the basenesse of the trée whiche hée hath planted as in the moste excellente place wherein he hathe right mercifully established it The Metaphor is very elegante taken from the Figge trée which by nature in the roote is very bitter though by the Arte and labour of the dresser his fruit become right pleasant to the eater And surely not only the people of Iuda but also of the Gentiles if they be pierced at the roote shal approue this for moste true that they are naturallye bitter to the eye and pallate of any sensible taster In birth we are moste bitter as being embrued from the conception with our firste fathers sin and in bitternesse of sin not by Marriage but by naturall propagation we are al conceiued both King and Caitife As Dauid hathe saide in sinne hath my mother conceiued me For we are all the sonnes of Adam and of one propagation after our common corruption And in our birth no swéetenesse but bitter grippings of the mother bitter wrawlings of the child and most bitter estate of the same before the seconde byrth Whereof I referre you to the reading of Ezech. 16. Ezech 16.1 2.3 Chapter Our father is an Amorite our mother is an Hittite our kindred is of curssed Canaan and wee polluted in our owne bloude and by condition the children of Gods anger Eph. 2. Oh moste bitter roote and vnsauerie Figge trée But are we bitter in oure life happily some man woulde thinke that reason might reache vs his hande of good direction But alas we then waxe to encrease in bitternesse For as the Wormewoode groweth bigger and so increaseth into bitternesse euen so wée as wée encrease in stature state and strength so do we abounde in bitternesse of sinne And if we woulde more plainelye sée thys let eache man sounde the sea of hys hearte and hée shall finde there greate stony cragges ful of bitternesse and gall against God and his owne soule and al godly men albeit that Gods spirite of regeneration doth daily purge and mortifie the same But from our selues lette vs caste oure eies with truth into the earth and into this our nation of England and o Lord what bitternesse what bitter controuersies for religion receiued of the enimie what greate delight to drinke a carowse of that Wormewoode water of Poperie Reuel 7.11 of which Iohn in the Reuelation speaketh And as the thirde parte of the earth haue druncke of it so they are become more than thrée parts bitter by it againste God oure gratious Prince hir godlye lawes state and people What bitter hate beare they to the worde howe bitterly bite they at the Preachers thereof What bitter roote can yéelde suche iuice as the Papisticall spirites doe streame out againste vs These are Figge trées indéede planted in this holy lande they make the ground barren and bitter wheresoeuer they dwell their children their seruaunts their tenauntes that Countrey that dothe entertaine them those friendes whiche doe accompany them are eyther made verye bitter vtterlye barren or muche molested by them The soyle of the lande they doe deuoure the Nursse of the Countrey oure Gratious ELIZABETH they doe despise They are as Mice in the Lords barne they eate vp the owners corne but they refuse to ioye his presence This bitter trée bringeth his fruite but it is without the dresser of the Vineyarde Euen suche as the Galileans broughte agaynste theyr allotted Prince seditions conspiracies and publique rebellion And whatsoeuer good oure godlye Nursse and good Princesse doth endeuour the same our bitter Papists turne to Wormewoode reporting euil of godly lawes and stirring vp such forraine foes and domesticall enimies as they can procure to assay their beste againste vs. And theyr pretence with the Galileans is religion fréedome from the bōdage of conscience and tyranny of now gouernement whē as the most bound of them reape much more fréedome than either their cause or conscience can deserue or yet cā win them thankeful vnto God But is your Figge trée nowe readie ripe you Papists Your buds were preately broken in the North hapely your after growth is blossomed nowe and braggeth of his ripenesse and your Louanistes Seminaries and late vpstarte Iesuites are ready to reape the fruite of your bitter Figge trées But o Lorde it is a bitter fruite a pestilent Figge and a deadlye dyet whiche they desire therefore graunte that they may perishe They are O Lord rotten in their ripenesse let them fall to confusion which in this merciful time of so much proyning and dressing by thy holye worde and hir Maiesties softened sworde can not be conuerted vnto thée But do you desire a daye you bitter Papistes What haue you to do with that daye our sinnes indéede doe fight againste vs and if our demerites bring vs a heauye daye yet it is not yours but the Lordes day We may say to you as the Prophet Amos Amos. 5.18 saide to his wicked ones in his time What haue you to doe with the daye of the Lorde woe to you that desire it The day of the Lord is darkenesse and not light it is as if a man didde flee from a Lion and a Beare met him or went into the house and leaned vpon the wal and a Serpent bit him So you runne from hir Maiestie supposing hir a Lion you Papistes and hope after a day but euen in that day you I say shall be deuoured of the Bull of Romishe Bashan the she Beare robbed of hir whelpes shall teare you in péeces But you haue peace offred you and you séeke for war Wherefore you hunger your owne destruction Ier. 24. euen in that daye wherein your suppose is of Popishe solace But beloued were it that only the Papists of Englande were bitter wée mighte in swéetenesse lament that soure fruite But our selues are bitterly sette one againste an other our hearts and acts at home our Courtes and Assises in the Countrey oure thrusting and rushing into Westminster Hall dothe compell you my Lordes of the Benches to witnesse it that Englande is full of bitter Figge trées The Lorde be mercifull to choose vs into his vineyarde louing to plante vs willing to dresse vs and to proine vs that we may be fruitfull and bring forth by his operation swéete Figges and odoriferous fruites vnto him for his holy names sake It maye yrke vs thus to heare of our bitternesse but it may shame vs to féede of suche fruite Surely it wearyeth one to thinke therof and therefore I wil now recorde Gods mercie and goodnesse to this Figge trée namely how he hathe planted it in his holy Vineyard What he hathe there planted you haue hearde euen a bitter Figge trée Nowe where it is planted our Texte doth say namely in his Vineyarde let euerye manne therfore apply this to himself as it may appertaine him The whole Realme of Englande is this Figge trée planted into the vniuersall Churche of God This Citie of London is likewise a parte of
in substance sincerely by law established and by the godly Ministers likewise to Gods people administred without addition or defalking too or fro the worde of God For the Discipline of the Church we also haue it thoughe in some weaker sorte than either the auctoritie of the worde seemeth to me to affoorde or the grauitie of the cause in our pestiferous time doth require it Yet it cannot bée said but we haue established discipline by hir graces godly laws to this Churche of Englande and at thys laste Parliament agaynst the Papists haue the same Christianly augmented God grāt that our godly and reuerende Bishops Iudges Ecclesiasticall Commissioners and officers whych haue the authority may and would so vse thys aucthoritye they haue that God myghte be wonne as it were wyth theyr godly indeuor to enlarge the heartes of higher aucthoritye ouer vs in the Lorde by lawefull power to yéelde vs further and more seuere discipline to one and all in thys Churche of Englande Lord for thy mercies sake graunt it to this thy holy visible Vineyarde of Englande we beseeche thée And in the meane space brethren let vs be obedient to this we haue and heartilye praise God for the same and pray earnestly with conioyned hearts for a further by hir Graces aucthoritie and the strict rule of hys holy worde These holy and sufficient notes of hys visible Church we haue in our English Church at thys day the Lord be praised for them and contynue them wyth vs and therefore agaynste al your blasphemies to God your sinister but subtill suggestions to Princes and people o ye poore Papists we stand by proofe to bée the Figge trée planted indeede in the moste holy Vineyarde of the Lorde and haue our Churche consecrated a sacred member of the Catholike Churche of God visible wyth the rest of that Militante troupe and companye of sanctified men in the vniuersall earth And as for the other forged marks of Vniuersalitie and personall succession we count it sufficient to haue the society with suche the sonnes of God as haue their felowshippe with the Sainctes of Christe 1. Io. 11.2.3 4. and haue learned to forsake the company of the wicked and to auoide the way of sinners but greatly deteste to stoupe to that Cacolike Apostata of Rome Ps 1. whych so arrogantly setteth hymselfe in that chaire of the scorner But touching personall succession of Bishoprickes and Churches we holde it not to be always a sure marke of Gods holye Churche Except ye wil saye of the Church of Israel vnder Ieroboam that Idolatour that she was then the true Churche thoughe an Apostata by hir grosse Idolatrie bicause she could boast of personall succession from the Kyngs and Bishoppes of that people Or that the Churche of Iudah vnder Manasses that idolatrous King was notwythstanding the murther of Gods chyldren their sacrificing to Idols theyr racing out of the lawe