of fire This doth Iames teach vs saying Iam. 5.1 2 3. Goe to now ye rich men weepe and howle for your miseries that shall come vpon you your riches are corrupt and your garments are moth-eaten your gold and siluer is cankred and the rust of them shall be a witnesse against you and shall eate your flesh as it were fire Ye haue heaped vp treasures for the last dayes How foolish then are greedie couetous men Rom. 1. which heape vp wrath against the day of wrath and of the declaration of the iust iudgement of God Mat. 5. How much better were it for them to lay vp treasures not vpon earth where the rust and moth doth corrupt and where theeues breake thorow and steale but rather to lay vp treasures in heauen where neither rust nor moth doth corrupt and where theeues doe not breake thorow nor steale Fourthly a mans conscience shall witnesse with him or against him as the Apostle doth testifie Rom. 2. speaking thus of the Gentiles When the Gentiles saith he which haue not the Law doe of nature the things conteined in the Law they hauing not the Law are a law vnto themselues which shew the effect of the Law written in their hearts their conscience also bearing witnesse and their thoughts accusing one another or excusing at the day when God shall iudge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ according to my Gospel Note I beseech you the Apostles words He saith That the conscience of the Gentiles shall beare witnesse and he telleth when she shall doe this to wit when God shall iudge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ meaning the day of Iudgement But that I may speake more plainely note I beseech you beloued Christians that as mens doings are two-fold good or bad They are good which proceed from faith and are agreeable to the Law of God and they are euill which proceed from infidelitie and are repugnant to the Lawes of God So the motions of mens hearts are two-fold either ioyfull which concomitate good deedes or sorrowfull which alwayes accompany euill deedes Hereupon it commeth to passe that one Conscience may bee called good another bad Omnis Conscientia cum scientia Now a good conscience is a ioyfull motion of the heart arising from a certaine knowledge of wel-doing or it is the iudgement of the mind grounded vpon knowledge concerning a mans good deeds ministring ioy vnto him Hereupon Paul said Our reioycing is this the testimonie of a good conscience 2. Cor. 1.12 Paul bended his wit and will and laboured earnestly to haue a good conscience towards God and man and he had such an one and with it could truly say I am pure from the blood of all men And further at his end his conscience so comforted strengthened and emboldened him that he without any scruple or hesitation 2. Tim. 4.7.8 said I haue fought a good fight I haue finished my course I haue kept the faith c. A good conscience makes a merrie heart whiles wee liue makes vs to sleepe more quietly then if we layd our heades on a Doune-pillow and when death approcheth she causeth man not to feare to die and then will not forsake him when all worldly vanities and shadowes vanish fade away and yet she wil doe him the best seruice that she can shee will plead for him and witnesse with him O what a treasure is a good conscience She is as it were mount Tabor a glimpse of glory vpon earth a comfortresse of thy heart at the houre of death and a faithfull friend and witnesse to stand by thee at the day of Iudgement when thou shalt haue most need But an euill conscience is in this world as it were an hellish Hagge an infernall Furie euer tormenteth man followeth him she alwayes keepeth a true record of all mans euill thoughts words and workes troubleth man with direfull suggestions and temptations she is neuer at peace and quietnesse she bringeth man to destruction as it may appeare by the examples of Cain Iudas Arrius and many others and yet she hath not done but continuing an enemy at the last Day will witnesse against a man all his sinnes his swearing forswearing lying stealing iniuries oppressions and all other his workes of the flesh and darknesse She will not nor cannot forget them For all mens faults are so perfectly knowne vnto her and so firmely impressed in her that shee is compared to a booke a booke of remembrance wherein all things are so perfectly recorded that they cannot be forgotten Reu. 20 12. Iob saith Thou hast sealed vp our sinnes in a bagge to shew the exact and strict kind of keeping of them against that Day of account So that not an euill thought not an euil word not an euill deed can be forgotten they are all so surely recorded and the time of opening this booke and reading them ouer to the hearing of the world is the day of Iudgement For then all mens faults shall be knowne and in them that haue offended they shall be punished Foolish men and women think that all their wicked thoughts all their idle and euill words passe away with the wind but