Hilkiah what should be done 2. the booke of the law is presented vnto him he commauÌ„deth both the priests princes to enquire of Huldah the prophetesse about it he weepeth reÌ„deth his cloathes as the principall person whoÌ„ that daÌ„ger care doth principally coÌ„cerne 3. he assembleth all the people both in Iudah IerusaleÌ„ the Chronicles adde Ierusalem Beniamin al the couÌ„tries that pertained to the childreÌ„ of Israel throughout his whole dominion both small great elders priests prophets levites both laity Clergy 4. he readeth the law in the house of the Lord 5. he maketh a covenaÌ„t himselfe 6. taketh a covenaÌ„t of the people to keep it 7. he causeth al to staÌ„d vnto it 2. Ch. 34. coÌ„pelleth al in Israel to serue the Lord 8. he ordaineth holdeth a passeover the like wherof was never seene since the daie of the Iudges nor in al the daies of the Kings of Israel the kings of Iudah he apointeth the priests to their chardges 2. Chr. 35. chaÌ„dgeth the office of the levites that they should not beare the arke any more so the priests stood in their places also the levites in their orders iuxta regis imperium according to the coÌ„mauÌ„demnt of the king 9. in the purdging of Idolatry removing those swarmes of idolatrous priests with al their abominable service he coÌ„maundeth Hilkith the high priest the priests of the secoÌ„d order to do thus or thus Meane while the levite the priest the prophet are not wronged by the king in their callings The king doth the office of a king in commaunding and they their offices in administring Hee readeth the booke of the covenant doubtlesse in person and in the house of the Lorde but he standeth not on a pulpit of wood made for preaching to giue the sense of the law and to cause the people to vnderstand it for that beloÌ„geth to Ezra the Priest to the Levites Neh. 8. Again he causeth a passeover to be helde but he neither killeth the passeover nor prepareth the people nor sprinckleth the bloud nor fleaeth the breast nor offereth burnt offerings for all this he leaveth to the sonnes of Aaron yet is nothing done but iuxta praeceptum regis Iosiae according to the commauÌ„dement of king Iosias Moreover the booke of the Lorde was his counsailour and instructour in all this reformation For so is the wil of God Deuteronomie the seventeenth that a booke of the law shoulde be written to lie by the king to reade therein all the daies of his life that he might learne to feare the Lord his God and to keepe all his lawes And in a matter of scruple he sendeth to Huldah the prophetesse to be resolved by her and she doth the part of a prophetesse though to her king liege Lord tell the man that sent you vnto me thus saith the Lord beholde I will bring evill vpon this place 2. King 22. By this it is easie to define if the spirit of peace be not quite gone from vs a question vnnecessary to be moved dangerous and costlie to Christendome the triall whereof hath not lien in the endes of mens tongues but in the pointes of swordes and happy were these Westerne partes of the world if so much bloud already effused so many Emperours Kings Princes defeated deprived their liues by poison by treason and other vndutifull meanes vnder-mined their state deturbed overthrowen might yet haue purchased an ende thereof but the question still standeth and threatneth more tragedies to the earth Whither the king may vse his authority in ecclesiastical causes persons Who doubteth it that hath an eare to heare the doings of Iosias He is the first in all this busines his art facultie professioÌ„ authority immediate next vnto God held froÌ„ him in capite not derived froÌ„ beneath is architectonicall supreme Queene coÌ„mauÌ„der of al other functions vocations not reaching so far as to decree against the decrees of God to make lawes coÌ„trary to his law to erect sacraments or service fighting with his orders nor to â—surpe priestly propheticall offices nor to stop the mouthes of prophets and to say vnto them prophecy not right thinges but having the booke of the law to direct him himselfe to direct others by that rule and as the Priestes instruct the prophets admonish him in his place so himselfe to apoint and commaund them in their doings VVhat should I trouble you Iosias as their Lord maister and king 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 assembleth commaundeth causeth compelleth buildeth pulleth downe planteth rooteth vp killeth burneth destroyeth VVhat doth Hilkiah in all this but obey though higher than al the priests because he was the high priest yet lower than Iâ—sias Or vvhat doeth Huldah the prophetesse but pronounce the worde of the Lorde her person possessions family liberty life all that shee had being otherwise at the kings commaundement So let Samuel tell Saul of his faultes Nathan tell David of his Ahia Ieroboam Elias Micheas Ahab Elizeus Iehoram Ieremie Zedekias Iohn Baptist Herod Ambrose Theodosius and al Christian Bishops and priests their princes offendours The state of the questioÌ„ me seemeth is very significantly laid down in that speach of Constantine the Emperour to his Bishoppes you are Bishoppes within the church and I a Bishoppe without the church They in the proper and internall offices of the worde sacramentes ecclesiastical censures he for outward authority and presidence they as over seers of the flocke of Christ he an over-seer of over-seers they as pastours and fathers he as a maister and Lord to commaund their service they rulers and superiours in their kinde but it is rather in the Lord than that they are Lordes over Gods inheritance and their rule is limited to the soule not to the body and consisteth in preaching the vvorde not in bearing the sword but he the most excellent having more to doe than any man Lastly to them is due obedience and submission rather offered by their chardges than enforced to the other a subiection compelling ordering the people whither they will or no. I will drawe the substance of mine intended speach to these tvvo heads 1. That the greatest honour and happinesse to kings is to vphold religion 2. That the greatest dishonour and harme to religion is to pull downe kings The former I need not stand to prooue they are happy realmes in the middest whereof standeth not the capitol but the temple of the Lord. If this lie wast vnfurnished vnregarded and men be willing to cry the time is not yet come that the house of the Lorde shoulde bee builte or beautified the plagues that ensue are without nuÌ„ber heaven shal giue no dew earth no fruite drought shal be vpon mountaines valleyes much shall be sowne little brought in and that little shall bee blowne vpon and brought to nothinge But vvhere the prophecie is fulfilled kings shall bee thy nursing
one would reason with his neighbour in the behalfe of Sodom with six sundry replies from fifty to ten righteous persons vvhich number if it had beene founde Sodom had escaped How deare was the soule of Lot in that fearefull destruction on vvhome the Lorde bestowed his life and the life of his wife and children the safety of Zoar a litle city not far of because he had entreated for it the Angell pluckt him into the house from the fury of the Sodomites and not lesse theÌ„ pluckt him out of the city who made but slowe hast bidding him flee to Zoar to saue his life for hee coulde doe nothing till hee was come thither Noah and his little familye the remnant of the earth as the sonne of Syrach tearmeth them the onelye buddes of the worlde that were to seede seede for a new generation of men at the time of the floud were more precious vnto the Lorde then all the people vnder heaven besides vvhich had the breath of lâ—fe vvithin them Howe often did hee gratifie Moses the beloved of God and men with the liues of the children of Israell vvhen his anger vvas so hote that he entreated his servant to let him alone that hee might consume them yet contented in the ende to be entreated by him and to pleasure him with their pardon I haue forgiven it accordinge to thy requeste O vvhat a let is a righteous man to the iustice of GOD and even as manacles vpon his handes that hee cannot smite vvhen hee is driven to crye vnto one Let mee alone and to another till thou art gone I can doe nothing And did he not grace the person of Iob more then his three friendes vvhen hee bad Eliphaz with the other two to goe and offer a burnt offering for themselues and his servant Iob shoulde praie for them and hee woulde accept him And is it not an argument past gaine-saying that Moses and Samuell were according to his owne hart when he reviveth their names as from their ashes and blesseth their memorye to Ieremy his prophet with so favourable accounte Though Moses and Samuell stoode before mee yet coulde not my affection bee toward this people The like whereof we finde in Ezechiel Though these three men Noah Daniell and Iob were amongst them they should saue neither sons nor daughters but deliver their owne soules by their righteousnesse Eden was chosen to be the garden of the Lord when all the ground of the earth besides was paled out Noahs arke floted vpon the vvaters when all other shippes and boates of the sea were overwhelmed Aarons rod budded and brought forth almondes when all the rods for the other tribes remained dry and withered One sheafe hath stoode vpright and one starre hath sparkled when eleuen others haue lien vpon the ground and beene obscured The apple of the eye is dearer vnto a man then the vvhole frame and circle of the eye about it the signet vpon the right hand in more regard either for the matter or for the forme or for the vse wherto it serveth then all his other ornaments a writing in the palmes of his handes more carefully preserved then all his other papers and records Doubtlesse there are some amongst the rest of their brethen whome God doth tender as the apple of his eye weare as a signet vpon his finger engraue as a vvriting in the palmes of his handes and with whome is the secret of the Lorde and his hidden treasures though his open and ordinary blessinges bee vpon all fleshe Moses hath asked meate in a famine and water in a drought for the children of Israell when their bowelles might haue piped vvithin them like shalmes and their tongues cloven to the roofe of their mouthes if hee had not spoken Elias hath called for raine vvhen the earth might haue gasped for thirst and discovered her lovvest foundations if he had beene silent Phinees hath stayed a plague which would not haue ceased till it had devoured man and beaste if such a man had not stoode vp Paul in the 27. of the Actes obteined by the mercy of God the liues of all his companions that sailed vvith him tovvardes Rome in that desperate voyage As a morning starre in the midst of the cloude and as the moone vvhen it is full as the flower of the roses in the spring of the yeare and as lillies by the springes of waters and as the branches of the franckincense in the time of sommer as a vessell of massie gold set vvith all manner of precious stones and as the fatte that is taken from the peace offerings so is one Henoch that walketh with God vvhen others walke from him one Rahab in Iericho one Elias that boweth not his knees to Baal one David in Mesek one Hester in Shushan one Iudith in Bethulia one Ioseph in the councell of the Iews one Gamaliell in the councell of the Pharisies one innocent and righteous man in the midst of a frowarde and crooked generation The praier of the righteous availeth much if it bee fervent the prayer of faith shall saue the sicke for the Lorde shall raise him vp and if hee hath committed sin it shal be forgiuen him It may minister occasion to the vvicked to reuerence and embrace the righteous euen for policies sake For the innocent shall deliver the islande and it shall be preserued by the purenes of his handes Many a time there may bee vvhen as stoute a king and as obstinate a sinner as ever Pharaoh was shall call for Moses and Aaron and beseech them pray to the Lorde for me In pestilences dearthes and droughtes warres sicknesses and ship-wrackes or any other calamities it lieth in the holines of some few the friends and favourites of God to stande in the gappe betwixt him and their brethren to entreate his maiesty for the rest and to turne a curse into a blessing as Ioseph brought a blessing to al that Putiphar had Genesis 39. This then may be a reason of the speech here vsed Call vpon thy God a likelihoode presumed by the gouernour that they mighte speede the better for Ionas his sake Another reason I take it was that hee distrusted his owne God and the Gods of his whole society and might be induced to hope better of that God which Ionas serued For what taste is there in the white of an egge or what pleasure to a man that commeth to a river of water to quench his thirst and findeth the channell dried vp What stay is there in a staffe of reede or in a broken staffe the splinters vvhereof to recompence his hope runne into the handes of a man and wounde him What trust in broken cesternes vvhich can holde no water This comparison God himselfe maketh vvith greate indignity in the second of Ieremie My people hath committed two evilles they haue forsaken me the fountaine of liuing waters and haue digged them pittes even broken pittes
from the 8. verse their turning from their evill waies and from the wickednesse of their handes which some expound of restitution wee shall see that they went from fasting and sackcloth to that which was more then both The persons are as rightly placed For they humble themselues from the greatest of them to the least of them which declareth not onely an vniversall consent that there was but one heart one soule one faith one fâ—st one attire amongst them all but that the king began the people were led by him and that olde menne gaue example to the younge parents to their children Lastly according to the wordes of the Psalme I beleeved therefore haue I spoken no sooner had they holde of faith in their heartes but their tongues are presently exercised nay their pens set one worke not onely to speake but to speake publiquely to speake vpon the house toppes by open proclamation that all might vnderstande and it is probable enough from the 7. verse that ill the proclamation was heard for order and obedience sake they did nothing More particularly 1. the radicall and fundamentall action wherewith they begin is faith 2. the obiect of that faith God 3. the effectes and fruites of their faith abstinence from tvvo vices the slaunder and reproch whereof Asia was famously subiect vnto 4. their generality in that abstinence 5. their warrant and commission for so doing by the edicte of the King I reserve to an other place So the people of Niniveh beleeved God When Ahiiah the prophet told Ieroboam that God shoulde raise vp a king in Israell to destroy his house not to leaue him in hope that the time was far off remooved hee correcteth himselfe with sudden and quicke demaunde and maketh the aunswere vnto it What yea euen now Did I saye hee shoulde nay it is already done So soone as the worde was gone from the mouth of Ionas yet 40. daies and Niniveh shall bee destroied vvithout pawsing and resting vpon the matter they beleeved God What yea even now It vvas so speedily done that almost it was lesse then imagination It is very straunge that a Gentile nation vvhich vvere ever alâ—ants from the common wealth of Israell and straungers from the covenants of promise should so soone be caught within these nettes For when prophets preach the mercies or iudgments of God so fatte are the eares and vncapable the hearts of the incredulous vvorlde much more when God is a straunger amongst them that they may preach amongst the rest as Esay did who hath beleeved our report or to whome is the arme of the Lord revealed either the gospell which is his power to salvation to them that beleeue or the lawe which is his rod of iron to crush them in pieces that transgresse it Rather as it is in Habbaccuk they will behold amongst the heathen and regarde and wonder and mervaile they vvill lend their eies to gaze their tongues to talke but with all they will despise and lightly esteeme all that is saide vnto them Beholde yee despisers and wonder at your vnbeliefe you that wonder so much yet despise For I will worke a worke in your daies saith the Lord yee will not beleeue it though it be told you The Lord vvill worke it prophets declare it and yet the people beleeue not Nay their manner of deriding and insulting at the iudgments of God is let him make speede let him hasten his worke that wee may see it and let the counsaile of the holy one draw neare and come that wee may know it And sometimes they plainely deny the Lorde and all his iudgements saying It is not hee neither shall the plague come vpon vs neither shall wee see sworde or famine And as for his prophets they are but wind and the word is not in them Moses and Aaron preached vnto Pharo not onely in the name of the Lord and with kinde exhortations let my people goe nor onely by threates and sentences of iudgement but by apparant plagues the effectuallest preachers that might bee by the tongues of frogges lice flies grashoppers of morraine botches darkenesse haile-stones bloud and death it selfe could not all these mooue him No but the first time hee returned into his house and hardened his heart and the second When he saw he had rest he hardned his heart againe and the thirde time his heart remained obstinate and likewise the fourth though Moses gaue him warning let not Pharaoh from hence-forth deceiue mee any more and so hee continued to his dying day building vp hardnesse of heart as high as ever Babell vvas intended even vp into heaven by denying and defying the God thereof till hee quite overthrew him in the red sea What shall vvee say to this but as the apostle doth All men haue not faith God sent his patriaâ—kes in the ancienter ages of the vvorlde and founde not faith sent his prophetes in a later generation and founde not faith Last of all sent his sonne a man approoved to the vvorlde and approoving his doctrine with great vvorkes and vvonders and signes and founde not faith and vvhen the sonne of man commeth againe shall hee finde faith on the earth So contrary it is to the nature of man to beleeue any thing that custome and experience hath not invred him with or may be coÌ„prehended by discourse of reason Yet this people of Niniveh having received you heare but one prophet and from that one prophet one sentence and but in one part of the citty skattered and sowen amongst them presently beleeved as if the Lord from heaven had thrust his fingers into their eares and hartes and by a miracle set them open It rather seemeth to haue beene faith of credulity which is heere mentioned yeelding assent to the truth of the prophecie then faith of affiance coÌ„fidence taking hold of mercy That is they first apprehend God in the faithfulnes of his word they knowe him to be a God that cannot lie they suspect not the prophet distrust not the message assuring themselues as certainly as that they liue that the iudgment shall fall vpon them without the iudges dâ—spensation Notvvithstanding there to haue staied without tasting some sweetenes of the mercy of God had ben little to their harts ease The devils beleeue and tremble They are reserved to the iudgment of the great daie and they keepe a kalender that they are reserved For they neither see nor heare of Iesus of Nazareth the iudge of the quicke and dead Angels and men death and hell but they are inwardly afflicted and aske why hee is come to vexe them before the time And surely to beleeue the truth of God in his iustice without aspect and application of mercy to teÌ„per it to consider nothing in that infinit supreme maiestie but that he is fortis vltor dominus the Lorde a strong revenger reddens retribuet hee that recompenceth will
vt pueri Iunonis avem and schollers wondering more at men that they doe so little for them learning never departeth ashamed and discontented from your face I adde with most zealous and thankefull commemoration in behalfe of my mother and all the children at her knees your loue to our Vniversitie Of whose age and nativity which others haue beene carefull to set downe I dispute not But whither shee bee the elder sister it seemeth by that neglect wherein shee now standeth that shee hath lost the honour and inheritance of her birth-right or vvhither the younger your Lordship hath not many companions to ioine with you in compassion and say in these daies soror est nobis parva we haue a little sister and shee hath no breastes or rather hath not succor to fill out her breastes what shall vvee doe for her How many commō respectes to let private alone a vvhile haue naturally borne me to the centre and pointe of your Honours onely patronage I deny not when at my comming from the North it first came into my head to divulgate these readings my purpose was to haue made the chiefe founders and procurers thereof my two deceased Lords the chiefe patrones also that as the rivers runne to the place from whence they come so these tokens of my gratefull minde might returne to the principall authours Wherein the worlde might iustly haue censured me with the words of the Prophet what from the living to the dead contrary to the vse and fashion of all other men But so I meane both to avoide the suspicion of a fault which the world laboureth of flattering of great personages who was and am content that all mine expectations in any respecte from them or theirs bee laid in the same dust vvherein their bones lye and to shew that loue is stronger then death and that the vnexorable barres of the graue cannot forbid a man to continue that affection to the memory of the dead vvhich he carried to the living For which cause as others provided spices and balmes and monuments of stone or brasse to preserue their bodies so I intended a monument of paper and such other preservatiues as I coulde to keepe their names in life which the violence of time cannot so quicklye iniurye as the fatall vngratefulnesse of these latter daies But your Lordshippes most vndeserved and vnlooked for bounty towards mee hath altered that meaninge In whose countenance speech evermore from the first houre that I came into your honorable presence there dwelt such plentifull comfortes and encouragements to make me hope for better times that I never went a way but with more fatnesse to my bones And now the world can witnesse vvith mee how largely you haue opened your hand and sealed vp that care in freely bestowing vpon mee not Leah but Rahel even the daughter of your strength the best that your Honour had to bestow I say not for my service of twice 7. yeares but being yet to begin my first houres attendance Which more then credible benignity my right hande were vvorthye to forgette her cunninge if shee tooke not the first occasion to write and report with the best skill shee hath Notwithstanding I haue bene bold thus farre after the trees shaken and the vintage gathered to your Honours vse to leaue as it were a berrye or two in the vtmost boughes to my former Lordes and by making some little mention of their happy memories both to testify mine auncient duety towards them and to deliver them what I might from the night of forgetfulnesse who were the shining lampes of the North in their life time Such a Moses and such an Aaron such a Josuah to lead the people and such a Priest to beare the Arke such a Zorobabel and such a Jehozadak such a Centurion in Capernaum to rule the country and such a Jairus to governe the Synagogue when the Lorde shall send togither againe I will then saie hee hath restored his blessing amongst them To this purpose I haue added two sermons more to these Lectures vppon Ionas the one preached at the funeralles of my former Lord the late Archbishop of Yorke the other no way pertinent to the latter the right noble Earle of Huntingdon except because hee commanded it and it was not many weekes before his death and the subiect was so agreeable to his most faithfull and vnsteined heart For if the sound of the tongue and applause of the handes may perswade for him he never behelde the light of heaven within this land that more honoured the light of England Long may it sparkle and flame amongst vs according to his harty wishes Let neither distempered humours within quench it nor all the waters of the sea betwixt Spaine and vs bring rage and hostility enough to put it out but let the light of Gods owne most blessed countenance for ever ever shine vpon it It nowe remaineth that in the humblest manner I can I wholy resigne my selfe and the course of my life to your honourable both protection and disposition askinge pardon for my boldnesse and defense for these my simple endeavours beseeching the God of heaven earth to multiply his richest blessings vpon your Honour your Lady and your Children whither within or without the land Your Lordshippes most bounden and dutifull Chaplaine JOHN KINGE THE FIRST LECTVRE Cap. 1. verse 1.2 The word of the Lord came also vnto Ionah the sonne of Amittai saying Arise and go to Niniveh c. COmparisons betwixt scripture and scripture are both odious and dangerous In other sortes of thinges whatsoeuer is commendable may either be matched or preferred according to the worth of them I will not make my selfe so skilful in the orders of heaven as to advance angel aboue angel but I am sure one star differeth from another in glorie And God hath giuen the rule of the day to the sunne of the night to the moone because they differ in beauty The captaines of the sonnes of Gad without offence might beare an vnaequall report One of the least could resist an hundred and the greatest a thousand because their prowesse and actes were not aequall There was no wrong done in the Antheme which the women song from all the citties of Israell Saul hath slaine his thousande and David his tenne thousande The vnlike desertes of these two princes mighte iustly admit an vnlike cōmēdation One Cato may be of more price then hundreth thousandes of vulgar men and Plato may stande for all Our Saviour in the gospell preferreth old wine before new Aristotle liketh better of the wine of Lesbos thē the wine of Rhodes he affirmeth both to be good but the Lesbian the more pleasant alluding vnder that parable to the successour of his schoole and noting his choise rather of Theophrastus borne at Lesbos then Menedemus at Rhodes But the whole scripture is giuen by inspiration of God neither in his greate house of vvritten counsels is
I to doe with thee get thee to the Prophets of thy father and to the prophets of thy mother c. see his further protestation Had he nothing to doe with the king when the king had so much to doe with him did hee not feare the wrath of the Lyon who could haue said to the basest minister that ate the salte of his courte take his head from his shoulders and hee would haue taken it But his commission was his brazen wall to secure him and that Iehoshaphat the King of Iuda witnessed saying The word of the Lord is with him This is the fortres and rocke that Ieremy standeth vpon before the priests prophets and people of Iuda If ye put me to death ye shall bring innocent bloud vpon your selues for of a truth the Lord hath sent me vnto you to speake all these words in your eares Yea the princes and people vpon that ground made his apologie This man is not worthy to die for he hath spoken vnto vs in the name of the Lord our God To spare my paines in examples fearefull are the woes and not milder then wormewoode and the water of gall for vnder these tearmes I finde them shadowed but shadowed by the prophets which he denounceth in the course of that prophecie against false prophets that spake the visions of their owne harts and said The Lord said thus and thus that were not sent yet ran were not spoken vnto yet prophecied that cryed I haue dreamed I haue dreamed when they were but dreames indeede They are given to vnderstand that their sweete tongues will bring them a sowre recōpense and that the Lord will come against them for their lies flatteries chaffe stealth of his worde as they are tearmed and other such impieties Their cuppe is tempered by Ezechiel with no lesse bitternesse for follovving their ovvne spirites playing the foxes seeing of vanity divining of lies building and daubing vp vvalles with vntempered morter The heade and foote of their curse are both full of vnhappinesse Their first entertainement is a vvoe Vae prophetis and their farevvell an Anathema a cursed excommunication They shall not be accompted in the assembly of my people neither shall they be written in the writings of the house of Isarell To ende this pointe let their commission bee vvell scanned that come from the Seminaries of Rome and Rhemes to sovve seedes in this fielde of ours vvhether as Ionas had a vvoorde for Niniveh so these for Englande and other nations yea or no whether from the Lord for that they pretend as Ehud did to Eglon or from Balaak of Rome who hath hired them to curse the people of God whether to cry openly against sinne or to lay their mouthes in the dust and to murmure rebellion whether of zeale to the God of the Hebrewes or to the greate idoll of the Romanes as they to the greate Diana of the Ephesians to continue their crafte as Demetrius there did and lest their state shoulde bee subverted whether to come like prophets vvith their open faces or in disguised attire strange apparrell in regarde of their profession a rough garment to deceaue with as the false prophet in Zachary whether their sweete tongues haue not the venime of Aspes vnder them and in their colourable and plausible notes of peace peace there bee any peace either to the vveale publike amidst their nefarious and bloudie conspiracies or to the private conscience of any man in his reconciliation to their vnreconciled church formall and counterfeite absolution of sinnes hearing or rather seeing histrionicall masses visitinge the shrines and reliques of the deade numbering of Pater nosters invocation of saintes adoration of images and a thousand such forgeries whether they builde vp the walles of GODS house with the well tempered morter of his vvritten ordinances or daube vp the vvalles of their Antichristian synagogue vvith the vntempered morter of vnvvritten traditions vvhether they come Embassadours from GOD and in steede of Christ seeke a reconciliation beetweene GOD and vs and not rather to set the marke of the beaste in our foreheades to make vs their Proselytes and the children of errour as deepelye as themselues If this bee the vvoorde they bringe a dispensation from a forreigne povver to resiste the povvers that GOD hath ordeined and in steede of planting faith and allegiance to sovve sedition and not to convert our countrey to the trueth but to subvert the pollycie and state heereof to poyson our soules and to digge graues for our bodies against their expected day to invade the Dominions alienate the crovvnes assaulte the liues of lavvefull and naturall princes to blovve the trumpet of Sheba in our lande yee haue no parte in David nor inheritance in the sonne of Ishai no parte in Elizabeth nor inheritance in the daughter of Kinge Henrye everye man to your tentes O Englande let them reape the vvages of false Prophets even to the death as the lavve hath designed and let that eye vvant sight that pittieth them and that hart bee destitute of comfortes that crieth at their downefall Alas for those men Their bloudy and peremptory practises call for greater torture then they vsually endure and deserue that their flesh should be grated and their bones rent asunder vvith sawes and harrowes of yron as Rabbah was dealt with for their traiterous and vnnaturall stratagemes I know they iustifie their cause and calling as if innocency it selfe came to the barre to pleade her vprightnesse and they are vvilling to make the vvorlde beleeue that they come amongst their ovvne people and nation not onelie lambes amongst vvolues but lambes of the meekest spirite amongst vvolues of the fiercest disposition vvhose delighte is in bloudsheade making vs odious for more then Scythian cruelty as farre as our names are hearde of and stretching the ioyntes of our English persecutions vppon the racke of excessiue speech more then ever they felte in the ioyntes of their ovvne bodyes They remember not the meane-vvhile hovve much more iustlye they fill the mouthes of men vvith argumentes against themselues for raysing a farre sorer persecution then they haue cause to complaine of They persecute the libertie of the Gospell amongst vs and labour to bringe it into bondes againe they persecute our peace and tranquillitye vvhich by a prescription of manye yeares vvee beginne to challenge for our ovvne they persecute the VVOMAN with the crowne vppon her head whome they haue wished and watched to destroy and longe agoe had they vndonne her life but that a cunning hande aboue hath bounde it vp in the boundell of life and enclosed it in a maze of his mercyes past their finding out vvhome because they coulde not reach vvith their hande of mischiefe they haue soughte to overtake vvith floudes of vvaters floudes of excommunications floudes of intestine rebellions forreigne invasions practised conspiracies imprinted defamatory libels that one waye or other they might doe her harme So
debt vvherewith he was oppressed slept quietly and tooke his ease desired to buy the pallet that hee lodged vpon his servants marveâ—ling thereat he gaue them this answere that it seemed vnto him some wonderfull bed and worth the buying whereon a man could sleepe that was so deepely indebted Surely if we consider with our selues the duety and debt vve owe to God and man to our country to our family to homeborne to strangers that is both to Israell and to Niniveh and most especially to those of the houshold of faith that as it was the lawe of God before the law that we shoulde eate our bread in the sweat of our face so it is the law of the gospell also that hee that laboureth not should not eate that the blessed sonne of God ate his bread not onely in the sweate but in the bloud of his browes rather he ate not but it was his meate to doe his fathers will and to finish his worke that even in the state of innocency Adam was put into the garden to dresse it that albeit all labourers are not chosen yet none are chosen but labourers that the figge tree was blasted by the breath of Gods owne lippes with an everlasting curse because it bare but leaues and the axe of heavy displeasure is laide vnto the roote of every tree that is barren of good fruites and if it be once dead in naturall vegetation it shall bee twise deade in spirituall malediction and pluckt vp by the roote It would make vs vow vvith our selues I will not suffer mine eie-liddes to slumber nor the temples of my head to take any rest vntill I haue finished that charge vvhereunto I am appointed Iacobs apologie to Laban may be a mirrour to vs all not to neglect our accountes to a higher maister then ever Laban vvas These twentie yeares haue I beene in thy house I was in the daie consumed with heate and with frost in the night and the sleepe departed from mine eies So industrious vvas Iacob to discharge the dueties of his place and carefull to make his reckoning straight vvith his maister vpon the earth But I speake of an heavier reckoning to an heavier Lord that will aske an account of everie idle worde much more of an idle habite and therefore let them foresee that heate and that frost to come those restlesse eies the hire of their forepassed drowsinesse for daies for nightes for everlasting generations that are ever framing an excuse It is either hotte or cold that I cannot worke there is a Lyon in the streete or a Beare in the way that I dare not goe forth that being called to an office and having their taskes laide forth vnto them say not vvith Samuell at the call of the Lorde Speake Lord thy servant heareth but in a stubborne and perverse veine speake and command Lord and appoint my order wherein I shall vvalke but I neither heare thy voice neither shall my heart goe after thy commaundements I passed by the field of the sloathfull saith Salomon and by the vineyard of the man destitute of vnderstanding and loe it was all growen over with thornes and nettles had covered the face thereof Peruse the rest of that scripture The wise king behelde and considered it well and received instruction by it that a litle sleepe brought a greate deale of poverty and a little slumber a greate deale of necessity And surely as the field of the slouthfull is covered with nettles and thornes so shall his body be overgrowen vvith infirmities his minde vvith vices his conscience shall want a good testimony to it selfe and his soule shal be empty of that hope hereafter which might haue reioiced it I ende this point Ionas his arise and go to Niniveh giueth a warning to vs all for wee haue all a Niniveh to go vnto Magistrates arise and go to the gate to execute Gods iudgementes Ministers arise and go to the gospel to do the workes of Evangelists people arise and go to your trades to eate the labours of your handes eye to thy seeing foote to thy walking Peter to thy nettes Paul to thy tents Marchant to thy shipping Smith to thy anvile Potter to thy wheele vvomen to your whernes and spindles let not your candle go out that your workes may praise you in the gates Your vocations of life are Gods sanctions he ordeined them to mankinde he blesseth them presently at his audite hee will crowne them if when he calleth for an account of your forepassed stewardships you be able to say in the vprightnes of your soule I haue runne my race and as the maister of the house assigned me so by his grace and assistance I haue fulfilled my office But why to Niniveh Niniveh of the Gentiles vncircumcised Niniveh Niniveh of the Assyrians imperious insolent intolerable Niniveh Niniveh swollen with pride and her eies standing out of her heade with fatnesse Niniveh setled vpon her lees not lesse then a thousand three hundred yeares Niniveh infamous for idolatrie with Nisroch her abhomination Niniveh with idlenes so vnnaturallie effeminated and her iointes dissolued vnder Sardanapalus as some conceiue their 38. Monarch who sate and spanne amongst women that as it was the wonder and by-word of the earth so the heavens aboue could not but abhorre it Foure reasons are alleadged why Ionas was sent to Niniveh First God will not smite a citye or towne without warning according to the rule of his owne lawe that no city bee destroyed before peace hath beene offered vnto it The woman of Abell in her wisedome obiected this law vnto Ioab when he had cast vp a mounte against Abel where shee dwelt They spake in olde time and said They should aske of Abell and thus haue they continued that is first they should call a parle and open their griefes before they vsed hostility against it The sword of the Lord assuredly is ever drawne and burnished his bow bent his arrowes prepared his instrumentes of death made ready his cuppe mingled yet hee seldome powreth dovvne his plagues but there is a showre of mercie before them to make his people take heede Pax domui huic peace be vnto this house was sounded to everie doore vvhere the Apostles entered but if that house vvere not vvorthy of peace and benediction it returned backe vnto them Vertues were vvroughte in Chorazin and Bethsaida before the vvoe tooke holde vpon them Noah vvas sent to the olde world Lot to Sodom Moses and Aaron to the Aegyptians Prophets from time to time to the children of Israell Iohn Baptist and Christ and the Apostles togither vvith signes in the host of heauen tokens in the elementes to Ierusalem before it was destroied Chrysostome vpon the first to Timothie giueth the reason hereof that God by threatning plagues sheweth vs howe to avoide plagues and feareth vs with hell before hande that we may learne to eschew it And it was his
sufficient to amend children past grace a prophet like Mitio doth but bolster a sinner in his froward waies Hee chargeth his messenger otherwise in the prohecie of Esay Cry aloude spare not lifte vp thy voice like a trumpet shew my people their transgressions and to the house of Iacob their sinnes Much lesse can hee abide flattery and guilefullnes in his busines for cursed be he that doth the worke of the Lorde negligently or rather as the word importeth with deceit Woe vnto them that sowe pillowes vnder mens arme-holes when it is more time to pricke them vp with goades that sell the cause of the Lorde for handfulles of barley and peeces of bread for favour for feare for lucre or any the like worldly respects and vvhen the people committed vnto them shall say vnto their seers see not and to their prophets prophecie not right things loquimini placentia speake pleasinges and leasinges vnto vs prophecie errours are easilie drawen to betray the will of their Lord and to satisfie their humours God hath disclosed his mind in this trechery Behold I wil come against the prophets that steale my word from their neighbours beholde I will come against the prophets that haue sweete tongues that cause my people to erre by their lies and flatteries For then is the word of the Lord stollen and purloined from our brethren when we iustifie the wicked and giue life to the soules that shoulde not liue when we heale the hurtes of Israell with sweete wordes when wee annoint the heads of sinners with precious baulmes vvhose harts we should rather breake with sharpe corrosiues when wee put hony into the sacrifice in steede of salte when vve should frame our song of iudgment and we turne it into a song of mercy when we should mourne to make men lament and vve pipe to make them daunce putting the evill day farre from them and hunting for their praise and acceptation of vs vvith pleasing discourses affected eloquence histrionicall iests rather then graue and divine sentences Hierome gaue an other exhortation to Nepotian Let the teares of thy auditours bee thy prayses And Augustine had a stranger opinion of these applauses and acclamations of men These praises of yours saith he to his hearers do rather offend and endaunger me we suffer them indeed but we tremble when we heare them We cannot promise you such deceitfull handling and battering of the word of God for whether you heare or heare not the prophecie that is brought vnto you yet you shall know that there haue beene prophets amongst you we will not suffer your sinnes to sleepe quietly in your bosomes as Ionas slept in the sides of the shippe but we will rouse them vp if we see your pride your vsury your adulteries your oppressions we wil not only cry them but cry against them lest they cry against vs we will set vp a banner in the name of the Lorde of Hostes and proclaime them in your hearing and if our cry will not helpe we wil leaue you to that cry at midnight vvhen your bodies that sleepe in the dust of the earth and your sinnes that sleepe with your bodies both shall be awaked and receiue their meede at Gods hands we will charme your deafenes vvith the greatest cunning we haue if our charming cannot mooue you wee will sende you to the iudgement seate of God with this writing vpoÌ„ your foreheads Noluerunt incantari They would not be charmed The reason of his crying against Niniveh is this For their wickednes is come vp before me They that are skilfull in the originall obserue that the name of vvickednesse heere vsed importeth the greatest extremity that can be and is not restrained to this or that sinne one of a thousande but is a most absolute and all-sufficient tearme for three transgressions and for fowre as it is in Amos thaâ— is for seuen that is for infinite corruption Whatsoeuer exceedeth modesty and is most contrary to the will of God beyonde all right or reason setled into dregges frozen like yâ—e given over solde to the will of Satan is heere meant vvhere every person in the common wealth is degenerated There is none good no not one and every part in the body soule of man doth his part to lift vp the head of sinne the throate an open sepulchre the tongue vsed to deceit the poison of Aspes vnder the lips the mouth full of cursing and bitternes the feete swift to shed bloud destructioÌ„ calamity in all their waies no knowledge of the way of peace no feare of God before their eies And whether the word hath that power yea or no it skilleth not much to dispute for the words adioined in the text make it plaine without further amplification First it is wickedmesse Secondly it ascendeth Thirdly into the presence of God himselfe Whereby you may perceiue that the wickednesse of Niniveh was not base and shamefast fearefull to advance it selfe but an high kinde of vvickednesse swelling like Iordan aboue his banckes It lay not close in the bottome of the sea nor in the holes of rockes nor in the covert and secrecie of private chambers it had an whorish forhead and could not bee ashamed they declared their sinnes as Sodom they hid them not and as a fountaine casteth out waters so they their malice 1 The phrase heere vsed noteth a greate aggravation of the thing intended So in the sixt of Genesis it is saide that the earth was corrupt before the Lorde and in the tenth of that booke Nimrod was a mightie hunter before the Lord that is the corruptions of the world and the violence of Nimrod vvere so grosse that the Lord coulde not choose but take knowledge of them So it is here said Their vvickednesse is come vp before me It knoweth no end it climbeth like the sun in the morning and passeth the boundes of all moderation it is not enough that the bruite and fame thereof is blowen into the eares of men but it hath filled the earth possesseth the aire lifteth it selfe aboue the stars amongst the angelles of God offereth her filthines and impurity before the throne of his maiesty and if there vvere farther to go such is her boldnesse and shamelesnesse shee would forbeare no place What are there seasons and times when the Lord beholdeth sinne and wickednesse and when hee beholdeth it not hee that made the eie doth hee not see doth Hee slumber or sleepe that keepeth Israell or hath he not torches and cresset light at all times to descrie the deedes of Babylon or is he subiect to that scoffe which Elias gaue Baal It maie bee he sleepeth and must bee awaked or what els is the meaning of that phrase Their vvickednesse is come vp before mee As if there vvere some vvickednesse vvhich came not to his notice Surely besides the increase and propagation of their wickednesse for there is difference betwixt creeping and climbing
him 4. He heareth of a great city of a wearisome peraÌ„bulation asking the travell of 3. whole daies but he saveth the labor of his feete goeth into a litle vessel travelleth by sea a far easier iourney 5. He is bidden to cry but he is so far from making any noise that al the clamour and noise of the marriners could not awake him stir him vp 6. He heareth that the wickednesse of Niniveh is come vp before the presence of the Lorde notwithstanding hee feareth not to mocke and abuse the presence of the same Lord neither despaireth he to avoide it There is nothing in all these but stubbornes and rebellion which is as kindly to man as the flesh and bones that he beareth about him Amongst the other plants in the garden of EdeÌ„ not far froÌ„ the goodliest trees of life knowledge grew the bitter roote of disobedience which our forfathers no sooner had tasted but it infected their bloud and the corrupt nutriment thereof converted it selfe into the whole body of their succeding linage The breasts of Eue gaue no other milke then perversnesse to her children and Adam left it for a patrimony and inheritance vnto all his posterity Though God had precisely said Of the tree of knowledge of good and evill thou shalt not eate for in the daye that tâ—ou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death though there were no comparison betweene their maker and a murtherer froÌ„ the beginning the father of truth and the father of lies a God and a divell and the one had forbidden but one tree and fenced it as it were with a double hedge of a two-fold death yet when the serpeÌ„t came to the woman with a meere contradiction to the voice of God yee shall not die the death how credulous and forwarde was shee to entertaine his suggestion Moses proved to the children of Israel in the 9. of Deuteronomy by a perfect induction that there was nothing but rebellion in them Remember and forget not saith he how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to anger in the wildernesse also in Horeb afterwardes in Taberah and in Massah and at the graues of lust likewise when the Lord sent you from Cadesh Barnea c. At length hee concludeth yee yaue beene rebellious vnto the Lorde since the day that I knevve you And God pronounceth of the same people in the fourth of Num. that though they had seene his glory and the miracles which he did in Aegypt and in the wildernesse yet they had tempted him ten times and had not obeyed his voice In the 17. of the same booke the Lord gaue commaÌ„demeÌ„t vnto Moses that Aarons rod which budded for the house of Levi when the other rods budded not should be kept in the arke for a monumeÌ„t of their murmurings rebellions forepassed To forbeare infinite other testimonies the whole world may bee the arke to keepe the monumentes of their and our disobedience it is so common to vs both when we are willed to aske for the old way which is the good way to answere wee will not walke therein when the watchmen cry vnto vs take heede to the sounde of the trumpet to answere wee will not take heede when wisedome crieth abroade and vttereth her voice in the streetes O yee foolish how long will yee learne foolishnesse c. to despise her counsell and to make a Skorne of her correction What worke of our handes bewrayeth not this malice vvhat word of our mouthes speaketh not perverse thinges almost what thought of our heartes kicketh not against the prickes of Gods sacred commaundementes and desperatelye adventureth her selfe vpon the point of his sharpe curse O that our waies were made so direct that wee might keepe his statutes then shoulde wee never bee confounded whilst wee had respect vnto all his commaundementes It is a question made by some though I make no question of it vvhether this detraction and refusall of Ionas vvere a faulte yea or no Dionysius Carthusianus vpon this place doeth partly excuse it I thinke it farre from excuse fot doubtlesse the voice of GOD is the first ruâ—e and rudimentes of all Christian instruction the first stone to bee laide in the whole building that cloud by day that piller of fire by night vvhereby all our actions are to bee guided Paule in his marveilous conversion desired no other lighte and load-starre to bee governed by but the vvill and vvorde of his Saviour Lorde what wilt thou haue mee doe The verie Prophet of Moab vvoulde not departe from this standarde for vvhen Balaac by his messengers sent him worde that hee woulde promote him and God did but keepe him backe from honour hee made this answere vnto him If Balaac woulde giue mee this house full of silver and golde I cannot passe the commaundement of the LORD to doe either good or badde of mine owne minde what the Lorde shall commaunde that same will I speake Hee had saide before to the king in person Loe i am come vnto thee and can I nowe saye anye thinge at all the worde that GOD putteth in my mouth that shall I speake The vvordes of Samuel to Saule determine the doubt and make it as plaine as the light at noone day that the fact of Ionas here committed was an vnexcusable offence Beholde saith hee to obey is better then sacrifice and to harken is better then the fat of rammes For rebellion is as the sinne of witchcraft and transgression is wickednes and idolatrie It followeth in the next wordes Because thou hast cast away the worde of the Lord therefore he hath cast away thee from being King You heare the nature of these two contraries Obedience and Disobedience kindly disciphered the one to be better then sacrifice for he that offereth a sacrifice offereth the flesh of a beast but he that obeyeth offereth his owne will as a quicke and a reasonable sacrifice which is all in all the other to be as witchcraft and idolatrie for what is disobedience but when the Lord hath imposed some duety vpon vs wee conferre with our owne hearts as Saul consulted with the woman of Endor or Ahaziah Kinge of Samaria with the God of Eckron Belzebub whether the word of the Lord shal be harkened to yea or no Thus we set vp an idol within our own breasts against the God of heaveÌ„ forsaking his testimonies we follow the voice and perswasion of our owne devises Bernard alluding to this place before recited writeth thus The children of disobedience make their will their Idoll Hee addeth for further explication that it is one thing not to obey an other thing to purpose and prepense disobedience Neither is it the simple transgression of Gods commandement but the proud wilfull contempt of his will which is reputed the sin of idolatry And surely I see no reason they haue to conceale the infirmity of Ionas herein when Ionas himselfe if I mistake not the meaning
