A SERMON PREACHED at great Yarmouth Vpon VVednesday the 12. of September 1599. By W. Yonger The argument whereof was chosen to minister instructions vnto the people vpon occasion of those present troubles which then were feared by the Spaniards Eccles 9.18 Better is Wisdome then weapons of warre but one sinner destroyeth much good Imprinted at London by Simon Stafford and are to be sold by Thomas Man 1600 TO THE WORshipfull Master Iohn Felton the elder and Master Thomas Manfield Bayliffes of the Towne of great Yarmouth grace and peace in our Lord Iesus Christ IT is fayned of the Poets Worshipfull master Bayliffes Ouid. Metam 11. Riuus aquae Lethes c. that there is a Riuer in Hell called Lethe of which whosoeuer drinketh forgets al that he hath remembred before Whatsoeuer they haue imagined sure it is that the diuell hath an hellish deuice to make the eares of the people drunken with vanities that whatsoeuer instructions haue beene deliuered vnto thē yet for the most part they are soone forgotten and the remembrance of them no more to be found I will not condemne them for so weake of memorie as Massula was who forgot his owne name or so dull of capacitie as the Thracians that could not reckō aboue foure yet sure it is the small profite and practise that ariseth by the preaching of the word argueth the drynesse of their brains or that God speaks once and twise and man regardes it not Many there be which will goe to heare sermons but few that can goe to remember them could wee as well remember as wee can heare no doubt Christianitie would flourish as the vine-tree and bring forth plenty of fruit but because it is otherwise sermons being once preached become as musicke vnto vs delighting our eares onely for a time but being ended their sound vanisheth away Therefore though I may seeme to adde more fulnes to the sea I haue published and in publishing enlarged this sermon which was once preached before you that if your memory faile of that which was then deliuered the eare may heare it again and the eye see it and the mind conceiue it and the soule receiue and taste the benefite thereof Efficacior lingua quā litera Barnard Ep. 66. and though it bee now lesse perswasiue then when it was pronounced by the gesture and countenance of a liuing man yet wants there not to answere it that you may reade and read it againe meditating thereon not once or twise but often Many wise and learned haue prudently and painefully laboured in this course and the world floweth with diuersitie of Bookes as the sea with varietie of fishes and therefore mine might haue well beene spared yet was the argument of which Ispake so fitting to the time when I spake that lest we should be as forgetfull of these instructions as it seemes wee are of those rumors of warres and troubles which then sodainely befell vs I haue ventured to acquaint you with the same matter againe and to make the benefite thereof more publike which then was but priuate to your owne eares Now because you are the men whom the Lord hath made his lieutenants ouer this towne next vnder her Maiestie Num. 27.17 to goe in and out before this people I haue made you the patrons of this my simple labour as you are Patrons ouer those for whose benefit it was preached and is now published both to leade them forth and to bring them home that the congregation of the Lord might not bee as sheep without a shepheard And euen as the Loadstone doth by a secret operation and vertue attract yron vnto it so your vertuous and religious minds entertaining and patronizing this may with the Loadstone draw others of the iron sort and those of baser mettall then your selues to entertaine receiue and peruse it to their comfort being garded with the countenance and credite of your names If any Christian receiue profite by it Iam. 1.17 let him who is the Father of lights and giuer of euerie good and perfect gift and the encrease of these which are vnperfite haue the prayse thereof there shall none of his glorie cleaue to my fingers neither is that which I haue done for any earthly respect or worldly consideration for I haue had that which I expect and more I neither looke for nor desire Onely this that the Lord in his mercy would grant Oculus sceptrum Emblē Egyptiac quo Magistratuū regimen desig Psa 2.9 that as he hath set you on high and graced you with the gouernment of this people so your eye your scepter may be ioyned together that first you may be quick-sighted to discerne sinne and sin being discouered to bruise it in peeces with your scepter of gouernement that iudgement may prayse you in the gate and Iustice aduaunce her selfe in the great congregation that vnity peace and concord may be established vertue godlines and religion furthered that the preaching of the word may more and more flourish worke mightily in the harts of the people for their conuersion Mat. 4.13 and that Yarmouth may be with * So the word signifies Capernaum euen a place of repentance scituate by the seaside The Lord euen the most mightie God inflame your worshipfull zealous hearts with a care hereof that during the heate of the day and the time of your gouernement ye may be Paragons to those which went before and examples to as many as shall follow And thus I commend you vnto the Lord and to the word of his grace which is able to build you further and to giue you an heauenly inheritance among them which are sanctified in Christ Iesus From the Priory in Yarmouth Oct. 24. 