Keyes of the Kingdome of heauen not of the earth not of any place vnder the earth They giue authority to their Pope to dispose of earthly Kingdomes at his pleasure and full Iurisdiction ouer Purgatory which they take to be vnder the earth Christ teacheth vs to pray vnto God for forgiuenesse of sinnes Forgiue vs our trespasses They fall downe before their ghostly Father and craue of him Absolution Against the iudgement of Cyprian Veniam peccatix quae iâ— Dâ—minum commissa sunt solus potest ille largiri qui peccata nostra portauit c. He onely can grant pardon to our sinnes which wee haue committed against the Lord who onely bare our sinnes Against the iudgement of Hierome who plainely teacheth in Math. 16. That as the Priest in the old Law did not make any cleane or vncleane but onely shewed in what case they were So in the New the Bishop or Priest doth not bind such as are guilty nor loose such as be faultlesse but according to his duty he heareth the varieties of offences or offenders Peccatorum hee knoweth who is to be bound to wit of God and who to be loosed Thus Hieronym Briefely Christ said to the Thiefe vpon the Crosse and in him to all that are truely penitent This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Thou shalt be translated from death to life and forthwith too without suffering any thing any where after this life They teach that though the sinne be forgiuen in the Sacrament of Penance yet that the punishment must be indured in Purgatory if there be not satisfaction made either here by giuing of Almes gadding in Pilgrimage c. or hence by the Priests Masses or by the Popes Pardons prouided that both be well paid for What is to make merchandize of the Word of God what to make merchandize of the soules of men if this be not Neither is their doctrine sounder touching the exercise of the Church Prayer and Inuocation Saint Paul saith that hee had rather speake in the Church fiue words with his vnderstanding that he might instruct others then a thousand with a strange tongue Yea Lyra himselfe though he liued in a most darke time yet saw thus much Si populus intelligat orationem Sacerdotis melius reducitur in Deum deuotius respondet Amen c. If the people doe vnderstand the prayer of the Priest he is better reduced vnto God and doth more deuoutely answer Amen What doe our Aduersaries Doe they that which is better and more deuout No they serue the people with Latin Seruice which they doe no more vnderstand then they doe the Turkish language and so whether they blesse them or curse them speake to them or speake to God they cannot tell Were it not all one for vnderstanding and edifying to be in Cyclops Caue where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as in such a Church This for the manner of their prayer So for the obiect Saint Paul would haue vs to lift vp pure hands to God 1. Tim. 2. And our Sauiour whatsoeuer yee aske the Father in my Name hee will giue it to you And Augustine Quis andiuit aliquando fidelium stantem Sacerdotem ad Altare c. Who hath heard at any time a Christian Priest standing at the Altar c. and say in his prayer O Peter O Paul O Cyprian I offer vnto thee a Sacrifice whereas in the Oratories dedicated to their memories the offering is made to God who made them both men and Martyrs If no Sacrifice be to be offered then not the Sacrifice of prayer if an outward or visible Sacrifice be not to be offered to them much lesse then an inuisible and spirituall But now how is it with our Aduersaries As the Prophet vpbrayded the Iewes According to the number of thy Cities be thy gods O Israel So may wee say to them According to the number of thy Prouinces nay of thy Townes nay of thy Churches nay of thy Trades nay of thy persons be thy gods thy Saints thy Tutelares dij God the Father was shunned and abhorred as one that dwelled in the light that no man can haue accesse vnto nay as one that had Foenum in Cornu and with whom there was no dealing God the Sonne was forgotten as one that was gone into a farre Countrey or that was asleepe and needed to be awaked like Baal or that was wearyed with hearing suites himselfe and therefore for his ease had appointed certaine Deputies vnder him as Darius did or certaine Masters of Requests to report vnto him the seuerall suites of his subiects as many Christian Princes haue whereas for power He is God and can perfectly saue them that come to him themselues and for will He became man and weake and was tempted that Hee might be touched with a feeling of our infirmity And for credit with his Father you know what is written Math. 3. This is my beloued Son in whom I am well pleased Therefore as Saint Peter saith Lord to whom shall wee goe thou hast the words of euerlasting life This for the matter of Doctrine and instruction so for the matter of prayer and supplication we may and ought to be of Augustines resolution Tutius incundius loquor ad meum lesum quà m ad aliquem Sanctorum Spirituum Dei I find it more safe and sweet to speake vnto my God then to any of the Saints of God Now for the causes of our saluation and the meanes thereof doth the Scripture set downe any other meritorious cause then the Death and Passion of our Sauiour Christ or any other meane or instrument to take hold of the same then Faith God hath giuen vs eternall life in his Son Iohn 5. The blood of Iesus Christ cleanseth vs from all sinne Vnto men there is no name giuen by which they may be saued but onely the Name of Iesus Christ. The Scripture hath concluded all vnder sinne that the promise by the faith of Iesus Christ should be giuen to them that beleeue Gal. 3. And to be short As many as receiued him to them he gaue power to be the sons of God euen them that beeleue in his Name Iohn 1. Thus Christ is made to be the meritorious cause to be the authour and finisher of our Iustification and Saluation and Faith is made the instrumentall Therefore if they like not of the Doctrine we may say to them as Constantine did to Acetius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That they were best to make a new Ladder to clime vpto heauen by since the Ladder of Iacob will not serue the turne Will you know how they shift off such a cloud of Testimonies and what is their doctrine When they are pressed with those places that doe plainely make Christ to be the Alpha and Omega the beginning and ending of our Saluation c. they grant he is so in this sense that he giueth grace to men to worke righteousnesse and to
non irrisit as Bernard speaketh but if the world came vpon him he will be besotted by the world Therefore Thucydides recordeth it as a strange thing in the men of Chius that they were sober for all their prosperity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Euagrius ascribeth this for a speciall praise to Mauritius the Emperour that in his prosperity he retained his ancient piety In our naturall bodies it is thus the more fat the lesse blood in the veines and consequently the fewer spirits and so in our fields abundance of wet breedes abundance of Tares and consequently great scarcity of corne And is it not so with our soules The more of Gods blessing wealth the more weedes of vanity and carnality and the more rich to the world the lesse righteous to God commonly What meant Apuleius to say that Vbi vber ibâ— tuber but to signifie that pride and arrogancy are companions to plenty And what made Salomon to pray against fulnesse but to shew that as they must haue good braines that will carry much drink so they must haue extraordinary soules that will not be ouercome with the world Did not Dauid himselfe in his prosperity say that he should neuer be remoued say or speake vnaduisedly Nay did hee not doe lewdly and wickedly defiling himselfe with his neighbours wife and embruing his hands in his seruitours blood thus adding murder to adultery Did he attempt any such thing in the dayes of want and aduersity No no in his necessity he sought the Lord and gate himselfe vnto his God right earely and offered vnto him the sacrifice of righteousnesse c. And yet we grudge and repine if wee doe not swimme in wealth when wealth through the corruption of our nature doth dull vs and taint vs and make vs vnapt to euery good worke Againe wee shunne pouerty as we would doe a Serpent nay as the gates of hell yet pouerty through the blessing of God doth kindle deuotion and kill sinne in vs euen as Worme-wood or the like bitter things doe kill Moths or wormes This the time will not permit me to stand any longer vpon and therefore I come at once to the second verse and will end the same in a word or two Let him that glorieth glory in this that he vnderstandeth and knoweth me Mans wisedome strength and riches are vaine and not to be boasted of this much Ieremy hath told vs already and I haue proued vnto you by many reasons But now if you would know what is the thing wherein we may take true comfort and whereof we may safely glory the same is none other thing but piety or godlinesse the true knowledge of God the true seruing of God This hath the promise of this life and of that which is to come this we ought to labor for day and night that we may attaine and hauing attained we may reioyce with ioy vnspeakable and glorious This our Sauiour Christ doth warrant vs to doe by his owne example Luke 10. Who there is said To haue reioyced in the Spirit on our behalfe because we hâ—d our minds illuminated to vnderstand those things that belong to the Kingdome of God and our saluation Euen as else-where he defineth the happinesse of man to consist herein namely To know God the onely true God and whâ—m he hath sent Iesus Christ. Agreeably whereunto Augustine saith Infelix homo qui scit illa omnia Te autem nescit beatus autem qui Te sâ—it etiam si illa nesciat c. Vnhappy is the man that knowes all those things all secular learning if hee know not Thee but happy is he that knoweth Thee although he bee ignorant of the rest But he that knoweth Thee and the rest too is neuer-a-whit the more blessed for the tother things sake but for Thee onely if knowing Thee he glorifie Thee as God So Augustine The knowledge of God therefore that is the one thing that is necessary that maketh a Christian that lifteth vs vp vnto God that coupleth vs vnto him that iustifieth that saueth that worketh all in all Now by knowledge I vnderstand and the Prophet in my Text vnderstandeth not a bare apprehension or sense of the mind that there is a Diuine power greater and mightier then all for so much the most barbarous Heathen were not without They could say Dâ—us videt omnia Deo commendo c. as Tertullian sheweth yea as Saint Iames saith