cary away all the preferment and yet when the question is concerning the chiefe preferment of all which is to be a found Christian they put euery body before themselues they are content that others shall be Kings but they will be vassalls vnto sinne and Sathan What folly or rather madnesse is this Doe they imagine that they shall not come to iudgement as well as others Doth not experience manifest vnto them that age creepeth vpon them as well as vpon others That sicknesse taketh hold of them as well as of others That horrible vexations and terrours doe sease on them as vvell as on others And why then doth it not enter into their hearts that damnation belongs vnto them as well as vnto others if by speedy repentance they doe not preuent the same Now as some doe fondly and falsly conceiue that they shall be boren vvith in regard of their greatnesse so doe others hope in regard of their meanenesse to be dispensed with We are poore day-labourers and seruants say they who are to be imployed in worldly affaires and to spend our whole time that way I hope it is not required of vs that wee should be skild in the scriptures be able to conceiue prayer able to admonish offenders c. And therefore either they absent themselues from the Church altogether or els are carelesse and negligent and sleepie when they are there and if they be called to an account and examined vvhat they remember they make answere that they are wearied out with labouring in the weeke dayes and therefore they must haue rest vpon the Sabbath day That they were hired for their worke and that they will doe and no more they will not be examined nor catechized nor be held to any such strict orders But doth not the Lord in his holy word require obedience of poore men and of seruants as farre forth as of any Doth not he in the fourth commandement enioyne them to obserue not a bodily rest alone as beasts doe but an holy rest And whereas they say that they are so toyled out with worke that they cannot listen to Gods word that is but a fleshly and diuellish excuse for vvhen the Sermon is ended they are fresh and liuely enough to follow after their sports and sinnefull recreations if they may haue libertie so to doe and can take more paines that way than they haue done in their callings all the weeke before and therefore these vaine shifts shall not serue their turnes Gods threatnings are denounced against them and his iudgements haue beene executed vpon such as they are heeretofore and so shall they be still profane seruants and sinnefull poore men were not spared in the destruction of the olde world and of Sodom and Gomorra and wee reade in the Gospell that at the comming of Christ those that are labouring in the Field Mat. 24.40.41 and women that are grinding at the Mill shall be some of them cast off vnto destruction as well as others are receiued vnto saluation But all seruants are not of so meane a condition as some but there are a second sort that haue another pretence for their casting off of Christ his yoake and they are such as are followers of great men who alledge that it is not for their Masters honour for them to be religious or as they tearme it precise but to be proud and quarrelsome to be ruffians and roisters to be swearers and blasphemers to be drunkards and whore-Maisters these they thinke be for the credite of the house vnto which they appertaine and by these practises they hope to be-please their Masters But when they haue spent their daies in these courses can their Masters saue them from perdition which by their leudnesse they haue iustly deserued no surely the holy Ghost speaking of the mighty ones of the world sayth Psal 49.7.8 that they cannot redeeme their brother nor giue his ransome to God they cannot procure their naturall life to be prolonged one day nay nor one moment much lesse can they purchase the redemption of their soules that they should liue for euer and that in perpetuall blisse and happinesse Others there are that thinke they may haue a tolleration to be vaine and sinnefull because they are yong especially if they haue this resolution that when their youthfull bloud is spent and the vigour of their bodies gone they will betake themselues to more sober courses and repent for that which is past but till that time if they take their libertie vpon the Lords day and liue in idlenesse and profanenesse euery day you must pardon them but will God pardon them doth not he say Remember thy creatour in the dayes of thy youth Eccles 12.1 whiles the euill dayes come not nor the yeeres approach wherein thou shalt say I haue no pleasure in them And if they will not take his aduise marke what he sayth in another place Reioyce Eccles 11.9 O yong man in thy youth and let thine heart cheare thee in the dayes of thy youth c. This they can well like of be too ready to put in practise but what followeth But know sayth the Lord that for all these things thou must be brought to iudgement Dauid found that the sinnes of his youth