fro and stagger like a drunken man and all their cunning is gone A liuely image of their vncertaine and variable liues and if you hearken to the comparison it is next to famine imprisonment a deadly disease to be a sea-man Sailers adventurors are neither amongst the living nor amongst the dead they hang betweene both readie to offer vp their soules to every flawe of winde and billow of water where with they are assaulted Yet these are the men and such the instrumentes and meanes whereby your wealth commeth in that liue by Marchandize you eate and drinke and vveare vpon your backes you traffique and spend the bloude of your sonnes and servantes So David called the water of the well of Bethlehem bloud because it vvas brought through the armie of the Philistines vvith the hazard of mens liues You owe much vnto God for the preservation of their liues your shippes and commodities are bounde to rehearse vnto your soules day and night that verse of thankesgiving which David repeateth in the Psalme before named as the burthen and amoebâ—um to those songes of deliverance Let vs therefore confesse before the Lord his loving kindnesse and his wonderfull workes before the sons of men let vs exalt him in the congregation of the people and praise him in the assembly of the elders And as you feare his maiesty your selues who turneth the flouds into a wildernes and a wildernes into springes of water who breaketh the shippes of the sea with an East-wind so see that your factors beyond the seas with all the officers and ministers belonging to your company bee men of the like affection It is not the tallenes of your shippes nor their swiftnesse manning and munition that can protect them against Gods vengeance You call them Lyons Leopards Beares and skorning the names of beasts you tearme theÌ„ Angelles Archangelles but remember when all is done that as Themistocles called the Navy of Athens wooddeÌ„ walles so yours are but woodden Beasts and woodden Angelles And woe be to him that saith to a stone thou art my father and to a peece of wood thou art my helper They haue good fortune written vpon their beakes saith Plutarke but many misfortunes in the successe of their labors Horace spake to as prowd a ship it should seeme as any those times knew Though Pontus pines thy frame A forrest faire thy dame Prowde be thy stocke And worthlesse name The windes will mocke To see thy shame Take heede The navy of Tyrus if the prophet describe it aright was the noblest navie that ever the seas vvere furrowed vvith the builders thereof made it of perfect beautie the boordes of the firre trers of Shenir the mastes of the cedars of Lebanon the oares of the Okes of Basan the bankes of the yvory of Chittim the sailes of the fine embrodered linnen of AEgypt the coveringes blew silke and purple of the Iles of Elisha They of Sidon and Arvad were her marriners the wisest in Tyre her pilottes the auncients of Gebal her calkers they of Persia and Lud and Phut her souldiours the Gammadins were in her towers and hung their shieldes vpon the walles round about and the King of Tyre saide in the hautines of his heart I am a God I sit in the seate of God in the midst of the sea yet see the ende in the same place her rowers brought her into greate waters and the east-winde brake her in the midst of the sea her riches together with marriners pilottes and calkers marchantes and men of warre all were overthrowen and came to a fearefull ruine The feare of the Lorde will be in steede of all these provisions feare him and both floudes and rockes shall feare you and all windes shall blow you happines and ship-wrackes shall avoide the place where your foote treadeth and as the apples of Gods owne eies so shall they reverence you and not dare to approch the channell where your way lieth hilles shall fall downe and mountaines shal be cast into the sea but those that feare the Lord shall never miscary the feare of the Lord shall both laÌ„d your ships in an happy haven and after your travels vpon the earth harbour your soules in his everlasting kingdome They were afraid I will not examine what kinde of feare it vvas vvhich surprised these marriners There is a feare that accompanieth the nature of man and the son of God himselfe was not free from it Marc. 14. It is written of him that he began to be afraid which feare of his and other the like vnpleasant affections he tooke vpon him our Divines say as he tooke our flesh vndertooke death rather in pitty then of necessity And Ierome vpon the place of the Evangelist before cited noteth that the feare of our blessed saviour was not a passion which overbare his mind but a propassion which he seemeth to collect from the word it selfe He began to be afraid 2 There is besides a fond and superstitious feare when men are afraid of their shadowes as Pisander was afraide of meeting his owne soule and Antenor would never go forth of the doores but either in a coach closed vpon al sides or with a target borne over his head fearing I gesse least the sky should fal down vpon it according to that in the Psalme They feare where no feare is The disciples were abasht at the sight of their maister after his resurrection supposing they had seene a spirite when neither had they seene a spirite at any time to moue that conceit neither is it possible that a spirituall substance caÌ„ sensibly be perceived We may easily acquite this coÌ„pany from such foolish feare it hath so apparant a reason to be grounded vpon 3 There is an other feare the obiect wherof is only God which by the praier and cry that followeth in the next wordes seemeth to be the feare meant though ignorantly misplaced and this in some is a servile feare ful of hatred malice contumely reproch if they durst bewray it tristis invtilis crudelis qui quia veniaÌ„ non quaerit noÌ„ consequitur saith Bernard it flieth abhorreth the Lord because he is Deus percutiens a God of vengance in other it is filiall such as the childe honoureth his father with perfitly good wherein there is nothing but loue reverence puritie ingenuitie borne of a free spirite the spirite of bondage slavery wholy abandoned so near in affinity to loue that you can hardly discerne them Pene illa est pene non est It is almost loue and almost not loue so little difference is it never beholdeth God but in the gracious light of his countenance There is mercy with thee O Lord therefore shalt thou be feared howsoever the cloudes of displeasure seeme sometimes to hide that grace away The feare of these men I cannot decide whether it were mixte with hope or altogether desperate and it skilleth not greately to
a marveilous worke a wonder For the wisdome of the wise men shal perish the vnderstanding of the prudent men shall be hid Before he bad them stay themselues wonder that men should be drunken but not with wine stagger but not with strong drinke The cause followeth the Lord had covered them with a spirit of slumber and shut their eies There are many and mighty nations at this day their soile most happy their aire sweetly disposed people for flesh and bloud as towardly as the ground carrieth most provident to forecast most ingenious to invent most able actiue to performe of whoÌ„e you would say if you tried them Surely this is a wise people and of great vnderstanding To whome notwithstanding if Christ shoulde speake in person as he spake to Saule before his illumination why persecutest thou mee why do you stumble at my gospell and are offended at my name and account the preaching of my crosse foolishnesse they woulde aske as hee did who art thou or what is thy gospell name and crosse that thou tellest vs of So blind they are to beholde our day-spring so ignorant and vntaught touching Iesus of Nazareth Or if we should aske them of the holy ghost haue you received the holy ghost since you beleeved nay doe you beleeue that there is an holy ghost they would answere as the Ephesians did to Paul we haue not so much as heard whether there be an holy ghost What new doctrine is this they seeme to bee setters forth of new Gods and though they acknovvledge some God which nature it selfe obtrudeth vnto their thoughts yet they know not the God of Sydrach Misach Abednego whom Nabuchodonosor with that difference confessed after his vnderstaÌ„ding was restored vnto him nor the God of Daniell whome Darius by that name magnified after he saw the deliveraÌ„ce of his prophet from the lions den nor the God of Abraham Isaac Iacob to whom the promises were made nor the Lord God of heaven which hath made the sea and the dry land here specified Is it not a wonder thinke you that the people of the Turkes the hammer of the world as sometimes Babylon the rod of christendome able to say as the Psalme spake of Gilead and Manasses c. Asia is mine Africke is mine over Europe haue I cast my shooe a warlike politicke stately magnificent nation shoulde more bee carried avvaie by the enchantmentes of their lewde Prophet Mahomet then by the celestiall doctrine of the everlasting sonne of GOD who shed his bloud and gaue his soule a ransome for the sinne of mankinde what is the reason heereof vvant they nature or an arme of flesh are they not cutte from the same rocke are they not tempered of the same moulde are not thâ—ir heades vpwarde towarde heaven as the heades of other men haue they not reasonable soules capable and iudicious VVhat wante they then It is rectus spiritus a right spirite whereof they are destitute they haue a spirite I graunte to enliue their bodies but not rectified sanctified regenerated renewed to quicken their soules They haue an hearte to conceiue but it is a frowarde hearte a slowe hearte a stonie hearte a vaine and foolish hearte a skornefull contemptuous insolent incredulous heart against him that framed it Now if AEgypt bee so darke that the darkenesse thereof may be felt and it is a wonder in our eies to see such mistes in other places yet let Goshen reioyce that it standeth illightned still And those that haue seene an happye starre in the East to leade them to Christ which Herode and his princes the Turke and his Bassaws never sawe let them come and worship and bring presentes vnto the king of glory not of golde mirrhe and frankincense but of the finest mettall purest odours frankest offering of thankfull harts And let them not thinke but where more is received more vvill bee required and that they must answere to the Lorde of these talentes not onelye for nature but for a speciall inspiration besides wherewith they are endued And so to ende this point Blessed are your eies for they see and your eares for they heare I will not say that which many Prophets and righteous men haue desired but to change the speech a little that which many mighty Empires and large Continentes and not small cantons or corners but vvhole quarters of the world never attained vnto and will bitterly rue the time and wish to redeeme vvith the losse of both their eies that they haue not heard and seene as much as you haue done To come now to my purpose these marriners feare but where no feare is they feare nothing because they feare but idols and fansies the suppositioÌ„s of their owne braines And as they feare so they pray which was the second action and their errour therein being pardoned a naturall necessary service belonging to every mortall man their praier is consequent to their feare For vpon the reverence they carried towards their imaginary Gods they betooke themselues to this submissiue and suppliant service Primus in orbe Deos fecit timor Vnles we feared we could not thinke that there were a God But this actioÌ„ of theirs hath something good in it something to be reproved 1 In that they pray it sheweth the debility and weaknes of the nature of man if it be not holpen and commendeth the necessity and vse of prayer in all sorts of men 2 In that they pray with crying vehemency it noteth that their harts were fixed earnestly loÌ„ged for that which their lips craved 3 In that they cry to their Gods it proveth it a tribute due vnto God alone by the practise of heathen men 4 In that they pray every man as if in a common cause though they had not a common religion yet they had one soule hart and tongue common to them all it noteth the communion and fellowship of mankinde Thus far the observations hold good Their praying sheweth the misery of mortall men crying in praier their earnest desire to obtaine praying to Gods the maiesty of the immortal power praying togither that bond of humanity and brotherhood wherewith we are coupled 5 Their errour is a part of their obiect in the number of the Gods which they invocate that every person in the ship hath a proper and peculiar God whome he calleth vpon The Gods of the nations haue beene multiplied as the sandes of the sea what haue they not deified it cost but a little frankincense to giue the godhead vvhere it pleased them they haue turned the glorye of the immortall God into the similitude of the image of corruptible man and of birdes and foure footed beastes and of creeping thinges Besides the sunne and moone and the whole hoast of heaven they haue consecrated for Gods the sonnes of men vvhose breath is a vapour in their nostrels vvho shall be consumed before the vnprofitable mothes of
his servant who being taken with thefte and alleadging for himselfe that it was his destiny to steale his maister aunswered And thy destiny to be beaten and accordingly rewarded him If these marriners had so disputed or sitten vpon the hatches of their ship their armes folden togither and their heartes onely desiring to escape their sorrows had there presently bene ended but neither their hearts nor hands were vnoccupied And therfore as in the curing of bodilie diseases though of the most highe commeth healing yet the phisition must be honoured with that honour that belongeth vnto him and the apothecary maketh the confection as in the warres of Israell against Mâ—dia the sworde of the Lorde and of Gedeon went together and the cry of the people was not left out and as in preventing this ship-wracke spirites and bodies praier and labour heaven and earth If I may so say vvere conioyned so in all the affaires and appertenaunces of our liues we must beware of tempting God We must not lie in a ditch sullen and negligent of our selues and looke to be drawne out by others nor thinke to bee fed as the young ravens without sowing neyther to bee clothed as lillies of the fielde without spinning and labouring health commeth not from the cloudes without seeking nor wealth from the cloddes without digging Wee must cast our care vpon God that yet wee bee not carelesse and dissolute in our owne salvation O di homines ignavâ operâ philosophâ sententiâ I hate men that happily haue good and provident thoughtes but they will take no paines That which Metellus sometime spake by number I holde a trueth in him that is without number Our one and one-most God ijsdem deos propitios esse aequum est qui sibi adversarij non sunt It is meete that God favour them who are not enimies and hinderers to themselues But to leaue this point there is a time I perceiue when the riches of this world are not worth the keeping especially compared with the life of man Their wares adventures and commodities and not onely the ballast of the ship but the necessary implements furniture for the original word though signifying a vessell in particular is a generall name for all such requisite provision their victuall munitions and whatsoever was of burthen besides are they conveied landed by boat or any way thought vpon to be saved nay they are throwne into the sea to lighten their ship vvithout ever hope of recovery It â—s a proverbe iustified by trueth though the father of lies spake it Skin for skin and all that a man hath will hee giue for his life And it is a rule in nature allowed No man ever hated his owne flesh nay rather hee will nourish and cherish his life as the Lorde his Church Is not the life more worth then meate and thy body then rayment will not a man giue his riches for the ransome of his life The poorest worme in the earth which hath a life saith Austin as vvell as the Angell in heaven will not forgoe that life without resisting If either hornes or hoofes or tuskes or talentes or beakes or stinges of beasts birds flies vnreasonable creatures may withstand they will not spare to vse their armour and weapons of nature to defende themselues withall Is the life of the bodye my beloved brethren so deare and is not the life of the soule more precious is the life present so tender and the life to come so much inferiour will you vnlode a shippe to saue it vvill you burthen and surcharge a soule to destroy it shall the necessary instrumentes of the one be throwne out and shall not the accessary ornamentes superfluous sumptuous riotous delightes of the other bee departed with or are not soules better then bodies and incorruptible liues hereafter better then these present subiecte to corruption or are not riches a burthen to your soules Ho hee that encreaseth that which is not his owne and hee that ladeth himselfe with thicke clay how long Are not riches a loade or what doubt you of I know your aunswere wee encrease but our owne Your owne who intiteled you thereto Is not the earth the Lords and the fulnesse thereof are you Coloni or Domini Lordes of the earth or tillers manurers dressers dispensers Ierome vvriteth of Abraham and other rich patriarches of former age that they vvere rather to bee tearmed the bayliues of the Lorde then riche men But vvere it your owne hath the sea barres or doores to keepe it in and is your appetite without all moderation How long is there no ende of encreasing The widdow in the 2. of the Kings that had her liberty given to borrow as many vessels for oile to pay her debts as her neighbours could spare her had as large a scope I am sure and with better authority then ever was proposed to you yet there was a time when she said to her son giue me yet a vessel hee answered there are no more vessels and the oile ceased and I doubt not but with the oile her desire ceased to It may be you haue filled your vesselles with oile your owne and your neighbours your garners your coffers your bagges your warehouses your fieldes your farms your children are ful I aske againe with the prophet How long do you ever thinke to fill your hearts The barren wombe vnmercifull graue vnsatiable death will sooner bee satisfied It is a bottomlesse purse the more it hath the more it coveteth See an image hereof Alcmaeon being willed by Croesus to go into his treasure-house take as much gold as he could carry away with him provided for that busines a long hanging garment downe to his ankles and great bootes and filled them both nay he stuffed his mouth and tyed wedges of gold to the locks of his head I thinke but for hurting his braine hee woulde haue ferst the skull of his head and the bowels within his breast if hee coulde haue spared theÌ„ Here is an hart set vpon riches riches set vpon an hart heapes of wealth like the hils that wants cast vp Cumuli tumuli every hill is a graue every heape a tombe to bury himselfe in Is this to dispence Is this to exercise bayliwickes Is this to shewe fidelity in your maisters house In fewe wordes I exhorte you if the ship bee too full vnlade it cast your goods into the sea least they cast your selues cast your bread vpon the waters distribute your mercies to the needy where you looke for no recompence It is not certaine it is not likely and so it may fall out that it is not possible for those that are rich to enter into the kingdome of heaven You can dissolue that riddle I know our saviour you say meant of such as trust in riches do not you trust in them Do you not say to the wedge of golde in the applause that your selues
whethersoeuer thou sendest vs vvee vvill goe as wee obeyed Moses in all thinges so will vvee obey thee And those that rebell against thy commaundement let them die the death The volume of the vvhole booke I am sure both the precepts and practises of all the seruauntes of God harpeth vpon this stringe Yea the Maister of the house by his owne example taughte those of his housholde hovve to behaue themselues in this case For as hee obeyed his father euen vnto the death of the crosse his parents in the flesh in following their instructions the lawe in following all righteousnesse so the Emperour of Rome to though hee a straunger and himselfe free-borne in paying tribute vnto him Though vvee are defamed and slaundered concerning the Emperours maiestie yet Christians could neuer be found to be either Albinians or Nigrians or Cassians that is rebelles to their liege Lordes and maisters as Tertullian in the name and cause of all christianitie wrote to Scapula The Christian is no mans enemie much lesse the Emperours But the matter is safe enough There is no power but of God he that resisteth the powers that bee resisteth Gods ordinaunces And the Lorde is king bee the earth neuer so impatient Promotion commeth neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south but frō the Lord of hostes By him are kingdomes disposed princes inaugurated crownes of gold set vpon their heads scepters states established people mollified and subdued by him were Corah his confederates swallowed quicke into the earth Zimry burnt in his pallace Absalon hāged by his hairy scalpe Achitophell in a halter for denying their feaulty to Gods lieutenants As the maister of the ship came to Ionas and called him vp what meanest thou sleeper c. So let maisters and governours within this place who sit at the sternes of an other kinde of shipping and haue rudders of citie and countrey in their handes let them awake themselues that they may awake and rowze vp other sleepers all carelesse dissolute indisposed persons who loue the thresholdes of their private doores vpon the sabbathes of the Lord and their benches in ale-boothes better then the courtes of the Lordes house and neither in calmes nor stormes when the shippe groneth the vvhole land mourneth all the creatures sighe and lamente will either fast or pray or sorrowe or do any thing with the rest of their brethren Awake these drowsie christians awake them vvith eager reprehension what meane you If reprehension vvill not serue pricke them with the sworde and raise them vp with severe punishment How long shall the drunkard sleepe within your gates in the puddle and sinke of his bowzing and lose both honesty and vvit without controlment the adulterer in chambering and wantonnes vpon his lascivious bed of pleasure deckt vvith the laces and carpets of Egypt the idolatour and superstitious vpon the knees and in the bosome of the whore of Babylon prophaners of our sanctified sabbathes in the sabbath and rest and Iubilee of their lewde pastimes the vsurer and oppressour of others whose iawes are as kniues and his teeth of iron in his bed of mischiefe as the Psalme calleth it and in the contemplation and solace of his ill gottē goods the swearer in the habite and custome of abhominable othes for these be the faultes of your citty as common as the stones in your streetes how long shall they sleepe and snort herein vvithout reprehension it is your part to reforme it vvho are the ministers of God not onely for wealth but for wrath also vnlesse you beare the sword in vaine you are the vocall lawes of the land and iustice in life to punish with rigour where it is convenient Wee also of the ministery haue a place of preferment in the shippe and owe a duty to God though in an other kind We haue a sword in our mouthes too as you in your handes whose edge is of more then steele and cutteth deeper then into flesh and bloud yet such are the earthly spirits of men fallen a sleepe amongst vs that the sword of the spirit without the sword of the magistrate cannot stirre them vp Hovv long haue we called and lifted vp our voices on high to those that sleepe in drunkennesse and lie in their vomit worse then dogges Awake drunkards weepe and howle your wine shall be pulled from your mouths and they awoke not but to follow drunkennes againe and to ioyne the morning and the eveninge togither till the wine haue enflamed them How long to those that sleepe in fornication Awake adulterers and vncleane persons els God shall throw you into a bedde of shame and vncover your nakednes and make you a reproch and scorne so farre as your name is spread yet they open not their eyes but to awaite for the twilight and to lie at their neighbours doore for wife or daughter to those that are at rest and nestled in idolatry in the service of strange Gods Awake idolatours you that say to the wood and stone awake helpe vs awake and rise vp your selues els God is a ielous God and will visite your sinnes vvith roddes and your offences with scourges to all other sleepers in sinne sabbath breakers swearers lyers extortioners vsurers what meane you sleepers It is now time that you shoulde arise from sleepe yea the time is almost past Now is salvation nearer then when you first beleeved and now is damnation nearer then when you were first threatned The night is past of blindnesse and ignorance forepassed the bright morning starre hath risen and hid himselfe againe within the cloudes of heaven The glorious sunne of righteousnesse hath illuminated the whole sphere of the vvorlde from the east to the west and though his body be aboue the light of his beames is still amongst vs and wee may truely say the day is come yea the day is well nigh spent The naturall sunne of the firmament runneth his race with speede like a Giant refresht with wine to make an end of his course and to finish all times You are novv brought to the eleventh houre of the day there is but a twelfth a fewe minutes of time betweene you and iudgment what meane you sleepers VVill you go away in a sleepe and shall your life passe from you like a dreame Came you naked of goodnes from your mothers wombe and will you backe naked brought you nothing into the world with you of the best and blessedst riches and vvill you cary nothing out Or do you tarry to be started with the shrillest trumpet that ever blew the fearefullest voice to sleepers that ever sounded arise yee dead what meane you sleepers The night is comming wherein no man can worke yea the day is comming wherein none shal worke Acceptable to God profitable to man behoofefull to himselfe hee neither can nor shall worke any thing That working that is shall be the everlasting throbbings and throwes of his
chambers to be clensed and the vesselles of the house of God to be brought thither againe 3. because the portions of the Levites and singers had not beene giuen to them and everie one was fled to his lande hee reprooued the rulers Why is the house of God forsaken 4. he caused the tithes to be restored brought the Levites togither to their place againe and apointed faithfull officers and treasurers to distribute vnto them The petition that hee maketh vnto the righteous Lord who will not forget our labours at the foote of every of those services is framed to this effect Remember me O my God in goodnesse and wipe not out my kindnesse concerning this and pardon me according to thy great mercies Thus Nehemias you see was not vnmindefull of the Lord that the Lorde might be mindefull of him againe Neither in the building nor in the warding of the wals of Ierusalem nor in releeving the burthens of his brethren nor in sanctifying the sabbath nor in purging the people from commixtion with strangers nor in replenishing the chambers of Gods house vvith maintenaunce for his ministers All which he zealously vndertooke and constantly followed to the end fastening his reproofes like nailes that are driuen in a sure place and shewing himselfe a carefull Magistrate both in warre and peace in civill religious affaires towardes the children of the lande and towardes strangers that traffiqued within the borders thereof Vndoubtedly your charge is greate whome the Lorde hath marked out to places of gouernment and if euer you hope as Nehemias wished that God shall remember you concerning this or that kindenesse shewed in his businesse remember you whose image you carry whose person you present whose cause you vndertake whose iudgmentes you execute vpon earth And though yee are not troubled vvith building and warding the wals of your countrey because peace is the walles and the strength of God our bulwarkes and fortresses and mine eies would faile with expectation of that day vvhen the chambers of the Lordes house vvhich Tobiah the Horonite hath seized into his handes should be restored to their auncient institution for the maintenaunce of Levites and singers yet in the oppressions of your brethren vvhose vineyardes fieldes houses libertie living are wrung from them and their sonnes and daughters vndoone if you doe not in all respects as Nehemias did lend them money corne hee and his servauntes of their owne and bestowe the fees of your places tovvardes their reliefe for hee ate not the breade of the governour in twelue yeares and an hundred and fiftie hee mainetained dailie at his boarde with sufficient allowance yet such as oppresse too much exhort ' reprooue cause them to respight cause them to remit tie them by promise to do it binde them by oath and if that will not serue vnlesse you be loath to throw a stone against an adulterer or to shake your lap against an oppressour because you are guilty in your heartes of the like trespasses shake the lappes of your garments against them and with an vnfeigned spirit beseech the iust iudge that such as will not restore may so be shaken out and emptied from all his mercies Likewise for the sabbath of the Lord the sanctified day of his reste helpe to bringe it to reste it is shamefully troubled and disquieted the common daies in the weeke are happier in their seasons then the Lords sabbaths Then are the manuary craftes exercised every man in his shop applying his honest and lawfull businesse the sabbath is reserved as the vnprofitablest day of the seven for idlenesse sleeping vvalking rioting tipling bowling daunsing and what not I speake what I know vpon a principall sabbath for if the resurrection of Christ deserue to alter the sabboth from day to day I see no cause but the cōming downe of the holy ghost should adde honour and ornament vnto it I say vpon a principall sabbath not onelye those of Ierusalem and Iudah solde their wares but those of Tyre also vvhich came from abroade brought in their commodities and neither your gates shut nor forreiners kept out nor citizens reprooved nor any thing donne wherby Gods name and day might be honoured Go now and aske if you can for blushing as Nehemias did O Lord remember vs concerning this kindnesse It is not enough for you to beare the place of preeminence in the shippe but you must reprooue as the maister here did nor enough barelie to reprooue but you must goe forwardes in hunting securitie from her couche by vrging how hard it is to appease the anger of God if it bee throughly enflamed how dangerous against the life and soule if it be not prevented It is the fervency of the spirite even of a double spirit as Elizeus sometime wished the spirite of magistrates which are more then single persons perfit hatred to sin crushing both the egge the cockatrice courage in the cause of the Lord zeale to his house both kindling and consuming your heartes a good beginning and a good ending which the Lorde requireth Will you saue-gard the ship in the Ocean sea and breake her vvithin a league of the haven will you put your hande to the plough of the best husbandry and thriving in the world and then looke backe vvill you lay the foundation of the house rere vp the vvalles and not seeke to couer it you know the parable This man beganne to builde It had beene better not to haue knowne the way of trueth then not to persist in it nor to haue set your shoulders to the worke of the Lorde vnlesse yee hold out The leafe of a righteous man neuer fadeth vvherevpon the glosse noteth that the fall of the leaues is the dying and decaying of the trees When it repenteth a man to haue begunne well it is a sinnefull repentaunce and much to bee repented of The fire vpon the altar of the Lord must alwaies burne never go out and the sedulitie of Gods lieutenantes vpon the earth must euer bee working neuer wearied All vertues runne in the race one onely receiveth the garland the image of most happy eternitie happy continuance I tolde you before that nature directed the Marriners to the acknowledgement of a God it is heere further ratified with manie other principles of nature if they vvere needefull to bee examined as 1. that God only is to be invocated and called vpon Call vpon thy God 2. the vnity of the godhead is avowed For the shipmaster forgetting the multitude of Gods nameth one singlie without other associates If so be God 3. That the felicity of mankinde dependeth vpon the serenity gracious favorable aspect of God as I gather by the phrase here vsed if God will shine vpon vs. 4. It is implied that our life death are in Gods hands That we perish not But let those passe a while The matter we are now to examine is the liberty and freedome vvhich the shipmaister gaue vnto Ionas
heads like burning coales that were bewitched with such preachings he protesteth vnto them not hiding his face nor dissembling his name Behold I Paul say vnto you that if yee be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing If he coulde not sustaine a little leaven in the lumpe as there hee calleth it what would he haue said of poyson I meane of an impious blasphemous sacrilegious manner of worship when this was rather curious frivolous and ceremonious When Moses and Christ togither were so offensiue vnto him he would never haue heard of a reconciliation betweene Christ and Belial light darknes righteousnes vnrighteousnes beleevers infidels the temple of God idols the cup of the Lord and the cup of Devils the table of the Lord the table of Devils in the coÌ„munion wherof he noteth an impossibility in both his epistles to the Corinthians I will not stand to dispute how vnpossible it is for any either person or state to serue two maisters the one not subordinate to the other but flatly repugnant say for example God and Mammon or Melchom or Baal or any the like abomination Must they not vse a ballance a ballaÌ„ce a conscience a coÌ„science that do so go after two waies But what danger ensueth vpon such confected religions halting consciences as Elias named theÌ„ they may best learne both by word and deed from that zealous God who hath taken expresse order against strange Gods executed his fierce wrath vpon those that haue offered but strange fire and ordayned his law strictly to be kept without declining to the right hand or to the lefte and himselfe will be served alone without corrivals of his glory with al our heart soule and strength as he hath often enioyned There is but one Lord one mediatour one spirit one baptisme one supper one faith al in vnity The body and state is then strongest when the multitude of beleevers haue but one hart one soule amongst them all shall one people within the same land and vnder the same government sunder distract themselues into many religions Or can the Lord bee at vnitie with that people where immunity is given to deale in the manner or matter of his service otherwise then he hath prescribed Nazianzen writeth that many people lying rouÌ„d about theÌ„ as a circle about the ceÌ„ter did much obserue marvel at the Cappadocians not only for their sound faith but for the gift of coÌ„cord which God bestowed vpon theÌ„ For because they thought aright of the Trinity defended it iointly against the Arrians they were defended by the Trinity theÌ„selues Clemens Alexandrinus wisheth much happines to the king of the Scythians vvhosoever that Anachatsis were vvho tooke a citizen of his for imitating some Greekish effoeminate sacrifices offered to the mother of the Gods hung him vp by the necke shot him through with arrowes because he had both corrupted himselfe amongst the Grecians infected others with the like disease The counsaile which Mecoenas gaue to Augustus the Emperour is very sage the reasons by him alleaged such as touch the quickest vâ—ine of the question in hand Put his words into the mouth of some other man whose lips an Angell hath touched with a cole from the altar of the Lord the holy ghost sanctified they are then right worthy to be accounted of Thus he exhorteth The divine godhead see that thou reverence thy selfe according to the lawes of thy countrey cause others to do the like And those that change any thing in matters appertaining thereunto hate correct not only in behalfe of the Gods whom whosoeuer neglecteth he will never regard oughte els but because such as bring in new Gods draw others also to alteration change And hence come conspiracies seditions conventicles things not expedient to a government Religion is the truest band betwixt man and man the knot of al coÌ„munion coÌ„sociation Now what coniunction of mindes can there be what attonement of iudgements what inward peace syncere charity harty god-speed in that disparity of religions where one house hath Iewes an other Samaritans some calling vpon God some vpon Angels Saints creeping to crosses bowing to images so burning in emulation for their severall services as fire and water shall sooner agree then their iudgments affections Let our laws be grounded vpon the law of God it wil be the greatest safety of our land to enact as the Athenians sometimes did that whosoeuer should speak one word of their God beside their lawes should be punished vnmercifully for it It hath beene a favourable compromission of men more partiall then wise that the questions betwixt Rome and the reformed churches might easily be accorded I finde it not And I will be bolde to say as Tully somtimes of the Stoickes Academickes That the coÌ„tentioÌ„ between vs is not for bouÌ„ds but for the whole possession inheritaÌ„ce whether God or maÌ„ grace or nature the bloud of Christ or the merits of saints written verity or vnwritten vanities the ordinaÌ„ce of the most high in authorizing princes or the Buls of Popes in deposing them shall take place We haue altar against altar liturgie against liturgy praiers against praiers doctrine against doctrine potentate against potentate Pope against Prince Religion against Religion subiection against subiection faith against faith so diametrally opposed as the Northerne and Southerne poles shall sooner meet togither then our opinions standing as they do can be reconciled Looke vpon Fraunce and nether Germany for the proofe hereof The effusion of so much Christian bloud the eversion dissipation of so many noble houses the commotions and tumults of so many yeares whence haue they sprung The reason or pretence at least of those murthers massacres wasts tragedies hath beene contrary religions If this be the fruit then shall every subiect in a realme be priviledged in his house to haue a God to himselfe a priest to himselfe a worship to himselfe as Micah had in Ephraim shall hee beleeue and pray and obey shall he both feare God honor his king as himselfe listeth But what will yee doe in this case Their mindes are as free as the Emperours Every man is a king in his own house as Telemachus said his conscience is his castle and fortresse nothing is so voluntarie as religion wherein if the minde be averse it is now no religion We maie shifte the bodies of men from place to place wee cannot change their mindes Wee shall sooner enforce stockes and stones to speake vnto vs. Advise will doe more then threatning and faith commeth rather by perswasion then by compulsion I graunt it Therefore first speake to the conscience by good counsell but if the eare of the conscience bee stopt with wax shake the whole house about her and raise her vp speak to the eares of the body inheritance liberty let the body tel the
blessed for ever For to returne where I first began besides the folly of the thinge the mischiefe is behinde Go cry vnto your Gods which you haue chosen and let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation What a wofull discharge and dismission were this to be lefte vnto such Gods whose heads the hands of a carver hath polished and if their eies be full of dust and their clothes eaten vpon their backes with mothes they cannot helpe it the beastes are in better case then they for they can geâ— them vnder a covert or shadow to do themselues good Then they may cry as the Apostles did vpon the motion of the like departure Lorde whether shall I goe for as Christ there had the words so hath the blessed Trinitie alone the power and donation of eternall life When Senacherib and Rabsakeh bragged that both the kings and the Gods of the nations vvere destroied by them Ezâ—chias aunswered the obiection Trueth it is Lorde that the kings of Assur haue destoyed their nations and their lands and haue set fire on their Gods for they were no Gods but the worke of mens handes even wood and stone therefore they destroyed them now therefore O Lorde our God saue thou vs out of his hand that all the kingdomes of the earth may know that thou O Lord art onely God This argument Moses tried vpon the golden calfe whereof Israell had said Behold thy Gods O Israell to shew that it was no God hee burnt it in the fire grounde it to powder strawed it vpon the water and then caused the people to drinke it To conclude the pointe It is most true which the Prophet resteth vpon Psalme 86. Amongst the Gods there is none like vnto thee O Lord and there is none that can doe like thy workes And as there is but one trueth encountered with as many falshods as there were gobbets and shreddes of dismembred Pentheus so is there but one true God opposed by as many false as happily there are falshoods It may be the maister of the ship finding a defect miscariage of their former labours that there was no succour to bee had vvhere they sought comfort that though they had all prayed they are not released standeth in a wavering touching the Gods which they called vpon and thinketh there may be a God of more might vvhome they knowe not so as in effect vvhen hee thus spake vnto Ionas he set vp an altar and tendered honour vnto an vnknowne God As if he had said I am ignorant whom thou seruest but such a one he may be as is pronest to do vs good and best able to saue our shippe For as an idoll is nothing in the worlde and there is no time in the worlde wherein that nothing can do good so there are many times vvhen idolaters that most dote vpon them as Ieremy speaketh are brought to perceiue it Esay in the second of his prophecie speaketh of a day vvhen men shall not onely relinquish but cast away their idols of siluer and golde vvhich they haue made to themselues to worship vnto the mowles and battes children of darkenesse fitter for those that are either bleare eied or that haue no eies to see withall then for men of vnderstanding go into the holes of the earth and toppes of cragged rocks from the feare of the Lorde and glorie of his maiestie when he shal arise to iudge the earth You see the fruit of idolaters that as they haue loved darkenesse more then the light so they leaue their Gods to the darkenesse and themselues enter into darkenesse a taste and assay before hand of that everlasting and vtter darknes that is provided for them If so bee God will thinke vpon vs. Now that this was the minde of the maister of the shippe to distrust his Gods I gather by this vvhich followeth vvherein the vncertaintie of his faith is bewraied and his hope hangeth as the crowe on the arke betwixt heauen and earth finding no rest without resolution of any comforte Si forte if so be is not a phrase fitte to proceede from the mouth of faith it is meeter to come from Babylon whereof the Prophet writeth Bring baulme for her sore si fortè sanetur if happilie shee maie bee healed her wounds were so desperate and vnlikely to be cured It is meeter to be applied to the sores of Simon Magus whome Peter counselled to repent him of his wickednesse and pray vnto God Si forte remittatur if so bee the thoughte of his hearte mighte bee forgiuen him The nature and language of faith is much different it nesteth it selfe in the woundes of Christ as Doues in the cleftes of rockes that cannot bee assaulted it standeth as firme and stedfast as mount Sion that cannot be removed it casteth an anchor in the knowledge of the true God and because he is a true God it doubteth not of mighte and mercy or rather mercie and might as the heathens call their Iupiter Optimus maximus first by the name of his goodnesse and then of his greatnesse His mercies it doubteth not of because they are passed by promise indenture covenaunt othe before vnmoueable vvitnesses the best in heaven and the best in earth His promises are no lesse assertained because they are signed with the singer of the holy Ghost and sealed with the bloud of his anointed and beloved By faith yee stande saith the Apostle to the Corinthians it is the roote that beareth vs the legges and supporters and stronge men that holde vs vp If we listen to the prophet Abacuk we may yet say more For by faith wee liue it is the soule and spirite of the new man wee haue a name that we liue but indeede are dead to Godwarde if wee beleeue not For if any withdrawe himselfe therehence the soule of God will take no pleasure in him Woe vnto him that hath a double hearte and to the vvicked lippes and faint handes and to the sinner that goeth two manner of waies woe vnto him that is faint hearted for he beleeueth not therefore shall hee not bee defended It is not the manner of faith to be shaken and waver like a reede to and fro nor of a faithfull man to bee tost of every winde as a waue of the sea that is ever rowling And therefore we are willed to come to the throne of grace with boldnesse and to drawe neare with a true hearte in assurance of faith and not to cast awaie that confidence vvhich hath greate recompence of rewarde and when we aske to aske in faith without reasoning or doubting and to trust perfectlie in that grace which is brought vnto vs by the revelation of Iesus Christ. Our life is a warfare vpon earth a tried and expert warriour one that bare in his body the skars of his faithful service keeping the tearmes of his owne art so named it and wee are not to wrastle against
thousand times many a ship perhaps vpon the sea at this present that felt the wrath of the storme yet entred not into any the like coÌ„sultation But God the disposer of all things having his fugitiue Prophet in chase putteth it into the harts of the marriners 1. that there is some man whose iniquity hath brought their liues in question 2. that there must bee some meanes for his deprehension Now what should they doe in a matter of fact there were no witnesses to detect neither the conscience of the offender nor happily his countenance nor anie the like presumption to disclose it and if an othe had beene ministred which is the ende of controversie perchance it might haue beene falsified as Lysander sometimes spake Children must bee deceaved by dice and blanckes men by othes therefore they put it to lottes as indifferent vmpires and arbitratours for all partes as who would say Because art faileth we will go by chance and in a matter of secrecie let God be iudge and giue sentence For so doth Tully define Sortition that it is nothing els but hap-hazard where neither reason nor counsel can take place It was a custome amoÌ„gst the Gentiles to do many things by lottes Valerius Maximus writeth of the Romanes that by an auncient ordinance amongst them if they commended any thing to their Gods it was by praier if they desired or craved it was by vowe if they rendered or repayed by thanksgiving if they enquired by the inwarde part of beasts or lottes if they did any thinge solemnly by sacrifice He further reporteth that it befell Lucius Paulus their Consull by lotte to fight against Perses king of Macedon and that going from the court to his owne house and finding Tertia his young 〈◊〉 very sad he kissed her and asked her what shee ailed sheâ— auâ—swered that Persa her litle whelpe was deade which saying of â—ers hee tooke as a token of good lucke for the affinity of the names to encourage him the rather against Perses The Greekes at the siege of Troye cast lottes who should â—ight with Hector and the lotte fell vpon Aiax as appeareth by a part of his own oration vnto them In the third of Ioel the Lord complaineth against the nations that they had cast lots vpon his people in the prophecie of Obadiah against Esau that when strangers entered in the gates and cast lottes vpon Ierusalem hee was as one of them in the Evangelist S. Mathew the souldiers devide the garmentes of Christ by loâ—s But without further testimony it is here apparant that it was in vse amongst most nations because the vvhole company of the ship being of divers languages all agree vpon the same course Come let vs cast lots Aquinas setteth down some forms of lots vsed amongst them that either they had tickets of paper some of which were written some blancke wherein they considered who had the one who the other or els festawes cuts wherein they observed who drew the greater who the lesser or they threw dice hucklebones wherin he that threw most was victorer or els they opened a booke by that which a man first lighted vpon they decided the strife answerable wherunto are the tables books of fortune in our times Others alleage more sorts of theÌ„ as litle stones scores tales oâ— wood signed with letters characters staÌ„ps of clay beanes pellets many the like varieties In the vsing of all which instruments their maÌ„ner was first to hide theÌ„ out of sight as in Homer they hid their lots in Agamemnons helmet then to shake them togither confusedly afterwards to draw them forth to receiue as their lottes specified The Hebrewes write that when the land of Canaan was devided amongst the children of Israell they had 12. skroles of paper signed with the names of 12. tribes 12. other signed with 12. portions of land all which being put into a pitcher mingled togither the Princes for their severall tribes drew two a piece and together with their names received their inheritances It is a question amongst Divines whether it be lawfull in christianity to vse lottes yea or no For the solution whereof wee must both distinguish the kindes and set limittes bounds which must not be exceeded Touching the kinds most of the Schoolemen Summistes and other Divines doe thus number them that eyther they are of consultation vvherein they enquire of somewhat that must be donne or of division wherin the question is what shal be shared to every man or of divination and prediction wherein they are curious to search out future accidentes Of the former two they make no great scruple because they are iustified and approoved to vs by many examples of scriptures as in choosing one goate for the sacrifice the other for the scape goate in deviding the land of promise in finding out Achan vvith the accursed thinge in taking Saul to the kingdome in preferring Matthias to the Apostleship though Beda seemeÌ„th to mislike the like imitation in our times because the election then helde was before Pentecost when they had not receaved such full measure of the holy ghost which afterwards obteined they chose the sâ—ven deacons not by lot but by common consent of all the Disciples August in an epistle to Honoratus putteth this case that if in a time of persecution the ministers of the gospell shoulde varie amongst them who should abide the heate of the fire that all fled not and who should flie least if the whole brotherhood vvere made avvay the church might be forsaken if otherwise they could not ende their variance he holdeth it the best course to try by lot who shoulde remaine behinde who depart and he addeth for the proofe of his opinion the iudgement of Salomon Prov. 18. The lotte causeth contentions to cease affirming moreover that in such doubts God is able to iudge better then men whether it be his pleasure to call the better able vnto their martyrdome and to spare the weaker or to enable these weaker for the endurance of troubles and to withdravve them from this life vvho cannot by their liues bee so profitable to the Church of God as the others He proposeth the like case in his bookes of Christian learning the question standing betweene two needy persons whether of the two shal be relieved when both cannot I finde many other cases both observed by antiquitye and some by the civill lawes allowed wherein the vse of lottes hath bene admitted As in creation of magistrates in contracting mariages in vndertaking provinces and lieutenantships in leading colonies that is new inhabitants to replenish forreine partes in entring vpon inheritances and if in a suite of lawe it cannot bee agreed vpon betweene the parties contending who the plaintife vvho the defendant is both seeking for iudgement in the manumission freeing of some few in a multitude when all craue the
children within the citty of Shusan throughout all the provinces of the kingdome should be destroied But did the Almighty sleepe at this wicked and bloudy designemeÌ„t or was his eie held blind-folded that he could not see it No that powerfull and dreadfull God who holdeth the bal of the world in his hand and keepeth a perfite kalender of all times seasons had so inverted the course of thinges for his chosens sake that the moneth day before prefined became most dismal to those that intended mischiefe Without further allegations this may suffice as touching the successe of the lots and consequently the providence of God in the moderation thereof It is now a questioÌ„ meete to be discussed the offender being found whether it stande with the iustice of God to scourge a multitude because one in the coÌ„pany hath transgressed For though I condemned their arrogancy before in that not knowing who the offender was they wiped their mouthes each man in the ship with the harlot in the Proverbs asked in their harts Is it I yet when the oracle of God hath now dissolved the doubt and set as it were his marke vpon the trouble plague of the whole ship they had some reason to thinke that it was not a righteous parte to lay the faults of the guilty vpon the harmelesse innocent This was the cause that they complained of old that the whole fleete of the Argiues was overthrowne Vnius ob noxam furias Aiacis Oilei for one mans offence Nay they were not content there to rest but they charged the iustice of God with an accusation of more vveight Plerunque nocenâ—es Praeterit examinatque indignos inque nocentes as though oftentimes hee freed the nocent and laide the burthen of woes vpon such as deserved them not It appeareth in Ezechiell that the children of Israell had taken vp as vngratious a by-word amongst them the fathers haue eaten the sower grape and the childrens teeth are set on edge and they conclude therehence the waies of God are not equall It was an exception that Bion tooke against the Gods that the fathers smarte was devolved to their posterity and thus hee scornefully matched it as if a physitian for the grandfathers or fathers disease shoulde minister physicke to their sonnes or nephewes They spake evill of Alexander the greate for razing the city of the Branchides because their auncestoures had pulled downe the temple of Miletum They mocked the Thracians for beating their wiues at that day because their foreruÌ„ners had killed Orpheus And Agathocles escaped not blame for wasting the island Corcyra because in ancienter times it gaue entertainment to Vlysses Nay Abraham himselfe the father of the faithfull heire of the promises friend of God disputeth with the Lord about Sodome to the like effect Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked Againe Be it far from thee for doing this thing to slay the righteous with the vnrighteous and that the iust should be as the vniust this be far from thee shal not the iudge of al the world do right In the booke of Numbers when God willed Moses Aaron to seperate themselues froÌ„ the congregation that he mighte at once destroy them they fel vpon their faces said O God the God of the spirits of every creature hath not one man only sinned wilte thou bee wroth with all the congregation In the first of Chronicles when for the offence of David in numbring his people the plague fell vpon them slew seventy thousand of them the king with the elders fell downe cried vnto the Lord Is it not I that commanded to number the people It is even I that haue sinned and committed this evill but these sheepe what haue they done O Lord my God I beseech thee let thine hand bee vpon me and vpon my fathers house and not on thy people for their destruction I answere this hainous crimination grievance against the righteousnes of God in few words froÌ„ the authorities of Ezechiel Ieremy before alleaged Behold all soules are mine saith the Lord both the soule of the father also of the sonne are mine the soule that sinneth it shall die O yee house of Israel is not my way equal or are not your waies vnequall If it vvere a truth which the poet sang to his friend Delicta maiorum immeritus lues Romane thou shalt beare the faultes of thy forefathers vvithout thine owne deservings the question vvere more difficult But who is able to say my heart is cleane though I came from an vncleane seede though I were borne of a Morian I haue not his skinne though an Ammorite were my father and my mother an Hittite I haue not their nature I haue touched pitch am not defiled I can wash mine handes in innocency say with a cleare conscience I haue not sinned But if this be the case of vs all that there is not a soule in the whole cluster of mankind that hath not offended though not as principal touching the fact presently enquired of as Achan in taking the accursed thing Corah in rebelling David in numbring the people yet an accessary in consenting coÌ„cealing if neither principal nor accessary in that one sin yet culpable in a thousand others coÌ„mitted in our life time perhaps not open to the world but in the eies of God as bright as the sun in the firmament for the scorpion hath a stinge though hee hath not thrust it forth to wounde vs man hath malice though he hath not outwardly shewed it it may be some sins to come which God foreseeth some already past which he recouÌ„teth shall we stand in argument with God as man would plead with man charge the iudge of the quicke dead with iniurious exactions I haue paide the thinges that I neuer tooke I haue borne the price of sinne which I neuer committed You heare the ground of mine answere We haue al sinned father and son rush branch deservedly are to expect that wages from the hands of God which to our sin appertaineth touching this present company I nothing doubt but they might particularly bee touched for their proper private iniquities though they had missed of Ionas Bias to a like fare of passengers shakeÌ„ with an horrible tempest as these were and crying to their Gods for succor answered not without some iest in that earnest hold your peace least the Gods hap to heare that you passe this way noting their lewdnesse to be such as might iustly draw downe a greater vengeance Besides it caÌ„not be denied but those things which we seyer part in our conceits by reason that distance of time place hath sundred theÌ„ some being done of old some of late some in one quarter of the world some in an other those doth the God of knowledge vnite and veweth them at once as if they were done
