harts when they be ioyfull for as Herod was strooke with death while hee sate vpon his throne of maiestie so are we neuer neerer to our woe than when we are mounted to honour or seated in quietnesse The phisitions say that want of motion and loue of rest breedeth more diseases than all euill surfeits and so must we say that are the phisitions of mens soules that moe perish by ease than by labour by ioie than by sorrow by pleasure than by paine and by idle religion than by earnest and zealous profession The reasons the same that Isay taught chap. 65. 12. because God is refused in his word and good reason why it should be so for as already we haue shewed that the word must be a light for our pathes and a remembrancer to our soules which being forgotten no maruell if in our greatest securitie the Lords wrath ouertake vs. Therefore let the idle followers of the gospell perswade their soules with more zeale and diligence to bee informed by the Lord least the wrath take them sleeping or selling or drinking or playing or dicing or dauncing to their condemnation Secondly another reason because they loue pleasure more than God 2. Tim. 3. 4. therefore as Saneherib Isay 37. was slaine at that instant when hee was worshipping his idoll so shall their bane bee wrought when they are in their belly-worship following their pleasing delights Let vs therefore neuer put danger out of our mindes but then when wee are in most quiet comfort of soule and body let vs trouble our peace with one thought or other Mich. 3. 11. If thou haue children feare their death if thou haue parents feare their wrath if thou haue friends feare their hatred and if thou haue health feare thy sicknesse if thou be ioyfull at a feast thinke on the miserie of famine if at a pleasure thinke vpon the paine of the wounded if at libertie thinke vpon the irons of the imprisoned if in life thinke on the pangs of death Neuer exempt thy selfe from danger but in peace remember warre in youth remember age in play remember labour and in the heauen of the worldes delight thinke vpon the hell of another life Let sorrow be in thy sense mourning in thy soule danger in thy life feare in thy musicke trouble in thy sleepe paine in thy health want in thy plentie dislike in thy loue and distrust in thy desire so shalt thou neuer be called to sicknes but with lesse griefe or to danger but with lesse feare or to death but with lesse trouble or to iudgement but thou shalt be prouided for it Another vse seeing the wicked shall be drawen to iudgement in their greatest securitie then we may learne whether they feare wrath and euil or feare it not yet all is one it shall come vpon them Dauid said that the feare of the wicked shall fall on him and herewee see Ioel saith that though they sleepe yet shall they be awaked with and for their danger so that if wicked men feare their sorrowe is the more and if they feare not their danger is not the lesse Oh miserable captiuitie of wicked men which are hardened to feele more paine and softened to feare more wrath would not this bring vs out of loue with our sinne and make vs earnestly to lament our follies which giue vs no peace till we desire them and no rest after wee possesse them But of this often haue wee spoken before For there will I sit When he saith that he will sit in iudgement we may note that the Lord will with no labour condemne the wicked as it is Mal. 1. 4. euen as one that sitteth in al ease Againe in this that he sitteth in iudgement he alludeth to the iudgements of men which were most lawfull shewing that his proceedings against the wicked were not vniust or extraordinarie but according to equity But this is especially to be regarded when he nameth the persons whom he will iudge saying all the heathen rounde about meaning all those which dwelt neere vnto Israell Whereby we are taught that those which are our neighbours and see our worship and liue neere or among vs and yet be not of vs but are our enimies God will iudge them more seuerly Ierem. 12. 14. For if they which liue among vs and see euerie day the workes of God for vs and in vs will not be ruled by vs or turned to vs they may waite for the heauier iudgement And therefore was Philisthia more iudged then Arabia and Syria more vexed then Ethiopia because they were on the confines of Israell Then surely this may teach the loose Protestants and vaine professors among vs what great daunger they liue in all this while they haue heard the Gospell and not beleeued it the neerer they were to the truth the more is the Lordes wrath against them and the longer they haue liued in our peace and seene the glorious workes of God the more shall bee their heauie iudgement It were better for them that they liued in Rome or in Barbarie or in Tartarie where the gospell is not talked of for then should they be farther from danger but now they liue with vs eating at our tables treading on our Land standing in our churches cloathed with our garments and blessed by our God Oh how deere shall they pay for all these benefits for the Lord will iudge them that dwell neere vs much more them that dwel with vs he will condemne them that dwel about vs much more them that dwell among vs. The reasons of this doctrine are these First bicause they should be subiect to the church Isa 60. 5. The members of the church are the true lawfull kings of the world all other ought to be their subiects therefore when the subiect rebelleth against his naturall prince he is more punished then a stranger so when the neerest neighbours of the church are most of all negligent they are more endangered then other are for when the Lord giueth most meanes of instruction such as is to liue among the godly then he rewardeth such neglect or contempt with more seuere punishment Another reason because they should succour thē in their necessitie Isa 21. 14. but if they will taste of their benefits and not beleeue their sayings or cōfort them in their sorrowes they are the more woorthie to be destroyed The vse let vs neuer meddle against good men Matth. 27. 19. for their iniuries will be rewarded double vpon our heads If thou liue with them honour them if thou heare of them goe visite them if they teach thee beleeue them if they want thee relieue them and neuer be an enimie vnto them The Lord saith that our treading on the earth is sufficient to make vs without excuse if we beleeue him not and then surely it is sufficient to condemne those that liue vnder the Gospell and receiue not the Gospell that they tread on our lande see our
well Mendacium ex veritate superstitio religionem imitatur Lies come of truth and superstition taketh Religion for a patterne yet for all this lies are not truth superstition is not religion nor the torments which desperate men for euill causes endure shall euer make good mens sufferings to be lesse regarded The sheepe must not leaue off her skin because somtimes the wolfe commeth in her likenesse nor we must lesse esteeme the martyrs paines bicause the diuels souldiers likewise die for his sake by these two reasons it is euident that the prophets sermons are the Lords sermons Nowe let vs make some godly vses of this doctrine The first generall exhortation which we make heereof is that sentence of the Apostle 1. Thess 5. 20. Despise not prophesying That is now it hath been cleerely prooued that the prophets speeches are the oracles of God be not so beastly as swine to tread those precious pearles of deuine wisedome in the filthie dregs and stinking myre of your vaine displeasures It being apparant that God his ministers speake no more without his spirit then the conduit runneth without his fountaines springs those disgracing words which many vse of the spirituall exercises some at their table others in their clossets many at the tauerns and most in their houses are nothing else but meere reuilings and spitefull raylings against the spirit of God Sometimes the preachers want eloquence to smooth the itching eares of gallant persons sometimes they want learning to feede the curious mindes of vaine religion bablers sometimes they want wealth to maintaine their countenance with outward brauerie and sometime they want manners to make them companions to the gentle sort And euerie one of these thinke his sermons and labours in God his church to be nothing worth where he spieth but one want which his vaine conceite desired I like not this sermon saith one bicause he wanted words it was a silly peece of worke saith another bicause it was not bombasted with the sayings of Fathers and he seldome or neuer confuted the papists another saith that the preacher was but a poore beggerly fellowe and therefore it is no matter what hee say none of the great men would haue saide so much and others saide he hath more learning then wit more zeale then behauiour and his confident wordes are impudent speeches vnto all these I say Despise not prophesying See you not howe the diuell driueth you to condemne all for want of one and to a generall neglect for a particular desire shall the spirite of God be blamed because euery mans humour is not satisfied God forbid that such iniquitie should lodge among the professours of religion that those sermons which displease some should be despised of so many there is no pearle which all men will praise there is no garden so pleasant but some will dislike it nor anie house so commodious but some will dispraise it shall wee cast away pearles plowe vp gardens and race downe houses bicause all men are not pleased No verily no more shall prophesying preaching praying and exhorting be reiected although euery mans idle disposition be not answered Oh miserable and lamentable daies wherein men come to the congregation like buyers to a faire and they all crie it is naught it is naught though the Lordes wares be freely solde yet who will buie them at his hands The more plentifully they are offered the more scornefully they are reiected for looke vpon those places where the ministerie hath beene of longest standing and greatest practise where pastors according to the Lords owne hart are planted where the voice of the worde soundeth at least euerie Sabbaoth day I say looke there euen as narrowly as Ezechiel looked ouer Ierusalem and you shal finde them more ignorant in knowledge more lewde in liuing more obstinate in wordes and more disobedient in deedes then other people are Euen thus the diuell laboureth painfully where the Lord speaketh abundantly that he may maliciously condemne where the Lord woulde mercifully saue insomuch that the Lord may say to the congregations of England as he once saide to the assembly of Israel Ierem. 6. vers 10 Vnto whom shall I speake and admonish that they may heare behold their eares are vncircumcised they cannot harken behold the worde of the Lorde is vnto them as a reproch And where the worde of the Lorde can haue no being the wrath of the Lord will take vp the lodging therefore we may say as the prophet speaketh Abak 1. 5. Behold yee despisers and woonder and vanish away for I worke a worke in your daies a worke which you will not beleeue though a man declare it Consider this yee scornefull hearers among vs that God shall punish your contempt with infidelitie and although myracles should be wrought to conuert you yet they shall not profite you euen the myracles of Egypt till yee be vtterly consumed you which with lesse deuotion serue the Lord then your pleasures with lesse diligence followe the Church then the tauerne with more delight exercise vanitie then religion with more labour occupie your trades of life then the words of life euen you I meane are the despisers of heauenly pearles for earthly trash which neuer are pleased with the seruants of Christ It is your condemnation that sleepeth not whose conscience can pretend no excuse at the day of all daies that either yee wanted preachers or leasure or abilitie or time or meanes to beleeue those heauenly oracles Behold this yee despisers and repent shewe your sorrowe by your amendement and redeeme the time by diligence heereafter If the Lorde vtter his voice the earth is mooued and the mountaines tremble Psal 29. Mooue therefore your harts you rebellious sort from the world to god from ignorance to knowledge and from disobedience to faith stirre vp your resty bodies and idle limmes and go from strength to strength till you come to the Lords mountaine let not feare of sicknesse dread of pouertie loue of pleasures desire of profit drawe you from heauen but draw neere vnto God and hee will draw neere vnto you The gates of heauen are open enter you therein Secondly another vse we may adde heereunto is that exhortation of the Apostle 1. Cor. 14. 1. Aboue all other gifts desire prophesie what was more admirable then healing of sicke persons or more commendable then to speake strange toongs or more glorious then to worke myracles or more necessarie then to discerne spirits yet aboue all these saith Paul rather desire Prophesie Neither is it maruell that so great an honour is bestowed on so noble a gift because the Prophets speeches are the Lords sermons Then my beloued as for the merchandise of gold men endure the longest traficke the sharpest pains and greatest charges euen so for the obtaining of prophesie whether it be to preach or heare preachers sustaine my bowels in the Lord Iesus the roughest waies the longest studies the weariest iournies the coldest daies the hottest threats
and dearest cost for euen for these shall you receiue many thousand times more comforts in this world and ioyes in the world to come But oh my deerely beloued in the Lord I may complaine of the neglect of preaching and prophesiyng as Ieremie did of Ierusalem Lament 1. How doth that citie remaine solitarie that was full of people she is as a widow she that was great among the nations and princesse among the prouinces is made tributarie Euen so weepe you chaste doues of the Lord and you solitarie Pellicans professours of the truth take you vp this Lamentation and say how doe those loftie cities which are builded on the Lords hill the ministers of the word remaine desolate for there is none that come vnto them to buy their heauenly wares preaching of the vulgar and greatest sort is counted meere babling the glorious gifts of the spirit are as little as dreamers fits and many peraduenture in some one man haue some delight like to a strange muse wrought in a male contented minde by a consort of Musicke but what sinnes will they forsake at his request Surely as many as did Herod at the preaching of Iohn Baptist nay rather farewell friendship then welcome repentance though they like such a preacher well yet they loue their pleasures better Hereby may we of the ministerie try our owne friends and manifest the Lords followers if we meekely reprooue their follies which will beare vs in hand they loue and like vs well As for example if they be of the gentle sort tell them of their vaine expences if of the meaner tell them of their carnall minds if of the poorest tell them of their ignorance if the brauest shew them of their pride if the learnedst declare to them their vaine glorie and finally if the noblest bid them beware of despising the Gospell if they will abide these blowes and turne you the other cheeke also then account him for a Dauid or else reiect him for a Herod Oh how is the world altered from following preaching and prophesie in the purest age of the church their greatest glorie was in the ministery since that time euen in our owne memorie how would the people of the countrey flocke to follow preaching but now euen in our daies my beloued we our selues haue liued to see the preachers mocked as Elishah was the same people which once woulde seeme to care for nothing saue Christ the more are the preachers the fewer are the hearers Euen the Sabaothes of the Lorde are polluted with all manner of villanies and vanities as boldly as if the Gospels sounde had neuer beene shewed among vs. Euen the princesse of all professions I meane Diuinitie the Queene of al sciences the preaching of the worde is become the vilest in shew the poorest in practise the meanest in request and the greatest in slauerie The word of the Lord that came to loel the sonne of Pethuell That is to say which he sent or spake vnto Ioel the sonne of Pethuell In old time God spake diuers and many waies saith the Scripture Heb. 1. 1. to our fathers by the Prophets them I finde principally to be these first by vision as to Salomon 2. Chro. 1. 7. secondly by dreames as Moses saieth Deut. 1. 2. 6. and so he spake to Ioseph Mat. 1. 20. Thirdly by plaine face to face as hee did to Moses Fourthly by Angels Act. 8. 26. and lastly by secret instinct or motion of the spirit Luke 2. 27. and in this manner it is most likely the prophet Ioel receiued this prophesie Out of this we obserue this doctrine that if God send not his worde among vs we our selues euen the greatest among vs could or would not apprehend it For this cause the Scripture calleth it the word that came to Ioell meaning that then it came vnto him when he thought least of such strange euents terrible iudgements which he had giuen him in commission to denounce to his countrey men And the truth hereof may appeare by many testimonies of the word of God In that sinfull estate wherein all Israell stood in the time of Esay the prophet the Lord cried out Esay 6. 8. Whom shall I send vnto them as if there were none that would offer themselues to this busines And in the prophesie of Ieremie the Lord many times complaineth that he himselfe intended this busines earely and late morning and euening to send his prophets vnto them for their conuersion In other places where he bewaileth the destruction of his people he assigneth this for the cause The Prophets ran but I sent them not neither did they teach my ordinances So that if there be any forwardnes in the preachers and ministers that way to goe on their message before they receiue their arrand it rather destroyeth then saueth curseth then blesseth scattereth then gathereth the flocke of God togither Indeede when the Lord sendeth any he giueth them before hande the knowledge of his word so that they only which are apt and willing to teach are to be accompted the Lords ministers and no others Euen as the Lord gaue either more talents or fewer to euerie one of his seruants and we read not any called his seruant but he which had a talent at the least euen so in the ministerie where is not some sufficiencie to discharge that function I can neuer say he was of the Lords sending Therfore we must know that the great store of godly preachers and ministers of the word that abound in our daies in most corners of our countrey I would to God I could say in all were not either for desire of liuing or glorious estimation or any wordly cause aduaunced to the churches seruice but the Lord who hath indued their minds with knowledge their hearts with courage their toongs with vtterance and themselues with his spirit and word euen he aboue hath chosen them to be souldiers in his wars against Sathans kingdome and by the voice of his word like canon shot to batter downe the castles of darkenes The reasons hereof are manifest first because that mans nature in it selfe abhorreth nothing more then God his seruices Exo. 3. 11. 12 13. when Moses was called by the Lord to carie his name before Pharoh and the children of Israell how many delayes did he make and how many shifts did he inuent to exempt himselfe from this heauenly message sometime he wanted toong sometime strength and sometime authoritie now one while hee feared the king another while the people and although the Lord wrought miracles for him yet would he gladly auoide it Secondly it is apparant that when the people were in greatest extremitie and most of all felt the heauie hand of the wrath of God there was no calamitie that touched them so neerely or pressed them so deadly as this to thinke they had no Prophets left to inquire of the word of the Lord. For as a shippe in the midst of the sea tossed too
preachers the carnall and time seruing professours these shall goe to the place from whence they came there to be tormented world without end It is not cold and idle hearing that maketh vs the people of God but a sincere and diligent frequenting the place where his person dwelleth We must not be contented to be the Lords retayners but we must sue to be made his houshold seruants The Apostle Peter in his first epistle cap. 2. ver 5. calleth vs all that professe the Lord Iesus a spirituall priesthood now this was the office in old time of a priest euery day to appeare at the altar and their very lodging was in the Temple therefore must we come often to the Lords house and desire to dwell in his tabernacle that we may euermore heare and speake his worde The second reason of this doctrine is taken from the continuall course of the Iudgements of God All Egypt was plagued because they heard not the worde of God euen their king lost his eldest sonne and afterwarde he himselfe for the same follie was drowned and swallowed vp of the sea The noble man which would not beleeue and harken to the voice of the prophet when he told him of the great and sudden cheapnes of corne answered him that it was impossible except the windowes of heauen shoulde bee opened but he sawe it accomplished and for his infidelitie was troden to death by the people Reade the whole booke of God and you shal euery where plainly perceiue that for disobedience to God his worde and contempt of his messengers Kings haue been deposed and Queenes haue beene punished Lords Ladies Magistrates and subiectes old men and children haue tasted of the deadly cup of the Lords heauie wrath Lay vp this in your harts my bowels in the Lorde happy are they which auoide danger by the fals of other men Oh that the teares of our countrymen couldewash away the guilt of this sinne for our score is growne so great by our long continued credit that we haue made no conscience to pay the Lord his owne and we haue vrgent cause to consider and also to feare least the Lord sue the extremitie of the lawe vpon vs and neuer spare till we haue paide the vttermost farthing and felt the full weight of his hande and spent euery drop of bloud in soule and body for the notorious contempt of his most glorious Gospel There is no sacrifice to be compared to the hearing of the Lords worde and therefore the neglect thereof in whomsoeuer is most fearefull most deadly most damnable The vses which offer themselues vnto vs out of this doctrine are these first that the ancient and great men must suffer the words of the Lords ministers patiently and for this cause the Apostle willeth vs Tit. 2. 2. To exhort the elders to sobernesse and faith There be two things which should shine as bright in age and authoritie as the eies do in the heads of strong yoong men that see and be seene of others and yet see not themselues euen so ought sobrietie and faith to offer themselues vnto the view of all persons where the graie haires appeere like the buddes of an almond tree whereby the aged may see and correct the follies of youth and yoong men may see their example to be drawne in loue with their liues but they themselues ought not to be proud for that honour which the Lord hath bestowed vpon them Oh how vnhappie is that time when olde men and great men are as wanton as children and as faithles as those which neuer knewe God Wo bee to that lande whose Prince is a childe saith Salomon Meaning that the whole countrey is distressed where the gouerners thereof haue as little stay as children or as little faith as children In our daies if the Lords ministers which keepe the soules of our countrymen shall in meekenesse admonish old men they tell them they are but boyes to themselues and they knew what religion was before they were borne not knowing their antiquitie cannot preiudice the spirite of the Lord or not considering what our sauiour saide to the labourers in the vineyard They which were first shall be last and they which were last shall bee first Others thinke that if they beare an office in the common wealth no man may dare to counsell them in the Lorde they themselues thinke they are iniured and their friends thinke they are disgraced if the word of exhortation passe vpon them shall I say they being a gentleman well descended well instructed of so many hundred poundes reuenues bee in as much slauerie to this preaching as the poore artificer But vnto these we may answere that if their natures or offices exempt them from sermons they also exempt them from saluation For it pleased God through the foolishnes of preaching to saue them that beleeue What is a King better then a farmer a noble man better then an artificer a gentleman better then a plowman and a magistrate better then a subiect without true religion and obedience to the gospel Surely nothing for now whether had you rather bee poore Iacob bowing to the earth alone or rich Esau attended with fowre hundred men whether had you rather bee Pharaoh or Moses Ieroboam or the prophet Ziakijah or Ieremie the rich man or Lazarus Pilate or Christ Herod or Iohn Baptist the Apostles or the high Priests stagger not heereat but shew your consciences whether of these you woulde be you cannot bee both therefore choose one The way to heauen is narrowe and we being clothed with our owne conceites can neuer enter in there is too little roome for both we cannot beare the yoke of Christ and the worlde at one time the least of both requireth a whole man Therefore you my beloued fathers beare with the voice of vs your yoongers for when we exhort you it is not done in our name but in his who is the ancient of daies elder then the oldest wiser then the wisest stronger then the strongest and yoonger then the yoongest who is euery day borne in his members It is not vs but him that you heare who knoweth your harts seeth your liues and shall condemne your incredulitie The Lord told the rebellious Israelites when they refused Moses and Aaron that it was not against them but him that they had murmured and refused so it is not our youth it is not our frailtie it is not our weaknes that you blame for if wee were not ministers you woulde loue vs the better for it but it is against the Lorde that you striue Oh staie your toongs before they go too farre God which dasheth in peeces yoong infants careth not for your gray haires your swordes auaile not against him neither can your reuenues redeeme your soules Secondly we may make this one vse of this That forsomuch as the Elders and Magistrates must aboue others vse the hearing of the worde of God what is their estate
father hell is our bondslaue but their hangman We reioice as if we reioiced not but they reioice as if they were borne for nothing else we sorrowe as if we wept not but they haue their eies weeping in life their harts weeping in death and their soules weeping in hell Thinke nowe my beloued that this is our time of lamentation and this is our lamentation of time to see men weeping that should reioice men reioicing that should lament Woe be vnto them for they haue their consolation Therefore if once the worlde turne with the wicked then shall happines be like ise their pleasure like a sommer dewe their friends shall forsake them their feare shall possesse them and their miserie shall ouercome them Seeing therefore this is the case of the wicked that know not nor feare not God hence ariseth this most assured and fearefull and yet comfortable vse to be knowne that such as is the life of the wicked such shal be their end Amo 4. 1 2 3. The prophet in the saide place calling vpon the heads and rich men of Israell by the name of the kine of Bashan that fedde in the mountaine of Samaria telleth them that the Lorde hath sworne that seeing they behaued themselues like beastes he woulde also vse them like beastes for the thornes should stifle them and their posteritie shoulde be taken with fish-hookes and they shoulde go out of the gaps and breaches forwarde like kine and they shal be cast headlong out of the pallaces And these kinde of beastes are the oppressors of the poore the deuourers of meate and drinke the neglecters and despisers of the Lords worship and such as prophane the Lordes sacrifices with their owne inuentions vers 1. 4. 5. Consider nowe if euer there were mo beastes in Israell then are in England O lamentable world wilt thou euer proceed to prouoke the Lordes wrath to oppresse thy owne flesh to spill the life of thy owne brother and to shed the bloud of thy owne soule dost thou not yet knowe that if thou delight in cursing thou shalt receiue cursing and bicause thou louest not blessing it shall be farre from thee Yea I will adde this also thinkest thou not that thy cruell life shall haue a cruell death and thy mercilesse hart shall receiue a mercilesse plague doth not the scripture say That the same measure shal be heaped on thee that thou didst powre vpon other Hast thou lead all thy life in swearing and dost thou thinke thou shalt die with blessing hast thou walked wantonly passed the time pleasantly pampered vp thy owne bodie delicately consumed thy strength lecherously wasted thy wealth prodigally despised the ministerie wickedly frequented euill companie ioyfully vsed all maner of gaming greedily and wilt thou hope for all this to die the death of the righteous and to make a blessed latter ende Then is it not true which is most true that such as men sowe such shall they reape and if their life be the season their death is the haruest Oh that I coulde perswade you to liue well as you perswade your selues to die well then shoulde your times bee happie your liues be godly and all our endes bee blessed Therefore on the other side wee that are in league with the Lorde of glorie howe happie is our case seeing as wee liue so shall wee die our wearied bodies shall rest in his kingdome our sorrowfull soules shall bee refreshed in his kingdome our wounds shall be healed in heauen our teares shall be wiped from our eies our liues shall be disburdened of slaunders and to conclude seeing we being aliue are buried with Christ by our profession wee shall also at our death be raised vp with Christ to his euerlasting possession Secondly another vse which doth arise from this point is this that seeing the wicked are so beastly in their sorrowes and so desperate in their afflictions that sometimes wickednesse is rewarded in this life though not alwaies for their comfortlesse estate is the iust punishment of their wretchlesse behauiour We haue manifold examples hereof in the sacred worde of God who was more cruell then Adoni-bezek who cut off the thumbes and toes of seuentie kings and afterward by the Lords commandement he was so serued himselfe Iudg. 1. 6 7. Who was more proud then Nabuchadnezzar yet in this life was his vnderstanding taken from him and he driuen to eate his meate with brute beastes Tzedechias which burned the booke of God was taken by his enimies had his children slaine before his face and afterward had his owne eies put out and died at Babylon Herod that wicked wretch was eaten of wormes Ananias and Saphira were slaine by the Lord himselfe with a great many of like terrible iudgements of God of which you may read both in the scriptures and in the writings of other There are a viperous broode among vs which are not ashamed openly to professe that they care not so much for the pains in another life if they may escape the plagues of this life that is present and notwithstanding they feare the punishment of their sinnes shoulde bee executed on them in this life to their open shame and in the life to come to their vtter destruction yet they will neuer bee amended by Gospel or iudgemen t let such persons thinke what shall be their danger if they continue in this wicked opinion and wretched life For assuredly as Dauid once saide so will we euer say that the same which the wicked feareth shall come vpon them why shouldest thou bee more ashamed to be punished before a few of thy friends in this life then to bee laide open to the full vnto all the world at the latter day Learne therefore to purge thy hands and hart from sinnes wherein thou dwellest and when they shall bee burned thou shalt bee saued thinke that thou art not better then those which are already named and therefore thou maist be hanged with Absolon be stoned with Achan be cursed with Canaan be brained with Abimelech bee eaten with dogs as Iezabel was bee slaine with the sword as Adoniah was and finally fall from the top of honour to the bottome of ignominie as Haman did Because of the newe wine This is the cause why hee biddeth the drunkards and drinkers to awake because they should loose that which they best loued your newe wine that is so sweete to your mouthes wherein you dwell day and night shall bee taken from you And in this the prophet noteth vnto vs the whole corruption of carnall and wicked men that if they be ioyfull or if they be sorrowfull it is onely for the things of this life present when their barnes and storehouses are filled their fieldes clad with cattell their names exalted with worldly honour then they strike vp the ioyfullest musicke to their harts that they can inuent but when their wealth decreaseth or sicknesse taketh them or the famine vexeth them or the rumors of bloodie and
as he doth the Pismires and conies Prou. 30. 25. 26. Then he sheweth for the terrour of the people howe they are armed to destroy euen as lyons with their greedie iawes and sharpe teeth which teare in sunder whomsoeuer they meete neither shall they onely execute this malice vpon men but they shall take vengeance on the vines and figge trees stripping off the barke breaking downe the branches and deuour the fruit and the body togither From hence we may first of all note seeing he maketh these beastes infinite in number mightie in power and a nation for pollicie and vnitie that it is in vaine to resist the iudgements of God seeme they neuer so small What coulde bee more base then to threaten the Iewes which had so many cities so many castles so many corne fieldes so many store-houses and so many inhabitants to be destroied by a few grashoppers and caterpillers which a man may treade on the ground or phisicke or naturall meanes may driue away yet wee see in this place the spirite of God so dealeth and armeth them with sufficient power to dismay and deuoure all things Shall we nowe saie that anie iudgement of God is small and of no reckoning when hee can make the vnarmed wormes to wearie the harnished souldiours No verily for he hath set his iudgements some in the heauens some in the earth some in the aire and some in the waters that euery where we might be driuen from rebellion and drawne from disobedience We may see in the heauens sometimes darknesse who can remedie it we may feele in the earth barrennesse who can redresse it we may smel in the aire loathsomnes who can purge it and a little billowe of the waters can ouerwhelme vs who then can saue vs For this cause Salomon Prou. 27. 12. called him a foole that running against iudgement destroyed himselfe Oh saith he in sicknesse why should I repent I hope the physician can remedie this and so delaieth till it be too late If he be poore then saith he I will take of other mens goodes and they shall maintaine me and considereth not that the gallowes are at hand Nay that which is woorse they see the iudgements of God against idle teachers vnfruitfull hearers vncleane liuers and intolerable blasphemers and yet they cannot hide themselues from it Oh my deere brethren we haue many iudgements in our lande and how doe men resist them the husbandman by plowing the gentlemen by fining the rich men by gayning and almost euery one by vngodly flattering therefore I beseech you let vs no longer be hardened for we doe striue against the streame and bid warre against the almightie if there be any meanes to escape them it is by yeelding or else assuredly we shall neuer bee eased Let vs then set our harts at rest and neuer wage battell against the Euerlasting for he as we may reade Iob. 34. 20. and 29. 37. can easily without all might destroy the strongest catch the wisest ouerturne the swiftest and confound the noblest why doe we then take a contrarie course as Balaam did which the Lorde hath not hitherto blessed It is not in our labour to releeue vs or in the earth to redresse vs it is not in our repentance or submission but principally in the mercie of God to deliuer vs. Then I beseech and entreate by your morning and euening praier that our harts may be plowed and then shall our barnes and garners be filled Againe why should we delay to worke our owne reconciliation who is able to abide the angrie countenance of the Lord for the Psalmist saith If his wrath bee kindled but a little then blessed are they that trust in him Oh how infinite is his mercie towards vs which haue so long felt his iudgements and yet hath not his wrath beene kindled I may feare and all that haue any soules may feare that all this time the coles of our transgressions are in gathering together and shortly will the Lords wrath set them on fire and then who shall not bee burned This is euident that wee resist the iudgements of God because we seeke not a truce with him And therefore looke shortly to be serued as the Iewes were to haue our flies turned into lions our wormes into beastes our friendes into foes and these small euils which already we haue shall be growen vnsufferable The vses which arise from hence is first the same that Elihu Iobs friend maketh Iob. 37. 24. when he had reckoned vp the wonderfull iudgements and works of God he thus concludeth Let men therefore feare before him for he regardeth none that are wise in their owne conceites Wherein he teacheth vs that although the Lord worketh strangely in the world and yet forbeareth to destroy vs it is because that thereby we should learne to feare him for in the feare of God is all religion and assurance of saluation Dauid saith it is the beginning of wisedome Peter telleth vs it is the continuance of our adoption and Paul saith it is the ende of our profession when he biddeth vs to finish vp our saluation with feare and trembling Then my beloued let vs feare God for so the word of God exhorteth and the Lord commandeth and the worlde and course of nature teacheth Feare him not as a iudge for then thou shalt bee condemned feare him not as a seruant for then thou shalt be punished but feare him as a father and then thou shalt be deliuered But some waxe desperate through feeling of the Lords iudgements and others are hardened because they haue seene others taken and themselues escaped and in our times although we haue so many causes to feare him oh fearefull times wherein is so little feare we may feare this one thing least as it falleth out with a sicke man a little before his ende he hath a lightening of his paines so that he feeleth himselfe voide of pangs and then presently dieth so now hauing so little feare after so long feare we be suddenly destroied But some will say if wee knew that the Lorde had sent it and not appointed any meanes to redresse then we would rest contented and in the meane time we cannot choose but labour to be eased by some way or other I graunt if the Lord should sounde from heauen vnto you or send an angell to reprooue your rebellion then it is like you would giue ouer but why are you not contented to knowe this by his word that it is the punishing of your sinnes and till you doe away your sinnes he will not doe away his iudgements Well saide Elihu Iob. 33. 13 14. Why dost thou striue against God for he doth not giue account of all his matters for God speaketh once or twice and man seeth it not then he openeth the eares of men by their corrections which he had sealed that hee might turne them from their euill hide their pride and keepe their soule from the pit So long therefore as
hearers The reasons of this doctrine are these bicause in that time the Lorde sheweth himselfe to be an enimie Lamen 2. 5 8. And who is he that will not sorrow knowing that the Lorde is his enimie would he euer fall out so farre with his owne people as to suffer his owne glorie to bee darkened were it not bicause he hath kindled his wrath against them euen as a Lorde in this worlde taketh from his seruant his office his cognisance and in the end turneth him out of his dores bicause he hath displeased him so dealeth the Lorde with vs when he maketh men colde in his seruice and wearie of his Gospell O my beloued nowe I feare is the Lord an enimie vnto vs when hee suffereth such abuses and abusers of his goodnes to liue among vs. Poperie beginneth againe to growe ioyfully out of the earth in the Lordes fieldes Atheisme priuily stretcheth his selfe as the Iuie doth about the Oke the ministerie groweth careles the people waxeth wanton the rich men are idle and the poore men are ignorant of the Lords seruice Are not these sufficient tokens that the Lord beginneth to be an enimie vnto England O mourne therefore as a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husbande of her youth See we not how the worlde winneth vpon the possessions of the church if we haue a vnitie then bringeth he in securitie if there be diuisions then brocheth hee manie blasphemous heresies if we agree among our selues he maketh the world to hate vs if we please the worlde our own brethren suspect vs if we haue great gifts then are we enuied if we haue but smal gifts then are we despised and thus with nothing are all men pleased the Lords busines is still deferred Surely this will make the Lord fall out with vs be our enimie for euerie one thinketh that his owne dislike is reason enough to be absent from the Lords presence And if there be anie that loue the Lorde Iesus let them before hande sorrow that his second comming shall finde no faith on the earth Let vs therefore cast downe our selues as the Apostle wisheth vs Iam. 4. 9. Endure afflictions and weepe and sorrow let your laughter be turned into heauines and your ioy into mourning nowe is the time as Ieremie said that we giue glorie to the Lorde before he bring darknes or euer our feete stumble in the darke mountaines Let vs beholde as in a watch towre this enimie of the church marching neere at hande readie to fight against our saluation to poison our faith to abolish the Scriptures to silence the preachers to distract the people and to roote vp againe that foundation which the Lorde hath builded This let both princes and people clergie and temporaltie lament with all speede and without all ceasing that the bane of Religion is alreadie receiued and the foundation of darkenes is alreadie laide the workemen of iniquitie are building vpon it we cannot hinder but we will pray against it we cannot roote it vp but we wil set the fire of the Lords word to burne it we cannot deface it yet we will lament it Mourne O yee elders that your posteritie shall be thus endangered that in your daies you haue seene the Lorde a friende and an enimie to vs that you haue suffered the decay of that which all the worlde can neuer builde that you haue so laboured to builde your owne houses and names and haue rooted vp the walles of the church Weepe O yoong men for your selues and for your soules for your liues shall smart for your pleasures and I am afraide that the bloude of your harts must clense the wickednes of your times Crie out O children that you are deputed to haue but the reuersions of the truth which your elders deuoured and leaue you nothing but pay those debtes which they owe for their iniquities The meate offeringe All the offerings which were sacrificed in the olde lawe did betoken Christ to be sacrificed for vs vnto the which there was to be added as the Lorde commanded Numb 15. 4 5 6. a meate offering of fine meale and oyle and a drinke offering of wine without which there was no offering no sacrifice so that in this place when he saith the meat offering and drinke offering are cut off from the house of God he meaneth by one part the whole worship of God to be intermitted Frō whence we may note this that God hath so great regard to punish sinne that rather then it shall escape scot free he will discontinue his owne worship More plainly men know that so long as they keepe the worship of God and the pure outward profession of true religion no great nor generall change of state or iudgement of God shal ouerturne them therefore the Lorde will take away his worde his worship his truth from among them which are the charets of Israel and the garde of the church that he may more freely take vengeance of our sinnes Thus may we read he dealt with Israell Psal 78. 60. Lam. 2. 16. Now consider I beseech you what refuge can we haue against the Lorde or what shield to couer our sinnes why you will saie the Lords mercie but how if mercie haue beene offered and be refused and so the date thereof for our good be expired Yet you will saie his mercie endureth for euer but I may answere you that hee so little regardeth mercy to men and seruice to himselfe at sometimes that he taketh away all signe of his fauour all tokens of his presence all comfort of his word and commoditie by his worship and so let vs feare in England least we be so serued and rather ruled and least the time come that we may say heere stood a church there was the Gospell preached once we might safely professe the word of God but now we are excluded The reasons of this may be these first because the people so long as they say the temple of the Lord the Gospell of the Lorde so long they are obstinate in their sinnes and wilfull in all manner of wickednesse Iere. 7. 4 3. And for this cause to take away their shroude that they might cast away their vaine confidence the Lorde spareth not his owne worship to shew vnto vs that he also will not spare our liues This might be vrged to the vttermost for these our times wherein there are few that will crie the temple or the Gospell but amongst those few which vrge the bare name of religion and reformation how many are there that liue riotously and walke licentiously pitifully tronbling the world with their lustes and the church of God with their workes but let vs beware least both they and others cannot say the temple but that we had religion in England Secondly another reason may be this because we take not the true course and lawfull way to keepe the worship of God among vs. Rom. 9. 32. The Iewes saith the Apostle
by outward shewes and the giftes of the spirite by worldly professions so that if men liue neuer so vprightly and yet be poore or teach neuer so diligently and yet be not famous and pray neuer so feruently and yet be not a flatterer or write neuer so excellently and yet reprooue sinne he is no more accounted then a base and common professour Men will not studie religion because they say the doctors can neuer knowe all things and therefore they will knowe nothing but if none should studie phisicke but he that would cure all diseases sicknesse would quickly ouerthrowe vs and if men follow not religion because they cannot know euerie mysterie the diuell will speedily ouercome their soules Be ye ashamed O ye husbandmen howle O ye vine dressers for the wheate and for the barly because the haruest of the field is perished Now he commeth to the particular persons that dresseth the earth and the fruites thereof bidding them to bee ashamed to see their cunning faile their labour lost their price receiued in vaine because all was destroied whereabout they were imploied From hence we may note that seeing the prophet calleth to these husbandmen it is our dutie that are of the ministerie to speake the word and rebuke sinne and exhort euery kinde of profession vnto religion The princes the nobles the rich the poore the husbandmen the artificers and the seruingmen and the gentlemen must all be exhorted and rebuked by the voice of a preacher And this was the most singular comfort that Paul receiued by his labour Actes 20. 31. That they all coulde beare him witnesse that hee had not ceased daye nor night to admonish euery man of life eternall wherein wee see that the paines of a minister are infinite that must not feare any mans person nor spare any mans profession nor loue any mans sinnes nor bee silent at any mans iniuries nor bee controuled for any iust offence by him rebuked Looke I say to the labours of watchmen in the Lordes house hee warneth them by chiding saith Aug. he instructeth them by preaching he prepareth them by admonition he hath a calling from God to warrant him from the word to enconrage him from the spirit to inflame him and from his conscience to comfort him He must rebuke the rage of great men the folly of old men the vanitie of yoong men the deceit of crafts men the trade of husbandmen the idlenes of seruingmen the wantonnes of women and the sinnes of all men that by wounding them with the word of God both they and he might escape the iudgement of God The reasons of this doctrine may bee these First because as Paul saith in the forenamed place ver 26. 27. that by this means they are free from the blood of all men And we know that the blood of a poore husbandman will staine as much as the blood of the greatest prince in the world But euermore when I haue occasion to talke of the bloode of men which is committed to the preachers and shall bee againe required at our hands me thinkes that the blood and life and hearts and soules should tremble hereat the minister for his charge the people for their danger The captaine doth answere for the body of a man the factor for his masters wealth the scholler for his learning the man for his seruice and the noble man for his princes affaires but the minister must answere for the peoples sinnes Againe what is the danger to keepe thy soule is it not committed to a man hath it not all the diuels in hell to lay siege vnto it and yet wil not men come to their pastors to haue their soules fed being hungrie nor yet cured being sicke nor yet salued being wounded nor yet defended being besieged nor yet to be saued although they be like to bee damned Another reason of this is because our commission must stretch it selfe as far as Christes redemption who is an aduocate for all men that is for all sorts of men and therefore it is most requisite that we speake to all kinds of men that so they may come to the knowledge of redemption Wouldest thou then be exempted from comming to sermons then thou must also be exempted from comming to saluation Is it hard vnto thee and intolerable that the word of God shall restraine thy pleasures then shall it be harder for thee to haue the blood of Christ to annoint thy soule from hell Would not all men come to the kingdom of heauen then wil I open vnto them the gate of the Lord and tell you that obedience to the ministerie is the way and the righteous will enter therein The vses which come of this doctrine are these First seeing that all men must receiue the word of the minister that the ministers flatter not the people and conceale not the iudgements of God from their sinnes Prou. 24. 24. 25. The Lord promised pleasure to them that rebuked the sinne of the wicked and the blessing of goodnes shall bee vpon them What is the hope of the Lords workman we haue already declared But now let me exhort and be exhorted vnto this necessarie doctrine I know that since the world grew to a multitude and the church to a monarchie the great men haue euer enuied the rebukers of sinne I meane the ministerie bicause they liued in greater sinnes themselues and this is the cause why reproofes are so hardly endured that although we speake but generally against a particular sinne yet some or other who is gauled with the conscience thereof will accuse vs for ayming at him and peraduenture threaten vs mortall hatred this was not so in the primitiue church 1. Cor. 14. 24. 25. but rather men obeyed gladly then threatned maliciously but so it is in our church and therefore are the ministery afraid in many places to preach the word least they should offend But harken my deere brethren feare them not for it shal come on vs that the Lord threatned Ieremie If we spare his word he will confounde vs in their presence What is there in them that we should feare they are but men in nature so are we they are many in number so are we they haue the world we haue the word they touch but our names or our bodies our soules are the Lords they cannot accuse vs iustly of sinne but themselues they cannot worke their will but the Lords will their wrath is nothing to the Lordes wrath shall we silence the word because they loue it not Beloued haue not mens persons in admiration the word of God is not bound though we be imprisoned that cannot be hurt though we be blamed our soules cannot be touched though our bodies be martyred Let vs wish with Luther that God would make vs woorthie to die for his word Another vse of this doctrine is that the people of all sorts must heare the worde of the minister let them take heed that they beare the
