layd and thereof doth proceed their workes of charity as a sacrifice of thanksgiuing and yet those workes also the gift of God Aug in Psal 102. as Augustine sayth Deus coronat in nobis dona sua God doth crowne his owne gifts in vs. Good workes must be alwayes done to a good end 2. Sam 15 2 When Absalom called the poore vnto him and did helpe to right their causes he seemed to haue an vpright and charitable mind But when he sought thereby to steale away the heartes of the subiectes and to stirre them vppe to rebellion against his Soueraigne Lord and Father then was his shew of iustice nothing but damnable hypocrisie And the like account must be made of all charitable deedes whatsoeuer if they bee done to a sinister end to wit to ascribe merite vnto them and thereby to derogate from the sacrifice and passion of our Sauiour Christ Let vs then endeuour to the vttermost of our power to obey the will of God but let our entent and purpose bee onely thereby to offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiuing to glorifie God our Creator Christ Iesus our Redeemer and the holy Ghost our Sanctifier 1 Pet 1 10 to make our election and calling more sure vnto our selues Mat. 5.16 by the light of our good workes to cause others to glorifie our father in heauen Of the manner how our sacrifices ought to bee offered to wit with singing and ioifulnes of mind as here the Prophet exhorteth vs to tell forth Gods works with gladnesse or as some interprete it with singing I shall God willing speake at some other conuenient time God of his infinite goodnes graunt vs grace so with thankfull hearts ioifull lips and vertuous liues to glorifie his holie name in this life that wee may be glorified to him for euer in the life to come with the blessed Angels sing perpetuall prayses in heauen to him Apoc. 4 11 who is worthy to receiue glorie and honour and power To this inuisible and eternall Lord three persons and one God bee ascribed all maiestie praise and dominion now and for euer Amen VVhy in right there should be no refusing to come now to our Church WHereas you requested me the other day to set downe a briefe note of the chiefest arguments which may induce and perswade a Recusant to come to the Church and to resolue you particularly of this one point in what respect prayer in the Church is more acceptable vnto God then prayer made in fields or priuate houses I haue thought good to returne this vnto you for an answer that there are sixe speciall reasons for which it must needs be better pleasing to God to frequent Churches and publike places of prayer then to be addicted onely to the exercises of our priuate mansions First it is a dutifull obeying of God his holy ordinance who hath commaunded not onely priuate prayer 1. 〈◊〉 11 2.8 and prayer in euery place but hath also appointed by his law that there should be a publike place consecrated for his seruice â—eut 12 5. In that place sayth he which the Lord your God shall chuse amongst all your tribes to set his name there in that his habitation ye shall seeke vnto him To haue it in the same place where the Iewes had it is not commaunded to vs 〈◊〉 4.21 but the equity of the Law doth still remaine to wit that there should be alwayes a house of God wherein the people may be assembled As likewise to haue the same Sabbath which the Iewes had the Apostles did not thinke it requisite but the equitie of the Law to wit to haue one day amongst the seuen to be alotted for the publike seruice of God that they thought altogether necessary And the chose the first day in the weeke because in that Christ rose againe from death which was therefore called dies Dominicus the Lord his day In the Lord his day Iohn was rapt in the spirit and heard a voyce Apoc 1 10. In that first day of the weeke Act 20 7 the Apostles in the Acts did minister the holy Sacrament and in the same first day they made collections for the poore 1. Cor 16 2 Secondly by frequenting the publicke place of God his seruice God is most glorified We must glorifie God both in body and soule 1 Cor 6 20 for they are gods The Prophet Daniel chose rather to be thrown into a den of Lions Dan. 6.11 then that he would haue his body but onely three dayes to be debarred from honoring God He honored him as he might because there was no publike place permitted But where there is a publike place assigned for the seruice of God there must especially our zeale encline vnto it and the more publike the place is the more is God glorified thereby The Prophet Dauid sayth I will praise thee ô Lord in the great congregation Psal 35.18 in much people I will giue thankes vnto thee Psal 40 11. Psal 22 22 And againe I will declare thy righteousnesse in the great congregation behold I will not refraine my lips and that Lord thou knowest In another place I will declare thy name amongst my brethren in the middest of the congregation I will sing praise vnto thee And againe I was glad when they sayd vnto me Psal 122.1 We will go into the house of God And when he was by his enemies driuen away from that publicke place of God his seruice although he prayed and sang hymnes vnto God in the mountaines and caues other places of his exile yet that losse of the publicke place of God his worship did grieue him more then the losse of his natiue soile of his acquaintance of his kindred of his goods or any other ioy or treasure whatsoeuer psal 27.4 One thing sayth he one thing especially I haue desired of the Lord and I will still require it that I dwell in the house of the Lord all the dayes of my life to behold the beautie of the Lord and to visite his holie Temple He grieued that he could not doe as he had done in times past euen to leade the people into the house of God Psal 42.2 My teares sayth he hath bene my bread day and night because I had gone with the multitude and lead them to the house of God His wish was rather to be a doore-keeper in the house of God Psal 84.11 then to dwell in the tents of vngodlinesse Thirdly it is a comfortable apprehending of the promise of Christ who hath pronounced Math. 18 20 that Where two or three are assembled in his name he is in the middest of them and that whatsoeuer they aske they shall receiue Although he name two or three because the Church is indeed a little flocke in respect of the great multitude of the wicked yet it is euident that our Sauiour speaketh not there of priuate conuenticles but