of the Lorde and banyshing hys holy sacrifyces was I saye all thys admitted yet the true Church of God bycause they hadde and coulde shewe a personall succession of Kyngs and Byshoppes euen from the firste Moses and Aaron But yée wyll possibly presse vs wyth the auctoritie of the Fathers as wyth Tertullian that ancient whych boasted in truth to haue had succession of the Byshops of Rome for the furtheraunce of hys purpose But forget not you Papists that as yet the Fathers of that Church had not departed from the faith but wyth theyr succession had contynued the Apostolicall doctrine vppon whiche point Tertullian chiefly stoode as it may appeare by hym And also would God you would not wyth malitious heartes séeke to darken that notable doctrine of hys in that hys Booke of prescriptions that althoughe manye Churches haue not to shewe theyr personall succession of Byshoppes yet if so they haue the Apostolicall doctrine taught sincerely in them for that consāguinitie and kinred in Doctrine those Churches are and are to be accompted Apostolicall The Orientall Churches hadde due succession til Arrius had infected them with hys poyson shall personall succession nowe approue the sect of the Arrians to be the church of God So had the Churche of Rome before Antichristes possession therof Shal we therfore now say whē their doctrine theyr malice theyr ambition theyr pride theyr dyuelishe conuersation dothe conuince them to be that whore of Babilon Shal we I say now say bycause they possibly can shew vs a great Catalogue of Byshops from Linus or Anacletus that therefore they are nowe the true Churche of God And yet were that a sufficient proofe of Gods Churche our Bishops in England then haue their personall succession from the firste euen the firste that you can name as by time and nexte course succéeding one an other Thus you sée dearely beloued howe apparant it is that this noble Realme of Englande is planted by Gods greate mercy into the Catholike Vineyarde of the Lorde the visible Churche of God and is it selfe a notable member of the same Now time requireth that we speake something likewise of the inuisible cōpany and Church of God to the greater comforte of the godlye in thys visible Churche whiche this day heare me or hereafter may heare of this holy labor to their further benefite If thou wouldest knowe certainly beloued in thine owne conscience whether thou arte verily and indéede the member of Christ and so a liuely braunche of the virident Vine end a fruitful Figge trée examine thy selfe by these thrée pointes The true notes of the inuisible Church al which the spirite of God againe hathe laide vp in one most sacred Sentence and thys it is The end of the commandement is loue out of a pure hart 1. Tim. 1.5 and of a good conscience and of saith vnfained In thys sentence beloued in Christ is laid forth vnto vs the verye true and infallibe tokens to euery mans soule whether he be the sonne of God or no. For by degrées from the fruite to the trée from the childe to the parent he goeth fetcheth thence vnto vs the certaine markes whereby we are sealed to the Lorde The purpose of God giuyng his worde is saith the Apostle that yée purely loue one another but your loue muste procéede from a good conscience not from a corrupted hart and this conscience hath his purging from an vnfained faith Then take hence your certaine notes of Gods children and these they are First by the vertue of the spirite and word of God a pure faith vnfained Secondly a renued minde whiche here is called a pure heart And thirdely by the same spirite suche charitie as neither can be cold or hypocriticall In whom soeuer these be vigent warme let him be assured though al the Popes in Rome had sēt their curses against him this honorable natiō yet he is of god the member of Christ one of his inuisible Churche whyche can not be caste forth of the dores But that we maye the better knowe
ioyning of house to house and fielde to fielde so as they woulde banishe the poore to dwell alone by themselues 11. Earely vp to dronkennesse and bibbing from morning till nighte banquetting feasting piping and dauncing but no regarde of the worke of the Lorde wherefor he hathe made them Furthermore Vers 20. they gaue a contrary tongue vnto God For they yéelded commendation of that whiche was noughte and flatly condemned the simple good They altered the tymes and seasons to their owne fantasies darkenesse for light bitter for sweete and swéet for sower 21. They estéemed mannes pollicie aboue Gods diuinitie makyng muche of their owne conceits and became prudent in their owne sight they durst vse and bragge of it that a carowsing Cup or a harty draught coulde not ouertumble them therefore they woulde ioine Bacchus to Venus still Vers 23. Finally they abused the seate of Iustice Equity was sent from home and the wicked were iustified for bribes yea the godly and his cause was by the aduerse power intercepted of his right and hys case peruerted so as either the righteousnesse of his cause was darkened or much diminished or the true alowance to it vtterly taken away therefore the Lorde did threaten his cutting down Esay 5.24 saying Like as the flame of fire deuoureth the stubble and as the Chaffe is consumed of the flame So their roote shall bee as rottennesse and their bud shall ryse vp like duste bycause they haue caste off the lawe of the Lorde of hostes and contemned the worde of the holy one of Israell But nowe let vs looke into the long suffering of this our God to this people Beholde saith he these three yeares haue I sought for fruit and finde none By this terme of time we are to note beloued the long suffering of God which calleth by it to repentance So he dealt with the world in the dayes of the floude yea euen when he was ready to strike then he gaue them afreshe a longer time to repent namely 20. yeres Gen. 6.3 So prolonged he the time of his plagues to their posteritie euen when the daye was conceyued to sée if they would preuent his anger with their returning vnto him And by his holye Prophets cryed vnto them oh ye people why wil you dye Ezech. 33.11 Turne you from your euil wayes gather your selues togither o people not worthy to be beloued before the dresser come forth and ye be as chaffe that passeth in a day and before the fierce wrath of the Lorde come vpon you Zephany 2.12 But they greatly abused his great forbearing and so do we Ieremy saide of them Ierem. 25.3 that hée hadde called them to repentaunce ful 23. yeares earely and late but they woulde not heare nor encline thine eares to obey but prouoked him to anger albeit he long suffered them and sente to them his Prophets as before is saide Oh Ieremy Gods holy Prophet thy terme of time is cast vppon vs. These thrée and twentie yeares hathe the Lorde in mercye by the voice of his Prophetes called for fruite of vs in Englande But what shoulde be our fruites Surely a duple degrée in fruites the Lorde dothe require of vs. Firste a generall fruite as we be all professed into our Christe And then a speciall namely euery trée his owne fruite Philip. 1.27 Of the firste the Apostle Paule speaketh thus Let your conuersation be as it becōmeth the Gospel of God c. That is that our heartes be one in iudgement oure offections in loue our confederacie in godlynesse suche as wée ioyne hands in vnitie one with another to fight togither through the faith of the Gospell againste the aduersary and not as dismembred bodies and companies to deuoure one an other by iarring braules and causelesse contentions Let this beloued be neuer out of our minds which are of one religion If ye bite one an other Gal. 5 15. take heede leaste ye be consumed one of an other Our vnitie loue doth appall the pride of the Papists our brawling contentions and strife not for knowledge but for malice doth bréede a breache for the wicked But note that our vnitie godlinesse muste be a conuersation not a déede well done by chaunce at a sodaine but a continued conuersation in holynesse The guide of whiche conuersation is set downe to vs here to be the faith of the Gospell of God as from which fountaine euerye manne may fetche hys seuerall fruite and lycour to life Marke this you mighty rulers and rich of the earth From hence namely from Gods holy worde oughte you firste to others godlye example to draw the patterne to your conuersatiō God sendeth hys holy Prophets the preachers of the worde fyrste to call you hyther Goe downe to the house of the Kyng of IVDAH saith the Lord to Ieremy Ierem. 22.1 and speake thys thing and say heare the worde of the Lord o King of Iudah thou that sittest vpon the throne of Dauid thou and thy seruants and thy people Execute iudgement and righteousnesse c. then shall yee liue I praye you reade the place at youre leysure you princely Rulers Know you that first you aboue all menne are spectacles and myrrors vnto men your conuersation therefore muste shine by the Gospel Gods holy word and your loue from aboue must abound in equitie to his Ministers Moses must loue Aaron defēd him in truth againste the malice of the wicked But where is this Gospel-like conuersation We wil aske of the riche and mighty nowe at the ende of these thrée and twenty yeres but this equall fruit But it is with vs fruite good ynoughe for the Minister to be basely estéemed it is no matter to priue his portiō to your owne purses but suche are Nabothes feare not God I speake not against the godly mighty but against the rich men of the earth whiche care not for these wordes Do my Prophets no harme Nor for this He that teacheth the Gospel let him liue of the Gospell Nor for this Muzzel not the mouth of the Oxe that treadeth out the corne c. But are these worldlings but fewe or rather may we not aske who is it that delighteth in this conuersation of the worde For the moste parte ye dispise our holye calling but daylye more and more you labour and hunger to be possessed with our liuings You are by calling properly temporall but through elder abuse many of you are become improperly Ecclesiasticall The poore Minister muste crouch to such patrons his knée to the grounde his stéeple to theyr stealth his tythe to their granary and his due portion to their vnsatiable prouision These be improper persons and therefore I take it by law their Churche detentions are rightly called impropriate promotiōs These improper persons receiue hundreds but the pore Vicar can scarce haue tenne poundes and yet the whole burthen is layde on hys shoulders I know not howe many
