literally It is also taken spiritually for the Church either militant here on earth or Triumphant in heauen For the Church Militant Psal 128.5 Thou shalt see the wealth of Ierusalem all thy life long And for the Church Triumphant Gal. 4.26 Ierusalem which is aboue is free The Catholique Church Militant and Triumphant is called Ierusalem because Ierusalem was a type thereof Ierusalem was a type of the Catholike Church in sundry respects 1. God did choose Ierusalem aboue all other places of the earth to r Psal 132.13 Psal 135.21 dwell in So the Catholike Church the company of the predestinate God hath chosen to be a peculiar people vnto himselfe 2. Ierusalem is a Citie Å¿ Psal 122.3 compact in it selfe by reason of the bond of loue and order among the Citizens So the faithfull the members of the Catholike Church are linked together by the bond of one Spirit 3 Ierusalem was the place of Gods sanctuary the place of his presence and worship where the promise of the seed of the woman was preserued till the comming of the Messias Now the Catholike Church is in the roome thereof In the Catholike Church we must seeke the presence of God and the word of life 4 In Ierusalem was the t Psal 122.5 the throne of Dauid So in the Catholike Church is the throne and scepter of Christ figured by the Kingdome of Dauid 5 The commendation of Ierusalem was the subiection and obedience of her citizens The Catholike Church hath her citizens too Eph. 2.19 and they doe yeeld voluntary obedience and subiection to Christ their King 6 In Ierusalem the names of the citizens were inrolled in a register So the names of all the members of the Catholike Church are inrolled in the booke of life Reuel 20.15 You see now what Ierusalem is literally and what spiritually Literally it is that much honoured City in Iudeâ— the u Psal 46.4 City of God euen the sanctuary of the tabernacle of the most High Spiritually it is the holy Church of Christ either his Church Militant on earth or his Church Triumphant in Heauen Now the Ierusalem in my text from whence the Lord is said to vtter his voice is either Ierusalem in the literall or Ierusalem in the spirituall vnderstanding it is either Ierusalem the mother City of Iudea or Ierusalem the Church of Christ Militant vpon earth or Ierusalem aboue the most proper place of Gods residence So that Ierusalem here is the same with Sion an Exposition of Sion The Lord shall roare from Sion that is in other words The Lord shall vtter his voice from Ierusalem Marke I beseech you beloued in the Lord The Lord shall roare not from Dan and Bethel where Ieroboams calues were worshipped but from Sion the mountaine of his holinesse and he shall vtter his voice not from Samaria drunken with Idolatry but from Ierusalem the x Zach. 8.3 city of truth wherein the purity of Gods worship did gloriously shine We may take from hence this lesson Sion and Ierusalem are to be frequented that thence hearing God speake vnto vs we may learne what his holy will is To speake more plainly This is the lesson which I commend vnto you The place where God is serued and the exercises of his religion are practised must be carefully frequented That I may the more easily perswade you to come vnto and to frequent this place this house of God his holy Church and Temple I bring you a guide This guide is a King and leads you the way the blessed King Dauid I beseech you marke his affection Psal 84.1 O Lord of hosts how amiable are thy tabernacles My soule longeth yea and fainteth for thy courts Marke his loue Psal 26.8 O Lord I haue loued the habitation of thine house and the place where thine honour dwelleth Marke the earnestnesse of his zeale Psal 42.1 2. As the Hart brayeth for the riuers of water so panteth my soule after thee O God My soule thirsteth for God euen for the liuing God when shall I come and appeare before the presence of God Let this holy King King Dauid be the patterne of your imitation Beloued you must haue an earnest loue and desire to serue God in the assembly of his Saints you must much esteeme of the publike exercise of religion It is Gods effectuall instrument and mean to nourish beget you to the hope of a better life In what case then are you when you absent your selues from this and the like holy assemblies when either you come hither carelesly or else doe gracelesly contemne this place Here is Sion here is Ierusalem here God speaketh to you in the language of Canaan and here may you speake to him againe with your owne mouthes It is euery mans duty the duty of euery one that loues God to come vnto Gods house his house of prayer In this respect thus saith the Lord Esay 56.7 Mine house shall bee called the house of prayer for all people For all people there is no difference betweene the y Galat. 