think they are in a better condition then wee are wee dislike it The Grecians murmured against the Jewes because their women were neglected Acts 6.1 Cain murmured because Abels sacrifice was accepted and his was not Judas murmured at the box of Spicknard that was bestowed upon our Lord. The elder brother of the prodigall child murmured that the fat calf should be killed for his riotous brother that had spent his fathers goods among harlots This people murmured thus against Moses and Aaron They envied Aaron the Saint of the Lord and murmured against Moses in their tents This wee speake not of now this was not the murmuring of envie What murmur was it then The other two First a murmuring of displeasure and discontent against God And then a murmur of disobedience both against God and against the Magistrate First I say it was a murmur of discontent against God and a fearefull murmur you shall seldome heare of the like I pray marke this When God promised them the land at any time hee usually promiseth it to them out of his love Because God loved the fathers therefore hee chose the seed Deuter. c. 4. ver 37. In another place Deuter. 7. ver 8. The Lord set his love upon you not because you were many for you were the fewest of all people but because hee loved you therefore hee brought you out of the land of Egypt I thinke there was never Nation had so many sensible demonstrations of Gods love as this people had Doe you think that God would have brought them out of the land of bondage with such a mighty out-stretched arme if he had not loved them Doe you think he would have made a way for them in the sea and afterward have fed them with bread from heaven and given them water out of the rock and have guided them with a pillar of fire in the night and a pillar of a cloud in the day if hee had not loved them Doe you think hee would have appeared to them in fire and have spoken to them in an audible voice out of Mount Sinai and have chosen them there to be a peculiar people to him of all the people in the earth if hee had not loved them You will say Who doubted of this love O I pray you heare this people hearken to this people out of their impatience and impatiency is ever full of misconstructions they impute all this that God had done to the very hatred of them Would you thinke it Look in Deut. c. 1. ver 27. Because God hated us therefore hee brought us out of Egypt to destroy us with the Amorires O sinfull Nation worthy to be hated indeed not worthy to be loved that takes Gods love thus for hatred This was the murmur of impatiency The murmur of disobedience against God and the Magistrate was in these words O that wee had died in the wildernesse O that wee were dead They were but affraid of death and they might have lived if they had beleeved they were but affraid of death and for feare they should die they wish O that wee were dead I he like murmuring you shall finde oft times of this people Fourty yeares long was God grieved and vexed with their continuall murmuring One while they murmured for want of water after they had water then they murmur at the bitternesse of the water One while they murmur for want of bread another time they had bread and the bread of Angels the bread of heaven then they murmur because they had nothing but bread One while they murmur at the government of Moses and Aaron God punished them for that murmuring then they murmur againe because God punished them They murmur at the tediousness of the way from Egypt to Cadesh-Barnea now they murmur because they may not goe from Cadesh Barnea to Egypt againe Thus they were like swine For as the swine whether full or empty waking or sleeping is ever grunting so this people were still murmuring The Apostle 1 Corinth chap. 10. ver 10. saith that this is written for our example that wee should not murmur as they murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer Brethren beware of this sin of murmuring I will not speake of the murmuring of envie you have in this Psalme v. 16. They murmured one against another I doe not speake of that but I begin First beware of that murmuring of disobedience Children take heed how you murmur against your Parents Servants take heed how you murmur against your Masters Subjects take heed how you murmur against your Soveraigne Let nothing saith the Apostle be done with murmuring and reasoning Doe all things without murmurings and disputings Phil. chap. 2. ver 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Chrysostome on that place excellently It is a grievous sin that same murmuring It is better saith hee there for a man not to have his worke done then done with murmuring The voice of murmuring is but a low voice it is not loud it is rather muttered then uttered it is but a low voice It may be the man heares thee not against whom thou murmurest But it is said The Lord heard the voice of this peoples murmuring Deuteronomy chap. 1. And the Author of the book of Wisedome excellently There is quoth hee auris zeli an eare of jealousie hee speakes of divine jealousie and that is a jealousie as hot as fire and there is an eare of a Jealous God and the voice of murmuring saith hee shall not be hid therefore saith hee in the next verse Beware of murmuring There is not such a secret thought that shall goe for nought If wee must give an account to God for every idle word surely wee shall give an account to God for words of desperate murmuring That is for the one Beware of that murmuring of disobedience Then of the other Beware above all of that murmuring of impatience There are a generation of men that cannot be troubled with any thing that they would not be troubled with nor can they want any thing that they would have they must not be crossed with wet nor dry with wind nor raine with foule nor faire weather but their mouths are presently set against heaven and they will not stick to charge God foolishly as the people did that God hates them I pray let mee onely give you a few remedies against this impatient murmuring The first is this Consider that that same Discipline of God at which wee murmur is from God Affliction comes not out of the dust as Eliphaz speakes There is nothing befalls thee in thine estate but it comes from a Divine power and is guided by a most wise providence and wilt thou murmur at it The very savage beast that is ready to flee at the throat of a stranger will endure it selfe to be stricken and beaten by his keeper Surely thou art worse then a beast if thou wilt not suffer God thy Father and thy Maker and thy Keeper to strike thee Then secondly againe
