and desire of obeying God did pursue the enemies of his people intending that businesse wholly and not minding earthly profit at all behold euen that also befell him and was brought to his hands And it is as easie to see and behold at this day as it shall be alwaies found true that while Gods seruants in all conditions and degrees seeke the Lord with all their heart he prouideth other necessarie helpes for this present life which they doe not so much seeke after As Iacob when he had renued his couenant with the Lord in his iourney to Aram confesseth at his returning home how liberally God had prouided for him Oh how many may witnesse the same For why as the Lord is true of his promise so he is a plentifull rewarder of them that seeke him And as he regardeth such not meanely so hee dealeth iustly with those that are vnfaithfull and worldly minded that whereas they might seeme by their greedines and their vnwearied following their commodities with the casting of care of things heauenly to get all wealth into their hands they oft times attaine not that which they pursue and those that doe attaine it haue got but the winde in their fist euen nothing who see they cannot hold it when they most desire it And this is to teach vs contentment in a godly estate yea thankfulnes and not to haue our teeth watering after the dainties of the other A dish of greene hearbes is better in such a case then a stalled oxe Vers 22. Then the men of Israel said vnto Gedeon Raigne thou ouer vs both thou and thy sonne and thy sonnes sonne for thou hast aeliuered vs out of the hand of Midian 23. And Gedeon said vnto them I will not raigne ouer you neither shal my child raigne ouer you but the Lord shall raigne ouer you The third part of the Chapter IN this last part of the Chapter follow certaine particulars concerning Gedeon and the first that is set downe is the offering of the kingdome to Gedeon and his posteritie by the men of Israel and the reason which they render of their so doing with his refusing it in these two verses The generall act of the people was good in that they shewed themselues thankfull to him for the great deliuerance which they had obtained by him as Gods instrument out of all the oppression of the Midianites their enemies And it bindeth all to the like dutie when they haue receiued kindnesse So both kindred towne and countrey ought to shew kindnesse to him and his by whom they haue receiued some great good and benefit Thus did Pharaoh aduance Ioseph and his brethren and father for that hee had preserued his land in the famine and it was complained of that there arose another Pharaoh afterward who did not know him And Dauid remembred Ionathans kindnesse to him after he was dead in doing good to his This caused Salomon to vtter this prouerb Thine owne friend and thy fathers friend for sake thou not And so to descend to smaller kindnesse betwixt one neighbour and another this thankfulnesse ought to bee shewed that while both it and the fruit of it bee continued betwixt them there may bee peace and good will which otherwise for the most part is banished from men vnlesse it be couered with dissimulation For while the one scorneth to owe any thing to the other professing that he can liue without him and the other is backward in loue whereby he might winne his neighbor what is nourished betweene both but strangenesse suspition vncharitablenesse discord and such cursed effects and fruits thereof And now last of all in this matter if thankfulnesse bee due for outward fauours and good turnes how much more should it bee shewed for the greatest of all as when one man hath by his industrie labour and loue bin the instrument and meane of the saluation of many In which respect Paul wrote to Philemon thus I will not say though he might that thou owest to me euen thine owne selfe And so other such may say who haue receiued the like kindnesse by any of vs as to be deliuered from the wrath to come by our teaching though it little appeare by the requital of loue and kindnesse againe I meane to procure their ioy who reclaimed them by being shining lights afterward But this hath been shewed at large vers 1. before Now as I haue spoken of the generall act of the Israelites toward Gedeon which all may see to haue been commendable in that they were thankfull though not without some weakenes so yet their particular act in offering the kingdome to him as farre of from allowance in them that it was vtterly vnlawfull for it was not in their power and therefore they offered that which was not theirs as shall better appeare by Gedeons answer in the next verse We ought by this to beware that we be not liberall of another mans right and good in giuing that which belongs not to vs. As many loue for name and credit to be liberall but it shall be of stolne or which is all one of other mens goods Euen so to shew it in another kind neither may any man giue his soule to the diuell as witches and coniurers and many other though not so apparantly doe for they are bought with a price nor our bodies to be defiled for they are redeemed and made the Temples of the holy Ghost This needs no long standing vpon but by this we are taught that as their sinne is great as oppressors gripers and gamesters who inioy to their owne benefitill gotten goods and restore them not so neither ought we to receiue of any man that which is not his owne but ill come by if wee certainly know it Otherwise the receiuer is excused who in his simplicitie doth presume charitably that to be of the giuers proper goods which hee knoweth not certainly to haue been badly gotten Neither shall the simple affection of the receiuer acquite the ill conscience of the giuer whose sinne herein