rebukes of sin for the Lord. Hos 4. 4. cōplaineth of the desperate estate of the people for he saide they rebuked the prophet This is the sin of England for there are among vs that will teach wise men and themselues being fooles they will controule learned men themselues being ignorant they will sohoole preachers yet they cannot heare they will rule magistrates themselues being subiects and they will seeme to doe all things being able to doe nothing But this is the point woorthie to be stoode vpon they will reprooue the minister of the Gospell If they suspect vs they condemne vs if there be but an vncertaine rumour they make it a certaine sclander so that our life our liuings our doctrine our calling and all our preaching is contemned by them Our life to be idle our liuings to be too great our doctrine to be suspitious our calling to be burdensome and our preaching to be onely for a worldly respect Oh incurable vndurable mischiefe why do men at once set Christ to schoole teach God to be wise refuse the Gospels gouernment and choose the tyranny of sinne Why do they rebuke vs and yet thinke they do well if the rod of magistrates light on vs for our sinnes let vs abide it but to let euery drunkard and ruffian and seruingman and euery base companion to crow against the Gospell and our calling let vs neuer abide They hate vs because they loue sinne they loue liberty because they abhorre discipline they regard not the ministery because they regard not God and therefore looke for a present and speedie calamitie for since that base fellowes became ministers base fellowes haue regarded none so that now we may preach out our hearts and pray out our soules and weepe out our eies yet we shall receiue nothing but scoffes and scornes rebuke and scander for our labor Weepe and howle hauing bidden them to be ashamed now he biddeth them to bee sorrowfull for well hee knew that their hope and health was lost when their corne and fruites were destroyed wherein they trusted more then in GOD. And from hence wee may obserue that if the worshippe of God bee once decaied there is not any so desperately wicked or dissolute but he shall smart for them we may say Esay 9. 10 11 12. That the wicked make great bragges if they were depriued of preaching the word they say they would turne brickes into hewen stone and tymber into Cedar trees but the Lorde telleth them that their enimies shall beset them and he will cut off both honorable and taile So is the course of his iudgement that when hee hath taken away his worship which is a helmet of proofe to keepe his wrath from vs then he sendeth greatest calamitie when we thinke we shall liue in greatest securitie The filthie Sodomites thought that they were well when Lot was gone from among them but there followed presently fire and brimstone from heauen By this our gallants may perceiue that if the Gospell be in the wrath of God translated from our countrey their brauerie and pride and wealth and prosperitie shall be ouerturned into perpetuall miserie They thinke it a burden intollerable to liue vnder the checke heereof but let them know that the little finger of humane tyrannie shall bee heauier on them then the loines and body of all christianitie Oh how do men deceiue themselues with sweete promises of great and incredible ease which they shall reape by the abasing of the ministerie by the decay of good men and the abandoning of all goodnes when they shall haue libertie to commit any kinde of sinne O miserable wretches saith one to whom it is lawfull to do wickedly surely you shall come out of a little brooke and runne headlong into the maine sea The reason of this doctrine is this bicause the wicked shoulde knowe that all goodnesse which they receiue is for the Gospels and godly mens sake Prou. 11. 11. there is not any thing in the worlde which the godly haue not a title vnto insomuch as all the wicked men are but vsurpers of the goods and landes and wealth and dignities they enioy so long as a godly man is liuing The worlde is a bodie religion is the soule thereof which being remooued is dead and fit for nothing The worlde is a building and the worship is the pillar postes thereof which being remooued it must needes fall as the house wherein Sampson slewe the Philistines So that it is most plaine that when our knowledge is turned to ignorance and the preachers of the worde of God cease to speake in the name of God and when the Gospell is banished from our lande and there bee a free libertie to doe what they list then I saie will the heauens threaten destruction the mindes of men shall be made blinde their vnderstanding shall bee taken from them and they shall liue as other people do without God his word to be slaues to their enimies drudges to their labours beastes in their liues enimies to God haters of good things and diuels by their death The vses which commeth from this doctrine is first of all that wee labour with speede to amende those things which are amisse among vs for else that iudgement which the Lorde once threatened to the Ephesian church Reuel 2. 5. shall take holde namely that the Lord will take away his candlesticke from vs if the light bee gone we shal liue in darknes if the word be gone we shall liue in blindnes if God his worship be taken from vs wee shall die in miserie This onely is the meate which if wee want will consume vs it is a sworde and if it bee not in our handes it will wounde vs it is a scepter which if the king of heauen holde not foorth we shall be condemned Feare the want of the Lords worship for if it goe from vs then he will depart if he depart then our prosperitie will cease and there shall not be a man aliue which will not desire to die Consider I beseech you if you haue enioyed great possessions goodly landes faire houses many friends delicate liues and many children but in one night thy aduersarie stealeth away thy euidence whereby thou holdest thy lande and then thou art turned out of possession thy landes are taken from thee thy friendes forsake thee thy children crie on thee and thou bee constrained either to harde labour or vnlawfull beggerie how wouldest thou take it but wish for a thousande deathes to bee deliuered from this shame So shall it bee with thee in the Gospell which is the euidence of thy peace thy health thy landes thy ioy and the kingdome of heauen the which being taken from thee thou canst neuer enioy any of these then thou shalt weepe without comfort sorrowe without hope liue without ioy die without peace and be damned without mercie Oh whose heart is not cleaued asunder to thinke vpon the danger of his soule Loue the
before the Lord when wee euer meete againe about the like occasion and this I would haue practised both in priuate and publike humiliation The reasons that may mooue vs vnto this dutie to be throughly humbled are these first because the Lorde will not looke on our aduersitie without this perfect and absolute contrition Isa 58. 3. for he then especially looketh to the inwarde disposition of euery soule to see who they be which tremble at his word and iudgements and they which then will not nor cannot there is little hope of grace and goodnesse in them The heathen king of Niniueh and all his subiects had that conscience when the Lord sounded their destruction by the prophet Ionah Ahab mourned when he heard the words of Elijah the prophet and when God speaketh to the Assyrians and Moabites he biddeth them come downe into the dust and ashes to lament their miseries Alas why doe I rehearse either precepts or examples to mooue men vnto this which they would not doe for if their owne liues and bloud and soules will not prouoke them hereunto other mens waies will not perswade them yet let them thus consider that it will greeue them more to loose this their counterfeite humilitie as the Iewes doe in the forenamed place when they shall say we fasted we praied we trauelled and we desired to iustifie our soules and yet their fast shall be as vanitie their praier abhomination and their comming into the Lords presence like his which had no wedding garment and therefore was hee and so shall they bee cast into vtter darknesse Another reason is this because that those iudgements which call for this humiliation must teach vs righteousnesse Esa 26. 9. and so we encrease in righteousnesse as we exceede in humilitie and for this cause we must know that the more religion a man hath the more humble he is and the more hee saith hee encreaseth in goodnesse the more he must studie to shew it outwardly As for those which thinke they serue God well enough when they neither pray with their toongs nor bende with their knees nor vncouer their heads nor mooue out of their houses I leaue them to their fancies let euery beast bird of the aire confute their fancies for the Lord which hath assigned euery member his office will haue euery one to execute it himselfe The vses which offer themselues by the consideration of this point are these seeing we must bee throughly humbled therefore let vs auoide all manner of idlenesse in this worship of God Iam. 2. 19. when we are once perswaded of this point we shall not onely lende an eare to this businesse but thinke all time too little that we spend not herein The poore saintes of God in that forenamed place crie in the night watches as these priestes which lay all night in lamentation and so when the feare of the Lords wrath and the conscience of our owne dangers doe once meete together then there is not any thing that will bee so acceptable to vs as praier This feare will driue from vs our sleepe as the windes driue away the cloudes the sicke man will sit vp the olde man will holde vp his hands the weake man will stand for his life the woman will weepe without ceasing and euery one so touched will auoide all worldly actions then will or rather then must the rich man forsake his counting house the farmer leaue his plough the seruant auoide his rest the labourer neglect his meate and the drowsie person hold vp his eies All the Apostles slept till the high priestes seruants came to take our Sauiour but then they awaked fled for their liues but why did they not wake before in praier that thē they might haue slept without danger oh let vs therefore come both great small to appeere in the Lords presence with al diligence let not any long iourney any lack of prouision any loue of ease any losse of health make vs idle Rise early to praier watch late to lament sleepe little that thou maist spende the more time to gaine thy soules health In the day we labour for our bodies in the night let vs labour for our soules My soule saith Dauid thinketh on thee in the night watches and so let our soules thinke on the Lord when other thinke on their rest and their pleasure Another vse which commeth by this consideration is this that seeing we must be throughly humbled or not at all let vs take for our example the paterne of them that mourne for the dead as the prophet exhorteth Ierem. 6. 26. How many are the teares of them which loose their louing husbands their tender children and their loyal friendes Iacob for feare of this said before hand it woulde make his hoare head goe downe into the graue But so slight is the mourning of many among vs that they neither wette their cheekes for their sinnes nor yet would willingly depart with this life for the enioying of the life to come Surely this is woorthy to be noted in them which earnestly lament the dead that they desire to be with them so let vs desire to be free of this feare of death and sinne with the death of our sinnes and liues let vs so bitterly bewaile our time as we may be most willing to change our life for no other cause then to cease from sinne The Israelites bewailed Moses thirtie daies together and let vs with great and long continuance mourne not for Moses who is in heauen but for our selues who would be in heauen When Naomy bid her daughters Ruth and Orpah goe backe into Moab they wept at her words if they were so vnwilling to liue in Moab and to depart with Naomi why are not wee as vnwilling to liue in this world and to depart with Christ seeing he is our head and we his members we must goe to him and he may not come to vs let vs therefore by his example endure many sorrowes and great dangers that we may be more willing to leaue this life The theefe inclosed in the prison ceaseth from stealing and when wee are closed in iaile of many griefes and clogged with the irons of many crosses then let vs know that we cease from many externall and internall abhominations Yee ministers of my God In this that hee calleth the priestes which serued at the altar the ministers of God he thereby giueth vs to vnderstand whose possession are the ministers namely and onely the Lords Num. 3. 12. The Lord challengeth the tribe of Leui to himselfe to be his peculiar and royall priesthood and the Apostle willeth the Corinthians that they should so thinke of him as of the minister of God and disposer of the secrets of his kingdome and therefore writing to the Galathians hee telleth them hee is not by man nor by the will of man but of God Once in steede of the appointed ministerie were the first borne of euery familie
welth nor forsake your life but cast away vaine mirth idle talke wicked hope wretched behauiour leaue your sins to the diuel frō whence they came giue thy soule to the Lord frō whence it came Elisha did but require of Naaman to go into the riuer seuen times he shuld be clean which his seruants tolde him was but a small thing so we require you but to wash your souls with the water of your eies and you shal be as free from death as Naaman was from the leprosie But why should I need to instruct you are you not minded like Ieremie that of himselfe desired riuers of teares to weep for his people so be you not backward but of your own accord so that you may plese the lord desire that you were al teares to lamēt throughly the miseries of the world Oh lament with speed tarrie not or else it wil be too late whē you shal see before your eies the litle infants quartred the aged persons mangled the cruell heathens aduanced the poore christians dying the aire thundering the earth quaking vnder you and the cloudes rayning downe fire and vengeance Another vse is this that we be so minded at the hearing of the Lordes iudgements as if they were presently to be executed It was a great fault in the Israelites that whensoeuer the prophet spake any thing to them they presently thought and saide this shall not bee yet it will be a good while before it come to passe and we neede not care for wee may bee dead and gone out of the way ere this bee fulfilled Ezech. 12. 27. 28. but the Lorde rebuketh that follie and biddeth the prophet tell them that it shall bee shortly performed And so the like rage possesseth the heades and braines of many in our daies which although they knowe that it is true that is tolde them of a destruction yet euery one thinketh it shall not be this yeere nor in our Queenes daies nor so long as the Gospell remaineth and therefore they will possesse al their vanity rather then be humbled But this ought not to beso yea rather hasten out of this securitie as Lot out of Sodom and the Israelites out of Egypt that thou maiest escape it whensoeuer it commeth It is better with the wise virgines to be readie an houre or two or three too soone then with the foolish to tarrie a quarter of an howre too late Therefore admit the danger bee not as yet yet bicause wee are nowe warned let vs now be prepared shall we not make as great account of the Lords louing mercie as of our owne health yes yes my beloued and therefore let vs arise to lamentation bicause the Lord calleth for it although there were no danger following after But wee are like the disciples which coulde not watch but sleepe euen then when Christ was in most danger although our Sauiour did manie times awake them till at length the enimie came vpon them and they were all driuen to forsake Christ so I praie God our like securitie bee not with the like danger awakened for I feare if the mercifull voice of a Sauiour will not mooue vs the terrible crie and swordes of enimies will amaze vs. As a destruction In these wordes is the general cause of the lamentation described bicause the Lords wrath is kindled to make a destruction Wherein there is to bee noted that nothing doth so much feare and terrifie good men as the anger of God Deuter. 9. 17 18. When Moses perceiued that God was angrie hee fell downe flat on his face and besought God neither eating nor drinking for fortie daies and nights togither was not their feare great that made this good man to aduenture his life by so long fasting and his soule by desiring to bee razed out of the booke of life yes verily for the anger of the Lord mooued him more then if he had seene all the worlde on fire about his eares But carnall Gospellers and carelesse Atheists as they thinke it a farre more lesse matter to please God then to please man so they deeme it a lesse matter to haue God angry with them then the prince or some great rich men that may hinder their worldly estimation Alas alas if Saule were fearefull to a thousande Dauid was to tenne thousande and if worldly men may a little terrifie the flesh the God of the worlde may infinitelie plague the spirite Therefore put on this affection that we may knowe what to thinke of the wrath of God if the anger of a prince be the messenger of death much more is the wrath of God the herauld of condemnation When Assuerus was angrie presently Hamans face was couered and he carried to execution woulde not Haman giue all his possessions to haue retained the fauour of the king so likewise aduenture any thing rather then to stirre vp the coales of the Lordes wrath by which thou thy selfe and all thy neighbours shall be burned without mercy Oh therefore studie to knowe howe to auoide his displeasure and to retaine his louing countenance and let not the loue of any sinne so bewitch thee that thou procure his vengeance in working thy desire The reasons of this doctrine are these First bicause none can bee an intercessour or a friende to God being angrie 1. Sam. 2. 25. that is there is not anie mortall man that can doe any such a pleasure as to staie the Lords wrath from falling on him or that may bee able to stande in the gap of the Lordes wrath The which consideration might most effectually admonish all our presumptuous companions which thinke that the Lord is pinned to their sleeues imagining him to be such a childe as might bee lost with an apple and wonne with a trifle againe but they shall finde it a farre more heauie matter when no offers of gold no intreaties offriends no teares of greefe no nor yet the fruit or blood of their bodies shal pacifie or recompence him for their sins This ought to make vs account highly of the mediation intercessiō of Christ and not to tread vnder our feete his glorious blood shedding after we be once reconciled Another reason is because it is a most fearefull thing to fall into the handes of the liuing God Heb. 10. 31. such a fearefull thing as passeth all vnderstanding and therefore who but mad men will run too farre into this danger Although Dauid chose rather to fall into the hands of God then men because he was well assured the iudgement was but a fatherly correction and not a reuenging punishment yet we must know that he knew that it would bee but a corporall or bodily death but we are not assured of halfe so much yea happie were we if the wrath of God did but reach to our bodies and that he would be satisfied for our sinnes if we lost our children and wealth and friendes and health and life or that if we could endure all
worldly tortures to bring vs to death therewith he would bee contented but it is yet a more fearefull thing when we are subiect to all these and more also to leade an endlesse and easelesse life in the euer burning and neuer dying flames of hell The vses which wee must make of this doctrine are these first that wee learne to feare none of them that kill the body but onely him that is able to cast both bodie and soule into the fire of hell Mat. 10. 28. But I know euerie one will subscribe vnto me and say that they feare him aboue all when as this feare is such a weake dampe that it putteth not foorth any sinnes and it holdeth as much godlinesse in their harts as a sieue will holde water in the open aire Moses was afraide of a serpent and it made him run away what feare is this that possesseth our gospellers mindes that will not cause them to be as much afraide of the sting of sinne as Moses was of the sting of the serpent Ioseph saide for the feare of God he could not commit follie with his lady and if the feare of God had any rooting in your harts you could not leade such licentious liues as you doe The Israelites were afraide to sacrifice a sheepe in Egypt because it was abhomination to the Egyptians but you are not afraide to offer your filthy deadly and abhominable lustes to the Lord although they be abhomination to his maiestie yea although there bee an vnmeasurable iudgement hanging ouer your heads Therefore feare the Lord that must rule you and the iudge that must trie you and the sauiour that must keepe you or else you shall feele the deadly paine that shall torment you The poore woman that came before Salomon would rather depart with her childe to her neighbour then suffer it to be diuided in sunder but how much more deere it is to haue your soules cut in sunder feare you not this Therefore with all speede looke vnto the Lorde as humbly as petitioners pray vnto him as mournfully as prisoners tremble at him as fearfully as the hill of Sinai fall downe before him as lowe as Daniel melt at his anger as the waxe before the sunne Another vse is that we alway keepe our confidence in the Lord for if his wrath be but a little kindled then are they blessed that put their trust in him Psal 2. 11. Balaam feared God yet because his faith and confidence was not in the Lord he was slaine among the other enimies of God therefore let me now take occasion to exhort all your harts to a sure confidence in the Lorde because his wrath shall neuer touch those which put their trust in him It is saide Psal 99. 4. that Moses and Aaron and Samuel put their trust in God and he deliuered them This was such a trust as was exercised with all Christian vertues the which you must ioyne with them or else you cannot enioy it Forsake your selues imbrace the Lord loue not the worlde and desire Christes kingdome and then you trust in the Lorde confirme your harts with patience beautifie your minds with knowledge reforme your affections by repentance and amende your liues by the whole Gospell of God and then shall the Lord say you haue trusted in him Oh then blessed shall you be for although the world be drowned you shall bee saued although the citie be burned you shall bee deliuered although the people be captiuated you shall be enlarged and although the earth be cursed yet you shall be blessed If sicknesse weare thy body and anguish vexe thy soule and trouble oppresse thy life and losses catch away thy goodes and enimies spoile thy children and death doe ende thy daies yet shall not the wrath of God consume thy ioyes What wouldest thou haue more if God hate thee not hee loueth thee if hee loue thee he will keepe thee if he keepe thee danger shall not oppresse thee if thou be not oppressed then art thou blessed and if thou be blessed be sure thou shalt be saued The xiiij Sermon Vers 16. And ioy and gladnesse is cut off from the house of our God COncerning the former words of this verse we haue spoken in the verse before and now to the next following where the prophet telleth them or rather the Lord that now men could take no delight nor ioy in the outward seruice of his maiestie which was a most lamentable thing when one should come into the house of God where was woont to be most sweete melodie in the harts and voices of men like vnto another paradise now he should finde it full of teares and cries and yelling and sorrowes and euery one ashamed to shewe his face for griefe this doth the prophet offer to the consideration of God Whereby we will note this that the seruice of God must be performed with ioy and delight Deut. 16. 11. I meane the ordinarie seruice and worship of God But in our daies we may almost complaine as this prophet doth that ioy is parted from the house of our God men come almost as willingly to the churches as some goe to execution and tarrie as ioyfully before the preacher to heare the sermon as other doe before the iudge to heare the sentence When we are at our praier they are at their books when we are at our preaching they are at their sleepe when we are at our psalmes they are in the tauernes Maruell you not to see the ioy of these men in the worship of God vnto whome the church is a iaile the minister is a keeper the Lord is a iudge themselues are the prisoners and their zeales are as ioyfull to them as little ease yet for all this we will reioice in the Lorde our God and account one day spent in his courtes better then a thousande spent else where And as Dauid reioyced to see other men goe so will we reioice when our number is increased when our voices are aduaunced and our Lord Iesus magnified The reasons of this doctrine are these first because this ioy in the seruice of God is a token of the presence of God his spirite in the harts of men Rom. 14. 17. so on the other side when men are lumpish and heauie in this worship and heauenly businesse it is a token they like not the matter but are hindered and blinded by the spirit of malice Shall we then say that they are all giuen to the diuell who haue not beene baptised into the Lords spirit and possessed with a delight in the Lordes seruice then must wee say that all hard harted misers wicked minded ruffians fickle brained yoonglings and wind-wauering women which had rather be playing with their loues or their children or else be disporting in brauerie and wantonnesse or bee mumbling a few Paternosters of old angels or new stuffed barnes then yeeld their eares their hart their soule their minde and their whole man to the Lordes most
of God bicause thither came all the tribes to do seruice and sacrifice to the Lord therefore sometime it signifieth the church of God and all the members thereof as Psal 51. By these words I might note that although the ministers haue a priuate and a publique charge to warne the people yet they must haue a more speciall regard to the publique place Col. 4. 16. Isa. 66. 6. The reasons are First bicause Christ is alway present in the congregation Mat. 18. 20. and therefore if they haue any loue to their Sauiour there they must heare and see him Againe in the publique ministerie of the worde is giuen the holy Ghost Gal. 3. 2. so that if men would haue the pledge of their eternall inheritance thither they must resort where he is freely offered without money yea let them come from strength to strength that is be thy strength little or much vse the same to come to the church of God there is no more dispensation for weakenes then for health and therefore if thou wilt shew thy obedience and thy zeale to saluation then come when thy health and strength is most endangered for then will it bee like the poore widowes mite most acceptable to God If thou be a gentleman vse the helpe of thy horses and men if a woman take the helpe of thy husband if thou be poore craue thy neighbours hand as he did which was sicke of the palsie Mat. 9. 2. If thou be a seruant take so much the lesse pleasure to heare a sermon for in so doing thou shalt please the Lord and not disprofit thy maister Againe despise not the voice of him that speaketh Heb. 12. 25. for God which speaketh in vs is a consuming fire there was neuer angell that spake but the contempt of his words was seuerely punished and Zacharie because hee did a little doubt of the angels message lost his toong till his child was circumcised The ministers of God are called angels Reuel 2. 1. and therefore if thou beleeue them not then feare the losse of thy eares or thy toong or thy hands or thy heart but if thou contemne them and dally with them wantonly or despitefully oh feare the losse of body and soule for euer and euer but of these things we haue often times before spoken Againe if the voice of a trumpet could awake the Iewes and turne them to the Lord how is it that men and voices and Christ and Gospell cannot awake the men of our times the trumpet was blowen very seldome but the word is euery day and euery where preached and yet are not men prepared Nay verily a trumpet in the streets shall haue moe followers then a sermon in the temples and as Michab saith cap. 2. 11. new wine and strong drinke do make men rise early and goe late to bed that they may be filled therewith but yet the wine of the Lords truth cannot preuaile and therefore the wine of his wrath must make them drunken vnto death But in this that he biddeth the inhabitants to tremble at the sound of a trumpet we are taught that we must stand before the Lord with feare and trembling Ier. 6. 10. Ezr. 10. 9 but in our daies men quake in the congregation as steeples in the sea they are ready to laugh at that which should make them sorrow and to loath that which they should long after He is now accounted a milke-sop that will weepe when he heareth sinne reprooued and a very coward that feareth any euill yea though it bee eternall condemnation It is fearfull to consider that the presence of God shaketh the whole world and the power of his worde maketh the deserts to tremble and yet sillie men and in comparison of those like cornes of sand wil not shake nor tremble nor feare for any of all these And aboue all this mischiefe is to be considered that the longer we liue in the world the lesse feare of God or terrour of iudgement increaseth olde men grow carelesse through age yoong men grow dissolute through pleasure children waxe wanton through euill education and almost all men waxe woorse and woorse What is the church more regarded then an ale-house or a preacher more esteemed then an idoll or a saint more honoured then a diuell or religion more loued then Atheisine or the kingdome of heauen more longed after then an earthly inheritance No no truth yeeldeth to falshood charity to enuie quietnes to contention sobrietie to intemperancie law to vnrighteousnes faith to policie and christianitie to infidelity Helpe O you saints of the Lord to lament this mischiefe although we cannot amend it Put to your teares and your praiers that they may sound before God seeing GOD cannot any longer bee heard among men The reasons of this doctrine are these first because God dwelleth in them that tremble at his word Isa 66. 2. And againe this feare and trembling is a most manifest signe of the power of the worde Heb. 4. 12. so that where this trembling is wanting there can bee no true deuotion whatsoeuer diligence bee vsed because the word cannot haue any free passage in our soules For as a childe careth not for his maister whome he feareth not so a man careth not for the gospell when hee trembleth not Yea on the other side wee rebell against the wisedome of God and spurne his word with our feete when we suffer it not to go through our harts We reade that Og and Sihon two great kings would not suffer the people of Israel to goe through their countries the which discurtesie cost them their liues their land and their subiects and all because they woulde not graunt a path-way euen so if we let not the worde of God pearse cleane thorough vs and quietly with curtesie giue it entertainment in our harts he will take them by force and giue vs to be a miserable spoile to diuels If Iudas had had any grace when he heard our Sauiour curse that man that should betray him hee woulde neuer haue gone farther but let his action fall but hee did as our hearers doe heare his owne condemnation and not beleeue it and therefore they shall doe as he did repent when it is too late giuing their liues in stead of their eares and their blood in stead of obedience and yet alas alas all will not serue their turne The vses hereof are these first seeing we must feare and tremble at the ministerie of the worde then it followeth that we shall be comforted thereby for it is written Blessed are they that mourne for they shall be comforted and thus the Lord assureth his people Isa 66. 5. that for their feare he would giue them safetie and for their trembling hee woulde giue them ioy and their enimies should be ashamed at it Therefore if you would feele the sweete taste of the word of God and receiue the ioyfull newes of your saluation then learne to tremble at the hearing thereof
the continuance of the earth and all thinges created doe witnesse the perpetuitie of his worde Therefore let vs by considering of this same knowe of a certaintie that rather than any iot or title of the Lordes worde shoulde be brought to nothing not onely the earth and all the course of nature shall bee altered but also the heauens so high and so immutable bee vtterly changed and passe away as nothing then also will not God spare his workmanship in the bodie of man but to verifie and iustifie his worde hee will bring manie to condemnation Let vs not nowe thinke to escape the better or the longer bicause nature shall continue for without changing of nature can God easilie bring vs to destruction as he coulde without breach of promise destroy all the Iewes and of the stones of the streete make newe children for Abraham He can destroy as well in light as in darknes as well in drought as in waters as wel by meat as by poyson as well by our own hands as by the mouthes of lyons tigers All the earth was not parted when Corah was punished al the world was not afflicted when Samaria was famished but the Lord will heere and there picke out the men that transgresse his law as he founde out Achan and the posteritie of Saul committing the guiltie to death and reseruing the guiltlesse for life Againe let vs feare how we endanger our selues to God for in his wrath he forgetteth that we be his worke and will cast vs off although we were as neere vnto him as the signet on his right hande Say not thou hast beene a professor or a preacher or a hearer or a martyr or a miracle-worker through the power of God for notwithstanding this he wil say vnto thee I know thee not if thou be not conuerted He casteth much golde into the sea he bringeth great kings into slauerie he taketh away plentie from whole countries and dasheth in peeces many yoong infants therefore thinke not thou but he will be reuenged on thee for thy presumption Yea to punish the Iewes he destroied his owne temple and therefore he wi spare neither house nor building nor nation nor person but in his wrath he wil bring all to cōfusion The xvij Sermon Vers 3. A fire deuoureth before him and behinde him a flame burneth vp the land is as the garden of Eden before him and behinde him as a desolate wildernesse so that nothing shall escape him IN this verse is contained the first similitude whereby the force of these beasts are described comparing their biting of the fruites to a fire for after an herbe hath beene bitten with a locust it will looke blacke like a cole Again he compareth the land before he touched it to the garden of Eden meaning the fruitfullest place in the world but after the beastes had ouerrun it it was like the most barren and forsaken wildernesse Concerning the comparison of fire it hath beene spoken alreadie and it noteth the vnmercifulnesse of the destroier But in this that he saith before him the land is as Eden and behinde him a wildernesse we may obserue that there is not any land so fruitfull so fertill and so pleasant but it is subiect to the curse of God and to barrennesse Gen. 3. 17. It is apparant in all the creatures of the worlde what the sinne of man hath wrought how it destroied themselues corrupted their soules annoied the beastes defiled the aire and brought the earth which was all good and no part there of but very fruitfull into brambles and briers and thistles and thornes and weakenesse and barrennesse to be tilled without ease kept with all labour and reaped with little profit And as we see in the best ground so we may knowe it is in the best man that he is also subiect to vanitie curse and destruction when the Lord shall in iudgement waigh their disposition And thus may euery husbandman that tilleth the earth and euery other man that treadeth thereon behold euery day with his bodily eies how sinne is punished and let vs feare that as the vnfruitfull land is not onely cursed but neere vnto burning so their soules more vnfruitfull are not onely cursed but neere vnto condemnation The reasons hereof are manifest first because the Lord in cursing the land destroieth the sinners Isa 15. 9 Againe he will destroy the fruites of the earth because men doe breake his couenant for when men doe breake bargaine with God the Lorde will make the earth to deceiue man and looke what authoritie man hath ouer the earth to plow to cut to drowne to harrow to dresse and to burne it so hath the Lord ouer man to kill to vexe to trouble to saue and to condemne him at his pleasure Therefore looke as the earth doth loose her fruitfulnesse so shall thy soule her blessednesse and when thou seest thy good land become barren beware least thy life be alreadie made wicked and know that the Lord setteth as little by a wicked man although a man as thou dost by a barren field although it be a peece of land Wherefore let vs make that vse that God teacheth Adam Gen. 3. 9. that seeing the earth is become vnfruitfull in the sweate of our faces let vs get our liuing that is as euery mans sinne is a cause why the earth is cursed and so become barren so let euery mans hande be a meanes whereby her fruit may be encreased that she and we may be both blessed They are not woorthy of land that labour not to amend it and to make it fruitfull for we may see that it is one part of our obedience since the fall of Adam to labour in the earth for our liuing It is a fault in many men which keepe the earth in barrennesse and onely sucke out the sweete from that land which is good by nature but we must knowe as God tilleth euery mans hart to bring it to goodnesse so ought man to trie euerie kinde of ground to bring it to fruitfulnesse like that good gardiner in the gospell which two or three yeeres together digged about his vnfruitfull tree Againe seeing the earth is cursed for our sakes let vs lament the barrennesse thereof Isa 16. 9. for in so doing wee sorrowe most iustly for the punishment of our owne sinnes The beholding of him is like the sight of horses and like the horsemen so shall they runne In this next place he compareth them to horses bicause in battle they are most fierce as we may see Iob 39. 20. Againe hee compareth them to horses for speede bicause as these are most swift in running so are the other most speedie in executing the Lordes wrath Aba 1. 8. Againe the horse is most terrible in battle Reu. 9. 7. and so shall these bee Heereby wee may obserue that the onely sight of punishment before it bee felt doth wonderfully perplexe a guiltie conscience Reu. 1.
that they might know that as none but God could be the author of these so none but his maiestie coulde bee the sender of them These heauenly signes or rather signes in heauen are described in the two next verses first the shaking of the world secondly the darkening of the lights and thirdly the great and terrible thunders which should then be heard all which is supported by a strong reason vers 11. By this verse we may first of all learne that the extraordinarie signes of heauen are the forerunners and most euident prophets of calamitie and destruction following Isa 29. 6. God which woulde haue all his iudgements not onely felt but feared doth not let them come stealing on the world as if he could not doe them against our will or not hinder them against their nature but proclaimeth them by manifold fearefull signes in heauen The reasons are first because we should knowe that the euill onely proceedeth from him 2. Sam. 5. 24. it doth not any whit distaine the Lords honor to be a reuenger of sinne vpon the bodies and soules of many thousands but rather it maketh for his glorie for hee must iudge the world in righteousnesse Another reason is because by this meanes the Lorde doth most earnestly affect good mens harts and afflict the wicked Ezech. 32. 9. for the sight of terrible signes cannot choose but mooue the brute beastes of the earth much more reasonable men who are more giuen to feare because they are more giuen to sinne and our Sauiour saith in the gospell that mens harts shall faile them because of the signes of heauen The vses are these first let vs not be superstitious or heathenish in fearing the signes of heauen aboue the rule of faith Ier. 10. 2. For alas what can any planet or any signe doe but by the Lordes assignement and therefore in fearing it superstitiously we feare not God we distrust his prouidence we restraine his power and we cast away our owne confidence and faith It was a great signe in heauen when fire came downe and destroyed Sodom and Gomor and all cities cattel and pastures of the plaine Gen. 19. yet little Zoar was saued standing among them when all the residue were burning about it therefore beware of the slauish feare of the signes of heauen for it is the Lorde that gouerneth the starres Another vse as we are not to feare them too much so wee are not to regard them too little but vse them as promptors and furtherances to another life Luk. 21. 28. when you see these saith Christ then lift vp your heads and know that your redemption draweth neere Be it therefore that the heauens be burning the lights be darkening the stars be falling the earth be shaking and the ayre be thundering yet feare it no more then the Israelites did in Egypt but rather now thinke that the Lord will amaze sinners erect his throne of righteousnes to stand for euermore This must much encourage vs in these our later daies wher in euerie hower we looke for the accomplishing of all the signes before Christs comming and let vs watch for the appearing of our Sauiour that we be not comfortles when other shall bee both witlesse and faithles but know that good men shall stand in the middest of all these terrours and fires as the men did walke in the middest of the Babilonish furnace and not haue one haire of our head diminished When he saith that the earth shall tremble he noteth that earth quakes are notable tokens of the Lordes wrath Psal 18. 7. we are not onely to impute it to the ayre shut vp in the furrowes of the earth as in philosophie they do but we must goe to the principall cause which is the hand of God and the finall cause which is to shew his wrath for in his wrath saith the scripture he casteth downe whole mountaines Oh how terrible is this to consider that the whole earth should be shakē at the chiding of God yet man which is made of earth and standeth on earth and liueth on earth and shall returne to earth againe will not shake or tremble for the same I thinke there is more terrour in the dead bones in the graues then in liuing bodies in their houses The reasons hereofare these because the law of wrath was giuen in fire and earth-quakes Exod. 19. 18. Heb. 12. 18. for God did then shew himselfe most terrible when the mountaine seemed to burne and there was nothing but cursing and death for the law that then was giuen did condemne many millions which now do know the same Againe earthquakes do commonly proceede and goe before the alteration of religion Reuel 6. 12. for as when Iehu altered the idolatrie of Baal the prophets and the God were both displaced so when religion is altered God is as it were displaced and all his seruants persecuted which must of necessitie shew the heauie indignation of God for he will not haue his image defaced nor endure that his glorie should be giuen to another Let vs therefore learne that if the strong earth be not able to abide the wrath of God then much lesse shal weake and sinnefull men Num. 16. 1. Againe let vs learne to preach the word more earnestly by the consideration of earth-quakes We may read Amos 1. 2. that two yeere before the earth-quake the Lord sent him to prophesie as it were to plant the minds of his church that they might haue liued without wauering Now it is well knowen that wee haue had one great and terrible earth quake in our times would God it might so worke that the preachers would for that cause preach more diligently and the people heare more attentiuely least it prooue vnto vs a token of the decay of religion Truely as yet blessed be God religion is not altered but it is much defaced and God graunt that as the earth-quake at the death of Christ was the decrease of Iudaisme and Paganisme but the increase of christianitie so that in our time may worke the like effect and may seale vnto vs the decay of Poperie and heresie but may assure vs of the continuance of veritie and pure religion We might also note out of this verse that seeing the heauens and earth are afraide of him therefore the most guiltles creatures of God cannot abide his anger But this we will deferre vnto the next chapter Againe in that the sunne and moone are darkened we may obserue not onely that God is the author of light and darkenes but also that he will not let sinners in his anger haue any benefit of them Isa 13. 9 10. The reasons are First because they are enimies to good men and good things Exod. 10. 22. Secondly bicause they are ashamed of the sinnes of men as we may see at Christs death Matth. 27 45. Let vs therefore so glorifie God in our places as these creatures do in theirs for they
and speake for thy conuersion Seest thou not the danger of life worse then death so long as thou liuest in an vnrepentant state there is but a little aire twixt thee and death there is but a little time twixt thee and hell Repentance is the Lordes gift and he giueth it to them that aske it I dare be bolde to saie that of all suites commenced before God this was neuer denied and if thou haue any minde to bee saued praie that thou maiest be conuerted Art thou dissolute in life and resolute in vanitie yet hearing some sermons of death and fearing some iudgements for thy sinnes wouldest willingly wish that thou couldest doe better and dost thou sometime wring out teares to see the preacher so earnest and yet by no meanes thou canst reforme thy life then commune with thy soule and praie to the Lorde that thou maiest so liue as hee hath taught and so die as thou shalt wish Praie I say not onely in companie but secretlie not for a season but continually not with an indifferent minde but with an earnest affection and then I assure thee drunkennes shall not drowne thee couetousnes shall not preuaile with thee pride shall not deface thee whoredom shall not vndoe thee stealing shall not shame thee the worlde shall not deceiue thee nor the flesh shall euer condemne thee Another vse is this seeing wee must aske repentance of God we must needes know our sinnes before we can repent them Ierem 3. 13. So then if thou wouldest praie most earnestly for thy conuersion and bring all thy euidence into the Lordes sight that hee might pronounce sentence on thy side thou must not come with general words say I am a sinner as other men are I haue liued sinfully as my neighbours haue done and I knowe I haue offended thy maiestie greeuously But thou must knowe thy sinnes thou must account them to knowe the number so neere as thou canst possible thou must weigh them vprightly fee which were directly against God and which were against thy neighbour thou must aggrauate them mightilie and make them as heinous as the greatest thou must condemne thy selfe open thy whole soule and abhor thy owne life Then shalt thou knowe thy sinnes that their number is infinite their rewarde is damnation that their power is execrable that their presence is intollerable Tell them as a couetousmā doth his siluer look on them as the husbandman doth his furrowe consider them as the carrier doth his loade condemne them as the iudge doth the theefe pray against them as a marriner against a storme fight against them as a souldier against an enimie accuse them as a lawyer doth his aduersarie and forsake them as a lambe doth a lyon Then shalt thou knowe that one sinne is woorth a soule that one drop of mercy is worth a world and that true repentance hath winges to beare thee vp to heauen If the preacher tell thee thy sinnes then knowe them if the lawe tell thee them then remember them if thy conscience accuse them then repent them if thy brother rebuke them then euer after loue him if the church reprooue then yeelde vnto it and if thy enimie cast them at thee yet receiue it for this will make thee know them and if thou know them thou wilt pray against them and if thou praie against them thou wilt repent them Turne you vnto me By this sentence wee may obserue that God neuer regardeth any of our sufferings or crosses till wee be repentant Or more plainly be it that our houses are burned our children murthered our inheritances remooued and our owne liues tormented yet all this doth not appease his wrath except wee adde contrition the which thing the prophet insinuateth when hee maketh this conclusion vpon all the former iudgements Therefore nowe saith the Lorde turne vnto me c. As if hee had vsed more wordes saying you O people haue had your land wasted with beastes your liues pined with famine your cattle mourning for foode the heauens obscured with darknes the earth quaking to trouble you and terrible thunders roaring to disquiet you yet for all this is not the Lord contented with you except you be repentant The selfe-same thing may wee see Esay 57 3 4 5. where the Lorde telleth them that it was not their fasting and sorrowes that he regarded but their vnfeined conuersion As a father hauing an euill sonne is not pleased with him bicause hee is whipped openly in the streetes or imprisoned and so arraigned for his follie except he bee repentant euen so is it with the Lorde hee regardeth not the punishment saith Augustine but the person that suffereth It is not our sufferings voluntarie or inuoluntarie our sicknes warre famine pouertie or bloud that can satisfie the Lord or saue our soules insomuch as after thou hast endured harde fits wicked slanders wrongfull oppressions many hungrie daies manie sharpe stripes and many dangers of death yet for all this without the ornaments of a christian thou are neuer the neerer to God Some will saie this is harde meate to be digested that the Lorde is not pleased nor pacified although hee punish vs why are not all these sufferinges the punishments of sinne and when wee are punished heere is not the Lorde too rigorous to punish vs also hereafter I answere wee suffer for our sinnes but not to satisfie for our sinnes for the rewarde of sinne is death euerlasting and all miseries which may bring vs to our ende Therefore excuse not your selues for pouertie or sicknes or famine or labour or slauerie or seruice or anie other crosse for a man may haue all this and yet bee a cast away The first reason heereof is Matth. 24. 8. That all the sufferinges of this life are but the beginning of sorrowes they are not one quarter of that vengeance which the Lord will take for our sinnes except we repent Oh consider the intollerable hande of the Lordes wrath which regardeth not our bloude nor woulde looke on a burnt sacrifice made of a whole nation and yet regardeth the broken harts cast down soules what are the plagues in the worlde to come and the wages of sinne in another life if heere wee may haue a pining sicknes a despised life an easelesse heart and an endlesse feare one man neuer lyeth in bed another neuer eateth bread another neuer liueth merrie day som lie tormented in a burning fire some bed-redden with the gout some tormented with a collicke some scalded to death some cut in peeces inchmeale some are put into furnaces of burning lead and yet all these are but the beginning of sorrowes and without repentance if it were possible for one man to endure all yet afterwarde he might goe to hell fire Another reason is bicause the sufferings of this life are alike common to good and bad vncircumcised and the people of God Ezec. 32. 28. Although God chasten euerie one that hee loueth yet he
6. 6. and therefore so ought we to be sacrifice winneth him therefore let mercie ouercome vs euen those mercies which we read in his word and note in our liues that wee may pull downe more and more vpon vs. Oh I feare seeing of long time we haue had so little regard of mercie and all of iudgement now the thing wee were afraide of is come vpon vs namely wrath for we feele it in our liues in our times making many mens harts to tremble and the bodies of some to die Yet for all this the time of mercie is not all spent therefore let mercie draw vs vnto God and the former and late receiued kindnes from him bee as bands of steele to keepe vs in obedience Seeing the mercies of God must mooue vs to repentance then I beseech you let not our eares be deafe at his sweete promises least the Lord complaine of vs as he did of his owne time Matth. 11. 19. that we are like to children neither dauncing with them that sing nor weeping with them that mourne Austeritie is too hard for vs and mercie is too soft if wee preach the law then men say we speake of malice of else giue iudgement vpon them if we shew them libertie that maketh them woorse and woorse so that our times are like a thiefe being in prison he complaineth of crueltie and being at libertie runneth to robbing againe The mercie of God is much called for and being obtayned is much abused they make it a charter to sinne and thinke if they haue one pardon all their villanie afterward is forgiuen The deepe wounds of Christ doth not asswage their heat of sin but encreaseth their desire O my deere brethren if gentlenes will not winne rigour most perswade You are the Lords schollers learne you must the rod is your tormentor or else you shal be expelled his schoole Make much of mercy while you may haue mercie for if the gate of mercy be shut and the date expired your teares shall be drops of blood and your wounds as windowes for your bones to looke thorough your flesh shall feede the fowles of the ayre and your soules shall feele the torments of hell Secondly seeing mercie must winne vs let vs be mercifull as our heauenly father is mercifull Luk. 6. 36. which is needfull to bee vrged in these hard times wherein are many poore and many complaints for if wee looke to haue mercie of God when we pray vnto him let the poore find mercie in vs when they cry vpon vs. Be mercifull as our heanenly father is mercifull His hand is euer giuing his spirit is euer comforting his mercie is euer pardoning and his liberalitie is euer feeding therefore giue thou to the poore comfort the sorrowfull forgiue thy offenders and let many hungrie soules feede on thy meate Mercie is better then sacrifice hotter then coales of fire softer then liquide oyle and sweeter then pleasant hony Offer this sacrifice kindle this fire touch this oyle and eate this honie thou shalt finde mercie in iudgement in thy death-bed in thy graue and in thy resurrection it shall couer thee as a garment comfort thee as a guide carrie thee as a mother and crowne thee as a king God delighteth in it Angels reioice at it men looke for it and bruite beastes loue it Therefore with mercie delight thy creator reioyce the Angels and satisfie man and beast And bee mercifull to men to beastes and to thy selfe to man for God requireth it to beastes for nature craueth it and to thy selfe for thy soule challengeth it the first is of charitie the second of equitie and the last of pietie therefore practise mercie that christian loue godly kindnes and glorious religion may euermore maintaine thee Of great kindnesse and long suffering This is another argument to perswade them to repentance By the which we may note that God doth not alway take vengeance of sinne so soone as it is committed but winketh at it and deferreth till we repent or growe incurable This thing the Apostle noteth Rom. 2. 4. that God by his bountifulnesse and long suffering leadeth vs to repentance Although for example sake he slew Er and Onan Vzzah and Ananias and Saphira and many other in the verie act of sinning yet he doth not alway take this course For fower hundred yeeres togither did hee beare with the abhominations of Canaan Gen. 15. 18. Let not men thinke bicause they are not killed so soone as they haue blasphemed or denied God or committed adulterie or prophaned the Sabbaoth or the like that therefore their deedes shall go vnpunished no verily for the longer before they reckon the greater shall be their account and the farther a man runneth backwarde the farther hee leapeth forwarde and so the longer that God forbeareth our sinnes the heauier shall bee his stroke for wee shall beare double blame the one for breaking his lawe the other for abusing his patience It were needfull for vs to consider in our soules this singular fauour of God that wee might vse it as the prophet heere doth to further our repentance for let vs be well assured if peace and long suffering doe not prepare vs for God it will annoint vs for destruction The first reason bicause God will bee exalted in sparing vs Esay 36. 18. The Lorde which is most excellent in all his workes is most excellent in forbearing the malice of men for who coulde endure to be denied plainely reuiled openly and blasphemed boldly saue onely the Lorde or who coulde abide to see his workes reproched his worde rebuked and his liberalitie scorned saue onely the Lorde who filleth all in all and beareth much with all or else all woulde bee confounded But this is sufficient that the prophet saith he is exalted in sparing vs that is it magnifieth his honour while hee regardeth not his vengeance nor his maiestie nor his wrath nor his power but his mercy that his chiefe glory might be through clemencie Another reason bicause his chiefe desire is that not one shoulde perish 1. Pet. 3. 9. So that if men woulde or coulde laie holde on repentance they shall finde sufficient time to amende after they haue sinned So deare is the loue of God towardes vs his creatures that for his part he omitteth not any dutie to recall vs We haue the word for the meanes his workes for our helpes his mercies for our comfort and his long suffering for the time of our conuersion so that all thinges are discharged on the Lordes part and nothing on ours In this saying of Peter we must not vnderstande that any were damned contrarie to the Lordes will but rather that hee is vnwilling thereunto for a man may doe that vnwillingly which is not contrarie to his will Let vs not abuse the long suffering of God and although he bee willing to spare yet let not vs be willing to sinne Luk. 12. 46. If the euill seruant shall say in
