1 Sam. 4. 11. Ier. 7. 9 10 11 12. walke after other gods whom yee know not and come and stand before me in this house whereupon my name is called and say We are delivered though we have done all these abominations Is this house become a denne of theeves wherupon my name is called before your eyes Behold even I see it saith the Lord. But goe yee now unto my place which is in Shilo where I set my name at the beginning and behold what I did to it for the wickednesse of my people Israel Thus for hypocrisie was Shilo destroyed they halted with God Dicunt sed non faciunt they said but they did not He is not a Iew that is one outward neither is that Circumcision which is outward in the flesh but he is a Iew that is one within and Rom. 2. 28 29. the Circumcision is of the heart in the spirit not in the letter whose praise is not of men but of God So we are Protestants in the Letter not in the Spirit professors outward none inward Christians in the 1 Pet. 3. 21. flesh none in the heart baptized in the body not in the conscience It is said of Epicurus that he did put on but the bare name of Cicero 5. Tuscul a Philosopher was not a Philosopher in truth It may as truly be spoken that many in this age put on but the naked shape of Christians and are not Christians indeed and that many colour their wickednesse by outward pretence of Religion and by bearing Bibles in their hands and the Word in their mouth though it be never settled in their hearts being like the Carbuncle that hath a fiery shew yet never flames like those that use muske and pommanders to conceale their unsavory and stinking breath But such God hateth with a dooble hatred and will be revenged of them It were better that we had no eares to heare Hypocrisie the counterfeit of religion nor tongues in our head to talke of God rather then by talking and hearing to cover our notorious wickednesse For we shall perish and we shall have neither part nor fellowship in the number of the faithfull God above all things commended sincerity in Iehosaphat Act. 8. 21. 2 Chro. 19. 3. For he had prepared his heart to seeke God hee had some sap but hee had the heart of an Oke also and was sincere so was Eleazar hee 2 Mac. 6. 23. could not be drawne to play the hypocrite by no flatteries nor allurements no not to save his life thereby and to avoid most grievous torments And Nazianzen could say of his Father that he chastised pride and loved humility not fainedly or colourably but sincerely truly and that he reposed humility in his soule and not in his garments or bowing downe of his head or low speech or a thicke and long beard or coloured haire or grave pace in going For these things saith he are easely devised yet quickly reproved for no counterfeit thing can be durable Such men there were once but where are they now to be found and how rare are they Most men are like the Church of Sardis they have a name to live and yet are dead they seeme to live but with God they are dead their faith is dead their zeale dead men live when they bring forth fruite else they be dead Tullies sonne brought from Atheus not only nomen but rem not the name of learning only but learning it selfe So wee should bring and carry away from Christ not his name only but his vertues and so be followers of God as deare Children otherwise if we be Christians Ephes 5. 1. in name and not in truth if we draw neere unto God with our mouthes and have our hearts farre from him we shall perish for Can a rush grow without mire or can grasse grow without water so are Iob. 8. 11 13 14. the paths of all that forget God and the hypocrites hope shall perish his confidence shall be cut off and his trust shall be as in the house of a spider And againe it is said of the hypocrite that his ioy is but a moment and though his excellency mount up to Heaven and his head reach unto Cap. 20. 5 6. the clouds yet shall he perish for ever like his dung c. Let us then as we love our soules shunne hypocrisie and use sincerity this shall comfort us at the last as it did Ezechias for being upon his death-bed this was his comfort that he had served God not in shew but Esa 38. 3 in truth but we are cloven-footed cloven-hearted with God In animis hominum multae sunt latebrae multique recessus In mens hearts there be many dennes and lurking places and many windings turnings But let me say to the hypocrite as Chrysostome said Hypocrita aut esto quod appares aut appare quod es Hypocrite eyther be as thou seemest or appeare as thou art for simulata sanctitas est Aug. duplexiniquitas counterfeite piety is double impiety First because it is impiety and then because it is counterfeite making truth falshood and God a lier But as it is said Non auditores sed factores legis Not the hearers but the doers of the Law shal be iustified so of religion Non eandem profitentes sed eidem obedientes Rom. 2. not professors but performers shall bee glorified Let us not Sincerity is by God required hypocrisie reproved then bee like the Figge tree which our Saviour cursed that had leaves in abundance but no fruit at all For it is not the lifting up of our eyes or the knocking of our brests nor the holding up of our hands which shall stand us in stead at the last day but Mat. 21. the wounded soule the sincerity of the heart the contrite spirit joyned with outward observance and obedience which shall administer true joy in the latter end Therefore let us as elect of God holy beloved let us I say professe with our mouthes and practise with our lives let us sing in voyce with the spirit also let us repent in life and sow in teares let us cleanse the flesh that wee may bee mortified and cleanse our spirit so shall wee be glorified let us never be as cloudes without water as trees without fruit as the raging waves of the sea as starres without light I meane hypocrites For hypocrites are as clouds without water as trees without fruit as starres without light Thus Iude painteth them out and that finely and so doth our Saviour for speaking of hypocrites he saith They binde heavie burdens and grievous to bee borne but they themselves will Mat. 23. not move them with one of their fingers and hee saith that They doe all their workes to bee seene of men that they straine at a gnat and swallow downe a Cammell that they tithe Mint Annise and Cummin but leave the weightier matters
39. Exod. 15. Cap. 16. Num. 20. Deut. 8. Num. 21. were drowned He spread a cloud to be a covering and fire to give light in the night for God went before them in a cloudy pillar by day and a fiery by night he made the bitter waters sweet for their sakes and fed them with Angels food Hee turned the rocke into a river and the flint stone into a springing well their foote swelled not and their cloathes waxed not old in forty yeares travell and when they were bitten with fiery serpents he cured them with a brasen serpent a figure of Psal 136. 19 20 21. Christ Hee slew great Kings for their sakes as Sehon King of the Amorites and Og the King of Bashan and gave their land for an heritage even an heritage to Israel his servant hee dried up Iordan that they might passe thorough it Whereupon the Psalmist useth a most elegant Prosopopopeia Psal 114. 5 6. saying What ayleth thee ô thou Sea that thou fieddest and thou Iordan that thou wert driven backe Yee mountaines why leaped yee like rammes and yee hils as Lambes God gave them Canaan a land that flowed with milke and hony as Iacob prophecied of Gen. 49. 11 12 13. Iuda saying Hee shall bind his Asse foale to the vine and his Asses colt unto the best vine Hee shall wash his garment in wine and his cloake in the blood of grapes his eyes shal be red with wine and his teeth white with milke For the land of Iudah of all lands it was the fruitfullest Moses calleth it A good land and the goodnesse of it afterwards hee describeth at large and saith A land in which are rivers of Deut. 8. 7 8 9 10. waters and fountaines and depths that spring out of vallies and mountaines a land of wheat and barly of vineyards and figge-trees and pomegranats a land of oyle olive and honie a land wherein thou shlat eate bread without scarcenesse neither shalt thou lacke any thing therein A land whose stones are iron and out of whose mountaines thou shalt digge brasse But especially God gave them his Law to convert their soules and his testimonies which gave wisdome unto the simple Psal 19. 7 8 9. his statutes that rejoyce the heart and his Commandments that give light to the eyes his feare which indureth for ever his iudgments which be righteous altogether great in one word was their preferment Gods bounty to England For to them were committed the Oracles of God To them also appertained The adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises of whom are Rom. 3. 20. Cap. 9. 4 5 6. the fathers and of whom concerning the flesh Christ came who is God over all blessed for ever What should I speake of Iosuahs trumpets Ios 6. Iudg. 7. Iudg. 3. Cap. 15. 