to draw backe with Moses or to runne away with Ionah or to forsweare prophesying and preaching with Ieremy c. since we shall but speake in the aire we shall labour in vaine and for nothing Who will beleeue our report To whom will the Arme of the Lord be reuealed Shall horses runne vpon the rockes or will men plow there with Oxen Shall we goe about to teach them that doe glory in ignorance Amant ignorare cùm alij gaudeant cognouisse to informe them that stop their eares are ready to run vpon vs as they did vpon Stephen in a word to perswade them that protest they will not be perswaded What are wee that wee should hope to doe any good men compassed about with infirmities men of great imperfections of conceit of memory of vtterance of presence Therefore our instruments being but the instruments of a foolish Shepheard as the Prophet speaketh it were best for vs to put vp our Pipes and to hang our Harpes vpon the Willowes and to sit downe vnder our Gourds as good to sit still as to rise and fall To whom me thinkes I heare the Lord make answer as he did to Peter What God hath cleansed hath sanctified to a speciall vse doe not thou call common or as hee doth in Esay Let not the Eunuch say Behold I am a dry tree or as he doth in Ieremy Is not my Word euen like a fire and like a hammer that breaketh the stone As if he said Let them haue hearts as hard as a flint yet the hammer may breake them at the least the fire may consume them Finally as he doth by our Apostle in my Text The Gospell it is the power of God beleeue that doubt not of successe What weapon or instrument euer was too weake to effect Gods will if he tooke it in hand Was not Aarons rod sufficient to worke miracles in Egypt and to ouerthrow Pharaoh and his Host in the red Sea Did not the walles of Iericho fall downe at the blowing of Rammes hornes The Madianites murder euery one his fellow at the clinking of the Pitchers The great Gyant falls groueling to the ground by the pat of a sling-stone And surely though we haue this treasure in earthen vessels and the Gospell that we teach be as contemptible as Dauids sling-stone yet the Lord will doe his worke his strange worke And bring to passe his act his strange act He will doe I say what he hath appointed by the weakest meanes sometimes that the excellency of the power might be of God and not of man and that Israel may neuer say Mine owne hand hath saued me The same Confessor that vndertooke to dispute with the subtill Philosopher in Constantines time the Story is in Ruffinus and Sozomen was not the greatest Clerke nay he seemed to know nothing else but Iesus Christ and him crucified yet by reciting the summe of his faith being agreeable to the Gospell with great spirit and zeale he so foyled and grounded his Aduersary that he forced him to recant and become a Christian. So Simplicianus and whosoeuer else did perswade Victorinus to take Gods booke and by name the Gospell in hand were no body to him for learning and eloquence for he was most famous for the same yet in time they so preuailed with him that they gate him to Church and to be baptized in his old age So to come downe to these last times at one leape The men of Merindol and Cabrieres in Languedock Annas Burges in Paris in the dayes of Francis the first and Henry the second Walter Myll in Scotland that I trouble you with no more forraine examples and abstaine from domestique altogether were not the subtillest and acutest disputants in those times nay some of them are noted to haue bin but plaine men yet such was the goodnesse of the cause such was the power of Gods grace working with his Gospell that by these mens confessions of faith partly vttered by word of mouth partly read very many of those Doctors that were imployed against them were conuerted to the truth and by most that were in the assemblies the Lords Name was glorified Now I aske Brethren is God a God of the Iewes onely and not of the Gentiles also And he that was mighty through Peter may not he be mighty through Paul May not he giue a blessing to the Gospell preached now as well as he did in former times Truly as Saint Paul saith How knowest thou O man whether thou shalt saue thy wife and how knowest thou O woman whether thou shalt saue thy husband Nay as Dauid said to Saul I haue slaine a Lyon and a Beare already and truly this vncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them So we may perswade our selues probably nay be resolued and out of doubt that our labour shall not be in vaine in the Lord. Finally but that the Lord will make manifest the power of the Gospell and adde vnto the Congregation daily such as shall be saued Therefore let vs of the Ministery comfort our selues with these words and bestirre our selues against the day of Haruest The people also are to learne somewhat by this That the Gospell is called The power of God namely that they doe not resist this power lest they hale downe vpon themselues condemnation You know what Laban and Bethuel said in a farre meaner case then the case of Saluation This thing is proceeded of the Lord Wee cannot therefore say vnto yee either euill or good You know what Gamaliel said Act. 5. If this worke be of God yee cannot destroy it lest yee be found fighters against God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Indeed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. It is hard kicking against the pricke and if thou hast run with the footmen and they haue wearyed thee how canst thou match thy selfe with horses If thou smart for disobeying the Princes commandement thinkest thou to escape if thou stand out against God It was the saying of a worthy Learned man that the Orthodoxe Church is an Anuill that will rather breake the hammer that beateth vpon it then be broken by it And we may be bold to say of the Word of truth the Gospell of our Saluation that it is of such power as that same stone cut without hands Dan. 2. which brake the Image all to pieces so the siluer and the gold became like the chaffe of the Summer flowres c. And the same stone became a great mountaine and filled the earth Darkenesse may couer the earth for a time thicke darkenesse the people The true Professors also may be driuen to the wall for a season and lie among the pots as it is in the Psalme but yet in the end the day-starre will shine in mens heâ—rts yea the Sun of righteousnes will arise aboue our Horizon and then shall euery man haue praise of God yea then they shall be as the wings of the Doue
wrong yea they must be able to put a wise difference betweene the great things of the Law as Righteousnesse Mercy and Iudgement and the lighter things of humane obseruation which perish with the vse or abuse If Iephthah had knowne and considered what things might lawfully be vowed and how farre vowes do binde he would not haue immolated his owne daughter If Saul had knowne and considered what is written in the Law Yee shall not doe what seemeth good to your selues but what I command you that you shall doe you shall turne neither to the right hand nor to the left he had not forfeited his Kingdome If Vzziah had knowne and considered that none but the sonnes of Aaron were to approach to the Altar of the Lord and there to burne incense he had not beene smitten with the leprosie To be short If those Kings of Iuda and Israel that built high places and sacrificed vnder euery greene tree had knowne and considered that Hierusalem was the place whither they should haue brought their oblations being the place that God appointed to put his name there they had not been so bitterly inueighed against nor so fearefully threatned by the Prophets as they were To conclude If the Machabees had beene wise and knowne what that meaneth I will haue mercy and not sacrifice that which was the kernell of the ceremony from the beginning how-soeuer the shell was not so cracked and opened in former time as it was by our Sauiour the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath they would not haue suffred themselues to bo knocked downe like Oxen in the Shambles or to be led as sheepe to the slaughter but would haue stood vpon their gard and vpon their defence euen vpon the Sabbath day On the other side Dauid was not afraide to eate of the Shew-bread which was appointed onely for the Priests Dauid was wise and knew that Necessity ouer-ruleth Ceremony So Salomon was not afraid to command Ioab to be slaine euen in the Tabernacle of the Lord although he caught hold of the hornes of the Altar Salomon was wise and knew that there was no Sanctuary for murder So briefely Hezechiah was not scrupulous to goe forward with the celebrating of the Passeouer though there were some present that had not beene cleansed after the purification of the Sanctuary Hezechiah was wise and knew that there was a maine difference betweene those things which God commanded principaliter and those things which he commanded consequentia as Iraeneus saith Thus knowledge of Gods matters cleareth the vnderstanding chaseth away superstition sheweth the more excellent way and bringeth a King to glory Looke what the light is to the eye the eye to the head the head nay the soule of a man to his body the same is wisedome to the soule of a King It filleth him with grace in beleeuing it giueth light to his mind reformeth his will sanctifieth his affections snubbeth and crosseth all vnlawfull designes In crosses it maketh him patient in dangers vndaunted in prosperity moderate in what estate soeuer he be content On the contrary side where this knowledge is wanting there the Sunne goeth downe at noone-day there the light that is in them is turned into darkenesse and how great is the darkenesse They are not so much to be tearmed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is pore-blind which are Saint Peters words but are stricken with grosse darkenesse and blindnesse like the Sodomites they stumble at the threshold nay they doe in Montes impingere as Augustin speaketh and are as ready to enter into the gates of their enemies as of their friends like the Assyrians The Grecians talke of the great helpe that a certaine great Commander had from Philosophy for the quieting of his owne mind and of those that were about him in the time of an Eclipse by shewing by a familiar example the reason thereof So the Romans tell of the great satisfaction that was giuen to their Army in Macedony when one Sulpitius Gallus skilfull in Astronomy fore-told them of an Eclipse before it hapned This was some-what I grant to be heaued vp as it were by the hand of naturall reason to the obseruing of Gods vniforme power and prouidence in causing the Planets to keepe