A SERMON Preached before the Queenes Maiestie at Hampton Courte the 19. of February laste paste By VVilliam Iames Doctour of Diuinitie ¶ Imprinted at London by Henry Bynneman Anno Domini 1578. Aprilis 24. A Sermon preached at Hampton Court Ezrae 4. BVT the aduersaries of Iudah and Beniamin hearde that the children of the captiuity builded the tēple vnto the lorde God of Israel 2 And they came to Zerubbabel and to the chiefe fathers said vnto them we wil builde with you for we seeke the Lorde your God as ye do and we haue sacrificed vnto him since the time of Esar Haddon king of Asshur which brought vs vp hither 3 Then Zerubbabel and Iesua and the rest of the chiefe fathers of Israel saide vnto them it is not for you but for vs to builde the house vnto our God for we our selues togither vvil builde to the Lorde God of Israel as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commaunded vs. GOd that first created man to his owne image and placed him as Lorde of Paradise that after his fall recomforted him that the séede of the woman should bruse the Serpentes head that with most gratious promises blessed Abraham and his posteritie that ledde his people through the wildernesse by the hande of Moyses and Aaron that sente them faythfull Iudges and zealous Priests to execute iustice and maintayne truthe that after long contempt of his mercyfull call by many of his Prophets gaue them ouer to be schooled by the king of Babilon that suffered their temple to bee raced and themselues moste miserably to be entreated that God that at no tyme can forget his faithfull people but remembreth them when they are in trouble and rescueth them in the perillous tyme bycause he will not suffer Virgam peccatorum super sortem iustorum Psal 100 at once worketh thrée strange wonders Fyrst he inflameth King Cyrus with an earnest desire not only to dimisse the people helde in captiuitie but also to restore vnto them all suche vessells treasures as Nabuchadnezer hadde before taken out of the Temple Secondly he rayseth vp thrée notable guydes thrée excellent and rare men for the preseruation of hys people nowe after their returne from babylon Zorobabell Ezra and Nehemias Thyrdly he encourageth the people with all earnestnesse to trauaile in the worke of the house of God so that neyther the wearinesse of the captiuitie whiche they had endured nor the true seruice of God of a long season vnfrequented nor the pleasures whiche Babylon offered coulde once wythdrawe these weake and féebled persons The summe is the snare is broken Israell is deliuered Zorobabel Ezra Nehemias the people al apply their businesse desiring in hearte no one thyng so muche as to erect the Temple of the Lorde to aduāce the glory of their despised God But sée the aduersaries of Iudah Beniamin came not of any cōscience but craftily to supplāt these workmen It so falleth out that if God haue a Church the Diuel if he cānot hinder it yet wil looke to haue an oare in it if Moses worke wonders Pharaos soothesayers will vse an apishe imitation The Apostles Peter Paule Barnabas shal no sooner testifye the trueth of Iesus Christ than Simon and Elymas the sorcerers wil be at ynches to peruerte the ryght wayes of the Lorde If Paul preache at Athens or at Ephesus then shall he surely finde either Stoikes Epicures or Iewes or some secte of miscreants ready to misse-leade Gods people The enuious mā that when the seruants sléepe soweth tares to choake the wheat that plucketh the word of God out of the harts of the hearers ne crederent seruarentur that somtime like a roaryng Lion séeketh whō he may deuoure and at another time can turn himselfe into an Angel of light that so shook that consciences of Caine Iudas that they thought their sins greater than coulde be forgiuen that so cunningly bleared Saules eies with the counterfaite shape of Samuel and made Ananias and his wife to lye to the holye Ghoste That man of sinne as a Spirite sawe the intente of Israell and as an enimy by all possible meanes goeth about to hinder the building of the house of God The diuel and the superstitious Samaritans saw that so long as Kyng Cyrus fauoured the Iewes and the reedifying of the Temple that so lōg it was vnpossible openly to hurt thē or hinder it and therefore nowe after that frowning wyll not serue he vseth a far more cunning shifte he beginneth now to flatter and speake faire You haue a long time endured trouble your treasure is wasted your bodies weakned the work is heauy your strēgth is féeble the charge greate your substance small we Zorobabell and you the reste of the chiefe of Israel we wil ioyne with you in this worke distruste vs not for wee séeke the Lord your God as you do and we haue sacrificed vnto hym since the tyme of Esar Haddon whyche brought vs vppe hither Whome might not these sugred speaches haue deceyued we will builde we séeke the Lorde with you wee sacrifice to him as you do But that God that euen in that same houre instructeth his what to answere and that hathe lefte to hys seruantes iudgement to discerne the sprytes whether they be of God or no here in a trice teacheth Zorobabell Iosua and the rest of the Elders to answeare It is not for you and vs to builde togither I will not stande heere to discusse why thys Booke and the nexte of Nehemias are accompted Canonical neither why the other of Esdras are refused I purpose onelye at thys tyme briefly to reste on these two pointes the aduersaries comming and Zorobabel Ieshua and the rest of Israelles reiecting of thē Of these that I may so speake as maye redounde to gods glory I most humbly craue your Christian ayde in earneste prayer These Iewes nowe returned