The very Deuils beleeue and tremble they haue a kind of beliefe therefore they haue knowledge butalso a consent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Clemens Alexandrin calleth it and perswasion of the heart touching both the Prouidence of God that he worketh all in all all for the best to them that loue him also and especially touching his mercy that hee will grant pardon to the penitent euen to them that craue it for his Sonnes sake and lastly touching his bounty that he will euerlastingly reward as many as are his euen as many as beleeue in his Name This is that sauing knowledge which the world knoweth not neither is it reuealed by flesh and blood but by the Spirit of our Father which is in heauen This is that knowledge whereof the Prophet Esay speaketh By his knowledge shall my righteous seruant iustifie many for he shall beare their iniquities This is that knowledge That precious treasure which so soone as a wise man findeth for ioy thereof he departeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth the field Briefely this is that knowledge in comparison whereof Saint Paul counted all things losse euen dung that he might know Christ and the vertue of his resurrection and the fellowship of his afflictions and be made conformable to his death To conclude this is that knowledge which whosoeuer seeketh is Wise whosoeuer getteth is Rich whosoeuer keepeth is Strong nay vertuous nay happy nay twice happy happy in this world he is by faith and happy in the world to come he shall be by fruition This knowledge the Lord vouchsafe to engraffe in them that want it and increase in them that haue it and make fruitfull in all to the purging of our consciences in this life and the sauing of our soules in the Day of the Lord Iesus To whom with the Father and the blessed Spirit be all honour and glory Amen A SERMON VPON THE SIXT OF IOHN THE SECOND SERMON IOHN 6. Vers. 67.68 69 70. Iesus therefore said vnto the Twelue Will yee also goe away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Simon Peter then or therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 answered him Lord to whom shall we goe Thou hast the words of euerlasting life And we haue beleeued and knowne Hebraism for we doe beleeue and know that thou art the Christ the Sonne of the liuing God Haue not I chosen you Twelue and one of you is a Deuill NOthing morevncertaine then rhe minds of the multitude you cannot tell where to haue
them nothing more vnconstant then their mindes and hearts you cannot tell when you haue them nothing more vngratefull or a worse esteemer of mens deserts you cannot make account of any recompence ftom them humorous clamorous vnrespectiue these haue beene their proper adiuncts Looke but vpon two or three examples Regium est cùm bene feceris malè audire It was the complaint of a great King that is It is the Fate of Kings to be rewarded with euill speeches for their good deseruings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It was said of another King Agamemnon deserued wel of the Graecians but hee was rewarded with bands or cruell death for his labour Neither haue Gods people beene free from these faults None e uer more faithful in Gods house then Moses none deeper in Gods Booke none more graced with miracles none more carefull of the peoples good c. Yet if any feare of hunger or thirst or enemies c. doe assaile them presently they are ready to returne into Egypt and to that end to elect another Captaine in place of Moses as you may see in Exodus and the Booke of Numbers so great interest had he in them I skip ouer Samuel Dauid Ieremy and other Kings and Prophets and righteous men Come we to Saint Paul and his Galatians his I call them because he had begotten them in the Gospell and as a Nurse cherisheth her children so was he tender among them but when he came to reape fruit from them hee found that he reckoned without his Hoast and so was disappointed of his hope At the first I grant they receiued him as an Angell of God euen as Christ Ieâ—us they were ready to pull out their owne eyes and to giue them to him if they would doe him good but after they had harkened once to seducers which turned them away from the simplicity of the Gospell then was Saint Paul no longer a Father vnto them but an enemy and in stead of plucking out their owne eyes they seemed forward enough to pull out Saint Pauls to doe their false apostles pleasure so great hold had he of them Neither did they better intreat the Lord of the house Christ Iesus himselfe for these were but his seruants It is true the Father said They will reuerence my Sonne and indeed so he well deserued for hee went about doing good and healing all that were possessed of Deuils or visited with any other sicknesse for God was with him He spake so diuinely as never man spake his enemies being witnesses yea the people wondred at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth and flocked betimes to heare him and hung as it were vpon his shoulders Thus Christ might seeme to say of them My beloued is mine and I am hers I haue married her to my selfe in righteousnesse iudgement and mercy But all this was but Hony-moone or as the hasty Summer fruits within a while they became rotten and corrupt and forgate their first loue Nay for a word spoken which that they did not vnderstand was their owne fault onely they gaue him the back and became Apostates Looke a little higher vpon the 51. verse and so downeward Because Christ said that he was the Liuing Bread that came downe from Heauen And Except yee eate of the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke of his blood you haue no life in you Hereupon groweth a quarrell and such a quarrell as will not be taken vp by any Apologie or mediation but they must needs part yet all Lawes and common reason also will allow a man to interpret his owne meaning and when he professeth that he speaketh figuratiuely and spiritually he ought not to be taken properly and carnally When Christ affirmeth and auerreth that the words that he speaketh are Spirit and life that is are spiritually to be taken and then they will giue life as Augustine full well expoundeth Spiritualiter intelligenda sunt Intellexisti spiritualiter Spiritus vita sunt Intellexisti carnaliter Eâ—iam sic illa Spiritus vitae sunt sed tibi non sunt Hast thou vnderstood them spiritually Then they be Spirit life Hast thou vnderstood them carnally Euen so also they be Spirit and life but to thee they be not Should not this content indifferent men though neither himselfe nor others had spoken so before But now it hath beene an vsuall thing with Christ by a kind of Anagoge to deduce matters from the currant carnall â—ense to an heauenly vnderstanding and therefore with more equity may he be allowed here You know Math. 12. when one said to him Behold thy mother and thy brethren stand withouâ— desiring to speake with thee He answered and said Who is my mother and who are my brethren And stretching out his hand vpon his Disciples he said Behold my mother and my brethren for he that shall doe the will of my Father which is in heauen he is my brother sister and mother Thus Christ. Now I aske Was Christ ashamed of his kindred By no meanes for he taught others to honour father and mother and not to turne away their eyes from their owne flesh therefore himselfe would not be found defectiue in that duty But this is that that Tertullian saith Hoc dicto vsus est ad excutiendam importunitatem ab opere reuocantium That is By this saying he would meete with and shake off their importunity or vnseasonablenesse that withdrew him from his worke and therefore I say that he denieth that simply in shew which hee denieth not but in comparison indeed namely that if any hinder him in his heauenly vocation hee would not take him for his kinsman So Iohn 4. My meate is to doe the will of him that sent me and to finish his worke Had he no other meat at any time Yes hee did hunger and thirst and eate and drinke as other men doe but in comparison of this he cared not for the other this was meat and drinke to him So the Prophet Esay Is not this the fasting that I haue chosen to loose the bands of wickednesse to take off the heauy burdens and to let the oppressed goe free c. To deale thy bread to the hungry c. There was another bodily fasting or pinching of the belly but that was nothing to this spirituall One. So another Prophet Rent your hearts and not your garments And another Circumcise the fore-skin of your hearts c. Neither doe the Scriptures only vse to speake thus but ordinary wise men also whether they were in the Church or out of the Church What dost thou meane to angle for Trowtes and Gudgeons or the like Thy angling is Castles and Towres and Forts c. said Cleopatra to Marcus Antonius Doe you aske me where be my Iewels My Iewels are my husband his triumphs said Phocions wife Doe you aske me where be mine ornaments My ornaments be my two sonnes whom I haue brought vp in vertue and
the first It is certaine that as the Father hath life in himselfe and light and wisedome and knowledge so he giueth his Son to haue the same in him nay he hath the same of himselfe as he is God No want in the God-head may be imagined nor degrees of hauing but all is perfit and at once yea and from the beginning He therefore being Iehouah and Shaddai all-being and euer-being all-sufficient and euer-sufficient may not be thought to haue asked this question to be better informed for his owne part for he knoweth all and needed not that any should testifie of man for hee knew what was in man Iohn 2. But as in the 12. of Iohn Christ saith This voyce came not for my sake but for yours So may we say of Christs words in my Text that they were not vttered for himselfe but for vs. It was good that the world should be satisfied concerning the resolution of the Apostles to follow Christ whatsoeuer came of it for their honour for our example for the glory of God in giuing such gifts vnto men Therefore doth the Lord bring forth their righteousnesse as the morning and causeth their faith to breake forth into confession They beleeued and therefore did they speake Wee also if we beleeue we will speake and will not be ashamed of him before men lest he also be ashamed of vs before his Father which is in heauen It is worth the remembring that Plutarch in his booke of Isis Osiris writeth of the Peach namely that the Egyptians of all fruit did make choise of that to consecrate it to their great Goddesse for this cause because the fruit thereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is like to ones