you shall confesse that not pleasaunt Minstrels but Gods true Prophetes Preachers were sent to forewarne you 2. Kin. 21.2 These bée much more wicked thā curssed Achab whyche yet beléeued the worde at the voice of one Prophet and receiued cōforte But these shall haue him a witnesse to their condemnation in the day of Gods anger which cannot or wil beléeue the Lordes word by so many yeres trauel amongest them Rom. 12.1 But lette vs labour to persuade you by Gods mercies to offer vp your bodyes a holy liuelye acceptable sacrifice to God whyche is your resonable seruing of God Tush that cānot moue for you beléeue vs not you haue Papisticall spirites that is to say doubtfull hearts you dare not reste vpon the promises of God and therefore wil not be allured by his mercies But let vs tell you Esay 26 17 that if ye followe the fashion of this worlde you shal die in the sinnes thereof you saie to your selues safe inough for we haue made a couenant with death our Preachers do but scare vs we sée no suche likenesse of Gods anger all thinges continue their course as at the beginning But you wilfully are ignorant saying 2. Pet. 3.3.4 that the Lord hath a desire to saue vs and would haue none to perish but woulde all to come to repentance Notwithstanding be it knowne to you O ye curssed scorners the Lorde wil come to you as a théefe in the night and when you crye to youre selues peace and rest then sodaine shal be your destruction 2. Tess 2.12 whiche woulde not credite the worde of trueth to your saluation Gen. 7. The first age beleued not Noah and are vniuersally drowned Gen. 19. The cursed Sodomites scorned Loth and wyth fyre and brimstone are consumed And canst thou think to escape with thy scorning couenant of death thou Paynim Papist and carnall Atheiste No the Lord saith to euery such your couenant with death shall be disanulled and your agréemēt with hel shal not stād When a scourge shall runne ouer Esay 28.18 and passe through then shal ye be troden down by it c. The third vice abusing Gods long suffering is Our presumption to sin For we conceiuing by a natural self liking a sinister cōiecture of Gods mercie that he doth not so narrowly looke to our offēces or will so strictly punish our sins do therfore take occasion presumptuously to adde sin vpon sin to passe the dayes of our youth in distemperate dealings against God man promising to our selues a long life a long tyme to repent a long suffering God But O ye gallants of these days which sin in this presumption know ye that God is iust as he is merciful that repētance is his gift to whom it pleaseth him giuen to the hūble spirited that feare him which in the days of their youth remēber him before those euil dayes come wherein you shal for paine griefe in conscience corps say we haue no pleasure to liue Be helping therefore to youre selues in God Eccle. 12 1. and stowpe to the yoke of Christe in time Nowe is the day of your calling when the sounde of Gods Gospell ringeth in your eares now is the acceptable day In this day harden not your harts nor treasure vp to your selues anger against the day of wrath But lende your lustie eares to this necessarye demaunde of the Apostle Paule O man Rom 2.4 despisest thou the ryches of hys bountifulnesse and patience and long sufferaunce not knowing that the bountifulnes of God leadeth thee to repentaunce but thou after thine hardnesse and heart that cannot repent heapest vp as a treasure vnto thy selfe wrath against the day of wrath and of the declaration of the iust iudgemēt of God who wil reward euery man according to his workes Now beloued in God let vs pray the Lord our long suffering God to giue vs true repentaunce that we abuse no longer his blessed bountie either with carnall contempte naturall diffidence or presūptuous sins but that with Dauid we may praye againste the rebellion of our youth Psal 19. our secrete faults and presumptuous offēces that in this long time of his suffering nowe drawing so neare the Lordes Haruest wée may hasten throughe him our heares to be fruitefull leaste we still abusing his great patience at the laste shall heare to our endlesse sorrowe the sharpnesse of this sentence Cutte downe the Figge tree But O Lorde and deare father graunt vs thy heauenly grace wée béeséeche thée for thy holy Christs sake And nowe time requireth to speake some thing of this sharpe sentence Cut it downe If he had saide but cut it it had bene a harde word of Gods anger but in that he saith Cut it downe and with a further demaund namely Why keepeth it the grounde barren also hée signifieth his loue is gone his wrath is kindled and therefore this barren trée must néedes perishe Two wicked euils you sée followeth this wicked Fig trée Firste he is not only fruitelesse himselfe but the verye place where he stādeth he maketh barren also Secondly for thys after a long wattering proyning wéeding and wayting no goodnesse founde in him but much euill he is commaunded to be cut downe from the trées of the Vineyarde And for the first would God it were rightly considered of those which are in aucthoritie For wheresoeuer the barren Figge trée abideth there he is not onely fruitelesse to God but very hurtful to the common weale rounde about him as for example the child of hel the shamefull Vsurer as barren to God so he maketh barren and vnable to liue al the trées that earste bare greate shewe in that Forrest of his Countrey Likewise the hardned Papist is not onely an enimy to God his religion and hir Maiestie in his heart but he maketh according the valor of his countenaunce the Countrie by proportion where he dwelleth very Papisticall with him If he be a Gentlemā he corrupteth his tenants and the godly Minister there hath small ioy of his labor but if a Iustice of peace as too manye suche there are then hée goeth very néere if not to corrupt sundrye his fellowe Benchers yet by the fleshly fauor they owe him and through the linkes of bloude or affinitie to him or other their friendes they are become very sparing of religious fruite bothe bearing with his Popery and all hys and also not so dutifull to God and hir Maiestie for the purging of the country of such bitter trées or fruites as they of faithfulnesse oughte or for their owne persuasion should were they not made barrē by such a bitter Fig trée Oh Lord why should such vniuste Papists sit in place of Iustice so to barren the soyle rounde aboute them Mercy they haue had and it doth rather mar them Lord from heauen from heauen Lord grant them Iustice or mercy at thy good wyll Conuert them or confound them Lord For why
good pleasure was to make choice of thys the moste notable Beacon of the land as thereby to expresse his anger vnto al if we repent not Againe the fire fel not on our dwelling houses at home but only on the house of God Euen therby not only to conuince vs of sinne for the abuse of hys holy Temple but also to signifie to the beste of oure soules that wée whyche beare the name of GOD his religion in our profession haue not in sinceritie aunswered oure faith and therefore are vnder the censure of Gods anger And surely thys double abuse is greate this daye in Englande For there is no place so egregiously polluted as the Churche of Paules or his worde more contemned in any place What meaneth else that accustomed walking and prophane talking in time of the Sermon there Neither is there any Nation more blessed wyth puritie of godly doctrine in trueth or any so blessed lesse fruitefull vnto GOD. Although I confesse it with thankfulnesse to God that his Gospel hath won to hym infinite soules in this nation which doe the Lorde his holy word Sacraments and Sabaoth as well in thys Citie as in the realme abroade But at the comming of thys firie Preacher we then cryed namelye thys Citie hir Graces Courte and the whole lande Lord we haue sinned spare thy people O Lorde And so our mediatour Christ stayed the fire And then also the Lorde stirred vp the heartes of our honorable aucthoritie to giue from hir Maiestie Proclamation to take away the abuse thereof whiche was an approued digging but alas how long did we obey euen but a short space for as the lawe came but for that house of stone so our stony heartes cast off with spéede the verye memorie of this iuste threatning Preacher And nowe who maketh accompts of it wel wel nay woe woe to vs if we so loosely looke about vs. O Lord what harts haue wée Shall a sodaine falling of a rotten and olde Turret of Syloah be by our Maister Christe instituted a doctour of repentance to the Iewes for the fall whereof reason coulde afforde vs some cause and shall