charge his communing is for peace and not for wrath and his call is more for thy good then for his bee not discomforted because thou hast a guiltie crying conscience for thou seest that the Lorde is as vnwilling to strike as thou art to beare But thou wilt say that hee hath alreadie witnessed thy destruction yea but I say hee will repent him of the euill seeing thou repentest of thy sinnes his iudgements are conditionall hee which gaue the worde can recall it and who can saie he doth not his word Feare not I say though thou be as neere to death as Isaac was to be sacrificed for the Lorde hath an angell in heauen to saue thy life the godly shall come out of trouble but the wicked shall come in his steade Seeing the Lorde is vnwilling to take vengeance of our sinnes let vs bee as vnwilling to grieue him with our sinnes that so wee may bee the children of the most high For it cannot bee but that hee is mightily grieued when wee fall into newe follies in that hee is enforced to open once againe to vs the woundes of Christ and let more bloude issue foorth out of the side of his mercy Iacob was much offended with his two sonnes Simeon and Leui Gen. 34. when they slewe the Sichemites for saide he you haue made my presence to stinke in the sight of this people much more must the Lorde be offended with vs his sonnes being a more tender father then euer was Iacob when we grieue him with our sins for we bring his glorious name into contempt and religion into hatred Once bee thus affected and assured that thou art the childe of God then take part of the godly nature loue all as hee doth doe good to all as hee doth repent of euill as he doth and be as much afraide to sinne as hee is vnwilling to punish thee He euer thinketh on thee doe thou so on him he euer watcheth for thy sake do thou so for his he euer worketh for thy profite doe thou euer liue for his praise He woulde forgiue thee if thou offend and therefore although thou canst offende yet do not he endureth griefe to saue thy health and do thou endure tentation to saue his truth hee coulde reuenge yet doth not that thou mightest learne not to followe what thy hart suggesteth and thy flesh allureth The xxiij Sermon Vers 14. Who knoweth whether he will returne and repent and leaue a blessing behinde him euen a meate offring and a drinke offering vnto the Lord your God THis vers containeth another reason taken from the works of God to mooue them to repentance which is this that God will spare them and leaue something for his owne seruice although it be but a little For I take not this question for a simple affirmation as in other places but rather if it please him he may leaue an offring and for any thing they knew to the contrarie hee woulde From hence wee learne that God concealeth from vs the issue of our sorrowes and the ende of our liues that we may be kept in a continuall practise of repentance as appeareth by Dauid 2. Sam. 12. 23. Some are desperate in their miseries bicause they know not howe or by what meanes they shall be deliuered from it But good men and good mindes must take another course seeing they cannot know in these thinges the minde of the Lorde nor as Salomon saith who shall bee after them therefore their watch and care ouer their liues must bee more continuall This is a good lesson for vs to marke bicause our case is the verie same with the case of the Iewes wee are threatened as they were and we knowe no more then they did Let vs therefore watch in repentance that if our calamitie encrease we may bee readie for the graue and if it be reuersed we may be readie for praise Art thou desirous to make profite of the thing thou knowest not then be repentant for death and life ioy and sorrowe paine and ease riches and pouertie freedome and danger are both alike to a repentant man The first reason bicause by this meanes we are taught humilitie Rom. 9. 20. bicause wee are not able to reason with God or to plead against him for we are in his hande as clay in the hande of the potter Where are all our gallant youthes and lustie minded persons whose heades are so full of knowledge that they are able to teach the Apostles and no maruaile for it appeereth by their liues bearing themselues like Gods in the worlde But looke on your mindes againe you shall finde them stuffed with vanitie and not filled with knowledge if you knowe one thing you are ignorant of a thousande Therefore let this teach you that your mindes are carnall your liues bee sensuall and your soules endangered except you thinke better of others and baser of your selues Learne humility of thy selfe thy body is earth thy glory is earth thy brauery is earth and no maruaile for gold is but earth Why shouldest thou be lifted so high canst thou number thy sinnes or saue thy life or tell when or what death shall take thee away cast thy minde to the earth for then it will looke vpwarde for as yet it looketh downward and deceiueth it selfe Another reason No man can tell things to come Eccl. 7. 2. no not so much as the worke of an howre hence therefore seeing we are assured of nothing but death let death be our life that is let the death of our sins be the life of our soules But we can neuer slay them but by repentance and therefore euerie hower of our life to come calleth for it at our hands we know not when therefore now is the time we know not how therefore this is the meane we know not where therefore this is the place Youth biddeth vs repent age biddeth vs repent sickenes biddeth vs repent and all that is to come calleth vs to amendment because we know not what is to come From hence let vs learne to be contented with that ordinarie and certaine knowledge which the Lord hath shewed vs in his worde I meane to make vs repentant Paul telleth of himselfe that he regarded to know nothing saue Iesus Christ him crucified 1. Cor. 2. 2. the which hee learned from the Lord himselfe This was certaine that Christ was crucified therefore oughtwe to learne the same This is heauenly this is comfortable and this is glorious heauenly for God did it comfortable for it was for our sinnes and glorious for neither man nor angell could do the like and in this short sentence the Apostle hath lapped vp all religion Wouldest thou knowe how to be saued looke to the death of Christ Wouldest thou know how to liue looke on the crosse of Christ and wouldest thou know what to professe then consider the sorrowes of Christ This is heauenly wisedome not knowen of the angels this is
Oh how doth this magnifie religion the professors therof vnto the which they are more indebted then to their own liues let vs offer this sacrifice for the Lord will take any thing at our hand in good part ifit be little because we haue but little he maketh much therof if it be much because we haue much he maketh more thereof then say we all If God doc thus accept then will we giue it Let vs not reason with him as the woman of Samaria did Iohn 4. when hee asked for water but let vs speedily giue him his request as Rebecca did to Abrahams seruant who asking but a little yet she gaue him more Another vse let vs serue the Lord before our liues for else we make our selues gluttons and feede our bellies and the Apostle saith of this kinde 1. Cor. 6. 15. Meate for the belly and the belly for meate but God shall destroy both it and them Wilt thou spende all on thy belly and nothing on the Lorde thinkest thou that thou possessest all for thy selfe and nothing for the Lorde doest thou so liue to thy meate and with thy meate as if thou were onely borne for it and that were onely made for thee then surely take thou heede for God shall destroy both it and thee Giue therefore to him and to his vses in his church if thou faile thy store shall faile and if thou repent not thy life shall perish Who was euer famished for meate that gaue it to the Lord or begged for his bread which spent it at the altar or was empouerished by maintaining religiō surely none but with them was the saying of Salomon performed There is that giue and haue nothing the lesse Eate not I beseech you your destruction in your meat and drinke not your damnation in your abundance if you will saue your life you shal lose it but if in this case for the Lords cause you wil lay downe your life you shall finde it If when wee haue but little we giue from our selues to the Lorde we do as poore Iacob did which sent his store into Egypt with his sonnes where was more store but through his little hee gained both his sonnes he saued his owne life and sustained all his familie so let not vs doubt or feare to bestow on the Lord for looke what wee loose we sowe for more encrease what we giue we shall gaine and what in peasure we dispende in paine we shall lament The xxiiij Sermon Vers 15. 16. Blowe the trumpet in Sion sanctifie a fast call a solemne assemblie gather the people sanctifie the congregation gather the elders assemble the children and those that sucke the brests let the bridegroome go foorth of his chamber and the bride out of hir bride chamber OF the blowing of the trumpet wee haue spoken in the beginning of this chapter so also we haue handled the proclaiming of a fast the calling of an assemblie both of the people and of their elders al which to stande vpon againe were but needlesse Therefore wee will to the next wordes The yoong children and them that sucke the breasts That is euery one among you from the least to the most Some will saie vnto me what good can the sucking children do in the Lordes seruice I grant in sight they cannot but seeing Dauid saith that the brute beastes do seeke their meate at God which they doe not by praying or speaking so may Ioel assigne the yoong sucking babes to want their meat that with their mothers they might poure foorth most lamentable teares and terrible cries into the eares of the Lord and for this cause to increase mourning doth the prophet inuite them to the fast From hence we may obserue that the wrath of God must bee appeased with a generall repentance Olde men and babes yoong men and maidens rich and poore prince and people must all bee humbled at the Lordes anger as we may reade Ion. 3. 8. Yea the very cattle of the Niniuites were couered with a mourning weede wherein wee may see that it is no maruaile if the Lorde were so long angrie with vs bicause we were not generally humbled If parents haue repented yet children haue not sorrowed if children mourne parents haue beene dissolute if the old men were humbled the yoong men rebelled Therefore our misery remaineth bicause some remaine obstinate The reasons First bicause the Lord hath a quarrel against al sexes ages degrees and conditions of men Ierem. 12. 12. the which ought to be a sufficient cause to haue euery one to be humbled and let not one escape I muse much that many christian parents haue so little regarde to their children that they care not with what vanities and toies they delight and allure them thinking they are not bounde to any exercise on Sabbaoth daies nor that any oath or foolish talke doth annoy them But heere wee see not onelie those which can speake must practise religion but also if they bee able to crie let them feele the Lordes commandement Some will thinke that these little children are innocent and therefore neede no repentance for it is a common saying if it goe not well with children howe shall it goe with olde men meaning that children are without sinne Vnto which I answere that they are sinfull by nature euen the heires of wrath Eph. 2. 2. and if they were not yet bicause God requireth it who dare refuse it and the rather bicause the brute beastes are inuited thereto which neither can nor euer shall sinne Another reason bicause whosoeuer doth not thus humble himselfe shall be iudged of God 1. Cor. 11. 31. We know it an vsuall thing in the worde of God to spare neither man woman nor childe and to take the sucking babes and to dash their braines against the wall If they be subiect to punishment why not to religion if to death why not to the Lordes seruice Therefore let all bee humbled children because they are borne in sinne olde men bicause they are weary of sin yoong men bicause they liue in sin and striplings bicause they grow in sin or else shall euerie one die in condemnation Let vs not therefore prouoke the Lord 1. Cor. 10. 22. but consider how fearefull it is to stirre a lion from his den or to meete a Beare robbed of hir whelpes or to prouoke a prince to displeasure of which it is saide That the anger of a king is the messenger of death but I saie if the Lorde more fierce then a lyon more raging then a Beare and more powerfull then a prince bee stirred vp to strike vs wee can hardely hurt him hee can easilie destroie vs wee can hardlie mooue him but more hardly pacifie him See you not that the newe borne babes shall repent it yea sometime they feele it before they bee borne Oh thinke vpon it the blood of olde men the strength of yoong men the beautie of women and the loue of children
Lords family Whom they haue scattered amōg the nations We haue alreadie shewed that one principall part of a captiuitie was the scattering and dispersing abroad of the people into many countries where they shoulde neuer gather strength or hope to returne home againe This is the first cause why the wicked are thus iudged bicause they scattered abroad the seede of Iacob that it might die and neuer growe for so is the meaning of the word Whereby wee may obserue that the wicked are neerest to destruction when they most of all triumph ouer the godly as heere we may see the first cause of their condemnation is the scattering of Israell So the Lorde affirmeth by the prophet Esay 49. 25. that when the mightie were at the pray and the tyrant at the spoile then will the Lorde come and spoile them but deliuer his children The lion and the Beare that Dauid slewe might haue escaped with pray and life if they had not medled with Dauids lambes and so the wicked might escape damnation if they coulde refraine from biting of the Lordes sheepe But seeing then they are at the brimme of destruction when they are in the highest of their mischiefe O vnhappie men which die assoon as they conceiue pleasure The reasons of this doctrine are these First bicause they helpe to aggrauate the euill vpon the poore saints of God Zech. 1. 15. I did it a little saith the Lorde but thou didst it much more so they make our faults greater then they are and giue vs more stripes then God hath appointed them therefore doth the Lorde so suddenly destroy them Beware how thou accuse a good man although thou doe it iustly for if thou make it anie thing more it shall redound to thy owne danger Againe when the poore and good men are most oppressed by the wicked then the Lord ariseth to heare their crie Psal 12. 5. and when he ariseth he commeth with all wrath to recompence the iniurie And as alreadie I haue warned so I must againe and againe make not a good man complaine on thee to God for thy oppression for the Lorde hath more delight to reuenge the cause of one that is helpelesse and friendlesse then of ten thousande that are able to defende their owne businesse and in my choise I had rather be vniustlie accused of treason to my prince then by a godlie man to be iustly complained for iniurie vnto God The vses of this doctrine are these First that we comfort our selues in the destruction of the wicked Isaie 62. 1. For although wee are not to reioice at their ouerthrowe for our owne sakes yet for the Lordes cause by whom they are ouerturned we may lawfully and ioifully be comforted for their ende For God doth then take them when they are in their deepest mischiefe and when they purpose to execute their most deadly malice None can knowe it but God bicause none shoulde haue the praise for their ouerthrowe but God Therefore it is a vile thing for any to lament the losse of wicked men the enimies of God for their life is not to be desired that liue not for the benefite of the Lordes household Although Dauid lamented Saul and Absolon yet that maketh not against this doctrine for Dauid lamented Saul because he had vndone himselfe and lost the glorie of the fielde and Absolon bicause so kinde a father coulde not chuse but be mooued for the vtter condemnation of the fruite of his loines But this is most lamentable that euen in our daies there are yet some that lament the ouerthrow of God his enimies the Pope and Spanish forces and it grieueth them that so many cardinals and mitred fathers so many abbots and shaueling friers are cleane driuen out of England whereas if these had continued the Gospell of Christ must haue beene banished As well might Moses and all Israell lament the ouerthrow of Pharaoh and the Egyptians in the sea which they reioiced at as these lament the ouerthrow of papists and poperie for which they shoulde be thankefull and I praie God giue vs shortly as good cause to reioice against all Atheists and idolaters Another vse is this that wicked men learne to knowe their owne danger for woe bee vnto them that laugh for they shall lament Luke 6. 25. Blesse not thy selfe when euery one honoureth thee as they did Haman for presently hee fell to the gallowes Exalt not thy selfe bicause others praise thee as they did Herod for by and by he was deuoured of wormes fret not thy selfe because others deserue better then thou as did Saul with Dauid for hee fell into a lunacie followe not anie man nor anie cause with a desire to oppresse as Saneherib did for the Angels of God destroied his hoste and his owne sonnes made an ende of his life And parted my lande Another point of a captiuitie is the taking away of the lande from the possessors thereof for we must not thinke that if the Lorde shoulde suffer an inuasion that men shoulde escape with a tribute but rather their houses and lands should be distributed to strangers Their demesnes their free-holdes their mannors their copieholds their rents their knights-fees and all other their possessions shall bee quite and cleane taken from them which the conquerors challenge by lawe of armes But this is woorthy to be noted that notwithstanding this lawe of armes God alleageth this parting of the land and dispossessing the ancient inheritors thereof to be one cause why the wicked should be iudged they woon it in deede but yet they are called to an account for it By which we may obserue that it is not lawfull in warres so to triumph ouer the godly and their possessions as it is ouer other men Tzeph 2. 8 9. although the king of Syria had triumphed against Amath Sepharuaim Iua and many other countries and kingdoms and cities yet when once he came to touch Ierusalem and to raile vpon Ezechiah he and all his host were quickly dispatched and in like sort when the wicked come to deale tyrannously with the church of God and put them to extremities then doth the Lorde take their cause into his owne hand The Spaniards boast of wonderfull countries which they haue conquered among the silly heathen and barbarous Indians which may well be so but what haue they gotten in these partes of the world which are the beloued Ierusalem of the Lord surely nothing but blowes for here they loose more men at the siege of a towne then there in the conquest of a countrie and therefore they may teach vs that such barbarous crueltie as they haue vsed among the Indians and such tyrannie as they would haue practised in the Lowe-countries must not bee offered to any Christian nations but rather as Dauid was glad that Absolon his sonne had lost the fielde yet was hee sorrie that he was slaine so must wee reioice if God giue a Christian enemie into our hande and yet be
euer admitted none can be exempted from religion because they are honourable or from the gospell because they are rich or from sermons because they are learned or from the churches because they are tender or from praier because they are sicke or from warre because they are weake but the weake must say I am strong Rather pray the more and goe the farther and heare the oftener and obey the willinglier and professe more earnestly because God hath made thee sicke or poore or weake or rich or tender or honourable or learned for I tell thee that there is no excuse from comming into the Lords vineyarde Thou canst not come into heauen by a proxee or substitute another to heare the gospell for thee but in thy owne person and soule and strength or weakenesse thou must enter into it Therefore now looke to the matter if euer thou wilt obtaine grace for although we satisfied the wrath of God by another namely by Christ yet we cannot be sanctified in any mans person but in our owne All the lazers and lame diseased men of Israel came from all quarters thereof to be laide by the poole of Bethesda to be washed and cured and none suffered any let to keepe them away in like manner let all the weake and lame soules of the world come to worship the Lord and let not any hinderance keepe them backe The xxxix Sermon Vers 11. Assemble your selues and come all yee heathen and gather your selues togither round about there shall the Lord cast downe thy mightie men 12. Let the heathen be wakened and come vp to the valley of Iehoshaphat for there will I sit to iudge all the heathen round about AS in the former verses he called the souldiers which shoulde bee the ministers of his wrath to destroie his enimies so nowe againe the second time hee calleth the heathen to iudgement to prepare them for the execution and although their destruction shoulde come of themselues yet the Lorde calleth them to battle that they might knowe it proceedeth from him Concerning the first part of these two verses namely the gathering of the heathen into the valley of Iehoshaphat wee haue alreadie spoken in the seconde verse of this chapter Therefore we wil brieflie touch that which is not hādled already I might first note vnto you that the Lord careth not for all the multitude of the world althogh they were vp in armes against him when hee saith Assemble your selues and come all yee heathen meaning to warre and defende themselues against his souldiers before called Secondly in these words I might shew you how the heathen and infidels in all their warres trust to their multitudes and bring all the force they can make as we may reade of the Madianites against Gedeon and the Philistines against Barac but it is the Lorde that ouerthroweth the horse and the ryder I will cast downe thy mightie men By these wordes the prophet telleth vs that God will deale with the strongest and confounde them Luk. 1. 52. The Lorde who is of great wisedome and infinite strength and power doth buckle alway with them that are of greatest account suffering the pride of the lesser to be punished by men but he himselfe controuleth the oppressions of the mightie Whereby wee may see that there is no cause why wee shoulde feare anie force or furie or rage of man for hee can and doth take the mightiest to ouerthrow them When we see any lifting vp themselues aboue their brethren then are wee to thinke their pride is ascending vp before the Lorde to be crossed This is a sweete instruction and comfort for the poore members of Christ for as there are none in the worlde more humble than themselues so there are none more oppressed by the pride of other than they are But they may heere learne that their mightiest foes are neerest to the vengeance of God The reasons First because his name is omnipotent Exod. 15. 4. this was the reason that Moses gaue of the ouerthrowe of Pharaoh and therefore it is no maruaile if any man or army or nauie or castle or king or emperour be throwne downe as the snowe falleth from heauen for the omnipotencie of his name remaineth for euer By it he drowned the giants he burned the Sodomites he ouerthrew the Egyptians hee slewe the Cananites hee captiuated the Israelites hee hath changed the liues of great princes and shall at the latter day iudge both quicke and dead Another reason bicause strong and mightie men doe mightily abuse their strength as we may see in Goliah who knowing his owne strength came and defied all Israell And surely heerein we may greatlie lament the estate of the worlde for men doe abuse all the benefits of God Such is the corruption of sinne in Adams children that their riches are the coales of iniquitie their authoritie a libertie to transgresse their health a patent for worldly vanity their strēgth a sufficient charter to reuile God and oppresse man But as Dauid the least in Israel cut off that monsters head so shall the least part of the Lordes power take reuenge vpon our highest abuses Let vs therefore learne to be humbled vnder the hande of God 1. Pet. 5. 6. For if we be poore and base men will punish vs but if we be high rich God himselfe will plague and cast vs downe But alas we are neuer humble till it be too late namely till we be laide in our graues for while wee liue pride is rooted in vs that it will not out of vs there is such league betwixt the life of man and the sin of man as was betwixt Naomi and Ruth for nothing but death can part them in sunder Who would be rich to be spoiled by theeues who woulde be wicked to be damned by diuels and who would be proud to be plagued by God Aduance not thy soule for thy birth or thy wealth or thy friendes or thy office or thy libertie or thy strength for God will cast downe the mightie men distrust thy vertues and thy cause and thy fauour and thy health and thy ioy and thy life for if thou bee exalted in anie of these God will surelie humble thee to thy shame Let the heathen bee wakened Nowe hee sheweth vs that the heathen after they had spoiled the church grewe to securitie and therefore hee calleth on them to bee awaked for there were no manhood in it to slay them in their sleepe By which we may note that the wicked in their greatest securitie shall be drawen vnto iudgement Ier. 22. 23. when their buildings are stately their bodies healthie their mindes loftie their wealth abundant and their liues past feare then then commeth the alarme of their miserie waking them from their soft beds heauie sleepe sweete loue pleasant pastime easie health and happy ioy to gather them into the slaughter-house of hell Oh that men would mitigate their desire of pleasure and once distrust their
churches reade our bookes and beleeue not our Sermons Now thinke with thy selfe that hast liued thus long in a strange place yet knowest not nor obeyest the Lord of that place art thou not in danger to be arraigned for rebellion Yes verily and so are all those that liue with good men and know them not that may haue the truth and labour not for it that might be saued and yet will be reprobated Be not therefore an enimie to godlines or to any member of the church for if thou heare them not their words will hurt thee if thou helpe them not their wants will witnesse against thee and if thou oppresse them the Lord himselfe will iudge thee The xl Sermon Vers 13. Put in your sithes for the haruest is ripe come get you downe for the wine-presse is full yea the wine-presse runneth ouer for their wickednesse is great 14. O multitude ô multitude come into the valley of threshing for the daie of the Lorde is neere in the valley of threshing AT the length by the assistance of God we are come to the last part of the execution contained vnder the allegorie of an haruest and threshing of corne In the haruest and wine-presse we must consider their death and vnder the threshing their condemnation For the first where hee compareth their destruction to a haruest he doth but as it is vsuall in the Scriptures both olde and newe to set foorth a massacre of men by cutting downe of corne the which is applied to the latter iudgement in the Reuelation onely heere is mention made of sithes but there the angels are saide to reape with sickles the matter is all one for as one saide Non multum refert an vno grandi fluctu an paulatim aqua subrepente nauis submergatur It commeth all to one thing to haue a shippe drowned either with one great waue or by a leake and it is no matter whether a mā be killed with a sword or a rapier so the iudgement is alike both with the sickle and with the sythe By the allegorie both of the haruest and of the wine-presse wherein there is not a stalke but it is cut nor a grape but it is pressed out we may note that not one shall escape the iudgement of God Amos 9. 2. The which thing the Lorde by this plaine similitude woulde haue vs obserue that euery day wee might see our miserie and learne to mitigate the wrath of God towarde vs. Neither is the estate of the wicked more tolerable bicause it seemeth they are heere compared to corne for it is but the woorst and basest corne such as is cut with the sythe not reaped with a sickle For although they are corne yet they are not for the Lordes spending Dauid saith they lie like sheepe in hell are they the better in hell bicause they are compared to sheepe no verily no more are they the happier bicause they are resembled to corn The reason of this vniuersall iudgement is because the Lorde will bring euery action whether it be good or bad vnto iudgement Eccl. 12. 14. If he will bring euery action then much more euerie man for euery man hath a thousand actions all which shall be so adiudged as we shall know the particular censure of God vpon euery one of them Seeing therefore there is not one man in the worlde but hee must come to iudgement as there is not one stalke in a corne-fielde but it must be cut downe and as the apostle saith 2. Cor. 5. 10. that wee must euery one appeere before the iudgement seate of God then let vs liue in the continuall expectation thereof A man that is wrongfully imprisoned thinketh it long till the iudge come who will set him at libertie because he knoweth his iniurie in like sort a man that is a christian is a prisoner in this worlde hauing his flesh for his gaole his sinnes for his irons the diuels for his keepers and Christ his Sauiour for his iudge thinketh long till his iudge come and set him at libertie and therefore desireth euery day to come into the presence of God A iudgement we must all vndergo therefore they are happy men that desire the same let not any be so wilfull as to wish there were none for they which cannot like iudgement doe denie iustice and they which denie iustice shall certainely feele it Appeere before the Lorde often with thy praiers that hee may knowe thee at the generall iudgement Be not as vnwilling to come before him as a theefe that careth not for the face of the iudge but as Ioseph thought long till hee sawe his father Iacob after he knew hee was aliue so doe thou thinke euerie daie manie yeeres till thou haue seene the Lorde in his kingdome Againe when in the second place he mentioneth the wine presse saying it runneth ouer and their wickednesse is great he thereby noteth the qualitie of sinne namely if God had not set a measure thereof it would growe immeasurable for as the measure of the wine presse neuer staieth till it bee full and when it is full it ceaseth not till it runne ouer so will the sinnes of men neuer cease til they exceede measure Ier. 9. 3. whereby we may see a wonderfull worke of God for there is not one man liuing but he hath in him the seede and spawne of all sinne now it is wonderfull that euery one groweth not and that any man liuing should haue in him any little drop of goodnesse We may also lament our corrupt and sinfull estate that during the time of our life we are subiect to all sinne for there is no subiect so true but if God let him fall he will become a traitor no woman so honest but she may become an adulteresse no man so righteous but he may become a theefe and to conclude there is not any so glorious but hee may be as infamous for as we are subiect to all sicknesses so are we to all sinnes O miserable men that wee are who shall deliuer vs from these bodies of sinne it is borne with vs it groweth with vs it liueth with vs and it dieth with vs it is the death of it selfe and the death of vs the death of it selfe by killing vs and the death of vs by exceeding measure for as the sonnes of Zeruiah were too strong for Dauid although he was king so our sinnes are too strong for vs although we shoulde rule them We were happy men if our sins were not or if they were not so immesurable They will com at the first to be our slaues as the Philistines but in the end they will be our lords as they would be to Israell Oh woulde God we might conquer them and driue them out of our soules as they expelled the Philistines out of Ierusalem The reason is because the power of sathan which is the efficient cause of sinne doth encrease to deceiue vs 2. Thess 2. 9 11. The diuell
deere people in the two first chapters and the other part concerneth their deadly enimies which is deliuered in the thirde chapter That part which concerneth the Iewes containeth most fearefull and forcible reasons to moue their rebellious harts as first a particular rehearsal of those iudgements that now were comming which is in the first chapter and vnto the eighteenth verse of the second Secondly most sweete promises of large liberalitie if yet though sentence of destruction were pronounced they would receiue the pardon before the iudgements is set the stile of the prophet or the inscription of the whole booke contained in the three first verses wherein he describeth the summe of the prophesie by calling it the word of the Lord First by shewing the ministering cause thereof namely The word of the Lord which came to Ioel the sonne of Pethuel verse the first Secondly the subiect or persons whom it concerned in the two next verses by most excellent exhortatiōs first of hearing where he noteth the persons namely the elders and all the inhabitants of the land and then the thing it selfe whether they euer heard of the like in the second verse Heare ye this O elders and harken ye all inhabitants of the land whether such a thing hath beene in your daies or yet in the daies of your fathers c. The other exhortation is to perswade them not to silence the prophesie but to tell and declare it first to their children present Secondly that they shewe likewise the same to other ages following which the prophet expresseth in these words in the third verse saying Tell you your children of it and let your children shew to their children and their children to another generation Thus much for the diuision now to the wordes and exposition Ioel. verse 1. The word of the Lord which came to Ioel the sonne of Pethuel These words of the prophet are thus much in effect This selfe same prophesie which hereafter followeth is the very word of God which he himselfe sent to the people by the ministerie of Ioel the sonne of Pethuel where we obserue these doctrines following First that the sermons of the prophets are the sermons of the Lorde himselfe for so saith this scripture that Ioels prophesie is the word of God In Nehemiah the ninth chapter and the thirtieth verse in that sweete confession which the Leuites made vnto God in the behalfe of that whole people thus they say Thou didst forbeare them many yeeres and protestedst among them by thy spirite euen by the hands of their prophets but they would not heare Euen thus they confesse their rebellion after they had been well whipped with seuentie yeeres captiuitie they had taken foorth this lesson that those despised sermons which once they spurned with their shooes and trod vpon with their feete were now manifestly declared to be the very word of God Wherein no doubt they shewe and testifie vnto vs that the truth of scriptures in the mouthes of Preachers will then be acknowledged when men haue been well nurtured in the schoole of aduersitie in so much that euen these wordes which now are but like the dreames of phrentick men will then become as deere vnto vs as the oracles of heauen Oh how stubborne is the conceite of our hard harts which will not be taught till they smart nor yet be instructed till they be corrected Shall the seruant say he hath no master except euery day he punish his faults or the sonne denie his owne father because in lenitie and fatherly pitie he beareth with his lewdnesse Yet our miserable times are such wherein men thinke preaching to be vaine except in persecution and reading to be needlesse except in calamitie and praier to be friuolous except in their sicknes But bid these wretches to the banket of afflictions wherein they may be throughly scourged with temporall miseries as the proud persons to shame the Atheists to death the swearer to the slaughter the drunkard to famine the gentleman to pouertie and the theefe to the halter then they will crie as lowde as hungrie lions that the scriptures which they neglected the prophets whom they reuiled the sermons which they contemned and the words of preachers which they disobeied are the actes of parliament made by God himselfe like these Iewes which now were humble after they had been in Babylon In the second Epistle of Peter cap. 1. vers 21. the holy Ghost also witnesseth that Holy men of God spake as they were mooued by the holy Ghost What is that but plainly to auerre that not the preachers but the spirit that speaketh in the preachers This also is confirmed by waightie and special arguments or reasons drawne from the very word it selfe First in Numbers the two and twentieth chapter and eighteenth verse where Balaam telleth the seruants of Balaack that if he would giue him his house full of golde he cannot goe beyond the word of the Lord to doe more or lesse If then such sorcerers and diabolicall persons in the cause of God can speake nothing but what he suggesteth much more the prophets and heauenly preachers can vtter nothing but what the holy Ghost inspireth Againe the prophets and true ministers of God for the words sake only aduenture their states and hazard their liues 1. Kings cap. 22. vers 14. 27. which they would not nor could not except vpō sure ground of heauenly warrant Who would except desperate mad men vndoe themselues and suffer most intolerable torments for rebuking of sinne vnlesse they were caried by an ouerruling power euen as Ionah to Niniueth or Micheah to Ahab to eate the bread ofsorrow and drinke the cup of death that when they might ioyfully solace themselues among their friendes or quetly rest in their poore habitations they are sorowfully vexed by their cruell enimies hauing the stinking prison for their easelesse harbour I grant that heathen men haue for vaine deuises endured many torments Popish Iesuits neglecting their owne liues their princes mercy haue do daily imbrace the gallowes but their sufferings are for matters cleane contrary to the worde of truth and therefore with Tertullian it may better be saide to bee desperate presumption then Christian persecution and the diuels souldiers rather then the Lords martyrs Wherein let vs with teares of brine lament our humane miserie that thus casteth it selfe away from worldly comfort and heauenly ioyes vpon bare and weake groundes of vncertaine seruing of God Howe strong are the delusions of subtill Sathan which hath bewitched the mindes of men so farre that they haue also offered their yoong children and tender babes through violent flames for the diuels sacrifice could not their weeping eies and crying teares procure no pittie in their hard harted parents No no where superstition sitteth iudge neither nature nor reason may dare to pleade the cause This is the diuels cunning to bewitch his members imitating the true seruants of God to endure death Augustine said
and fro amongst ten thousand waues being full of passengers without either pilote or mariner is in extreme hazard of drowning bicause they haue none to sound the bottomes for to throw foorth their anchor to staie them in the stormes or when the calme commeth they haue not one among them to direct them to the shore euen so when the floudes of troubles shall threaten the ouerthrow of any particular church or nation they hauing no preachers or prophets among them who should perswade them to patience during their aduersitie and to cast out the anchor of their hope during their danger or hauing escaped those fierie and fearefull troubles yet who but the ministers of God shall instruct them in righteousnesse and direct them to heauen In the raigne of Iosiah although his daies were happie through peace and his subiects ioyfull through a good king and religious nobles yet this was the glory of his kingdome that there was one Huldah a Prophetesse the wife of Shallum that tolde him his owne prosperitie bicause his hart melted at the voice of God his worde and also that there is one Helkijah a priest 2. Kings 22. that gaue him the law of his God so are we happie through long enioyed peace being shadowed vnder the wings of a mercifull Prince and religious Magistrates yet this is the glorie of our nation that many Prophets and Preachers haue offered vnto vs the verie word of God the which if it were wanting all were worth nothing therefore if God build not who can reare If he send not who can prosper If he speake not who can prophesie and if he diminish the number of his seruants the preachers we may complaine in our miseries as the Iewes did There is not one Prophet more left and yet remaine comfortlesse The vses which we will briefly make here of are these First the same which our Sauiour Christ teacheth vs vpon this doctrine Mat. 9. 28. Pray saith he the Lord of the vineyard that he would thrust foorth labourers into his haruest There is no more Christian exercise or necessarie practise then with vnfeined soules to desire at the handes of him who ruleth all with his hand that in times of ignorance and neglect of heauenly worship when the corne is ripe and fit to be gathered into the Lords barne that he would haue pitie vpon his wandring sheepe and care of his planted corne euen the worke of his owne handes and not suffer them to be cast away for want of instruction Oh howe would it and doth it grieue a christian soule to consider that the image of God himselfe should be lost which shineth so beautifully in euerie one of mankind pray therefore my beloued in the Lord for hereby onely shall you performe a worke acceptable to God because you are humbled beneficiall to the church because you aske for her labourers comfortable to your selues because you tender your brethrens soules and ioyfull to the verie angels for the conuersion of sinners The ruler of the temple Mat. 9. 18. hauing but his daughter sicke and diseased yet came to our Sauiour and entreated him for her health which he performed and she recouered Let vs therefore in pitie of many thousand sons and daughters of the world come to the courts of the Lords house within the closets of our owne soules and desire with feeling and earnest prayers the Lord Iesus that he would shewe and shine forth his truth by his word in the mouthes of many more ministers of peace to conuert many moe sinners vnto righteousnes to turne the hearts of fathers to their children of mothers to their daughters of princes to their subiects and of the nations to their God There is not any one point that proueth more substantially to a mans soule that hee loueth Christ vnfaynedly then this the practise of it to pray for the increase of heauenly pastors Euen as in the world nothing is so commendable as the workes of mercie as to feede the famished to cloath the naked to deliuer the imprisoned and to acquite him that is wrongfully condemned so in the church of God there is no grace like to the gift of the ministerie the starued are fed by them with the bread of life the naked are cloathed by them with the garments of a Sauiour they which lye fast bound in the verie dungeons of hell and the prisons of darkenes are deliuered by them into the glorious libertie of the sonnes of God and euen they which were condemned to temporall miseries and eternall calamities are acquited discharged and released by their message Let vs all therefore say vnto the Lord Lord increase the number of painefull preachers And if we ought to pray for them how damnable is their estate that pray vpon them if it be the highest seruice of God to promote them then is it the highest seruice of the diuell to persecute them If they be blessed where the word is preached and beleeued then are they accursed where it is not heard nor receiued If Christ blamed his disciples that would haue had him to blame them that cast deuils out in his name then are they to bee blamed which will vpon euerie light and easie occasion labour to the vttermost to stop the mouthes of Gods seruants to discourage the people from hearing the olde men from instructing the yoong men from studying the children from learning the women from asking the seruants frō obeying the word of God Therefore if we haue any care of the Lords seruice any compassion of them that are tyrannously oppressed any conscience of the soules of men then pray for the peace and number of the preachers For as when the teeth are fallen out of the mouth the life is hardly nourished and quickly turnd Euen so when the ministers which are the teeth of the church to grinde the word vnto them are remooued then followeth the graue and sepulchre of the Lords family To Ioel the sonne of Pethuell heerein is no hardnes and euerie one may easily perceiue the meaning hereof for the prophet nameth himselfe and also declareth his parentage and it is very like that his father was a man of good estimation that the Prophet thus barely without any further addition prefixeth his name to this prophesie We obserue out of this description of the ministring cause of this prophsie this doctrine that God preferreth the seruice of men before the seruice of angels in the building of the church he rather choseth and appointeth that his heauenly immaculate word should be manifested by earthly and sinfull men then by celestiall holy angels Act. 1. 8. The Lord Iesus maketh this his ordinance that his disciples shall witnes the redemption in Ierusalem Iudea and Samaria and the vttermost parts of the earth Euen the same Lord which not long before told them that he had the angels at commaund now rather vseth the helpe and ministerie of men Men would thinke it a strange proceeding
man but nowe the worlde was turned with them they being bewitched with the false Apostles for at once they had forsaken their faith towards God and their reuerence toward the preacher The diuell is subtill and knoweth very well that so long as the ministers credite raigneth his kingdome decreaseth and therefore where he cannot at the first ouerthrow the doctrine there he laboureth to bring the prophet into disgrace But hearken my beloued I beseech you a while and shut your eares against the diuels accusations If you will euer liue vnder the winges of the Gospell you must euer loue the feete of God his ministers so long as these Galathians bore this minde towardes their Apostle their faith was glorious their church was famous their liues were godly and their endes were happy but when they accounted the Lordes messenger but as a man when they thought him worthy no more then a common person although they would once haue plucked out their eies to haue done him good then followed and fell vpon them like hailestones vpon the Canaanites heresies to disquiet them diuisions to molest them ignorance to condemne them and the wrath of God to consume them Looke to it my beloued the contempt of preachers of ministers and seruants of the Lorde hath already wrought many strange effectes among vs. Those reuerend fathers of our church which haue brought vs out of Babylon as Moses and Aaron brought the Israelites out of Egypt whereof some haue sealed vp our safetie with their owne blood others haue wasted their health and wealth in defence of our religion state and profession and many yet liuing holding great places in the Church of England hauing onely for the Gospell and the Lords Ierusalem endured many strange conflictes and vnknowen troubles these I say euen by the railing libels of counterfaite and vnknowne Christians haue beene laide open to the view offoes and friends both by truthes and vntruthes if it were possible to the vtter ruine of learning extreme sorrow of many good men and euerlasting disgrace of the ministerie As Origen was woont to say Sicut omne bonum ab ecclesia prouenit sic omne malum ab ecclesia egreditur As al goodnesse commeth from the church so all euill commeth from the church so I feare that the Lorde may say to the ministerie as to Israell O Israel thy destruction is of thy selfe but in me is thy saluation The ministerie hath been lamentably diuided and for this cause euen by base persons they haue beene and are scornfully reuiled we our selues haue wrought our discredit but the Lord is our comfort The ignorance of many silly and dumbe fellowes disgraceth the learned the pride of many lofty preachers discrediteth the humble the couetousnesse of many encroching parsons ouerthroweth the liberall minded and finally the negligence of many noble and excellent men in their charges giueth a deadly discouragement to the painfull But yet these are the faultes of the persons not of the places and a personall action dieth with the person therefore my beloued pray vnto the Lord for discerning spirites that you may liue by the line of the word and not by the lines of many although we should forsake the Lord by our falles yet doe not you cast away your selues by our example Maintaine the name and credit of euery one whose ministerie the Lorde vseth in gouerning and instructing his Church stand not vpon titles for they which labour well are woorthy of double honour regarde not garments for Iustine Martyr preached Christ in the attire of a heathen philosopher looke not too much vpon their faultes for euen amongst the Apostles there wanted not diuisions esteeme them as the ministers of God which watch when you sleepe labour when you rest fast when you feast and pray for the saluation of your soules when you are sporting in pleasures Your soules then lye open to the diuell when you are growne in dislike of your pastors for if the man displeaseth we cannot like of the doctrine If our countreymen the Lords flocke can once againe ioine with the preachers and promoters of the Gospell then shall Atheisme be banished Poperie ashamed hypocrisie discouered diuisions ended and truth shall flourish out of our nation Secondly another vse we may profitably make heereof which is this that exhortation of the Apostle Philip. 2. 29. speaking of Epaphroditus a faithfull minister of God whom he sendeth vnto them Receiue him saith he therefore in the Lord with all gladnesse and make much of such we must open our houses and churches with reioycing spirits when we see the embassadours of peace comming vnto vs and account most pretiously of them who trauel with the Lords message for our good Wee reade that the Shunamite to entertaine Elishah built him a chamber that when he came that way he might visite their familie how much more ioyfull ought we to bee to entertaine the messengers of better things then Elishah brought It was a great commendation of the Iewish women that followed our Sauiour vp and downe that they ministred vnto him but most lamentable it is that in our daies the ministers and preachers haue almost as slender entertainment as Christ himselfe had among the Samaritans Their houses be too great their liuings be too large their reuenues say some clawbacks will suffice a good knight or a worshipfull gentleman and why may not a good minister be allowed as well as a good magistrate or a man of learning dwel in as faire a house as a lawyer Indeede our houses in your conceite are too great for vs and in our harts we thanke God that they are too little for you wee see many ministeries and parsonages defaced but none built many gathered but none sowed we are receiued very ioyfully of great numbers where they hope to haue any gaines by vs and their purpose being obtained then they bid a fig for the parson Oh this is the sinne of many gentlemen that they will neuer or seldome allow the fourth part of that which of dutie they owe vnto vs but will wage the customes at the lawe to giue nothing to the Lord. Who seeth not that these men woulde haue offered if they had liued among the Iewes surely I thinke burnt offerings and peace offerings should haue discontinued and the Lord must haue thought him beholding vnto them if they gaue him one for a thousand And for our ministerie and preaching I dare say it was not lesse regarded except persecution one hundred yeere a goe then now it is If gentlemen or noble men receiue their tithes the people are well contented but if the preachers take them it greeueth them deadly belike because they goe to the right owners And thus the world make much of vs our liuings are diminished our labours are neglected our presence despised They account their parishes the happiest where is no preaching ministerie no controlling of sinners no fighting with the diuell no conscience of religion O miserable times O
