of adultery When a couple are married or betrothed they make a solemn promise or vow one to another in the name of the al-seeing God Now the adulterer besides all his other offēces he transgresseth the covenant of his God Besides this he wrongs his owne wife with whom hee is linked in wedlocks golden band his wife I say whom hee should love as his owne soule O how he wrongs her in that hee prefers a strumpet before her Againe the adulterer wrongeth the husband of the woman which he defileth who if it come to his knowledge is thereby inraged his iealousie burnes like fire and he wil not spare in the day of vengeance And this undoubtedly is a marvailous wrōg For first he is robd of the love of his wife an inestimable iewell 2. His estate by this meanes may be translated to another mans childe and is it then any marvaile if States and Common-wealths have been severe in punishing of adultery I wil only touch this point briefly because the time passeth away In the Leviticall Law the adulterer and the adulteresse were both put to death I confesse that the Iudicials of Moses were moulded upon the Iewish Common-wealth and doe not simply binde Christians yet there is a perpetuall equity to be observed to wit that sinne be so punished that men may feare to offend This was practised of the Gentiles even by the light of nature for the Arabians did punish adulterie with loss of life as witnesseth Strabo Among the heathen Romans Lex Iulia was renowned and terrified many Others though they made it not Capitall yet they layd heavie punishment upon it and filled the faces of adulterers with shame and infamie Some write that the Egyptians did vse to cut off the womans nose and beate the man with battes almost to death Zaleuchus king of the Locrenses made a lawe that adulterers should lose both their eyes In later ages the Church of Rome hath beene too much indulgent unto this sinne and thereby gotten mynes of silver and gold Yea the Pope hath been so shamelesse as to take a tribute of Courtizans this was Daemon meridianus the Divell raigning at noone day This was not onely a sinne in the State but the sinne of the State because it had approbation by publike authoritie With vs though this sin too much abound yet it is punishable by our lawes and hath no coūtenance from authority And therefore though it be a sinne in our State it is not the sinne of our State Yet it were to bee wished that those grave and iudicious Sages and Senators of the kingdom which heare mee this day would in their godly wisedome consider whether it were not fit that the corporall punishment of adulterers should be augmented among us that men may stand in awe and sinne not And when good lawes are enacted let them not be like spiders webs where great flies breake through and little flies are entangled Let it not be said among us as it was sometime amongst the Romans Vbi nunc lex Iulia Dormis How great regard is to be had of the execution of wholesome lawes we may see in Zaleuchus who having made the lawe before mentioned That adulteterers should lose both their eyes it came to passe that his owne son committed adultery What was heere to be done should hee execute the law and put out his eyes Alas it was his owne on-only sonne and by this meanes the people should have had a blinde King Should hee not execute it Who then would regard his lawes when he himselfe did first breake them Therfore he tooke a middle course Because the lawe required the putting out of two eyes therefore he put out one of his sonnes eyes for hee had offended and another of his owne that his people might see how much he abhorred the sinne of adultery and withall how much he respected the execution of lawes But howsoever man doe neglect the execution of iustice against adulterers the God of heaven will find them out The children of Israel committed fornication and there fell in one day foure and twenty thousand Reuben the sonne of Iacob ascended into his fathers bed and thereby hee lost three prerogatives belonging to the first borne The first was the office of the Priesthood which was given to the sons of Aaron which were of the tribe of Levi. The second was the soveraignty which was translated to Iuda The third was the double portion which befell unto Ioseph Concerning all these it was said to Reuben thou wast unstable as water thou shalt not excell I knowe there is great difference between incest and adultery neither dare I enter into Gods secret iudgements yet thus much is certain that as incest so likewise adultery is a fire that consumeth to destruction and will root out all a mans increase And therefore if a man would have a blessed seed let him keepe his body vndefiled Ioseph refused to staine his vessell and the Lord so blessed him in his mariage that his two sons Ephraim and Manasses were reckoned among the tribes of Israel yea Israel did blesse in them and say God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasses On the contrary if men shall defile another mans bed it shall be the iust iudgement of God if they finde a crosse in their owne mariage bed and if their owne wives and daughters be defiled Yea if they shall bee hardned in this filthiness let them take heed lest this fire so burne to destruction that it