wée or dare we so despise this speciall messenger from God this burned stéeple whych calleth vs al to daily repētance Come hither to me ye commers to the Citie saith Paules stéeple and beholde the anger of oure God For as ye sée me so I remayne corrected by his reuenging hande to cal you to repentance But O Lorde thou God of Heauen this Citie this land this place yea this day hath forgotten this Make vs mindefull O Lorde of thée and penitently sorrowfull for oure sinnes against thée we humbly beséeche thée for Christes sake And as Gods extraordinary preachers came not alone but had some one or other ioyned vnto them as Esay had Micah Ieremy had Ezechiel and Hoseas had Amos So this fire from Heauen hathe to associate his message in earth Gods swift arrowe and burning sword of pestilence chieflye in this Citie Psal 91.5.6 from whence it hathe bin sundry times in sundrye places dispersed and in suche sorte as oure gracious Quéene godly Magistrates haue gyuen forth holy lawes for prayer and fasting to moue the people to repētaunce thereby acknowledging this sword to be far other and beyond naturall cause of infection From heauen we haue hadde also a thirde extraordinary Preacher of Gods anger and warning to repentaunce whych hath bin termed The gentle warning the Lorde make vs méeke spirited in humble sorte to bée rightly warned by it But howsoeuer it fare with vs yet these termes and godly actes doe approue these for Messengers sent of GOD and that by our consent in worde and déede to our forewarning The blazing Starres I speake not of as hauing foresighte to sée thys cauill and why they to Englande more than to other countries wherefore I care to giue vs our own messengers From earth also the Lorde hathe moste notably cited vs to iudgement signified his sentence ready to be executed but for the mediation of our Christ and that alone What meaneth else that monstrous mouing of that twentye acres of grounde Anno. 1570. as oure allowed Chronicles do reporte or such sundry inundation of waters in euerye coast of our Country Such monstrous byrthes strange sicknesses and sodaine deaths But laste of all An. 1580. Aprilis 6 that vniuersall Earthquake and like watershake whiche draue vs into present feare and forced the whole state to Christian prayer and care to repent If nowe the Preachers of our time haue not cause to say Our God is angrie and prepared vnto battel wherfore also I would not haue you to forgett our present Irishe wars which although they be farre from the hearte yet God graunte vs to remember that his power is greate our sins are ripe and the enimies purpose that traiterous Doctor Saunders and his adherents right daungerous But if wée truely turne to the Lorde he will turne to vs and them with theyr aides to vtter confusion as his grace hath shewed himself a louing God to vs in their late ouerthrowe in those parts his name for euer be praised Nowe beloued Magistrates of bothe estates your office is at this instant required to digge and giue compose and aboue all you must take care that standing in the gappe to stoppe the breache for the people you be not like wicked as the people for their shall you perishe before them and great shall be our confusion The Lorde Mayor muste not be a Protestaunt during his office and a Papist after and so for his office sake shewe himselfe occupied about the Fig trée of his City but he with his brethren ought to be touched and sealed in hearte to the Lorde that at all times as they are preferred to their people so they bée godly religious vpright holye aboue the people that their prayer and Christian practize maye ben defence for the Citie not onely against the pernitious purpose of the euill disposed but also against the iust reuenging hand of God whē he warneth vs of iminent danger So likewise muste the Bishoppes those reuerende Fathers and the other councellours and gouernors abroade be and haue the same condition engrauen in their spirite with the pensil of God that they may repaire the broken hedge remoue the hindering matter from the roote of the Fig trée and lay compose to moisten supple and comforte the life therof Which grace God grant you for your selues and vs for Christes sake But our texte doth directe your holy labours vnto two things First that you take from the trée that whiche doth hinder the growth to the fruit therof Then that you lay to the roote of the same that dung or compose whiche may administer helpe to the life of it But I praye you lette pore Haggai Haggai 1.1 delyuer vnto Zorobabel and Iehosuah the thing whiche mightily doth hinder the growth of the Figge trée whych may séeme to youre discretions so
is the exercise of true mourning and fasting to the Lorde approued in the holy Scriptures Our time dothe aske it our sinnes his iust anger and the wickeds glorious bragge dothe enforce it I meane not that ordinary course of abstinence whiche the lawes haue wholesomely enioyned onely but I pray in humblenesse of my hearte that to those prouisions might be added the purpose of the Lorde in the outward exercise of Fasting That is that as our plagues are to be feared greatelye bycause oure liues are so far oute of order our mourning and fasting shoulde be suche as might be extraordinary yet not voide of Gods ordinaunce and may be sayde to consist in these two branches Namely in the outwarde exercise of abstinēce and in the inwarde drawing of water The outward exercise of true fasting to humble and supple the hearte the scripture commendeth vnto vs thus Firste that we by aucthoritie I say by aucthoritie of the Pastor and Magistrate Zoph 2.1 Ioel 1 2. Ionas 3.7 Nehem 9.1 1. Sam. 7 3. Ezra 8.21 bée assembled into the house of God there to doe these thinges for and during the whole daye whyche oughte to bée as a Sabbaoth vnto vs. First the Ministers Gods Prophetes are to preache to vs the lawe of GOD and to signifie our transgressions vnto God against the same which then shal most humble vs when of purpose wée assemble to that end and herof reade we in Ieremy 36.6 Iere. 36.6 and the whole Chapiter In Nehemiah the eight and ninth Chapiter to the diligent reading whereof at thy comming home I beséeche thée good people Whose Sermons must be endeuoured to shewe the cause of oure assembly and to lay open Gods anger againste vs and the imminent daunger that hangeth ouer vs whyche can not but proue the heartes of euerye suche as haue any life of Gods spirite in them thoughe by our insolencie abusing hys greate patience the same lye as almoste dead within vs. And further the Preachers office in thys fasting daye is to pray God hartily for the people 1. Sam. 7.4 Ioel. 2.17 Their direction to the people is ruled to vs thus That they in that day of faste should not only earnestly for euer after vtterly deteste all sin iniquitie but that they also obstain frō things otherwise approued lawfull and requisite yea very necessarye And these maye bée thus diuided Into the godly abstinence of the Christian faster from lawful and godly pleasures And into the like abstinence from necessarye sustenaunce Let the Bridegroome goe out of his chamber and the Bride forth of hir closet saith the Prophet Ioel. 2.16 Let mā and beast put on sackcloth saith the lawe of Niniuie Ionah 3.8 which law though it strictly tye not vs yet ought Christians to consider howe absurde a thing it is and farre from the Analogie of a true humbled spirite in the day of fast to assēble with the church in prowde shining and glorious apparel for nothing may be thē and there admitted whiche doth not moue to mourning And for that our labour trade of occupatiō merchandize worketh profit so pleasure the vse of it that day doth work impediment to our fast therfore Daniel 9.5 the day of Gods fast we must solemnize as a Sabbaoth to the LORD as to the Iewes it was commanded Leu. 17.26.30.31 32. ch ch 23.7.8 and as a christian help to our humilitie before the Lord is yet by aucthoritie to be embraced as the Lorde shall worke them to thinke it conuenient The holy abstinence from meates Esther 4.16 Ionah 3.7 is also in our godly faste required not that thereby God is simply pleased but that thereby our bodies shoulde be lesse sturdy and our spirites more humbled and apt to praye And this is the very cause why abstinence from not one kinde of meate as fleshe onely but from all sorts of sustenaunce is in the Scriptures so ofte required namely that neither fulnesse shoulde make vs lustye and proude agaynste oure God or drowsie and sléepie when we were to heare of our sin but that oure hungrye bodyes myghte teache our pyned soules what néed wée haue to crye for the foode of life and how vnable to liue wythout his hand whom we so mightily offende and that the byting worme of hunger mighte helpe to tame and bring obedient to the spirite that fleshe whiche farced full hathe so contemned to stoupe vnto his God Lo this is the true vse of oure abstinence from all meates in Gods holye fasting daye But to abstaine from meates by choice and to vse other for religion is méerely euil and Diabolicall 1. Tim. 4. Againe to abstaine from meates and not to vse the inward exercise is to prophane the holy right of fasting vnto God Esay 58. Wherefore lette vs consider the second part of true fasting vnto the Lord according to his worde This dothe consiste as we haue saide in the inward drawing of water and is set forth to vs by Samuel at Mizpeh when the Lord had returned the Arke increased the zeale to right religion in his people whyche twenty yeares and more had bin returned from the Philistines