miserable manners they had rather goe with musicke to the gallowes then with mourning to a sermon they choose rather to goe singing to hell then weeping to heauen cursed are they which speake euill of the way of righteousnesse and say to the prophets depart from vs. The Lorde shall come with speede to render vengeance to them that receiue him not The second Sermon Vers 2. Heare this yee elders IN these wordes the Prophet declareth the second part of the description of this booke namely the subiect thereof that is the persons whom it concerneth and the wordes are thus much in effect You that are the elders and gouernors of the people heare the worde of the Lord and all you which are the inhabitants of the land of Iudea the Lords inheritance hearken you also hereunto and tell me whether you euer heard the like in your daies or in the daies of your fathers which went before you Out of these words obserue these doctrines following first that the prophets and ministers of God must call vpon the people to heare the word for you see in the entry of this prophesie the prophet crieth to the people to giue audience to his sermons And indeed this is a most necessarie obseruation to be kept as an entrance to call the peoples minds at the beginning and as a remembrance to stirre them vp in the midst and a conclusion to admonish them in the end For this cause also the prophet Isa cap. 1. vers 2. thinking that if men would not giue an eare to his sermons yet he would not want audience calleth in this sort Heare O ye heauens hearken O earth shewing that if men will be so deafe at the crie of the Lords ministers as not to lend them their eares to their preaching yet the heauens and the earth shall tremble at their word giuing obedience to their heauenly voices the dumbe creatures shal condemne such intollerable rebellion In the booke of the Apostles Act. cap. 13. ver 16. We may read when Paul and Barnabas came to Antiochia being entreated on the Saboth day to giue some words of exhortation to the people Paul standing vp and beckning with his hand called vnto them saying Men and brethren hearken The people in most places are busied in vaine speculations when the peacher is most diligent in opening the word of truth some are drousie when their hearts should be waking to heare what God wil say concerning them others are scraping in the churches with their feete superstitiously conceited when they heare but the name of Iesus mentioned and yet they wil sweare by him and make no bones at all againe others are wearie thinking euerie minute an hower till the preacher be out of the pulpit and many shew the whole congregation their backes by departing out of the church All these let the preachers call with the voice of Trumpets Heare the word of the Lord put away your vanities rouze vp your drowsines take pleasure in godlines staye your disquietnes and continue your presence in the Lords assemblies know you not that the stones you tread on the heauens you gaze on the earth you walke on and the wordes that we preach vnto you shall all come against you like witnesses and tell the Lord your disobedience therefore we often say in our sermons Heare this men and brethren The reasons of this doctrine may euidently be gathered out of the word of God and the first is the practise of the Lord himselfe Psal 81. 8. beside many other places in the scripture where the Lord calleth vpon the people before he declare his minde vnto them for audience and attention saying Heare O my people and I will speake hearken O Israell and I will testifie vnto thee What shall it auaile if we bring the toongs of angels into the congregations none or few wil lend vs their eares Although I easily graunt our perswasiōs enter as deeply into the wals of the churches as into the eares hearts of most of our hearers euen in this we are like these Israelites that if the Lord himselfe should come at one time as here he did cry Heare O my people of England yet it is much to be feared that at another time he might come and crye vnto vs Oh that my people of England would haue heard me as to them he doth in the latter ende of the Psalme Secondly another reason of this doctrine is this bicause by hearing commeth faith Rom. 10. 17. Faith is by hearing and hearing by the word of God so that if the hearing of the preachers beget faith in the hearers who shall more fitly or may more conueniently crie vnto them in their sermon time to heare this point of faith diligently to marke this doctrine carefully to lay vp this lesson aduisedly and remember this exhortation continually then the preachers themselues which are the midwiues of their faith Oh how wonderfully doth this doctrine condemne this faithlesse age wherein we liue for if faith come by hearing and hearing by the word of God whence haue they their faith that come so seldome to our sermons Doth not this argue forcibly that their faith is as litle as their hearing therefore saluation is as little as their faith How wil they answer this argument now before men and afterward before the sonne of God that they which heare not beleeue not they which beleeue not are cōdemned alreadie and they which are in such damnable estate it is not their reuenues of thousands their pallaces and houses of glorie the garments of brauerie their prouision of delicates their gentle friends their soft beds their hungry hounds their rauening haukes their pampered horses and their retinues of seruants that can fray the deuill from taking away their soules Is not this pitie that such glorious gentlemen should be cast away for not hearing a seely preachers sermons being otherwise learned in the toongs skilfull in the artes excellent in the lawes eloquent in speeches valorous in war and comely in stature Surely I beleeue Paul was deceiued when he said Faith came by hearing and hearing by the word of God What an impudent blasphemie were this to say that Ladies and gentlewomen on whose faces the sunne is not good inough to looke whose legges must not walke on the ground but either keepe aloft in their bowers or take the ayer in their coaches whose hands must touch nothing but either chaines of pearle cloath of golde embrodered and fine needle wrought garments that these beautifull stars I say should come downe from their nicenes and learne faith at the mouth of preachers Yet farther must our gallant youthes and proper seruing then whose heads are hanged with haire as if they would fright away both Christ and his ministers from the place where they stand come frō the tauerns from gaming houses from the play houses frō the Ale houses from the whoore houses and from al their disports to be ratled vp
for their follies by preaching forsake their fashiōs of the world to be new fashioned in their minds that in stead of infidelitie wherwith the most of that crew are infected they may haue faith engraffed in them by hearing the Gospell least as they consume their purses they condemne their soules neither can robbe for more soules as they do for more purses Then will you say beloued you haue ploughed in vaine vpon the rocke but better let vanitie be vanitie then preaching be vanitie better let gamesters be deceiued then Apostles be falsified and better let Lordes and Ladies Gentlewomen and seruingmen and all the route which be contrary minded to this doctrine perish and depart from their pleasures then that the sonne of God the church of God and the ministers of God should depart from the truth It is no blasphemie to say with Paul It pleased God through preaching to saue them that beleeue Therefore no preaching no saluation or with Iohn He that heareth vs not is not of God Therefore they which stop their eares when they shoulde heare the preachers shall heare against their wils Go yee cursed into the fire of hell Nowe let vs come and see what particular vses the holy Ghost maketh of this doctrine in other places of Scripture And let that generall exhortation of our Sauiour Matth. 13. 9. be the first when he saith He that hath an eare to heare let him heare And this is as if our Lord had saide the Gospell of saluation is of such waight that it concerneth all the people of the worlde by the preaching thereof the gray headed the yoong men the tender women and the little children may and must receiue some profite old men must bee prepared to the graue yoong must be strengthened to fight with their pleasures women must be gouerned like the daughters of righteousnes and children instructed in the worke of redemption The king must heare as Dauid did the noble man must heare as Obadiah did the gentleman must heare as Sergius Paulus did the ladie must heare as Esther did the yeoman must heare as Elisha his host did the labourer must heare as Apollos did the women must heare as Marie did and the little children must heare as they did which when they sawe Christ cried Osanna in the highest For euery one that hath an eare to heare must lende the same to the worde of God The Gospell of Christ is not like other professions that when they haue most followers one marreth anothers trade but when all men if it were possible shall be ioyned to the Lorde in the profession of the truth then is the glory thereof greater then the brightnesse of the sunne Therefore my beloued rouse vp your heauie and hanging downe sences and consider with your selues that if the Lorde hath giuen you your eies to see withall your hands to worke withall your toongs to speake withal your feete to walke withall then thinke also that he hath giuen you your eares to heare his worde withall And if they which haue eares to heare must heare what shall they not forfaite their eares for not hearing Truely if the forging and counterfaiting of a noble mans seale or of a peece of euidence be by the lawes of man most woorthily deemed to be punished with cutting off their eares bicause it bringeth harme to a common wealth then also it may easily followe that in like case they deserue the loosing of their eares which will not lend them to the Lords preacher This I speake not to make any ciuill constitution but comparing sinne with sinne I would gladly manifest the great euil that hangeth on their neckes which haue their elbowes as ready to heare as their eares Most lamentable it is to consider that if they were all deafe that will not heare our sermons what a deafe world would this quickly prooue O my beloued brethren know you not that hearing is the sence of obedience and therefore you cannot iustifie your selues to obey vnlesse you testifie that you will heare God his ministers If he were accursed that layeth a stumbling blocke before the blinde then are they also accursed which stop their eares against the Lords ordinance Was it not a heynous thing to remooue but a land marke which our elders planted and therefore much more heynous is it to remooue hearing God his word from our eares which the Lord himselfe hath planted Come therefore my beloued and as you would be called Christians so fulfill the minde of Christ for as the vine branche is good for nothing but to beare grapes euen so the eares of man are but combrances into vs in most matters except in hearing the worde of God in the world they are too long in the Lord they are too little therfore for amending of our follies let vs apply our eares to heare while we can heare least it be too late when we would Secondly we make another vse thereof that seeing the ministers of God must call vpon the people to heare the word it is also requisite to shew you the true way for the sauing hearing of the Lords truth for in one and the same maner of preaching there is not one and the same manner of hearing therefore the holy Ghost speaketh by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrewes cap. 4. ver 2. Vnto vs was the Gospell preached as also vnto them but the word that they heard profited them not bicause it was not mixed with faith in those that heard it where we may learne if men and women heare the word of God with such diligence as the dearest seruants of the Lord doe yet are they many times neuer the better and he giueth the reason thereof bicause they do not mingle it with faith There are some seeds so smal and of that nature that when the gardiner will sowe them he must first take vp a great deale of earth and crushing it very small doth mingle it with his seed and then casteth it into the earth and it prospereth exceedingly euen so deerely beloued if you mingle not the pure earth of a sound faith with the seed of the Lordes word you shall neuer receiue any profit by our preaching And this is the verie cause that the Gospell groweth not mens hearts tremble not and their liues amend not because they bring minds full of infidelitie vnto the congregations The close Papist saith to himselfe I will heare this preacher but I will beleeue nothing that he vttereth contrary to my first receiued superstition the proude man saith to himselfe all the sermons in the world shall neuer humble me the couetous man he saith for all their preaching and telling me that I shall neuer enter into the kingdome of heauen yet I will not beleeue them if Christ himselfe say so the ruffians will not forsake their vanities for any instruction the common people say we preach but for our liuings and God forbid that all should be true which the scripture and
preachers tell vs goe forwarde I beseech you in all other sinnes and you shall finde but a verie small number that say I beleeued and therefore I heard The medicine to purge out all these corruptions is a true faith the which if either you leaue at home or lose it by the way the labour is all lost that you take therein Oh how lamentable and damnable a sinne is infidelitie when the iudgements of God are not beleeued and the mercies of God are abused But this greeueth all godly hearts to the quicke that euen in our daies and times there should be such that as a godly father saith are armed with the name of good christians yet fight against the faith of true beleeuers Looke vpon it in time least as death followeth sicknes through want of phisicke so the death of your soules follow their sickenes through want of faith Beleeue saith Christ and al things are possible the dead haue beene raised by faith the sicke haue beene releeued by faith the mountaines may be remooued by faith and the diuell himselfe is droue away by faith therefore bring faith with you vnto the hearing of the sermons the scriptures are the Lords wordes and they are set to sale by the preaching of the ministers themselues beeing his factors faith must buye them as money doth or bee exchanged for them as one thing is for another for there is no crediting vpon wordes no obligations vpon dayes that can get them from vs but present payment of a liuely faith Therefore if any will knowe howe to heare the Gospell with profit and to enioy it with comfort let him bring faith with him that the worde deliuered may bee sealed for truth and sinnes beeing reprooued may bee receiued for truth and suffer no starting holes of infidelitie to carrie our soules from the rocke of God his truth into the sea of heathenish securitie or endlesse aduersitie O yee elders That is you gouernours of the people whom the Lord hath honoured with long life and the world with great authoritie And from hence we note this doctrine that the most honourable must most of all giue eare to the worde of God whether that honour bee in the Church as the ministers or in the common wealth as the magistrates or in the familie as the father thereof or in the warres as the generall thereof all these beeing exalted aboue other haue also a charge aboue other that euerie one walke worthie of his profession which is onely by studying and hearing the word of the Lord. The Lord so commandeth Deut. 17. 19. That the king himselfe shall cause to be wrote a booke for him of the lawe that he keepe it with him and read therein all the daies of his life Those which haue the greatest charge must vse the greatest labour to discharge their places as none could be iudges in Israell till the Lord had giuen them of the spirit of Moses so none can sincerely execute their duetie that the world may be satisfied the Lord may be glorified and their owne soules comforted vnlesse they receiue of the spirit of God and by the ministerie of the word is the spirit deliuered Gal. 3. 2. Hearken therefore you rulers of the Lordes people that which excelleth all glorie being richer then all wealth and wiser then all learning euen the spirit of God may be receiued when the word of God is deliuered Oh how are they deceiued that thinke the ministerie a base profession not meete for any but for the poore to liue by for the lame disfigured for yonger brothers for bankerupt for seruingmen for blunt-headed-schollers and such as can be good in nothing How are they also deceiued that thinke it not an exercise fit for noble men and persons of estate knights and gentlemen and such great ones which haue the world at their wils and the countrey at their pleasures shall these say they make themselues drudges to the Gospell schollers to the preachers and goe on pilgrimage to a publike sermon Yea all these must resigne their crownes of maiestie their gownes of nobility their swords of chiualrie and their estimation of gentrie vnto the voice of the blessed spirit of God speaking in the scriptures and preaching in his ministers And if these must bend their knees we must bow our bodies to the earth and put our necke vnder the yoke of Christ Iesus that he may lift vp our head liues to the participation of glorie The Lord that bindeth kings in chaines and nobles in fetters of Iron and maketh the mountaines to cleaue in sunder at his roaring willeth and commandeth vs from heauen to heare his son and it shal so come to passe that the soule shal be cut off from the Lords people that hath not kissed the prince of glorie and commeth not to offer obedience and seruice to his royall Lord who is able to cast him body and soule into fire euerlasting Let vs therefore study to enter into the courts where the Gospell of Christ soundeth and reigneth least we fall away from grace and glorie after the euill example of those long agoe condemned infidels and reprobated apostataes which gaue their eares to falshood their toongs to blasphemie their liues to vanitie their bodies to luxurie and their soules to euerlasting miserie Let not the graye haires of old men the great wealth of rich men the worship of Magistrates nor the honour of gouernement draw away our hearts from the hearing of this message which being hid from vs maketh vs cursed castawaies but being declared vnto vs regenerateth vs to the hope of eternall happines The reasons of this doctrine are also easily gathered out of the word of God First the same which Samuel vseth in his first booke cap. 12. ver 14. at the annointing or crowning of their new king Saule to perswade them and their king to the diligent hearing of the word and reuerent feare of God he vseth this as a reason That then they shall be the people of the Lord God As if Samuel had said vnto them you know that this is the glorie of our nation that we alone are the selected band and chosen soldiers to fight the Lords battles and this is an honour against all the world beside that they seruing Idoles and worshipping diuels we serue the Lord of hostes if therefore you will indeed be the Lords people you must in truth heare the Lords word what could be said more forcibly to mooue a rebellious nation to a quiet submission And this being the badge and liuerie of the Church of God we may be bold to say openly and defend confidently that they which heare not the Gospell as now it is preached in our English nation are none of the true followers of his heauenly maiestie Euen all whether they be the archenimies of Christ the Papists or the new sectary of Recusants the Brownists or the vaine religion bablers the Newters or the priuy haters of the
which are negligent in this action and the estate of their gouernment the estate of their families and estate of their children Surely most dangerous aboue others for as when they performe this they are noted through a whole countrey and thereby they growe famous so the neglect hereof is spred farre and thereby they growe infamous For this cause hath the holy Ghost left vs in his word sundry examples where light and gracelesse fathers haue brought their lewde and godlesse children with themselues to destruction Looke on Elie 1. Sam. 3. 12. and Saul and Haman Esth 8. 13. who was the destruction of the fathers but themselues and who was the destruction of the children but the fathers If Helie had harkened to God and corrected his sonnes the Arke had not been taken the Philistines had not preuailed his sonnes had not been killed and he had saued his owne necke from breaking Oh consider this I beseech you my reuerende and gray headed fathers your age shall not discharge you this man wanted but two yeeres of an hundred yeere olde he was priest and iudge of Israell yet when he forgat himselfe he forgot the Lord also then had hee no pitie of his yeeres no mercie on his children and no compassion of his owne life Samuel tolde Saul that there was no sacrifice like to the hearing of the worde of God then if you will offer the best sacrifice heare the word of God The Lord you see which made the eares requireth but the eares againe why should you bring your children into the curse out of the couenant why should you driue the Lord to reiect you as he did Saul because you heare not his word Are you the fathers of our bodies be also I beseech you the fathers of our faith the authors of our profession and the ensamples of our obedience As Esau cried to Isaack blesse me my father so we crie vnto you to blesse our countrey to blesse your owne posteritie and to blesse the liues of them whose soules you haue in your handes Let the elders among vs know for a certaintie that if they heare vs not though wee bee yoong that speake vnto them yet wee will vse them as the woman did the wicked iudge ouercome them by importunitie And let euery man knowe his dutie euen to pray that their fathers and masters and magistrates and gouernours may bee as willing to grace the Gospell with their presence as they are to defende it by their policie surely we can hardly imbrace that which we see the chiefe commanders to neglect But yet I beseech you for your owne soules and for our liues for the children borne and vnborne and for the generall comfort of our whole countrey fulfill that heauenly voice Matt. 17. 4. Heare the heauenly sonne of God The third Sermon Harken ye all inhabitants of the land whether such a thing hath beene in your daies or yet in the daies of your fathers ALl the inhabitants By these words we obserue this doctrine that there must not any liue in the church of God but such as doe and will at the least outwardly humble themselues to the ministerie of the word the church of God is the company of selected saints chosen before all worlds to the worship of God and if they be chosen from the contemners as good wheate is from the chaffe then must they not endure the hazarding of their soules by harbouring the children of disobedience Wee may reade in Nehem. 8. 2. that when he brought foorth the lawe of God Ezra read it before the congregation both of men and women and all that could vnderstand it And in the next verse he addeth that he read it in the streetes and all the people harkened to the booke of the law As in the common wealth there is a lawe which euery one vndergoeth vnlesse they be wearie of life so in the church of God this is a lawe Let him that hath eares to heare heare except he will bee banished from the land of the righteous and cut off from the body of Christ Surely as the Apostle saide Woe is me if I preach not the Gospell So must all the ministers of the Lorde euery day sound alowde to their people woe be vnto you if you heare not the Gospell The reasons of this doctrine may thus be gathered out of the word of truth First that which Moses hath recorded Gen. 17. 14. where the Lorde wil not haue any to be of Abrahams familie but they which would bee circumcised and if any would not receiue this wounde as our Sauiour calleth it in the flesh the Lorde commanded him to be cut off from his people Nowe wee knowe that the church is the familie of Abraham who was made the father of all the faithfull that they being made partakers of his beleefe shoulde also be partakers of his obedience There is not a prince or a noble man or a learned man or a rich man or a preacher or any base person among the common people but hee may challenge this priuilege if he beleeue in the Lord of glorie that he is the sonne of promise as Isaac was and therefore the sonne of Abraham as Isaac was All are not the children of promise that heare and are borne vnder the preaching of the Gospell but there are Ismaelites also which haue outwardly the badge of a true sonne though they bee but bastarde Christians yet olde Abraham ready for the graue must be circumcised before he die and yoong Ismaell if he will euer be blessed of God must be circumcised although he were heire apparant to the land of Canaan for as yet Abraham had no other sonne and the shepherdes the neatherdes the seruingmen and euery kitchin-boy receiue the signe or else be banished from their masters tents Euen so must the hoare headed father the greene headed yoong man the wanton youth the simple plow-man the gallant ruffian and the poore turne-spit be present and obedient to the voice of the minister Many I graunt of the better sort thinke their dutie discharged if in their owne persons they learne to knowe the Lord and for their families they let them doe as they list but you must remember that this was the commendation that Abraham receiued of God That hee woulde teach his children after him Genes 18. 17. and therefore if you will bee Abrahams sonnes teach that to your families which you haue learned your selues Oh how lamentable is it to see consider of a great number that set as good faces on the Gospell as the best when on the Lords own day some send their seruants many miles iourney suffer silly persons to waite in their kitchins I mean cōtinually as if there were none that had any soules but those that are called the rulers of families We may say of them as Bernard saide of the church cōmitted to careles clergie men O miserandam sponsam talibus creditā paranimphis O miserable soules lead by
such bridegromes which keepe them for to serue the lustes of their owne bellies haue no care to marrie thē to the Lord. Take you heed you that haue the wealth of the world search and rake in the sinkes of your houses in the stables of your horses in the staules of your oxen and in the harts of your seruants that you may bring soules into the kingdome of heauen a pearle taken out of the dung is as good as that which is hoarded vp in a princes treasurie and a simple soule saued from the walking of horses or turning of spits is as glorious to the Lorde as he that ruleth in the throne Another reason for the çonfirmation of this doctrine our sauiour giueth Iohn 10. 26 27. There are none that heare not Christ which beleeue in Christ and there are none the sheepe of Christ but those that heare the voice of Christ meaning that at that time when he was liuing in the worlde and preaching to the Iewes they could not be his flocke that came not at the call of the Gospell and when he should be dead and taken from the earth they shoulde not bee reckoned for the lambes of his church which flocked not to the cries and sermons of the preachers So that in one word he setteth vs downe thus much that they are none of the Lordes which are not hearers of his worde Therefore one saide well Ecclesiae non iungitur qui ab Euangelio separatur Hee which is separated through ignorance or idlenes from the Gospell is also through infidelitie parted from the church for they which heare not Christ are none of his The weight of this reason must be put into the balance of euery ones hart and let him reason thus with himselfe My poore seruant my drudge my simple slaue my maid my cooke and euery one of my familie they knowe nothing of the Gospell but some voices that there is a Sauiour and a Christ that they must come once in a yeere or peraduenture once in seauen yeere and receiue the Lords Supper and neuer know or thinke more of it they are diligent to me they worke when I play they runne when I ride they watch when I sleepe they fare hard when I feast and they finde me all things keeping nothing to themselues onely indeede through my busines they come not at the church except very seldome they know little more then infants they haue beene baptized when they were yoong they may follow any religion or rather superstition their obedience is so little to the Scriptures yea they hardly can tell me whether there be any Scripture whether the holie Ghost had any hande therein or no if I will let them plaie on the Sundaies according to their pleasures the popes profession the Turkish religion the Infidels practise and all heretikes opinions may be sected in them But what shall become of their soules Surely it greeueth vs that such diligent and faithfull seruants shoulde after a miserable and slauish life haue a mercilesse and a cursed death Yet Christes words are generall they are none of his that heare not his voice and follow not his call O consider this you wealthy and poore people of this lande thinke on the miserable condition of these your owne flesh and fly from that terrible danger which threatneth your soules horror all yea euery mothers childe must be present when the worde is preached bicause this trieth vs whether we bee ashamed of Christ or no. When Dauid was absent from Saules court the king presently missed him and asked after him for his place was voide In like maner if we be absent from the assemblies of the faithfull the king of heauen and earth seeth our roomes be emptie and calleth for our presence Let this therefore perswade vs that we cease not hearing the Lordes word and following his heauenly call least of sheepe we become goates wanton and wilde and so when the generall appeering shall be the Lorde separate the goates from the sheepe and sende them to euerlasting perdition The vses which may arise from this doctrine are these first that sharpe sentence of our Sauiour Mark 10. 14. Suffer little children to come to me and forbid them not for vnto such belong the kingdome of heauen The well minded people desiring the blessing of Christ to rest vpon them their posteritie brought their little babes to be touched by our Sauiours hande the which thing was reprooued and forbidden by the disciples and therefore they were rebuked and reprehended by Christ There is none though they be as yoong as babes as simple as children as weake as women as base as seruants or as bonde as apprentices but if at the ordinarie times of preaching I meane the Sabbaoth they will trauell to the Lords house and there spend their time they must not be restrained they must not be forbidden I am not ignorant of the vaine and wicked authoritie which some chalenge to haue ouer their families thinking that their duties are discharged although their seruants be wandring from the Lorde about their idle busines and seruants thinke themselues satisfied bicause their masters who haue rule ouer their bodies command them thereunto And thus men crosse one line of their reckoning and leaue a whole sheete behinde and race out the condition letting the obligation stande they heape vp one sinne vpon another and while they mende one breach in a christian life they make two more For by this meanes it commeth to passe that masters thinke it lawfull to busie their seruants whom they hire for their money at al times when any smal occasion offereth it selfe sending them on messages in keeping them at home to waite on themselues and in sauing an houre or two or three to worke in the weeke daies they make bolde with the Lorde and giue them leaue on the Sabbaoth daies to visite their friendes Doe we not thinke that the ministers of God may haue their actions of maintenance against such carelesse masters which beare out their seruants and themselues contrarie to the law of God whereby their owne hearts are hardened their neighbours offended the glorious worke of the minister despised the heauenly voice of the Gospell neglected and themselues with their seruants in danger both body and soule to be damned May we not call for the law if not of man yet of God to turne away these euils from vs But Oh lamentable maners in this latter ende of the world which regardeth as little the voice of Christ as wise men do the noise of yoong children Againe sometime the seruants are of godly disposition and would willingly vse the libertie of Christians to goe as the Israelites did and sacrifice to the Lord but then commeth one or other and many times their parents and gouernours of their owne mother wit forbiddiding them to vse it encreasing as Pharaoh did the measure of their workes and forbidding them to come neare vnto Christ as these disciples
did these yoong children yet know I beseech you that that master that forbiddeth is in more bondage then he which is forbidden and hee were better be an humble seruant then such a proud and presumptuous master and if he receiue not the kingdome of God as his seruant he shall neuer enter therein If he labour not for the meate which neuer perisheth if he runne not for the price which neuer endeth if he studie not for the knowledge which alway lasteth and if he obtaine not that faith which commeth by hearing of the word preached but also keepeth other from entring whether they be his seruants or his sonnes or his daughters or his wife or his friends or himselfe the sentence is long agoe denounced that he is the least in the kingdome of God It is an heynous offence to draw away a man though it be but a seruant from obeying the warrant of a magistrate and much more if he wish him to withdraw his allegeance in like case is your estate which by your owne securitie driue other men to forsake God leading the blinde vpon the stumbling blockes making them beleeue that the fire cannot burne and though they pearce their bodies with swords yet they shall not hurt them Secondly another vse hereof shal be that saying of the Lord himselfe Psal 95. 7. 8. To day if you heare his voice harden not your hearts The neglect of the word proceedeth of the hardnes of our hearts and therefore the Lord biddeth vs not to harden our hearts if we will heare his word What a world of hard hearts are now a daies if they be all hard hearts which will not be present at the ministerie of the Gospell The sea is but a soft and slender substance yet it bringeth foorth many hard stones euen so the weake nature of man engendreth many hard hearts This is most strange to see the tenderest place to be the hardest euen the heart which will die if it be but pricked with a needle but as the heart doth helpe all places of a diseased body and it selfe it cannot helpe so when this festering sore of old corrupted consciences and ignorant dispositions inuadeth the mindes of men a thousand to one but they giue him mortall woundes for then cannot the minde helpe it selfe Therefore aboue all euils beware of hard hearts the ground being hard will not let the purest seede grow in it and the heart being hard will not suffer the immortall seede of the Lords word to grow therein it choaketh all pitie and condemneth all pietie Come therfore to heare the worde of God but bring melting hearts thereunto otherwise you shall still remaine the enimies of the truth for hee that gathereth not with it scattereth abroad The priests and scribes and Pharises were present at the most of our Sauiours sermons yet they reaped no benefit thereby bicause their hearts were not touched in the presence of God no more shall many thousands be comforted by the preachers voices bicause their hearts are in their barnes when they should be in the Churches and their eies are shut when they should behold the ministers Many imagine that they preach best which can mooue the people to teares and their hearts to be pricked whose eies fall a weeping yet this is not alway an infallible token of a good pastour or an humble soule the hard marble stones do sometimes sweate out teares abundantly and yet they are neuer the softer euen so may many weepe and howle for their sins be pricked with the word of God bursting out in lamentation and yet remaine reprobates still But let vs breake vp the fallow ground of our hearts let vs keepe them in continuall moisture that whensoeuer the word shall be cast into them it may grow effectually It is a fearfull thing to receiue the graces of God in vaine which they do that without all reuerence and carefulnes come vnaduisedly without former preparation to the hearing of the worde of God that which is rashly heard is quickly forgotten and that which is vnreuerently receiued is presently despised but of this matter we haue already spoken Fourthly when he biddeth them to aske their fathers he thereby willeth vs to call to our mindes those things which haue beene done long agoe the noble and wonderfull works of God are not so slenderly to be regarded that we thinke on no more then wee see and consider nothing but that which we feele But what the Lord doth it standeth for euer and therefore is to be recorded in all generations read the 104. 5. 6. Psalmes throughout where the holy Ghost gathereth togither the sum or rehearsall of the Lords benefits and chargeth oftentimes that we shoulde teach them to our children and that we thinke vpon them to doe them for euermore The reasons of this doctrine may bee these First because as the Apostle saith Rom. 15. 4. Whatsoeuer is written in foretime is written for our learning that wee through patience may haue hope God of his eternall goodnesse and wisedome hath so prouided that the principall and excellent workes of his iustice are by himselfe recorded for times succeeding and so plainly engrauen that as he speaketh by the prophet Abacuck He which runneth may reade them and these saith the Apostle are written for our instruction It is a worlde to see how men forget the workes and worde of God they make no account of Adams curse because it was in the beginning and small reckoning of the flood because it was in the olde world and they little esteeme Ierusalems destruction because it was say they before our time and thus they wash away all feare of iudgements and loue of God So that if we warne them of wantonnesse by the example of the olde world we are not so lasciuious say they if wee exhort them to holinesse by the example of Abraham Moses Dauid Zacharias and the Apostles then they tell vs their examples pertaine not vnto them for then there was more faith stirring in the worlde then now there is and lay what wee can vnto them yet they haue one way or other to escape And all because they thinke that the Lords works are like to musitians labour which causeth men to daunce so long as they heare it and no longer or an almanacke that lasteth but a yeere so they thinke that the ancient workes and former actions of the Almighty haue no farther vse but for the present time wherein they were performed But if they thinke so they will in the ende gaine nothing by the bargaine It was an olde worke of God to make the beastes subiect to man and should they not be so now it was an ancient worke of God to make the rainebowe in the cloude that the worlde might neuer bee destroyed as it was haue wee no benefite by this woonder Christ our Sauiour died long before we were borne and doth it not pertaine vnto vs then haue we made a wrong match if all
vnfulled which openeth it selfe to euery winde and storme Christ the Sauiour is our enimie and we persecute him and crucifie him the Saints of God we regarde not the promises of God we know not our hope is vanitie and our God is iniquitie Call to your remembrance the houres the daies the weekes the monethes and the yeeres of your life thinke euermore on that mercie and that power that in the ruffe of all this iniquitie forbeareth forewarneth and forgiueth you Thinke thus with your selues I was a helhounde I was a heathen the tyger is better then my parentage and the serpent then my education I was naked without grace and not able to buy it the Lord that solde it was my enimie and I durst not aske vpon credite Howe many enormities haue I runne into against my God which the Lord foreseeing hath forgiuen the curse of my nature he hath remooued the euill of my conuersation he hath remitted the emptines of my soule he hath replenished and the sentence of my condemnation hath he recalled Thus hath the Lorde dealt with my life when I was sinfull he was mercifull when I blasphemed he blessed when I made warre against him hee made peace with me hee tooke my blowes on both cheekes he gaue me his coate and his cloake and to conclude when I walked through the valley of the shadowe of death his rodde and his staffe was my comfort therefore now will I giue my life for his my body for his garment my bloud for his blowes my soule for his sake and my whole person wealth honour dignitie labour and leasure for his saluation Secondlie another vse we may make of recording time past and the seueral works of God with his particular iudgments is the same which the prophet Dauid maketh Psalm 8. which is this after the rehearsall of the glorious workes of God he compareth man with them and saith Lord what is man that thou art mindfull of him or the sonne of man that thou visitest him Euen so when we see and heare of the great workes of God vpon others lay them to your selues by particular application to your soules and reckon them vp in order for your furtherance Little Canaan tolde his father of his grandfathers drunkennes and nakednes and he was accursed and all his posteritie But I haue in my youth done many thousand greater sins yet the Lord doth stil blesse me was the Lord too rigorous against him or too partiall with me that he all his life long wore such a badge as also disgraceth all his progenie but he laieth not to my charge the follies of my youth Moses and Aaron bicause they once distrusted the hande of God they were neuer suffered to enter into Canaan but I not once onely but many hundred times haue distrusted his promise denied his worde and forsaken his truth why do I liue so long in the lande of promise when more righteous then my selfe coulde not set their foote therein Ananias and Saphira kept backe but a part of their owne to serue them in aduersitie and denying the same were sodainly slaine by the Lord but I haue kept backe not mine but the Lordes from the Lorde and haue lied not once to the holy Ghost but many times and yet I liue my credite not impeached my profession is not blamed my life is not shortened and my daies are not ended Oh beholde the seueritie of God towards these that fell but the mercy of God towardes me that standeth And thus may we say of nations and whole people why was Egypt destroyed and Israell saued why were the Canaanites cast out and the Israelites planted in why was Edom made tributarie to Iacob Babylon to Persia Persia to Graecia Ireland to England Surely surely we might haue beene the slaues and they the Lordes we the bondmen and they the freemen Euil wars might haue beene in our daies as it was in our fathers and that which was greatest poperie or heresie or hethenisme might haue beene professed in these our times as it was long agoe Thinke therefore my beloued how many bonds of obedience the Lorde hath bounde vs in and consider what had beene our hap if we had beene those children that were ripped out of their mothers bellies if we had beene those yoong men that perished in battell if we had beene those women that eate their babes to saue their liues and finally how much more are we bound vnto God that we were not Infidels Pagans Papists haeretikes Atheistes or any other kinde of cursed men Let vs also say with the prophet Psal 147. vlt. With euery nation hath he not dealt thus Let therefore euermore the worde of God bee in our mouthes the praises of God be in our hearts the Gospell in our liues and by howe much more we haue tasted of the Lords goodnes aboue other so much more let him taste of our thankefulnes aboue other The fourth Sermon And tell you your children of it and let your children shewe to their children and their children to another generation NOw the prophet hauing bidde them to enquire of their forefathers also willeth them to tell this wonder to them that shall come after namely to their children with this commandement also that they in time to come being made parents shoulde likewise declare this vnto their posteritie Where first of all the prophet giueth vs this doctrine that it is the dutie of fathers that if anie notable and woorthie worke of God happen in their daies to shew the same vnto their children for the wordes are tell your children c. Euen this doth the Lorde warne the Israelites Exod. 13. 14. to shew the wonders in Egypt vnto their posteritie and peculiarly at the eating of the passeouer For in truth this care and conscience of godlie parents is the verie conduit pipe or kings highway whereby all religion all feare of God and the vniforme profession of the truth is preserued By this meanes came Moses to be a fit and able writer of the Scriptures although hee handle matters done two thousand yeeres before he sawe the worlde he had no recordes nor writings to helpe him but that truth which descended as it were by propagation from father to sonne vnto his daies which began to be corrupt the holy Ghost approoued and Moses recorded Therefore the learned haue obserued that in seauen generations it came to Moses Adam say they taught the Historie of the creation and fall of man with other thinges to Methusaleth Methusaleth told them to Sem Sem shewed them to Iacob Iacob to Kohath Kohath to Amram and Amram to Moses And in this sort was this noble story of Genesis with visions places and persons deliuered from hande to hande from father to sonne and from one generation to another that the wordes and workes of God might be euerlastingly remembred This sheweth how by the carefulnes of parents the pure knowledge of God was maintained and the true worship of
God continued Then euery father of a familie was a magistrate to punish a prophet to instruct a prince to gouerne his owne houshould Then was there no writing but much religion few bookes but many faithfull harts all studied in vnitie to preserue vnfained veritie But in Moses time the church grewe to a nation and therefore although as Ierome saith it were Maior numero yet it was Minor virtute the number of professors grew to be greater yet the zeale and power of godlinesse grewe to be lesser And therefore nowe was it to be put in writing or else all had beene cleane forgotten for the harts of men began to be deceitfull and the words of God coulde not safely lodge in the brests of all and therefore coulde not easilie and effectually bee conueied from one to another The Lorde first of all wrote his lawe then grewe the church to another gouernment more generall then before wherein the priestes did publikely care for the seruice of God and soules of the people and euery father and master priuately for himselfe and his familie and euermore this is to bee remembred that the children praied to the God of their Fathers meaning the same God whome their Fathers taught them to serue And this beloued putteth vs in minde what manner of men fathers and masters ought to bee euen such as are able to commend the true worshippe of God vnto others for sithence the worship of God became publique and generall the priuate neglect of this dutie in the gouernours of families hath wrought the poyson of all mankind and the vndoing of all religion For now the common sort thinke that they must not pray but in a church that they are not bound to teach others but the whole charge dependeth on the minister that the preachers and not the people must learne the word and finally it maketh no matter for their faith and manners if their pastours and teachers haue the knowledge of the Gospell Oh lamentable men Oh lamentable maners which onely is to be imputed vnto this neglect of parents duety By this onely gentilisme and heathenisme grow for if Noahs sonnes had taught that to their children which they learned of their father the world had not beene wearied with many diuelish Idolatries if Dauids children had serued that God which Dauid taught them their throne had continued as long as heauen and earth endured neither had so many women beene husbandlesse so many children beene motherles so many old men beene helples and so many of all sorts and degrees beene vtterly destitute of all worldly ease and heauenly blisse the decay of their faith wrought the destruction of their blood If Christians had taught that religion to their children which they receiued without all corruption from Christ and his Apostles so many countries had not been conquered so many cities had not beene laide euen with the earth so many famous churches had not beene buried in obliuion popery had not so much preuailed Mahomet had not so long prospered wicked ceremonies had not raigned in the place of holy truth and where now is the synagogue of Sathan there had beene the Temple of our Sauiour And I feare me beloued least this parents faulte bring foorth once againe the childrens folly and then oh then will the diuels banner aduance it selfe against Christs standard and so that when the Lord shall come he shall finde no faith on the earth Looke to this you fathers of our bodies and let not the blood of our soules cry vengeance against the parents of our liues teach vs what you haue learned charge vs on your blessing and God his blessing as we will answere before the Iudge of men and angels to saue the soules of our children by the precepts of your doctrine The reasons of this doctrine may be these first bicause as Dauid witnesseth that the workes of God are great and ought to be sought out of all that loue them So that this is an argument of vnfeined affection and true loue to the workes of God when with diligence we obserue them and with conscience we declare them and also it is an assurance of sincere pietie and reuerence towards God when as the same prophet speaketh all the day long we meditate on his iudgements and speake his praises This loue of men to the workes of God is then prooued and approoued when they teach them to those whose liues are in their hands and also it is the playnest token of true loue to your children when you keepe no part of the counsell of God from them which you know your selues For the Lords doings are of that maiestie and authoritie that by them tender hearts are nourished wauering harts confirmed and stubburne mindes are perswaded Your kindest friends will be more kinde vnto you when you shew them the kindnes of the Lord and your deadly foes will be more afraide of you when they shall see and heare the workes of God in your mouth and the word of God in your hands Therefore my beloued in the Lord Iesus seeing we haue no more plainer way to know the Lord then by his workes then haue we also no surer token that we loue the Lord then when we loue his doings Let vs seeke them in the cradles of our childhoode and the beds of our old age making as much of the Lords iudgements as we doe of our children whom we desire to leaue behind vs to the ende of the world euen so let vs leaue the Lords works in remembrance for euermore Secondly another reason of this doctrine is declared by Salomon Eccles 3. 14. That what God doth it standeth for euer that men might feare before him The workes of God are affected not as the ground is ploughed which serueth one for one season but as the earth was established which standeth for euer The Lord in euery age accomplisheth many wonderful things and different the one from the other that men might feare him for his iudgements and honor him for his power And therefore being not willing at all times to make triall and shewe of his omnipotencie hee willeth vs to remember the things that are done vnlesse we would haue him once againe open the fountaines of waters that the whole world might be destroyed or once againe raine fire and brimstone from heauen to confound vs as he did the Sodomites or once againe bring a vniuersall darknes ouer our land as he did ouer the land of Iudea or else once againe suffer our fathers to be burned our goods to be rauened our wiues to be shamed and our selues to be murthered for his sake as some haue bin before vs. Therefore by how much more easie it is for our hearts to consider those things then for our eies to behold them so much more carefull let vs be to instruct others by word of mouth least we our selues our posterity feele in ful measure that heauy hand of his wrath then Oh then
lamentable is our case when we shall not feare God as a father but dread him as a Iudge wee cannot pray vnto him as a Sauiour but behaue our selues like bondslaues in his presence When it shall be said you haue had no pleasure in his workes therefore I will haue no delight in your soules The vses which arisefrom this doctrine are these first the same which Moses once did after he had brought Israell out of Aegypt and afterward the whole company of Martirs are said to make Apoc. 15. 3 Great are thy works say they O Lord almighty iust right are thy waies O king of Saints That is with the consideration of God his mighty power ioine also the confession of his euer blessed iustice You O fathers of our times teach vs this doctrine by your seueral obseruatiōs during al the life of your pilgrimage that you may say the Lord is iust in all his waies holy in al his works Euen this fruit reape take of this florishng tree that you also may be able to tell vs in this we foūd the Lord to be merciful in that work we receiued a due triall of his iustice And freely my beloued in this point of doctrine I might profitably spēd many words to shew teach you with what maner recital of his doings the Lord is pleased it is no more auaileable for vs to confesse that hughe armies of souldiers were discomfited by the Lord except we also know and acknowledge the ende wherefore the Lord did the same then in old time it was for Pharaoh to sigh vnder the burden of God his workes being therewith oppressed and not considering the due ende of the same his hand doth not warne vs nor his power amend vs when either we see or heare it without holy consideration of the end of the iudgement And this selfe same vse must we make when we heare or read of the woonders of auncient time that we can say behold the punishment of sinne the reward of godlines the power of the almightie and the iustice of the euerliuing God In the scriptures the holy Ghost in euery historie sheweth this vse although not in plaine words yet in easie manner to be obserued That Caine was cursed being the heire apparant of all the world and notwithstanding his large birthright he should be a vagabond on the earth was not this a great woonder But why came this to passe First because he was loose in the seruice of God and afterward murdered his innocent brother marke you then the fals of many princes such as be recorded in scripture and out of scripture and you shall see for their vnsufferable wickednes and intollerable tyranny they were destroyed That Sampson killed himselfe and so many thousand Philistines was not this a wonderfull work of God But why was this effected I graunt that by this he was a figúre of Christ which by his owne death ouercame his enimies but the Philistines might learne hereby that the Lord wil be reuenged for the wrongs done to his saints In like manner read and runne ouer the volumes of T. Liuius the writings of Tacitus the bookes of Arrianus the histories of Italy Fraunce Germany England and al Chronicles wherein any worthie or memorable thing may be noted yea the very fables of Poets and you shall therein obserue the variable punishment of sin for the seuerall transgressions of princes and people And if we may come neerer to our owne times consider how much blood hath beene spilt in Fraunce and the lowe-Countries we cannot onely say it was the Lords doings it is maruellous in our eies but we may say this came to passe for the crueltie of the one if not for the drunkennes of the other But why should I trauell ouer the seas for strange things when our owne countrey yeeldeth more worthie workes of God then all christendome besides What is more woonderfull that so great a people so noble personages so large dominions and so many forraine nations should be gouerned preserued defended by one woman Prince Let me now aske you O Elders was there euer the like in your daies or in the daies of your fathers before you Was there euer such peace in this land since it was a land till we flocked to the preaching of the Gospell at the call of one glorious and godly Prince aske your fathers of this and tell vs if euer there were the like Was there euer so hughe a nauie so easily dispersed as the Spanish fleete was comming with purpose to inuade vs and yet neuer could set foote on our land till they were brought prisoners and yet with smaller forces they haue made France to bleed and Flanders to ake Was there euer so many wicked attempts confounded so many treasons reuealed so many wicked persons executed and so many good men preserued as hath beene in her maiesties happie raigne Aske your fathers if euer they knew the like and we will tell our children and they shall tell their children and their children shall shew another generation that our times were happie our liues were blessed our professions were godly and our countrey was glorious witnessed and prooued by thus many workes of God Our Prince raigneth our people obeyeth our forces are increased our enimies are confounded our afflictions are ended our peace is continued our religion is magnified our land is fruitfull our lawes are equall our quarrell is lawfull and therefore hearken al ages what the Lord hath done for England Secondly another vse we must obserue in the narration of the Lords iudgements is this which Dauid maketh Psal 119. 46. I will declare thy iudgements before kings and will not bee ashamed That is the deedes and wordes of the almightie must worke so powerfully in the preachers thereof that no rebukes no scornes no mockes nor any shame be taken for the vtterance of them We liue in a contrarie time to Dauids affection for many are so modest in any good actions that all godly companions and holy exercises doe shame their estates and abase their callings but in euill enterprises they are as immodest as brute beastes thinking it no scorne nor disparagement to them to brag of their blasphemies to tell of their whooredoms to sport themselues with their drunkennesse and to play with the diuell himselfe And this is too too common in our times wherein gentlemen and rich men are ashamed to haue so much as a bible in their houses or at any time to shew a good and friendly face to a preacher of the worde or to minister any occasion to talke of religion least say they we be accounted fooles yea they make fooles of them in the world that follow not euery fashion of apparell vse not euery inuention of idlenesse and conforme not themselues to the maners of the most although they be most wicked This rauening and greedy appetite to sinne must also kindle the fire of our zeale that the wicked be not