1599. Your VVorships in the Lord William Yonger A SERMON PREACHED AT great Yarmouth The Text. Ieremiah 4.14 O Ierusalem wash thine heart from wickednes that thou maist be saued how long shall thy wicked thoughts remaine within thee THe purpose of the Prophet in the former part of this prophesie Worshipfull and well beloued is to worke conuersion in the hearts of the Iewes Eccles 4.12 and because as Salomon sayes A three-fold coard is not easily broken so to the end that hee might with greater force more vehemencie draw them thereunto hee hath twisted and twyned together a three-fold cord an argument of a triple force and efficacie to moue them to repentance First from the consideration of his benefits and mercies bestowed vpō them in the second and third verses of the second Chapter Secondly from couenants and promises made vnto them in the fourteenth verse of the former Chapter Thirdly from iudgements and threatnings denounced against them in the seuenth verse of this Chapter where the Prophet saith Verse 7. The Liō is come vp frō his den the destroyer of the Gentiles is departed and gone forth to lay the land waste and the Cities shal be destroyed without an inhabitāt So that you
that art in this case How often would I haue gathered you together euen as the hen gathereth her chickens vnder her wings but you would not Thus the Lord reasons with vs beloued Many fruits of his blessings haue you tasted of both by sea and by land from time to time hath hee sent home your shippes ballanced with the riches of the Ocean as if they came laden with treasures from Egypt for which the Lord encrease not only plenteousnes within your vessels but euen thankfulnesse within your bowels Many excellent and powerfull instructions haue beene deliuered vnto you by the mouths of his seruants the Prophets All this hath beene to this end to gather you together vnto the Lord his blessings temporall and his graces spirituall haue beene as two hands to draw you home vnto him but as yet for ought wee see you will not Therefore looke vnto it if the like should befall you as here to Ierusalem either in this place by Nabucadnezzar and the Caldeans or there by Titus Mat. 23.37 and Vespasian that your enemies should entrench your towne and enuiron you round about that hunger and famine should tirannize ouer your bodies whereas now plentie sits at your doores to welcome your friends that the sword of some forraine Nation should shorten your dayes whereas now the sword of good Magistrates is carried before you if your houses of pleasure should become your prisons if your louing wiues should be deflowred and your tender infants murdered in the streetes before your faces If this or a greater euill should befall which the Lord in his mercie turne away beloued is it not iust shall wee challenge God of his equitie or charge him of iniustice and say Lord why hast thou done this surely no many times sayth the Lord would I but you would not for I am a God mercifull gracious long-suffering and of great goodnesse but the more I was mercifull the more you were sinfull the more I was gracious the more you were gracelesse the longer I was in suffering the longer were you in sinning and the greater I was in goodnesse the greater were you in transgression therefore because I then would but you would not perhaps now you would but I will not Bethink your selues of your estate present bethinke your selues what may befall O Ierusalem c. Secondly Ierusalem the elect Citie of God most holy most glorious built vpon holie mountaines no Citie in the world comparable thereunto Ierusalē Metropolis Iudaeorum Nico. de Lyra gloss ordina Esay 2. Mich. 4. as well for the loftinesse of the seate for the temperature of the ayre for the moderation of the heauens and fruitfulnesse of the soyle and yet all this serues not so much for the credit of it as that The Scepter went forth from Sion the word of God from Ierusalem It was the onely place of Gods onely worship the Lord had a delight to haue his name there neither had any more priuiledges more teaching or preaching then they had yet for all this they wanted perseuerance they could not continue vnto the end yea these which should haue bin schoolemasters to al other Nations round about them for knowledge Yet see the testimonie that God giues of Ierusalē Ch. 5.1 Run to and fro in the streets of Ierusalem behold now enquire in the