so disguised with our owne corrupt additions THE XI LECTVRE Chap. 1. verse 8. Whence commest thou which is thy country and of vvhat people art thou THese three questions now rehearsed though in seeming not much different yet I distinguished a parte making the first to enquire of his iourney and travaile for confirmation whereof some a little change the stile quo vadis whither goest thou askinge not the place from which hee set forth but to which hee was bounde or of the society wherewith hee had combined himselfe the seconde of his natiue countrey the thirde of his dwelling place For the countrey and citty may differre in the one wee may bee borne and liue in the other as for example a man may be borne in Scotlande dwell in England or borne at Bristow dwell at Yorke Wherein that of Tully in his bookes of lawes taketh place I verily thinke that both Cato and all free denisens haue two countreyes the one of nativity the other of habitation as Cato being borne at Tusculum was receaved into the people of the citty of Rome Therefore beeing a Tusculan by birth by citty a Romane hee had one countrey by place another by law For we tearme that our country where wee were borne and whereinto wee are admitted So there is some oddes betweene the two latter questions There was greate reason to demaunde both from whence hee came and whither hee would because the travelles of men are not alwaies to good endes For the Scribes and Pharises travaile farre if not by their bodilie pases yet by the affections of their heartes they compasse sea and land to an evill purpose to make proselytes children of death worse then themselues As the Pope and the king of Spaine send into India they pretende to saue soules indeede to destroy the breede of that people as Pharaoh the males of the Hebrewes and to wast their countries They walke that walke in the counsell of the vngodlie and in the waies of sinners but destruction and vnhappinesse is in all their waies They walke that walke in the waies of an harlot but her house tendeth to death and her pathes to the deade they that goe vnto her returne not againe neither take holde of the waies of life Theeues haue their ranges and walkes Surgunt de nocte latrones they rise in the nighte time they goe or ride farre from home that they may bee farre from suspicion but their feete are swifte to shed bloude and they bestowe their paines to worke a mischiefe Alexander iournied so farre in the conquest of the worlde that a souldier tolde him we haue doone as much as mortalitie was capable of thou preparest to goe into an other worlde and thou seekest for an India vnknowne to the Indians themselues that thou mayest illustrate more regions by thy conquest then the sunne ever saw To what other ende I knowe not but to feede his ambition to enlarge his desire as hell and to adde more titles to his tombe They haue their travailes and peregrinations that walke on their bare feete with a staffe in their hand and a scrip about their necke to Saint Iames of Compostella our Lady of Loretto the dust of the holy land What to doe the dead to visit the deade to honour stockes and to come home stockes to chaunge the aire and to retaine their former behaviour to doe penaunce for sinne and to returne laden with a greater sinne of most irreligious superstition meeter to bee repented if they knew their sinne Of such I may say as Socrates sometime aunswered one who marveiled that hee reaped so litle profit by his trauell Thou art well enough served saith he because thou didest travell by thy selfe for it is not mountaines and seas but the conference of wisemen that giveth vvisedome neither can monumentes and graues but the spirit of the Lord vvhich goeth not with those gadders put holinesse into them They haue their walkes and excursions which go from their natiue countrey to Rome the first time to see naught the second to be naught the third to die naught was the olde proverbe The first last now a daies are not much different they go to learne naught they drinke vp poison there like a restoratiue vvhich they keepe in their stomacks along Italy France other nations not minding to disgordge it till they come to their mothers house where they seek to vnlade it in her bosome to end her happy daies Ionas for ought these knew might haue come from his countrey a robber murtherer traitor or any the like transgressor therfore haue ran frō thence as Onesimus from his master Philemō to escape iustice wherevpon they aske him whence commest thou that they may learne both the occasion scope of his iourney And if you obserue it well there is not one question here moued though questions only cōiecturall but setteth his conscience vpon the racke and woundeth him at the hart by every circumstance whereby his crime might be aggravated Such is the wisdome that God inspireth into the harts of men for the triall of his truth in the honor of iustice to fit their demands to the conscience of the transgressours in such sort that they shall even feele themselues to be touched and so closely rounded in the eare as they cannot deny their offence There are diverse administrations yet but one spirit Warriours haue a spirit of courage to fight counsellors to direct prevent magistrates to governe iudges to discerne examine convince and to do right vnto all people For the questions here propoūded were in effect as if they had told him thou dishonourest thy calling thou breakest thy commission thou shamest thy country thou condemnest thy people in that thou hast committed this evill They aske him first What is thine art that bethinking himselfe to be a prophet not a marriner as these were not a master in the ship but a master in Israell set over kingdomes Empires to builde pull downe plant roote vp he might remember himselfe and call his soule to account Wretched man that I am how ingloriously haue I neglected my vocation They aske him next whēce cōmest thou that it mighte bee as goades prickles at his breasts to recount in his minde I was called on lande I am escaped to sea I was sent to Assyria I am going to Cilicia I was directed to Niniveh I am bending my face towardes Tharsis that is I am flying frō the presence of my Lord following mine own crooked waies Thirdly they aske him of his coūtry that hee might say to himselfe What are the deeds of Babylō better then the deeds of Sion was I borne brought vp instructed an instructor in the lande of Iurie in the garden of the worlde the roiallest peculiarest nation that the Lord hath and haue I not grace to keepe his commaundemente Lastly they enquire of his people a people that had al things but flexible
haue knowne it to turne from the holie commaundement given vnto vs. For where as the ende is the perfection of every thing the ende of the relapsed Christians is vvorse then their beginning There is scientia contristans a sorrowfull and wofull knowledge as Bernarde gathered out of the first of Ecclesiastes Hee that encreaseth knowledge encreaseth sorrow It is truest in this sense when wee are able and willing to say vvith the Pharisee are vvee also blinde and yet with our eies open vve runne into destruction The time shall come vvhen many shall say that you may knowe it is the case of a multitude to bee svvallovved into this gulfe Lorde vvee haue hearde thee in our streetes c. and yet their knowledge of Christ shall not gaine his knowledge of them but as straungers and reprobates they shal bee sent from him Our knowledge shall then bee vveighed to the smallest graine but if our holinesse of life put in the other plate of the ballance bee founde to lighte and vnanswerable vnto it our sorrowes shall make it vp Therefore vnlesse vve be still sicke of Adames disease that vvee had rather eate of the tree of knowledge then of the tree of life let vs be carefull of knowledge not only to sobriety but with profitte also that the fruit of a good life bringing eternity of daies to come may waite vpon it Blessed are those soules wherein the tree of syncere knowledge is rooted and the worme of security or contempt hath not eaten vp the fruit the Lord shall water them with the dew of heaven in this life and translate them hereafter as glorious renowned plantes into his heavenly garden THE XII LECTVRE Chap. 1. ver 10. Then were the men exceedinglie afraide and said vnto him why hast thou done this For the men knew that hee had fled from the presence of the Lord because he had told them BEcause the confession in the ninth verse is not so absolute as to aunswere all the questions which were propounded therefore the supply and perfection thereof must bee brought from this tenth wherein we vnderstande that the whole order summe of his disobedience was related albeit not described at large that being a prophet and sent vvith a message to Niniveh hee fled from the presence of the Lord that is cast his commaundementes behinde his backe The connexion then betwixt these two verses is this I am an Hebrew of the happiest people and country vnder heaven I am not ignorant of true religion For I feare the Lorde c. All which is by way of preface for amplifications sake the more to extende the fault mentioned in the words following yet am I fled from the presence of the Lorde I haue taken a froward and vnadvised course to frustrate his businesse With this addition you may shape an answere directly to every question 1. What is thine office shunning the face of God running from his presence contēpt of his voice 2. What is thine occupation not manuary and illiberall not fraudulent deceitfull but a calling immediate from God I stand in his sight as the Angels of heaven doe to heare my charge and when he giveth mee an errande my office is to performe it 3. Whence commest thou from the presence of the Lord from whose lips I received my late commission 4. What is thy country I am an Hebrew 5. Of what people the most scient skilfull in the service of God Thus haue you his whole confession Now he beginneth to be wise and with a prudent simplicity more worth then a thousande tergiversations to returne vnto him by confessing his fault from whome hee was fled by disobedience to recover his lost iustice by accusing himselfe to cast forth the impostumated matter of a dissembling conscience vvhich being concealed had beene presente death to honour the righteous Lorde whom hee had grossely dishonoured and by opening his lippes into an humble confession to shut the mouth of hell which began to open vpon him My sonne saith Iosuah to Achan I beseech thee giue glory to the Lorde God of Israell and make confession vnto him and shewe mee nowe what thou hast done hide it not from mee It is a part of the glory of God to shame our selues I meane to confesse our sinnes which in modesty and shamefastnes we striue to keepe close not onely vnto God against whom onely vvee haue sinned and to whom onlie it appertaineth to saie I haue pardoned I will not destroy but vnto men also either to the magistrate vvho hath authority to examine either to the minister who hath power to binde and loose either to our brethren generallie that the common rule of charity one in supporting the others infirmities may be kept in practise And it is on the other side an iniurie to God not to iustifie his iudgementes nor to acknowledge the conquest of his trueth when it hath prevailed but in a fullen and melancholy passion to strangle it vvithin our bones and never to yeelde the victorie therevnto till as the sunne from out the cloudes so trueth hath made her a way by maine force from out our dissimulations The first degree of felicitie is not to offend the seconde to knowe and acknowledge offences And as men dreame in their sleepe but tell their dreames waking so howsoever wee may sin by carelesnes yet it is an argument of health and recovery to confesse our sinnes For vvhat shal we gaine by dissembling them Wounds the closer they are kept the greater torture they bring sinnes not confessed will bring condemnation vpon vs without confession What followeth When Ionas had confessed his fault 1. They knewe it for his owne mouth hath condemned him They had a presumptuous knowledge before by the eviction of the lottes but now they are out of doubte by his owne declaration So the texte speaketh The men knew that hee had fled from the presence of the Lord because hee had tolde them 2. Their knowledge wrought a feare in them Then were the men exceedingly afraide 3. Their feare brake forth either into an increpation or a wonder at the least They saide why hast thou done this Their knowledge was consequent of force to his confession they could not but be privie therevnto because hee powred not his speech into the aire but into their eares that they might apprehend it But this knowledge of theirs was not a curious and idle knowledge such as those men haue who know onely to know but a pragmaticall knowledge full of labour and businesse it went from their eares to their heartes and made as greate a tempest in their consciences as the winde in the seas it mingled and confounded all their cogitations it kindled a feare within them that sundered their soules and spirites And though their feare before was vehement enough in the fifth verse when neither their tongues were at rest for crying nor their wares had peace from being cast out yet
this was a feare beyond that as may appeare by the epithet Timnerunt timore magno They were exceedingly afraide Nowe why they feared I cannot so vvell explicate It may be in regarde they bare to the person of Ionas knowing what hee was not knowing how to release him They vnderstande him to be an holy man and of an holie nation therefore vvere they brought into streightes they haue not hearte to deliver him they haue not meanes to conceale him hee is greate that flyeth he is greater that seeketh after him That is Hieromes coniecture vpon their feare It may bee in regarde of their sinnes For if a prophet of God and a righteous soule to theirs were so persecuted they could not for their owne partes but feare a much sorer punishment For if iudgement beganne at the house of God what shal be the ende of them which obey not the gospell of God And if the righteous shall skarse bee saved where shall the vngodlie and sinner appeare The Apostle maketh the comparison but it is as sensible and easie to the eie of nature to see so much as the high way is ready to the passenger God speaketh to the heathen nations with a zealous and disdainfull contention betwixte them and his people Lo I beginne to plague the citie vvherein my name was called vpon and shall you goe free It maie bee the maiestie of Gods name did astonish them and bruise them as a maule of iron having beene vsed but to puppets and skar-crowes before in comparison They were not acquainted with Gods of that nature and power till this time they never had dreamed that there was a Lorde whose name was Iehovah whose throne was the heaven of heavens and the sea his floore to walke in and the earth his foote-stoole to treade vpon who hath a chaire in the conscience and sitteth in the heart of man possessing his secret reines dividing betwixt his skinne and his flesh and shaking his inmost powers as the thunder shaketh the wildernes of Cades It is a testimony to that which I say that when the Arke was brought into the campe of Israell and the people gaue a shoute the Philistines were afraide at it and saide God is come into the hoste therefore they cried wo wo vnto vs for it hath not bene so heretofore wo be vnto vs who shall deliver vs out of the handes of these mighty Gods These are the Gods which smote the Aegyptians with all the plagues in the wildernes Wherein it is a wōderful thing to consider that the sight of the tēpest drinking vp their substance before their eies and opening as it were a throate to swallow their liues vp did not so much astonishe them as to heare but the Maiesty of God delivered by relation Alas what did they heare to that which he is indeede It was the least parte of his waies to heare of his creation of heaven and the sea and the dry land he is infinite and incomprehensible besides all that thou seest and all that thou seest not that in some sort God is And it is not a thing to bee omitted that the speech of the prophet made a deeper penetration and entrance into them than if a number besides not having the tongue of the learned had spent their wordes For consider the case The windes were murmuring about their eares the waters roaring the soule of their ship sobbing their commodities floating the hope of their liues hanging vpon a small twine yet though their feare were greate it was not so greate as when a prophet preached declared vnto them the almightinesse of the sacred godhead They haue not onely wordes but swordes even two edged swordes in their mouthes whome God hath armed to his service they are able to cut an hearte as hard as adamant they rest not in the iointes of the bodie nor in the marrow of the bones but pearce the very soule and the spirite and part the very thoughtes and intentions of the heart that are most secret The weapons of their warfare wherewith they fight are not carnall but mighty through God to cast downe holdes and munitions and destroying imaginations disceptations reasonings and every sublimity that is exalted against the knowledge of God and captivating every thought to the obedience of Christ. So there is neither munition for strength nor disputation for subtility nor heighth for superiority nor thought in the minde for secrecy that can holde their estate against the armour of Gods prophets Haue they not chaines in their tongues for the kinges of the earth and fetters of yron for their nobles did not Pharaoh often entreate Moses and Aaron to pray to the Lord for him did not the charme of Elias so sinke into the eares of Ahab that hee rent his clothes and put sacke-cloth vpon his flesh fasted and lay in sacke-cloath and went softlie Did not Iohn Baptist so hew the eares of the Iewes vvith the axe of Gods iudgements that they asked him as the physitian of their diseased soules by severall companies and in their severall callings the people though as brutish for the most part as the beastes of the fielde What shall wee doe then the publicanes though the hatred of the world and publique notorious sinners And vvhat shall wee doe the souldiours though they had the law in their swordes pointes And what shall wee doe Hath not Peter preached at Ierusalem to an audience of every nation vnder heauen of what number you may gesse in part when those that were gained to the Church of Christ were not fewer then three thousande soules and was not the pointe of his sworde so deepely impressed into them that they were pricked in their harts and asked as Iohn Baptists auditours before Viri fratres quid faciemus men and brethren what shall wee doe It is not a word alone the vehemency and sounde whereof commeth from the loines and sides that is able to do this but a puissant and powerfull worde strengthened with the arme of God a vvord vvith authoritie as they witnessed of Christ a vvorde vvith evidence and demonstration of the Spirit smiting vpon the conscience more then the hammers of the smith vpon his stithie a word that draue a feare into Herodes heart for he feared Iohn Baptist both aliue deade that bet the breath of Ananias and Saphira from out their bodies stroke Elymas ' the sorcerer into a blindnes and sent an extraordinary terrour into the hartes of these marriners So then the reason of their feare as I suppose was a narration of the maiesty of God so much the more encreased because it was handled by the tongue of a prophet vvho hath a speciall grace to quicken and enliue his speech whose soule was as a well of vnderstāding and every sentence that sprang from thence as a quicke streame to beate them downe And that this was the reason of their feare I rather perswade my selfe
the Apostle treadeth in this senteÌ„ce peradventure some man dareth die so it may bee when it is not and he dareth though hee will not doe it and but some one perhappes amongst a thousande Life to a naturall man who thinketh he liveth but whilst hee liveth is sweete vpon any conditions as may appeare in the example of the Gibeonites before produced who did that they did for feare of their liues And though they were cursed for their wilie dealinge and none of them ever aftervvardes freed from being a bondman but made hewers of woode and drawers of water for the congregation of the Lorde for ever yet they were content to escape vvith their liues and to endure any thing so the people might not slay them Beholde wee are now in thine handes doe as it seemeth good in thine eies to doe vnto vs. So true it is which Lactantius writeth of this transitory life that although it bee full of vexations yet is it desired and wished for of all men Olde and Younge Kinges and meane persons wise and foolish desire it alike Hee addeth the sentence of Anaxagoras Tanti est contemplatio coeli ac lucis ipsius vt quascunque miserias libeat sustinere The very beholding of heaven and the light it selfe is so much worth that vvee are contente to endure anie wretchednesse for it Nowe these marriners having an eie to their private estates to pacifie the anger of God and quiet the sea for their owne deliverie standing vpon the losse and miscariage not now of their substance which was already gone and might in time be supplied but of their liues which never could be raunsomed I marvell that they make delaies and take not the speediest way for the ridding of Ionas and safegarding of their endaungered liues There is no more required of man but this to doe good to men if it may be to many if not to few if not to those that are nearest him if not to himselfe and therefore the saâ—ing of Ionas being plainly despaired mee thinketh the care of their owne welfare shoulde presently and eagerly haue beene intended The other argument to spur them forwardes was the impatience of the sea the sea wrought nay the sea went was tempestuous An excellent phrase of speech The sea went it had a charge for Ionas as Ionas had for Niniveh for as God said to the one Arise go to Niniveh so to the other Arise goe after Ionas Doth the sea sit still as Elias sate vnder the Iuniper tree and cried it is enough or settle her waters vpon her slime and gravell and not fulfill the commandement of him that made it No but as a Gyant refresht with wine so it renueth and redoubleth her wonted force feeleth not the labour imposed but doth the worke of the Lord with all possible diligence The Lord saith go and it goeth and it goeth with a witnes as Iehu marched of whom the watchman gaue warning he marcheth like a mad man so doth the sea go furiously with an vnquiet hasty turbulent spirit full of impatience and zeale till God haue avenged himselfe against his disobedient servaunt Thus all the creatures in the worlde haue armes and legges as it were and all the members of living thinges and a spirite of life in some sorte to quicken them and activitie to vse them and courage with wisedome to direct them aright and convert them to the overthrow of those that with contemptuous security depart from Gods waies Do we then thinke that the will of God can ever be frustrated The Lorde of hostes hath worne surely as I haue purposed so shall it come to passe and as I haue consulted so shall it stand Who can make streight that which he hath made crooked There is no wisedome no vnderstanding no counsell against the Lord. He hath determined who shall disanull it his hand is stretched out and who shall turne it away See an experiment hereof Whilest the marriners were knitting and devising a chaine of delaies adding protraction to protraction wherewith to spend the time desirous either to saue or to reprieue the guilty person and with a number of shiftes labouring to evade that counsell which God had enacted howe vaine and vnprofitable are all their consultations If all the Senates and sessions in the world had ioyned their wisedome togither to acquit the offend our it had beene as bootelesse as to haue runne their heades against a wall of brasse to cast it down Vnlesse they caÌ„ see corrupt the heaveÌ„s with all that therein is the earth with al that therein is the sea with all that therein is to keepe silence to winke at the faultes of men and to favour their devises it cannot be For whilest these men are in counsell conference the sea is in action they are backewarde to punish the sea goeth forward with his service they loose time the sea will admit no dilatioÌ„ and to teach them more wit and obedience the sea is in armes against the marriners themselues and persecuteth them as consenters and abetters to the sin because the Lord had elected them ministers of his iudgments and they neglect their office The will of God must either be done by vs or vpon vs as it befell Ierusalem How often would I c. thou wouldest not Because it was not done by Ierusalem It was done vpon Ierusalem They would haue said afterwardes in Ierusalem when the blessings were all gonne and whole rivers of teares could not haue regained them Blessed is he that commeth in the name of the Lord. And therefore I conclude with Bernard Wo to all crossing and thwarting willes gaining nothing but punishment for their gainesaying What is so miserable as ever to intende that which never shall bee and ever to be against that which shall never but be they shall never attaine what they would and evermore sustaine what they would not And take this for a further warning out of this phrase the sea went and was troublous wherby is declared the travell paines it tooke to take vengeance that when the anger of the Lorde is once throughly fired all the waters in the South cannot quench it It lieth happely in a smother and smoke a long time before it breaketh out but when it is once ascended hath gotten height incaÌ„descit eundo it encreaseth by going gathereth more strength It burneth to the bottome of hell before it giveth over consuming the earth with her encrease setting on fire the foundations of the mountaines It followeth in the same scripture I lift vp mine hand to heaven say I liue for ever a solemne venerable protestation If I whet my glittering sword my hand take holde on vengeance I will execute my iudgment vpon mine enimies reward them thae hate me Mine arrowes shal be drunke with their bloud my sword shall eate their flesh There is a time I perceiue when his sword is dull
conceiue was not a Psalme composed for any particular vse but lefte to the church of God as a generall rule and prescription to fit the condition of every man Wherin there are first some reasons in our owne behalfe wherwith we insinuate our selves into the favour of God that he may heare vs. 1. Bow downe thine â—are vnto me O Lord. Why I am poore and needy the exigence of my distressfull affaires requireth thy helpe 2. Preserue thou my soule Why I am mercifull I aske not mercy at thy throne but as I shewe mercy againe to my brethren 3. Saue thou thy servant my God Why because he putteth his trust in thee he hath no other rocke to cleave vnto 4. Be mercifull vnto me O Lord. Why I crie vpon thee continually I haue constantly decreed with my selfe not to give over the hope of thy comfort 5. Reioice the soule of thy servant Why for to thee O Lord doe I lift vp my soule the best and chosenest member I haue shall doe thee service His misery mercy faithfulnesse constancy syncerity speake for audience Now on behalfe of God there are other inducementes recited from the 5. verse why wee resort to the winges of his favour when we are distressed 1. from his mercy and kindnes to all that call vpon him for thou Lord art good and gracious and of great compassion therefore giue eare to my praier and harken vnto the voice of my supplication 2. from experience and triall In the day of my trouble will I call vpon thee for thou hearest me 3. from comparison and greatnes of his workes Amongest the Gods there is none like vnto thee and who can doe like thy workes 4. from consent of the worlde All nations whome thou hast made shall come and worship before thee O Lord and shall glorifie thy name 5. from the solenesse and singularitie of his godheade which is the chiefe for thou art greate and doest wonderous thinges and art God alone 1. His generall exhibition of mercy to all 2. particular and personall application to some 3. the rarenesse and maiesty of his workes 4. the consent of nature and nations 5. the singularity of godheade these are motions and perswasions to call forth our prayers and these if they can be verified either of Angels or men I refuse not to giue them a part with God in this our sacred oblation They cried and said Their praiers were also vocal expressed The gronings of the spirit vndoubtedly though Zâ—chary be dumbe and cannot speake a worde shall never bee reâ—used Hee made the heart and the tongue that vnderstandeth the language of both alike he is as neare to our reines as to our lippes and the voice of the one is not more audible to him that heareth without eares than the others intention In Dei auribus desiderium vehemens clamor magnus est remissa intentio vox submissa In the eares of God a vehement desire is a great crie a remisse and carelesse intention is a submisse and still voice Anna a type of the church spake in her hearte her lippes did onely mooue and her voice was not hearde Yea the gestures of her body through the griefe of her soule were such that â—â—li reprooved her of drunkennesse Indeede shee was drunke not with the wine of grapes but vvith the wine of devotion which ranne from the wine-presse of a troubled spirit and the Lord remembred her petition though shee praied with her hart alone and her tongue stirred not What then hath the tongue immunity therby from doing that homage vnto the Lord which he hath enioyned it shal not the calues of our lippes bee required because we haue tendered the calues of our heartes must not both the heart beleeue and the mouth make confession and as the one is the cistetne within thy selfe to conteine the honour of God so must not the other be the pipe to convey it to thy brethren surely yes Aske both body and soule and every part of them both vvhose image and inscription they beare they will tell thee Gods then pay the tribute of both and glorifie God with thy bodie and spirit for both are his And as thou liftest vp thy soule with David in the 86. Psal. so lift vp thy handes also with Moses lift vp thine eies with Steven lift vp thy voice with Deborah and with all the children of God whose pleasure and ioy it is to heare God praised in the great congregation If there be priestes to pray for the people which must weepe betweene the porch and the altar even in the body and navell of the church vvhere the sounde of his voice may best bee hearde and saye spare thy people O Lorde c. if there bee temples and churches which the prophet hath tearmed and Christ ratified to bee the houses of praier if there be seldome and set times apointed for these duties to bee done in if there bee formes and patternes devised even from the sonne of God how our praiers should be conceived then is there no question but we must open our lippes in the service of God and our mouthes must be willing to shew forth his praise Wee beseech thee O Lord. They vse the properest tearmes of submission that may be They come not to bragge wee are worthy O Lord whome thou shouldest do for as the princes of the people spake for the Centurion in the gospell they come not to indent and bargaine If thou wilt be our God c. they knowe they stand vpon grace not desert and that the Lord must be entreated or they cannot liue Humility is both a grace it selfe and a vessell to comprehend other graces and this is the nature of it the more it receaveth of the blessinges of God the more it may For it ever emptieth it selfe by a modest estimation of her owne giftes that God may alwaies fill it it wrastleâ—h and striveth with God according to the pollicy of Iacob that is winneth by yeelding and the lower it stoupeth towardes the ground the more advantage it getteth to obtaine the blessing O quà m excelsus es domine humiles corde sunt domus tuae O Lord how high and soveraigne art thou and the humble of heart are thine houses to dwell in where is that house that yee will build vnto mee and where is that place of my rest To him will I looke even to him that is poore and of a contriâ—e spirit and trembleth at my wordes Plutarke writeth of some who sailed to Athens for philosophy sake that first they were called sophistae wise men afterwardes Philosophi but lovers of wisedome nexte rhetores onely reasoners and discoursers last of all idiotae simple vnlettered men The more they profited in learning the lesse they acknowledged it Thus in spirituall graces vvee should study to bee greate but not knowe it as the starres in the firmament though they be bigger than the earth yet they seeme much lesse
but they continued knocking till in the ende he arose and granted them their hartes requests The nexte condition of their praier was that it was properly and pertinentlie applyed to their present feare Let vs not perish for this mans life c. It was written in their heartes which others might haue red in the Psalmes of David Touch not mine anointed and doe my prophets no harme They thought that Prophets were iewelles and pearles vnto God and that the marring of one such woulde severely bee required Hence come their teares this is the thorne that pricketh them feare to offende in hurting an harmelesse man togither with that stinge and venime which sinne leaueth behinde it they knowe it will call for vengeaunce and though it passe the hande and the eye speeding it selfe in the seeming of him that doeth it into the lande of forgetfulnesse as it shoulde neuer bee thought vpon yet the Lorde will fetch it backe againe and set it before the face of the sinner and lay it as freshly to his charge as if hee vvere then in the act and perpetration thereof These bee the sores wherevvith they smarte daunger of their owne liues if they assaulte the life of Ionas and watchfulnesse of the iustice of GOD in taking account of forepassed sinnes To these they applie the medicines VVe know the order of thy Courte and iudgement seate to exacte life for life therefore let not vs perish for this mans life wee knowe that no sinne can escape thy dreadfull hande therefore if we happe to offende in spilling innocente bloude laie not our iniquitie vpon vs blotte it out of thy booke let it passe as a morning dewe before the sunne and not be imputed In disposing our praiers to God vve must as the Scribe in the gospell bringe forth of our treasures thinges olde and nevve For the blessings of God in generall there may bee generall thankes-givings for sinnes in generall generall confessions auncient and vsuall formes of prayer for auncient and vsuall occurrences Wee may take vnto vs wordes as the Prophet speaketh and say vnto the Lorde at all times Take away all iniquitie and receaue vs graciously so vvill wee render the calues of our lippes But as the matter of Gods iudgments and our dangers is varied so must we accordingly vary our praiers In the time of a plague wee must make of our praiers a particular Mâ—thridate against the plague acknowledging the hand of God that inflicted it knowing that the cause and originall thereof is not so much infection in the aire as rottenesse and corruption within our owne bones beseeching his maiestie as Phinees did that the plague may cease and that hee vvill visite no longer with that kinde of iudgement If the lande bee smitten with leanenesse and skarcity so that the children thereof cry for breade and sowne as they goe in the streetes for vvant of foode wee must pray in another stile that the LORD vvill vouchsafe to heare the heauens againe the heavens may heare the earth the earth the corne the vine and the oyle and these Israell or other his distressed people and that hee vvill visite no longer vvith this kinde of iudgement If the enemy shall saie against vs Come vvee will devour vvee will devoure the name of Sion shall bee no more had in remembraunce wee must turne vnto the Lord with another forme of supplication Spare thy people O Lorde and giue not thine heritage into reproache that the heathen shoulde rule over them vvherefore shoulde they say amongest the people vvhere is novve their God O cease to visite thy servants with this kinde of iudgemente If the heavens be brasse aboue vs and droppe no moisture vpon our fruites or if the spoutes which God hath devided in the aire powre downe too much vpon our heads sometime hee roareth so fearefully with his voice of thunders as who may abide it his lightnings giue shine to the earth and our eies are daseled thereat hee raineth dovvne tempestes and stormes vpon vs haile-stones and coles of fire this is our portion sometimes to drinke still as his plagues are newe so let vs come before him vvith newe songes new intercessions meekely kneeling before the Lorde our maker and falling lowe at his foote-stoole that his hand may be turned backe in these kindes of iudgements Thus did Salomon dedicate and blesse the temple beseeching the Lorde that vvhen the people shoulde pray vnto him accordinge to their sundry needes whether they were troubled vvith the assault of their enimy or vvith wante of raine with famine or mildewe or vvith captivity he would then heare them in heauen and be mercifull vnto them The sickenesse which these marriners suspecte is an issue of bloude which being once opened vvill euer runne and keepe a course if it be not stanched vvith the mercy of God and therefore they call vpon him as that present occasion enforceth them O let vs not perish for this mans life and bring not vpon vs innocent bloud Besides which purpose of theirs in laying their finger vpon the sore that is in suiting of their prayer with the present daunger for the fuller explication of the wordes themselues it may please you to take knowledge of two thinges 1. The proceeding of God in the case of bloudshead life for life deliuered in the former clause Let vs not perish for the soule of this man 2. How the bloud of Ionas in the latter may be called innocent bloud The lawe is generall touching the former Exod. 21. life for life eye for eye tooth for tooth hande for hande foote for foote burning for burning wounde for wounde stripe for stripe It is added Leviticus 24. Breath for breath blemish for blemish Gen. 9. I will require your bould wherein your liues are that is one reason in the nexte wordes vvho so sheadeth mans bloude by man shall his bloude bee shed for in the image of God hath hee made man That is an other reason Our Saviour reciteth the lavve in the gospell Math. 26. vvho so taketh the svvorde shall perish vvith the sworde And that wee may knowe this lavve was neuer repealed wee finde it in the last booke Reuelation 13. If anie leade into captivitie hee shall goe into captivitie if any man kill with a sworde hee must be killed with a a sworde Heere is the patience and the faith of Saintes that is this they beleeue and this they verilie expect to bee perfourmed vpon their enimies So the ordinary rule without question is this He that taketh away the life of man himselfe shall likewise perish Notvvithstanding the maker of the law may and doeth sometimes dispense with his owne lawe Many a one I confesse hath killed his neighbour himselfe not ending his daies in the like manner Be it so yet first he is slaine with a sword of his owne as Golias was he dieth daiely with the stabbing and launcing of his owne hearte and as in that first plague
thou diddest it secretly but I will doe this thinge before all Israell and before the sunne Micheas told Ahab The Lorde hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all thy prophets and the Lorde hath apointed evill against thee Ieremy to the face of GOD chargeth him Surely thou hast deceived this people and Ierusalem saying you shall have peac◠and behold a sworde And the Lorde in plainer tearmes taketh it vpon him Ezech. 14. If the prophet bee deceived when he hath spoken a thing I the Lorde have deceived him God gave the Gentiles vp Rom. 1. to the desires of their heartes to vncleanenesse to defile their bodies betweene themselves c. into vile affections affections of dishonour dishonesty contumely shame to doe against nature it selfe into a reprobate minde Iulian interpreted al these speeches by Permittere as if then God did it when hee suffered it to be done so did many auncient writers by wordes of the like importance Passus est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Augustine answered him that God doth not only permit then but declare his wrath power therein Iulian replied that they were phrases hyperbolicall that is in some sort exceeding trueth Augustine answered they were proper Iulian replied what needed God deliver them to these lusts wherein they were before it was sufficient to let them sticke fast therein Augustine answered It is one thinge to haue them an other to bee giuen over vnto them the wicked are giuen over to their lustes not only to haue them but to be had that is held and possest of them We have the like specified 2. Thess. 2. God shall sende them operation of deceite that they may beleeve lies I omit a hundreth places of no lesse significance Can there be mightier sinnes committed nay conceaved and comprehended in the minde of man than those I have named than hardnesse of heart the onely rocke to builde all iniquity vpon when one neither is nor can be ashamed than cursed and slanderous speech rayling at the Gods of the earth than adulteries constuprations open shamelesse even in the sight of the sunne lying deceaving sinnes of Sodom vnnaturall lustes in men women not to bee spoken of reprobate sense mighty illusions and such like All which notwithstanding the spirit of the counselles of GOD of whome it is most true that wisedome shall live and die with him vvho neither deceaveth any man neither can bee deceaved hath not forborne largely to speake of and to derive them in some sort from the throne of GOD where iustice it selfe is seated GOD did thus and thus To turne this night into day and to make it appeare vnto you how God shal be iust still and yet both nature and the workers of such thinges abhorred and abominated before him to the bottome of hell consider I beseech you attentively these two thinges First that in all the scriptures to-fore alleaged there is mention made of some precedent iniquity in those vngracious persons whom God so dealeth with deserving and procuring the hand of God thus heavily vpon them Recessurum non deserit antequam deserat God never forsaketh a man that will depart from him before hee forsaketh God plerumque facit ne deserat and often times he worketh so that hee shall not forsake him Hath God hardened Pharaoh Pharaoh hardened himselfe before God hardened Pharaoh by his iust iudgment Pharaoh himselfe by his free will Bad he Shemei curse David gave hee his wives to be defiled by his owne sonne David had deserved both for touching both the wife and life of Vriah VVilled hee a lying spirit to seduce Ahab Ahab would not giue credit to the right spirit and he had sold himselfe to worke all manner of wickednesse in the sight of the Lord. Did he seduce both people and prophets the leaders of the people they had before set vp idolles in their heartes and put a stumbling blocke of iniquitie before their faces Did hee giue over nations to lusts vncleanesse dishonest affections actions against nature reprobate senses the Apostle answereth in Gods behalfe it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a recompence of their former errors because they changed the truth of God into a lie worshipped the creature more than the creator turned the glory of an incorruptible God into the image of corruptible mē birds four-footed beasts creeping things And wherfore were they misled with strong illusions but because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved Now where sinne is plagued with sin as in the pollicie of God wherewith he governeth the world you shall finde it 1000. times then is not peccatum peccatum but iudiciū though sin in nature yet in respect of God not sin but iudgment it changeth the name cōmeth in another nature presenteth it selfe with another face countenance sin of it selfe I must confesse but as it cōmeth from God iustice for it is the repaiment retaliatiō of some former sin Iussisti Domine verè sic est vt omne peccatum sit poena peccantis O Lord thou hast commanded indeed so it is that all sin shall be a punishment to him that committeth it Envy hath much iustice in it though a malicious vniust quality in it selfe for it eateth vp the hart and marrow of her master as he desireth to eate vp another VVhen David gave charge for Shemei let him alone was it to iustifie Shemei in his wickednes No. He acknowledged the scourge of God for his sins in the tonge of Shemei boūd togither not of whip-chord but of the venemous reproches which Shemei cast forth He looked to the iudge frō whome it was iustice not to the instrument rod in the hand of the iudge frō whom it was malice therfore said It may be the Lorde will looke vpon my teares do me good for his cursing this day knowing that by the wisdome of God these bitter waters could easily be made sweete Things that are evil in nature God can handle not in evil maner Hemlocke of it selfe is a pestilent and noxious hearbe Yet the magistrates of Athens pronounce in iudgment that Socrates shall drinke a boule of hemlocke What is iudgement turned into wormewood iustice in to hemlocke is there poisoning destroying of men at a iudgement seate yea and good enough An action evill simply in it selfe may be good by a circumstance the poison is in the hearbe not in the magistrate he commādeth it to be drunken though as a bane to the malefactor to shortē his life yet a preservative of the cōmon wealth for the terror of others a punishment to him that hath poisoned and annoied the welfare thereof as it proceedeth frō the magistrate so leaveth it as it were the name nature of poisō is called iudgmēt The next thing which I wish to be harkened vnto is this that whatsoever God doth in the hardning of Pharaohs hart
alive they sent him away to remoove their eie-sore God to be a stewarde both for AEgypt and Israell Nay God sent him thither and they sent him not the incomprehensible reaches of God were so far above theirs and his wisdome in the good handling of a bad cause doeth so much obscure and discountenance their malice that it seemeth not to be at all and the ministers in the action as it were cast aside the highest dispenser and moderatour thereof onely is remembred you sent mee not hither but God the purposes of your heartes were nothing in comparison of that everlasting decree which the immortall and onely wise God made to himselfe See what a race and pedegree of blessings Origen bringeth downe from the rotten stocke of that vngratious practise If Ioseph he not sold Pharaos dreames are not expounded none maketh provision of corne Egypt and the country about Egypt and Israell sterveth in the time of dearth the seede of Israell goeth not into Egypt to seeke bread neither returneth out of Egypt with miracles no wonders are wrought by Moses and Aaron no passing through the red sea no Manna from heaven no water from the rocke no lawe from Sinai no going into the land of Canaan c. These are the blessings and commodities which the envy of the Patriarkes bringeth forth by Gods most mighty and wise dispensation So that we may truly say Particular mischiefes are common commodities The life of the Lyon is maintained by the death of the Lambe the cruelty of tyrants giveth Martyres their glory and crowne And the bloud of Martyrs becommeth the seede and propagation of the church If any demaunde whether this good might not better have beene procured by good meanes I answere with Augustine Melius iudicavit Deus de malis benefacere quà m mala nulla esse permittere It seemed better to the wisedome of God to worke good out of evill than to suffer no evill at all I now conclude the point As in the statutes lawes of our common wealth there are many things contained more than the lawes either commit or allow as treasons felonies heresies and the like which notwithstanding the lawes order dispose of so in the will of God within the compasse and pale of his arbitrement much more is contained than either by action or autorizement from him could ever be defended and yet is that will of his iudge and disposer of al those particulars And whether Ioseph be sold into Egypt or Ionas throwne into the sea or the son of God himselfe nailed vpō a crosse we may safely vniversally say with the Mariners in this prophesie Thou Lord haste done as it pleased thee Surelie there is not an evill in th◠cittie nor vpon the face of the earth but God hath some vse of it Those sins within our land that take al from men as coveteousnesse extortion oppression vsury they take not that from God vvhich his wisdome maketh of them I meane the profit vse of most vnnaturall vices Happily they take the substance of their brethren and by taking such snares away saue their soules or if they take their liues they ease vnlade them of a great burthen of their sinnes to come The drunkard drinketh himselfe a sleepe not God and bringeth his owne senses and wits into a trance but provoketh quickneth the righteous Lorde to do a worke of iustice The adulterer wrappeth himselfe within the armes of his harlot and thinketh he is safe and not perceived but never shal be able to vnwrappe himselfe from the armes of Gods goverment The murtherer that spoileth the life of his mortall brethren if every wish of his hearte were a two edged sworde shall never kill the life of Gods immortall providence He shall saie to the hardest hearte at which the preaching of prophets and denunciation of iudgementes hath often recoiled open thy dores that I may enter into thee to declare my iustice and to the reprobatest minde that ever hath beene dulled and benummed with sinne though thou feelest not my grace thou shalt feele my vengeance Envie cānot hinder his benignity nor the hotest malice vnder heauen drie vp this spring of his goodnes What shall we say then Because God maketh vse of thy sinnes art thou excused Is not thine evill evill because he picketh good out of it deceiue not thy selfe therein When thou hast done such service to thy maister and maker though seven and seven yeares as Iacob did to Laban thou shalt loose thy wages and thy thankes to O well were thou if thou didst but loose for thou shalt also gaine a sorowful advātage It is vnprofitable nay miserable service which thou hast thus bestowed Babylon shall bee the hammer of the Lorde a long time to bruse the nations himselfe afterwardes bruised Assur his rod to scourge his people but Assur shall bee more scourged These hammers rods axes sawes other instruments when they have done their offices which they never ment shal be throwne themselves into the fire and burnt to ashes Sathan did service to God it cannot bee denied in the afflicting of Iob winnowing of Peter buffeting of Paul executing of Iudas and God did a worke in all these either to proove patience or to confirme faith or to trie strength or to commend iustice yet is Sathan reserved in chaines vnder darkenes to the retribution of the great day Iudas did service to God in getting honour to his blessed name for the redemption of mankinde whilst the world endureth Yet was his wages an alder-tree to hang himselfe vpon and which is worse he hangeth in hell for eternall generations He had his wages and lost his wages That which the priest gave him he lost and lost his Apostleshippe but gained the recompence of everlasting vnhappinesse and lieth in the lowest lake for the worme and death to gnaw vpon without ceasing Will you heare the end of all Feare God and keepe his commandements For this is the whole duety of man This is the will of God wherewith we are highly charged and he will strictly require it The booke that is clasped vp let vs leave to the Lambe and to the blessed Trinity Those of Moses the Prophets the Psalmes of Christ and his blessed Apostles wherein we may run and read the ordinances of the most High belong to vs and our seede after vs. These let vs carefully search and meditate in them day and night let them wake and sleepe walke rest live and die with vs and whatsoever he hath secretly decreed whether by our weakenesse or strength sicknesse or health falling or standing which in his hidden counselles is locked vp and cannot be opened but by the key of David let vs beseech him for Christes sake to turne it to our good that his name may be glorified his arme made knowne his wisdome iustice and mercy more and more magnified and our sinfull soules by the abundant riches of his grace finally saved Amen THE XX.
