haue not sent these Prophets yet they ranne I haue not spoken to them yet they prophesied Would you haue a Minister Seeke to the Nurseries of Christian learning the Vniuersities there you shall haue them furnish'd with excellent parts and artes Is it enough to haue learning No the man of God must also be holy Say he be well learn'd and wel liu'd may he instantly climbe vp into the Pulpit preach No he must first haue an inward commission from heauen and an outward Ordination on earth by imposition of hands You may see their warrant 2. Their Qualification is inseparable to their missure Christ not onely speakes but workes effectually in them and giues them a Fieri faciam how vnapt and vnable soeuer they were before So Math. 4 Ego faciam vos piscatores hominum You made your selues Fishermen I will make you Fishers of men He doth not in these dayes so enthusiastically inspire men but sets them first to be Cesternes in the Vniuersity before they be Conduits in the Countrey Before they can minister a word in time there must be a time to haue it ministred to them Ere their wordes be like apples of gold with pictures of siluer they must bee refin'd in some Academicall fornace and by much study haue this picture and impression of wisedome set on them Neither were these Apostles dismissed out of Christs Colledge till they were made fitte to teach Christ that set them vp as Lights bad them shine made them shine and not as Ardens speakes of some since their daies that are fumantes magis quaÌ„ flammantes Both our Torches life and learning must burne brightly It is for the Papists to build vp a Bâ—…ocke-house of Ignorance and to set dunces ouer fooles for so the Iesuites call their Seculars that they may both fall into the ditch It was a rule with them the very Epitome of their Canons in that point Qui bene Can Con le poterit bene Presbiter esse And yet me thinkes they should be more circumspect in their choyce for they seeme to magnifie it beyond vs and make it a Sacrament calling it the Sacrament of Order O what you not why they thinke the Sacraments conferre grace and let him be a deuill before the Imposition of handes shall make him holy enough Wee haue examined their Commission let vs now consider their Commixtion As Lambs among Wolues Alas it goes harsh when these two natures meet It must be miraculous if one of them come not short home Yet I finde it prophesied of the daies of the Gospell The Wolfe and the Lambe shall feede together Indeed when Wolues become Lambs of which supernaturall effect these Lambs are sent forth as instrumentall causes this peace may be fulfilled But Wolues whiles they are Wolues will not let the Lambs liue in quiet In this mixture there is a Prescription a Description What we must be that are sent what they are amongst whome sent The duty of our natures and nature of our duties is exemplified in this word Lambes Not that there should bee a Metamorphosis or transformation of vs into that kinde of beastes literally But as Lambes As is sometimes a note of Quality somtimes of equality here it is only similitudinary As Lambes as Doues c. Neither is this enioyned likenesse catholike but partiall we must not be in euery respect as Lambes but it must be taken in a limited and qualified sense Lambes Let vs obserue here Quam ob rem Quainre 1. Wherefore 2. VVherein wee must bee Lambes 1. VVherefore Good reason he that sends theÌ„ forth was a Lambe Iohn 1. Behold the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the worlde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lambe that Lambe of God euen from his owne bosome taking away the sinne of the world Other Leuiticall Lambes tooke away sinne typically this really They were slaine for the sins of the Iewes this of all the world There is tacita antithesis in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ was a Lambe that we may take with vs our Precedent especially in three respects Of his Innocency Patience Profite 1. For his Innocency Ioh. 8. VVhich of you can conuince me of sinne You may reproue can you disproue The world traduced him for a blasphemer a Samaritan a Sorcerer an enemy to Caesar a boone companion so easie is it to auile and reuile so hard to conuince The Church sweetly and truly commends him Cant. 5 10. My beloued is white and ruddy the cheefest among tenne thousand Candidus sanctitate rubicundus passione He was white of himselfe made redde by the wounds of his enemies It was not praise enough for him that hee was as it is said of Dauid Ore rubicundo of a ruddy colour vnlesse this redde had beene first grounded on white His passion had lost the vertue of merite had he not beene innocent But he was Agnus ille immaculatus 1. Pet. 1. 