we aduertise them thereof If this be the commendation of all humane artes and worldly trades that each one leaueth more skill and greater perfection behinde him then at the beginning hee founde why shoulde it not then so fall out in heauenlie workes that euery father for his sonne euery pastour for his people euery captaine for his countrey and euerie doctor for religion shoulde leaue more then was before Surely how great an abhomination is it to see all worldly things growe better and better but all spirituall things to waxe woorse and woorse that we shoulde be better Philosophers since Plato better Phisitions since Galen better husbandmen since Virgill and better Poets since Homer but religion and sanctification being wrote by God himselfe and all the Prophets and Disciples of Christ yet is it in woorse estate then it was in the beginning It should be as golde which is more fined by comming through manie furnaces but it is like not of it selfe to the riuer Nylus which the farther it floweth the more dirt and draffe it draweth with it so euerie man patcheth and peeceth the worship of God that fathers leaue it woorser then they founde it The vses which arise from this doctrine as they are founde in the worde of God are these first seeing wee must be so carefull what we commende to our posteritie first that we leaue not any practise or president behinde vs which we haue not learned of the Lord Deut. 24. 8 9. If in the leprosie men ought to be so carefull where they were assured of apparant danger that not in any thing they must forget the Lords ordinance or adde any more to his commandement vpon paine of so heauie displeasure of his highnes then must all the world be carefull also to frame their actions according to the worde which dooing they shall not deceiue nor be deceiued And first of all we must beware of false and foolish prophesies which being but the dreames of many brainsicke persons haue bewitched the hearts of men that heard them and seduced the liues of some that receiued them and we may reade both in the booke of God and out of the Scripture that princes and countries haue been destroyed thereby Many of the learneder sort are much affected with the prophesies of the Sibilles Methodius and others many of the popish sort are continually contemplatours of the oracles of Briget and other papistical and monastical dreames but aboue all the simple and vulgar people imagine that there is no Scripture like to Merlins prophesie If I shoulde stande in the specialties to shew you when where and wherein the vnstable new fangled minds haue bin deceiued I should rather feed the curious then fill the righteous This shall be sufficient to admonish vs that wee neither presume to make our names famous by this meanes by giuing errours nor yet be so base minded as to embrace and receiue the same for truth whosoeuer hee be that vttereth it because Peter telleth vs 2. Pet. 2. 1. That there shal be false prophets in the church whō we must beware least we fall with them into the same perdition Others there are also which regard neither prophesie nor religion or any other spirituall exercise either feigned or vnfeigned but giue their whole liues and trauaile to an vnsatiable desire of gaine to gather landes and lordships by right or wrong and to leaue great store of wealth to their posteritie let these men bee also warned if they woulde bee warned that they commit not the gaine of vngodlinesse the wages of vnrighteousnesse and the Lordes portion for their inheritance For surely as our Sauiour speaketh Matth. 15. 13. Euery plant not planted by his father shall be pulled vp againe Their houses shall bee ruinous their posteritie infamous their possessions troublesome and strangers shall inherite their labours But in our daies also there is another wicked and wretched president for posteritie to be lamented that so many in this golden age of Christes Gospell are tickled with vaine conceites accounting their glorie if they can prooue the founders of new sectes whereby religion is defamed or penne some idle toyes for histrionicall plaiers whereby many good soules are endangered There are few or no Italian follies Spanish inuentions or French-faynedwanton-volumes but in our daies for the times succeeding they are taught to speake English I thinke for this purpose that now whiles religion ruleth it might bee troubled by them and when christianitie is remooued by their meanes iniquitie may be enthronized I haue read many of them and considered of them too long I must freely confesse that they be the voices forerunning and preparing a way for Atheisme idolatrie heathenisme or any kind of impietie And therfore all good Christians should do with them as the Ephesians did Actes 19. 19. with their bookes for I protest vnto you either you must forsake God or them Secondly wee must make one vse more of this doctrine which is this Seeing we must be carefull for posteritie that we suffer nothing to passe from vs or by vs to them that sauoureth of iniquitie let vs also liuing in these times like to the daies of Christ follow the example of Christ which is to pray for them which shall come after Luc. 22. 31 32. where he telleth his disciples that he hath prayed for them that although sathan should haue them in his fanne to winnow them as a man cleaneth wheate yet should not they faile so likewise Iohn 17. Christ praieth for all them which should beleeue in his name to the worldes ende Now my beloued brethren if you consider the causes why Christ did not onely procure the welfare of his children while he was liuing but also praied for their sinceritie when hee should be dead you shall also finde that we haue all as great cause to pray for our children as then our Sauiour had for his disciples One was because as we heard that they lay open to the malice of the diuell who would trie his vttermost either to make them denie him or to die for him So my deere brethren the malice of sathan is as hote against vs as euer it was against them if he could he would turne our countrie into seas our people into diuels our meate into serpents our drinke into poyson our profession into Atheisme our pleasure into hell And will he thinke you be more fauourable to our posteritie No no assure your selues if he may or might worke his will he would make them as poore as beggers as miserable as Iob in aduersitie and as desperate as Iudas to make their owne handes to bee their owne murtherers hee woulde feede the dogs with their blood the birds with their flesh the rauens with their bowels the infidels with their landes the Atheists with their houses and damnation with their soules pray therefore with teares and zeale that the grones of your hart may preserue the fruites of your bodies Another cause why
that there is a speciall iudgement of God when hurtfull creatures are increased If either the flies or the wormes or any small beasts arise aboue their vsual number thē know for a certain that these little beasts are infallible tokens of the Lords wrath Psal 105. 34. The Psalmist describing vnto vs the woonderfull workers of God which he wrought for his church saith He spake there came Grashoppers and Caterpillers innumerable so likewise the Prophets Ieremy and Ezechiell among the grand and inuincible plagues of God reckon this for one the growing or multiplying of noysome beastes For the Lord which is infinitely wise is able infinite waies to manifest that deuine power of his maiestie whereby once hee created all things of nothing and euery day sheweth vs our sins by changing his good creatures into hurtfull destroyers making the earth to pine vs the heauens to burne vs the aire to benum vs and the silly beasts to annoy vs. The reasons of this doctrine are these First because the Lord by these meanes doth not onely admonish vs all of our transgressions but especially punisheth vs for our singular rebellion Exod. 10. 4. 5. Among all these plagues which were wrought in Aegypt to punish hard harted Pharaoh and the blinde minded Egyptians the Lorde in great number sendeth grashoppers that prince and people might bee brought to destruction And surely if the Lorde haue so many meanes to reuenge the cause of his Saints that hee maketh bruite beastes the executioners of his wrath then let vs learne neuer to molest any in whome any graces of God appeere for then shall wee bring an heauie house of wrath vpon our heads Another reason of this doctrine is because that hee sometimes sendeth and multiplieth plentifullie his good wholesome creatures to the destruction of them that receiue them and if the good creatures of God be sent that he may more freely take vengeance by them vpon our iniquities much more when the noisome hurtfull beastes are increased doth he powre out his wrath and execute his anger We may reade Numb 11. 31 33. that the Lorde brought abundance of quailes vpon the tents of Israell but withall he sent leannes into their soule and his wrath came vpon them while the meate was in their mouthes that the lustes of their mindes cost them the bloud of their bodies and although they seemed to haue a great blessing yet it turned to a heauie curse In like maner they are not alwaies the happiest persons which haue all things at their wish nor yet is it alwaies a good thing to be aduanced to the highest roomes as Haman was to eate of the daintiest meate as the rich man did to be clothed with the softest raiment as the courtiers are to haue the poore bowing to our persons the worlde woondring at our wealth and the voices of all men to commende our workes For notwithstanding all these the soule may be poore naked comfortlesse and despised in the eies of the Lorde and what shall it profite vs to winne the whole worlde and loose our owne soules Let not pouertie dismaie vs for that was on Christ let not riches aduance vs for they were on Herod let not aduersitie trouble vs for good men professe it and let not prosperitie reioice vs for euill men enioy it Now let vs make some vses of this doctrine which may either strengthen our faith or amende our liues Therefore first of all the Lord shewing how manie iudgements he had powred vpon the Israelites Amos 4. 9. telleth them the vse of all which was that they should be cōuerted vnto his maiesty so that as Dauid saith He maketh his angels his ministers in like maner Amos might say He maketh the beastes of the earth to preach repentance vnto men For it is most requisite that when men become beastes in their liues drowning al reason within them then should beastes like themselues in reason though not in bodie come vnto them to reprooue their follie whose blowes should breake their harts that woulde not turne them at the preaching of men Now then the whole course of nature and naturall things do remember vs and helpe vs to worship the Lorde for if they bee subiect to vs and serue to our vses they tell vs that we must be subiect to God serue in his vineyard if they rebel against vs annoy vs with their presence they preach repentance to our liues conuersion to our soules whither then shall we go from the presence of the Lorde If we burie our sins in the earth as the wicked seruant did his talent yet we must bring them foorth againe to receiue our condemnation if we keepe them in secret yet the birdes of the aire shall reueale them if we neglect them and not regard them the lyons of the woode shall requite them if we dissemble them the Lord himselfe in flaming fire shall disclose them and if we continue in them the little woormes the seelie grashoppers and the simple creeping creatures shall reuenge them But wee in our daies haue not much tasted of this fourth plague which is the multiplying hurtfull beastes I meane our lande hath not been giuen to the locusts and our labours haue not beene spoiled by the caterpillers yet we are more troubled with more hurtfull beasts I say in the similitude of men such beasts as wander not in the fields but lodge in our houses being more vnreasonable then the palmer-wormes and more vnresistable then all the heards of canker-wormes The godly may cry out with Dauid the fat buls of Bashan did roare vpon me and with the Apostle that they fight with beastes in the likenes of men and yet Dauid neither feared the buls nor the Apostle fought with beastes indeed But such beasts as haue al reason against reason and no reason to any religion are swarming almost in euery corner of England we may as easily perswade the oxe to eat no grasse the birds to eate no corne the lyons to seeke no pray the lambe to refuse the pap of his dame as reclaime this kinde of beasts from their euill kind of sins Deafe adders they are they wil not heare wittie and politike foxes they will not be taken vipers without feeling the sorrowes of others wanton kine euer kicking against the poore stately lyons rauening whatsoeuer liketh them greedy beares byting al that com nigh them sleepy dogs profiting no body and what shall I say more They depriued themselues of all kind of humanitie therefore let these great beasts mooue vs seeing we haue no feare of little beasts These sleepe in our bosomes eate at our tables gather vp our profits and consume God his benefits Let these I say make vs innocent watchfull warie diligent obedient meeke gratious and zealous in religion that either our liues may conuert them or their beastlinesse amende vs. Another vse of this doctrine is this that as God can vse and also doth these his
creatures to bee reuenged on his aduersaries so also hee will and can doe the same to the benefite of his chosen He vsed the rauens to feede Eliah 1. King 17. 6. and wee know that al these noisome creatures which deuoured and destroyed the cattle people of Egypt neither deuoured or destroyed man or beast among the Israelites The viper a hurtfull beast yet it could not harme Paul Act. 28. 5. when it hung vpon his hande What shall we now say my deere brethren to commend the large liberalitie of our God to conuince the intolerable ingratitude of our soules The angels waite on vs aboue to keepe the heauens from ouerwhelming vs the creatures attend on vs beneath to make the earth to yeeld vs maintenance oh how shall they want any thing that leade a godly life yet who doth depend on the Lordes promise or who doth make conscience of the Lords liberalitie We are like to the Iewes which Nebuzaradan left in Ierusalem with the Samaritans seeing the serpents destroying the Samaritans sparing them yet still they continued in their idolatrie so although we see and heare our neighbours our countreymen or any other nation to be wasted and we preserued to be famished wee sustained to be weakened and wee strengthened to be punished when we go scot-free yet still we serue our pleasures we blaspheme the Gospell we prophane the Sabbaoth and we dishonour the almightie although he hath not dealt with any nation as he hath dealt with vs yet we care not for his creatures we loue not his truth we forsake not our sins we embrace not his feare we haue no resolution for our owne saluation the Lord for his mercy turne our harts Another doctrine we may obserue out of this verse which is this that euerie light and little creature can trouble ouercome the welfare ofmen Why did not the Lorde raine downe fire from heauen to consume their fielde of corne or to burne vp their fruitefull gardens or why did he not sende his angels immediately from heauen to weede out the wicked from the land and so to haue made an ende at the very first of these Iewish calamities This he might haue done although he did it not but rather sendeth creeping wormes to ouerthrowe a great nation which is to mans reason as if one sparke of fire were sent to burne vp the whole sea Wee reade Act. 12. 23. that Herod by his flatterers was magnified to be a God the which thing pleased the wretch too well for shortly after it cost him bloude and life to shewe himselfe and his fauorites that he was but a man for it was saide that he was eaten and deuoured of wormes O woorthie example of so woorthie impietie which wearing the crowne but of an earthly kingdome would also be aduanced to an heauenly regiment therefore he receiued the greater condemnation Where were his Phisicians coulde not they purge away the euill which did eate vp the kings hart where were his seruants which woulde doe all things for him and now could not they deliuer him from little wormes nay what did this newe made God if hee were but a god of flies could not he comfort and cure himselfe No no the darte was too deepe the wound was too great and the disease too desperate but he in the midst of these his torments hauing his heart eaten and the wormes crawling out of his body with intollerable anguish cryed out Behold your Godwhich is enforced to die Let all proude persons be warned by the example of Herod especially great men who thinke themselues if not better yet equall to the sonne of God the king of heauen and earth least they be punished after the example of Herod The flies did trouble and terriblie molest the whole lande of Egypt thinke alwaies the Lorde can easily turne our meate into wormes our drinke into flies our bloud into lice our garments into serpents and our ioyfull friends into spoyling beasts We are not so high but there is one aboue vs we are not so lowe but there are some beneath vs we are not so wise but the Lorde is within vs neither are wee so noble but his highnes can confound vs. And this doctrine hath good reasons beside lamentable experience whereon it may be grounded the weakest things of God are far stronger then the strongest of man 1. Cor. 1. 25. 27. and by the weake thinges of this worlde will he confounde the strong the which although it be spoken in another sence then it is heere alleaged yet doth it serue also to this purpose to shewe vnto vs that the Lord will for his glory ouercome by the weaker forces And it is most true that a little beast with his wrath is as forcible to destroy vs as a mightie serpent and the fall of a feather vpon our heads although they were garded with a helmet of proofe yet shoulde it through his indignation be as heauy as a mill stone to dash out the braines of the proudest Hee which made these things is not tied to his owne workes but when hee will he can alter light into darknes turne the lande into the sea the mountaines into valleyes and make iron to swim when lighter matters shall sinke Nowe good men must euer be mightily comforted with the consideration of this heauenly power this made the men of Babylon to offer their bloud to the fierie flaming furnace this made the woorthie Gideon with a fewe persons to aduenture the ouerthrow of many thousandes this encouraged Elisha being besieged with an huge army of Syrians and therefore this must force vs to die in persecution to fight for the Lordes truth to pray where we see no helpe to professe his name though we loose the sweetest pleasures of this life The vses which offer themselues vnto our consideration are these first that it teach vs to thinke most humbly and most basely of our selues as Dauid that noble king that euer was did Psal 22. 6. I am a worme saith he and no man euen the ofscouring of men Seeing the basest creatures of the world are able so easily to destroy vs what can be better signe of our humilitie then as Dauid doth to call our selues by their names Abraham talking with God called himselfe dust and ashes such as lie vnder foote to bee troden vpon by euery one and Dauid giueth himselfe a name which none hath done before him and very few after him by taking on him the title of a sillie creeping worme engendred of the dirt fed onely with earth and the lowest of all kinde of beastes would God the spirite of mildnesse could driue away the spirite of statelinesse which raigneth in those which are many thousande degrees inferiour to Dauid Let them imagine through the wrath of God that the haires of their head were turned to liuing creatures which were an easie thing with God and yet would it not make them humble how if the intrals and bowels of
eleuenth they concerne the Lord. That which mooueth them for themselues is first of all their penury and want ver 5. their pleasures and plentie should be pulled from their mouths Secondly in regard of the meanes how this should be effected which he describeth metaphorically by comparing the little beasts to a mighty nation ver 6. whose power is there also described in the 7. ver the worke which he should worke that the vines and figge trees the most pleasant profitable and necessarie plants of their countrey should be vtterly subuerted And this we will by the mercifull assistance of God his holy spirit first of all handle First of all the prophet calleth vpon those drunkardes to awake for we know that much drinking bringeth much sleeping and therefore before the prophet could speake vnto this kinde of persons he calleth vpon them to awake from their wine and to rouze vp themselues from the soft bed of their easie or rather beastlie sinnes And out of this we may behold how sweet is the sinne of drunkennes euen as sweet as sleepe is to the wearie body Againe here we may note how dangerous is the sinne of drunkennes that raigning in the bodies of men their mindes cannot be instructed their follies cannot be reprooued and their liues cannot be amended for they are alwaies sleepie and drouzie so that nothing can enter into their hearts so long as the loue of drinke raigneth in their mouthes and many other waies I could vrge this similitude or metaphor of the prophet but I omit them because they are well and worthily declared by other This therefore will I obserue out of this worde Awake that if men be not reclaimed by the preaching of God his worde they shall suddenly be destroied by the comming of his iudgements Awake saith the prophet as if in other words he had declared his meaning you sinners you gluttons you drunkards you vnmercifull men which are taking most delightfull pleasure in your seuerall iniquities You are lulled a sleepe by them but lift vp your eies with speed if you be not speedily remoued ere euery you thinke therof you shall be suddenly cōfounded The prophet Dauid Psal 58. 5. 7. 8 telleth vs that those which will not be rebuked by the prophets are like to the deafe adder which will not be cast out by the charmer and therfore he plainly telleth them that they should consume as the Ise doth and that they should melt away as a snaile in her owne shell that they should be ouerthrowne as quickly as a fire of small thornes that they should be like the vntimely fruit of a woman and that they should as speedily perish as an arrow flieth out of a bowe this selfe same wisedome threatens to her disobedient and incredulous children Pro. 1. 27. that seeing she had called but none had answered therefore their feare should come like sudden desolation and their destruction like a whirle winde There is not any thing among vs but serueth for some vse and the want therof is noysome vnto vs the day for labour the night for rest the winter for ploughing the sommer for reaping and so the worde of God is sent to awake vs before iudgement least iudgement should destroye vs. The old world would not be awaked by Noah and therefore they were drowned the Sodomites would not be awaked by Lot and therefore they were burned the Israelites would not be awaked by Ieremie and therefore they were captiuated the Iewes would not be awaked by Christ and therefore they were destroyed the Corinthians would not be awaked by Paul therfore they were spoiled by the heathen the inhabitants of Constantinople would not be awaked by Chrysostome and then the Barbarous Turke deuoured them and our countreymen of England will not be awaked by the preachers therefore famine warres plagues and sickenesses are seised vpon vs to ouerthrow vs. Oh if euer we will let vs now looke vpon it there is not one among vs but will cry against an open and notorious witch burne her burne her shee were not worthy to liue but against the open rebels against the word of God which as Samuell told Saule is equall or as damnable before God and all good men as is witchcraft yet we say nothing thereunto yea rather as Augustine saith most heauenly He is accompted a publique enimy who is displeased with these kinde of coniurations and him do the multitude turne out of audience displace out of reuerence and if they durst destroy him from among the liuing Oh my deare brethren what wil be the end of these mischiefs God his maiestie is alreadie reuiled Christ his sonne is alreadie denied the diuell their enimie is alreadie embraced the Gospell our saluation is already despised the church of God our most deare mother is already weakned the preachers of truth our most painefull watchmen are already defaced and will not the iudgements of God come also speedily to take vengeance vpon so manifold contempts and so abhominable rebellions yet let vs at least receiue this for truth that if yet we be not awakened we shortly shall be confounded The reasons of this doctrine are manifest First because as Salomon saith that the prosperitie of fooles shall slay them that is euen the meate which wicked men eate the clothes that couer them the friends that flatter them the professions that enrich them and the pleasures that reioice them shal turne God his word from them and them from euerlasting comfort Oh lamentable miserie or miserable follie that we should all of vs be so bewitched with our wealth which is a most mercifull and liberall blessing of God that we should be all rather payred then amended thereby such is the state of them that be rich to themselues and not to God Let vs then take heede to the most certaine worde of God to bee instructed by it to the most holy voice of preachers to be reclaimed by them and to the most terrible iudgements of God whensoeuer they bee vttered that we be not condemned by them for if we embrace and beleeue not the former we shall be embraced and corrected by the latter Secondly another reason heereof doth Dauid giue Psal 73. 27. That all those which withdrawe themselues from God shall perish and those which haue not the worde of God haue not God neither any comfortable feeling of his presence but rather a fearefull looking for of vengeance Oh how terrible and dangerous is the condition of all papisticall and carnall Recusants which do willingly absent themselues from our assemblies what doe they else but withdraw themselues from the Lorde and worke out their owne condemnation and therefore heauie is their case which as Esay saith 5. 24. As the fire deuoureth the stubble and the chaffe is consumed of the flame so their roote shal be as rottennes and their budde shall rise vp like dust because they haue cast off the lawe of the Lorde of hostes and contemned the
word of the holy one of Israell But for vs which haue already giuen vp our names to the Lorde let vs with Dauid Psal 73. 28. drawe neere vnto our God that our zeale in preaching our labour in hearing our feeling in praying and our ioy in all manner of reuerence to the holy Gospell of Christ may euer arise higher and higher to the intent that we also may declare his works vnto other rather then in lamentable rebellion be made examples of his feueritie But now let vs come and see the vses of this doctrine as they are left in the holy worde of God and this may be one that seeing only in the word of God is the foreknowledge of hurt and the continuance of our peace oh then let vs beware of whatsoeuer that shall endeuour or any way be able to pull vs away from the same Our Sauiour himselfe hauing preached a long and sweete fermon vnto his Disciples to arme them against troubles and to forewarne them against corruptions shutteth it vp with this exhortation Luk 21. 34. Let not your harts be ouercome with surfeiting and drunkennes and cares of this life and so that day shoulde come vpon you at vnawares whereby the whole church of God are likewise taught that the diuell shoulde mightily labour by these instruments of drunkennesse and worldly care to burie the worde of God and to blot out if it were possible the very names of the elect from the booke of God and when were these daies if nowe they be not Shall we looke vpon the families of all our lande the very speciall and distinct persons therein we shal find very fewe that are not infected with one of these poisons Drunkennes hath banished all religion inuaded the houses of court and countrie and already made the heauens to weepe the earth to fast the beastes to pine the poore to famish the enimies of God to reioice the saints of Christ to be sorrowfull and the soules of many to be vtterly destroied The cares of this life haue also so farre preuailed that hell may seeme to be enlarged and the diuell with golden apples hath raised vp contention in all kingdomes and by this meanes gained infinite possessions Some haue all their minds on warres thinking it long till they be at the spoiles of their enimie do these men either thinke vpon the word of God which is or the day of God which shall be No no the cares of this life haue ouercome their harts some are too noble som are too base some are too rich some are too poore some are too learned and some are too ignorant thus by one way or other many are ouerthrowne But yet let vs not be hindered from preaching or discouraged from hearing let vs not want the meanes to obtaine life eternall and much more let vs not refuse the same being offered If the Niniuites had not repented when Ionah preached within fortie daies had Niniueh been destroyed oh happie Niniueh that thus was warned by the preaching of one yea rather blessed be our God that woulde not suffer a citie to perish before he had called them by his prophet But howe blessed are we that haue had many prophets and preachers and yet haue not repented in sackcloth and ashes yea although the worlde be hardned with preaching and say where is the promise of his comming where is the destruction that you haue prophesied where are the desolations that so many preachers haue threatened Yet take heede although the cocke crowe at midnight yea many times before the day will you say therefore it will neuer be light so although wee haue a great while agoe and yet continue to crie and call on you to awake before danger come bee assured it will come as the morning star after the nightlie darknes Oh then let vs arise put on your clothes trauaile to the Lordes house and hearken euery one what he will enforme vs to amend vs or instruct vs to forewarne vs. Another vse heereof we may make for the conuersion of them that are yet hardned in their sinnes then the prophet hath taught vs that our whole conuersion and safetie dependeth on the word of God in the mouthes of the ministers and we haue learned to watch ouer our liues that none steale away the same from vs. But yet we haue nothing to saie to them that are no drunkards no couetous misers no open and prophane persons nor yet despisers of the ministerie and meanes of reconciliation but rather louing vnto them and yet for all this make no conscience to knowe God out of his worde or to doubt of many maine points of saluation or to disport themselues in vaine and vnseemely mirth and such like euen vnto them I say with Paul 1. Cor. 15. 34. Awake to liue righteously and sinne not You haue liued indeed as Herod that honored Iohn Baptist as Pilate that thought Christ a good man as the Iewes that followed him from towne to towne but what change hath there beene of your liues since you knew these things if there be none as there can be none as yet then let Paul and Ioel crie vnto you Awake to liue righteously I may say vnto these men as Christ said to the Lawyer that they are not farre from the kingdome of God they are asleepe but not heauily asleepe and they may say of themselues as Agrippa saide of himselfe that they are almost perswaded to be Christians but not altogither Yet one thing more wanteth my beloued not the selling of your houses nor the distribution of your goods nor the reliefe of the poore nor the chastening of your bodies but the banishing of your vaine pleasures the ouerruling of your affections the crucifying of your lustes the putting from you your ignorance your pastimes your oathes your tabling your dicing your gaming and all your cost and time that is euill spent You haue indeede made a good beginning but also I wish you to make a good ending you haue cast the diuell out of the hall of your harts oh cast him out also from the parlour you haue thrust his head out of your mindes suffer not therefore his feete to remaine within you Is it as sweete as sleepe vnto you to do as yee do beware least it be as bitter as gall vnto you to receiue as you haue done therefore awake my brethren and cast off the couerlets of your euill forsake the sheetes of iniquitie and leape out of the soft bed of selfe-pleasing delights put on the garments of righteousnes embrace the crosse of christianitie and breake the neck of all your pleasures as Sampson did of his enimies The Lorde biddeth vs awake to iudgement the Gospell biddeth vs awake to righteousnes the church biddeth vs awake to sobernes the preachers bidde vs awake to holines the creatures bid vs awake to obedience the earth biddeth vs awake to fruitfulnes and the heauens from an high bid vs to awake either to saluation or else
sleepe to condemnation shall we haue more neede yet to be awaked Oh no let vs arise quickly as the church doth Cant. 3. 2. and seeke that we may finde grace pray that we may obtaine faith and knocke at the gates of mercy that they may be opened least if we slumber anie longer we be vtterly excluded Another obseruation out of this verse may be this that seeing the prophet doth especially and by name call vpon the drunkards which are beastly men or men like beasts aduertising them in the first place aboue others to looke to the maine chance as the prouerbe is hee doth thereby teach vs that those which aboue others mispende the good creatures of God shal also aboue others be tormented with their want drunkards are cōsumers fo corne neglecters of time prodigal in their purses fooles in their heads disclosers of secrets and deuourers of god his benefits therfore the prophet telleth them they shall lament in miserie and perish in aduersitie We know that the first follie that euer was wrought by mankinde was wrought by a woman and therefore women sithence are euermore accursed more then men their bodies weaker their stomacks tenderer their paines greater their liues more slauish and their mindes more seruile Who was more merrie then Naball at his drunken feastes and yet who died more miserable then Nabal Who were more lasciuious then Sodom and who was more accursed then Sodom who liued more deliciously then the Giants of the old world yet who perished more generally and decaied more sodainly who were more gorgeous then the women of Ierusalem Esay 3. 17. 24. 25. which lauished out their wealth in brauerie and beautified their bodies in pride but in aduersitie who were more punished then they their secrets were opened their beautie withered their bodies vncouered their garments torne their heads balde their feete bare and sackcloth in steede of sattin Most miserable are the abusers of meate or drinke garments and health riches and friendship for vnto whom much is giuen of them shal much be required If the Lorde shoulde suffer of his blessed iustice this dearth and famine to continue they which haue had greatest plentie being alwaies filled and clothed with the best woulde bee more cruelly vexed then the poorer people who haue beene taught by long experience to content their hungrie stomackes with pinching and scantie morsels So that heerein you shall finde a most comfortable benefite of abstinence from meate and temperance in meate they teach vs to abounde and they teach vs to want they preserue vs in health and prepare vs against aduersitie Hearken vnto this you belly gods that worship your tables and pray to your kitchins and do you also that sit all the day at tauerns and alehouses lende your eares to this lesson that your wicked custome and companie drawe not your liues into most fearefull extremitie Consider before hande what were your miserie if the streames were dried vp the cellers were emptied and the corne fieldes desolate wildernesses that you coulde not be satisfied abroad nor yet contented within what releefe could you finde to pacifie your greedy appetite would you then be contented when you haue no other remedie that is not thankes woorthie will you pray for your flesh pots as the Israelites did that were to worke out speedily your owne condemnation will you then turne to the Lorde and confesse your gluttonie but such conuersions are seldome vnfeigned will you patiently endure intollerable famine oh but that you are not able but will rather eate of the flesh of your owne bodies and drinke of the loathsomnes of your owne waters Therefore either nowe spare your riot that you may be prepared to want or else fill vp your bodies with all manner of luxurie that you may be confounded with all manner of penurie The reasons of this doctrine may be these first bicause this kinde of men shall want their God and cheefest felicitie when the drunkards want their pots the gluttons their belly cheere the proud men their brauerie and the idle persons their ease Phil. 3. 19. Some persons there are that are so farre besotted with their liues that they make as the Apostle saith Their God to be their bellie and in another place he telleth vs what shall bee the estate of these daies wherein we liue That men shal be louers of pleasures more then louers of God Oh wretched time that hatched such monsters or rather wretched men bewitched with such pleasures what will some saie the Apostle neuer heard nor any other preacher can euer prooue that euer a man was so foolish as to make his belly his god or so faithlesse as to saie hee loued his pleasures aboue his God Indeed I grant at the common law we can hardly prooue it but in the spirituall lawe we can easilie shewe it we weigh not the word but the practise of men and if you finde a man for euery one must search himselfe that hath bestowed more on his belly then he can affoorde to the church and poore members of God that robbeth and spoileth the church liuinges that hee may entertaine noble guestes and keepe a liberall house or that raketh by extortion and vnlawfull meanes from his poore tenants that he may braue it out in London and exceede voluptuously at home in the meane season not regarding religion nor obeying the admonition of a good conscience nor the Gospel of God I say such a man hath his belly for his god whatsoeuer outward profession he make to the contrarie Againe if men doe not spend more time in pleasures then in praying preaching and hearing God his word but omit the time thereunto appointed and admit other vanities into the place thereof which almost all the yoong men of England doe I say also that these men loue their pleasures more then God Then hearken to your doome you despisers and be ashamed or else confounded that the earth which is not yours but the Lordes earth should beare vp such rebels from the pit of hell See wee not the preachers of God his word how our congregations are lessened how our sermons are mocked how our doctrine is derided and how our exhortations nay not ours but the Lords are scoffingly refused See we not gentlemen and their families at their ease when they should bee labouring in the Lords vineyard Lawyers in their studies when they should be in the churches merchants in their counting houses when they are wanting at sermons ruffians at tauernes yoong men at dauncing schooles husbandmen at drinking feastes though heauen and earth cry against it And the feare of a mortall man preuaileth more then the loue of the immortall God and yet for all this men wil say they loue God aboue all and their neighbours as themselues when they doe not nor can doe any of them both Then doth it necessarily follow that if you want these things you want your God and therefore they shall leaue you in most
miserable aduersitie Another reason of this doctrine is that which Dauid giueth Psal 17. 14. They haue no portion but in this life they can haue no comfort of the graces of the Lords children so that when they are perplexed and weaned from these things they are more vexed then other men This is the iust iudgement of God that where men haue most of al set their hart there aboue others they should receiue their hurt Now my deere brethren take vp a taste of this foode which I haue prepared for your soules and lust not after the wilde Doe when the tame kid may serue your turne Vse I beseech you these plaine and easie doctrines to shew vs the miserie of our times wherein we liue and of their liues among whome we liue We are altogether set on eating and drinking as if our soules delighted in wine or should be saued by meate wee regarde not the want which the poore endure wee thinke not on the hand which is ready to strike vs and we feare not the calamitie which doth alreadie compasse vs. Make not your belly your God and take not your portion in this life onely knowe you that a good Christian cannot come to heauen but by often fasting and continuall watchfulnesse and see you not how little this was practised till the dearth came and put vs in minde hereof now then let vs redeeme the time that we haue euill spent and spare that meate for the poore which we may saue for our selues We haue long liued by bread but now let vs liue by the word of God let vs I beseech you cast off our carnall desires and take no rest in our owne houses with Vrijah till the Lords people be in quietnesse let this preuaile with vs that looke how much comfort we take in abusing these so much discomfort shall we finde by forsaking them The vses which offer themselues out of this doctrine are these first that the confidence which the wicked raise vp to themselues in the things of this life shall bee their vtter ouerthrowe Isai 20 5 6. that whereas Egypt and Ethiopia were the comfort of Israell contrarie to the expresse commandement of God the Lorde threateneth to captiuate these nations and to destroy the people in their owne expectation that both the comfort and comforters should be at once confounded Euen so doth he in like manner in these daies where men leane more on the weake staffe of meate and drinke then on the strong rocke of God his word he breaketh the staffe in peeces and maketh the flitters to pearse through our owne harts This is the rewarde of belly-gods that their ioyes are remooued their hope is decayed their consolation confoundeth them and the want of those things wherein they most delighted shal procure them most easelesse paine because they most corrupted them The rich glutton which exceeded in delicious fare and in all abundance of wines and pleasant drinks was tormented without all pitie for want of water The prodigall sonne who lauished out riotously his fathers legacy like our English spend-thriftes at tables at drinking at whooring at gaming in brauerie of apparell horses houndes and delicates was constrained for his office to be a swineheard for his meate to want that which his beastes were fed with for his brauerie to bee basely and beggarly araied and his whole felicitie was turned into most lamentable yet due deserued miserie Harken therefore vnto me my brethren and heare me when I tell you the issues of your pleasures If you be aged thinke what were your sorrowe that if those riches which in youth you laboured for with your hands to comfort you withall when you should be olde should be suddenly taken from you then may you say my yoonger yeeres I consumed in vanitie and elder daies must perish in pouertie If you be yoong men consider with your owne harts that if the libertie you tooke should be abridged the pastimes you plaied should cause you so many stripes and your youthfull daies shoulde bee turned into languishing infirmities would not this amaze you to feele it and discomfort you to consider it Yes yes my beloued when your riches are the coles your desires are the fire your pleasures are the bellowes and your owne liues are the irons to be burned in this miserable miserie I delighted shall one say in hunting and nowe the beasts deuoure me I delighted in dauncing but now my woonted mirth is turned into hellish yelling I delighted in drinking but my cuppes are emptie and the naturall heate of my stomacke deuoureth my body like a fire I delighted in stealing but now doth the world rob me of my life the diuel of my soule I delighted in whooring but alas my diseases are become loathsome to God and man I delighted in slandering and hurting other but my lyes are recompensed with my owne life I was a swearer but the Lords wounds which I blasphemed haue witnessed my death I was a coniurer the diuell hath me I desired large fields but now haue I lost mine owne And thus shall all sinners come to their endes as Esau which louing hunting by his loue lost his blessing Another vse arising from the same doctrine shall be this that seeing we which be most abusers of the Lords benefits shall by their want be most of all punished let vs before this time of aduersitie come humble our soules and amende our sinnes as the prophet calleth vpon Babylon many yeeres before shee was destroyed Isa 47. 1. 23. Come downe and sit in the dust O virgin daughter Babell sit on the ground for there is no throne O daughter of the Chaldeans for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate So my beloued come you downe now while you heare me calling vnto you and while this wrath is but comming vpon you you haue euery one aduanced a throne for your sinnes to sit on but pull it downe or else it shall defile your soules Yet there is time turne you from your euils you drunkards to sobernes you wantons to modestie you swearers to pitie you idle ones to diligence you rich men to humility you gentlemen to religion you women to righteousnes you yoong men to learning you old men to praying and you poore men to patience turne turne I say before this aduersitie that either your chaunge may change the Lords meaning or vse may ease the rigour of your punishment Come downe I beseech you take vp your crosse and follow Iesus Christ let temperance rule you let religion perswade you let your Sauiour win you let his ministers warne you let the earth speake vnto you and be yee all conuerted or else continue in your delights and cease not to offend God which hateth your liues or the church which wisheth your wealth or the poor which pray for your peace or the earth which threatneth want or the diuell that gapeth for your soules Howle allye drinkers of wine Now the prophet telleth
with mourning least they should esteeme the matter lightly that their sinne could be washed away with teares he telleth them plainly that the wine shal be pulled from their mouth and this he doth in my iudgement to driue them to a deeper conscience of their sinnes and consideration of the Lordes wrath So that he may seeme thus to say vnto them it is alreadie decreed that your euill shall not be turned away therefore lament your calamitie And from hence we may note that all the feigned repentance vncōfortable cries of the wicked shall neuer turne away the wrath of God from them So doth the holy Ghost declare Heb. 12. 17. Gen. 27. 38. when Esau with abundance of weeping cried out for the blessing yet he could not obtaine it Wherein there appeereth their endlesse misery that their teares shal be no more accepted of God then are the cries of a beast in the hand of a butcher The Lord knoweth that they are not humbled for his sake but for their owne and were it not more for the fear of their own misery then of his iudgements they would neuer take his name in their mouthes except to blaspheme him The Lord can and will shewe himselfe froward with them that are froward Psal 18. and haue as deafe eares at their cries as euer they had at our sermons he will be as merciles vnto them as euer they were to their brethren no children which seeme innocent no women which seeme penitent no olde men which seeme religious no yoong men which seeme glorious nor any bloode which seemeth precious shall remooue their paines and reuerse his sentence And this doth the holie Ghost alwaies perswade vnto the wicked bicause hee telleth them in other places as Prou. 15. 8. Mich. 6. 7. That their sacrifices are abhomination vnto him and if they woulde giue him the fruite of their bodies for the sinne of their soules yet will he not be mercifull vnto them What did the Lord in outward shewe better accept then sacrifice and what coulde outwardly shew greater obedience then with Abraham to offer vp their owne children yet it being done of a wicked man or womon all were woorth nothing Secondly the Lorde hath appointed a time wherein he woulde haue our conuersion performed which being passed there can bee no redemption Psalm 95. 7. Cant. 5. 6. To day if you will heare his voice then harden not your harts the fruitlesse tree in the Gospell had a time wherein it should beare fruite which being omitted without all mercy is hewed downe Therefore haue you also a time in the which if you be conuerted then shal your death be deare in the sight of the Lord but if you neglect this time your bloud shall be vile in his presence But when will you say is this time and how shall we knowe it Surely if a man in his last testament giue a legacie of money to his sonne or seruant and name not the time of the payment the lawe doth adiudge it to bee due at the death of the testatour so the Lorde hauing set no time in his testament when thou shalt repent either in yoong or in olde age in the day or in the night he thereby teacheth vs that euery day yea euery minute is appointed for our repentance till we haue repented therefore how much we liue without conuersion so much we loose and euerie day calleth vpon vs to fulfill our fathers testament except we be bastards Seeing now that the case of wicked men is so pitiles at the Lords hande let vs see what exhortations we may gather from hence for our instruction and first of all let vs take that which our Sauiour hath left Luk. 13. 24. Striue saith he to enter in at the straite gate for the time shall come that many shall striue and not be able to enter Labour I beseech you for Religion for the knowledge of the Gospell for obedience to the ministerie that your prosperitie may be continued and your aduersitie may be relieued What a shame is it for men of wealth woorth to be shut out of a noble mans gates or rather what a shame is it that the teares and sute of a sonne being in prison or beggerly shall not mooue his owne parents to clemencie so shall it be with you when you shall haue mercy shut against you bicause you cared not for the bloude of Christ and you shall haue your owne father by creation not once acknowledge you to be childrē or pitty your calamity bicause you disobeied him therfore now striue that then you may enter now obey that then you may be receiued now humble your selues that then you may be lift vp let this prouoke you like an iron grate vnto the embracing of the fear of God Presume not on the Lords mercie despaire not of your owne estates say not it is too soon for that is impietie yea the houre now is thinke not it is too late for that is blasphemie but if now thou canst enter now also thou shalt be receiued Another vse heerof doth the Lorde himselfe make Esay 17 13. That euen the same things wherein we trusted being in prosperitie shall if they can deliuer vs vp when we are in aduersitie when thou criest saith the Lorde the things that thou hast gathered togither shall deliuer thee but the winde shall take them away vanitie shall pull them away but he that trusteth in me shall inherite the lande and possesse my holie mountain The Lord mocketh and derideth at the wicked men as if he should say vnto them in this sorte you olde men you haue gathered many fables you yong men you haue hoarded many pastimes you women you haue laid vp many trifles you rich men haue encroched many purchases you noble men haue encreased your wordly honor now call to these your gods in sicknes in famine in warre in pouertie in miserie in death but I will blow them from you they cannot helpe you you shall onely knowe that they which haue relied on my blessing beleeued in my promise delighted in my truth they onely shall haue the earth for their possession and the heauens for their inheritance How foolish are men that seeke not for these things before hande that knowe not that in their wealth they choose for their life which they must abide and cannot auoide when they are in distresse either godlinesse which procureth their worldly ignominie and their heauenlie glorie or else wickednes and vnlawfull riches that causeth their worldly maiestie but their euerlasting miserie The eight Sermon Vers 6. For a nation commeth vpon my land mightie and without number whose teeth are like the teeth of a lyon and he hath the iawes of a great lyon NOw the Prophet commeth to his metaphoricall allusions whereby sometimes hee mooueth the people somtimes he describeth the persons which are the workers of this calamitie as in this vers where hee resembleth the beastes to a nation
