if you would shewe what masters they should be hereafter After the care of their soules they must care for their bodies for if the labourer is worthie of his hire which laboureth but a day what is the seruant worth which laboureth euerie day Therefore Paule is so earnest with Philemon to make much of Onesimus his seruant that he desireth Philemon to receiue him as he would himself Therefore because cruell greedie Masters should not vse them too hardly God remembred them in his creation and made euerie weeke one day of rest wherein they should be as free as their Masters so God pitieth the poore labourer from heauen and euerie Saboath lookes downe vpon him from heauen as if he should say one day thy labours shall haue an ende and thou shalt rest for euer as thou restest this day By this wee see as Dauid did limit Ioab that hee should not kill Absalom so God hath bound masters that they should not oppresse their seruants Shall God respect thine more than thou Art thou made fresher to thy labour by a little rest and is not thy seruant made stronger by rest to labour for thee How many beasts and sheepe did Laban lose onely for hardly intreating of a good seruant Therfore that is the way to lose but not to thriue He which counteth his seruant his slaue is in an error for there is difference betweene beleeuing seruants and Infidel seruants the Infidels were made slaues to the Iewes because GOD hated them and would humble them but their brethren did serue thē like helpers which should be trained by them It is not a base nor a vile thing to be called a seruant for our Lord is called a seruant which teacheth Christians to vse their seruants well for Christs sake seeing they are seruants too and haue one master Christ. As Dauid speaketh of man saying Thou hast made him a little lower than the Angells so I may say of seruants that God hath made them a little lower thā children not children but the next to children as one would say inferiour children or sonnes in lawe and therefore the householder is called Paterfamilias which signifieth a father of his familie because he shoulde haue a fatherly care ouer his seruants as if they were his children and not vse thē onely for their labour like beasts Beside the name of a seruant doth not signifie suffering but dooing therefore masters must not exercise their hands vppon them but set their hands to worke and yet as God laieth no more vppon his seruants than he makes them able to beare so men should lay no more vppon their seruants than they are able to beare For a good man saith Salomon is mercifull to his beast and therefore he will be more mercifull to his brother That man is not worthie to bee serued which cannot affoord that his seruants should serue God as well as himselfe Giue vnto God that which is Gods and then thou maiest take that which is thine He which careth not for his familie saith Paule is worse than an Infidel because Infidels care for their familie But as Agur praieth Giue me not too much nor too little but feede me with foode conuenient So their care should not be too much nor too little but conuenient or els they are worse than Infidells too because Couetousnes is called Idolatrie which is worse than Infidelitie for it is lesse rebellion not to honour the King than to set vp another King against him as the Idolaters doo against the King of heauen Next vnto seruants instruction and labours must bee considered their corrections As Paule saith Fathers prouoke not your children to wrath So I may say Masters prouoke not your seruants to wrath that is vse such reproofes such corrections that you do not prouoke them but mooue them that you doo not exasperate them but win them for reuiling words and vnreasonable fiercenes doth more hurt than good And therefore the law of God did charge the Master that hee should not inflict aboue fourtie stripes vppon his seruant least hee should seeme despised in his eyes For while a childe or scholler or seruant dooth thinke that hee is reprooued for loue or beaten with reason it makes him think of his fault and be ashamed but when he seeth that he is rebuked with curses and beaten with staues as though hee were hated like a dogge his heart is hardened against the man which correcteth him and the fault for which he is corrected after he becommeth desperate like a horse which turneth vppon the striker and therefore thinke that GOD euen then chides you whēsoeuer you chide in such rage For though there be a fault yet some things must bee winkt at some things forgiuen and some things punished with a looke for he which takes the forfeit of euery offence shall neuer rest but vexe himselfe more than his seruant Further I haue heard Experience say that in these punishments it is most meete and acceptable to the offender that the man should correct his men and the woman her maides for a mans nature skorneth to bee beaten of a woman and a maides nature is corrupted with the stripes of a man Therefore wee reade that Abraham would not meddle with his maide but committed her to his wife and saide Doo with her as it pleaseth thee As if he should say it belongeth not to me but to thee