roote out all their increase and cause their houses to decay and their lands to be translated to another name And yet I would exhort all men that they would refrain this sinne not so much for feare of punishment as for conscience sake Not your soules onely but your bodies also were created according to Gods image and therfore defile them not Not your soules onely but your bodies also are bought with a price even with the precious blood of Iesus Christ and therefore defile them not Not your soules onely but your bodies also are temples of the holy Ghost and therefore defile them not but so preserve these vessels of grace in this world that they may bee vessels of glory in the world to come Which the Lord grant c. The end of the first Sermon THE SECOND SERMON upon the former Text preached at Theobalds before the Kings Maiesty upon Sunday the 21. of Ianuary 1620. WHen of late I entred upon the explication of this Text in a Princely presence I proposed 3 things in David to be considered his sinne his repentance and his absolution The sinne of David reproved by Nathan and here confessed and lamented by himselfe was first of all that great and grievous sinne of adultery and secondly those other enormous sinnes wherwith hee entangled himselfe while he went about to hide and conceale his adultery To shew the haynousnesse of his adultery I unfoulded
these foure points 1. The quality of the person or what manner of man this David was which committed adultery 2. With whom 3. When. 4. How he was plunged into this gulfe of sinne The first point is the quality of the person Concerning which I may truly affirme that David was the most eminent and remarkable man that was then living upon the face of the earth for it was famously knowne both to Iewes and Gentiles that the God of heaven had been his continuall Buckler and Defence even from his youth up He had defended him from a raging Beare from a roaring Lion from a huge and terrible Giant from the fury of the Philistines from the cruell persecution of bloodthirsty Saul and in a word from a thousand dangers And as the Lord had compassed him about with gracious deliverances so he had crowned him with blessings upon blessings temporal spirituall ordinarie extraordinary First when he was a poore Shepheard following the Ewes the Lord sent Samuel to anoint him King over Israel Secondly the Lord gave him a glorious victory over Golias all Israel did see it and reioiced Thirdly the Lord gave him honour in the hearts of the people so that the women did sing in their dances Saul hath slaine his thousands David his ten thousands Fourthly the heart of Ionathan the Kings sonne was knit vnto him for he loved him even as his own soule Fiftly Michal the Kings daughter loved him so David became the Kings sonne in lawe And after the death of Saul and Ionathan the Lord advanced him to the royal throne the glittering Diademe was set upon his head he raigned over Iuda seven yeers and sixe moneths and then over all Israel even from Dan to Bersheba Besides all this the Lord gave him plenty of gold and silver and victory over all his enemies so that his victorious banner was displayed even from Ierusalem to the River Euphrates Moreover he was a Prophet of the Lord a type of Christ a Secretary of the holy Ghost in penning those sacred and mellifluous Psalms he was also the sweet Singer of Israel and a Composer of those melodious harmonies that were used in the Tabernacle of God hee was likewise one of the Patriarks for so Saint Peter stiles him and God had sworne unto him that he should be one of the Progenitors of Iesus Christ. Now for inward gifts and graces hee was a Child of God a member of Christ a Temple of the Holy Ghost a vessell of grace a sanctified Soul a sweet and well tuned Cymbal a heavenly Organ of angelicall sound in all his workes he prays'd the Lord with words of glory every Psalme breathing religion and devotion in so much that God himselfe gave him this testimony that hee was a man according to Gods owne heart O what eminencie of grace what sublimitie of honour what preheminence of prerogatiues was here and yet for all this David euen this David committed adulterie Now that we may make vse of this example first let vs obserue the frailty and infirmity of man Behold hee that was supposed to be strong as a Lyon and tall as a Cedar was not only incountred but also conquered with a temptation Wherefore in his frailety wee all may behold as in a glasse the plaine image of our owne imbecillity for if the Lyon be conquered what shall the little Lamb doe If the Cedars of Libanus be shaken what shall the tender plant doe Alas what are wee if God withdraw his grace Even the best man upon the face of the earth if he were left to himselfe should perish everlastingly Look upon Saint Peter ô what a confidence and hye conceit had he of himselfe and yet for all his boasting hee did not onely deny but also forsweare his Master Wherfore lay away all presumption let no arogancy proceed out of your mouth but let every man cōsider his own infirmity therby learn a holy and a gracious humility Secondly let us observe the danger wherin we stand for if David a man according to Gods owne heart were tempted what man upon the face of the earth can be