of her chiefe animall facultie to haue seate in the braine and by her vitall facultie to haue place in the heart and by her naturall facultie to possesse the liuer yet the first by sinewes and the second by arteries and the third by veines doe with such societie harmonie and neere coniunction worke continually together in all the bodie that the soule it selfe which ruleth and gouerneth them al may bee said in and by them to bee present in all the bodie although in her owne essence and substance shee hath her proper place appointed by God being the chiefest part of mā it is most likely that she hath it in that part which is the chiefest beauty as it were the very maiestie of this earthly creature CHAP. VI. Whether the soul do come ex traduce by generation and conception from the parents as doth the bodie WHether the soule of man be created of God or no it is a matter that was neuer called in question in the Church of God for al the faithful haue euer acknowledged that as the body is created of God so also the soule But sundrie doubts haue been often made by many in what sort and maner the soule is created Some haue thought it to be a corporal thing and to come by propagation from the bodies of the parēts others haue on the other side so much extolled it as that they wold haue it to be created of the very substance of God A third sorte there haue bin which haue defended the soule to be a spiritual substāce but yet to come by propagation the soule from the soule as the bodie from the body Origin his opinion of all soules created together at the creation of the world is touched Chap. 4. August Epist 157. tom 2. Others wil haue it to be created of nothing others that it is created but yet of the substāce of that immortall soule which was giuen vnto Adam S. Augustine saith that if we keepe our selues frō the two first grosse heresies then Origo animae sine periculo latet it is no danger to vs to bee ignorant how the soule hath her beginning The first assertion which was the errour of Tertullian is at large confuted in that Epistle of Augustine The two chiefest reasons of Tertullian are these Gen. 46.26 first because it is said in Gen. that there came three score and sixe soules out of the loines of Iacob secondly because whē God made Adam Gen. 2.7 it is said that God did breath into him hee was made a liuing soule but when Eue was made there is no mētion made of any soule inspired into her therefore she had hers from Adam To the first it is answered that the word soul signifieth some times the person Gen. 14.21 as Gen. 14. giue mee the souls take thou the goods when the king of Sodom desired to haue his people againe S. Paul biddeth euery soul be subiect to higher powers that is euery person sometimes it is takē only for the body Aug. epist 157 tom 2. as S. Aug. sheweth in that Epistle as I haue laid open here in my first Chap. As for the ensāple of Eue it was sufficiēt to haue the inspiring of the soule once named but no doubt she had also her soule giuen her of God as Adā did acknowledge whē he said this is now flesh of my flesh Gen. 2 23. bone of my bone he did not say soule of my soule therfore did confesse it to be giuen of God The second opinion which was of the Manichees renewed of late time by Seruetus that because the Apostle saith Act 17.28 In God wee liue moue haue our beeing meaning indeed of the qualities gifts and graces which God hath bestowed on vs therefore our soule is made of the very essence of the God-head it is so grosse a collection that it needeth no cōfuting It is most absurd impious once to think that the soule of man being so many waies stamed polluted and so full of inconstancies vaine imaginations should be in substance a portiō of the most pure sacred God head As for them which thinke that it commeth of the essence of mans soul some do holde that in procreation it floweth out cum semine Aug. epist 15◠But Aug. doth thinke that to be incredible because multa fluunvirrita sine conceptibus semina and if the semen animae be mortall how shuld then the soule it selfe be immortall Others are of opiniō that no part of the soule issueth out with the seede but as one candle doth light another lose no part of it selfe thereby so the soule of the parents doth giue a soule to the naturall heate good temperature of that which is conceiued and yet not diminish thereby any portion of it selfe But the most generall opinion now holdē in the church is that the soules are created of God from outwardly by his diuine power inspired into mā at the time of giuing life Whether created of the soule of Adā as some in times past haue thought or created of nothing as in the first creation I account it a question needlesse seeing the word of God hath reuealed no determining thereof but that it is created of God and also created in another maner then is the body that seemeth to be apparātly declared in the holy scriptures