is double both that he hath attained his wealth vnconscionably and then plaid the part of Achan in couering his stealth what though it be vnder the faire pretence of religious and deuout liberalitie Doubtlesse if Ananias were guiltie of sacriledge for detaining to himselfe a part of that which hee had alienated from himselfe and consecrated to the Lords vse how much more they who first rob others and then feed the Lord with the spoile as Lions doe their Whelps of that which they haue ill gotten It is the cast of many caterpillars when they haue sucked and drawne the blood of others all their life like horsleaches ready to burst they will satisfie for their villany by paying the tithe or some shred of their vnrighteous Mammon to the vse of the Lord or the Church whereas this sanctifieth not the rest that is behind but maketh all their goods execrable to
downe as vsually I doe together with the parts of it which are three The first this namely how Abimelech seeking the kingdome and hauing got the men of Shechem on his side killed all his seuentie brethren except one and this to the seuenth verse The second the heauie prediction of his ouerthrow by that one brother Iotham who escaped his bloodie hands which denounced destruction to him and to the men of Shechem And this to the 22. verse The 3. is how that which was threatned foretold by Iotham the son of Gedeon remaining aliue came to passe and was fulfilled concerning the ruine and ouerthrow of Abimelech and the men of Sechem and that by the mutuall hatred and vexations that arose betwixt them And this to the end of the Chapter Thus the Chapter being deuided I will first speake of the former part of it as it lieth in order and handle the other two in due place The first part WE are to consider in this first part how Abimelech after the death of his father wounde in with the men of Shechem to make him king and for this purpose slew all his brethren saue one and this to the 7. verse And for the effecting of this it is said here that this Abimelech went to his mothers kindred for he saw it was lost labour to attempt so horrible a fact by his fathers friends helpe or any other and by his subtiltie and flatterie he wonne their hearts to be willing to hearken vnto him they nothing respecting the common benefit of the land but their owne priuate commoditie and so helped him forward by money which much aduanced his purposes and thus being fleshed for the more secure enioying of his will he was inboldened to kil 70. persons saue one of his brethren and then as they thought the coast being cleare these Shechemites went about to make him King and performed it accordingly And thus the house of Gedeon was ouerthrowne and most detestable vsurpation and tyranny by Abimelech came in Here first we may note by Abimelechs going to his mothers kindred to further him when he went about this mischieuous intent in seeking to be king we note I say the cast of wicked men in the compassing their desires that is when they intend any euill they wil repaire to such places and companies as they thinke are for their purpose and if they haue conuersed with better before yet they then take no more pleasure in their company any longer Not that they neuer goe to bad company but when they goe about some especiall euill For it is their meat and drink and pastime to conuerse with such as they themselues are as neere as may be contâ—â—nally but if they be forted by education cohabitation or other occasions with better then themselues as it comes to passe oft times yet euen there if they grow to affect and set their hearts on some particular more mischieuous practises then they were wont in times past they will if it be possible giue them ouer as no companions meet for them and breake out to other companie and conuerse with those that bee of their owne disposition and like themselues The reason is they be not onely more wearie of the good company that they were in then they were before but they see that they cannot follow their bad purposes so currantly while they bee among them neither looke they for any aide thereto at their hands as they doe by the other but know that they shall bee suspected disswaded hindred and broken off by them from their ill purposes And what maruell for this changing of company as the good for the bad ariseth vpon smaller occasions then vpon the minding and intending of such mischiefe as this Abimelech here went about For they in the sixth of Iohn when they had taken a pritch against our Sauiour it is said of them that they walked no more with him and much more and sooner men doe this when they purpose wickednesse Absolon therefore when he intended to rebell against his father got him away and gathered companie fit for such a purpose his fathers house was a prison and wearisome vnto him And Iudas when he went about to betray his Master forsooke and left the company of him and the Apostles and went to the Pharisies the most deadly enemies of Christ and lincked himselfe in with them But most clearely we see this in the like fact of Adoniah 1. Kin. 1. reported by Nathan to Dauid in this manner Me saith hee thy seruant and Zadocke the Priest and Salomon thy sonne he hath not called why they were not for his tooth but Ioab the captaine and Abiathar the Priest and some of his younger brethren men fitter for his ambitious humour them hath hee called crie before him and they say God saue King Adoniah And euen so it is still at this day as I haue said For there are many bad mixed with the good and company with them in sinister respects for some benefit they looke for or credit thereby or for their safety who yet when they see their time wind out from them and ioyne to other