heart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the leafe to the tongue Indeed when the heart and the tongue goe together then the harmony is sweete and the seruice pleasing both to God and man Euen as Saint Paul setteth downe the perfitnesse of our duty and consequently of our happinesse With the heart man beleeueth vnto righteousnesse with the mouth he confesseth vnto saluation This therefore may seeme to be a speciall cause why Christ demandeth of the twelue whether they would play the Turne-coats as some others did namely to draw forth their confession and profession of their faith As for the other doubt Whether the Elect can fall away the same will easily be cleared if we agree vpon the termes of Elect and falling away namely if we vnderstand by Elect such as are chosen according to the purpose of grace vnto an inheritance immortall vndefiled that fadeth not away reserued in heauen for them and by falling away an vtter departing from the fellowship of the Saints and an vtter renouncing of the truth reuealed The truly Elect cannot so vtterly become cast-awayes If then man and the world and the Deuill were stronger then God then the gifts and calling of God had repentance then Christ should not loue to the end whom he loueth yea then some should be able to take them out of the Fathers hand All which points and twenty more to this purpose are directly contrary to Gods Word which cannot lye Therefore we conclude that a man truly Elect cannot throughly perish I grant Saul and Iudas were Elect or chosen but it was to an office not to the Kingdome of glory Peter and others fell away but it was for a time not finally they wauered and staggered and felt some eclipse in their faith but the same was neuer extinguished nor rooted vp Christ prayed for Peter and not for him onely but for as many as should beleeue in his Name Iohn 17. that their faith should not faile And can Satan or all the power of hell preuaile against Christs prayer Praedestinatorum nemo cum Diabolo peribit nemo vsque ad mortem sub Diaboli potestate remanebit None of the predestinate shall perish with the Deuill none of them shall remaine vnder the Deuils power euen vnto death as Saint Augustine speakes And in his booke De Catechizandis rudibus Cap. 11. â—erusalem shall be deliuered and none of her shall perish for he that perished was not a Citizen of her Thus he He learned it of Saint Iohn They went out from vs but were not of vs c. Let vs end this point with another testimony of Austin more pregnant and plaine then either of them Horum he speaketh of the Elect si quisquam perit fallitur Deus sed nemo eorum fuerit quia non fallitur Deus Horum si quisquam perit vitio humano vincitur Deus sed nemo eorum fuerit quia nulla re vincitur Deus that is if any of the Elect perish God is deceiued but none of them perisheth because God is not deceiued if any of them perish God is ouercome by mans fault or naughtinesse but none of them perisheth because God is ouercome of nothing Well hauing thus vntyed the two knots or doubts that might seeme to entangle the Text let vs returne to the same againe and see what further we may learne out of it Will ye also goe away Plutarch writeth of Brutus that this was a great content and comfort to him at his end that though he had Crebra transfugia of the common sort many of them forsooke him and turned to the enemy yet none of his friends or neere ones forsooke him On the other side it must needs be a great corrasiue to Caesars heart that Labienus that had done him so worthy seruice against the Galles nine or tenne yeeres together left him in the quarrell betweene him and Pompey took Pompeys part I haue nourished brought vp children they to rebell against me this cuts my gall saith God in effect in Esay What my son that came out of mine own bowels to miniken the matter against me nay to make head against me This is such a matter as would make a man exclaime Be astonied O heauens and blush O earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What thou my sonne said one to his neere one He made resistance against others saith the story but when he saw his owne naturall to draw vpon him then he was weary of his life then he desired to liue no longer Therefore herein appeareth Christs magnanimity that he was not danted for the perfidiousnes of the run-awayes but all the while he had them that were of best note to sticke vnto him he reckoned not for the Apostasie of others Let vs be of the same minde Beloued Suppose all should cowre downe cowardly saue three hundred nay suppose that all should worship the Image that Nabuchadnezzar of Rome putteth vp saue three nay suppose that all should bowe their knees to Baal or worship the golden Calfe saue Elias and Moses should this make vs to goe away Nay greater is he that is in vs then he that is in the world saith our Sauiour And more there bee which be with vs then
vigorousnesse in his extreme old age that he confesseth that hee was as lusty at eighty fiue yeeres of age as he was at forty and as sufficient for managing matters of warre or matters of peace as you may see Ioshuah 14. Thus there is a reward with the Lord and a speciall reward for them that cleaue fast vnto the Lord and doe sanctifie him both in their hearts and in their tongues as Peter doth in my Text and will not be carryed away by the example of the multitude to thinke or say as they doe But on the contrary side you know in the Psalme they are condemned who seeing a Thiefe runne with him and are partakers with the Adulterers Yea Saul though he threw neuer a stone at Saint Stephen yet because he kept the clothes of them that stoned him he may be reckoned among the persecutors Yea Moses himselfe that Saint of the Lord at other times so zealous so faithfull so couragious yet because at the waters of Meribah he did not sanctifie the Lord and rebuke the people for their rebellion with that edge and resolution as he ought to haue done is told plainely by God himselfe that he should not enter into the Land of Promise see it he should but put his foote in it he should not See the 20. Chapter of Numbers and the 32. of Deuteronomy Let vs consider of these things Beloued It is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the liuing God It is a dangerous thing to deale remissely in his businesse who is jealous of his seruice and requireth the whole man If this were done to Moses a greene Tree what shall be done to a dry And if Moses were condemned because he was not so hot as he should haue beene doe they thinke to escape that are key-cold This I say because some thinke that they make Religion beholding to them and God their debtor for euer if they doe not fall away from it as well as others and if they doe not openly blaspheme and raile vpon it though in the meane time they speake neuer a word for it But as God said to Moses I will make thee a greater Nation and a mightier then these though all these should be brought to nought And as Christ said in the Gospell I tell you the truth that if these hold their peace the stones shall speake So we may write vpon it that God is both able and willing to defend his Truth howsoeuer many shall agree to betray it and rather then he will leaue it vnmaintained he will open the mouthes of the dumbe and the children that are yet vnborne shall praise the Lord. In the meane time as it is said in Genesis The Nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I iudge saith God And in the Gospell Woe be to that man by whom offences shall come and especially Woe be to the man by whom the Sonne of man shall be betrayed So let these men-pleasers and place-pleasers know that as they are ashamed to confesse Christ before men so he will not be pleased to confesse them before his Father which is in heauen Gordius the Martyr was of that minde for being exhorted by a friend of his to keepe his conscience to himselfe and not to professe it made answer as Basil writeth that the Truth is not onely betrayed of them that doe plainely forsake it but of them also that will not publikely confesse it Fulgentius was of the same minde Nec immeritò talis seruus abijcitur punitur c. Such a seruant saith he is worthily reiected and punished because by one and the same silence he establisheth error who being forestalled by error or time doth not by meanes of his silence vouch and maintaine the Truth Euen as further saith he he that doth not establish Gods glory doth euacuate it and he that doth not refute and ward the blow of dishonour from God doth no lesse then heape it vpon him Why my Brethren our cause is good it is Gods we haue proued it so to be in hundreds of discourses the times are fauourable we haue the Bride-groome with vs why then should any mans heart faile him ô verè Phrygiae neque enim Phryges 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They that be in pace Cerui I inuert Tertullians words will they be in praelio Leones will they be as valiant as the Lyon in the day of battell when the wicked compasse them about at their heeles and draw them before Rulers yea and peraduenture to a fiery tryall that shew themselues as fearefull as the Deere in the dayes of peace in Alcyon dayes They feare where no feare is saith the Psalmist the shadow of the mountaines maketh these to feare saith one in the booke of Iudges By the Art of dissembling many thinke they haue great aduantage The Protestant taketh them for theirs for their comming to Church The Romanist theirs because they speake neuer a word against them so they gaine on both sides Wherefore if they should be any thing busie so they call sincere dealing then they should leese such a Gentlemans custome and such a Gentlewomans fauour c. Thus the loue of man casteth out the loue of God and the feare of man casteth out the feare of God But where is Elias euen he himselfe said Elizeus Where is Brutus I would thou wert aliue Brutus it was once written vnder his statue We may say Where is Peter and his spirit He confesseth in my Text and denieth not but saith plainely that there was none worth the looking after but Christ nor no Doctrine worth the harkening after but his It was a great blot to Osius of Corduba his reputation that had beene a faithfull Confessor in the dayes of persecution that following the sway he was seene to be present and an abettor in the Conuenticles of the Arrians and so those other Bishops did themselues most hurt that deserued the imputation of Nazianzen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All sauing a few followed the time On the other side Paphnutius is much renowned in Story for withstanding the greatest part of the Councell of Nice in a cause of truth wherein he also preuailed And so in these last perilous times Vergerius the Italian and Dalthius the Hungarian and Fricius the Polonian excellent learned men and great Statists and two of them Orators from great Princes deserued no lesse honour though they had not so good successe for Trent Conuenticle would not be like Nice Councell in manfufully proposing and defending many points of Christian Religion euen as they are taught and vrged by vs. They learned it of the Prophet I will speake of thy testimonies before Kings and will not be ashamed Or of Saint Peter in my Text who answered boldly and cared not who heard him that Christ was to be followed and he onely Let vs also Beloued be followers of Saint Peter in this point and let this be our first note or lesson To
