third of Ioel the Lord complaineth against the nations that they had cast lots vpon his people in the prophecie of Obadiah against Esau that when strangers entered in the gates and cast lottes vpon Ierusalem hee was as one of them in the Evangelist S. Mathew the souldiers devide the garmentes of Christ by loâ—s But without further testimony it is here apparant that it was in vse amongst most nations because the vvhole company of the ship being of divers languages all agree vpon the same course Come let vs cast lots Aquinas setteth down some forms of lots vsed amongst them that either they had tickets of paper some of which were written some blancke wherein they considered who had the one who the other or els festawes cuts wherein they observed who drew the greater who the lesser or they threw dice hucklebones wherin he that threw most was victorer or els they opened a booke by that which a man first lighted vpon they decided the strife answerable wherunto are the tables books of fortune in our times Others alleage more sorts of theÌ„ as litle stones scores tales oâ— wood signed with letters characters staÌ„ps of clay beanes pellets many the like varieties In the vsing of all which instruments their maÌ„ner was first to hide theÌ„ out of sight as in Homer they hid their lots in Agamemnons helmet then to shake them togither confusedly afterwards to draw them forth to receiue as their lottes specified The Hebrewes write that when the land of Canaan was devided amongst the children of Israell they had 12. skroles of paper signed with the names of 12. tribes 12. other signed with 12. portions of land all which being put into a pitcher mingled togither the Princes for their severall tribes drew two a piece and together with their names received their inheritances It is a question amongst Divines whether it be lawfull in christianity to vse lottes yea or no For the solution whereof wee must both distinguish the kindes and set limittes bounds which must not be exceeded Touching the kinds most of the Schoolemen Summistes and other Divines doe thus number them that eyther they are of consultation vvherein they enquire of somewhat that must be donne or of division wherin the question is what shal be shared to every man or of divination and prediction wherein they are curious to search out future accidentes Of the former two they make no great scruple because they are iustified and approoved to vs by many examples of scriptures as in choosing one goate for the sacrifice the other for the scape goate in deviding the land of promise in finding out Achan vvith the accursed thinge in taking Saul to the kingdome in preferring Matthias to the Apostleship though Beda seemeÌ„th to mislike the like imitation in our times because the election then helde was before Pentecost when they had not receaved such full measure of the holy ghost which afterwards obteined they chose the sâ—ven deacons not by lot but by common consent of all the Disciples August in an epistle to Honoratus putteth this case that if in a time of persecution the ministers of the gospell shoulde varie amongst them who should abide the heate of the fire that all fled not and who should flie least if the whole brotherhood vvere made avvay the church might be forsaken if otherwise they could not ende their variance he holdeth it the best course to try by lot who shoulde remaine behinde who depart and he addeth for the proofe of his opinion the iudgement of Salomon Prov. 18. The lotte causeth contentions to cease affirming moreover that in such doubts God is able to iudge better then men whether it be his pleasure to call the better able vnto their martyrdome and to spare the weaker or to enable these weaker for the endurance of troubles and to withdravve them from this life vvho cannot by their liues bee so profitable to the Church of God as the others He proposeth the like case in his bookes of Christian learning the question standing betweene two needy persons whether of the two shal be relieved when both cannot I finde many other cases both observed by antiquitye and some by the civill lawes allowed wherein the vse of lottes hath bene admitted As in creation of magistrates in contracting mariages in vndertaking provinces and lieutenantships in leading colonies that is new inhabitants to replenish forreine partes in entring vpon inheritances and if in a suite of lawe it cannot bee agreed vpon betweene the parties contending who the plaintife vvho the defendant is both seeking for iudgement in the manumission freeing of some few in a multitude when all craue the
foresawe their sinnes not his owne The Iewes committed a sinne which hee compelled them not to doe who is displeased with sinne but onelye foretolde that they would doe it because nothing is hid from him Iustus Lipsius as acutely as any man vidit ab aeterno sed vidit non coëgit scivit non sanxit praedixit non praescripsit hee sawe it from all eternitye but hee sawe it enforced it not knew it decreed it not foretolde it prescribed ordeined it not For tell mee yee adulterers murtherers vsurers drunkardes traitours and the rest of this accursed seede when you committ such things whereof you are now ashamed and seeke vnlawfull helpes to be rid of them whether you doe them against your willes whether you finde any force offered vnto you whether you are drawne vnto them with lines or rather draw not them vnto you with cart-ropes when the devill prompteth and suggesteth iniquity vnto you whether you yeeld not your neckes to his yoke with easines if the least obiect of pleasure allure not pull not your senses after it if ever your meate and drinke were sweeter to your palate and throate than these sinnes to your soules if there be any christian resistance in you Quod nolo malum hoc facio that evill which I would not that doe I if you set not windowes and dores open that the strong man who carrieth the mindes of men captive may enter in Have you not will in all these or is it a possible thing that will can be constrained It is as proper to will to keepe a libertie I meane from coaction as for fire to burne Else it were not voluntas but noluntas as not will but no will if violence coulde be offered vnto it I desire to open my meaning The foreknowledge of God is vnto him if shallowe and deepe may bee compared togither as memory is to vs as memory presenteth vnto vs things that are past so prescience vnto God things which are to come Memory is our booke wherein wee reade the one and prescience his booke wherein hee readeth the other and as memory in vs is not the cause vvhy thinges past were done but onely recounteth so Gods prescience is not the cause why future thinges shal be done but only foreknoweth them as we remember some things which we do but do not al things which we remember so God foreseeth al things wherof he is authour but is not authour of al things which he foreseeth lastly we remember God foreseeth the doing of every thing in the nature kinde therof we remember a stone throwne wherewith a man vvas slaine by violence no by chance so God foresawe it we remember since a vineyard was planted and the trees therof brought