daughter to his sonne nor take his daughter vnto thy sonne a reason is added For they will cause thy sonne to turn away from me to serue other Gods Then will the wrath of the Lord wax hote against you destroy thée sodainely wherefore Abraham caused the eldest seruaunt of his houshold to sweare that he shoulde not take a Wife vnto his sonne of the daughters of the Cananits amōg whō he dwelt but that he shoulde goe vnto his countrie to his kindred take a wife vnto his son Isaac The selfe same care we sée to be in Rebecca Isaac for their son Iacob and therefore after that she séemed to feare least he shoulde take one of the Daughters of Heth to wife and had vttered the same gréefe vnto her husband Isaac playnlye commaundeth his sonne not to take a wife of the Daughters of Canaan And in the new Testament it is sayd Be not vnequally yoked with the Infidels O but say some I can reclayme her from vnbeléefe vngodlines to faith vertue Indéede if thou were as strong as Sāpson and as wise as Salomon it might peraduenture sinke into my braine but if the strongest and the wisest were not able to resist how shal the weakest and the simplest be able to stande This is reckoned as one of the greatestreasons of Sampsous ruine for taking a wife of the Daughters of the Philistines And this is accounted as one of the weightiest causes of Salomons fall that hee tooke him many wiues of outlandishe women and strange nations whiche turned away his hart from the seruice of the true God after their false Gods And this is iudged to be one of the sins for which God brought an vniuersall floud vpon the whole earth and the inhabitants therof For that the sonnes of God saw the daughters of men that they were fayre they tooke thē wiues of all that they liked Let vs therefore beware and learne now at the length to deale more warily according to Gods holy councell in this and other matters then heretofore we haue done Furthermore this is to be noted that in that the Apostle will haue euerye man to haue his own wife and euery wife her owne husband that he doth vtterlye take away poligamie or multitude of wiues at one time A doctrine not vunecessary and vnfit to be treated of in this place because as I heare say I do in part beléue it that there bee some in Kent doe defend the same I can not speake of this and other things so largelye as I would because I haue bene hitherto somwhat long I wil say both concerning this and other thinges also that follow my mind bréefely Whosoeuer doth defend this as lawfull and necessary not only striueth agaynst the doctrine of Gods spirit in this place deliuered who sayth singularly euery man must haue his own wife not wiues but also quite clean turneth vpside down the first institution of mariage for god in Paradise in the time of mās innocēcy joining woman vnto man as a helper said For this cause shall a man forsake father mother cleaue to his wife they two shal be one flesh not they three not they foure c. but they two This is also to be considered the the first breach of this ordinance began not in the houshold of the faithfull but in the wicked séed stock of cursed Cain for it is said in Genesis that Lamech who came of Cains kindred tooke ij wiues the name of the one was Adah and the name of the other was Zillah So that it appeareth that all that either put in practise to haue many wiues or defend the same are of Cains progeny that is a frowarde adulterous wicked possessiō neither is there any reason why they should to this end obiect the examples of the Patriarks and godly mē of the old law be fore the cōming of our sauiour christ for in thē it was a great sinne infirmity and had not the Lord in mercy and in the death of Iesus who was the lamb killed frō the beginning of the world blotted out their sin they had felt the payne and punishmēt wch is euerlasting death You see then the poligamie or multitude of wiues cannot stand by Gods word Let mans wit suppose what it cā this only is the truth the Lord giue vs grace to imbrace and follow the same It followeth Let the husband giue vnto the wife c. Now the Apostle sheweth how we ought to liue after wee be maried first he laieth out a general doctrine of mutual beneuolēce the is of the dutye of the husband toward the wife the wife toward the husbād wheras some haue vnderstood by due beneuolence the debt of mariage the is the satisfying of lust it liketh me not because it is somwhat to narrow I indéed iudge that this moued thē so to expound the same for that it followeth presently afterwardes the wife hath not power of her owne body c. But it will stande more agréeable with truth if we say that to be inferred necessarily as a particular poynt oute of the former because the Apostle here dealeth generally For his meaning is that the husband should doe to the wife the wife toward the husbād one of thē toward that other al duties pertaining to mariage To intreat of thē all particularly