and vntamed element fometh with rage your selues bee iudges I haue found this perturbation diversly compared by Chrysostome though not to the sea yet to that confused noise vvhich sea-men sometimes make when their heads are most busied with whom there is nothing but tumult much running too and fro large liberall out-cries but no place lefte for philosophy that is wisdome and reason haue no leaue to speake or to giue their iudgement By Evagrius to a shippe sent into the sea where the devill is pilote By the Poets to a troubled springe wherein if you looke and thinke to beholde the image of a man you see no part of his right composition or to that clamorous and disordered behavior which the Priests of Cybele vsed in Creete ringing their basons and playing vpon timbrels all the day long and by incomposed gestures in the open streetes shewing themselues to be nothing lesse than reasonable creatures When anger saith Lactantius is fallen into the minde of man like a sore tempest it raiseth such waues that it changeth the very state of the minde the eies waxe fiery the mouth trembleth the tongue faltereth the teeth gnash the whole countenāce is by course stayned sometimes with rednes sometimes with palenes But it vvas never more rightly fitted than by the spirite of God in this place where it is likened to the fury and rage of the sea I may speake it to the shame of men In the rage and fury of the sea there is more mercie The sea is contented and pacified when Ionas is cast forth wee in the lightest displeasure done vnto vs never satisfied with the punishmēt the damage the dishonour no nor the death of our adversaries hate the quicke pursue the dead as if wee had made that vnchristian and heathnish vow Mine anger with my body shall not die But with thy ghost my ghost shal battel trie Whereas the rule of Lactantius rather shoulde moderate vs Ira mortalium debet esse mortalis The anger of mortall men shoulde bee mortall like themselues Valerius Maximus reporteth Sylla to haue beene such a one of whome it was doubted whether himselfe or his anger were first extinguished These turbulent perturbations of anger hatred and malice as they are never without the tormente of him that vseth thē they boile his hart into brine eate the moisture out of his flesh so there is great presūptiō that the spirit of God resteth not in a soule possessed therewith When God appeared to Elias 1. King 19. lying in the caue of mount Horeb first there passed by him a mighty stronge winde which rent the moūtaines tare the rocks but the Lord was not in the winde after the winde came an earth-quake but the Lord was not in the earth-quake after the earth-quake came fire but the Lord was not in the fire after the fire came a still soft voice therein the Lord was spake Elias came forth and answered Thinke with your selves that these winds earth-quakes fires are our boisterous affectiōs which the presence favour of God avoideth better beseeming bruite beastes in whōe there is no vnderstanding the vnsensible sea which God hath restrained with bars dores thē the childrē of mē endued with reasō Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly I noted in this verse the behaviour of the marriners towardes God occasioned by the event that fell out Surely the rightest vse of Gods mighty wonders is when we take them for wonders when we tremble at the sight of them feare that almighty God whose hands have wrought them Such are the acclamations in the Psalmes This is the Lords doing and it is marveilous in our eies The gracious Lorde hath made his wonderfull workes to be had in remembrance O Lord how gracious are thy workes and thy thoughtes are very deepe an vnwise man knoweth it not and a foole doth not vnder stand this God doth not miracula propter miracula miracles for their owne sakes but for ours not caring so much himselfe to do them as that we should consider and beare them away Wherin I wil shew our negligence by a familiar example of our latest daies Samuel biddeth the people stand and see a great thing which the Lord would doe before their eies Is it not now wheate harvest I will call vnto the Lord he shall send thunder and raine that yee may perceive and see how that your wickednes is great which you have done in the sight of the Lord in asking a king The thunder and raine were sent and all the people feared the Lord and Samuel exceedingly Apply this scripture to your selves Is it not now wheate harvest hath not the Lord sent thunder and raine amongst you so vnseasonable a season that the fruites of the earth wherewith your fieldes were so faire before that they laughed sang mourning vpō the ground that bare them the husbādmā was ashamed sighed to himselfe to see his hope so deceaved was not every cloud in the aire a cloud of wrath vpō your fieldes to destroy your labours were yee not neere the curse of the prophecy you have sowen much bring in litle What was the reason of so suddeine an alteratiō but that our wickednesse was great as theirs was what other end of this worke but that we might say in our harts let us feare the Lorde our God which giveth us raine both early late in due season reserveth vnto vs the apointed weekes of the harvest thus the mariners applied this extraordinarie worke of God the inference of the text speaketh no lesse Then they feared The dutiful behauiour of the mariners cōsisteth 1. in their inward affection They feared ◠in outward obseruāces They sacrifised made vowes Their inward affectiō is explicated by many stances 1. By the nature and kinde of the passion They feared Others haue seene the signes and wonders of God rather to admire them than to be touched with them as it is often noted of the Iewes in the gospel when they beheld the workes of Christ they were astonished and saide amongst themselues Wee never sawe it on this wise The like was never done in Israell Thus Herod was desirous to haue seene Christ hoping that some miracle might haue beene doone by him But this was more than admiration and astonishment for they are afraide when they see the waters stilled 2. By doubling their passion which in the vse of the Hebrewe tongue doth encrease the signification Timuerunt timore They feared and feared 3. By the attribute Timore magno Their feare was not ordinarie but a greate and exceeding feare 4. By the obiect or matter of the feare They feared Iehovah If yee will learne the effects of feare when it is greate indeede where can you better learne them than at the sacking of Niniveh in the second of Nahum For there the heart melteth that
their garmeÌ„t at this time as David caught from Saul onely for a token and note them as I passe by the vvay who if they were kindely vsed should be pronounced by the priest and by the prince proclaimed the vncleanest lepers that ever sore ran vpon not onely to be excluded the host and to have their habitation alone but to be exiled the land and extermined nature it selfe which they so vnnaturally strive to adnihilate Their vsage of parricides in Rome were over favourable for theÌ„ whom they sowed into a male of lether threw into the sea that yet the water of the sea could not soke through nor other element of nature earth aire or fire approach vnto them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Atheisme is the maine disease of the soule not onely of that private man in whome it is harboured but of the whole land wherein permitted For which opprobrious contagious disease till other remedy were found I would they might be marked the meane time that are sicke of it as the leper was that the people might be wise to eschew theÌ„ As the one had his clothes rent his head bare his lippes covered was enioyned to cry where he past I am vncleane I am vncleane so I would the other had either a rent or a writing vpon their clothes a braÌ„d in their forheades that all that behelde them might say an Atheist an Atheist 2 The second collection in offering a sacrifice is that the sensible and ceremoniall handling thereof without the inward oblation of the heart which the other doth but signifie was never approoved I might repeate the proofes hereof from the elements and beginnings of the world the sacrifices of Abel and Caine the first that ever I finde to have beene made although I make no question of Adam himselfe who nurtured his sonnes in religious discipline from thence I might come downe through all the complaintes that even the soule of the Lord grieved with abuse and mockery hath plentifully sent foorth against his people of the Iewes shewing therin that not only he refused but hartily condemned lothed abhorred their offerings and denying with pertinacy that ever hee required them whereas in trueth they were the ordinaunces of his ovvne lippes But vvhen hee ordained them hee made male and female and ioyned two in one hee created a bodie and a soule an outwarde and an inwarde parte the aspectable signe and the invisible affection for want of which latter the better of the two hee renounceth the other as that which he never apointed In the first of Esay forgetting his people to be the children of Iacob because they forgat his sacrifices to bee the sacrifices of a God whome they rather vsed like a skar-crow in the garden of cucumbers than the Lord of knowledge hee calleth them princes of Sodome and people of Gomorah asking them in iealousie as hote as fire What haue I to doe with the multitude of your sacrifices I am full of burnt offeringes of rammes and the fattte of fedde beastes I desire not the bloude of bullockes nor of lambes nor of goates When you come to appeare before mee Who required it at his handes Bringe no more oblations in vaine incense is an abhomination vnto mee I cannot suffer your newe moones and Sabbaths my soule hateth your apointed feastes they are a burthen vnto mee and I am weary to beare them Of the outwarde countenance and lineaments of their sacrificing you heare more than enough Rammes and fed beastes bullockes lambes and goates incense sabbathes new moones festivall daies solemne assemblies togither with stretching out the handes and making of many praiers But I may say that as the minde of a man is the man so the minde and intention of the sacrifice is the sacrifice which the searcher of the hart reines looking for finding a carkeise of religioÌ„ without a quickening spirit protesteth that he hath nothing to doe with them that he is full and overfull that they are an hatred burthen abomination vnto him If they will redeeme his grace with a sweete smelling sacrifice they must cease to doe evill and learne to doe well seeke iudgement relieue the oppressed With such like The beginning ending of the prophecie is in one tune For afterwardes it is denounced in the name of the Lord hee that killeth a bullocke is as if hee slew a man hee that sacrificeth a sheepe as if he â—atte of a dogges necke hee that offereth an oblation as if hee offered swines bloud hee that remembreth incense as if hee blessed an idoll the reason of this misconstrued devotion of theirs is They haue chosen their owne waies and their soule which shoulde haue beene the principal agent delighteth in their abominations The correction of that errour and the erection both of the temple the sacrifices which the Lord chooseth are in the next wordes before To him will I looke even to him that is poore and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my words If this wine be wanting to those bottles this substaÌ„ce to those shadowes we shall go with our bullockes and sheepe as it is in Osee to seeke the Lord but shall not finde him because we goe with these alone Nay these wee may leaue behinde vs as vnprofitable carriage in coÌ„parison of the others so we want not those I will not reprooue thee saith God for thy sacrifices and because of thy burnt offerings that they are not commonly before mee I will take no bullocke out of thine house nor goates out of thy foldes for all the cattell of the forrest are mine and the beastes vpon a thousande mountaines I knowe all the fowles vpon the hilles and all the wilde beastes of the field are mine If I be hungry I will not tell thee for the world is mine and all that therein is Thinkest thou that I will eate the flesh of bulles or drinke the bloude of goates Thus the externall parte and as it were the letter of the sacrifice is not much lesse than cancelled and abrogated that the spririt may take place offer vnto God praise and paie thy vowes to the most high and call vpon mee in the daie of trouble so will I deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie mee This was it that Samuel aunswered Saul when he pretended the saving of oxen and sheepe and the best of the spoile to offer to the Lorde in Gilgal hath the Lorde as greate pleasure in burnt offerings sacrifices as wheÌ„ his voice is obeied to obey iâ— better thaÌ„ sacrifice and to harken is better than the fatte of rammes This did our Saviour implie to the Scribes and Phaâ—ises who did so invvardlye sticke to the outwarde keeping of the Sabbath Go learn what this meaneth I will haue mercie and not sacrifice This did the learned Scribe vvhose praise is in the gospell that hee aunswered discreetely and was not farre from the kingdome of GOD
it never to depart from the living God whome they had begune to serue The conditions of a lawefull vowe are principallye these tvvo First that the matter thereof bee consonant to the word and vvill of God otherwise as Ierome noteth vpon the 11. of â—udges it is follye to plight and impietie to perfourme it secondly the end must be to witnes our thankefulnesse to our maker and protectour For albeit wee are bought with a price and both our bodies and spirites are the Lordes not our owne to dispose of and wee ought to doe that vnvowed which our vow hath tied vs vnto because wee have no better gifte than our selues as hee sometimes saide to Socrates his master to giue even our selues to our bounteous God and as it were by bargaine and sale to mancipate our willes to his obedience yet the making of a vowe and entering into bondes vvith God to pay him some speciall debte is a more open marke and professed badge of a thankeful soule Besides it confirmeth the minde of a man in vertue and setteth a tutour and overseer over his will to keepe it within the boundes of promised dutifulnesse Whervpon Saint Augustine writeth in his epistle to Armentarius and Paulina It is an happie necessitie that compelleth a man to doe better than hee vvoulde doe And surelye if we vvell regarde it the mother cause of a vowe is an engraffed opinion in the mindes of most men of returning kindnes for kindnesse vvhich is the readiest vvay both to conciliate and preserve friendshippe according to that olde proverbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 frendshippe and the life of man and nature it selfe consisteth in taking and giuing And although God hath no neede of our giftes for can our goodnesse extend to him who hath the riches of all goodnes or can he encrease by lesse than a drop of raine who is more than the maine sea of all abundance yet it giveth him to vnderstande that at least his glory is sought though not his vtilitye and of that a man hath not of that he hath not there is a purpose and desire to doe him worshippe The summe is this the honour is Gods the profitte ours Hee is our liberall creditour saith Augustine in the same epistle and hath not want of our paiusent Neither groweth hee greater by repaying but the pay-maisters by him And vvhatsoever is restored or recompensed in lieu of any his benefits is added to him that returned it Thence it commeth that David and the princes give thankes vnto the LORDE in the first of Chronicles when they had offered vnto him silver golde brasse iron precious stones after this manner Now therefore our God wee thanke thee and praise thy glorious name But who am I and what is my people that wee shoulde bee able to offer vvillinglye in this sort for all thinges come of thee and of thine ovvne hande wee have given thee It is saide before that the people reioyced when they offered vvillingly and David the kinge also reioyced with greate ioy To returne to the heade of my speech the vowes of these marriners in anye of the fovver kindes before aimed at are iustificable by both the properties of a vowe For of their ende I make no doubte the snares of destruction beinge so nevvelye broken before their eies and they escaped and vvhat fault can vvee finde in the matter whither their purpose were to leave their ovvne countries and to goe to the citty of God for better instructions in his lawe as the Queene of the South came from her native dominion to heare the wisedome of Salomon such pilgrimage is not amisse or to adorne the temple of Ierusalem vvhere the honour of God dwelt vvith voluntary giftes and presentes as David and his nobles before and as the wisemen of the East carried the gold frankincense and mirrhe to the son of God or to distribute their goods to the needy as Zacheus did and to cast their bread vpon the waters for the Lords sake where they looke to receive againe neither thanks nor recompence or lastly to devote themselves to the redeemer of their lives and with an indissoluble covenant to become his faithful servants the last of which is indeede the substance and center of all vowes There are two things saith Lactantius that must bee offered vnto God donum sacrificium a gift and a sacrifice the one perpetuall the other temporall The one as silver and gold and purple and silke the other a beast slaine or whatsoever is burnt vpon the altar But God hath vse of neither of these because himselfe is incorrupt and they subiect to corruption Therefore wee must offer both in a spirituall and vnbodilie manner that God may haue vse of them Our gift must be the vprightnes of minde our sacrifice praise thankesgiving Some vow one thing and some an other saith the author of those sermons of the time some oile some abstinence froÌ„ wine some fasting This is not the best nor the perfitest kind of vowing I shew you a more excellent waie God careth not for thine oile nor thy fastes but that that the Lord hath redeemed that offer I meane thy soule And if thou demaundest how my soule I aunswere by holie manners chaste cogitations fruitfull workes I will not strictly examine vpon this occasion the vowes prescribed and practised in the church of Rome somewhat to the imitation of these that are presumed of the marriners These vowed perhappes a voiage to Ierusalem they to Compostella or Walsingham these to beautifie the temple of the Lorde they the monuments and shrines of Saintes these to bestowe their goods vpon the poore they to professe wilfull beggerye these to bee proselytes and to cleave to the service of God they to renounce the world to abandon the society of men to abâ—ure the company of women and to burie themselves in monasteries and cloysters for their better opportunity thereunto Shall I say in a word the matter of all their vowes vnneedefull in some vnlawfull in some vnpossible in others idolatrous impious diabolicall and the end for the most part not to be thankefull to God but to arrogate a kind of perfection and to build merit therevpon But tell mee yee sonnes of Balaam you that exalt your synagogue so much by reason of your vovves if in any part of the world there be more slouthfull and sinfull desidiousnesse than in the resty cloysters and dormitories of that church wherein such wearisome peregrinations and tyring of the legges is enioyned If in any part of the world such roiall Pontificall Persian magnificence as in your prestes and Nazarites the votaries of that churhe where povertye is pretended If in any parte of the world such adulterous incestuous Sodomiticall defiling of women men children not onely by steaâ—th but in the sight of the sunne in brothell-houses and stewes erected maintained rented iustified as in the streetes of that mother-citie where chastitie
two singular and almost despaired deliverances first of their bodies from a raging and roaring sea a benefite not to be contemned for even the Apostles of Christâ— cried in the like kind of distresse vpon the waters helpe Lorde wee perish secondlye of their soules from that idolatrous blindnes wherein they were drowned and stifled a destruction equall to the former and indeed far exceeding The horrour of this destruction was never more faithfully laid out in colours than in the eighth of Amos. Where after repetition of sorrowes enough if they were not burnt with hote irons past sense as that the songes of the teÌ„ple shoulde be turned into howlinges feastes into mourning laughter into lamentation that there should be many dead bodies in every place even the nuÌ„ber so great that they should cast them forth in silence without obsequies the sunne going downe at noone and the earth darkened in the cleare day that is their greatest woe in the greatest prosperity yet he threatneth a scourge beyoÌ„d al these Behold saith the Lord I have not yet made your eies dazell nor your eares tingle with my iudgements though your eies have beheld sufficient misery to make them faile yet behold more The daies come I give you warning of vnhappier times the plagues you have endured already are but the beginnings of sorrow the daies come that I will send a famine in the land if the mouth of the Lord had here stayed famem immittam I will send a famine had it not sufficed Can a greater crosse thinke you be imagined than wheÌ„ a wofull mother of her wofull children shall be driven to say As the Lorde liveth I have but a little meale left in a barrell and a little oile in a cruise and beholde I am gathering two stickes to go in and dresse it for me and my sonne that wee may eate and die and much rather if it come to that extremity that an other mother felt when shee cried vnto the king Helpe my Lord O King This woman saide vnto mee give thy sonne that wee may eate him to day and wee will eate my sonne to morrowe so we sodde my sonne and did eate him c. yet hee addeth to the former by a correction not a famine of bread nor a thirst of water but of hearing the word of God and they shall wonder not as the sonnes of Iacob who went but out of Israell into Egypt but from sea to sea and from the North to the East shall they runne to and fro to seeke the worde of the Lorde and shall not finde it This was the case of these men before a prophet spake vnto them and the wonders of the lawe were shewed amoÌ„gst them And this was the case of our countrey when either it fared with vs as with the church of Ierusalem signa non videmus non est ampliùs propheta wee see no tokens there is no prophet lefte or if we had prophets they were such as Ezechiell nameth they saw vanities and divined lies and the booke of the law of the Lorde though it were not hid in a corner as in the raigne of Iosias nor cut with a penknife and cast into the fire as in the daies of Iehoiakim yet the comfortable vse of it was interdicted the people of God vvhen either they could not reade because it was sealed vp in an vnknowne tongue or vnder the paine of a curse they might not and such as hungred and thirsted after the righteousnes of Iesus Christ were driven into Germany and other countries of Europe to enquire after it But blessed be the Lord God of Israell for hee hath long since visited and redeemed vs his people If our many deliverances besides either by sea from the invasion of the grande pirate of Christendome or from other rebellions and conspiracies by land had beene in nuÌ„mber as the dust of our grounde this one deliverance of our soules froÌ„ the kingdome and power of darkenesse the very shadowe and borders of death wherein we sate before the sending of prophets amongst vs to prophecie right things to preach the acceptable yeare of the Lord and the tidings of salvation had far surpassed them Let vs therfore with these mariners sing a song of thanksgiving not onely with our spirites My soule blesse thou the Lorde and all that is within mee praise his holy name but with sacrifices and vowes also as audible sermons and proclamations to the world let vs make it knowne that great is the mercy of Iehovah to our little nation THE XXII LECTVRE The last verse of the 1. Chap. Or after some the first of the second Now the Lorde had prepared a great fish to swallow vp Ionas and Ionas was in the bellye of the fishe three daies and three nightes WEE are now come to the second section of the prophesie wherin the mercy of God towardes Ionas is illustrated It beginneth at my text and parteth it selfe into three members 1. The absorption or buriall 2. the song 3. the delivery of the Prophet Isiodore in three wordes summeth the contentes of it Cetus obiectum voratum orantem revomuit The whale cast vp Ionas first cast forth then devoured afterwards making his moue to God Ionas is swallowed in this present sentence The iustice and mercy of God runne togither in this history as those that runne for the maisterie in a race And it is harde a long time for Ionas to discerne whither his iustice will overcome his mercie or his mercy triumph over iustice They labour in contention as the twinnes in Rebecca's wombe And although Esau bee first borne red and hairy all over like a rough garment yet Iacob holdeth him by the heele and is not farre behinde him I meane though the iudgment of God against Ionas bearing a rigorous and bloudy countenance and satiate with nothing in likelyhode but his death that most straÌ„ge vnaccustomed seemeth to have the first place yet mercy speedeth her selfe to the rescue and in the end is fulfilled that which God prophecied of the other paire The elder shall serue the yonger For when iustice had her course and borne the preeminence a greate space mercy at lengh putteth in and getteth the vpper hande To vs that haue seene and perused the historie who haue as it were the table of it before our eies and know both the first and the last of it it is apparant that I say that although he were tossed in the ship cast forth into the sea deuoured yet God had a purpose prevised herein to worke the glorie of his name the others miraculous preservation But Ionas himselfe who all the while was the patient and set as a marke for the arrowes of heavenlye displeasure to be spent at and knew no more what the end would be than a child his right hand from the left what could he thâ—â—ke but that heaven and earth land and sea life and death all 〈◊〉
haue saved Ionas Put from the succor of the ship froÌ„ the frieÌ„dship of his associats having no rocke to cleaue vnto far from the shore and neither able perhaps nor desirous to escape by swimming yeelding himselfe to death and to a living graue with as mortified an affection as if lumps of lead had been cast down yet God had prepared a meanes to preserue the life of Ionas EveÌ„ the bowels of a cruel fish are as a chariot vnto him to beare him in safety through those vnsearchable depthes O how many wonders in howâ— few wordes how many riddles and darke speeches to the reason of man he will scarselie beleeue when they shall be tolde vnto him 1. That so huge a fish shoulde bee so ready to answere at the call of the Lorde to saue his prophet 2. So able to devour a man at a morsel without comminutioÌ„ or bruise offered to any one bone of his 3. That a man could liue the space of 3. daies and nights in a fishes belly But so it was The Lorde doeth but vse a preamble to finish his worke intended He suffereth not the ship to carry him forth-right to the city but so ordereth the matter that the Mariners deliver him to the sea the sea to the whale the whale to the Lorde and the Lorde to Niniveh That we may learne thereby when our sinnes hange fast vpon vs the harbour of a warme shippe cannot bee beneficiall but when wee haue shaken them of the sea shall make a truce and the vngentlest beastes bee in league with vs. The demaunde of the earthlie man in these vnprobable workes hath ever beene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how can this bee Though an angell from heaven shall tell Sarah of a sonne after hath ceased to bee with her after the manner of women shee will 〈◊〉 within her selfe and saie What after I am waxen olde and my Lord 〈◊〉 But what saith the Angell vnto her Shall any thing bee harde to the â—orde VVhen the children of Israell wanted flesh to eate and cryed in the eares of the Lorde quis dabit VVho shall giue vs flesh to eate God promised it for a moneth togither vntil it should come out of their nostrels And Moses saide sixe hundreth thousande footemen are there among the people of whom I am and thou saiest I will giue them flesh to eate a moneth long Shall the sheepe and the beeves be slaine for them to finde them either shall all the fish of the sea bee gathered togither for them to suffice them But the Lorde aunswered him is the Lords hand shortened Thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to passe vnto thee or no. Elizeus prophecied in that wofull famine of Samaria when they bought an Asses head and Doues dunge at an vnreasonable rate To morrowe by this time a measure of fine flowre shall bee solde for a shekell c. Then a prince on whose hande the king leaned aunswered the man of GOD Though the Lorde woulde make windowes in heaven can this thinge come to passe the prophet aunswered him Beholde thou shalt see it with thine eies but shalt not eate thereof Saint Augustine in his thirde epistle to Volvsian and elsewhere giveth the rules to satisfie these distrustfull reasonings Wee must graunte that GOD is able to doe some thinge vvhich wee are not able to finde out in such works the whole reason of the doing is the power of the doer It is GOD that hath done them Consider the authour and all doubts will cease Therefore if Marie receiving a message of vnexpected vnwonted conception shal say at the first how shall this thing be yet when the angell shal say vnto her that it is the worke of the holy ghost and the might of the most high that her coâ—zen Elizabeth hath also conceived in her olde age though shee had purchased the name of barren by her barrennesse because with God saith the angell nothing is vnpossible then let Marie lay her hande vpon her heart and saie Beholde the hand-maide of the Lorde that is without further disceptation I submit my selfe to the power of God But if that former reason of his all-sufficient might bee not of strength enough to resolue either pagans abroade or atheistes at home touching the likelihoode and probability of such vnlikely actes but the innocencie of the sacred Scriptures wherein they are written must be arraigned and condemned by their carnall reason and our whole religion derided because wee iustifie them I will say no more vnto them but as Augustine doth in his bookes of the city of God Quicquid mirabile fit in hoc mundo profectò minus est quà m totus hic mundus The very creation of the worlde which being the booke of nature they runne and read and can deny no part of it though they deny depraue the booke of scripture sheweth them a greater miracle in the world it selfe than whatsoever in these or the like singularities seemeth most incredible A great fish Some of the rabbines thinke that the fish was created at that moment when Ionas was to be swallowed Others that he had lasted from the sixt day of the world A thirde sorte that it was a whale that first devoured Ionas that afterwardes the Lord beckened vnto him then hee cast him into the mouth of a female which was full of yong where being streightned of his wonted roume he fel to praier Fabulous inveÌ„tions fruit according to the trees that bare it Whither tâ—e fish were created at that instaÌ„t or before sooner or later I list not enquire Neither will I further engage my self herein thaÌ„ the spirit of God giveth me direction Only that which the prophet setteth downe in 2. words by a circumlocution a great fish it shall not be amisse to note that the evaÌ„gelists abridge name more distinctly in one shewing the kinde of the fish therefore Matthew calleth it the belly of a whale So do the 70. interpretours from whom it is not vnlikely the expositour of Matthew tooke his warrant I never found any mentioÌ„ of this goodly creâ—ture but the wisdoÌ„e of God the creator was willing to commeÌ„d it in some sort In the first of Genes God saide Let the waters bring forth in abundance every creeping thing that hath the soule of life howbeit in all that abundaunce there is nothing specified but the whale as being the prince of the rest and to vse the speach of Iob the king of all the children of pride vvherein the workemanshippe of the maker is most admired for so it is saide Then God created the whales and not singlie vvhales but vvith the same additament that this prophet vseth the greate vvhales So doth the Poet tearme them also immania caete the huge vvhales as being the stateliest creature that mooveth in the waters Likewise in the Psalme The earth is full of thy riches so is the
altered his nature to haue boyled him into nourishmente and to haue incorporated his flesh into an other substaunce Yet Ionas liveth But if the LORDE had not beene on my side might Ionas nowe say if the LORDE had not beene on my side vvhen the beast rose vp against mee hee had swallowed mee vp quicke vvhen his vvrath vvas so sore enflamed But praysed bee the LORDE vvhich hath not given mee over a pray to his teeth My saule is escaped even as a birde out of the snare of the fowler The snare is broken and I am delivered Let all those whome the LORDE hath redeemed from the hande of the oppressour from fire or water or from the perill of death take that songue of thankesgiving into their lippes and singe it to his blessed name in remembraunce of his holinesse O thou the hope of all the endes of the earth sayeth that other Psalme and of them that are farre of in the sea shevve vs but the lighte of thy countenaunce and vvee shall bee safe giue vs but the comforte of thy mercies and wee will not feare though the earth bee mooved and the mountaines fall dovvne into the middes of the sea and the sea and the vvaters thereof rage fearefully though Leviathan open his mouth wee will not quake at it yea though the Leviathan of the bottomelesse pit open the throate of hell never so vvide to devoure vs wee vvill not bee disquieted VVee knowe that there is mercy vvith the LORDE and that vvith him there is plentifull redemption I meane redemption a thousande waies by nature and against nature by hope and against hope by thinges that are and thinges that are not Hee that hath saved his people by gathering the vvaters in heapes like vvalles and making a path in the redde sea hee that hath kept his children in the middest of a fiery oven when if arte coulde adde any thinge to the nature of fire they shoulde have beene burnt seven times for one because it was seven times hote and delivered his prophet in a denne of lyons though dieted and prepared for their pray before hand yet shuttinge their mouthes so close and restrayninge their appetite that they forbeare their appointed foode and committed this servaunt of his to the belly of a fishe as if he had committed him to his mothers vvombe to be kept from harme he is the same GOD both in mighte and mercye to preserue vs no time vnseasonable no place vnmeete no daunger vncouth and vnaccustomed to his stronge designementes Our onely helpe therefore standeth in the name of the LORDE that hath made heaven and earth blessed and thrice blessed bee that name of the Lorde from this time forth for evermore Amen THE XXIII LECTVRE Chap. 2. vers 1. Then Ionas praied vnto the Lord his God out of the fishes belly and saide THIS second section or division of the prophecie wherein the mercy of God towardes Ionas is expressed I parted before into three branches 1. That he was devoured 2. praied 3. was delivered The tearmes that Lyra giveth are these the place the manner the successe of his prayer The marvailes that I haue already noted vnto you were 1. that so huge a creature was suddeinely provided by the providence of God 2. that a whole man passed thorough his throate 3. that he lived in his bowels three daies three nightes Now whither he fulfilled that time exactly yea or no three naturall dayes complete consisting of twenty foure howres neither can I affirme neither is it materiall over-busily to examine Our Saviour you know in the gospell applyeth this figure of Ionas to his buriall As Ionas was in the belly of the whale three daies and three nights so shall the sonne of man bee in the heart of the narth But if you conferre the shadowe and the body togither you shall finde in all the evangelistes that the Lorde of life was crucified the 6. howre of the preparation of the sabbath and the ninth gaue vp the ghost that late in the eveninge his bodie vvas taken downe from the crosse and buried that hee rested in the graue the night that belongeth to the sabbath togither vvith the daie and night nexte ensuinge after it and that in the morning of the first day of the weeke he rose againe So as indeede the body of Christ was not in the heart of the earth more than 36. hovvers to weete two nightes and a daie vvhich is but the halfe space of 72. howers Some to supply this defect of time accompte the lighte before the passion of Christ and the darkenesse till the 9. howre one day and a night because they say there vvas both lighte and darknes And then the light that followed from the 9. howre and the succeeding night a secōd day night likewise the third til the time he rose againe Others expoūd it by a mistery thus 36. hours they say to 72. which is the absolute measure of 3. daies 3. nights is but simplum ad duplū one to two or the halfe of the whole Now ours was a double death both in soule by sin in body by paine Christes was but single only in the body because concerning his soule he was free frō sin therfore they infer that the moity of time might suffice him Hugo Cardin. hath an other conceite that from the creation of the worlde till the resurrection of Christ the day was evermore numbred before the night both in the literall and in the mysticall vnderstanding first there was light then darknes but from the resurrection of Christ forwardes the night is first reckoned for which cause he thought the vigiles were apointed for sabbathes other festivall daies that vvee might be prepared with more devotiō to solemnize them herehēce he cōcludeth that the night which followed the sabbath of the Iews was the angular night must twice be repeated as the corner of a square serveth indifferently for either side which it lyeth betwixte for both it belonged saith he to the sabbath praeceding must be ascribed againe vnto the Christian sabbath or Lords day whereon the son of God rose from death And he thinketh there is great reason of his invention because Christ by one night of his tooke away two of ours So they are not content to be sober interpretours of the minde of God but they wil ghesse and divine at that which he never meant They thinke their cunning abased if they go not beyond the moone to fetch an exposition What needeth such curious learning to apoint every egge to the right hen that laid it as some did in Delos so these to think their labor vnprofitable in the church of God vnlesse they can make the devises of their own heads reach home to the letter of the booke in al respects Our soundest divines agree that the triduan rest of Christ in the graue must be vnderstood by the figure synecdoche
the Psalme Dixâ— Custodiam c. I saide I will keepe my waies then with our lippes that first we hew the stones and make them fit for the building of the teÌ„ple before we place them in the walles least by our hammering and confusion at the present time wee disorder al things finally that whither we pray or preach we come not wildly and vnadvisedly to those sacred workes beating the aire with empty words and seeking our matter vp and downe as Saul his fathers asses but furnished and prepared to our busines with sufficient meditation I never shal perswade my selfe that the exactest industrie vvhich either tongue or penne can take in the handling of his workes can displease God And they that thinke the contrary seeke but a cloake for themselues the greater parte to cover their ignorance withall as it was noted of Honorius the thirde when he forbade the cleargy the study of both laws the foxe dispraiseth the grapes vvhich himselfe cannot reach VVhen the Tabernacle shoulde bee made with the arke of testimonye and the mercy seate and all other instrumentes belonging therevnto GOD called Bezeleel by name and filled him vvith his spirite in wisedome and in vnderstanding in knovvledge and in all workemanshippe and ioyned Aholiab vvith him and as manye as vvere vvise of hearte besides God put cunning into them As Bezeleel and his fellowes were fitter for these works then others vnfurnished so had they been very vnworthy of these graces of God if beeing bestowed to such an end they had not vsed theÌ„ to the vttermost I aske in the like maner Who made the mouth and the heart of man whose are learning and artes invention and eloquence what wombe hath ingendred them are they not Gods blessings shall we dissemble the authour shall vvee obscure the giftes shall wee wrap them vp in a napkin hide them in the grounde and not expresse them to the honour of his name by whom they were given Erasmus in his preface vpon the workes of Cyprian giveth this testimony applause to that glorious martyr of Christ. Talem ecclesiae doctorem c. such a doctour of the church such a chaÌ„pian of Christian religion did the schoole of rhetoricians bring forth vnto vs least any man foolishlie shoulde flatter himselfe that hee never mâ—dled vvith rhetoricke It is not vnknovvne to all that peruse the holye vvritte that Moses vvas learned in all the vvisedome of Aegypte Daniell of Chaldee Iob not vnexpert in astronomy Ieremy in the common lawes of his time David in musicke Paul in Poetry and in all the knowledge both of Iewes Gentiles and those that delight in the histories of the church shall finde Cyprian Optatus Hilarie Lactantius and others laden out of Egypte vvith the treasures and spoiles of the Egyptians instructed for the better service of GOD vvith the helpes of prophane writers They require but their owne for these other were but theeues saieth Clem. Alex. and robbed Moses and the prophets and likewise in the iudgement of Tertullian harping vpon the same string vvhat poet or sophister hath there ever beene that dranke not at the well of the prophets or if there be any thing in them besides let them be enforced to confesse with Iulian proprijs pennis consigimur wee are striken thorough vvith our owne â—uilles that is vvounded and disadvantaged by our owne learning And therefore I ende with the saying of Picus Mirandula if it bee an opprobrious thing to embrace good letters I had rather acknowledge my faulte then aske pardon for it Hitherto vvent the words of the history now let vs see what Ionas himselfe saith I cryed in mine affliction vnto the Lord c. I remember what Eschines spake of Demosthenes at Rhodes when hee red the defence that Demosthenes had framed to his accusatioÌ„ the people wondring at the strength and validity of it quid si ipsum audissetis what would yee haue thought if you had heard him pronouncing with his owne mouth I thinke no lesse betwixt Ionas Ionas vvhen I find what oddes there is betwixt him and himselfe as he speaketh in the name of the history vvhich hee vvriteth and as in his owne person His pen wrote nothing so effectually as his heart felt and being the scribe and oratour onely hee is not so fluent and copious as vvhen he is the patient Iob demaundeth in the sixt of his booke will yee giue the words of him that is afflicted to the winde as if hee had saide when affliction it selfe and the inmost sorrowes of my hearte tell my tale will you not regarde it Oh that your soules were in my soules steede that you felt as much as I am grieved with I could then keepe your company and could shake mine head at you Loquor in angustia mea queror in amaritudine animae meae I speake that that I speake from a worlde of trouble I make my complaint in the bitternes of my soule So Ierusalem cryeth in the Lamentations of the prophet O all yee that passe by stay and consider if ever there were sorrow like vnto that wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me For they that past by considered it not but Ierusalem felt it at the heart The style of the history before if you observed it was simple and plaine in as vsuall naked and vulgar tearmes as might be Ionas prayed vnto the Lorde his God out of the belly of the fishe what one worde therein lofty and magnificent and lifted aboue the common course of speech But the style of Ionas himselfe speaking from a sense and impression of his vvoes is full of ornament and maiesty full of translated and varied phrases as if a sentence of ordinarye tearmes were not sufficient to expresse his miseries It is not novve said that he praied but that he cried praying is turned into crying not from the belly of the fish but froÌ„ the belly of hel a marveilous transformatioÌ„ the trouble he speaketh of is not properly trouble but narrownes streights the hearing of the Lord is not naturally hearing but aunswering a degree beyond Againe the stile of the historye was single and briefe and not a worde bestowed therein more then was needefull to explane the matter intended But the stile of Ionas himselfe in every parte is doubled and iterated For where it was saide before at once Ionas prayed now hee cried and cried And the Lorde hearde and hearde And the belly of the fish there mentioned is now both pressure and tribulation and the belly of hell to Euripides charged Eschylus in the comedy for vnnecessary repetition of wordes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wise Eschylus hath one thing twise repeated In that I come and come againe is vsed When comming there and comming is not changed But in the two members of this present verse though there bee neare affinity and they seeme to importe but the