2 Sam. 1. which blew downe Iericho of Gedeons pitchards that discomfited the Madianites Of Shamgars oxe-goad which slew heapes upon heapes Of Sampsons iaw-bone that killed a whole army of Philistines Of Ionathans bow and Sauls sword that never returned emptie Let us apply all this to our selves whom God hath laded with blessings so that we have cause to say with the Israelites Praysed be the Lord even the God of our salvation which ladeth us daily with benefits For God hath turned the captivity of our English Sion as Psal 68. 19. Psal 126. 1. the rivers of the South As after a Nero God gave a Vespasian after Commodus a Severus after a Sisera a Debora after a Saul a David after an Ahaz an Ezechias and after a Domitian a Trajane and a Nerva So after a Marie an Elizabeth a princely Iames under whose governments we have sate safely these many yeares under our figge-trees and vine-trees from Dan to Beersheba from the one end of the land unto the other his eyes have beene over us as over the land of Chanaan from the beginning of the yeare to the end of it Hee hath troden downe the Northerne rebells with Parrie Somervile Ardington Lopas Hacket Madder Burney hee hath put their life downe to the ground and laid their honour in the dust he hath made them a portion for the Foxes they are passed as water molten c. Psal 58. Of late Balak of Spaine had devised our destruction Balaam of Rome had cursed us at his commandement subtle Achitophel had conspired abroad unnaturall Absalom rose up at home and aspiring Adonia would have the Shunamite to wife but from all these God hath delivered us We have seene France massacred Flanders with civill warres distressed Germanie grieved Scotland divided onely we stand still as an oake of Bashan Pray that God stretch not over us the line of Samaria as 2 Reg. 21. 13. God hath blessed us above many others his wise mercy is in our Parliaments Reg. 21. 13. and governments as in Israel Deut. 4. His learned mercie in our Schooles and Vniversities as in Naioth 2 Reg. 2. His strong mercies in our Castles and bulwarks as in Iuda Soph. 1. His peaceable mercies in our Townes and Cities as was said of Ierusalem Mich. 4. 3 4. Zaeb 8. 4. 5. They shall breake their swords into mattockes and their speares into scithes nation shall not lift up sword against nation neither shall they learne to fight any more But old men and old Women shall dwell in the streets of Ierusalem and every man his staffe in his hand for very age and the streetes of the Citie shal be full of boyes and girles playing in the middest thereof His rich mercies in our fields and granaries for he maketh our vallies so thicke with corne that men doe laugh and Contemners of Gods mercy grievously punished sing he crowneth the yeare with his goodnesse and the clouds drop fatnesse they drop upon the pastures of the wildernesse and the hills shall be compassed with gladnesse Would God wee were halfe thankefull for so great blessings that every one of us could say with David Psal 65. 11. Praise the Lord ô my soule and all that is within me praise his holy name Praise the Lord ô my soule and forget not all his benefits Psal 103. 1 2. Yee heard before of Gods mercy in delivering the people now are we come to Gods iustice in destroying them yee once know this that after the Lord had delivered the people out of Aegypt he destroyed them First God shooteth paper secondly bullet if men yeeld not primùm ubera deinde verbera ostendit first he openeth his brests after shewes us his rods first by his Ministers as by heraulds he proclaimeth pardon after he sendeth an army to destroy The Lord saith the Prophet is slow to anger but he is great in power and will not surely cleere the wicked the Lord hath his way in the whirlewind Nahum 1. 3 4 5 6. and in the storme and the clouds are the dust of
fell from Angels to Divels For their sinne of Apostacy was great it cryed to God for vengeance The Lord Iesus noteth this Apostacy in them to shew that their sinne was not by creation but by wilfull corruption Hereupon saith our Saviour to the Iewes You are of your father the divell and the lusts of your father doe yee he abode not in the truth It followeth then that Iohn 8 44. he was once in the truth and that he was not created evill This Apostacy in some case joyned with wilfulnesse and malice is not to be prayed for So saith Saint Iohn the Disciple whom Iesus loved If any man see his brother sin a sinne that is not unto death let him aske and he shall give life for them that sinne not to death There 1 Iohn 5. 16. is a sinne unto death I say not that thou shouldst pray for it Some Apostacies cannot be renewed For it is impossible that they which have been once lightned and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were Heb. 6. 4 5 6. made partakers of the holy Ghost and have tasted of the good Word of God and of the powers of the world to come If they fall away should be renewed by repentance seeing they crucifie againe to themselves the Sonne of God and make a mocke of him For certainely they that are Apostataes and sinne against the Holy Ghost hate Christ crucifie and mocke him but to their owne destruction and therefore fall into desperation and cannot repent Indeed there is no sin but by repentance may be forgiven but they that sinne against the Holy Ghost which some affirme to be Apostasia aut negatio Christi Apostacy or the denying of Christ it shall not be forgiven â—â—â—lla in Luc. 12. 10. Quia directè obviant principio per quod fit remissio peccatorum because they are directly and plainely opposite and contrary to that whereby remission of sinnes is obtained that is unto repentance And this is the cause saith Augustine why God hath redeemed men and not Angels for that they sinned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from within and of themselves maliciously and rebelliously man sinned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from without and by provocation And this is Christs death saves only men not Angels the cause saith Augustine why Moses wrote nothing of the fall of Angels he named not their wound because he would not name their medicine Sed hominis vulnus medicinam narravit but he hath shewed man his wound and medicine also for that Aug. lib. de mirab Script cap. 2. God would restore him againe Humanam ergo naturam non Angelicam sumpsit Christus quoth Athanasius therefore he tooke the nature of man not the nature of Angels according to that of Athanasius the Apostle He in no sort tooke the Angels but hee tooke the seed of Abraham Quia Angeli per se defecerunt à Deo because the Angels of themselves fell from God Therefore the promise of the Messiah was made onely to man not to Angels The grace of GOD that Tit. 2. 11. bringeth salvation to all men hath appeared Grace saveth men not Angels For these Angels that fell have no benefit by Christs death he came not to save them for their sinnes are not pardonable But the cause of mercy I leave to God onely the father of mercies These are but conjectures of Augustine and Athanasius In the meane time Dorbels reasons are too weake to prove that men shall bee punished in hell more deeply than these Angels that fell His first reason is Quia Deus nunquam pro illis passus est ut pro nobis that God never suffered so much for them as for us His second reason is Quia Angeli pro uno tantum peccato puniuntur nos saepe deliquimus the Angels fell by one sinne only man by many sinnes hee offendeth oft His third reason is Quia daemones sunt spiritus tantum nos autem corpore anima peccamus that the bad Angels the Divels be spirits onely but men have both bodies and spirits But these reasons are vanishing as the untimely dew unsavoury as the white of an egge brittle as the webbe of a spider Hee spake as Phormio spake before Hannibal Rem magis delirantem nunquam legi I never read a more doating thing But to proceed my meaning is not that all Apostacy is sinne against the Holy Ghost for every Apostacy is not uncurable every fall of man is not damnable as the fall of Angels yet it is dangerous for he that settetb his hand to the plough and looketh back Luke 9. 62. is not fit for the Kingdome of God And Christ said to the sicke man Behold thou art made whole sinne no more lest a worse thing happen unto Iohn 5. 14. thee Thus all Apostacy is dangerous though not damnable for if damnable what shall become of the godly themselves for they often fall from the Lord slide backe and decrease in the graces of God They keepe not their first estate which was the sinne of the Angels Ephesus lost her first love but I would our Church were like it for Ephesus hated the evil wee hate the good Apoc. 2. 4. they examined the false Apostles wee examine none they suffered Luke 12. 