forth grapes by violence no by nature so God foresaw it we remember a theefe which lay in waite for bloude and committed a murther by the high way side by violence no by wil so God foresaw it Thus al things are done according to the foreknowledge will of almighty God necessary things of necessity contingent by contingency and happe as we call it naturall by kindely course voluntary with election and choise their natures neither changed nor any way enforced by the foresaid meanes I conclude with Saint Augustin God created me with free will hee speaketh of freedome from coaction If I have sinned It was I that sinned it was neither destiny nor fortune nor the devill I will pronounce against my selfe not against the Lord. I knowe I sin of necessity in one sence because the corruption of nature hath remooved that originall integrity wherin man was first created but I sin not violently because mine owne will is reserved vnto me For as it was true of man in the state of innocency Potest non peccare hee may if he will not sin because God lefte him in the hande of his owne counselles and gave him liberty both waies so it is now as true in the state of corruption Non potest non peccare he cannot chuse but sinne the whole lumpe of his nature being sowred with that auncient leaven neither shall he ever be delivered from the corruption wherevnto he is subiect till he attaine to the state of glorification wherein it shall as certainely be verified non potest peccare he cannot sin though he would corruption having put on incorruption both in body and spirit Which necessity of sinning the meane time is not in any externall cause either creator or creatures but in the decayed nature of man vpon the fall wherof commeth vanity in the mind and a frowardnes in the will to depart from the living God Now I returne to my former assertion that nothing is done without the wil of God yet the will of man therby no way corrupted or compelled And surely the very tenour and sound of the scripture phrase bewraieth a degree of some forwarder dispositiō frō God in the actiōs of vnrighteous men than his bare toleration For why was it said not onely in the 3. of Exod I knowe that the king of Egypt will not let you goe but by strong hand which is referred to the prescience of God foreseeing what woulde come to passe and in the 7. chapter the heart of Pharaoh was heavy and dull which is referred to his owne obstinate hardening of it but I will harden the heart of Pharaoh and he shall not let the people goe Exod. 4. and Pharaoh shall not harken vnto you Exod. 7. For when Pharaoh hardened his owne hearte both against the people of Israell give them no straw get you to your burthens Exod. 5. and in the same chapter against the Lorde himselfe who is the Lorde that I should heare his voice then did God permit all this to be done and helde his peace as the Psalme speaketh gave him the hearing and the looking on but afterwardes when hee putteth as it were iron to iron adamant to adamant I will harden his heart it cannot reasonably be supposed but that besides his sufferance there was an accession of some worke of his VVhen the sonnes of Zerviah woulde have taken Shemei his head from him because he railed at the king throwing stones at him and calling him a murtherer the sonne of Beliall c. David stayed them with strange and vnexpected speech what have I to doe with you yee sonnes of Zerviah for hee curseth mee because the Lorde hath bidden him curse David And further as if the rayler were safe vnder the wings of Gods authority who then dare say wherefore hast thou done so and once more suffer him to curse for the Lorde hath bidden him Nathan the prophet had tolde him before that for his murther and adultery the Lord had thus decreed aginst him I will raise vp evill against thee out of thine owne house and will take thy wives before thy face and give them to thy neighbour he shall lie with thy wives on the sight of the sunne for
Christ the precepts and ordinaunces of his law his mysteries of faith haue beene often preached often heard yet never wearied never satisfied those that hungered and thirsted after his saving health I goe backe to my purpose Ionas you heare praied This is the life of the soule which before I spake of when being perplexed with such griefe of heart as neither wine according to the advise of Salomon nor stronge drinke could bring ease vnto her toÌ„gue cleaving to the roofe of her mouth and her spirite melting like waxe in the middest of her bowels when it is day calling for the night againe and when it is night saying to her selfe when shall it be morning finding no comforte at allâ— either in light or darkenesse kinsfolkes or friendes pleasures or riches and wishing as often as shee openeth her lippes and draweth in her breath vnto her if God were so hasty to heare those wishes Oh that thou wouldest hide me in the graue and keepe me secret vntill thy wrath were past yet then shee taketh vnto her the wings of a doue the motion and agility I meane of the spirite of God shee flieth by the strength of her praiers into the bosome of Gods mercies and there is at rest Is any afflicted amongest you Let him pray Afflicted or not afflicted vnder correction of apostolique iudgement let him pray For what shall he else doe Shall he follow the vvaies of the wicked which the prophet describeth the wicked is so prowde that hee seeketh not after God hee saith evermore in his heart there is no God hee boasteth of his owne heartes desires he blesseth himselfe and contemneth the Lorde the iudgementes of God are high aboue his sight therefore hee snuffeth at his enimies and saith to himselfe I shall never be mooved nor come in daunger I can name you a man that in his prosperity said even as they did I shall never be moved thou Lorde of thy goodnesse hast made my hill so strong But see the change Thou diddest but hide thy face and I was troubled Then cried I vnto Lorde and prayed vnto my God saying what profite is there in my bloud c. Or shall hee vvith those vnrighteous priests in Malachie vse bigge wordes against the LORDE It is in vaine that I haue served him and what profite is it that I haue kepte his commaundementes and vvalked in humility before him O the counsell of the vvicked bee farre from mee saith Iob their candell shall often bee put out and the sorrowe of the fathers shal bee laide vp for their children and they shall even drinke the wrath of the Almighty And all such as feare the Lord speake otherwise every one to his neighbour and the Lorde harkeneth and heareth it and a booke of remembrance is written for them that feare him and thinke vpon his name Or shall he on the other side when his sorrowes are multiplied vpon him saie as it is in the Psalme vvho will shew mee any good thing Let him aunswere the distrust of his minde in the nexte woordes Lorde lifte thou vp the lighte of thy countenaunce vpon mee Thou shalt put more ioy thereby into mine hearte than the plentifullest enâ—rease of corne wine and oile can bring to others Or lastly what shall hee doe shall hee adde griefe vnto griefe and welcome his woes vnto him shal he drinke downe