The Elements were to serue and nourish the Plants and the Plants to serue the Beasts and the Beasts to serue Man and Man to serue God Before sinne there was no disorder or disquietnesse of any creature toward another but a generall quiet Calme through the whole world And therefore God may well bee called the God of peace and peace may be as well stiled the â—eace of God But man by sin breaking the peace with God as the Prophet speaketh Your iniquities haue separated betwixt God and you and your sinnes haâ—e hid his face from you consequently the creatures being thereby made subiect to vanity there arose stormes and tempests troubles and oppositions from all the creatures for the earth being cursed for mans sake brought forth thornes and thistles the Angels stood with a blade of a sword shaken to keepe him from the tree of life the water destroyed all the race of mankind by an vniuersall Floud except onely those eight that entred into the Arke The spirit of God was grieued And God the Father said It repenteth me that I haue made man I will destroy him from the earth Thus then these tempests being raised against man from God and his creatures by mans sinne and man hauing thereby a warre within himself in his owne conscience condemning him there was no calming of these tempests nor no peace to be made but onely by Christ who as he is truly termed the Prince of peace so likewise the Apostle calleth him our peace who hath not onely made peace beâ—wixt God and vs but hath also preached peace to all whether Iâ—wes or Gentiles This then is the great Calme that Christ brought into the world to reconcile all mans enemies That the water that before destroyed the world should in him by the Sacrament of Baptisme become Lauacrum regenerationis the Laâ—er of our new birth whereby we are entred into Gods Church That the earth instead of thornes and thistles should bring forth bread and wine which in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper doe not onely represent but exhibit spiritually to â—he faithfull receiuer the body and blood of Christ vnto saluation That a whole quire of Angels in stead of swords in their hands should haue a song of peâ—ce in their mouthes That the Spirit of God should descend in the likenesse of a mild Doue And God the Father acknowledge hiâ—selfe by a voice from heauen to bee in Christ well pleased with mankind This I say is that great Calme wrought by Christ whereby God and the Angels and the creatures are reconciled vnto man and man is at peace with his owne conscience that wee may say with the Apostle If any man be in Christ he is a new creature old â—hings are passed away Behold all things are become new And therfore our Sauior Christ when he sent forth his Apostles to preach yea and his seuenty disciples also charged them to begin at that Into what soeuer hâ—â—se ye eâ—ter first say Peace be to this house And if the Sonne of peace be there your peace shall rest vpon him if not it shall â—urne to you againe And when hee was to leaue them he left behind him this legacy My peace I leaue with you But specially after his resurrection his first salutation repeated againe and againe Peace be vnto you that we may say with Saint Bernard Miseros nos quos non penetrat pax toties repetita that it is a miserable thing for vs if we had rather continue out the storme then be in a calme sea which made Saint Paul begin his Epistles with Grace mercy and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Iesus Christ and conclude them with â—he peace of God which passeth all vnderstanding keepe your hearts and minds that we may say with Saint Bernard Domine pacem volo pacem desidero nil amplius Lord I wish and desire peace onely and nothing â—lse And yet all this peace and calme which we can receiue in this world is but a pledge and earnest of the perfect and compleate Calme and quiet which the Christian by faith beleeueth and by hope expecteth in the world to come when he shall rest from his lâ—bours and receiue the Crowne of righteousnesse which the Lord the righteous Iudge shâ—ll giue at that day to all that loue his appearing Now rest and quiet is the onely end of all labour God himsâ—lfe when hee hâ—d fâ—nished his worke of Creatioâ— in six daies he rested the seuenth day and sanctified it And Christ when he had finished the worke of our redemption by a painefull and troublesome life and death in this world was then receiued vp inâ—o heaâ—en to sit at â—he right haâ—d of God thâ— Fâ—thâ—r It hath pleased God not only to ordaine and appoint the night for man to take his rest in as well as the day to labor trauell in but also to appoint a seuenth day for a day of rest from bodily labours And Canaan the land of Promise where Gods people were to rest after their bondage in Egypt troublesome passage through the wildernesse was a type and