GODS VNIVERSAL right proclaimed A Sermon preached at Paules Crosse the 27. of March 1603. being the next Sunday after her Maiesties departure By I. H. 1. PET. 2. 17. Feare God Honour the King Imprinted at London for Cuthburt Burby 1603. ⧠God 's vniuersall right proclaimed PSAL. 24. 1. 2. 1. The earth is the Lords and all that therein is the worlde and they that dwell therein 2. For he hath founded it vpon the seas and established it vpon the flouds THis text for argument of my sermon not selected by curious choice but taken as it was offered by order of my priuate exercise in mine own place serueth yet most fitly for these times For whereas God dwelling in the heauens hath made a great change among vs vpon the earth and hauing called our late Soueraigne Queene to the possession of his heauenly kingdome for her hath giuen vnto vs a most prudent King to succeed in the gouernment of hir earthly kingdome this scripture sheweth that God herein hath done that which rightly he may because the earth and the inhabitants thereof are wholy his and he may bestowe kingdomes aduance gouerners and commit nations to be ruled at his pleasure Yea if it be lawfull for vs paruis componere magna and to obserue the similitudes and agreements that be betweene an earthly and a spirituall kingdome which is not forbidden to Christian modestie then this whole Psalme seemeth vnto me a scripture fit to be handled in this time in publick to honour as it were with some diuine ceremonies the kingdome and expected comming of this our noble King For in this Psalme the Prophet intreateth of the spirituall kingdome of Christ. First shewing what manner nations and people he reigneth ouer in the first sixe verses Next proclaming his comming in the other verses wherein the nobler sort of his subiects are required to prepare to receiue him But hauing chosen a part I will leaue the whole and returne to the part In the first sixe verses I haue shewed you that first the Prophet telleth vs what manner nations and people the Lord reigneth ouer They are all of two sorts The first of them that are subiect to his gouernment Iure creations by right of creation Of these he speaketh in these two verses and in this ranke may all be comprehended The second is a number chosen out of these with whome he doth conuerse more familiarlie as his domesticals which are honoured among the rest and distinguished from the rest Beneficio redemptionis by the benefit of redemption For as in an earthly kingdome the King reigneth ouer all his subiectes by equall right and it is Antichristian abhorring from religion among vs professed to say that any subiect should be exempt from the rule of his souereigne and yet admitteth some bound vnto him by a priuate couenant and oath taken of them to come neare and to doe seruice vnto him whom he doth inritch with rewardes and grace with honourable preferments Euen so in the kingdome of Christ hee raigneth with equall authority ouer all men For Psal. 2. 8. God the father gaue vnto him Gentes in her editatem et extremitates terra in possessionem the heathen for his inheritance the ends of the earth for his possession Yet a choice number there is bearing the marke of the foundation as the Kings liuery whereof the Apostle speaketh 2. Timoth. 2. 19. the foūdation of God abideth sure and hath this seale Dominus nouit qui sunt sui the Lord knoweth who are his These head mitteth to do him daylie seruice these he conuerseth with familiarly as he saith Ioh. 14. 21. Ei conspiciendum exhibebo meipsum I wil shew my owne selfe vnto him these he inricheth with gifts graces of his spirit in this world eternall life and a crowne of righteousnes in the next these he honoureth with high preferments making them by beleeuing the sonnes of God in this world and kings Priestes vnto God both here and in the next This second sort I haue not to speake of at this time because my Text reacheth not vnto them The earth is the Lordes and all that therein is the worlde and they that dwell therein For he hath founded it vpon the seas and established it vpon the floudes in these wordes he remembreth the first sorte of his subiectes which are so by right of creation Or if happily this diuision of subiects displease because the second mēber is included in the first they which are subiectes bound by the benefit of redemption are also bound by the bond of creation I will giue the sence of my Text in some other words The Prophet in these wordes remembreth the first reason ground of right by which the Lord clameth to be king Namely that he created the worlde The ground of right by which he clameth is in the second verse How farre he clameth by this ground of right is in the first verse Euen to be Lord of all The earth is the Lordes and all that therein is the world and they that dwell therein Thus farre he clameth euen to be Lord of all Of the earth and of the inhabitants Of the soile and those that occupie it Of euery tenement and eeuery tenant dwelling therein that these are the Lordes we are to inquire in this verse That they are his because he made them we are to inquire in the next verse And the doctrine of these things I will first deliuer and then the vses The earth is the Lordes the world is his Tremelius reades orbis habitabilis the habitable world that is the pile of the earth in the face whereof we dwell with the partes and ornamentes thereof in the bowels of it or vpper countenance as minerales mettalles stones moūtaines vallies plaines herbes plantes fruites such like for all these are earth or of the earth and adhearing thereto And all this is the Lordes For all this was when there was neither man nor beast nor any breathing thing to claime a property in them or to haue any vse of them For in the first day the earth was though yet in one masse with the heauens and the waters and wanting her forme as appeareth Genesis 1. 1. 2. And in the third day it was brought to her forme receiued her decking as in the same place appeareth verse 9. God said againe Let the waters vnder the heauen bee gathered into one place and let the dry land appeare and it was so And God called the dry land earth and the gathering together of the waters seas and God saw that it was good Then God saide Let the earth bud foorth the bud of the hearbe that seedeth seede the fruitefull tree which beareth fruite according to his kinde which may haue his seede in it selfe and it was so And the earth brought forth the bud of the hearb that seedeth seede according to his kinde also the tree that yeeldeth fruite which hath his seed in it selfe according
