and Antiochia and Constantinople and the rest in the Eastern Empire but passing thence into the North and from thence with the Gothes and Vandals into Germany and France and Spain and Italy yea into Africk too had infected all Churches in the West Which makes Hierome say that the whole world groaned and marvelled to see her self become an Arrian an Arrian sate in Peters chaire the head of the Church that great Melchisedeck whose Priesthood is not to be compared to any other their God and their Lord the Pope himself rather then he would die in the defence of the Gospel subscribed to Arianisme surely the whole Body must needs goe wrong when the head did thus miscarry This plague endured not for some small moment like the Macedonian Empire which was but a Flash and gone but for the space of three hundred years and upward Where was now the true Church amongst the Arrians which oppugned the Doctrine of the Nicene Synod in sundry councels and expelled the Orthodox Bishops and enjoyed their rooms and instead of the true Christ worshipped an Idol of their own inventions or rather in a few miserable and forlorne wretches which remained in prisons and wildernesses and Mountains and dennes and Caves of the Earth as was the case of the Church at that time so was it in the time of Wicliffe and Husse for then the Devill had for a long time been loosed and Antichrist was in the height of his pride and the light of the Gospel was raked for up in the Ashes of Popery in so much that that which Nazianzen spoke in the oration against the Arrians might fitly have been applied against the Papists Where be those that object poverty unto us and boast of their prosperous Estate this is another mark of the Popish Church Where be those that define the Church to be a multitude and set at nought a little Flock and yet if multitude should beare the bell away the Papists should not have any such cause of triumph as they wll beare the world in hand that they have There are at this day foure Religions in the world if the name of Reâ—igion may bee given to them all Judaisme Paganisme Mahumetanisme and Christianisme of all these Iudaisme is the least but Paganisme exceedeth all the rest Mahumetanisme which is a mixture craftily composed of the other three both in largenesse of Countreys and multitude of people goeth beyond all Christendome for it hath not only seated it self in the whole Turkish Empire and the large kingdomes of the great Sophi but spreadeth abroad in many places of the vast dominions of Tartarie Cathaia and China almost unto the Easterne Ocean and what it hath of latter years gained in the West wee feel partly in the miserable distresâ—e of Hungary and Transilvania and have just occasion â—f greater feare if the Lord out of compassion to his poor Church shall not overthrow the plots of that proud Senacherib and put a â—ook in his nose and a bridle in his lips and carry him back again the same way that hee came Nâ—w for Christianisme amongst those that pâ—ofesse the name of Christ there are not above a third part that are Papists for the Russians together with the Reliques of the Greek Church the Armenians and the Christians that are under the Emperour of the Abassens doe exceed the number of all those which hold the Principles of the Romish Church The Protestants come not much behind them for howsoever within these hundred years the Moone did suffer such an universall Eclipse that a man would have judged she had lost her light and the Lords flock was but like a few grapes after the Vintage is ended here a grape and there a grape on the outmost boughes Yet since it pleased God to stiâ—re up the heart of Martin Luther to stand at open defiance with the Italian Goliath which reviled the Israel of God she hath every day recovered her light the Gospel that was then hid under a bushel is become like to Davids Sunne which cometh forth as a Bridegroom out of his chamber and rejoyceth as a Gyant to runne his course the professors of the Gospel have wonderfully increased so that now their sound is gone through the earth and their words unto the ends of the world There is no place in the Globe of the earth where Christ is professed which hath not some Protestants Italy the very Center and sinke of Popery and the seat of the great Whore when Iezabel hath done what she can in murthering the Lords Prophets will affoord seven thousand men which have never bowed the knees of their hearts unto Baal In France wee have a farre greater number in Germany the major part almost all Polonie all Denmarke Swethen Norway Britain and all the Islands in the Northern seas which have taken the military Oath to fight under Christs standard If these be not equall to them yet consider on either side such as know the Principles of Christian Religion and can give an account of their faith and we have a farre greater number for the common people amongst them are stupid and blind and do no more understand the mysteries of their salvation then Pagans and infidels or those in the Acts who being demanded of Paul whether they had received the holy Ghost made answer that they never heard whether there was an holy Ghost or no. And little marvel for many of their Priests do no more understand their Masses which they mumble dayly in their Churches then Balaams Asse understood his own voice It is enough for them to believe as the Church believeth though they know no more what that is then did Bellarmines Collier who being demanded what he believed quoth he that which the Church beleeveth being again demanded what that was answered the same which I beleeve Herein we will not think much that the Papists exceed us Bellarmine may give good measure if hee draw the dregs and all but Austen will teach him another lesson Noli numerare turbas hominum incedentes latas vias implentes crastinum circum civitatis natalem clamando celebrantes civitatem ipsam male vivendo turbantes noli illas attendere multi sunt quis numerat sed pauci per viam augustam incedunt Chrysostome will teach him that not in numeri magnitudine sed in virtutis probitate consistit multitudo It was a prety stratageme of the Roman Captaine when his Souldiers were few in number to make every man draw a bough in the drie dust that so the Samnites with which he was to encounter beholding them a farre off might believe that his Armie was greater then indeed it was we are no such dastards as to be afraid of every withered branch that can rayse up dust into the ayre if the Papists purpose to match us with multitude let them bring such as have some skill to handle their
hangeth over your heads like Damocles his sword for our iniquities flatter your selves no longer in your own sinnes but turn unto him by speedy and unfained repentance that he may repent him of the evill and turn away his plagues from you let the wanton leave his dallying and the drunkard his carrowsing and the Usurer his biting and the swearer his blaspheming and the oppressor his grinding and every one amend one in time before the Lords wrath be further kindled then will the Lord be mercifull unto this land he will quickly turn the sowre looks of an angry and sinne-revenging Judge into the smiling countenance of a milde and gentle Father Hee will take the rodde which he hath prepared for you and burn it in the fire These plagues which do hang over you for your iniquities he will blow away with the breath of his nostrils as he did the Egyptian Grashoppers into the red-sea hee will command his destroying Angel to put up his sword into the sheath he will open the windowes of heaven and powre down a blessing upon you without measure Then shall you be blessed in the City and blessed in the field blessed at your going out and blessed at your comming in and whatsoever you put your hands unto shall be blessed your sons shall grow up as Olive branches and your daughters shall bee as the polished corners of the Temple Your grounds shall so abound with grane that the tillers shall laugh and sing your garners shall be full and plenteous with all manner of store your presses shall abound with Oyle and wine your sheep shall bring forth thousands and tenne thousands in your fields Every thing shall prosper nothing shall stop the current of Gods blessings there shall be no decay nor leading into captivity and no complaining in your streets and which is better then all these he will give you faithfull and painfull Pastors to feed you his spirit to comfort you his word to instruct you his wisdom to direct you his Angels to watch over you his grace to assist you and in a word He will be your God and you shall be his people thus shall it be done unto all those whom the King of heaven shall honour so that all the world shall wonder at your felicity and say Blessed be the Lord which taketh pleasure in the prosperity of his servants and happy are the people that be in such a case yea blessed are all they which have the Lord for their God thus will he be with you and direct you in the desert of this world till he bring you into a faire and goodly place the promised land a land that floweth with better things then abundance of Milke and Honey the celestial Paradise the heavenly Canaan the kingdome of glory prepared for you from the beginning of the world even that kingdome where the King is verity the Lawes charity the Angels your company the Peace felicity the life eternity To this kingdom the God of all mercy bring us for his sake that bought us with his own blood to whom with the Father and the holy Spirit three persons in trinity and one God in unity be ascribed all honour and glory power and Majesty both now and for evermore Amen TO THE Right reverend father in God the Lord Bishop of CARLILE RIGHT REVEREND WHen I preached at Carlile at the last Assises I made no other account but that my sermon should like Aristotles Ephemeron have died the same day that it took breath Since which time I have been intreated by divers to make it common to whom I would not yield the least assent as doubting that their desires proceeded rather from affection towards the speaker then from a sound judgement of the things spoken But when I perceived how distastfull it was to some that beare Romish hearts in English breasts I resolved as David did when Michal mocked him for dancing before the Arke to be yet more vile by publishing that unto their eyes which before was delivered to their eares hoping that the more it displeaseth them the better acceptance it shall finde with the true Israelite Which now at length I have effected So as that before they heard it or at least heard of it so now they may read it And if I have evill spoken let them beare witnesse of the evill but if I have said well why doe they smite me It seems to them a meere calumniation to say that there is no probability that a Papist shall live peaceably with us and performe true and sincere obedience towards our Prince To whom I might returne the short answer of the Lacones to their adversary Si if it were so my speech was not to no purpose because not only rebels to the King but much more to God and his true worship and service are to be rooted out of a Christian commonwealth And if those be worthy a sharpe censure which agreeing with us in the fundamental points of Divinity cannot away with the carved worke of our Temple but cut it downe as it were with Axes and Hammers how much more those Sanballats and Tobiahs that strike at the foundation thereof and say of it as did the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem down with it down with it even to the ground But I rather say O si I wish it were so and that there were no feare of danger by their meanes and devises But this I doubt cannot be effected unlesse there be I will not say with the Oratour a wall but a sea between them and us Till then there is as great probability of peace between us as there was of old time between the Catholicks and the Donatists the Orthodoxall and the Arians the Hebrewes and the Aegyptians the Iewes and the Samaritans Immortale odium nunquam sanabile vulnus And for true loyalty and faithful obedience there is as great probability as that the two poles shall meet The King and the Pope are two contrary masters none can truly serve them both Either he must hate the one and love the other or he must leane to the one and despise the other The obedience which either of them requires is so repugnant that they cannot lodge within one breast This loyalty which our adversaries do outwardly pretend is but equivocal no more true loyalty then a dead hand is a hand it wants the very forme and soule if I may so speak of true dutifulnesse which is to perform obedience voluntarily and with a free heart for Gods cause as to Christs immediate Vicar over al persons within his dominions It is with some secret reservation till their primus motor the man of sin upon whom their obedience depends shal sway them another way rebus sic stantibus the state standing as it doth donec publica bullae executio fieri possit untill they may have power and strength to resist So that I may use the same words unto them which