pensiuenesse as Behemoth drinketh downe Iordan into his mouth shall hee bury himselfe aliue and drowne his soule in a gulfe of desperation shall hee liue the life of Cain or die the death of Iudas shall hee spend his wretched time in bannings and execrations cursing the night that kept counsaile to his conception cursing the day that brought tidings of his bringing forth cursing the earth that beareth him the aire that inspireth him the light that shineth vpon him shall hee curse God and die or perhappes curse God and not die or shall he keepe his anguish to himselfe let his heart burst like newe bottelles that are full of wine for want of venting or shall hee howle and yell into the aire like the wolues in the wildernesse and as the maner of the heathen is not knowing where or how to make their mone feeling a wounde but not knowing how to cure it or what shall hee doe when he findeth himselfe in misery his waies hedged vp with thornes that heÌ„ cannot stirre to deliver himselfe there-hence what shoulde he doe but pray Bernard vnder a fiction proposeth a table well worthy our beholding therein the Kinges of Babylon and Ierusalem signifying the state of the world and the church alwaies warring togither In which encounter at length it fell out that one of the souldiours of Ierusalem was fled to the castell of Iustice. Siege laide to the castell and a multitude of enimies intrencht round about it Feare gaue over all hope but prudence ministred her comfort Dost thou not knowe saith shee that our king is the king of glorie the Lorde stronge and mighty even the Lord mightie in battell let vs therefore dispatch a messenger that may informe him of our necessities Feare replyeth but who is able to breake thorough Darknes is vpon the face of the earth and our wals are begirte with a watchfull troupe of armed men we vtterlie vnexperte of the waie into so farre a country where vpon Iustice is consulted Be of good cheare saith Iustice I haue a messenger of especiall trust well knowne to the king and his courte Praier by name who knoweth to addresse her selfe by waies vnknowne in the stillest silence of the night till shee commeth to the secrets and chamber of the king him selfe Forthwith she goeth and finding the gates shut knocketh amaine Open yee gates of righteousnes and be ye opened ye everlasting dores that I may come in and tell the kinge of Ierusalem how our case standeth Doubtlesse the trustiest and efectuallest messenger we haue to send is Praier If we send vp merits the stars in heaven wil disdeine it that we which dwell at the footestoole of God dare to presume so far when the purest creatures in heaven are impure in his sight If we send vp feare and distrustfulnes the length of the waie will tire them out They are as heavy and lumpish as gaddes of iron they will sinke to the ground before they come halfe way to the throne of salvation If wee send vp blasphemies and curses all the creatures betwixt heaven and earth will band themselues against vs. The sun and the moone will raine downe bloud the fire hote burning coales the aire thunderboltes vpon our heades Praier I say againe is the surest embassadour which neither the tediousnesse of the way nor difficulties of the passage can hinder from her Purpose quicke of speede faithfull for trustinesse happie for successe able to mounte aboue the eagles of the skie into the heaven of heavens and as a chariote of fire bearing vs aloft into the
from it Iudas hath nothing but mill-stones aboute his necke the necke of his guiltye conscience to vveigh him downe Ionas hath wings and corke to beare him vp Iudas like a carkas vvherein there is no life falleth downe as the Lacedemonian saide of a dead man whom hee coulde not set vpright vpon his feete oportet aliquid intus esse there must bee somevvhat vvithin Ionas hath that vvithin a spirite of comforte to quicken and supporte him Hee hath an eye in his heade discovering those hidden vvaies vvhich the eye of the eagâ—e and kite never founde out to looke to the temple of the LORDE VVhither he ment the temple at Ierusalem or vvhither his temple in heaven vvhereof the Psalme speaketh the LORDE is in his holy pallace the Lordes throne is in the heavens I enquire not but thrice blessed were those eies that did him this service If his sentence and resolution had ended in those former wordes I am cast out and there had beene the periode and full pointe all his ioyes had ended When the Iewes saide in the Prophet perijt spes nostra our hope is gone they mighte aswell haue added perijt salus nostra our salvation is gone a man vvithout hope is without his best advocate Good successe may often for sake the innocente but never good hope And therefore hee chaunged his stile in good time veruntamen yet notwithstanding I haue annointed mine eyes with the eye salue of hope and through all those obstacles of sea and seas floudes and surges I am able to looke to the place of thy rest It standeth as the rudder in the sentence and turneth it quite an other way It vvas running apace vpon dangerous shelues and had set vp the full sailes of deadliest discomfortes but a breath of faith commeth in and stoppeth that wretched course Notwithstanding Now doth Ionas begin to neese with the childe that the prophet called to life now is his first vprising from the dead he had vtterly fainted when he was in the belly whither of the vvhale or of hell but that he beleeved verily to see the goodnesse of the Lord in his holy temple Epaminondas being striken thorough with a speare and his bloud fayling him asked if his target were safe and whither the enimy were put to flight and vnderstanding all to be answerable to his heartes desire saide my fellowes in armes it is not an ende of my life that is nowe come but a better beginning The losse of the body is not great VVe sow it in dishonour we shall reape it in honour And conscience may be wounded and daunted sometimes in the best that liveth But if Ionas had lost his shielde of faith and his helmet of hope the principall armour of defence the one for the head vvherein the braine the other for the breast vvherein the heart lieth and if the enimies of his soule these desperate agonies had gotten the vpper hande and not beene vanquished by him where had his glory where had his safety beene But his shield you heare is whole Notwithstanding I will looke towardes thine onely temple VVith a little difference you haue the same speeches in the Psalmes which Ionas heere vseth As in the 31. Psalme I saide in mine haste I am cast out of thy â—ight Likewise in 42. All thy waues and thy floudes are gone over me I repeate no more But they make it an argument that Ionas had diligently red the Psalmes and kept them by hearte and applyed them as neede served to his particular occasions Est certe non magnus verùm aureolus ad verbum ediscendus libellus As he spake of Crantors booke Surely the booke of the Psalmes is not greate but golden and throughly to be learned Ierome advised Rusticus that the booke of the Psalmes shoulde neuer depart from his handling and reading Let every worde of the Psalter bee conned vvithout booke I vvill say shortely sayeth