to his kinde God saw that it was good So the euening and morning was the third day Thus was the earth seperated from other parts of the world receiued her forme and furniture when yet there was neither man nor beast nor brething thing to liue vpon it to claime soueraingty or to make vse of it Which things were created after in the sixt day As Moses after the fourth dayes worke in creating the lightes in the firmament the fift daies worke in creating foules and fishes at last reporteth in the same place verse 24. moreouer God saide let the earth bring foorth the liuing thing according to his kinde cattell and that which creepeth and the beast of the earth according to their kinde it was so And God made the beast of the earth according to his kinde and the cattell according to his kinde and euery creeping thing of the earth according to his kinde and God saw that it was good Furthermore God saide let vs make man in our image according to our likenesse and let them rule ouer the fish of the sea and ouer the foule of heauen and ouer the beastes and ouer all the earth and ouer euery thing that creepeth and mooueth on the earth Thus God created the man in his image in the image of God created he him c. And in the ver 31. Moses thus cōcludeth And God saw all that he had made and lo it was very good And the euening and morning were the sixt day The earth was created in the first day was seperated receiued forme and furniture the third day man beasts were not created vntil the 6. day the earth in the meane time wanted not a Lord to whom it belonged whose it was his it is as the prophet here speaketh the earth is the Lordes But in hope to holde soueraigntie ouer some thing for our selues we will obiect generally for others also Diuers creatures haue inuaded diuers parts of the world and without disturbance for many thousands of yeares haue quietlie held occupyed enioyed the same as their owne The fishes haue the waters which run into the Seas and haue there their meeting place Psal. 104. 25. In ipso mari magno et spacioso in the great and wilde sea Illic reptilia sunt atque innumer a animantia parua cum magnis there are creeping things and innumerable liuing creatures small and great There goe the ships there is Liuiathan Balena saith Tremelius the Whale whom thou hast made to play therein The Fowles take their pleasure in the regions of the ayre the lower heauens and though they discend sometime to the earth to gather foode and sit sometime on the branches of Trees to rest them and to sing yet they are called the fowles of heauen that is of the ayre Diuers creatures occupie the face of the earth the Prophet in the forenamed Psalme verse 18. Montes excelsissimi rupicaprarū petrae montanorum murium perfugium the high mountaines are a refuge for the Goates and the Rockes for the mountaine Mise which we read Conies and in verse 20. he remembreth the beasts of the Forrests And of the wilde Asse God saith Iob. 39. Cui disposui campestria pro domo eius et pro habitaculis eius salsuginosam terram I haue made the wide champaigne the wildernesse his house and the salt places his dwelling he scorneth the multitude of the citie heareth not the noyse of the driuer he seeketh the mountaines for his pasture and searcheth for euery greene thing and the most pleasant places of the earth man chooseth for his habitation there building houses and cities for his more conuenient dwelling Gen. 9. 18. 19. The sonnes of Noah going forth of the Arke were Shem Ham and Iaphet These are the three sonnes of Noah of thē was the whole earth ouerspred Thus haue diuers creatures inioyed thé world as their owne many thousands of yeares Shall it not therefore be the Lords because they vse it how did the Lord loose his old right vnto them in what court and before what Iudge was the Lord euicted and where are the records thereof to be seene surely the creatures holde their habitation of the Lord and so many as are wise acknowledge the same Whether they doe or no God doth challenge the right and plainely affirmeth that he hath alwayes disposed thereof Ier. 27. 5. speaking of the earth which he made he saith Ideo trado eam cui rectum videtur in oculis meis Therefore I giue it to whom it pleaseth me and now I haue giuen all these lands into the hands of Nebuchaanezar the King of Babel my seruant signifying hereby that from time to time he giueth and granteth the possession and vse of the earth at his pleasure admitting one and displacing another as seemeth good in his sight putting out Cananites bringing in the Ifraelites assigning to euery Tribe their owne portion deposing Saul setting vp Dauid diuiding one kingdome to many kings as when hee rent ten Tribes from the sonne of Salomon and gaue them to Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat And giuing many kingdomes to one kingdome as when bordering nations were subdued vnto Dauid Which translating and disposing prooueth the earth to be his though inhabited by men that they all doe hold of him Which because proud Nebuchadnezar did not acknowledge hee was taught Dan. 4. 