45. persecution we persecute others we smite our fellow servants Iulian the Christian is become Iulian the Apostata and Simon Peter is become Simon Magus Ioseph is become Pharoah grapes are turned into thornes figs into thistles Lambes into Lions and Doves There must be a perpetuall growth in grace and goodnesse into Serpents We are fallen from our first love every day lesse and lesse zealous lesse and lesse loving lesse and lesse religious than heretofore we have been Memento Anglia memento Norfolcia unde excideris Remember England remember Norfolke whence thou art fallen Revertere revertere Returne returne saith the Lord Ier. 3. 14. for I am your Lord and will bring you to Sion Let us follow the counsell of the Wise man In the morning sow thy seed and in the evening Eccles 11. 6. let not thine hand rest that is increase in goodnesse doe good in Gal. 6. 6. thy youth doe good in thine age yea doe good at all times be not weary of sowing be not weary of working the seed-time is nothing the harvest is all in all To doe good in youth is nothing to doe well in middle age is nothing but to continue in old age to the last gaspe is piety indeed When a righteous man saith the Prophet turneth away from his righteousnesse and committeth Ezech. 18. 26. iniquity he shall even dye for the same hee shall even die for his iniquity that he hath committed aswell may we drowne in the Havens mouth as in the middest of the boisterous Sea aswell may wee fall through the peevishnesse of age as through the lusts and concupiscence of youth Of many it may be
he nameth the sinnes that as hands pulled downe this uncleannesse upon them that like Load-stones drew it violently unto them that like stickes kindled the fire that is idlenesse pride fulnesse of bread And these Ezech. 16. being amongst us can wee doubt of the fruit which is whoredome idlenesse is the Anvill whereon Satan worketh it Salomon noteth the Harlot to be idle not to busie her selfe in any good trade of life She sitteth at the doore of her house on a seat in the Prov. 9. 14 15. high places of the City to call them that passe by the way c. her feet cannot abide in her house now she is without now in the streets and lyeth in wait at every corner Prov. 7. 10. 11. Apelles painted Venus in a snailes shell to note that women must stay at home not bee gadders like Dina shee fell not till The causes of Sodomes uncleannesse many first idlenes then and then she plaid the whore and not before when came David to adultry but when he gave over his warres and was idle O tia si tollas periere Cupidinis arcus Gen. 34. 2 Sam. 11. 2 4. saith the Poet Take away idlenesse and Cupids bow will soone be broken Quaeritur Aegysthus quomodo sit factus adulter Ovid. Inpromptu causa est de sidiosus erat If it bee demanded how Aegystus became an adulterer the cause may quickly be rendred hee was slothfull idle unchast folly for the most part is begot of an idle braine hatched in a lazy body Paul noteth it in Ephesus that the women there were idle and went about from house to house 1 Tim. 5. 13. and not onely idle but pratlers also aâ—d busie-bodies speaking things that are not comely Salomon describeth a vertuous woman and saith Shee seeketh Wooll Flaxe and laboureth cheerefully with her hands she is like the ships of Merchants shee bringeth her food from far Prov. 31. 13. c. and she riseth while it is yet night and giveth her portion to her houshold and the ordinary to her maids shee considereth a field and getteth it and with the fruit of her hands shee planteth a Vineyard shee putteth her hands to the wherne and her hands handle the spindle shee maketh her selfe carpets fine linnen and purple is her garment Such have no leisure to be unchast If therefore wee will not be overtaken with uncleannesse let us abandon idlenesse and vse diligence in our calling for that is a notable helpe to keepe out inordinate desires and unchast thoughts Another hand to pull this sinne upon us is pride The daughters of Sion falling to pride fell to adultery they had their slippers and their calles and their round attires their sweet balls Esa 3. 16. c. their bracelets and their bonnets the tyres of their head and their muffler and their head-bands and their tablets and their eare-rings and their rings and nose-jewels their costly apparell and their veyles and their wimples and their crisping pins their glasses and their fine linnen their hoods and their lawnes But God threatned them That in stead of a sweet savour their should bee a stincke and in stead of a girdle a rent in stead of dressing the haire baldnesse and in stead of a stomacher a girding of sackecloth and burning instead of beauty This was one whetstone to set an edge upon them to uncleannesse God giveth a precept of apparell saying Thou shalt not weare a garment of divers sorts as of wollen and linnen together Deut. 22. 11. A precept not ceremonial but morall to this end that al men woman might walk soberly chastly not beastly or heathenishly but to abstain from fornication and possesse their vessels in holines and honour and not in the lust of concupiscence as doe the heathen Womens 1 Thes 4. 3 4. 1 Pet. 3. 3 4. parell must not be outward with broided haire and gold put about but the inner man must be cloathed I say of apparell as Paul said of meat meats are ordaâ—ned for the belly and the helly for 1 Cor. 6. 13. meats So it is for the backe and the backe for it but the Lord Gluttonie Drunkennesse and evill company the third and fourth causes of Sodomes uncleannesse shall destroy both it and them But the inward apparell shall last for ever Saint Ambrose calleth pride the banner of whoredome the net of lechery and filthinesse And pretily said Aesop to a Ruffian strangely attired that if he did it to pleasure men hee was but a foole for no wise man will account the better of him and if he did it to please women he was but a knave and meant unchastly In one word men now goe like women and women like men Ambr. Optat ephippia bos optat arare Caballus the Oxe wisheth to carry the saddle the Horse to draw the Plough We have forgotten that Adam and Heva wore leathern Gen. 3. 1 Sam. 28. 2 Reg. 1. Mat. 3. 1 Tim. 2. 9. Mat. 26. coats that Samuel had a simple mantell that Elisha wore haire-cloth that Iohn Baptist had on him a Cammels skin that the women of Ephesus were arrayed with modesty not with silke nor gold nor pearle or stollen haire that the Lord Iesus had a woven coat without seame Some Thamars cover themselves Gen. 38. with veyles and maskes some Potiphars wife allureth Ioseph some daughters of Sion perfume themselves with muske-balls At mulieres bene olent cum nihil olent women smell well when they smell nothing at all Some Iezabels paint their faces But I say Ier. 4. with a Father that mulier quae aliter se pingit quam Deus fingit verendum ne Creator in die judicii creaturam suam minimé recognoscat Hierome 2 Reg. 9. the woman that painteth her selfe otherwise than GOD hath made her it is to be feared that the Creator in the day of judgement Cypr. will not acknowledge her for his creature and that they Qui crines fulvos c. which paint their haire red and yellow prognosticate afore-hand of what collour their heads shall bee in hell The third hand to pull this sinne on Sodome was gluttony Lot in his drunkennesse committed incest and begat two cursed nations Ammon and Moab oftentimes did Israel beginne in eating Ezech. 16. Gen. 19. 1 Cor 10. 7. and end in whoring Sine cerere baccho friget Venus without meats and drinks lecherous lust waxeth cold Lady Venus dwels at the signe of the Ivie bush where there is cleannesse of teeth usually there is no filthinesse of body but if we stuffe our corps like cloke-bags making our mouths as tunnels our throats as Vid. Boys 15. Sunday post Trin. the Crab-fish c. wine-pipes our bellies as barrels if wee fill them full of strong drink and new wine there must follow some vent some uncleannesse of filthinesse A fourth hand to pull this sinne on them might