The Apostle saith to the Hebrewes if we haue had fathers of our flesh to correct vs Heb. 12.9 we haue reuerenced thē how much more shall wee be in subiection to the father of our spirits and liue What can bee more apparant to shew that the body and the soule do not come both vnto vs after one maner God is our creator in respect of our bodies but hee hath made them by meanes by the parents of our flesh but hee is called the father of our soules 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by a certaine excellency and peculiar preheminēce because he hath made them himselfe alone and in the creatiō of our spirits hath gone beyond the course helpe of natural meanes The like speech we haue in the Preacher Eccl. 12.7 when earth saith he goeth to earth the spirit goeth to God which gaue it No doubt God giueth also the body as the Psalmist cōfesseth Psal 139.13 thou Lord hast couered me in my mothers wombe I will praise thee for that I am wonderfully made but he is by a singular proper prerogatiue called the giuer of spirits because they come not as the body by means but immediatly frō himself Hereunto hath S. Peter respect 1. Pet. 4.39 when he willeth vs to commit our soules vnto God as a faithful creator Dauid whē he saith the Lord doth fashion the harts of mē Psal 33.15 Hereupon is it that the Lord himselfe saith by the Prophet Esay that he hath made the soules Esay 57.16 to this worke
conceit of Purgatory or temporall punishments endured by the soules departed but as hauing an eye to the resurrection which was yet to ensue and neyther to be hastened nor to be deferred by any prayers and yet they prayed to testifie their hope as S. Paul praied for Onesiphorus 2. Tim. 1.18 that the Lorde would graunt vnto him that hee may find mercy with the Lord in that day meaning as some expound it the day of resurrection hee had a further respect in his praier then eyther to his life or to his death and so had the fathers a further respect then to the present estate of the soules for as for their present estate they did not doubt of their happy rest Augustine when hee prayed for his mother said Credo quodiam feceris quod te rogo Aug. confess lib. 9 cap. 12 sed voluntaria oris mei approbo Domine non respondebit illa se nihil delere sed respondebit demissa debita sua ab eo cui nemo reddet quod pro nobis no debens reddidit I beleeue that thou hast already graunted what I request but good Lord accept the voluntary wordes of my mouth shee shall not say that she oweth nothing but shee will answere that her debtes are forgiuen of him to whome no man can recompence that which hee hath freely done for vs. And so likewise although Ambrose prayed for Theodosius yet hee doubted not but that he was in eternal glory Ambros de obitu Theod. for so he affirmed Absolutus crimine fruitur nunc Theodosius luce perpetua tranquilitate diuturna sanctorumque caetibus gloriatur Theodosius hauing his sinne remitted doth euen now enioy perpetuall light and a lasting rest and doth triumph in the company of the saints by the name of prayers were oftē signified thanksgiuings 2. Tim. 2.22 psal 14.4 as indeed calling vpon the name of God is taken often in the scriptures for the whole seruice of God They had their commemoration of the dead especially at the ministration of the Lords supper which they tooke to bee Eucharistia a sacrament of thanksgiuing and as Chrysostome noteth what was done for the dead was done most in Hymnes doe testifie their ioy and thankfulnesse Quid sibi volunt Hymni nonne glorificamus Deum Chrysost ad popul Antioch hom 70 gratias illi agimus quia iam defunctum coronauit haec omnia sunt gaudentium What meaneth Hymnes or songes doe wee not glorifie God and giue thankes vnto him that hee hath already crowned a soule departed Al these are effectes of hearts reioycing And further in the commemoration of the dead there was especially a rehearsing of the resurrection of our Sauiour by himselfe and all the Saints by him to shew that that was the time which they most respected and if they praied for forgiuenes of the sinnes of the departed the meaning of their petition was that their sinnes should not be imputed vnto them in the resurrection Vide August in Io. tract 49 How lawfully they might make that praier I will not now dispute It sufficeth here to haue shewed that they did not acknowledge any temporall tormentes after this life appertaining to such as haue ended their dayes in the faith of Christ and that the secret rest which they placed in Abrahams bosome did not signifie vnto them a sleepe or idle rest but a place of ioy and happinesse Ioh 8 56 that as it was Abraham his ioy in this world to see the dayes of Christ so it is a farre more infinite felicity to him and his faithfull seede this transitory life being ended to behold and fully to enioy the presence of our Redeemer in the eternall kingdome of heauen S. Augustine sayth that hee doth fully belieue that his sweet friend Nebridius is in Abrahams bosome Aug. confess lib. 9. hee sheweth presently what that is Pomt spirituale os adfontem tuum bibit quantum potest sapientiam pro auiditate sua sine fine foelix He setteth his spirituall mouth to thy fountain O Lord and drinketh wisedome to the full according to his chiefest desire being happy without end This happy estate of the soules of Gods saintes is at large laid open by the manifold testimonies of the holy scriptures in the beginning of my tenth Chapter as likewise in the whole course of that and the chapter following By the word of God as by the touchstone of all truth the ancient fathers doe desire that their writings should bee examined what is agreeable