27. He said Is not this great Babel Quam ego edificaui which I haue builded for the house of the kingdome by the might of my power and for the honor of my maiestie taking himselfe to be the chiefe Lord holding of none But it followeth in the next verse while the word was in the Kings mouth Vox è coelo accidit dicens tibi iudicitur Nebuchadnetzar Rex there came a voyce from heauen saying O King Nebuchadnezar to thee be it spoken to thee whatsoeuer if thou wert as great as Nabuchadonezar thy kingdome is departed from thee and they shall driue thee from men and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field they shal make thee to eate grasse as the Oxen and seauen times shall passe ouer thee vntill thou knowest that the most high beareth rule ouer the kindome of men and giueth it vnto whom soeuer hee will The very same houre was this thing fulfilled vpon Nabuchadnezar he was driuen from men and did eate grasse as the Oxen and his body was wet with the dew of heauen till his haires were growne as Eagles feathers his nailes like birdes clawes at the end of those daies heare now his confession hauing reformend his iudgement I Nabuchadnezar lift vp myne eyes vnto heauen and mine vnderstanding was restored vnto me and I gaue thankes vnto the most high and I praised and honoured him that liueth for euer whose power is an euerlasting power and his kingdome is from generation to generation And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing and according to
in al the house and he doth ascribe the creation therof vnto God In whose bookes these are the first words grauen as it were in the forhead therof In principio deus creauit coelū et terram in the beginning God created the heauen the earth so that as the two disciples going to Emaus said vnto Iesus after his resurrection not yet known vnto them that he must needs be the only stranger in Israell if he knew not the things that had lately happened to Iesus of Nazareth a Prophet mighty in deede and in word before God and all the people so hee must needes bee a very great stranger in the Scriptures that knoweth not that God made the worlde Manye great Philosophers among the vnbeleeuing Gentiles hauing read the bookes of other writers haue doubted of the creation of the worlde and some haue thought it to haue beene eternall neuer made And some more folishly haue supposed it to haue beene accidently made Ex atomis conflatum growne to this forme by the falling of small motes together But among Christians which haue the bookes of Scripture Scripturae diuinitus inspiratae giuen by inspiration of God the childe that hath but spelled the first line of the Bible learneth that the Almightie God did create the heauen and the earth In Esa. 40 25. the Lord saith To whom now will you liken me that I should be like him saith the holy one lift vp your eyes on high and beholde who hath created these things and bringeth out their armies by number and calleth them all by names After verse 28. Knowest thou not or hast thou not heard that the euerlasting God the Lord hath created the ends of the earth c. In Ieremie in his tenth chapter where he sheweth the vanitie of idols compared vnto the liuing God the God of trueth in the 11. verse it is thus written Thus shall yee say vnto them the Gods that haue not made the heauens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from vnder these heauens he hath made the earth by his power and established the world by his wisedome and hath stretched out the heauens by his discretion And in the 27. Chapter and 5. verse God saith of himselfe I haue made the earth the man and the beast that are vpon the ground by my great power and by my out-stretched arme c. Yea God manifested in the flesh Iesus Christ the sonne of God and sonne of the Virgin Marie to whome in regarde of his humaine nature the iudgement of the worlde is committed which in regarde of his diuine nature was his without commission he hath made the worlde and all things therein and dooth now conserue the same Paul saith of him Colos. 1. 16. That by him althings were created which are in heauen and which are in earth things visible and things inuisible And the Apostle to the Hebrewes 1. 2. speaketh thus That whereas in former times God spake vnto our fathers by the Prophets in these last daies he hath spoken vnto vs by his sonne whom he hath made heire of all things by whom also he made the world who being the brightnesse of the glory and the ingraued forme of his person and bearing vp all things Potente verbo suo by his mightie word hath by himselfe purged our sinnes by him the world was made and by his mighty worde the world and all things in it are susteined So that certainly God did create the earth the habitable world all that dwell vpon it He did found it establish it vpon the seas being now by Gods appointment as a wall at the foote therof and a strong buttrice to shore and vphold the same But is this a good reason to claime the soueraigntie of the world because he made it I surely When Iacob had made his pottage and Esau came home hungrie out of the field he acknowledged that to be Iacobs that Iacob had made he challenged no right in it neither desired to haue it but vpon composition with his brother He is therefore more vnreasonable then Esau that acknowledging God to haue made the world will denie him to be Lord of the world of the worke of his owne hands Paul among the Athenians Acts. 17. 24. speaketh thus God that made the worlde and all things that are therein seeing that he is Lord of heauen earth dweleth not in temples made with hands Where he hath affirmed that God made the world and all things therin he feareth not immediatly to annex as a thing not to be spoken against that he is lord of heauen earth Concerning man one part of this earth and habitable world for he was made of the dust of the earth the Prophet saith Psal. 100. 3. Know yee that the Lord he is God it is he that hath made vs not we our selues we are his people and the sheepe of his pasture Hence he inferreth that we are his and he Lord and owner of vs as any man is of the flockes of his sheepe because the Lordes hands did make vs. And if the reason be good in any part of the world it is good also in the whole If the sonnes of men be Gods possession because hee made them then the earth and all that are vpon it are his for he made them In Esa. 45. 