it is not so for in this booke they are written and recorded and once the booke shall be opened and thy secret sinnes discouered Now if we come to the liues of men and women alasse they are most wicked they are nothing else but a continuall practice of sinne Well let vs labour to keepe a good conscience an vnblotted and vnblurred booke and then we shall preuent and escape the danger The booke and touchstone of the triall The Booke and touchstone whereby all our thoughts words and workes shall be examined and tried is the Word of God it is I say the Rule and Line by which they ought to be leuelled squared and wrought by The Apostle Paul saith Rom. 1.16 That at the day of Iudgement God shall iudge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ according to his Gospel he meaneth that Gospel whereof he was a preacher not an authour Our thoughts words and workes must be tryed by the Word of God If therefore our thoughts words and workes are not agreeable to the Word of God to Gods rules and commandements they are as odious distastefull and vnpleasing vnto the Lord as the offering vp of brused things were in the time of the Law Therefore let the Word of God O man be a lanterne to thy feet and a light vnto thy pathes that thou mayest not wander out of the old ancient wayes of the Lord but goe the straight wayes to Heauen alwayes directing thy steps by this Word of God When the poore wretched sinner accused by his own thoughts is found culpable in his words and workes and is conuicted by euident and plaine testimonies as before because he made no conscience of his wayes and neuer directed his goings according to the Word of God behold in what lamentable
cùm tandem caro datur vermibus anima daemonibus cum diuete sinc fine crucianda That is to say If thou haddest the wisedome of Salomon the beauty of Absalom the strength of Samson the long life of Enoch the riches of Croesus the felicity of Octauian what doe these profit thee when at the last thy flesh is giuen to the wormes and thy soule to the Diuels with the rich man to be tormented world without end For what will it auaile a man to winne all the world and to lose his owne soule or what ransome shall a man giue for his soule 2. Men placed Stewards in this world hauing the stock of the same at their disposition play the bad Stewards in setting their hearts vpon them idolatrously From this vice and hainous sinne Dauid dehorteth when he said Psal 62.10 1. Tim. 6. If riches increase set not your heart theron And Paul commands them that be rich in this world that they be not high-minded neither put their trust in vncertaine riches but in the liuing God In which place hee yeeldeth a great reason to moue men not to trust to riches adding a fit Epithite to riches calling them vncertaine For they ebbe they flowe they come they goe they are neuer certaine Therefore the Wise man gaue good counsell when as hee said Trust not in vncertaine riches Valerius said well to this purpose Diuitiae istae in quibus summam foelicitatem consistere putant sunt caducae momentancae crepundijs simillimae affluunt subitò subitò dilabuntur nullo in loco nullo in homine nullo tempore sunt certae sed incertissimo flatu fortunae huc illuc actae quos in sublime sustulerunt subito casu deijciunt That is to say Those riches wherein men place their chiefe felicitie are caduke momentany most like to gugawes they come suddenly and suddenly slide away they are certain in no place in no man at no time but tossed hither and thither by fortunes instabilitie whom they haue exalted highly they throw downe suddenly This was one of the Philosophers reasons why riches should not bee felicitie quia fluunt refluunt that is they come speedily to a man and hastily runne away like the tyde of the Sea So long as Troy flourished it was said of King Priamus quo nō foelicior alter neuer was any more happy but when it was destroyed so vncertaine was his state and so vaine his former trust in riches infoelix Priamus so that this saying Priami calamitates became a common prouerbe spoken of all distressed persons What a foolish thing it is for men to trust in riches may appeare by the example of that rich Steward who considering his great in-comes and friuts that were to come in reasoned with himselfe saying What shall I doe because I haue no roome where I may lay vp my fruits And he said This will I doe I will pull downe my Barnes and build greater and therein will I gather in all my fruits and my goods and I will say to my soule Soule thou hast much goods laid vp for many yeeres liue at ease eate drinke and take thy pastime But God said vnto him O foole this night will they fetch away thy Soule from thee then whose shall those things bee which thou hast prouided So is he that gathereth riches to himselfe and is not rich towards God which trusteth to vncertaine riches and considereth not how deadly they sting in the end For as the Bee carrieth