when God writeth thy sinnes in dust wilt thou write thy Brothers in Marble When he forgiveth thee ten thousand talents wilt not thou forgive thy Brother an hundreth pence If thou wilt be indeed his Sonne be like unto him be pitiful tender-hearted full of mercy and compassion if thou be angry beware that thou sin not by speedy revenge if thy wrath be conceived in the morning and perchance increase his heat with the Sunne till mid-day yet let it settle with the Sunne at afternoon and set with it at night Let not the Sunne go down upon thy wrath if its conception be in the night use it as the harlot used her child smother it in thy bed and make it like the untimely fruit of a woman which perisheth before iâ— see the Sun to this purpose remember that the Citizens of this Jerusalem are at unity amongst themselves the stones of this temple are fast coupled and linked together the members of this Body as they are united in one head with the nerves of a justifying faith So are they knit in one heart with the Arteries of love The branches of this Vine as they are united with the boale from whence they receive nutriment so have they certain tendâ—els whereby they are fastned and linked one to another Now if without compassion thou seekest thy brothers hurt thou dost as it were divide Christ thou pullest a stone out of this Temple thou breakest a branch from this Vine nay more then so thou cuttest the Vine it self Virgil tels us that when Aeneas was pulling a bough from a miâ—tle tree to shadow his sacrifice there issued drops of blood from the boale trickling down unto the ground at length he heard a voice crying unto him thus Quid miserum Aenea laceras jam parce sepulto parce pias scelerare manus the Poet tels us that it was the blood of Polydorus Priamus his sonne which cried for vengeance against Polymnester the Thracian King which had slain him in like manner whensoever thou seekest the overthrow of thy Christian Brother and hast a desire to revenge thy self of him as hee had to pull a bough from the Tree think that it is not the branches but the Vine thou seekest to cut down Think that Christ will count this indignity done to his members as it were done to himselfe Think that thou hearest him cry unto thee after this manner jam parce sepulto parce tuas scelerare manus imbrue not thy hands in my blood hand cruor hic de stipite manat it is not the branches thou fightest against Nam Polydorus ego I am Jesus whom thou persecutest I am now come near to a point which I have pressed heretofore in the other publick place of this citie therefore I proceed no further but turn aside to my second general point observed in this verse which was Jerusalems miserie The Tree is very fruitful and I am but a passenger and therefore must be contented to pull two or three clusters which I conceived to be the ripest and the readiest to part with the boughs which when I have commended to your several tastes I will commit you to God First the Paucity of true Professors if ye can finde a man or if there be any Secondly the place where In Jerusalem Thirdly that God will bring his judgements upon her because of her wickednesse not expressed but necessarily understood From these three I collect three Propositions from the first Gods flock militant may consist of a small number from the second There is no particular place so priviledged but that it may revolt and fall from God from the third No place is so strong nor city so fenced but the sins of the people will bring it to ruine Of these three in order Gods holy Spirit directing me and first of the first God made all the world and therefore it is great reason that he should have it all to himself yea and he challengeth it as his own right The gold is his and the silver is his and all the beasts of the field 〈◊〉 his and so are the cattel upon a thousand hills and the Heavens are his for they are his Throne and the earth is his for it is his footstool and the reprobate are his for Nebuchadnezzar is his servant and as Judah is his so is Moab likewise but in another kinde of service in a word The earth is the Lords and all that therein is the compasse of the world and all that dwell therein but not in that property which is now meant for that belongs only unto men and yet not unto all but to a few which are appointed to be heirs of salvation God made all men so that they are all his sons by creation but he ordained not all to life so that there is but a remnant which are his sons by adoption our first Father did eat such a sowre grape as did set all his childrens teeth on edge by transgressing Gods commandment he lost his birth-right and was shut out of Paradise by committing treason against his Lord and King his blood was stained and all his children were made uncapable of their fathers inheritance but God who is rightly termed the Father of all mercy and God of all consolation as he purposed to shew his justice in punishing the greater part of such as so grievously incurred his displeasure so on the contrary side it was his good pleasure to shew his mercy in saving of some though they deserved as great a degree of punishment as the other and therefore in a Parliment holden before all times it was enacted that the natural son of God the second person in the Trinity should in the fulnesse of time take upon him mans flesh and suffer for our transgressions and gather a certain number out of that Masse of corruption wherein all mankinde lay these be they which shall follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth these be his people and the sheep of his pasture these be they which have this prerogative to be called the Sons of God and the heirs of God annexed with Christ and these are they which I affirm to be often contained in a very narrow room in respect of the wicked There is much chaffe and little wheat it is the wheat that God keeps for his garner there are many stones but few pearls it is the pearl which Christ hath bought with his blood Many fowls but only the Eagles be good birds Sathan hath a Kingdom and Christ but a little flock it is like to Bethleem in the land of Judah but a little one amongst the Princes of Judah it is like to Noahs flood going and returning like the 〈◊〉 flowing and ebbing or like to the Moon filling and waining and sometimes so eclipsed and darked with the earth that thou canst not perceive that Christ the son of righteousnesse doth
to doe according to all that they enforme thee Deut. 17. Beside this the law was there more diligently then in other places expounded the Prophets did reveale Gods secrets unto the people and by thundring out the Canons of the law did strive to weane them from their evill wayes and by the promises of the Gospell tâ— woo them unto God the Iebusites which before time God had permitted to dwell amongst them that they might be thornes in their eyes and prickles in their sides were now extirpated so thaâ— they could not choke the word of God which was sowne amongst them and make it unfruitfull Was there ever Citie upon the face of the earth which had such a Charter as this the Citie where God had promised to be resident where was the Arke of the Covenant and the glorious Temple which Solomon had built at Gods appointment where the Kings of Iudah had their abode where the Law and the Prophets were diligently read and expounded unto the People where all points of difficulty were handled where was the Priests Palace whither the whole land had recourse out of their severall Tribes as unto the place where men ought to worship it was a heaven upon the earth and a type of that glorious City which is above and is Ierusalem so fallen from God can there not one righteous man be found within her walles is the holy citie become so wicked is the faithful Spouse becom a harlot are her Princes become rebels her Judges murtherers her gold dross her charitie oppression her ripenes rottennes her almesdeeds al-mis-deeds Hath the leprosie of sin so infected every part of her body that from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head there is nothing whol therein but wounds and swellings and soresful of corruption what need we go further for proving our conclusion for as he speaks in Tully Either this is enough or I know not what wil suffice If you would have topical arguments after such a demonstration as this I could lead you through many places of invention which would manifestly confirme my assertion I could shew you the Churches of Galatia and Philippi and Corinthus which Paul had plantâ—d Apollos and other Disciples had watered and God had wonderfully encreased I could instance in Smyrna and Pergamus and Laodicea c. In which the Evangelist Iohn had so painfully laboured in Constantinople and Ephesus and Nice and Chalcedon famous for the generall Councels in Carthage and Hippo and other Churches of Africke in Anticohia the first God-mother of Christians and in a word in all the Easterne and African Churches in which so many Worthies have flourished What is the case of these particulars at this day behold they are fallen as though they had not been planted as though the seed of the word had not been sown amongst them as though that stock had taken no root in the earth the Lord hath blowne upon them and they are withered and the whirl wind hath taken them away like stubble the abomination of desolation let him that heareth it consider it sitteth in their holy places which are now nothing else but as it were an habitation for Dragons and Courts for Ostriches instead of the Sacred Bible they have entertained the blasphemous Alchoran their Mophâ—i Mezin and Antippi and such Idolatrous Mahometans have gotten the rooms of the ancient Fathers What and are these also fallen then let her that thinketh shee standeth take heed lest shee fall I meane that strumpet which advanceth her selfe above the starrs of God which saith I am and none else and sings with Niobe in the Poet Sum foelix I am in a happy estate and there shall no harme happen unto me which with Laodicea thinketh that she is rich and encreased with goods and needeth nothing where as indeed as anon you shall heare she is wretched and miserable and poore and blind and naked Nineve had such a conceit of her selfe and did so farre presume upon her strength that she thought it had been impossible for all the powers of the world to bring her under the hatches And therefore the Lord bids her looke upon the state of Alexandria a stronger Citie then Nineve and yet she was destroyed Art thou better saith he then No which was full of people that lay in the rivers and had the waters round about it whose ditch was the sea and her wall was from the sea Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength and there was no end Put Lubin were her helpers yet was she carried away and went into captivitie The same may be said of Rome suppose that none of these cities which I have last mentioned may paralell with her is she better then Jerusalem which was seated upon such strong bulwarkes as already hath been mentioned yet she fell from God and moved the holy one of Israel to anger against her grant unto her all that she can claim and she will be sure to lack nothing for want of challenging for she is not unlike to him who could not espie a ship floating upon the seas but presently said it was his and more then all the Papists in the world can prove to be her due yet she hath no more to brag of then had Jerusalem is she the mother-Citie of all other and the Metropolis of all Christendome So was Jerusalem in respect of the Inhabitants of Iurie Which at that time wer the only people which God had chosen Are all others to appeal unto her as unto their supream Judge in matters of difficultie so were Jewes unto the high court of Ierusalem did Peter the Prince of the Apostles the porter of heaven gates remove his chaire from Antiochia and placed it at Rome so did the Lord his tabernacle from Shiloh to Ierusalem hath Rome the head or chiefe Bishop of all christendome Ierusalem had the like is she the keeper and dispenser of the Lords treasurie So was Ierusalem doth she challenge a freedome for persevering in the truth Ierusalem had better grounds to doe the like and verily as Rome doth at this day flatter her self with a false application of universall promises So did Jerusalem Abraham is our father we are the Children of Abraham this is my rest forever the scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from under his feet the temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord this is the Temple of the Lord. All her titles that she can any way lay claim unto will not make her better then Ierusalem which became such an Apostate that not one godly man could be found in her So that she cannot challenge any priviledge to her selfe from falling to the like wickednes that which happens to the one may befal the other Uâ—lesse she can deal with the truth as the old Romanes handlâ—d dâ—d the goddesse 〈◊〉 who after they had wâ—ne the field used to â—ippe her wings that she might not