3.28 Iew and the Grecian betweene the bond and the free betweene the male and the female for our Lord who is Lord ouer all z Rom. 10.12 is rich vnto all that call vpon him Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people To imprint this sentence in your hearts it is repeated vnto you Mat. 23.13 Where Iesus Christ to the mony-changers and doue-sellers whom hee found in the Temple vseth this speech It is written mine house shall be called an house of prayer but ye haue made it a den of theeues Iunius his note vpon the place is good Qui domo Dei non vtitur ad orationis domum is eò deuonit vt speluncam latronum efficiat eam Whosoeuer vseth not the house of God for a house of prayer he commeth thither to make it a den of theeues Let vs take heed beloeed in the Lord whensoeuer we come vnto the Church the house of God that we be not partakers of this sharpe censure Ecclesiastes chap. 4.17 giueth a profitable caueat Take heed to thy feet when thou â—nterest into the house of God intimaâ—ing thus much that of duty we are to enter into the house of God Though the Temple in Ierusalem and all the worship in ceremonies that was annexed to it are taken away yet is Salomons caueat good for vs still Take heed to thy feet when thou enterest into the house of God For we also haue Gods house where he is chiefly to be sought and worshipped euen in euery place appointed by publike authority for publike assemblies Wherefore I pray you hath God giuen his Church a 1 Cor. 12.27 some Apostles some Prophets some Euangelists some Pastors some Teachers Is it not as we are taught Ephes 4.12 for the gathering together of the Saints for the worke of the ministerie and for the edifying of the Body of Christ See you not here a forcible argument and
turned Good Lord open thou our eares that if it be thy holy will either to Roare vnto vs or to speake with a milder voice either to come against in iudgement or to visit vs in mercy wee may readily heare thee and yeeld obedience and as obedient children receiue the promise of eternall inheritance So when the time of our separation shall be that we must leaue this world a place of darknesse of trouble of vexation of anguish thou Lord wilt translate vs to a better place a place of light where darknesse shall be no more a place of rest where trouble shall be no more a place of delight where vexation shall be no more a place of endlesse and vnspeakable ioyes where anguish shall be no more There this corruptible shall put on incorruption and our mortality shall be swallowed vp of life Euen so be it THE Fourth Lecture AMOS 1.2 And hee said the Lord shall roare from Sion and vtter his voice from Ierusalem and the dwelling places of the shepherds shall perish and the top of Carmel shall wither IN my last exercise I entreated of the Speaker Now am I to entreat of the places from whence hee speaketh expressed in two names Sion and Ierusalem The Lord shall roare from Sion and vtter his voice from Ierusalem c. Sion I read in holy Scripture of two Sions The one is Deut. 4.48 a hill of the Amorites the same with Hermon Moses there calleth it a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sion by the figure b Iunius in Deut. 3.9 Syncope the right name of it is c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sirion and so recorded Deut. 3.9 The other d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sion is the Sion in my Text mount Sion in Iudah vpon the â—op whereof was another mountaine e Drusius obseru 14.21 Not. Iunius in Psal 48.3 Moria vpon which stood the Temple of the Lord. Before it was called the f 2 Sam. 5.7 Tower or Fort of Sion It was a fortresse a bulwarke a strong hold and place of defence for the Iebusites the inhabitants of the land against their enemies Against these Iebusites King Dauid came with a warlike power speedily surprised their fort built round about it dwelt in it and called it his g The City of Dauid owne City as appeareth 2 Sam. 5.9 This is the city of Dauid so much h 2 Sam 5.7 1 King 8.1 1 Chron. 11.5 2 Chron. 5.2 mentioned in the sacred bookes of Samuel the Kings and Chronicles To this his owne City mount Sion Dauid accompanied with the Elders and Captaines of Israel i 2 Sam. 6.15 brought the Arke of the Lord with shouting with cornets with trumpets with cymbals with viols with harps as is plaine by the story 1 Chron. cap. 15. and 16. Now began the holy exercises of religion duly to be obserued in this city of Dauid mount Sion was now the place of the Name of the Lord of boasts Hitherto belongeth that same excellent description and commendation of mount Sion Psal 48.1 2 3. Mount Sion lying northward from Ierusalem is faire in situation It is the city of the great King the city of God Gods holy mountaine the ioy of the whole earth In the palaces thereof God is well knowne for a sure refuge In this city of Dauid the holy mount Sion the Lord of hoasts whom the k 1 Kâ—ng 8.27 2 Chron. 