may fall to morrow O Consider thy selfe either thou art tempted or hast been tempted or mayest be tempted as that man was The Lord would have Aaron to fall that hee might look with an eye of compassion upon sinners Then lastly It pleased God to suffer him to fall thus that hee might be a warning to us Quomodò tener Agnus c. Alas how shall the tender Lamb doe when the Bell-wether of the flock is thus endangered If Aaron the saint of the Lord as hee is called in this Psalme a man so familiarly acquainted with God and divine visions and a man that had been so powerfull with Moses in working miracles a man that approached so near to God a man so long conversant with God a man that had gone of so many errands of God as hee did with Moses to Pharaoh If so holy and so great a man as hee fell into so great a sinne as this then let us learn to worke out our salvation with feare and trembling Howle Firr-tree saith the Prophet when the Cedar fals Be not high-minded but feare It is the use wee are to mak of it So much for the first circumstance The second circumstance is Where they made this calfe In Horeb. There ran all along in Arabia a ridge of mountaines it was but one mountain but there were two great tops of it Sinai was one and Horeb was the other and you shall finde them sometime called by the one name and sometimes by the other sometimes the whole mountaine is called by the name of Sinai sometimes all the mountaine is called by the name of Horeb sometime by the one top sometime by the other Now this is a thing to be observed they were not gone yet from Horeb the law was given in Sinai but a little before where the Lord charged them out of the fire Thou shalt not make an Image to me they were but at the foot of the hill and had not tarried there much above a month after the law was given they saw mount Sinai before them that was the higher top and they could not but remember how mount Sinai was all on a smoaking fire and flame and with what earnestnesse God had charged them Thou shalt not make any similitude of mee they were not yet gone altogether from the mountaine they were yet in Horeb and yet you see as it is ver 13. They made haste and forgat God and fell to this sinne so saith God to Moses Goe get the downe this people are quickly gone out of the way Exod 32.7 You may see it in this I stand not upon that point The third circumstance is Whereof did they make this calfe They made it of their golden eare-rings Pull off the golden ear-rings saith he from your wives and your sonnes and your Daughters and give them to mee No doubt of it but the servant of God Aaron would faine by this have diverted them from making them a calfe Hee would faine have turned them from it if hee could Hee knew that all those people in those Easterne parts were much delighted in ornaments in eare-rings they say they weare them usually there to this day And suppose hee could perswade the men to be content to part with their ornaments out of their eares yet he thought it impossible to get the women to part with theirs What for a woman to part with her jewels and ornaments This seems a thing impossible You see they are so desirous of them they will many of them pinch their bellies that they may lay somewhat more upon their backes We know there are many that had rather their bellies should want sufficient sustenance then their backes a superfluous ornament You see what a hard matter it is to get women to leave an idle instrument or a bagge of vanity that they carrie about with them but to leave their jewels to part with their ornaments hee never thought they would doe it though the men might part from theirs yet they all do both men and women Wee may observe how easily men and women will part with any thing to maintaine Idolatry I cannot tell whether it be as that Father imagined the pride of our hearts that wee are in love with the workes of our owne hands with the devices of our owne braine with the invention of our own spirits that because they are our own we like them Or whether it be the vigilancy of the divell that roaring lyon that goes about seeking whom he may devoure or what else is the cause I know not but this I know men are more willing to part with any thing to an Idoll to a superstitious worship then to the true worship and service of God And for this cause Idolatry may fitly be compared to whoredome You see a whoremonger will be pinching and sparing enough to his wife and children at home but he cares not how expensive and excessive and lavish he be upon his whores abroad Thus it is in spirituall whoredome men are never so niggardly as in the worship of God but they are content to part with any thing for the maintaining of Idolatry This forwardnesse of this people even to pull their very eare-rings out of their eares to bestow upon an Idoll it will rise up and condemne us that are not willing to pull any thing out of our purses to the worship and service of God Many men in this liberall age we live in are content with the Wise men to take a great journey to see Christ peradventure they are content to fall downe and worship him but they are not willing with those Wise-men to open their treasures Speake to them of opening their treasures whether for works of piety to God or of charity to men then they stand at it as Naaman the Assyrian Nay the Lord be mercifull to me for that Brethren I could speak a great deale more to this purpose but I am loath to trouble you Then besides I know how unnecessary this is in this place I have had many a time here twice especially a plentifull experience of your forwardnesse I have seene how your hearts have beene enlarged in bounty towards the enlarging of this place towards the maintenance of the Ministery and service of God in this place I need not speake of that now But yet I will exhort you now to a worke of charity Do you remember the Briefe that was read even now for that poore towne of Cambridge Me thought your hearts did even yearne within you with pity and compassion to heare of almost 3000. poore distressed soules brought into this extreame misery through the hand of * The great plague in Cambridge Aug. 1630. God Brethren I need say no more I beseech you give us that are your servants in ordinary here in the worke of the Ministery both of the one side and of the other we are all brought up in the Universities I pray give us leave to repaire to your houses and If
remedie but the cords of your tabernacles must be fastned among the tents of Kedar among Idolaters then learne and remember how Noah lived in the old world hee walked with God when all the world walked from him Remember how Lot lived in Sodome how Joseph lived in the Court of Pharaoh and Obadiah in the Court of Ahab and Daniel in the Court of Babylon Remember how the Saints lived in Neros houshold Phil. 4.22 Remember a Church that held the Name of God and denied not the Faith that lived in such a place where Satan's throne was The fish keepes the fresh taste though it live in salt-water A Myrtle loseth not the nature it is a Myrtle still though it grow in the midst of netles It is a foule shame to live among good men in good places not be good but it is an high commendation to live among evill men in evill places and not be ill Thus much shall suffice concerning the Idoll It was a calfe and they learned to make it in Egypt I come now to their worke the making of it They made a calfe in Horeb. There are three circumstances in that making of it First who were they that made it They made it Secondly where did they make it In Horeb. Thirdly of what did they make it That my Text speakes not of here but wee must take it out of the story It was of the golden eare-rings that Aaron tooke out of the eares of the men and women of their sonnes and daughters and of that they made a calfe They made a calfe in Horeb. For the first the persons that made it They made it The Hebrewes the Jewes would very faine put this from themselves they say that there were some Egyptians that were