Samuel sayd 1. Sam. 7.1 If yee bee truely turned to the Lord and come to him with youre heartes then putte away the straunge Gods from amongest you and Ashtaroth and dyrecte your heartes vnto the Lorde and serue him onely and hee shall delyuer you out of the hands of the Philistines Then the children of Israel did putte away Baalim and Ashtaroth and serued the Lorde onelye And Samuel saide Gather al Israel togither at Mizpeh I wil pray for you and they gathered togither to Mizpeh and drew water and powred it out before the Lord fasted the same day and said there We haue sinned agaynste the Lorde c. Thys tyme aunswereth ours and here after oure twentye yeares and odde of Gods mercifull returne to vs what dothe he aske of vs but that wée if wée be come to him with our hearts put away the Popish Christe and that Ashtaroth that Italian God and Romishe Priest the Pope and his pelfe And secondelye that we directe oure heartes not to our mincing but to hys Maiestie and serue him onely and not oure carnall pollicie that we faste and pray and draw water and powre it out before the Lorde That is that hearing our sinnes reproued by his worde and hauing our bodies broughte vnder in abstinence our spirites humbled at the sighte of oure sinnes wée shoulde wyth Christian compunction digge the stonye fountaine of our hearts and wyth Dauid Daniel Peter Magdalene and the Sainctes of God drawe thence the salted water of the same and plentifullye poure it forthe by the conducte of the eye and that before the Lorde not before Sathan thoroughe dispaire with Iudas or Achytophel or hypocriticallye before men wyth Achab and Ishmael 2. K. 21 27. Iere. 41.1.6 purposing no amendment but after mischief but simply before the Lorde with these Israelites and godly Samuel in Mizpeh and vnfainedly cry and confesse to his Maiestie and fatherly mercie Wée haue sinned Lorde and done vniustlye We haue neglected the glorie of thy Arke and Testamente We haue loathed oure heauenly Mannah thy blessed worde Wée haue lefte oure first loue and become barren Figge trées Wherefore thy wrath is kindled and thy fury is waxen hote But behold we thus embrace thy son our sauiour Christ and prostrate oure selues before thée We caste from oure selues all superstition and that antechristian Priest thy great enimy Wée humble our selues in thys thine approued exercise We offer our selues by our onely sacrificing Priest Rom. 12.1 Christe Iesus vnto thée a holy turned people and liuely offering whych is our reasonable seruing of thée We therefore eftesoones beséech thée to spare vs at our only mediator God man Iesus our dressers petitiō cease thy ready sentēce Cut them downe As these laws for fasting whiche hir Maiestie hathe godlily giuen vs be good So let vs pray God that thys our like addition by hir gracious auctoritie maye be added and so shall the Fig trée haue rightly his moste fertile compose Amen Lord Iesu But let vs knowe that neyther Samuel can profitably pray or the people rightly plentifully drawe water and faste to please GOD excepte they turne in heart to God And further note of Samuels wordes that the duty of true conuersion is first to caste out of the Chayre and Churche Baalym and Ashtaroth the Italian Priest and his adherents and thē to direct our heartes vnto the Lorde in the right addressing to his faste whych shal bring vndoubtedly his olde aduaile to oure present Figge trée that is though when we be beste disposed at Mizpeh the Philistines take occasion to work our spoile some by fawning flatterye and some by open warre yet the Lord will rowse vppe hys strength for vs and hée wil assemble the chariots of his Angels and the artillerie of hys thunderclappes if men were not of force by him to disperse the confederates againste vs that with easie pursute we shall ouerthrowe all Popishe Philistines As to our comfortable example and doctrine we may reade the Lorde to haue done for these his beloued in Mizpeh 1. Sam. 7.7 c. And finally our kingdome by hys mighty hand shal be then preserued hir Maiestie in much godlynesse long continued and we hir faithful subiects shal henceforth liue in al godly peace with the whole Israel of God This al other thy graces we beséech thée o Lord to grant in thy great rich mercy to hir maiestie thy seruante hir counsel to al spirituall pastors Magistrats people to the whole realme of Englande and hir Graces dominions that we may not be cut down as barren Figge trées but maye endure blessed as the Palme trée by the riuers side planted euery of vs to bring forth our allotted fruites in due season in the puritie of Faith by the measure of true Charitie in the garden of a good conscience through Christ our Lorde to whō togither with thée O deare Father and the holy Ghost thrée distinct persons and one eternall God be all honor glorie power and dominion for euer and euer Amen Laudes Deo per Christum seruatorem nostrum FINIS
Fathers of the lawe are embrewed wyth this bloude I am also a straunger to the Citie a poore man come oute of the Country and whether my Lorde Mayor or his brethren be or haue in their corporation this improper proprietie I cannot say but I am very sure of thys it is a very vnséemely sight to sée a Parson of a Parishe Churche so stately attyred in suche costely robes and golden chaines as the honor of this Citie doth affoorde to hir Aldermen But if you bée suche improper persons I pray you yet haue lesse care of your gaine and more of conscience lette vs not serue you for suche parings but somewhat more liberally carue to vs in the Lord we admonishe you Remember that the word of God requireth you to make vs partakers of all your goodes Mala. 1.14 And dare you so boldelye take from vs then our fyrst allotted portions Malach. 3.8 It is counted a blessed thyng wyth manye in these dayes to spoyle the portion of the Minister but the dayes to come shall proue it accurssed with God But Lorde this is thy iudgement vppon vs thy seruauntes whyche haue not serued thée as belongeth vs in these thy forbearing dayes and thy further plague to the posteritie for this contempte againste thée For thy worde by thys meanes shall bée eyther sparingly or not at all delyuered them But surelye if Potentates hadde lyttle regarde to Religion yet me séemeth it their greate pollicie whylest the LORDE dothe yet forbeare well to maintaine the preaching ministery For the hart of man is his leader and the affectictions kindled there enforce the bodye seruiceable to his will The handes maye be restrained for a time but the hearte not altered a newe assaye is to be giuen But if the heart of man bée once conuerted vnto the trueth of God whyche commeth to passe by the office of Preaching then the soule submitteth hymselfe to euerye lawfull power Rom. 13.1 as sent from God and for conscience to GOD and dutie to hys worde causeth his body to obey euen to moste hard commaundements impositions euery demannd Let a suruey be taken hereof betwixt the Papist and the true Protestant the one is ready to rebell at euery motion the other alwayes preste to aide aucthoritie with goods landes life Wherehence commeth this but that the heartes of men are setled by the worde to stoupe and stande to their superiors set ouer them not for feare but for conscience Iere. 29.6.7 And good Ieremy and Barucke Baruc. 9.11.12 do euer persuade the Israell of God not only to bende their backes to Nabuchadnezars bondage but also hartilye to praye to God for his prosperous raigne and for the life of his sonne Balthazar how much more then wyl they teache obedience to godlye Princes by whome God is greately honoured and his Prophets right louingly intreated But this is a hard fruite o noble Fig-trées and improrer persons to giue to God lame liuings and halting portions to take the beste by spoile from his Minister and your selues not sanctified to the seruice For you are not otherwise Ecclesiasticall then when you call for tythes but for the charge of the Cure you take no care Oh be afraide of thys you that forget God and yet boaste of hys truth for it is a right bitter fruite and roote of a thousande euils to the Church of God whyche is the verye cause why I haue thus saide vnto it A braunche whereof beholde oure presente time hathe bredde for our Ministers in the Country for the moste part are either ignorant and idle or else ouer poore and néedy The people for the moste are likewise vnder suche either blinde and Popishe or hauty and harde harted and yet the Lorde doth stil beare and cryeth for better fruites Heb. 3. oh beloued lette vs hearken to his voice while it is to day that we do not stil thus fall by degrées from the lyuing God thoroughe the deceitfulnesse of sinne It is ynough that we haue spent the time of two and twētie yeares so vainely 1. Pet. 4.2.3 lette vs knowe that hence forth we ought to liue not after the lustes of the fleshe but after the will of God But this is a greate wonder to manye that men professing God and indued with so goodlye wits should in the light of the glorious Gospell so manye yeares gloriouslye shining delight to dwell in suche obstinate blindenesse But take vppe thy wonder beloued and looke into the matter So shalt thou perceiue this bitter fruit to arise of these thrée monstrous vices namely of the carnal contempt of Gods long sufferaunce Of the naturall distruste of his worde and promise And of the presumptuous abuse of his goodnesse First naturally we feare those things which be angry and able to hurt as lyons beares and tyrannous men Againe we doe not feare but rather contempne those thinges whych be milde mind not harme as louyng kinde and peaceable men Yea suche Princes as be rough and sharp to punish transgressors wée feare to offende but suche as onely strike of mercies string and seldome touch due Iustice threat our wicked nature with tooth naile enarmeth hautie contempt against them Euen so it is likewise to our good God bicause he is slow to wrath doth not alwayes strike we straight contemne his threatning worde supposing eyther he is not able or not knowing to punishe our open rebellion againste hym and so the wicked saieth in his hearte Psal there is no God Secondely if GOD in mercie doe swéetely persuade vs by hys holy worde to true repentaunce straightwaye our nature halseth vp a naturall distruste saying Malac. 