6.18 Heauens and the Heauen of Heauens are not able to containe is said to l Psal 74.2 dwell Psal 9.11 not that hee is tied to any place but because there were the most manifest and often testimonies of his residence Thus is Sion taken literally It is also taken spiritually by a Synecdoche for the Church Spouse and Kingdome of Christ as Psal 2.6 where God is said to haue annointed his King ouer Sion the hill of his holinesse Sion there is not to be vnderstood the terrestriall Sion by Ierusalem but another Sion elect and spirituall not of this world holy Sion so called for the grace of sanctification powred out vpon it euen the holy Church of Christ whereto doe appertaine the holy Patriarchs the Prophets the Apostles the vniuersall multitude of beleeuers throughout not only Israel but the whole world Sion in this signification is obuious in holy Scripture To which sense by the daughters of Sion in the m Psal 149. â— Psalmes of Dauid in n Cantic 3.11 Salomons song in the prophecies of o Esay 3 16 17. Psaâ— 4.4 Esay and p Ioel. 2.23 Ioel you may vnderstand the faithfull members of the Church of Christ There is yet one other signification of Sion It s put for Heauen as learned Drusius in his notes vpon my text obserueth The like obseruation is made by Theophylact and Oecumenius commenting vpon Heb. 12.22 Now the Sion in my text from whence the Lord is said to roare to speake terribly and dreadfully is either the Temple vpon mount Sion by Ierusalem or the Church of Christ wherof Sion is a type Sion the holy one of Israel whose walls are saluation and gates praise or the Heauen of Heauens the most proper place of Gods residence Ierusalem Of old this city was called Salem as Gen. 14.18 when Melchisedeck King thereof brought forth bread and wine to refresh Abram and his followers Afterward it was possessed by the Iebusites and named Iebus Iudg. 19.10 Peter Martyr in 2 Sam. 5.6 from both these names Iâ—bus and Salem supposeth that by the change of a few letters Ierusalem hath had her name and not from the mountaines called Solymi as some doe coniecture but erre for that the mountaines Solymi were in Pisidia not in Iudea Many were the names of this city Some of them Benedictus in his marginall note vpon Iosua chap. 10. nameth in a distich Solyma Luza Bethel Ierosolyma Iebus Helia Vrbs sacra Ierusalem dicitur atque Salem In this distich 9. names of this one city are couched together Solyma Ierosolyma Ierusalem Iebus Salem Bethel Helia Luza the holy City Drusius obseruat sacr lib. 14. cap. 21. noteth that Ierusalem did consist of two parts the one was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the lower city the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the higher city This higher city was Sion or mount Sion whereof you haue already heard and was diuersly tearmed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the city of Dauid the fort the fort of Sion the tower of Sion But I come not to preach names vnto you Will you heare of the honour of this city they that were aliue when Ierusalem flourished to haue q Psal 48.12 numbred her towers to haue considered her wals to haue marked her bulwarks and to haue told their posterity of it might haue made a report scarcely to haue bin beleeued This we know by Ps 48.4 5. When the Kings of the earth were gathered together and saw it they maruelled they were astonied and suddenly driuen backe Thus is Ierusalem taken
Syntagm Disput Sedan loc 2. De origine sacrae Scripturae §. 32. pag. 17. Telenus tels mee of a champion of that side as farre forward as he who saith Melius consultum fuisse Ecclesiae si nulla vnquam extitisset Scriptura that had there neuer beene any Scripture the Church had beene better prouided for then now it is Sedens in coelis ridet there 's a God in heauen that hath these wicked impes in derision vpon whom for their taunts contumelies and reprcches against his sacred word hee will one day poure out his full viols of wrath then will he crush them with his scepâ—er of iron and breake them in pieces like potters vessâ—ls You haue the fiâ—st vse A second followeth Is the liuing and immortall God the author of holy Scripture Heere then is a lesson for vs whom God hat set a part to be Preachers and Expounders of his will We must handle his sacred Scripture as his holy word wee must euer come vnto you as my Prophet heere did to the Israelites with Thus saith the Lord in our mouthes Wee may not speake either the imagination of our owne braines or the vaine perswasions of our own hearts We must sincerely preach vnto you Gods gracious word without all corruption or deprauing of the same To this S Peter well exhorteth vs in his 1. Epist and chap. 4.11 If any man speake let him speake as the word of God For if wee yea if an Angell from Heauen shall preach otherwise vnto you then from the Lords own mouth speaking in his holy word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let him be accursed let him be had in execration The third vse of this doctrine is peculiar vnto you Beloued who are auditors and hearers of the word Is the liuing and immortall God the author of holy Scripture Then Beloued it is your part to heare vs with attention and reuerence