free from temptation I confesse that all men are not tempted alike to the same sinne of adultery For as our Saviour sayth There are some Eunuches which were so borne from their mothers wombe but all men are tempted to one sinne or other Now where the banke is lowest there the water will over where the wall is weakest there the enemy will batter and where man is weakest there the divell will soonest assault him for our adversarie is like to a cunning fisherman he cōsiders the natures and inclinations of the fishes and accordingly baiteth his hooke If Iudas be covetous the divell will baite his hooke for him with thirtie pieces of siluer If Achan love pride in apparell the divell will angle for him with a goodly Babylonish garment If Absolon be ambitious the divell will seeke to catch him with the hope of a kingdome Thus hee observeth all and accordingly he tempteth all and therefore looke for temptation whosoever thou art Alas my brother thou carriest sinfull flesh and bloud about thee and dost thou thinke thou shalt not be tempted The world is full of alluring provocations and doest thou think thou shalt not be tempted The divell goeth about like a roaring Lion seeking whom hee may devoure and dost thou think thou shalt not be tempted Wee have an enemy sayth Saint Hierome Cui nomina mille mille nocendi artes atque ego infoelix victorem me putabo dum capior He hath a thousand names and a thousand subtill devices to intrap and intangle the soules of men and I poore wretch shall I thinke my selfe a Conquerour even then when I am taken captive Beleeve me beleeve me haec tranquillitas tempestas est this calme will proove a storme for even then thou art tempted when thou thinkest thou art not tempted nay therefore thou art tempted because thou thinkest thy selfe free from temptation Our blessed Saviour when he taught his disciples to say Forgive vs our trespasses hee taught them likewise to say And leade vs not into temptation thereby teaching us that even those children of God whose trespasses are forgiven are still notwithstanding subiect to temptation Wherefore my sonne when thou entrest into the service of God prepare thy selfe for temptation Thirdly seeing wee are all so weake and yet walke in such danger what is then to bee done That we may learne of the Apostle Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall But how shall we take heed that we may learne of our blessed Saviour when he sayth Watch and Pray If the watch be neglected but one night the Citie may bee taken David had kept watch and ward over his senses all his life time and now neglecting it but one Evening he is not onely incountred but carried
David and Bathsheba To begin with the woman After a while she perceives that she had conceived with child and now shee feares lest the world would take knowledge of her lewd demeanor because her husband had bin so long from home Now therefore though secretly she begins to weepe to mourne and to make lamentation Here is a glasse for all women to looke in even Bathsheba the beautifull She that of late gave her cōsēt to lascivious dalliance now shee se'eth her owne folly now shee is cloathed with shame as with a garment Those radiant and sparkling eyes which so darted love into the eyes of David are now all bebleared and beblubbered with weeping the teares run downe her blushing cheekes she wrings her hands shee rents her goulden haire and with all possible speed she sends unto David saying I am with child as though shee should say ô wretch that I am now my sin can be concealed no longer the matter is plaine my very body will shortly bewray it I carrie my accusation about me on the one side I feare the shame of the world on the other the danger of the Lawe but ô how shall I looke my poore Husband in the face You you were the cause of all this and therefore to you I make my moane alas alas what shall I doe So shee that of late had no regard of conscience is now tormented with an accusing conscience and she that before was not ashamed to sinne now she is ashamed lest her sinne should be knowne But what sayd David to all this for now he is put to his shifts Truly hee sheweth himselfe a notable spectacle of humane frailty for he had a greater care of his credit then of his conscience he was more afraid of the shame of the world then he was of the displeasure of Almighty God and therefore he did palliate his sinne to avoid the shame but he did not repent to avoid the displeasure And so much of the first motive His second motive was the danger of his darling for by the Law of God the adulteresse was to be put to death and therefore lest shee whom hee loved so tenderly should lose her life and that by his meanes hee bends all the strength of his wits to conceale the matter Hitherto of the motives now I come to the meanes that is his politike practices His first policy was to cloake the matter by a false imputation for which purpose Vrias the husband was to bee called home from the campe to the end that he cōversing with his wife might be supposed and reputed the father of the childe Wherein David did not only sin against God and his owne soule but moreover hee intended three notorious iniuries the first against the poor babe the childe begotten of his owne