he It is a common treasurie of all good learning It appeareth in the gospel that Christ and his disciples were very conversant in that booke because in their sayings writings not fewer then threescore authorities are procured from aboue forty of those severall Psalmes But my meaning is not so much to commende the booke at this time as your vse of it For it is never so well red or hearde as when the harpe of David and the ditty of our hearte the scripture of the Psalme and the sense of our present occasion go togither Quid prosunt lecta intellecta â—isâ— teipsum legas intelligas readinge and vnderstanding without application is nothing Neither is it to purpose to singe Psalmes vnlesse we make them accord to our present miseries when we are in misery when we are delivered to our deliverances other the like variations Thus did Ionas But to come backe to David himselfe though hee spake so daungerously as you haue hearde I am cast of yet hee confesseth hee spake it in his haste and hee correcteth that hasty speech with a veruntamen a particle of better grace as Ionas did yet thou heardest the voice of my praier vvhen I cryed vnto thee And he exhorteth all those that trust in the LORDE to bee stronge and hee vvill establish their heartes Likewise in former vvordes these amongst the restiarring very vnpleasantly and striking out of tune I am forgotten as a deade man out of minde I am like a broken vessell But I trusted in thee O Lorde I saide thou art my God But for nisi and veruntamen but and notwithstanding notes as it were of a better sound our heartes might quake to see such passions in the Saintes of God The beloved sonne of God was not without this convulsion of spirite My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee not feared and suspected but felt and presently endured why hast thou done it yet he commendeth his spirit into the handes of that Lord who seemed to haue forsaken him Thus ever the Lord sendeth a gracious raine vpon his inheritance to refresh it when it is weary and it is true which Osee saith though wee looke for a day or two as if wee were dead and forlorne yet after those two dayes hee vvill reviue vs and the thirde he vvill raise vs vp and we shall liue in his sight I will now proclaime from an other Psalme Heare this all yee people giue eare all that dwell in the world low and high rich and poore one with an other My mouth shall speake of vvisedome and the meditation of my hart is of knowledge I will encline mine eare to a parable and vtter a graue matter vpon mine harpe Surely it is wisedome and knowledge and a graue matter indeede and blessed are they that conceaue it If it bee hid it is hid to those that perish it is a parable to Cain and Saul and Iudas and such like cast-awaies If I had the doubled spirit of Elias and wisedome like
going to Ierusalem Luke the ninth hee biddeth them marke his wordes diligently and put them into their eares for he woulde not they shoulde bee committed to the wast aire which laye so deepe in his owne heart The sonne of man shall bee delivered into the handes of men In the 18. he reckoneth vp all the particulars the delivering of him to Gentiles mocking reviling spitting scourging putting him to death That elect vesâ—ell of his 2. Cor. 11. as if hee gloried in his infirmities and made them his triumphes recapitulateth with a breath as many dangers as ever he had endured either at home or abroad his labours his stripes his stonings his deaths his scourgings his shipwracks by land by sea by theeves by false brethren by his cuntrymen by straÌ„gers his huÌ„ger thirst fasting cold nakednes besides outward things It was truly spoken by a lerned man Sapiens miser pluâ— miser est quam rusticus miser Scit enim exaggerare causas dolendi quas rusticus miser ignorat A wise man in misery is more miserable than one that is simple because he knoweth how to amplifie the causes of his sorrow which the other doth not I take it to have beene no small token of wisedome in Ionas Ieremy David Paul in wisedome himselfe not only that they felt the bitternesse of the cup when they dranke it but were able to discerne what ingredients it had and particularly to recounte whereof it was tempered The Stoicke philosophers of whom we reade Acts 17. that they disputed with Paul and called him a sower of wordes and a setter out of strange Gods and it shall not be impertinent a vvhile to dispute with them and to confute their strange learning they held many opinions incredible to the world amongst the rest that griefe was a matter of nothing Tully reciteth some of their paradoxes that their wiseman whome they rather supposed than ever coulde finde in nature as Xenophon imagined a king Tully an oratour Aristotle felicity more perfit than ever that worlde was so happy to attaine vnto though he were most deformed was most and only beautifull rich though beggerly a king though the servant of servantes like cursed Canaan that all sinne vvere alike and hee offended as much that killed a cocke vvhen there was no neede as if he had cut the throate of his father that their wise man was never mooved with pitty never entreated never went by gesse or opinion never was deceived never repented any thing never changed his minde Thence it vvas that Chrysippus vvho vvas saide to proppe vp the gallerye of the Stoickes offered that stricte and tetricall division to the vvorlde Aut mentem aut restim comparandam either to get them mindes constant and vnmoueable or to hang themselues Nowe all other men that vvere not in the compasse of this their phantasticall and Platonicall notion of vvisedome they condemned for fooles frantickes exiles fugitiues and the like Amongst the rest of their admirable positions one was that their wise man coulde not bee inforced and that sorrovve painefulnesse and griefe were neither good nor evill but indifferent at least And surely I must needes say they were very prodigall of theiâ— liues and little woulde they seeme to regarde extremity of tortures One told Theodorus that he would hang him Threaten that saith hee to your carpet-knightes It is all one to mee whether I rotte in the aire or in the ground when you haue al doÌ„e Cantherides a little kind of woâ—mes can doe as much as you When they were vpoÌ„ the racke they would cry O quám suave O what pleasure is there in racking Aulus Cellius writeth of a fenser at the games of Cesar that when his woundes were lâ—nced by the Surgions he vsed to laugh at it The Donatistes and Circumcellions were not much behinde them in this madnesse But the reason of their insensibility is that saith Barnard that the Psalme giveth Their hart is as fat as grease And that which piety vvorketh in others hardnes of hart worketh in them Some marvailed he saith that heretickes did not only suffer death but they vnder-went it with ioy But they little considered what power the devill hath not onely vpon the bodies but vpon the hearts also which he possesseth Is it not more for a man to lay violent handes vpon himselfe than to indure it at the handes of another yet that the devill hath thus farre prevailed with many wee knowe by frequent experience He addeth