Hieronym against the Luciferians Quae est ista simplicitas nescire quod credas c What simplicity is this to beleeue you cannot tell what He beleeued simply what did he beleeue By which places you see that as the knowledge of Christ is required if we meane to be acknowledged of his Father so this knowledge must not be a generall conceit or notice onely that there is such a one and that some thing he hath done for so we shall shoote but at an vncertaine marke striue as they that beate the ayre as Saint Paul saith but we must know in particular what great things he hath done and from what aboundant loue hee did it and with what fierce enemies he encountred in doing it and for what kind of persons he did that which he did and lastly in what miserable estate we had beene if he had not done it And is this so easie a faith that it may be gotten with once opening of our eyes or conned by one stans pede in vno or haue we not need rather to search the Scriptures as Christ spake and to Take vp and read Take vp and read as Augustine was admonished and to attend to those things which the Preachers teach vs as Lydia did to Pauls Doctrine As I say we are to giue our diligence that we may be skilfull in the whole booke of God in the whole doctrine of our Saluation so especially it shall behoue vs to get by heart and haue in a readinesse such Sentences as doe summarily and briefly containe the mysterie of Christs Incarnation and the chiefe benefits of his Mediatorship And such a place of Scripture is this that I haue in hand yea such a word is this Immanuel so rich so effectuall so full of Doctrine and consolation if you doe not so much tell the syllables as prize the waight and doe not so much content your selues with the outward barke and rinde as with the inward substance and pith Consider therefore of it againe and againe and marke me opening and vnfolding of it This therefore I say that in this word is couched together both Christs Nature and his Office His Natures of two kindes both Diuine and humane and yet but one Person his Offices though diuers for functions yet all tending to this one end to set vs at peace with God and to vnite him vnto vs. he shall call his name Immanuel or God with vs. Now to proue vnto you Well-beloued that Christ is God very God as Saint Iohn speakes God blessed for euer as Saint Paul calleth him I hold it superfluous before Christians since not onely the whole Scripture being giuen by inspiration from God doth auow so much The Law the Prophets the Psalmes the Apostles the Euangelists c. but also the Father himselfe the Word himselfe and the holy Ghost himselfe those three in heauen and vpon earth the works that he did farre exceeding the power of any creature and especially the raising himselfe from death the third day together with the bodies of many Saints that had slept longer Thus as Aratus saith of Iupiter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All streets are full of Iupiter and markets and the Sea and Ports c. So is it true of Christ and his Deity that he hath filled all places with the glory thereof so the same needs not to be proued or demonstrated no more needeth his humanity whereof besides his birth shape growing his hunger his thirst his faintnesse and wearinesse his feare and shrinking his stripes and buffetings his reuilings his cruell and bitter death and lastly his burying be abundant witnesses So be there also euidences enow of the vnity of his Person in two Natures euen in these two places of Scripture Iohn 1. The Word became flesh and dwelt among vs and we saw the glory of him c. He doth not say of them though he were both God and Man Word and Flesh. And Iohn 3. No man ascendeth into heauen but he that descended from heauen the Sonne of man which is in heauen he doth not say Sonnes as of many but Sonne though hee speake of such a manner of existence which is not incident to one nature Christ therefore is but one but his Natures are two Diuine Humane both true both perfect yet vnseparable and vnconfused For neither hath the Deity swallowed vp the humanity so thought that wicked Hereticke Eutyches neither hath the humanity made a new person from the Deity as thought that vile miscreant Nestorius But howsoeuer according to his Deity he be equall to his Father inuisible impassible incircumscriptible c. and according to his humanity he be like to vs euen of the same nature with vs corporall visible reall hauing flesh and bone and a reasonable soule as wee haue yet as is truly taught by Athanasius Hee is not two but one Christ for if there were two then the Prophet should not haue said in my Text She shall call his name but She shall call their names And the Apostle should not haue said to Timothy There is one Mediator betweene God and man but There are two Mediators the Sonne of Mary and the Sonne of God yea then he could not haue said truly as he doth that God was in Christ that God was manifested in the flâ—sh or that the Princes crucified the Lord of glory which places doe most strongly euince the Deity not to haue beene separated from the humanity being once assumed but in death nor the humanity to make an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of it selfe but both together concurring in the person of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which yet was a perfect Person before he assumed our nature to make vp the Head of his Church euen the Sauiour of his body that is the Sauiour of all that beleeue Now hauing spoken so much which was contrary to my promise and contrary to my meaning of the vnspeakeable vnion of two Natures in one Immanuel let vs consider a little of the causes hereof to wit why God would descend into the world and become man and then adde something touching the vse of the Doctrine and so an end For as touching his Offices I haue spoken of them out of another Text vpon pregnant occasion and so I may doe againe vpon the like Touching the fiâ—st Augustine hath a good speech Tali auxilio natura nostra indigebat causa Our nature and our cause stood in need of such an helpe Vt repararet genus humanum nec sine Maiestate posset humilitas nec sine humilitate Maiestas that neither humility or base estate could repaire man-kind without a Maiesticall nor a Maiesticall estate without an humble or base one And why so Fulgentius will tell vs Dâ—us verus viuus imo Deus veritas vita c. God being true and liuing nay truth and life it selfe if he had not beene true Man could not haue tasted of death and if he
the Angels in heauen But let not him that girdeth on his armour vaunt as he that putteth it off neither let any man promise himselfe too much fâ—r his owne policy There is no wisedome there is no counsell there is no vnderstanding against the Lord. The horse is prepared against the day of battell and so cunning and slights and vnderminings are vsed but the victory and successe commeth of the Lord. Thus much our Traitors felt to their woe and we found and doe find to our vnspeakeable comfort No Nation vnder heauen more bound to God for wonderfull deliuerances O that we could once learne to be thankefull to God for the same Thankefull I say not in word or in tongue onely but in deed and in truth If he that sinneth would sinne no more I meane commit no more crimes â—or what man is he that liueth and sinneth not but serue the Lord in feare and reioyce before him in trembling If euery one of vs would set his heart vpon righteousnesse chusing the thing that is pleasing to God seeking euery one not his owne good but his brothers good and doing euery one not his owne will but the will of our Father which is in heauen c. then should our prosperity be as the floods our safety as the sand of the Sea then should no euill come neere our dwelling and the sonne of wickednesse should not hurt vs our enemies should be smitten before vs all their turning of deuices should be but as the Potters clay they should still be confounded and abashed and at their wits end and ready to tâ—are their flesh with their teeth as our Traytors were whâ—n they heard their plot was defeated but contrariwise vpon our King should his Crowne flourish and peace should be on our Israel all our life long Thus much the Lord vouchsafe to effâ—ct and if there be any remnant of rage or of malice in our forraine enemies if we haue any or in our domestique Vnderminers as I feare we haue too many He vouchafe to crosse restraine and disappoint making them and their deuices like the vntimely fruite of a woman that neuer seeth the sunne or like the Spiders webbe or Cockatrice egges that either maketh no cloth or tendeth to the destruction of the deuisers Euen the Lord our God mercifully grant and worke this for â—esus Christ his sake To whom with the Father and the holy Ghost be all praise and thankes-giuing for euer Amen Amen A SERMON VPON THE TVVENTYNINTH OF IOB THE SEVENTH SERMON IOB 29. verse 14. I put on righteousnesse and it clothed me my Iudgement was as a Robe and a Diadem IOB that worthy seruant of God so pious and righteous euen in prosperity that the Deuill himselfe could not find a hole in his coate Iob 1. so patient and constant vnder the crosse or rather vnder a world of crosses that he is set forth by Saint Iames for a patterne and example of patient enduring Iames the 5. so gracious and inward with God that the Prophet Ezechiel ranketh him among them that found especiall fauour in Gods sight euen with Noah and Daniel Ezek. 14. Briefely so rich in all spirituall knowledâ—â— â—nd endued with such a principall measure of Gods spirit thaâ— Moses himselfe disdained not to become his Interpreter as some of the Ancients haue thought But as is probably conceited had his hand in the publishing of his Booke as Saint Peter had his in the publishing of Saint Markes Gospell by the report