I can not at this present neither if I could would occasiō serue the chiefest of thē is that which Peter speaketh of that there be betwixt thē such a consēt vnity of minds that their prayers be not interrupted by which worde it appeareth that priuate praiers were then shold now be vsed in priuate houses wch how much it is obserued let al iudge I feare me that if housholders should be called to accounts in this poynt they wold come very short For wheras they praied morning euening at the least euerye day it is a great matter with vs if we pray once a wéeke in our houses nay I iudge some of vs neither praye in our houses nor in churches but come thither only for fashiō sake this appeareth because ther foloweth so litle fruit of our prayers for if we prayed hartily God wold here our praiers willingly graunt our peticions effectually But we aske many things and obtayne few things the cause is for that we ask thē not aright It followeth The wife hath not power of her own bodie c. The mening is that God hath so created man for woman and woman for man that they cannot well be one without the other vnlesse it be such as vpon whom he hath bestowed the gift of chastitie that sentence serueth also well agaynst Poligamie or pluralitie of wiues For if the bodie of the man be so tyed to the bodie of the woman that the one is subiect to the other it cannot be that the mā hath authority to take more wiues nor the wife to take
speaketh yet am not I of that mind because that many otherwise chast in body haue not with standing their minds vnderstanding defiled with vunatural lusts cōcupiscence which before our God is a great a greuous sinne So then Paul addresseth himselfe in this place to speake to such as haue pure hearts and clean bodies which is either hardly or not at all found in any For who can say my hearte is cleane before God and this may playnely appeare vnto vs by that which followeth Neuerthelesse to auoyd fornication let euery man haue his wife and let euery woman haue her own husbād and againe if they can not abstaine let them marrie for it is better to marrie then to burne To make this more plaine by a similitude If one should say after this maner It is good for a man neither to eate to drinke nor to sleepe vnlesse he were well vnderstood he should appeare to speake very absurdely because he seemeth to take away all such necessaries as whereby God hath appointed mans life to be mainteined yet the partie so saying doth not disprayse meat and drinke and sleepe as things noysome and hurtfull but meaneth that we should liue more godly if being freed frō these prouocations we gaue our selues wholy to the consideration of heauēly things For more then the competent and néedfull sufficing of our nature whatsoeuer is giuen vnto these is diminished from the spirit Euen so the Apostle doth not condemne marriage in this saying as euill or wicked but because many lettes and stops are found in fleshly marriages he saith It were good not to be married for that doth hee vnderstand by touching of a woman as the best most learned expositors that I seene take it It followeth Neuertholesse for the auoyding of fornication c. In these words the Apostle cōmandeth such as are vnchast to run to the remedie that God hath appointed for although the sentence seeme to be vniuersall yet it oght to be restrained vnto them who feele themselues by a certaine needfulnes to be pricked forward In this behalfe no law can be prescribed neither can we iudge one of another but euery man should bee a sufficient witnesse to himselfe because in himselfe he feeleth the infirmities and prickes of the flesh and albeit there appeareneuer so many stops lets in marriage yet this must all vnderstand to whom God hath not giuen the gift of chastitie and and so by that meanes not able to withstand the prickes of the flesh that this commandement is by the Lord layde vpon their shoulders as a burden to beare which if it be not performed feeing that God hath appointed this as a remedie against sinne they commit grieuos iniquitie and by that their dealing heape vnto themselues wrath agaynst the day of the Lord. Moreouer the place of the Apostle must not be so vnderstoode as though this were the onely cause why marriages should be made but this is his drift not somuch to shew for what causes marriage was orderned as for what persons it was fit and necessarie for if we haue respect vnto the time of the first institution it could not be a remedie for that dose ase which yet was not I meane sin but it was ordeyned for the procreatiō of children the increase of mankind and the mutuall societie that the one should haue of the other after mans fal the second vse was added To stand vpon the tearmes fornication adulterie the differences betwixt them we shall not neede because it is more curious then necessary this we see that the scripture doth as wel vse that one as the other tearm in many