19. A lambe that lambe without blemish without spot A Sunne without a mote a rose without a canker a cleare heauen without any cloud 2. For his Patience Esay 53. He was oppressed he was afflicted yet hee opened not his mouth hee is brought as a Lambe to the slaughter and as a sheep before the shearer is dumbe so openeth he not his mouth First the shearers fleece him and then the butchers kill him yet he opens not his mouth to wit against them but for them Father forgiue them they know not what they doe He wrote that in the dust which many engraue in brasse and marble wrongs Behold the King of heauen is factus in terris fractus in terris yet calls not fire from heauen to consume his enemies but quencheth that fire with his owne blood by them shedde which they in shedding it had kindled against themselues It is probable that some of the agents in his death were saued by his death O strange inuersion wrought by mercy that Iniusti in homicidio should be made Iusti per homicidium and that the bloud which was scarce washed from their guilty hands should now whiten their consciences Like that impostum'd Souldior the blow that was thought to haue kill'd him cur'd him 3. For his Profite He was profitable in his fleece profitable in his flesh profitable in his blood in his life in his death and after death eternally profitable 1. His Flesh is meat indeed though non dentis sedmentis Our fathers did eate Manna which was the food of Angels as it were and yet dyed corporally but whosoeuer eate the God of Angels spiritually shall not dye eternally 2. His fleece good We were cold and naked Is this all Nay and polluted too The fleece of his imputed Righteousnes keeps vs warme cloaths our nakednesse hides our vncleannesse Hence the Prophet calls him The Lord our righteousnesse Ours not inherent but imputatiue 2. Cor. 5. 21. VVe are made no otherwise the righteousnesse of God
in him then he was made sinne for vs which was onely by imputation So Luther Christiana sanctitas non est actiua sed passiua sanctitas extra nos est iustitia nostra non in nobis 3. His bloud excellent and of most transcendent vertue whether lauando or leuando we were maculati et mactati speckled with corruptions dead in sinnes Not onely as the Remists say Diseased but as Paul saith Deceased Ephe. 2 1. Dead in sinnes and trespasses His bloud hath recouered our life our health and washed vs as white as the snow iâ—… Salmon Thus he is in euery respect profitable to vs more then we could eyther expetere or expectare deserue or desire Satan is against vs behold Christ is with vs and wee ouercome him by the bloud of the Lambe Now is Christ a Lambe then must you be sicut agni as Lambes Christ is the principall and truest exemplar a generall rule without exception Imitation doth soonest come and best become Children and Schollers VVe are Children Math. 5. Loue your enemies c. That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heauen VVe are Seruants to Christ. Io. 13. Ye cal me Maister Lord ye say wel for so I am Though we cannot tread in his steppes we must walke in his path As Virgil of Ascanius sonne to Aeneas Sequiturque patrem non passibus aequis Now our imitation is confined not to his miracles but to his moralls It is fitte the Disciple should follow his Maister Math. 16. If any man will come after me let him deny himselfe and take vp his crosse follow me Some follow him as Peter a farre off Some goe cheeke by iowle with him as the Papists confounding their owne merits with his and therein themselues Some out-runne Christ as Iames and Iohn Luke 9. 54. in a preproperous preposterous zeale as hot as Mount Hecla Let vs follow him close but in meekenesse Vis capere celsitudinem Dei cape prius humilitatem Dei We must be Lambes accordingly and that in 1. Patience VVe must take vp Christs crosse when we become his Schollers Not onely beare it but take it vp Tollere and Ferre differ An Asse beares man takes vp There is a threefold crosse Innocent perient penitent Christ bore the first the perishing theefe the second the repentant and wee all must beare the last The lambe whether he bee shorne or slaine is dumbe to complaints VVe blesse God that we are well freed from the Boners and butchers of these lambes but wee haue still fleecers enough too many that loue to see Learning follow Homer with a staffe and a wallet This we must expect Christ sends vs not as wolues among wolues or Shepheards among wolues or sheepe about wolues but as lambes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the middest of wolues as S. Mathew hath it If they cannot deuoure our flesh they will plucke our fleeces leaue vs nothing but the tag-locks poore vicaredge tythes whiles themselues and their children are kept warme in our wooll the Parsonage Nay and they would clippe off the tag-locks too rauen vp the vicaredges if the lawe would but allow them a paire of sheares Euery Gentleman thinkes the Priest meane but the Priests meanes hath made many a Gentleman VVell he had need be a lambe that liues among such wolues But as Doctor Luther was wont to say Mitte mundum vadere sicut vadit nam vult vadere sicut vadit Merry Latine but resolute Patience Let the world go as it doth for it will go as it doth Let vs comfort our selues as our Iewell did his friends in banishment Haec non durabunt aetatem This world will not last euer He that enters this holy Calling must be content as Paul to dye daily 1. Cor. 15. 