Hony in his mouth and a sharpe sting in his tayle euen so the couetous and cruell man trusting to his riches hath pleasure in his life but pain at his death Like to the example of the rich Glutton whose pleasant life you may see whiles hee liued and his dolefull sorrows after death from the 19. Verse to the end of this Chapter Thirdly men play the bad Stewards in this Farme this world by keeping their goods to themselues basely and miserably of which goods the Lord is the true owner and not themselues but Stewards and Disposers of them and therefore O man thou shouldest dispose them and doe with them as he would haue thee for so ought euery one to doe that is a Steward and Bayliffe vnder another Therefore be rich in good workes glad to distribute For this is the true vse of riches in good men that vse them wel to whom they are Gods blessings and the ornaments of vertue But to the wicked that imploy them not to help others but rather do hurt they are sentina malorum Arist a sinke of euils Keepe not that to thy selfe basely which God the true owner bids thee layout cheerefully to help others For if thou doest thou art false to God in thy dealing If a rich man that hath a Bayliffe a seruant vnder him should say vnto him Here is twenty shillings pay this to such and such persons and it is as good as if thou payedst it vnto me If this seruant should keepe this twenty shillings vnto himselfe and not lay it out as his Master bids him nor restore it you will say with mee that this were a bad seruant a false Steward God of his gracious goodnes bestoweth all that thou hast vpon thee and bids thee giue vnto the poore feede the hungry cloath the naked Math. 25. visit the sicke and imploy it to other good vses and then thou giuest it to him If thou shouldest not doe this thou art a false Steward thou doest not repay that which thou hast receiued Thou a rich man carriest as it were the poore mans stocke and therefore let them haue part with thee Stips pauperum thesaurus diuitum Tiberius Constant the rich treasure is the poore mans stocke as said the good Emperour God will haue no Begger in Israel Nature suffereth nothing empty and the Raine when it falleth downe and runneth filleth euery chinker and hole as it runneth and leaueth still some moisture behinde it to doe good where need is So doe you ye rich Stewards of the weale publique Lay out some goods for the maintenance of the Gospell some for thy poore neighbours that is done to Christ that is a treasure in Heauen surely kept for thee Reu. 18. and hath a finall blessing Math. 25. for the works of the godly follow them to defend them and reioyce them in the world to come But if thou art a false Steward gettest thy goods by pilling polling grinding the faces of the poore and selling them for hose and shooes and keepest them basely to thy selfe and thinkest at thy death to leaue them to thy wife and children thou shalt vndoubtedly leaue behind thee for all thine not a blessing but a plague and a curse and so vtterly vndoe all thy posteritie De malè quaesitis vix gaudet tertius haeres Exod. 20. God doth visit the sinnes of the fathers vpon the children vnto the third and fourth generation of them that hate him And the Lord
Notwithstanding this office of the Ministery truely administred bringeth honour yea it is worthy double honour For the Elders that rule well are worthy double honour specially they that labour in the Word and Doctrine Many loue to rule but they rule not well neither labour in the Word and Doctrine and therefore are not worthy double honour for there is none due but to the painefull Steward the labouring Minister as Father Latimer well said in his fourth Sermon before King Edward the 6. Noblemen Knights and Gentlemen of great valour and worth are Stewards and ought to employ some houres in the seruice of God to please him as Iehosophat Asa Iosias and Ezechias did They ought also to do good to the Commonwealth not neglecting a reasonable and necessary care of their owne followers and Families Ancient Chronicles testifie that Alphred King of England and Founder of the Vniuersitie of Oxon diuided the day and night into three parts eight houres he spent in the seruice of God eight houres vpon his Country and eight houres vpon his body and the maintenance of his Family letting no time to passe away vnprofitably alwayes remembring that whilest he had time he should doe good Ernestus Luneburgensis spent himselfe in doing good and therefore was represented by a golden Candlesticke bearing a Torch in it wherein were ingrauen these Letters in gold shewing his good and charitable minde deeds of charitie proceeding from him A. S. m. i. c. A stood for Alijs S. for seruiens m. for me i. for ipsum and c. for consumo Set all together the sentence will be Alijs seruiens meipsum consumo I consume my selfe by seruing other mens turnes It is a common speech among worldly men when they are exhorted