thereto to be receiued and what not to be reiected Augustine sayeth Aug. in psal 57. Auferantur é medio chartae nostrae prodeat in medium codex Dei Let our writings bee laide aside and let place bee giuen to the booke of God Hee also nameth the olde and new Testament Duo vbera Ecclesiae The two breastes of the Church out of which all sound and perfect truth must bee drawne and deriued vnto vs. In them wee finde but onely these two places or habitation for the soules once separated from the bodies to wit for them which dye in carnall security as did the rich glutton hell torments those which are spoken of in Deuteronomie fire is kindled in my wrath Deut. 32.24 and my wrath doth burne to the bottome of hell those which are called by Salomon the Chambers of death by Esay a tophet prepared deepe and large Esay 30.33 the burning whereof is fire and much wood and the breath of the Lord a fire of brimstome to kindle it and by our Sauiour vnquenchable fire where the worme neuer dyeth Mar. 9.44 the flame neuer goeth out And in the Reuelation A lake burning with fire and brimstone which is the second death of those torments Apoc. 21. ◠Abraham said to the rich man Luke 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is such a gulfe and distance placed betwixt them and the ioyes of the godly that there is no hope of passage from one to an other whereby is signified that the paines are vnrecouerable easelesse endlesse and hopelesse But for them which close vppe their eyes in a true faith vnfained repentāce Iohn 16.22 there are prepared eternall ioyes in the kingdome of heauen where the knowledge will integrity and all the powers of the soule Luke 20.36 shall haue such a correspondencie and conformity to the wil of God that they shall bee equall with the blessed Angels and where wee shall haue the fruition of Gods presence wherein doth consist the fulnesse of ioy For as the Apostle doth make this as greatly to augment the vengeance that is shewed on them which shall bee punished with euerlasting perdition 2. Thes 1.9 because it shall bee from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power so on the other side this is named as a high degree in our heauenly felicity that as here we see in a glasse 1. Cor. 13 12.
in mā for whose benefit and comfort the workes and affaires of this world are in such wonderfull maner managed and ordered The Psalmist deliuereth fiue especiall examples of Gods prouidence V. 4. First of exiles and pilgrims when as they do wander in desertes and are in most extremities hungrie and thirstie and their souls fainting in them the Lord doth often heare them when they cry vnto him bring thē to a city where they may dwel The second example is of captiues who whē for their sinnes V. 10. they lye fast bound in miseries and irons if they earnestly cal for Gods merciful aide the Lord doth bring them out of darknes the shadow of death and breake their bands asunder V. 17. The third proofe of Gods prouident mercy is when foolish men are by some sicknes plagued for their iniquities whē their soule doth refuse all food and sustenance and that they are now at deathes dore if in their miserie they crie vnto the Lord the Lord doth send forth his word heale thē and deliuer them from the pit of corruption The fourth spectacle of Gods goodnesse is in ship-men V. 23. who goe downe into the Seas and occupy their busines in great waters when they are in most perill mounting vp to heauē and falling downe againe to hel when they stagger and be at their wits end if then they cry vnto the Lord in their troubles then sendeth hee a gracious calme and bringeth them to the hauē where they would bee The fift as it were a theater of Gods prouidence is in the altering and changing not onely of dumbe creatures bringing some times riuers into drie deserts V. 33. sometime drie groundes into springes or ponds of water sometimes making a fruitfull land barren for the wickednes of them that dwell therein and sometimes so blessing the land V. 40. that men may sowe and plant to yeeld thē fruites of encrease but also in altering the estates of men somtimes powring out contempt vpon princes and somtimes lifting vp the poor out of his miserie and making him housholds like a flocke of sheepe The Verse which now I haue chosen to intreate of is called versus amaebaeus a verse that doth answere by turnes because in the end of the foure first histories it is added still as a conclusion of the historie to shewe vnto vs what vse we must make of Gods gracious deliuerances not to passe by them as it were with closed eyes but to stirre vp both our selues and others to magnifie the name of God for these his vnspeakable mercies The Psalmist may seeme to direct this his Psalme only to a thankfulnes for corporall benefits but no doubt in the same he doth include also the spirituall blessings of God When he speaketh of the miseries of man hee sheweth the causes to be their sinnes as speaking of captiues lying in miserie and iron V. 11. hee saith it was because they rebelled against the worde of the Lord lightly regarded the counsell of the most high And after of sicknes foolish men are plagued saith he for their wickednes iniquities V. 17. And after of barrennes of soile A fruitfull lād saith he he maketh barrē V. 34. for the wickednes of them that dwell theerin As then hee noteth the cause of all calamities to be sinne So when he celebrateth God his gratious deliuerāce he doth vndoubtedly include the remouing of the cause as well as the effect doth exhort vs to praise God for the remission of our transgressions If the Israelites were bound to prayse God for their deliuerance