fellowes Come and bring wine and wee will fill our selves with strong drink and to morrow shall be as this day and much more abundant But few or none will say with those good professors Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob and he will teach us his lawes and we will walk in his paths I think I cannot truly say with Hosea that the Lord hath a controversie with the inhabitants of this land because there is no knowledge of God in the land For our heads are not so sick as our hearts are heavie I mean our heads are not so void of knowledge as our hearts are of obedience but I dare boldly say that which followeth By swearing and lying and killing and stealing and wâ—oâ—ing they break forth and bloud toucheth bloud Will you heare the judgements annexed in the subsequent words Therefore shall the land mourne and every one that dwelleth therein shall be cut off This is a terrible curse and he that dwelleth in heaven still avert it from u but yet it is a conclusion which the Lord useth to inferre upon such premises Give me leave to repeat a paâ—able unto you My beloved had a vineyard in a very fruitfull hill and he hedged it and gathered the stones out of it and he planted it with the best plants and hee built a Tower in the midst and made a winepresse therein The Prophet in that place applieth it to the land of Judah Surely the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the land of Israel and the men of Judah are his pleasant plants me thinks I may not unfitly apply it unto this Island Surely the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the land of Britaine and the men of this land are his pleasant plants Now therefore O ye inhabitants of this land judge I pray you between him and his vineyard what could hee have done unto it that he hath not done He hath planted it with his own right hand he hath so hedged it about with his heavenly providence that the wilde boare out of the woods cannot root it up nor they that go by pull off his grapes He hath watered it most abundantly with the dew of heaven he hath gathered the stones of Popery and superstition out of it hee hath set the winepresse of his word therein hee hath given it a Tower even a king as a strong tower against his enemies whose raigne the Lord continue over us if it be his pleasure as long as the moon knoweth her course and the sun his going down and let all that love the peace of Britaine say Amen Now he hath long expected that it should bring forth grapes but behold it bringeth forth wild grapes Hee looked for judgement but behold oppression for righteousnesse but loâ— a crying These were the sinnes of Jerusalem and you know her judgements hee that was Jerusalems God is Britaines God too and therefore if shee parallel Jerusalem in her iniquities let her take heed shee taste not of her plagues God though he hath not yet begun to punish her in his fury yet hath he sundry times shaked his rod of correction over her if this will not worke amendment her judgement must be the greater Fearfull was the case of Samaria whom Gods punishments could not move to repentance I have given you cleannesse of teeth in all your Cities and scarcenesse of Bread in all your places yet have ye not returned unto me saith the Lord God I have withholden the raine from you when there was yet three moneths to the harvest and I caused it to raine upon one City and brought a drought upon another yet have yee not returned unto me saith the Lord. Pestilence have I sent amongst you after the manner of Egypt and yet ye have not returned unto me saith the Lord. I have smitten you with blasting and mildew c. yet ye have not returned unto mee saith the Lord God The Lord hath not hitherto dealt with us after our sinnes nor plagued us according to the multitude of our iniquities yet he hath made it manifest that he is displeased with us His mercy hath pulled back his hand from drawing his sword of vengeance against us yet he hath left us sundry tokens that he is angred with our sinnes It is not long since that the heavens were made as brasse and the Earth as yron nay the very waters became as yron or as brasse so that neither the heavens from above nor the earth or water from below did afford comforts for the service of man This extraordinary cold distemperature of the ayre might by an Antiperistasis have kindled some heat of zeal and devotion in our breasts when it had not the expected effect then he Called for a dearth upon the land and destroyed our provision of bread even such a famine that if we were not relieved from forrain countreys Ten women might bake their bread in one Oven as the Lord speaketh Levit. 26. 26. But all this hath not brought us upon our knees nor humbled our soules before our God therefore once againe hee hath put life in his messenger of death and set him on foot which hertofore of late years hath raged in this city like a man of warre and like a gyant refreshed with wine and bestirred himselfe though not with the like violence almost in every part of this kingdom I mean the pestilence that walketh in the darknesse and the sicknesse that hath killed many thousands at noon day all these are infallible tokens that he is offended with our sinnes Howbeit he is so mercifull that he will not suffer his whole displeasure as yet to arise Horum si singula duras Flectere non possunt poterint tamen omnia mentes If each of these by themselves cannot prevaile with us yet if they be all put together they may serve as a threefold cord to draw us unto repentance If these be not of force but still we continue to blow up the coales of his anger then let us know for a certainty that they are the forewarners of a greater evill as the cracking of the house is a forewarning of his fall these be but the flashing lightnings the thunder bolt will come after The cloud that is long in gathering will make the greater storme he is all this while in setting his stroke that hee may give the sorer blow Eurum ad se Zephirumque vocat hee is in bringing the windes out of his treasures that hee may rain upon our heads a showre of vengeance which shall be the portion of all the ungodly to drink I began like a Barnabas I will not end like Boanerges my song had an Exordium of mercy I am loath to bring for an Epilogue a thunderclap of judgement Wherefore my beloved Brethren now that you see the true causes of the ruines of every common-wealth and the judgement that
be afraid to commit any sinne so that he may be rewarded for his pains And how can it be otherwise for hee is like an hunger-starved man which will do any thing so that he may satiate his appetite Covetousnesse like the pit of hell is never satisfied and like the barren wombe it never saith I have enough Quo plus sunt potae plus sitiuntur aquae the more bloud the two daughters of the horsleech shall suck the more eagerly they cry out give give This barren and dâ—y earth is never satisfied with water nec sitim pellit nisi causa morbi Nothing will content this dropsie but that which more augmenteth the disease as nothing wil satisfie the fire but that which more augmenteth the flame He is like unto him that hath the Caninus appetitus the more he eateth the more he hungreth Some Physitians say that gold is good for him that is in a consumption but I never read that it is good against a surfeit But experience proves it true that a gold-hungring man doth not onely long for this metall when hee is in a consumption but farre more when he hath taken a surfeit through abundance congesto pauper in auro est The richer the poorer his mind hungereth as much for gold as Dionysius his belly hungred for flesh who used to stand all the day in the shambles quod emere non potuerat oculis devorabat That which he could not buy with his penny he devoured with his eyes And here that comes in my mind which Herodotus recordeth of Alcmaeon the Athenian who because he had kindly entertained the messengers which Croesus sent to the oracle of Delphos Croesus sent for him and offered him asmuch gold as at one time hee could bear out of his treasure house Alcmaeon not a little glad of the offer prepared a large doublet with wide sleeves a paire of breeches reaching down to his heeles both of them fitter for Hercules then for himselfe This done he went to Croesus his coffers and first filled his breeches as full as he could stuffe them then his sleeves and bosome then glued as much as he could to the haires of his head and beard and then lastly stuffed his mouth with as much as he could thrust in it and so with much adoe crept out of the treasure house This sinne as of all men it is to be avoided so especially of magistrates which sit at the stern to direct our ship in this glassie sea and which are the pillars of justice to support her battered fabrick Yee must not give it the least welcome in your hearts but like the wise traveller stoppe your ears at the songs of this Syren and not give it the least attention though it charm never so cunningly You should have eyes like unto Lynceus to dive into the bottome of the most deep and abstruse controversies Now hope of reward blindeth the eyes of the wise so that as a blind man which hath a pearle upon his eyes cannot see his way but stumbleth at every block and falleth headlong into every pit right so if you shall have this rich pearle this pearle of riches before your eyes you can never tread right in the way of truth The eye or any faculty of the sensuall or intellectual part if it be busied about any one object neglecteth the rest and if your eyes be exercised about this object it will make you negligent in publike affaires Intùs apparens prohibet alienum if the species of gold possesse your hearts there will be no room for justice to lodge in them For these two be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non benè conveniunt nec in unâ sede morantur They can no more lodge within the same breast then light with darknesse the arke with Dagon God with Mammon It was Caesars saying borrowed from Euripides in his Phoenissa If justice must be broken it must be for raigning But he might more truly have said for gaining For gold could never away with justice and therefore the Poets faine that when gold first began to be digged out of the earth justice durst tarry no longer but presently fled into heaven Therefore jethro describing the quality of a