whensoeuer wee stand before you to expound Gods holy Scripture S. Paul commendeth the Thessalonians Epist 1. chap. 2.13 For that whensoeuer they receiued of the Apostles of Christ the word of the preaching of God they receiued it not as the word of men but as it was indeede the word of God In like sort if you receiue it it will saue your soules It is able so to doe S. Iames shall bee your pledge chap. 1.21 Receiue it therefore with meeknesse that by it your soules may liue God spake vnto Israel in a vision by night and sayd Gen. 46.2 Iaacob Iaacob Iaacob answered I am heere He was prest and ready with all reuerent attention to heare what his God would say vnto him and to follow the same with all faithfull obedience Such readinesse well becommeth euery childe of God at this day in the Church where God speaketh Thus must hee thinke within himselfe It is thine ordinance ô Lord by thy word preached to instruct me concerning thy holy will I am heere Lord in all humble feare to heare thy blessed pleasure what this day thou wilt put into the mouth of the Preacher to deliuer vnto me I am heere speake on Lord thy seruant heareth If a Prince of this world or some great man shall speake vnto you you will attend and giue eare vnto him with all diligence how much more then ought yee so to doe when the King of Heauen and Lord of the Earth the liuing and immortall God calleth vpon you by his Ministers What remaineth but that you suffer a word of Exhortation It shall bee short in S. Pauls words Coloss 3.16 Holy and beloued as the elect of God let the word of God dwell plenteously in you in all wisdome This word of God it is his most royall and celestiall Testament it is the oracle of his heauenly Sanctuarie it is the only key vnto vs of his reuealed counsels it is milke from his sacred breasts the earnest and pledge of his fauor to his Church the light of our feete the ioy of our hearts the breath of our nostrils the pillar of our faith the anchor of our hope the ground of our loue the euidence of our future blessednes Let this word of God dwell plenteously in you in all wisdom So shall your wayes by it be clensed and your selues made cleane Yet a very litle while he that shall come will come will not tarry euen our Lord Iesus Christ who finding your wayes clensed and your selues made cleane by his sacred word will in his due time translate you from this valley of teares into Ierusalem which is aboue the most glorious Citie of God There shall this corruptible put on incorruption and our mortalitie shall be swallowed vp of life Euen so be it THE II. LECTVRE AMOS 2.1 2 3. Thus saith the Lord for three transgressions of Moab and for foure I will not turne to it because it burnt the bones of the King of Edom into lime Therefore will I send a fire vpon Moab and it shall devoure the pallaces of Kirioth and Moab shall dye with tumult with shouting and with the sound of a trumpet And I will cut off the Iudge out of the midst thereof and will slay all the Princes thereof with him saith the Lord. IN the former Sermon I handled the Preface The Prophecie is now to be spoken vnto The first part therein is The accusation of Moab in these words For three transgressions of Moab and for foure Where we are to consider 1. Who are accused 2. For what they are accused The accused are the Moabites and they are accused of many breaches of the Law of God First of the accused Moab was one of the sonnes of Lot begotten in incest vpon his eldest daughter Gen. 19.37 From him by lineall descent came these Moabites a people inhabiting that part of the East which is commonly knowne by the name of Coelesyria but was formerly the possession of the Amorites These Moabites like their brethren the Ammonites were professed enemies to the people of God and did euermore very grieuously afflict and vex them In which respect they were for euer by God his singular commandment excluded from the Church Gods commandement is expressed Deut. 23.3 The Ammonites and the Moabites shall not enter into the Congregation of the Lord. And it s repeated Nehem. 13.1 The Ammonites and the Moabites shall not enter into the Congregation of God Thus haue you the accused euen the Moabites the posteritie of Moab who was Lots sonne inhabitants of Coelesyria and borderers vpon the Holy Land the possession of the Israelites Now what are they accused of Of many breaches of Gods law in these words For three and foure transgressions This phrase we met with fiue times in the former chapter and haue heard it diuersly expounded The most naturall proper and significant exposition commended to you was by three and foure a finite and certaine number to vnderstand many a number infinite vncertaine For three transgressions of Moab and for foure that is for many transgressions of the