body which by this means he would have disclaimed and renounced even before it was born the second against Vrias to whom he would have obtruded a child by fraud imposture the third against the heirs of Vrias which by this plot might have been disseised and defrauded of their inheritance Here was wisedome I confesse but it was the wisdom of the serpent there wanted the simplicity of the Dove Such was the wisedom of Pharaoh who said Com let us work wisely when hee intended to oppresse the children of God Such was the wisdome of Ieroboam who to establish his Kingdome erected a standard to Idolatry by setting up two goulden Calves in Dan and Bethel This was wisdome but not according unto godliness Wisedome did I say or rather folly for how can that be called wisdom when men are wise to doo evill but to do good they have no understanding And I dare be bold to say that the wisdom of Achitophel the wisdom of Matchiavel and all wicked wisdom howsoever it seeme angelicall howsoever it shine and glister in the eyes of the world yet in true judgement it is nothing else but meer folly for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome and therefore where there is not the fear of God there cannot possibly bee any true wisdom David himselfe could somtimes say I understand more then the ancients because I keepe thy precepts Wherfore if a man would be truely wise Let him fear God and walke in his precepts This is wisdome according to godliness which will make a man wise to salvation And as this is the wisdome of every private man so herein likewise consisteth the true wisedome of Kings and Kingdomes of States and Common-wealths For as Moses said to Israel Keep the statutes iudgements of the Lord and doe them for this is your wisedome and understanding in the sight of the nations which shall heare all these statutes and say Surely this great nation is a wise and an understanding people Even so I say to you Let all your wisedome be according to godliness let all your policie be ioyned with pietie in all your consultations aske counsaile of the Lord let the God of Iacob be present chiefe President in all your parliaments and then surely hee will blesse this Land and the nations shall see it and say Surely this nation of Great Brittaine is a wise and an understanding people But to proceed in the story The messenger is gone Vrias is sent for he is come to the Court brought to the King who asketh him how Ioab did and how the people did and how the wars prospered and after kinde communication he gave him a courteous dismission Goe home to thy house and wash thy feet and there followed after him a favour from the King a messe of meate no doubt dainty and delicate that hee and his wife might make merry together But for all this courtly and cunning invitation Vrias went not home to his wife but slept at the gate of the Kings palace Which David understanding sends for him againe and thus expostulates the matter with him in friendly manner d Camst thou not from thy iourney why then didst thou not goe downe unto thy house Thus David pretended great love and friendship unto Vrias whereas in truth hee intended onely to make him a cloak for their iniquitie And is not this the fashion of the world at this day Many will pretend great loue and friendship unto a man when if the truth were known it is onely to serve their owne turnes and in relation to their owne private endes and purposes Hitherto wee have seen Davids courteous invitation and friendly expostulation now let us hearken unto the answere of Vrias He said unto David The Arke and Iudah and Israel abideinaents and my Lord Ioab and his servants are incamped in the open fields shall I then goe home to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife As thou livest and as thy soule liveth I will not doe it First let us cōsider what is meant by this that the Arke aboade in tents And it seemeth to
Vrias but it seemeth he perceived that this could hardly be done without the loss of moe Neither did hee write to David concerning this point but understanding that it was the Kings pleasure that Vrias should die he was resolute to perform it thogh the exployt should cost him an hundred mens lives Here it may seeme by Ioab that Captaines are sometimes too prodigall of the lives of their souldiers We read that Abner sayde to Ioab Let the young men arise and play before us So hee accounted fighting but a play and a sport Now though Captaines should be courageous in a good cause yet they must love and tender the lives of their souldiers If any man say that it was not David and Ioab which kild Vrias but the sword of the children of Ammon Let him consider the frame of a clock and he shall see how one wheele mooves another wheele and that another wheele and that the hammer and so the stroake is stricken but the cause of all this motion is a certaine secret weight or poyse which hangeth in a corner and is not seene As for example in the story of Naboth Naboth was condemned to death there the stroake was stricken the hammer that gave the stroake was the iudge which gave the sentence the wheeles that moved this hammer were the false witnesses the wheeles that moved these wheeles were the Nobles and Elders of Iezrael but the secret