good judge saith that he must deal justly or truly and then he addes as it were by way of explication for the better understanding of the former word that he must hate covetousnesse as if he had said if he be a covetous and gold-thirsting man he cannot be a true and just dealer And to this purpose David prayeth Psal 119. that the Lord would encline his heart to his testimonies and not to covetousnesse 7. Now as this insatiable desire of gaine is not to sit on the bench with the judge so is it not to plead at the barre with the counsellor which with the key of knowledge is to unlock the secrets of the law and with as skilful and expert hand to untie the knots of hard and difficult questions It will make him Pharisee-like to straine a Gnat and to swallow a Camel to tith the mint and cummin and to let passe judgement and fidelity it will make his tongue play fast and loose with justice at its pleasure A golden key commonly opens a wrong lock Auro loquente nihil pollet quaevis oratio When Pluto speaks Plato may hold his hand on his mouth like Harpocrates the Egyptian God and say nothing It is a great commendation which Tullie gives unto a Lawyer The mouth of a Lawyer is an oracle for the whole city But if this mouth be once corrupted with gold it will prove like the oracle of Delphos of which Demosthenes complained in his time that it did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speak nothing but what Philip which gave it a fee would have it to say And such an oracle Demosthenes himself sometime proved who being feed to plead a cause and immedatly after receiving a large summe of money of the other party for holding his peace the next day comes into the court in a rugge-gowne having his neck and jawes all muffled with furres and warm cloathes and told the Judges he was troubled with a squinancie that he could not speak Whereupon one that perceived his disease said that it was not a cold but gold that hindered his speech 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Oxe I warrant you was in his tongue The Athenian coyne which was stamped with the forme of an Oxe had bunged up his mouth no marvel if hee was speechlesse 8. But especially this sin is to be avoided of you that are witnesses and jurors which are the one by testifying the other by examining the truth to make a finall decision of controversies If you shall entertain any such thought as to say with Judas What will yee give me yee shall be sure to find some Simon Magus ready to say What shall I give you Falsity and lying have ever been
gather them under her shadow there shall the vultures also be gathered every one with her mate Seek in the book of God and read none of these shall fayle For more confirmation hereof consider the subversion of Abbies they were founded by religious men in their generations to a good purpose their situation was as the garden of the Lord like the land of Egypt as thou goest unto Zoar as Moses speaks of the plaine of Jordan before the destruction of Sodome and Gomorrah they stretched their towers up to the heavens like the Pyramides of Egypt but behold the Lord hath wiped them as a man wipeth a dish which he wipeth and turneth up side downe They are now the fittest places for the raven to build in habitations for Dragons and courts for Ostriches they stand but as Aristotle saith quod stat movetur they stand so as they are moving to a fall in the plasantest vallies of the land as the reliques of Babel in the vallie of Sinar or like a cottage in a vineyard like a lodge in a garden of cucumbers and like a besieged and defaced city dropping down by joynts as a thief rotteth from the gibbet What were their sinnes which brought so heavy a judgement upon them suppose they were as they were indeed the sinnes of Sodome pride fulnesse of bread mercilesnesse towards the poor and abundance of idlenesse Now if these sins of some few or suppose the greater part certain it is that all were not such som were industrious som humble som merciful towards the needy some of a moderate and spare dyet if these sinnes I say brought so heavy a judgement upon those houses that they are in comparison of that they were before like the stump of Dagon when his head and the two palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold in Ashdod or the remainders of Jezabel when the hungry dogges had eaten her up so that there was no more found of her then the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands insomuch that none can say this is Jezabel these be the houses they were before shall we think that their houses shall continue for ever which turn Bethel into Bethaven the house of God into a house of vanity which take the childrens bread and cast it unto dogges which with the consecrated things of the altar maintain their own pompe feed their Hawkes their Horses keep but I stay my self 18. After the Church-robber comes the grinding oppressour another great plague which sits sore upon the skirts of our land He saith unto his gold thou art my God and to the wedge of gold thou art my confidence And instead of counting godlinesse great gain he accounteth gain great godlinesse he addeth house to house and land to land as if the way to the spiritual Canaan laid all by land and not through a red sea of death He brayeth the people as in a mortar and grindeth the faces of the poor He selleth the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of shooes he eateth up the poor as if they were bread Vtpisces saepe minutos Magnu ' comest ut aves enecat accipiter As a Pike devoureth the little fishes and as a goshauk kils the smaller birds hee gathereth the livings of the poorer sort into his own hands as the great Ocean drinketh the rivers hee enhaunceth his rents and pilleth his poor tenants and doubleth yea treableth their fines telling them with young Rhehoboam that his little finger shall be heavier then his fathers loynes Not contented with this cruelty he thrusteth them out of their houses and depopulateth whole townes and villages making those streets which used to be sown with the seed of men Pastures for the sending out of bullocks and for the treading of sheep One justly complaineth of our English sheep that whereas in former times they were the meekest beasts of the field and contented themselves with a little are now become so fierce and greedy that they devour men and town-fields and houses and villages and lay all waste insomuch that that which the Psalmist speaketh of Israel spoiled by his enemies may be verified of our Jacob also They have devoured Jacob and laid waste his dwelling places Surely the very stone out of the wall doth cry against these men and the beam out of the timber doth answer it woe unto him that buildeth his house with bloud and erecteth his wals by iniquity While the spleen swelleth the body languisheth and it may justly be feared that if our good Physitian do not in time purge these tumorous and swelling members they will cause a lienterie in the body politick God forbid that this flourishing kingdome which sometime hath deserved that title which Cyneus Embassadour unto Pyrrhus gave unto Rome when he called it a City of Kings should ever deserve that title which one gives unto France when he cals it a kingdome of asses by reason of the burdens that are laid upon the baser sort by their superiours 19 Therefore it behoves you and as many as sit at the sterne of justice not to sleep with Jonas while the ship is tossed with these mighty winds nor to be carelesse in a matter so neerly concerning the good of this Common-wealth Gird you with your swords upon your thighes O yee men of might according to your worship and renown ride on because of the word of truth and righteousnesse and let your right hand teach you terrible things But if you shall be negligent herein surely as Mordecai said to Hester help and deliverance shall come from another place For doubtlesse the crie of the afflicted is already ascended into the eares of the Lord of hosts and he will take the matter into his own hand Believe it it is his own promise Now for the comfortlesse troubles sake of the needy and because of the deep sighing of the poor I will up saith God and will deliver him from such as vex him and will restore him to rest I will prosecute this point no further onely let me tell these locusts that their goods whereunto they trust are but a broken staffe of reed whereunto if a man leane it will peirce into his hand that their pleasures are but as Dalilab was to Samson even gyevs and fetters of Satan to entangle them that their gold will be as a milstone about their necks to carry them down headlong into the pit that their hands and goods are as a bunch upon a Camels back which will not suffer them to enter in at the needles eye the narrow way that leadeth to heaven that those goods which by grinding and oppressing they have scraped together the Lord will fan them away with the fan of 〈◊〉 unlesse as Daniel said to Nabuchadnezzar they break off their sinnes by righteousnesse and their iniquity by mercy towards the poore and that which they
octo pedum He whom the whole earth could not content was at length contented with a parcel of ground of eight yea of six foot long Herod when upon a day he was arrayed in royal apparel and sate on the bench and gave such an excellent charge that the people cried non vox hominem sonat It is the voyce of God and not of man immediatly after proved neither God nor man For he was eaten up of wormes and gave up the Ghost Rare examples for the Gods of the earth to look down into their own bosomes and to remember that they must die as men It is a good custome of the Emperour of the Abyssenes Prester John to have every meal for the first dish that comes on his table a dead mans skull to put him in mind of his mortality So was that which was used by Philip namely to have a boy every day to put him in mind that he was to die as a man Not much unlike was the old practise of the Egyptians who when their Princes went to banquet used to beare before them the picture of a dead man to put them in mind of their mortality 24. Seeing then that ye must die study to have your accounts in readinesse that whensoever the Lord shall call you hence hee may finde you provided Be faithfull in those high rooms wherein God hath placed you Ye execute not the judgements of man but of the Lord. Aske counsel therefore of God and weigh your proceedings in the ballance of the sanctuary Do nothing but what God commands you and the testimony of a good conscience will warrant to be lawful remembring that ye must one day God knowes how soon that day will come be summoned to appear before the common Judge of all flesh who is a burning and consuming fire who is not blinded with secret closenesse nor corrupted with bribes nor moved with friends nor allured by flatterers nor perswaded by the importunity of intreaters to depart anâ— haires breadth from the course of justice no though these three men Noah Daniel and Job should stand before him and make intercession in your behalf These things remember and do and ye shall have comfort in your lives comfort at your deaths And when your souls shall be removed from those earthly cottages wherein they now dwell they shall be translated into everlasting habitations and received with this joyful and comfortable welcome it is well done good servants and faithful ye have been faithful in a little I will make you rulers over much enter into your masters joy 25. Like men It is implied in the conclusion of my text that it is the lot and condition of all men to die And therefore as it concernes magistrates so it concerns all others to provide themselves for their end because as the tree fals so it lies that is as the day of death shall leave them so the day of judgement shall finde them Remember this yee that are to be witnesses for giving testimony unto the truth and jurers for giving a verdict according to the truth And as you love and reverence the truth it selfe as ye desire the benefit of your Christian brethren which ye should love as your selves as ye wish the glory of God which ye should tender more then your selves let it be