It is true that the true Martyrs are very well content to suffer death Which proceedeth not from studipity but from loue neither is there an amission or leesing but a submission of sense in them not that paine is away but for the loue of Christ they vanquish and contemne it The Apostle doth rightly expresse the cause of their wonderful pacience In all these he doth not say we are more than men but we are more than conquerours I returne to the Stoickes It fell out that one of that sect was sicke at Lebadia His disease was a fever wherewith hee was so afflicted that he groned deepely and inwardly to himselfe yet would skarcely seeme to doe it Taurus willing to excuse him a philosopher of a diverse profession you haue seene a sight saith hee not pleasaunt yet profitable to bee knowne a philosopher and paine wrestling and combating togither The force and nature of the sicknesse did her office in causing a distraction and vexation of the bodily partes On the other side reason and the nature of the minde did that to them apperteined in repressing the violence of griefe and suffering no howlings or vnseemely outcries to bee heard One that was present replied Why groneth he against his will if paine have no compulsion in it Taurus aunswered that the Stoicke was best able to defend himselfe but withall that it was one of the principles in nature to reioyce in that which is good and to shunne the contrary and that some of the Stoickes themselves did never alovve their indolencye or lacke of passion and lastlye that fortitude vvas not a monster to strive against nature and to delight in stupiditie and immanitie but a knowledge and skill to discerne what was meete to bee suffered what not And therefore because this opinion of the Stoickes is not onelye against nature but the practise of the sonne and all the sonnes of GOD I thought it labour vvell bestowed to overthrowe these sowers of wordes as they called Paul by their ovvne practise and by the iudgemente of other naturall Philosophers Of whome vvee may truelye saye as Plutarckes servant sometimes said of his maister Non est ita ut Plutarchus dicit It is not as my maister saith His opinion is that it is a shame for a Philosopher to bee angry and hee hath often reasoned of the mischiefes that come thereby and hee hath written a booke Of not beinge angrye Et ìpse mihi irascitur and yet is
times to make full restitution of my ancient losses What needed writings in a booke graving in lead or stone but that he was carefull of posterity that the scripture sculpture of his owne conscience ' might be a monument in time to come for other afflicted soules The counsaile which David giveth his troubled soule again again repeated because his sorrowes were againe and often multiplied shal be my last for this time O my soule why art thou cast downe and why art thou disquieted within me I wil not forget to note vnto you that one of the greatest temptations hee then felt and that which fed him with his teares day and night in steede of meate was the daily vpbraiding of his persecutours where is now thy God If they could have battered the fortresse of his hope they had vtterly spoiled him Yet he encourageth that persecuted and downe-trodden soule with harty incitations Why art thou cast downe c. trust in the Lord for I will yet and yet give him thankes for the helpe of his presence Hope is never put to silence never abasheth nor shameth the man that ioyneth her vnto him the sweetest and plesantest companion that ever travailed with the soiourners vpon earth She carrieth them along through all the difficulties and crosses of the way that lie to interrupt them Though they have passed through fire and water shee saith be not discomforted we shall yet give him thankes for the helpe of his presence Though through a life so replenished with misery that they blesse the dead more than the living and count them happier then both that have never bene she saith be of good cheere we shall yet give him thanks and there is time and matter enough wherin to shew his goodnes Yea though they walke into the chambers of death and shut the dores after them and see not the light of heaven still shee biddeth them be bold for they that sleepe in the dust shall arise and sing the dew of their dry bones shal be as fresh as the dew of the hearbes and we shall yet give him thanks for the helpe of his presence I remember that valiant and thrice renowned Athenian when I speake of the tenure and pertinacy of hope who when other-meanes failed grasped the ships of the enimy with his handes to hold them to fight and when his handes were striken of staied them with his teeth till he lost his life Hope can never be put from her hold-fast her voice is according to her nature adhuc confitebor I will yet give thanks in the winter and deadest time of calamities she springeth and cannot die nay shee crieth within her selfe whether I live or die I will not loose my patience for I shall see the day when the Lord shall know mee by my name againe righten my wronges finish my sorrowes wipe the teares from my cheekes treade downe my enimies fulfill mee with the oile of ioy and I shall yet and for ever give thankes for the helpe of his presence THE XXVIII LECTVRE Chap. 2. vers 7. When my soule fainted within mee I remembred the Lorde and my praier came vnto thee into thine holy temple THE two last verses if you remember were but a varied repetition of that which two others had handled before The generall partes of all vvhich were the feare and the hope daunger and comfort of the prophet vvhich two affections or conditions you haue often hearde the whole songe spendeth it selfe vpon His feare and daunger in the last place was that neither water nor earth spared him The waters touching their pride and exaltation came vnto his soule touching their measure promised him no bottome touching their traine and confederates bounde their vveedes about his heade The earth neither lodged him in a smooth and easie floore but vnder the rootes and ragges of mountaines nor in an haven or any the like accessible place but vvithin her barres Notwithstanding the head of the serpent vvith all his subtile devises against the life of the prophet is bruised at the heele of the speech where one little particle of hope wipeth out all the former discomfortes Yet haste thou brought vp c. Once againe as heeretofore I dissembled not with you I must enter into the selfe-same matter of discourse and explication The soule of Ionas may fainte vvithin him as my texte telleth vs the sunne and moone may faile in their motions day night may faile in their courses the earth may faile and totter vpon her proppes the sea and rivers may faile and be emptied of their waters but the worde of the Lorde shall never faile neither in trueth nor in the riches and plentye thereof to minister an everlasting argument to him that dispenseth it Time and speech and audience shall faile but matter can never vvant vvhen that aboundant treasure commeth to bee opened It was well saide by Chrysostome that in a thousande talentes of worldely wordes a man shall hardly finde an hundreth pence of spirituall