mingled among them and indeed wee reade that there came out a great multitude a mixed confused company came out of Egypt but they were not these only that made the calf the Israelites themselves made it too They made it Yet I doe not thinke that all of them had a hand in making of it I make no question but some of them hated this calfe with a perfect hatred and them that made it them that worshipped it they were but some of the people that made it Harke what the Apostle saith Let us not be Idolaters as some of them were Idolaters 1 Corinth 10.7 But some of them were Idolaters yea a great company of them were Idolaters They made the calfe But how can it be said they made it for if you look in the story wee shall finde that Aaron made it Aaron threw their gold into the fornace Aaron polished the calfe Aaron set up an Altar Aaron proclaimed an holy day To morrow shall be an holy day unto the Lord. It was Aaron that made it why is it not said that Aaron made the calfe in Horeb but They made the calfe Marke those words where this storie is set downe Exod. 32. verse ult It is said there that God plagued the people for their sinne in making the calfe that Aaron made Marke God plagued the people for their sinne in making the calfe that Aaron made So the people and Aaron both made it the people first They made it Take these rules A man may have a hand hee may have fellowship in the unfruitfull workes of darknesse many waies foure especially It is the usuall phrase of Scripture 1. A man is said to doe that that he doth not himself but another man if he command it that is one So David slew Uriah the Hittite with the sword because hee commanded him to be set in the Army where he might be slaine with the sword of the Children of Ammon Secondly a man may be said to doe that that another man doth if hee doe counsell and perswade to it and entice and solicite to it Thus the High-Priests and the Scribes and Pharisees are said with their wicked hands to take Christ and to crucifie him and to hang him on a tree They with their wicked hands did not doe it but they perswaded Pilate to doe it with much importunity therefore they did it Thirdly a man may be said to doe that that another man doth if hee occasion the doing of it It is said of Judas that hee purchased a field Acts 1. ver 18. This man purchased a field Judas did not purchase it but Judas by returning the money to the treasury again for which he sold Christ gave them occasion to purchase it therefore this man purchased the field Fourthly a man may be said to doe that that another man doth if he doe not hinder the doing of it if he ought and might hinder it The men of Tyrus came upon the Sabbath day and sold wares in Jerusalem Nehemiah that good governour hee goes to the Rulers of the people and saith What is this that you doe and breake the Sabbath Nehem 13. They brake it because they should have hindred the breaking of it and did it not Wee have sinnes enough and too many of our own to answer for wee need not answer for the sins of others yet wee shall answer for the sins of others too for all those sinnes that other men have committed if either wee Command them Counsell them Occasion them Or not hinder them Aaron made the calfe but yet they made it because they would have him make it Aaron made it It is a thing to be considered a little Whether did Aaron sinne in making this calfe or no Did Aaron well in yielding to the people in making this calfe Tantum Sacerdotem condemnare non audemus c. saith S. Ambrose We dare not condemne so great an High-Priest and we cannot tell how to justifie and excuse him yet some in former time and one of late dayes in our time but a Papist hath written a book Munsius de AARONE purgato of Aaron purged Hee will free Aaron from all manner of sinne in making of this calfe but it will not be Should he purge him with Nitre and with Fullers sope seven times over hee could not doe it I see the Fathers are wondrous carefull in extenuating this sin and we may doe that excuse it we cannot we must needs acknowledge it a very great sin in this High-Priest First of all say they the people would have him doe it hee would not have done it else Well be it so hee was now a Governour left under Moses hee should have been more vigilant and have looked better to his government The permission of an evill is as great an evill as the commission of it Woe to that people that are humoured in their sins either by the Ministers or by the Magistrates the one should check them the other should punish them but woe to the people that are humoured in them But then you will say This people was set upon a mischief they would have it there would be no remedie Indeed Aaron told Moses so It is true they were so Be they so
there be any consolation of Christ any comfort of love any fellowship of the Spirit any communion of Saints any bowels any mercy fulfill our joy in this I beseech you bestow such a blessing upon that poore Towne and the poore Inhabitants that they may be occasioned and we for them to blesse you again and pray to God to restore that which you shall give in the riches of grace here and of glory hereafter FINIS PSAL. 106.19,20 They made a calfe in Horeb and worshipped the molten Image c. I Began to handle these words the last Lords day There are three things in them First the Idoll a calfe or young Oxe or Bullock Secondly their sin in this calfe in three things First in making of it Then in worshipping of it And then in changing their glory into the similitude of it They made a calfe in Horeb They worshipped the molten Image They changed their glory c. The third thing is the roote of this sin the cause of it whence it grew it grew from forgetfulnesse of God and his works The God they forgat was their Saviour The works they forgat were First great works Secondly wonderfull works Thirdly terrible works They forgat God their Saviour that had done great things for them in Egypt wondrous things in the land of Ham terrible things by the Red sea Of the Idoll I have spoken and of their first work in making of it wherein I considred three circumstances First who made it Secondly where they made it Thirdly of what they made it I now go on to the second thing They worshipped the molten Image This was the end for which they would have it made and so consequently they turned the glory of God into this similitude Here was their sin which was not so much in making of it they might have made it without sinne but to make it to that end to worship it this was abominable Now because these are dangerous dayes wherein we live and there are a generation of men that will compasse Sea and Land to make a proselyte Out of my desire to stablish your hearts in the true and sincere worship of God I shall besides my custome fall upon a matter of Controversie and discusse the question betweene the Church of Rome and us about worshipping of Images There is a great dispute betweene them and us about this peoples Idolatry in worshipping this calfe We do beleeve the sin was sinfull above measure but yet they would make it somewhat worse then it was because they would not be thought to be Idolaters as these were The thing will ask a little time to discusse it more then I have to day I shall but make an entrance into it I shall tell you what order