taking heed vnto your wayes according to the word of God as you are aduised Ps 119.9 All men I know would be blessed but then must they delight in the word of God and make it their meditation day and night as it is Psal 1.2 If we leaue the word of God which is the lampe and light of God then are we forthwith in darknes we are in error Is it so beloued Then secondly let vs bring and offer to our gracious God the calues of our lips the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiuing for that it pleaseth him for our direction in this valley of darknes and shadow of death to giue vs the light of his most precious word He hath not dealt so with many nations of the earth Many there are that haue not the light of his word And where this light is not there can be nothing but darknes Is it so beloued Then thirdly is the Church of Rome very iniurious to the people of God to with-hold and keepe from them this light of the word of God Is it not plaine they do so when they forbid the Scriptures to be translated into any Vulgar tongue and so seale them vp from the vnderstanding of the ignorant and vnlearned They willingly send the Scriptures abroad in the Hebrew Greeke and Latine tongues but what are the common people of any Nation hereby benefited Do they vnderstand the Hebrew Greeke or Latin A Papist will answer there is no necessitie that the vulgar sort should vnderstand those ancient sacred tongues The f Raâ—ford Directorie cap. 56. Church hath appointed learned men alwayes to instruct the simple out of the booke of God with such histories and lessons as may be most fit to edifie and help them in the way to Heauen I grant there is no necessitie yea it cannot be that the common people should vnderstand the Hebrew Greeke and Latin tongues but I adde it is therefore necessarie that the Holy Scripture should be translated into vulgar and knowne tongues euen for the vnderstanding of the common people as this day through Gods goodnes we haue them in our English tongue nor dismembred and very much corrupted as Radford would beare the world in hand but more perfectly rendred then euer was that old vulgar Latin edition obtruded to the Christian world for Authenticall by the g Sess 3 cap. 2. Trent Fathers The exception taken against the translation of the Scriptures into vulgar and knowne tongues is vaine and ridiculous They say that great and marueilous inconveniences and discommodities haue fallen out through such translations How proue they this They will seeme to proue it by sundry instances 1. They tell vs of a h Staphylus de BiblioruÌ„ traÌ„slatione pag. 492. Painter of Prussia who because he had in Luthers German Bible read of Lot his incest aduentured to abuse his owne daughter 2. They tell vs of a i Idem ex Joh. Gastio Brisac lib. de Catabâ—pâ—â—siu woman of k Monastrij in Westphalia who hauing diligently perused the historie of Iudith and Holofernes attempted by the example of Iudith secretly to kill the Bishop of Munster 3. They tell vs of l Iâ—hannes â—ugdunensis Sarcinater Bâ—tavus Iohn of Leiden who would be as a King because m Staphylus vbi suprà p. 494. ex Sleidan lib. 10. Iosuah was such and would haue the toleration of many wiues because the Patriarchs had many 4. They tell vs of n Idem ex Aenea Sylvio in historia â—â—emorum Grubenheimer who because he had read in Genesis Encrease and multiplie approued that in their night conuenticles their lights extinguished they might commit filthinesse not to be spoken These foure instances are brought by Frid. Staphylus in his treatise of the translation of the Bible into vulgar idomes 5. They tell vs of Dauid George a Batauian who by reading the Scriptures in his mother tongue was perswaded of himselfe that he was the sonne of God and the Messias 6. They tell vs of an English woman who hearing the Minister of the Parish where shee liued read out of Eccles 25. somewhat against wicked women which pleased her not rose vp from her seate and sayd Is this the word of God Nay rather it is the word of the Deuill These two latter instances are brought by Cardinall Bellarmine lib. 2. de verbo Dei cap. 15. To these and the former vrged by Bellarmine and Staphylus to shew the inconueniences and discommodities of hauing the Bible in vulgar and knowne languages I thus briefly reply Shall sober men be forbidden the vse of meates and drinkes because many surfet of them This you will grant to be very absurd and vnreasonable So absurd is it and vnreasonable that the people of God should be forbidden the vse of the booke of God in their vulgar knowne languages because a few vnstable persons such as were the aforenamed the Painter of Prussia the Cobler of Leyden Grubenheimer Dauid George and two silly women the one of Westphaelia the other of England abused so rich a treasure to their owne ouerthrowes This my reply agreeth with that answere which o Animaduers in Bellarm. Controu 1. lib. 2. cap. 15. §. 