frō the thraldom of Aegypt and generally all others which are the redeemed of the Lord as it is here said in the secōd verse whome he hath redeemed from the hands of the oppressors how much more ought they to bee thankfull which are deliuered from the tyranny of the diuell Rom. 16 2◠when the God of glorie and peace doth treade downe Satan vnder our feete If they did owe thanks which from wandering in the wildernes were broght to this happines to haue at the last cities to dwel in what thanks is required of vs who frō wandering in the by-pathes of sin and error are by our heauenly Iosua Christ Iesus broght home to be citizens with the Saints Ephe. 2.19 of the houshold of God in this life and heires by hope of the celestial Ierusalē in the world to come Apoc. 21.2 If prisoners giue al humble praise whē they are deliuered from their darkenes misery and irons how much more then ought we to be thankfull when by the glorious triūph of our Sauiour Christ Osea 13.14 1. Cor. 15.55 we are deliuered from the dungeon of the graue hell death damnatiō If they haue great cause of thākfulnes which haue escaped the dāgers of sicknes and infirmities then much more are they to be gratefull who by the heauenly Physitian our Lord Iesus are cleansed and cured of their sinnes which are indeed the originall causes of their diseases and maladies For this deliuerance doth the kingly Prophet Dauid Psal 103.3 first principally praise Gods holy name because hee forgaue all his sins and healed all his infirmities By temporal benefits the weaknes of our nature is taught to rise vp to the consideration of spirituall blessings and if we be not wilfully blind wee may easily and plainely conceiue that if corporall giftes are to be acknowledged to be the free blessings of God as we are taught to pray giue vs our daily bread then much more must wee confesse all spirituall benefits to bee the free gifts of God bestowed vpon vs by the mercy of God in through his sonne Christ Iesus If wee cannot merit things needefull for the body much lesse can we merit the ransoming of the soule If wee are bound to praise God for deliuerances appertaining to the bodie then by good reason as much as the soule is more precious then the bodie so much more ought we to be thankful for the soule then the bodie The Psalmist in this Amaebaean verse so often repeated in this Psalme doth vpon euery particular deliuerance frō either banishment or prison or sicknes or tempest still exhort the partie deliuered that hee will thereby rise vp to a generall consideration of the goodnesse of God of all his wonderfull works which he hath wrought for mankind In these two verses which I haue red vnto you there are two especiall things offered to our consideratiō The diuision of the text First for what we are to celebrate magnifie the name of God to wit for his goodnes for his wonderfull workes Secondly how we must shew our thankfulnes to wit first both before the Lord and before the childrē of men secondly by offering the sacrifice of thāksgiuing and telling forth his works with gladnes The goodnes of God as is taught by our Sauior is the first
fouÌ„taine of our saluatioÌ„ Ioh. 3.16 So God loued the world that he gaue his only begotten Son In the causes of our redeÌ„ptioÌ„ we must not begin at our selues or at our own merits nay we may not begin at the death and passion of Christ Iesus but wee must begin at the eternall loue of God who sent his onely begotten Sonne and therefore blesse that good God Ephe. 1.4 which hath chosen vs to bee saued before the foundatioÌ„ of the world was laid The goodnesse of God in our redemption appeared to be greater towardes mankind then it was to the very Angels When the Angels fel froÌ„ God they were neuer restored but as S. Iude sayth they are reserued in euerlasting chaines vnder darkenesse to the iudgement of the great day but when man was fallen Iude. v. 6. the Lord of his goodnes gaue a comfortable promise of the seede of the woman Gen. 3 15 which should bruse the power of Satan The Angels which continued stedfast do continually prayse God are ready to execute his will Psal 103.21 but of Gods goodnes they are yet ministring spirits to serue for their vse that shall bee heires of saluation Heb. 1.14 And therefore Dauid Psal 34.7 when hee hath said that the Angels of the Lord doe pitch round about theÌ„ that feare him he addeth in the next verse O tast see how good the Lord is blessed is the man that putteth his trust in him A blessing it is to bee guarded by meÌ„ a greater blessing to bee guarded by Princes but what exceeding fauour is this when God doth vouchsafe to guard vs with his holy and blessed Angels Though in some respects Dauid doth acknowledge man to bee somewhat inferior to the Angels yet in this he saith Psal â— 5 that God hath crowned man with glory and worship in that he hath made him an Emperour ouer all his works put all things in subiection vnder his feet not only the beastes of the field the foules of the aire whatsoeuer walketh through the pathes of the seas but as he saith before in the same Psalme euen the heauenly Creatures when I consider the heauens v. 3. the worke of thy fingers the moon the stars which thou hast ordained theÌ„ say I O Lord what is man that thou art so mindfull of him or the son of man that thou so regardest him This vse we must make of all Gods Creatures so to behold in theÌ„ the goodnes of God towards maÌ„kind that we be thereby stirred vp to prayse Gods holy name The horse mule can behold the heauens to bee high bright and lightsome The hog seeth the earth to be a place to walke vpon the so to feede vpon The Peacocke conceiueth a glorious