generall substance of them all togither is this that Ionas received hope by remembring the Lorde for his part and that the Lorde on the other side accepted his prayer and gaue successe to it As Ieremie spake in the Lamentations so mighte Ionas say It is the mercie of the LORDE that I am not consumed The reason is For his compassions fayle not The danger seemed vncurable because it lighted vpon the soule not to the crazing and distempering alone but the vtter overwhelminge of it and no hope left in himselfe to heale the hurte What doth he then hee betaketh himselfe to the glasse of memory to see what succour hee can finde there and as it is placed in the hinder parte of the head so he reserveth it for the hinder part of his miseries maketh it his latest refuge to ease his heart I haue red of memories in some men almost incredible Seneca writeth of himselfe that he had a very flourishing memory not only for vse but to deserue admiratiom He was able to recite by hearte 2000. names in the same order wherein they were first digested Portius Latro in the same author wrote that in his minde which other in note-bookes A man most cunning in histories If you had named a capitaine vnto him he would haue runne thorough his actes presently Cyneas being sent from Pyrrhus in an embassage to Rome the nexte day after he came thither saluted all the Senatours by their names and the people round about them A singular gift from God in those that haue attained thereto howsoever it bee vsed But yet as the obiect which memory apprehendeth is more principall so the gift more commendable As Tully comparing Lucullus and Hortensius togither both being of a wonderfull memory yet preferreth Lucullus before Hortensius because he remeÌ„bred matter this but words Nowe the excellentest obiect of all others either for the memorie to accounte or for any other part of the soule to conceaue is the Lord. For he that remeÌ„breth the Lord as the Lord hath remembred him that nameth his blessings by their names as God the starres and calleth them to minde in that number order that God hath bestowed them vpon him if not to remember them in particular vvhich are more then the haires of his head yet to take their view in grosse and to fold them vp in a generall summe as David did vvhat shall I render to the Lord for all his benefites though he forget his owne people and his fathers house though the wife of his bosome and the fruit of his owne loines yea though he forget to eate his bread it skilleth not hee remembreth all in all and his memorye hath done him service enough in reaching that obiect And for your better encouragement to make this vse of memory vnderstande that it is a principall meanes to avoide desperation onely to call to minde the goodnesse of the Lorde forepassed either to our selues or others Thinke with your selues that as it was hee that tooke you from your mothers wombes and hath beene your hope ever since you hungâ— at the breastes and hath opened his handes from time to time to fill you vvith his goodnesse so hee is as able to blesse you still Compare and lay togither the times as David did that because hee had slaine a lyon and a beare at the folde therefore GOD woulde also enable him to prevaile against Golias So if the mercies of the Lorde haue beene so bountifull tovvardes you in former times to create you of the slime of the grounde and to put y a living and reasonable soule into you to nurse you vp in a civil and well-mannered country to redeeme you with the bloude of his begotten sonne to visite you vvith the lighte of his gospell to iustifie you with the power of his free gratuitall grace to fill your garners with store and your baskets with encrease and to giue you sonnes and daughters to the defyinge of your enemies in the gates saye to your selues his arme is not shortened hâ—â— is the same to day that yesterday hee will never forsake vs witâ— his loving kindenesse This is the course that David taketh in tâ—e Psalmes a capitaine never more skilfull to leade in the vvarres though the Lorde had taught his fingers to fighte than to conduct the desolate in the battailes of conscience Call to remembraunce thy tender mercies O Lorde which haue beene ever of olde This was the songe that hee sange to himselfe in the nighte season in the closet and quire of his owne breast vvhen hee communed with his private heart and searched out his spirites diligentlie Hath the LORDE forgotten to bee graciouâ— hee hath then lefte his olde wont No David forgot that the Lorde was gracious and afterwardes confessed his faulte of forgetfulnesse stirred vp his decayed memory and saide But I vvill remember the yeares of the right hande of the most high Not the momentes nor houres nor dayes of a few moment any afflictions which hee hath delt foorth vnto me with his left hande but the years of his right hand his wonders and actes that have beene ever of olde So likewise in an other Psalme Our fathers haue trusted in thee O Lorde Our fathers haue trusted in thee and were not confounded What is that to vs yes we are the children of those fathers sonnes of the same hope and heires of the same promises When the disciples of Christ mistooke the meaning of their maister touching the leaven of the Pharisees supposing he had said so because they had brought no breade he reprooved them for lacke of memory O yee of little faith vvhy thinke you thus in your selues doe yee not remember the fiue loaues vvhen there were fiue thousand men and howe many baskets full yee tooke vp neither the seaven loaues when there were foure thousande men and howe many baskets yee tooke vp thus we shoulde remember indeede how few loaues and howe many thousandes of men haue beene fed with them and what reversions and remnantes of mercy the Lord hath in store for other times O good Iesus saieth Barnarde vpon the Canticles VVee runne after the smell of thine ointmentes the perfume and sweeee savour of thy fat mercies Wee haue hearde that thou never despisest the poore afflicted Thou diddest not abhorre the theefe vpon the crosse confessing vnto thee nor Matthew sitting at receipt of custome nor the woman that washt thy feete with her teares nor the woman of Canaan that begged for her daughter nor the vvoman taken in adultery nor the Publican standing a farre of nor the disciple that denied thee nor the disciple that persecuted thee and thine nor the wicked that crucified thee therefore wee runne after the smell of thine ointmentes and hope to be refreshed with the like sent of grace Many haue written preceptes of memory and made a memoratiue art apointing places and their furniture for the helpe of such as are
vnexperienced I will also giue you some helpes When your soule beginneth to fainte as this prophets did remember what the Lord is by name Iehovah a God not in shew but in substaunce and performance For they that know thy name will trust in thee Remember what by nature rich in mercie as others are rich in treasure His iustice wisedome and power and vvhatsoever hee hath or rather is besides are also infinite riches God hath scarsitie of nothing But as his mercy is aboue all his workes so the riches of his grace a-aboue all his other riches Remember what hee is by promise The Lorde is faithfull I know whome I haue beleeved and I am sure hee is able to keepe that which I haue committed vnto you His trueth shal bee thy shielde and thy buckler O Lorde bee mindefull of thy worde wherein thou hast caused thy servant to put his trust If God be God follow him beleeue him builde vpon his worde his fidelitie is a thousand times alleaged that it may be past doubt Remember what hee is by covenaunte made vnto Abraham and his whole seede not in the bloud of bulles and goates but in the bloude of the seede of Abraham O my people saieth God by his prophet Micheas remember vvhat Balak King of Moab had devised and what Balaam the sonne of Beor aunswered him that yee may knowe the righteousnesse of the Lorde He cryeth vnto vs all at this day O my people remember what the prince of darkenesse had devised against you and howe Iesus Christ the sonne of the living God hath aunswered him and stopte his mouth vvith a voice of bloude and nayled his accusations to a crosle that yee may know the righteousnesse of the Lorde howe assured it is to those that beleeue it This this is the sure foundation which hee that buildeth vpon shall never fall This is the stone that vvas laide in Sion as for the bow of steele the wedge of golde the strength of an horse the promise of a man lighter vpon the ballance than vanity it selfe the righteousnesse of the lawe merites of Saintes they are the stones of Babylon This hath beene tried to the proofe precious aboue al the marchandize of Tyre and standeth in the heade of the corner He that beleeveth in this stone let him not haste saieth the Prophet Let him not yeelde too soone to the frailty of his flesh nor be over-credulous to the suggestions of Sathan nor suffer his hope to bee quelled at the first or second assaulte let him stay the leasure of the Lord for he will certainely visite him I haue shewed you some helpes and directions for memory I knowe no better hiding place from the winde no surer refuge from the tempest as Esay speaketh no safer harbours and receptacles wherein to repose your wearied soules than those I haue spoken of What better secret or shadow hath the most High what closer winges ' warmer feathers to keepe you from the snare of the hunter I meane not Nimrod or Esau mighty hairy and wilde making but temporall prayes either of men or beastes but the hunter of your soules than when you are distressed and compassed with troubles rounde about and sinnes which are the sorest troubles of all other haue taken such holde vpon you that you dare not looke vp when the soule fainteth as this prophetes did wisedome hath hid it selfe and vnderstanding is gone aside into a secret chamber that you know not what to advise nor where to fetch a thought that may minister comforte then to remember the Lord of hostes his name howe stronge a towre of defence it is his nature how sweete and amiable his promises how faithfull his covenant how precious in his eies that the Lord may remember you againe in his holy kingdome THE XXIX LECTVRE Chap. 2. ver 8 9. They that waite vpon lying vanities for sake their owne mercie But I will sacrifice vnto thee c THe narration is ended We are now to annexe the conclusion of the song wherin the prophet betaketh himselfe to a thankfull acknowledgement and as his tenuity will give him leave a remuneration requital of the goodnes of the Lord which his hart had presumed before The partes are three 1. A confutation and reproofe of all kindes of idolatours who as they call vpon false Gods so they are likely to be sped but with false deliveraunces They that wait vpon lying vanities forsake their owne mercy 2. An affirmative or positive determination and as it were bond that hee taketh of himselfe to render kindnesse to his merciful and faithfull Lorde But I vvill sacrifice c. and vvill pay that that I have vowed 3. A sentence of acclamation the aphorisme and iuice of the whole songe the conclusion of the conclusion the comprehension of sacrifices vowes praiers thanksgivings all thinges Salvation is the Lordes or the Lord. They that waite vpon lying vanities forsake their owne mercie What communion is there betweene darkenesse and light falshode and truth the table of devils and the table of the Lord idolatry and the right â—ervice of the righteous God This is the cause that Ionas beginneth with confutation Before he will plant the vineyard he will remoove stones and briers and all other obstacles that may hurte the growth of the vines Before hee buildeth his house hee vvill first pull downe a ruinous and rotten foundation So is the duety of a prophet in the first of Ieremie This day have I sette thee over nations and kingedomes first to plucke vp to roote out destroy throw downe secondly to plant and build and set vp againe And so is the duty of an Evangelist also who hath received the administration of the gospell of Christ first to prepare the way as it vvere and to make straight pathes before the face of Christ that is first to reproove and then to teach concerning doctrine first to correct and afterwardes to informe touching conversation Iohn Baptist you know a middle man betweene the lawe and the gospell a prophet and more than a prophet because he both foresaw and visibly saw the Lorde of life both prophecied and pointed with his finger turning his face like their Ianus in Rome both waies he first made ready the houses and heartes of the people before the king of Sion came cast downe hilles lifted vp vallies c. that the gospell of the kingdome might have the freer admission He beganne his preachings with reprehension of their vicious lives O yee generation of vipers and convulsion of their false groundes Saie not within your selves wee have Abraham to our father c. No man setteth a new piece to an olde garment hee maketh the rent but worse No man putteth newe wine into olde bottles for hee then marreth both It is to little purpose to offer truth and the tidings of peace the newes of the newe testament to the olde man whose ancient corruptions hange vpon him and
generation than the children of lighte First there is nothinge that winneth the common people marke it when you vvill more than superstition Adde the iudgmeÌ„t of the Romane Oratour in the second place A man that is wonne to superstition can never bee quiet in minde Which whither it bee our pride that wee are all in loue as Pygmaleon with his picture so we vvith the vvorkes of our handes devises of our heads and therefore the true service of God we are not so soone allured with because it commeth by precept as vvith the inventions of our owne braine because wee are the authours of them our selves Philo implieth so much writing of religions that everie man a part seemeth best vnto him because they iudge not by reason but by affection or whither it be the care and vigilancy of the devill whome he hath gotten prisoners those to loade with the more irons and to keepe them in safe custodie and if it be possible to make theÌ„ love their captivity or whatsoever the cause else be this I knowe to begin at the head that Sathan will spare no paines in compassing the whole earth to gaine a soule a Scribe or Pharisee will travaile sea and land to winne a proselyte an idolatrous â—ewe will freely bestowe his iewelles and earinges to make a golden calfe an Ammonite will not spare his sonne or daughter from the fire to sacrifice to Moloch a Priest of Baall will cut and launce his owne flesh to demerite his idoll a false prophet will vveare a garment of haire nexte his skinne to deceive with a frier will whippe himselfe till the bloude run downe his shoulders the fathers and children of Babylon will rise early and late to keepe Canonicall howers observe fastes walke pilgrimages runne over their beades and rather loose a limme of their bodies than a ceremonie of their churâ—h and in every acte of their councelles and thirde line of their writings Anathema to men and angels that hold otherwise Let it be their commendation that they take such paines to doe wickedly A thiefe is more watchfull to breake through the house than the goodman to garde it The traitours that Cesar feared in Rome were not those that were fat well in proofe but macilenti pallidi Cassius Brutus that were leane and pale spending the sap of their flesh with travailinge watching plotting devises What is it they loue and labour vpon so much Vanities Is it not of the Lorde of hostes that men shall labour in the fiâ—e to burne and consume themselues and the people shall even weary themselues for verie vanitie They that plough wickednesse a toilesome occupation doe they not reape iniquitie and eate the fruit of lies because they trust in their owne vvaies A man may aske them vvith the prophete vvherefore bestovve you your labour and are not satisfied Or with the Apostle vvhen hee seeth their labour lost what profit had yee in those thinges whereof you are now ashamed The vanities hee nameth are not onely the idolles of the heathen vvhich haue neither sighte in their eies nor hearing in their eares nor breath in their nostreiles nor helpe in their hands to wipe away the dust froÌ„ their owne faces but whatsoever the world hath visible or invisible outwarde or inwarde besiâ—es displacing God of his right and bearing our hart and hope after it it is our idoll in some sort and one of those lying vanities that is heere mentioned Ionas committed idolatry in leaving the mandate of God and bending his iourney after the lustes of his owne heart That vnprobable cogitation which hee fansied to himselfe of escaping the presence of God by taking a contrary way was the idoll hee served and waited vpon and the lying vanity wherewith hee was beguiled The God of heaven called vnto him Arise goe to Niniveh the God of his owne making the devise of his braine commanded otherwise Arise flie to Tharsus The covetous maÌ„ is called an idolatour in plaine tearmes Ephes. 5. Iob expresseth the right forme of their canonization whereby they make gold a God They saie to there wedge thou are my confidence As treason and rebellion putteth vp a nevve king Absolon for David so covetuousnesse a newe God Mammon for Iehovah You cannot serue God and Mammon Dispute not superfluously and idly that you can doe it for God hath pronounced the contrary God cryeth lende giue scatter cast vpon the waters feede cloath visite harbour and is not obeyed Mammon cryeth on the other side take gather extort strippe sterue spoile and is harkened vnto Whether of these two is now the God An other idolatry as mentioned by Abbacuk in the first of his Prophecie of those that sacrifice to their nettes and burne incense to their flewes vvho because their portion is encreased and their meate plenteous by these instrumentes and helpes vvhich they vse in their trades of fishing or the like they forgette the righte author of their thrifte and arrogate all to themselues and their serviceable meanes Some make an idoll of their owne braine as the king of Tyre did who thoughte that by his vvisedome and vnderstanding hee had gotten riches into his treasury and his hearte was so highly exalted vvith that conceite that hee coulde not forbeare that most blasphemous and Luciferian presumption I am a GOD. Such are the states-men as they loue to bee helde the Politicians and Machiavellistes of our sinnefull age plotters of kingdomes and common-vveales vvho thinke themselues vviser than Daniell as the king of Tyre did and that Moises and the prophetes are not so able to instructe them as they themselues Some make an idoll of the strength of their armes as Zenacharib did By the multitude of my chariots have I done thus and thus but touching the true Lorde of hostes as if hee were lesse than nothing and had lost the strength of his mightie arme hee vaunteth to the king of Iudah let not thy GOD deceive thee The end of all is this Idolum nihil est An idoll is so farre from being more than vanitie that it is mere nothing I know in an idoll of silver or gold or brasse there is both matter and fashion Golde is golde and the thoughtes of our heartes thoughtes our wisedome beauty and strength are qualities that have their being And if we make either belly or backe our God they are both creatures that God hath made but they are nothing of that whâ—ch we suppose them to be Wee make them our honour our hope our confidence such they are not For yet a little while and the moth the worme rottennes rust and consumption shall inherite them all The righteous shall beholde it and feare and laugh them to scorne that haue beene so madde after vanitieis ecce homo beholde the man which hath not made God his helper but trusted in riches or other like transitorie things Wherefore I exhort you al as Paul his auditours
to our cities and townes barres to our houses a surer cover to our heads than an helmet of steele a better receite to our bodies than the confection of Apothecaries a better receite to our soules than the pardons of Rome is Salus Iehovae the salvation of the Lord. The salvation of the Lord blesseth preserveth vpholdeth all that we have our basket and our store the oile in our cruises our presses the sheepe in our folds our stalles the children in the wombe at our tables the corne in our fieldes our stores our garners it is not the vertue of the stars nor nature of the things themselves that giveth being continuance to any of these blessings And what shall I more say as the apostle asked Hebr. 11. when he had spoken much and there was much more behind but that time failed him Rather what should I not say for the world is my theatre at this time and I neither thinke nor can feigne to my selfe any thinge that hath not dependaunce vpon this acclamation Salvation is the Lordes Plutarcke writeth that the Amphictyones in Greece a famous counsell assembled of twelve sundrie people wrote vpon the temple of Apollo Pythius in steede of the Iliades of Homer or songes of Pindarus large and tyring discourses shorte sentences and memoratives as Know thy selfe Vse moderation Beware of suretishippe and the like And doubtlesse though every creature in the world whereof we haue vse be a treatise and narration vnto vs of the goodnesse of God and wee might weary our flesh and spend our daies in writing bookes of that vnexplicable subiect yet this short apopthegme of Ionas compreheÌ„deth all the rest and standeth at the ende of the songue as the altars and stones that the Patriarkes set vp at the partinge of the waies to giue knowledge to the after-worlde by what meanes hee was delivered I would it were dayly preached in our temples sunge in our streetes written vpon our dore-postes painted vppon our walles or rather cut with an admant claw vpon the tables of our hearts that wee might never forget Salvation to bee the Lordes wee haue neede of such remembrances to keepe vs in practise of revolvinge the mercies of God For nothinge decayeth sooner than loue And of all the powers of the soule memorye is most delicate tender and brittle and first waxeth olde and of all the apprehensions of memory first a benefite To seeke no further for the proofe and manifestation of this sentence within our coastes I may say as our Saviour in the nineteenth of Luke to Zacheus This day is salvation come vnto this house Even this day my brethren came the salvation of the LORDE to this house of David to the house of this Kingdome to the houses of Israell and Aaron people and priestehode church and common wealth I helde it an especiall parte of my duety amongst the rest the day invitinge and your expectation callinge mee thereunto and no text of mercy and salvation impertinent to that purpose to correcte and stirre vp my selfe with those fowre lepers that came to the spoile of the Syrian tentes I doe not well this day is a day of good tidinges and shoulde I holde my peace let the leprosie of those men cleaâ—e vnto my skinne if it bee not as ioyfull a thinge vnto mee to speake of the honour of this day as ever it vvas to them to carrye the happye nevves of the flight of Aram. It is the birth-day of our countrey It vvas deade before and the verye soule of it quite departed Sound religion which is the life of a kingdome was abandoned faith exiled the gospell of Christ driven into corners and hunted beyond the seas All these fell with the fall of an honorable and renowned plante which as the first flowre of the figtree in the prime and bloominge of his age was translated into heaven they rose againe with the rising and advancement of our gracious Lady and Soveraigne Were I as able as vvillinge to procure solemnitye to the day I would take the course that David did I would begin at heaven and call the Angelles and armieâ— thereof the sunne moone and starres I woulde descend by the aire and call the fire haile and snow vapours and stormy windes I would enter into the sea and call for dragons and all deepes I woulde ende in the earth and call for the mountaines and hilles fruitfull trees and cedars beastes and all cattell creeping thinges and feathered fowles Kinges of the earth and all people Princes Iudges yonge men and maidens olde men and children to lend their harmony and accord vnto vs to praise the name of the Lorde to accompany and adorne the triumph of our land and to showte into heaven with no other cry than this salus Iehovae salvation is only from the Lord by whome the horne of this people hath so mightily bene exalted O happy English if wee knew our good if that roiall vessell of gold wherein the salvation of the Lorde hath bene sent vnto vs were as precious and deare in our accounte as it rightly deserveth Her particular commendations common to her sacred person not with many princes I examine not Let it bee one amongst a thousand which Bernard gaue to a widowe Queene of Ierusalem and serveth more iustly to the maiden Queene of England that it was no lesse glory vnto her to liue a widowe havinge the worlde at will and beinge to sway a kingdome which required the helpe of an husband than a Queene The one saith he Came to thee by succession the other by vertue the one by descent of bloude thâ— other by the gift of God the one it was thy happinesse to bee borne the other thy manlinesse to haue atteined vnto a double honour the one towardes the worlde the other towardes God both from God Her wisedome as the wisedome of an Angell of the Lorde so spake the widowe sometimes to David fitter for an Angell than my selfe to speake of her knowledge in the tongues and liberall learninge in all the liberall sciences that in a famous Vniversitie amongst the learnedest men shee hath bene able not onely to heare and vnderstand which were somethinge but to speake perswade decide like a graduate oratour professour and in the highest court of parliameÌ„t hath not onely sitten amongst the peeres of her realme and delivered her minde maiestate manus by some bodily gesture in signe of assent but given her counsaile and iudgemente not inferiour to any and her selfe by her selfe hath aunswered the embassadours of severall nations in their severall languages with other excellent graces beseeming the state of a prince though they best know on whose hande shee leaâ—eth and that are nearest in attendaÌ„ce and observance about her maiesty yet if any man bee ignorant of let him aske of strangers abroade into whose eares fame hath bruited and blowne her vertues and done no more but right in giving such giftes vnto her
mercie pleaseth him For who hath first loved or first given or anye way deserved and it shal bee restored vnto him a thousande folde Blessinges and thankesgivinges for evermore bee heaped vpon his holy name in whom the treasures of mercy and loving kindenesse dwell bodylie who of his owne benevolente disposition hath both pleased himselfe and pleasured his poore people with so gracious a qualitye Even so LORD for that good pleasure and purpose sake deale with the rest of thy people as thou hast dealt with Ionas and the marriners take awaie those iniquities of ours that take away thy favour and blessing from vs and as a stranger that knoweth them not passe by our transgressions retaine not thine anger for ever though we retaine our sinnes the cause of thine anger but returne to vs by grace who returne not to thee by repentance and haue compassion vpon vs who haue not compassion vpon our owne soules subdue our raigning and raging vnrighteousnesse and drowne our offences in the bottome of the sea which els will drowne vs in the bottome of perdition The mysteries buried vnder this type of the casting vp of Ionas the seconde principall consideration vvherein I bounded my selfe are collected by some 1. The preaching of the gospell to the Gentiles not before the passion and resurrection of Christ because Ionas went not to Niniveh till after his sinking and rising againe 2. A lanterne of comforte to all that sit in the darkenesse of affliction and in the shadowe of death held out in the enlargement of Ionas who though hee vvere swallowed downe into the bowels of an vnmercifull beast yet by the hand of the Lord he was againe cast our These are somewhat enforced But the only counterpane indeed to match this original is the resurrection of the blessed sonne of God from death to life figured in the restitution of the prophet to his former estate of liuelyhode and by him applyed in the gospel to this body of truth who is very and substantiall trueth For so hee telleth the Scribes and Pharisees twise in one Evangelist An evill and adulterous generation degenerated from the faith and workes of their father Abraham wherein standeth the right descent of his children asketh a signe but no signe shall bee given vnto it saue the signe of the Prophet Ionas For as Ionas vvas three daies and three nightes in the whales belly so shall the sonne of man bee three daies and three nightes in the â—earte of the earth His meaning was that if this so vnlikely and in nature so vncredible a signe coulde not mooue them all the tokens in heaven and earth would not take effect That Christ is risen againe there is no question The bookes are open and hee that runneth may reade enough to perswade him Hee that tolde them of the signe before mentioned signified the same worke vnder the name and shadow of the temple of Ierusalem a little to obscure his meaning and that hee tearmed a signe also Destroie this temple and I will builde it againe in three daies He meante not the temple of Salomon as they mistooke but the temple of his bodie more costly and glorious than ever that admired temple of theirs the buildinge whereof in the counsaile of his father was more than forty and sixe yeares even from the first age of the worlde and everie stone therein angular precious and tryed cut out of a mountaine without handes ordeined from the highest heauens without humane furtheraunce and such whereof hee affirmed longe before in the mouth of his Prophet who could iustifie his saying Thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption though of the other temple hee prophecied and it was perfourmed there shall not a stone bee lefte standing vpon a stone that shall not bee cast dovvne Praedixit revixit He gaue warning before that it shoulde so bee and hee fulfilled it The earth-quake at the very time of his resurrection Math. 28. the testimonie and rebuke of Angelles vvhy seeke yee the living amongest the deade hee is risen he is not here his manifestation to one to two to twelue to moe than fiue hundreth at once once and againe his breaking of breade amongst them the printes of his handes and side their very fingers and nayles for evidence sake thrust into them togither with so many predictions that thus it must bee and so many sermons and exhortations that so it was are able to resolue any spirite that setteth not it selfe of purpose to resist the holie Ghost Or if there be any of so audacious impiety as to deny the scriptures the warrante whereof is so stronge that Paul in the Actes of the Apostles not tarrying the answere of king Agrippa by his owne mouth speaketh in his name by a reasonable and vndoubted concession I know thou beleevest them and hee thought it afterwardes firme enough to prooue any article of the faith without other force according to the scriptures let them listen a while to that learned disputation that GREAT ATHANASIVS helde concerning this point Hee proveth that the sonne of God coulde not chuse but die having taken vnto him a body of death and that hee coulde not but liue againe because that bodye of his was vitae sacrarium The vestrie or chappell wherein life vvas conserved And hee holdeth it a senselesse thing that a dead man shoulde haue the power so to extimulate and pricke the mindes of the livinge that the Grecian and Pagan was brought to forsake his auncient nationall idolatries and worship the Saviour of the world that a man forsaken of life and able to doe nothing should so hinder the actions of actiue and liues-men that by the preaching of Iesus of Nazareth an adulterer leaveth his adulteries a murtherer his bloud sheades and at the naming of his dreadfull name the very devilles departe from their oracles and oratories He vrgeth yet further Howe can the carkas of a dead man prevaile so much with the living that vpon the confidence of life therein contained they haue endured the losse of libertie countrie wife children goods good name and life it selfe with such Christian magnanimity that the Arrians espying it beganne to receiue it as a ruled and resolved case not to be doubted of there is no Christian living that feareth death As for the slaunder of his sworne enemies the Iewes whose malice cannot ende but in the ende of the woorlde vvho contrary to common humanity belyed him in his graue and gaue not leaue to his bones to rest in peace saying and hyring men to saye and vvith a greate summe purchasing that vntrueth as the chiefe captaine did his burgesshippe Actes the two and twentith His disciples came by nighte and stole him awaie while we slept let it sleepe in the dust with them till the time come When everie eie shall see him even those that pierced him vpon the crosse and those that watched
place to this auditory and would singe vpon earth as the Angels sange from heaven glorye bee to God and peace to men then no men better pleasing But you will not suffer vs to thinke the thoughts of peace When we say wee will meditate of mercy we are presētly interrupted called to a songue of iudgment These latter and last daies full of the ripest and last sins which no posterity shal be able to adde vnto so drunken and drowned in viciousnes that as in a plague we marvaile not so much at those that die as at those that escape so in this generall infection of sinne not at the vilenes of the most but that any almost is innocent giue vs no rest from bitter speakings And to giue you one reason for many we are fearfully afraide if we take not that wise advertisement that the Apostle gaue in the Epistle to the Coloss. Say to Archippus take heed to the ministery that thou hast receaved in the Lord that thou fulfill it Paul wrote it to the Collossians and the Collossians must doe it by word of mouth to Archippus and they all to vs all as many as are in the office of Archippus write speake proclaime and least it might be forgotten set it in the end of many precepts and advise it by way of post-script Take heede looke vnto it giue good and carefull regard haue your eies in your heades and your hearts in your eie liddes it is a worke not a play a burthen nor an honour a service not a vacancy and you haue receaved it in him that will require it talent vse principall and interest giue you the fulnes of wrath if you doe it to halfes and not perfitely fulfill it THE XXXII LECTVRE Chap. 3. vers 3. So Ionas arose and went to Niniveh accordinge to the word of the Lord. Now Niniveh was a great and excellent cittie of three daies iourney THE first part of the Chapter wherein the commission of Ionas is renewed vnto him wee haue already absolved and are now to proceede to the execution thereof which was the 2. generall branche Wherin hee so warily behaveth himselfe havinge bought his experience with cost that hee departeth not an haires breadth from his directions perfined Beeing bidden to arise hee ariseth to goe hee goeth not now to Tharsis as before but to Niniveh to proclaime hee proclaimeth not the fansies or supposalles of his owne heade but the preachinge no doubt which the Lorde bade him because it is saide according to the worde of the Lorde As for that which is added or rather interposed and by a parenthesis conveyed into the rest of the greatnesse of Niniveh it maketh the rather for the commendation of his duetie that failed not in so large a province and the faith of that people who were so presently reformed I will followe the card that Ionas doth As hee went to Niniveh and preached according to the worde of the Lorde so because the same word of the Lorde againe repeated in my text tieth mee to a rememoration of the same particulars which erst I haue delivered let it not offend your eares that I passe not by them without some further explication The present occurrents are 1. his readines and speede to obey the calling of the Lord So Ionas arose 2. his running to the marke proposed not out of the waie and went to Niniveh 3. his walking by line and levell according to the worde of the Lorde 4. a caution or watchworde cast forth by the holy ghost concerning the greatenesse of of the cittie as if it were plainely saide Bee carefull not to forget the compasse of Niniveh If you thinke on that in the course of this story you will easily graunte that the service of my prophet was the more laudable in persisting and the conversion of the inhabitantes in taking so short a time They spake of the Lacedaemonians in former times a people in defence of their right most prodigall of their liues and quicke to encounter any daunger That it was a shame for any man to fly from the battaile but for a Lacedaemonian even to pawse and deliberate vpon it Ionas beinge willed to Arise and goe to Niniveh is now so far from flyinge the face of the Lorde that as if his eare were pulled and his soule goaded with that worde hee taketh the first handsell of time to begin his worke So truely was it said by Esaie in the 40. of his prophecie They that waite vpon the Lorde shall renue their strength they shall lifte vp their winges as the Eagles they shall runne and not bee wearie and they shall walke and not fainte Ionas was quicke enough before when hee highed himselfe to Tharsis with more hast then good speede as the wicked and disobedient haue wings vpon their heeles to beare them to destruction their feete are swifte to shedde bloude and they runne with more alacritie to death then others to life but hee wanted that encouragement which Esay speaketh of he waited not vpon the will of the Lord neither had hee the testimony of a good conscience and therefore was soone weary of that vnhappy race Now he ariseth with a better will and feeleth agilitie put into his bones which before he was not acquainted with The word implieth many times such hast as admitteth no dalliance The Iewes in the 2. of Nehemias havinge hearde of the goodnesse of their God vpon them and the wordes of the king for the repairing of Ierusalem presently made aunswere to the speech of Nehemias let vs rise and build Let vs not loose so good an opportunity nor giue advātage to our enemies by protraction of time And it followeth immediately vpon that accorde of theirs So they strengthned their hand to good The latter expoundeth the former Let vs rise and builde that is let vs strengthen our handes and hartily addresse our seues to dispatch this busines Afterwardes when their adversaries reproched thē and charged them with rebellinge against the king Nehemias aunswered the God of heaven vvill prosper vs and vnder the warrant of his protections we his servantes will rise and builde that is we will not be removed from our worke vvith all your threatnings and discountenancings Then arose Eliashib the high priest with his brethren the priests they built the sheep-gate c. And surely if you consider the order and manner of their building how they flanked one the other in the worke some setting thēselues to the sheepgate some to the fishport some to the gate of the olde fishpoole others to the valley gate these next vnto those and all in their apointed wardes and stations and I doubt not but every man except the greate ones of the Tekoites who put not their neckes to the worke as earnest as Baruch was of vvhome it is saide that he killed and fired himselfe in the doing of his taske for they watched in the nighte time and
vvisedome of the king of Babylon to take the young children of Israell whom they might teach the learning and tongue of Chaldaea rather then their olde men so it is the wisedome of the Devill to season these greene vesselles vvith the liâ—our of his corruption that they maie keepe the taste thereof while life remaineth But their bones are filled with the sinne of their youth and it lyeth downe with them in the dust and when their bodies shall arise then shall also their sinne to receiue iudgement So sayeth the wise preacher giving them the raines in some sort but knowing that the end of their race vvill be bitternesse Reioice O young man and let thy hearte cheare thee in the daies of thy youth walke in the waies of thine hearte and in the sight of thine eies but knowe that for all these thinges God will bring thee to iudgement Let the examples of Elie his sonnes whome hee tenderly brought vp to bring downe his house and whole stocke to the ground and the boies that mockt Elizaeus be a warning to this vnguided age that the LORDE will not pardon iniquitie neither in young nor old and that not only the bulles and kine of Basan but the wanton and vntamed heighfers and the calues that play in the grasse shall beare their transgressions It is the song of the young men Wisedome the seconde Let not the flowre of our life passe from vs c. and it is the cry of the young men in the fifth of the same booke vvhat hath pride profited vs For whilst they take their pleasures vpon earth the Lord writeth bitter thinges against them in heaven Iob. 13. and shall make them possesse the iniquities of their youth And hee cryed His manner of preaching was by proclamation lowde and audible that it mighte reach to the eares of the people hee hid not the iudgementes of God in his heart as Mary the words of her Saviour to make them his proper and private meditations but as ever the manner of God was that his prophets should denounce his minde least they might say wee never hearde of it so did Ionas accordingly fulfill it Thus Esaye was willed to cry and to lifte vp his voice like a trumpet Ieremye to crye in the eares of Ierusalem to declare amongst the nations and even to set vp a standarde and proclaime the fall of Babylon And Ezechiell had a like commaundement Clama vlula fili hominis Crie and hovvle sonne of man for this shall come vnto my people and it shall lighte vpon all the princes of Israell Our Saviour likewise bad the Apostles vvhat they heard in the eare that to preach vpon the house toppes They did so For being rebuked for their message and forbidden to speake anie more in the name of Iesus they aunswered boldly in the face of that vvicked consistory vvhether it bee fitte to obey God or man iudge yee Wisdome her selfe Proverbs the first crieth not in her closet and the secret chambers of her house but vvithout in the streetes neither in the vvildernesse and infrequent places but in the heighth of the streetes and among the prease and in the entrings of the gates that the sounde of her voice may be blovvne into all partes If Iohn Baptist vvere the voice of a crier in the vvildernesse then vvas Christ the crier and Iohn Baptist but the voice Surely it wanted not much that the very stones in the streetes shoulde haue cried the honour and povver of God for even stones vvoulde haue founde their tongues if men had helde theirs The commaundement then and practise of God himselfe is to crie to leaue the vvorlde vvithout excuse the nature of the vvord biddeth vs crie for it is a fire and if it flame not forth it vvil burne his bovvels harts that smothereth it I thought I woulde haue kept my mouth bridled saith the prophet Whilst the wicked was in my sight I was dumbe and spake nothing I kept silence even from good but my sorrowe vvas the more encreased My heart vvas hot within mee and while I was musing the fire kindled and I spake with my tongue lastly the nature of the people vvith vvhome vvee haue to deale requireth crying Deafe adders vvill not bee charmed with whispering nor deafe and dumbe spirits which neither hear nor answere God cast forth without much praier and fasting nor sleepie and carelesse sinners possessed with a spirite of slumber and cast into a heavy sleepe as Adam vvas vvhen he lost his ribbe so these not feeling the maines that are made in their soules by Sathan awaked without crying Sleepers and sinners must be cried vnto againe and againe for sinne is a sleepe What can you not watch one houre And dead men and sinners must be cried vnto for sinne is a death and asketh as manie groanings and out-cries as ever Christ bestowed vpon Lazarus Exiforas Lazare Lazarus come forth and leaue thy rotten and stinking sinnes vvherein thou hast lien too manye daies Happy were this age of ours if all the cryings in the daie time could awake vs. For I am sure that the cry at midnight shall fetch vs vp but if the meane time vvee shall refuse to hearken and pull awaie the shoulder and stoppe our eares that they shoulde not heare and make our heartes as an adamant stone that the vvordes of the Lorde cannot sinke into them it shall come to passe that as hee hath cried vnto vs and vvee vvoulde not heare so wee shall crie vnto him againe and hee vvill not answere And saide yet fortie daies and Niniveh shall bee overthrowne The matter of the prophets sermon is altogither of iudgement For the execution whereof 1. the time prefined is but forty daies 2. the measure or quantity of the iudgement an overthrow 3. the subiect of the overthrow Niniveh togither with an implication of the longe sufferance of almighty God specified in a particle of remainder and longer adiourment in the fourth place yet forty daies asmuch as to say I have spared you long enough before but I will spare you thus much longer The onely matter of question herein is how it may stande vvith the constancie and truth of the aeternall God to pronounce a iudgement against a place which taketh not effect within an hundred yeares For either he was ignorant of his owne time which we cannot imagine of an omniscient God or his minde vvas altered vvhich is vnprobable to suspect For is the strength of Israell as man that hee shoulde lie or as the sonne of man that hee shoulde repent is hee not yesterday and to day and the same for ever that vvas that is and that is to come I meane not onelye in substance but in vvill and intention doeth hee vse lightnes are the wordes that hee speaketh yea and nay Doth hee both affirme and deny to are not all his promises are not all his threatnings
to day neither too shorte least they might despaire of mercy by thinking themselues overmuch straightned But as Salomon bounded his estate in a middle and convenient sort betweene povertie and ririches little and much least â—f hee were too full he might deny his maker and aske who is the Lord or if hee were too emptie he might steale and take the name of God in vaine so is the time of this people temperatly measured vnto them betweene long and shorte that neither abundaunce of daies may make them forget GOD nor skarsitie driue them from the hope of their vvished salvation Auncient woundes saieth Ierome are not cured in haste the plaister must long lie vpon them and the olde festared sinnes of Niniveh coulde not be done away vvith a daies repentance The measure and quantitie of their iudgement is an overthrow Niniveh shall bee destroyed Shee might haue beene plagued many vvaies and yet haue stood vpon her pillers and foundations plagued vvith the want of raine as Samaria in the daies of Ahab with skarsitie of breade with pestilence vvith siege of enemies with the tyranny and exaction of her own kings and governours but these are all too light in the eies of God and nothing will satisfie his iustice but her finall subversion If the grape-gatherers come to a vine saith Ieremie vvill they not leaue some grapes if theeues come by night they vvill but steale till they haue enough but Niniveh must bee gathered and prayed vpon by the vnsatiable iudgment of God till it hath left her nothing Some of the Hebrewes thinke that Niniveh should haue beene destroyed by fire from heaven as Sodome and Gomorrhe were Others suppose by the sworde of a forreigne enimie If by the former of these tvvo what a fearefull thinge vvas it that in steede of the fatnesse of the clowdes the greater and the smaller raine the sweete dewes of heauen comfortable showers which God hath engendered in the aire and devided by pipes to fall vpon the earth in their seasons their ground should be watered nay vvithered and the fruites of the earth cherished nay consumed their temples and buildinges resolved into cinders yea their very skinnes and bones molten from their backes with the heate of Gods vengeance The other in effect is not much behinde though in manner and kinde different vvhen so forcible and fierce an enemy commeth that destructions shall not need to arise vp the second time where neither the aged hath reverence for his gray haire nor the suckling release for the innocency of his age where neither matrone nor virgin priest nor Senatour shall be priviledged from slaughter When mourning shall be in their streetes and they shall saie in all their high waies alas alas or as it is in the fourth of Ieremy Woe is mee for my soule fainteth because of the murders vvhen there shall bee no man lefte to carry nevves to the next citye none to say to his friende leave thy fatherlesse children to mee and I will preserve them alive and let thy vviddowes trust in mee Finallye when the bloud of men shall bee powred out as dust and their flesh as dung and all the beastes of the field togither with the foules of the aire shall be called to a sacrifice of dead corpses The subiect of that overthrow is Niniveh Niniveh in state and magnificence as the stars of God Niniveh that excellent city which had her name from God himselfe Niniveh of such antiquity that from the floud of Noah she had stood vpright Niniveh that over-avved Babylon destroyed Samaria brought Ierusalem vnder tribute and was the rod of Gods anger to smite the nations with Niniveh that glorious city which dwelt in confidence and saide in her hart I am there is none besides me Niniveh must be subverted Niniveh built with so much labor and ambition by infinite numbers of men exquisite artificers vnmesurable chardges Niniveh with her walles 400. miles about their heighth and theit bredth wondered at vvith her thousand five hundred turrets so glorious to the eie Niniveh must bee subverted Her wealthy insoleÌ„t imperious inhabitaÌ„ts not only those of Assiria but the choise of al the couÌ„tries rouÌ„d about father son nephew old young all must be destroied It is not the losse of their king alone that is here threatned nor decay of marchants men of war nor the rooting out of the noblest families in Niniveh nor the funerals of private houses It is the fal overthrow without restraint of the whole city Thus pride when it commeth to the highest I say not in the sonnes of men and women but in the very sonne of the morning and the angels of heaven and not onely in common and singular persons but in societies citties kingdomes monarchies shall be brought downe Notvvithstanding vvrite it in tables and let it be a monument for the last day hovv gracious the Lord is towardes vngracious sinners Niniveh is threatned to be overthrowen and hath yet forty daies stinted to repent her in but vvho can number the yeares vvhich Niniveh hath enioyed aforetime yet God is content to sustaine the losse and profusion of all those and as he added in mercy 15. yeares to the life of Ezechias so to the life and being of Niniveh 40. daies The particle of remainder yet 40. daies doth woÌ„derfully set forth the bounty of God that albeit ten generations had past before and ten more succeeded vvithout fruit yet he woulde spare them thus much longer to try their amendment The people of the Iewes endured sufficiently in the vvildernes when he protested in the Psalme forty yeares long was I grieved with this generation not only provoked offended discontented but grieved at his very soule vvho could haue grieved all the vaines of their harts and taught them the price of angring so dreadfull a maiesty as his is In the prophecie of Ieremie he repeateth their disobedience from farther antiquity The children of Israell and the children of Iudah haue surelie done evill before mee from their youth and this city hath beene vnto mee a provocation of anger from the day that they first built it But I neede not labour to prooue the patience of God when the worst servant in his house confesseth it My master is gone into a farre countrey and vvill not returne in hast yea when the Athiest and skorner himselfe acknowledgeth no lesse For if they vvere not acquainted vvith his patience and long sufferance they vvoulde never haue called it slacknesse nor askt in derision for the promise of his comming nor taken advantage of impiety because al things had stoode in their state from the daies of their fathers nor put the evill daie farre from them and slaundered the footsteppes of Gods anointed sonne The time of this life is as the forty daies of Niniveh a time of repentance to some it is forty yeares as it was to