open places if ye can find a mā or if there be any that executeth iudgemēt seeks the truth I wil spare it saith the Lord. Loe my beloued not a righteous man not a faithfull soule it seemes found in Ierusalē either amōg their princes or among their people Doctrine Whereby we learne that howsoeuer wee haue the word of God preached and the heauenly oracles of his will reuealed vnto vs from the bosome of the almightie by the mouthes of his Prophets and other priuiledges and prerogatiues giuen vnto vs which God hath not vouchsafed to other Nations yet cannot wee challenge this priuiledge and prerogatiue of perseuerance So likewise the Churches of Cōstantinople and of Ephesus excellent priuiledges they had and great prerogatiues they were graced with yet could they not perseuere vnto the end Vse 1 Well the vses in a word that wee are to make hereof are diuers first in that Ierusalem thus priuiledged and blessed could not perseuere it serues to teach vs that in any place which the Lord hath countenāced with the preaching of his word if the hearts of the people bee not set to obey the Lord will giue no blessing vnto it If preaching practizing bee not ioyned together if the Gospel obediēce walke not hand in hand if Gods word our workes if the light of his Gospel and the light of our godly conuersation be found asunder alas wee may with Esau deceiue our selues Gen. 26. and thinke to haue a blessing when wee shall hit vpon a curse Therefore let vs not content our selues with the outward sound of the word if the inward obedience of the heart bee absent though wee bring our Bibles to Church vnder our armes it is not that will make vs good Christians if our hearts be not set to obey but wee must ioyne the outward ministerie of the word and the inward obedience of the heart together no sooner must the Lord open his mouth but wee must open our eares drinke the sound of his word into the secrets of our harts which may become mightie and by the operation thereof make vs fruitfull vnto saluation Vse 2 Secondly in that Ierusalem could not continue perseuere it serues to teach vs that wee which haue had the excellent benefit of his word and by the beames of his glorious Gospel haue beene enlightned in the wayes of saluation Gal. 5.1 1. Pet. 2. wee must as Paul admonisheth vs standfast and not bee as variable cloudes in the ayre that are carried about with a tempest but stedfast constant and confident in the profession of the Gospel For if wee prooue either faint-hearted or faithlesse hearted Christians if it bee sayd of vs as Paul sayd of the Galathians Gal. 5.7 Apostatas Ye did runne well in the race of Christianitie but now yee slide backe our end shall be worse then our beginning for it had beene much better that wee had neuer learned the truth nor knowne the way of righteousnesse then after wee haue knowne and learned it to returne with the dog to his vomit and with the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire Vse 3 Thirdly 1. Cor. 10.12 Non locus persona dignitas priuilegia aut immunitates possūt nos ab ira Dei eximere in that Ierusalem could not perseuere it teacheth vs that of the Apostle Wee which thinke wee stand must take heede lest wee fall let vs not boast of those priuiledges and blessings that God hath enriched vs with for were they neuer so many or neuer so great Ierusalem had more and greater yet though shee was highly in
prophanation of the Sabboth amongst vs doe not Absaloms adulteries runne for meriments in our age and haue wee not those fitter for the companie of Sodomites then for the societie of Christians and behold yet and yet greater abominations then these Are these the fruits of the Gospel is this the issue and effect that Gods word hath wrought in vs these fortie yeeres haue we answered the Lords expectation in the smallest measure of obedience as hee hath answered our desires in the greatest measure of his mercies Surely no. Oh beloued what then remaines for such vnprofitable fig-trees Cut them downe cut them downe sayth the Lord burne them in the fire So much for the first poynt the person exhorted and the instruetions thereof Nowe followeth the second poynt namely the thing required Wash thine heart from wickednesse THe Prophet doth here touch Ierusalem to the quicke Quid lauandum Fons vita when hee comes to the heart which as Phisicions say is the fountaine of life it is the first thing that liueth and the last thing that dieth in a man The heart is like an Instrument if it bee in tune and well struug Dulce melos it makes a sweete melody but if it bee out of tune all the parts and powers of minde and body are out of course Or as the stone of Scyros Plin. lib. 36. Cap. 17. if it bee cast whole into the water floteth and swimmeth aloft but if it be parted and diuided it sinketh to the bottome so is it with the heart so long as it bee kept whole and vndistracted why it swims and all things runne currant with it but