figure of that rest and quiet which God hath prouided in heauen for his children after their deliuerance from the bondage of Satan and troublesome passage thorow the wildernesse of this world as the Apostle proueth at large For we saith he which haue beleeued doe enter inâ—o rest c. And in the next verse For he spake in a certaine place of the seuenth day in this wise And God did rest the seuenth day from all his workes And in this place againe If they shall enter into my rest And a little after he saith If Iesus â—hat â—s Ioshua had giuen them rest then would he not after this hâ—ue spoken of another day There remaineth thâ—refore a reâ—â— to â—he people of God For he that hath entred into his rest haâ—h also ceased from his ownâ— workes as God did from his let vs studie therefore to enâ—er into that rest c. By all which the Apostle doth proue that al the peace and rest which we can attaine vnto in this life should put vs in mind and prepare vs for the eternall peace and rest in the life to come that when the time of our dissolution comes wee may bee ready to say with old Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart part in peace The yere of Iubilie or reioycing which God ordained to be euery fiftieth yeere whâ—râ—in the whole land was to rest and liberty to be proclaimed to all the inhabitants and they were neither to sowe nor to reape nor gather grapes c. was a type also of this great calme and eternall rest purchased to all Gods people by the death and resurrection of Christ. And to conclude this eternall rest is that which al good Christians should long
was yet in their mouthes when the wrath of God came vpon them and slew the strongest of them and smote downe the chosen in Israel So God gaue them a King at their request but in his wrath And the very diuels sometimes haue their request granted as vers 32. of this Chapter 2. It is not a signe of reprobation to haue our sute denied for the sonnes of Zebede are so serued and Paul himselfe was not heard at the first but was faine to pray three times God doth not grant presently to make vs to depend vpon him the more For the delaying of desires doth make men the more earnest and things easily granted are lightly esteemed but hee neuer denies any thing that stands with his glory and his Churches good And thus much of the occasion of their carnestnesse Now for the prayer it selfe it is very short but three words and I consider in it three things first the title they giue him Master or Lord. Secondly their request Saue vs. Thirdly the reason We perâ—sh In the first I obserue their humility in calling him Lord and Master In the second I obserue their weake faith yet calling to be saued In the third their faint hope and almost forlorne Wee perish 1 And first for the title or name wherby they call him The three Euangelists which all report this miracle doe all differ therein For the word here vsed by our Euangelist signifies Lord acknowledging his rule and authority ouer them Saint Marke vseth a word which signifieth Master or Teacher signifying that they had left their former trades of life to become his Disciples and depend on him as their master Saint Luke vseth a third word which signifies one that was set ouer and had taken care and châ—rge of others a terme giuen to shepheards in regard of their sheepe and to Commanders both in peace and warre In the comparing of which words we may conceiue that there was a kind of confused noyse among the Disciples striuing as it were by their outcries who should wake him first and who should giue him the best title whereby they might not only put him in minde of the dutie that belonged to him toward them as he was their Lord and Teacher and Master but also to shew that they in this misery depended vpon his only help and assistance to deliuer them And here seeing that our Sauiour Christ approuing of these titles saith vnto them in another place Ye call me Master and Lord and ye say well for so I am I might take iust occasion to speake of names and titles and shew that as God himselfe in the first giuing of names to the day and the night the heauens the earth and â—he seas And as Adam afterward in giuing particular names to all the creatures by Gods commission and appointment did make their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is did giue them proper names according to their seuerall proprieties of nature So it behoueth euery one in what place calling soeuer he be plaeed to consider what name doth properly belong to his place whether it be of rule and gouernment or of subiection and obedience and to be stirred vp by those names to performe those duties that belong to their seuerall callings whether in the Magistracie or in the Ministery whether as a husband as a father as a master and on the other side whether as a subiect a scholer a wife