shew in his variable coloured fethers many dumbe Creatures doe exceed man in the sharpenes of smelling when wee behold eyther the glistering azured skye or the beautifull flowers and fruites of the earth if we goe no further then seeing smelling and tasting theÌ„ are we no better then the brute vnreasonable creatures but we must in all those things go further we must behold therein the mighty power of God that wee may bee stirred vp to feare him and the infinite goodnes of God that we may learne to loue him and then are we endued with true spirituall wisedom as Dauid concludeth in the end of this psalme Psal 107.43 Who so is wise will consider and ponder these thinges he shall vnderstand the louing kindnes of the Lord. The goodnes of God doth many wayes shine out in the creation of man Hee made him as Zorastes said Pulcherrimum naturae spectaculum the most beautifull spectacle of nature not going groue-long towards the earth but with his face lifted vp to heauen to signifie that his mind should alwayes bee on heauenly things Hee gaue vnto him a soule endued with vnderstanding made after his own image He framed him to be as it were a little world and an abridgement of all his creatures whereupon some haue giuen him the name of Microcosmus some of Omnigena Creatura because he taketh part of al and containeth the principal parts of all Hee hath substance as haue stones life as haue plants sense as haue beastes and vnderstanding as haue angels When the Romane Pollio would haue drowned one of his slaues in a fury because hee had broken a fayre Christall glasse Augustus did well forbid him and said Homo cuiusuis conditionis si nulla alia ratione nisi quia est homo totius mundi vitris preciosior A man of any poor estate whatsoeuer if it be for no other cause but onely because he is a man is farre more pretious then all the glasses of the whole world but especially the goodnesse of God did appeare in the renewing of our hearts by his grace and holy word 1. Pet. 1.3 That doth S. Peter call the aboundant mercy of God Blessed be God the father of our Lord Iesus Christ which according to his abouÌ„dant mercy hath begotten vs againe to a liuely hope by the resurrection of Christ Iesus That doth S. Bernard call a greater worke then the Creation of vs Bernard in Cantic or of the whole world When God made the world onely he spake the word and it was done Let there be a light Gen. 1.3.9 and there was light let the waters be gathered into one heape and they were gathered whereby was made the sea and the dry land was called earth Let there be two great lights in the firmament and there was straightway a Sunne to rule the night Bern. But quam multa dixit quà m multa fecit quà m multa perpâ—ssus est How many things hath God spoken how many things hath God done how many things hath he suffered to renew the heart of man If we should receiue the creatures ordained for the sustenance of our bodies and not be renewed and fed inwardly in our soules our estate were infinite thousand times worse then the estate of brute beasts For they are fed to perish temporally but we should be fed to perish eternally The seed of our new birth 1. Pet. 1.23 to wit the word of God is by an earnest acclamatioÌ„ pronounced by the Psalmist to be one of the greatest tokens of Gods fauour and goodnesse towards his elect For when he hath declared that God gaue his word vnto Iacob Psal 147.20 his statutes and ordinances vnto Israel he crieth out He hath not dealt so with euery nation neither haue other people the knowledge of his lawes There are two especiall properties which do greatly extoll and magnifie the goodnesse of God First that it is free not in respect of our deserts but in respect of Gods aboundant mercy Secondly that it is endlesse and perpetuall Esay 43.25 The freenesse thereof is set out by the Prophet I euen I am he that putteth away thine iniquities for mine owne
them and deliuereth them from all their corruptions That word whereof he speaketh is the prouidence of God wherwith God doth commaund the creatures to be good vnto vs. For it is not the meate that nourisheth nor the clothes that giue warmth nor the plants and hearbes that giue health but the power of God working by them Our Sauiour alleadgeth the doctrine in Deuteronomy Mat. 4.4 Deut. 8.3 Man liueth not by bread only but by euery word of the mouth of God meaning that prouidence of God whereby God doth blesse the meanes and commaund the sustenance to be comfortable vnto vs. By this word God made men stronger and of longer life before the floud when they did feed vppon herbes and fruites then they were in the ages ensuing Gen. 1.29 Gen. 9.3 when they had the vse of flesh and stronger nourishments Num. 6.3 By this word Sampson though he were a Nazarite and therfore did abstaine from wines and strong drinkes was yet by weaker food the strongest man in all Israel By this word Daniel and the three young men Dan. 1.12 though they were homely fed with pulse to eate and water to drinke were yet in better plight then all the Nobles in the Court of Nabuchadnezar Ioh. 6.5 Math. 14.16 By this word our Sauiour Christ did ordinarily sustaine his disciples and sometimes miraculously relieue others by loaues made of barley which is acknowledged by Galen to be a graine of very small nourishment Hieron in Ezech. cap. 4. and Saint Hierome doth call it iumentorum cibum A thing in that countrey giuen most vsually to cattell By this word God doth continually blesse his creatures to the benefite of them that feare him and giue vnto them that staffe of bread and strength of nourishment which he threatneth in his law Leuit. 