63. Iunius giueth vnto Bellarmine Non conuenit vt propter eos qui abutuntur malè praecludatur aut eripiatur Scriptura eis qui sunt vsuri benè It s not conuenient that for their sakes who doe to ill purpose abuse the Scriptures the Scriptures should be sealed vp and barred from such as would vse them well The reason which Dr Bucknham sometimes Prior of the Black-fryers in Cambridge for this very purpose brought against Mr Latimer is altogether as vaine and friuolous The danger of hauing the Bible in our English tongue hee prooued after this manner The plowman hearing that in the Gospell by St Luke Chap. 9.62 No man that layeth his hand on the plow and looketh backe is meete for the kingdome of God may peraduenture cease from his plow likewise the baker hearing that Galat. 5.9 A little leauen corrupteth a whole lumpe of dow may per-case leaue our bread vnleauened and so our bodies shall be vnseasoned Also the simple man hearing that Math. 5.29 If thy right eye offend thee plucke it out and cast it from thee may make himselfe blind and so fill the world full of beggers This friarly and bald reason of Dr Bucknham is not worthy any other answere then the wish of Latimer p Fox Martyrol pag. 1904. Edit Lond. An. 1570. Latimers wish was that the Scripture may be so long in our English tongue till English men be so mad the plowman not to looke backe the baker not to leauen his bread the simple man to pluck out his owne eye See you not Beloued how iniurious the Papists would be towards you were they Lords ouer you The light of Gods word the incomparable and heauenly treasure they would seale vp from you in an vnknowne tongue
to keepe out of their sight But if the way here be figuratiuely taken as well it may by a metaphor for their cause their right their businesse their trade or course of life then are we here to vnderstand that the richer sort of the Israelites did peruert the right of the poore did hinder their purposes did disturbe their courses and did so confound them that they were not able to make any prouision for themselues This metaphoricall signification of a way we meet with Exod. 18.20 There Moses is counselled by Iethro to shew his people the way wherein they were to walke We meet with it also in the Booke of Iob Chap. 17.9 There Iob sayth the righteous shall hold on his way We meete with it in many other places of holy writ which I must now let passe in all which as in this place the way betokeneth the cause of a man his right his busines his trade or course of life Aâ—ter this figuratiue signification some doe thus expound these words They turne aside the way of the meeke or They peruert the way of the poore that is the Israelites their rulers and gouernours the rich among them doe take in ill part what so euer the poore say or doe All their words all their deeds are found fault with Some malicious inuention or surmise is euer at hand to lay the blame vpon them This I take to be the fittest exposition for this place Here then we haue the fourth sinne wherewith the Israelites are here charged It is Caluninia their false accusing of the poore a sinne that euermore attendeth vpon Oppression For the cruell and couetous wretch who is perswaded that his greatnesse chiefly consisteth in the oppression of the poore will be sure so to prouide to keepe the poore vnder that they shall neuer be able to reuenge the wrongs done vnto them Let the poore man slip but vnaduisedly or ignorantly the lawes must by and by take hold on him whereas the Rich man the lawes are but as Cobwebs he breakes throw them all Hence is that common saying the poore man doth nothing well the rich man nothing ill Yea let the poore man doe all things well yet will some rich calumniator euer be ready to giue an ill construction of his best wayes or as the phrase in my text is to turne aside the way of the meeke or to peruert the way of the poore The lesson which we are to take from hence for our instruction is this The poore man which vseth any honest trade or course of life is not to be turned out of his way his words and actions are not to be mis-interpreted The reason of this doctrine is plaine in the sixth verse of this Chapter The Lord will not turne away his punishments from the offenders in this kind from such as turne aside or peruert the way of the meeke and the poore The vse of this doctrine concerneth all those whom God hath blessed with the wealth of this world It is their dutie not to be carelesse of the poore not to grieue them not to hinder them in their honest courses not to turne them aside out of their lawfull wayes You that haue wherewith to maintaine your selues abundantly you may not exempt your selues from doing seruice vnto God with your abundance Yea you must straine yourselues to the vttermost of your powers to relieue and succour such as are in scarcitie and in want This is a sacrifice that God requireth at your hands Offer it willingly and you shall haue a reward Your reward it shall not be a corruptible Crowne It shall be a Crowne of eternitie It shall be the possession of Heauen it selfe The poore shall carry you thither There is to this purpose a sweete meditation of S. Austin Serm. 245. de Tempore There