of Saint Hierom. This Iob I say so qualified so approued so graced so priuiledged is the Pen-man of the words which I haue read vnto you and therefore the same ought highly to be regarded and obserued for the excellency of his person that spake so as no doubt he was moued by the holy Ghost Now as Christ saith in the Gospell This voyce came not for my sake but for yours And as Saint Paul saith to the Corinthians These things haue I figuratiuely transferred to myselfe and to Apollo for your sakes that yee might learne in vs not to thinke of men aboue that which is written So we ought to perswade our selues that Iob telling vs so much as he doth in my Text touching his vpright carriage in his place of Gouernement did it not so much to magnifie himselfe no nor to iustifie himselfe except it were against his Backe-biters as to set before vs as it were in a glasse what are the speciall duties of them that be in place of gouernment I put on righteousnesse and it clothed me c. As if he said Others made it their care to strowt it and to stout it and to braue it in costly apparell as though thereby they would procure respect and esteeme to their place but my delight was to doe Iustice and Iudgement to helpe them to right that suffered wrong to relieue the oppressed that is as farre as was possible and as much as lâ—y in me to helpe euery one to his owne This was my Robe and my Diademe and my Crowne of reioycing This I take to be the meaning and summe of my Text. Now for the explicating of the words I doe not thinke good to make a long discourse vnto you of Robe and Diadem as Hierome doth some-where of Ephod and Ephod-Bad to tell you either wherein the Robe of them of the Eâ—st differed from the Gowne of the Romanes and the Cloake of the Grecians or what was the stuffe of the Diadem and the forme and making thereof These things might rather make a shew of reading then cause godly edifying Onely I will endeauour to helpe the ignorant to vnderstand what is the difference betweene Iustice and Iudgement lest they be deceiued For Iustice and Iudgement be not one and the same thing though they be ioyned together in my Text as also they be in halfe an hundred places of the Scripture as I thinke Neither yet doth Iudgement signifie Discretion in this place as it doth when we say Such a thing is done with iudgement No the originall word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is seldome or neuer so taken in the old Testament But these be the differences betweene Iustice and Iudgement Iustice is the vertue or good quality Iudgement the exercise and practice of it Iustice is considered as inherent in our selues Iudgement hath relation vnto others euen to them with whom we haue dealing Briefely Iustice is the letter of the Law and tenor of right Iudgement is taken often for the qualifying of it by conscience and equity On these three points hang all the speciall differences betweene Iustice and Iudgement Hauing thus holpen some of you for the better vnderstanding of the words we will come now to the matter and take it before vs as it lieth for this shall be my method and all the diuision that I will make I put on Righteousnesse c. In the Scriptures if you obserue them you shall finde the qualities of
the mind to be expressed or at the least shadowed by the apparell of the body and the getting or possessing of these qualities to the attiring or adorning of the same You know what Saint Peter saith Decke your selues with lowlinesse knit it vnto yâ—u make it your girdles as it were And Saint Paul to the Galatians As many as are baptized haue put on Christ. And to the Romanes Put yee on the Lord Iesus make him your bearing-cloth as it were So to the Ephesians Cast off conceâ—ning the conuersation in times past the old man c. and put ye on the new man make him your inwaâ—d garment So to the Colossians As Elect of God holy and beloued put on the Bowels of mercies gentlenesse humblenesse of mind meekenesse long suffering make them your outward garment Many such places may be found in the new Testament For the old let one be in stead of all Let not mercy and truth forsake thee bind them on thy necke make them thy chaine and write them vpon the Table of thine hea t make them thy Tablet I will trouble you with no more Citations Now this and the like kinde of phrasing may be thought to be vsed by the holy Ghost for two causes First because wee are dull of vnderstanding and cannot conceiue of spirituall matters but by carnall descriptions secondly because he would draw vs away from that which is viler to that which is more precious from that which is pleasing to our senses to that which is profitable to our soules Further this phrasing our Sauiour and his seruants may be obserued to haue vsed in others matters besides apparell Doe you tell me that my mother and my brethren would speake with me Hee that doth the will of my Father in heauen the same is my brother sister and mother He doth not deny his carnall kindred but preferreth the Spirituall So in Saint Iohn Doe ye aske me who hath brought me meat My meate is to doe the will â—f him that sent me So againe Doe yee bragge that ye are Free-men and were neuer seruants to any If the Sonne hath set y u free then are yâ—u free indeed but if yee commit sinne then are yee the seruants of sinne So the Apostle will ye know what is the riches to be accounted of Godlinesse is great riches if a man be content with that he hath c. Would yee know what Sacrifices be best To doe good and to distribute forget not for with such Sacrifices God is well pleased So Bernard Would you know where be my merits My merit is the mercy of the Lord while hee is not voyd of mercy I am not voyd of merit So Chrysostome Would you know what 's the best fast To fast from sinne So Prosper The best keeping of Holy-dayes is to feriat from dead workes Yea out of the Church you shall find this figure and phrasing to be vsed Where are your children Epaminondas My children are my victories said he and namely that gottâ—n at Leuctra they will perpetuate my name Who is the best Patriot The best Carthaginian Hostem qui feriet mihi eâ—iâ— Carthaginiensis What 's the bâ—st Diuination 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The best Diuination is to fight fâ—r ones Country Who is the most Capitall Enemy What the Noblest Conquest To conquer ones affections that the greatest Conquest and sensuality the deadliest enemy So what 's the best Fortresse A good Conscience What true Nobility Vertue To returne to the faithfull Nazianzâ—n hath a good speech to our purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Shame-fastnesse is a faire flowre in a Maidens garland Palenesse that is a great ornament Vertues they be the brauest platting of the haire Thus he and Tertullian before him Vestite vos Serico probitatis c. Put on the Silke of honesty thâ—â—iffiny as it were of Sanctimony and the purple of Chastity Taliter pigmâ—ntatae Dâ—um habebiâ—â—s amatorâ—m If you trimme your selues thus nay if you paint your selues with this kind of painting you shall haue God himselfe your Louer By this time I know you are more then satisfied that â—ob in saying he did put on Iustice made it his garment did speake no strange thing but that which many both of the Church out of the Church haue spoken And this to drawe vs from that which is too much â—steemed to that which ought onely or chiefely to be esteemed Certainely gold and siluer and purple and scarlet and the like and garments and ornaments made of the same are not of themselues common or vncleane Euery creature of God is good saith Saint Paul And euery Ordinance of man not repugnant to the Ordinance of God is obediently to bee yelded vnto saith St. Peter Both Riches and Honour come of thee O Lord c. and it is in thy hand to make great and to giue strength 2. Chron. 29. And He that hath set some aboue their brethren in dignity for the maintenance of peace and order hath prouided for such more costly ornaments and habiliments for the better distinguishing of them from others Esau the elder brother had fairer clothes then Iaaâ—ob the younger Gen. 27. And Ioseph being promoted by Pharaoh was not scrupulous to weare a Ring of gold and a chaine of gold and Silke or fiue Linnen Gen. 41. No more was Daniel scrupulous to be clothed in purple being aduanced by Belshashar Dan. 5. No more Morâ—ecat to be brauely mounted and gorgeously apparelled by the appointment of Ahashuerus as it is in the Booke of Esther Nothing that entereth into the belâ—y defileth a man if his heart be cleane So nothing that is put on the backe if his heart be humble Howbeit as one may be a glutton and highly offend the Maiestie of God iâ— he feed aboue the measure of moderation though meates of themselues be things indifferent So let a man prate neuer so much that his heart is vpright that he is not high-minded and hath no proud lookes yet if hee weare apparell beyond the compasse of his calling or other then Law doth allow he lyeth and speaketh not the truth but maketh himselfe a grieuous transgressor Meates for the belly and the belly for meates saith the Apostle And so apparell for the backe and the backe for apparell and God shall destroy both the one and the other True yet as he that weaâ—eth should not despise him that weareth not So he that weareth not should not iudge him that weareth for God hath called vs in peace This I speake not to giue way to braueing and flaunting the speciall sinne of this age for the which the Land mourneth and fadeth and seemeth to be pressed downe with it as a Cart is pressed that is full of sheaues as the Scripture speaketh or to excuse them that offend that way By no meanes but to remoue