Gospell that it may tarrie with vs beleeue it that we may liue in it receiue it that we may reioice in it professe it that we may die in it professe I saie for his owne sake and for nothing else let thy eies see it thy eare heare it thy toong speake it thy heart regard it thy feete walke in it that thy hande may worke in it thy owne saluation Let vs amende that which is amisse and repent least all be taken from vs least our enimies reioice in our houses least our women lament in the streets our children cry in the fields our old men lie in the graues and all men die in desperation Let vs therefore to auoide all this mischiefe receiue that exhortation 1. Thess 2. 12. that euery one that nowe liueth in our English dominion in the daies of our most peaceable Salomon Walke woorthy of this vocation whereunto they are called If the Lorde shoulde require any great thing of vs ought we not to doe it seeing wee owe vnto him our owne selues much more ought we to walke like christians seeing we professe christianitie Walke we must and not stande still as the idle doe we must be woorthy of our places and not onely fill the roome as an image doth at a feast as our carnall Gospellers do and called we must be and not refuse to come as the greatest part in our age doth The Gospell is the sunne let vs looke on it it is the wedding garment let vs weare it it is the day let vs worke in it it is the salte of the worlde let vs taste it it is the way to saluation let vs trauaile in it it is the life of all thinges let vs liue in it Oh therefore you which are called refuse not to come you which are liuing lengthen your daies you which can see beholde the miseries of your ioy and you which haue legges to walke withall bodies to liue withall space to returne time to repent leasure to practise soules to saue or any grace of God within you walke woorthie of saluation You must not walke as other doe for Christ is our patterne you must not walke as the most doe for the flocke of God is little you must not walke as you haue done for you must bee newe creatures Walke in knowledge for that will make you wise walke in faith for that will make you zealous walke in loue that will make you Christians walke in cleannesse that will make you saints and walke in patience for that will giue you the Lords kingdome Be shod with preparation of the Gospell of peace and let your strength bee encreased to goe on from step to step from vertue to vertue from teare to teare from trouble to trouble from day to day and from the death of this life to the life of this death for the Lords praise in his truth to our ioy in his kingdome The eleuenth Sermon Vers 12. The vine is dried vp and the figge tree is decaied the pomegranate tree and the apple tree euen all the trees of the field are withered surely the ioy is withered away from the sonnes of men THe prophet oftentimes as we may see telleth them one thing the destruction and ouerthrowe of the fruits of their land in the same words and therfore groundeth still the same exhortation bidding them weepe and howle mourne and lament as if either he tooke pleasure to sing such mournefull songs or else to shewe vnto them that the sorrowes of their harts must recouer the plentie of the land And in dwelling thus long in the Lords iudgements and their repentance he teacheth vs how necessarie a thing it is to stand long on a good text and neuer to be wearie of a good matter although it be bitter to the taste of our harts It is a common thing in the word of God to repeate one thing often and therefore Paul desireth of the Corinthians that it should not be greeuous to heare the same things often for we are of this nature that many things we vnderstand not many things we remember not sometimes we giue that to a naturall cause which belongeth to a diuine iudgement and most times we little regarde the heauenly oracles for all these often repetitions are most necessarie And let vs with often repetition ioine some shew of earnest affection as Paul doth Phil. 3. 18. where he saith of those things I haue tolde you often and now tell you weeping c. Many words and many repetitions without notes of singular passion are or at least may seeme to bee friuolous and therefore let this be the exercise of religious minds when they are driuen to vse againe those admonitions which they once vsed that their words shew their meaning their iterations testifie their earnestnesse and signes of griefe and sorrowe expresse their affection thus this prophet hath told his minde by word and vrged the matter by repetition and confirmed the thing by outward tokens In this 12. verse he bringeth in al other things which groweth on the earth when hee nameth all the trees of the fielde and more especially the apple tree the pomegranate tree and the palme tree whereby hee noteth that not onely those creatures which were good for nourishment were taken away that the people should haue no refuge in worldly confidence but also that the outward ornaments of the earth as the ground-growinggrasse the tall springing-trees which serued for comfort onely were destroied Whereby in generall we obserue that there is not any thing so glorious or so comfortable which the Lord hath created in the world but for the sinne of man he will destroy the same as the prophet sheweth at large Zeph. 1. 13 17. If the earth were all golde and the grasse were all pearle and the trees were all siluer the fieldes were full of corne yet would not the Lord spare any for all this Oh my deere brethren it is not the growing corne nor the springing grasse nor the goodly trees nor the stately towers nor the walled cities nor the pleasant apples or the beautifull abundance of the world that can stay the wrath of God from falling on vs the horse saueth not in battell the armour defendeth not in fight and riches cannot redeeme a soule God which made all is not mooued with any thing saue onely with righteousnesse and obedience and to take vengeance of our disobedience he ouerturneth and ouerthroweth all The reasons of this doctrine are these first because he setteth more by his word then by all the works of his hands Matt. 24. 35. the works of God can but shew him but the word of God teacheth vs to come to him and therefore seeing he careth for our saluation more then for the preseruation of any of his creatures he will not spare them because they shew his glorie or giue vs nourishment but all things shall be confounded for the sinne of man Another reason is because for sinne he spared
not the angels 2. Pet. 2. 4. and therefore he will not spare the lesser creatures for the angels are the most glorious creatures of the world who sinning against God in the beginning were cast downe from heauen into eternall torments Oh this should much terrifie vs which are lower then the angels viler then the creatures and more woorthie of death then all the works of God are of corruption that al the world for our sinne and sake should be euery day in danger of destruction And seeing the angels being in heauen found no place of mercie but present banishment and euerlasting fire how should we come into heauen with our sinnes or thinke to escape on the earth seeing the Lorde is as powerfull and wrathfull beneath among men as he is aboue among angels The vses which arise from this doctrine are these first as we might hereby gather an excellent argument to enforce the irefull wrath of God so may we also learne by this how miserable is the estate of worldy men which trust in the things of this life which shall be all destroied Deut. 28. 52 63. What do men that satisfie their lustes that gather their wealth that enlarge their dominions and other worldly things as building of faire houses leauing monuments of their names to posteritie but heape vp a great deale of dry wood for the wrath of God to consume them Take them from their desire you take them from their god pul them from their profits and you pull them from heauen but the wealth which they haue gained shoulde serue their turnes and their posterities in this life and afterward bee consumed This were but a tolerable estate and to be endured but alas the rust of that which they hoorded the crie of that they misgayned the riot of that which they haue wickedly consumed shall torment their liues in another worlde Why doest thou worship thy goods in louing them more then God bicause thou thinkest on thē more then on him and why dost thou trauaile for this worlde and the thinges thereof with so insatiable and greedy desire for if thou gaine them thou gainest more burthens to thy life and more woe to thy soule if thou haue them thou canst not long keepe them for death will part them and thee in sunder or vengeance will take them out of thy handes Oh tell me I beseech you which care for your parts and portions in this life what benefite haue you by louing them nothing but feare to loose them what profite commeth by enioying them nothing but labour to keep thē what hurt is there by wanting them nothing but a poore life and a peaceable death the loue of these is the losse of heauen and the lacke of these is the loue of God Another vse which euerie one euen the wicked must make heereof is the same which the Lorde exhorteth the Edomites vnto Esay 21. 14. Seeing their vines and fruits and corne and all other things shall come to an ende and be taken awaie with the wrath of God therefore let euery one that hath them giue them to the thirstie for drinke to the hungrie for meate to the naked for cloth and to the poore for maintenance Oh consider what is our dutie while as yet there is a little corne and comfort to our lande and deale with it as one woulde deale with his owne body for anone it shall be taken by violence therefore nowe bestowe for deuotion if wee tarrie but a little vengeance will take them and vs therefore let charitie dispende them what what are they but earth if we deliuer not them to earth shall they come againe Now they haue force to succour our liues and if we spende them not well anone they will haue powre to subuert and condemne our soules Howe is ioy withered from the sonnes of men Nowe hee complaineth what this want hath wrought when he saith that ioy is withered away as mowen grasse doth from his greenenesse so this from the sonnes of men that is the people of the lande For we cannot bee ignorant that of all times of the yeere there was most sweete singing and pleasant sporting at the time of haruest as we reade Esay 9. 5. bicause that then were the fruits reaped and comfort receiued of men but when these were destroyed their vines had no grapes their trees had no apples and their fieldes had no corne then I say was their mirth laide aside into most solitarie and sorrowfull mourning By these words note that the want of worldly comfort and the feeling of worldly and carnall sorrowe is a great and fearefull iudgement of God Deut. 28. 63. If men see no ioy in their children or comfort in their possessions or profite by their labour but in all these they are made more heauie and solitarie and the Lorde taketh from them a cheerefull countenance nay if the fruites of the earth bee destroied as heere they were so that there be none euen then I say although there be none occasion of ioy but all of sorrowe to be tormented with griefe bicause we haue not to supplie our liues is fearefull in the sight of God We cannot I grant but sorrow when we haue none occasion ofioy but yet we ought to make our griefe a godly sorrowe and the feare of famine to be the feare of condemnation for this shoulde we weepe that howsoeuer these thinges goe with vs in this life the other may be certaine in the life to come The reasons of this doctrine are these First bicause it causeth death 2. Cor. 7. 7. 10. Worldly sorrow causeth death for as the fire wasteth the woode and the sunne consumeth the frost so doth carnall care eate vp the life of man Somtimes these sorrowfull worldlings are raging with enuie sometimes ouercome with malice and many times at their wits ende through couetousnesse so that the beautifull waxe pale therwith the lustie and strong man is weakned they which were pleasant are heauie and they which seemed godly are made wicked This worldly sorrowe made Achitophell that wise man to hang himselfe and Saule that strong man to kill himselfe and Zimrie that wicked king to burne himselfe for the Lorde suffered many to fall into it that they might despaire of his mercie and be excluded from his kingdome Oh therefore whosoeuer will shewe any care of his owne soule or any account of Christes woundes let him meddle little in worldly businesse keepe in the boundes of thy vocation and range not into much dealing and many trades and occupations for thou dost but thrust thy soule into danger and a thousande to one but thou wilt repent in teares bloud thy ouerreaching policie Another reason of this doctrine is bicause it is a deere and not the least blessing of God to reioyce in thy possessions be they small or great Eccle. 5. 8. and therefore it is not the least curse of God to be troubled and tormoiled therewith What beast
better to weepe for your sinnes in your prosperitie then to weepe in aduersitie for the losse of children of goods or health or houses or wiues or husbandes or friends or libertie or foode or raiment or death and not be comforted remember what the prophet heere saith that ioy shall be withered from you in the daies of worldly aduersitie The reasons of this doctrine may bee these first because they are not moued at the troubles of others Amos. 6. 6. If men looke to themselues they shall see that their estate is neuer so secure but that there is left vnto them one iust cause or other to lament bitterly yet if they finde none in themselues let them looke on other and mourne for the affliction of Ioseph The church of God is neuer freed from inward and outward troubles and therefore euer hath occasion of inwarde or outwarde lamentation Now seeing that we should mourne with them that mourne let vs weepe with the saintes of God that suffer although wee suffer not that being made partakers of their afflictions we may also bee made partakers of their glorie It is a token of an vnmercifull hart that doth not looke on the crie of a beast and helpe an vnreasonable creature from his oppressour howe much more vnmercifull are wicked men which will not bee mooued at the lamentable teares of godly men He that stoppeth his eare at the crie of the poore shall crie himselfe and not be heard In like maner those which will not be humbled for their owne sinnes dangers belonging to them nor for the pittifull oppression of good and godly men they shall come into vnauoidable mischiefes bicause they were not mooued in prosperitie for the righteous saith Salomon shall come out of trouble but the wicked shall come in his steade Another reason is because men which haue fat and hard harts do not onely liue in their pride but also desire to draw other into miserie Psal 137. 2. 8. The Edomites that reioyced and encreased the calamitie of the people of God are destinated to eternall and most assured aduersities wherein we may see that if men do not winne themselues to the church they ioyne themselues to the enimies if they take not part with the repentant they take part with the vnrepentant For if we be not possessed with goodnes of necessitie wee must bee professed in euill Oh therefore seeing we cannot walke in any meane betwixt faith and infidelitie religion and Atheisme let vs speedily resort to the bande and army of Iesus Christ for if he finde vs not among his souldiers he will take vs for his enimies although we fight not against him and if we ioine not with the armie of God the diuell will take vs vp for to be of the companie of accursed creatures The vses which arise from this doctrine are these first let vs iudge our selues that wee be not iudged of the Lord 1. Cor. 11. 31. If our estate be so miserable that we cannot auoide iudgement yet the Lord hath shewed vs a meane to mitigate our extremitie if we be but our owne iudges Abigaijl by condemning her husbands hardnes pacified Dauids wrath and saued her whole family from the sword of vengeance And the Syrians by putting halters on their necks comming willingly to the king of Israell saued all their liues Oh with whom haue we to do with meeke king Dauid or with mercifull Ahab No no but with the father of vs all who is king of heauen and earth whose loue towarde vs is more tender then the loue of a mother and more sure then the faith of a friende and more kinde then the bande of the married Let vs therefore be Abigaijles by offering our liues and our wealth accusing our selues and our natures vnto the Lord of hostes and then will he blesse vs as Dauid blessed Abigaile yea and marrie vs to his owne selfe Arise out of your resting places and goe with ful store to appease the wrath of God if you stay till he come vnto you what shall be your ende Oh what shall be your destruction Now accuse your birth though it be noble as stayned with sinne accuse your life though it be christian as defiled with the diuell accuse your wordes though they be humble as sauouring of euill and condemne your workes though they haue beene charitable as desiring death eternall Iudge your selues worthie of all shame because of pride accompt your selues woorthie of all sorrow because of mirth esteeme your selues lesse then all creatures because of death and professe your selues woorse then all men because of sinne Say of your nature that it is Sathans bondslaue say of your beautie that it is the glasse of iniquitie say of your strength that it is the power to euill say of your youth that it is the time of sorrow say of your wealth they are the prouokers of licentiousnes and say of the world it is the bed of danger What shall I say more vnto you Was not Christ made accursed for vs that we might know that we are cursed for our selues Then think how your eies are cursed beholding vanitie your eares are cursed hearing falshood your toongs are cursed speaking lies your legges are cursed running to euill your armes cursed touching pleasures your children cursed borne in sinne yea thinke all accursed that your soules be not cursed in another world Another vse of this doctrine may serue to reprooue their securitie that thinke it is lawfull for them to be mery while they may and neuer to enter into the house of mourning till their mirth and ioy departeth from them and from hence it commeth that they put far away from them the day of wrath Amo. 6. 3. Children are suffered to be wanton because their yeeres are tender youth is permitted to bee licentious because their age is lustie rich men are mooued with vanitie because it is their portion poore men accustomed with folly because they liue in want and old men drowned in one kinde of superstition or other because they are neere their graues Oh would not this grieue the heart of man to see so many so great so aged so wealthie so tender to abhorre all mortification and the sorrowfull way to life but to embrance all condemnation and the ioyfull high way to hell fire Know you not that ease slayeth the foolish and the restie oxe is prepared for the slaughter why then do you thirst still for more pleasure and hunger after more vanitie Man must not liue by bread onely which maketh him full fedde and thorough fat but by the word of God which maketh him many times to fast being sweeter then his meate and many times to be leane being safer then his health Who is he that accounteth not abstinence a God preseruatiue for health and labour an earnest procurer of a good life euen so there is none but must thinke that it is most necessarie for health and most wholesome for life many
followeth that it is a most wretched thing to goe backeward and to cease from being righteous for this cause the blessed seruant of God exhorted Reuel 22 11. Let him which is righteous be righteous still shew therefore if thou haue euer obtayned any mercie of God in the knowledge of the Gospell retaine the same for euermore If euer thou haddest any dislike of prophannesse any hatred of euill any conscience of goodnes and any desire of mortification that thou diddest euer abhor vaine sports foolish words wicked works vnprofitable members godles companions and truthlesse superstitions continue so minded for euermore but as thou hast beene iust so abide righteous The sheepe once blacke or white neuer chaungeth colour the vessell once seasoned neuer looseth sweetnes and the soule once sanctified neuer forsaketh holines Be not vnsauourie salt be not vnstedfast winde be not a foolish builder and be not a cursed backeslider Call not the truth once beloued into question but fight for it as for life receiue not the filthines once banished but flye from it as from death Loue not that sinne which once thou hatedst least all other sinnes become suiters for thy soule Goe out of vanitie and ignorance and hypocrisie and securitie as Lot went out of Sodome and neuer looke so much as backe vpon them Destroy vtterly the citie and dwelling of Sathan in thy soule as Ioshua destroyed Ierico and curse them that builde it againe follow all the examples of all the godly Paule once conuerted neuer reuoked Peter once strengthened neuer more halted Onesimus once reconciled to his master neuer ranne from him any more And so seeing thou canst say I haue heard sermons I haue loued prayer I haue harboured the saintes I haue hated dauncing tabling carding vsuring swearing lying stealing and all other abhominations oh wallow not againe in that filthy mire but continue righteous to the end Alas alas as the eies of man cannot weepe enough for the backesliders so the toong of man cannot speake enough of their accursed apostasie some fall to pouertie some to securitie some to vanitie some to open impiety som into heresie some into schisme some into the world some into the flesh and all of these into hel and thus they goe away as Gedeons souldiers which were at the first 21000. but in the end they were but 300. Might Rahel weepe bicause Herod kilde her children and may not the church weepe because the diuell killeth her children Well woe be to him for his malice and woe be to them for their backsliding Secondly seeing wee all neede encouragement vnto good things let vs not onely bee exhorted but assured that the presence of God shall assist vs. When Zerubabel and Iehoshua were stirred by the prophet to finish the temple of God the Lorde promised his presence to assist them Hag. 2. 5. and his spirite to remaine with them Now marke who are exhorted but the prince or chiefe gouernour and the priest or chiefe bishop and all the people of the land let vs not therefore feare to enter into a farther reformation of our selues and doubt nothing but the Lord shall finish our buildings We are not Babel and the builders thereof what neede wee feare confusion we are not Saul what neede we despaire of victorie we are not Achitophel we will not distrust our counsell we are not Iudas why should we vndoe our selues for our sinnes If we haue deferred our repentance and amendment and ran away from God as Ionah did yet being called againe let vs goe boldly to the Niniueh of our owne soules and preach the fearefull curse of God against sinne The Lord came to Abraham in the plaine of Mamre sitting in his tent and there promised him a sonne why should we not be perswaded that when we are in meditating on any goodnesse and louing any rightcousnesse and aduenturing any holy businesse but the Lorde will come vnto vs and promise vs life eternall Therefore my deere brethren and sisters aduenture farre for the religion of your soules and knowe that he shall goe with you to helpe you to your wish feare not any power for he is omnipotent nor any enimie for he is your shield nor any subtiltie for he is your wisedome nor any want for he is your sufficiencie nor any constancie for hee neuer changeth nor any death for he is your life Beleeue that you cannot conceiue vnderstand that you cannot see beare that burden which he giueth you abide that sorrow that he sendeth you and practise that gospell which hee hath taught you Pray for repentance and faith and knowledge and zeale and obedience and holinesse and life eternall for the Lord is in thine owne soule and feare not he will giue it thee Girde your selues Againe out of these wordes wherein the prophet biddeth the priestes to be girded to lamentation that is to be throughly prepared and to put on sackcloth that is all outward and inward testimonie of sorrow and to lie all night before the Lord that is to endure any paine and labour to be reconciled to God Out of the which I might note as many doctrines as words as first that vpon good counsell and godly meditation men must come to lament their miseries before God not rashly nor rauingly nor furiously but with a godly preparation Againe that the ministers in any common danger must more earnestly be humbled then any other Againe seeing he calleth for such sorrow and such continuance thereof he thereby noteth that if God be once angrie we must vse all meanes that can bee found to appease him though it cost our sweetest health and our deerest blood But I will specially obserue this doctrine that all both minister and people when they come to entreate for the remoouing of the Lord hand must be sure that they be throughly humbled Nehem. 1. 4. their cause must be well pondered and weighed their mindes must bee well prepared and perswaded their liues must be most zealously reformed and their continuance in their humiliation must be most instantly and inuiolably obserued I haue obserued a great defect in the humiliation of many in the time of our late calamities of famine and warre and plague when we were cast downe before the Lord. For men would come to these exercises from tauernes and alehouses from shops other busines no otherwise prepared then at another common time againe the notes of their pride in apparell and all brauerie fond expences they brought with them and came more like plaiers then mourners into the Lords house and also they were quickly wearie for some would neuer tarrie till the end and other if they once came they neuer came more And surely these were too euident signes that wee were not throughly humbled and therefore no maruell though the plague preuailed on so many and the famine hath continued so long Oh that therefore this exhortation of the prophet might worke a newe and often remembrance of vnfained humilitie
and they sacrificed and none else but they altered and it came to one tribe and they also were abrogated and so it came to men approoued in the church who are deemed the speciall portion of the Lord in this world And surely if the seruants of Salomon were blessed that hearde his wisedome and waited in his court they are much more blessed which waite in the Lords house and heare and see the secrets of the kingdome of heauen It is therefore a most fearefull thing to aduance any vnto this to bee the Lords seruant who is not woorthy to sit in the chaire of Moses and there is no reason why they shoulde minister in the church which are not woorthie to be the porters of the doore Surely the prophanenes of many in these places is so great and so damnable that besides the iniuries done to Christ many run headlong into hell thorough the euill example of their pastours The Lords seruants followe their maister in holinesse and not the world in lewdnesse they looke to the soules but these waite for the fleeces they preach vpon conscience these doe it for fashion they preach onely the truth but these bring the fire of poetrie philosophie and such like to the altar of God to conclude they bee the helpers vnto faith but these quench their owne giftes and keepe other from pure knowledge The reasons are these because the whole life of the minister must be onely exercised in spirituall heauenly matters Act. 6. 2. 4. The apostles would consent to nothing which was not consonant to their ministerie or that might any waies hinder the same And for this cause the Lord hath so prouided that they should be exempted from all worldly businesse and receiue their maintenance from other not onely for themselues but for their children and families The which thing considered would aduertise a number of vs that wee which warre should not entangle our selues with the things of this life we should neuer giue ouer our seruice for that is nothing else but to forsake God wee must neuer cause our sinnes to make vs be thrust out of the ministerie for that will exclude vs from heauen wee must neuer bee idle and vnprofitable seruants in our ministerie for that will worke our curse and wee must neuer be wearie of our places for that will weaken and lessen our giftes But alas once there might come no rasor on the ministers heads but now adaies heads and beards and all are powled if wee shoulde not nowe looke to our owne maintenance wee might soone want sustenaunce and our children are easily suffered to begge though their parents haue well deserued of the Church of God Another reason is because none may offer them any violence but the Lorde accounteth it his owne Exod. 16. 8. and hee saith by the prophet Dauid Touch not mine annointed and doe my prophets no harme How desperate is the case of all men who are daily by wordes and deedes reuiling the ministers of the gospell and thinke themselues happy if they can giue a priest a deadly blowe by their enuenomed toong Truely I will say our owne sinnes were the cause of all this yet if the kisse of Iudas was so mortally punished these mens not kisses but wounds not with lips but with toongs and hands shall neuer escape vnrewarded for as by their toongs they haue killed vs so the Lord with his toong shall condemne them From hence let vs of the ministerie learne our dutie which is seeing we are the Lordes owne seruants let vs labour to present euerie man perfect in Iesus Christ Col. 1. 28. there is no seruant but he desireth not onely to do much worke but that hee may present it faire and beautifull to his masters viewe this is our labour to bring many soules and saints to the Lorde of glory Abraham sending his seruant to fetch a wife for Isaac his sonne he brought him godlie and beautifull Rebecah wee are the Lordes seruants and wee are sent to fetch a wife for Iesus Christ the sonne of God oh let vs be as faithfull vnto God the father and to Iesus Christ as that seruant was to Abraham and Isaac let vs doe our message with diligence let vs execute our charge with praier let vs giue them the golden bracelets of God his truth and let vs with all speede and haste returne againe to him that sent vs. When Iacobs sonnes went into Egypt Iudah promised him to bring Beniamin againe if he woulde let him go or else he shoulde slaie his owne two sonnes and so if wee bring not againe to the Lorde his beloued children he will slaie our bodies and soules for euer and euer for at our hands will he require them Come on therefore my deere and holy annointed brethren we haue the leading of God his children wee haue the keeping of Christs Queene we haue the tillage of the Lords corne we haue the vse of the Lords treasure we haue the price of our Sauiours bloud if we loose his childrē he wil slay ours if we defile his wife he wil curse vs if we neglect his husbādry he will spoile ours if we waste his treasure he wil sel vs to perpetuall bondage and if we spill our Sauiours bloud he shall condemne our bloud body and soule Oh therfore let vs be instāt in preaching holy in liuing earnest in praier zealous in exhortatiō careful in admonition instructing the children correcting the youth and comforting the aged that as Iacob returned with many more soules out of Syria into Canaan then hee brought so may wee come with many soules out of this world into the world to come Another vse shall be for the people that considering wee be the Lordes owne seruants and therefore open and shut the priuie chamber doore which leadeth vnto him and to vs is committed the building of the church then as the Apostle exhorteth you Ephes 4. 11 14. that ye giue heed to them whom the Lorde sendeth you for spirituall guides direct not your praiers to Angels and saints in heauen for they haue not the keeping of the Lordes workes but the ministers which be aliue are the priuie counsellers to the Lordes maiestie whom if you will not beleeue neither can you beleeue though an angell come from heauen vnto you And therefore as all the people were wonte to waite for the comming out of the priest that hee might blesse them so do you all euermore waite for the blessing and mercy and grace and counsell and loue of God to come from them to you As the Lorde turneth the bloude of a woman into milke for the nourishment of hir childe so doth hee turne our wordes and gifts and knowledge and learning and studie and life to be the nourishment of you his church Come to vs for comfort and instruction and edification and saluation you are the Lordes housholde we are his stewards come to vs for your meate of soule and wages
of life When Adam came againe to God hee receiued the promise of life when the creatures came to Noahs arke hee kept them from the floude when the Egyptians came to Ioseph he saued them from famine and when the people came to heare Christ preach he relieued their fainting Come you likewise to the ministerie they will giue you the promises open vnto you the kingdome deliuer you the corne and satisfie your soules most plentifully that you shall neuer faint till you come to the euerlasting abiding place Except the priestes had stoode in the riuer of Iorden the children of Israell coulde neuer haue passed ouer euen so wee stande in the troubles of this world to keepe them from you else you shoulde neuer come into Canaan Oh therefore come while wee stande and beare the Lordes arke or else the waters of heresie and Atheisme will come againe and then farewell your hope your health and your saluation The xiij Sermon Verse 14. Sanctifie a fast call a solemne assemblie gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the lande into the house of the Lorde your God and crie vnto the Lorde THat is call and prepare a fast to the which some may say that they might well enough fast seeing their meat corne was alreadie withered and they had more need to seek to saue their liues then to go to fast to endanger themselues farther Vnto which I answere that the forenamed calamitie was but prophetically foretold therefore as yet there was not such want but only it shoulde bee if they repented not Hee biddeth them prepare a fast that is a general humiliation for all the people wherein shoulde bee nothing but mourning and abstinence and this kinde of fast is a great and good part of the worship of God Esay 58. 13. Therefore from hence wee obserue that God taketh occasion by threatning of his wrath against vs to mooue vs to worship him more earnestly so wee may see Iudg. 20. 26 27. when the Israelites in a good cause had beene ouercome of the Beniamites and lost the liues of many braue men it mooued them againe to goe to humble themselues before the Lorde with fasting and bitter weeping and lamentation And surely this seemeth to be the continual course of the Lords dooing in the church that as the grounde is plowed that it might yeelde more fruite so the church is afflicted that it may giue him more worship Wee are for the most part like the disciples which knew not howe to fast or to afflict themselues till Christ was taken from them and then they fasted Mark 2. 20. So when wee are either generallie molested or particularly endangered howe doe we cleaue to the churches and turne ouer the bibles and runne ouer the worde but in times of more ease wee are more idle and take libertie of sinning when wee feele the greatest liberalitie of our Sauiour If wee haue no other cause to reioice in our pouertie and sicknesse and infamie and danger and hunger and famme and all our tribulation then this that we are by them better fitted for the Lordes seruice yet let this make vs clap our harts and hands that we may any waie glorifie our creator And as the Israelites were as willing to fight with the Canaanites as to possesse their lande so let vs bee as willing to fight with manie troubles as to possesse many pleasures The reasons of this doctrine are these bicause such kinde of miseries lamented by such kinde of worship doth turne away our captiuitie and appease the Lordes wrath Lament 2. 14. and therefore wee may take great comfort in the forewarning of our miseries seeing we may be prepared therby against all danger to auoide all wrath if the Lorde did not by the ministerie of his worde humble vs we shoulde euer be subiect to mortall confusion and immortall condemnation But so hee ordereth all things in his church that as the ouerflowing Nilus maketh the earth more fertill so the floudes of troubles going ouer the bodies and liues of his members maketh them more peaceable once the disease purged the bodie is well quieted and once the pride of our sinne and natures scoured and rubbed awaie the soule is more strengthened Another reason is bicause that the Lorde will haue that thinge worke the good of his church which worketh the desperation of infidels for wicked men in their troubles are at their wits ende as wee may see Mich. 4. 5. so was it in Cain and Edom and the Egyptians and Saule and Herod which all perished through affliction The nature of the wicked is like iron which will neuer swimme though it be neuer so little except it be nailed to some woode or other substance so the wicked being banished from the godly they fall downe and sticke fast in an vnresistable mire of afflictions so that wee may see as the crosse of Christ was the life of the church but the death of the diuell so are many other crosses the life of the Lordes deare children but the death of his despitefull enimies The vses which come from this doctrine are these First seeing wee are by our affections stirred vp to serue the Lorde let vs keepe our soules in continuall chastisement that we may continually be mindfull of the Lordes seruice 1. Peter 4. 7. Those which lie in garrisons although they seldome fight yet euery day they discipline and traine their souldiers so although wee seldome lie vnder great danger of exceeding slaughter yet let vs continue our soules in correction and obedience If Dauid had alway vsed this he had not so easilie forgotten himselfe and brought Vrijah to death and himselfe into filthie adulterie Euen so the want of this priuate chastisement and continuall afflicting of our soules for our sinnes maketh vs wanton in wealth proude in prosperitie presumptuous in health and often subiect to sathans temptations Afflictions may rightly bee compared to a hedge which hath thornes on both sides so that that which is within cannot come out and that which is without cannot come in in like manner when our liues are hedged with troubles the good thinges which are in our soules cannot goe out of vs and the euill thinges which are without vs cannot come into vs. Weepe often for thy sins that thou maiest alway bee sorrowfull pray often for thy amendement that thou maiest still bee penitent Thinke manie times on thy later ende that thou maiest neuer bee arrogant so shalt thou saue thy selfe from many euils and gaine thy conscience great peace and procure thy soule euerlasting blessednes for if this life bee contrary to the life to come then it followeth that as there shall bee neuer ceasing ioy for the ceasing of sinne so heere ought to be a neuer ending sorrow for the continuance of sinne Another vse which commeth of this doctrine is seeing our euils make vs more fit to serue God then is it a miserable thing to be made more vnfit
to serue him through tribulations when mens harts die in them for feare of the Lordes hand as Nabals did when he feared Dauids comming or when men growe desperate seeking vnlawfull meanes to be rid of their miseries as the Iewes did Esay 30. 16. and therefore the Lorde threatneth them that they shall flie as they determined and they shall ride on horses as they appointed but their enimies shoulde ride faster to ouertake and ouerthrowe them I haue obserued the constitution of many men and I founde them like the sea-faring marriners whose life is a continuall death and yet they are more open contemners and more obstinate enimies to all manner of goodnes then are other men and so those whose estate is poorest whose liues are most slauish hauing the prisons for their dwellings and continuallie destitute of meate and all kinde of necessaries none more wicked then these or more carelesse of any good thing But to let those passe there are many that haue escaped dangerous sicknes pyning famine the fearefull hande of warre and cruell death which seemed before their eies vnauoidable and yet remaine desperately wicked still and runne to their owne vomit and wallow in their loathsome myre of sinne these are they which are at a league with death and couenant with hell they hope to escape as well as other and while they be in the world why should they not liue merrily although they goe to hell for it afterwarde Seeing they are so carelesse of their owne welfare who shoulde take care for them and seeing the fearefull hande of God will not winne them the labour of vs his ministers shall neuer perswade them Out of this vers I might obserue vnto you that the pastours are not to proclaime fastings without singular warrant either from God himselfe or else from them that ought to direct them heerein Againe I might obserue that the people must come at the voice or call of their spirituall fathers and pastours also that publique fasting ought to be done in the publike congregation for that time being But wee will proceede to the next wordes where the prophet telleth them what they shoulde doe nowe when they were assembled togither in the fast that is they must cry on the Lorde meaning they shoulde humble themselues by praier And from hence obserue that fasting is nothing woorth without praier Esay 58. 3. Luke 18. 11. The common people doe imagine that when they cease from eating and punish their bodies with a daies abstinence that they doe vnto God high seruice Indeed it is lawfull for the preseruation of their health so to doe but for a diuine seruice or worke of religion they must not account it But this custome sprang vp from the perswasion of poperie which doe not onely account this kinde of abstinence a meritorious worke but also if men eate not flesh although they abouÌ„d in al other delicates with great store of daintie wines and strong drinke yet doe they obserue a druine fast to the Lorde although they neuer make anie conscience of praier and doe not so much as blesse their meate and drinke they receiue Therefore let all good Christians bee carefull to auoide in their fasts ignorance and superstition and let them either ioine praier with their fasting or else neuer reckon it for a worke of religion The reasons of this doctrine are these First bicause God doth not except vs for meate 1. Cor. 8. 8. that is with the Lorde if wee eate or eate not wee haue neither the more or lesse and therefore bare abstinence is not any part of religion But if the ordinarie taking of our meates and drink must be sanctified by praier which is a meere ciuill thing then much more the not receiuing either of meate and drinke for a religious cause must be consecrated by praier One saide well that those which place any part of God his seruice in their meate they doe verie neere make their bellie their God Yet though meate and drinke doth not make vs either the better or the woorse to God warde yet we must remember that heerby is not giuen vs any liberty to liue in gluttonie or drunkennes no more then to sterue and pine vp our soules voluntarilie but hee meaneth in the moderate vse or neglect heerâ—â—f Another reason is bicause God neuer commanded any such fast nor allowed it as wee may see in all the course of the Scriptures where euermore there was ioyned with fasting publike and most earnest praier and lamentation why then shoulde wee vse that in the Lordes seruice which hee neuer spake of and why should we frame that of our selues which he reprobateth truely euery plant which he hath not planted shall be pulled vp by the rootes and therefore in vaine should we worship him following the traditions of men liue in the obedience of the Gospell for that shall bring vs to life and whatsoeuer we do more we either performe for curiositie to finde fault with that which is done or else for vanitie to search into that which is forbidden From hence let vs learne to lead most christian liues which is to serue the Lord with fastings and praiers after the example of the ancient godly beloued saints of God as Anna Luk. 2. 37. and the Apostle Paul 2. Cor. 11. 27 both men and women haue liued in this kind of abstinence and religious seruice of God But alas we haue among vs thousands which would thinke they receiued great iniurie if they be not accounted as good christians as Paul and Anna which neuer in all their life did so much as fast and pray one whole day togither in their priuate houses I cannot tell what nimblenes and ioyfulnes they finde in themselues to the seruice of God but I am sure that there haue beene and now are others of another iudgement which without this exercise of praier and fasting grow many times heauie and so dull in the practise of their profession that they thinke that the spirit of God is departed from them And when they haue renewed this exercise they finde themselues againe more ripe and sharpe and readie in any kinde of goodnes Alas what practise of repentance is there in them that are strangers in this action it is a simple sorrow for sinne that taketh not away one daies stomacke from meate and causeth not the soule to hunger more after reconciliation then after a worldly recreation Therefore fast often and pray much so shalt thou be like the godly neuer be wearie of this practise except thou be wearie of christianitie and as thy sinnes encrease so let thy mortification bee enlarged that thou maist make more castles in thy soule to defende thee then the diuell doth engines to annoy thee Another vse is that wee absent not our selues from those solemne and appointed kinde of fasts 1. Sam. 7. 6. all Israell came to obserue this before the Lord in Mizpeh and so continued till Samuel sent them home
againe If euer it be needfull that the congregation should be great then it is most requisite to be enlarged when occasion of lamentation is offered that as many mens voices made the Lord to spare the Niniuites so many may cause him to reuerse his iudgements from vs. For truely as in war against an enimie hauing muaded our countrey we are ingenerall to lift vp our handes against him to driue him from vs so ought we being endangered by the hande of God to put on euerie one his complete armour of righteousnes that euery mans heart and voice may be lifted vp to stay his heauy hand from vs. How do men neglect this thing which thinke it in vaine to serue God and therefore though they know other men to be most busie in lamenting for their calamities yet they forsake not their tauerns their shops their counting houses their husbandries their marriages and other their paltries when as the sworde is as neere them as their garments yet they dread not the same and so as before they neglected the graces of God so now they abuse the long suffering of God making their latter ende woorse then their beginning like the old world which would not beleeue though they saw Noah enter into the arke and so the flood came and destroyed them all and so shall it doe with those except God enlarge his mercies and they cast away their stubburnnes Alas alas for the day of the Lord is at hand and it commeth as a destruction from the Almightie Now are we come to the praier which by the mercifull assistance of God his heauenly spirit we will most briefly and effectually handle First therefore the method which the holy prophet vseth is to be obserued wherein he lamenteth generally vers 15. and then particularly the meanes or causes of their destruction In this verse he generally toucheth all the calamitie when he calleth it the day of the Lord the dread and conscience whereof maketh him most yearnefully and pitifully to crie out Alas alas Where first of all commeth to our consideration this doctrine that good men do sorrow and mourne for the Lords iudgement before it commeth as this Prophet which sayeth the cause of his teares to bee this because the day of the Lord is at hand so we may read did Elishah 2. King 8. 10. when Hazael came vnto him and he had annointed him king of Syria it is said that he wept and Hazael asked him why he wept to whom he answered bicause it grieued him to thinke what he should do to Israell for hee should set their strong cities on fire and slay their yoong men with the sword and dash their infants against the stones and rende in peeces their women with childe Was not this a sufficient medicine to looke on and to make a heart of brasse to burst foorth into many teares For I thinke none considering such a destruction in his countrey but he will weepe for it bitterly It is enough many thinke to sigh when they be sore and then to weepe when they bee in paine and why should they torment themselues before they feele the miserie Yea rather why dost thou reason thus against thy God Thinke on the daies of miserie that are comming and doe as these prophets breake foorth into abundance of lamentation to thinke how our towres shall be plough lands our treasures shall be in other mens coffers our coastly buildings be razed in an instant our riuers shall runne with blood our children shall be the pray of souldiers and our wiues bee most cruelly murthered Oh that men before these daies could lament for the same yea although their eies should neuer see it yet let them weepe for them that shal feele it The reasons of this doctrine are these first because they reape this profit by the forewarning of God Iere. 4. 18 19. if God of his great goodnes open the destruction of any people or citie to any of his welbeloued sonnes they are presently astonished men and swallowed vp in many sorrowes but wicked men although they bee neuer so often admonished yet they remaine wicked and obstinate still Oh what a blessing is a soft and beleeuing heart which doth not onely receiue the wordes of God for truth but is presently affected as if they felt the iudgements When Elijah had told Ahab of God his vengeance against him then Ahab wept and fasted and the Lord spared him his time so I doubt not but there be many which hauing heard the trumpe of God his iudgement in the mouthes of the Lords preachers they haue wept bitterly and I thinke the Lord will spare vs for their time but take heed least the godly be deminished and no man consider it least our destruction be the more sudden and lift vp more voices of weepings at the voices of preachers that more time may bee graunted vs to be freed from vengeance Another reason is because good men although they bee assured of themselues yet it grieueth them to thinke how the wicked shal be destroyed Luke 19. 41. Our Sauiour there weepeth for Ierusalem which should be laide euen with the ground A good man is euer mercifull euen to the most vile and wretchedst creatures in the world and therefore it goeth to their harts to heare and see consider and thinke vpon how heapes and multitudes of men shall go to confusion Some would thinke that it is no reason to sorrowe for other men but rather let other men sorow for themselues But Samuel whose teares and praiers came many times before the Lorde for Saule will answere them and instruct them to be carefull for other mens saluation as Ioab appointed his armie that if he were too weake Abishai should helpe him and if Abishai were too weake Ioab woulde helpe him so must we labour to helpe one another which seeme weake although we know some shall go to wracke The vses that offer thēselues to our consideration out of this doctrine are these First seeing that it is the part of a good man to sorrow at the foreknowledge of any calamity let vs receiue that exhortation of the Lord Ier. 6. 8. that we be instructed whē the Lord threateneth vs or else as he there saith His soule shal depart from vs leaue vs desolate as a land that none inhabiteth And I would to God my countrey men of England would learne this instructiō at the mouth of God that whereas there is none of graue or greene yeeres but they haue had many tokens and heard many thunderbolts of wrath drawn from the neuer vncertaine word of God and from the extraordinarie course of manifolde iudgements which we haue felt these late yeres that now we being inuited to this mourning feast we al com not one stay behind Oh therfore receiue this instructiō before the lords soule go away from our nation I bid you not leaue of your callings nor cast away your garments nor put away your