places for all quchast vnsober behauiour of our selues either in bodie or mind This is inough out of this place to be gathered that though the world make little account of cōmitting such wickednes yet it is a great sin before that maiesty of god which euidently appeareth because hee will haue those that are his to shun and flye from the same If this be not sufficient cast but your eies vp to the latter end of the former chapiter and see how haynous a crime the Apostle maketh it there he warneth them to flee fornication the reason whereby he would disswade them from that sinne is taken from the notoriousnes and grieuousnes of the fact For sayth he euery sinne that a man doeth is without the body but be that committteth fornication finnoth against his owne bodie that is to say he more pollineth his owne bodie then he that committeth any other sin If this will not serue haue an eye vnto those punishments which God hath appointed vnto those wicked contemners and breakers of his ordinaunces His punishments are two folde eyther temporall or perpetuall The perpetuall punishment of God is that burning lake of fire and brimstone which is prepared for the diuill his angels where shal be weeping wayling and gnashing of teeth without fayth Iohn in his reuelation shall be dogs and inchaunters and whoremongers and murtherers and idolaters and whosoeuer loueth and maketh lyes and the Apostle Paul saith Know ye not that the vnrighteous shall not inherite the kingdome of God Be not deceiued neither fornicatours nor idolaters nor adulterers nor buggerers nor thieues nor couetous nor drunkards nor-raylers nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdome of God which places are to be vnderstood of such maner of men as are the seruants of sin and sold to worke wickednes die in the same wtout harty and vnfaigned repentance His temporall punishments are also of two sortes eyther in those which he layeth vpon the committers of such wickednes of himselfe as war plagues pestilences sickenes pouertie such like which bring his children to a consideration of their faultes and a beholding of his mercie but haue in the wicked and reprobate a contrarie effect and operation and in the 26. of Genesis we may see that Abimelech king of Gerar made a law concerning this mattter that whosoeuer did touch the man or his wife to the breaking of wedlocke should die the death Verily it may appeare to all vnlesse they be wilfully blind that we in the cleare light of the Gospel are far worse in this matter then they which were vnder the law of nature before the law of God written was giuen for the gouernement of his people But if such as God hath appointed his officers and ministers on earth to execute such notorious offenders and transgressers of his law who ought to deal in the punishment of this sin as God himselfe appointeth not as the Popes canons pestilently prescribeth that is to say to sée whoredome adultery punished with death as the Lord himselfe willeth not so slightly passed ouer looked vnto as at this day it is In the law we haue these words repeated twise for fayling The man that committeth adulterie with an other mans wife because he hath committed allulterie with his neighbours wife the
diuelish pleasure if he may achieue it for money Beside that they which are punished after that maner for want of the execution of gods lawe fall often into one and the selfe same sinne So that sinne aboundeth and iniquitie raigneth so much that wee in this age are comparable herein in a maner with all the former ages of the world which surely in my iudgement commeth to passe because that maner of punishing sinne whiche God hath prescribed is neglected and an other which man hath deuised set in the place and stead thereof You sée the abuse hereof Pray hartilye that God woulde redresse this and all other abuses remayning yet amongst vs. It followeth Let euery man haue his own wife c. By generall doctrine is in these words deliuered vnto vs plainly prouing the mariage doth belong to alstates sorts and kinde of men as well ministers as cōmon people contrary to that doctrine of Diuels by papists defended who forbid mariage to such maner of mē But as this place doth plainly ouerthrow that their opinion so doe manye other both Examples and testimonies in holy scripture whiche for anoyding of tediousnes I willinglye omit Onely one as general as this I think good to rehearse in the Epistle to the Hebrues we haue this saying Mariage is honorable among all men and the bed vndefiled as for whoremōgers and adulterers God wil iudge you sée by these words beloued that in the Apostles iudgement mariage is honorable among all men of what condition soeuer they be so that to forbid it in some is great and gréeuous iniquitye seing that God hath enioyned al that haue not the gifte of chastitye or sole life to vse mariage as a notable remedye to put away the act of Formeation with the