and heavenly wisedome scarsely tenne halfepence But infinite are the talentes of wisedome that are hidde in the vvoordes of God even when they seeme in the iudgement of man to bee most exhausted The Apostles exhortation to the Colossians is that the worde of the Lorde shoulde dvvell plentifullie amonge them Surely the woorde of GOD in one of the deepest and vvaightiest pointes of knowledgeâ— touching our hope howe to bee vsed and where to bee founded hath once and a seconde time alreadie offered it selfe vnto you VVhither as yet it hath gotten house-roume and dwelling among you I cannot tell Perhappes it did but soiourne in your heartes and was in nature of a passenger to tarry for a night or an howre Or happily as the Levite that came to Gâ—beah in the nineteenth of Iudges it hath sitten in the streetes and no man hath received it into house Or if it hath gotten entraunce and admission it was perforce as those that let downe the sicke man by the tyles of the house the dores being pestered and thronged with multitude that they coulde not haue entrance otherwise it may bee the gates of your heartes beeing stopped vvith multitudes of popular and worldely affaires it tooke some little fastening against your willes But that it may dvvell in your consciences never to departe from them and not in a narrovve corner thereof sparingly and vvith discontentment but in such plentifull manner as the Apostle spake of to enioye her full libertye all other in-mates and associates put aparte all distrustfull cogitations either from the wiles of Sathan or vveakenesse of our flesh remooved the providence of GOD hath so ordered it that after twise navigation as the proverbe is there shoulde bee a thirde iteration of the same doctrine that your heartes for ever might be established VVhen the vision of the sheete vvas sent vnto Peter in the tenth of the Actes the voice was vttered vnto him three times Arise Peter
satisfy his disconteÌ„ted mind by any either lawfull or vnlawfull meanes Now therfore I pray thee take my life froÌ„ me c. Neither did he onely conceaue anger in his minde but he followeth feedeth maintaineth it that we haue iust cause to strike him againe with another sentence of the same wise man Be not thou of an hasty spirit to be angry for anger resteth in the bosome of fooles Damascen maketh three degrees of anger bilem iracundâ—aÌ„ infensioneÌ„ Choler wrath heavy displeasure The one he sayeth hath beginning motion but presently ceaseth the other taketh deeper hold in the memory the third desisteth not without revenge Gregory Nyssen keeping the same number calleth the 1. anger the â— lightnes of the braine the 3. starke staring madnes Clichtoveus compareth the first to fire in stubble which is soone kindled soone put out the secoÌ„d to fire in iron which hardly taketh longer abideth the third to fire that is hid never bewraieth it selfe but with the ruine wast of that matter wherin it hath caught Some are sharp saith Aristotle others are bitter a 3. kind is implacable The anger of Ionas may seeme to haue beene in the third place it cannot bee mitigated Hee desireth nothing so much as that Niniveh may bee overthrowen Hee complaineth persisteth replieth and by no perswasions can bee brought from shewing his displeasure both against God and against his ovvne life To come to my purpose the particulars to bee examined for the better searching out of his fault are 1. that hee prayed vnto the Lord 2. what hee prayed and therein both the substance of his petiton in the 3. verse therefore I beeseech thee take my life from mee and the causes that mooved him so to pray for that the mercy of God had disapointed him I knew that thou art a gratious God c. togither with an exprobration that hee suspected so much when hee was at home And hee prayed vnto the Lorde That Ionas prayed or that he prayed vnto the Lorde I dislike not Happy is that man who either in the midst of anger or of any other offence can pray Hee ever obtaineth either that which hee prayeth for or that which is better or that which is sufficient If Ionas had restinguished and choked the fervour of his wrath with the fervency of the spirit hee had done beyond exception but it is well that he remembreth himselfe any way to bee a prophet and doth not quite forget God and his whole duty towardes him For anger hath a company of most pestilent daughters swelling of the minde so high and so full that there is no roume for any good motion to dwell by it contumely towardes men blasphemy towardes God indignation of heart impatience and clamour of speech violence of handes with other savage and monstrous demeanour as far forth as strength will giue it leaue Anger is cruell saith the Proverbe and wrath is raging but who can stande before Envy I know that the effectes of anger haue beene such as I named before They were such in Simeon and Levi whome Iacob their father vppon his death-bed when all displeasure shoulde haue died with him detested in his verye soule and insteede of blessing cursed them They were such in Saul against Ionathan his owne flesh for excvsing the absence of David and making no more than a iust defence of his innocency wherefore shall hee die What hath hee done When hee tooke vp a iaveling in his hande and woulde haue nailed him to the wall if his marke had not shunned him· It appeareth by that which followeth that if it had beene possible for Ionas to haue commanded fire from heaven as the disciples woulde haue done Luke 9. against a towne of Samaria hee would not haue spared it But anger exerciseth the armes of the stronge ths tongue of the weake Therefore sithence hee hath not power over the thunders and lightnings of God he occupieth but his tongue but whatsoever may be done by the intemperatnes therof he dissembleth it not It is no great commendation to Ionas that hee prayed because hee prayed in choler with a spirit troubled and disordered measuring all thinges not by the wil of God but by the fansies thereof because with such distraction of minde the founteine of his hearte powring forth sweete and sowre togither the words of his lippes directed vnto God but his inward cogitations altogither bestowed in purging himselfe wishing revenge accusing God and other such like forreigne and improper intentions It might haue bene saide to Ionas bending himselfe to prayer in this sort as the prophet spake to Ierusalem wash thy heart from malice how long shall thy wicked thoughts remaine within thee Or as it was said to the Scribes in the gospell why thinke yee evill in your heartes Our saviour counsailed his disciples Mat. 6. when they prayed not to bee as the hypocrites standing at the heades of the streetes but to enter into their chambers and shut the dores vnto them and to pray to their father in secrett that hee might openly reward them Now to what purpose is it to remooue the body from the eies of men to close it vp in a private chamber within walles and dores if the soule haue a troublesome and vnquiet company within anger impacience envie to disturbe her meditations with noise for these must also be put forth as Christ put forth the minstrelles and mourners all