26. Agge 1.6 that he will take it away from the wicked and doth then indeed take it away when as the Prophet sayth they eate and are not filled they drinke and are not satisfied they cloath themselues and haue no warmth and what wealth they get it is put in a broken bagge by that hole in the bagge he meaneth Gods curse in the bottome whereby in shall be at last vainely wasted that as it neuer came froÌ„ God so it shall run all to the Diuell No further comfort can we expect by God his creatures but as he doth vouchsafe to blesse them to our vses and therefore our principall care and endeuour ought to bee not so much to obtaine the creatures themselues as to procure the good fauour of God which may blesse all vnto vs. And when are any way helped and relieued 2. Chro â—â— not to attribute our recouery to the outward meanes as was Asa his fault in the disease of his feete to attribute more to the helpe of phisicke then to God but to giue the glorie to God and with a thankfull heart to celebrate before the Lord his goodnesse and to declare his wonderfull workes before the sonnes of men The Psalmist doth here call it a wonderfull worke when the Lord doth at those times send helpe when the matter doth seeme to be euen past helpe in the iudgement of man For in all his Histories he sheweth the extremitie of the daungers before the Lord doth set to his helping hand God preserueth exiles and strangers when wandring in the desert they are hungry and thirstie Psal 107.5 and their soule fainting in them He deliuereth prisoners when they are brought to such miserie V. 12. that they haue none to helpe them Ver. 38. He healeth the diseased when they are past receiuing any sustenance when as the Psalmist speaketh their soule abhorreth all manner of meate and they are euen at deathes doore He helpeth such as are tossed in tempests Ver. 26. when the billowes lift them vp to heauen and throw them downe againe to hell so that they stagger like drunken men and bee at their wits end Thus still doth the Prophet make the goodnes of God most to shine when men being fallen into succorlesse distresses God with his outstretched arme doth then presently worke a wonderfull deliuerance Gen. 21.17 When Abraham at the commaundemeÌ„t of God had sent away Agar with bread and a bottle of water she being come to Beersheba wanting water her bottle being spent shee cast her young child vnder a tree and went a bowes shoote off because she would not see if dye but it is said there that God heard the voice of the child and said to the mother Arise I will make of him a great nation and God opened her eyes to see a well whereby both she and her child were releeued the child being an infant had no vnderstanding to pray yet it is said that the Lord heard the voice of the child when thinges come to extremity Psal 46.1 God is as Dauid sayeth a present helpe in time of trouble and as hee speaketh himselfe by the prophet Esay â—say 65.24 â— Before they call I will aunswere before they crie Psal 105.18 I will say here am I. Ioseph was not onely in prison but his feete hurt with the stockes Ion. 2 Ionas in the Whales belly couered with waues Daniel in the Lions denne closed with a stone Dan. 6.17 Act. 12.6.10 and surely sealed vp Peter wheÌ„ he was imprisoned had chains about his body souldiers to watch him and an iron gate to inclose him yet all those and many thousandes in such like cases were by the mightie hand of GOD miraculouslie deliuered what hope by any reason of flesh and bloud could the Israelites haue Exod. 14.8 when they were pursued with all the chariots and horsemen of Egypt before them was the red sea behind them Pharao with a terrible armie on either side hilles not able to bee passed ouer No waie was there to humaine reason how they could escape but GOD in his diuine wisedome saw a way hee deuided the redde sea that the people might safelie passe thorough it and when the Aegyptians did attempt to doe the like v. 27. their whole armie was ouerwhelmed in the depth of the sea And may not the like of late bee saide of vs in this Realme of England what full account did the enemies make verie shortlie to swallow vs vp how farre were they growne to such insolency that no law could represse them what paines did many take to gad into forraine Countries to worke some inuasioÌ„ or subuersion what litle hope was there in most of our rich men when giuing ouer hospitality for feare of alterations they sought onelie to furnish themselues with wealth and made wicked Mammon their staffe and strength what great dispaire was in manie valiant young sonnes of Gentlemen and Yeomen when skorning to take paines in any honest vocation they chose rather to liue either in open theeuerie or in idle dispersing of rumours hoping that shortlie the day would come
for thou hast created al things by thy will they are haue bin created worthy is the Lambe that was killed Apoc. 5.12 to receiue power and riches wisedome and strength and honour and glory and praise Of which celestial thanksgiuing hee make vs al partakers that dyed for vs all euen that Lambe Christ Iesus to whome with the Father and the holy Ghost bee all glory Maiestie honour and praise now for euer Amen The End of the First Sermon THE SECOND SERmon of Thanksgiuing PSALME 107. V. 21. And sacrificing the sacrifice of prayse let them tell forth his doings with gladnesse COncening that which hath already beene spoken in the forenoone as well of the generall argument of the Psalme as also of the particular handling of the former part of my text I purpose not now right Worshipfull and beloued to make any repetition thereof partly because it was so lately vttered and partly because