their courses in their Spheares and the reuolutions of the heauens to be certaine and ordinary but yet in respect of the good that is reaped by Diuinity I meane by the knowledge of Gods will in his Word it is but as sounding brasse or as a tinkling Cymball For light it is but as the light of a rush candle to the light of a great burning Torch as Clemens Alexandrinus saith For profit as drosse is to siluer or the chaâ—le is to the wheat as the Prophet speaketh Princes therefore are to haue their hearts stablished by faith and therefore first they must be stored and furnished with the Word of God it must dwell in them plentâ—ously they must be exercised and skilfull in the same so shall they be sufficiently prepared and furnished to euery good worke so shall they be sufficiently armed against error and heresie There haue beene since Christs time many corruptions and deprauations of the truth in the Church of God it is confessed and it cannot be denyed but a great part of them either sprang originally or was much increased through want of wisedome and knowledge in the chiefe Gouernours What maruell if the Mystery of iniquity which began to worke in the time of the Apostles grew to such a head and strength euen in Constantines time or shortly after when that shall be allowed for a good collection out of these words Ye are Gods therefore the Church of Rome hath a speciall priuiledge neither to be looked into for their liues nor to be quâ—stioned for their doctrine So what maruell if the Imperiall dignity did decay and sinke as fast as the Papall did swell and pearke vp as Otho Frisingensis doeth obserue nay the rising of the one was the ruine of the other as wisemen men know When Kings and Princes doe suffer themselues to be gulled with the sweet words of Peter and Paul and of the Church and especially with those words Math. 16. touching the Rocke and Iohn 21. touching the Feeding of Christs Sheepe by these words I say fouly mistaken to be stripped of their Regalities and to cast downe their Crownes not before the Lambe but before the Beast Whereas the former place touching the Rocke viz. Vpon this Rocke will I build my Church containeth a promise common to all the faithfull as the most ancient and learned Fathers doe agree and the latter place touching the Feeding of Christs Sheepe and Lambes containeth a duty belonging to all true Pastors as not onely Saint Paul in the Acts but also Saint Peter himselfe by whom they would make their claime doe most plainely shew I might thus run ouer most points in
the first It is certaine that as the Father hath life in himselfe and light and wisedome and knowledge so he giueth his Son to haue the same in him nay he hath the same of himselfe as he is God No want in the God-head may be imagined nor degrees of hauing but all is perfit and at once yea and from the beginning He therefore being Iehouah and Shaddai all-being and euer-being all-sufficient and euer-sufficient may not be thought to haue asked this question to be better informed for his owne part for he knoweth all and needed not that any should testifie of man for hee knew what was in man Iohn 2. But as in the 12. of Iohn Christ saith This voyce came not for my sake but for yours So may we say of Christs words in my Text that they were not vttered for himselfe but for vs. It was good that the world should be satisfied concerning the resolution of the Apostles to follow Christ whatsoeuer came of it for their honour for our example for the glory of God in giuing such gifts vnto men Therefore doth the Lord bring forth their righteousnesse as the morning and causeth their faith to breake forth into confession They beleeued and therefore did they speake Wee also if we beleeue we will speake and will not be ashamed of him before men lest he also be ashamed of vs before his Father which is in heauen It is worth the remembring that Plutarch in his booke of Isis Osiris writeth of the Peach namely that the Egyptians of all fruit did make choise of that to consecrate it to their great Goddesse for this cause because the fruit thereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is like to ones heart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the leafe to the tongue Indeed when the heart and the tongue goe together then the harmony is sweete and the seruice pleasing both to God and man Euen as Saint Paul setteth downe the perfitnesse of our duty and consequently of our happinesse With the heart man beleeueth vnto righteousnesse with the mouth he confesseth vnto saluation This therefore may seeme to be a speciall cause why Christ demandeth of the twelue whether they would play the Turne-coats as some others did namely to draw forth their confession and profession of their faith As for the other doubt Whether the Elect can fall away the same will easily be cleared if we agree vpon the termes of Elect and falling away namely if we vnderstand by Elect such as are chosen according to the purpose of grace vnto an inheritance immortall vndefiled that fadeth not away reserued in heauen for them and by falling away an vtter departing from the fellowship of the Saints and an vtter renouncing of the truth reuealed The truly Elect cannot so vtterly become cast-awayes If then man and the world and the Deuill were stronger then God then the gifts and calling of God had repentance then Christ should not loue to the end whom he loueth yea then some should be able to take them out of the Fathers hand All which points and twenty more to this purpose are directly contrary to Gods Word which cannot lye Therefore we conclude that a man truly Elect cannot throughly perish I grant Saul and Iudas were Elect or chosen but it was to an office not to the Kingdome of glory Peter and others fell away but it was for a time not finally they wauered and staggered and felt some eclipse in their faith but the same was neuer extinguished nor rooted vp Christ prayed for Peter and not for him onely but for as many as should beleeue in his Name Iohn 17. that their faith should not faile And can Satan or all the power of hell preuaile against Christs prayer Praedestinatorum nemo cum Diabolo peribit nemo vsque ad mortem sub Diaboli potestate remanebit None of the predestinate shall perish with the Deuill none of them shall remaine vnder the Deuils power euen vnto death as Saint Augustine speakes And in his booke De Catechizandis rudibus Cap. 11. â—erusalem shall be deliuered and none of her shall perish for he that perished was not a Citizen of her Thus he He learned it of Saint Iohn They went out from vs but were not of vs c. Let vs end this point with another testimony of Austin more pregnant and plaine then either of them Horum he speaketh of the Elect si quisquam perit fallitur Deus sed nemo eorum fuerit quia non fallitur Deus Horum si quisquam perit vitio humano vincitur Deus sed nemo eorum fuerit quia nulla re vincitur Deus that is if any of the Elect perish God is deceiued but none of them perisheth because God is not deceiued if any of them perish God is ouercome by mans fault or naughtinesse but none of them perisheth because God is ouercome of nothing Well hauing thus vntyed the two knots or doubts that might seeme to entangle the Text let vs returne to the same againe and see what further we may learne out of it Will ye also goe away Plutarch writeth of Brutus that this was a great content and comfort to him at his end that though he had Crebra transfugia of the common sort many of them forsooke him and turned to the enemy yet none of his friends or neere ones forsooke him On the other side it must needs be a great corrasiue to Caesars heart that Labienus that had done him so worthy seruice against the Galles nine or tenne yeeres together left him in the quarrell betweene him and Pompey took Pompeys part I haue nourished brought vp children they to rebell against me this cuts my gall saith God in effect in Esay What my son that came out of mine own bowels to miniken the matter against me nay to make head against me This is such a matter as would make a man exclaime Be astonied O heauens and blush O earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What thou my sonne said one to his neere one He made resistance against others saith the story but when he saw his owne naturall to draw vpon him then he was weary of his life then he desired to liue no longer Therefore herein appeareth Christs magnanimity that he was not danted for the perfidiousnes of the run-awayes but all the while he had them that were of best note to sticke vnto him he reckoned not for the Apostasie of others Let vs be of the same minde Beloued Suppose all should cowre downe cowardly saue three hundred nay suppose that all should worship the Image that Nabuchadnezzar of Rome putteth vp saue three nay suppose that all should bowe their knees to Baal or worship the golden Calfe saue Elias and Moses should this make vs to goe away Nay greater is he that is in vs then he that is in the world saith our Sauiour And more there bee which be with vs then they