lay heauy vpon him and therefore prayeth God would not remember them Psal 25.7 and shall we make so light of them Paul admonisheth Timothy a very sanctified and mortified yong man to flie the lusts of youth and shall we let loose the raines thereunto as if they were matters of nothing ah let vs not be so foole-hardie vnto our owne ruine and ouerthrow but considering how fearfully the Lord doth iudge many young men that giue vp themselues to fornication and adulterie and theft and all manner of vile and sinfull behauiour as namely that some of them die an vntimely death being either brought to the gallowes or some other way strangely cut off and that others hauing great reuenewes left vnto them are notwithstanding cast into extreme miserie and necessitie and that some others being well descended are for all that branded with egregious infamie and reproch considering I say these and the like extraordinary tokens of Gods heauie displeasure against sundrie lisencious yong men let vs take warning by their example and consecrate the first fruits of our yeeres vnto him by spending our time religiouslie and profitablie in some good course or other Secondly Vse 2 sithence the care of saluation pertaineth vnto all indifferently let Ministers hence learne to deale equally with those that are vnder their charge and not know any man after the flesh to respect him more or lesse for that hee is rich or poore high or low or the like but giue euery one their due portion of spirituall food which they in the wisedome of the Spirit iudge to be most fit for them let them not feare to administer an admonition or reprehension to the greatest and wealthiest neither let them
propose them vnto others for feare of infecting and poysoning If they be true how can they but receiue them and make vse of them in their owne soules vnlesse they will haue their owne speeches to be brought in as witnesses against themselues and their owne admonitions to be as so many conuictions of themselues to be altogether vnteachable and vntractable Fourthly and lastly they doe not onely hurt their owne soules but hereby they much dishonour God and disaduantage his seruants For let them perswade men to be mercifull to be liberall to doe good vnto all and hurt vnto none c. The answere of many wil be this you Ministers or you Parsons of the Gospell can giue good words but where are your deedes Such and such we haue heard to deliuer as sound exhortations as you doe and yet God knowes they come short enough in their practize You can tell vs that wee must be mercifull c. but surely there are none more rauenous then you Preachers for there are many of you that will neuer be satisfied but would heape together a whole world of liuings if you could get them Thus is the name of God blasphemed through such mens loosenesse and therefore doth the Lord forbid them to take his word into their mouthes that cast it behinde their backes Psal 50. and hate to be reformed thereby Holy speeches are vtterly vnbeseeming vnholy persons neither will the Lord hold them guiltlesse that doe in such sort take his glorious Name in vaine Therefore let vs in our exhortations before wee speake Vse 1 seriously be-thinke our selues what wee are to speake and as farre as possibly wee can labour to digest it before hand Let vs be so teachers of others that we be also learners our selues If we haue matters of ill newes and of terrour to deliuer let vs not vtter them as if they did not concerne vs nor throw the threatnings of God abroad as durtes whereof wee our selues are nothing at all afraid but let vs striue to be inwardly moued and affected therewith euen as the Prophet Habakkuk was with those things vvhich were reuealed vnto him When I heard saith he my belly trembled my lips shooke at thy voice rottennesse entred into my bones and I trembled in my selfe that I might rest in the day of trouble Hab. 3.16 We should be so farre from denouncing the iudgements of God in malice and distemper against the parties that we should endeauour throughly to affect our owne hearts with feare and griefe before we vtter them vnto others And the like may be said for instructions or consolations which we are about to Minister vnto any we must in the first place make our owne vse thereof Secondly this is for the condemnation of those that are appointed to be teachers of others and yet none more vntaught than they who are set as shepheards ouer Christ his sheepe and yet are themselues as sheepe without a shepheard because they are not shepheards vnto themselues as all good Ministers ought to be Thence it commeth to passe that albeit they giue others many good lessons concerning mercie and humilitie and patience and the like yet none are more cruell none more proud none more reuengefull then they And so in families many gouernors are to be rebuked who are very hot and violent in dealing against the faults of their seruants and children without any consideration of that like in themselues whereas