companie much like to Simon Magus when he saw the Apostles were not for him And it is an ill signe when they doe so I meane to forsake the societie and fellowship of good people and company with the bad For though there was no great hope of some of them when they were at the best and when they were by meanes of their calling and imployments sorted into the company of the godly because they had no pleasure nor delight in them but rather their hearts were farre from them euen then when in place they were most neere them yet they were in the way all that while to good and to be wrought vpon or drawne on one time or other while they abode in such places and companies if God had been pleased to worke in them but when they leaue and forsake them and so bewray themselues in their colours though they should meane no worse then their woe commeth vpon them and they wrap themselues deepely into mischiefe and misery with little hope of recouery or getting out againe yea or being stopped in that their bad course And yet this I say that such as keepe company with those that are religious and take no good by them they are deepely bewitched couering their hypocrisie with the cloake of good companie as Christ told them who answered him that they had eaten and drunke in his company although for the most part this prooueth true of them that if a man once spie out their leaudnesse and will not allow them in their euill course but tell them of it they will away from them if they can forthwith and count them their enemies But as they are wearie of such without any iust cause so they must know that they from whom they depart are wearie of them for good cause and desire if they may doe
impatience and vnquietnes in their calamities But in both they are greatly to be pitied And although their bodily estate be to be lamented greatly yet is it farre worse with their soule as is manifest in their breaking out so fearefully and damnably into all manner of sinne with greedinesse Instances hereof in all conditions are too many In such as haue some religion because they haue no more store of it who seeth not that they are euer most loose secure forgetfull when they are most at hearts ease And in the badder sort it is more manifest who are quailed in their crosses and held downe by them from much euill but if they bee at hearts ease oh the loosenes sawcines quarrelling lashing out of needlesse and great expences rioting swearing that may be seene in them and scorning those that seeke to reclaime them though they be such as they ought to heare and whom they owe duty vnto and therefore should readily heare them whereas they regard nothing in their prosperitie but curse and blesse with one mouth I may say almost with one breath But to leaue these let the best looke well to themselues herein I meane that in both estates they may yeeld another manner fruite of their peace and prosperitie and bee carefull to haue a good conscience Of which argument seeing much is spoke by occasion in the former processe of this storie I cease to say any more To proceed These two Gaal and the Shechemites hauing each heartned the other and helped forward their defiance of Abimelech by feasting and iollitie which are great meanes yea as oyle to the flame to prouoke the proud stomacke of a man they now being well heat with meate and drinke presumptuously aske Who is Abimelech We may say truly where and when doe the wicked make an end For they goe from one sinne to another as one that runneth downe an hill and staieth not Now after all the rest they boast against him and defie and deface him and that in his absence Which teacheth the vnmeasurablenes and vnsaciablenes of the wicked in sinning how they goe on from one to another and neuer are willing to make an end and in stead of repenting for the former they adde greater sinnes vnto them and by that course harden their hearts in all manner of euill doing as they bee able with greedinesse and so grow past feeling vnto vtter impenitencie Many after they haue done euill haue some remorse as the brother in the Gospell who when he had not obeyed his father sending him to work in his vineyard but refused hee afterward bethought himselfe and went And the Prophet Ieremy wondred that they who offended relented not But when men goe from one sinne to another and cast not vp their gorge it is almost past hope to reclaime them Esau when he had sold his birth-right the signe of eternall life which one would haue thought had sinned fearefully enough in so doing yet he could not stay there but he must also iustifie the wicked fact that hee had done saying Of what valew is this birth-right vnto me But if this sinne rested onely in such as I haue spoken of wee that feare God might be sure that it could not be committed by vs but when we see how Peter was taken in this snare to sinne againe after he had once or twice denied his Master and that with swearing and cursing himselfe if he knew him and had been ready to haue done it an hundred times more if occasion had been offered how may not the best of vs feare the falling into it For in thus giuing place a little and in some things taking libertie to goe against conscience it is the next way to goe further as wee haue heard The best remedie against it is while we may to preuent it and to be so farre from such a course that we rather in feare and trembling to make an end of our saluation but if we haue already fallen then as soone as we can to rise out of it Now this Gaal wisheth that he were king for we must know that all the men of Shechem were not of one minde and this is the meaning of the phrase of speech that he vseth saying Who shall giue this people into mine hand The like ye may