causa It is not the punishmeÌ„t it is the cause that maketh a true Martyr For our parts we say vnto them as Optatus doth to their like Nulli dictum est Nega Deum Nulli dictum est Incende Testamentum Nulli dictum est Aut Thus pone aut Basilicas destrue â—stae enim res solent Martyria generare That is To none of them hath it beene said Deny God To none of them hath it beene said Burne the New Testament To none hath it beene said Offer incense or throw downe Churches for these things are wont to engender Martyrdomes Thus Optatus lib. 3. And I pray you is not our cause like to Optatus his and theirs to the Parmenians When haue our Magistrates vrged any of them that haue beene sent from Rome much lesse Recusants to deny God except they make him of Rome to be their God Nay both they and we doe exhort them with all instance to turne from that vanity and to trust in the liuing God Cursed be he that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arme So When doe we vrge them to burne the Bible or any part of the Bible Nay this hath beene their fault and sticketh to them for infamy like the Leprosie of Gehezi To set fire vpon the translated Bibles wheresoeuer they could finde them and to burne them by hundreds on an heape yet the worst translation made by our men is founder and more agreeable to the Originall then the Translation of the Seuentie and yet the Apostles themselues suffered the same nay vsed the same as is euident to the Learned so farre were they from defacing it To be short When and where haue our men forced them yea or perswaded either to put Incense vpon the Altar or to throw downe Churches Nay it is their proper guise euen now in the time of the Gospell when shadowes and carnall worship should cease to perfume their Altar and their vestiments and many things that I know not nor care to learne and it hath beene their ordinary practice where they haue beene the stronger to destroy not onely Churches but also as many as haue beene assembled in them to heare Gods Word and to receiue the Sacrament euen bloudily and butcherly with a rage that reached vp to heauen Witnesse the Massacres that they made at Vassey at Merindol and Cabrias in Piemont in Calabria and where not So that we haue great cause to flee from them not onely to goe away and they no cause to flee from vs who neuer thirsted after their blood nor drew it but constrained and in our defence But to what purpose all this Since they whom it concerneth are not here and them that are here it doth not concerne yet as our Sauiour made full account that some of his Auditors would relate vnto Herod what opinion he held of him and therefore said vnto them Goe yee and tell that Fox So we are content that they take information by some of you that we maintaine and are instant that there is cruelty in their side and not in ours and a good cause with vs and not with them and therefore that there is cause why they should returne to vs and no cause in the world why we should turne to them And let so much be spoken of the Question It followeth Simon Peter therefore answered him Lord to whom shall we goe thou hast the words of euerlasting life And we haue beleeued and knowne for we doe beleeue know Heb. that thou art the Christ the Son of the liuing God In this answere Saint Peter doth two things First he denyeth flatly that hee or his fellow Apostles haue any such meaning Then he bringeth reasons of their constant adhering to him The denyall is set forth by way of Interrogation for more vehemency sake and containeth in it a reason drawne from the excellency of Christ before other teachers Lord to whom shall we goe meaning there was no Master worth the thinking of in comparison to him and therefore that they were farre from any such purpose The reasons drawne from the excellency of Christ are two The one from the excellency of his Doctrine Thou hast the words of euerlasting life the other from the excellency of his person Thou art the Christ the Son of the liuing God Our heart and conscience telleth vs so much therefore we are not men but deuils if we forsake thee To this effect is Saint Peters answer in the name of his fellowes Let vs take the words before vs in order as they lye and first speake of the Interrogation Simon Peter therefore answered him saying Lord to whom shall we goe The first thing that we are to learne out of these words is this namely That truth and a good cause hath alwayes some to maintaine it The Disciples fell away yea many of the Disciples fell away yea they fell away so that they came no more at our Sauiour as the Text hath it but yet hee was not left without witnesse he had the Apostles to beare record to him and to stand for him So the High Priests and the Elders yea and the whole multitude of the Iewes cryed out against him and would not otherwise be satisfied then with his death but Ioseph of Arimathea a Councellour a iust man and a good consented not to their plots and practices Luk. 23. So Obadiah was not carryed away with the streame of the time to kill Gods Prophets and those that worshipped the Lord with holy worship but hid them in Caues and prouided for them though it were with the jeopardy of his head So Ruben though he had sinned before a great sinne and had highly offended God thereby and his father too yet in this no question he pleased both that he dissented from his brethrens bloody designe to murder their bother Ioseph and both disswaded them and deliuered him The like example of constancy and magnanimity appeared in Caleb and Iosuah Numb 14. who opposed themselues not onely to their fellowes being tenne to two but also to the whole Congregation of the Children of Israel being an hundred thousand to one against all they stood boldly for the maintenance of Gods glory in the power of his might and the truth of his promise saying Rebell not against the Lord neither feare yee the people of the Land for they are but bread for vs their shield is departed from them and the Lord is with vs feare them not Thus they and this was counted to them for righteousnesse vnto all posterity for euer-more Yea that God that prospered the Midwiues of Egypt for not subscribing to the bloody decree of Pharaoh and his Councellors did also highly aduance these his seruants not onely bringing them into the Land of Promise the place of rest where they would be but also making one of them Generall Captaine ouer his people anâ— giuing him admirable victories and the other also a great man and a mighty and of such
resolute Peter answered and said The next note is like to it namely That we be forward yea and formost too in a good cause As Peter doth not straine courtesie nor pause to see whether any other would speake and ease him of his labour but as though the waight of it lay vpon his shoulders hee dischargeth himselfe of it valiantly and hardily The Lord loueth a cheerefull giuer saith Saint Paul and so The Lord loueth a forward Confessor say I. Thou commest to see me the last of all my friends saith Octauius to Tully in Appium And 2. Sam. 19. Dauid reproueth the Elders of Iudah for that they were behind to bring the King againe to his house he meaneth that they were hindmost and lag On the other side Shimei that had abused Dauid so villanously for words that no man was euer abused worse by any for hee called him man of blood and man of Belial yet because he was the first of the house of Ioseph that came downe to meete him after his restitution to his Kingly Estate Dauid thought himselfe bound to pardon him and so assured him of his life by an oath So much it importeth a man what he doth well to doe quickly and to doe it betimes then there is thanke with God thâ—n it is accepted of man Euen as Dauid setteth forth his forwardnesse saying I made haste and prolonged not the time to keepe thy righteous iudgements and Saint Paul his When it pleased God to reueale his Sonne in me immediatly I communicated not with flesh and blood but went about that worke And Iames and Iohn being called Math. 4. forsooke their ship and their father forthwith and followed Christ And Luke 19. Zacheus being bid to come downe from a tree came downe in haste and receiued him Now as this haste and forwardnesse is necessary and to be vsed by all so especially by them that are Ring-leaders and Captaines of the flock In their countenance there is hope and despaire in their courage there is life and death If L. Martius had not bestirred himselfe and shewed an vncontrolable quicke resolution and an vndauntable fiery courageousnesse after the ouerthrow giuen to the two Scipio's all had beene lost in Spaine the name of a Romane had beene no more in remembrance This one example for hundreds for matters of warre So if Nasica had not presently vpon the hurly-burly stirred by the Gracchi obiected himselfe as a Bulwarke against their seditious complotments the Common-weale had beene drencht in the gulph of sedition out of which it would hardly haue popped vp for the hearts of the valourous would haue failed them for feare and the hearts of the turbulent would haue been strengthened Thus one example out of hundreds for matters of peace So if Saint Peter vpon the reuolt of so many Disciples and staggering peraduenture of some of the Apostles had hanged the wing as they speake or let fall his Crest who doth know but that many by his example would haue beene drawne away to obiect cowardize or amazed distraction Therefore blessed be God that gaue such strength vnto him for by his strength many were confirmed Let vs thinke of this Beloued specially we that are or should be men in Christ let vs reproue them that cannot abide wholesome Doctrine and let vs confute such vpon occasion and modestie and in order as are contrary-minded and teach contrary to the truth that is the Scriptures For the Scriptures are true and whatsouer is repugnant to the same is false-hood Let vs not draw backe and say Why doth not such a one speake and why doth not such a one but rather as in a common fire let euery man bring his bucket of water to quench it let euery one presently put his hand to the worke and helpe to beare anothers burden and then he shall be blessed in his worke This is my second note That not onely we professe boldly but also that we doe it presently The third note shall be shorter then the second namely that we be charitable What in Gods name might one say what meanes Saint Peter to be so liberall to vndertake for others He knew what himselfe would doe but he did not know what others meant Cato refused to vndertake for Catulus his honesty and none of better note for vertue then Catulus Cato therefore was a wise man So Ieremy saith The heart is deceitfull and wicked aboue all things who can know it So Saint Paul What man knoweth the things of man but the spirit of man that is in him Paul was an Apostle as well as hee How then could Saint Peter say boldly To whom shall we goe but vnto thee Hee should rather haue said To whom shall I goe To make the matter short I answere in a word that Saint Peter sheweth hereby his great charity which thinketh none euill and his brotherly loue which conceiteth another as himselfe The better a man is the lesse euill he suspecteth to be in another the worse a man is himselfe the more naught he suspecteth to be in another It is written of Nero by Suetonius that persuasissimum habuit He was verily perswaded that there was no continent man vpon the earth What maruell he was most vicious and most abominable himselfe On the other side Solon that carryed a naturall heart to his Parents could not be induced to thinke that there was any vse of a Law to be made against murderers of Fathers Mothers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Nazianzen speakes that which is free from naughtinesse is slower to suspect naughtines As it is written for example of Francis the fiâ—st that carrying a generous minde himselfe he thought he should be intreated with like generousnesse by his enemy As on the contrary side the brethren of Ioseph that had vsed cruelty themselues were no sooner brought within their brothers danger specially their father being dead but they said It may be that Ioseph will hate vs and will pay vs againe all the euill which we did vnto him Now St. Peter was not like to these later bad ones but to those former good ones or rather better then they He knew whom he beleeued and he knew that his owne heart was established and his faith built vpon the Rocke Christ and therefore thought that others would be as forward as he and as firme as he Hee neuer thought that any of the Apostles would play the Traytor or that Iudas would be other then Iudas that is a Confessor He knew peraduenture that he was a Theefe and bare the bagge c. but yet who would not looke for reformation vnder such a Censor and Master This made Peter to say not in the singular number To whom shall I goe but in the plurall To whom shall we Let vs be slow to anger slowe to iudge swift to pity swift to hope Saint Paul hoped of the whole Nation of the Iewes that in time they should be saued Rom. 11. And