12. the Lord saith I haue made the earth and created man vpon it I whose hands haue spred out the heauens I haue euen commanded all their armie Because he made and created these things and did spred them out giuing both being and forme substance and shape vnto them therefore he commandeth them as their Lord. Omni exercitui eorum mandata Dei he commandeth all the armies of them Which he should not doe if they remained not his Therefore vpon so great reason let vs yeelde God his right and say with the Prophet The earth is the Lords and all that is in it the world and they that dwell therein For he hath founded it vpon the seas and established it vpon the flouds Thus haue yee heard the doctrine of these wordes Now let vs consider what holy good vse we may make thereof And let this be the first vse that if God be Lord of all the earth and also the inhabitants that then all the earth and the inhabitants doe acknowledge and honour him And this the holye Ghoast doth teach vs in the Psalme 96. from the verse 7. Giue vnto the Lorde the families of the people giue vnto the Lorde glory and power giue vnto the Lord the glory of his name bring an offering and enter into his Courtes Worship the Lorde in the glorious sanctuarie tremble before him all the earth say among the nations the Lord reigneth Surely the worlde shal be stable and not mooue and he shall iudge the people in righteousnesse Let the heauens reioyce and let the earth bee glad let the Sea roare and all that therein is let the fielde bee
inplain words yet in plaine deeds while they contemne his voyce The Apostle saith Titus 1. 16. There are which professe to know God Sed factis negant in their workes they denie him being abhominable disobedient and to euery goodworke reprobate Concerning this point That as the earth is the Lordes so all that are in it as the habitable world is his so they that dwell therein Concerning this The Lorde saith Ezechiel 18. 4. Omnes animaemeae sunt all soules are mine the soule of the father and the soule of the sonne is mine And if the soules of all both young and olde be the Lordes whose are the bodies which in all things are ruled by the wil of the soule The Lord further saith Ieremie 32. 27. Beholde I am the Lorde God of all flesh is any thing to hard for me All flesh is his If our bodies be flesh they also are the Lordes Let flesh and bloud therefore and euery childe of man acknowledge to whome he belongeth Caro et spiritus totus homo carnalis et spiritualis omnis homo flesh and spirite the whole man fleshly and spirituall euery man is wholely the Lordes Dauid was godly Saule was wicked Vterque dei Dauid of an vpright hart Saul an hypocrite Vterque seruus dei Both the one and other his seruants Paule speaking of Iesus Christ that had humbled himselfe and became obedient vntill the death of the Crosse saith of him Phil. 2. 9. That therefore God hath highly exalted him and giuen him a name aboue euery name that at the name of Iesus Omne genu se flectat coelestium ac terrestrium et subterra neorum euery knee should bow of things in heauen and of things in earth and of things vnder the earth Omnisque lingua profiteatur Iesum Christum esse dominum ad gloriam dei patris and that euery tongue should confesse Iesus Christ to be the Lord to the glory of God the father Euery one therefore whatsoeuer he be and wheresoeuer of al the creatures of God in heauen or in earth or vnder the earth must acknowledge the soueraigne authority of this Lord That the earth is his and all that are in it the world al they that dwell therin There haue beene ample kingdomes in the world mighty Kings claming and conquering farre but none so ample so farre claming as this The glorious kingdome of the golden head of Babell the rich kingdome of the siluer brest and armes of the Medes and Persians the mighty kingdome of the brasen bellies and thighes of Alexander the Grecians the warlike kingdomes of the Yron legs of the Seleucidae and Lagidae successors of Alexander in the North and South are able to match this ample kingdome of the Lord. The king saw a stone cut of without handes that grewe into a great mountaine and filled the whole earth Which the prophet interpreteth of the ample and eternall kingdome that God should set vp among men euen the kingdome of his sonne whose borders should be the circle of the world The breadth thereof frō the North to the South The length therof the iourny of the sunne Vbicunque locus est illic preest dominus vbicunque homines sunt illis praeest dominus Whersoeuer place is there God raigneth wheresoeuer men are ouer them God raigneth Malach. 1. 11. From the rysing of the Sunne vnto the going downe thereof my name is great among the Gentiles and in euery place incense shal be offered to my name a pure offering for my name is great among the Heathen saith the Lord of hostes Thus much of this verse shewing how far the Lord claimeth euen to be Lord of all the earth the inhabitantes the world and the dwellers therein For hee hath founded it vppon the Seas and established it vppon the floudes This verse contayneth a reason and ground of his claime namely that hee made the world and the inhabitantes thereof And where as the Prophet saith that God did found it and establish it vpon the waters the meaning is this that in founding and establishing the earth and habitable world he made it to appeare high aboue the waters as if the waters lying euen in a lowe leuell called aquae quia aequae as if these leueled lowe waters were the flore the earth the building raised vp vpon them Genesis 1. 