controuersie betweene vs and the Romanists seeking out of the woodden Crosse worshipping of the Crosse yea of the counterfeit of it fighting for the Crosse seeking to the Sepulcher fighting for the Sepulcher worshipping of the Sepulcher setting vp Images in Churches worshipping of Images and of some of them with latria Inuocating of Saints woâ—shipping of their Relikes yea of the Relikes of Theeues and Murderers yea of the bones of Apes and Foxes yea of the Pictures of Adonis and Venus these things were not done in a corner neither were they reueiled in the twy-light but in the sight of the Sunne To be short eleuating of the Sacrament adoring of the Sacrament inuocating of the Sacrament and calling it Lord and God yea dedicating of bookes vnto it Saunders doth so these and a hundred more such abominations had neuer beene so admitted nor so long allowed in the Church of God if they that sate at the Sterne had beene wise and intelligent in Gods matters For when the Emperour or King was wise then the streame of Idolatry and superstition was greatly stopped and stayed though not dryed vp As by Leo Isaurus and his sonne and his sonnes sonne in the East By Charles the great and his sonnes sonne in the West These partly gathered Synods for the crossing of certaine superstitious worshippings partly they either wrote bookes themselues or caused bookes to be written by others in the cause of truth So when either the Empire had such a head as Otho the great or Henâ—y the second and fourth or the two first Frederickes or France such a King as Philip the faire To speake nothing of our late English Worâ—hies then they did not suffer themselues to be out-faced with counterfeit Titles neither could they indure to heare either that the Imperiall Crowne was beneficium Papale as Pope Alexander the third would haue it or that the Crowne of France was at the Popes disposing as Boniface the eighth vanted Much lesse such swelling words of vanity nay of intolerable insolency as Innocent the fourth deliuered to the Embassadors of King Henry the thâ—rd Nonne Rex Angliae vassallus meus est vt plus dicam Mancipium that is Is not the King of England my vassale nay I will say more bond-man or bond-slaue witnesse Mathew Paris They did not onely dispute the case with him as Michael did with Nicholas the first and a successor of Michael with Innocent the third Their Epistles some of them answering and crossing one another are to be seene in the Decretals but also went more roundly and roughly to worke with them taking them downe a pinne or two lower and sometimes putting them besides the Cushion and placing others in their roome It importeth therefore the cause of Religion mightily that Kings be wise and skilfull in Gods Booke that they be able to discerne what is Gods right what their owne yea that they can distinguish wisely betweene the Vicars of Christ and the angels of Satan betweene the Keyes of the Church and counterfet Pick-lockes as Doctor Fulke calls them For where wisedome is not and doth not abound there there is much going out of the way there there is often fâ—lling into the ditch Inscitia mater omnium errâ—rum saith Fulgentius that is Ignorance is the mother of all errors So Bernard calleth Ignorance the mother of all vices So Iustin Martyr Let knowledge be thy heart and truth thy life And Clement Alexandrinus seuen Stromate Knowledge is the food of the soule 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Ignorance is the staruing of the soule or the disease called Atrophia to eate and to be neuer the neere or better for the eating Thus we are to hold in Thesi of the singular vse that is of wisedome as necessary as the ayre we drawe in as faire as the morning starre nay as the Sunne when hee riseth in his might So of Folly or Ignorance that the same is as darke as the night as foule and as vgly as the face of hell This I say in Thesi. Now for application a word or two I doubt not but as in the Romane Common-weale vnder Marcus Antoninus when that saying of Plato was considered of It goeth well with Common-wealths when either Philosophers be made Kings or Kings addict themselues to Philosophy There was a generall applying of it to their State vnder that Marcus and as in Athens when a speech out of a Poet was recited touching the sweet-singing Grassehopper all with one consent applyed it to Socrates And as in the fourth of Luke when that sentence was read out of Esay The Spirit of the Lord is vpon me wherefore he anointed me he hath sent me to preach the Gospell to the poore c The eyes of all in the Synagogue werâ— fastned vpon our Sauiour and all bare him witnesâ—e and he said that that day that Scripture was fulfilled in their eares So as many as doe heare me this day doe reioyce in themselues and congratulate to their Countrey that his Maiestie is not as many other Princes are that haue need to be called vpon with the words of the Prophet Ieremy 31. Chapter Know the Lord or that hath need to aske after the old way which is the good way c. as it is Ieremy the 6 but that hath knowne the Scriptures from his youth as Saint Paul speaketh to Timothie and is able both Preacher-like to exhort by wholesome doctrine and Doctor-like to conuince them that are contrarie-minded Flesh blood hath not reuealed the same it came not either by education or by Institution or by reading or by Conference though these be excellent helps and happy they be that finde them or vse them but by the Spirit of our Father which is in heauen euen as it is also said Zach. 4. Neither by an Army nor by strength but by my Spirit saith the Lord Almighty Therefore as Christ saith Blessed are your eyes for they see and your eares for they heare for verily I say vnto you that many Prophets and righteous men haue desired to see those things which you see and haue not seene them and to heare those things which you heare and haue not heard them So we of this Land are to hold our selues happy and thrice happy that the Lord hath giuen vs a King after his heart and our owne heart that can gouerne with Counsaile and rule with Wisedome that hath the Spirit of the liuing God resiâ—â—t in him and his senses exercised in the knowledge feare of the Lord that needs not to be taught but that can teach nor to be exhorted but onely câ—ngratulated This is not to flatter to giue the King his due specially when the giuing of due doth giue encouragement and implyeth exhortation to perseuere in well-doing Did not our Sauiour praise Nathaniel to his face And who such a patterne of veracity and plaine dealing as he Did not the Queene of Sheba praise Salomon to his
of Rome his spouse all the while he is not our true father but a father in Law or rather against all Law nor she the true mother but a step-mother a putatiue mother like her in the 1 Kings that would haue had the child to be deuided For all the world he hath shewed himselfe such a kind of father as Saturne was who deuoured all his children that he could come at and whom Rhea hid not from him and she such a mother as Medea in the Tragedy who murthered all her sonnes that she had by her husband Iason and were sorry she had no more to murther that she might vexe him and grieue him more But as Moses said Our God is not as their god our enemies being witnesses so we may say Our father and King is not as theirs heauen and earth bearing record for their King is King of the Locusts Reu. 9. and himselfe the great Locust but our King is a King of peace and of bounty to speake the least and facilis placidusque pater veniaeque paratus as the Poet said So much of the person of the King I come now to the function and to the effect and to the instrument and I will but touch them slightly lest I should be tedious A King sitting on the Throne of Iudgement c. The Iewes write themselues and others write of them that while their Common-weale stood they had three kinds of Courts or places of Iudicature Batteidin the one in euery City where three chosen for the purpose sate and examined petite or light matters matters of trespasse and of debt this was the least Court but there were many of them The second was a greater Court and authorized to try matters of life and death the same consisted of the number of twenty three and was scattered thorowout the Tribes there were more than one for a Tribe The third and greatest and most solemne consisted of seuenty or as some would haue it of seuenty two those receiued Appeales from the other Courts and besides debated of matters of the State and of the Church This Court was holden at Hierusalem and in respect thereof it is thought the Psalmist speaketh so as he doth Psal. 122. For there Thrones are set euen the Thrones of the house of Dauid He doth not say Throne as of one but Thrones as of many by reason of the multitude of Iudges which made vp Sanhedrin as the Talmudists corruptly call it of the Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Howbeit as Genes 37. Iosephs sheafe stood vp-right and all the other sheaues did compasse it about and did reuerence vnto it and as Ezech. 1. it is said of the wheeles that when the liuing creatures went they went and when those stood they stood c. for the spirit of the liuing creatures was in the wheeles so we may say that all the fore-named Courts both greater and smaller were subiect vnto the Kings-bench as it were as receiuing their authority and commission from it and so to be commanded by it and not to exercise any iurisdiction ouer it Baronius in his Annals a booke more painefull than faithfull speaking of the Sanhedrin that great Court holden at Hierusalem saith that it had power not onely to determine spirituall matters but also to question and conuent euen Kings he instanceth it Horum namque iudicio Herodes Rex postulatus est and for this and Herods cruelty especially he citeth Iosephus in the Margin I cannot say of this allegation as Saint Paul saith of Epimenides his testimony This Testimony is true for indeed his allegation is not true Herod was no King then when he was conuented nor sonne of a King but subiect to King Hyrcanuâ— who caused him to be sent for vpon complaint and was content that he should make an escape because a kinsman of Caesars had written for him but that Herod was King when he was conuented or that that Court had power ouer Kings to conuent them this we finde in Baronius onely but it is not to be found in Iosephus The truth is Qui Rex est Regem Maxime non habeat that is He that is a King must not haue one aboue him for such a one is a King onely in name but in truth a subiect for vnto Kingly authority or Soueraignety it is essentiall to be supreme and absolute absolute I say from the prescript of all persons but not from the obseruing of his owne Lawes vnto the which he graciously submitteth himselfe For this cause King Salomon erected a Royall Throne as of Iuory and gold to signifie the sincerity of his proceeding and how farre it should be from corruption and with Stayes and Lions to signifie that he would maintaine Iustice euen by force and power if it were impugned So with six steps or greeces and no fewer to shew the eminency of his Court aboue all other whatsoeuer Courts and Consistories and that the statelinesse of the making might procure awe and reuerence to it from all degrees and callings his meaning was not by erecting that Throne to suppresse all other Courts by no meanes for that had beene to pull downe the whole burthen vpon his owne backe which Moses the man of God disclaimed as being too heauy for him but to teach vs that all other Courts were subordinate to it as to the Court of the Lord Paramount 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I meane that all other should receiue orders and iniunctions from it but not presume to giue orders and rules to it So then as wheresoeuer the King maketh his abode there the Court is said to be the Court Royall so wheresoeuer any Court of Iudicature is holden by the Kings authority there the King himselfe may be said to sit interpretatiuè It is not therefore meant in my Text that the Kings personall presence is alwayes necessary for the scattering away of euill but that his authority should be there and that worthy and sufficient men be appointed by him for the mannaging of the affaires of Iustice. Where the King sitteth himselfe if he so please or prouideth that wise and incorrupt Magistrates doe fit there all enormities and abuses are easily chased away and scattered The Kings wrath is as the râ—aring of a Lion The Magistrate vnder him beareth not the sword in vaine What if the wicked be mighty in power in wealth in kindred in friends in alliance yet he thaâ— sitteth vpon the Throne is mightier than they What if they be as thornes that will not be taken vp with the bare hand Yet the Magistrate being fenced with Iron or with the shaft of a Speare 2 Sam. 23. will be too hard for them and they shall be destroyed in the same place It is hard kicking against the pricke saith our Sauiour and it may be well said If a man fall vpon authority it will bruise him but if authority fall vpon a man it will