31. To preach the Gospell boldly is to pull the world about our eares and to coniure vp the furies of hell against vs. But Frangit et attollit vires in milite causa Yet Patience is the best gamester for it winneth when it looseth Hee had neede bee a Iob that liues among the Sabeans Chaldeans of our times Are you disparaged suffer Are you despised suffer Are you impouerished suffer This same BulapathuÌ„ is the best hearb in the garden the hearb Patience It shall amase them after all wrongs to see your foreheads smoothe countenances milde lippes silent and your habites vn-moued The Wolfe in the Fable oh that it were but a fable when hee sees the Lambe drinking at the poole comes blundring into the water and troubles it then quarrels with the Lambe Quare turbasti aquam VVhy hast thou troubled the water Sic nocet innocuo nocuus causamque nocendi Quaerit So Ahab the wolfe told Elias the lambe that he troubled Israel As it is truely reported the Papists would haue laide the Gunpowder-treason on the Puritaines if it had beene effected Hebr. 10. Ye haue need of patience that after ye haue done the will of God ye might receiue the promise But I feare I haue incited your impatience by standing so long vpon patience 2. Time and your expectation call me to the Innocency of these Lambes It is not enough for them to suffer wrongs but they must offer none For he that doth iniury may well receiue it To looke for good and do bad is against the law of Retaile Dyonisius of Syracusa being banish'd came to Theodores Court a supplyant where not presently admitted hee turned to his Companion with these words Perhaps I did the like when I was in the like dignity VVhen thou receiuest iniury remember what thou hast giuen It is no wonder if those lambes be stricken that strike He that will be an agent in wrongs must be a patient How strange and vnproper a speech is this a contentious lambe a troublesome Minister How learned soeuer such men may seeme they are indeed illiterate They are bad writers that haue not learnd to ioyne simple Grammarians that haue not their Concords It is obserued of Lambes that Caetera animalia armauit natura solum agnum dimisit inermem Other liuing creatures Nature hath armed but the lambe she sent into the world naked and vnarmed giuing it neyther offensiue nor defensiue weapons The Dog hath teeth to bite the Horse hoofes to trample the Beare nayles to teare the Oxe hornes to dash the Lyon pawes and iawes to deuoure The Bore hath his tush the Elephant his snowt the Hinde and Hare haue swift feete to saue themselues by flight Onely the Lambe hath no meanes eyther to helpe it selfe or to hurt others Neyther is this our Innocency onely to be consider'd in respect immediately of man or of iniuries directed to him But these Lambes must bee innocent in regard of God in regard of their Calling The Priest in his brest-plate must not onely haue Vrim which is Science but Thummim which is Conscience VVe haue manifold weaknesse we must not haue manifest wickednesse
Though wee bee not in Facto we must be in Fieri and not then to begin when we should be onwards halfe our iourney Theodore required that the Schoole-maisters for his children should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as wel as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Christs Apostles were not onely Depurati but Depurati Ioh. 13. If I wash thee not thou hast no part with me Bis peccat qui peccat exemplo Vncleansed Ministers are like Bilha and Zilpha Iacobs maides that being bound themselues brought forth children that were free Such Church-men are like the Pinacles on some Battlements that point vpward to heauen but poyse downeward to their Center The best Schooleman said that Magistrates and Ministers when they sinne do Peccare in quid essentialiter all others but in quale accidentaliter To smoake with the Indian quarrell with the Frenchman court a Lady with the Venetian plot villany with the Italian be proud with the Spaniard cogge with a Iew insult with a Turke drinke downe a Dutchman and tell lyes with the Deuill for a wager are workes for wolues not for lambes To conclude as we haue Deputation we should haue Reputation and because called to be lambes behaue our selues in Innocence 3. Our Patience and Innocency make vs not complet lambes without our Profitablenes Malum ferimus malum non offerimus bonum proferimus VVe offer no euill we suffer euill we returne good It is not enough to suffer wrongs but we must do none It is not enough to do no wrong but we must doe good for wrong Bonum pro malo reddere Christianum est Euery thing in a lambe is good and vsefull His fell good his fleece good his flesh good