I will take in the handling of it First I will shew you That the making of an Image is not simply forbidden except it be in way of Religion to worship and to serve God by it That is the first They made it and they worshipped it A second thing I will shew is this That all application of divine honour to any Image whatsoever is Idolatry I will shew you thirdly That all Idolaters do change their God they change their glory into the similitude of that they worship I will shew you fourthly That the Church of Rome doth commit as grievous Idolatry in worshipping their Images as this people did in worshipping of this Calfe Lastly I will shew what use we are to make of the whole I say I cannot do all to day I shall but begin it but have patience till I can end it And if in the handling of these things I alledge either Fathers or Councels or Traditions of the Church or History more then I use or more then I think is fit in popular Sermons I pray beare with me and consider whom I deale with with unreasonable men such as will not be satisfied with the meere authority of holy Scripture For the first point The making of an Image is no act of Idolatry except it be by way of Religion to worship God by it that is my first proposition God doth never in the Scripture simply forbid the making of an Image He saith in the second Commandement Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any graven Image It is true but you must know that that is a Commandement of the first Table Now the first Table concernes the worship of God so you must understand it by way of relation to the worship of God Thou shalt not make an Image If you will heare God expounding his owne Law that it is thus looke in Levit. 26.1 Ye shall make you no Idols nor graven Image neither shal ye set up any Image of stone in your land to bow downe unto it So it is not the making of the Image that is forbidden but the bowing downe to the Image we have made or the making it to that end to bow downe that is Idolatry If the making of an Image were simply and absolutely evill then surely the same Art and skill and cunning that some men have in carving and graving of Images should never be attributed to the Spirit of God as the author of it Now you shall finde what God saith I have filled Bezaleel and Aholiab with the spirit of wisdome and understanding and knowledge to work all such rare curious inventions whereof some were Images as you shall heare anon God allows the making of Images to foure uses which I shall name unto you First he allows us to make an Image for the distinction of coines The first coines almost that I can finde in all the Scriptures mentioned they were stamped with a Lamb upon them and were called for that cause Lambs You reade in Gen. 33.19 that Jacob did purchase a field a parcell of ground of Hamor the son of Shechem and he purchased it for an hundred pieces of silver a hundred pieces of money so it is called there but the Hebrew phrase is with an hundred Lambs He bought it with money so Stephen saith But why doth he say with an hundred Lambs It was money stamped with a Lamb. So in Job ult every one of Jobs friends brought to him a piece of money our Translation reads it so but the Hebrew phrase is a Lamb a piece of money so stamped As we call that piece of gold that is stamped with an Angel an Angel so the Scripture called that piece of money that was stamped with a Lamb a Lamb. This was the ancient coine I finde Then that same shekell that we reade oft of in Scripture it had two figures upon it it had the likenesse of the pot of Manna on the one side and the likenesse of Aarons Rod on the other side Our Lord said to the Herodians Shew me a penny Whose Image hath it Caesars Our Lord disliked not to have Caesars Image upon a penny but saith he Give to Caesar that which belongeth to Caesar and to God that which is Gods God
tempests he can bring down fire hee can hurrie a body and remove it as he did the body of our Lord from the wildernesse to the pinacle of the Temple and thence to the mountaine Hee can speake in Images it was the divell that spake in some Images of the Gentiles And if popish Images have now and then spoken too as they say they have Bene de me scripsisti said he of Thomas Aquinas Thou hast written well of mee Thomas I make no question but the divell spake in them The divell can doe more then that the divell knowes the secret and hidden vertues in things their sympathies and antipathies their qualities and properties The divels can doe wonderfull things Though they cannot doe miraculous things they can doe wonderfull things Thus the sorcerers in Egypt they did many wonderfull things mira but not true miracles Now fourthly there are mirabilia Dei the wonderfull things of God Indeed there is never a worke of God but it is wonderfull what worke soever it be The very Heathen man could say in every naturall thing there is something in it that is wonderfull But there are some workes of God above all other that are truly miracles not mira but miracula What workes are those Such as exceed the facultie and possibility of nature they are properly and theologically miracles The divell can doe many things by the concurrence of naturall causes but hee cannot worke a miracle that which is properly and theologically called a miracle the divell cannot worke it Now God had wrought many miracles for this people The turning of the dust of the earth into lice this was a miracle the Magicians by the help of the divell attempted to doe this but they could not doe it the art of the Magicians failed them in such a thing as this they could not turne the dust into lice Then he turned the water of the river into blood hee turned the red-sea into drie land hee turned three daies into three darke nights hee turned light into palpable darknesse that no man saw one another nor stirred from the place where hee was for three daies These are wonderfull things truely miracles yet this people forgat God their Saviour that had done such great things for them in Egypt and wondrous things in the land of Ham. Yea and lastly Terrible things in the Red-sea yea God did terrible things for them before they came to the red-sea He did terrible things for them in Egypt if you mark them hee plagued the Egyptians in all things First in their soules with hardnesse of heart hee plagued them in their bodies with botches and blaines hee plagued them in their corne with haile hee plagued them in their beasts with murraine hee plagued them in their houses with froggs hee plagued them in their families with the death of their first-born Here were terrible things when they were in Egypt but the most terrible thing of all was that at the red-sea when hee drowned Pharaoh and all his host that there was not one of them left In the ninth verse of this Psalme you may observe a worke of power in the tenth verse a worke of mercy and in the eleventh verse a worke of judgement The worke of mercy was a great worke the worke of power was a wonderfull worke and the worke of judgement was a terrible worke Yet for all this see the unthankfulnesse of this people They forgat all these But is it possible you will say that they forgar in so little a time all these works that they did not remember them There is a two-fold forgetfulnesse there is a