a forcible motive unto you to deal uprightly in every cause with every man without declining to the right hand or to the left then shall ye sanctifie the name of God by whom ye do swear to speak truly to deal truly ye shall give occasion to good men to praise God for you and ye shall not need to be ashamed to meet God in the face when he shall call you to a reckoning for your doings But on the other side if rewards shall blind you or fear enforce you or pitty move you or partiality sway you or any respect whatsoever draw you to smother the truth and favour an evil cause yee pearce your selves through with many darts For first you are false witnesses against your neighbour secondly ye are thieves ye rob him of his right thirdly ye are murtherers ye kill him in his body or in his name or in his maintenance fourthly and which is worst of all ye take the name of your God in vain yea as much as in you lieth ye take his godhead from him and make him who is the truth from everlasting to be all one with the devil who is a lyar from the beginning If ye must be countable unto God when he shall call you hence for every idle word that goes out of your mouthes and if the least ungodly thought of your hearts in the rigour of Gods justice deserve eternal death how shall ye be able to stand in judgement under this ponderous Chaos of so many crying sins I cannot prosecute this point only for conclusion I say with Moses behold this day have I set before you life and death blessing and cursing choose life and ye shall live If not I pronounce unto you this day ye shall surely perish The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it 26. You whose profession is to open the causes in controversie and by your knowledge in the laws to distinguish between right and wrong truth and falshood remember that ye must die And therefore I beseech you in the fear of God to study to make the cause of your clients sure as that ye do not in the mean time forget S. Peters counsel to make your own election sure I urge this the rather because absit reverentia vero I will speak the truth in despite of all scoffes and I hope such as are ingenious will bear with my plainnesse if as Philip said of the Macedonians I call a boat a boat and a spade a spade because it seemeth to be much neglected by many of your profession who with Martha trouble themselves about many businesses but anum necessariâ—m to meet Christ and talk with him they scarce remember it I remember the saying of Demades touching the Athenians when they refused to make Alexander one of their Gods and Cassander who was his successour threatned that unlesse they would do it he would presently overthrow their city the Athenians said Demades have reason to look to themselves lest while they are too curious about heaven they lose the earth But these men have need to look to themselves lest while they trouble themselves too much about the earth they lose heaven by whose means especially it is effected that our courts do too much resemble the Lyons den which howsoever other beasts in simplicity went flocking on heaps unto yet the fox that found by experience how others sped durst not come near it Quia me vestigia terrent said she Omnia te adversum spectantia nulla retrorsum All comes to them little from them they have as attractive a force for silver as the loadstone
Christ and all others that dissent from her although they do consent with Christ shall be counted and called Hereticks and Scismaticks and Calvinists and Lutherans and Zwinglians and I wote not what even as in former ages the Arians called themselves Orthodoxalls and branded the Catholikes with the name of Hereticks and Homousians and Johanites and Ambrosians and Athanasians and as he that is troubled with the vertigo or swimming in the head thinks that the earth turnes when he stands still whereas the earth stands still and his giddy brains turn as those that sayl from the shore into the maine Sea think that the Land goes back from them when they goe back from the Land So they charge us to have turned from the truth when it is not we but their giddy brains that have turned and to have gone back from the ancient Catholicke and Apostolick Church when it is not wee but they that have run backwards and made an apostasie Heare yet more cause of grief in this little Flock in these North-west parts of the world which at the commandement of Christ is come out of Babylon Alas what a rent have two or three points of difference made and those not of such moment but that a reconciliation might have been made if a charitable construction had been admitted on both sides It 's worthy the observation which the holy Ghost sets downe Gen. 13. 7. when there was debare between the Herdsmen of Abrahams and the Herdsmen of Lots Cattel The Canaanites and the Peresites dwelled at that time in the land whereupon Abraham was more desirous to make a pacification Let there be no strife between thee and me nor between thy herdsmen and my herdsmen for we are brethren So say I let there be no strife between Abraham and Lot between Luther and Calvin nor between the Herdsmen of either side especially seeing it is with us as it was with them the Canaanite and the Peresite dwells amongst us for we are brethren The matters of difference are not such but that they may and I hope will in time be determined in a lawfull Assembly Till then oh let no heat of passion melt the pitch of Noahs Arke no violence of perturbation burst in sunder the threed and knots of Gods net but both endeavour to preserve the communion of Saints and so continue the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace Worthy is that admonition which Saint Austin gives to certaine brethren that did not fully agree in the doctrine of predestination I wish these men would hearken unto it Itaque dilectiss ne vos perturbet hujus quaestionis obscuritas Moneo vos primum ut de his quae intelligitis agatis deo gratias Quicquid est autem quo pervenire nondum potest vestrae mentis intentio pacem inter vo charitatem servantes a domino ut intelligatis orate donec res ipsa perducat ad ea quae nondum intelligitis ibi ambulate quo pervenire potustis St. Paul shall english it Let us as many as are perfect be thus minded and if any be otherwise minded God shall reveale even the same unto you Neverthelesse in that whereunto we are come let us proceed by one rule that wee may mind one thing Phil. 3. 15. 16. To come yet neerer home although peradventure it may befall me as it doth him who stepping in hastily to part a fray gets a broken head for his paines and receives blows from both parties Tamen subibo discrimen I will hazard my selfe pro virili aquam infundam in sacrum hunc ignem I will doe the best I can to powre out my Bucket to quench if I may this holy Fire I meane the fire that is burning in our English Church those hot and fiery flames of contention about Circumstances and Ceremonies Figures and Colours shall I say more toys and trifles if not in themselves at least in regard of many things that are neglected even by those who most oppugn them which might be badges and tokens of unity and consent in our Church yet prove they I know not how like the waters of Massah and Meribah causes of strife and contention and serve to make a rent in the vaile of our Temple even from the top to the bottome and to teare in sunder the seamlesse Coate of Christ Jesus Marke those unchristian speeches cast to and fro and those Books which are by sundry divulged on both sides I except neither and yet I must needs say there is a difference the one maintaining the decency and order of our Church the other striving to beate downe all the carved work thereof as it were with axes and hammers and compare them with the most tart polemicall books that have been written against or for the Papists and you shall find some of them in bitternesse and sharpnesse of style far exceeding them as if their pens were dipped in vinegar and wormwood or their inke were made of the blood of Dragons and the cruell gall of Aspes Yet Michael the Archangle when he strove against the devil disputed about the bodie of Moses durst not blame him with cursed speaking but said The Lord rebuke thee Jude 9 May we not justly exclaim as the Poet did concerning the civill Wars between Caesar and Pompey Quis furor Ocives what madnesse is this quae tanta licentia linguae what mean these unbridled tearms Cumque superba foret Babylon spolianda trophaeis Bella geri placuit nullos habitura triumphos When we should march with joynt Forces against the whore of Babylon shall we every man slay his brother and sheath his sword in his companions bowels Oh that they would remember that generall name which as many have taken as have taken the Military oath to fight under Christs Standard I meane the name of Christian It was thought a good motive to Julius Caesar in the first of Tacitus his Annals to unite the minds of his dissenting Souldiers to call them Quirites Divus Julius seditionem exercitus compescuit uno verbo Quirites vocando And should not the name of Christians be as great a motive to compose those jarrs as Quirites was to the barbarous Souldiers Oh that they would remember that they are brethren not like Simeon and Levi brethren in evill nor like those bred of the Serpents teeth which slew one another as the Poet saith Marte cadunt subito per mutua vulnera fratres But brethren bred in one womb the Church fed with one milk the Word animated with the same spirit governed by the same Lord justified by the same faith watch-men over the same Flock fighting under the same Banner Nefas nocere vel malo fratri puta said he in the Tragedy and Moses thought it a good argument to compose the two Israelites which were at odds between themselves Sirs ye are brethren why do ye wrong one to another If this be not of force oh that they would
with old nor new with new nor new with old nor Schoole Doctor with Schoole Doctor nor Fryar with Fryar nor Priest with Priest nor Jesuite with Jesuite nor Pope with Councill nor Pope with Pope nor one with another nor any with God And therefore as he in Plutarch who when he cast a stone at a Dogg happened to light upon his Step-mother sayd That though it was besides his purpose yet it was not greatly amisse Or as the Printer of a learned Treatise when in stead of Cardinales he Printed Carnales although it was besides the intent of the Author yet was it neither incongruous Latine nor false English So if Bellarmine in setting downe the works and rules of the Catholique Romish Church when he made Vnitas for One if in writing of Vnitas he had over-reached a little with his Pen and added one Vowell more and made it Vanitas though it had been beside his owne intendment yet had it neither been beside nor against the truth this being a proper passion immediately flowing from the principles of that Church and consequently an inseparable mark whereby to discerne her But to leave the Papists and with an exhortation to all to make an end of all Is the whole Church of Christ but one flock then let us all which professe our selves to be members of this Church of what calling and condition soever we be bend all our endeavours nor for our owne particulars but for the peace and good and preservation of the whole even as the members of a mans body which is a fit embleme of Gods Church do not so much tender their owne good as the safety and preservation of the whole and because the bond of this Unity is Peace let it be the care of you that are Magistrates to maintaine peace and of us that are Ministers to Preach peace and of you that are Lawyers to procure peace and of you that are Jurors to conclude peace and let us all with joynt consents pray for the peace of this Jerusalem that plenteousnesse may be within her Pallaces and peace within her Walls peace in matters of opinion and peace in matters of action peace in matters of piety and peace in matters of equity peace with God and peace with our selves and peace with all men remembring that God himselfe is called the God of peace and his Gospell the Gospell of peace and his naturall Son the author of peace and his adopted Sons the