reade in the Psalme Who will giue me the wings of a Doue that is oh that I had them Euen the same that Absolom wished in a case much like this of Abimelechs Oh that I were made Iudge in the land Thus did this Gaal which noteth the pride and ambition that was in this base fellow his boasting being not farre off Which sinnes in him with the like in Abimelech brought to passe his and the peoples destruction To teach vs to beware of all sinne and of these particularly ambitious pride and boasting with the like in the which is wrapped vp when they come to their full growth irrecouerable mischiefe to the committers and intertainers of them as all sinnes doe threaten no better if they be not speedily broken off by repentance Whereunto Gods deare seruants being subiect euen as some of them haue tried and found it so alreadie that great sorrowes haue accompanied them long time as the fruite of such sinnes Dauid Sampson and others so we that remaine are taught if we will be wise to auoid carefully the beginnings and occasions of euill so shall we be sure to be free from great woe As for boasting it is but the superfluitie of the corrupt and proud scornefull heart arising not alway from some worthinesse or eminencie but a bare windie conceit of somewhat which is not As we see in the body when the gall is too full it ouerfloweth and coloureth the face with the excrement of that humour and when the inward parts are tainted the outward are full of breakings out and sores so when pride is at the full it swelleth and breaking out of the heart vtters it selfe by the mouth and behauiour But put the case there be some excellencie in him that boasteth doth boasting beseeme such a man nay doth it not impeach his worthinesse Therefore he that will auoid boasting let him soberly thinke of and vse Gods gifts both inward outward knowing who he is whence he receiued them how naked hee were without them and while hee hath them they are but borowed he himselfe is naked and destitute Neuer was an humble man a boaster except his boasting were as Pauls of his infirmities or of his gifts to honour the giuer and disgrace the enemies of Gods glorie Touching the particular point of ambition and the preseruatiue against it let the reader see more in the former chapter in Gedeons refusing the kingdome and also in this chapter in Iothams bramble aspiring to bee king ouer the trees Here therefore I end THE FIFTIE NINE SERMON ON THE NINTH CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES Verse 30. And when Zebul
heard to wit that the children of Israel did offer violence to themselues rather then they would in the least manner wrong other therefore they would much lesse take away so great a portion of ground from him with whom they had nothing to do neither were prouoked by him Where we learne this that we should neuer finde sweetnesse in comming by any profit amisse and namely with the hurting and wronging of other First seeing wee thereby prouoke God against vs for God is the auenger of such things and what is our life if God be against vs Besides as we deale to other so shall we be dealt with againe and lastly besides an ill name wee shall haue an ill conscience also as wee may see in Iudas And as we should offer hard measure to none so least of all to the poore and to such as cannot beare the losse and are not able to stand with vs in suite For wee being by the commandement of God to relieue them what pleasure should wee take in plucking from them and God threatens to heare their crie against their oppressors And yet how are the poore griped and pilled But he that obserueth it shall find that either God maketh themselues who so wrong them to crie out of it for feare of his reuenging hand one time or other or else it shall be to them I meane their sweete morsels as they count them which they take in by wronging other as the Israelites Quailes were who died with them while they were in their mouthes Euen so shall they haue small liking of their iniurie they doe that I say no more But let them rather make restitution and that speedily while they may in token of their repentance which is the onely good end that can be made of such doings This point hath oft come to hand and largely been insisted vpon See verse twelfth Only let vs marke the example of Iacob for the proofe of the doctrine who rather then he would giue Laban a quarrellous and vnreasonable man the least occasion to challenge him for pillage and robberie did more then he needed euen make good euery sheepe which was cassually destroyed or perished with his owne Now if all this our good dealing doe not preuaile with our euill aduersarie nor stop his mouth yet as Iacob answers Laban the Lord who seeth vs in secret will take our cause into his owne hand and plead for vs whereas otherwise although all men should stand out for vs yet our conscience and God being against vs wee should not be able to stand vnder our burthen Another reason Iphtah setteth downe in these verses thus Sihon king of the Ammonites would needs come out against vs as wee were going toward Canaan and God gaue him into our hands so that by him wee enioy this land which ye contend for and which he enioyed and therfore what haue ye to doe to claime it or what right haue yee vnto it For yee neuer possessed it but Sthon of whom we wonne it by the law of warre So that if the Lord our God hath cast him out and giuen his land to vs commest thou in who hast nothing to doe with it against vs to possesse it Hee further in the 24. verse sheweth that which he said cleerely by a similitude thus Yee Ammonites worship the Idoll Chemosh for your god and you thinke that the land which yee possesse yee inioy it by his benefit