Lastly we put the duetie toward children because they come last to their hands In Latin children are called Pignora that is pledges as if I should say a pledge of the husbands loue to the wife and a pledge of the wiues loue toward the husband for there is nothing which doth so knit loue between the man and the wife as the fruite of the wombe Therefore when Leah began to conceaue she sayd now my husband will loue me as though the husband did loue for children If a woman haue many defects as Leah had yet this is the mends which she makes her husband to bring him childrē which is the right Wedding Ring that sealeth and maketh vp as it were the Marriage When their father and mother fall out they pert vp betweene them like little mediators and with many pretie sportes make truce when other dare not speake to thē Therefore now let vs consider what these little ones may challenge of their parents which stād thē in sted of Lawiers The first duetie is the mothers that is to nurse her childe at her owne breasts as Sara did Isaak therefore Esaiah ioyneth the nurces name and the mothers name both in one and calleth them nurcing mothers shewing that mothers should bee the nurces So whē God chose a nurce for Moses he led the handmaid of Pharaohs daughter to his mother as though GOD would haue none to nurse him but his mother After when the Sonne of God was borne his
bad husband which cannot eate a hole as big as fiftie pounds in a yeare that is which cannot gaine halfe in halfe how manie holes haue these Moths eaten in poore mens garments They are like Nonresidents that is such bad members that no man speaketh for them but themselues As no man standeth for Nonresidencie but he which is a Nonresident or he which would be a Nonresidēt so no man standeth for Vsurie but hee which is an Vsurer or hee which would be an Vsurer They are like Iezabel which said Let me alone I haue a way If there bee no way to liue saieth the false Steward I knowe what to doo I wil deceiue so if there bee no way to liue saieth the Vsurer I knowe what to doo I will oppresse If I cannot liue by buying nor by selling nor by flattering nor by labouring I will liue by oppression But as one in his Comment speakes to the false Steward Thou saiest I knowe what to doo but doest thou knowe what thou shalt suffer So I saye to Vsurers you saye you knowe what to doo but doo you knowe what you shall suffer In deed he knoweth not what to do which knoweth not to doo well and therefore Christ saide of his persecutors that they knewe not what they did Now I may conclude with Paul I haue not spoken but the Lord◠and therefore as the Lord said vnto Saul that he persecuted him so they which resist this doctrine do contemne him and not me The end of the first Sermon The Examination of Vsurie The second Sermon IT remaineth that we speake of the Vsurers punishment Then what may be thought of them which doo not take Vsurie but giue Vsurie Lastly what they should doo which haue got their riches by Vsurie To begin with the punishment not onely Gods lawe but euen the Cannon lawe doth so condemne Vsurie that first it dooth excommunicate him from the Church as though he had no communion with Saints Secondly it dooth detaine him from the Sacraments as though hee had no communion with Christ. Thirdly it dooth depriue him of his Sepulcher and will not suffer him to be buried as though he were not worthie to lye in the earth but to lye in hell Lastly it maketh his will to be no will as though his goods were not his owne for nothing is ours but that which wee haue rightlie got and therefore wee say It is mine by right as though it were not ours vnles it be ours by right This is the iudgement of mans lawe Now you shal heare the iudgement of Gods lawe A Vsurer dooth receiue two Incomes one of the borrower and another of the reuenger of the borrower he lookes for gaine but of the reuenger hee lookes for punishment therefore al the Scripture prophecieth euill vnto him as Michaiah did to Achab. Salomon saith He which increaseth his riches by Vsurie gathereth for them which will bee mercifull to the poore As if he should say when hee hath loden himselfe like a cart he shall be vnloden like a cart againe and they shall inherit his money for whom hee did neuer gather it For hee which is vnmerciful to the poore meaneth not to gather for them which will bee mercifull to the poore but Salomon saieth That they shall be his heires which will bee mercifull as he was vnmercifull Now marke whether this prophecie of Salomon be true I know not how many in this Citie doo increase by Vsurie but this prophecie seemeth to bee verified of many For it is noted that the riches and lands of Aldermen and Merchants and other in London do not last so long nor indure so wel as the riches and lands of others in the Countrey and that their children doo not prooue so well as others nor come to that place in the Common weale which for their wealth their parents looked that they should come to I can giue no reason for it but the reason of Salomon He which increaseth by Vsurie gathereth for them which will bee mercifull to the poore That is their riches shall goe