children of peace But especially let me intreat yea and as an Embassadour of Jesus Christ charge you that are Magistrates of our Countrey Justices of the peace to make your practice agree with your names I use this exhortation the rather because I may use the same words to you which the Apostle did to the Corinthians It hath been certainely declared unto me that there are contentions among you and one saith I am Pauls another I am Apollos Who is Paul or who is Apollos but the servants of Christ and members with you of the same body let no man so respect one particular member as that he neglect the whole the whole Church militant and so every particular Church is like unto that Ship wherein Paul sayled under the Roman Centurion from Sidon towards Rome Caelum undique undique pontus Shee is amidst a glassie Sea every where beset with dangers Vna Eurusque Notusque ruunt The ayre thunders the winds blow the raine falls the Sea rageth the waves rise and beat upon the Ship Exoritur clamorque virum stridorque rudentum the ropes crack the men cry they are carryed up to the Heaven and downe againe into the deepe so that their soules even melt within them What must be done in this case Every man must shift for himselfe and his freind and leave the Shipp to the mercilesse Seas or as Parnus his Marriners did fall together by the eares about a rotten Shipp-board and hurt and wound and disgrace and displace one another No no but the Centurion must command the Pilot must guide the Compasse Paul must preach the Marriners must row every man in his place all private respects set aside must labour to bring the Ship to Land Let me then with the blessed Apostle beseech you that all injuries forgotten all wrongs forgiven all factions abandoned all contentions and discords buryed yee walke as the Elect of God holy and beloved put on tender mercy kindnesse humblenesse of minde meeknesse long suffering forbearing one another and forgiving one another if any man have a quarrell to another even as God for Christs sake forgave you and above all things put on Love which is the bond of perfection and let the peace of God rule in you and the God of peace shall be with you Once againe for conclusion of all let me with the same Apostle exhort you if there be any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the spirit if any compassion and mercy fulfill my joy my joy nay your owne joy and the joy of all Gods Elect children that yee be like minded having the same love that nothing be done through contention and vaine glory but that in meeknesse of minde every man esteem better of another then of himselfe supporting one another through love endeavouring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace being of one heart and one soule of one accord and one judgement even as the Church whereof we professe our selves to be members is but one Flock and the Governour of this Flock but one Shepheard and the milke of this Flock one Word and the soule of this Flock one Spirit and the inheritance of this Flock one Kingdome and that I may neither add to nor detract from the Apostles words As there is one hope of our Vocation one Lord one Faith one Baptisme one God and Father of all which is above all and through all and in us all consider what I say and the God of Gods give you wisedome to know and a conscionable endeavour to put in practise that which hath been sayd The second Sermon LVKE 12. 32. Feare not little Flock for it is your Fathers good pleasure c. CYRVS when he went against Babylon falling in his way upon Gyndes a Navigable River for his more speedy dispatch he caused it to be cut into many streames and the event was answerable to his expectation for by that meanes he found a safe and ready passage for his Army and Carriages When I first looked upon this River of God in hope of the like event I did the like but the successe hath proved different for whereas I might in an houres space have swimmed it over going in one Channell having cutt it into two streames and divided either into sundry smaller Rivers it hath proved like Elishaes Cloud ever bigger and bigger or like the waters that flowed out of the Temple in Ezekiels vision ever broader and deeper Caelum
us out of darknesse into his marvellous light Aristotle notes of the Eagle whether truly or no I will not dispute that when her Birds are pen-feathered in a hot sun-shining day shee holds their eyes directly towards the beames of the Sun those that cannot endure that intensive light she casts out of her nest as degenerous such as directly eye the Sun she loves and feeds as her owne Hereby it will appeare whether we be Jovis aquila Gods birds or no if we look upward upon the Son of righteousnesse and have our eyes the eyes of our soules fixed on Heaven and heavenly things then are we of this Feather if downwards and have our cogitations Swine-like rooting in the earth and wallowing in the filthy puddle of worldly vanities then are we a degenerous of-spring not worthy to be called Sonnes of such a Father What an absurd and indecent thing were it if a Gally-slave or a Kitchin-boy should have that honour as to be made the adopted Son and Heire of some great Prince and he not considering his high advancement should continue in his former sordidnesse and basenesse of condition Much more undecent it is that a man when he is advanced from a child of wrath and a bondslave of the Devill to that transcendency of honour as to be made a Son of the King of Kings should continue as before in his blindnesse of heart crookednesse of will uncleannesse of affection and perversness of action Shall such a man as I flee said Nehemiah to Shemaiah and shall such a man as hath God for his Father debase himselfe like the Cat in the Fable who being turned into a Gentlewoman kept her old nature and leapt at a Mouse Or like the Popes Asse who adorned with golden Furniture as soon as he came to a Carriars Inne began to smell at a Pack-saddle Cyrus when of a Shepheards Son for so he was then supposed to be he was made a King in a Play began to shew himselfe like a King and Saul when he was annoynted by Samuel to be King had his heart changed He had another heart 1 Sam. 10. 9. Honours change manners if then we be advanced to this high dignity let us be ashamed of our natural basenesse let us have our hearts changed and walke worthy so high a calling not doing our owne will but his who when we were of no strength Rom. 5. nay when we were worse then nothing sent his own naturall Sonne to dye for us that we might be his Sonnes by grace of adoption I urge this point the rather because it is not onely a necessary duty which God requires at our hands but also the most certaine and infallible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Gods child and consequently a matter of the greatest moment in the World upon which depends the everlasting salvation or damnation of our soules If at these Assâ—ses a man shall in a case criminall be convict of Felony perhaps his Book may save him suppose not he at the worst but looses his life for it his soule if he repent is in no danger If in a civill controversie a Verdict shall go against him he looseth but the thing in question but he that hath not God for his Father and none have him but such as work righteousnesse and in holinesse of life endeavour to resemble him looseth all his title and claime to the Kingdome of Heaven and is for evermore in body and soule a Bond slave to the worst Master that ever man shall â—erve unlesse God in mercy shall effectually call him and ingraft him into the body of his onely Son by faith And it is lamentable to see so many Marthaes and so few Maries in the World so many that drowne themselves in worldly imployments and doubt where there is cause and use meanes to clear their doubts and neglect this Vnum necessarium as if it were a matter not worthy the regarding If a mans body be ill affected he will send to the Physician if he doubt of the weight of his Gold he will seek to the Ballance if of the goodnesse of the mettall he will try it by the Touchstone if the title of his Lands be questionable he will have the opinion of a Lawyer but whether he be a Son of God and consequently whether he shall be saved or no he never doubts but whatsoever he doe or thinkes or speaks hee takes it as granted The most wicked and hellish liver who serves no Master but the Devill will as I have â—ayd direct his prayers to God as to his Father others we have whoâ—e practice is farr better being kept from grosse sins by Gods restraining grace our careles and carnall Goâ—pellers our sleepy and drowâ—e Protestants who content themselves with the shadow and let fall the substance of Religion these if they be Baptized and can say that in their Baptisme they were made children of God if they come once or twice in a week to hear Prayers or Sermons if at usual times they receive the Sacrament of the Lords Supper if they give their assent to the Law and the Gospel that they are both true and with a generall faith believe all the Articles of the Creed and withal have a care to lead a civill life amongst men then they perswade themselves their case is good they are sound Christians children of God and sheep of that little flock to whom our heavenly Father will of his good pleasure give a Kingdome But alas a man may doe all these and more then these and be a sonne of the Devill He may do all these 1. He may be baptized so was Simon Magus 2. He may heare the word preâ—ched so did Pharaoh 3. He may receive the Sacrament of the Lords Supper so did Judas 4. He may believe the Law and the Gospel and all the Articles of the Creed to be true so doth the Devil 5. He may lead an honest and civill life amongst men so Socrates and divers Pagans if ye look to the matter of good works have out-stripped many Christians in the practise of sundry morall duties He may do more then all this and be a reprobate and child of the Devill 1. He may be sorry for his sinnes and make satisfaction both these we see in Judas 2. He may confesse them even in particular and desire good men to pray for him both these we see in Pharaoh He may have a delight in the Word and love the Preacher both these did Herod He may for a time be zealous of Gods glory so was Jehu He may be humbled for his sinnes and declare his humiliation by fasting and weeping so did Ahab and the Ninivites Hee may have a certaine tast of faith which much resembleth a justifying faith so had Simon Magus Hee may in many things reforme his life so did Herod and Maxentius Hee may tremble at the threatnings of Gods judgment so did Falix and so doth the Devill Now then how can such drowsie