worse by bad company such as are continually in the Sunne must needes be Sunne-burnt such as walke in the myst must needs bee berayed such as touch pitch cannot bee but defiled so such as abide in bad company cannot bee but spotted Ioseph living in the Court of Pharaoh had quickly learned to sweare by the life of Pharaoh and Peter being among lyers and swearers had quickly learned to lye and sweare Therefore saith Ierome It is no wisedome to sleepe neere a Serpent it may bee it will sting thee it may be it will not so it may be that thou conversing with a wicked man maiest convert him but it may be he will pervert spot and defile thee David durst not meddle with these spots and spotted companions I have not haunted with vaine persons neither kept company with Psal 26. 4 5. the dissemblers I have hated the assembly of the evill and have not companied with the wicked and surely hee that loveth the Lord hee will love those that love him and hate those that hate him not his person but his manners Pacem cum hominibus bellum cum Aug. vitiis we must have peace with men but war with their vices But let men bee as blinde in minde as Bartimaeus who followed Mat. 20. Christ by the noyse let them bee as deafe as the Adder as filthy in soule as Lazarus in body as blacke as the blacke horse Psal 58. Apoc. 6. in the Apoc. yet if wee gaine by him if hee be for our honour or profit or pleasure wee countenance him he is an honest man a good fellow But hee that iustifieth the wicked is as hee that condemneth the just both are abomination to the Lord. Hee that saith Prov. 17. 25. Cap. 24. 24. to the wicked Thou art righteous him shall the people curse and the multitude abhorre Let us not then give any countenance to the wicked but bee at defiance with them as was David when hee cryed Away from mee yee wicked I will keepe the commandements Love-feasts abused were after abolished of God But some will say Is it a sinne simply to eate with the wicked No there bee cases of necessity and cases voluntary wherein it is no sinne to eate with them David partaked with the Philistines Psal 119. 2 Sam. 23. in the water of Bethlem The Apostles ate meate in Athens consecrated to Minerva Act. 17. cap. 17. with the Idolaters Paul went in a ship dedicated to Castor and Pollux and wee now may eate meat in a common Inne with bad men Againe in cases voluntary it is not ever a sin to eate with the wicked so that wee doe it to exhort them to reprove them and gaine them to God Note the Antithesis the caution the Apostle useth Have no fellowship with the unfruitfull workes of Ephes 5. 11. darkenesse but even reprove them rather So to reprove them is not to have fellowship with them These are Spots in your feasts These feasts were love-feasts and these love-feasts were used before the communion as appeareth 1 Cor. 11. 20 21 c. by the words of the Apostle and in Tertullians Apologeticon to note this as many members make but one body many strings make but one sound many graines but one loafe many grapes but one cup of wine So many Christians make but one Church So saith the Apostle Now yee are the bodie of Christ and members for your part for all Churches dispersed thorow the World 1 Cor. 12. 27. are members of one body of one Church for albeit in the evill state there be differences of callings yet in the spirituall there is Neither Iew nor Grecian there is neither bond nor free there is neither male nor female yee are all one in Christ Iesus all as Gal. 3. 28. one man But these love-feasts being well begun were afterwards corrupted for from feasts of charitie they were turned into feasts of 1 Cor. 11. drunkennesse for men would be drunken and so became spots and staines to these feasts and therefore were these feasts after abolished as all ceremonies ought to bee if they edifie not Ezeehias brake the brazen Serpent a figure of Christ and called 2 Reg. 18. it Nehushtan Nectarius a learned and a godly Bishop of Constantinople abrogated auricular confession when it was used to hypocrisie So that Pedum lotio washing of feet fetched Iohn 13. from Christs example when it was made a part of baptisme was abolished by Augustine The judiciall observation of Easter raising contention betweene the Latine and the Greeke Church was by Irenaeus and other Fathers removed Paul circumcised Timothy not Titus Legales Ceremoniae ante Christum erant pars cultus Christi the legall ceremonies before Christ were a part of Christs worship Post Christi adventum res erant adiaphorae after his comming they were things indifferent Post templum eversum quum corrumpebantur erant sublatae ut res impiae after the destruction of the Temple they were abolished as Ceremonies abused are to be abolished things impious But to leave this If any man will aske mee when and by whom these love-feasts were taken away I answer by the Antisiodorensian Councell then were they abolished In these feasts at the first was great sobriety as Tertullian affirmeth but after many used riot and excesse In Apologetico 39. they that should have beene ornaments were spots and staines they that should have beene Lights were scandals to these feasts and therefore were they abolished THE THREE AND TVVENTIETH SERMON VERS XII Clouds they are without water c. Pride occasioned many wayes ever odious to God THis was the second sin of this people viz. Pride they swelled like waves of the sea and lifted up them selves against God and good men Of such swelling proud men spake Peter calling them presumptuous and saith That they stand in their own 2 Pet. 2. 10 18. conceit speaking swelling words of vanity for it seemeth that Peter tooke these words from Iude or Iude from Peter rather they spake swelling words words of a foot and a halfe long glorious words like Thraso in the Comedy Such were the Quintinists and Libertines in Germany who boasted of a celestiall perfection such were one Henry Nicolitanes who spake in the clouds highly mystically that we are co-deified with God and God co-homonified with us such are our Papists whose doctrine savours nothing but of pride as their doctrine of free will justification by workes workes of supererogation which they call the treasure of the Church works of preparation c. thus they speake words of the wind and fill their belly with the East wind For what is pride but wind A wind to fill and a wind to torment Men may be spiritually swelled both in life and opinion there is a swelling for abundance of riches there is a swelling behaviour in mens courses there is a swelling in sinne a swelling in opinion Oh
that we could learne to abhorre pride Pride hath been in all places in all sorts even in the godly and swelling by considering how much the Lord abhorreth it as many Scriptures shew Salomon saith that The feare of the Lord is to hate evill as Pride and arrogancie c. And againe hee saith All that are proud in heart are an abomination to the Lord. And Prov. 8. 13. Cap. 16. 5. 19. againe he saith He that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction And againe the Holy Ghost affirmeth that the Lord beholdeth every one that is proud and abaseth him For certainely when the Lord shall Iob 40. 6. come to judgement that day of his comming shall burne like an Oven and all the proud yea and all that doe wickedly shall bee as stubble and Mal. 4. 1. the day that commeth shall burne them up and shall leave them neither root nor branch therefore let us not be high-minded proud and swelling as many are for it is a thing most vaine 1 Tim. 64. First in respect of God for he resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble he putteth downe the mighty from their seat and exalteth Luke 1. 51. the humble and meeke Secondly in respect of men who will not regard it When pride commeth saith the Wise man then commeth shame for when men Prov. 11. â— will be exalted above their vocation then God bringeth them to confusion Thirdly in respect of themselves who inherit nothing by it but folly for The foolish that is the proud inherit folly yet Cap. 14. 18. this sin of Pride hath troubled all places yea the whole world it troubled Paradise for Adam was proud and would be like unto Gen. 3. Aug. God Sed dum rapere voluit Divinitatem amisit foelicitatem but whilest he endeavoured to snatch the Divinity he lost his felicity It troubled the Israeliticall Church they would be as good as Moses in the Kingdome and as Aaron in the Priest-hood it troubled the Apostles for they strove for superiority yea it Numb 16. Mat. 18. 2. Pet. 2. 4. troubled heaven it selfe for pride was the sinne of the Angels Let all men therefore beware of this sinne for first it is naturall for every one hath some sparkes of pride in him Againe whereas all other sinnes are occupied about evill subjects or about indifferent things as drunkennesse about wine whoredome about women covetousnesse about wealth gluttony about meat only pride is to be feared in well doing and therfore the better that a man doth the more jelous let him be of himselfe to look to himselfe that this sinne of pride overtake him not for what hast thou that thou hast not received Nay Paul beganne to be proud through the abundance of his revelations but lest he should be exalted above 1 Cor. 4. 7. measure there was given unto him a pricke in the flesh the messenger of Satan to buffet him because he should not be exalted above measure Augustine 2 Cor. 12. 