the affections of the heart must be repressed the whole strength and might of the soule kept nearely togither without wandering abroade that by their forces vnited in one the goodnesse of the Lorde may the sooner be obtained The oracle gaue aunswere to a man desirous to knowe what art he shoulde vse in praying thou must giue the halfe moone the whole sunne and the anger of a dogge that is cor thy whole heart with every affection belonging vnto it In that introduction of prayer which our Saviour setteth downe in the gospell though there bee sundry branches of requests to God as the sanctifieing of his name the enlardginge of his kingdome or whatsoever else is meete either for the body or the soule of man yet all the rest are passed over with their onely first reciting and the onely exposition which hee leaveth vnto vs is vpon the fift petition wherein wee desire pardon of our owne debts as wee pardon others For there our Saviour addeth culling this one from amidst all the rest and setting his speciall marke vpon it if you forgiue men their trespasses your heavenly father will also forgiue you if not looke accordinglye to bee dealt with His meaning no doubt was that when we bring our gift to the altar the oblation of our lippes and heartes and come not in charity whatsoever we make request for is returned backe againe and our whole offeringirefused as an vnsavory thing which the Lorde hath no
sentence in the last vvordes of the sentence this Ionas knevv hee saieth and vpon that knowledge resolved long since vpon his resolution laboured to prevent it We are now come to that which if Ionas had rightly conceived of it would never haue grieved him to see the bowels of pitty opened enlarged towards his poore brethren Did Ionas know that God was gracious mercifull slow to anger of greate goodnesse repenting him of the evill I will render these variations in as many wordes more did Ionas knovve that God was gracious in affection mercifull in effecte longe suffering in vvayting for the conversion of sinners of greate kindenesse in striking shorte of their sinnes repenting him of the evill in vouchsafing mercy to sinners and remitting their misdeeds Did Ionas know that God was graciois in himselfe by nature mercifull towards his creatures by comunicatioÌ„ long suffering before he inflicteth vengeance of great goodnes in the number measure of his stripes penitent in the stay intermission thereof is it so strange offeÌ„siue vnto him that God should spare Niniveh a thing which his nature maÌ„ner was so inured vnto The words though different in sound the power signification of them not all one yet in the principal they all agree knit their soules togither in the commendation of Gods mercy The 1. importeth a liberall disposition franknesse of heart gratuitall vndeserved benevolence not hyred and much lesse constrained but voluntarily and freely bestowed The 2. a commiseration over other mens miseries motherly bowels tender compassion towardes those that suffer affliction Saul Saul why persecutest thou me We haue not a high Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities I would not the death of a sinner It goeth to his heart when he is driven and inforced to take punishment The 3. bewraieth a nature hard to conceiue not willing to retaine wrath and when it seemeth to be angry not angry indeede vsing rather a fatherly scourge of correction than a rod of revenge The 4. declareth that there is no end of his goodnes although he is somewhat in all things nay all in all yet he is much more in mercy more than in other his properties for his mercy is over all his workes to the good evill friendes enemies that when he giveth he giveth with an open hand not sparingly more than our tongues haue asked or our hearts ever thought of Lastly he repenteth him of the evill that is altereth the word that is gone out of his lips sheweth how easie hee is to be intreated that the rod may be pulled forth of his handes even when he is smiting vs. Paul in his voiage towards Rome speaketh of a certain place which was called the faire havens We are now arrived at the faire havens they are in number many for the harbour and rode of a wearied sea-beaten conscience which hath long bin tossed in a sea of wretchednes more comfortable and safe than ever was the bosome of a mother to her yong infant Happy is the soule that landeth at these havens and blessed be the God of heaven which hath given vs a carde of direction to leade vs there vnto the witnesse of his holy word written and sealed that can never deceiue vs. For these are the words of the ignorant but hee that knew them bare record and his witnes is true they are the wordes of a prophet who spake not by his private motion but as he was mooved by the holie Ghost Nay they are not the wordes of one but of many prophets that in the mouthes of sufficient witnesses they might be confirmed Ionas reciteth them in this place Ioel repeateth them in the second of his prophecy David hath the same thrise in his Psalmes either al or the most part of them Moses in the 14. of Num. bringeth in their perfect catalogue Nay they are not the words either of Moses or David or the prophets but of God himselfe The fountaine and well-head froÌ„ whence they haue all drawne them as Moses there confesseth is the proclamation which God made Exod. 34. wheÌ„ he descended in the cloud delivered his name in this manner the Lord the Lord strong mercifull and gracious slow to anger and abundant in goodnes in truth reserving mercy for thousands forgiving iniquites transgression and sinne Ho all yee that thirst come to the waters of comfort Heare are welles enough to be drawen at drinke at the first fountaine the Lord is gracious and if your appetite be not there quenched go to the second the Lorde is mercifull if you be yet thirsty go to the thirde the Lord is slow to anger thence to the fourth and fifth bibite inebriaminâ— drinke til your seules are more thaÌ„ satisfied Doe you not read 1. Sam. 17 of fiue smooth stones which David chose out of a brooke to fling at Golias here is the brooke my brethren the history of this prophet and these are the fiue smooth stones which are now proposed Let them not lie in the brooke vnhandled vnoccupied but put theÌ„ in your scrip as David did beare theÌ„ in your minds lay theÌ„ vp in your hearts apply theÌ„ to your coÌ„sciences that they may be ready at hand against the face of the Philistine against the force of Satan if ever he steppe forth to deâ—â—e the Lord of hostes or any Israelite in his campe We finde but 3. temptations Mat. 4. that Satan bent against the sonne of God differing both in the place in their strength The 1. was vpoÌ„ the ground of turning stones into bread the 2. vpoÌ„ the pinacle of the teÌ„ple of casting his body downe the 3. vpon an exceeding high mountaine of coÌ„mitting idolatry The 1. concerned his power the 2. his life the 3. his conscience And our Saviour refelled him in al these with 3. several answers But here we haue matter answere enough for more than 3. teÌ„ptations for if Satan obiect vnto vs lower vpon the ground as it were that God is a righteous iudge full of indignation impatience not making the wicked innocent answer him that withal he is a gracious God caÌ„not deny himselfe If he climbe higher in temptatioÌ„ as it were to the pinnacle of the temple reply vpoÌ„ thee but thou art vnworthy of that grace because thou art full of iniquity vnrighteousnes answere him that withal he is a mercifull God and sheweth greatest pitty where there is most need of it If he assault thee a third time thinke to overthrow thee as it were vpon the toppe of a mountaine by telling thee that thou hast long continued in thy sinnes that thou broughtest them from the wombe and they haue dwelt with thee to thy gray haires answere him that God is as much commended for his longe sufferance If yet his mouth be not stopt but he maintaine a further plea against thee