3 1◠what profite haue we to serue the Lord or what be his promises vnto vs we wil not hearken vnto his word Io. 22.14.15 For if we pray vnto him what gaine to vs In their deadly distrust they scornfully saye Ezech 33. Come let vs goe heare what the Lorde wil say to vs but they holde his Prophets as iesting persons and pleasant Minstrels that satisfy the time not as the sincere Prophets of God For neither beléeue they the promises of Gods loue to appertaine to them or the iudgements of his wrath doe they accepte in truth and therfore they neyther embrace the promisse of his mercy or be terrified with the threates of hys Iustice But in steade therof they say Come lette vs eate and drincke for to morrowe we shal dye Oh horrible and thrice curssed nature so arming thy carnall corps to abuse the long suffering of thy good God But be ye sure that the eternall worde of God is yea and Amen that whatsoeuer it promiseth it shall performe and though his infinite wisedome to drawe thée to repentaunce do differ his plagues yet he wil iustifie his worde in the day of his anger When those thyngs shall come to passe whych he hath spoken by his Prophets and then in the midle of his wrath
shoulde they yet make their wiues their children their seruantes their tenantes theyr friendes and kinred theyr associates and countrey thy people hir graces subiects in these growing times so mightily barren Wel wel the iolity of these and the number of our owne sins haue writhen a coard of maruellous length Esa to drawe thys heauie sentence vppon this Nation and people if we repent not Cut it downe Thys sentence is most heauy Cutte it downe But yet it is here intercepted with a most louing petitiō of the dresser of the Vineyarde viz. Lorde let it alone this yeare also till I digge rounde aboute it and dung it and if it bring forth fruite well if no then after thou shalte cut it downe Greater glorie God neuer broughte to nation than to this country of Iudea so as the Princely Prophet Dauid said of it The Lord hath not dealt so with any Nation And yet where he bestowed his greatest loue there they caste vnto him for thankes the vile sin of senslesse securitie contemning his grace despising his lawe slouting hys Prophets killing his Christe murthering his Apostles and persecuting his Churche detesting his Gospell and leading their liues without féeling with the Gentiles in moste gréedye filthinesse Wherefore their glorie is turned into shame Zach. 11. and the staffe of their beautie the band of his couenante is brokē al to péeces and they commaunded to vtter ruine Cut it downe Oh that Englande would looke to this More beautie greater bandes of Gods amitie hath not bin séene no not in Iewrie yet Englande is too carelesse what she giueth God She taketh an argument frō his former fauour and louing band of peace to be incorporate into a perpetual reste but she remembreth not that Ierusalem and Iuda are cut down nor throughly weyeth the cause crauing like censure nowe In truth beloued trée of Englande were it not for that interception of thy dressers petition the intercession of thy only mediatour Iesus Christ ther is no let of this sentence againste thée Cut it downe Consider then with thankefulnesse beloued who is thy safetie Euen Iesus Christe alone our mightie Michaell Daniel 12.1 that standeth in the gap these 22. yeares for thée But here we may not forget the Christ our dresser defender to God his father doth 2. things for his church Ezech. 22 3 The one is as a vigilant pastor defēder he is redy to help presēt at néed taketh the oportunitie offred to benefite the same For euen at that instant when God cōmandeth to destroy the trée at that present he maketh his harty petition for it The other is Christes prayer for his people but vnder a condition Spare it Lorde saith he c. till I digge it if then it bring fruite wel but if no thou shalt cutte it downe Of Christs vigilancie ouer this land for hir defence we haue moste singular assurance and the same shall appeare moste plainely vnto vs if we looke into the ancient sins of the same in hir elder people and his sentence executed vppon them after hys long sufferyng for that there wanted a Mediator at last to stād in the gap And in sinceritie of our harts doe then leuell the line of oure wicked conuersation with the sins of our ancestors his defending arme vpon vs we shal be driuē to acknowledge his louing vigilancie to be our only stay The antient Brytanes the firste Fathers of thys Iland did liue after Christs incarnation in abundant wealth but they gaue themselues saith the storie to the heresie of the Pelagians to the disdaine of the truth and to great loosenesse of life so as the Nobilitie Clergie were wholy giuen to Bacchus and Venus The Lord first sent them warnings then warres with the Picts and Scots whych mightily molested them But what didde these brute Brytanes They returned not to the Lorde confessing their sins and repenting theyr wicked liues reposing their confidence in Gods hande but continuing in their luste stil they sente for aide against the enimy to the Saxons about the yere of Christ 685. which was the first message of their ouerthrowe For the Lord in his iuste iudgement vsed them his instruments to driue the Brytanes into Wales where they remaine as yet these their confederates possessed thys pleasant Iland So came the Brytanes vnder this Censure Cutte them down Likewise the Saxons possessing this lande and abusing Gods blessings gaue themselues to a declining from God and his truth and charity was key cold amongst them Whiche two horrible vices can neuer dwel alone therefore ignorance came into the countrey and tooke possession of the Churche It was a wonder saith the Booke to haue a Priest to vnderstand his Grammer The Nobilitie became Atheistes and wicked men the common people were solde to sinne For pride whoredome and drunkennesse entred into thē from high Palaces Nicenesse of apparell had then a common habite wyth men for newe deuises were euery day And that which is not at this day amōgest the reste to be forgotten the Saxons did in very muche brauery clip or shaue their beards to the very face all excepte onely the ouer lippe But the Lorde as greatelye grieued at the Lande by some good Bishops reproued them and when no admonition coulde preuaile he bente the heauens wyth blazing Comets to threaten this Sentence Cutte the Saxons down For Anno. 1066. after the Comet came William the Norman and did execute that sentence vpon the Saxons conquering the lande and ouerthrewe the former state O deare brethren in God can wée Englishemen sée our noble trée thus twice cutte downe and not quake for feare of like iudgement or is there not like cause in vs so to procure Gods wrath Be not deceyued GOD is not mocked neither come I to flatter or yet to feare to speak the truth Englande is full of sicknesse byles and soares procuring death We may truely lament for it is as the Prophet Micah Micah 7.12.3 did for his people saying Wo is me for I am as the Sommer gatherings and as the Grapes of the Vintage there is no cluster to eate my soule desired the firste ripe fruites The goodman is perished out of the earth and there is no righteous among men They all laye waite for bloude euery man hunteth his brother with a nette By this sentence the Prophet accuseth his people of 3. pestiferous euils wherof the firste is a Catholike backesliding from religion godlinesse saying the good mā is perished for those that remain are but rare thin euen the gleanings of the Haruest and as the Vine trée after the Vintage whiche maye happilye haue here and there one Grape lefte behind Secondly of a general hipocrisie for he saith Nemo rectus No man treadeth by the measure of the line whych his profession calling doth leuil vnto him but maketh a shew of another than that he is indéede And laste of an vniuersal crueltie vsing the