from seauentie yeares captiuitie and nowe in hand with reedifying the house of God and desirous euery man to abide by his tackling at the first are set vpō wyth these suttle Samaritanes Let vs build with you this they sayd intending nothyng more than indéede to pull downe They sawe thus much with Scribes Phacifies that as if new Christ were suffered to grow vp that then al the people wold go after hym and that if Paul myghte be allowed to preache at Ephesus that then Diana should haue a great downe fall so if the buylding of the tēple might go forwarde that then the Idols of Samaria would be but little set by There are in these superstitious Idolaters two things worth the consideration their consent agréement vniuersallye to hinder Zorobabel and the rest and that in these wordes let vs build c when they intended to supplāt The other is their lying Hipocrisie we seke as you we sacrifise as you and firste it is strange to sée the agréement of the godlesse Againste true Mycheas the whole rabble of false prophetes prophesied
and how readye tongues to mislike the state of oure Churche what secreate conuenticles they haue howe they daylye buzze of strange newes howe big they looke on the professors of the Gospell howe they still retayne one Masse tricke or other to put the people in minde how willingly they will maintaine grosse Popery but for disputation sake only If you looke narrowly into them you shall perceiue them to be plaine Samaritans playne Herodians the one ready to hinder the building of the house of God the other lyke craftye Foxes to eate vppe the lambe Iesus God that is not deceyued will vomit out all those luke warme Souldiors he cannot abide suche as can couer Neroes crueltie with Catoes grauitie nor suche as to hide Herodes butcherie pretende Iohn Baptistes simplicitie These leaues wythout fruite these eares without corne these clouds without water these lampes without oyle as they haue liued without feare so shall they dye without hope and as they haue bodies without life so haue they soules without God As Copper resembleth Gold is nothing lesse as stage players do ofte put on another person than their own as in the Rainebow there appeare many colours when in déede there are none at all as in broken glasses where there is neuer a face yet there appeare two faces so in these double faced Ianusses in these chāgeable Chamaeleons ther is nothing lesse than that which séemeth most to be What though they say they seeke they sacrifice let them bragge of their forwardnesse we know that empty Tubbes do euer make the greateste sound A fresh Iuy doth not always signify the best wine The Cypers trée is the tallest trée but it beareth leaste fruite Bladders puffed vppe with winde are good for nothing but to make footballes I can compare these hypocrites to nothing so fitly as to the Distridge who when there was a contention betwene the byrdes and foure footed beasts to deceiue the byrds shewed his bil wings and to deceiue the beasts put forthe hys hoofe so seeking to please both deceiued both And as Austin saide of some while they will be Iewes and Christians they are neither Iews nor Christiās so these whyle they wil be Papistes and Protestāts they are neither Papists nor Protestants Yet they say we seeke we sacrifice we loue the Lord with al our hart with all our soule with al our strength But if they once maye warme themselues at the highe Priestes fyre they will foresweare wyth Peter if a little storme of affliction ryse they wyll goe backe in the tyme of trouble if you bid them sell all they haue they will eyther with the yongmā departe heauy or wyth Ananias his wife kepe back half they wyll embrace the worlde wyth Demas they wyll forsake the Apostle with Himeneus and Philetus they wil persecute with Alexander I pray God they do not sell which Iudas And yet notwithstanding al this such is their shamlesnesse that as in hearte they séeke nothing but the ouerthrowe of Christes Kingdome so in worde they pretend nothing so much as to serue God and to sacrifice vnto hym And thus much as touching the consente and hipocrisy The second parte of this texte is the answere wherin there are foure things in order worth the consideration Fyrste the vnitie of the aunswerers Zorobabel Iosue and the reste of the chiefe fathers of Israell and a flatte deniall It is not for you but for vs. Secondly the agréement of them in building wee oure selues and wee togyther Thirdely what they will builde a house to the Lorde God of Israell Fourthly the warrant whereby they builde as Kyng Cyrus the King of Persia hath commaunded vs. And for the firste the aunswere was not of one but of Zorobabel Iosue and the reste of the chéefe fathers of Israel wherein wee learne that in matters of weight there oughte not to take place Zorobabels own opinion but it muste be aided with the consente of others sic volo sic rubeo must haue no place in Gods matters They aunswere not as the Datorse in tyme of Poperye did to a reasonable demaund The Popes holinesse will not admitte it and if his holynesse woulde yet my Lorde woulde not suffer it Zorobabel as his name importethe by interpretation to one straunge and farre from confusion and althoughe in thys refusall he be a very Precisian yet he is not singular He aunswereth not it is for you and mee but ioyning hymselfe wyth the reste It is not for you and vs. Here are many thinges that if tyme and place would suffer would require long tractation As firste that Zorobabels refusall and the reste doth teache vs that aide of the Idolatrouse of the wicked although it be offred is to be refused especially in matters touching the building of