euery reproofe which they giue vnto their inferiours should put them in minde of those offences which either they haue committed to be humbled for them or which they may committe to take greater heede of them and to pray more earnestly against them And as for rebukes so for chastisements they should neuer correct either childe or seruant but they should lay sharper stroakes vpon their owne hearts for their transgressions against the Lord than they doe vpon their bodies for their offences against them Thus if they could doe they might reape profit by euery fault which is committed and by euery reproofe and correction which they giue for the same Let vs therefore feare This is the first duty vvhich they were to performe for the preuenting of those euils which befell the stiffe-necked and rebellious Israelites and for the keeping of themselues in a better course than they tooke whence this doctrine may be collected that Whosoeuer will constantly cleaue vnto the LORD in a good way Doct. 2 Godly feare very needfull must awe his heart with an holy feare Therefore is it that wee are commaunded to serue the Lord in feare Psal 2.11 and to reioyce before him with trembling Whence we see that all the seruices of God euen our reioycings and thanksgiuings must be mingled with an holy feare The like exhortation is giuen in another Psalme Psal 4.4 Tremble and sinne not thereby implying that except men doe so they cannot chuse but sinne Now the reasons why those that will stand in vprightnesse Reasons must be affected with a religious feare are these First because that is an excellent meanes to preserue them from falling for it sheweth them the perill of sinne and breedeth in them a detestation thereof it causeth them to discerne an hooke in Satans baytes when he seemeth to proffer vnto them a good morsell it maketh them to see that there is a net spread for them when carnall delights are presented vnto them and therefore is it that Gods seruants doe stand in awe of those punishments that are appointed for the workers of iniquitie Iob 31. euen when they are tempted vnto any euill though neuer so secret and by that meanes are preserued from dangerous falles when such as are destitute of this feare of God doe runne headlong into grieuous sinnes and so plunge themselues ouer head and eares in vnaduoideable and yet intollerable woes and miseries Secondly as the feare of the Lord is a soueraigne preseruatiue to keep men from falling so is it an excellent helpe to restore them when once they haue fallen For that will cause them seriously to consider what arrerages they haue runne into and what a dangerous case they are in and so to bestirre themselues with all speede and with all diligence to get out of the same euen as one that perceiues he hath taken Rats-bane or any deadly poyson will hasten to the Physition and vse all meanes that may be to free himselfe from that danger wherein he standeth Thirdly as this sanctified feare will restraine and recouer vs from euill practises so will it driue vs forward vnto holy duties and make vs breake through all inconueniences and troubles and oppositions that would otherwise hinder vs from the same This holy feare will ouercome all fleshly feares and cause vs to persist in good wayes Ier. 32.40 according to that of the Prophet Ieremy who bringeth in the LORD speaking thus I will put my feare in their hearts and they shall not depart from me No outward
The first is concerning the persons whom it doth respect The second is concerning the matter whereof it doth consist The persons whom it doth respect are of two sorts namely the person that teacheth and the person that is taught The person that teacheth is Iesus Christ himselfe her best beloued Howsoeuer he doth vse man as an instrument in this worke yet hee himselfe is the principall agent therein It is he chiefely that doth instruct and teach his people The person that is taught is the Church her selfe Her welbeloued spake and directed his words vnto her and not to others Others indeed may haue the crummes and bones that fall from his table like dogges but the bread and good flesh that is vpon the table it selfe is prouided only for her and her children The matter whereof the Gospell doth consist brancheth it selfe into two parts The first noteth out how well Christ is affected towards his Church in that he calls her his loue and his faire one The second setteth down what dutie the Church doth owe to Christ in that he wills her to Arise and come away both are brought in by the figure Prosopopeia For the Church doth bring in Christ himselfe speaking vttering also in effect as it were these words vnto her O deare welbeloued Virgin whom I haue chosen among al the daughters of men to be my Spouse and whom I haue made faire and amiable euen white and ruddie with the water and bloud which I shed for thy sake and with my Spirit whom I haue bestowed vpon thee for thy good doe not now lie weltring in thy sinnes nor continue any longer