9. It is written God said againe let the waters vnder the heauen be gathered into one place and let the dry land appeare and it was so And God called the dry land earth and the gathering together of the waters he called seas Before the waters and the earth were so mixed that the earth was wholy couered with the waters as a lute or some instrument in a case and God commaunded them to retyre into one place and holde an euen course For so Tremelius interprets the place recto et aequabili cursu contendant Let their motion from hence foorth be direct and leuell hastening into their assigned place where they may haue that euen course This worke of God is notablie set foorth by the Prophet in the Psalme 104. Tremelius reading giuing much light to our reading from the 5. ver He set the earth vpon her foundatiōs that it shall neuer moue Abisso vt indumento operueras eam supramontes stantibus aquis Thou hadst couered it with the deepe as with a garment the waters standing aboue the mountaines thus it was vntill the third day Ex increpatione tua diffugerunt a voce tui tonitrui accelerarunt fugam at thy rebuke they fled from the voyce of thy thunder they hastened their flight Gods worde was like a thundring checke vnto them Conscenderunt per montes descenderunt per valles in locum quem fundaueras eis they climed ouer the mountaines ranne downe by the vallies vnto the place assigned to them Terminum opposuisti ne transeant ne reuertuntur ad operiendū terram Thou hast set bonds vnto thē that they shall not passe that they returne not to couer the earth thus it was on the third day and by that word of God as an eternal decree the waters hold their rectumet aequabilem cursum their plaine and leuell wauing course and are about the skirtes of the dry land as a foundation and strong pinning to holde vp the sides of it And therefore doth the Prophet say That the Lord hath founded it vppon the Seas and prepared it vppon the floudes Whatsoeuer his words are the thing that he affirmeth is this that God in the beginning made the earth made the inhabitants by the power of his word and by the same mighty word of his stil vpholdeth the same We haue the history of the creation deliuered in writing vnto vs by the mā to whom God appeared in the burning bush to whom God spake in the mountaine familiarly face to face that saw the glory of God somuch as mortall eyes might see and liue euen by Moses that was faithfull
ioyfull and all that is in it let all the Trees of the wood reioyce before the Lorde for hee commeth for hee commeth to iudge the earth hee will iudge the worlde with righteousnesse and the people in his truth Thus ought all the earth to do thus let all our earth do for we are his he commeth among vs to iudge vs in righteousnes by his appointed seruant and to instruct vs in the truth by our defender of the faith This is one vse to giue glory vnto God Let the next vse be this that we learne to know our selues in humilitie cease from those proud and importable speeches of some that thinke themselues Lords of the earth when the earth is the Lords and all that is in it The Heathen Poet censureth them saying Impudentissima eorum est oratio their speech is most shamlesse that say Quis tu es quis mihi es what art thou what art thou to me indeed what art thou that speakest thus vnto thy brother but one of those poore Grashoppers spoké of Esa. 40 22. Deus insidet ambitui terrae cui habitatores eius sunt velut locustae God sitteth vpon the circle of the earth to whom the inhabitants therof are as Grashoppers Is the earth thine art thou Lorde of the habitable world yea is there any thing in the world that thou canst call thine when the Prophet saith all is the Lords thou perhaps wilt say thou hast many faire houses some of them thou hast builded thy selfe Thou hast many fruitfull fields and some of them thou hast purchased thy selfe Thou hast thy bags well filled and hast got thy wealth thy selfe and hast goods laide vp in store for many yeares I doubt not but thou hast many of these things in thy possession deliuered of trust by the hand of God For 1. Cor. 4 7. the apostle saith what hast thou that thou hast not receiued as thou hast receiued them from Gods hand so thou must deliuer them with an account for the vse of them into Gods hand But if thou thinke that they are thine and that according to the saying in the gospel thou maiest do what thou wilt with thine owne thou art much deceiued The earth is the Lordes and all the fulnesse of it Which if thou wilt not learne in humility to acknowledge before shortly whether thou wilt or no thou shalt bee compelled to acknowledge it when that shall be tide thee that Christ said befell the proude ritch man Luke 12. 20. When hee had flattered himselfe saying to his soule Soule thou hast goods laide vp in store for many yeres liue at ease eate drinke and take thy pastime The Lord Iesus saith that God saide vnto him Thou foole this night will they fetch awaye thy soule from thee Quae tu parasti cuius tum erunt then whose shall those things be which thou hast prouided heauen doth dispise them they are not needfull there neither can they ad to thine happinesse Hell doth not regard them they are of no vse there neyther can they abate thy paine the graue hath no stowage for them there is nothing but darkenesse As they were not acquainted with thee before thou wast borne so thy goods will not know thee when thou art dead and as the Prophet saith Psalme 49. 17. of the glorious ritch man dying he shall take nothing away when he dieth neither shall his pompe descend after him Thus shall vaine men be taught that nothing is theirs but the earth and all the fulnesse of it the Lordes Let euery one of vs therefore whatsoeuer his present portion be take heede that he be not high minded that he grow not proud of vncertaine riches but that in humility he acknowledge himselfe to haue come naked into the world and shall goe naked out and in the meane time is but a steward accomptable and that the earth and all that is in it as the Lords if our harts were thus framed wee should learne more modestly more soberly more iustly more charitablie more holily to vse the goods of this worlde striuing as the Apostle aduiseth vs. 1. Tim. 6. 