souls spirits one froÌ„ the other lastly if the offer of peace be refused sound wars rumors of wars at their gates such tribulation besides as the like hath never been since the beginning of the creatioÌ„ which God created vnto that time neither shal be again Who knoweth if they wil be softned if not for the loue of vertue nor for the recoÌ„pence that springeth therehence yet for the other cause for fear of the wrath of God which they hear denouÌ„ced It may be feeding a while vpoÌ„ the foode of iudgment as Ezechiel calleth it will breed good bloud in theÌ„ the coÌ„sideration of such misery wil work the 〈◊〉 effect in theÌ„ that the sense of adversity wrought in Ionas I meane to shake of their burtheÌ„ of sin to turne vnto the Lord their God wiâ—h vnfained coÌ„versioÌ„ which was the 2. thing that I propouÌ„ded vnto you in the afflictioÌ„s of the prophet what effect they produced from him I cried in mine affliction Binde Manasses with chaines loade him with irons bow downe his necke and his backe with bonds he will know himselfe Pull the king of Babylon froÌ„ his throne lay his honor insolency in the dust hunt him froÌ„ the coÌ„pany of men banish him froÌ„ his pallace wherin he â—erted like a monarch indeed turne him into the field to eat grasse like an oxe to be wet with the dew of heaveÌ„ you shal find a miracle quickly done an oxe to have more vnderstaÌ„ding thaÌ„ a maÌ„ he wil theÌ„ learne to praise the king of heaveÌ„ whose tower is an everlasting power his kingdoÌ„â— froÌ„ generatioÌ„ to generatioÌ„ The idolatrous Iewes in the 2. of Ier. that being called to the true God spake desparately stifly No but we have loved strangers those wiâ— we follow in their trouble notwithstanding they will cry to the right God arise thou helpe vs. In their affliction they will seeke him diligently will take sound words into their lips Come and let vs returne to the Lord for he hath spoiled he wil heale vs he hath wounded he wil binde vs vp Let Moab settle it selfe vpon her lees not be emptied froÌ„ vessel to vessel her sent wil remaine in her Doth the wild asse bray wheÌ„ he hath grasse or the oxe low wheÌ„ he hath fodder But take away the grasse from the wilde asse he wil be tameâ— fodder froÌ„ the oxe you shal heare him rore Ther must be a whirl-winde raised a fiery chariot prepared to carry Elias into heaveÌ„ there must be heresies to try the approved there must be a furnace to purge the silver gold there must be a fire to fine the sonnes of Levi there must be an angel of Sathan to keepe Paul from pride A pilote must be tried by a tempest saith Basile a runner by a race a captaine by a battaile a christian by calamity tentation provocation misery Wherin if poisons become preservatives froÌ„ the venime of serpents the wisedome of God can extract an antidote against the venime of serpents if all things shall worke togither to the best for those that are Christes if evill by nature shall be made good by his powrefull art if the waters of a floud overspreading the whole globe of the earth bee so far from drowning the Arke that they shall lift it higher and bring it nearer to the presence of God if afflictions I meane by the good haÌ„dling of our gracious God be not afflictions but medicines the more they encrease vpon vs the nearer they land vs to the haven of his blessings how truely may we say acknowledge with Barnard Totus mundus fideli divitiarum est the whole worlde is riches to a faithful maÌ„ even when it seemeth to be poverty with Augustine that nothing happeneth to man from the Lord our God but coÌ„meth in the nature of mercie when tribulation it selfe is such a benefite For both prosperity is his gift comforting and adversity his gift admonishing vs. A very vnlikely seede to yeeld such fruit as bitter as mustard seede but give it leave to growe the fruit shall be very pleasant The wicked vnderstand not this the vnwise have not knowledge of his waies She crieth in the comoedy shee presenteth the person of them all that are her companions Hanccine ego partem capio ob pietatem praecipuam Tum hoc mihi indecorè iniquè immodestè datis dij Nam quid habebunt sibi igitur impij post hac c. Is this my portion guerdon for my especial piety theÌ„ do the gods reward me very vnsemely vniustly vnreasonably For how shal the wicked hereafter be dealt with if the godly be thus honored amoÌ„gst you Augustine in his preface vpon the 25. Psalme laieth downe the like coÌ„plaints of some O Deus Deus Haecciné est iustitia tua O God God is this thy iustice the Lorde answereth them againe haecciné est fides tua is this thy faith hast thou so learned Christ is this the best instruction thou hast found in my law to murmure against my discipline possesse thy soule therfore in patience whosoever thou art leave the ordering of these things to the wisdome of God with whoÌ„e it is alike to sweeten the pot of the prophets with meale the waters of Iericho with salt to cure the eies of Tobias with a gall to streÌ„gthen the sight of IonathaÌ„ with an honi-coÌ„be Some he healeth by hony some by gall some by salt some by meale some by sower some by sweete some by piping soÌ„e by daÌ„cing some by prosperity some by afflictioÌ„ but al by some meanes or other that have a longing desire to the waies of happines Now then againe I say if it be a good thing sometimes to be humbled of the Lord for till we are huÌ„bled coÌ„monly we go astray if it be an happy pricking of the body that maketh a pricking in the hart if expedient for al sorts of meÌ„ that the hand of the Lord shoulde nowe and then take holde on them because a sinner is amended the righteous is instructed thereby because gold is prooved iron is scowred by this meanes if when the outward man is corrupted the inwardâ— iâ— renued daily 2. Cor. 4. and there is honour in dishonour riches in poverty life in â—eath possessing all thinges in having nothing 2. Cor. 6. if when the fatheâ—s of our flesh chasten vs for their pleasures the father of our spirites correcteth vs for our profit that we may be partakers of his holineâ— though â—o chastisement seeme ioious for the time yet it bringeth the quiet fruit of righteousnes to those that are exercised thereby if when the body of Iâ—nas was in thrall beneath the soule of Ionas triumphed aloft and when the tongue of his flesh could not speake perhaps a word skarce muâ—ter to it selfe the tongue of