of God without the concurrence of any second cause So the true Manna which came downe from heauen and the true Water of life which whosoeuer drinketh of by faith shall neuer perish Christ Iesus I meane he was none otherwise to be conceiued but by Gods working Other Types might bee alleaged as of Aarons Rod which blossom'd without maÌ„s setting or watring of the Gate mentioned by Ezechiel whereat no man entred c. But the former be sufficient and therefore I will not trouble you with the latter A Virgin she ought to be we heare for the excellent Prophesies sake and to expresse the Types which were of it and so no â—â—ubt shee was as testifie Mathew and Luke and as we are bound by our Creed to beleeue Borne of the Virgin Mary c. But what manner of Virgin was shee the fairest the richest the noblest of all the daughters of the East Alas these things though they be much set by in the world yet with God they be but vile euen as dongue Hee is not a respecter of persons as the Apostle saith that is hee respecteth not these outward things in any hee lookes not vpon the outward appearance neither vpon the countenance neither vpon the height of ones stature as God saith to Samuel but if any feare God and worke righteousnesse he is accepted of God Act. 10. To him will I looke euen to him that is poore and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my words Esay 66. He that loueth me shall be loued of my Father and I will loue him c. Iohn 14. These and the like vertues doe please the Lord a thousand times more then either beauty or wealth or parentage or friends or the like for if he had respected these he would haue gone into the Kings Court not vnto Nazareth to one that was sued vnto and wooed by Princes not vnto such a one as was thought but a fit match for a Carpenter briefly to such a one as had Kings for her kinsmen and Queenes for her kinswomen and her familiars and withall great store of men-seruants and maid-seruants great store of gold and siluer and not to one that was destitute and vtterly voyd of all these outwards comforts and which could leaue her Sonne none inheritance no not the breadth of a foote Yet behold here the good pleasure of the Lord and his free election happy vnto the blessed Virgin most happy but to the eyes of all the world admirable This poore Maid so base in her owne eyes so little regarded in her neighbour-hood so generally obscure to all the world was called to that honour that neuer woman was called vnto nor shall be For she was made of God to kindle that Light within her which enlightneth euery one that commeth into the world to conceiue Him in her wombe that brought forth the whole world with a word of his mouth to giue him nourishmentâ— who openeth his hand and filleth all things liuing with plenteousnesse to moue and carry him about in whom we all liue moue and haue our being In a word she was made to bring him forth whose beginning was from euerlasting to swaddle and bind him who bindeth the earth together that it can neuer be remoued to giue him sucke that giueth her breath to help him that must saue her to be his Nurse Mother that was her Father Creator and Redeemer yea the Creator Redeemer of all the world And was this Beloued a small thing a small dignity preferment and had not her cousin Elizabeth cause to say vnto her Blessed art thou amoÌ„gst women and her selfe to reioyce with a spirituall reioycing for that henceforth all generatioâ—â—hoâ—â—d call her blessed And why this Because of her outward endowments No for you haue heard that these are no inducements to make God to fansie any body Or for her inward graces and vertues Indeed meekenesse gentlenesse humility chastity temperance piety c. which same were found in the blessed Virgin and did abound are such things as God did neuer despise or abhor Abhorre nay they smell more sweetly in the nostrils of the Highest then euer did the Garment of Esau vnto Isaack or then euer did the precious oyntment of the Priest that ranne vnto the beard euen vnto Aarons beard nay then euer did the same Reach nichoach the same Sacrifice the same smell of â—est wherewith the Lord shewed himselfe well pleased being offered by Noah Vertues therefore and good life be well liked in all and therefore in a person so accepted with God as was the blessed Virgin they must needs haue beene singularly well liked But was it for the worth and merit of them that she was so aduanced as she was O no for then man might boast of that which he hath receiued which yet the Apostle denies that he may 1. Cor. 4. Then flesh might reioyce in Gods sight which yet St. Paul denyeth that it may 1. Cor. 1. Then Election were of workes which yet the Apostle proueth to be of grace that is free and not of workes Rom. 11. Yea then the blessed Virginshould not haue sung My spirit reioyceth in God my Sauiour But My spirit reioyceth in God my debtor Then she should not haue said For he regarded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the low â—state 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my vertue of humilitie yea and my other vertues Thirdly then she should not haue said His mercy is ouer them that feare him but His Iustice is toward them that obey him thorowout all generations Fourthly then the Angell should not haue said Feare not Mary for thou hast found fauour with God but Triumph Mary for thou hast had thy deseruing Lastly then the Church should not sing as it doth at the end of that Canticle the rest Glory be to the Father to the Sonne and to the holy Ghost but Glory be to the blessed Virgin and Inuocation and Offering and Pilgrimage and whatsoeuer seruice may be named 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 too for she prepared her heart to grace and so merited Ex congruo and she vsed the grace giuen as she ought to doe and so merited Ex condigno And lastly she obserued not onely the Commandements of God but also his Counsels and so merited for her selfe and for others too euen for all â—hem that will be her Beads-men Thus should â—heir song be agreeable to their Doctrine if they would deale plainely and if of the aboundance of their heart their mouth would speake And iâ—deed so they haue sung and taught in these later corrupt times nor soundly but superstitiously not superstitiously but blasphemously They haue made her their Aduâ—cate their Spokes-woman their Patronesse and is that the worst They haue made her Gods Almner Gods Steward Gods Treasurer which containeth in her the treasures of Wisedome and Power and Mercy and dealeth the same at her pleasure was this the worst They hâ—ue
lap Or who wil deny that God gaue the Israelites victory against the Medianites because they brought Pitchers into the field and light in the Pitchers Or that God did not feed them with bread from heauen and water out of the rocke for that they gathered the one and brought vessels at the least their mouthes to receiue the other It is one thing to be the true cause of a thing the conduit-pipe or fountaine another thing to bring a bucket nay not so much as that but to bring onely a mouth or a hand to take it Indeed i◠God should say to vs as Marius did to his Souldiers I can helpe you to water but you must buy it with blood or as Saul did to Dauid 1. Sam. 18. Thou shalt haue my daughter in marriage but shee must cost thee an hundred foreskins of the Philistims or as Caleb said to his men Ioshua 15. I will bestow my daughter vpon one of you but hee that will haue her must first win Kiriath-Sepher hee must quit himselfe like a man and fight valiantly then it were another matter then might some say The way of the Lord is righteous onely it is not liberall it is but hire for seruice wages for merit He loued vs for we loued him first doth for vs for we did for him But now when he saith vnto vs Beleeue onely and the Lord will doe great things for thy soule trust perfectly in the grace of God that is brought vnto thee in the Gospell and thou shalt become a child of Abraham an heire of God and fellow heire with Christ euen a vessell of Saluation who can impeach or blemish Gods bounty and liberality with the least note of mercinarinesse for he that saith Beleeue the Gospell and it will saue thee seemeth to say in effect no more then this He that hath an eare to heare let him heare as it is in the Gospell or Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it as it is in the Psalme or Wash thy selfe in Iordan and be cleane as it is in the holy Story Now as this maketh much against our Aduersaries that are merit-mongers So it maketh nothing at all for Gospellers that turne the grace of God into wantonnesse and thinke that because they pretend a faith that they may doe all things and be excused for all things This therefore shall be the twofold vse of this Circumstance of the quality that ought to be in the persons to be saued by the Gospell both for confutation that the Aduersaries of our free iustification by Christ preached in the Gospell be proued to be false Teachers deceitfull workemen c. And for reprehension that if any man thinkes he may vse the cloake of faith for a colour of vnrighteousnesse that he be vnmasked Which points I cannot stand now to enlarge vnto you hauing already pressed vpon your patience but will referre the handling thereof to some other time To God the Father God the Sonne and God the holy Ghost three Persons but one euerlasting and indiuisible God be ascribed all power might Maiestie and Dominion now and for euer Amen Amen A SERMON VPON THE SECOND OF KINGS· THE FIFTH SERMON 2. KINGS 18.13 Moreouer in the foureteenth yeere of King Hezekiah Sennacherib King of Asshur came vp against all the strong Cities of Iudah and tooke them THE Prophet hauing declared in the foure verses immediatly going before my Text what griefe King Hezekiah and his