waights that set all these wheeles a going were Achab and Iezabel So Achab and Iezabel were the principall agents which mooved the men of Iezrael and they the false witnesses and they the Iudge and thus poore Naboth was put to death So in this present story Vrias was slaine there the stroake was stricken the hammer that gave the stroake was the sword of the children of Ammon the wheels that mooved this hammer were the souldiers which first made an hot assault and then suddenly retyring left Vrias to the sword of the enemies The great wheele which moved these lesser wheels was Ioab who so ordered the battell And the secret waight that mooved this wheele was David the first moover and cause of all the motion O David David What hast thou done Knowest thou not that innocent blood hath a cry yea and a loud and a shrill cry and what doth it cry but vengeance vengeance Let all men take heed of this crying sinne if it bee done never so secretly the Lord will finde it out If it bee in the forrest the tree of the forrest shall cry vengeance vengeance and the leaves of the tree shall answere it If in the fielde the beast of the field shal cry vengeance vengeance and the bird of the ayre shall answere it If in the house the stone out of the wall shall cry vengeance vengeance the ioynt out of the timber shal answere it Where ever it be the whole frame of heaven and earth shall cry vengeance vengeance and hell shall open her mouth and answer it And doth secret murther crie for vengeance and hath not open murther the same cry Yes vndoubtedly And heere I must needs taxe a vice which formerly in this kingdom hath much raigned amongst Nobles and gentlemen If they received any word of disgrace they would presently challenge one another to the field revenge their owne quarrels and trye it out with the point of the sword not without great iniurie to the King and his Lawe whom the Lord hath made revenger of wrongs yea to the King of kings for vengeance is mine and I will repay sayth the Lord. Should Subiects thus goe to single Combates for private quarrels Is this courage Is this valour No no it is nothing else but rashnesse and folly If you would be truly valorous then reserve your selves for your Prince and your Countrey for Christ and for his true Religion This indeed would argue a noble courage and a generous spirit But these private quarrels are most lamentable O how many fathers by these ungodly means have bin made childlesse how many children fatherlesse how many wives have lost their husbands how many Gentlemen whose auncestours have beene principall studs and pillers in their Country have by those desperate combates ruinated themselves and their posterity O miserable incounters wherein the very Conquerours gaine no other garland but shame and confusion either to lose their lives by order of Lawe or to forsake their owne Countrey and so to live in perpetuall exile with anguish and vexation of spirit O happy therfore and thrice happy be the Lords Anointed who set out that gracious proclamation against Duels so much tending to the glory of God and the good of this kingdome Here I exhort all such as desire to enioy a quiet conscience that they take heed of this crying sin For if there be no other to accuse the murtherer his own cōscience will accuse him Hee may for a time have a slumbring cōscience but when it wakens it will torment him We read of one Bessus who had kild his owne father of a time hearing but a Swallow chatter he caught the truncheon of a iaveling and did fling at it with wonderfull violence And being demanded why hee did so hee answered Did you not heare this wicked bird accuse mee as though I had killed mine owne father Whereupon hee was examined and confessed the fact So Cain when hee had killed his brother thought that every one that met him would kil him Such is the nature of an accusing cōscience He that hath shed innocent blood hee will think that the very ground hee goeth on is embrued with blood that his garments are besprinkled with blood that his fingers distill with blood If he heare two talke he will think they whisper of blood If hee wake hee will thinke of blood And if he sleep hee will dreame of blood And verely if Davids conscience had not beene benummed hee would have thought that every bird had chattered Vrias that every winde had whistled Vrias that woods and mountaines had sounded Vrias and that the Eccho had redoubled Vrias Vrias But now David to his other sins addeth dulnesse and hardness of heart Thus poor Vrias is taken away a man vertuous and valorous cōmendable in his life honorable in his death For he died fighting in the forefront of the Lords battell and the face of his enemies Whereby hee is now dispatched out of the way hee will bee no more hinderance or obstacle unto them and therfore let us now see what course they take When newes came to Ierusalem that Vrias was slaine the woman she mourned with what minde I know not but the Text testifies that she mourned Which we may conceive to have been in this or the like manner O Vrias my husband my sweet husband Vrias How long this mourning lasted I dare not define The Wiseman saith Seaven dayes doe men mourne for him that is dead If Bathshebah mourned no longer it was very fitting