Israell in the desert to some not houres to others not minutes but their spirit departeth from them as Iacob vvent from Laban and the Israelites from the land of Egypt without leaue taking carrying away their iewels and treasures and vvhatsoever in this life is most deare vnto them O happie are they to vvhome this favour is lente vvhich vvas shewed to Niniveh yet forty daies for thy repentance But thrise most vvretched on the other side vvhome the Angell of God hath aunswered time shall be no more vnto thee the night is come wherein thou canst not worke the vision is ended the prophecy fulfilled the doores shut vp thy gracious visitation past who in the closing of an eie are pulled from the lande of the living their place is no more knowne Let me tell you for conclusion that which was spoken to Niniveh in this place vnder condition was afterwards simply pronounced by Nahum Niniveh was destroied indeede Tobias before his death hearde of the fall of Niniveh the monarchie that said within it selfe here will I dwell was translated into Babylon He that endured Ierusalem so longe was afterward so obstinate against it that if Moses and Samuell had stoode before him to aske her pardon hee woulde not haue beene entreated hee that forbare that froward and stubborne generation forty yeares long afterwards sware in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest And as he hath spared and spared and spared so hee will overturne and overturne and overturne Ezech 31. and as he hath added yet more houres and yet more yeares and yet forty daies so hee will add yet more plagues and yet more punishments and yet more vengeance According to his fearfull commination Levit. 26. I will yet plague you seven times more yet seven times more still with further repetition as there is no end of our sinnes so there is no end of his anger This were the preaching fitt for these times blessings must sleepe a while mercy go aside peace returne to the God of peace not be spoken of That reverend religious honest estimation which was of God in former times there is mercy with thee o Lord and therfore shalt thou be feared is now abandoned and put to flight This rather must be our doctrine there is iudgement with thee o Lord with thee o Lord there is ruine and subversion vvith thee are plagues o Lord with thee there is battaile and famine and snares and captivity storme tempest there is fire brimstone with thee O Lord therefore thou shalt be feared Happy are we if either loue or feare will draw vs to repentance if our marble and flinti heartes wil be softned with any raine that falleth if our stiffe and yron-sinued neckes will bow with any yoke either the sweete yoke of the gospell of Christ or the heavye vnsupportable yoke of the lawe and iudgement But if Niniveh continue as it hath begun Niniveh shall bee overthrowen I am not a prophet nor the sonne of a prophet to set the time either of forty or fifty daies or yeares more or lesse hee sitteth aboue to whome it is best knowne and is comming in the cloudes to determin that question But mercye and iustice I knowe are two sisters and as the one hath had her day so the other shall not misse hers and the Lord hath two armes two cuppes two recompences and doubtlesse there is a rewarde for the righteous and doubtlesse there is also a plague for obstinate and impoenitent sinners THE XXXIIII LECTVRE Chap. 3. vers 5. So the people of Niniveh beleeved God and proclaimed a fast c. THE third part of the fowre whereinto the Chapter divideth it selfe containeth the repentance of Niniveh continued vvithout interruption from the beginning of the fifth verse to the end of the ninth where it is ioifully embraced by the mercy and pardon of God towards her which was the last parte The first of these five which we are presently to deale with is the generall table contents of that which the other fowre diduce into speciall branches as Ezechiel first portraied the siege of Ierusalem vpon a bricke to give the people of the Iewes an image of that misery vvhich afterwardes they should finde distinctly and at large accomplished For whatsoever wee heare in the lineall succession of all the rest touching their faith fastes sackloth proclamations vvithout respect of person or age wee have broched vnto vs in this prooemiall sentence Their ordering and disposing of this weighty businesse of repentance with every office and service belonging vnto it is so comely convenient and with such arte as if David were to apoint the Levites and priestes of the temple their courses againe and to settle the singers and porters in their severall ministrations hee could not have shewed more wisedome and skilfulnes For such are the duties tendered to God by this people of Niniveh as were these officers of the temple Some principall others accessary some morall others ceremoniall some for substance others rather for shew and to set out the worke some to the soule belonginge others to the body and outward man And in all these the first have the first places the second and inferiour such as are fitte for them Faith goeth before works in worke fasting goeth before sackloth in the persons the greatest goeth before the lesse in the doinge of all this the proclamation of the king and counsaile goeth before the excecution of the people The army that Salomon spake of was never better set nor almost the starres of heaven better ordered then this conversion of Niniveh First they beleeved God For the Apostles rule admitteth no exception Without faith it is vnpossible to please God For he that commeth to God must beleeue that God is and not onely his being but in his nature and property that he is also a rewarder of them that seeke him This is the first stone of their building the first round of the ladder of Iacob whereby they climbe to the presence of God From faith which is an action of the minde they goe to the workes of the body Fasting and sackloth For faith cried within them as Rachel cried to Iacob giue mee children or I die Faith is hardely received and credited to be faith vnlesse it be testified For that is the touchstone that the Apostle trieth vs by Shew mee thy faith by thy workes So first they quicken the soule for faith is the life of it and then they kill the body by taking away the foode thereof wherein the life of the body consisted and buryinge it in a shrowde of sackloth In their workes they begin with fasting as it were the greater thinges of the lawe and end with sackecloth as the lesse For as Ierome noteth fasting is rather to be chosen without sackcloth then sackcloth without fastinge therfore is fasting put before sackecloth But if wee shall adioyne
vndone both gentlemen meane men in our country so much broughte some to shame as their backe bellie pride and profusion What means shall we vse to crush these vipers amongst you declaiming will not serue Denouncing of the iudgements of God we haue found vnprofitable by over-long experience Haue we not beaten your eares I mistake the aire the winde a thousand times vvith faithfull earnest detection of these monsters pride prodigality strangenes of apparell excesse of meates drinkes and haue we not gained thereby as if we had preached but fables Niniveh is fallen long since because shee returned to that wallowing which here shee repented her of But Niniveh shal rise againe and stand vpright against vs and condemne vs face to face for shee repented in hunger and thirst we in satiety gluttony surfetting drunkennes for either we never repente at all or these are the stomakes which we bring in repentance And Niniveh repented in sacke-cloth and ashes stuffe of the coursest woofe and workemanship and of the simplest fashion that their wits coulde invent we in our silkes and velvets of French Italian Iewish Turkish Barbarian hellish devises for either vve never repent at all or these are the guises and shewes we bring in repentance These these are the stomakes we goe with I say not to our beddes to stretch our selues and to take our ease till we haue gotten our appetites againe and these are the weeds we carry I say not to the theatres to bee stared vpon nor to the kings court where soft raiment is more tolerable to be worne But vvith these stomakes and these weedes we goe to the temple of the Lorde his house of praying and preaching and as boldly present our selues therewith as if the favour of God were sonest wonne by such intemperancies Whither we be a people defiled and corrupted as these in Niniveh were vvee are not so shamelesse to dissemble and whither prophets haue beene amongst vs as Ionas was in Niniveh let their wearied tongues and sorrowfull soules for their lost labour witnes an other day whither the iudgementes of God some we haue already felt and some wee haue cause to feare though not so grievous as they did we neede none other messengers to report then our eies standing in our heades and beholding some parte of them accomplished And lastly we would thinke it a great wrong vnto vs to be chardged with vnbeleefe Wee say wee beleeue God as frankely and confidently as ever the men of Niniveh did Thus far wee will be equall with Niniveh But shewe me your faith by your workes as they did in Niniveh If your sinnes haue deserved a iudgement and iudgement hath beene sounded by prophetes besides the preaching of experience and prophets you say are beleeved because you receiue them as those that speake in the name of the Lord I say againe shew me your faith by your workes as that citie did When did you fast I name not bread and water but from superfluous sustenance VVhen did you pull one dish from your tables or one morsell from your bowels Nay doe you not daily adde and invent for pleasure even till the creatures of God which die for your liues cry out vpon you we desire not to bee spared but not to bee abused vvee refuse not to serue your necessitie but your riot kill to eate but to eate deliciouslie and intemperately kill vs not Or when did you chandge one sute or thred of your rayment in signe of suppliant and contrite spirites shall I say by proclamation no nor by the secret and single decree of any private heart Or from the greatest to the least No. For greatnesse will not stoupe but at greater iudgementes The Lorde doth bruise but the heele of the body when the poore are smitten vnlesse he reach the head the rich and mighty amongst vs feele it not Brethren there must be some ende of these things our eating and drinking not to liue but as if wee woulde die with fulnesse and wearing of pride like a chaine to our neckes and a mantle to our whole bodies or if Moses and Samuell vvere amongst vs they woulde be weary of their preaching Yea there must be some ende or if Moses and Samuell vvithall the angels in heaven vvere amongst vs to bestowe both their preachings and praiers that we might be saved they should saue but their owne soules and neither vs nor our sonnes and daughters This is an yeare of temptation whereof I maie saye as Moses did in Deuteronomie of a straunge prophet Tâ—ntat vos dominus vester The LORDE your God prooveth you whither you loue him or no vvhither you can bee contente for his sake to leaue superfluities a while and to lay aside vanitie and converte your heartes and handes to the workes of mercie In the timeliest time of your harvest hee covered the heavens with a sacke to teach you the way to sacke-cloath and sent leanenesse vpon the earth to teach you frugalitie and thriftinesse in the vse of his blessinges Manie the poorer of our lande vvoulde bee glad vvith the disciples of Christ to rubbe an eare of corne betweene their handes for reliefe of their hunger if they coulde come by it Their bowels sounde like shaumes for vvante of foode and their teeth are cleane vvhen your barnes and garners are filled to the toppe your presses runne over and your bellies are satisfied vvith more then the flower of vvheat O take somewhat from your bellies and backes if you haue any loue to that hidden Manna the meate that perisheth not the fruites of the tree of life in the middest of the paradise of God if any desire to those vvhite garmentes washt in the bloud of Christ and rather to shine hereafter as the starres in the firmament then as glo-wormes vpon the earth in this present life take from your bellies and backes both in regard of your owne soules to witnesse humility and sobriety before God and man and for your poore brethren sake that they may bee fedde and clothed It is Christ that hungreth and Christ that must satisfie you Christ that craveth and Christ that must give vnto you Christ that lieth at your gates and Christ that must advaunce you to glorie Hee is the advocate to the poore and the iudge of the rich hee hath the sentence of blessing and cursing in his mouth and to those that are plentifull givers he shall render a plentifull recompence THE XXXV LECTVRE Chap. 3. ver 6. For word came vnto the king of Niniveh and he rose from his throne c. THE first of those fiue verses vvherein the repentaunce of Niniveh is laide downe is nothing else I told you but a generall comprehension of that which is afterwarde repeated and repolished with more particular declaration Therein they lay their foundation low and sure for the first stone of their building that beareth vp al the rest is faith plainly and expressely mentioned which if
table to that that followeth Wherein the repentance of Niniveh is first rough hewen and afterwardes revised and gone over againe with more speciall explication For thus it hangeth togither If you will knowe vvhat the people of Niniveh did vpon this strange and vnexpected newes they doubted nothing either of the word or of his calling that brought it but from the greatest to the least olde and young princes and inferiours all orders and states of men they both beleeved the reporte and became spectacles to God and men and angels of admirable contrition condemning themselues in those two thinges especially whereof the whole world might iustly haue condemned them luxuriousnes of meates and drinkes and costlinesse of garmentes But if you will know their order of proceeding more particularly thus it was 1. Worde came vnto the king as to the most excellent power and authority amongst them 2. the king calleth a councell of the princes and peeres as being the pillars of his governement for where there are many counsellors there is strength 3. the king and his counsaile make an acte touching fasting and praier and renouncement of sinne 4. they cause it to bee proclaimed in manner and forme as afterwarde followeth 5. for encouragemente and example to the rest the Kinge is the first man that humbleth himselfe So that in trueth their soveraigne and liege-Lord is first made privie to their service intended wherein for mine own parte simply to speake my minde as one that must giue accompt what I haue built vpon my maisters foundation whether golde silver hay stubble or the like for both my workes and my words must be tryed by fire though I make no question if the prince shoulde be backewarde and carelesse in the worshippe of God but God must be served and so I would wish it yet in a common cause concerning the weale and well-fare of the whole common wealth where it lyeth vpon all sortes of men alike to doe some extraordinary worship to God as the case of Niniveh heere required I holde it a point of disorder and confusion that the foot should run without the head the people or inferiours doe any thing in publique wherevnto the knowledge and authorizement of the prince is not first had Giue vnto Caesar the thinges that belong to Caesar and giue him this for one amongst the rest if Caesar bee willing and ready to ioine with thee in the honor of God leaue him not out I would not open this gate of libertie to any subiect or people in the worlde with whome Christ and his kingdome are harboured that in a common daunger of a country when God is to bee pacified and the land purdged in generall the private members thereof may enter into the action without the vvarrant of the prince both to commaunde and direct the same If such were the king as Darius was Daniell 6. and such his rulers and officers as woulde make a decree to defraude God of his worshippe that whosoever shoulde make a petition to anie either God or man â—n thirtie daies saue onelie to the kinge shoulde bee cast into the denne of the Lyons then be thou also as Daniell was enter into thine house and open thy vvindowes towardes Ierusalem and pray or enter into the house of God and set open the dores and pray or goe into the corners of the streetes or into the market place or climbe vp to the house toppes and pray stay not till the king or his councel release thee therto and if every haire of thy head were a life redeeme thy dutye to God with adventure and losse thereof rather then neglect it and if thou hap to be alone in that action as Elias was yet forgoe it not But if such be the king as Iosias was or the like and such his Princes and officers as make decrees for the worshippe of God and are more wise then thy selfe to knowe the dandger of the state and as zealous to prevent it whatsoeuer thou doest in private betwixt thy selfe and thine owne spirite thy selfe and thine owne houshold yet gather no open assembly sanctifie no publique fast call not to sacke-cloath and mourning before the magistrate haue decreed it It may be a presumption of thine owne zeale an affectation of singularitye a commending and preaching of thy selfe vnto the people but sure I am it is a censure by consequence and a iudgement vnder hande against the rest of thy brethren that they are over-colde in religion a preiudice against the magistrate that he is to slacke a breach of obedience to the powers that God hath ordained and the mother of Anarchie and confusion which within a christian common wealth must carefully be shunned In many the daungers of our lande both at home and abroade many the members and subiects thereof as if our countrey had no more oratours and there were none to stande in the gappe but themselues haue assembled togither either in townes or in hamlets and sometimes in a private house to fast and pray before the Lorde Their humbling of themselues in such sorte confessing of sinnes offering of their heartes in devout supplication singing of Psalmes prophecying in course from morning till evening as they are plausible exercises in the sight of men so I vvill not saye the contrary but full of Godlinesse and Christianity But vnder correction of better knovvledge and iudgemente I thinke that obedience and loue had beene better then all this sacrifice and that thus to minishe the authority of the magistrate by preventing his decree and controlling as it were his governement and to giue sentence against all the children of the lande besides of negligence and vnmindefulnesse in Gods affaires may more offende then their service or devotion can doe good otherwise Much more seemely it vvere that as the Apostle exhorteth the Corinthians not the one to prevent the other vvhen they come to the supper of the Lorde vvhich is a sacrament of communion and fellowshippe so in a calamitie of the realme when all the iointes thereof are disquieted and haue neede to bee salved and holpen by the saving-health of GOD that all mighte concurre and agree for seeking that remedie that the people might stay for the magistrates magistrates lead the people the prophets preach and denounce the king and his counsaile enact and all put in practise that a whole burnt offering might bee made vnto the Lorde from the highest to the lowest a solemne dedication of every person and state that the land hath And as Ierusalem was commended for her building so we for our praying and fasting a people at vnity within our selues vvhere neither the greatest nor the least are excluded But of the nature of a publique fast hereafter Meane-while the dangerous conclusions that haue and might haue ensued out of this maxime to weete that in matters belonging to God wee are not bounde to expect or respect the magistrate make me the more warie and scrupulous in handling this point
vse of it I have heard of a nation of men I will not say that their neighbour-hoode hath a little infected England who when their king hath intended a feast for the honour of his country and entertainement of forraine Embassadours they on the other side have proclaimed a fast as if God had sent them an Embassage of the last iudgement I cannot deny them time but surely they tooke not a season for so doing I will proove the matter in hand in the next circumstance and ioine them both togither wherein I observed Secondly that it was an orderly fast because the king and his counsaile had first decreed it I toucht it a litle by occasioÌ„ of the former senteÌ„ce the words directly leading 〈◊〉 therevnto If any remaine as yet vnsatisfied first for mine owne purgation know ye that I speake not as the Lord of your faith but as one that had obtained mercy to be faithfull in my calling I shewed you mine opinion and iudgement 2. for the thing it selfe search the scriptures for they beare witnesse of the trueth whither these publique religious extraordinary fasts had not alwaies their authority emanation from publike persons In the 20. of the booke of Iudges the chosen souldiers of Israell which vvere taken by lot out of all their tribes to fight against Beniamin in the quarrell of the levite whose wife was shamefully abused and murdered they held a publique fast from morning vntill evening the cause was a slaughter which they had receved of forty thousand men and a conscience they made of fighting against Beniamin their brethren The authors of the fast are the rulers of the people who in the Original are called the corners and heades of the people In the 1. of Sam. 7. they fast publiquely they drew water saith the text even rivers of teares powred them out before the Lorde the appointment is from Samuell who iudged Israel in Mispah and the cause their idolatry committed to strange Gods the absence of the arke from them full twenty yeares In the 2. Chronic. 20. there is a fast proclaimed throughout all Iudah Iehosophat the king proclaimed it the cause was the sodaine comming of a great multitude from Ammon and Moab aad Aram to invade his kingdome Esdr. 8. there is likewise a publique fast summoned in their returne towards Ierusalem Esdras the high priest ordaineth it the reason is that God woulde directe them in their way and preserue themselues their children and goodes in safety Another Esther 4. which Esther gaue Mordecay in charge for now Mordecay was the man on whome the heartes of all the Iewes in Shusan depended at that time The cause that God would assist Esther who with the hazard of her head when her people vvere neare their vtter extirpation adventured her selfe to speake to the king in his inner court being not called before him Another Ieremy 36. In the daies of wicked Iehoikim who cut the booke of the Lord with a penknife and caused it to be burnt It was certainely proclaimed by order from some that might commaund For who else could assemble together all the people in Ierusalem and all the rest that came from the citties of Iudah without speciall authority yea Iezâ—bell her selfe though the daughter of Belial was not ignorant what the manner of those times was Shee proclaimed a fast in Iezrael where Nâ—both dwelt to rob him of his vineyard and to betraie his life but first shee sent letters in the kinges name and secondlye sealed them with the kinges seale and lastly directed them to the elders and nobles of Iezraell that they might put them in execution But the Phrases vsed in Ioel doe sufficiently determine the nature of this action Blow a trumpet in Sion sanctifie a fast call a solemne assemblie gather the people sanctifie the congregation gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the lande assemble the children and those that sucke the breastes let the bridegroome and the bride goe forth of their chamber Now what is a sanctified fast but that which is publikely called and established either by God himselfe Levit. 23. or by the magistrate Bishop or prophet or who hath authority to draw the people from their worke to gather the aged and sucklings and al the inhabitants of the country togither to apoint an holy day vnto the Lord to be spent in praiers sacrifices but only these governours As in a receipt of Physicke the ingredients may al be good yet is it not so warrantable vnto vs neither are we willing to meddle therwith vnlesse a professour of Physicke by his art and authority prescribe it so in a publike fast privately convented I said before that all the exercises were christian religious their praier preaching singing and distributing to the poore but as our saviour told the rich yong man in the gospell there is one thing wanting vnto thee if thou wilâ— bee perfect sell all that thou hast c. So there is one thing wanting vnto these and to give them their full perfection we must suffer the rulers of the common wealth to apoint them Chrisostome calleth fastinge a kinde of Physicke but Physicke may be profitable a thousand times yet be hurtfull at a time for want of skill to vse it therefore he would never have it done but congrua cum lâ—ge with all the lawes that agree vnto it and every circumstance of time quantity state of the body with the like precisely observed He applieth the Apostles similitude No man striving for a maistery is crowned vnlesse he strive lawfully so it may fall out that amiddest the paines and afflictions of fasting vvee may leese the crowne of it Zonaras hath a rule to the same purpose treating likewise of fastes Good is never good except it bee done in good sort And Cyprian in like manner It prooveth not well which is done of headinesse and without order The Thirde thinge in the fast of Niniveh is the vniversalitye of it for it vvas not onelye publique and open but included almost vvhatsoever breathed amongst them It concerned first men which is heere indefinitelye put signifying the whole kinde from the man of grayest haires to the tenderest infant and as you hearde before from the greatest to the smalest secondly Beastes yea all sortes of beastes great and small oxen horses sheepe goates and whatsoever cattell they had of any service Fourthly it was very strict for they are forbidden to feede I say not to glut themselues but they might not so much as tast perhappes not delicate meates no nor anye thinge it had beene enough to haue kept them from eating but neither might they drinke I say not wines and curious electuaries but not so much as water which their rivers and welles afforded them Fiftelye it was serious and vnfained not false and sophisticall as the manner of hypocrites is It appeareth by that that followeth in returning from
their evill waies and forsaking that wickednes vvhich was in their handes So that by this their behaviour they seeme to intende thus much wee acknowledge before thy maiesty Lorde of hostes wee thy vnworthiest creatures that ever thy handes haue formed viler then the sackcloth wee weare for if there had beene baser stuffe in the worlde wee vvoulde not haue refused it fowler in thy fight then the ashes wee are besprent vvith vvee acknowledge before thy maiestie our king princes and senatours our sonnes and daughters olde and yong even from the grounde of our heart that thou art a righteous Lorde and vvee an vnrighteous nation not vvorthie our meate drinke clothing or any other thy benefites yea worthy to fall vpon the sharpest edge of thy severest iudgments we haue endangered our selues wiues and children infants and dumbe beastes life and goods city and people to thy heaviest ire and in acknovvledgement thereof and signe of our humble subiection as guiltye within our selues and condemned in our owne consciences whatsoever thou hast given vs to enioy outward or inward nearer or further of for comfort for pleasure for service or anye other vse either in our familes at home or in our foldes and stalles abroade wee resigne into thy hands as having no right vnto it we lay it downe at the feetâ— of thy iustice and beseech thee for thine owne names sake to take mercy vpon vs. Let neither man nor beast c. But what meane the king and councell of Niniveh by so mad a decree haue they a purpose to regaine favour of God and thinke they to do it by trifles and vanities are they so simple and vnsensible to put vnsensible beastes to repentance hath God care of bullockes and sheepe or haue bullockes and sheepe care of God doe they not liue and die without repentance shall I say yea without religion and without reason also did they feare nay did they ever know God that they shoulde bee threatned haue they ever sinned or shall they ever come to iudgemente that they are taught heere to humble themselues and to bee Godly as it were and to ioyne with the people of Niniveh in their publique repentance O pardon repentance a-greater absurditie then this her vnspeakeable griefes and compunctions within knowen vnto God and to no mortall creatures besides that feeleth them not send forth vnreasonable actions sometimes to common iudgement Her spirit is so dull and lumpish with sorrowe that shee cannot abide the recreation of anye creature when shee is in heavinesse shee wisheth and endevoreth by her vttermost provocations that not onely men but beastes nay trees and stones might mourne with her And that the light of heaven woulde accompany her in her dolefull passions Shee thinketh that no sunne shoulde shine because shee taketh no pleasure in the brightnesse thereof that the lillies of the field shoulde bee clothed in blacke because shee is so apparrelled that the infante should not draw the breast nor the beast take his foode because she hath no appetite neither doth she do this of an envious affectioÌ„ that bee far from the meaning of humble and meeke repentaÌ„ce but feeling the weight of sinne and alwaies chewing the cud that God is offended with it shee runneth from all pleasure of the world as from a serpent shee panteth and sobbeth day and night shee weareth her handes with wringing and her breast with smitinge vppon it the pauement is the cabbin that pleaseth her best anguish her breade her drinke salt teares till shee get some comfort from the God of peace And fearing withall a decay and declination within her selfe that shee shall bee wearie too soone of well dooing that her sorrowes will end and her teares bee dried vp before they haue washt her sufficiently except they bee nourished shee saith within her selfe O that the world would mourne with mee to keepe me in practise of mourning If I but sawe others weepe mine eies would ever runne If I but heard the suckling cry for milke and beasts roare for foode because they want it how would it cause me to send vp my cries for the favour of God because I haue it not This is one reason of their decree let neither man nor beast tast any thinge For these outward but grievous obiects sights and sounds of misery in others carry word to our soules how generall the misery is and moue our inward affections to continue in repentance Chrisostome addeth some other reasons that they made their beasts to fast as at the funeralles of rich men not onely the friendes and servantes of the deceased but their very horses are clad in blacke and led in the traine with them both to note the greatnesse of their losse to moue the lookers on to take coÌ„passion He hath yet a further conceit that they did therin as the prophets were woÌ„t to do who seeing a scourge come from the Lord finding no confidence in theÌ„selues nor way to excuse their iniquities not knowing whither to flie for patronage nor daring for very shame in their owne names to craue pardon for their sins betake them to the brute beasts tell God of their wofull plight as if by the commemoration of their miseries he would sooner be perswaded Thus did Ieremy in his prophecie the hinde calved in the field forsooke it because there was no grasse And thus did Ioel in his how did the beasts mourne the heards of cartell pinde awaâ—e because they had no pasture and the flockes of sheepe were destroied And for this cause also they put their infantes to fast that the innocent age might speake vnto God in be haâ—fe of the riper sinners I now conclude The repentance of Niniveh made them hard hearted vnmercifull vncompassionate to themselues and to their beasts harmeles innocent creatures to debar them of their meate drinke and because they vnderstood not the anger of God by preaching to make them vnderstand it by famine Where is the repentance of our times Whither is 〈◊〉 fled or where hath it hid her selfe â—ur land and our sea may say repentance is not in me Repentance the gift of God the ioy of angels the salue of sins the haven of sinners I say againe what is become of it It is not for the angels of heaven to repent because they sin not nor for the divels of hell for their iudgement is sealed it is onely for the sonnes of men and we only know it not The people of Niniveh sinned and woulde not eate sinned and would not drinke sinned and woulde not bee cloathed nay sinned and would not giue leaue to their beastes to feed We sinne and yet we eate nay we sinne in eating we doe not onely taste and feede which are here forbidden but vvee taste and feed deliciously we are wanto with the giftes of God abuse them to surfet We sin and yet we drinke nay we drinke and sinne in drinking for wee
you may know what the cry of the beasts was That which David speaketh of the heavens and firmament day and night Psalm 19. that they declare the glory of God and shew forth his handy workes least any shoulde mistake hee explaineth in the thirde verse They haue neither speech nor language yet without these is their voice hearde so wee may say of these beastes that though they cried not vnto the Lorde as the men did yet they cryed after their vsage R. Iarhi hath a conceipt that they tyed their dammes and their foles asunder and said before the Lorde of the worlde vnlesse thou take pittie on vs wee will not pittie these I will not thinke them so vnwise to haue conditioned with God but I will easily admit that they might parte the olde and the yong and doe all that was to bee doone to fill the aire with lamentable outcrying To acquite the king and his counsaile from folly or distraction of their wittes in this so vnvsuall and vnreasonable an acte I shewed you the manner and nature of sorrow before how gladly it seeketh companions Est aliquid socios habuisse doloris It is no little comfort in discomforts not to be left alone in lamenting and to see all thinges turned into mourning that are neare about vs. For as vvee desire nothing more then heavines of spirite in such a case and the cheerefulnes of any thing is as welcome vnto vs as prickels to our eies so vvee blesse that creature whatsoever it is that will helpe to feede vs in our melancholike humors Wee wish fountaines of water in the heades both of men and beastes to be a patterne for our imitation and to draw vs forward in our well-pleasing pensivenes And as in the contrary affection when the name of God was highly to be magnified and there was iust cause to exult and triumph David contâ—â—ted not himselfe with the secret of his owne spirit or with aw kiâ—g his lute and harpe to praise the Lorde but hee desired the harmâ—â—ny of heaven and earth to bee added vnto it so did the childâ—â—â— of Babylon in their songe O all yee workes of the Lorde blesse yee 〈◊〉 Lorde praise him and magnifie him for ever So did the Prophetâ— in their writings Reioyce O heavens showte yee lower partes of the earth burst forth into praises yee mountaines ye forrestes and every tree therein Even so is the nature of griefe never so well pleased as when all the pleasures of the worlde are exiled Shee calleth heaven aboue too weepe the earth beneath to lament beasts to pine away rockes to cleaue in twaine the mouÌ„taines to giue none other Eccho but lamentations the rivers to runne with teares and all the fruits of the earth to bee changed into worm-wood and bitternesse And as it mooveth the affection so it instructeth our vnderstanding also it putteth vs in minde of the hugenesse and horrour of sinne howe dangerous the contagion thereof is to touch not onely our selues but all the creatures of God that belong vnto vs. It is for our sinnes sake that the whole creature Rom. 8. is subiect vnder vanitye that is a fliting and vnstable condition and not onely vnder vanity but vnder corruption yea vnder a bondage and thraldome of corruption not of it selfe but for him that hath subiected it which is either God offended with sinne or man that provoked him and it groneth with vs and travaileth togither in birth and putteth out the head to looke and watch for the revelation of the sonne of God because that is the time vvhen her service shal be ended Genesis 3. besides the curse of the serpent the curse of Eue the curse of Adam in his ovvne person In the sweate of thy face thou shalt eate thy bread that is all callinges of life shall bee laborious and painefull vnto thee and thou shalt eate the hearbe of the fielde common and wast not the fruites of the garden as thou didst before and thistles and briers shall the earth bring foorth vnto thee though thou spende thy labour to the contrarie it is added in the same place maledicta esto terra propter te the earth which thou treadest vpon and vvhich is free from deserving the curse the earth which was made before thee and thou made of the earth cursed bee that earth for thy sake Likewise Genesis the sixte when the Lorde â—aw the wickednesse of man howe greately it was encreased then it repented the LORDE that ever hee had made man and hee was sorrie in his hearte therefore he saide I vvill destroie from of the earth the man whome I haue created hee stayeth not there but from man to beast from creeping thinge to the soule of the heaven for I repente that I haue made them not onely the man but these that were created for mans vse Beholde the vngraciousnesse of sinnefull man VVee were made the Lordes and rulers of the earth both of the fruites and of the people and living creatures thereof vvee haue dominion over all the vvoorkes of GODS handes all thinges are put in subiection vnder our feete all sheepe and oxen yea and the beastes of the fielde the birdes of the aire and fishes of the sea and vvhatsoever vvalketh through the pathes of the sea but wee haue chandged our governemente into tyranny and are not content with the rule vnlesse vvee seeke the spoile nor vvith the vse and commodity vnlesse we worke the ruine and wracke of our poore bond-servantes Quid meruistis oves saieth Pythagoras in the Poet what haue our harmelesse sheepe and oxen deserved at our handes thus to be misused But we the nocent wretches of the worlde workers of all iniquitie deserving not roddes but scorpions cause innocency it selfe to bee scourged for our transgressions But that the providence of God restraineth them it is a marvaile that they breake not their league and shake of their yoke of obedience towardes vs and vvith their hornes and hoofes and other naturall artillerie make warre vpon vs as their vnrighteous Lordes whome it sufficeth not to haue vsed their service alone vnlesse wee plundge them besides into such vndeserved vengeance Againe the punishing of their beastes vvas to adde something to their owne punishmente for vvhen these are not fed and nourished and kept in heart not onely the beast but the owner himselfe smarteth for it Vndoubtedly it is a blessing to men that their oxen are stronge to labour their horses swifte to the race their asses and camelles meete for their burthens that their bullocke engendreth without fayling their covve calveth vvithout casting their sheepe bring forth thousandes and tenne thousandes in their streetes and it is a curse on the other side to be berefte of these commodities as in the fift plague of Egypt Now then a parte of the vvealth and substaunce of Niniveh consisting in these beastes by reason of the service they enioyed and profit they reaped thereby doeth not the afflicting of
them redounde to their maisters and doe they not loose themselues by vveakening the bodies of their cattell through lacke of foode vvhereby not onelye their labour but also their fruite and encrease is hindered Lastly some tooke a pride in some kinde of beastes namely their horses vvhich I mentioned before and not onely fedde them with the best to keepe them fat and shining but cloathed them with the richest We read of Nero the Emperour of Rome that he shodde his mules with silver and of Poppaea Sabina that shee her horses with gold Bernard telleth Eugenius the Pope that Peter rode not vpon a white warre-like horse clad in trappings of golde And it is not vnlikelie but the kings of Niniveh did offende in the sumptuousnesse of their horses asmuch as the Emperours or Popes of Rome In these it was not amisse that their glorie and pompe should be abated howsoever it fared with the rest and that their bellies should be pinched with hunger which were pampered before and their backes cloathed with sack-cloath which were wont to be magnified with such costlie furniture These and such other reasons of their act as might be alleadged I let passe and come to the handling of the wordes themselues But let man and beast put on sacke-cloath The first member commaundeth the habite that their repentance must be cloathed with It was the manner of those times especially in the East partes if either they lost a friend or childe by death as Iacob his son Gen. 37. but rather for the losse of the favor of God and commonly when they repented their sinnes and sometimes when they praied not only to refuse their best garments as the children of Israell Exod. 33. When the Lorde tolde them that he would not goe himselfe but send an angell with them they sorrowed exceedingly and no man put on his best raiment sometimes to cut their cloathes as Iosu. 7. sometimes to rend them from their backs as Ioel. 2. but insteed thereof to take vnto themselues the vncomfortablest weedes and fashions that might be devised For besides their wearing of sacke-cloath they would sit vpon the ground and in ashes as the friendes of Iob and not only sit but wallow in dust and ashes as the daughter of Ierusalem is willed to doe Ierem. 6. and claspe the handes vpon the heade and sprinkle ashes vpon it as Tamar did 2. Sam. 12. and their haire as their mannes is described Amos 8. and finally take vppe an howling and make an exquisite lamentation as one that shoulde mourne for her onelie sonne In all which and such like outwarde observaunces I like the iudgemente of a learned Divine that they are neither commaunded by God nor by GOD forbidden and are not so properly workes as passions not sought or affected or studied for but such as in sorrowe or feare or the like perturbations offerre themselues and are consequent of their owne accordes as helpes to expresse vnto the world our inwarde dispositions So when we pray vnto God wee bowe the knees of our bodies lie vpon our faces cast vp our eies to heaven smite vpon our breasts with the like ceremonies In all which praier is the substance and worke intended and these though we thinke not of them come as a kinde of furniture and formality if I may so speake to set it foorth The â—â—â—nesse of the spirite draweth the whole body into participation of the griefe making it carelesse of the foode and negligent in the attire that belongeth vnto it And if ever they be alone these shaddowes and dumbe shewes I meane of sacke-cloath and mourning without their body of toward contrition as they fasted in Esay from meate and were prowde of their fast Why haue wee fasted and thou regardest it not but not from strife and oppression and the prophetes in Zachary ware a rough garment but it was to deceiue with then is our thankes with God the same that he gaue to Israel in the place before mentioned Is this the fast that I haue chosen that a man should afflict his soule for a daie and â—owe downe his heade like a bull-rush and lie in sack-cloath and ashes wilt thou call this a fasting or an acceptable daie vnto the Lorde or is not this rather the fasting that I haue chosen insteede of forsaking thy meate to deale thy breade to the hungrie and for sacke-cloath about thy loines to cover thy naked brethren and not to hide thine eies from thine owne flesh And as of sacke-cloath and fasting so wee may like wise say of crying which was the voice of repentaunce For was it the neying of horses lowing of oxen and bullockes lamentation of men eiulation of women and children mingling heaven and earth togither with a confusion of out-cries that could enforce the LORDE aboue to giue them aâ—dience doubtlesse no. For the praier of this people a shielde against the iudgement of GOD which nature it selfe thrust into the handes of the marriners before and heere of the Ninivites yea that obstinate king of Egypt which sette his face against heaven and confronted the GOD thereof vvas glad to flie vnto it Pray vnto the LORD for me and my people that this plague maie departe and Simon the sorcerer who deceived the worlde with his enchauntmentes thought it the onelie charme vvhereby the mercy of God mighte be procured though it bee reported of by as speciall notes as praier may bee honoured with 1. for the manner of it that it was vehemente and forcible They cryed 2. for the grounde invvarde and intentionall They cryed mightilie and from the bottome of their heartes 3. for the obiect right and substantiall They cryed vpon GOD yet if their words and works purpose and performance had not kissed each other if with their lips alone they had honoured God without their heartes or with their heartes alone without their handes as we haue to consider in the nexte wordes they had soone beene aunswered as a people better favoured than themselues were Esay the first Though you stretch out your handes I vvill hide mine eies from you and though you make many praiers I vvill not heare you The Gentiles Matthew the sixte vsed longe speech and much babling and thought to bee hearde for that cause but they lived as Gentiles The Scribes and the Pharisees in the same place praied also not as the Gentiles to vnknowne GODS but to the God of the Hebrews they cryed Lorde Lorde with often inclamation yea they stood and praied not onely in their houses but in the synagogues and corners of the streetes to appeare to men and no doubt to be hearde of men and they vsed likewise longe praiers Luke the twentieth as the Gentiles did yet they were but hypocrites and the portion of hypocrites was reserved for them And this is your meede looke for it hypocrites as you looke for summer vvhen you see the blooming of the figge-tree when you pray as if