and so by good right so we haue this by the benefit of the true God and therefore we possesse it by very good right And as for Chemosh hee called not that idoll a God for that hee tooke it to bee so but for that the Ammonites so iudged it to be We may see here how farre we may lawfully enioy such things as are taken in warre and that is when the warre is lawfully taken in hand as by Israel it was That which we thereby obtaine by good successe that may we enioy as giuen into our hands by the Lord. And to speake of things more priuat the same may be said of all that God giueth vs by the good will of our friends or by our lawfull dealing and by Gods blessing in our calling But yet with this watchword that wee honour him therewith in Christian life and glad the hearts of Gods people thereby which we ought as well to do as to be able to prooue and shew that the commodities we enioy are no fruites of our owne rapine oppression couetousnesse and euill conscience but indeed the bequests of our father which as Iacob said the Lord our God hath bestowed as a blessing vpon vs his seruants seeking first the things that concerne our happinesse and God his kingdome and receiuing from him these smaller things againe in token of his allowing and approouing of vs. But this is an vsuall argument in this booke therefore I passe by it More particularly let vs note out of this verse in that Israel would not and was guided by God therein when he had great need so much as goe through the land of Sihon without his leaue learne we hence I say that no man may vsurpe or challenge to himselfe another mans right but euery man is to be content with his owne portion and allowance yea in this the Lord will haue the meanest free from the tyrannie of the greatest and taketh the cause of the poore into his owne hand against their potent enemies though there be none vpon earth that can iudge them as in the case of Ahab and Iezabels extorting Naboths vineyard doth appeare And the reason is good for next to the good of the Church the Lord hath a special care of vpholding of societie among men by order and good gouernment which are ouerthrowne when proprietie in goods and commodities is taken away by the vnequall vsurpation of the greater ouer the smaller And in truth as there is small oddes betwixt beasts and men when the common bands of equitie are broken so much lesse is it like that a Church can bee setled and established in such confusion and the greater is their sinne who euen in the Church exercise this mischieuous practise whereof not God who is the God of order but Satan is the author euen as he is of all other disorders Therefore let none be troublesome or iniurious to other more then he would be content that another should wrong or hurt him in that which is his None should be oppressed in bargaining or otherwise as the Lord by the Apostle hath giuen in charge which if it were well regarded much complaining of iniurie and hard dealing would cease But this is a branch of the other It came of the Lord that Sihon did not only deny passage to Israel through his land but also that he should prouoke them to warre that he might giue him and his land into their hands and withall giue them passage through his country Euen so it
that so the hearers may see themselues wound into better communication ere they are aware and secretly blush at their owne ignorance The particular that the Angell mentioned was to counsell him to offer a burnt offering to the Lord. The signification thereof was that thereby hee should consecrate himselfe body and soule with the powers and parts of both vnto the Lord and so he should honour the Lord as became him and shew that hee did thereby acknowledge himselfe willing and readie to obey him in all things And this is our true seruing of God to offer vp our selues wholly vnder his gouernment as the Apostle speaketh to the Romans And so on the contrary they doe nothing lesse who giue themselues to follow their owne lusts and the deuices and desires of their wicked hearts or who in some things wil yeeld him dutie and by halues as we reade that Saul did for which cause the Lord reiected him Let the reader looke more of this point in chap. 2. and in chap. 10. and elsewhere And further as Manoah for the kindnesse hee receiued of the Angell was bidden to offer to God that which he offered to him so we should not offend who are Gods Ministers if in the like case we doe the like As for example if for our trauaile by aduice and counsell to any brother either troubled in conscience or otherwise with some great and dangerous doubt he being satisfied and quieted to his good contentment by our counsell if I say he the partie so counselled by vs out of a thankfull minde should offer gratuitie to vs as many thinke it their dutie I say wee should not offend if we should desire him to giue it either wholly or a part thereof as freely to some very good vse if he be well able as to some godly poore as hee would haue done to vs seeing we thinke it vnmeete for vs to receiue it because we would in no wise bring a reproch to our ministerie orgiue occasion to any to thinke that we doe basely sell the gifts of God for money For if hee bee both able and willing as Naaman the Sirian in the like case was to shew thankfulnes which we thinke it vnmeete to receiue we shall doe a good dutie to helpe to benefit some other where there is need of it and so fit an occasion is offered by Gods prouidence to relieue him Too few such occasions are offered of doing good in that maner if they be yet they are not taken and yet it is well knowne how many there are to doe good vnto and how wee are commanded by God to take all occasions thereof as he offereth