a childe a seruant That seeing seuerall duties doe belong vnto each of these places and they fitly expressed in the names giuen to euery one they may learne to make their names and dispositions answerable and sutable that the argument giuen by the Apostle preferring Christ aboue the Angels to wit That he was made so much more excellent then the Angels in as much as hee hath obtained a more excellent name then they might teach all men to studie to excell others in goodnesse as they are aduanced to higher places and receiue more honourable names but the especiall thing that I obserue in these titles is the humility of the Disciples acknowledging themselues to bee his vassals his scholers and seruants that being now in extreame misery do relie only on his mercy and goodnesse for their deliuerance that they may seeme to say with the Prophet Behold as the eyes of seruants looke vnto the hand of their Masters and as the eyes of a maiden vnto the hand of her mistrisse so our eyes waite vpon the Lord our God vntill he haue mercy vpon vs. Now for the vertue of humility as pride it was not onely the first sin both in the Angels and in man but was and is the mother and root of all sin and the bane and poyson of all vertue So humility it was the first lesson taught to Adam after his fall Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt returne And it was the principall lesson that our Sauiour taught his Disciples both by precept Learne of me that I am meeke and humble of heart and by his owne example Behold I haue giueâ— you an example And by demonstration setting a little child in the middest of them and telling them Except ye be conuerted and become as little children ye cannot enter into the kingdome of heauen But as this vertue is necessarie for all Christians at all times so is it most necessary in prayer of all other things as may appeare in the prayers of the Pharisie and Publican where the pride of the Pharisie ouerthrew al the good deeds that he boasted of and the humble confession of the Publican made him to goe away more iustified And indeede in the duty of prayer whether we consider 1. God and his excellencie his maiesty his omnipotency and other attributes 2. Our owne corruption our weaknessa our wickednesse euen of the best men in their best actions that euen our righteousnesse is as a filthie and polluted cloth That our best workes are fitly compared to starres which haue a little light but not of themselues but from the Sunne and that light may be discerned in the night and darke but when the Sunne ariseth doth not appeare So our workes if we compare them with the workes of the wicked the workes of darknesse they shew somewhat but compared with the Sonne of righteousnesse from whom wee receiue all the light we haue they vanish and are nothing I say if we either consider God to whom we pray or our selues wee cannot but in all humility acknowledge our selues to be but dust and ashes to bee nothing nor nothing worth to be base wretched miserable contemptible as the Heathen haue confessed not to bee worthie to looke vp to heauen nor to tread vpon the earth nor to call vpon his name considering our consciences doe accuse vs and he is greater then our conscience
death and resurrection in this life as also of that eternall rest in the life to come whereof the other is but a pledge and earnest when the godly shall be partakers of such ioyes as the eye hath not seene the eare hath not heard nor câ—n possibly enter into the heart of man to conceiue For the first the whole current of the fathers tell vs that the sea is an image of the world many waies 1. First the sea hath his name of bitternesse Proptâ—rea mare appellaâ—um quòd eius aquae sunâ— amarae The sea hath his name Mare in the Latine of the Latine word amarum which signifieth bitter because the waters thereof are bitter The sea is very bitter notwithstanding to the fishes that liue and are nourished in it it sauoureth sweetly So the world is very bitter yeâ— to worldly men delighting in the fleshly lusts thereof it seemes sweete and though at first it seeme but as a sport or play yet as Abneâ— saith to Ioab Knowest thou not that iâ— will be bitternesse in the lâ—ttâ—r eâ—d For like a subtill serpent it hath a sting in the taile and insinuates and windes it selfe into vs for to hurt vs. And though worldly men flatter themselues and say as Agag to Samuel Truly the bitternesse of death is pâ—ssed yet they are as much deceiued as Agag was as may appeare in Samuels answere in that place It is the distemperate taste of worldly men that makes the pleasures of the world seeme so sweete vnto them but if euer God effectually call them and they come to the true rellish of them they will say with Naomi the mother of Ruth Call mâ— no more Naomi or beautifull but call mee Mara that is bitter for the Almighty