Metaphor Euery mā hūteth his brother with a net And my brethren lette vs examine the common condition of most parts now in Englāde shal not we perceiue these sins to aboūd in the same looke to our earnest profession of the Gospell in the beginning of hir Maiesties raigne whō God in his mercie long preserue ouer vs euer in hys Christ how we hungred the truth thē how we ioyed of Gods Ministers how we desired heauēly encrease prepared our liues to answere the Gospel we clensed our Churchs our hearts houses of popish Idolatry we reedified the same with the squire of the word that in such zeale namely the Potentates Bishops Citizens of London other many godly ones as we were no whit inferior to the Iewes whiche with Nehemias Ezra Esra 3. 5 Nehe. ca. 3. ca. 4. repayred the ruinous walles of Ierusalem But beloued let vs with a simple eye looke into euery state almost in Englād now we shal right sorowfully sée a catholike cooling of this former zeale to Gods house Partly by the malice of Sathā in his seruants the Papists séeking by persuasion al policie to hinder the former work offring vs their help to build whose purpose is wholy to pul down And partly Esra 4.2 by our owne wearinesse of well doing which contenting oure selues with our firste building Haggai 12.4 haue taken surcesse for a time to build pul downe rebuild againe to our great cost the Countries great paine our braue bowers sumptuous towers to féed our fantasies and pore mēs eies but the building of Gods holy house to the encrease of faith vertue in true religiō we haue almost laide aside except a few sommer gatherings by grace conserued vnto God May wée not therfore admonish Magistrats Ministers godly men to apply this voice of the spirite of God to his holy churche which firste was sente to Ephesus viz. I knowe thy workes sayth God and thy labour Reuel 2.2 and thy patience and how thou canste not forbeare them whych are euil and hast examined thē which say they are Apostles and are not and haste found them lyars and haste suffered for my names sake and hast patience and for my names sake haste laboured and haste not fainted Neuerthelesse I haue somewhat against thee bycause thou haste lefte thy first loue Remember therefore from whence thou haste fallen and repent and doe thy firste workes or else I will come shortly and remoue thy Candlesticke We are all lesse louing lesse labouring and lesse zealous in religion than earst we haue béene yea one and all of vs which the Lordes spirite the true discerner of all things doth call here a falling from our first loue and threatneth a comming to cut vs downe if we preuent not his spéedy cōming to our candlesticks O Lord for thy mercies sake graunt to our godly Prince and all hir noble Counsellors to the Bishops and learned Fathers to the Iudges Preachers and godly people thoughe Sommer gatherings thy grace that they may all in their callings and spirites take hold of their first loue and do their firste good workes in thée and by thy Christe that our Candlesticke thy holy gospel and Church hir Maiestie and this our hapy state may firmely stand to thy glory and our continuall comfort for thy holy names sake But if ther be such a weaknesse in Gods Sommer gatherings in England whiche yet are the best beloued of the Lord what are wée to looke for in the rest whyche are but hypocriticall Nemo rectus sayth the Prophet No man kéepeth hys heart and his hand by that line that the lawe of his God the simplicitie of his soule doth direct vnto him And surely if you wil not wilfully be blinde when didde you euer reade heare or sée of greater hypocrisie than is nowe resiante in Englande The Papist supposeth it his greatest grace to coulour his Italian hearte with hys Papisticall hypocrisie For lette hym bée accompted Papisticall by the superiours and Lorde howe hée protesteth the contrarye and if hys inferioure enforme him then he frowneth sweateth sweareth and taketh it hotely but yet there is no greater poyson in the Toade nor fixed hatred in the Serpente or rigoure in the roaryng Lyon huntyng for hys praye Gen. 3. than lurketh vnder the sugred tongues of oure Italienated Papistes For the poison of Aspes is vnder their lippes Againe what dissimulation amongest menne of all sorts in eache degrée O Lorde it is a worlde to sée Abels countenaunce but Caines hearte amongest confederates friendes parteners and cobrethren vniuersallye abroade It hathe béene called the holy water of the Courte but in euerye corner of the lande at thys daye are greate Welsprings of this infernall Lake If yée buy but corne of the husbandmanne there is deceit if you deale with the Artificer beholde swéete wordes and sleightie subtiltie But trafique or craue counterchaunge with the Marchaunte or Vsurer in Citie or Towne excepte some speciall man of GOD and beholde a graue countenaunce a sugred tong and séemely welcome but if thou deale wyth hym he is as a thornie hedge Thou takest hym for a shilter but if he haue delyuered thy clothes from some stormy raine yet ere thou escape from vnder him he will all to scratch thy fleshe If he bit thee not to the very bones Oh séeming friendship and sure hypocrisie O Lorde preserue thy holy ministery from hypocrisie and kéepe hir farre from Iustice seate But Micah Micah 7.3 saide in his time of it thus To make good for the euil of his handes the Prince viz. the great Rulers in the lande asked and the iudge iudged for a rewarde therfore the great man hee speaketh oute the corruption of hys hearte and so they wrappe it vppe The beste of them is as a bryar and the moste righteous of them is sharper than a thorny hedge The daye of thy watchemen and thy visitation commeth then shall bee theyr confusion No maruayle beloued for a generall iniquitie can not but begette an vniuersall cutting downe Woulde God hypocrisie had not spred his wings so largely in Englande pierced so déepe as to the harts of many sorts in hir or so cunningly couloured his vgly shape as he hathe at this day For no where shal religion godlinesse or honesty offer hir selfe in England but hypocrisie dare aduenture to presume of some preferment in that place He is the vesture of the proude the habite of the adulterer the gowne of the Vsurer and the beste attyre for the Macheuil The Atheist girdeth him about him and no treason can be broched besides him He delighteth not to dwell with beggers but offereth salutations to sacred states the Lorde graunte all godly Princes and Potentates eies to sée hym and spirites to discerne him for his glorye and oure beste good But haue we likewise vniuersall Crueltie and doe wée lay watch to forstall our brethren surely thys sinne
by the Lords miraculous hād not séeking to serue God but after a fashion waxing colde of hys seruice and haste giuen thy selfe to vanitie and securitie in sinne arte called and goest rather backwarde And yet thine enimies abroad Hos 11 1. Esa 7.1.2 deinceps and thy false confederates at home séeking to make a breache in thée thy God Englande thy good God saith it shall not be and hath vpholden thée and defended thée by him self against al secrete conspiracies open rebelliō forrain threats now full this 22. yeres Thy name be blessed for it my God Lord giue our Englande eies to sée hir sins thy long suffring safetie to vs for vs in this thy prouident hedge The pollicie of the watchers whereof hir Maiestie is chiefe whom the Lord still defend ouer vs that long she may wake to God and watche godlily for this hir people of England and also the Ecclesiastical and ciuil honorable councel and Christian gouernors is great no doubt for whose great and godly paines to vs we owe in truth greate things to them and manye blessings to God Yet is it neither simply hir Maiestie their pollicie or other indeuor For al these with vs are sinners in his sight but hys holy hande alone and that for his owne names sake that hitherto hathe guyded their holy counsels and defēded vs. Oh that the watchemen of oure Englande would consider then right déepely theyr place You be set my Lords alofte to see aloofe for the help of vs that are appointed vnder you Your carcks care may not be the Bishop to become very rich the Iudge to be of great reuerence the Councellor ruler to gape after priuat gaine but you muste be all helping rather vs thā your selues yea to your own losse in winter sommer heat cold day and night my Lords euen as hiding places from the winde a refuge for the tēpest as riuers of water in a thirstie place as the shadows of greate rockes in a wearye land So the Lord hath allotted you Esa 32. ◠◠So Esay the Prophet hath told you And the reuerend Bishops must lerne to know that God hath called thē to such reuerēd places that they shoulde not be more ydle and Lordly Acts. 20. but more labouring and lowely yea if possible it may be than their inferior brethren called to like fūction in the Lord and holy office of preaching And beloued brethren of the popular sorte our partes is to blesse God for our godly gouernors both reuerende fathers and the ciuil Magistrates whyche doe manye of them painefully trauaile in their places to watche ouer vs. And are to pray wyth sighs and sobbes to God for some suche of them as neyther teache as they ought or watche as they shoulde or yet procure such as willingly would to the benefite of the Fig trée I knowe some where some places in England that haue a Turret or Pulpit but no Preacher in it almoste since hir Maiesties raigne For why the spirituall officers looke ouer it some temporall statute and stearne Papistes doe so out-countenaunce it as neither the worde is desired or can with quietnes happily haue grace of hearing The lord from heauen be mercifull vnto hys people in earth Wel we must render to either state our due obedience suffer them to stone vs wéede vs proine vs that we may become fruitefull and so behaue our selues in al thinges by loue towardes them that as they must render accompts to God for theyr offyces so they maye take pleasure to exercise theyr function amongst vs. So doth the holye Apostle teache vs Heb. 13.17 saying Obey them that haue the ouer-sight of you and submit your selues for they watch for your soules as they that must giue accomptes to God that they may do it with ioy and not with grief for that is vnprofitable for you The Lord further saith he stoned his Vineyarde and surely he hath mightily by hir Maiesty cropped the toppes and caste out of the Churche of Englande the stony hearted