them And if ye aske why Elisha did not worke vpon Naaman in that manner I say hee was an heathen and a stranger newly conuerted and if he had requested any such kindnesse of him it must haue been put into his hands to dispose in all which respects hee refrained But of this I haue said somewhat before chap. 8. in Gedeon his refusing the kingdome and demanding the earings the lesse therefore shall serue Another thing I thinke good to stay about a little in this verse and that is by occasion of a word the Angell spake And that is this that hee called that bread which Manoah called flesh For when hee desired the Angell that hee might prepare for him a kid of the goates the other answered hee would not eate of his bread whereby who doubteth will some say but that both meant one particular thing Manoah that he would prepare some refreshing for him and the Angell that hee would not eate with him Here by the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth not bread onely but all food and so flesh particularly by this word I say the Papists who are faine to catch hold of euery thing that they thinke may serue for their purpose take occasion to maintaine their transubstantiation and they crie aloud that the bread in the Sacrament may signifie flesh as it doth in other places of the Scriptures Where it appeares that they are so hastie to alleage a proofe from hence for their purpose that in the meane while they take one thing for another For though the Hebrew word may signifie flesh as it doth bread yet they should remember that Paul wrote in the Greeke tongue where the Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth bread is neuer taken for flesh And what gaine they by thus playing the Sophisters among the ignorant For they who are able to iudge do see that they abuse the reader grossely in saying bread may be taken for flesh because the Hebrew word sometime signifieth so when the Greeke word neuer signifieth so in which tongue yet all that concerneth the Lords Supper is written And so while they goe about with the dogge to get the flesh that shineth in the water they lose that which they seemed to haue in their mouth and so both And yet if the Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 did signifie flesh as it doth bread how doth it follow that it should signifie so in the Sacrament against sense reason scripture and truth So wee see what substantiall proofes they bring to vphold and iustifie their absurd opinions and religion This I say vpon this supposition granted that the Angell and Manoah spake of the same indiciduall thing which yet no man will grant to bee a necessarie consequence For though Manoah meant flesh yet the Angell might meane bread both by a Synecdoche meaning a refreshing by bread and meate Manoah might offer him a kid and he might answere I will not eate of thy bread in this sense Prepare nothing for me I will not eate so much as any bread much lesse of thy flesh Who is so simple as to thinke otherwise except any should imagine that the meate was like to be set before the Angell without bread If bread were needfull also what necessitie is it that both their meanings must needs be about the same particular But I spare Thus much of Manoahs desiring him to eate the second thing followeth of asking him his name but of this in the next Sermon THE SEVENTY THREE SERMON ON THE XIII CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES THus he still seeing the man of God as he tooke him to be to shew such grace in his speech was the more knit to him and so desired to know his name and hee shewes him the reason to wit that when it should come to passe which he promised Manoah might honour him with some reward The Angell seeing it a needlesse thing that he asked did not answere to him in word but thought it fitter to make himselfe knowne to him in deedes then in words and thereby to confirme the former promise made to them And this to be the meaning of the verse the next words doe proue namely that hee did wonderfully for so are the words in the originall hee was marueilous or he did wonderfully
like or the manner of it it is lip-labour and hypocrisie But such seruing of God though hee abhorre it agreeth well with their prophane humour and crosseth not their carnall corruptions But for the varietie of good bookes whereby they may doe themselues much good in deede how many rich men be at cost or take vp their delight that way to furnish their houses with such precious ornamēts as Micah filled a chappell with Idols and all furniture for them Is there not thinke we good incouragement giuen to students and Preachers to set foorth their godly labours to be buried in the dust and couered with cobwebs and to lie vnoccupied But to leaue them and to come to men of meaner estate who cannot doe much that way in being at cost with good books yet what pleasure take they in keeping some constant course in seruing of God by praier recording such good instructions as they haue heard in publike or in reading good bookes of smaller price which they may easily come by No no these are wearisome and vnwelcome and why so euen to the end that they may trifle out their precious time so lose their part in the happinesse which is both promised by God and preached Furthermore by this that Micah and his mother being both Idolaters had trained vp his sonne after the same manner and more then so had committed another great sinne to wit to make him Priest to serue in his house of Idols contrary to Gods commandement in a double respect wee may see the heauie estate of the children of Idolaters and of such as haue no acquaintance with God whose lot is for the most part to be trained vp poore innocents vnder such