18 To be rich in good works laying vp in store a good foundation against the time to come that we may obtaine eternall life This is a second vse of the doctrine to retaine our selues in humility A third vse that shall be that the Apostle teacheth vs 1. Corin. 10. The Apostle would not haue beleeuers to sit with vnbeleeuers at the tables of their Idols in their feasts which he calleth the tables of diuels because no man can be pertaker of the table of the Lord and the table of deuils but if we be bidden to any mans priuate house whether we are willing to go to eate meat with him there he giueth liberty to eate though it bee meate offered to idols whatsoeuer is set before vs except any weake brother say such meate was offered to idols for whose sake hee willeth them of better knowledge yet to abstaine for not offending their consciences also whatsoeuer is solde in the shambles he permitteth to eate without making question and his reason is the doctrine of this place as appeareth v. 26. 18. For the earth is the Lords and all that therin is for the Lord himselfe beeing most pure can any thing that is his in it own nature be impure the Lord being most holy can any thing that is his in it own nature be vnholy it cannot be So may we vse the best things that they may be vncleane to vs. So may we be so may we vse the good gifts of God that they shall be vncleane vnto vs. In the Epistle to Titus 1. 15. the Apostle saith Omnia munda mundis vnto the pure are all things pure Iis autem qui sunt inquinati et increduli nihil est mundum but vnto them that are defiled and vnbeleeuing is nothing pure c. If wee pollute not Gods guifts by our vncleanenesse they are cleane vnto vs. Christ Math. 15. 11. saith vnto the multitude called together That which entreth into the mouth defileth not the man but that which commeth out of the mouth defileth the man And the Apostle Paul 1. Tim. 4. 4. saith Euery creature of God is good and nothing ought to be refused if it bee receiued with thanksgiuing for it is sanctified by the worde of God and prayer This pertaineth to the libertie of Gods children in the vse of Gods creatures all is his and therefore they that are his may freely vse them with peace of conscience Yet it excuseth not them that without cause and with offence breake with contempt the politique lawes of Princes This is a third vse teaching that we may vse the creatures with comfort because they are the Lords Let vs come to a fourth vse which shall be the last reserued to the last place that it might be best remembred The earth and the fullnesse of it the habitable world and the inhabitants
therin are all the Lordes because he made them and conserueth them Then sure it is lawfull for him to dispose of these things at his pleasure And here it hath place that is said in the Gospel Mat. 20. 15. An non licet mihi quod volo facere in meis rebus Is it not lawfull for me to do as I will with mine owne and therfore with reuerence wee must approoue of the counsell and worke of the Lorde now fallen out among vs in these dayes We lately had ah heauie voyce that we must say wee had a most gratious Queene by many names most deare vnto vs who raigning by God raigning for God most happilye swayed the scepter of this mighty kingdome foure and fortye yeares eighteene weekes and two dayes Salomon being annoynted to raigne ouer the twelue Tribes esteemed it a burden though an honourable burden to goe in and out before that people and sayde vnto God 1. King 3. 9. who is able to iudge this thy mighty people euen so the care of our peace prosperitye and welfare was vnto our Queene a burden of which burden God hath now eased her shoulders receiued her to rest and raigne with him in heauen In whose place as Salomon succeeding Dauid vnto which two in Israel I compare these two in England for wisedome pietye and loue to Gods house we haue and shall haue ah word of comfort that we may say as was hartely wished by most that feare God that we haue and shall haue the heigh and mighty king Iames by the grace of God the sixt of that name King of Scotland by the same deuine grace the first of that name King of England France and Ireland to raigne ouer vs. When Salomon was annoynted king in Israel the seruants of Dauid came in vnto him and said 1. King 3. 47. God make the name of Salomon more famous then thy name and exalt his throne aboue thy throne And Iames being proclamed king in England so we say of him if it be possible God make his name more famous then the name of Elizabeth whose name was famous to the endes of the world and exalt his throne aboue her throne whose throne was highly and honourably exalted when she sat therin a true defender of the faith This worke of the Lord taking from one giuing vnto another the throne and scepter of this noble kingdome let vs beare with such minde as becōmeth wisemen because the earth and the inhabitāts are the Lords to dispose at his pleasure If the change had beene vnto vs as dangerous as was feared by our selues hoped by our enimies we must haue borne it with quiet mindes because the earth is the Lordes Now then the change being better for vs then we durst expect we should be worthy of much blame if we doe not carry our selues in an euen reuerence betweene contrary affections in the consideration hereof I say in an euen reuerence and reuerent euennes betweene contrary affections because I know that in the due contemplation of this change mens mindes are vpon diuers pointes diuersly drawen aside with different affections While they consider her that is taken away they cannot choose but be full of heauinesse remembring what she was vnto them And when they consider him that is giuen vnto vs they cannot choose but be full of ioy to thinke what hee is like to bee vnto vs and therfore whomsoeuer I do here behold with chearfull countenances and bright apparrell I suppose that they doe mourne in wedding garmentes hauing both sorrow and ioye at their hearts