immo et viscera et exorementa commoda sunt The lambes of God the Ministers of the Gospell must vniuersally abound with benefits 1. To some this lambe giues his fleece hee cloathes the naked and keepes the sicke and poore warme in his wooll He sees not a lambe of Christ stripp'd by pouerty but he lends him one locke to hide his nakednesse Sic vos non vobis vellera fertis oues 2. He is no niggard of his flesh Part of his meate and drinke and such refections as God hath sent him he willingly giues The Lamb is not couetous If I haue food and rayment saith S. Paul I haue learned to be content Couetousnes becomes a lamb worse then rapine a wolfe Iude makes it the marke of false teachers to feed themselues and Ieremy saith the winde shall feed them nay feed on them eate them vp Saith Gregor Considerate quid de gregibus agatur quando lupi sunt pastores What shal become of the Lambes vnder the tuition of Wolues 3. Yea euen the bloud of these lambes is profitable which they grudge not to giue for the glory of God and benefit of the Church when a iust cause hath called for it We know that the bloud of Martyrs was milke which nourished the Primitiue Infancy of the Church Gods tythe hath bin paide in the liues of his seruants Euery drop of bloud so spilt hath bin like a grain sowne in mature ground and brought forth a plenteous haruest of beleeuers Well may that lambe of God that hath begotte the Church by his bloud on the Crosse stil nourisheth her with the same bloud in the Sacramēt deseruingly require this Circuncision and tribute of bloud at the hands of his lambes The Iewes sacrificed their beasts to God we equal them in sacrificing our concupiscences and beastly lusts But we far exceed those typicke times whē we immolate our soules bodies to God What confirmation of faith where it was weak what inkindling of zeal wher it was not hath been thus effected the deuout acknowledgment of many non obiter but ex professo hath demonstrated Innumerable are the benefits redounding to you by these Lambes They are eyes to the blinde and feete to the lame nurses to infants and feeders of stronger Christians They lend their eyes to those that cannot see their feete to those that cannot go speake comfortable things to the troubled heart and enforme others in the higher mysteries of saluation If you truely prized and duely praised the profites arising to you by them you would not as most do more esteeme a rotten sheep then a sound Minister But I forget my selfe as if I were so delighted with these Lambes that I knew not how to leaue them Especially blame me not if I be loth to come among the wolues whereupon by the next point of my Text and last I purpose now to handle I am enforced to venture Of the Wolfe I must speak but I hope it cannot bee said lupus in fabula there are any such present to heare me This is the Description of those among whom the Lambes are sent There is a naturall antipathy of these one against another euer since God put emnity an irreconcilable hatred and contrariety betweene the seed of the Woman and of the Serpent I haue read that a string made of Wolues guts put amongst a knotte of strings made of the guttes of sheepe corrupts and spoiles them all A strange secret in nature and may serue to insinuate the malice of these Lycanthropi against Lambes that they do not onely persecute them liuing but euen infest them dead No maruell then if the lambes care not greatly for the company of wolues For if one scabbed sheepe infect the whole flocke for morality what will one wolfe doe among the lambes for mortality Therefore so farre as we may let vs flye the society of wolues VVith the mercifull thou shalt shew thy selfe mercifull c. Therefore with the Poet flye wicked company et te melioribus offer But how can this be when we are sent as Lambes in medio luporum The lambe would not willingly be alone yet is farre better when solitary then in woluish society Plutarch speakes of certaine Law-giuers that wold haue their Priests abstaine from Goats a luxurious beast and making men by contact obnoxious to Epilepsie As the Iewes were commanded in Leuiticus to abstaine from vncleane things Though we cannot escape the company of wolues let vs abhor all participation of their vices The holy word of God who can giue most congruous names to natures often compares the wicked to brute and sauage creatures God doth not onely send reasonable man to learne wisedome of the vnreasonable beast So he school'd Israel by the Oxe Balaam by his Asse and Solomon sends the Sluggard to the Pismire For it is certaine that many beasts exceed man in diuers naturall faculties as the dog in smelling Hart in hearing Ape in tasting c. But he matcheth degenerate man with beasts of the most notorious turpitudes The proud enemies of the Church are called Lyons Psal. 58. Breake out the great teeth of the young Lyons O Lord. Wilde Boares Psal. 80. The Boare out of the wood doth waste it and the