Papists It remaineth that the stoners vnder hir grace be not stony thēselues For if they be Papisticall that be Rulers howe shal the Papistes of England be stoned out of the Vineyard Lord thou clensing God preserue thy little church of Englande clense the Benches of the lande that Benchers maye call to the barre such as hinder the growth of the Fig trée in euery part of this thy kingdom by iustice authoritie grace cōuert them Lord or cast them out of thy Vineyarde For why Lorde shoulde they also make the ground barren The allegory of the Wine presse lette it be thus vnderstoode the worke offered of God to euery calling in this hys Vineyarde of Englande The noble Potentates haue vs hir people committed vnto them the Lorde doth looke that their indeuour shoulde fill the presse with holy labors The reuerende Fathers and learned Preachers of the lande haue their people namely the Church of God to exercise themselues vpon The graue Iudges haue their gréedye plaintiffes and defendants to trye their industrie and toyling seruice yet holy to the Lorde And surely my Lordes you must stoutly and with good courage tread the Wine presse in your Assises and in Westminster Hall Your calling doth not onelye teache it you but your verye robes doe preache it vnto vs You sitte in bloudye Gownes of Scarlet hewe as whereby your very apparell dothe prognosticate to your selues and vs with what hate to sinne and zeale to God you muste execute the lawes euen to the not only drawing of bloud by the sword of equitie but euen to the dying of the place with the bloud of the wicked whiche otherwise can not be reclaimed Your eyes muste not looke vppon the mightie againste the pore or spare to strike the strong that else would grinde the simple vnto powder But you muste aboue all my Lordes that be Iudges take greate care of religion and if in your circuites you happily find any one bencher that wil not accōpany your Lordshippes to the hearing of the worde the same you muste call to barre to taste of the sworde For the iudgement is the Lords and not mans O Lorde that I might once sée that example in England of some one godly Iudge or other that if any his associates refused in contēpte of the word and lawes established to go with him to Churche to heare the word of God there preached his Lord would commaund him from the Bench to the Barre yea though he were a Lorde Some of you my Lords are more gretly beholding vnto God as by health and sickenesse drawne nearer and nearer him and are restored againe vnto life that Christe Iesus shoulde be séene afreshe to liue in you The Lorde doth knowe his Churche hath néede of you and therefore in mercie he hath agayne lent vs you play the men and helpe to stamp into the Wine presse those whiche without you can not
is too vniuersall What Village Towne or Citie is it that is not a witnesse vnto this Gen. 10.9 Nymrod was called a greate Hunter but Nymrods hunting is nothing worth he hunted after beastes and buildings but wée againste our brethren And surely thys hunting muste néedes be vniuersall while it hathe taken holde of the Clergie Doe not hir maiesties Courtes approue greate hunting with a Nette lease often twelue or twenty yeares to come is hunted so after with a couetous Nymrod nowe that his poore brother whyche dothe enioye it muste of necessitie eyther take a newe or bée in feare to bée forestalled of hys state to come No offices so base that sundry nettes of dyuers webbes are not prouided to forestall them No forfeite bée it small but gréedily some one doth prosecute agaynste an other by meanes whereof sinne is dailye solde for siluer For the informer taketh his bribe and lets the faulte remaine No intreaty persuasion or louing desire can winne the poore but little fauour in this cruell age Such dyking in of groundes suche barring menne of common righte as the poore Cottier muste eyther begge and bée starued or else steale and bée hanged For so menne hunte after bloude The Countrey Villages doe decaye and shire Townes are fylled wyth beggers for rotten shéepe do ouer runne all Oh Lorde cease thys crueltie Habac. 2.12 The Prophet Habacucke cryed out of them in olde tyme whyche buylded Townes wyth bloud viz. rapine oppression and cruelty But he hathe lefte it also to thée in writing which pullest down Townes to féede thy owne couetousnesse wyth pore mennes bloude Ho sayeth he hee that coueteth an euill couetousnesse to hys house Habac. 2.9 that hee maye set hys neste on hyghe to escape from the power of euill thou haste consulted shame to thine owne house by destroying manye people and haste sinned agaynste thine owne soule for the stone shal crye out of the wall and the beame out of the timber shall aunsweare it And concerning the Cleargie such spiteful crueltie is bent against it as it passeth not onelye by others agaynste vs but euen of one of vs againste an other It is a greate crueltie my Lordes and Fathers of the lawe that sundrye godlye Preachers in this land lyuing obedieÌ„t to the now established laws haue bene possessed of their benefices for manye yeares shall be no more regarded than a dumbe Dogge a blinde Idoll Priest that can nothyng saye Nay by some suche wicked persons and their complices Noble menne and greate menne of aucthoritie shall be abused yea reachyng sometime to the hyghest Gouernoures to flitte good mennne oute of theyr seates I coulde name some suche lewde persons and wil if I be demaunded that make an occupation to espy aduantage making no difference of men for their filthie gaine to thrust out godly Preachars from the Church of God and for theyr fée to thruste the greatest giuer into such roomths These are shamefull Hunters whyche hunt some twentie some thyrty some forty yeares past for forfaites of Benefices to sette Symony on sale I beséeche your Lordeships aydes and helpes for Gods church herein that if you wante lawe for these men your endeuour may be to procure further as time and grace will offer it Wante lawe sayde I nay my Lordes you had néede go afresh to your Books and studye more law againste the crueltie of these dayes For what say you learned Fathers to this cunning crueltie A patrone of a Benefice giueth his Benefice fréely fearing the strict examination of some good Bishoppe so as the poore Clearke to be instituted by his presentation may safely swere and performe that he hath giuen nothing promised nothing either money or lease he or hys friendes but the patrone calleth the friendes of the partie presented and bindeth them in a greate summe that whensoeur the same shall be instituted and inducted he shal at any time within one moneth after suche his induction at the demaunde of the said patrone or his assignes absolutely resigne vâ—pe hys sayde Beneâ—yre But what is the purpose of this crueltie Forsoothe eyther to compel the incumbent hauing passed the Byshops handes to lease vnto him the couetous patrone that benefice at his owne price or else to thruste him quite out of that seate for an other Chapman O horrible and most gréeuous crueltie I speake not by gesse but by certaine knowledge hereof yet not in mine owne case I praise God for it But if cruelty be crepte so high as it rageth so againste the Ministers of God shall we not thinke she hath greate authoritie in the temporall sorte I purpose not here to saye more of the sinnes of Englande but be you Iudges O honorable audience whether the petition of our Mediator hathe not hitherto most mightily preuailed againste our deserued sentence Cut it downe But now lette vs consider likewise of Christes conditionated prayer for the Figge trée Till I digge it and dung rounde about it if it bring forth fruite then well If no then after thou shalte cut it down Here is prayer with condition the condition hath in it thys Firste the labour of the dresser and also of the good successe of the trée I will digge it and dung it saith the dresser of the bitter Figge trée That is I will do to it that thing which if there be any life in it shall without doubte make it fruitfull The great mercie of God doth still yet abounde beloued and the singular loue of this oure Mediatoure Christe héere also that when the daye of destruction is preparing euen then the Father by the mediation of the sonne is stayed from striking to a further season But Christe will digge and Christe will dung his Churche this Realme and euery Fig trée to take awaye by the one the corruptions and impediments that may hinder his fruitetulnesse And by the other to shelter him supple and moysten his roote that the vigor whych there is cowched as scante kéeping life should valiantly aspyre the top of smallest twigges and mightily make them fruitefull And this holye operation Christe our Lorde worketh from heauen by his substitutes and Ministers in earth namely his Magistrates Ciuil Ecclesiasticall his holy spirite by them diggeth the trées at the roote to the glorie of his name in conuerting and coÌ„firming the Figge trée or in Iustice and equity to cut downe the same And here you Gouernors vnder God you must learn from Christ two especiall lessons First that you haue suche a Fatherly loue to your charge and people coÌ„mitted to you as Christ our Maister had and to be frée froÌ„ those euils your selues whiche cause this heauy sentence to the Fig trée cut it down SecoÌ„dly to be vigilant sober wise to discern the time wheÌ„ to make present petition to the Lorde and to digge and dung the trée and to stande in the gappe againste the Lordes wrath To the firste Moses giueth example to al Magistrates and besides oure