faithfull subiects had suffered by hearing what Gods enemies had done to their brethren those of the ten Tribes in destroying their Country burning their Cities killing a great number of them carrying away the remnant of them into captiuity all this because oftheir wickednes rebellion against God Now here at the 13. verse he beginneth to shew what and how much they suffered in themselues And what was that Surely they were not onely afflicted with present euils as of the spoiling and sacking of most of their Townes of the exhausting of their Treasures both prophane and sacred and with blasphemous reuilings of them and of the true God whom they worshipped c. but also with feare of future euils as namely that the mother-Citie it selfe the glory of that Kingdome Hierusalem should be taken their Temple destroyed their King and Nobles led away their young men slaine with the sword their women abused c. And which did most of all vexe the soule of the righteous that they that were so sawcy with God as to blaspheme him before the victory would if they should preuaile be hardned in their villanies and say of a truth that the Iewes worshipped a thing of nought This is the summe of the euils mentioned in this Chapter and in part of the next partly suffered indeed of the faithfull partly suffered in feare and expectation Now what mercy the Lord shewed them in the end and what confusion he brought vpon their enemies the same is described towards the later end of the Chapter following Let vs now take the Story in order as it lyeth hauing thus before-hand pointed at the generall heads The first thing that I note vnto you is The continuance and progresse of troubles to the Church noted in this word Moreouer Good Lord might one say what a world is this one depth calleth on another one misery in the necke of another Finis alterius mali gradus est futuri The end of one mischiefe is a step to another as Seneca saith and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Labour bringeth labour vnto labour as it is in Sophocles Why no sooner came Hezekiah to the Kingdome but hee must presently in hand with a reformation and what reformation Surely not of slight matters which might be borne with but of things which immediatly concerned the glory of God he was to purge out Idolatry which had taken deepe roote in the time of his wicked father and to settle an order for the right seruice of God which for a long time was decayed This and more hee was to doe which purchased to him great charges great jarres and great contradiction Now he was no sooner out of this but his neighbours nay his brethren according to the flesh the Israelites are inuaded by the common enemie These hee dare not helpe lest hee should bring present mischiefe vpon himselfe Againe he must see them perish before his eyes though hee knew that his owne day was comming and after that the enemy had done with them then he would haue a saying to him This was bitter euen as bitter as death but yet for all this the wrath of the Lord is not turned away but his iealousie burneth like fire and catcheth hold vpon the Iewes themselues In the foureteenth yeere of Hezekiah Sennacherib came vp against all the Cities of Iudah c. Loe not long after they had beene the beholders of a Tragedie they were made to be Actors that is sufferers in it themselues This is the image of mans life
owe Custome Now that he did not sinne therein may appeare not onely by the silence of the Prophet Esay who in all likely-hood would haue perswaded him to haue submitted himselfe to the King of Ashur as well as Ieremy afterward perswaded Sedechia to yeeld to the King of Babylon but also by the very order of the Text here in this 18. Chap. of the second of Kings For if you looke vpon the 7. verse of that Chap. there you shall see that it is reckoned amongst his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 among his good deeds his worthy acts that he rebelled against the King of Ashur and serued him not Now that it is called rebellion let no man be offended thereat or thinke that hee hath warrant thereby to condemne Hezechiah For it is not called so because the Lord did so esteeme it but because Sennacherib would haue it so reputed As in the 43. of Gen. it is said The Egyptians might not eate bread wih the Hebrewes for that was an abomination to the Egyptians It was not so indeed it did not defile them at all but yet the Egyptians counted it so and therefore so it is called So then because Hezechiah will not fall downe before Sennacherib and suffer him to goe ouer him and tread vpon him because he will not enthrall his Land vnto him and lay vpon the neck of his subiects such a yoke as neither they nor their posterity should be able to beare Hinc illae lachrymae hereupon Hezechiah is a Rebell and deserueth to be persecuted with fire and sword And is not her Maiesties cause the like and the quarrell of her enemy the same What point of Tyranny because warres are commonly vndertaken by great Princes may she be charged with except this be Tyranny to cast downe Images which were perking in the Rood-lofts and to purge her Churches from Idolatry according to the Commandem%nt of God and the example of good Hezechiah And what point of wrong can shee be conuicted to haue done to the Spaniard except this be wrong to preuent his lying in wayte and to seeke to saue her owne life and the liberty of her subiects There was in Rome one called â—imbria a mad fellow and a violent if euer there were any The same man hauing a quarrell to one Scaeuola a worthy man and of speciall reckoning sought to murder him did indeed stab him into the body very dangerously Well the wound proued not to be deadly and Scaeuola escaped with his life now what doth Fimbria He maketh no more adoe but indicts Scaeuola and why Quòd totum telum corpore non exciperet Because he brayded aside and did not suffer himselfe to be slaine out-right So Caligula complained of the iniquity of the time that one doubting to be poysoned of him did take a counterpoyson or a remedy against it What sayes he Antidotum aduersus Caesarem That 's faire play indeed Except the great enemy of Spaine will lay such a thing to our charge namely that when he or his Councell had suborned desperate Ruffians to stabbe our Queene or to pistoll her she hauing intelligence thereof through Gods mercy hath auoyded the danger or when he had hyred her owne Physician to take away her life by poysoning she being warned thereof did not consent to take the fatall drugge Except I say this be her fault that she hath not yeelded wilfully to cast away her life for his pleasure I see no cause why he should complaine of wrong suffering from her But yet now I remember my selfe he hath another quarrell against her And what is that Mary the same that the Galles had to the men of Tuscan We want Land say they and you must spare vs some Againe your Land is a better Land then ours this is quarrell sufficient Howbeit as Herodotus writeth of the men of Andrus that when Themistocles would needs haue money of them and to that purpose said that he had brought two Goddesses with him Perswasion and Necessity The men of Andrus answered him that they all had two great Goddesses with them which did forbid them to giue him money and those were Pouerty and Impossibility So say we If they haue need of our Lands and of our commodities we cannot spare them and if they bring a sword against vs to enforce I hope we shall find a Buckler and a sword too to resist Well this is our comfort that Hezechiah is inuaded that is such a one as hath abolished false worshippings her Maiestie I meane for which cause the Lord seemeth to haue had a speciall care of her and so I hope He will haue vnto the end Againe this is our comfort that Ierusalem is inuaded England I meane wherin though otherwise abounding with sin yet God hath had his Sanctuary now a good while and will He now bring it that it should be destroyed and layd on ruinous heapes No surely if yet we shall repent and turne vnto him Lastly this is our comfort that Sennacherib is the Inuader that is such a one as doth not so much please himselfe in the multitude of his ships and in the expertnesse of his men and in the heapes of his treasures that is in his arme of flesh as he doth certainely offend God by his desire of ioyning Dominion to Dominion which is vnsatiable by his raising of tumults nourishing of broyles in all his neighbour Countreyes which is most malicious and specially through his wicked zeale to aduance Idolatry and to set vp the Kingdome of Antichrist which is abominable If any man thinke that I offer the Spaniard hard measure to match him with Sennacherib first one out of the Church then a Persecutor of the Church c. Let the same know that although superstition be not altogether so bad in it selfe as Atheisme albeit Nazianzene is bold and sayes that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it were as good to worship no God as to haue many in Gods sight yet for all that to the Church commonly it is no lesse hurtfull or dangerous For did any godlesse Tyrant make more hauocke of the faithfull Seruants of God then did Idolatrous Iezabel This before Christs time And after Is not the second beast which came vp out of the earth Reuel 13. by which Antichrist is meant said to doe all the first beast could that is the Romane Tyrants and to be alike enraged vpon the Saints of God Therefore to the Church you see they be alike cruell therefore no great wrong done to our enemy in this respect But now for other respects his dealing hath beene lesse honourable For Sennacherib had some colour of a cause to make warre vpon Hezechiah for denying the pension which his father paid though indeed it dyed with his father but this man by no colour can demand any such thing Sennacherib was no way beholding to the Iewes for any merit or seruice they had done him This man got Saint