7. having overcome many sinnes yet overcame not the sinne of pride it did dog him like a blood-hound Luther strove more with this sinne than any sinne doe what hee could like a sea it came upon him This stained all the workes of the Pharisees they fasted but then they disfigured their faces they prayed Mat. 6. but it was in the Market-place they gave almes but yet they Pride expressed many wayes in things that pertaine to God and man blew the trumpet Habet quisque naevos superbiae every man hath staines and markes of pride in him secundum plus aut minus either more or lesse the most godly have it but some are all pride as Erasmus said of the Fryer that hee was all belly Generally pride is expressed either in things concerning God Ierome or in things appertaining to men In the things that concerne God there is the pride of the Atheist whereby he striveth to remove the sense of the being of God and the pride of the heretike when he assaults the attributes of God or his persons and the pride of the Papist who will scale the high Fort of heaven by the broken ladder of his owne merits and the pride of the curious who will search into things not revealed and the pride of the persecutor who will pursue by slaunders or violence the power of Gods ordinances and the pride of the impenitent who dare live and dye in his sinnes without care of Gods threatnings Againe pride is expressed against God as first when a man imagineth himselfe to be God and would bee so conceited of men as Caligula who being an open mocker of all religion at length fell to thinke that there was no other God but himselfe Secondly when men imagine that what they have they have it of themselves and so sacrifice to their nets as the Prophet speaketh Thirdly when in their hearts they say He shall not raigne over us Who shall controle us and so contemne the ordinances of God his Word his Sacraments their worke their power Fourthly when a man shall thinke he is perfect and breakes not the Law and that they can by their owne strength runne the way of Gods Commandements Psal 119. Fifthly when in heart they say We will do this and this who shall let us we will go thither and thither who shall hinder us Sixthly when men will disobey the will of God breake his yoke and burst his bonds asunder Thus is pride against God shewed manywayes Pride against man discovereth it selfe sundry wayes also As by oppugning the fame of the best men By bragging and boasting By striving for offices and highest places By costly apparell of purpose to be counted better men then they be By painting of the face to be thought a beautifull creature not being so By envying the good of another as if he deemed himselfe either only worthy or else the most worthy The proud man will acknowledge no superiour nor equall by his good will hee useth his equals as inferiours his inferiours as servants his servants as slaves his slaves as beasts and when he is climed up on high he pluckes up the ladder Vsually the basest are proudest after him if he can that no man shall come up after or but such as he pleaseth Thus pride is expressed both to God and man David was farre from this pride Lord saith he I am not Psal 113. 1. high-minded I have no proud lookes I do not exercise my selfe in matters that are too high for me c. But few are like David many men forget themselves to be men they take to them the name of God Act. 12. Esa 14. 13. as Herod did they will make their nests in the starres as Nabuchadnezer did The Bactrians said of Alexander that his pride was such that if his body had been answerable to his heart he would set one foot on the land and the other on the sea For
World and he shall not iudge it as God because that as Esay saith Tollatur impius The wicked must be taken away that he may never see the glory of God but Iohn 12. 47. as man Vt homines videant that men might see the Iudge of men August saith Quamvis non recedat pater à filio unum enim sunt tamen ad iudicium veniet filius non Pater although the Father departeth not from the Sonne for they are one yet the Sonne shall come to iudgement and not the Father Quia ibi nec Deitas Filij nec Patris videbitur for there neither the Deity of the Father nor of the Sonne shall be seene The third thing to bee handled is the manner of his comming to iudgement it will be a most fearefull yet a glorious comming he will come with thousands of his Saints For if other Benches be furnished with Iustices of Peace Gods Bench shall bee furnished with Angels Thousand thousands shall minister unto him and tenne thousand thousand shall stand before him and when hee shall thus come in his glory fulminabit è Coelo the Lord will thunder from Heauen and the highest will give his voyce Now if the thunder and and crackling of a cloud be so terrible what terror shall there be when hee shall thunder that sitteth above the clouds The thunder doth but demolish Mountaines and roote up trees but when God shall thunder out his judgements hee will crush and cast downe King Prince and People that have not made him their fortresse and their tower The thunder doth but shake the clouds make them to flye up and downe as birds in the ayre but when God shall thunder out his judgements hee will shake and astonish the heart and conscience Yet shall there bee then a great difference betwixt a good and a guilty conscience for a good conscience shall bee moved sed ut folium but as a leafe with a little winde and breath of Gods displeasure but the guilty shall bee removed as the foundations of the Earth are shaken with the full rigour of Gods wrath For then as Saint Ierome hath it Terra tremet mare mugiet the Earth shall quake the Sea roare the Ayre ring the World burne And all this all becommeth as a fire-brand or burning coale O miserable sinner how wilt thou tremble when the Lord shall come with thousands of his Saints to judgement and if the just and upright man Iob was afraid of this judgement and therefore cryed out and said Quid agam quo me convertam cum veniet Dominus ad iudicum What shall I doe or whither shall I turne Iob 31. 14. me when the Lord commeth to judgement If Blessed Hillary who from the fourteenth yeere of his age served the Lord in feare and rejoyced before him with trembling as David did By the terror of particular iudgements we may gather the generall who was affraid of this day as it appeareth by his speech upon his death-bed Egredere anima egredere quid dubitas quid times Goe forth O soule go forth why art thou afraid why doubtest thou thou hast served God these seventy yeeres and art thou Psal 14. afraid now to depart If these holy men were afraid of this day how oughtest thou O sinner which hast drunke iniquity like water hast not served thy God one day as thou oughtest to doe I say how oughtest thou to quake and to tremble If the iust shall scarce be saved where shall the poore wretch appeare then thou wilt cry to the Mountaines Fallon us and to the Hils Cover us hide us from the presence of the Lord and from the wrath of the Lambe For the great day of the Lords wrath is come and who can abide it but all will be in vaine If Zephanie spake so tragically of the particular judgement of God by Nebuchadnezar saying The great day of the Lord Zeph. 1. 14 15. is come a day of wrath a day of trouble and heavinesse a day of destruction and desolation a day of obscurity and darkenesse a day of cloudes and blackenesse a day of the trumpet and alarme If Ieremy spake sorrowfully and lamentably of the particular judgement of God upon Ierusalem saying How is the gold become dimme the most fine gold is changed and the stones of the Sanctuary are scattered in the corner of Lament 4. 1. 2 4 5 10 11. every streete The noble men of Sion comparable to fine gold how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers the tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roofe of his mouth for thirst and the young children aske bread and no man breaketh unto them They that did feed dilicately perish in the streets and they that were brought up in scarlet imbrace the dung The hands of the pittifull women have sodden their Children which were their meate in the destruction of the daughter of my people The Lord hath accomplished his indignation he hath powred out his fierce wrath he hath kindled a fire in Sion which hath devoured the foundations thereof what may be said of the generall judgement when not one Citie but all Cities shall bee destroyed The reprobates shall see above them an angry Iudge beneath them Hell fire on the right hand their Sinnes accusing them on the left hand the Divels tormenting them within them their gnawing conscience without them the damned spirits bewayling on every side the World burning Vbi regredi impossibile progredi intolerabile where to goe backeward it is impossible and to goe forward intolerable The glorious manner of Christs comming is described by the Apostle The Lord saith hee shall descend from Heaven with a shout and with the voyce of the Archangell and with the trumpet of God then hee shall come not with twelve poore Apostles but with twelve thousand thousand Angels Wel the Lord shall come with thousands of his Angels where note that his second comming shal not be like his first At the first he came in poverty now shall he In Christs humility his glory appeared come in glory at the first he came in humility now shall hee come in Majestie at the first he came with the tongues of men now shall he come with the voice of an Archangell and trumpe of God At the first he came in misery now shall he come in Mat. 24. Luk. 9. 58. Majesty at the first he came with Glory be to God on high now shall he come with vae vae vae with a threefold woe upon them that dwell upon the face of the earth At the first he came with tidings of great joy that shall come upon all people now shall he come with feare and trembling upon all the nations of the earth At the first he came 1 Tim. 1. 17. Apoc. 1. 7. Apoc. 5. as a servant now shall he come as a King At the first he came as a prisoner betweene two theeves now shall he come as a Iudge