in the bed of thy carnall delights but arise and leaue the same and consider that I haue done so much for thee and doe make such an account of thee delay not the time but make hast and come away forsake all the base affaires of this life and the sweet delights of the flesh and addresse thy selfe vnto the consummation of our most ioyfull mariage thou being euer there where I am and alwayes endeuouring to doe as I doe This Verse then in summe Summe comprehendeth in it nothing else but the Churches report of that which Christ spake to her when he beheld her by his Gospell through the cagement Wherein I pray remember with me these two points Part. first her words to him then secondly his words to her Her words of him spend themselues in two things the first is an Appellation the second is a Declaration The Appellation in the first word My beloued The Declaration in the next words spake and said to me containing in it first his teaching vnder these words spake and said then secondly the person whom he taught in this word to me Now of these by Gods grace in order My welbeloued This Appellation or title the Church might well giue vnto Christ in a twofold respect First actiuely because she did loue him well then passiuely because shee was beloued of him well For there was a singular loue betwixt them the one towards the other But yet this doth not note out the full or whole reason of this Appellation or title which is often vsed in this booke sometimes by the Church to Christ and sometimes againe by Christ to the Church Doubtlesse the reason of it is twofold The one is in regard of their mutuall loue the other of their intended marriage For Christ and his Church are brought in in this Canticle as two Paramours who are in loue one with the other and who in time conuenient doe purpose to marry together Of their loues afterwards a word or two of their marriage by the way As the same is oftentimes spoken of in the Word and most liuely shadowed out vnto vs in the 45. Psalme vnder the type and figure of Salomons marriage with King Pharaâ—hs daughter of Egypt so you must know it is not yet finished but deferred till the day of Iudgement as may well bee collected out of Reuelat. 19.7 where these words are set downe to bee spoken in the end of the world Let vs be glad and resoyce and giue glorie to him for the marriage of the Lambe is come and his wife hath made her selfe ready Here in this world is the Contract alone the marriage is kept for the world to come As heere men and women first haue their contracts or espousals then afterwards their solemne and reall marriages as Ioseph and Mary were first espoused before they came together Muth 1.11 So would the Lord obserue the same order of proceeding in the vnion of these two great and Princely States of his Sonne on the one side being the glory and ornament of heauen and of the Church on the otherside being the praise and beautie of the earth They must first be contracted then after they must be married This Contract of theirs must be considered two wayes One way as it is made with the whole Church in generall another way as it is made with the particular members thereof As it is made with the whole Church in generall it was from the beginning of the world euen immediately vpon Adams fall when God did promise him that the seed of the woman should breake the Serpents head Gen. 3.15 For then was this marriage in question and it was concluded vpon betweene God and Adam for the holy posteritie to come But now as it is made with the particular members of the Church it is at all times for there are some daily vnited vnto Christ And this their Contract is made two manner of wayes The one is sacramentally and that is when they are baptised into the name of Christ The other is really and that is when they are regenerated and doe beginne to beleeue in Christ and depend vpon him solely and wholely for their saluation Now Christ and the faithfull being thus contracted together do loue each other most entirely as contracted persons ought to doe and long still for the day of their marriage that so they may enioy one the other in full perfection In regard whereof I say they giue this title or appellation of Welbeloued one vnto the other often in this booke which is wholely spent in a manner in describing out such loue tokens as passe betwixt them to wit from the day of their espousals vnto the day of their marriage But passing thus their marriage let vs come vnto their loues the first is of the Church towards Christ in this word My welbeloued the next is of Christ towards his Church in the other word my loue the which I will referre to his due place and handle it then when I come vnto it For the former of these Doct. in that the Church doth call Christ her welbeloued as for other causes so for this because she did loue him well we are taught this Doctrine that euery member of the Church must truely and vnfainedly loue the Lord Iesus So did Peter the Apostle his loue was so