if broken or diuided it sinketh like lead It may bee compared to the apple of a mans eye which will be troubled with a little moate so is the heart tender of it selfe and will bee disquieted with a rebellious affection or looke euen as a steele-glasse is bright and pure yet the breath of ones mouth will dimme it so is the heart a thing in it selfe bright and pure yet are there many wicked and contagious vapours in the soule that dimme and obscure the integritie thereof When God looked downe from heauen Gen. 6.5 Hee saw the wickednesse of man was great on the earth and did God behold but the earth onely surely yes hee tooke a view of mans heart also and there hee found the heart and not the heart onely but the thoughts of the heart and the imaginations of the thoughts the mother her daughters and their children euill and not onely euill but onely euill and cuil continually Aboue all things sayth the Prophet man hath an vnfaythfull heart as deepe as the deepe sea nothing can sound it as wide as the wide world nothing can contain it as large spacious as hell it self who can find it out If a man possessed as much ground as euer the deuil shewed the son of God frō the high mountaine if hee had the whole world yet could mans heart containe another if he had two worlds in his possessio yet the heart of man would bee casting for a third therefore it is worth the noting that which Philip of Macedō is reported to haue obserued in himselfe when by wrastling he had takē a fal in the sand and seeing the impression of his body therin was thereby as it seemes by his words brought into consideratiō that a smal parcell of groūd in comparison but a spā of earth cōtained his body but the whole world were it much wider thē it is sufficed not his couetous heart Wel whatsoeuer the hart of mā is I leaue vnto God the searcher of all harts to examine whatsoeuer Philip of Macedons couetous heart was the harts of those which in the time of Noah were swept away with the waters of the floud yet here we find Ierusalē hath a wicked hart so wicked that vnlesse it bee purified purged and washed with the waters of repentance destructiō vpon destruction is proclaimed against it verse 20. Wash thine heart from wickednesse Where first of all wee note that our repentance must bee like the repentance of Niniueh it must begin with the King hee must first arise from his throne and throw away his costly robes and couer himselfe with sackcloth and ashes and then proclaime the like to his subiects and inferiors that is to say the heart which sits in the body as a king in his throne and hath all the inferior powers at commaund when Ionas shall denounce iudgemēts and the Lords ministers proclaime repentance it must first rouze and raise vp it selfe and when that begins the inferiour parts are easily brought to order therefore sayth the Prophet Wash thine heart from wickednesse not thy face or thy hands or thy feete or thy vpper garments but thy heart O Ierusalem Simile Our hearts may bee compared to the rudder of a ship or the ballance of a clock the ship wee know is a great and an vntoward vessell and if it bee left to it selfe vpon the seas it runnes to a thousand dangers but let the rudder be well guided and the whole bodie thereof with all that belongs therto is directed without hazard so if the heart go aright it goeth not alone but all the parts and powers of the soule and body immediatly follow in the same safetie Simile euen as a clock if the ballance thereof stirre all the other instruments and weights follow in a good course but if that stand still euerie one of the rest goe out of order so let our hearts moue and step forward in the course of Christianitie all the instruments and members of the body will goe onward likewise but if the heart stayes the body stirres not but standing still is the apter to receiue any corruption Well the instructions that wee learne from hence are diuers First in ∣ struction first in that wee must beginne with the heart it teacheth vs that true repentance standeth not in outward behauiour in outward ceremonies or in a ciuill kind of life but it must arise from the heart Wee cannot chase wickednesse from our eyes from our hands from our tongues or from our feete if first it bee not chased from the heart for the eye may bee wicked the hand may bee wicked the tongue may bee wicked and the feete wicked but the heart is the seate of wickednesse it is a fountaine of iniquitie the streames wherof ouer-runne the whole body therefore to good purpose is that of Ioel Vena scin datur cordis Ioel 2.13 Rend your hearts and not your garments and turne to the Lord your God because it was the maner of the ancient times when any were possessed with griefe and discontent to rend their garments manifesting by their outward behauiour their inward sorrow as in the example of Dauid for Saul 2. Sam. 1.11 and for his sonne Absalom 2. Sam. 10.31 2. Sam. 13.31 of Ioab for Abner and of other Now lest this ceremonie