come in Christs Vicars name so he calleth himselfe and would be called by others but indeed he is an Aduersary and you will receiue them and aduenture your neckes for them And wee come in Christs name with his message and reconcilement vnto God whom you haue offended without any working of you to offend the State and will you refuse vs Shall they be welcome with their Traditions that is with their Tales and we odious with the Gospell which was preached vnto you which ye also receiued and which you must returne to if you meane to be saued What is strong illusion what is the working of Satan what is the power of darkenesse if this be not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. You forsake the right and straight way and goe that which is full of thornes and stakes what arrogancy and phrensie are you possessed with saith Clemens Alexandrinus out of Sibylla So Cyprian Christ promiseth euerlasting life if we will follow him and he is forsaken The Deuill promiseth Gu-gawes and lyeth too in his promise and he is adored O foedam defectionem ô iniquam permutationem O filthy defection O absurd exchange saith Cyprian The like may we say to those bewitched Countrey-men of ours that preferre Rome before Sion and the doctrine thereof before the liuely Oracles of God that like children or women that haue the disease called Pica preferre Lime or dirt before white bread yea like vnwise Marchants glasse before pearle lead before gold cotton before silke that is error before truth Belial before Christ Baal before Iehouah more particularly ignorance before knowledge dumbe Images before effectuall Teachers Saints before Christ doubtfulnesse before Faith seruile feare before filiall loue horror of conscience before tranquillity of spirit There is no peace to the wicked saith the Lord. And truely there is no rest to the soule in Popery What rest can there be when they make Saints mediation the onely anker of their hope mens books the foundation of their faith mans Absolution the remission of their guilt here and mens pardons the relaxation of their punishment hence This they doe an hundred things as bad in Popery therefore it is impossible that they should be at peace with God or haue peace within themselues that thus make flesh their arme and in their heart depart from God And therfore if you desire to find rest for your soules or to haue your Election saluation made sure vnto you you must haue nothing to do with the vnfruitfull vncoÌ„fortable opinions of Popery but rather abhor them reproue them The Lord in mercy vouchsafe to bring them home that goe astray to confirme them that stand to grant vs true peace true rest through Iesus Christ our blessed Sauiour To whom with the Father the holy Ghost be praise thankesgiuing for euer and euer Amen Amen A SERMON VPON THE FIRST OF PETER THE NINTH SERMON 1. PETER 5. verse 6. Humble your selues therefore vnder the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time THE word therefore hath reference to that which went before namely to the last words of the former verse God resisteth the proud and giueth grace to the humble and inferreth strongly vpon the force of them For if God resisteth the proud if contrariwise he giueth grace to the humble then there is no cause in the world why any man should be proud and there is great cause why euery one should be humble For doe wee prouoke the Lord are we stronger then he If we walke crosse against God or hardly stifly the Chaldee hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hardly he will walke so against vs. It is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the liuing God Iacob I grant wrastled with God preuailed but how he did not make head against God neither did he thinke himselfe an equall match for God by no meanes but God vouchsafing to take him vp in his armes and bearing him in his armes that he should not dash his foot against a stone he might doe all things by him that strengthned him he might swimme easily the Lord holding him vp by the chin he might fight valiantly the Lord teaching his hands to warre and his fingers to fight But tell me how they sped against whom God bent himselfe Pharaoh and his Hoast whom the Lord looked vpon out of the fiery and cloudy Pillar for euill and not for good were they not drowned in the red Sea Those stiffe-necked and rebellious Israelites which prouoked the Lord ten times that is many and many a time against whom the Lord swore in his wrath If they shall enter into my rest that is Neuer beleeue me if they enter did not their carkasses fall in the Wildernesse and were they not vtterly consumed there till not one of them was left This before they came into the Land of promise When they were there did not the Lord take the Kingdome from Saul and his Stocke because he was angry with him and gaue it to Dauid From Dauids sonne Salomon because of his Idolatry did he not rend the Kingdome and câ—nferre tenne parts thereof vpon Ieroboam From Ieroboams Line yea from all the Kings of Israel succeeding him and caused them to be carryed away captiues into Assyria There remained the Tribes of Iudah and Beniamin for a while in honorable estate but when these also defied the Lord and prouoked the Holy one of Israel when they said that they should be deliuered because of the righteousnesse of their Fathers and the holinesse of the Temple though they hated to be reformed and had cast Gods Commandements behind them Then did the Lord cast Iudah out of his sight as he had done Israel he plowed Sion as a field as he had done Samaria he made Hierusalem the beloued City in former times which also hee called a greene Oliue-tree faire and of goodly fruite a breeding of Nettles and Salt pits and a perpetuall desolation For it is a righteous thing with God as to shew mercy to them that feare him and stoupe vnto him so also to render tribulation and anguish and shame and confusion to euery one that exalteth himselfe before him to the Iewe first and also to the Greeke Lysander a great man in Lacedemon and one that had deserued well of King Agesilaus being disgraced many wayes and suffering many indignities by the Kings conniuence falleth into expostulation with the King because he suffered him so to be contemned and abused To whom the King made answer So they deserue to be vsed that take so much vpon them as thou doest and will not reuerence and awe the King Precedent merits and good seruice will not tie Princes of a gâ—nerous spirit to such subiects of theirs as shew themselues ouer-lusty and crancke with them And can we thinke that God who is of pure eyes and incomprehensiâ—le Maiesty to whom the greatest men are as nothing and the
foole is his name and folly is with him and wilt thou put thy wit to a fooles wit What wisedome Secondly My selfe whom thou mightest thinke to haue more wit certainely I had better breeding and another spirit hath appeared in me than in him was by great mis-hap out of the way when thy messengers came and wilt thou turne casum in consilium and punish mischance for miscarriage what equity Thirdly looke vpon thy selfe and what is fit for thee to doe the eyes of all Israel are cast vpon thee and hitherto thou hast beene esteemed to fight the battels of the Lord and wilt thou now fight thine owne battels and reuenge thy selfe vpon an ill-nurtured clowne vpon a feeble woman vpon innocent hindes what man-hood Lastly if I or my husband or our people haue done thee any wrong I am present here to make satisfaction Behold I haue brought thee a present of such and such things the best things that we haue for the reliefe of thy selfe and thy Souldiers I haue not sent iâ— but haue brought it my selfe who doe beseech thee vpon my bended knees to remit the ouer-sights of thy seruants euen I beseech thee who am one of thy Votaries and doe pray God daily for thee that he would settle thee in the Kingdome whereto thou art already anointed and canst thou despise so great affection so great deuotion Thus Abigail And who euer would haue thought that such a woman could haue beene so vnhappy as to be matched to such a man and againe who would thinke that any man could be so vile and naught as not to be bettered by such a woman but this is that that Salomon saith Bray a foole in a mortâ—r and his folly will not depart from him and this is that which we vse to say in our Prouerb Where lands and goods are onely looked after there the Deuill may be thought to aske the Banes It is to be presumed that Nabals wealth and not his worth was put in the Ballance this made Abigail or her friends fond of him Et bene nummatum decorat Suadela Venusque that is Is any man rich Then he is a wise man an eloquent man a proper man and worthy a Lady All that may be said for Abigail and her friends their excuse is this that peraduenture they had hope to doe some good vpon him to refine him to remould him For how knowest thou O woman whether thou shalt saue thy husband and how knowest thou O man whether thou shalt saue thy wife I answer briefly that S. Paul speaketh in that place of such as are married already whom he would not haue to thinke of parting or breaking vpon whatsoeuer pretext or surmize of lesse beliefe or worse beliefe But if ye aske his iudgement concerning them that are to be married he sheweth it plainely in the same Chapter verse 39. A widdow is free to marry with whom she will onely in the Lord that is in nomine Domini quod est indubitatè Christiano that is In the name of the Lord which is without doubt to a Christian. Thus Tertullian in the second booke to his wife and to the same effect his disciple Hierome So againe the Apostle ruleth it Be not vnequally yoked with infidels We must not be yoked with them in any neere society or coniunction then not in marriage which is the neerest of all Touching the hope of doing some good vpon them I grant that Charity hopeth all things and consequently the best but yet wisedome feareth the worst And if two Apples be set together the one a rotten one the other a sound one the rotten one is not sweetned by the sound but the sound is tainted by the rotten Vnderstand what I say and the Lord giue you vnderstanding in all things Haue ye not heard of that foule Lake in the Land of Iury called the dead Sea It is obserued by Geographers that it is neuer the sweeter or the wholesommer for all that the sweet riuer Iordan runneth into it Doe you not remember what Salomon saith in the 10. of the Booke of the Preacher Dead flyes corrupt the ointment of the Apothecary Marke the dead flyes are not mended by the precious ointment but the precious ointment is marred by the dead flyes The note is this Nabal the husband is neuer the better for Abigail his good wife for ought that doth appeare but Abigail the worse for Nabal it is to be suspected therefore beware of such coniunctions Well hauing spoken so much of the speaker Abigail and her mate let vs come now to the speech it selfe Yet a man is risen vp c. Of this speech there be two parts An Indignation and an Omination The Indignation in the former part of the verse in these words Yet a man is risen vp to pursue thee and to seeke thy soule The Omination in the words that follow But the soule of my Lord shall be bound c. The Indignation was grounded no question vpon two apparent causes to wit Sauls ingratitude and enuy for which Abigail doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is