Athenians for they hauing gotten Pausanias within their danger who had done them many despights yet calling to minde the good seruice he had done against the common enemy at a place called Plataea they let him escape and bid him thanke that place Well-fare also the Spaniards who hauing taken Peter of Nauarre a famous Engineer who had fallen from them to the French and layed him vp in prison in one of the Castels at Naples when they remembred that they had taken the same Castell before by his prowesse they could not finde in their hearts to doe him any violence but suffered him to depart But Saul and his Court are like those Iewes whom Christ reproues Iohn 10. Many good workes haue I shewed you from my Father for which of these doe you stone me As if he should haue said Suppose I had giuen you some probable cause of discontent by a word spoken should that make my good deeds to be forgotten as namely my giuing sight to your blind hearing to your deafe life to your dead c. were this honesty So Abigail suppose thou hadst giuen him some cause of offence as by departing the Courtwithout leaue when thy life was sought for by eating of Shew-bread and taking away a consecrated sword this when thou wast in necessity fleeing to the Land of the enemy when thou couldest not be safe in thine owne Country should this make thy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thy worthy deeds thy martiall acts offensiue and defensiue to be forgotten and thy selfe to be reputed and condemned for a Traytor This were hard extreme hard Abigail might thinke and we might say and therefore Saul to be condemned of most enuious ingratitude Now if it be such a fault for King Saul to rise vp against Dauid and to persecute him and to seeke his soule who was but his seruant and his subiect what is it then for the subiect to practise against his Soueraigne and to seeke to destroy him This is not so much ingratitude as inhumanity nay impiety For a kinde of piety is due vnto the Prince his person ought to be sacred vnto vs yea his Estate yea his authority yea his honour He is a kind of God vpon earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is That which is Soueraigne is thought to be God in some sort Now a King is a liuely Image of God said the Heathen man therefore not onely he that resisteth shall receiue damnation because he resisteth the ordinance of God but also he that offendeth against the Maiesty of a Prince with his tongue he offendeth against the Maiesty of God himselfe for this cause it is said in Exodus Thou shalt not raile vpon the Iudges or Magistrates Elohim neither shalt thou speake ill of the Ruler of thy people that is the King especially And Salomon in the booke of the Preacher Curse not the King no not in thy thought c. for the fowles of the ayre shall carry the voyce and that which hath wings shall vtter the matter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is If any man be disposed to fight against God let him dare to fight against my King If any will presume to fight against my King let him presume to fight against God also In which words he seemeth to confound fighting against God and fighting against the King as though they were almost alike hainous Now if euery striuing against the Prince be most vnlawfull and deserueth seuere punishment what is it then to doe some act of hostility against him as for example to blow the Trumpet of sedition as did Sheba to leuy an Army against him as did Absalom to lift vp the hand against him as Achitophel counselled I confesse that there haue beene Princes that haue beene more tender in their eares than in their bodies and whereas they haue pardoned such as had borne armes against them yet they would not pardon such as had beene ouer-lauish of their tongues It is not because a wound that is made with a weapon a plaister may heale but for the gash that is made with the tongue there is no balme in Gilead nothing will cure it so throughly but the scarre will remaine For all that this is but the conceit of some few and more superficiall than solid for words be but wind and neither breake bones nor skinne nor hurt any others but them that are content to be hurt but blowes make a dent that will not so easily be healed vp Therefore the Tenet is that they that doe some acte of hostility be viler Traitors than they that stay themselues at words Now of these kinds of Traitors there haue beene too many found in all ages and Countries and against as worthy Princes as euer raigned Who might compare for policy with Augustus for vertue with Traian yet how many Treasons in their time though in their time Rome was as flourishing as euer it was before or after So to leaue Heathenish times Were not Constantine Theodosius Iustinian Charles Otho so great that they had the name of Great giuen vnto them by common consent as well for their worth as for their power and had not all these their hands full by meanes of seditious practisers As for Lewes surnamed the Pious his portion was by much worse than any of the former for his owne sonnes that came out of his bowels made head and warre against him and tooke him prisoner and kept him in prison certaine yeeres But as 2 Sam. 14. When the woman of Tekoa was demanded by Dauid whether Ioabs hand were not in the businesse that is whether he did not set her on worke confessed and denyed not but said plainely He did So if you will consult impartiall Story it will tell you that either the beginning of that hurly-burly or the progresse had much life from him of Rome who threatned to excommunicate the Prelats that remained faithfull to the Father Now if this were done in a greene tree when the leaues of piety and vertue yet remained I meane before Satan was let loose and men had abandonned themselues vnto all kinds of outrages and villanies what then might be expected in the later decaying ages when Satan had his full swinge what maruell I say if two hundred yeeres after Gregorie the seuenth stirred vp against Henry the fourth Rodolpho a great Prince of Sweden sending him the Imperiall crowne with a verse that euery Scholler hath in his mouth Petra dedit Petro Petrus Diadema Rodolpho And not content herwith he lastly stirred vp against the said Emperour his owne sonne alluring him with faire promises of this life and of that that is to come to rebell against his father In those dayes was nothing but warres and rumours of warres a Post went to meet a Post and a Messenger a Messenger as the Prophet speaketh and the Powers of heauen and earth seemed to be moued and mens hearts to faile with
a place of celestiall pleasure and celestiall plenty plenty that neuer faileth and pleasures for euer-more And thus haue you our Meditations on the Text. A word more of this present occasion we haue done When I was appointed by this right Reuerend and Honorable Prelate to this seruice I found him declining any Encomium of his pr aises for well knew he what Austin hath and what hath Augustine or any of the Fathers that he knew not That the soule receiued among the blessed regardeth not the commendations of men Imitationem tantùm quaerit it liketh their imitation better But as the Elders of the Iewes to Christ in another case on the Centurions behalfe He is worthy thou shouldest doe this for him for he hath loued our Nation and built vs a Synagogue he is worthy to be remembred of vs for he loued our Nation id est vs Ministers and he furnished your Synagogues your Churches with the plentifull preaching of the Gospell The same which moued Israel so honourably to interre that good high Priest Iehoiada is our cause this day For he did good in Israel both towards God and towards his house Ye daughters of Israel weepe ouer him who clothed you in scarlet with other delights and put on ornaments of gold vpon your apparell Two singular ornaments crowned him which seldome meete in one man Learning and Humility Learning the ornament of his mind and humility the ornament of his learning Iulius secundus studying long for an Exordium to his matter was asked by Iulius Florus Nunquid tu melius dicere vis quà m potes I haue matter if I must fit it with speech I must speake better than in this cantle of time I can speake Therefore lest I should Frigidè laudare which Fauorinus liketh not I le giue it you in grosse considering his much reading with the happinesse of his memory how well acquainted with Histories Ecclesiasticall and profane with the Iewish Rabbins and the Christian Doctors with Diuines ancient and moderne with Fathers Greeke and Latin how perfect in the Greeke the Hebrew the Chaldee the Syriacke and the Arabicke tongues I am bold to affirme that there are few so learned men vnder heauen One monument of his learning haue we for which the age now doth and the children vnborne shall blesse his memory That he began with others but finished alone with one of the greatest and most learned Bishops of the Church of England set forth the new and most exact translation of the Bible wherein as it was said of Ierome for translating the Septuagint into the Dalmatian