be a great Eclipse of the Moone signified unto them by a Messenger that he was a Prophet sent unto them from the great God of Heaven and Earth and that if they would not furnish him and his company with such things as they wanted God whose Prophet he was would utterly destroy them In token whereof quoth he the next night at such an houre the Moone shall loose her light they for all this continued in their obstinacy and scorned his threatnings At the houre named the Moone by degrees entring into the shadow of the earth was at length in those parts for a space quite darkened which when the Barbarians saw presently they ran unto Columbus they fell down at his feet they honoured him as a man they worshipped him as a God they offered themselves and whatsoever was theirs to be wholly at his service Verily the Papists do Columbus great wrong who for this witty shift deserves rather the name of a Prophet amongst them then that great Elias of the new World Francis Xaverius for his juggling Tricks in those Parts deserves the name of a waker of Miracles To end this Point Seeing it is a matter of such difficulty to distinguish a true Prophet from that which is false both because they are of things to come the truth whereof cannot be sifted out before the time be expired and though they have naturall causes yet be they such as cannot be known unto men and if they could yet seeing as already hath been proved the Infidels and Pagans have had their prophesies let the Papists prove the gift of Prophesy to be perpetual in their Church which they can never do and let them bring us as great Catalogues of their Prophesies as they do of their Miracles and lying Wonders a thing not impossible to men of such rare invention but let none from these slender Premises infer this conclusion that there is the true Church of God but rather let him undoubtedly beleive that the words of my Text are verified of these men Many shall say unto me at that day Lord Lord have not we by thy name prophesied c. Let us not think that the Precept of the Law was given in vaine If there arise a Prophet or a Dreamer of Dreames and give thee a Signe and a Wonder and the Signe and Wonder which he hath told thee shall come to passe saying Let us follow strange Gods as these men do thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that Prophet for the Lord your God proveth you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your Heart and with all your Soule Deut. 13. 1 2 3. Thus much of the first the second followeth A man may be a Preacher of the Gospell and a meanes of saving others and be damned himselfe I have a long Journey to go and the time allotted me but short so that I cannot stand upon the proofe of this Proposition neither is it needfull I should having no Donatists no Anabaptists to impugne let it suffice to add unto my Text the words of the Apostle Phil. 1. 15. Some preach Christ through envie and strife truly for all that not sincerely else would not the Apostle have added that which followeth I therein joy yea and in that will joy This Sermon upon the Mount of which my Text is a Branch was preached at the Consecration of the twelve Apostles of which number Judas was one whom a while after he sent abroad to preach the Gospell then called he the twelve Disciples and sent them to preach the Kingdome of God and to heale diseases and they went through every Town preaching the Gospell and healing every where Luk. 9. 2. 6. For all Judas his preaching and healing he did not preach unto nor heale himselfe it had been good for him that he had never been born Matth. 26. The first Use and Inference of which let me â—rave your patience to spend some time shall concerne the hearers of the word It may lesson them not to have the truth of the glorious God in respect of persons as Iames speakes or that I may expresse my selfe in other words that they do not forsake or neglect a truth preached because the life of the Speaker is offensive and scandalous Saul may prophesie and Caiphas may prophesie and Iudas may prophesie And many shall say unto me at that day Lord Lord have not we by thy name prophesied Shall not Saul be credited because he is rejected why not is not Saul also amongst the Prophets 1 Sam. 19. Shall Caiphas his prophesie not be esteemed because he took away the life from the Lord of life surely yes for this spake he not of himselfe but being high Priest that yeare he prophesied that Jesus should die for the Nation Ioh. 11. 51. Shall Iudas his Sermons be set at nought because he is a damned Reprobate himselfe surely no For whosoever shall not receive you nor heare your words it was spoken to the twelve of which Iudas was one Truly I say unto you it shall be easier for them of Sodome and Gomorrah in the day of Iudgment then for that City Matth. 10. 14. 15. Oh then shall any man be such an Enemy to his own Salvation as that if the life of his Teacher be misliked he will therefore set at nought the word of God truly though not sincerely delivered what were this but to reject God himselfe as he saith unto Samuel It is not thee but me whom they haue rejected 1 Sam. 8. 7. The word of God is a Touch-stone to try every mans Actions whether they be Gold or Drosse it is a line and squa re to make us fit Stones for Gods Temple Now shall I mislike the Touch-stone because the Gold is counterfeit shall I make fit the Rule for the Stone and so make it a Lesbian Rule especially if it be a rough and unhewed Stone and as yet not fit for that building whereof Christ Jesus is the corner Stone If I be sick unto death shall I refuse physick because I mislike the Physician or because he will not take the same physick himselfe An tibi cum fauces urit sitis aurea quaeris Pocula cum esurias fastidisomnia praeter Pavonem rhombumque When thou art thirsty will thou refuse Drink unlesse it be given thee in a guilded Bowle When thou art hungry will no Meat content thee but Patridges and Pheasants Surely thou hast too dainty a Stomack it commonly falls out otherwise men that are hungry will not refuse wholesome meat though they have no good opinion of the Party that reacheth it and when they are thirsty they will not refuse Drink though it be given them in a woodden Dish Shall a man have a care of his Body and none of his Soule if my Soule be sick unto death shall I refuse physick because the Physician takes it not himselfe or shall I refuse the bread of life and water of life
and peradventure from worse exercise they shall both benefit their hearers and receive at least some tincture of Divinity as he that tarries long in an Apothecaries shop will carrie the smell of it about him and hee that walkes in the Sun will be coloured by the heat of it The second sort is of such as will not my censure must be sharper against these then against the former Hee that hath his Garners full of graine and will not bring it out to the Market in such a yeare as this but rather suffer the people to starve then sell a bushell unlesse he may have an excessive price for it is worse in the judgment of all men then a poore man that doth not furnish the Market because he wants The mother is worse that hath breasts full of milke and will not give suck which the Dragons deny not the young ones Lam. 4. 3. then shee that hath dry breasts and cannot and is not he worse that hath a candle and hides it under a bushell and will not give light then he that is dark and cannot that hath eyes and winks and will not see then he that is blind and cannot that hath a tongue and will not speak then he that cannot because he is dumb It 's true of a Lawyer Scire tuum nihil si te scire hoc sciat alter If every man knew as much in the Laws as the Lawyer doth none would seek unto him for Counsell But it befits a Minister better if a ni be put to it as Persius hath it Scire tuum nihil est nisi te scire hoc sciat alter His knowledg must not be shut up in the Ventricles of his braine like Timons monie in his chest but like that precious oile that was poured on Aarons head it must discend to the skirts of his cloathing the meanest of them that are committed to his charge It must fall from the braine to the tongue and from thence Drop as the raine and still as the dew as the shower upon the Herbs and as the great raine upon the grasse Deut. 32. 2. The Priests lips must preserve knowledge Mal. 2. 7. The Lord hath given me the tongue of the learned to minister a word in season to him that is weary Isa 50. 4. And he that makes no conscience of this is liable to a double curse 1. A curse in his gifts they will rust and canker away The faithfull servant that employeth not his masters talent shall have it taken from him Matth. 25. This idoll Shepheard that feedeth not his flock shall prove a right idoll indeed for as he hath a tongue and speaks not so shall he have eyes and shall not see His arme shall be dryed up and his right eye shall be utterly darkned Zach. 11. ult 2. A curse upon his soule Matth. 25. Cast him into utter darkenesse I am not credulous in believing ill reports of any man especially of a Minister but if it be true which I have heard and by reason of the late Visitation I have somewhat more then a bare report it is to be lamented even with teares of blood that some of extraordinary gifts as they would be deemed and the greater their gifts are the greater shall their judgment be if they be found negligent do scarce once in 12. or 13. years visite a great part of their Flock Their little ones cry for bread and there is none to give them any And in the place where they reside like Atheists very often mew themselves up in their private houses when they should be in the house of God feeding their Flocks and when they go to the Church ordinarily continue there like images without a word speaking and so frustrate their poor hunger-starv'd sheep of their hopes Like as when a barren cloud hangs in the aire in time of a drought and yeelding no drops to water the dry and gasping Earth the expectation of the Husbandman is made frustrate If they afford them once in the year or at most once in the quarter a dish of Strawberries as Latimer spake in the same case it 's a dainty they must hold themselves contented I wish it were as good as a dish of Strawberries and not rather like Caligula's banquet where all the banquetting stuffe was made of gold which did only feed the eye but not the bellie this banquet is not of gold but for the most part of a worse mettall Latin which with a tinkling noise may tickle the eare but never fill the stomack Plinie writes of some people of Mount Atlas that were without names it seems these men think their Parishioners to be without souls or else that the calling of a Minister is not Virtutis exemplum sed vitae adjumentum atque subsidium non munus reddendae rationi obnoxium sed imperium liberum reddendarum rationum metu solutum as Nazianzen speaks Oh beloved brethren that I may speak to all let us beware of these things Let the doing of his will that hath sent us be our meat and drink our joy and crown and the gathering together of his dispersed Flock our game and advantage our names may put us in mind of our duties Conveniunt rebus nomina saepe suis We are called Shepheards If we love the great Shepheard of our soules let us feed his sheep feed his lambs We are watchmen let us stand upon our watch and give warning to the Citie of God of the approach of the Enemie We are lights of the world let us consume our selves that we may inlighten others We are voyces of cryers or crying voyces for Sions sake let us not hold our peace and for Jerusalems sake let us not keepe silence but lift up our words like Trumpets And tell the house of Jacob their transgressions and Israel their sins Let us be like that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nec Dedonaei cessat tinnitus aheni No more should we remembring that strict adjuration of the Apostle I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quicke and the dead at his appearing and in his kingdome preach the word be instant in season and out of season 2. Tim. 4. 1. We are Captains of the Lord of Hosts Let us fight a good fight and resist unto blood striving against sinne Where should a Captain dye but in the field and where should a Preacher die said learned Jewel but in the Pulpit Adde for a second Motive that joy and comfort which will attend us when we shall leave these houses of clay and these earthen pitchers shall be ready to be broken at the Well if our consciences can bear us witnes that we have continued faithful in our Masters service No doubt it was no small comfort to Cyrus when Lysander admired the sweetnesse of his Gardens and fit ordering of trees in his Groves that hee was able to tell him they were his own work and that he had planted them