forgetfulnesse of the minde and a forgetfulnesse in affection and action A man may have God in his minde yea in his words in his mouth and yet forget him while hee thinkes of him while hee speakes of him I will shew it you in examples Aske the Idoll-monger Why dost thou make this Idoll He will say To remember God by it It is the usuall word of the Papists Why have you these Images Why To remember God by them But this is no way to remember God this is to forget him because when his Commandement is forgotten hee is forgotten his Commandement is that thou shalt not make an Image They made this calfe to have a visible representation of God before their eyes to remember him O they forgat him now A blasphemer a swearer will have the Name of God in his mouth there are not three periods but hee will have the Name of God in his mouth Will you say that this man remembers God that talkes and speakes of him and swears by him at every word Doth hee remember him thinke you This is to forget God For if hee remembred the Name of God that it is a good name hee would love it If hee remembred that it were a great name hee would feare it If hee remembred it were a glorious name hee would reverence it But hee neither knowes it to be a good name hee forgets that it is a good name and a great name and a glorious name and that makes him to forget God even when hee remembers him and speakes of him To conclude let mee onely make a little application I thinke if any Nation may call God their Saviour next this people surely I thinke wee may doe it Consider how God saved us in 88. Was not that a great worke Remember how God saved us in the Gun-powder treason Was not that a wonderfull worke Remember how God saved our lives from death five yeares since in that same great and heavie plague Was not that plague a terrible worke Yet surely brethren have not wee forgotten God have not wee forgotten these workes of his Our falling from our first love our sliding back again to Egypt our neutrality in Religion our little hatred of Idolatry and Superstition such is our pride such is our wanton excesse such is our oppression such our false weights and such our false oathes and such our false faces Our waies that wee walke in are so unworthy of the Gospell of Christ that I am affraid God may charge us as truely as hee charged this people Wee have forgot God our Saviour that hath done so great things so wondrous things and so terrible things for us FINIS PSAL. 106.23 Wherefore hee said that he would destroy them had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach c. I Have done with that same fearefull sinne of this people I am now in the verse that I have read to shew you the fearefull punishment of God upon them for this sinne He said hee would destroy them had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach to turne away his wrath lest hee should destroy them In these words you have two things The sentence that God pronounceth against this people for this sinne He said hee would destroy them You have secondly the revocation of this sentence the meanes whereby God was kept
a revocation of a fearfull sentence against a whole Nation what may a multitude of Gods chosen ones doe uniting their forces and soliciting heaven for mercy I know beloved brethren what opinion the world hath of Gods children of Gods chosen ones they doe not onely thinke them to be contemptible things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostle speakes the very filth of the world and the off-scouring of all things unto this day Men of no name as Job saith Nay men of no being Those things that are not saith the Apostle They may have a being in nature but they have no being in the esteeme and account of men those things that are not And they not onely thinke them thus but besides the only troublesome dangerous men in a state Ahab tooke Eliah to be the man that troubled all Israel The men of Thessalonica tooke Jason and the brethren in his house to be the men that turned the world upside downe as they speake Acts 17. ver 5. Tertullus accuseth Paul to be a pestilent fellow nay it is somewhat worse in the Greeke it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the abstract the pestilence it selfe a plague one that moved sedition thorow the world where hee came Acts 24. In the first ages of the Church if either Tyber at any time did flow above the accustomed height or Nilus did not flow to the accustomed height if either there were famine or pestilence in the land or any calamity they laid all the fault upon the Christians the Christians were in the fault away with the Christians to the lions with them as though they were men not worthy to live in the world Yet hearken I pray what the Apostle saith for all that in Hebrew 11. ver 38. The world was not worthy of them Hee speakes of some men that wandred up and downe in sheep-skins and goat-skins destitute afflicted tormented yet the world was not worthy of them Why not worthy These men bring blessings to the places where they come they bring blessings to the world the world is not worthy of these blessings therefore not worthy of the men that procured them And what blessings will you say doe Gods children bring to a place I tell you they bring a blessing with their very presence their very presence is a blessing The presence of Jacob was a blessing in the house of Laban The very presence of Joseph was a blessing in the house of Potiphar And what a blessing was in the widow of Zarephath's house when Eliah was there Then they procure a blessing with their prayers where they come Jam. 5.16 The prayer of a faithfull man prevailes much with God God promised this to Abimelech as a great favour Gen. 20.5 My servant Abraham shall pray for thee And the like favour is promised to the three friends of Job Goe saith God to those three men Job's friends goe every one of you offer a burnt offering seven bullockes and seven lambes for a burnt offering and my servant Job shall pray for you Job ult 8. Thirdly they procure blessings by their good example of life because they shine as stars among a wicked and froward generation Yea and they procure this blessing not onely to private houses as Jacob did to the house of Laban and Joseph to the house of Potiphar but to the whole society to all that are in the company There were in the ship with Paul two hundred seventy and six soules in a mighty shipwrack not one of those men perished not a haire fell from the head of any one of them and all for Paul's sake They bring a blessing to the whole company that is with them Nay further they bring a blessing to a whole City where they be Runne to and fro saith the Lord to the Prophet in the streets of Jerusalem and see if you can finde a man that will execute judgement and speake the truth and I will spare the City for his sake Jer. 5.1 If there had been but ten men in Sodome righteous it had not been destroyed there was but one righteous man found there and God could doe nothing to Sodome till hee was out of it Get thee gone saith the Angell to Lot I can doe nothing till thou be gone Nay further they doe good to the whole country wherein they live Wee are not in a continent here wee live in an Island And hearken what Eliphaz the Temanite saith according to our former translation our