hee bâ—ingeth in God thus speaking to the rich man Te diuitem feci tibi quod dares dedi laturarios tibi pauperes feci I haue made thee rich I haue giuen to thee that thou mightest giue to others I haue made the poore to be thy porters to be the Cariers of thine almes and thee into Heauen To this sense doth the same S. Austine Serm. 25. de verbis Domini call the poore man viam Coeli the way to Heauen Via Coeli est pauper per quam venitur ad Patrem The poore man is the way to heauen by which we come vnto the Father Incipe ergo erogare si non vis errare Begin therefore to errogate to distribute to lay out vpon the poore if thou wilt not wander or stray from the way to Heauen Loose thou the fetters of thy patrimony in this life that hereafter thou mayest haue free accesse into Heauen Cast away the burthen of thy riches cast away thy voluntarie bonds cast away thy anxieties thy irkesomnesse wherewith for many yeares thou hast beene disquieted Da pâ—tenti vt possis ipse accipere Giue to him that asketh of thee an almes that thou maist thy selfe receiue mercy Tribue pauperi si non vis flammis exuri Giue vnto the poore if thou wilt not be burnt in the flames of Hell fire Da in terrâ Christo quae tibi reddat in Coelo Giue to Christ on earth and Christ will repay thee in Heauen The like hath the same good father Serm. 227. de Tempore Si aperueris pauperibus manus tuas Christus tibi aperiet januas suas vt Paradisi possessor introeas If thou wilt open thy hand vnto the poore Christ will open his gates vnto thee that thou maist enter the possession of Paradise the Paradise of Heauen It is a Paradise for pleasure but a Citie for beautie and a Kingdome for state There is God in his fulnesse of glorie and raignes in iustice The companie there are all triumphant they are all invested with glorie crowned in maiestie clothed in sinceritie Their faces shine with beautie their hearts are filled with pietie their tongues extoll the Lord with spirituall alacritie in their hands they beare palmes in token of victorie No tongue can vtter no heart can conceiue the boundlesse and endlesse happinesse that shal be enioyed there This we know that our corruption shall there put on incorruption and our mortalitie shall be swallowed vp of life Euen so be it THE X. LECTVRE AMOS 2.7 And a man and his father will goe in vnto the same maid to prophane my holy name THey who haue begun to goe beyond the lines and the limits prefined vnto them in the word of God doe by little and little proceed from euill to worse from one wickednesse to another This you haue seene verified in these Israelites You haue seene their crueltie their couetousnesse their oppressions their calumnies They were cruell they sold the righteous they sold the poore ver 6. They were couetous they sold the righteous for siluer they sold the poore for a paire of shoes in the same verse They were oppressours they panted after the dust of the earth
what was the minde and saying of them all saith peremptorily that Ignorance is the mother of deuotion yet the Author of the Wardword shamelesly denieth that the Papists haue any such assertion All the harme I wish them is that they had no such But it appeareth by the whole practise and policy of that side that they are fully perswaded that without deepe Ignorance of the people it is not possible for their Church to stand Therfore as B. Iewel in his Reply to Master Harding Art 37. hath well obserued they chase the simple from the Scriptures they drowne them in ignorance and suffer them vtterly to know nothing neither the profession they made in Baptisme nor the meaning of the holy Mysteries nor the price of Christs bloud nor wherein nor by whom they may be saued nor what they desiâ—e of God either when they pray together in the Church or when they priuately pray alone Verily it is with them as it was with the Scribes and Pharises those Hypocrites vnto whom a woe is denounced by our Sauiour Matth. 23.13 They shut vp the Kingdome of Heauen bâ—fore men For they neiâ—her goe in themselues neither doe they suffer them that would to enter For all the faire shewes they make for all they curiously paint ouer this rotten post with the colours of their deuotion yet the truth is by depriuing the people of knowledge they depriue them also of saluation and make them subiect to vtter destruction and so by consequent they make themselues guilty of the sinne and ruine of the people of both which they haue beene the principall causes I haue purposely beene liberall in setting before you the amplification from the Genus nor need I beg pardon for prolixity It was necessary for this Text no lesse for these times Now followeth the amplification from the Species who store vp violence and robbery in their palaces 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Haotzerim in the originall is from the root 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Atzar which signifieth to treasure vp to hoard vp to store vp to