needefull and blessed businesse oh wretched men thus possessed by those that rather ought to be possessed by them Another reason is because this delight in this worke is the very ende and fruite of the gospell 1. Iohn 1. 4. My brethren saith Iohn I write vnto you that your ioy may be full that is that you may reioice in all things as in meate for there is the Lords hand in apparell for there is his prouidence in health for there is his goodnesse in sicknesse for there is his mercie in your houses for they are his tabernacles and in his church for there is his seruice A pagan a heathen an infidell a Iew a papist or any other enimie of Christ can come to our assemblies and with a minde readie to vomite vp whatsoeuer they heare attende to their greefe what is there done as many among vs doe and yet be neuer the better therefore bee you better then these and let your righteousnesses exceede theirs or else you shall neuer reioice in his euerlasting kingdome The vses which come of this doctrine are these first that whatsoeuer we doe in the Lords house let vs do it cheerefully of an vpright and peaceable minde that we say of our selues as Dauid and Christ of them Psal 69. 9. The zeale of thy house hath eaten mee vp so of zeale let vs doe euery thing that wee doe for as reason must measure all matters in humane and worldly affaires so must zeale season all things in spirituall and diuine matters Zeale is like the loue of Iacob to Rahel it thinketh no frost too cold nor any raine too dangerous nor any snowe too great nor any heate so vehement nor any sunne so parching but he endureth it for the loue of a woman What shall Iacob loue a faire face better then a Christian loues a glorious Sauiour oh no no but let our loue be deerer then the loue of a woman and let vs all say and that all with Marie the mother of Christ My soule reioiceth in God my Sauiour But oh where and of whome shall I complaine that haue not beene eaten vp with zeale no nor bitten therewith or that which is lesse it hath not licked their soules nor kissed their liues that is they haue neither beene iealous nor zealous for the Lorde of hostes sake for themselues they care not what God is for other they care not what their soules bee and for all they care not what hell shall be they are not earnestly righteous nor obstinately wicked but openly indifferent and that is no body in religion they mourne not when other sorrow they reioice not when other laugh they stirre not when other are mooued and they feele not when other are afflicted How zealous I beseech you are they when they haue beene colde in the heate of the day and neuer sweate one drop in the worke of Christ or wept one teare in the cause of Christ Another vse is this that seeing we must be carefull to worship God with ioy let vs then pray for the peace of the church whereby there may be no mourning within our pallaces Psal 122. 6. I graunt our sacrifices to God are as acceptable when our reioicing is banished in any common aduersitie when wee humble our selues by praier and fasting as when in times of greater prosperitie and securitie we are lifted vp with thankesgiuing yet this is better for the church and equall to the Lord. Therefore let vs most carefully commend Ierusalems peace and euerie member thereof to the Lords tuition pray for it with an earnest desire I say to obtaine and an vnwearied labour till thou hast atchieued To abate but Dauids thirst three of his men aduentured their liues being but onely to satisfie the kings minde who was Dauid but a member of the church and therefore if they would doe so much for one let vs doe more for all the church together that her thirst may be satified and her ease be procured Oh therefore how happie is our age wherein we liue for the church hath peace abundantly and our basest things are become very honourable the blood which other haue shed for the same doe we enioy and they by filthie prisons haue purchased for vs most pleasant houses O England be not wearie of thy well doing least the Lord be wearie of thee be not vnthankfull for thy peace least the bond there of be strooke in sunder be not proud of thy benefites least thou be stripped of thy ornaments be not secure in thy glorie least thou be stirred vp to greater labour but pray the father with the sonne the mother with the daughter the lorde with the seruant the mistresse with the maide the maister with the familie the rich with the poore and men with women and little children peace be within our wals and prosperitie within our dwellings The seede is rotten vnder the clods the garners are destroied the barnes are broken downe for the corne is withered It seemeth that these men being somewhat touched with want one â—eere yet they comforted vp themselues with their husbandrie and tillage thinking the next yeere woulde make amends for all like as we haue seene in our lande these times of dearth for men haue yeere by yeere sowed and plowed loosing both seede and crop notwithstanding all their labour as these husbandmen here doe thinking that whether God will or not they will make things cheaper and plentie againe but all is in vaine For if they sowe it rotteth in the ground if they keepe the houses fall vpon it if they eate they spende their store and if they spende then will shortly their liues be ended By these wordes we may obserue that it is in vaine by any naturall meanes to seeke to doe away the Lords hande Hag. 1. 6. The people of Israel being in some perplexitie they sowed and eared and planted and laboured to bee releeued but alas the prophet telleth them that he wasted their seede he bloweth on their store and the labourer putteth his wages into a broken bagge What had hee no pittie on the poore labouring man that worketh for a groate or sixe pence a day but hee must consume that also yea verily for the Lorde must bee serued as well by the poore countrie man as the rich citizen and therefore curseth as well the gettings of the one as the gaines of the other But what shall I say vnto you shall I bid you not till the earth or not sowe your corne no verily but plow vp your harts and cast in the seede of regeneration and then plow vp your land and cast in your seede of sustentation How shal the corne grow in your fields when vertue will not growe in your soules Therefore labour not in vaine it is not in all our plowing or planting or sowing or reaping or working to helpe our selues but in the Lords blessings who will then blesse the earth when we haue washed away the curse of our
soules by repentance for nature cannot helpe no more then Balaam coulde curse The reasons of this doctrine are these bicause nature it selfe as a creature of God is subiect to the curse of God as wee may see in all the storie of Egypt and also Isay 28. 22. where the Lorde threatneth to bring a consumption vpon the whole earth meaning the whole course of nature that hee can as easilie curse them as it were by sicknesse as men are vndone by consumption And verily I thinke when I looke into the specials I see as Dauid saith All thinges come to an ende but the lawe of God is exceeding large The heauens waxe olde the earth groweth barren the golde is but dust the pearles come to nothing and all creatures saith Paul are subiect to vanitie What is then the studie of nature but the studie of vanitie Yea how vainely are their daies spent which are alwaies in the bellie of Philosophie and Poetrie and humanitie not thinking diuinitie to bee woorthie of their fine wits which they say is the refuge of fooles but if their studie bee vaine then are their wits vaine and therefore of them it may bee saide in seeking to become wise they are made fooles Rom. 1. Another reason is bicause there is no other way to life but conuersion to the Lorde Hos 5. 15. Heere is the remedie for our landes to make the earth furitfull not in dunging and compassing it but if wee can turne our selues to God then let vs cast from vs our pleasant sinnes to rot in the earth and water our newe sowed corne with teares of our eies Then shall the earth yeelde hir increase and God euen our God shall giue vs his blessing Balaams asse woulde not goe for all his beating til Balaam had spoken with God and promised more obedience euen so the earth will not bee fruitefull for all our cutting of it and mending it and poking it vntill we be returned vn to the Lorde and confesse our follies and promise a newe life Oh let husbandmen heare this and learne to liue heereafter or else their worship is like to the sacrifice of Cain which the Lorde refused The vses which we must make of this doctrine are these First that we put no trust or confidence in any earthly or worldly things for seeing these cannot deliuer vs from any little iudgement then let vs learne to trust in the Lords powre Esay 31. 1. It is but follie to trust in kings for they are but men it is but sinne to trust in castles for they are but earth and stones it is but madnes to trust in multitudes for they are but flesh and it is but idolatrie to trust in wealth for it is but vanitie therefore it must needes bee best to trust in the Lord. Art thou afflicted praie vnto him art thou distressed runne vnto him art thou in danger looke vnto him and art thou a liuing soule let him bee thy strength and thy defender The heauens cannot bende to helpe the earth cannot rise to succour thee the waters cannot flowe to receiue and the cloudes cannot fall to couer thee But heere is thy helpe the Lorde can bowe the heauens and com to thee exalt the earth to rescue thee open the way for the waters to saue thee and let the cloudes come downe to take thee into heauen as once he did Christ and at the latter day shall doe all his elect Oh therefore cast not away the hope of your calling thy christian profession thy holie religion and thy hope of saluation for prince or magistrate friende or father heauen or earth man or angell much lesse be not terrified by any enimies which come with fire and sworde to worke thy desolation Craue not their helpe trust not in their strength feare not their rage and distrust not thy God but in warre let him fight for thee in sicknes let him heale thee in famine let him feede thee and in death he shall receiue thee for it is better to trust in God then to put confidence in princes Another vse is this seeing wee cannot auoide any of the Lordes iudgements by nature or naturall meanes then it also followeth that wee cannot escape out of that great iudgement of condemnation by any naturall vertue or worldly meanes but wee must all by nature remaine the children of wrath Ephes 2. 3. Whereby wee must take occasion to lament not onely the weakenes but also the filthinesse of our nature which bringeth into the worlde that euill which it cannot auoide Oh how much are wee bounde to our blessed Sauiour that hath deliuered vs from the wrath to come I might also out of this verse note vnto you that God his wrath shall not onely extende to the liues of men or those thinges which concerne their necessarie maintenance in this worlde but also to euerie part of their possessions as this prophet speaketh euen their barns and houses as we may see Esay 6. 11. Luke 21. 4. 5. And good reason for as worldly men for their owne pleasures do pul down many times both houses barnes as we may see of the worldly man in the Gospell Luke 12. so may the Lorde for his pleasure doe the like Againe these thinges do make vs to be proude euen our buildings and aedifices as wee may see in Nebuchadnezzar and also Iehoijakim Ierem. 21. 16. And therefore let vs knowe that the Lord in his iust iudgement will cast downe all these as hee saith Amos 3. 14. 15. And if he left not one stone vpon another where the temple stoode much lesse will he suffer houses of extortion oppression and gaming and whooring and other filthines to haue any place to stande in Againe seeing we may heere see what are our worldly buildinges let vs learne to laie vp our treasures in heauen which shall neuer bee destroied and lay a good foundation against the worlde to come How did the beastes mourne the heardes of cattle pine away bicause they haue no pastures and the flockes of sheepe are destroied Nowe he commeth to the most pittifull out crie of other creatures for as the corne coulde not growe no more coulde the grasse and one misery doth not commonly come alone and if wee well looke vnto this matter wee shal finde great matter lie hid here in For it cannot be that beastes shoulde be faultie or sinfull before the Lorde why then although guiltles are they thus tormented why did not the people make a hand with them to eate them and so to saue their liues that waies Vvnto which I answere that the people would not kil all their tame beasts bicause some they must keepe for store other for their labour and manie for offering which although it now ceased by reason of the wante of corne yet they hoped would shortlie come to passe againe as appeereth by their tillage As for the other the beastes are punished for mans cause which is the doctrine
the world and dost breake foorth into wordes for the same Then turne thy complaint into praier or else it is but a murmuring against God as we may see in Moses and Aaron for it is by praier we make our sorrowfull hearts knowen to God and can enter into the Lords priuie chamber This duety also we may see neglected in our time for men were neuer more apt to complaine of the hardnes of the time of the wickednes of the world of the want of corne of the feare of warre of the power of the rich and of the prosperitie of the proude but they are but words for they turne not themselues to praier to shew God of the matter as they ought to do Know therefore my deere brethren that God hath left vs in this world as he left Iobs seruants for still one of them came to tell his master what had happened so we must often vse to pray and to complaine on our selues and on other men for if we confesse our sins God is faithfull that hee will pardon them but if wee iudge not our selues wee shall bee iudged of GOD. The reasons of this doctrine are these first because God forgetteth not the complaintes of the poore Psal 9. 11. 12. meaning of them that pray vnto him otherwise hee remembreth no more the poore mans enuie then the rich mans quarrell therefore let this stirre vs vp to make our complaint in praier as we reade Ezechiah did Isa 37. when Rabsakeh had blasphemed on the name of God Oh that men were as ready to pray as they bee to complaine for they can easily multiply many words to accuse other men and they might as easily finde wordes and matter to complaine vnto God for as an inferiour subiect must alway sue to his prince by petition so must wee alway make knowen all our desires vnto God by supplication Againe when men doe onely complaine of this or that want without praier they tempt God as wee may see Num. 11. 4. Therefore if we will obtaine any thing at the Lords hande to our good let vs aske by praier for although we murmur for raine and drouth and peace and wealth and such like and God giue it to vs as he gaue the Israelites quailes yet we were better want it for it shall in the end turne to our discomfort as theirs did Let vs from hence learne to aske of God without murmuring or grudging at our owne estate or the Lords hand Hos 7. 14 15. for the Lorde will complaine as fast on vs as we complaine to him Hast thou any suite to the Lord that thou wouldest obtaine of him say not oh that I had such a thing or thus thou O God maist giue me such a benefite or thus surely if God doe not heare me I would I had neuer beene borne or thus if God bee able let him doe this for mee for all this is but tempting and mocking of the Lordes power and mercie But goe to the Lorde with all humilitie cast downe thy knees and hart tell him of thy vnwoorthinesse and accuse thy selfe throughly remember him of his promises in the gospell for that must bee the foundation of praier then open thy wants and desire such a remedie as God himselfe shall like of and lastly praise him for all thy former benefites and then if thou want thy will it shall be most good for thee if thou obtaine thy wil thanke him hartily againe and vse it for the Lordes glorie Another vse is this that if complainers without praying be odious in the Lords sight although the cause bee indifferent then much more are those that neuer pray but for vnlawfull and filthie things that they might bestowe them on their lustes as the Apostle saith Iam. 4. 2 3. They desire health of body to wallowe in vanitie they craue many children to hoorde vp euill gotten goodes and to rob the poore they pray for riches that they may raigne ouer other men at their pleasure and liue in sinne without controllment they aske for marriages to abuse them in lust and finally they pollute all things that come in their hands or harts in their outwarde profession they doe but serue the time and therefore their inward constitution cannot bee very holy I am perswaded that a great sort would be ashamed to let men heare those things that they continually and immodestly desire in the presence of God Aske therefore but with wisedome enioy thine owne with thankesgiuing praise God for all things and thinke thy selfe happie whether thou liue or die Againe I might also note out of this verse how afflictions and sorrowes doe teach men to pray most seruently as we may see in Abimelech Gen. 21. 17. and in Dauid Psal 119. 67. and the reason is first because then men beginne to feele their sinnes 1. Sam. 7. 6. for in truth our consciences are all so guiltie that if we haue but our finger ake we presently conceiue it was for some notable sinne or other And for the truth of this we may finde it in many wicked rebels iustified which will then most lamentably bewaile their sinnes when indeede they feele the heauie hande of God vpon them and be either in trouble of life or in danger of death but this is with them but momentanie and like a sommer deaw but with the godly it is perpetuall for they being once spurred will trauell the better all the day following Againe as our afflictions are increased so are our sorrowes for the hart seemeth to bee pearsed with them Lam. 1. 22. let vs therefore in our afflictions not onely pray for our selues in our owne persons but also entreate of other to pray for vs as we see the Israelites did 1. Sam. 7. 8. for if we be once perswaded of the benefite of praier we will neuer cease to stirre vp our selues and others thereunto we shall be minded as Paul was that would haue the whole church of Thessalonica to pray for him 2. Thes 5. 2. for praier will make men more greedie then golde will Againe let vs thinke that afflictions shall not onely make the humble and gentle minded man to yeelde but also the most stubborne and strongest in the world Boast not your selues against the least affliction that can be for as the soft raine will lay along the rankest corne so slender troubles will bring to the earth the most obstinate sinners O Lord to thee will I crie When the prophet saith that he will crie vnto God he noteth vnto vs that in praier we must vse the most earnest and ardent affection that may be for crying is the voice of children or yoong creatures whereby all men are mooued to pitie them Therefore when we come into the Lords presence we are to stirre and mooue affections to the vttermost not with childe-like behauiour but with childe-like sinceritie and feeling as we may see in the godly Lam. 1. 20. where they desire God to behold them
because they bee troubled their bowels are swelled and their hart is turned vpside downe meaning that they were so passionate that their inward partes were woonderfully mooued And this condemneth the colde affection of thousands in our daies which haue as much feeling in their praier as they haue in their dreames and knowe as well how to remooue a mountaine as how to mooue the Lords minde toward them so colde are their thoughts so weake are their desires so wilde are their wordes and so many be their wants in praier that I thinke verily when they haue praied they finde themselues as much fitter for the Lordes seruice as a stone is for building being rubbed ouer with a little oile I warrant you their harts are not turned vpside downe yea I would their liues were turned but I feare they will first bee ouerturned They will make more suite in better words for a dinner they being hungrie then for the Lords spirit or any other meanes for saluation Their voices in praier are like vnborne children crie they cannot much lesse speake any thing no not so much as to say Amen when others haue praied before them The reasons of this doctrine are these because hee careth not for meane and weake wordes but for strong and fearefull passions Isa 29. 13. for the Lorde being highly to be feared will especially be then feared ardently when men speake vnto him by praier Moses fell on his face when hee praied to him and so did Elijah for it is vnpossible but a man of flesh and blood shoulde tremble when hee thinketh on God much more when he praieth to God for then doth the spirit helpe a man more to see into the secret of his maiestie then at other times Yet fearefull is it to see how men in our daies thinke to carrie away the matter with wordes perswading themselues that their bare presence and outwarde dwelling among the church where now and then they heare God spoken of and heare a few praiers in the publike place although their harts honour not the one nor confesse the other yet are they as good religious men as any in the world but let them knowe that they be as good Christians as the Samaritanes were right Israelites Another reason is because that an acceptable sacrifice to God is a broken and contrite hart Psal 51. 17. and therefore when we offer to the Lorde our praiers let vs be sure that our hartes bee broken asunder for as there was no beast sacrificed but his body and shoulders were parted so no man can be offered to God but his hart must be diuided in sunder that is he must be most passionately affected at the Lords house and most lamentably tormented for his owne sinnes most pitifully opened for the Lords mercy most earnestly desire the building vp again of the same The vses which we must make of this thing are these First let vs not iudge euill or rashly of them that are mooued earnestly and labour effectually in prayer 1. Sam. 1. 14. 16. When Annah praied before the Lorde bicause hir lips went and not hir voice Eli tolde hir shee was drunke but she answered no for she was a woman of a bitter soule In like manner the power and working of the spirit in the praier of many through their continuance wordes and gestures is most wickedly mocked and most shamefully blasphemed of the malicious sort who are able to saie as much in their praiers as the olde masse-priestes coulde when they wanted their owne bookes And for this cause without the spirit of God they speake euill of the things of the spirite terming our earnestnes in praier to be rauing our zeale to be follie our continuance to be a heape of idle desires our teares to be hypocrisie our sweate to bee chafing and our forwardnes and willingnes thereunto to be pride and ambition with a number the like as I haue heard which are now opened in the stages where all good gestures are most wickedly derided Well well Eli was not so rash nor prophane but blessed Annah when she had tolde him hir minde and yet for all that hee ended his life with the breach of his necke Howe can it be but the Lorde shall more mercileslie bring these to confusion we may aske this kinde of monsters as Esay did some in his daies vpon whom haue you iested and against whom haue you opened your mouthes surclie against him that made both toong and mouth and shall trie it out As there are many giftes in the spirite of God so are there manie waies to expresse the power of them and as euerie one hath his gift so hath hee his gesture to open and vnfoulde the same Another vse of this doctrine is for our singular comfort that seeing according to our feeling in praier so is the Lorde affected towarde vs when wee are bitter hee maketh vs sweete when we are heauie he maketh vs ioyfull when we are cast downe hee raiseth vs vp and when we are most destitute and desperate he commeth with all speede as a mother to hir childe when it crieth loudest What are our sorrowes but many voices to cry vnto God and as a godly martyr hauing receiued manie woundes in his bodie whereby the bloude issued foorth abundantlie thanked his tormentors bicause hee had as many mouthes more to praise his God as hee had woundes in his flesh much more occasion haue wee to thanke our Sauiour that by sending so many sorrowes into our harts hath prouided for vs many friendes to entreate his mercy for vs. Therefore feare not my deere brethren and sisters for any aduersitie as when the battle is hottest the victorie is neerest so when your miseries are greatest your deliuerance is at hande Of this we haue often spoken before and so also of the other part of the verse following where the prophet yeeldeth the reason of his praier bicause the greene pastures were deuoured and the greattrees were burned vp teaching vs that which before we touched that when famine commeth there is nothing free from the same but it feeleth the smart if it haue any life at all And againe the vnmercifulnesse of it is noted when hee compareth it to fire and flame the fire burneth lowe that is the grasse of the earth and the flame reacheth high euen to the trees of the fielde The beastes of the fielde crie also vnto thee for the riuers of waters are dried vp and the fire hath deuoured the pastures of the wildernesse Nowe once againe the prophet rehearseth the crie and lamentation of the beasts where I might note that seeing the beastes crie vnto God and to none else how much woorse are those then beasts which either neuer cry or else crie to other then God But this is worthie our consideration that he saith the beastes crie vnto him noting vnto vs that God regardeth the verie crie and voice of dumbe and brutish creatures and therefore the Scripture
saith Psalm 104. 27. That God openeth his hande and giueth them meate in due season And surely as God is most wonderfull in all his workes so is he most humble and gentle to all his creatures not disdaining with his owne hande to feede the basest swine or beast in the worlde But howe vnlike are they to God which doe not heare the voice of dumbe beastes no not of speaking soules and liuing men and if they doe yet their hands must not come neere them but either they must take it vp on the grounde or else receiue of their abridgers I meane their seruants The reasons of this doctrine are these First bicause God hath created them Gen. 2. 2. And for this cause before that euer he made beastes he made all the grasse and herbes of the fielde to be readie for them so kinde and constante is their nature that they neuer forget their creator but we shall finde moe men then are beastes that haue long agoe lost all their knowledge and grace and image of God calling into question whether there be a god or not Oh cursed creatures oh feareful times that bringeth foorth some men like men and some men like beastes and some men like monsters which are in bodies men in manners beasts and in mindes woorse then any creatures yea then diuels for they acknowledge and feare God Another reason is bicause men shoulde haue a taste of the excellencie of the Lordes mercy which saueth both man and beast Psal 36. 6. 7. As for mans sake they were subiect to vanitie so for mans sake they are receiued into tuitioÌ„ again the one was don for his sin the other was for his instruction that as the hainousnes of his sin did bring mo into danger beside himself wherby he might despaire so the greatnes of the Lords mercy might bring mo into fauour againe beside himselfe wherby he might be comforted And thus we may see how for our sakes is the rod of vengeance and the staffe of mercie for our example some are killed some are burned some are hewed and some are damned and for vs againe we may see the angels are maintayned the world is lengthened many good men haue beene preserued and many bruit beasts are continually maintayned The vses which come from hence are these First that we fall not into any despaire of God his goodnes toward vs either for our soules or bodies Mat. 6. 25 26. where our Sauiour biddeth vs to looke to the lyllies and to the yoong rauens for whom the Lord taketh care and verily euery haire on a good mans head is more woorth then all the beasts of the world therefore let vs perswade our selues that seeing God heareth their crie he will not denie our praier and seeing hee looketh on their mourning he will not despise our teares and seeing he regardeth their life he will not cast away our soules he that commandeth vs to be mercifull vnto them hath also bound himselfe to be mercifull vnto vs therefore let vs be assured that we are more woorth then the beasts in the arke or all the creatures in the world But alas why do I tell men of their woorth for they know it too well or of the Lords mercie for they are too proude of it Surely because as Bathsheba teacheth Salomon Prou. 31. 4 5. not to be giuen to excesse or to be wonne with vanitie because he was a king that is a worthie man in the world so I would teach men by telling them their woorth to auoide from their filthie abhominations What shall gold do in the dirt or pearle in a swines trough or money in a madâ—ans puâ—se or authoritie in the hand of fooles o 〈…〉 that we haue all vnder vs and yet be 〈…〉 honor is it to vs to be more worth then al creatures to haue the Lord for our creator and his mercies when we entreat them if in the meane season we be not godly then shal the best become woorst and at the latter ende wee shall wish we had beene woorst of all In the next words he telleth vs how the riuers of waters are dried and how the little countrey cottages wherein poore men cattle were fostered were burnt vp both very woonderfull that the one I meane the waters should loose their spring which seeme to haue an euerlasting assurance of perpetuitie But alas what can be perpetual when God altereth what can continue when he dissolueth it surely nothing for he beÌ„deth the heauens melteth the earth emptieth the sea therefore may easily drie vp the little land-brookes Therefore as on the earth is the safest going because it is lowest so in pouertie is the best estate because it hath nothing Once there were no riuers and so sometimes are not and one day shall cease to be againe so once men had nothing now in their richest estate they haue but little and one day they must forgo all But when he saith that the little cottages are burned vp wee may note that there is not any thing so small or so vile but the hand of God will finde it out Amos. 9. Poore men thinke because they be poore that God neither regardeth their well doing nor thinketh on their euill but they must be of another minde for as fire burneth vp all that standeth against it so doth the wrath of God meete with all that is against his lawe God is in the citie and in the wood and in the village and in the corne-field and in the wildernesse and on the sea he noteth thy doings in thy pallace and in thy house and in thy barne and in thy labour and in thy cottage and in thy ship euen as Christ sawe Nathaniel when he was vnder the figtree Surely the buildings of stone are too high to stand long the buildings of wood are too weake for the little lowe tabernacle with cordes tied togither shall come to an end And thus we see that fire shall be the ende of all as it was the end of Sodom so was it of Zeboijm and as of them so was it of the poore shepherds tents and as of these tents so shall it bee of heauen and earth Thus much for this first chapter The xvj Sermon Chap. 2. V. 1. Blow the trumpet in Zion and showt in my holy mountaine let all the inhabitants of the lande tremble for the day of the Lord is come for it is at hand IT hath beene shewed that the beginning of this chapter vnto the end of the 11. verse was the continuance of the former iudgements spoken of in the first chapter so that this verse belongeth to the charge of the ministers and people wherein the ministers are first exhorted to sound the trumpet and secondly the people are bid to tremble because the day of the Lords wrath is at hand Concerning this blowing of the trumpet wee may reade the right vse and first institution thereof Numb 10. First it was vsed for assembling the
congregation secondly for the remouing of the campe and lastly when they went foorth to warre because the people might bee had in remembrance before God Although it be hard to shew whether in this discourse following the prophet meaneth the comming of the beastes before named or the comming of the Assyrians their enimies yet the matter is not so necessarie as that we should spende much time therein nor so difficult but it may bee decided and therefore I thinke that here is onely meant the comming of the noysome beastes because the description following is set foorth by similitudes taken from warre and not by flat and euident propositions the which course the Lorde doth take in other places when he noteth an inuasion as in Ierem. 50. In this place wee must first of all handle the blowing of the trumpet which was the priestes office and the cause thereof was to put them in minde of a danger for the people were now assembled and had neede to be terrified to the vttermost to make them humble as we may see the effect Amos. 3. 6. for the trumpet might bee hearde farre and neere as an alarme among vs. Wherefore wee may gather from hence that it is the ministers dutie to shewe the people of the Lordes wrath and the danger which they are subiect vnto for the same Ezech. 33. 2 3 4. if they sound not the trumpet the people cannot be prepared and then shall they endure a double condemnation they beare the Lords arke when they stand al must stand and when they goe all must goe and if they sound the trumpet and tell the dangers onely the disobedient come to destruction And thus wee may see how the hardest burthens and most dangerous are laide on the ministers backes for if they preach men will not beleeue them and then they are persecuted if they preach not God will forsake them and then they are damned being also subiect to all those dangers which themselues doe threaten the which thing might discourage men from that holy function but that the Lorde commandeth vs and enforceth vs thereunto And I woulde God that all the crosses and dangers which waite like pages or rather like iailers vpon the ministers office coulde bee sufficient to denie a passage or entrance vnto the vnlearned and vaine headed persons whereby for euer they might bee excluded from our callings but of this matter sufficient hath beene saide alreadie The reasons are these First bicause God openeth to them either ordinarily or extraordinarilie his purpose which hee will doe in his church for there hath not beene any great calamitie in the worlde but the Lord giueth knowledge thereof before it commeth so that his preachers might bee beleeued and destruction auoided Secondly they are the mouth of God to the church and of the church to God Matth. 18. 20. and therefore what they sounde God soundeth what they binde God bindeth and what they discharge God setteth at libertie yet so as their actions must bee guided by the Scriptures if they will haue God to confirme them The vses which wee are to make of this doctrine are these First that wee doe not onely teach the iudgements but ioyne with our doctrine an outwarde testimonie of their feare and a practise that may serue as a patterne for the people to repent by so the Lorde teacheth Ezech. 21. 6. 7. where the prophet is commanded to mourne bitterly as a man that mourneth for the paine of the raines And the cause followeth that when the people shoulde aske him hee might tell them that he mourned bicause euery heart shoulde melt and euery minde shoulde fainte and euery hande shoulde bee weake and euery knee shoulde fall away like water and what heart of stone or desperate minde coulde see his teares and heare his wordes and yet refraine from weeping It hath beene alreadie shewed that the example of the pastour is the best way to perswade the people and wee knowe by lamentable experience that where the preacher liueth ill his life doth more hurt then his preaching doth good Therefore my deere brethren when wee haue cause to threaten any iudgement of God let vs so temper our bodies as if wee felt it within vs as Ieremie did when hee cried out My bellie my bellie as if the calamitie had alreadie seised vpon vs. Let vs preach earnestlie let vs liue zealouslie and let our wordes and teares be heard in the pulpet and our praiers and feare in priuate communication and full often let vs vrge and constraine our affections that by manie passions as it were by many water drops the hardest heart of stone may be pierced thorough But it greeueth our hart that many preachers in many places when they haue taught most singularly on the Sabbaoth day so soone as the doore is shut some goe to tabling some to carding some to shooting some to bowling and some to banquetting which maketh the people thinke they did but mocke them in the pulpit Another vse which commeth by this doctrine is this that when wee haue so preached and so liued then may wee assure our soules of most excellent comfort as the Apostle doth Act. 18. 6. saie nowe are wee free from the bloud of all men so that a good conscience is the reward of a good preacher which is a greater benefite then any Bishopricke or preferment of the worlde when a man may reioice of his labours So that let euery preacher keepe this ioy and defile not his conscience for the conscience of a learned man once stained and corrupted seldome or neuer is quieted againe Looke vpon Eli his conscience and vpon the prophet which came to Ieroboam who was slaine by a lyon and vpon Ionah when hee was cast into the sea and vpon Iudas the most wretch that euer was borne when hee had betraied innocent bloude I coulde bring manie examples out of other writers if I shoulde not be tedious but of my owne knowledge I speake that I haue seene some in the ministerie endued with rare giftes and excellent learning vsing great diligence in their places yet being giuen ouer through naturall infirmitie their daies haue beene very fewe and very bitter therefore maintaine thy conscience with losse of life and liuing for it is an easier matter to beare all the reproches of the worlde then one of thy owne heart for it will turne the sworde of God in thy owne hande and cause it to wounde thy selfe neither shalt thou bee able to auoide it I grant that men of other callings haue no such dangerous slips therfore looke to thy soule for the diuell in dazeling thy light darkneth al thy people and by making thy owne conscience to accuse thee he will make good men to forsake thee the worlde to wonder at thee the spirit of God to depart from thee Sion my holy mountaine Sion was the hill whereupon the temple was builded for the which cause it is called the Holy mountaine
and you shall like of it better loue it deerer heare it oftener and leane to it more safer then euer you did Againe seeing we must heare the worde of God with feare and trembling let vs also make an ende of our saluation with feare and trembling Philip. 2. 12. that is feare not onely in the church or when thou art neere vnto danger but all thy life long vntill thou haue made an end of thy saluatiō For so long as thou fearest so long thou art in safetie but when the world shall say peace peace and there be no feare of iudgement then shall come their destruction for as when he in the gospell promised to himselfe greatest safetie in his riches that night did they fetch away his soule so when we say we haue done it is finished I haue sorrowed long ynough I haue endured the crosse of Christ thus many yeeres and therefore now I will take my pleasure then shall our danger bee neerest and our woe bee greatest therefore let vs neuer cease fearing till we be in heauen as the shipmen neuer cease watching till they bee in harbour Oh here is a Christians triall if other men vexe him let him beare it if he be free from other men let him chastise himselfe Feare the Lorde least he be thy iudge feare thy Sauiour least he prooue thy enimie feare thy sinnes least they ouermatch thee and tremble at the word of God least it condemne thee A day of darknesse and obscuritie a day of cloudes and of blacknes as the morning spread vpon the mountaines so is there a great people and a mightie there was none like it from the beginning neither shall be any more after it vnto the yeeres of many generations A day of darknesse Now the prophet proceedeth to describe the great wrath of God in the furie of these small beastes which he doth first by consideration of the qualitie of the day or time when they should come and secondly by the manner of their comming taken from many resemblances and similitudes For the time he describeth it after the vsuall manner of the scriptures which setteth foorth a sorrowfull day of indgement by darknesse cloudes and mistes secondly he sheweth the cause hereofto be the great and mighty people meaning the locusts and the residue for he calleth them a people as Salomon calleth the ants and the conies Prou. 30. 25. and he saith they shal obscure the light as the morning darknes bicause their company should bee so many as we may reade they did in Egypt Exo. 10. 15. And therefore he saith there was not the like from the beginning meaning for a long season nor yet should bee againe to many generations following So that he telleth them that this was a fearful time when all the heauens should be couered with clouds the earth be darkened with an innumerable swarme of noisom beasts Cōcerning the multiplying of these beasts we haue spoken in the former chapter First when hee sheweth them that the day of their trouble shoulde bee cloudie gloomie and full of darkenes wee may learne that these thinges doe put vs in minde of the great wrath of God Psalm 18. 11. For in truth thus the Lorde will haue it that we shoulde bee feared from the heauens aboue vs and from the earth beneath vs. It is reported for a great wonder that wee in Englande seldome haue any daies wherein we see not many cloudes whereas in other countries they see not any cloudes for manie monethes togither Let vs therefore make this aduantage of our countries scituation that on the day time when we beholde the cloudes wee thinke vpon the great iudgement of God whereby from the cloudes hee once rained downe a great floude that destroied the worlde and howe one day in a cloude Christ shall come to iudge both quicke and dead Againe by night let vs meditate on the light of heauen that wee may escape that vtter darknes where shal be nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth The reasons of this doctrine are these First bicause this want of light was the first punishment that God inflicted on the Iewes for the death of Christ Matth. 27. 45. the which thing made them much afraid for they had darknes instead of light to shew them that Christ which should haue beene their light was nowe made darkness vnto them from whom they could receiue no sight to walke to heauen And surely if this outwarde and carnall darknes bee so terrible especially in the daie time then what is the inward and spirituall darknes in the mindes of men whereby they are depriued of all light of God all partaking of the spirite and all the hope of the worlde to come Oh woulde God this their perplexitie coulde prouoke their harde and vnbeleeuing hearts to forsake their damnable securitie this their darknesse is so grosse that other men feele it yet they are so blinded that they cannot see it Let vs therefore my deere brethen know that God will leaue none without excuse but either the word or the world shall tell them their duties and let vs learne to praise the Lord for couering the heauens with cloudes Psalm 147. 8. that by this meanes not onelie watereth the earth and maketh it fruitefull but also admonisheth the mindes of his children of a continuall preparation to iudgement But in our times all these are nothing regarded for signes tokens remembrances of righteousnes yea some knowe not so much as the vse of the rainbowe in the cloudes neuerthelesse in the right vse of God his creatures consisteth one great part of religion so that this is the best kinde of Astrologie or Prophesie to bee made of the starres that they may direct vs to a holy life and prepare vs for a blessed ende Moreouer by this that the Prophet saith The like hath not beene seene nor shall not be in many generations Wee may obserue that God doth verie seldome change the course of nature and turne light into darknes for nature being a rare worke of God he seldome vseth his omnipotencie to alter and change the same since the foundations of the worlde were laide The reasons are these First in regard of the Lordes owne promise Genesis 8. 21. For after the floud he determineth neuer to drowne the world againe and therefore he gaue the rainebowe to be a pledge thereof and also that the continuall course of nature shoulde remaine for euer Now the Lorde is faithfull and will remember his promise or else we knowe that the worlde might manie times since haue beene destroied for there hath beene more sinne since the floude then euer was before Since the floude haue sprung idolatrie the poison of the worlde and many other abhominations not knowen of in the first age as wars and Sodometrie and such other like yet for his promise sake hee forbeareth destruction Another reason may be the same that Dauid vseth Psalm 119. 90. 91. That
7. where it is saide that when the worlde shall beholde Christ comming to iudgement all the kindreds of the earth shal waile before him The reasons are First bicause it is the reward of obstinacie Ierem. 15. 8. A guiltie conscience quaketh at the wagging of a leafe and euery little danger doth amaze him Againe it is a most wicked thing to reioice at the hurt of other men either in worde or thought Ezec. 26. 2. Therefore although wee finde ourselues cleere yet wee cannot chuse but sorrowe when it approcheth to other Therfore let vs obserue the times to kensof euill Matt. 24. 33. that wee may alway liue in mourning but especially knowing ourfeare wee may then sorrowe most when danger is neerest that so wee may bee readie to ende our sinnes by repentance and to goe to heauen by affiictions Againe when wee see wicked men taken away and going to destruction let vs feare the searching iustice of God Psalm 52. 6. and say Beholde the man that woulde not beleeue the Gospell nor bee ioyned to our congregation nor forsake his pleasures but persecute good men and flatter euill men and therefore nowe hath hee receiued his recompence Oh let the death of so manie traitours so many theeues and murtherers so many swearers and drunkardes teach vs to feare as a little birde flying from the sparrow-hauke and rather let vs couer our selues in weedes and grasse or in some thinne and open tabernacle then to take the ayre of the sunne or sinne and to abide in the carued and walled cities of the multitude Like the noise of chariots in the tops of the mountaines so shall they leape like the noise of a flame of fire that deuoureth the stubble and as a mighty people prepared to the battle Now he proceedeth to other similitudes wherein I will be short bicause they all touch one thing and the generall is alreadie deliuered In this verse he compareth the voice of their comming to the noise of chariots in the mountaines which keepe a mightie ratling in time of warre for chariots were vsed for great men going to warre as wee may see in the historie of Sisera Ahab and Iehu Againe hee saith They are like the flame that deuoureth the stubble which maketh a kinde of sodaine hollowe and fearefull noise Againe like a people prepared for warre which come with all kinde of warlike instruments and wofull acclamations the which I leaue to euerie mans seuerall consideration whereby they may note howe the Lord can cloth his smallest and basest creatures with infinite power and terror to discomfort euery people in the worlde Oh how much more are the angels of wrath terrible seeing the wormes of the earth are so fearfull wherfore let vs not onely feare the inuasion of Spaniardes or other enimies nor yet serpents lions wolues or wilde dogs but also the seely flies and grashoppers and filthie lice which in time of God his wrath shall haue power to destroy vs Exod. 10. 11. Before his face shall the people tremble all faces shall gather blacknes The meaning ofthese wordes are that in the presence of these beastes shall bee much trembling and feare yea they shall bee verie neere death for blacknes betokeneth death From hence wee may obserue howe God maketh men at their wits ende before destruction Ezech. 26. 16. They goe not to their ruines like sheepe but like swine not like lambes but like lions not peaceablie but furiously The reasons are bicause the feare of the wicked shall come vpon them Prou. 10. 24. Secondly God by this feare and trembling calleth them to repentance Deut. 32. 21. So that if then they coulde bee as angrie with their sinnes as they are with their enimies and fight as christianly with the diuell as they doe manfullie against men although they loose the life of the bodie yet they may keepe the life of the soule Learne therefore to feare God and so thou shalt neuer feare euill Psal 112. 1 6. but thy minde shall bee peaceable in death and not distracted Againe vse thy selfe to mourning before hande Ezechiel 21. 12. that when they come thou maiest more easilie endure them and more happilie auoide them Secondly when he saith all faces shall gather blackenes we may not onely see that the greatest and strongest man in the world can do nothing against the iudgement of God but offer himselfe to death and his heart dieth within him as a stone but we may also see how wicked men in aduersitie become altogither desperate Isa 2. 19. they cry to the hils to saue them to the mountaines to couer them and to the rockes to hide them And this will be then the boldnes and courage of our gallant youthes who in their pride threaten to fight with the diuell and with their oaths will teare the Lord out of heauen who thinke by their worshipfull pedegrees to shame the kirks of Christ and by their golden and silken brauery to dazle the glory of God then then will these things little comfort them But as all the Midianites ran away for the dreame of a barley-cake so shall these runne if they knew whither and take if they knew what and trust if they wist in whom and flie from the great wrath of God if there were any refuge but seeing none they shall fall to the earth as the snow commeth from the cloudes Oh cannot you think of this to put away your sinnes for if you beare them with you they will serue you as Iael serued Sisera and strike into your braines and hart the nailes of deadly poyson there can be no resisting for they haue woon the fort Yet in time craue the helpe of some other to besiege them and to regaine a quiet conscience or else whensoeuer any danger commeth they will do with you as the citizens of Samaria did with Achabs children deliuer you to your enimies and with their owne hands be your butchers and so commend you to the diuels custodie The reasons of this doctrine are these bicause then they haue no hearts to remember what God hath done for them Deut. 7. 18 19. but thinke euermore this is for the sinne this for such an adulterie this is for my pride this for my couetousnes this for my swearing this for my contempt of preaching and all shall be for my damnation Againe then shall they be ouerwhelmed with destruction 1. Sam. 31. 4 5. as Saul was for knowing that his sinne had made God depart from him he slew himselfe in the battle If he had gone to a prophet when hee went to a witch or had beleeued Samuel as wel being aliue as he did the diuel when Samuel was dead his life had then beene spared or if he had put off his sinnes when hee put on his armour to goe to the battle or then fell to prayer when hee fell vpon his sword then had Saul escaped that day But what could the
bodie of Saul doe when his soule was so laden with sin for he knew that the Philistines must needes haue his life and the diuell his soule in like manner will the enimie bewitch you when you are in aduersitie Therefore cast down your castles and defences for sin as the Lord exhorteth Hos 10. 14. before the diuell make them inuincible For as the raigne of Abimelech was the slaughter of Gedeons sonnes and the raigne of Athaliah was the ouerthrow of all the kings seede so is it betwixt vs and our sinnes if they raigne we must die if we put them downe we shall liue Let vs therefore cast them downe betimes for as the Israelites did at the first spare the Canaanites afterwarde they could neuer destroy them so if at the first we dallie with our sinnes in the end they will grow vnresistable Oh that we might liue to say of our sinnes as Christ said of the temple that there might not one sinne be left vpon another Let vs bury our sinnes as Ieremy said Iehoijakim should be buried Ierm 22. 18 19. that their deaths be not lamented but let them be cast out of our soules as a dead asse is cast out of a citie for as a dead corps procureth nothing but wormes and stinke and feedeth fowles so our sinnes cause nothing but woe and sorrow and feed diuels Againe let vs not onely cast away our sinnes in heart as many say they haue done but in words and works professe and shew the same Hos 14. 3. for by our words we shall be saued and by our words we shall be condemned A repentant man is knowne by his confession as Rahabs house was knowne by the thred that was tied in her window which caused her all her kindred to be spared and so if we would be spared at the great day of the Lord let vs confesse our selues to be of his family Many I know there be which thinke it sufficient to leaue sin and neuer to make confession thereof so also there be many that thinke it sufficient to beleeue the Gospell although they neuer professe it but in my opinion the one and the other are both deceiued For wee must not bee of Abrahams heart and of Belials life wee may not beare the soule of Dauid and the shewe of Pharisees Good king Iehoshaphat being in shewe like wicked Ahab was in danger to be slaine for Ahab so are all those in danger of death who haue inwardly good heartes and outwardly euill liues Confesse thy sinnes thy faith thy God thy sinnes to thy brethren thy faith to the church and thy God to the whole worlde that thou maiest bee as farre from note of euill as euer is light from the shewe of darknes The xviij Sermon Vers 7. They shall runne like strong men and goe vp to the wall like men of warre and euery one shall goe forwarde in his way and they shall not staie in their paths NOwe the Prophet commeth to the last similitude wherein he compareth these deuourers to souldiours for in truth there is not any mischiefe like to the mischiefe of warre which is well termed the slaughter house of mankinde and the hell of this worlde And in this treatise following I must enter into martiall affaires that as I haue hitherto taught you to be christians so now I must instruct you to bee soldiours and learne you the arte of warre Wherein this Prophet toucheth two things The first is the order of an armie vers 7. 8. Secondly the ouerthrowe or sacking of the conquered For the first he noteth what manner of men souldiors shoulde be namely Strong men Exod. 17. 10. For God hath so ordeined that all men haue their crosses and callings to humble them If thou be bee wise thou art emploied in gouernment if thou bee strong thou art busied in warre if thou be weake thou art tormented in want if thou be a woman thou art vnder subiection if thou bee a foole thou liuest in contempt Therefore thou which art a souldier make this vse of this point that thou encrease thy strength and cast away feare Deuter. 31. 8 Vndoe not thy strength by quarrelling or drinking or watching or fasting or feasting or whooring but keepe thy body in strength to benefite thy countrey Againe make another vse which the Lorde taught Iosuah the most noble captaine and souldier of the worlde who had the leading of sixe hundred thousand men and ouercame thirtie and one seuerall kinges in a little time this exhortation is set downe Ios 1 8. That alway in warre thou looke to the worde of God whether thy cause bee iust thy heart bee willing and thy calling be lawfull whether thy handes strike when God biddeth and thy foote stande when God calleth Looke to this I saie and robbe not kill not and fight not but against a lawfull enimie But alas Iosuah is dead and al those which sawe his doings now in warres there is gaine in steade of godlines courage in steade of equitie bloudthirstines in steade of valour policie in steade of iustice and you seldome see a souldier of any religion and neuer praieth till he bee in danger of death Another instruction ariseth out of this verse when the prophet saith Like men of warre whereby we obserue that souldiers should bee disciplined and instructed before they be sent into wars or else they cannot be like men of war This benefite Dauid acknowledged that he receiued of God Psal 18. 34. it is a dangerous matter to aduenture a whole army vpon yoong souldiers and more dangerous it is to vndoe any through want of skill The reason is bicause men must not onely haue strength but wisedome and cunning in their weapons and sometime vse the stratagems of warre where policie and experience is woorth tenne thousand mens handes as wee may see in Iosuah cap. 8 4 5 6. and in the Israelites Iudg. 20. Wherfore make this vse in thy warfare of this doctrine howsoeuer thy cause be good thy strength be great and thy experience much yet neuer fight til thou haue cōmended the victorie to God 2. Sam. 10. 12. for God is the warrior which daunteth euery enemy and directeth euerie dart to the person appointed Be not too bold as the Israelites were Deut. 1. and were chased backe againe by the Amorites but vse deuotion to God and discretion in thy busines remember well that the sword cannot cut except the Lord whet it that thy arme cannot strike except God enable it that the enimie will not flie except he discomfort him and that victorie will not follow thee except God be on thy side Againe if thou bee an able man for the warre both in strength and skill come willingly when thou art called and refuse not to fight in a good cause although it bee against thy own brother Yeeld obedience to them that shall teach thee and as the captaine in the Gospell said that his souldiers did