as some of you know I must of necessitie hasten to another place It remaineth onely now that I proceede somewhat further with the fruites and effects of thankfulnesse which then I began to speake of and to enterpret the verse following of our offering the sacrifice of praise and telling forth his workes with gladnesse The sacrifices which here the Psalmist speaketh of are not propitiatory but eucharisticall not for ransome of sinne but for rendering of thankes The propitiatorie sacrifices of the olde Testament Heb. 10.1.8 were types and shadowes of the passion of Christ The truth being come those shadowes are vanished away The last altar was the Crosse the last sacrifice was the bodie and bloud of Christ Heb. 7 17 and the last sacrificing priest was Christ Iesus himselfe a priest for euer after the order of Melchizedeck The order of Aaron had successours which did often offer sacrifices because they were vnperfect But the order of Melchizedeck is to haue no successour Christ offered a perfect sacrifice and therefore without any neede of repeating it he offered himselfe once for all Heb. 10.14 No mortall man nor yet any angel of God was fit to offer this sacrifice but onely Christ Iesus himselfe who was holy pure Heb 7.26 blamelesse and higher then the heauens he offered himselfe once for all Heb. 9.26 He ordained the sacrament of his bodie and bloud not to bee an altar 1 Cor 10.21 but a table not to offer but to receiue not to be a sacrifice 1 Cor 10 16 but a heauenly supper wherein our soules doe feede vpon the bodie and bloud of Christ and doe enioy a communion or common partaking thereof not to bee a propitiatory act but eucharisticall as that sacrament was called in the primitiue Church eucharistia a solemne and publike thankesgiuing vnto God for all the benefits which wee receiue in and through his Son Christ Iesus The sacrifice was offered by Christ himselfe It is sufficient for vs by faith to feede vpon it and thankfully to acknowledge that all is ours 1. Cor 3 â—2 as wee are Christs and Christ is Gods Phil 1 17 Without this faith all our thankesgiuings are but dead sacrifices as were the offerings of Kaine Gen. 4.3 who did offer to God as well as Abel but not with the faith of Abel Luk 1â— 11 And as were the speaches of the Pharisie Lord I thanke thee that I am not as other men when he sought more to exalt himselfe then to giue glorie and prayse vnto God Be there neuer so good a proportion of a body in the outward lineaments yet if the life be absent it is not a bodie but a carkase euen so be there neuer so good words in prayer and thanksgiuing yet if the soule bee absent for the life and soule of God his seruice is faith in the bloud of Christ then is our honouring of God but only a mere shadow ad carkase howsoeuer it do carry an outward shew of holines The good Christians of the primitiue Churches did not thinke it sufficient in God his great deliuerances to testifie their ioy with bonefires ringing of belles reuelings and belly-cheare but they shewed their thankfulnes by a general and solemne receiuing of that sacrament which they called Eucharistia the sacrament of thanksgiuing to wit Cyprian in serm de orat Dom. the Supper of the Lord by the often and zealous receiuing whereof they did both testifie their thankefulnesse vnto God and acknowledge also by whom they hoped that their prayers and prayses should be graciously receaued Apoc. 8.3.4 Christ onely it is that hath the golden censer to offer vp the prayers of the Saintes before the throne of God and with the smoake of the odours that is with the sweete sauour of his oblation the prayers of the Saintes go vp to the presence of God Dauid when hee hath called to mind the manifolde blessings of God Psal 116 13 can finde no other way to bee thankefull but onely by receiuing the cup of saluation and calling vpon the name of the Lorde V. 17 by paying his vowes vnto God and offering vnto God the sacrifice of thankesgiuing True thankefulnes requireth that our heart should loue God our lippes prayse God our bodie and soule obey God and our goods with all that we haue serue for the glorie and honour of God And each of those duties is accounted in the holy Scriptures to as it were a sacrifice offered to God For the hart the Lord saith by the wisedome of Salomon Prou. 23.26 My Sonne giue me thy hart and let thine eyes marke deligently my wayes The sacrifice of the Lord saith Dauid is a contrite spirit a contrite spirit and a broken heart Psal 51.19 â— O Lorde thou wilt not despise In the sacrifices of the olde Testament the Israelites did first behold the wrath of God against sinne that the rewarde of sinne was death for the Ramme Rom 6.23 Heyfer and such like being sacrificed did plainely shewe vnto them what they had deserued and thereby they conceiued a griefe for sinne and a loathing of sinne Secondly it was vnto them a liuely figure of the passion of Christ Ioh. 8.56 whereby they were stirred vp to loue the Lorde for his goodnesse and to reioyce in the beholding of the dayes of Christ And thirdly the sacrifice was as it were a vowe of amendment of life They vowed that as that beast was slaine vpon the altar so they would from thence foorth slay mortifie the wicked corruptions of their sinfull nature In which respect God doth call it a couenant Psal 50.5 when hee saith they make a couenant with mee by their sacrifice If these thinges to wit the griefe for sinne the loue of God and the full purpose to amend were wanting then was the sacrifice before God abhominable To him will I looke saith God euen to him that is poore and of a contrite spirite Isay 66.2 and that trembleth at my wordes