as they are which is a very deuoting them to the diuell Whereas mens posteritie should bee through their many generations consecrated to God and his seruice as Samuel was by his mother and Timothie was not only brought vp by his vertuous mother to know the Scriptures from a childe but he had also his grandmother commended by Paul for her religion Whereas they who are Idolaters or wicked in their life depriue their children of their due I meane godly education and as much as in them lieth corrupt and spoyle them betimes To teach the children of religious parents to count their portion great when they see that by submitting themselues to the godly education of their parents they in so doing submit themselues to God also and please him in the same wherein they please them And for the other they receiue their deadly wound by their bad bringing vp for the most part obseruing the superstitious precepts of their parents as of Omry or beholding their bad examples and abiding in their religion and steps for so they must doe they say yea and wil doe as their fathers did euen to the day of their death Now touching this inormitie of making a common man a Priest it was as monstrous vnder the Law as if in our time a man of occupation without gifts should boldly take vpon him to discharge the Ministers office And the like corruption crept in when Ieroboam suffered euery base person to thrust himselfe into office to serue at Dan and Bethel Of which more God willing in the next verses In the meane while note we that a base and ragged shift will serue mens turnes for fault of a better if they beset to commit any sin which is for their profit or pleasure or the satisfying of their corrupt affection As in most sinnes we see it verified and such patcherie well becommeth such tradesmen If a man of worship be addicted to his pleasure riot gaming vncleannes or the like t is a base and vnseemly companion that wil not serue the turne with him for a need rather then the businesse should be hindred And whereas this Micah hauing broken the maine Commandement which concerned the substance of Gods worship made no bones of breaking the secondary law of Ceremonie touching the qualitie of the person who was to minister let it teach vs to beware how we pull out any maine stone of Gods building lest therewith wee pull it downe vpon our heads and many smaller with it out of the building The reason is added in this verse why such strange and grosse abuses grew vp so soone after good order in the daies of the good gouernours Ioshua and the rest namely for that now there were no such in the daies of Micah that is no ordinary Magistrate for so the word is taken Gen. 36. and therefore euery one did what seemed good in his owne eyes And this sheweth beside that which I haue said thereof that it was an horrible part which that Micah and his mother wrought Now this is that which this place doth doth cleerely shew vs and giueth occasion to be noted among other things to wit what confusion groweth when good gouernours faile and are wanting of which I haue spoke at large in the beginning of the peoples declining after the death of Ioshua in the second and the Chapters following But that which I will now say is this that although there bee Christian Magistrates yet except they execute the lawes carefully and conscionably defending the good for which end they are set in place and pursue the vngodly without partialitie it will be by the many foule inormities which may lie vnpunished that much iniquitie will swarme though it cannot be compared to the hauing of none And what the people will then doe we may see here that euery one doth that which liketh him following his owne minde and will And what is more dangerous then so to do Therfore howsoeuer it bee with others our Sauiour hath taught vs to deny our selues to haue no fellowship with the vnfruitfull workes of darknesse and to renounce our owne will and to be subiect to his the obeying whereof is the direct way to happinesse for so hee teacheth He that doth the will of my father which is in heauen he shall enter into the kingdom of heauen THE NINETIE ONE SERMON ON THE XVII CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES The second part of the Chapter Vers 7. And there was a young man out of Bethlehem Iuda of the family of Iuda who was a Leuite and he soiourned there 8. And the man departed out of the citie from Bethlehem Iuda to soiourne where he could finde a place and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah as he iourneyed 9. And Micah said vnto him Whence commest thou And he said vnto him I am a Leuite of Bethlehem Iuda and I goe to soiourne where I may finde a place 10. And Micah said vnto him Dwell with me and be vnto me a father and a Priest and I will giue thee ten shekels of siluer by the yeere and a sute of apparell and thy victuals So the Leuite went in 11. And the Leuite was content to dwell with the man and