preuent this imminent distres which was euen at their shore ready to assault them is swiftly to saile away in the waters of repentance euerie man to betake himselfe to his oares of true contrition and inuocation vnto God to labour painefully in the sea of their sinful hearts though they be well washed drenched with the waues thereof for their owne safetie and preseruation Wash thine hart from wickednes Ve Deus te in fauorem recipiat That thou mayest be saued In the handling of which I will first speake of the sence of the words secondly of the vse For the first the word in the originall signifieth Salutem opena opitulationem A versu quinto either safetie helpe or aide and here it may fitly beare a double sence first by the relation of matter going before for in the former part of this Chapter many iudgements are exemplified by many figures to come vpon Ierusalem by Nabuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans who shoulde cut them downe with the sword lay their land waste Now this being so the Prophet stirs vp Ierusalem to repentance that she may be saued that is to say In this common calamity and iudgement which is to fall yet that she may be secure and safe from the touch thereof and bee restored to the fauour of God and therefore that the faithfull among them should not despaire but rather lift vp their heads and cheare themselues with a hope of safety in time of danger as also to crosse the crooked generation of hypocrites shewing that there is no way to appease Gods wrath by any shiftes but by true conuersion which must beginne at the hart Or thus Repent that thou mayest bee saued in the day of iudgement by the redemptiō of Christ because without repentance there is no saluatiō And so for the sence The vse followes vse 1 In time of daunger or of prosperity or whensoeuer is any thing sweeter vnto vs then our life or more precious then the breath of our owne nostrils Why sayes the Deuill when hee enformed against Iob Iob. 2.4 Skinne for skinne and all that euer a man hath he will giue for his life Be it a life of sorrow miserie and vexation yet naturally wee loue it better then death Tanti est contemplatio coeli lucis ipsius c. So wee may beholde heauen and the light thereof in our owne estimation it is so much worth that we are content to endure any miserie for it I will appeale to no other witnesses at this time then to the Gibeonites Iosuah 9.24 who did that which they did and became slaues to the hoast of Israel For feare of their liues they were content to endure any slauerie and bondage so as they might escape with life And therefore that action of Cleombrotus may seeme strange that reading Platoes discourse of the immortalitie of the soule fell from the top of an high wall of purpose to breake his neck the sooner to attaine to immortalitie Howsoeuer this action of his as one sayes was Potius magnè factum quà m bene factum a great act rather then a good acte It seemed likewise that Achaemenides the vnfortunate companion of Vlisses Comes infoelicis Vlissis Virgil. Spargite me fluctus vastoque immergite ponte 1. King 19. little regarded the benefite of life and thought it rather a glorie to die so it might bee manibus hominum in some manlike manner And that of Elias in the sacred volume sauoreth much to this purpose It sufficeth Lord take away my soule from me let me not liue any longer to bee eye-witnesse of that miserie that Iezabel hath thretned vnto me Well howsoeuer to let them passe that are so weary of their dearest friend sure it is euerie thing in nature desireth being from the greatest to the smallest and this great benefite repentance brings with it life in the middest of death safetie in time of calamitie preseruation against iudgements deliuerance in time of danger O Ierusalem if when Nabuchadnezzar shall come as a fierce Lion from his den the Chaldeans as cruell Tygers to deuoure thee when mine indignation shall be thy portion to drinke and whē destruction vpon destruction shall befall for the execution of my vengeance yet if thou wilt be saued when others must be destroyed here 's thy remedie Wash thine heart from wickednes So you see the Prophet reasoneth with them a fructu poenitentiae from the benefites arising from repentance To giue you the taste of it in a word If the seas which are as a girdle to this Iland enuironing and encompassing the same about were at our command or that the Lord should put the raines and gouernment of the mightie waters into our handes that wee might rule them as wee list for the subuersion of our enemies or that our land were walled with brasse and strengthened with the strongest defence against our Nabuchadnezzar of Spaine and our enemies the Caldeans Yet would not all this make so much for our safetie as if we had repentance in our hearts a speciall antidote against any iudgement In deed we feare the forces of our