lust or concupiscence thereof And as out of these wordes a generall lesson is giuen to all to marrie if it bee in the Lord. So a man cannot without gréef consider the horrible sinne and without horror speake of the detestable iniquitye that those men Papists I meane haue fallen into that haue shunned this meane much lesse by them done What whoredom adultry fornication yea sodometrie yea buggery and other filthines that ought not to be named in the mouth of Christians hath ben by them cōmitted their own Chrouographers history writers plainly declare this fayng whē they are made popish priests is too plain Si non caste tamen caute that is if thou canst not liue chastly yet take a whore wartly It shal be best for vs all those iniquities being set aside to imbrace Gods councell as the onely truth and to shun the other as procéeding from the Diuell the father of all lyes and liers Nowe though the Apostle doth cōmand euery one to haue his own wife for auoyding of Fornication yet is it not his meaning that mariages shoulde bee made in suche sorte as GOD himselfe hath forbidden that is to saye that young Children may marry without consent of parēts for in such cases the aduise counsell agréement of fathers is of necessity required It is wonderfull to see to what kinde of vngodlines and disobedience the world in this behalfe is growne for mariages are made without consent or counsaile of parents which is a plaine breach of Gods commandement Honor thi Father and thi mother this wickednes is confirmed and increased in an other respect because young men thinke themselues in this behalfe more at liberty then maydens or Damosels Indeed if they could proue themselues not to be children and by the commandement not to be tyed to obedyence as the other are I could easily be perswaded therein But our wickednesse in both these cases is far greater thē that of the Gentiles For in Genesis wee read that Shechem after he had rauyshed Dinah Iacobs Daughter whiche fact was altogether vngodly did desire his Father to get him that mayde to wife If Infidels and vnbeleeuers did this how much more ought Christians that professe godlinesse to accomplishe the same Surely Schechem had as great priuileges as any yong man can now lay for himselfe for besides that he was a yong man hee was a Lordes sonne as it should séeme the only son of his father and yet woulde not take mariage in hand though otherwise hee had committed a vilanous act without his Fathers consent and aduise Now this is further to be considered in this case on the Fathers part For as the child may not marry without the parents alowing and liking of the same so can not the fathers or mothers eyther enforce their children to make vngodlye mariages or to hinder let mariages begun in Gods feare As many doe at this day that because one of the parties hath not aboundance of wealth or such like will not giue consent to the mariage of their children But rather they ought to labour that in the Lorde such contracts and mariages may as much as in them lyeth be furthered Moreouer in these words Let euery man haue his own wife c. This is to be considered that the Apostles mind is not to licence any to marry with Infidels or of corrupt religion vnhonest behauior or so forth but that they shold haue due consideration of the parties to whome they purpose by Gods grace to ioyne themselues and that they shoulde thorowly know their religion cōuersatiō because mariage is not a bād for a day a wéeke a month or a yere only but for tearme of life also Surely to speak my mind I cannot without gréefe consider the great disorder and confusion vsed in the world at this day in this behalf for eyther the beauty is one cause so they satisfye their eye carnall lust or else mony or goods another cause thinking therby to content their vnsatiable minds Now adaies neither religiō nor honesty is in mariages demanded but rather we aske how fayre beautifull or let me vnderstand how much monye I shall haue Verely for a man to haue such consideratiōs in chusing of a wife is not altogether euill because a man must chuse him such a one as with whom alone he can holde himselfe contente so long as they shall liue together but to put those things in the first place declareth to such men as we deale with in these cases that we like beasts rather séeke things transitory and vaine I meane beauty substance wealth and such like then their daughters and children and that we more estéem of the one then the other Beside that when mariages are made in such sort wtout cōsideratiō of religiō godlines as if a christiā or professor of the gospel should marry with an infidel Turke Iew or Papist we tread vnder our féete Gods commādemēts wholy despise the exāple of godly faithful men In the law it is sayd to the people of Israel concerning the Gentiles which inhabited the land that they wēt to posses Thou shalt make no mariages with them neither giue thy