shew her selfe agrieued and offended Yet a man c. The Omination hath two parts the former presageth wisheth at least all good vnto Dauid and the later Confusion to his implacable enemies Touching the first part and the first ground of Abigails indignation to wit ingratitude the same is a foule sinne I pray God it be not found in the house of Iacob as the Wise man speaketh in another case but it is to be doubted nay it is certaine that it euer was and euer will be among the children of disobedience It is strange weeds doe not grow in all grounds if in moist then not in dry if in dry then not in moist this commonly neither doe they grow in all times of the yeere some be not vp before Aprill some be not before May or Iune and in Winter most of them doe wither away and are gone So wilde beasts and strange birds be in few places If you will see the Crocodyle you must goe into Egypt if the Ostrich into Barbary or Ethiopia if the Rhinoceros you must goe into India if the Alce vnto Polonia c. In a word if you will see the Tsijm you must goe into the wildernesses if Iijm into the Ilands In like manner monstrous birds are very rare God be thanked scarce one in many yeeres How happeneth it then that ingratitude should be so common and fill so much ground Townes Villages streets houses and what not It is obserued by Naturalists yea and by Herodotus himselfe that those beasts that be for mans meat are very fruitfull as for example the Hare who is of strange fecundity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is she is euer breeding euer bagged On the other side the Lionesse bringeth forth but once and then her matrix is spoyled as also they write of the Viper that the brood destroyes the damme I
them as the same Apostle admonisheth So shall the Lord make vnto our King a sure house and his son shall sit vpon his Throne after him his sonne after him Et nati natorum qui nascentur ab illis that is their sons after them to many and many generations Briefly so shall not we be powred out from vessell to vessell but shall be settled vpon our lees as it is in the Prophet The Lord shall speake peace to vs to our Land that we be not led into captiuity and that the enemy beneuer able to shoot an arrow amongst vs. Lastly so shall our enemies be found lyers and they shall looke till their eyes faile them for our subuersion but they shall not see it but on our Kings head shall his Crowne flourish and be more and more greene in his age In a word so shall his life and the life of the Queene and the life of the Prince and the liues of the whole Royall Issue be long and long bound vp in the bundle of life with the Lord their God and our God and the soules of their and our enemies be slung out as out of the midst of a sling which God the Father grant for Iesus Christ his sake to whom with the holy Spirit three persons and one immortall inuisible and onely wise God be all Praise Power Dominion and Maiesty ascribed for euer and euer Amen Amen A SERMON VPON THE FIFTH TO THE EPHESIANS THE FIFTEENTH SERMON EPHESIANS 5. verse 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be not drunke with Wine wherein is excesse IN these words we haue First a speciall charge not to be drunke Secondly a speciall designation or Caueat with wine Thirdly a speciall reason wherein is excesse To be drunke is a foule sinne to be drunke with wine is a sinne soone committed to doe that which containeth and carrieth with it so much mischiefe and inconuenience as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 importeth is very fearefull and dangerous Touching the first It may seeme a strange course to discourse against drunkennesse before sober men and at the Assize-time too when men vse to heare of righteousnesse and Iudgement and the greater things of the Law For as Christ saith They that are whole need not the Physician but they that are sicke And as St. Paul Our vncomely parts haue more honesty on for our comely parts need it not So they that are here in the Church they are well aduised and they that are misaduised come not hither therefore both wayes you shall labour in vaine and for nothing as the Prophet speaketh and speake in the aire as the Apostle hath it or cast your seed vpon the Sea as the Poet speaketh Thus some hastily and peraduenture ouer-hastily For what if most of them that heare me this day are soberly-minded yet as Saint Iohn saith to another purpose It is not made manifest what we shall be And as the same Saint Iohn saith He that is iust let him be more iust So it is no disgrace for any man to be called vpon with these words He that thinketh he standeth now at the second or third houre of the day let him take heed lest he fall before the eleuenth or twelfth And againe Hold what thou hast lest another take away thy Crowne There was a time when Saint Paul could deliuer this obseruation for a truth They that are drunke are drunke in the night And Saint Peter might be bold to Apologize for himselfe and his fellowes These are not drunke as ye suppose since it is but the third houre of the day that is about nine of the clocke But now the case is altered if you will finde some sober you must take them in their beds for they rise vp early to follow drunkennesse Nay as Saint Hierome telleth of one that sware by her Ioue that she was very betime and before any would imagine â—ewd or naught So there be some that with the Sun and before the Sunne will be at the cup and as though Satan could expell Satan so they thinke that one cup will driue away another O earth earth earth heare the Word of the Lord saith the Prophet Ieremy in one place In another To whom shall I speake admonish that they may heare If a man will prophesie to them of wine strong drink for it is not against it he shall euen be the Prophet of this people a Prophet for the nonce He that will goe to the Tauerne to them and carowse with them him they will welcome and heare Indeed as I finde in Aelian that a certaine politicke Captaine Leonides by name finding the security the beastly security of them of Byzantium whom he tooke vpon him to defend that they would not be reclaimed from their tippling no not when the enemy was ready to scale the walls deuised to haue the Vintners and Ale-wiues remoue their hogs-heads and barrels out of their houses and Tauernes to the walls that the people thither resorting to swill might at the least make a shew of resistance So if you will haue some to heare you you must either remoue the Pulpit to the Tauerne or the Tauerne the wine and strong drinke of the Tauerne to the Church for it they will follow that is their god The Prophet Moses reproueth the Iewes from offering vnto new gods which newly came vp whom their fathers feared not Surely Bacchus is a new Idoll whom few of our Ancestors serued Comus Addephâ—gia that is Gluttony or full-â—eeding those they are were acquainted with and for the same reproached by their neighbours that had not so good stomakes but as for drunkennesse they tooke little pleasure therein at the least-wise they did not glory in it The world is changed now Iamdudum Syrus in Tiberim defluxit Orontes We are full of the manners of the East and as the haire-siue suffereth the good liquor to run thorow it and retaineth onely the graines so our neighbours excelling in many kindes of vertues we learne none of those but their quaffing and drinking that we take vp nay we labour to out-strip them in The saying of the Prophet is verified in too many They passe the deeds of the wicked And therefore we can expect none other fauour but that which is added in the same place and prefixed aboue in the Chapter Shall I not visit for these things saith the Lord shall I not be auenged vpon such a Nation as this Well the matter falling out so foule and being brought to the extremity that it is time both for all to pray as it is in the Psalme It is time O Lord that thou put to thine hand yea the time is come And for Preachers to lift vp their voyces like Trumpets and to cry aloud and not to cease crying against this sinne of drunkennesse Alas this sinne of Drunkennesse is a crying sinne and as it is said Genes 6. That all flesh
had corrupted his way vpon earth through lust especially So now the world may seeme to be corrupt and abominable through Drunkennesse Of Wisedome there is deliuered a negatiue Proposition The depth saith It is not in me the Sea also saith It is not in me But of Drunkennesse it may be said affirmatiuely that both depth and dry land both City and Towne are full of it It was once said of God Iouis omnia plena All the world is full of God so by the Latine Poet. By the Greeke also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All streetes are full of Ioue all market places all Seas and Ports but now the like is verified of Drunkennesse which God abhorreth and good men condemne all the world is set vpon this naughtinesse Now if God had no where spoken against it or if secretly or in the chamber as it were we had either beene in no fault or in lesse fault For as where there is no Law there is no transgression so where men are ineuitably necessarily blinde or ignorant they haue somewhat to excuse their sinne withall But now when all the Prophets and holy men of God from Moses downeward as many as haue written or spoken haue sharply inueighed against this sinne when as Augustine speaketh against merit Vniuersa facies atque vt ita dicam vultus sanctarum Scripturarum rectè intuentes id admonere inuenitur vt qui gloriatur in Domino glorietur The whole face and countenance of the holy Scriptures doth admonish them that looke vpon it with a streight eye that he that reioyceth should reioice in the Lord. So the whole Book of God if we will search it as we are commanded to do Iohn 5. doth euery where decipher the odiousnesse of Drunkennesse and what plagues God bringeth vpon them that delight therein ought we not to hold that sin most vile and detestable that is so generally spoken against Looke vpon my Text onely Be not drunke sâ—ith the Apostle Marke he doth not say I aduise you not to be drunke though as Tertullian saith Consilium edictum eius diuini iam praecepti instar obtinuit c. His counsell were of no lesse authority than a commandement but he expressely layeth his commandement vpon vs Be not drunke Where note in the second place That Gods wayes be not like mans wayes as the Prophet saith Men thinke it is an indifferent thing to drinke much or little nay they count it a generous thing to drinke hard and that man is no Gallant that is not a great drinker 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He is the true Gentleman now adayes