from their heires to Gods heires according to that The riches of the sinner is laid vp for the righteous that is the righteous shall inioy that which the wicked gathereth All riches are vncertaine but the riches which are euill gotten are most vncertaine They may bee called mooueable goodes for they are very mooueable like the clowdes which neuer rest til they fall as they climed God saith that he will smite the Vsurer with his fist not with the palme of his hande but with his fist which giueth a greater blow As his hands were shut against the poore so Gods hands shall be shut against him that his punishment may be like his sinne But if you will heare their finall sentence Dauid saith heere That they shall not dwell in Gods temple nor rest in his holie mountaine Then we will seeke no more punishments for this punishment is all punishmēts If they shall not come to heauen whose then shall those riches be nay whos 's then shall the owner be when that day commeth If he shall not rest in heauen then he shall rest in Hell where no rest is Then saith one the Vsurer shall crie vnto his children Cursed be you my children because you were the cause of these torments for least you should be poore I was an Vsurer and robbed other to leaue riches vnto you To whome the children shall replie againe nay Cursed be you father for you were the cause of our torments for if you had not left vs other mens goodes we had not kept other mens goodes Thus when they are cursed of God they shall curse one another curse the Lord for condemning them curse their sinnes for accusing them curse their parents for begetting them and curse themselues because they cannot helpe themselues As they which are blessed doe nothing but blesse so they which are cursed do nothing but curse This is the second Vsurie which the Vsurer shall receiue of God after he hath receiued Vsurie of men then the name of Vsurie shall be fulfilled as it signifieth biting so when it hath bitten other it shall bite the Vsurer too and neuer rest biting then they shall wish that they could restore againe as Zacheus did and shall not restore because their money is gone Therefore if Christ be come to your hearts as he came to Zacheus house restore now as Zacheus did and escape this iudgment This is the end of the Vsurer and his money if they stay together till death yet at last there shall bee a diuision The Deuill shall take his soule the earth shall take his body the strangers shall take his goods and the mourners shall reioyce vnder their blackes and say Wickednes is come to the graue Therefore if thou wouldest not be counted an Vsurer then refraine to be an Vsurer now for they which are Vsurers now
of a Psalme It followeth This is my bodie Here is the fruite of his thankes before he praied that the bread wine might bee blessed and they were blessed As Isaacs blessing shewed it self vpon Iaacob whom he blessed so Christs blessing appeared straight vpon these mysteries for it could not bee sayd before this is my bodie because it was meere bread but now it may bee called his bodie because his blessing hath infused that vertue into it that it doth not onely represent his bodie but conuey his bodie and himselfe vnto vs. The efficacie of this blessing is in this Sacrament euer since sanctifying it vnto vs as well as it did to the Apostles euen as Christs prayer staied Peters faith after Christ was dead Because vpon these words the Papists ground their Transubstanciation that is that the bread is chaunged into Christs flesh and the Wine is turned into Christs blood whereby we eate the same bodie which died vpō the Crosse and drinke the same blood which issued out of his side that you may see the blindnesse of this Popish dreame I would haue you but marke euerie word of this Scripture how they make against Trāsubstanciation that you may see them slaine like Goliah with their owne sword Euen as GOD made Caiphas speake against himselfe so the Scriptures which heretickes alleage doo make against thēselues like the Baalites which wounded their owne flesh I may liken their allegations to Sathans when hee tempted Christ in the Wildernesse he alleaged but one sentence of Scripture for himself and that Psalme out of which he borrowed it makes so plaine against him that hee was faine to picke here a worde and there a worde and leaue out that which went before and skip in the middest and omit that which came after or els hee had marred his cause The Scripture is so holie and pure and true that no word nor sillable thereof can make for the diuell or for sinners or for hereticks yet as the diuell alleaged Scripture though it made not for him but against him so doo the Libertines and Epicures and Heretickes as though they had learned at his schoole Now there is no sentēce of the scripture which the wiser Papists aledge bouldly for their Transubstantiation but this that Christ sayd This is my body by which they may proue as well that Christ is a dore because he sayth I am the dore or a Vine because he sayth I am a Vine for his sayings are like Figuratiue speeches must not bee construed literally but this is Heretikes fashion If you marke