new somewhat varies but the words will beare as well the one as the other The righteous shall deliver the Island and it shall be delivered through the uprightnesse of his hands Job 22. ult Nay I will goe further The children of God are not the men that turne the world upside downe they are the men that keepe it upright Were it not for the Elect in the world God would soone turne it upside downe It is for the Elects sake that hee keepes it up as soone as the Elect are gathered together the world will be at an end Let mee make use of it and I have done Doth God for the righteous sake shew favour to the wicked mee thinkes the wicked for their owne sakes should shew favour to the righteous If Moses were gone and the wrath of God begin to burne like fire against us who should run to the gap and to the breach If Aaron were gone and the plague should wax hot among us who should run with his censer and stand between the living and the dead and make atonement for us If war should be in the land and if the Chariots and Horse-men of Israel were gone who should fight for us A fearefull presage of an utter destruction and was ever held so is the untimely end of many eminent persons in the Church or Common-wealth a fearfull presage Methuselah if you marke the story did live to the very six hundredth yeare of Noah's life and in the second month of that six hundredth yeare the Flood came Methuselah was but new dead and as soone as Methuselah was dead God sent the Flood As soone as Josiah that good King was slaine then came that miserable captivity Esay chap. 57. ver 1. The righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to heart and good men are taken away Why from the evill that is to come Marke that from the evill that is to come God takes those away those would hinder him those would run to the breach those would stay divine justice from proceeding further hee takes them away Let me conclude this point You have had here one worke of Moses let mee tell you of another in another history In the 17th of Exodus there was war between Israel and Amalek Moses hee gate up on the hill and held his hands to God in prayer As long as Moses his hands were held up Israel prevailed when Moses his hands grew faint come Aaron and Hur one on the one hand and the other on the other
two they encourage them and say it is no more but arise come let us possesse it They were full of faith Caleb his name signifies hearty a hearty man full of courage Come quoth hee let us goe up and possesse it the land is worth our labour The other ten spies white liver'd men they tell another tale they begin with a commendation of the land It could not be denied it was a good land a land that flowed with milk and hony as God told them that was very true But commonly when a man will deprave when he will calumniate hee begins his calumniation with a commendation and hee comes in with a But As when wee commend a man O hee is a good man a very good man a good neighbour but and then he goes on Like as wee reade of Naaman the Assyrian a great man an honourable man a mighty man at armes one that had done great acts but hee was a leper Even as the Papists they commend the Scripture O it is an excellent booke the booke of Scripture It was written by the Spirit of God holy Pen-men of holy matters in a holy stile to an holy end O it is a good booke but it is a hard booke it is difficult there are great mysteries in it it is impossible for Lay-men to attaine to it it is good to keep them from it Ignorance is the mother of devotion Even thus doe the spies It is a good land O a very good land it flowes with milk and hony there wants nothing you can desire you see the fruit of it but it is hard coming to it there is great difficulty I tell you it is impossible to come to it Why what was the matter First of all the men wee found in the land were the sons of Anak Gyants men of mighty stature their height was as the height of Cedars and their strength as the strength of Oakes as the Prophet speakes of the Amorites A mighty people they are Gyants wee are but like grashoppers in their sight they took us as grashoppers they may tread us downe at their pleasure And then againe these men dwell in cities and these cities are walled yea and to make it the more terrible they are walled up to heaven thus they say in Deuteronomy chap. 1. Their Cities are walled up to heaven there is no scaling of them Then besides say they it is such a land as devoures the Inhabitants of it it eates out the Inhabitants How is that It is hard to say their meaning Some think thus there were pestilentiall vapours there that caused the pestilence among them that they died upon heapes Some think they were at civill wars one among another Or peradventure it will eat out the heart of the husband man in the tillage of it with strong labour they must toyle and work hard if they will have their living Somewhat it was but they bring an ill name an ill report upon the land as the Scripture saith Never seeke to get this land it is impossible the men are so great and the wals are so high and it is such a land as eates out the Inhabitants The people they heare this and first they fall to their old weeping as they did before for meat for flesh they fell a weeping all that night there was nothing but weeping to heare this Well the next day they fall to murmuring in their tents If they had wept for their sin of infidelity it had beene well but in their mourning they fall a murmuring First against God for when God promised to give them this land out of his love Because I loved your Fathers therefore I gave you the land the people turne it the other way No God did it out of his hatred thus they say in Deut. God hated us therefore hee brought us out of Egypt to kill us here Then they fall a murmuring against Moses What were it not better to have died in Egypt Were there no graves in Egypt Were it not better to die in the wildernes then to go in and die there They wish to die for feare of death they wish themselves dead for feare they should die Then they goe a little further they will forsooth chuse a new Captaine and goe back into Egypt they will not goe into the pleasant land they will chose an Elect one and back they will goe and they will not goe in there Mases and Aaron fall upon their faces and entreat them and Caleb and Josua encourage them this land may be gotten the Lord delivered us from the Amalekites and he will deliver us from the Amorites the Lord hath slaine the Egyptians and cannot hee slay the Anakims No by no meanes they tooke up stones and would have stoned Caleb and Josua had not the glory of God appeared upon the Tabernacle God knowes what they would have done Upon that they stayed then they knew Gods displeasure then God swears of all these people that came out of the land of Egypt and there were six hundred thousand men that were twenty yeares old and upward not one man of them should enter into the land of Promise they shall all of them since they wish they might die in the wildernesse they shall die every one of them and hee commands them to goe back againe hee carries them to the red-sea hee makes them wander thirty eight yeares and an halfe more in the wildernesse and in that time all that generation was worne out Hee gave it to their seed