will be tristitia pudor confusion and punishment but the other thinkes of nothing but his present joy merriment Let others therefore live as they list we must edifie our selves and build up our selves in our most holy Faith let other serve Mammon or Bacchus or Venus wee must serve none of them but the Lord Iesus But of this I have spoken before in the seventeenth Verse But yee beloved edifie your selves This word edifie signifieth to build the metaphor is taken from Carpenters from builders who by little little reare up their worke until it come to a certain height and perfection this metaphor is not improperly applied to the Saints for building edification is proper to houses Now the Church and Saints of God are as houses therfore may be said to bee builded and edified Saint Peter calleth the Saints an house saying The time is come that iudgement must beginne at the house of God And againe And yee as lively stones are 1 Pet. 4. 17. 1 Pet. 2. 5. made a spirituall house So spake Paul Now therefore yee are no more strangers and forreners but Citizens with the Saints and of the houshold Ephes 2. 19 20. of God and are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Iesus Christ himselfe being the chiefe corner stone And againe writing to the Hebrewes he saith Christ is as the Sonne over his own Hebr. 3. 6 house whose house wee are For in obeying the Sonne wee are made the house of God But most plainely in his Epistle unto the the Saints at Corinth Yee are Gods husbandry and Gods building 1 Cor. 3. 9. This teacheth us two things first that all Christians should bee edifiers builders that is should make themselves a seemely house for God to dwell in Wee read what care David had to build a Temple but God would not suffer him but now every man must build a Temple for God even his own soule We read The Word of God must be the square wherewith we must build what cost Salomon bestowed upon the Temple but now God careth not for such Temples made of stone he will have a Temple made of lively stones For howsoever Heaven is his seate and the Earth his foot-stole yet his most principall princely palace of 1 Chro. 17. 1 4. 1 Pet. 2. 5. pleasure is mans heart hereupon saith a father Quà m excelsus es Domine humiles corde sunt domus tuae O how high how Soveraigne art thou O Lord yet the humble-hearted are the houses wherein thou dwellest For as the Lord loved the gates of Sion more than all the dwellings of Iacob so hee loveth a faithfull heart a devout soule more than all the pavillions of Princes All true Christians must bee builders therefore saith Paul Let all bee to edification 1. Cor. 14. 27. but before they build they 1 Cor. 14 27. must know how to build and the way to come to this knowledge is the Scripture No Carpenter will build an house without rule and square and the rule and square of Christian building is the Word of God by it our hearts and soules are squared and made fit for Gods house and therefore Saint Paul taking his leave of the Church of Ephesus commendeth them to God and to the Act. 20. 32. Word of his grace which is able to build further and to give them an inheritance with all them that are sanctified Where withall saith David Psal 1 19. shall a young man cleanse his way Even by ruling himselfe after thy Word Timothy knew the Scriptures from a child his grandmother 2 Tim. 3. 15. Lois and his mother Eunica taught him them Without the knowledge of the Scripture wee can no more edifie and build than a Carpenter can build without tooles or a Mariner saile without his compasse or a bird flye without his feathers it is the Word of God that is able to make the man of God perfect it is that that will make him become a fit house and Temple for the Lord Of this building Saint Peter speaketh thus Yee are come to the Lord Iesus as a living stone reiected of men but precious and chosen of God wherefore you your selves bee built as lively 1 Pet. 2. 4. stones a spirituall house And Saint Paul Let all things be done to edification 1 Cor. 14. 27. that is Let this be the end of all thy workes the building of Gods spirituall Temple bee more carefull to build it than Salomon was for his Temple If Salomons workemen were one moneth in Libanus about the worke of the Temple and 1 Reg. 5. 14. two moneths at home about their owne businesse Let us exceed them let us imploy two moneths about the Lords building and but one about our owne businesse Let us first seeke the Kingdome of God for as Elias said unto the widow of Sarepta Bake me a cake Mat. 6. 33. 1 Reg. 17. 13. first and after provide for thee and thine so saith Almighty God to us Build me an house first and after for thee and thine And as wee must edifie and build houses for ourselves so for our brethren also so saith the Apostle Exhort one another and edifie one another but especially wee must edifie our children a 1 Thess 5. 11. sonne in Hebrew is called Ben that is a building because the father should especially build his sonne in Religion and Vertue Parents must edifâ—e their children by godly instâ—uction Nature teacheth all men this the Savage Beare fashioneth her whelpes being deformed with her tongue so should all Christians with gentle admonitions frame the deformed manners of their children That commandement which injoyneth fathers to teach their children what the Passe-over meant teacheth them Deut. 6. 10. this building and all Parents if they will have their Children lead a pure life if they will have them strong in the Lord and through the power of his might if they will have them to overcome the Divell if they will have them true Saints Sonnes of Abraham they must edifie them with instruction and see that the Word of God dwell plentifully in them in all Wisedome Papists were great builders they built Churches Religious houses as Col. 3. 16. Abbeyes Nunneries c. but they left the principall worke undone they did not build themselves by the Word of God in their most holy faith neither would they suffer others to build but their guides and leaders tooke away from the people the levell and square of the Word without which men cannot build but God bee blessed the Word is restored wee have the levell to build by let us not bee idle but build up an holy house for God that hee may dwell with us and that wee may dwell with him hereafter for ever Secondly this teacheth us that it is not ynough to begin to build in faith and good workes but wee must goe on goe forward
understanding What blindnesse hath possessed our braine And how hath a covering of brawne covered our hearts that wee give no Majestie to God That which Paul said of the Gospel If our Gospell bee hid it is hid to them that 2 Cor. 4. 3 4. are lost in whom the God of this World hath blinded their mindes So say I of Gods wonders This sinne of England is written with an Iron penne and with a point of a Diamond God revealeth himselfe Ier. 17. 1. to the World six wayes 1 By his Word 2 By Visions Act. 26. 18. Esa 1. 1. 3 By Dreames 4 By Wonders or Miracles Numb 12. Iohn 5. Mat. 28. 19. 5 By Sacraments 6 By Types and figures By foure or five of these meanes God hath made himselfe knowne to us especially by wonders yet wee know him not wee are greater fooles than Nabal and verier beasts than ever was Nabuchadnezzar 1 Sam. 25. Dan. 4. Ier. 8. 