you dreamed vvithout your senses your lippes walking and your eies aspiring into heaven without devotion you whose hearte lyeth within your bosome as a secret thiefe calling to your tongue and handes and bodily members and saying giue mee credite in the eies of men make some shew of piety at the least recite the praiers of the Church though you pray not and vse the gestures of the Saintes of CHRIST though you meane them not your parte is with those hypocrites and vvith Simon Magus your lying tongues the LORD shall roote out of their tabernacles your deceitfull eies shall sinke into the holes of your heades the sacrifices of your forged and faithlesse consciences stinke in his nostrelles your prayers are an abhomination vnto him and that ever you haue taken his fearefull name vvithin your lips shall turne to your sorer condemnation The complement and perfection of all that went before the soule of their corporall fasting sackcloath crying which is their spiritual fast from sinne and insteede of putting on sackcloath putting on the new man followeth to be examined in the next part of the mandate wherein the substantiall parts of repentance are contained Yea let everie man turne from his evill vvay c. For what is repentance in effecte but a returning to that integrity and vprightnesse of life from whence thou art departed Therefore sayth the edict let everie man returne There is terminus à quo and terminus ad quem in this sanctified motion somewhat which we must forsake and relinquish somewhat which we must recover and procure againe There must be a death to sinne and a resurrection to iustice for as Eusebius calleth repentance a type of the resurrection so may we the resurrection a type of repentance There must bee an aversion from sinne and a conversion to God a mortification of olde Adam with all his concupiscences and a vivification of the newe man Ioell expresseth both these partes First rende your heartes VVhat shall we smooth them annointe them flatter them binde them vp No. Wee must pull them in pieces racke them vpon tenter-hookes teare them vvith gripes and convulsions we must not suffer sinne to hide it selfe in any corner thereof which is not produced to lighte and thoroughly examined and then turne vnto the Lorde your God c. GOD by his prophet Esay giveth likewise his people a chardge concerning both these vvash you make you cleane take away the evill of your workes from before mine eies cease to doe evill afterwarde followeth the seconde learne to doe well seeke iudgement relieue the oppressed with other effects of a new life And who was ever a better expounder of repentance than he who went before the face of the Lorde and both preached the doctrine vvith his lippes and with his handes administred the baptisme of repentance Albeit the texte that he vsed vnto them were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth a chaunge of the minde and the inwarde powers thereof yet hee added by way explication Bring foorth fruites vvorthie of amendment of life And when the people asked him Luke the thirde What shall vvee doe then hee aunswered them hee that hath tvvo coates let him parte vvith him that hath none and hee that hath meate let him doe likewise Thus much in effect The repentaunce that I preach vnto you doeth not onely forbidde crueltie in pulling cloathes from the backe and meate from the teeth of others but it also enioyneth the vvorkes of mercy Chrysostome in his thirde Homily to the people of Antioche demaunding vvhat it was that preserved the Ninivites from the inevitable wrath of GOD thus reasoneth with himselfe vvas it their fasting and sacke-cloath alone vvee cannot say it but the chandge of their vvhole life How knovv wee by the very wordes of the prophet And God saw their workes What kinde of workes That they fasted and vvare sacke-cloath neither of both For the Prophet suppressing all this inferreth that they returned from their evill vvaies I speake not this saith he to bring fasting into contempt but rather to honour it for the honour of a fast is not abstinence from meates but avoidaunce of sinne And hee that defineth a fast by the onely forbearing of foode is the man that most disgraceth it Doest thou fast shew mee thy fasting by thy vvoorkes Thou vvilt aske vvhat kinde of workes if thou seest a poore man take mercie on him If thine enemie reconcile thy selfe If thy friende deserving praise envie him not If a beautifull vvoman make a covenaunte vvith thine eies not to bee taken in her beautie and let not onely thy mouth and thy bowels fast but thine eies thine eares thy feete thy handes and all thy bodily members Let thy handes fast from robbery thy feete from bearing thee to vnlawfull spectacles thine eares from sucking in slaunderous tales thine eies from receiving in wantonnes For what availeth it to abstaine from eating and drinking if meane time we eate and devour vp our brethren The matter of this edict is very notable and in so fewe wordes asmuch as wisedome and religion mighte containe first it requireth of every man a chandge of life For the worde is a particle of distribution and excepteth neither the age sexe nor estate of any person Maximilian the Emperour comparing himselfe and the kinges of Spaine and Fraunce togither had a witty and pleasaunt saying that there vvere but three kinges in the time vvherein hee lived The Spanish a king of men because he vsed them ingenuouslie and liberallie as men The French of asses for the immoderate exactions which hee tooke of them Himselfe a king of kinges for they vvoulde doe no more then their owne pleasure was But the king of Niniveh is a king of subiectes Beholde a generall decree enacted for repentance and there is not one soule in Niniveh that starteth backe Secondly it requireth of every man not onelye to goe from his vvickednesse but to returne to that iustice from vvhence hee vvas fallen and to renew the image of holinesse decayed in him It is a good degree of repentaunce to bevvaile those sinnes vvhich vvee haue committed and not to committe those sinnes which wee haue bewailed But it is not enough in repentance for hee that is not a gatherer with Christ is a scatterer and as great displeasure we reape in the omission of duety as in commission of iniquity Iohn Baptist did not tell them in his sermon of repentance that everie tree which brought foorth evill fruite shoulde bee hewen downe though that were implyed but if it broughte not foorth good fruite it was in danger of the same iudgement Neither did our saviour tell his disciples that excepte their iniustice vvere lesse then the iniustice of the Scribes and Pharises they shoulde not enter into the kingdome of heaven but excepte their iustice vvere more Hee that buried his talent in the grounde had a purpose not to offende But he had
handes These are they that doe all the Popes businesse You see how actiue and stirring the handes are Surely as Anaxagoras thought man to bee the wisest of all creatures because hee onely had handes whereby hee is able to speake if neede bee and to expresse all signes so I doe thinke him the wickedst of all creatures because hee onely hath handes and no Tiger or vulture vnder heaven more hurtefull vvith his clawes or talentes then man with his excellente member vvhen hee is disposed to vse it to bad purposes But to returne from those vvicked hands the Popes factours As Paul albeit he knew nothing by himselfe yet was hee not iustified thereby so though I know nothing by either of those two places vvhich I speake of yet haue I not freed my soule nor dischardged my duety vnlesse I admonish them both of that which may bee I trust they will pardon my charitable iealousie over them the same reasons of mightinesse and authority agreeing to them which were founde in Niniveh For what is the reason that men first imagine iniquitie and afterwardes contriue wickednes in their beddes and vvhen the morning is lighte put it in practise but because their hande hath power First they covet fieldes and then take them by violence and houses and take them away so they oppresse a man and and his house even a man and his heritage When a malicious will and a mightie hand concupiscence and violence meete you see how a familie and posterity is overthrowne by it VVhatsoever either violence or fraude bee meante by the wickednesse of the handes the Hebrewes agree that the meaning of the king and his counsaile vvas to call for restitution In the observation whereof as R. Kimhi affirmeth their forefathers of godly memorie were so carefully carefull not to offende that they made this decree If any had wrongfully taken a beame or rafter and vsed it in the building of a greate tower hee vvas to plucke downe the whole tower againe and restore that peece to his owner Habacuk doeth not much dissent from them For the stone shall crie out of the vvall and the beame out of the timber shall aunswere it woe vnto him that buildeth a towne in bloude and erecteth a cittie vvith iniquitie It shall bee better for them to pull downe towers and townes and citties and countries to the grounde rather then to suffer such skâ—ich-owles of woe to singe in the chambers thereof Saint Augustine to Macedonius is as peremptory in tearmes as ever the oppressour was in his violence That if the goods of an other man the taking away whereof was vniust maie bee restored and is not repentaunce is never truelie done but counterfeited But vvhere it is truelye done the sinne shall never bee pardrned till the spoile bee restored But as I saide before vvhen it may hee restored Wherein thou mayest deceiue thy selfe For though thou canst not restore in identity the same for the same yet thou mayest restore in equalitie so much for so much which was the meaning of Augustine Fulgentius noteth vpon the vvordes of Matthew Every tree vvhich bringeth not good fruite c. If barrennesse shall bee cast into the fire what doeth rapine and robbery deserue If iudgement shall bee without mercy to him that sheweth not mercy vvhat iudgemente shall bee to him that doeth also shewe cruelty And Rabanus noteth no lesse vpon that complainte of Christ Matthew twenty fiue I was hungry and thou gavest mee no breade VVhat shall hee receaue for taking away other mens who shall ever burne in hell fire for not giving his owne I vvas hungry and thou gavest mee no breade Nay I was hungry and that little breade that I had thou tookest from me I was naked and thou gavest mee no cloathing Nay that simple coate and cloke that I had thou spoiledst mee of I had but one vineyarde and thou deceavedst mee of it These in their iudgementes and conclusions went not so farre touching the necessity of restitution but Nehemias avowed it as deepely by actuall demonstration for hee shooke the lap of his garment and wished that the Lorde woulde even so shake out all those that restored not But if so excellent a governour in so different a case the houses and lands of the people beeing laide to gage by themselues and monye received vpon them vvere so angrye in his minde for the crie of the poore that he rebuked the princes and rulers for their sakes and set a greate assembly against them and put them to silence telling them that for the reproach of the heathen they ought to haue vvalked in the feare of the Lorde Which nowe they did not and praying them to giue backe the pledges againe and to remitte some parte also of the debte and not contente with their worde binding them by oath before the priestes to perfourme it nor vvith their oath but sealing it for more assurance vvith that fearefull sacrament of emptying his garmente himselfe cursing them to their faces if they brake promise and all the congregation crying Amen what shall vvee then saie of them or vvith vvhat reasons shall vve vrdge them or vvhat bondes shall vve take for their restitution who haue taken the houses and fields and of their brethren not as pledges but praies not voluntarilye yeelded but violentlye wrunge ouâ— without either mony or recompence to those vvhome they haue displaced If they loose the accepted time they will come and restore hereafter as Iudas did He brought the thirty pieces of silver againe but it was too late Let them rather learne of famous Zacheus whose praise is in the gospell and the singularity of whose fact maketh it almost a miracle Hee was the chiefe receiver of the tribute and hee was rich withall and if the country belyed him not a man of a sinnefull life I vvil not say that his office made him rich and his riches an evill man but officers that grow rich in haste hardly escape that gradation howsoever it were little Zacheus but as great in example as ever we read of a chiefe receiver and a chiefe restorer rich in substance and rich in good workes and in the midst of his sinnefull life a renouncer of his sinnefulnesse no sooner hee received Christ into his house and much more into his conscience but as if hee had lien in his dregges of extortion before hee novve stoode vp and not caring to bee heard of men nor hunting after earthly commendation spake vnto the LORDE Beholde Lorde with a readie and cheerefull heart offering his service and sacrifice before the face of his Saviour not the crummes of my table nor morselles of my meate but halfe of my goods a franke and bountifull present and I take them to bee mine owne honestly and lawefully gotten I giue with as free a minde as ever thou gavest to mee not to my friendes and kindred or to the rich of the vvorlde who are able to make
himselfe though at the first he denied his crime yea I haue obeyed the voice of the Lorde yet afterwardes he confessed I haue sinned in transgressing his commaundemente and he desired Samuell to take away his sinne and to returne with him that hee might worshippe the Lorde which when Samuell refused hee then altered his speech yet turne with mee I praie thee and honour me before the elders of my people and before Israell So that his principall care was not the service of GOD but honour and estimation in the sight of men Such the repentance of Ahab 1. King 21. who having heard the wordes of Elias thundering the iudgements of God against him and his house hee rent his clothes and put sacke-cloath vpon him and fasted and lay in sacke-cloath and went softlie but how temporary and feigned his repentance was may appeare in the next Chapter by his despitefull dealing with Micheas Such is the repentance of those who are not rightly perswaded of the pardon of their sinnes fitter for Philistines and reprobates than Christians and to be vsed in Ashdod or Ascalon than at Ierusalem The coniunction of faith and repentance is so close that some haue thought it to be a part of repentance I rather take it to bee the beginner and leader thereof As the body and soule though they are ioyned togither in the same man yet is not the body a parte of the soule nor the soule of the bodie but both distinct so faith hope and charitie if they bee true they are narrowly lincked one to the other yet naturally and essentially severed For finall resolution whereof you may best satisfie your selues by proofe from this place For although this sentence which I haue in hand be the last of the mandate in order and disposition of wordes yet is it first in proposall For if they had asked in Niniveh a reason of the king and his counsaile vvhy they shoulde bid them fast and weare sacke-cloath about their flesh sparing neither beast nor sucklinges vvhy they shoulde adde affliction and miserie to miserie as if it vvere not sufficient to be plagued by the handes of God at the time prefixed but they must plague themselues and their cattle fourty daies before hand having but a handfull of daies in comparison to enioie their liues and to take their pleasure in earthlye commodities or why they shoulde cry vnto the Lorde and not bee hearde and forsake their wickednesse and not bee pardoned the reason of all this is alleadged in this Epilogue vvho can tell if the Lord vvill turne and repent It cannot lightly bee worse it may bee better with vs the doinge of these dueties to God will not put vs nearer to our iudgemente it may sende vs farther of vvee are sure to bee overthrowen if we repent not wee may repente and happily escape it it is but the leaving of our meate and drinke for a time who must leaue both belly and meate too the missing of our better garmentes who must misse our skinnes and our flesh from our backes if wee vse our tongues in crying wee loose nothing by it and if we wash our handes and cleanse our consciences from iniquity we shall goe the lighter to our iudgement Who can tell it is the nature and property of God to shew pitty vnto the whole world and although Niniveh bee the sincke of the earth why not to Niniveh Some chandge the reading and insteede of quis novit who knovveth they put qui novit hee that knovveth connecting the sense vvith that which went before in this manner let everie man turne from his evill vvay and from the vvickednesse that is in their handes qui novit who knovveth so to doe and is not ignoraunte what belongeth to such a chandge or thus he that is privie in his hearte of any wickednes committed against God or 〈◊〉 an publique or private let him amende it The instruction from so translating it is good though the translation it selfe bee mistaken that knowledge must ever goe before the face of repentaunce Knowledge I meane not onely in kinde to distinguish sinne from sinne and to call them all by their proper names but by number and weight howe many howe grievous they are howe farre they extende to the annoyance of the earth provocation of heaven breach of christian charitie and strikinge at the maiestie of God himselfe Thus hee acknowledged his sinne in the gospell who spake in his hearte before hee did it and therefore was not ignoraunt what hee went aboute I vvill goe to my father and saie I haue sinned yea but not a simple sinne I haue sinned a mightye and manifolde transgression I haue sinned against heauen I haue also sinned against thee against the father of my spirite against the father of my flesh against him that gaue me his law against thee that gavest mee my nature both the tables haue I broken by my misdeedes and whatsoever dueties I had to perfourme those haue I violated by mine vnnaturall disobedience If you obserue the order of all the repentances in the booke of GOD vvhither in Moabite Edomite Egyptian or in the people of God they ever began with the knowledge of their sins that as the first argument of life which the widowes son of Naim gaue was this he began to speake so in this spirituall resuscitation from the death of the soule the first token of their recovery was the acknowledgement and confession of their misdoing The voice of Pharaoh Exod. 10. was I haue sinned against the Lord your God The voice of Balaam Num. 22. when he saw the Angell in his way I haue sinned The voice of Saul to Samuel 1. Sam. 15. I haue sinned and 1. Sam. 26. when hee saw the kindnesse of David towardes him I haue sinned The voice of David to Nathan 2. Sam. 12. I haue sinned 2. Sam. 24. to God after the numbering of the people I haue sinned Nay valde peccavi I haue exceedingly sinned in that I haue done And it is further added that his hearte smote him vvhen he had done it And when afterwardes he felt the smiting of the Lorde with plainer demonstration and with clearing the whole lande besides Ego sum qui peccavi ego sum qui iniquè egi It is I and only I which haue done wickedlie The voice of Iob in the seventh of his booke I haue sinned The voice of Daniell in behalfe of himselfe their kinges princes fathers of every man of Iudah and the inhabitantes of Ierusalem and of all Israell both neare and farre of was vvee haue sinned and committed iniquitie and done vvickedlie and rebelled and departed from thy preceptes and not obeyed thy servauntes the prophetes and nothinge saue open shame appertaineth vnto vs. We heare no ende of accusation iniquitie vpon sinne wickednes vpon iniquity rebellion vpon wickednes and still a further proceeding in the testification of their vnrighteousnesse VVhen Ezra hearde that the people of the captivitie were mingled with
the heathen hee rente his cloathes and plâ—ckte of the haire of his heade and bearde and sate astonied vntill the evening sacrifice at vvhat time hee arose againe and fell vpon his knees and spread out his handes vnto the Lord his God and saide O my God I am confounded and ashamed to lifte mine eies vnto thee my God for our iniquities are encreased over our heade and our trespasse is growen vp into the heaven As the manner of auncienter times was when heavinesse and trouble was vpon them to call for women and others that were most skilfull in mourning so they that will learne to repente and are not cunning in the art thereof let them repaâ—re to Esdras and such like who were most skilful in repenting O how available saith Ambrose are three syllables peccavâ— is but three syllables but the flame of an harty sacrifice ascendeth therein into heaven and fetcheth downe three thousand blessings Christ came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentaunce Sinners then all even the greatest Princes and rulers of the Iewes for they the greatest sinners No. but sinners in sense and conscience sinners in action and plea against themselues sinners in iudgement from their owne mouthes and against their owne heades these are they to whom Christ hath designed the medicine and restoratiue of his saving health According to his curteous invitation Mat. 11. Come vnto me all yee that travaile and labour not you that loiter with your sinnes and trifle with my iudgements you that beare your iniquities like strawes or corke seeke you other pardoners come you that are weary and are loaden with the burthen thereof I will refresh you The poore Publicane Luk 18. was one of those patients that tasted of such mercies he stood a far of not daring to approach vnto God that God might approach vnto him nor to lift vp his eies vnto heaven which hee had mooved to anger against him but smiting vpon his sinnefull brest as the arke of all iniquity and punishing himselfe with stripes that the Lorde might forbeare to punish him with a fearfull heart and trembling tongue called vpon his Saviour O Lorde bee mercifull vnto mee a sinner I saie not thy creature or servant or childe but onely a sinner my whole composition is sinne whatsoever I am in body or soule so far as my manhoode and humanity goeth a sinner and not onelie by mine office calling because I am a Publicane but even by nature and kinde it selfe a sinner So did Mary Magdelen in the seventh of the same Evangelist of whom there is no more reported but that she was a sinner as if the spirite of God had forgotten her other names wheÌ„ she heard that Iesus was come into a Pharisees house 1. She stood at his feete 2. behinde him 3. weeping 4 she began to wash as if she durst not go on but did often retract and pull backe her handes 5. the lowest part of his body his feete 6. with her teares though the water of the brooke had beene humanity enough 7. did wipe them not with the lappe of her coate but with the haires of her head 8. kissed them and lastly anointed them with a boxe of ointment O how precious an ointment flowed from her heart eies how odorâ—ferous wel-pleasing vnto Christ who made her apologie not only against the Pharisee in preferring her kindnesse before the entertainement of his house but against Satan and the power of hell in forgiving her many sinnes The like submissiue behaviour we read of the woman which had the issue of bloud for she also came behinde Christ as Mary Magdelen did avoiding the sharpnes and pearsing of his eagles eie and touched the hemme of his garment for shee saide in her selfe I dare not be so rude and vnmannerly to presse him as the multitudes did if I may but touch not embrace him nay his garment the very hemme of his garment no vpper or honorable part thereof I shall be whole In all these humble and skilfull repentances as of those who knew their sinnes by heart were able to set downe their ful catalogue what successe doe we finde That vertue went out from Christ to this woman and many sinnes were remitted to the other the Publicane went home to his house iustified the children of the captivity were delivered the last daies of Iob vvere blest more than the first David at one time had his sinne translated at another the punishment mitigated the Lorde himselfe crying vnto his Angell It now sufficeth hold thy hande yea Balaam and Pharoah themselues fared the better for the false fire and but blazing of repentance Happy therefore is that conscience to conclude with the saying of Bernard vvherein trueth and mercy meete togither The trueth of him that confesseth his sinnes and the mercy of God that pardoneth them For mercy can never bee wanting vnto that soule which truely knoweth it selfe Others in a far greater number with far better reason expresse it by an interrogation who knoweth and make it a sentence absolute and compleate in it selfe without referring it to the former wordes Then they make this construction of it it may be the Lorde will turne or peradventure haue mercy vpon vs. They put it with ambiguity that while men doubt of salvation they may be the more earnest in repentance and seeke the better meanes to provoke God to mercie And surelie as doubting is the mother they say of enquiring for a man that doubteth not will never aske so some kinde of doubtfulnesse is the mother or at leastwis the nurse of repentance Ierome whose note the former was writing vpon the second of Ioel who knoweth of the Lord will returne and leaue a blessing behinde him expoundeth the prophet least happily the greatnesse of the clemencie of God shoulde make vs negligent therfore the prophet subioineth who knoweth So that it seemeth those tearmes of vncertainty are not in any sort to admit or allowe of doubting of salvation but rather to keepe vs from presumption We al know the mischiefe of that heady sinne Many are hindered saith Augustine froÌ„ their strength by presuming on their strength The collection that Pomeran maketh vpon these words is rather to iustifie than to condemne the Ninivites So far was it of that they had any confidence in their works that they rather doubted of the mercy of God and they were saved by faith who if they had rested vpon their owne merites must needs have despaired And he removeth all diffidence from the king and his nobles as if they included not themselves in the speech who knoweth if the Lord will returne but only spake it vnto the people in this sense In these dreadfull frightes and perplexities being encountered with 3. sore mischiefes at once atrocity of your sins shortnes of time greatnes of destruction none of you knoweth of the mercy of God as we doe and therefore vvee
looseth in charity hee getteth in faith that is in the assurance and ratification of the loue of God towardes him Commissum atque conscriptum est saith Augustine vppon the 51. Psalme of the adultery and murther of David So is this fault of Ionas both done and written by one of whome I am sure that his witnesse is true because hee accuseth himselfe and it is written for our learning that those who yet stand fall not and those that are fallen may rise againe Trust not your armes of flesh trust not your heartes of ashes trust not your purest and vprightest spirits whilest they have their dwelling in houses of clay and there is a law in the members striving against them to get the victory If you have stood a time yet trust not your legges you may slide againe or if you have slipt and recovered trust not that recovery for feare of back-sliding Trust not the prerogative of your calling Prophets have fallen Patriarches have fallen Apostles have fallen starres have fallen Angelles have fallen trust notly your strength it is infirmitye trust not wisedome it is folly trust not the frendshippe of the world it is enmity with God trust not the authority thereof it is contemptible in his sight trust not the purity of nature it is defiled trust not the righteousnesse of your workes it is vnperfit trust in the mercy of God for that onely is absolute and in the merites of his beloved sonne for they are all-sufficient It is I it is even I which for mine owne sake put avvay thine iniquities It is not I nor thou nor Abraham nor Moses nor Peter at Rome not Paul at Ierusalem that can doe this cure Heare thy Physitian It is I even I. Not with the preparation of thine owne nature nor with the liberty of thine owne will nor with the cooperation of thine owne iustice heare him once againe It is I even I which for mine owne sake If thou thinketh to hire him thou loosest him Hee standeth not vpon thy desart but vpon his owne most holy name his owne most righteous promise and the obedience of his owne and most only begotten sonne the Lord Christ Iesus An admonition to the readers IT may seeme strange that I have vsed so lardge and impertinent a digression in behalfe of good learning As after a longe oration spent in the praise of Hercules one asked quis vituperavit Who dispraised Hercules So you may desire to know vvho dispraised learning Let it suffice you to vnderstand that one of my fellow-labourers in this worke of the Lorde whome neither I iudge in the freedome of his conscience for speaking what hee thought neither can free from the community of erring with my selfe and others because wee are all vnperfite in knowledge vpon the best day of the seven in the best place and before not the meanest assembly handling the wordes of the Apostle 1. Cor. 16.13 watch yee stand fast in the faith tooke occasion therevpon to stande for the onelye worde of faith in sermons with vehement exception against the histories of the Gentiles Orators Poets other prophane knowledge Wherein let it be his commendation that according to the warning of his text he was diligent in his watch and being iealous for the truth suspected those for enemies which were not and shewed his fidelity to the faith though he went a litle too far missed in the iust measure of applying it For mine owne part I woulde have spared mine answer especially in publicke but that I perceived the speech to bee bent to some marke of a few that laboured in that calling and the eares of the people dranke it in with earnest attētion because it was heartily spoken and some were perplexed others offended therewith and learning was wounded which not to have salved had beene a wrong and the arrow flew from her side glanced vpon vs all without exception in that church who in our manner of teaching held no other course THE XLI LECTVRE Chap. 4. ver 2. And he praied vnto the Lord and said I pray thee O Lord was not this my saying when I was yet in my country c. THe first part of this chapter is spent in declaring the fault of Ionas his vnmerciful affection towards this poore people freed from the wrath of God to whō he should have wished wel if they had beene enemies as now they were friends reconciled by apparāt repentance rather thē have missed this successe which fell out not only have doubled and trebled his paines but even have pulled out his eies laid downe his life to have saved their lives Ionas in liew hereof envieth their mercy received and is angry against God the dispenser carver of that mercy angry against himselfe that hee liveth to behold his expectatiō so contraried A wound in a prophet so much the more intollerable that it was but greene after his late recovery For being newly raised vp from falling he dasheth his foote presently against the same stone rebelling before against the expresse commandement of God and now repining fretting expostulating not much lesse then rebelling againe One would have thought that the salte sea should have purged and washed away all his cholericke distemperatures and that his daunger so nevvly endured and eschewed farther than his hope coulde see into shoulde wholye have transformed him into a man of mercye But you see it is otherwise For the goodnes of God displeaseth Ionas exceedingly and hee is angry The impatience of Ionas consisting of envy implied and probably coniectured it displeased Ionas of anger openly expressed wee haue in generall laide downe in the first verse are particularly to pursue in those that follow Thē were named the affections onely now we come to the effectes of those affections with what gesture speech he came before God Surely the effects are such that they deserue to bee smitten with the censure of the wise man A stone is heavy the sand weighty but yet a fooles heart is heavier than thē both Ballance the iustice of God in his righteous dealing with the penitent city of Niniveh against the anger of Ionas fired enraged doth not Ionas impeach it as if the Lord had done some iniury for which he were iustly to be taunted brought into question O I beseech thee was not this my saying c. Pōder his owne offence which if Saul or some other aliant had cōmitted hee should haue borne his trespasse doth he not iustifie it therfore I prevented it that is I did not amisse to flie vnto Tharsis The state of this mighty city to be desolate overthrown he regardeth no more than to see a grasse in the field mowen downe For I knew thee to be a mercifull God that which I feared is fallen vpon me the exhibition of thy grace to Niniveh Yea the price of his owne life is but vile in his owne eies so he may wreake his anger
the sight of God speake we in Christ. Againe vvee walke not in craftinesse neither handle vvee the worde of God deceiptfullie but in the declaration of the truth vvee approoue our selues to every mans conscience in the sighte of God Nay to every conscience of men that is bee the conscience good or bad light or darkenesse they shall haue no iust cause against vs. What needeth longer discourse the sonne of God himselfe Ioh. 18. confesseth before Pilate For this cause am I borne and for this cause came I into the vvorlde that I mighte beare vvitnesse vnto the truth For when the truth of God is wronged then the advise of Cyprian taketh place wee must not holde our peace least it begin to savour not of modestie and shamefastnesse but distrust of our cause that wee keepe silence And vvhilst vvee are carelesse to refute false criminations vvee seeme to acknowledge the crime The trueth of Christians is comparably fairer than that Helen of the Greekes and the Martyres of our Church haue foughte more constantly in her quarrell against Sodome than ever those nobles and Princes for Helen against the Troianes There was never prophet true nor false in Israell nor Canaan but tooke it a greate reproach and stayne vnto them to bee toucht with falshood Micheas whome neither the court-like perswasions of the Eunuch that went for him nor the consent of foure hundred prophetes nor the favour of tvvo kings nor danger of his owne heade coulde drawe from the word of God standeth firmely in defence of the trueth Zedechias the false prophet in seeming as earnestly for the trueth likevvise yet these as contrary one to the other as Hiena and the dogge the one saieth goe to Ramoth Gilead and prosper the other sayth if thou returne in saftie the LORDE hath not sent mee The one to expresse it in life and by a visible signe maketh hornes of yron and telleth Ahab vvith these thou shalt push at Aram till thou haste destroyed him the other hath also an Image and a vision whereby to describe it I savv all Israell scattered vpon the mountaines like sheepe that had no shephearde Yet both for the truth Ieremy and Hanany agreeing like fire and vvater the one bidding the king to goe vnto Babylon the other advising the contrary the one sending fetters to the king and the nobles the other pulling the yoke from the necke of Ieremy and saying thus shall the yoke of Babell bee broken the one affirming the other denying yet both are champians for the trueth The devill a lyar and the father of lyes vvho abode not in the trueth because there is no trueth in him vvho vvhen he speaketh a lye speaketh of his ovvne that is his naturall and mother tongue is lying Ioh. 8. yet hee transformeth himselfe into an Angell of lighte therefore it is no greate thinge sayeth the Apostle though his ministers transforme themselues as though they vvere the ministers of righteousnesse vvhose ende shall bee according to their workes Christ is truth indeede Antichrist truth pretended The dayly exclamations of the Donatistes in Africke against the Orthodoxe and sounde beleevers was that they vvere traitours against the holy bookes and themselues the propugners of them Augustine answereth traitours not by conviction but by confiction and false accusation of their enemies Dioscorus crieth out himselfe an heretique in the Councell of Chalcedon I defende the opinions of the holy fathers I haue their testimonies not by snatches or at the seconde hande but vttered in their owne bookes I am cast out vvith the holy fathers as if truth it selfe had beene condemned in the condemnation of Dioscorus So is it at this day the Prophets of BabyloÌ„ though they haue received the marke of the beast in their foreheades that all the worlde may knowe them to bee such yet as Cyprian in his Epistle to Iubaianus wrote of the Novatian heretique that after an apish manner hee taketh vnto him the authority of the Church so these by the like imitation take vnto them the Church trueth Scriptures Fathers all antiquity consent perpetuity vnto the ende of the world and rather than the worlde shall thinke that they deale not truely in defense of truth they spend both conscience and sometime life vpon it O quantum tegmen est falsitatis O howe greate a shew doth falshod make For our owne partes vvho by the grace of God are that wee are put in chardge for the gathering togither of Gods Saintes if we be harmed in our goodes or good names or in the carriage of our liues or in our wiues and children as sometimes the maner is we accompt them our private wronges and easilye may digest them It hath beene done in the greene in all the times that haue beene ever of olde much more in the drie they haue called the maister of the house Belzebub much more those of the housholde We preach not our selues but Christ Iesus the Lorde and our selues your servauntes for Iesus sake and for his sake we will endure it We are fooles for Christs sake and you are wise wee are weake and you are strong you are honourable and we despised Be it so But we will never abide that the honour of Christ Iesus himselfe shal be wounded through our loines that the rebukes which fall vpon vs shal redound to his disgrace that his gospell and truth shall be defamed the doctrine which we preach discredited our calling reproached which though in vessels of earth yet he hath sanctified and blessed to such a worke I meane the saving of soules as by the pollicy of man all forcible engins could never haue beene coÌ„passed How vsual a thing it is vpon every light surmise not only to chardge vs for false prophets but because we are prophets at al to coÌ„teÌ„ne vs to disdain vs for that wherin we are most to be 〈◊〉 I report me to that common phrase of speech when if men will shooâ—â—oorâ—h arrowes against vs with poisoned heads even bitter sharpe worâ—es they thinke it the greatest ignominy to cal vs Priests or Ministers Herein if the zeale of gods house his holy ordinaÌ„ce coÌ„sume vs if the maintenance of his cause our calling beare vs away make vs forget the spirit of gentlenes for a time let no man blame vs. For is our office dishonored amongst you We tel them whosoever they be as David told Michol who scorned him for dancing before the Arke it was before the Lord which chose me rather than thy father and all his house commaunded mee to be ruler over the people And therefore I will play before the Lord and I will yet be more vile than thus and will bee low in mine owne sighte It is before the Lord that we are Priestes and Ministers to serue in his house and at his table who hath chosen vs rather than their fathers and whole stocke to serue in this office And therefore we will
surely I rather thinke that they blessed Ionas in their heartes and that the dust of his feete was welcome and precious vnto them who by his travaile and paines had taught them to flie from the anger of God that was now falling Others conceaue the reason heere implyed therefore I prevented to be this Hee saw that the conversion of the Gentiles vvas by consequence an introduction of the overthrow and castinge out of the Iewes and that it woulde bee fulfilled vpon them which is written in Deuteronomy They haue mooved mee to iealousie with that which is not God they haue provoked mee to anger with their vanities and I mooue them to iealousie with those which are no people I vvill provoke them to anger vvith a foolish nation That is if wee vvill interpret it by this present subiect Niniveh shall repente and condemne Israell the more for not hearkning to the voice of so many Prophets Ierome brieflie thus It grieveth him not that the Gentiles are saved but that Israell perisheth Our Saviour we all know would not giue the breade of children to dogges and hee vvas not sent but to the lost sheepe of the house of Israell and he vvepte over Ierusalem which hee never did over Tyre and Sidon and the prerogatiue of the Iews was either onely or principally that repentance and remission of sinnes should be preached vnto them I remit you to the 10. of the Actes to see what labour was made to drawe Peter to the Gentiles whome hee called common and vncleane thinges And in the 11. of the same booke they of the circumcision contended with him aboute it sayinge thou vventest in vnto the vncircumcised and hast eaten with them It might be his further griefe that he onely amongst so many Prophets should bee singled out to declare the ruine of his people by the vprising of straungers to beare the envy of the facte and to bee the messenger of the vnwelcomest newes that ever Israll received For he is the first that must bring Iudaisme in contempt and make it manifest to the vvorlde that his country-men at home are vnfruitfully occupied and troubled about many things sacrifices sacramentes washinges cleansinges and the like when others abroade observing that one thing that is necessarie with lesse labour and businesse came to be saved Luther comparing the times wherein Ionas and himselfe lived openeth the case by familiar explication thus The Iewes accompted themselues by a constant opinion and claime the peculiar people of God the Romish themselues the onely Catholiques they thought there could be no salvation without observing the law of Moses and the rites of the Iewish Synagogue nor these without observing the ordinances and ceremonies of the Romish Church they cried powre out thy wrath vpon the nations and vpon the people that haue not called vpon thy name these held them for hereticks not worthy the aire they drew that ioyned not themselues vnto them Nowe lastlie as it was an odious office in these latter daies to preach vnto any nation or city vnder heaven that the foolishnesse of preaching and onely Christ crucified was able to saue soules without creeping to crosses kneeling knocking kissing sprinckling censing ringing fasting gadding with such like toyes and the conversion of any parte of Christendome vvith lesse circumstaunce coulde not but bee a shame preiudice and condemnation vnto Rome in some sorte that having greater helpes and furtherances to God went further from him so the reclaiminge of Niniveh by one when Iury had many prophetes by the denouncement of one when Iury had many prophecies by a single and short commination when Iury had the whole law and testimonies by a compendious course of repentance when they fasted and tithed and sacrificed and cryed the temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord and I know not what coulde not lesse be than a reproach to the people which was so backwarde and an exception to their whole forme of religion wherein they no better profited It had beene no marvaile if when Ionas returned into Israell the hand of his own father and mother had beene first against him for doing that wrong to his people as they adiudged their bodies to the fire and their souls they delivered to Satan who opened their mouth against the church of Rome Whatsoever his reasons were whither the care of his credite or whither affection to his country-men drew him away to that recusancie both which are but particular and partiall respects when God commandeth otherwise his fault is no way excusable by reason but that God of his grace is ready to giue pardon and relaxation to al kinde of sinne Therefore I prevented Thy grounde is vnstable Ionas thy argumente vnsounde thou vsest but a fallacie to deceiue thy selfe thou hadst no reason so to do the will of the Lord of hostes which is absolute righteousnes a reason beyond all reasons withstoode it Thou thoughtest to prevent the Lord thou couldest not the vvindes saw thy hast staied thee the sea held thee backe the fish made resistaÌ„ce against thee the bars of the earth shut thee vp if these had failed in their misteries the wisedome of God would haue invented other staies He could haue stopped thee in thy course as he stopped Paule in his iourney by dazeling thine eies that thou shouldest not haue fouÌ„d thy way or as he stopped Lots wife in her way by making thee a pillar of salt or some other rocke of stone a monument of contradiction to the latest age of the world He could haue dried vp thy hands tied vp thy feete in iron no but in the bands of death never to haue stirred againe Let all the wisdome of man beware of the like preventioÌ„ least it prevent it selfe thereby of all the blessings of God vse of natiue country comfort of kinsmen friendes life of bodie happines of soule as Ionas might haue done if the mercies of God had not fauoured him When we are ignorant of the wil of God let vs lay our hands vpon our mouthes vpon our hearts too till God grant wisdome that we may descry it when we are doubtfull let vs enquire deliberate aske counsaile of the lawe testimony of God but when it is clearley revealed by open and expresse commâ—undement let vs not then pawse vpon the matter much lesse resist least of al prevent vnlesse by making a proofe experiment of our own wit as Ionas did we wil hazard that losse which the gain of the whole world shall never be able to recompence For I knew that thou art a gracious God and mercifull slow to anger and of great kindnesse and repentest thee of the evill· Ionas proceedeth to that which was the ground inducement to his rebellion For the order of the scripture is this God is a mercifull God for many respectes one part of office of that mercy is to repeÌ„t him of the evill that is to change his
to Christ vnder the colour of a kisse so to tender his impatient fittes vnto the Lord the searcher of his heart reines vnder the nature and forme of prayer His anger at an other time and in another action when hee had sequestred his soule from the king of heaven and heavenly things had beene more sufferable But then to pray vvhen hee vvas thus angry or then to bee angry vvhen hee came to pray and not to slake the heate thereof but still to heape on outragious wordes as hote as Iuniper coles can no way bee excused Yet thus hee doth The fire is kindled in his heart and the sparkles fly forth of the chimney as Salamon spake vndutifull speaches towards the maiesty of God and most vnaturall against his owne life Surely the wrath of man doth not accomplish the righteousnes of God it is very far form it 2 Consider his haste how headlong hee goeth in his rash and vnadvised request For as if the case required some such speede as the prophet had in chardge for the annointing of Iehu powre the boxe vpoÌ„ his head and say thus saith the Lord and then open the dore and flee without tarrying no sooner hath he opened his lippes or conceived his suit in his minde but the Lord must presently and without delay effect it It appeareth in that he vrdgeth the matter so closely at Gods hands Now therefore since I haue prooved it and I am not able to beare the burthen of my griefe nor longer endure the tediousnes of my life doe it without protraction of time It was a goodly and sober oration that Iudith made to her people of Bethulia touching their oath to deliver the cittie to the enemie vvithin fiue daies vnlesse the LORDE sent helpe And novve vvho are you that haue tempted God this daie and set your selues in the place of GOD amonge the children of men Nay my brethren provoke not the Lorde our God to anger For if hee vvill not helpe vs vvithin these fiue daies hee hath povver to defend vs vvhen hee vvill even every day or to destroy vs before our enemies Doe not you therefore binde the counsailes of the LORDE for God is not as man that hee may bee threatned neither as the sonne of man that hee may bee called to iudgement Therefore let vs waite for salvation of him and call vppon him to helpe vs and hee vvill heare our voice if it please him Thus we should teach and exhorte our selues in all our praiers not to set him a time as the disciples did about the kingdome of Israell vvhen LORDE or as Ionas doeth in this place novve Lorde or then Lorde but vvhen it pleaseth him And as the Psalme adviseth vs O tarrie the LORDES leasure hope in the Lorde and bee stronge and hee shall comforte thine hearte when hee thinketh good There are many reasons why God differreth to graunt our petitions 1. to prooue our faith vvhither we will seeke vnlawfull meanes by gadding to the woman of Endor or the idoll of Ekron or such like heathenish devises 2. to make vs thoroughly privie to our own infirmities and disabilities that wee may the more heartily embrace his strengh 3. to strengthen and confirme our devotion towardes him for delay extendeth our desires 4. to make his giftes the more welcome and acceptable to vs or 5. it is not expedient for vs to haue them granted too soone Or lastly there is some other cause which God hath reserved to his owne knowledge Now this petition which Ionas is so forward hasty in is contrary to all reason For are not the daies of man determined Iob. 14. is not the number of his monethes with the Lord and hath not the Lord set him boundes which he cannot passe Doth not an other say My times are in thine handes O Lord why then doth Ionas so greedily desire to shorten his race to abridge that number of time which his Creator hath set him 3. We commonly pray that it wil please the Lord to give not to take away to bestow something vpon vs not to bereave vs of any blessing of his SalomoÌ„ 1. Kin. 3. beseecheth him for wisedome Giue vnto thy servant an vnderstanding heart da mihi intellectum giue me vnderstanding was the vsuall request of his father David We say in our daily praier giue vs this day our daily bread forgiue vs our trespasses that is give vs remission of all our sins That that is said to descend from above from the father of lights is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 giving and gift not taking away For God hath a bountifull nature and as liberall an hand he openeth it at lardge and filleth every living thing with his blessing Hee asketh of every creature in the world what hast thou that thou hast not receaved and of vs that have receaved the first fruites of his spirite and to whome he hath given his sonne what is there in the world that you may not receaue But Ionas is earnest with God against the accustomed manner of prayer and the course of Gods mercies to take something from him 4. But what Aufer-opprobrium take from mee shame and rebuke vvhereof I am afraide as David besought Vanitatem verba mendacia longè fac à me vanitye and lyinge vvordes put farre from mee Aufer iniquitatem servi tui take avvay the sinne of thy servant when hee had numbred the people Or as Iob prayed Aufer at à me virgam suam let him take avvay his rodde from mee Or as Pharaoh requested Moses and Aaron to pray to the Lord for him to take avvay the frogges and afterwardes vvhen the grassehoppers vvere sent to take avvay frow him that one death onelye No his life His dearling that lived and laye within his bosome VVhich because it is the blessing of God good in nature and fitâ— for the exercise of goodnesse the strongest man living is loth to depart from The other which I spake of were plagues to the land banes to the conscience hinderances â—o salvation and therefore it was no marvaile if God were humbly entreated to remove them But Pharaoh in his right wittes nor skarsely Orestes beinge madde vvoulde ever have desired that his life shoulde bee taken from him Who ever became a suter to GOD to take avvaye the life of his oxe or asse because they were given him for labour Much lesse of his wife which was made an helper vnto him or his childe a comforter Or who ever hath entreated him to give him evill for good a scorpion for a fish a serpent for an egge stones for bread Ionas is found thus senselesse skant worthy of that soule which he setteth so light by He should have desired God to have taken away the stony heart out of the middest of him and not scelus de terra Ezech. 23. or spiritum immundum de