forraine foes and we may iustly but our greatest enemies are our home-bredde sinnes We stand quiuering and shaking vnder the rod of his Iudgement the feare whereof hath so possessed vs that we runne hither and thither and are almost at our wits end as if there were no God to goe before the shields of Israel What is the cause hereof Alas our guilty consciences doe accuse vs and we can not but confesse howe iust our destruction is For were wee penitent sinners and at peace and reconciliation with God we should not neede to feare what man can doe vnto vs but till sinne be remoued out of our hearts and our iniquities as rebels cast out of our soules vntill wee become penitent for the manifest manifold transgressions of our liues alas we must yet liue in feare of the Spaniard neyther may we feare Spayne alone but euen the heauens and the starres in the heauens to sight against vs Iudg. 5. as they fought against Sisera the earth and the creatures on the earth to plot out our subuersion for the Lord will vse them as his men of warre against vs and make them at vtter defiance with vs. Nay wee may feare our hands which we account as our dearest friends for he can make them as the hands of Saul I. Samu. 31.4 euen instruments of our owne confusion If therefore wee will haue peace in our land betwixt Spayne and vs wee must labour for peace in our consciences betwixt God and vs. If we would haue Gods Iudgements remoued from vs wee must labour to remooue our sinnes which are the cause of them and then will the Lord passe his word vnto vs that wee shall bee saued Prou. 16 17. To depart from euill saith Salomon is a fortresse and a bulwarke to preserue the righteous from Iudgements If the whole
world with engines of warre threatened our confusion yet if wee were engrafted into Christ and made one with him betwixt whome there is nowe as great a separation as Abrahams gulfe Luk. 16. by reason of our manifold sinnes and transgressions there is no doubt but his louing countenance and mercifull eye should euer be vpon vs his right arme stretched out for our defēce Wil any mā hurt the apple of his owne eye and not rather to be tender ouer it why we are as the apple of the Lordes eye Will a man cast off or dishonour the signet of his right arme why we are his signet wil a man vse violence to the wife of his own bosome who is one flesh with himselfe why we are the Lords spouse Cant. 5.1 he hath made vs one with him and therefore may looke for protection and defence at his handes and not for strokes and violence as if our God were a stranger vnto vs had neuer giuen vs pledges of his loue Thus as you see the danger that we may iustly feare by reason of sinne so likewise the comfort and confidēce that we may haue if we become penitent for our sinne Therfore which of these two makes greatest for our safetie iudge you Vse 2 Secondly to speake of saluation by the redemption of Christ who gaue his bloud once for our rāsome it is a thing generally desired of vs all Reu. 1.5 heb 9.14 Gen. 27. nay many make claime vnto it as Esau did vnto the blessing yet must go without it The way that leadeth thereunto is narrow Mat. 7.13 and scarse one amongst a number findes it we are as lame creeples we cannot so much as get to the beaufull gate except we be carried Act. 3.2 much lesse into the temple it selfe vnlesse our lamenesse be taken away There is but one way vnto it and that is by repentance he that seekes saluation Gods kingdome any other way takes a wrōg course it will not be got either with pleasure or profit all the gold of Ophir the treasures of Ezekias or the riches of Salomon will not buy it onely repentance will so farre preuaile that thou mayst be saued And therfore Christ told the Iewes who thought thēselues priuiledged and therfore condemned the Galileans Except you repent Luk. 13.3 ye all shall likewise perish Therefore beare this principle in mind for it stands as firme as the pillers of heauē that without repentance there is no saluation And thus much for the Exhortation it selfe and the parts thereof First the person exhorted Secondly the thing required Thirdly the end Now followes the reason Howe long shall thy wicked thoughts remayne within thee THis is an argument vsed by way of complaint wherein if you remember we obserued these 5. poynts First the circumstance of time wherewith the argument was enforced How long Secondly the thing which the Lord complaynes of they are thoughts Thirdly the qualities they are Wicked Fourthly their continuance they remayne Fiftly the place of their abode is within vs. Concerning the foure latter though we may compare our selues to the sea into which all the riuers of the earth runne is neuer the fuller so though all the instructions in the Scripture be applyed vnto vs yet many are neuer the better and therefore necessary to handle these seuerally Diuision which would minister excellent matter vnto vs yet let it suffice to