5 6 7. God must end us before hee mend us wee are turned backe to a perpetuall rebellion Wee give our selves to deceit and will not returne no man repents him of his wickednesse saying What have I done Every one turneth to his race as the horse to the battell Even the Storke in the ayre saith God knoweth her appointed times and the Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow observe the time of their comming but my people knoweth not the judgement of the Lord. This is a nation that heareth not the voice of the Lord nor receiveth Discipline shall not these two great earth-quakes this yeere the one in the day the other in the night worke in us a feare of Gods majestie It is a token Amâ—â— 1602. that God is angry and so applied by the Prophet The earth trembled and shoke the very foundations of the Earth were seene at thy chyding at the blasting of the breath of thy displeasure Psal 18. When God would take revenge of the people in the dayes of Tiberius hee overthrew with an earth-quake twelve Cities of Asia and in Constantines dayes ten or eleuen townes in Campania Lipisius when the Iewes under Iulian had tooles of silver to reedify Gods dominion is in all creatures especially in man Ierusalem the earthquake in the night destroyed their worke in the day fire from heaven burnt up their tooles The righteous will see this and rejoyce and all iniquity shall stop her mouth and who is wise that hee may observe these things that God is a God of Majesty and magnificence for it is he alone that doth wondrous things The fifth thing here attributed to God is Dominion which is the authority of commanding and making Lawes unto all men in the world by which meanes God ruleth and hath a dominion or Kingdome in every one of us whereof the Lord Iesus speaketh in the knitting up of his prayer to God For thine is the Kingdome c. Of this David speaketh The Lord hath prepared his Mat 6. 13. Psal â—03 19 22. Throne in Heaven and his Kingdome ruleth over all And againe Praise the Lord all works of his in all places of his dominion And againe Thy Kingdome is an everlasting Kingdome and thy dominion endureth Psal 145. 13. throughout all ages And here learne a profitable lesson that when wee obey the Word of the Lord and suffer it to rule and overrule our passions then hath God a Kingdome and wee ascribe Dominion to him hereof the Lord Iesus spake For when Luk. 17. 20 21. hee was demanded of the Pharises when the Kingdome of God should come He answered them and said The Kingdome of God commeth not with observation neither shall men say Loe here or loe there for behold the Kingdome of Heaven is within you he meant not the Kingdome of glory but of grace For this dominion or Kingdome is threefold of Power Grace Glory The Kingdome of Power is whereby God subdueth his enemies and Tyrants of his Church and crusheth them in pieces like a potters vessell and of this Kingdome the Prophet thus Psal 2. 9. Psal 93. 1. Psal 97. 1 2. speaketh The Lord reigneth and is cloathed with Majesty the Lord is clothed and girded with power c. And againe the Lord reigneth let the people tremble hee sitteth betweene the Cherubins let the earth bee moved the Lord is great in Zion and high above all people His Kingdom of Grace is that wherby God ruleth in his elect through his Spirit inwardly as his Word outwardly whereof the Prophet speaketh thus With righteousnes shall he judge the poore Esa 11. 4 5 6. and with equity shall hee reprove c. Iustice shall bee the girdle of his loynes and faithfulnesse the girdle of his reines the Wolfe shall dwell with the Lambe and the Leopard shall lye with the kidde and the calfe and the Lion and the fatte beast together and a little Child shall lead them When the corruption of our nature beginneth to bee like the house of Saul weaker and weaker and faith repentance zeale knowledge and other graces of the Spirit stronger and stronger in us and wee now beginne to love feare trust and serve and obey God then is the Kingdome of grace in us The Kingdome of Glory is that wherein the Angels and Saints We count our selves subjects of Christs Kingdome of grace but are rebellious departed now are and wee shall bee hereafter when mortality shall be swallowed up of life when wee shall sing the songs of our triumph O death where is thy sting O Hell where is thy victory The songs of our joy such as none can understand save the hundred forty and foure thousand which are received up from 1 Cor. 15. the earth But here hee meaneth chiefely the Kingdome of grace for God is a King everlasting immortall invisible and onely wise Wee 1 Tim. 1. 17. are then his subjects The Lawes are the Word Psal 2. 8. Psal 119. 105. Ephes 6. 12. The enemies of this Kingdome are Satan sinne death Hell domination the flesh and the wicked The time of it is to the worlds end Mat. 28. 20. The place is this world and the world to come Apot. 5. 10. But ô foolish men how doe wee pray for this dominion and Kingdome of the Lord when in our works wee destroy it When wee rebell against the Word like a rebellious nation Ezech. 2. 3 4. and like impudent children and stiffe-hearted As the horse rusheth into the battell so we rush into our sinnes we sinne Ier. 8. 6. Ephes 4. 19. with greedines wee draw it with cordes of vanity wee love the wicked we loath the godly we freeze in love we boile in malice Esa 5. we sell vertue we buy vice we refuse Christ we chuse Barrabas wee lay away life and embrace death wee overthwart the will of God in all things wee follow our owne wills and desires wee are traytors to God in
earth Ezech. 22. 14. shall tremble before him All faces shall gather blackenesse the earth shall tremble before him the heavens shall shake the Sun and the Moone Ioel 2. 6. 10. shall be darkned and the starres shall withdraw their shining If a Barne were full of Corne having tenne thousand quarters of wheate in it and a bird should every yeere carry away one kirnel in her neb it would have an end at last If a Mountaine were twenty miles high and but one shovell full of earth in a yeere taken from it in time it would deminish and come to nothing but hell deminisheth not there is no end of it When the wicked have beene frying in hell so many hundred yeeres as there be piles of grasse growing upon the face of the earth nay so many thousand yeeres as there be sands or drops of water in God usually proportions punishment to sinne the Sea nay so many million of yeeres as there be creatures in heaven and in earth yet are they as farre from being delivered out of the captivity of hell as they were the first day of their entrance I say therefore of Gods judgements as Paul said of Gods wisedome O alitudo O the depth of the riches both of the wisedome and knowledge of God! O the depth of the justice and judgements of God how unsearchable are his judgements and his wayes past finding out Now the very Papists make foure places of torment 1. Infernum Hell 2. Purgatorium Purgatory 3. Limbum puerorum non baptizatorum A place where were children that dye without baptisme and 4. Limbum patrum A place where the Fathers were Now saw they Christ never descended into Hell to deliver any from thence but he brought the Fathers E limbo patrum in his passion for in hell there is no redemption Sermones discipuli Ser. 156. By the way note that as the Sodomites burned in the fire of uncleane lust so God burned them with the fire of his vengeance Poena saepe peccato respondet the punishment is oftentrmes answerable to the sinne committed and done God punisheth men Aug. according to the quality of their sinnes The Philistines adored 1 Sam. 5. Mice and rattes so they were plagued with mice and rattes And as they drew the arke out of his boundes so God drew their intrales out of their course And as Ieroboam overthrew Gods worship in one Altar erected at Ierusalem So God overthrew his 1 Reg. 13. Altar at Bethel And as he restrayned the hands of Israel to offer to the true God but to his golden Calves so his hand dried up God punisheth drunkards with dropsies and then Woe to the Crowne of pride the drunkards of Ephraim And he punisheth the Esa 28. 1. covetous men with theeves who spoise them as they have spoiled Cap. 30. And he punisheth the adulterers with pox and such like evills For the Adulterer many tymes carieth a body to the grave full of maladies and a soule to hell to eternall fire full of iniquities and he punisheth Tyrants by men as bloody as themselves and thus he punished Adonizedeck For he had cut off the fingers and toes of many kings at last his owne fingers and toes were Iudg. 1. cut off For With what measure we mete to others the same shall be measured to us againe The howse of valois having druncke blood voided blood and of English persecuters died many strangely oh then let us take heed how we offend For God will come in judgement he will be a swift witnesse and a sharpe Iudge against vs as here against the Sodomites who were not only destroied with fire and brimstone from Heaven temporally but also suffer the vengeance of eternall fire And this example of Gods vengeance is so famous that it is recorded by most writers both prophane and divine Among prophane Solinus Cornelius Tacitus Strabo Stephanus Pliny Aristotle have written of it Among divine Moses Deut 29. and Esay cap 1. Sodome not punished alone but those that partooke with her and 13. Ieremy also cap. 23. and 44. Ezekiel in like manner writeth of it as it appeareth cap. 16. Amos in his fourth chapter Sophany in his second chapter and the Lord Iesus in the 16. of Mathew mentioneth it and so also doth S. Paul Rom. 9. and S. Peter in his second Epistle and second chapter and S. Iohn in the 11. of the Apocalips Let us therfore make profit and Clense our selves 2 Cor. 7. 