Gods house Abraham refused to take of the King of Sodom so much as a thréed or a shoe lachet leaste he should say I haue enriched Abraham The yong Prophet for eating breade with the wicked old Prophet was deuoured of a Lion Theodorus li. 2. ca. 6. Eccles Hist. reporteth that Liberius going into banishement refused al gifts of the Emperour and hys wife let them giue these sayth he to Auxentius Epictetus their Arrian heretikes Secondly here we learne by this example that the company and leagues of the wicked are vtterly to be shaken off For blessed is the man that doeth not walke in the counsell of the wicked nor stande in the way of sinners nor sitte in the seate of the scornefull He that toucheth pitche shall be defiled wyth it one shéepe infecteth a whole flocke one sparckle kindleth a greate flame and one infected house is able to poyson a whole Citie There is no participation of righteousnesse and vnrighteousnesse Iohn the Euangeliste woulde not washe in the bathe wherin Cherinthus the enimy of the truthe bathed himself Caius and Alexander being condemned to die being led to execution with certaine Marcionistes made an especiall requeste to their tormentors that they might be slayne asyde from those Marcionists and that their bloud might not in death be mingled with theirs wyth whome in life they agréed not in religion Thirdly here may be obserued to our singular comforte that the Lord discloseth to his seruants the counsells of the wicked and ouerturneth the practises of hys enimies against hym and his churche as of Achitophel Hamman Herod the rest The thing that here is especially to be weighed is the resō the moued Zorobabel and the rest and that is the they would not haue the true seruice of God mingled with Idolatrous or straunge worshippe They enuyed not that these Samaritans shoulde serue the Lorde they desired nothing more than that the Lorde myght faithfully and religiously be serued but therefore did they deny them any parte or felowshippe in this worke bicause they worshipped strange Gods erected Idolles and put their truste and confidence in creatures The God of Israell can not abide to be worshipped with
other points vnholy But God that would at the first frame them to obedience and in them teach vs and al posteritie what we owe to the Lords annoynted doth here warrant his own worke both by the letters patents of the King of Persia and doth also by thys hys example shewe to the true séede of Abraham all his that if he in his own Church building whereas his might haue had legons of Angelles would yet vse as a countenaunce to the worlde the commandement of king Cyrus that they in all their actions should next vnder hym depend on them whome the Lord shall set ouer them The fyrste Temple was not builded by a Prieste but by Salomon a King It is not sayd we will builde as God hathe commaunded but it is the Lords house and wee wyll buylde it as Cyrus Kyng of Persia hath commaunded Let euery soule submit it self therfore to the higher powers no doubt Paul set it eueÌ„ out of that he had learned at Gamaliels féete Chrisâ—st Theophylact. Oecumanius gather thereof that all Priests Monkes Prophets Euangelists Apostles the Pope himselfe if he haue a soule to be subiect to thys precept Submit your 〈…〉 the King as to that most excellent â—o these that are put in authoritie vnder them Did they obey Cyrus a strange king â–ª and shall wee disobey oure annoynted of the Lorde Salomon didde builde the firste and Cyrus commaundeth thys and what hath either Patriarke or Prophet to â—oâ— Hee that withstandeth Power withstandeth Gods ordinaunce Ignatius ad Magnesianâ—s Epistola â—â—mo remansit inultus qui so contra superdores exculit c. None escaped vnpunished that set himselfe against his superiours Dathan and Abyram resisted Moyses but the earth swallowed them vppe aliue Chore and hys complices that conspired against Aaron two hundreth and fifty persons were consumed with fire Absolon desiring to supplante hys father was hanged by the heare of the head his wicked heart shot thoroughe with an arrow When one broughts Dauid word of Saules death brought his crown bracelet signifying also that he stoode vpon him to rid him out of hys paines being wounded to deathe halfe dead Dauid not onelye not rewarded him but caused him to be slain fearedste thou not the Lords annointede when hee might twice haue slaine hym he refused so much as to touch him To conclude if the good be euer oppugned of the 〈◊〉 if the deuil go about craftily to vndermine the Lords house if he raise vp tormentorâ— to persecute false brethren to seduce â—arâ—â— to choake the good séed of Gods word if he come wyth these flattering SamaritaÌ„s say Let vs build c. let vs with the Doues simplicitie ioyne the Serpents wisedome resist him strong in faith coÌ„municate not with his vnfruitful works a little of his leauen will leauen our whole lump Let vs consecrate our selues our bodies soules to serue the Lord our God as children obey our father as brethren loue one another as meÌ„bers defend our head as good branches maintaine the roote Let vs accompte all vt stercora as duste to winne Christ Better to bee a dore kéeper in the Lordes house than to dwell in the tentes of the wicked Let vs giue moste humble thankes to God for Zorobabel let vs liue in faithfull obedience in all thynges as to the Lorde lette vs with Tertulian praye to God to blesse Zorobabel with long life with a faithfull Senate of Elders with a quiet realme with a happy peace wyth an obedient people Thys God graunte to whom with his some and the holy ghost be al praise and glory FINIS IMPRINTED AT London by Henry Bynneman Anno. 1578.