but not one man of them did come into the land of Promise but those two Caleb and Josua Now you may see what the meaning of my Text is They despised the pleasant land When they heard they could not have it without some blood-shed they will none of it They despised the pleasant land and would not beleeve his Word The spies told them one thing that they could not get it and God said they should have it they tooke mans word rather then Gods They would not beleeve his word Then marke how my Text goes on then they murmured in their tents First they murmured against God It is out of his hatred that hee doth it Then against Moses Why have you brought us to die here Then last of all they utterly refuse to goe to this land But as it is in the story when they saw that God had sworn that not a man of them should come in then all in haste they would goe God bids them goe and then they say No. Then hee saith See you goe not for if you doe surely you shall be made a spoyle to them yet for all that they would go and they were made a spoyle to their enemies a number of them fell by the sword Now I have told you this whole history you shall the better observe out of these words such points as they shall naturally afford to us I begin first with the first sin their despising of the pleasant land They
with the Sister of the King and buried in the City of David among the Kings and this was because hee had done good in Israel towards God and towards his house 2 Chron. 24. ver 16. But what doe I speak of such eminent Persons Saint John Baptist in his Eremiticall retired course of life wanted not his honour not onely among the people who held a common constant opinion of him that he was a Prophet but even with Herod the King who both feared him and observed him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because he was a just and an holy man Goodnesse may command honour when greatnesse must begge it It is this honour which nourisheth Arts Learning would soone decay if this honour were taken from it This encourageth to virtuous actions Valerius Maximus Virtutis uberrimum nutrimentum honos It is this that putteth a man upon the greatest services David durst adventure to fight with the Philistine after hee had heard how the man should be honoured that slew him There is no noble or generous spirit but doth value honour at the highest rate Interesse honoris est majus omni alio Interesse Wee reade of many in Gentile Stories as Ajax Brutus Antony Cato Uticensis and others which have willingly rid themselves of life to rid themselves of some dishonour Did not Saul the like in holy Scripture when hee fell upon his owne sword Did not Sampson the like when hee pulled the house upon his owne head and upon the heads of the Philistines that had so dishonoured him It troubled not Abimelech to thinke that hee should die it troubled him when wretched man hee should have thought of something else to thinke that he should die so dishonourably by the hand of a woman Judg. 9. ver 54. What hath caused so many duells and mortall quarrells between noble and generous spirits as that same too quick and sensible apprehension of some wrong done unto them in honour Doe but looke upon examples of Gods children in Scriptures You shall finde Elisha never so provoked or so unable to dissemble his provocation as when he was dishonoured though it were by wanton and waggish children Holy Job complaineth of nothing more than of that derision and scorn which he suffered from them whose fathers he would have disdained to have set with the dogs of his flock they were men of no Name viler than the earth and yet these men abhorred him and spared not to spit in his face Job 30. Miserrimum est fuisse foelicem hee telleth in the former Chapter in what honour hee had lived it went nearer therefore his heart to be thus dishonoured Wee never reade that good Nehemiah did use any imprecation against those sworne enernies of his Sanballat and Tobijah the Ammonite but only upon their contumelious reproaches Heare us saith hee for wee are despised O our God Turne their reproaches upon their owne head and give them for a prey in the Land of captivity Nehem. 4. ver 4. Have mercy upon us O Lord cry the people And again Have mercy upon us Why what ail they Wee are exceedingly say they filled with contempt our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorne of those that are at ease and with the contempt of the proud Psal 123.3,4 What need I by more examples shew you how Gods children doe complaine of dishonours One of the bitterest ingredients in that Cup which our crucified Lord did drink for us was shame and dishonour which did wring from him that complaint in the midst of his sufferings Vermis ego non homo I am a worme and no man a scorne of men and the out-cast of the people Psal 22. ver 6. And indeed in that kind of death on the Crosse it is a question whether the paine or shame is greater but that gloâ—… is Author and finisher of our Faith both endured the paine of the Crosse and despised the shame and is now set downe at the right hand of the throne of God Hebr. 12.4 and if wee desire to raigne with him wee must be content to suffer with him and learne to contemne that contempt that the world shall cast upon us in his cause hee was thus vile for us and how vile soever wee are for him wee are still to resolve with David that wee will be yet more vile than so Good report and Evill report THe two next Antitheta are good report and evill report 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bona fama Infamia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is first but how irksome and odious that is to us will best appeare when I have first shewed unto you how precious and comfortable a good report is But let me tell you first three things First we must not look for it from all men Woe unto you saith our Lord when all men speak well of you Luke 6. ver 26 It is enough if wee be well-reported of by the most yea it is enough if though wee be not of the most it be by the best Secondly wee must not looke for it alwaies from the mouthes of men Wee commend our selves saith S. Paul to every mans conscience in the sight of God 2 Corinth 4.2 Our persons and actions may peradventure receive a good approbation from the consciences of men when wee cannot get a good word from their lips Thirdly we must not look for it at all times it is not alwaies a blessing it may sometimes doe us hurt an ill use sometimes may be made of a good report if the proud heart of the man sit and blesse it selfe in that for which hee is well reported and a good use may be made of an ill report when a man by it is made either cautior or humilior either more humble for what is past or more wary for afterward but a good report from the mouth of good men and from the conscience of evill men at such time as it may bring honour to God or good to us is to be reckoned amongst one of the greatest blessings of this life though it be no virtue yet it hath the originall from virtue therefore saith the Apostle Si qua Virtus si qua Laus Virtus first and then Laus Phil. 1.8 Honesta fama alterum patrimonium First it is bonum utile accounted a second Patrimony rather to be chosen then great riches saith Solomon Proverb 22. ver 1. then a thousand great treasures of Gold saith the son of Syrach Ecclus. 41.12 Plautus in Mostellaria Ast ego si bonam famam servasso sat ero dives saith one in the Comedy if I shall keep my credit I am rich enough Secondly bonum jucundum A good Name is better then a precious oyntment Eccles 7.1 There is mentioned by Saint Basil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a certaine Art of drawing of pigeons to their dove-houses in those Countries by annointing the wings of one of them with a sweet oyntment and it being sent abroad doth by