that can drinke and drab it best O tempora ô mores saith the Orator O mysteria ô moâ—es saith Ambrose O Lord to what times hast thou reserued me cryed out Polycarpus in Eusebius Men call euill good What remaineth next but that they call good euill But Saint Paul here in Gods name chargeth vs not to be drunke therefore he doth not leaue vs to our liberty but requireth it as a speciall duty that we keepe our selues within the bounds of sobriety Indeed in the words going next before he forbiddeth vs to be vnwise in Gods matters and commandeth vs to vnderstand what is the will of the Lord and therefore adding immediatly thereupon the words of my Text Be not drunke with wine he would haue vs to make this collection That Drunkennesse is a speciall hinderance to the knowledge of God It is so and to the seruice of God and to whatsoeuer is of piety or humanity either It was said in old time Prooue a man to be vngratefull and you prooue him to be altogether naught and so it may be said in all times If you prooue â— man to be a drunkard you prooue him to be filthy and to euery good worke reprobate He may haue a name to liue but indeed he is dead as S. Iohn speaketh he may haue the appearance of a man but indeed he is a beast as Ieremy speaketh He may be thought to be a sound man but indeed he is demoniacall obsessed or rather possessed with a Deuill or rather deuils more miserable than such a one For as Basil saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that hath a Deuill is pityed but the drunkard is not worthy to bepitied 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because he wrestleth with a Deuill of his owne choosing To be short The drunkard is no better than an Idoll he hath eyes and seeth not eares and heareth not tongue and speaketh not feet walketh not Nec pes nec manus nec lingua of ficium faciunt If a blind man and a lame man agree together one may helpe the other according to the Embleme the blind man hauing his limmes may carry the lame vpon his backe and the lame man hauing his eyes may direct the blind But now if two drunkards goe together if they can goe they both fall into the ditch and the fall is grieuous and many times foule It is said in the Prouerbs Seest thou a man wise in his owne eyes there is more hope of a foole than of such a one And so we may say in this case Seest thou a man giuen to the cup there is as much hope of an Asse as of him The reason is plaine Euery other sinne that a man committeth leaueth some sting or remorse behind it but the drunkard seemeth to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 past sorrow past feeling Againe euery other sinne hath its satiety but the drunkard is neuer weary of drinking as the daughters of the Horse-leech cry Giue giue so he cryeth Giue giue Fill fill Therefore when God would shew his hatred against pride because it could hardly be compared to a worse thing he compareth it to drunkennesse saying Behold the proud man or arrogant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is as he that transgresseth by wine he keepeth not at home lo-ijnueh he enlargeth his desire as hell and is as death and cannot be satisfied Indeed thus it is with drunkards they cry out Nos nisi damnosi bibimus moriemur inulti Et calices poscunt maiores If we drinke not till our eyes stare againe and while we haue euer a penny in our purse we shall dye an ignoble death no man will reuenge our death So doe the drunkards exhort one another in the Prophet Come I will bring wine and we will fill our selues with strong drinke and to morrow shall be as this day and much more abundant This is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the practice but what is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the duty The Apostle sheweth it in my Text Be not drunke So to the Romanes Walke honestly as in the day time not in gluttony and drunkennesse what followeth neither in chambering and wantonnesse So it is Venter mero aestuans citò despumat in libidines saith Hierome When the Persian Embassadors were well whitled then they fell
a place of celestiall pleasure and celestiall plenty plenty that neuer faileth and pleasures for euer-more And thus haue you our Meditations on the Text. A word more of this present occasion we haue done When I was appointed by this right Reuerend and Honorable Prelate to this seruice I found him declining any Encomium of his pr aises for well knew he what Austin hath and what hath Augustine or any of the Fathers that he knew not That the soule receiued among the blessed regardeth not the commendations of men Imitationem tantùm quaerit it liketh their imitation better But as the Elders of the Iewes to Christ in another case on the Centurions behalfe He is worthy thou shouldest doe this for him for he hath loued our Nation and built vs a Synagogue he is worthy to be remembred of vs for he loued our Nation id est vs Ministers and he furnished your Synagogues your Churches with the plentifull preaching of the Gospell The same which moued Israel so honourably to interre that good high Priest Iehoiada is our cause this day For he did good in Israel both towards God and towards his house Ye daughters of Israel weepe ouer him who clothed you in scarlet with other delights and put on ornaments of gold vpon your apparell Two singular ornaments crowned him which seldome meete in one man Learning and Humility Learning the ornament of his mind and humility the ornament of his learning Iulius secundus studying long for an Exordium to his matter was asked by Iulius Florus Nunquid tu melius dicere vis quà m potes I haue matter if I must fit it with speech I must speake better than in this cantle of time I can speake Therefore lest I should Frigidè laudare which Fauorinus liketh not I le giue it you in grosse considering his much reading with the happinesse of his memory how well acquainted with Histories Ecclesiasticall and profane with the Iewish Rabbins and the Christian Doctors with Diuines ancient and moderne with Fathers Greeke and Latin how perfect in the Greeke the Hebrew the Chaldee the Syriacke and the Arabicke tongues I am bold to affirme that there are few so learned men vnder heauen One monument of his learning haue we for which the age now doth and the children vnborne shall blesse his memory That he began with others but finished alone with one of the greatest and most learned Bishops of the Church of England set forth the new and most exact translation of the Bible wherein as it was said of Ierome for translating the Septuagint into the Dalmatian tongue he deliuered the Scriptures suae linguae hominibus to Englishmen in English The sole merit of which worke preferred him to this place of gouernment in the Church For with Basilius Magnus Non ex maioribus sed ex propria virtute Nobilitatem duxit He eennobled himselfe with his owne worth and vertue And touching his Humility as it was said of Piso so more truely of him Nemo fuit qui magis quae agenda erant curaret sine vlla ostentatione agendi No man did more good than he with lesser shew of ostentation How he decked himselfe inwardly with lowlinesse of minde and did put himselfe vnderneath himselfe euery one that knew him knew On a time and many such I could tell you a poore Minister sending in to speake with him abruptly he brake off a most serious discourse saying But the Minister must not stay lest we should seeme to take state vpon vs. Therein imitating that great and inuincible Supporter of the Faith of one Substance Athanasius of whom Nazianzene writeth that being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 growne to a super excellent height of vertue yet was he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 easie of accesse and facile to entertaine the poore mans suit When in his sickenesse one hoped for his recouery he gaue the answer that Saint Ambrose gaue to the Nobles of Millaine that desired him to pray for life Non ita inter vos vixi vt pudeat me viuere nec timeo mori quoniam Dominum bonum habemus I haue not so liued among you that I am ashamed to liue neither am I afraid to dye because our Lord is good How he perseuered in the truth you shall heare Some few dayes before his death in the presence of a worthy and truely Noble Knight I heard him discourse sweetly of the Certainty of Saluation and of Perseuerance in Grace comfortable truths so much opposed by Papists Arminians and carnall Gospellers And in conclusion he did affirme That he which holds the Protestants doctrine and faith herein hath built his house vpon the Rocke and the gates of Hell shall not preuaile against him Not many houres before his departure for as Ambrose of Acholius non obijt sed abijt I found him as mee seemed victorious vpon some conflict and Quis Sanctorum sine certamine coronatur What Saint was euer crowned but vpon a combat saith Saint Ierome I drew neere his bed he reached for my hand and greezed it and now you see the cause of my choise saying I know whom I haue beleeued and I am perswaded that he is able to keepe that which I haue committed vnto him against that Day This occasioned some thing concerning relyance vpon God by Faith yea said he I had fainted vnlesse I had beleeued to see the goodnesse of the Lord in the Land of the liuing Mention being further made of Faith and Hope and of their obiect But saith he againe in Dauids words The mercies of the Lord are from generation to generation on them that feare him Mercy brought in thoughts of Christ oh saith he in the words of that holy Martyr None but Christ None but Christ. Being told how preciously the Lord esteemeth the death of such he replyed Right deare Right deare in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints Some prayers made for him vpon his desire at conclusion he said Amen I thanke God Amen enough enough Amen I thanke God They write of Lanfrancus sometime Archbishop of Canturbury that he often prayed and obtained to dye such a death that neither hindered speech nor memory this blessing God afforded our Reuerend Bishop for as I am certified by one most deare to him and worthy to be beleeued when he was leauing this life he looked on her and on the rest of his children in the chamber present and said Christ blesse you all And like that old Patriarke Iacob he moued himselfe vpon the bed and cryed Christ Iesus helpe and so Christ tooke him and conclamatum est His soule is now at rest his name is among the Worthies of the Church his estate is with his children and now are we to returne his body to the dust from whence it was taken The best fruits shew their goodnesse when they haue lyen let him lie a while and mellow let vs