to help the poore beeing in distresse to say We will doe what we can for our neighbour not hurting our selues but wee will looke to our selues first O beloued these men are louers of themselues more then louers of God or of their neighbours The old commandement giuen of God was and is Ioh. 13.34 15.12 Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe and who doth so now And yet our Sauiour in the New Testament presseth vs more nearely teaching vs to loue one another as hee loued vs now Christ loued vs better then himself for if he had not hee would haue harkened to Peter disswading him from his suffrings for vs and perswading him to pity fauour himselfe but hee would not follow his wicked counsell but knowing it not to bee of God said to him Chrysost Get thee behinde Satan for thou art an offence vnto me c. Christians take their names of Christ and should be of Christs minde and reckon euery one an enemie vnto them that disswadeth them from doing good to their neighbour when they may although it be to their owne losse hurt and hazzard not onely of goods but also of life There is a great hatred betweene the Dragon and the Pellican the Dragon when hee knoweth that the Pellican hath yong Birds watcheth her when she goeth from her nest and then commeth and poisoneth the yong ones The Pellican returning and finding her younglings dead bewaileth the losse of their liues sending our most dolefull and lamentable cryes and squeakings and at the last forgetting al care of her selfe and burning with a feruent loue towards them she pecketh her owne brest letteth out her owne bloud which streaming out on them reuiueth them In like manner there was a great hostility betweene the great Red Dragon the old Serpent I meane Satan and all mankinde He in Adam poysoned and killed vs all with sinne Rom. 5.12 Math 26.28 Our Sauiour Christ pittying our miserable case and willing to help vs shed his owne bloud for vs and made vs aliue againe Ioh. 11.25 Such a loue should be in vs when we see our Christian brethren in extremitie 1. Ioh. 3.16 and can help We ought to lay downe our liues for them much more we should impart our goods and bestow any labour and paine to doe them good I write these things to you you Honourable Worshipfull and rich men of the world to moue you if it please God that I may to be liberall and rich in good workes 1. Tim. 6.18 and to lay vp treasures in heauen for your selues by shewing workes of mercy Which thing most of you are able to doe and may doe without danger of life O then be willing to make performance and God will heere on earth increase your basket and your store as he did the Loaues and Fishes in the Disciples hands Math. 14. distributing them and hee will lengthen that which you haue as hee did the Meale and the Oyle of the poore Widdow of Sarephath 1. King 17. you shall receiue mercy at the Lords hands in earth and in Heauen at the last Day an euerlasting blessing Math. 25. Therefore flatter not your selues because of your high Places of Honour and Worship For God priuiledgeth not you more then the poore to be idle Stewards There must bee no ciphers in Gods Arithmetike no mutes in his Grammar no blankes in his Kalender no Drones in his Bee-hiue no loyterers in his Market-place and Vineyard no idle Stewards in his Farmes And so my good Lords and you Worshipfull Gentlemen with all respectiue duties I humbly take my leaue of you Lawiers are Stewards and diligently and faithfully should examine their Clients causes deale plainely and iustly with them and not for gaine sake tell them a lye and confirme them in errours and make them pay for all sowing the seeds of Sedition which come vp euery Terme when as louely compositions and agreements at home might better serue and whereas their Clients are poore already they in the end make them poorer Lib. 5. de guber Siluianus saith Hac lege tueri pauperes videntur vt spolient hac lege defendunt miseros vt miseriores faciant defendendo that is to say With this Law they seeme to defend the poore that they may spoile them With this same Law they defend poore wretches to make them more miserable by their defending And yet for all this who better rewarded then the Lawyer A Preacher that speaketh the truth from God and vseth the meanes to win mens soules to God hath many times for his paines reproaches but Lawiers sometimes for pleading vniust causes haue large fees and when their Client is ouerthrowne his cause lost and his money spent they blame the Client say He told me the best but not the worst we lacked good information But now what becomes of this poore man ouerthrowne He perhaps hath maintained the suite with borrowed mony and is become indebted vnto many and new suites by his Creditors come vpon him Baylifes who liue reioyce at poore mens fals swarm about him like Caterpillers and the Flies of Egypt they take him and prey vpon him Thus the vnmercifull feed vpon him when hee