fasten onely vpon the sence of the Prophet and deliuer from them ioyntly such instructions Coniūctū as flow from the words themselues for our edification Quovsque But first for the circūstance of time How long A word of great consequēce It implyes thus much Is it not sufficient O Ierusalem that I haue borne with sinne so long and doe you thinke me still able to endure it Haue I but hitherto winked at your iniquities and will you yet and yet vexe my righteous soule Is this the fruite that my long-suffring brings forth in you Wert thou borne sinful and wilt thou dye sinfull Is there no place for repentance Howe long shall thy wicked thoughts remayne within thee Thus the Lord reasons with Ierusalem and with vs. And surely it is fearfull that our sinne should growe to such an height and iniquitie waxe so ripe that the Lord should thus cōplaine of it Howe long When God sends Iudgements vpō vs the fingers of his wrath fastē either on our bodies or goods whē pestilence came with cōmissiō frō the angry God of heauen to attach our sinfull and rebellious carcasses and the bodies of our sonnes and daughters when we feared to draw our breath in the streetes lest we should haue drawne our confusion and not an haires-breadth there was betwixt vs and death when the vnsatiate mouth of the graue still craued for more and neuer thought it had inough and spared not to swallow vp our sweetest comforts when day by day we followed our friends with weeping our neighbours with mourning our nerest kinsfolks with lamētation to bring them the way of all flesh whē death was as a tyrant amongst vs Mors tyrānns Cicero and the pestilence as an vnmercifull souldier that spared none then beloued what did we Surely we cried cried How long Lord Lord how lōg wilt thou absent thy selfe hiding thine eyes from beholding and stopping thine eares from hearing the wordes of our complaint How long Lord wilt thou giue vs gall to drinke and fill our soules with bitternesse as with wormwood Lord how long how long Lord shall it be thus or thus with vs Thus we pressed the eares of the Lord with our how long and he heard it He looked downe from heauen and beheld the sorrow of the sonnes of men vpon earth He commanded his Angell to stay his hand clearing our ayre frō infection and seasoning our ioynts with health Thus did the Lord helpe vs when we could not helpe our selues But alas he cryes and complaynes of our wicked thoughts sinfull liues and adulterous conuersations but we giue him not the hearing Loe beloued our vnequall hearts and the vnkindnesse wherewith we requite him who so kindly hath dealt with vs. Let. God complayne but we will not complayne He cryes Howe long We cry with Salomons sluggard Not long inough Yet a little more sleepe a little more slumber a little more folding of the armes together Iudg. 1.15 ios 15.18 And as Achsaph in the booke of Iudges was importunate for riches and neuer thought her selfe satisfied so is it with vs when wee haue committed one sinne we thinke we may commit a second and that being done we will yet venter vpon a third If wee liued one hundreth yeeres we could be content to liue another so wee may liue to sinne when we haue liued two yet we thinke it not enough Well let vs in the feare of God slake the thirsty desire thereof and labour to ridde our selues of it for he that hath fewest
sins in the day of Iudgement shall find hee hath too many and let vs weigh the Lords cause in our owne ballance that as we thinke we may iustly complaine when the weight and burden of his iudgementes are vpon vs so let vs thinke the Lordes complaint equall when the weight and burthen of our sinne is vpon him Esay 1.14 Vse 2 Secondly this How long is like Cynthius to pull vs by the eare and admonish vs how we spend our time for God wil haue a reckning of euery idle houre that we spend therfore it should teach vs to walke circumspectly as the Apostle speaks Eph. 5.15 redeeming the time that what time soeuer heretofore hath beene ill spent wee may haue an eye to the time to come that it may be well spent for we know not whether we haue fortie dayes respit allotted vnto vs as the Niniuites had but sure an happy thing is it for him that hath time place for repentance and wofull will it be when the whole course of our life is spent in vanitie and profanenesse and in the ende and vpshotte thereof the Angell of God shall answere vs Time shall bee no more Esau had a time when hee might haue repented but being ouerslipt he had no place for repentance Heb. 12.17 though he sought the blessing with teares These times are not allotted for the bodie but for the soule Rom. 13.11 And now is the time not of pleasure or delight but of saluation if euer we will haue it Therefore let tempus vitae be tempus poenitentiae let the time of our life bee the time of our repentance So much for the circumstance of time How long Now it followes How long shall thy wicked thoughtes remaine