you shall see thorough out that all the testimonies which the Papists aledge for their heresies are eyther tropes or figures or allegories or parables or allusions or darke speeches which when they presume to expound allegorically or literally without conference of other scriptures then they wander and stray from the marke or else it is impossible that the trueth should mainteyne error that is that the scripture should speake for heresie if it were not peruerted therefore we see that Eue neuer erred vntill she corrupted the text Now we will enter the lists with our aduersaries and see whether these words doo proue that the bread and wine are turned into Christes bodye Paule sayth Iesus tooke bread well then yet it is bread when he had taken it then he blessed it what did he blesse the bread which he tooke well then yet it is bread when he had blessed it then he brake it what did he breake the bread which he blessed well then yet it is bread when he had broken it then he gaue it what did he giue the bread which he brake well then yet it is bread when he had giuen it then they did eate it what did they eate the bread which he gaue them well then yet it is bread when they did eate it then he sayd this is my body what did he call his body the bread which they did eate well then yet it is bread If it be bread all this while when he did take it and blesse it and breake it giue it and they did eate it when is it turned into his body heere they stande like the Sadduces as mute as fisshes Now that ye may see that not we only say it is bread and wine after the consecration in the 27. verse Christ himselfe doth call it bread and wine after he had giuen it as he did before And in Marke hee sayeth I will drinke no more of the fruit of the Vine Here Christ saith that it was the fruite of the Vine which he dranke but his bloud is not the fruite of Vines but Wine therefore Wine was his drinke and not bloud Beside if you would heare Paule expound Christ he sheweth that all our Fathers had the same substance of Christ in their Sacraments that we haue in ours for he sayth They all did eate the same spirituall meate and all drinke the same spirituall drinke Straight he sayth that this meate and this drinke was Christ. Marke that he sayeth not onely They did eate the same meate that we eate but he sayth that this meate was Christ and not onely so but to shew that Christ is not a corporall meate as the Papists say he sayth he is a spirituall meate as we say therefore you see that we doo not eate him corporally no more than our Fathers but that as they did eate him spiritually so doo we for spirituall meate must be eaten spiritually as corporall meate is eaten corporally Againe for the signes to be turned into the thing signified by them is vtterly against the nature of a Sacrament and makes it no Sacrament because there is no signe for euery Sacrament dooth consist of a signe and a thing signified the signe is euer an earthly thing and that which it signifieth is a heauenly thing This shall appeare in all examples as in Paradise there was a very Tree for the signe and Christ the thing signified by it In Circumcision there was a cutting off of the skin and the cutting off of sinne In the Passeouer there was a Lambe and Christ. In the Sabaoth there was a day of rest and eternall rest In the Sacrifices there was an offering of some beast the offering of Christ. In the Sanctuarie there was the holie place and heauen In the Propitiatorie there was the golden Couering and Christ our couer In the Wildernesse there was a Rocke yeelding water and Christ yeelding his bloud In the Apparition there was a Doue and the Holy Ghost In the Manna there was Bread and Christ. In Baptisme there is verie Water which washeth vs and Christes bloud washing vs so in the Supper of Christ there is verie Bread and Wine for the signe and the bodie and bloud of Christ for the thing signified or els this Sacrament is
should teach you to be Vsurers while I disswade you from Vsurie yet I will shew you some and the same reasons which are aledged against these shall condemne all the rest Some will not take Vsurie but they will haue the vse of your pasture or your lande or your orchard or your teame or your kine vntill you pay the money againe which in that time will grow to a greater gaine to the Vsurer and a greater losse to the borower than if he had paid more money than other Vsurers are wont to take Some will not take Vsurie but they will take plate and vessell and tapistree and bedding and other houshold stuffe to vse and weare vntill their money come home which will lose more in the wearing than the interest of the money would come to This Vsurie is forbidden in the 2. of Amos where God cōplaineth saying They lye downe vpon the clothes which are layd to pledge shewing that wee shoulde not lye downe vppon such clothes that is wee should not vse or weare the thing which is layd to pledge Some will take no Vsurie but they will take a pawne which is better than the money which they lende and then they will couenant that if he bring not the money againe by such a day he forfitteth his pawne which day the Vsurer knoweth that the poore man is not able to keepe and so kepeth the pawne for his money which is worth twise his money This Vsurie is forbidden in Leuit 25. where it is said Thou shalt not take Vsurie or vauntage as if he should say thou shalt not take the forfeiture for then thou takest vauntage when thou takest more than thou lendest Some will not take Vsurie but they will buy some thing at a smal price and then couenant with the borrower that he buy the same againe of the same price at such a day which day the Vsurer knoweth that the borrower is not able to keepe and so hee getteth for a little that which the other might haue solde for much more This Vsurie is condēned in the 1. Thess. 