to death ye shall surely bring innocent bloud upon your selves and upon this City and upon the inhabitants thereof For of a trueth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speake all these words in your eares Jer. 26.14,15 So our Saint Paul oftentimes vindicates his credit and standeth upon his sincerity in preaching the Gospel Wee are not quoth he as many men are which corrupt the Word of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seeking to vent their adulterate deceitfull wares or as Vintners doe mix their wines But as of sincerity as of God in the sigh◠〈◊〉 God speak wee in Christ 2 Cor. 2.17 And so in another place of this Epistle Not walking in craftinesse nor handling the Word of God deceitfully but by manifestation of the truth commending our selves to every mans conscience in the sight of God 2 Cor. 4.2 And this is it which every faithfull Minister of Jesus Christ should especially stand upon For cursed is he that doth the work of the Lord deceitfully Jerem. 48.10 that his words be the words of truth and sobernesse Let the world judge as it will of the manner of our preaching sometimes they say we are too hot sometimes too cold sometimes too learned for them sometimes too unlearned sometimes too high sometimes too plaine sometimes too sharp sometimes too pleasing Let the world say what it will if wee speak the trueth in Christ our consciences bearing us witnesse in the holy Ghost the Guide of our consciences that wee lye not keeping back nothing that is profitable to the people but declaring unto them the whole Counsell of God wee may then finde joy and comfort to our soules when all the comforts shall faile us that the world can yeeld us And thus have I shewed you what a Minister of Jesus Christ may passe thorow I shall now come to the second point and shew you that it is the lot of many a deare servant of God to passe thorow them all 2. Point ANd where should I rather begin to give an Instance then in our Crucified Lord one day honoured when he rode into Jerusalem bough's and garments spread in the way with a joyfull shout of Hosanna Blessed is hee that cometh in the Name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest and the fifth day after most shamefully dishonoured with a continuing cry of Crucifie him Crucifie him In which kind of death there may be doubted as I said before whether there were more paine or shame but paine enough to satisfie for our pleasure and shame enough to satisfie for our pride There 's for honour and dishonour Now for his good report and evill report Let me tell you how sometimes hee was reported to be a Prophet a great Prophet a Teacher come from God that hee was true and taught the way of God in truth and cared for no man and regarded not the person of men and lastly that hee did all things * Mark 7. ver 37. well At other times you shall finde him reported to be a Blasphemer an Enemy to Cesar a Seducer of the people a Gluttonous person and a Wine-bibber a Friend of Publicans and sinners a Samaritane and One that had a divell and One that wrought by Beelzebub the Prince of divells It were a wonder if they should not call him a Deceiver too Yes they did so For whilst they murmured against him some saying He was a good man others said Nay but hee deceiveth the people Joh. 7. ver 12. And the chiefe Priests and Pharisees in plaine words to Pilate call him a Deceiver 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mat. 27.63 Wee remember this Deceiver said and yet though he was held as a Deceiver hee shewed himselfe true in that for praedixit revixit hee fore-said it and did it in his due time Let mee give you another instance in our St. Paul You have heard how at Malta hee was honoured with much honour and laden with necessaries You shall reade at Philippi Acts 16.23 how much hee was dishonoured and laden with many stripes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the place before now here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But you will say these were at two severall places Look Act. 14. and you shall finde him honoured at Lystra more then was fit for a man to be honoured Hee and Barnabas had much adoe to keepe the people from sacrificing to him as to a god presently after it is generally beleeved the same day they stoned him with stones even to death as they supposed for they supposed him to be dead and dragged him like a dead dog out of the gates of the City Oh the inconstancy of humane favour I cannot but think how the Athenians in Plutarch used Demetrius Phalereus they set up two hundred statues to his honour and took them every one downe againe while Demetrius was yet living to his dishonour and that before either * Cum nullam earum aut aerugo attigerat aut pulvis sordidaverat Plut. Apophth rust had spoiled them or dust had soiled them But what doe I alledge out of these Histories Examples of the vulgars inconstancy dishonouring where they have honoured one day and honouring where they have dishonoured another Nothing formerly hath been more honourable at home or admirable abroad then the English Clergy nothing grown now more despicable * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in 2 Tim. c. 1. hom 2. S. Chrysostome complained of the like in his time that all things were turned upside-down and brought to confusion that the Church Governours were not honoured no reverence no feare yeelded to them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But good God how much worth how much learning zeal pietie religion in some Governours of the Church have wee seen shamefully trampled on under the dirty feet of some Sectaries in their scurrilous libels and pamphlets I know none I speake it in the presence of God that have done better services to the Reformed Churches against Popery by their Writings and Preachings then some Reverend Fathers in our Church have done * I meane beside those Martyr-Bishops Cranmer Ridley c. in Q. Maries daies such Bishops as have bin in the Church of England Ireland since the beginning of Queen Elizabeths Raign as namely Archbish Parker to whose care wee are beholding for most of our ancient Histories Bishop Bale Ossoriensis Episcopus for his many Volumes Bishop Jewell for his Workes Archb. Saundys for his Sermons B. Bilson for his Book intituled The Difference between Christian Subjection and Unchristian Rebellion c. B. Andr. for his Polem B. Buckridge for his Book De potestate Papae in rebus Temporalibus c. B. Abbot of Sarisbury for his Book in Defence of Master Perkins B. Babington for his Workes Bishop Lake for his learned Sermons Bishop Davenant for his Praelectiones de duobus in Theologia controversis Capitibus c. and other Tracts Bishop White for his Book against Fisher Bishop Carleton for his Book against