chardge you at this time with these particulars 1. what Ionas made a booth 2. for what vse to sit vnder the shadowe of it 3. how long to continue till hee mighte see vvhat vvas done in the cittie The 1. and the 2. shew vnto vs the one the nature the other the vse of all buildinges By nature they are but boothes and tabernacles and such as the Prophet reporteth of Sion that shee shoulde remaine as a cottage in a vineyarde and like a lodge in a garden of cucumbers Or as Iob speaketh in the 27. of his booke like a lodge that the watchman maketh no longer to abide than till that service is ended I would be loth to tearme them the houses of spiders and moathes as Iob doth but compared with eternity such they are The patriarches and people of auncienter times dwelt but in tentes easily pight and as easily remooved and as many other things in antiquity so this amongst the rest was a figure to all the ages of the world to come that so long as they dwell vpon the earth they haue but a temporall and transitory habitation The earth which we dwel vpon is but our place of soiourning and wherein vvee are strangers as God tolde Abraham Gen. 17. In the 47 of the same booke Pharaoh asked Iacob howe many were the daies of the yeares of his life Iacob to expresse our condition of travailing and flitting vpon the earth to and fro aunswered the king the whole time not of my life but of my pilgrimage or rather pilgrimages by reason of often remooues is an hundreth and thirty yeares Few and evill haue the daies of my life beene and I haue not attained vnto the yeares of the life of my fathers in the daies of their pilgrimages David 1. Chron. 29. giveth thankes vnto the Lord in behalfe of himselfe and his people that they were able to offer so willingly towards the building of the temple because all thinges came of him and from his owne hande or liberalitie they had given vnto him For saith he we are strangers before thee and soiourners like all our fathers our daies are as the shadowe vpon the earth and there is none abiding Thus Iacob and his fathers David and his Princes and his people and their fathers al were pilgrimes Let vs see nowe what vse the Apostle maketh hereof Hee saith of Abell Enoch Noah Abraham Sarah and the rest that all these died in faith and received not the promises but sawe them a farre of and beleeved them and receaved them thankefullie and confessed that they vvere strangers pilgrimes on the earth For they that say such things declare plainly that they seeke a country It may bee their owne from whence they were exiled the Apostle aunswereth no. For if they had beene mindefull of that countrey froÌ„ whence they came out they had leasure to haue returned But now they desire a better that is an heavenly Wherefore God is not ashamed of them to be called their God for he hath prepared for theÌ„ a citty Likewise he exhorteth vs Heb. 13. As Iesus to sanctifie the people vvith his owne bloud suffered without the gate so that we should goe forth of the campe bearing his reproach for here we haue no continuing citty but wee seeke one to come And our Saviour told his disciples Ioh. 4. that in his fathers house there were many mansions or settled dwellings for here wee haue but tabernacles Houses I confesse we haue as foxes haue thtir holes birdes their nestes and bees their hiues to be chased and driven from them but till the promise be fulfille which is mentioned Revel 21. that the tabernacle of God shal be with men that is men shal be with the tabernacle of God and God dwell with vs and we with him in heavenly Ierusalem we must trust to that other prophecie Mich. 2. surgite ite arise and depart for this is not your rest The vse of buildings is that we may sit vnder the shadowe thereof The posterity of Noah Gen. 11. having fouÌ„d out a place in the plaÌ„ie of Sinar said go to let vs build vs a citty towre to get vs a name Was that the end of buildings Nabuchodonosor Dan. 4. built them a palace for the house of his kingdome and for the honour of his maiesty to vaunt of the mightines of his power and to forget the God of heaven Was that the end of building It seemeth by the wordes of Salomon Eccles. 2. that hee made him great worke and built him houses to prooue his hearte vvith ioie and to take pleasure in pleasant thinges Or was that the end of building Some build wonders of the world as the walles of Babylon set vp by Semiramis the house of Cyrus the tombe of Mâ—usolus All which buildings whither they be summer-parlours as Eglons Iud. 3. or winter-caÌ„hbers houses in the citty or TusculaÌ„ farmes in the couÌ„try were they as stately for heigth as the spires of Egypt or as the teÌ„ple of the great Diana of the Ephesians which as they were woÌ„dred at for their buildings so for their ruine dissipation or were they as sumptuous for cost as that pallace of king Alcinous the wals wherof were of brasse the gates of gold the entries of silver they are all but vanity and vvhen vvee haue all done there is none other vse of building than to sit and shadovve our selues and to defend our bodies from the violence of the weather and other forreigne iniuries It is a sickenesse that some men haue to spend their time in building as the Epigramme noted Gellius Gellius aedificat semper Gellius is alvvaies building or repayring or chaunging or doing somewhat to keepe his hand in If a friend come to borrowe money of him Gellius hath no other word in his mouth but I am in building Alas to what purpose are these lardge and spacious houses without inhabitants chimneyes without smoake windowes not for prospect but for martins to breed and owles to sing in Such are the tenants insteed of families heretofore kept hospitality maintained nowe hedge-hogs lying vnder the walles wesels dwelling in the parlours Ieremy doth notably taxe the vanity of a great builder Hee saith I wil build me a wide house and lardge chambers so he wil make himselfe greate windowes and seele theÌ„ with Cedar paint them with Vemiâ—ton But shalt thou raigne saith the prophet because thou closest thy selfe in Cedar did not thy father thy grandfather eate and drinke and prosper when they executed iudgement and iustice kept houses relieved the poore but thine eies thy heart are but only for covetuousnes oppression for vainglory to coÌ„maund and over-looke the country round about and to leaue a name behind thee even to do this and according to the endes thou proposest herein so shall the Lord visite thee Till he might see what should be done in the citty But the
sonnes of men there is no helpe in them that is not so for Eue was made an helper to the man but there is no salvation in them or salvation there may bee such as it is for a moment of time not finall as Iosuah was a Saviour vnto Israell and salvation of the body but not of the soule whereas the salvation of the Lorde is never but salvation for he is the same God and his yeares faile not and it reacheth to all partes for his arme is not shortened Plinie observeth in his naturall historie that nature hath given armour and covering to all other living thinges shelles crustes hides prickles haires feathers fleeces skales Chrysostome addeth talents tuskes hornes onely man vpon his birth day shee doth cast forth naked and vpon the naked grounde to weeping and howling Chrysostome giveth the reason God hath so disposed of man that himselfe might bee his onelie protection He confessed in the person of all mankinde who sawe it experienced in his owne naked I came from my mothers wombe and naked I shall returne thither againe VVe heare their beginning and their ending But say that in the course of his life man shall haue girded himselfe with strength and decked him with maiesty vvhat is hee then more than a vaine man For what did it helpe the children of Canaan that the sonnes of Anak Gyants of the earth dwelt amongst them of whome the children of Israell saide vvee haue seene the sonnes of Anak there They were all destroyed by Iosuah they and their citties and not one Anakim left in the mountaines of Israell and Iudah VVee reade of Og the King of Basan the onely remnaunt of those Gyants that his bed was a bed of yron the length of it 9. cubits the breadth 4. after the cubite of a man yet how often doth the Psalmist sing hee hath slaine mightie kings Sehon king of the Amorites and Og the king of Basan VVhat did it profit the Philistines that the monster Golias was amongst thē or the monster himselfe that his stature was so huge his helmet his greues his corslet his shield all of brasse the staffe of his speare like a weavers beame hee vvas smitten by a childe in comparison who came with a sheepheards staffe and sling in his hand a few smooth stones in his skrippe but that which was the safest munition of all others in the name of the Lorde of hostes the God of Israell whom he had rayled vpon These and the like experimentes made him so bolde afterwardes that hee defied all men I will not feare what man can doe vnto mee I will not feare for tenne thousandes of people that shall beset mee round about though an host were pitched against mee my heart shoulde not bee afraide all nations compassed mee about but in the name of the Lorde will I destroy them They haue compassed mee about I say they haue compassed mee about but in the name of the Lorde shall I destroy them They came aebout mee like Bees and are extinct even as a fire of thornes for in the name of the Lorde shall I destroy them The reason is for thou Lorde hast holpen mee thou art my strength and my song thou haste beene my deliverance The Lord is a man of warre his name is Iehovah the eternall God is thy refuge and vnder his armes thou art for ever hee shall cast out the enemie before thee and vvill say destroy them The one was the songe of Moses after the drowning of Pharaoh and his host the other a part of his blessing given to the tribes of Israell not long before his death It was not the sword of Gedeon that overthrew the Madianites Iudg. 7. but the sword of the Lorde and Gedeon and therefore hee chose rather to giue that overthrow by few than by many least Israell might make their vaunt against him and saie my hande hath saved mee Afterwardes when they saide to Gedeon raigne thou over vs both thou and thy sonne and thy sonnes sonne for thou haste delivered vs out the hande of Madian he answered them I will not raigne over you neither shall my childe raigne over you but the Lorde shall raigne over you You heare what our strength is And for other helpes seeke them farre and neare they are so weake that they are not able to chandge the colour of one haire to our bodies nor adde one cubite to our stature nor one minute of time to those daies which God hath assigned vs. Why then doe we flatter our selues that wee shall multiplie our daies as the sand or vvhat triacle is there at Gilead vvhat Physitian there that can cure the gowte in Asa his legges or lay a right plaister to the boyle of Ezechias or ease the king of the head which the Shunamites child complained of or heale a fever a dropsie an issue of bloud or anie one of a thousande diseases more wherewith the body of man is oppugned if the Lorde instruct and assist him not I reade that Socrates never needed physitian in his life time that Pompey a poet and a noble man borne was so sound that he never belched Anthonia the wife of Drusus never spit vt perhibent qui de magnis maior a loquuntur as they say who of greate matters vse greater wordes their times belike were more temperate and therefore lesse rheumatike than ours We desire to haue strong bodies able to doe vs service in our olde age sed prohibent grandes patinae but wee eate and drinke so much that it cannot be Asclepiades a Physitian indented with fortune that if ever hee should happen to fall sicke hee would no longer bee a Physitian E◠quid opus Cratero magnos promittere montes vvhat neede Asclepiades vvho with a sodaine fall of a ladder prevented sickenesse and ended his dayes or Craterus or any other Physitian promise such mountaines to himselfe or others A Physitian is to be honoured with that honour that is due vnto him but of the most High commeth healing his knowledge lifteth vp the head hee receaveth giftes of the king and in the sight of great men hee shall bee had in admiration but the Lord hath created the medicines of the earth the Apothecarie maketh a confection and yet hee cannot finish his owne worke Let the Physitian do his part with an vpright and faithfull minde in the sighte of God who hath created him let him not lie to his patient and thrall nor draw him into errour as Abraham did Abemelech in saying that Sara was but his sister when shee was his wife hee had well-nigh caused him to sinne by that false suggestion so these may deceaue their patientes and make them the more carelesse by telling them that their disease is further of in degree when it is incorporate into them and lyeth so neare to their body even like a wife that it may not bee severed when the sicke man and his sickenesse
favour and partiality to the religion established no place lefte to dissemble with God or man Tanti meriti tanti pectoris tāti oris tantae virtutis episcopu as Augustine spake of Cypriā so worthy so wise so well spoken so vertuous so learned a Byshope gaue such counsaile vnto them 3. To all the members of the Church of England vnity of soule and heart to embrace the doctrine authorized And lastly to himselfe peace and rest in the assured mercies of God This peace he hath plentifull fruition of vvith the God of peace For though he seemeth in the eies of the foolish to be dead yet is he in peace And like a true Hebrew he hath eaten his last passeover amongst vs and it is past from death to life where with vnspeakable ioy of heart he recompteth betweene himselfe and his soule Sicut audivimus sic et vidimus As I haue heard so now haue I seeene and felt in the citty of our God and with the blessed Angells of heaven and all the congregation of first borne singeth the songue of Moses a songue of victory and thanksgiving rendring all blessing honour glory power to him that sitteth vpon the throne and the Lambe that was killed and that vndefiled Spirit which proceedeth from them both by whome hee was sealed vp at his death to his everlasting redemption A SERMON PREACHED IN YORKE THE SEVENTEENTH DAY OF NOVEMBER IN THE YEARE OF our Lorde 1595. being the Queenes day Printed at Oxford by Ioseph Barnes 1599. 2. King 23 25. Like vnto him was there no king before him that turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soule c. THE remembrance of Iosias is like the perfume that is made by the arte of the Apothecarie it is svveete as hony in all mouthes and as musicke at a banquet of vvine he behaued himselfe vprightly in the reformation of the people and tooke away all abominations of iniquitie hee directed his hearte vnto the Lorde and in the time of the vngodlie hee established religion vvhich to haue done in a better season the zeale of the people and favour of the time advauntaging him had beene lesse praise The lande vvas sowen with none other seede saue idolatrie and iniquitie vvhen he came vnto it For by that vvhich is written of him we may know what he reformed All idolatrous both Priestes and monuments whether Chemarims or blacke friars Priestes of Baal of the sun moone or planets though founded and authorized by both ancient and late kings before him namely in these recordes by Salomon Ahaz Manasses Ieroboam togither with their high places or valleyes their groues altars vesselles vvheresoever hee found them either in Ierusalem or Iudah in Samaria or Bethel in the temple or in the courtes of the temple vpon the gates or in the kings chambers not sparing the bones of the Priestes either living or deade but raking them out of their graues besides the impure Sodomites and their houses sooth-sayers and men of familiar spirites he destroyed defiled cut downe burnt to ashes bet to powder threwe into the brooke and left no signe of them Hee followed both a good rule and a good example His rule is here specified according to all the law of Moses his example in the chapter before hee did vprightly in the sight of the Lord an◠walked in all the waies of David his father and bowed neither to the right hande nor to the lefte Hee was prophecied of three hundred yeares vpward before his birth a rare singular honour that both his name should be memorable after his death as heere we finde it and written in the booke of GOD before ever his partes were fashioned His actes are exactelye set downe in this and the former Chapters and in the second of Chronicles and foure and thirteeth vpon the recital wherof is this speach brought in by waie of an Epiphoneme or acclamation advancing Iosias aboue all other kings and setting his head amongst the stars of God The testimonie is very ample which is here given vnto him that for the space almost of fiue hundred yeares from the first erection of the kingdome to the captivity of Babylon vnder the government of 40. kings of Iudah and Israell there was not one found who either gaue or tooke the like example of perfection In the catalogue of which kings though there were some not many vertuous and religious David Salomon Asa Iehosaphat Iehu Ioash Amasia Iothan Hezekias yet they haue all their staines their names are not mentioned without some touch The wisdome honor riches happines of Salomon every way were so great that the Queene of Saba worthily pronounced of him Blessed be the Lord thy God which loved thee c. Will you know his blemish but Salomon loved many out-landish women and they broughte him to the loue of many out-landish Gods so he is noted both for his corporall spiritual whordomes Asa the son of Abiam did right in the eies of the Lord as did David his father 1. King 15. his heart was vpright with the Lord all his daies he put downe Maachah his mother for idolatrie The bitter hearbe that marreth al this is but he put not downe the high places Iehosaphat did well hee walked in all the waies of Asa his father declined not ther-from but did that which was right in the eies of the Lord 1. Kin. 22. neverthelesse the high places were not taken away Iehu did well God gaue him this testimony 2. King 10. because thou haste diligently executed that which was right in mine eies therefore shall thy sonnes vnto the fourth generation sit on the seate of Israell but Iehu regarded not to vvalke in the vvaies of the Lorde God of Israell vvith all his heart Amafiah did well he did vprightlie in the sight of the Lord 2. King 14. yet not like David his father David himselfe so much renowned as the principall patterne of that royall line to be imitated by them yet hath a scarre vpon his memory hee did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and turned from nothinge that hee commaunded him all the daies of his life 1. King 15. thus farre good saue onelie in the matter of Vriah the Hittire Onelie Iosias is without spotte or vvrinckle like vnto him was there no king And as in the number of bad kinges Rehoboam did ill Ieroboam worse for hee sinned and made Israell to sinne but Omri vvorse than all that went before him 1. King 16. yet Ahab worse than all before him in the same place so in the number of the good though Salomon did wel Iehosaphat perhaps better David best of al yet Iosias is beyonde the vvhole companie vvhich either went before or came after him Like vnto him was there no king It had beene a great praise to Iosias to haue had none better than himselfe to haue matched the vertues and godlines of his progenitours
who from Iulianus turned his name to Iulius that hee might somewhat match himselfe with Iulius Caesar was wont to say It is a base thing that the Levites shoulde serue and bee in subiection vvho rather are meete to governe other men Erasmus being at Bonony in his time thus writeth to his friende At this present studies are very colde in Italie warres verie hote Iulius the highest Bishoppe fighteth vanquisheth triumpheth and playeth the part of Iulius indeede VVorthy of immortall fame saith the authour of the history if hee had beene the Emperour rather than the Pope of Rome To conclude I will but adde what Petrarch an Italian and countrie-man of their ovvne and one vvhome Innocentius woulde faine haue had to haue beene his secretarie writeth of the Pope by waie of dialogue Pope I holde the towre or sway the honour of the highest prelacie Petrarke The first were wont to bee taken from this estate to Martyrdome novve they thinke they are called to pleasure therefore they striue so much for the place Pope I am the Pope of Rome Petr. Thou art called the servaunt of servauntes take heede thou make not thy selfe the Lorde of Lordes remember thy profession remember thy debt remember thy Lorde vvho iustlie is angrie vvith none more than vvith his Vicar or deputie VVith manie other free and friendlie exhortations of the like force Nowe if their spirites bee so mightie and vntamed let them exercise them at home with mutuall insidiations contentions depositions murtheringes poysonings and other vnpriestly and violent supplantations amongst themselues And if ever that iudgement vvere true vvhich Petrarch gaue that the life of men is shorte of kinges shorter of Popes shortest of all let it bee true still yea let all Babylon fall and let the seate of Antichrist be razed to the grounde but God for his owne glorie and for his gospel and Churches sake establish the thrones strengthen the handes lengthen the daies preserue the liues honour the faces of all religious and vertuous Princes Because my texte standeth wholie in comparison betwixte Iosias and other kinges giue mee leaue I beseech you in few wordes for the advauncement of Gods blessed name whose goodnesse we are highly bounde to acknowledge a testimonie of mine owne dutifull hearte and a further animation to you my brethren and the children of this lande to continue your obedience and faith to make some little comparison betwixte good king Iosias and gracious Queene Elizabeth 1. They both interpret their names in rendring and expressing by action the force thereof Iosias of the fire of the Lorde with whose zeale he was enflamed Elizabeth of his rest both because shee reposeth her selfe in his strength and for that the quiet tranquillity of this Land was by her happy governement restored 2. Iosias was prophecied of long before his birth 1. Kings 13. O altar altar c. Beholde a childe shal be borne to the house of David Iosias by name and vpon thee shall hee offer the priestes of the high places c. and vndoubtedly they presaged much of the abolishinge of altars and priestes vnder the raigne of Queene Elizabeth vvho laboured to prevent her government by such manifold practises 3. Iosias at the age of 16. yeares sought the God of his father David I never red or heard to the contrarie but that the child-hoode and prime of our soveraigne Lady and that glorious blossome her brother of blessed memorie were dedicated to true religion 4. Iosias forsaketh the idolatry of Amon and Manasses that went next before him and returneth backe to the faith of David Elizabeth declineth the path which her sister Mary had troden the foote-steppes whereof were yet very fresh and reneweth the waies of her father and brother almost worne out 5. Iosias had a good priest a good prophet a good chauncellour a good nobility faithfull vvorkemen The king commaunded that no accompte shoulde bee taken of them for they did their worke faithfullie It had not beene possible to haue repaired the ruines of defaced religion within this land without the advise and assistaunce of as faithfull a Counsaile and as zealous Priests of which though many were cast out for a time from their natiue countrey into Germany and other forreigne partes as a distempered stomake cannot endure to keepe holesome meates in it yet they vvere brought home againe with honour as banished Ieptha was and deservedly preferred to the highest dignities of our Church Such Nobles and priests as shee then had the Lord for ever blesse her vvith least it bee saide of this kingdome as sometimes of the Court of Maximilian An hundreth haue to deale in the affaires of the common vvealth but skarsely fiue or but eight at the most helpe them forwardes all the rest are hinderers 6. Iosias pulled downe altars priestes groues high places houses of Sodomites Queene Elizabeth left neither colledge nor cloister nor any other cage of Idolatrous birdes and neither Monke nor Frier to feede her people with errours 7. Iosias found restored the booke of the lawe hidden in obscurity Queene Elizabeth delivered from darkenes and banishmente the testamentes of her God not onelie hidden and buried in an vnknowne tongue but in corners and holes laide vppe and forbidden the light of heaven restoring both the letter of the booke to a vulgar language her people to freedome of conscience who might not read before but privily anâ— by stealth as men eat stollen breade Finally Iosias vvas directed in alâ—â—is waies by the booke of the lawe and no other starre guided the heart of our gracious Esther Iosias caused the booke of the lawe to bee openly red shee the everlasting gospell to bee preached throughout all her realmes and dominions Iosias maketh a covenant himselfe and taketh a covenant of his people to obserue it shee also bindeth her people by statutes and lawes to the true worshippe of God herselfe not second to any in rendring her vowes Iosias holdeth a famous passeover the like whereof from the daies of the iudges throughout all the daies of the kinges had never beene seene And her Maiesty hath purdged the sacraments of Christ reduced theÌ„ to their right forme vvhich I saie not from the time of the Conquerour but almost since the daies of the Apostles they vvere never happie enough to obtaine And as Iosias turned to the Lorde with all his hearte c. So whither her beautifull feete haue not taken a contrary course to that vvherein others had walked before her turned like the waters of Iordan vvhen Israell vvent over it not onely the people of this land but almost of whole Christendome swimming away apace in a full floud of Popish superstition and vvhither to the Lorde alone Angelles and Saintes omitted who in the consciences and opinions of men had set their seates by the seate of Almightie God said we will be like vnto him in worship and vvhither with all her hearte and vvith all her
soule and vvith all her mighte c. whom neither the curses of Popes nor the banding of the Princes of the earth crying a confederarcie a confedeacie against her nor practises vvithout her realme nor rebellions within nor the dissoialtie of male-contented subiectes nor trecherie vvithin her Courte and almost in her bosome did ever affright at least not shake from her first loue as they haue done other princes and cause to deale vnfaithfullye vvith the covenants of God let all the people of the earth so far as the fame of her constancy might be blowne vvitnesse with me Now there are also some differences heaping more honour and favour vpon the head of our Soveraigne Lady than befell Iosias For albeit Iosias began to raigne sooner yet shee hath longer continued And where Iosias raigned but 31. yeares shee hath accomplished the full number of 37. within few moneths of her fathers time And whereas Iosias but in the eighthy eare of his raigne began to seeke the God of his father David in the twelfth to purdge Ierusalem and in the eightenth to repare the house of the Lord this chosen handmaid of the most High â—ith the first beginning of her kingdome began to set vp the kingdome of God and so incontinently proceeded to a full reformation Lastly Iosias was slaine in battaile for not hearkening to the words of the Lorde out of the mouth of Necho the king of Egypt But long and long may it be before Her eies wax dimme in her head 〈◊〉 her naturall force bee abated And when shee is gathered to her fathers the burthen and woe whereof if the will of God bee fall vpon an other age let her goe to rest with greater tokens of his favour than ever to haue fallen into the hands of the king of Spaine or any the like enimy as Iosias fell into the handes of the king of Egypt But vvhen that daie shall come vvhich God hath decreed and nature his faithfull minister written downe in her booke iustly to obserue then to go backe againe to an other member of comparison as Iosias vvas mourned for by all Iudah and Ierusalem and Ieremy mourned for Iosias and all singing men and singing women mourned for Iosias in their lamentations to this daie and made the same lamentations an ordinance in Israell and they vvere also written in their lamentations and became a common worde amongest them for whensoever afterwardes there was taken vp any greate lamentation it was sampled and matched with that of Hadadrimmon in the fielde of Megiddo so looke for mourning from all the endes of our land complaining in the streetes of every cittie and crying in the chambers of every house alas for the day of the Lord it is come it is come then shall the kindred of the house of David and their vviues mourne aparte by themselues The kindred of the houses of Nathan and Levi and their wiues apart by themselues Then shal al the orders and companies of this Realme from the honorable counsailour to him that draweth water to the campe from the man of gray haires to the young childe that knovveth but the righte hand from the left plentifully water their cheekes and giue as iust an occasion of Chronicles and Proverbes to future times as the mourning for Iosias For to fold vp all other comparisons in one and to draw them home to my text not only betwixt her Iosias but other her noble progenitours and Lords of this Island Like vnto her was there no King or Queene before her And those that shall write heereafter in the generations to come shall bee able as iustly to supply the other part Neither arose there after her any that was like vnto her And I verily perswade my selfe that as the Lord was angry with Iudah and Ierusalem and threatned to bring evill vpon them yet differred to execute that iudgement in the daies of Iosias with promise of a peaceable buriall and that his eies shoulde not see that evill so he spareth our country for his anointed sake and reserveth his iust and determinate plagues against vs to the daies of some of her successours and vvhen he hath shut vp her eies in peace then will begin to open our iudgements I vvill not put you in feare with the fatall periode of kingdomes vvhich many both Philosophers and Divines more than imagine conceaving by reason that as in the bodies of men and other living creatures so these politicke bodies of Monarchies Empires kingdomes and other states there is a beginning and a strong age a declination and full point and by many experiments bearing themselues in hand that their alterations haue commonly fallen out not much over or vnder 500. yeares From the erecting of the kingdome of Israell vnder the hand of Saul to their going into Babylon they saie were foure hundreth and nineteene yeares The Consuls of Rome continued 462. the Monarchy flourished 454. Constantinople vvas the seate of the Roman Emperour 489. La Noue vvhen he wrote his military and politicke discourses observed the like number of time in their kingdome of France from the daies of Hugh Capetz The stay of the Saxons in England is esteemed there abouts And since the time of the Norman conquest the seventy and seven weeks of Daniell that is 70. times 7. yeares are fulfilled and God hath added therevnto as the fifteene yeares of Ezechias and as the surplusage of his loue onely the happy raigne of our liege Lady and Mistresse that now ruleth But as the Apostle spake in his Revelation Heere is wisedome If any man may haue wisedome enough let him accompte the number of kingdomes in this sorte For it may bee the number of God himselfe and hee hath reserved it to his owne knowledge But in open and simple tearmes I will shew you what the periods and stoppes of kingdomes are Propter peccata populi erunt multi principes For the sinnes of the people the prince shall often bee chandged and in likelyhoode the people it selfe for the same cause The Lord hath tied himselfe no farther to the kinges sonnes and seede after him than with this reasonable and dutifull condition if they shall keepe my testimonies And he often threatned his people if they provoked him vvith straunge Gods to provoke them againe vvith a strange people and to driue them out of the good lande vvhither hee sent them to dwell as hee had driven out others All those remooues and chandges that wee reade of in the booke of God and in other histories the emptying of the land of Canaan from her naturall inhabitantes deposing of one state and setting vp an other deviding the tribes raising kingdome against kingdome the vntimely deathes deprivations of princes the disinheriting and displacing of the eighte line leading into captivity from country to country as it were povvring from vessell to vessel sometimes no king at all sometimes many sometimes wicked sometimes a babe sometimes a stranger
it noteth some order in the actions of God He sawe their sinnes in the booke of eternitie before their hearts did ever conceiue them he saw them in their breasts before their hands committed them he saw their infancy and their full strength their thirst and drunkennes their beginning and proceeding But then hee sawe them indeed and to purpose when hee sawe them perfected and fulfilled and havinge vvincked as it were before and in patience forborne them nowe behelde them with fiery eyes and his hearte vnremoueably bent to take vengeance The wilde asse vsed to the wildernesse snuffeth vp winde at her pleasure who can turne her backe they that seeke after her will not wearie themselues but will finde her in her moneth GOD seeth and observeth at all times the vntamed madnesse of the vvicked wearying themselues like the wilde asse or the dromedarye in a race of abhominations but hee will take them in their moneth and turne them backe when their sinnes are ripe and his wrath throughly incensed 2 Their wickednesse is come vp before mee The phrase doth minister a further instruction vnto vs. Sinne in the eyes of some man seemeth not sin Lactantius writeth of those who were not ashamed of their faultes but rather sought out patronage and defence for them that at the least they might seeme to sinne honestly Ieremy speaketh of the Iewes in the same manner were they ashamed when they had committed abhomination nay they were not ashamed neither coulde they haue shame He smiteth them afterward in the 11. of his Prophecy with a sharper reproofe that when they did evill they reioyced at it And it is the fashion of vs all to bolster and beare out the vices of our friendes changing sower into sweet and evill into good even for their friendships sake Alceus tooke a mole in the body for a grace yet was it a blemmish One mule rubbeth another an hypocrite liketh an hypocrite because hee is like vnto him a drunkarde a drunkarde an vsurer him that is practised in the same trade he that transformed himselfe into an Angell of light being a fiende of darkenes hath taught an harlot to cloath her selfe like an honest matrone and vices to disguise themselues vnder the habite of vertues But howsoever the the eyes of men are blinded with partiality yet the eye-liddes of the Lorde shall trie the children of men his righteous and flaming countenaunce shall soundelie examine their actions vncover the faces of their iniquities and call them rightly and truely by their proper names 3 But whatsoever we find else in the riches store of these words this wee may gather from the nature of them that there are some sinnes winged of an high elevation ascending aboue the toppe of Carmel aspiring pressing before the maiesty of Gods owne thrōe The speech is but altered in other scriptures the substance and signification all one where it is said that some sinnes cry in the eares of God that which is the winges or chariot vnto them in this place to make them mount so high is their cry in those others I meane their outrage and enormity Cains sin cried vnto the Lord. Gen. 4. And in the 18. of Gen. Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great which is expoūded in the next words because their sin is exceeding grievous I will now goe downe saith the Lord and see whether they haue done altogither according to that crie which is come vp vnto mee Beholde the hire of the labourers which haue reaped the fieldes which is of you kept backe by fraude cryeth and the cries of them which haue reaped are entered into the eares of the Lorde of hostes in the Epistle of Iames. Aunswerable to that part of Iob his Apology which he presenteth vnto his iudge in the 31. of his booke If my lande cry against mee or if the furrowes of my fielde complaine c. Let thistles growe in steede of wheate and cockle in steede of barley Oppression is threatned by the like tearmes in the seconde of Abacuck The stone shall crye out of the wall and the beame out of the timber shall answere it woe vnto him that buildeth a towne with bloude and erecteth a citie with iniquitie All which sentences of scripture expressing the loudnesse and vocality of sinne are of the same force as before I saide with those that declare the sublimity and reach of it God speaketh to Senacharib in an other manner of speech but the matter and purpose is not different from this Because thou ragest against mee and thy tumult is come vp to mine eares I will put my hooke in thy nostrels c. Likewise the prophet telleth the children of Israell in the seconde of Chronicles that because the Lorde God was wroth with Iudah he had delivered thē into the Israelits hands and they had slaine them in a rage that reached vp to heaven By these and the like conferences a man may determine the nature and set downe a catalogue in some sorte of crying sinnes Bloudeshedde is a crying sinne I say not all kinde of bloudshedde for the speech of God to Cain hath bloudes not bloud which noteth an vnsatiable appetite wherewith hee was so dry that if his brother had possessed a 1000. times as much bloud he would haue spilt it all and though he tooke away his life yet he tooke not leaue of his own malitious thirst of bloud Blasphemy and rage against God is a crying sin oppression extortion fraud against poore labourers against right owners is a crying sin and sin with outragiousnesse and impudencie any vvay publicke infamovs enormous sin contemning the iudgement of GOD and censures of men committed with greedinesse drawn with cart-ropes gloried in where men even sel themselues to vvorke vvickednesse is a crying sinne VVhich immoderate and proud humour of viciousnesse is notably expressed in the sixt of Genesis where it is alleadged that when the Lord saw the wickednesse of man was greate vpon the earth and all the imaginations of the thoughts of his hart were onely evill continually then it repented the Lord that he had made man and hee was sorrie in his heart 1. It vvas vvickednesse 2. greate 3. evident for the Lorde sawe it 4. their hearts were evill 5. every thought of their heart 6. every imagination of thought 7. onely evill 8. continually or day by day there was no hope of amendmente Equall herevnto is that generall and vnbridled corruption vvhich David setteth downe in the 14. Psalme vvhere they beginne vvith a most damnable principle of Atheisme the gate and highway into all iniquity The foole saith in his hearte there is no God Then is the sincke or channell opened to all dissolution of life They are corrupted and doe abhominably there is none that doth good The Lorde looked downe from heaven vpon the children of men to see if there were anye that woulde vnderstand seeke after God but they
are all gone out of the way c. When this canker of impiety hath so overspred and eaten into the manners of people then is fulfilled that which Esay puâ—teth dovvne for a sounde position Let mercie bee shewed to the wicked yet hee vvill not learne rigtheousnesse in the lande of vprightenesse will hee doe wickedly and will not beholde the maiesty of the Lorde If neither the mercy nor the maiesty of God nor the company of the righteous can reforme him then is his bettering despaired and past hope I neede no farther examine this part The cause why Ionas cryed against Niniveh vvas the cry of their sinnes their regions vvere vvhite to harvest their iniquities ripe and looked for a sickle from heauen to cutte them dovvne The sufficiencie of vvhich cause to deriue the iudgementes of GOD vpon vs Ieremy layeth downe in his prophecy Manye nations shall passe by the citye meaning of Ierusalem and shall saye everye man to his neighbour vvherefore hath the LORDE done this to this greate citie then shall they answere Because they haue forsaken the covenant of the Lorde their GOD c. For the iudgement of the Lorde pronounced by David shall stande longer then the stars in the firmament Him that loveth iniquitye doth his soule hate Vpon the wicked hee shall raine snares fire and brimstone and stormie tempestes this is the portion of their cuppe And in the first Psalme it is a singular opposition that is made betvveene the iust and the wicked Non sic impij non sic the wicked are not so that thou mayest vnmoueably beleeue how vnmoueably God is bent to deny the wicked his grace hee strengtheneth the negatiue by doubling it Therefore the wicked shall not stand in iudgement for they are fallen before their iudgment commeth What shall they not rise againe Surely yes but not in iudgement saith Ierome for they are already iudged The wickednesse of our land what it is and in what elevation of height vvhether modest or impudent private or publique vvhether it speaketh or cryeth standeth or goeth lyeth like an aspe in her hole or flyeth lyke a fiery serpent into the presence of God your selues bee iudges vvrite my vvordes in tables that they may bee monumentes for latter daies for when your childrens children shall heare them hereafter they will skarselye beeleeue them The moneths of the year haue not yet gone about wherin the Lorde hath bowed the heavens and come downe amongst vs with more tokens and earnests of his wrath intended then the agedst man of our lande is able to recount of so small a time For say if ever the windes since they blew one against the other haue beene more common and more tempestuous as if the foure ends of heaven had conspired to turne the foundations of the earth vpside downe thunders and lightnings neither seasonable for the time and withall most terrible with such effectes brought forth that the childe vnborne shall speake of it The anger of the clouds hath beene powred downe vpon our heades both with abundance and saving to those that felt it vvith incredible violence the aire threatned our miseries with a blazing starre the pillers of the earth tottered in many vvhole countries and tractes of our Ilande the arrowes of a woefull pestilence haue beene caste abroade at large in all the quarters of our realme even to the emptying and dispeopling of some partes thereof treasons against our Queene and countrey wee haue knovvne many and mighty monstrous to bee imagined from a number of Lyons whelpes lurking in their dennes and vvatching their houre to vndoe vs our expectation and comfort so fayled vs in Fraunce as if our right armes had beene pulled from our shoulders VVee haue not altered the colour of the hayre of our heades nor added one inch to our stature since all these thinges haue beene accomplished amongst vs. Consider then vvell and thinke it the highest time to forsake your highest wickednes I call it highest wickednes for if wee knew how to adde any thing in our severall veines and dispositions to those idols of sinne which we serue some to our covetousnesse some to our pride some to our vnchastnes some to our malice and such like wee would breake our sleepe nay we would compasse sea and lande to encrease it Yet howsoever it fareth with the multitude let there bee a seede and remnaunt among vs left to entreate for peace Ten righteous persons would haue saved Sodom it may so stand with the goodnes of God that a few innocent fooles shall preserue the island as Iob speaketh Let vs thankfully embrace the long sufferance of our God forepast leading vs as by a hande of friendship to repentance and let vs redeeme with newnesse of life our dayes and yeares formerly mispent least by impenitent transgressing against the law of our maker we fall vpon his sentence of wrath irrevocably past and resolved by him I haue thought it and will not repent neither will I turne backe from it THE THIRD LECTVRE Chap. 1. ver 3. But Ionas arose vp to flie vnto Tharsish from the presence of the Lord and he went downe to Iapho c. THe commission given to Ionas we haue already weighed it followeth that wee handle his recusancy disobedience therein coÌ„mitted This verse now in haÌ„d delivereth the whole body therof with every member belonging vnto it 1. his preparatioÌ„ is set downe in that he arose 2. his speede to fly 3. the end and period of his iourney to Tharsis 4. his end and purpose why to Tharsis to escape the preseÌ„ce of the Lord. 5. the opportunities helpes and furtherances to his travel are exactly put downe 1. he went downe to Iapho an haven-towne 2. hee found a ship going to Tharsis 3. he paid the fare thereof 4. he went downe into it 5. lastly his reason of flying to Tharsis is againe specified with a regression in the end of the verse that he might goe from the presence of the Lord. A notable patterne of mans disposition 1. the Lord biddeth him arise he ariseth who if he had sitten still till his flesh had cloveÌ„ to the pauement or if he had streched himselfe vpon his bed and folded his armes to sleepe he had done a service more acceptable to God 2. he is bidden to go but not coÌ„tent with going he doth more theÌ„ so hee flieth hee hath the feete of an hinde and the wings of a doue to do that hee should not who had reapt more thankes if he had crept but like a snaile in his right course 3. He is bidden to go to Niniveh he goeth to Iapho and Tharsis he is not idle but he doth ill he doth that which he was not charged with like one of those Lords in Ieremy who told God to his face we are Lords we wil no more come at thee so doth he flatly crosse overthwart that directioÌ„ which God had set