am vox clamantis a Cryer or Summoner sent unto you from the great God of Heaven Earth who with a mighty hand and out-stretched Arme brought your Fore-Fathers out of the Land of Aegypt and gave them this fruitfull Land which you now possesse who being almighty is able to defend you if you shall cleave unto him and to punish you if you shall neglect his word whose name is JEHOVAH I am yesterday and to day and the same for ever which was and which is and which is to come without change or shadow of change that which I have received from him I deliver unto you Thus saith the Lord Execute Judgement and Righteousnesse As then Judges in their Circuite in the severall Counties where they sit to heare and determine Causes first cause their Commission to be read then give the charge to the Inquest So our Prophet first shewes his Commission Thus saith the Lord and then gives his Charge Execute Judgment And these be the two Branches into which my Text divideth it selfe In the Commission I note that a Prophet and consequently a Minister who in the new Testament is also called a Prophet is an Embassadour sent from God unto the Sonnes of men So saith the Apostle Wee are Embassadours from Christ as though God did beseech you through us we pray you in Christs stead that yee be reconciled unto God 2 Cor. 5. 20. Let a man so think of us as of the Ministers of Christ and disposes of the secrets of God 1 Cor. 4. 1. This shewes the Dignity of this Calling a Calling whether you respect the Author or the Subject or the end as far exceeding all others as Saul in length of body did the rest of the Israelites And surely if the Philosopher could call the Stones happy of which the Altar was builded because they were had in honour when others were troden under feet then much more may they be termed happy whom the Lord hath separated from their Brethren and taken neer unto himselfe to minister unto him if they shall be found faithfull and diligent in so high a calling But here I may justly take up the Prophets Complaint Who will beleive our report If I should dilate on this Subject my words would seem to many as Lots did to his Sonnes in Law when he spoke of the destruction of Sodome who seemed to speake as if he had mocked I appeale to your consciences whether the Vocation of a Priest so the prophane Gulls of this World call it in disgrace be not by many reputed the most base and contemptible Calling in the Land that which the Apostle speakes of our generall calling to Christianity is at this day verified of this particular Vocation not many mighty not many noble are called 1 Cor. 1. The poor and the halt and the lame and such as are good for nothing else are thought sufficient for these things though the Apostle could ask 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who is sufficient do not many with the foolish woers in the Poet Penelopâ—n relinquere ad ancillas confugere leave the Mistresse and become Suiters to her Maids and chuse rather to be of any calling nay of no calling to be idle Hunters riotous Gamesters loose livers to be any thing rather then to be imployed in this great and weighty businesse of being an Embassadour from God unto the Sonnes of men But it s no matter Philosophy suffers no great disgrace because Agrippina will not have her Son young Nero to study it and a Pearle is not a straw the worse because Esops Cock cares not for it Rauca reful gentem contemnit noctua Phoebum Non crimen Phoebus noctua crimen habet The Owle cannot abide the Sun the fault is not in the Sunne but in the Owles eyes that cannot behold it The very Heathen shall in the day of judgement arise against these men and condemn them amongst whom this Calling hath alwayes been honoured for the best Amongst the Phoenicians they wore a crowne of gold Amongst the Athenians none were admitted King that had not been of this Order It was not scorned by the best Senatour of Rome insomuch that Gellius having set down four properties of Crassus which he calls Rerum humanarum maxima praecipua the greatest things amongst the sons of men Quod esset ditissimus quod nobilissimus quod eloquentissimus quod jurisconsultissimus that he was the richest and the noblest and the most eloquent and the best Lawyer that Rome had He adds in the last place as it were a specificall forme restraining all the rest Quod pontifex maximus that he was the chiefe Bishop and Virgil had no intendment to disgrace Amus when he called him a King and a Priest Rex Amus rex idem hominum Phoebique sacerdos And the custome of the old Aegyptians is well enough known unto Schollers Qui ex philosophis sacerdotes and Ex sacerdotibus probatissimum in regem elegerunt who from Philosophers chose Priests and from Priests Kings whereupon their Hermes had the name of Trismegistus thrice greatest the greatest Philosopher the greatest Priest and the greatest King Such an one was Moses the Prince and chiefe of all the Prophets who did not preach to Pharaoh and the Israelites till first instructed by the Lord what he should say Such were the Priests of the Law or at least such they should have been and therefore the Lord saith That the Priests lips should preserve knowledge and That they should seeke the law at his mouth The reason is added because he is the Angel or Embassadour of the Lord of Hosts Such was Ezekiel whom the Lord tells that he had made a watch-man over the house of Israel and that hee should heare the word at his mouth and give the people warning from him Such was Jeremiah who prophesied not to the Jewes till the Lord had touched his tongue and put words into his mouth Finally such were all the Prophets before the coming of the Messias who had this law giuen them that they should teach no more then he had given them in charge Hence be these and the like speeches Thus saith the Lord. The word of the Lord. The burden of the Lord. The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Come to the New Testament and look upon the Apostles and Evangelists surely very excellent things were spoken of them they were called the salt of the Earth the light of the World the friends of Christ they had the keyes of Heaven gates given unto them That whatsoever they bound on earth should be bound in heaven and whatsoever they loosed on earth should be loosed in heaven They were sent to preach to all Nations but not what they would but what they had in commission from Christ Teach to observe all things which I have commanded Mat. 28. 20. Nay Christ Jesus the Son of God the Privy Counsellor of the Father the only Master and Teacher of his Church
did impose this law upon himselfe telling the Pharisees that his Doctrine was not his owne but the Fathers that had sent him Now then if the Priests of the Law if the Prophets if the Apostles if Christ Jesus himselfe did not preach any Doctrine but what they received from God if they were tyed to the word and might not decline to the right hand nor to the left Much more are the Lords Ministers at this day tied not to deliver any Doctrine to their Hearers but what is evidently grounded upon the sacred Oracles of Truth They are to build the Kingdom of Christ to subvert the kingdome of Antichrist to feed the Lords Sheep to drive away the Wolves to comfort the weake and feeble knees to break the brazen and iron sinews of impenitent sinners to sing a song of mercie to penitent and humble soules to thunder judgments to forlorn miscreants To binde and to loose to plucke up and to roote out to destroy and to cast downe to build and to plant but all by the word of God The writings of Heathen men contain in them many excellent precepts of Morality but they are mingled with a number of untruths and vanities The writings of the ancient Fathers are of especiall use in the Church of God but they are not sufficient groun is for me to build my Faith upon them I may no more in all things follow their steps then I may be drunk with Noah or commit incest with Lot or be an Adulterer with David or an Idolater with Solomon or with Peter deny and forswear Christ I say of them all in respect of the Scriptures as Stankarus a Polonian Heretick spake of our Protestant Writers in respect of Peter Lombard Plus valet Petrus Lombardus quam Centum Lutheri c. One Peter Lombard is of more worth then 100. Luthers 200. Melanctons 300. Bullingers 400. Peter Martyrs and 500. Calvins But one plaine sentence of Scripture is more worth then 100. Austins 200. Cyprians 300. Jeremies 400. Ambroses 500. Gregories where their Doctrines are not warrantable by the word of God I say of them as Aristotle did of Socrates and Plato Socrates is my Friend and Plato my Friend but Truth is my greatest Friend And as Austin said of his Country-man Cyprian Cypriani literas non ut Canonicas lego sed ex Canonicis considero quod in ijs divinarum Scripturarum autoritati convenit cum laude ejus accipio quod non convenit cum pace ejus respuo I read Cyprian not as canonical Scripture but I examine his Writings by the canonicall and where I find them agreeing with his due commendations I receive them when repugnant with his good leave I will reject them To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this Word it is because they have no light in them Isa 8. 20. Quest Is it then unlawfull for a Minister to use humanity or secular learning in his Sermon Ans I have known many who have said that a Sermon is too barren and dry and not so learned nor so pleasant nor so powerfull nor so profitable if it consist meerly of testimonies from Scripture without some inspersions at the least of secular learning as if that were dry which is like the Raine that comes down from heaven and waters the earth that it may yeeld seed to him that soweth and bread to him that eateth or any thing were more learned then that which will make a man wise unto salvation or any thing more pleasant then that which is sweeter then honie or the honie-comb or any thing more powerfull then that which is lively And mighty in operation and sharper then any two-edged sword and entereth through even to the dividing of the soule and the spirit and of the joynts and the marrow or any thing more profitable then that which is given by inspiration from God and is profitable to Teach to reprove to correct and to instruct in righteousnesse that the man of God may be absolute being made perfect unto all good works Again on the other side I know many both Preachers and Hearers who distast as much a sentence borrowed from a prophane Writer as the children of the Prophets did of that branch of Coloquintida that was cast into the pot mors in olla One sentence in their conceit spoils a whole Sermon the thing otherwise never so good These men are verily perswaded that Hieroms dreame was in good earnest that he was wrapt into the third Heaven and miserably beaten before the Tribunall seate of God for reading of Tullie which although he writing to a certain Lady who was too much addicted to reading of secular Authors he relates as a story Yet when the same was objected against him by Ruffinus and without question Lactantius and Tertullian and Austin and some others of the Fathers deserved to lick of the whip for this as well as Hierome who were so throughly acquainted with all secular Writers that as he himselfe speaks of some of them a man cannot tell whether he shall more admire them for their secular learning or their knowledg in the Scriptures insomuch that as Julian complained of some of them De aquila pennas evellerent quibus aquilam configerent They pulled quills out of the Eagles wings the Roman Ensign wherewith they wounded and killed the Eagle My resolution then is this As I cannot approve of the former sort so can I not altogether of the latter my reasons are these 1. No Sermon is purum putum dei verbum meer Logick and Rhetorick and humane invention are used in the best and therefore if I shall sometimes borrow a sentence from a secular Writer be it Goats-hair or hay or stubble or call it what you will peradventure it may prove as good as any thing I can bring of mine owne 2. I take it to be a property of a foolish Captaine to scorn to use any stratagem which his Enemie hath used before It 's lawfull for the Hebrews to spoile the Aegyptians so that it be not to make a golden Calfe of the spoile 3. St. Paul himself sometimes brings sentences out of secular Writers as Tit. 1. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an heroicall verse out of Epimenides So Acts 17. We are his generation part of an heroicall verse out of Aratus and 1 Cor. 15. Evill words corrupt good manners a comicall verse out of Menander 4. There is but one truth and Omne verum est a Spiritu Sancto saith Ambrose so that if thou shalt alleadg that it is unlawfull to use it because it dropt from the tongue or penn of a Pagan I will reply that if it be true it is lawfull because it is originally from God but here these cautions are to be observed 1. It must not be a Doctrine but only an Illustration or amplification of a Doctrine 2. It must be sparingly used in popular Congregations 3. As an Israelite when he