hiding inwardly their sorrowe for hir that is departed and showing outwardly their ioye for him that is comming Whom otherwise I see with heauie countenances and darke apparrell I suppose that they reioyce in mourning weeds hauing both ioy and sorrow at their hearts hiding inwardly their ioy for him that is comming and showing outwardly their sorrow for hir that is gone And surely in this change seriouslie considered there are iust causes of both these affections That the death of our Queene could not but bring with it causes of heauinesse it hath beene long since examined and as it were by the subscription of all mens hands confirmed and happie England that God did not with his hand so largely subscribe for then it must haue beene so the Papists haue long wished and expected her death they haue often attempted by bloudie hands to hasten her ende they haue solicited with many prayers and vowes their He saints and She saints and haue stirred vp enemies against her Hoping that Christ in England should againe giue vp the ghost in the daye of her death and that the Gospell should bee buryed in the day of her funerals and they haue libertye to bring in Antichrist and restore againe the traditions of the church of Rome On the other side all that loue the Lorde Iesus with feare did thinke of her future death and with feruent prayers oft desired God to drawe out the length of her reigne with the dayes of heauen that she might resigne her Scepter into the handes of Christ at his comming to iudgement least happily loosing her before they might loose with her whatsoeuer blessings they receiued and enioyed with her These men hauing before thought of her death did in their hope and feare subscribe that surely her death must be dangerous to England Others also were of the same minde There is lurking among vs and God graunt they neuer haue time to showe their heads according to their desire a race of idle people inordinate walkers to whome orderly obedience seemeth to be seruile bondage and labour in an honest calling is a burden not to be borne men liuing by their witte in truth by their wickednesse by stealing cousening and such vnlawfull shiftes and as honestly spending their goods as getting them The setled gouernment the confirmed peace was a great let to their designements They expected a day in the death of our late Souereigne when the state beeing troubled they might spoile the subiects knowing it is best fishing in troubled streames On the other side the good subiects the honest Citizens louers of peace men honestlye getting their goods these fearing the clawes of the former vultures with griefe did fore-thinke the comming houre of her Maiesties death and besought God for the continuance of her life that the fruite of their iust labours Gods blessing in their honest walking in their callings might not be a pray to such spoilers These men also in their hope and feare had subscribed that her death would bring cause of sorrowe Thus we see how all men long since were of this minde And if the most mightie hand of our most mercifull God guiding the harts of our noble gouerners had not by the Proclaiming of our now Soueraigne King Iames turned their hope into vanitie and our feare into comfort surely the death of our excellent Queene had brought with it ruine and cause of sorrow
Where-from if God hath miraculouslie deliuered vs whose name be therfore eternally praised yet who can thinke vpon it what a one she was vnto vs while she liued a watchfull keeper a mercifull iudge a Queene of peace a defender of the faith and a very mother in Israel who can thinke vpon it that she was such a one vnto vs while she liued and not bee touched at the hart with sorrow that she liues not still to be still such a one vnto vs Surely in her that is taken from vs we haue fallen vpon vs occasions of sorrowe But God most good hath not left vs as desolate plaintiffes vnto a solitarie sorrow without all comfort but hath giuen vs also many causes of reioycing both in our blessed Queene departed from vs and also in our right noble King giuen vs. In her that is departed God hath giuen vnto vs occasiō of reioycing in the māner of her departing wherein he hath honored her memorie among the righteous and more honoured his owne name for his mercy to her In two great and notable fauours that her end was peaceable and that it was godlie that she ended her dayes quietlie and dyed in the faith of Christ. First herein we haue cause to reioyce on her behalfe that her end was peaceable without the stroake of man and without any other stroake of God then such as is common to all men that passe by the straite of death The Bull of Pius Quintus denounced an other end The inuincible Armada of Spaine threatned an other end Many bloudy traytors iustly suffering among vs attempted an other end And yet notwithstanding the God of peace gaue vnto hir a peaceable end she liued long our band of peace and died quietly a childe of peace as if God had promised her that he promised Abraham Genesis 15. 15. Thou shalt goe vnto thy Fathers Cum pace in peace and shalt bee buryed In canitie bona in a good age that is Satura dierum diuitiarum honoris full of dayes riches and honour and all present blessings as a good age is expounded 1. Chron. 29. 