lay vp as in a store house And accordingly runne the translations the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who treasure vp So the old Latine Thesaurizantes Drusius qui thesauirzant Tremelius Piscator and Buxtorfius qui thesauros faciunt all these are for the gathering or making of treasures Vatablus and Mercer haue qui recondunt who lay vp Targum hath Implentes cellaria sua filling their Cellars or storehouses Our English translation is for storing vp But what is it that is thus treasured laid or stored vp 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chamas vaschod Chamas with the Greekes is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnrighteousnesse with the old Interpreter Iniquitas its Iniquity with Caluin Oecolampadius and Gualter Rapina its Rauine with Brentius Iniuria its Iniury with Tremelius Drusius and Piscator Violentia its Violence and so it is with vs. So see stored vp in the first place Vnrighteousnesse Iniquity Rauine Iniury and Violence Next is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Schod and that is likewise diuersly translated with the Greekes it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Misery with the old Latine it is Rapina Rauine with Caluin and Gualter Praeda a prey booty or spoile with Brentius Deuastatio with Tremelius and Piscator Vastatio with Drusius and Oecolampadius Vastitas a wasting a spoiling a ransacking with Vatablus and Mercer Direptio a polling pilling or robbing with vs it is Robbery So see stored vp in the second place Misery Râ—uine Preyes Booties Spoiles Wasting Ransacking Polling Piâ—ling Robberie But where is all this to be seene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in their places so the Septuagint in aedibus suis in their houses so the Vulgar in palatijs suis in their palaces so all the rest and this last best agreeth with the Hebrew Thus haue you the exposition of these words from their diuers readings The manner of speech which our Prophet here vseth would be obserued They store vp violence and robbery in their palaces But how can violence and robbery be stored vp In their effects they may By violence and robbery vnderstand the effects of violence and robbery goods riches and treasures gotten by violence and robbery and these were too familiarly stored vp They store or treasure vp violence and robbery that is they gather together treasures of violence and robbery And wee say treasures of violence and robbery as Salomon saith treasures of iniquity Prou. 10.2 The treasures of iniquity profit not By treasures of iniquity Caietan Iansen Rodolphus Salazar hee meaneth such treasures as wicked men doe get by wicked meanes contra jus fasque against right and reason The like phrase our Sauiour vseth Luk. 16.9 Make to your selues De mammona iniquitatis of the Mammon of vnrighteousnesse or of the riches of vnrighteousnesse By the mammon or riches of vnrighteousnesse he meaneth such riches as vnrighteous men doe get by vnrighteous or vnlawfull meanes Stella So here may we call the treasures of violence and robbery such treasures as violent and cruell men such as couetous men and robbers doe gather together by pilling by polling by robbing by wasting by spoiling by ransacking the poore fatherlesse widowes and other distressed persons And these riches thus gathered together they lay vp in palatijs suis In their palaces By mentioning their palaces our Prophet here taxeth and twiteth the great ones of Israel as if they had built stately and sumptuous houses Ex pauperum sanguine saith Mercer of the bloud of the poore yea saith Quadratus Ex pauperum visceribus of the very bowels of the poore Ex bonis rapto partis by goods gotten from the poore by catching and by pillage And he further intimateth that all this couetous and cruell dealing against the poore was from their great ones Kings Princes Nobles and Magistrates whose duty it was not onely nor to haue committed such enormities but also to haue defended the poore from all such violence and wrong as Petrus Lusitanus hath well obserued Here then are the rulers of Samaria accused of violence and robbery iust as the rulers of Ierusalem are Esay 1.23 Thy Princes are rebellious and companions of theeues Euery one loueth gifts and followeth after rewards they iudge not the fatherlesse neither doth the cause of the widow come vnto them Whence my obseruation is Magistrates rulers men in authority such as grow to wealth by oppression bribery and vniust dealing may from hence be noted to be men of violence and robbery What can Magistrates be robbers Yes they can be and are so if they deale vniustly Sweetly Saint Augustine De Ciuitate Dei lib. 4. cap. 4. Remotâ iustitiâ quid sunt regna nisi magna latrocinta Away with iustice and what are Kingdomes but mighty robbings Elegantly and truly did the pirate reply to Alexander the great Alexander asked him Quid ei videretur vt mare haberet infestum What he meant to be so troublesome at Sea to rob