4. where it is said Let no man defraude or circumuent his brother in any thing Some will not take Vsurie but they will lend out their money to occupiers vpon condition to bee partakers in their gaines but not in their losses so one takes all the paines and abideth al the venture the other which takes no pains reapeth halfe the profite This Vsurie is forbidden in 2. Thessa. 3. 10. where it is saide He which will not worke let him not eate Some will not take Vsurie but if he bee a Labourer or a Mason or a Carpenter which borroweth of him he will couenant with him for so many daies worke he shall labour with him so manie daies or so many weekes for no money but the lone of money This Vsury is condemned in Luk. 10. 7. where it is said The labourer is worthie of his hire Some will not take Vsurie but if you haue not present money to pay for their wares they will set a high price of them for the forbearing of the time and so they doo not onely sell their wares but they sell time too that is they doo not onely sell their owne but they sell Gods owne Therefore one saith of these When he selleth the day he selleth the light and when hee selleth the night hee selleth rest therefore when he would haue the light of heauen and the rest of Paradise it shall be said vnto him that he hath solde both alreadie For he solde light when he sold the day and he solde rest when he sold the night and therefore now he can haue neither light nor rest There be other Vsurers which will not lend themselues but giue leaue to their wiues and they play like hucksters that is euerie moneth a penny for a shilling which is one hundred for another in the yeare But that I was informed of thē since this Sermon was preached I had left out our capitall Vsurers which will not lend any money because they dare not require so much gaine as they would haue but if you would borrow an hundred pounde they will giue you wares worth three score pounde and you shal answer them an hundred pound for it These are the Vsurers generall which lurke about the Citie like Rats and Wesels and Fulmers of whom may bee said the same which is said of the diuels they seeke whom they may deuoure There be other Cosins to Vsurers which are not counted Vsurers such as take money for that which they shoulde giue freelie such as take as much for a counterfeit as for the best such as take a fee of a Client and doo him no pleasure such as take money for Masses and Dirges and Trentalls and Pardons and such like drugs which do no more good than fire out of the chimney This is a kind of Vsury and deceit beside which one day they will cast away as Iudas did his thirtie pence Now you haue heard the kinds of Vsurie you shall heare the arguments which are deuised for Vsurie Sinne is neuer complet vntill it bee excused this is the vauntage which the diuell getteth by euery sinne whensoeuer he can fasten any temptation vppon vs wee giue him a sinne for it and an excuse to boote as Adam our father did First he sinned and then he excused so first we sinne and then we excuse first an Vsurer then an excuser Therefore euerie Vsurer will defend Vsurie with his tung though hee condemne it with his conscience If the Image makers of Ephesus had not liued by Images they would haue spoken for Images no more than the rest for none stood for Images but the Image makers so if the Vsurers did not liue by Vsurie they woulde speak for Vsurie no more than the rest for none stand for Vsurie but Vsurers It is an easie matter if a man be disposed to speake something for euerie vice as some defende the Stewes some defende Nonresidencie some defende swearing by my faith some defend bowling vppon the Saboath and some defend Vsurie But will you pleade for Baal saith Ioash that is will you pleade for sinne which will pleade against you A sin is a sin when it is defended nay a sinne is two sins when it is defended for he which breaketh one of the least Commandements saith Christ and teacheth others to doo so is the least in the kingdom of heauen A Squire of low degree is a Squire of no degree so the least in the kingdome of heauen is none of the kingdome of heauen Who then is the least in the kingdome of heauen not he which breaketh the least of the Commandements but he which teacheth others to doo so that is he which by defending and excusing and minsing and extenuating his sinne incourageth others to sinne too To defend Vsurie they distinguish vppon it as they distinguish