28. Dauid dyed in a good age full of dayes riches and honour our Queene matching him for the fulnesse of the dayes of her life for she was come into the yeare wherein Dauid dyed being seauentie yeare olde and ouermatching him for the fulnesse of the dayes of her reigne for he reigned but fortie yeares and shee sawe the fiue and fortieth of her reigne in more peace then Dauid had I will not giue offence by remembring how farre different from her ende the ende of the last Catholike King of Spaine and most Christian King of France was the one dying by a heauie stroake of Gods hand and the other by a violent stroake of mans hand neyther of them neare to that sweete sleepe whereinto she fell in her departing And as her end was peaceable so it was pious godly christiā she died in the faith of Christ giuing euidence therof in her weakest times and now inioyeth the end of her faith the saluation of her soule the blessing pronounced from heauen Blessed are the dead that die in the Lorde they rest from their labours On the Sundaye last before her death the reuerend father the Lorde Bishop of Chichester and Doctor Parrie one of her highnesse Chaplines going to reade deuine seruice vnto her as the maner was vpon the Lords day her heauie sadnesse at this time wel remooued she pronounced after them the confession of sinnes with prayer for the forgiuenesse of them which is vsually pronounced by the congregation when we come together to seeke the face of our God And though it was done with a weake voyce yet was it with great euidence of a feruent spirit looking vp vnto God The next night God gaue vnto her quiet sleep in her bed wherby she was much refreshed the Lord preparing her by renewed cōfort vnto a happy end For as one wel saith Veraconsolatio perpetuo durat in electis et si languescit per spiritum sanctum instauratur potissimum autem est efficax circa vita finem et mortis articulum True comfort indureth perpetually in the elect if it beginneth at any time to faint it is restored by the holy Ghost especially it is strong and effectuall toward the end of life and approach of death which in her Grace was obserued to the great reioycing of her seruants For on the Wednesday death approaching which she desired that she might be losed and be with Christ which is best of all the right reuerend father the Lorde Archbishop of Canterbury comming in vnto her at three in the after-noone he put her in minde of the sufferings of Christ the meanes of her saluation of remission of sinnes and eternall life most gladly she harkened vnto him testifying her ioy with her hand which shee could not so well doe with her voyce And whē the reuerend father knowing how soone sicke parties are wearied did withdrawe himselfe giuing signe with her hand she called him vnto her the second time And when againe after a second speech hee withdrewe himself she beckned to haue him come vnto her the third time So pleasing vnto her soule was the voyce of him that had in his mouth the word of reconciliation so beautifull in her eyes were the feete of him that did preach glad tydings and publish saluation and it was not affection to the man but loue vnto the doctrine and glad tydings of saluation that led her listening eare For the reuerend Lord Bishop of Chichester comming after vnto her rehearsed vnto her the grounds of Christian faith requiring some testimony of her assenting vnto them which she readily gaue both with hand eye And when he proceeded so far as to say vnto her that it was not inough generally to beleeue that those things were true but euery Christian man must beleeue that they were true vnto them that they were members of the true Church truly redeemed by Iesus Christ that their sinnes were forgiuen and that they should liue for euer with God she did with great show of faith lift vp her eies and handes to heauen where she knew her life to be hid with Christ in God and staied them long testifying her perticular faith and apprehension of Gods mercy to her in Christ. So continuing vnto the death a professor of the faith whereof she had bin defender in her life And findeth now the trueth of his promise that said Reue. 3. 10. Be faithfull vnto the death and I will giue thee the crowne of life Thus did she end her dayes in the faith and euen in her that is taken from vs we haue cause of reioycing when we cōsider how God tooke her away in his great mercy ending her daies in peace in the faith of Christ. But notwithstanding her happinesse in her death vnhappy had wee beene after her death if God had not giuen vs a good king to succeede her In whome when we cast our eye towardes him we finde great causes to lift vp our heads and reioice His name hetherto onelye proclaimed in our streetes hath stilled the ragings of the people danting the enimies of true religion and causing the enimies of peace that thought now to looke out to hide their heades What shall we not hope that the presence of his person will doe when the sound of his name hath done so much already surely we shall see it if euer this land saw it fulfilled that Salomon saith Prouerbes 20. 8. A King sitting in the throne of iudgement driueth away all euill with his eyes I speake not these things in flatterye but in the firme hope of my soule For propinquity of bloud he is the next and rightfull heire of Henrie the seuenth of famous memorie of the house of Lancaster of Elizabeth his wife ayre of the house of Yorke His education hath bin Godly of his wisedome for gouernment and of his sincerity for religion he hath already giuen proofe not onely in the gouernement of his kingdome of Scotland but otherwise also to the content of many that could not so fully obserue his gouernement as peruse his writings What remaineth then but that we reioyce in God and praise him for our present soueraigne praying that he may safely come vntovs long continue with vs standing in Gods grace to the good of Gods Church safety of the kingdomes ouer which he is set Such is the mercie of God toward vs in the king giuen vnto vs such are the causes of reioycing that wee haue in our King Which quisquis non videt cecus est quisquis videt et non laudat ingratus est quisquis laudanti reluctatur insanus est Whosoeuer seeth not is blind whosoeuer seeth and praiseth not is vnthankfull whosoeuer misliketh others praysing is not wise And therefore seeing God hath made so happye a change for vs in the disposing of this kingdome beeing Lorde of all the earth let vs beare it with such mindes as become wise men mingling heauinesse with our ioy and ioy with our heauinesse and let vs lift vp the Trumpet of our lowdest voyces and say God saue King Iames. AMEN