tongue he deliuered the Scriptures suae linguae hominibus to Englishmen in English The sole merit of which worke preferred him to this place of gouernment in the Church For with Basilius Magnus Non ex maioribus sed ex propria virtute Nobilitatem duxit He eennobled himselfe with his owne worth and vertue And touching his Humility as it was said of Piso so more truely of him Nemo fuit qui magis quae agenda erant curaret sine vlla ostentatione agendi No man did more good than he with lesser shew of ostentation How he decked himselfe inwardly with lowlinesse of minde and did put himselfe vnderneath himselfe euery one that knew him knew On a time and many such I could tell you a poore Minister sending in to speake with him abruptly he brake off a most serious discourse saying But the Minister must not stay lest we should seeme to take state vpon vs. Therein imitating that great and inuincible Supporter of the Faith of one Substance Athanasius of whom Nazianzene writeth that being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 growne to a super excellent height of vertue yet was he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 easie of accesse and facile to entertaine the poore mans suit When in his sickenesse one hoped for his recouery he gaue the answer that Saint Ambrose gaue to the Nobles of Millaine that desired him to pray for life Non ita inter vos vixi vt pudeat me viuere nec timeo mori quoniam Dominum bonum habemus I haue not so liued among you that I am ashamed to liue neither am I afraid to dye because our Lord is good How he perseuered in the truth you shall heare Some few dayes before his death in the presence of a worthy and truely Noble Knight I heard him discourse sweetly of the Certainty of Saluation and of Perseuerance in Grace comfortable truths so much opposed by Papists Arminians and carnall Gospellers And in conclusion he did affirme That he which holds the Protestants doctrine and faith herein hath built his house vpon the Rocke and the gates of Hell shall not preuaile against him Not many houres before his departure for as Ambrose of Acholius non obijt sed abijt I found him as mee seemed victorious vpon some conflict and Quis Sanctorum sine certamine coronatur What Saint was euer crowned but vpon a combat saith Saint Ierome I drew neere his bed he reached for my hand and greezed it and now you see the cause of my choise saying I know whom I haue beleeued and I am perswaded that he is able to keepe that which I haue committed vnto him against that Day This occasioned some thing concerning relyance vpon God by Faith yea said he I had fainted vnlesse I had beleeued to see the goodnesse of the Lord in the Land of the liuing Mention being further made of Faith and Hope and of their obiect But saith he againe in Dauids words The mercies of the Lord are from generation to generation on them that feare him Mercy brought in thoughts of Christ oh saith he in the words of that holy Martyr None but Christ None but Christ. Being told how preciously the Lord esteemeth the death of such he replyed Right deare Right deare in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints Some prayers made for him vpon his desire at conclusion he said Amen I thanke God Amen enough enough Amen I thanke God They write of Lanfrancus sometime Archbishop of Canturbury that he often prayed and obtained to dye such a death that neither hindered speech nor memory this blessing God afforded our Reuerend Bishop for as I am certified by one most deare to him and worthy to be beleeued when he was leauing this life he looked on her and on the rest of his children in the chamber present and said Christ blesse you all And like that old Patriarke Iacob he moued himselfe vpon the bed and cryed Christ Iesus helpe and so Christ tooke him and conclamatum est His soule is now at rest his name is among the Worthies of the Church his estate is with his children and now are we to returne his body to the dust from whence it was taken The best fruits shew their goodnesse when they haue lyen let him lie a while and mellow let
sent of him Rulers were not sent indeed but as it were sent Which is so shallow a shift that it is not worth the confuting Of like moment is the other which Innocent and the Glosse hath in the same place that it is a Counsell and not a Commandement for the Lords sake If we will supererogate we may but we are not bound Whereas it is euident to euery one that hath but halfe his eye open that Saint Peter hath the same meaning that St. Paul namely to yeeld obedience not only for feare of man and of punishment but also and especially for loue towards God and for conscience sake But I haue stood ouerlong vpon this point of the Romish Gospell touching the authority of the Bishop of that See and touching his shamelesse eluding of such places as make for the Princes Soueraignty It is well said by Optatus Cùm supra Imperatorem not sit nisi solus Deus c. Forasmuch as there is none aboue the Emperour but onely God who made the Emperour while Donatus exâ—olleth himselfe aboue the Emperour he had now as it were exceeded the bounds to esteeme himselfe as God and not as man c. Let him of Rome thinke that of Optatus to be spoken to himselfe and so I leaue him for that matter What if I should now enter vpon an Antithesis betweene other points of the Romish Gospell and the true Gospell of our Sauiour Christ should there not be matter of shame and confusion ministred to our Aduersaries and to vs of glory and reioycing Their Doctrine of the Head of the Church militant you heare is carnall while they reioyce in a thing of naught and make flesh their arme also seditious while they will haue him to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to meddle out of his Dioces and to haue an Oare in euery Princes Boate. Now what is their Doctrine of the body it selfe the Church what of the food thereof the Word what of the badges and seales thereof the Sacraments what of the Keyes thereof the power of binding and loosing what of the exercise thereof prayer and fasting what of the life thereof Faith in the Sonne of God what of the Iustifier and Sauiour thereof Iesus Christ and that with that one bloody Sacrifice of his body and blood once for all c As Tertullian saith De praescript Ipsa Doctrina eorum cum Apostolica comparata ex diuer sitate contrarietate suapronuntiabit non Apostoli alicuius authoris esse neque Apostolici c. Their Doctrine it selfe being compared with the Apostles Doctrine by the diuersity and contrariety thereoâ— will pronounce that it came not from any Apostle nor Apostolike man So if wee lust to enter the comparison wee shall soone finde how much their Doctrine differeth from the Gospell and how agreeable ours is to it We teach that Christs true Church being his body and a Communion of Saints consisteth onely of such as belong to God They that it comprehendeth bad as well as good Reprobate as well as Elect They that the visible Church is discerned by multitudes and succession of Bishops c. We that it should be rather by purity of Doctrine and sincerity of ministring the Sacraments Whether truer and more consonant to the Gospell of Christ Doth not our Sauiour teach that when he commeth he shall scarsely find faith in the earth Where then be multitudes and the visibility thereof Doth not Saint Paul that after his departure there should enter grieuous Woolues What reckoning then of Succession Malè vâ—s pariâ—tum amor caepit c. Your loue that you beare to the walls of the Church is but a bad loue You doe euill to reuerence the Church by roofes and buildings c. Anné ambiguum est in ijs Antichristum esse sessurum Is there any doubt but Antichrist will sit there Montes mihi Spinae Lacus Carceres Voragines tutiores sunt iâ— illis enim Prophetae aut manentes aut demersi Dei Spiritu prophetabant Mountaines and Woods and Lakes and Prisons and deepe Caues are safer for me I may more safely haue recourse to them for direction and safety for in them the Prophets did either abide or being drencht there did prophecy Thus Hilary against Auxenâ—ius As for the Word the Food of the Church how many wayes blessed God! doe they adulterate it or make it vnprofitable and so make it no Gospell at all They equall their Traditions they call them the Apostles Traditions but while they cannot shew them in the writings of the Apostles Non accipio quod extra Scripturam de tuo infers as Tertullian saith with the written Word of God So doth the Councell of Trent yea the Decretall Epistles of the Popes Inter Canonicas Scripturas Decretales Epistolae connumerantur So hath my Gratian dist 19. in the Title and the Glosse also taketh it so I know not whether they be ashamed of it and haue corrected it in the later Editions This is one way Againe they keepe it in an vnknowne tongue as it were vnder locke and key or a booke that is sealed or if it be translated by Godly Learned men they storme as much as Alexander did when he heard that Aristotles bookes wherein he would be onely cunning were published nay as much as Herod was troubled and all Ierusalem with him vpon the newes that Christ was borne for that now their Kingdome was neere to an end They pretend that it is not well translated by our men and therefore they are so much against it but why doe not they translate it better Why in their forty seuen yeeres of leisure for so many it is since they left their Country haue they set forth the New Testament onely and that in such sort as all men may plainely see how much against their hearts it is that the people should haue any knowledge of the Word of God whereby they might discouer reproue the falshood of their Doctrine They that would not haue a Lyon or an Elephant to stirre they hudwinke them They of Mitelene when they would vse their subiects like slaues and oppresse them with tyrannie tooke order that they should not put their sonnes to schoole and that they might learne nothing witnesse Aelianus The like practice Nahash the Ammonite attempted with them of Iabesh-Gilead That if they would haue peace they must buy it with their right eyes If you will haue this applyed take the simplest of the people and make them applyers Their Kingdome is a Kingdome of darkenesse dumbe Images for their Teachers dumbe signes in the Masse for their Preachers dumbe or not-vnderstood Seruice for their deuotion c. And therefore without darkenesse and ignorance it cannot be vpholden Come we to the Doctrine of the Keyes of the Church Christ deliuered to Peter and in him to all the Apostles as Origen Cyprian Chrysostome Augustin and which not of the ancient Fathers doe teach the