hath giuen me much bitternesse For the greatest pleasures of this world are like the waters of Marah wherof the Israelites Gods people could not drinke for the bitternesse thereof The waters of the sea of the world are like those waters which Saint Iohn saw by vision into which fell a great starre named wormewood and the waters became wormewood and many men died of the waters because they were bitter Let men therefore feare the curse denounced by the Prophet Woe be to them which make sowre sweet and sweet sowre which call euiâ—l good and good euill which make darknesse light and light darknesse For it were easie to shew of all the things in the world as Saint Iohn reckoneth them vp the lust of the flesh the lust of the eye and the pride of life that is the vnlawfull desire of worldly pleasure treasure honor that they be all the bitter waters of the sea of the world And it may bee said of them al as the Wise man saith of the first The lips of a strange woman drop as the hony combe and her mouth is more soft then oyle But the end of her is bitter as wormwood and sharpe as a two edged sword And that wee may see the bitternesse of these waters in this sweet sinne of vncleannesse as the world is not ashamed to call it and thereby to iudge of the rest First Salomon tels vs that it is a punishment in it selfe for such as God is angry withall The mouth saith he of strange women is as a deâ—pe pit He with whom the Lord is angry shall fall therein It is therefore a signe of Gods anger towards vs when he suffereth vs to fall into it Secondly it bringeth men to infamie reproch dishonour He shall finde a wound and dishonour and his reproch shall neuer be done away Thirdly it bringeth beggery with it for because of the whorish woman a man is brought to a morsell of bread Fourthly it bringeth filthy and loathsome diseases on a man euen rottennesâ—â— to his bones Fifthly it destroyeth not onely his vnderstanding but his soule also Sixthly it is as a fire that will pursue and follow not onely him but his encrease to â—heir vtter dâ—struction Seuenthly the Apostle maketh it as a punishment of Idolatry to be giuen ouer to these vncleane lusts Let men therefore take heede of these bitter waters and if either they bee afraid of the anger of God or their owne infamie or the wasting of their estates or of the rotting of their bodies or the destroying of their soules oâ— the vndoing of their posterity let them take heed of that which if they looke they may finde hath cost other men so deare and giuen them sharp and bitter sawce to their sweet meate knowing what a poysonfull hooke lyeth vnder that pleasing bait to betray them The same may bee said of the rest of the vices that ouerflow the world as pride couetousnesse intemperance in diet murmuring enuie hatred disobedience to authority they are all the bitter waters of the world The woâ—ld is a sea The sea is bitter Thâ— world is bitter Secondly the sea is inconstant it ebbeth and floweth sometime it is quiet sometimes troubled It followeth the Moone As the Moone changeth so the sea changeth The world is as inconstant altering and changing euery day both in priuate men and in whole states Some borne some die some in health some sicke some rising some falling some in fauour some in disgrace and as Saint Gregory obserued all the actions of our life are but remedia taedij when we are wearie of one thing we seeke for reliefe of the contrary when we are wearie of fasting we eate and being wearie of eating wee fast when wâ—e are wearie of waking we sleepe and being wearie of sleeping we wake In nothing we continue at one stay and as the day succeedes the night and the night the day so variety and contrariety must giue content in all our actions The vse whereof is to teach vs to obserue in the world and our selues liuing in the world the mutability and change of all things vnder the Sunne God only being vnchangeable The Angels in heauen and man in Paradise were subiect to change as they found by miserable experience In God onely is no change nor shadâ—w of change but the world passeth and the concupiscâ—nce thereâ—f As the sea therefore is inconstant so is the world inconstant Thirdly the sea is full of dangers sometime by contrary wiâ—ds sometime by Pyrats sometime by entising mermaids and syrens sometime by rockes somtime by quick-sands and many other waies The world is a sea of dangers yea hath more dangers theÌ„ the sea 1. It hath such coÌ„trary windes that Christs ship his Church is faine with Saint Pauls ship to cast ancor lest it bee driuen backe in her course to heauen 2. It is ful of pyâ—ats that watch their opportunitie to take and make prize of the rich commodities wherewith she is laden to rob and spoile her of that most precious faith which is much more precious then gold that perisheth yea to depriue her of those