1. of all filthynes of the flesh and spirit lest we also suffer The vengeance of eternall fire And further observe with me that not only Sodome was destroied and suffered the vengeance of eternall fire but many Cities besides Moses Deut. 29. and the Prophet Hosea cap 11. besides Sodome nameth 3. Citties more Gomorra Zeboim Admah and unto these some other writers ad Phagor so that five Cities suffred the vengeance of eternall fire Egesippus and Stephanus say that 10. Cities were destroied and some say 13. Iosephus Tertullian Augustine and others write that the aire there is so infectious that if a bird flieth over it it dieth presently and that no creature can live there and the apples and other fruite that grow there howsoever they seeme pleasant unto the eye yet if you do but touch them they fall to Cinder and ashes The summe of all is to admonish us not to follow strang flesh as they did But to keep our vessels in holynesse and not in the lust of concupiscence As Sodome and Gomor 1 Thess 4. And the Cities about them did lest God destroy vs with fire as hee did them and lest we suffer The vengeance of eternall fire as they doe And now brethren you looke that I should say some thing as touching the fearefull accident of fire that since my last being in this chaire of Moses have happened among you and hath burnt up and consumed not an house or two but almost your whole towne and that no small towne but the chiefest and the greatest in these parts being the chiefest mart towne in all the hundred as the Lord hath come to Dereham and Aylisham Beckles and other neighbour townes so now at the last hee is come to you your sinnes have brought downe this judgement of God upon you therefore Washe you make you Esa 1. 16. 17. cleane put away your evill intents from before God cease from doing evill learne to doe well otherwise the Lords hand wil be Amoâ— 3. stretched out still against you and doe not thincke that this fire came by chance For There is no evill done in the City but the Lord doth it himselfe And note the providence of God that the Psal 118. Lament 2. 1. doctrine of burning of Sodome should be now handled when this fearefull judgement of fire fell upon you This is the Lord doing and it is marveilous in our eyes As David speaketh in another case As The Lord
darkened the daughter of Sion in his Wrath that is brought her from prosperity to adversity so hath he darkened Northwalsham And as The Lord cast downe from Heaven Outward afflictions make way to repentance and mercy unto the earth the beauty of Israel that is hath given her a most sore fall so hath hee cast from Heaven to earth the beauty of Northewalsham And as the Lord destroyed the habitations of Iacob so hath hee your habitations and laid wast your dwelling places In the Lowe-Countryes when we see Cities burnt men slaine Churches ruinated Corne-fields Gardens and Orchards destroyed we say then the Spanyards have beene here So whosoever shall see Northwalsham burnt and consumed with fire as it is hee will say The Lord hath beene here The Lord hath done Lament 2. 17. that which he purposed hee hath throwne downe and not spared But Brethren comfort your selves God will receive you if yee will turne For hee is gracious and mercifull long-suffering Psal 103. and of great goodnesse hee will not alway bee chiding neither keepeth hee his wrath for ever Pray therefore with the Prophes Comfort us againe after the time that thou hast plagued Psal 90. 15. us and for the yeares wherein we have suffered aduersity and GOD will restore your losses It is as easye a matter for him to restore them as at the first to give them Thus Iob bare his losses patiently The Lord saith hee gave Iob. 1. 21. and the Lord hath taken away as it pleased the Lord so it is come to passe blessed bee the name of the Lord. Cyrill said of the Cyril Eunomians that they had taken away his goods from him but not Christ from him Augustine said that if GOD should give him all things that were not enough except GOD gave himselfe also to him and then hee had enough Weepe not Agar a well shall spring up in the wildernesse Feare not Sampson a jawe-bone shall slay a Aug. Gen. 21. 15. Iudg. 15. 1 Reg. 12. 1 Reg. 17. whose army of Philistines Die not Elias The Ravens shall bring thee flesh and bread Bee not discomforted widowe of Sarepta the meale in the barrell and the oyle in the cruse shall not waste Faynt not Iewes Five loaves shall Iohn 6. feede five thousand Feare not Daniel Abacucke shall bring thee meate from Iewry Feare not yee men of wallsham Dan. Exod. Ezra 4. God can encline the hearts of all the Countrey to doe you good as hee did the hearts of the Aegyptians to lende to Israell hee can reedifye your Towne as hee did Ierusalem by Nehemiahs Hee can restore your losses as hee did the losses of Iob that you shall be richer at the last than at the first Hee that commanded the whale to cast Ionas on the dry land after three daies hee that turned the rocke into a river and the Flint stone into a springing well Mat. 12. Nomb. 20. he that saved Paul in the depth of the Sea can save you and your goods and will if you rest upon him only rely on Act. 27. the Lord. My brethren know that his eye is not dimme his Esa 39. eare is not heavy his arme is not shortened his heart is not diminished God preserves them that rely on him if we turne to him Hee is rich to all that call upon him be not wanting to thy selfe in faith and God will not be wanting unto thee in help beleeve and throwe not your selves downe so Rom. 10. much The earth is the Lords and all that therein is the compasse of the world and they that dwell therein He made you rich when yee were Psal 24. poore and being poore he can make you rich againe Seeke his kingdome and the righteousnes thereof and all these earthly things shall be Mat. 6. 33. cast unto you THE SIXTEENTH SERMON VERS VIII Likewise notwithstanding these sleepers also defile the flesh and despise goverment Where reprehension doth not amend execration follows SAint Iude in these 8 9 10. and 11. Verses noteth three things First A description of the wicked Secondly A confutation Thirdly An execration For hee ariseth by degrees as the Eagle mounteth in her flight higher and higher So Inde from Description to Confutation from Confutation to Execration Hee proceedeth in the zeale of God as Iehu marched in his chariot valiantly like the fire that first smoaketh and then flameth like the Sunne that warmeth in the morning and burneth at noone tide so at last hee accurseth them woe to them quoth Iude Let them be written among the fooles let them be put out of the Booke of life neither let them be written with the righteous Let their table bee made a snare before them And their prosperitie their ruine let their eyes bee blinded that they see not and make their Psal 69. 22 23 24 25 27. Ioynes alwayes tremble powre out thy anger upon them and let thy wrathfull displeasure take them Let their habitation be voyd and none dwell in their tents lay iniquity upon their iniquity and let them not Three kindes of sleepers mentioned in Scripture come in thy righteousnesse Hee prayeth God with Ieremy to powre out his wrath upon them he desireth God with David to arise and scatter them to drive them away as smoke and as waxe melteth before the fire so they might perish and that God would Ier. 10. 25. Psal 69. 1 2. Psal 74. 11. withdraw his hand even his right hand out of his bosome and consume them Now for the description he painteth them out as Zeuxis did the Grapes that deceived the birds as Parrhasius did the sheete that deceived Zeuxis And first he calleth them sleepers Secondly defilers of the flesh Thirdly despisers of Government Fourthly Raylers speaking evill of them that are in authority Fifthly he noteth them to be envious like Caine. Gen. 4. Sixthly Rebellious like Corah Seventhly Covetous like Balaam Numh. 16. Cap. 16. 9. Thus as the Leopard hath many spots so had they many sins as Iosephs coat had many colours so had they many wickednesses Ier. 5. A vertice ad calcem non erat sanitas from toppe to toe there was no soundnesse but wounds and swellings and sores full of corruptions Esa 1. 4. they were a monstrous people A man may say of them as Virgil spake of Polipheme that one-eyed Gyant Monstrum horendum informe ingens cui lumen ademptum An huge shapelesse horrid monster without an eye For they had a monstrous body having a drowsie head a lecherous flesh a railing tongue a blasphemous ignorant mouth an envious eye a rebellious hand a covetous heart like Virgils Alecto â—ui nomina mille mille noâ—â—â—di artes that a thousand names a thousand wayes to doe mischiefe a strange body compact of vile members the head of an Asse the flesh of a Goat the tongue of a Serpent the eye of a Basiliske the hand of a Monkey