which is best of all there are with infinite other vnutterable prerogatiues so many excellent and holy seruants of God gone before vs thither to welcome vs. Of which point see more by the like occasion of Ioshua and others in the former processe of this booke Now the last of the things that followed after the death of Gedeon is this to wit that the people of Israel for all that wee haue heard God did for them fell againe to Idolatrie and that most shamefully And by this we see what fearefull things follow the taking away of good gouernours which maintaine true religion For they by their authoritie haue contained and held the people within compasse who being dead they fall away Pray therefore earnestly for them and make we vse of their liues that we may leade a godly and peaceable life vnder them For contrariwise when other that know not the Lord rise vp in their roomes the people shall haue sorrow their bellies full The like may be said of godly preachers and parents what a losse it shall bee to the people of God whom they shall leaue behinde to forgoe them But of this at large in the second Chapter Their sins were these two One that they tooke Baal-berith as they called him for their God the other that they forgot the Lord their God This Idoll they called the Lord of league whose Image they set vp Herein consisted their worshipping of him that they acknowledged the good things that they receiued to bee giuen them of him and the remouing of their troubles to bee from him also And to ascribe these to a stocke what was it but to goe a whoring after it as here it is said they did from the true and liuing God And hauing ioyned themselues to him they forsooke and forgot the Lord God who had done all good things for them And this and no better is the worship and seruice which our deuoutest votaries in popery doe giue vnto the Lord at this day as to him that will compare the religion of the one with the other will easily and soone appeare See somewhat of this their sinne in Chapter 2. 11. 13. Furthermore this example teacheth how inconstant we are in all good beginnings and courses and how ready wee are to decline and turne away from thence euery one to that whereto his false and deceitfull heart carrieth him whether to Poperie or any other loose and vnfaithfull seruing of God in hypocrisie as to say Lord Lord and to draw neere to him with the body the heart being far from him while no conscience is made of dutie towards him Whereas the only forgetting of the kindnes of the Lord our God who onely hath fed preserued deliuered and inlightned vs vnto the life to come and who in one word hath been all in all vnto vs I say this onely forgetting him and the suffering of his benefits to slip out of our mindes is sinne of it selfe most grieuous and great without the other as we haue seene chap. 2. 2 3. and in this chapter also I haue said the like of this point vers 27. The vnthankfulnes of the people towards Gedeons posteritie is set downe in this verse which is further expressed in the next chapter as in this that they suffered his sonnes to be slaine their sinne is aggrauated hereby that he had done so great things for them as to deliuer them out of so fearefull bondage as we haue heard they were in to the Midianites But in this they did like themselues For not to repeate that which I haue said hereof twice in this chapter vers 18. 22. we may be sure of this as we see here in these that they who are vnfaithfull and vnthankfull to God are not to be trusted that they will deale better with men This both the heauenly order of the law of God teacheth and many examples also As Abraham said I saw that the feare of God was not in this place and therefore what trustinesse is to bee looked for to me of men And likewise that example of the vnrighteous Iudge sheweth as much that neither feared God nor reuerenced man This measure our Sauiour found among his owne countrey men when he had done many great good workes among them yet they would haue stoned him for them And why for they were not faithfull to God Doe we our duties therefore of conscience to God that so wee may not faile toward men For otherwise from vs nothing is to bee looked for but vnfaithfulnes to men and euill example vtterly vnbeseeming vs when time shall serue to bewray and sift vs which as the prouerbe saith is the mother of truth and reuealeth that which was long hidden Now to end the chapter with the answere of an obiection It is marueiled at that God suffered this Idolatrie and superstition so long vnpunished For such as obiect thus thinke that it fell out a little after the victorie as it is sure Gedeon asked of the people the earings that made the Ephod by and by after the victorie whereas yet Gedeon continued fortie yeeres after this But it is answered by S. Austine who in such a case being no article of our faith may haue his iudgement approoued and receiued being likely and not being answered by the Scripture He saith that though the gold was gathered soone after the victory yet the Ephod was not made by and by but long after to wit about the end of Gedeons life Or if it were made sooner yet it was not abused till toward his death But of vncertainties we are not to ground any instruction and therefore here an end THE FIFTIE FIVE SERMON IS CONtinued on the ninth Chapter of Iudges Verse 1. Then Abimelech the sonne of Ierubbaal went to Shechem to his mothers brethren and communed with them and with all the familie and house of his mothers father saying 2. Say I pray you in the audience of all the men of Shechem Whether is better for you that all the sonnes of Ierubbaal which are seuentie persons reigne ouer you either that one raigne our you Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh 3. Then his mothers brethren spake of him in the audience of all the men of Shechem all these words and their hearts were moued to follow Abimelech for said they he is our brother 4. And they gaue him seuenty peeces of siluer out of the house of Baal-berith wherewith Abimelech hired vaine and light fellowes which followed him 5. And he went vnto his fathers house at Ophrah and slew his brethren the sons of Ierubbaal about seuentie persons vpon one stone yet Iotham the youngest sonne of Ierubbaal was left for he hid himselfe 6. And all the men of Shechem gathered together with all the house of Millo and came and made Abimelech King in the plain where the stone was erected in Shechē THe summe of this Chapter I will first set