within thee HE the hath plāted the eare doth not he heare he the hath created the eye doeth not he see the thoughts of the heart Man can but iudge of actions and outward appearances onely but the Lord knoweth the heart Penetrat Deus vsque ad ine timos recessus cordium Psa 139 15. There is nothing hidden from God eyther in heauen or earth or within the reynes and hearts of our bodies or of the lowest destruction but he seeth it with eyes ten thousand times brighter then the Sunne My bones are not hid from thee sayth Dauid though I was made in a secret place and fashioned beneath in the earth And in the 94. Verse 7 Psalme speaking howe the wicked smote the Lords people and troubled his inheritance slewe the widdowe and murthered the fatherlesse it went to his heart to heare them say Non respicit Iah The Lord shall not see it As if their wickednesse could shrowd it selfe from the all-seeing eye of his eternall Deity They are not onely our actions and words that are apparent vnto the Almightie Thoughts but the thoughts of our heart whether they be good or euill Thus the LORD sawe Ierusalems thoughts Wicked and he beheld them wicked according to that of the Prophet The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men Psal 94. that they are but vayne or vanitie it selfe Verse 11 Quod ipsae sunt vanitas traiectio And Gen. 6.5 The Lord sawe the imaginations of the thoughts of mans heart euill The thoughts of the heart are like vnto a gadding seruant whē he should employ him selfe to his masters busines at home he runneth and rangeth after his own pleasure so when our thoughts should bee attendant to the heart for the seruice of God they are here and there and abroad after their owne vanities nay many marre them Cogitationes vanitatis sic Cal. super ter as foolish parents doe their wanton children by too much cockering and fauouring of them and by giuing them too much liberty without restraint but suffer them to followe their owne lusts winding themselues so much into fauour with vs that they preuayle so far as from an vnchaste imagination the body is carried into an vnchaste action and from a proud an angry thought comes forth many times a blasphemous othe yea they will vrge and presse vs onward vnto euill wee can no sooner shake off a wicked thought but with the Egyptian flye it will light vpon vs againe Genes 6.14 Therefore as God commanded Noah to pitch the Arke within without that no water should get in so shoulde wee pitch the arkes of our soules that no violent and disordered thoughtes might rush in to oppresse vs or as wee hedge our vineyardes from wilde beastes so shoulde we hedge our heartes with the graces of the Spirite from vnruly and vntamed affections not to giue them the least ground of aduantage but to obserue that heauenly principle of an heathen Poet Principiis obsta Withstand beginnings because they may bee compared to Panthers who haue sweete smelles but deuouring mindes and the conceite of a wicked thought may seeme pleasing and delightsome but in the ende it deuoures like a two edged sworde Captains Mat. 8.9 Wee should bee masters of our thoughts as the Centurion was ouer his seruantes that when wee say to a wicked thought Goe it should depart and when to a good thought Come wee should then embrace it But if with deceyte Ios 9.23 like the Gibeonites they get themselues within vs and like hypocrites fayne themselues otherwise then they are let vs with the hoste of Israel set them to hew wood and to draw water employ them to the seruilest and basest duties or rather slay them out of hand lest the Lord slay vs for they be not the actions or words onely of the oppressour adulterer or proud man that shall be punished but he will scatter the proud or any other whatsoeuer in the imaginations of their hearts Cogitationibus cordis ipsorum Luk. 1.51 for our thoughts wee must come to Iudgement Well the Lord heere deales with Ierusalem as a Physicion with his patients who prescribes such a medicine for their maladies that hee would not any corruption should bee left behind whereby they might either seeme lothsome vnto him or deceyue themselues with a vayne hope of securitie when there is no such matter For what though the whole world had iudged well of Ierusalē or though by any outward ceremonies they had seem'd conformable if still the thoughts of iniquitie had * Pernoctare hospitari murmurare sic enim hebraice significat lingred in their wicked hearts which would haue bene as an inward corruption festering in a woūd and in the end haue brought greater miserie vpon them Instru ∣ ction 1 Where note that when we see any Iudgement ready to fall vpon vs in the matter of our repentance wee must deale with simplicitie and not to dreame of any shift or vayne excuse to beare vs out against any Iudgemēt whatsoeuer we may doe with men yet must we deale in singlenesse of heart with the Lord for there is neyther thought any shift excuse or