are dark at his chiding and they shine at his bidding so let vs liue to praise him while he giueth life and die to honour him when he sendeth death And the Lord shall vtter his voice before his hoste for his hoste is very great for he is strong that doth his word for the day of the Lord is great and verie terrible and who can abide it Hauing spoken of the darkning of the lights the shaking of the earth now it followeth that we proceed to the vttering of the Lords voice which signifieth thunder Psal 29. 3. and most plainely Psalm 18. 14. The Lorde thundred out of heauen and the highest gaue his voice By the consideration of which phrase wee are giuen to vnderstande the infinite and vnspeakable power of God which hath so wonderfull and powerful a voice the which when the Israelites heard Exod. 19. 20. they were not able to abide and so desired that Moses shoulde speake vnto them euen so are we vnable to endure the same if the Lorde shoulde so speake vnto vs as we shoulde haue had no benefite by Christ except hee had taken vpon him the nature of man so wee coulde not endure the powerfull worde of God if it were not offered by the toong of man As the waies of God are not like the waies of men so the voice of God is not like the voice of men that is stronge but this is weak that is high but this is lowe that is fearefull this is simple that is terrible this is easie The people that coulde not abide Salomons gouernment had a worse then was Salomons for they lost their kinges and their God euen so when wee can no longer abide the voice of man then let vs looke for the fearefull thunderclaps of heauen wherefore heare the wordes of God in the mouthes of men or else you shall feare and tremble and melt at it in the stroke of the ayre Againe the prophet Dauid Psalm 29. 11. maketh another vse of thunder telling vs that for the power thereof euery one in his temple doe speake his praise It is a wicked and damnable opinion of the multitude that the diuel can raise thunder whereas we are to account it onely in the Lordes power Iob 38. 25. although the diuell can doe much yet is hee but weake and his power restrained therefore wee need no more feare his power in the time of thunder then in the cleerest sun shine day but rather let vs praise the Lorde for his power who is so woonderfull in all his works Againe if thunder be the voice of God why do the papists in the time of thunder ring their bels to staie it as if it were an vnholie thing surely it well be commeth them for seeing they will not heare God in the Scriptures they wil not heare him in the cloudes if wee oppose Scripture to them they say wee speake as heretikes if the Lorde sende thunder then they say there is a diuell abroade Oh blasphemous mouthes and hearts that are so simple and yet so great great in blasphemous heresie and simple in true diuinitie Againe when the prophet saith that he will vtter his voice before his hoste for his hoste is very great hee meaneth the noisome beastes that hee shoulde sende like an hoste of men as hath beene alreadie shewed Whereby we are taught that euery creature since sinne entred into the worlde is become an enimie one to another like to the enimies in warre Psal 105. 34. The great birdes are enimies to the small the great fishes to the little the great beastes to the inferiour and so are the great men to the little ones the oxe cannot abide the lyon the sheepe cannot endure the woolfe the foxe will not tarrie with the goate the horse will not dwell with the Beare the Hart will not attende the hounde and many moe liue in hatred one with another but most of them al are enimies to man The reasons are these First as man destroyed his owne nature so God destroieth or rather altereth the nature of all other things Secondly God will surely be knowne that hee giueth power to the spoile Amos 5. 9. What can an enimie doe in warre or a theefe by the high way side or a beast that deuoureth man surely nothing but by the working hand of God for the diuels themselues are vnder his correction One lion destroied a prophet 1. Kinges 13. yet we know that Daniel was cast among a denne of lions and had no hurt at all surely it was the Lorde that opened the mouth of the one and muzled the iawes of the other Let vs therefore knowe that whensoeuer either man or beast shall annoy vs that it commeth of God Iob. 1. 4. When Shemei cursed Dauid Dauid woulde not haue him punished bicause saide hee The Lorde hath bid him curse and so if wee be bitten by any beastes or stung by any serpent or haunted by any foules or oppressed by any enimies let vs then thinke with our selues this hath the Lord done to vs and praie for the remission of sins This doctrine wil take away al reuenge against man for any iniurie when we shal bee perswaded that God by them doth fatherlie correct vs. Againe let vs thinke with our selues how many waies the Lorde hath to correct vs for our sinnes the angels are about vs when God biddeth them they strike the beastes are among vs when hee commandeth they discomfort vs the flies and wormes ouercome vs wee are enimies one to another and one wound and kill another as Cain did Abel yea we cannot trust our owne hands for feare they destroy vs as we see in Saul Achitophel and Iudas and when all this is done there are ready all the diuels in hell to torment vs. Now who would loue his life nay who would loue his sinnes that bring with them vpon him such an euerlasting and intolerable hatred Againe when he saith that he is strong that doth his word he meaneth him that doth his commandement whereby we are taught that euery creature hath power giuen him to doe that which God assigneth him 1. King 17. 4. The rauens at the commandement of God fed Elijah morning and euening with bread and meate and so euery one when he biddeth them goe they goe when hee biddeth them come they come The reason is first because they waite vpon God Psal 145. 15. secondly they worship their creator Reu. 5. 14. and so we may learne that God neuer aduaunceth any but he giueth them giftes to performe their callings When he saith that the day of God is great and who can abide it he thereby teacheth vs that the wrath of God is intolerable Deut. 9. 18. 19. The reasons are because there is no way to flie frō his presence Amos 5. 18 19. Secondly there can be no mediator in wrath Ier. 15. 1 2. By which we are taught how inestimable is the benefit of redemptiō by Iesus
Christ who hath deliuered vs frō wrath to come 1. Thes 1. 10. Christ hath deliuered vs from that wrath that condemned the angels that shooke the heauens that rendeth the earth that killeth the beasts and that tormenteth the wicked Oh what had our estate been without a Sauiour but this to vndergoe the intolerable wrath of God which burneth more then any fire which paineth more thē any death which smarteth more thē any torture which tasteth worse then any bitternesse smelleth worse then any filthinesse where a man and a diuel should for euermore be yoked togither this wrath hath Christ pacified from this damnation hath he redeemed vs But now if thou sinne againe make no account of the blood of Christ the wrath shall be seuen times hotter and thou seuen times more the childe of hell Againe seeing this is the estate of the damned how wretched is their estate which liue in danger therof euery hower of life being aliue they haue no peace and being dead they haue no ease they are borne in filthines they liue in wickednes they die in wretchednesse and damnation is their graue where the fire is their cradle the diuels are their nurses the Lord is their enemie endlesse torments are their rest wrath without remedie is their meate Oh let this make good men desire to forsake this life and let it make euill men long to forsake their sinnes for their pleasurable life shall end in insufferable woes The xix Sermon Vers 12. Therefore also now saith the Lord Turne you vnto me with all your harts with fasting and with weeping and with mourning NOw at the length by the mercifull assistance of the holy Ghost haue wee finished the first part of our first diuision and are come vnto the last wherein the people are exhorted to repentance In this treatise following first of all the prophet sheweth them the manner of their repentance 12. 13. verses and secondly setteth downe certaine reasons to perswade them thereunto The manner of their repentance is either in action or in affection and it respecteth both the people and the priestes In affection as conuersion in hart and renting thereof in action as weeping fasting and mourning The reasons to mooue them hereunto are two first in respect of his nature vers 13. then of his works vers 14. That part which concerneth the priestes doth shew vs first how they should stirre vp the people and secondly how they should pray vers 15 16 17 thus much for the diuision In this that after all the before expressed iudgements the prophet nowe at the length commeth with the flat commandement and worde of God to cause them to bee conuerted Wee are first of all taught that except God giue the preaching of his worde with his heauie iudgements men can neuer bee amended by them Amos 4. 6 7 8. Let him thunder omnipotently let him shake the earth terribly let him darken the light fearefully let him curse the world iustly and multiply his punishments abundantly yet all this without the word of God cannot conuert a soule All this is plaine in the forenamed place of Amos wherein God telleth the people that he had giuen them scarcenesse of bread and no raine insomuch as two or three cities wandered vp and downe to drinke water hee sent blastings and mildeawes and great store of pestilence the yong men lay murdred their horses were taken away and noisom stinks smels infected them yet still God complained that they had not turned vnto him then he biddeth them be prepared to meete their maker So that it is euident that no crosse or iudgement can work repentance The experience hereof is to be seen in our times wherein haue been as great signes and as many woonders as in any place of the worlde beside great thunders feareful earth-quakes terrible darknes mortal pestilence pining famines yet who is conuerted by thē great men are made richer mean men are made poorer poore men are made beggers yet who considereth this The waters haue drowned vs the wars haue deuoured vs want hath afflicted vs and yet still we are as heard harted as wickedly affected and as stiffenecked as euer wee were insomuch as if the whole world were in an vprore our whole land vpon hir death bed well we might complaine but hardly repent The reasons of this doctrine may be these First bicause the Lord sendeth iudgements to take reuenge and not to worke repentance Deuter. 32. 41. The halter is not put on the the eues necke to conuert him but to punish him as Agar was expelled out of Abrahams house not to reclaime hir but to torment hir And here we may learne the end of all the Lordes iudgements which is to take vengeance on our euill liues what is our estate seeing wee are vnder the reuenging hande of God one while our desires are plagued another while our appetites are molested and continually is our life threatened with a longer calamitie But some will saie shall wee not bee repentant during our crosses and aduersitie Oh yes my deere brethren for we haue the worde as well as the rod and therefore we must be instructed by the one as wee are corrected by the other our punishment is a light vengeance but our profession is a great comfort yet we are but as it were led to execution and therefore wee must repent with speede before death catch our soules as dearth hath done our bodies Another reason is bicause the word is of more force then any iudgement whatsoeuer for the conuersion of a sinner is a worke of more value then the destruction of a worlde man was lost by an apple but it cost more to redeeme their soules Is not my worde like fire and like a hammer that breaketh the stone Ierem. 23. 29. and the worde of God is life and liuely in operation Heb. 4. 10. sharper then a sworde lighter then the sunne and heauier then the earth The which thing doth mightily magnifie the worde preached and the publike ministerie thereof being attended by the angels accompanied with the spirit and reuerenced in the church The angell was honorable that slew so many thousands of Saneheribs armie Esay 37. for it was a great iudgement but the ministerie of the worde hath droue more diuels out of the worlde then it slewe or draue Assyrians out of Israell And heereby let vs learne what account we are to make of the worde of God Wee feare drowning in the seas burning on the lande robbing in our iourneies and euery ioint in our body is subiect to many easelesse paines but let vs more earnestly feare the worde of God for those hurt vs when wee feele them and see them but this will harme vs when wee neither feele norsee it they afflict vs but this instructeth vs they punish vs but this doth acquite vs they bring vs the heauie newes of condemnation but this bringeth the
glad newes of life euerlasting By iudgements we are blinded but by the Gospell we are enlightened by iudgements wee are endangered by the Gospell we are defended and to conclude they threaten our liues but the worde threatneth our soules Make much of the word in thy health for beleeue me sicknes cannot so prepare thee for the Lorde as the worde can bee conuerted by it for thou seest all other meanes faile for miracles doe make vs woonder and this maketh vs repent therefore either make this thy ioy or God shall make them thy sorrowe What then will some say this is a strange doctrine do not sorrowes and earthquakes and other fearefull thinges turne vs to the Lorde then we will not make any account of these thinges To whom I answere that if they doe so they doe that which will vndoo them shall the scholler neuercare for the rod bicause it cannot teach him but correct him and shall wee set light by the Lordes iudgementes bicause they cannot conuert vs no no they must keepe vs in obedience although they cannot beget vs to obedience they must reforme vs although they cannot turne vs. Dauid said Psal 119. when I see thy iudgements I am astonied and afraide and so must all the elect children of God vse the iudgements of God to continue them in the feare of God and to keepe their natures from being ouerproude Yea let vs tremble and quake as the earth doth let vs weepe and mourne as the aire doth when wee see the wrath of God the sunne cannot then shewe her face she is so dazeled with his brightnesse how shall men farre inferiour to her in glorie bee carelesse of his anger And although I haue said that we are but yet leading vnto execution let vs yet feare most greeuously least the wrath of God be encreased on vs for wee knowe not how soone we shall be consumed with what calamities we shall bee troubled and with what maner of death we shall be crucified Therfore let vs feare the works of God that we neede not feele them let vs be warned by them that we be not confounded by them and aboue all things let vs cast away that prophanenes that calleth for heauen and earth to take vengeance on vs. Secondly we may obserue in this verse when hee saith thus saith the Lord that if the Lorde worke not repentance in vs we shall neuer haue it while the world standeth we may weepe out our eies rip vp our breastes rend asunder our harts and satisfie for our iniuries but if the Lord worke not repentance in vs then all is lost For this cause 2. Tim. 2. 25. Paul instructeth him with meekenes to instruct those which were cōtrarie minded waiting if at any time God would giue them repentance vnto life Indeede I graunt that men may haue a kinde of repentance as Iudas had Matt. 27. 6. when hee sawe Christ condemned hee repented and went and hung vp himselfe but to haue repentance vnto life Act. 11. 18. as the church speaketh it is a speciall and woorthy worke of God And in these daies may this point be very profitably vrged wherein men are so carelesse in liuing and so wretched in sinning as if repentance were pinned on their sleeues or lay in their pockets to pull out and in at their pleasure but let them beware be warned that if they wil be saued they must seeke it at the hands of God Is repentance so easie that you can haue it at your wish indeede you may haue it but you cannot doe it Imagine in thy presence a man or woman possessed with a diuel trie thy cunning cast him forth I know your answer you wil say you cannot because you can worke no miracles so agame say I that you cannot haue repentance of your selues for it is a casting of the diuel out of your souls the which none can do but by the finger of God Repentance is not to wring out a teare or to breath out a sigh or to lift vp an ey vnto heauē or to say I am sorrie for my sins but it must fil all a mans life with weeping sighing praying cōfessing amending the which commeth frō God only The first reason of this doctrine is because with repentance goeth remissiō of sins Act. 5. 31. therefore we may as wel say that they can pardō their own sins as they say they can repent whē they list And this must needs mightily discourage vs frō sinning seeing we may cōmit that in one minute which we can neuer claw off so long as we liue Again how sweet is this consideration that remission of sins is ioined with repentance We knowe what great vile sinnes we haue committed but we knowe not will some say how or when they were pardoned Vnto whom I answere that they haue beene so long pardoned as they haue repented and they haue as many witnesses and seales of their remission as they haue weeping teares sighing sobs and wounded affections for them in the presence of God Another reason is as it is the worke of God to harden mens harts Iohn 12. 40. so it must needes be the worke of God to soften the hart But some will say how can the Lord punish men for not repenting when he denieth them repentance and how can he damne them for harde hearts when hee hath hardened them I answere an harde heart and an ill life doe not simply condemne a man but delight in them and negligence to bee deliuered from them good men are tormented with hardnesse of hart but they lament it euill men are perplexed with it they reioice in it God is saide to make hard harts but not euill harts and so to make hard harts that men may know and acknowledge that soft harts come from his workehouse so then God hardeneth but men delight in it and they are condemned not for sin but for delight in sinne Wouldest thou then knowe whether thy hart hath beene new wrought in the Lordes moulde then looke and see how thou louest sinne but thou findest thy hart harde then looke againe howe thou art pleased with this hardnes if thou like it thy hart is damnable but if thou loath it thy state is tollerable The first vse wee are to make of this doctrine is this seeing the Lorde hath the working of repentance in vs then let vs praie euerie day to his maiestie for the same Lament 5. 21. So doe the faithfull when they say Turne vs vnto thee O Lorde and wee shall be turned returne vs as of old This is the dutie of all those that haue any care of their soules health Art thou heauie in thy heart and feelest a dulnes in thy soule vnto goodnes but a nimblenes vnto euill when thou knowest thou dost those things which displease the Lord and trouble thy conscience then enter into thy soule and humble thy selfe by praier lift vp thy voice to heauen
loueth not euery one that hee chasteneth Christ his best beloued was crucified and yet beloued but Herod was eaten with worms yet hated shal we think that the estate of Herod was any whit better in another life bicause his miserie was begun in this life no verilie no more may wee extoll or accuse those which liue long or miserable daies in this life Iosiah a good king of whom God pronounceth that he shoulde be gathered to his fathers in peace but yet hee was slaine in warres and Ahab an euill king died also in warres was his estate the better bicause he ended his life as a good man did no no it had bin better for him he had neuer bin Yet despaire not in thy afflictions and presume not to aduance worldly sorrow into the place of godly sorrowe and make not thy calamities thy Christ to lift thee vp to heauen Hauing learned that our calamities will not cōmend vs to God let vs do as the prophet here exhorteth Turne vnto the Lord our God Ier. 3. 1. Bloud cannot pacifie him but water can death cannot satisfie him yet teares can bodily plagues will not mooue him but spiritual sorrowes wil vengeance staieth him not but repentance will alter him Therefore turne vnto the Lorde Shall not wee thinke my deere brethren that all these iudgements which wee for these many yeeres haue endured haue wrought mightily in them and on them which were taken by them and is there yet an ende of them either in sight or in hope Haue not many souldiers fighting dying in their owne blood cried alowde in the eares of God Haue not many houses beene suddenly swept away with the pestilence Did not the Lord see it and if hee sawe it why did hee not pitie it and if hee pitied it why did hee not stay it haue not many hundreds in the first yeere of famine perished most miserably for want of bread whose cries must needs pearse the heauens and whose last gaspes might mooue him to pitie yet it hath continued some yeeres since Then may wee see and say if sufferings coulde haue satisfied the Lorde the blood of souldiers the liues of citizens the crie of poore men and the feare of all men might already long agoe haue pleased him but he will neuer be altered till we bee altered Therefore now let me remember you with Ioel Turne vnto me saith the Lord c. Alas alas our health is turned into sicknesse our liues into death our plentie into famine our peace into warres our mirth into mourning our store into want our people into perishing and our poore are turned into their graues and yet we haue not turned vnto the Lorde oh let vs turne before all be ouerturned Let vs fill our chambers with mourning rather then all our land be filled with howling let vs pray for repentance let vs sue for repentance let vs worke for repentance and bestowe all that we haue vpon repentance or else vengeance will come and take all away Another vse is this Rom. 8. 18. seeing God regardeth not our miseries then it followeth that all our sufferings are not woorthie of the life to come Art thou good then despise these worldly sorowes and hope for heauenly ioyes art thou an euill man then repent with speede least thy intolerable euils be turned into intolerable woe Wouldest thou by paine seeke aduauncement they deserue it not wouldest thou by paine bee amended then pray for repentance Oh how are we punished in this life nay rather how shall we be blessed in another life Couldest thou which liest in some strange torments bee content to end thy life in sorrowe to spende thy good for ease or to become any base seruant that thou mightest be released are thy paines so great so comfortlesse and so continuall yet for all this be not disquieted be not discouraged for anon thy ioyes may be farre more pleasant and continuall But why doe I spend time in vaine fearest thou any of those euils which happen in the world for thou canst not but feare all wherefore a Father said it is better to suffer one death and so to die then by liuing to feare all manner of deathes Then I say consider with thy selfe whether is greater thy sorrowes or thy comforts thy body or the heauens thy sufferings or the ioyes of the world to come there shall famine be banished warres shall be conquered sicknesse shall bee cured labour shall be ceased pouertie be forgotten enmitie shall be cooled paines shall be remooued teares shall be dried vp and death it selfe be euerlastingly destroied therefore suffer much to liue so labour much to die so and die in despite of death to raigne so All the miseries of this life are not worthie of this blessednesse but there is not any man liuing that can endure the one halfe of them therefore precious is the bountie of God who giueth vs this glorie for his promise not for our crosses nor yet for our vertues for our crosses are the deserts of sinnes and our vertues are imperfect goodnesse Thirdly in these words we may obserue the definition of repentance namely that it is a turning vnto the Lord so that so long as we are vnrepentant so long we goe from the Lord. I might also make many words on the metaphor turne and not without profit to shew you how our life is a iourney our faith the legs whereon we walke the scripture our guide the church our companion and heauen our waies end seeing all is done elsewhere I will not now stand vpon it Onely in these words I will vrge this that there is no repentance except the whole hart be changed it is not in good words nor yet in an outwarde good practise but in the motions and affections of the hart 1. King 8. 47 48. for this cause our Sauiour biddeth first cleanse that which is within and then that which is without As men doe first cleanse the inside of a vessell not the outside and then put goodnesse therein so must the hart which is a vessell be first cleansed or else all is vaine which the hande doth the mouth speaketh and the minde beleeueth Thy memorie must bee turned thy vnderstanding will and affections must bee changed thy memorie by remembring God and his truth thy vnderstanding by knowing God and his Gospell thy will by beleeuing God and his promises and thy affections by louing desiring meditating and reioycing in and on heauenly things and then is thy whole hart conuerted Some haue knowledge and vnderstanding but no sounde faith or sweete loue some againe loue but they want knowledge and so some haue a good will to the Gospell but they want memorie For the amending of all this follow my direction conferre and you shall haue memorie read and you shall haue knowledge heare and you shall haue faith pray often and you shal haue al good affections all which must be done before you can be saued The first
the Lorde and blesse the mourners Ezra 8. 23. There was neuer any man that was thus humbled and was not comforted We our selues haue had the trial hereof not long ago that great matters haue bin by this meanes effected And surely if it were more orderly practised neither shoulde the Lordes cause bee so coldly professed nor our liues so fearefully plagued Oh this fulnes of bread hath wrought all manner of mischiefe among vs it maketh mens liues licentious their manners monstrous their mindes wicked and their names odious The tauernes are fuller then the churches the pantries better furnished then the chapples the markets more adorned then any place is with religion men forget not the shambles but their maker and a stewarde or purueior or cater is more thought vpon then the minister The first vse heereof is this that when the Lorde is about to punish vs wee can neuer bee humbled sufficiently no though wee laie open our sinnes setting our liues to shame our health to sicknes our friends to hatred our wealth to pouertie or our brute beasts to mourne with vs Ion. 3. 8. Howe wilt thou nowe humble thy selfe to shewe thy penitent heart when thou seest that all meanes to increase thy sorrowe are little inough Doe not thinke that this is sufficient humilitie to come into the Lordes house and there to vncouer thy head and so sit downe rather as a iudge of repentance then a dooer of repentance or falling downe on thy knee speaking a fewe colde praiers or rather with a lukewarme desire dost thou rest therewithall contented but God is not contented with it nay rather vncouer thy heart with thy head and let thy minde fall downe as lowe as thy knee Strange is it to see that men are not halfe so humble to God as they be to their superiours If I might teach thee to liue penitently I woulde tell thee that thy life must be filled with feare thy heart with sorrowe thy labours with griefe thy comforts with mourning and thy minde must euer be considering the Lordes presence Thou must suspect thy meate least thou delight too much in it thou must feare thy expences least thou offende charitie thou must doubt of thy actions least they prooue hurtfull thou must hinder thy naturall affection least it exceed measure and looke that thy marriage-loue be not too much least you bee both endangered thy labour must not bee continuall thy sleepe must not be too ordinarie thy talke must not be too merrie neither maiest thou thinke thy selfe holy Let the word be as a cocke to awak thee let praier be as darknes to hinder thee let the cogitation of thy sinnes bee as sorrowfull newes in thy eares to trouble thee and then let wisedome rule in thy worldly actions A second vse is this that if we account our selues of the Lords bride-chamber let vs fast when time occasion calleth vs thereunto Mat. 9. 15. for if we fast not either we are no children or no obedient children If Vrijah would not rest in his bed nor in his house till Ioab the Lords hostes were at rest then let vs my beloued except we be woorse then Hittites fast in want not rest in trouble in these dangerous times wherein there hath not bin a creature of God but it crieth nor a childe of God but hee weepeth I am afraide to say that the bridegrome is taken from vs although I am assured we haue deserued it good men suspect it We haue as yet more practise of ioy then of sorrow although we haue more cause to weepe then to reioice thus we are merrie in our woe sorrie in our ioy Alas alas hard hearted men if men or rather vnreasonable beasts which gather the woode and blow the fire to burne themselues withall All time is become too little for pleasure no time is little enough for holines all costes goe to the kitchin none to religion so much eating drinking and so little fasting and praying must needes drowne vp that little goodnes that men had gained by liuing amōg christians til men can leaue their meat to serue the Lord they can neuer leaue their sins to saue their soules Fast I beseech you great men in their pallaces rich men in their houses poore men in their cottages men with their seruantes women with their maides and parents with their children for this kinde of euill will not bee cast out but by prayer and fasting The thirde circumstance of their repentance is mourning whereby the Prophet teacheth vs that a sorrowfull spirite doth accompanie a penitent hart 2. Corint 9. 10. for this cause Paul telleth vs that godly sorrow worketh repentance not to be repented of and Salomon 1. King 8. 35. calleth repentance the tribulation of the spirit Men in our daies woonder at this tribulation because it is so seldome for in deede if it were common then it would cease to be a woonder but yet it is a greater woonder that wee haue repentance so much preached and so little practised But seeing repentance bringeth so much sorrowe with it it may notably comfort those which are distressed in minde liuing in torments of conscience for the burden of sinne surely happy is their estate which are corrected with this rod whereby they are freed from sinne deliuered from wrath and reconciled to God The medicine that worketh most forcibly causeth greatest paine and speediest remedie in like manner those sauing woundes of Christ doe then most sweetely wipe away our sinnes when our mindes are most roughly gawled with a pricking conscience And therefore they cannot be saide to haue repented which affect nothing but pleasure and neuer in their life wept one teare for their sinnes or praied secretly for the distemper of their minds This is a grounded and infallible rule Without repentance there is no saluation without sorrow there is no repentance without earnest praier there is no godly sorrow and without feeling of the Lords wrath there is no praier that pearseth the skie or mooueth the Lord. The first reason of this doctrine is this because there is no comming to our Sauiour till wee bee oppressed Matt. 11. 28. Christ calleth not merrie harts or those that loue pleasure and mirth for this suiteth not with contrition but then is our way open to our Sauiour when our harts are as heauie as lead and our affections like the voices of mourning women And thus the Lord tempereth our estate that when we are lost in ourselues he findeth vs when we are weake he strengtheneth vs and when we are castawaies hee receiueth vs. Oh how happy are our oppressions which driue vs to God as the shipwracke droue Paul and his companions into Melitum where by that meanes many soules were woon to God Harken my deere brother dost thou sorrowe that it is thy hap to endure greefe nay reioice in thy sorrow that bringeth thee to Christ Sorrow is a guide to leade
sinne which they doe not in other corporall plagues Psal 74. 1. The wrath of God made our Sauiour to sweate water and blood which comming vpon men although they cannot sweate as he did because they cannot resist as he did yet they feele in themselues such terrible horrours as amaze the strong and confound the weake From hence it commeth that some in this extremitie thinke that all that they do is for their condemnation their meat drinke apparell health and libertie are vnto many weake minds tokens of the Lords wrath Indeed they which are burned with this iron thinke that euery house will ouerwhelme them and euerie leafe that falleth on the ground will hurt them the noyse of any thing doth trouble them and a sharpe worde almost killeth them Terrible is a life lead vnder such conflicts for euery howre threatneth a thousand deathes the hart euer accuseth the memorie witnesseth against it selfe his owne reason condemneth him and his continuall feare is his cruell tormentor The first vse Let vs not be discouraged in these woefull torments but take example by our Sauiour Christ who for the glorie that was set before him most patiently endured the greatest crosse A hell thou must needs haue thou canst not eschue it therefore chuse it in this world where thou shalt finde mercie with God comfort in his word and solace in his church in the world to come thou shalt haue none of these Make heere thy apprentiship vnto sorrows where thy friends may accompany thee thy praiers may quiet thee and thy ioyes may recompence thee Why art thou afraid that thou canst not abide such paines then looke vnto God the author and finisher of thy faith Art thou in doubt to suffer shippewracke and despaire then knowe that GOD tempteth none beyonde their power Are thy friendes against thee yet the Aungels are with thee Louest thou not sorrowes then shalt thou neuer gaine ioyes if thou wouldest haue learning thou must endure the rodde if thou wilt haue golde thou must crosse the seas if thou wilt bee famous thou must take much paines and if thou wilt haue heauen thou must winne it by repentance Art thou yet afraide of thy selfe and canst not willingly vndergoe it set before thee the paines of this life and the plagues of the other life these are temporall those are eternall these are sufferable those are intollerable these are among men those among diuels these come of loue those of wrath and to conclude God shall mittigate these but hee will augment and aggrauate them Howe canst thou auoide death no more canst thou auoide hell If thou wouldest neuer die thou must neuer be borne and if thou wouldest neuer repent thou must neuer liue Let repentance bee thy purgatorie sinnes thy paines sorrowes thy tormentors and saie with Elijah Poure on more water that God may the more be glorified in thy saluation The second vse is the same that Dauid maketh Psalm 31. 23. after hee had tolde of this great extremitie and howe the Lord did set him at libertie he calleth vpon al the godlie saying Loue yee the Lorde yee his saints for he preserueth the faithfull and rewardeth abundantly the euill dooers Hearken vnto this you sorrowfull doues of the Lord your cause is not wicked your case is not desperate and your hope shall not be frustrate for the Lorde will deliuer you Is it not as easie for him to free you from sinne as from hell and from sorrowe as from damnation Yes verily and therefore loue the Lorde if you bee his saints Loue him I saie and hee shall loue you nay hee loued you first and therefore loue him againe Hee loueth you for hee looketh still vpon you and doe you loue him by looking stil vnto him hee loueth you and watcheth for your safetie do you loue him watch in his praises Which of vs liuing that were born in his church cannot say that the Lord hath wrought wonders for his annointed Tell thy soule what the Lorde hath done for it howe hee cast out the diuell and planted his spirite howe hee freede it from wrath and gaue it grace how he gained it from vengeance gaue it repentance Repentance I say with waterie eies leane bodie mournefull minde and miserable wounded heart and now for all this thou liuest in greater peace Therfore loue yee the Lorde yee his saints loue him as your husbande you are his wife loue him as your father you are his children loue him as your God you are his creatures and loue him as your life you are his ofspring Labour for him you loue pray to him you loue thinke vpon him you loue reioice in him you loue and then die to liue with him you loue thinke it long till you see him thinke it little that you giue him count it woe to forsake him and count it blessednes to loue him After hee had told them what they shoulde doe nowe hee telleth them what they shoulde not doe namely Not cut their garments Wherein he rebuketh the follie raigning in their and our times when they vsed to rent their clothes what careth the Lorde for a newe garment agaie cloke or a costly pearle All these shall perish but he endureth for euer And therefore rent not your garments onely not meaning it to bee vnlawfull to shewe an outward token of sorrowe but hee blameth curiositie and hypocrisie without inwarde sinceritie such as was in the high priest when he heard Christ say hee was the sonne of God hee rent his garments From hence we may gather that outwarde holines is abhominable All such religion as is onely for fashion praying and receiuing the Sacraments hearing of sermons and such like for meere shewe and companie Esay 57. 3 4. And if it bee lawfull to say that men are onely cyphers in religion when they know little or nothing and practise euill then may wee saie that there are more cyphers then figures in our daies You shall knowe them bicause they come but nowe and then to church where they fetch many a fained sigh and speake many ignorant Amen thinking that the worship of the Sabbaoth lieth in putting on their best apparrell and yet simple soules they are perswaded they be as good christians as can be of flesh and bloud and so they bee as Christes disciples were when hee saide vnto them O yee of little faith how long shall I bee with you how long shall I suffer you and so wee may saie to them howe long shall this simplicitie bee called christianitie and howe long shall faith giue place to opinion and howe long shall euerie base person extoll vaine profession against true Religion Oh I woulde they coulde bee brought vnto vs that wee might cast out this diuell from them The reasons of this doctrine are these because the Lorde trying the secret disposition of euery hart pronounceth that he is wearie of such fained worship and that his soule abhorreth it Isai 12.
13. what a matter is this that our knee-praiers our lip-labours our Easter-communicants our time-seruing hearers and all of that broode whose deuotion is as hot as Iacobs stone should wearie the Lord with their vaine petitions their idle presence their outwarde reuerence and their temporall obedience that he abhorreth both them and theirs Whose toong shall perswade them of the truth hereof verily if the prophet Isay should come from the immediate presence of God with his toong purified by a Seraphim yet they would no more beleeue him then they doe vs except they feele the smart of their idlenesse Another reason because God doth not regarde temporall sorrowe for sinne as wee may see in Esau and Ahab and therefore much lesse that seruice which is but temporall and outwarde also And although Ahab was spared for his fained repentance yet it was but respited and the iudgement came notwithstanding whereby we may see how vnwilling is our mercifull father to take vengeaunce of our sinnes if there appeere in vs any small sparkles of grace or any remorse for punishment Let vs therefore learne that no visor can deceiue God and that there is no halting before him it is not our lifted vp eies our knocking of breastes our sighing our whipping our launcing fasting and pining that can satisfie the Lords expectation or minister any comfort vnto vs at the day of iudgement Let vs learne from hence that exhortation of the Apostle Gal. 6. 7. that we be not deceiued The maine point of religion is this that wee bee assured of life euerlasting What shall we be if wee bee deceiued if we haue ghesses in steede of knowledge wauering in steede of constancie weaknesse in steede of faith darknes in steede of light and vanitie in steede of diuinitie what are we but deceiued If we make Christ in our mouthes religion in our eies and mortification in a friday fast or Christianitie to continue no longer then while we be in the churches if we be not deceiued in this then were neuer any deceiued We deceiue our brethren with shadowes our God with shewes and our selues with sinne we deceiue our harts of knowledge our liues of holinesse and our soules of meate and life euerlasting Oh how doe men deceiue themselues and deceiue other when in the meane season the Lorde crieth out Be not deceiued What fooles are men to be so besotted with follies making hypocrisie their heauen Sathan their God and counterfeite religion their soules worship The Lorde hath sent strong delusion among men that they might be damned which receiued not the loue of the truth yea it is most equall that they should be damned by falshood which would not be ruled by truth Yet let vs take heede to our soules that we deceiue them not and mocke the Lord for the case is dangerous if we consider it and desperate if we fall into it We will sing in voice and we will sing in spirite euen so we will repent in hart and repent in teares let vs professe with the mouth that wee may bee saued and beleeue in the soule that we may bee iustified Let vs also receiue the exhortation of the Lord Isa 1. chap. that we wash our selues from dissimulation and haue the euill thereof remoued from vs. The filth of this sinne is so odious in the eies of God that vntill it be scowred off there is not any thing in vs that may satisfie his wrath or pacifie his displeasure Therefore if either the feare of his highnesse or the regarde of our owne soules may any way mooue vs to amendment let vs wash away this abhominable filthinesse It is but a painted hew the water will purge it it is like snowe the water will melt it and it resembleth hoare frost which the water dissolueth but I meane not the water of the earth but the blood of Christ for that is the onely medicine against hypocrisie Pray for it and thou shalt haue it wherewithall if it be once washed it shal neuer be defiled againe Flatter not thy selfe and rest not in the shew of holinesse but reforme thy soule throughly Of all sicknesse the falling euill is the worst for it maketh one seeme without life and so of all euill hypocrisie is the worst for it maketh men liue as if there were no God it defaceth good things it denieth religion for it maketh it to haue a harlots face mens liues it defileth and mens minds it corrupteth therefore bring not such a monster into the Lords sight which altereth all thy proportion and lineaments disfigureth the glorious gifts of God But of this thing we haue elsewhere spoken and now it sufficeth to touch it lightly Lord your God Now the prophet telleth them to whome this conuersion must bee made that is to God for whose sake onely men must repent From hence obserue that so long as wee are vnrepentant wee erre and runne away from God Psalm 119. 67. Vntill God called Adam so wrought repentance in him he hid himselfe from the sight of God and so doe all the posteritie of Adam flie from the Lorde as Ionah did vntill wee are repentant We abhorre his Gospell we deny his truth we renounce all goodnes so long as we are vnregenerate we speake euill of the things wee know not and corrupt our selues in the things we knowe Iud. 10. we eate in riot wee sleepe in pride we walke in pleasure and liue in vnthankfulnes Rich men aduaunce themselues aboue other poore men murmur against God yoong men liue in open sinne and old men die in wicked ignorance and all because they are not repentant Thus men wander some one way and some another and few or none the right way What maruell is it to see so many abhominations arise in the world seeing men run from the truth that is Christ forsake the light that is the spirit and die in miserable death because they haue departed from the life that is God Oh miserable men that cast themselues into such a sea of euils wherein the farther they wade the deeper they are plunged and the longer they go the harder they are reclaimed and if at any time they straine at any euill it is not for loue of God for him they haue forsaken but it is for shame of the world which they feare more then death The first reason is because of our selues we haue no knowledge of saluation neither can we inherite the kingdome of God Matth. 18. 17. whereby it is euident how little wee are able to do in any good thing but euery day waxe woorse and woorse And this may serue vs for a notable and lamentable spectacle to behold our vile nature which draweth vs the farther from God that it might drowne vs the deeper in condemnation If wee haue nothing in vs but good nature there is nothing in vs of God his grace we are not building timber but fire wood it is repentance that chuseth vs and squareth
vs and ioyneth vs to God The Lord in this worke is the builder the ministers are the carpenters the worde is the axe the griefe of heart is the stroke and regeneration maketh vs the frame otherwise we are stones refused of the builder Another reason because in our vnrepentant estate wee cannot please God Rom. 8. 8. seeing we cannot please him we run from him we forsake and denie him This would make ones hart to melt to consider that all actions not grounded on a new life doe swarue from God Some obiect if God did not like them they could not doe them So may a thiefe an adulterer or rauisher of women defend his iniquitie but it will not goe for payment for God suffereth you to follow your pleasures against his pleasure that your pleasures may taste of euerlasting paynes Therefore labour for repentance that you may be brought into the Lords sheepefold and be incorporated into his congregation and saued by his deerely beloued sonne then shall your waies be altered and your pleasures ouerturned and you shal pray with Christ Not our will but thy will O heauenly father bee done Being in an vnrepentant estate wee runne away from God yet let vs looke backe on God as Isay exhorteth Isa 45. 22. and then we shall be saued If thou be running from God through a lewd life giuing ouer thy selfe vnto libertie yet looke backe vpon him often the children of Israel if they were stoong by serpēts by looking on the brazen serpent recouered presently And although the sting of thy sinne is greater then the sting of adders yet the Lord is mightier and wholesomer then the brazen serpent therefore looke vnto him if thou wilt be healed Old Simeon so soone as he had seene Christ presently desired to die for ioy and Zacheus hauing but a minde to see him was made that day a notable christian Looke often on the Lord for by beholding him thou maist grow in loue with him wish continually to be with him as the Iewes which being captiues in Babell yet made their praiers toward Ierusalem Esau at the sight of Iacob fell to weeping loued him the better euer after so if thou wilt cast thy eies to heauen behold his glorie then looke vpon the world and see his gouernment then behold the earth and consider his benefits learne his Gospell and note his truth and life thy eyes to Christ to marke his mercie thou wilt surely turne the saile of thy wicked life and come with the Sabaean Queene to worship in his church Consider his workes for they defend thee thinke vpon his iudgements for they threaten thee marke well his kindnes for it maintaineth thee and beleeue his worde for it shall conuert thee cast but one of thy eies vpon the Lord and thou shalt winne him looke often vpon him least minde and eies be both blinded and neuer see him more Another vse wee must lament the plague of our sinnes raigning among vs Isa 59. 9. 10. when the Prophet had shewed them their danger he bringeth them in mourning on this wise Therefore is iudgement farre from vs neither doth iustice come neere vs we waite for light but loe it is darkenes we grope for the wall like the blinde grope as one without eies we stumble at the noone day as in the twilight we are in solitary places as dead men we roare allike beares mourn like doues c. Thus must men that are not yet regenerate re count their miseries after they heare them condemned by the word saying vnto themselues Howe blinde are our eies that we cannot see the glorious light of the Gospell wee are quite forsaken of the Lorde who keepeth vs from beleeuing of his truth wee haue no power to performe the least part of that Gospell to walke in any tollerable obedience sanctification goeth against the haire and though we like it yet wee cannot doe it wee see that hee that refraineth from euill maketh himselfe a praie therefore let the Lord come and reforme our liues and adorne our mindes with righteousnes that wee may bee deliuered from this slauerie of sinne let him turne the heartes of children to their fathers and turne our course vnto himselfe Moreouer think what deadnes is in your soule what sinfulnesse is in your life and what wrath of God hangeth ouer your heads for assuredly except you confesse in this sort you shall be confounded before you be conuerted Let your harts be awaked betimes that wrath ouertake you not and let whatsoeuer may further you to God although it be shame or iudgement or nakednes or pouertie or death bee most speedily receiued The xxij Sermon YOur God After all this preaching of repentance nowe hee beginneth to comfort their distressed mindes which coulde not but be grieued grieuouslie and therefore he putteth them in minde that the Lord is their Lorde and God Howe may this bee if he be theirs then they are his and will he suffer them to bee made a pray vnto brute beasts and to make the heauens to thunder their destruction what comfort haue they by his seruice or what pleasure hath he in their cries verie much for sometimes a tender nurse and louing mother wil make hir childe weepe bitterly that it may loue hir the better so the Lorde to trie his owne casteth them into a bed of sorrowes From hence wee must gather that in our greatest calamitie and aduersitie God is our mercifull God Artthou tormented with sorrowe that it is bitter to thee to liue and better for thee to die or art thou vexed with sore sicknes and intollerable imprisonment hast thou no meat for thy selfe and thy tender babes and seest thou a whole nation in an vprore yet for all this acknowledge with Dauid Psalm 22. 1. that God is thy God although thou seeme forsaken Oh sweete mercy of a father and glorious condition of a sonne whom no pouertie no miserie no iniquitie can part in sunder though he chasten vs yet he loueth vs though wee be helpelesse yet hee remembreth vs though we be in death yet he saueth vs. God is euermore the father of his church and of euery member therein he scorneth not their parentage he refuseth not their pouerty he regardeth their sufferings and desweth their saluation Let vs then say with Iob that although hee slaie vs yet we will trust in him death shall not driue vs in sunder but conioyne vs togither The reasons are First bicause in prosperitie he will bee knowne to maintaine vs and in aduersitie to comfort vs Esay 51. 12. If men would or coulde vndergoe all the former euils without comfort then might they haue some colour torefuse and distrust God but they are not able neuer is any man at one time distressed in bodie and distracted in minde or oppressed outwardly and not comforted inwardly If thy minde be heauie thinke on the comforts of this life if thy bodie bee vexed then confider
the quietnes of thy minde if both be grauelled togither then comfort thy selfe bicause thou liuest And so thou shalt see one staffe to beate thee and another to defende thee one cause to punish thee but a greater to comfort thee Then denie not God although thy comfort seeme small for that begger were worthie of stripes which woulde raile on a gentleman giuing him a grote which was able to giue him a crowne Another reason God hateth them that crie out against him Ier. 12. 8. Now how can we more blasphemously crie against him then when wee traitorously denie him for if we acknowledge not him to be ours then wee denie our selues to bee his wherein wee shake off all obedience and spit in his face O consider what a thing it is to make the Lorde to hate vs the worlde will laugh at vs the church will defie vs the angels will not defende vs but the diuell will haue vs for he watcheth for the Lordes hatred as a rauen doth for a bullockes death or the butchers slaughter day We cannot preuaile by complaining against God for to whom shall wee appeale therefore if we would preuaile let vs complaine of our selues that he may be iustified and we acquited Let vs take heede that wee tempt not God in our miseries for hee will take vengeance of the sinnes we commit in aduersitie Ezech. 20. 15. The Israelites being in the wildernes without drinke hauing the whole world to bee their enimies their number being great and their miseries being many yet the Lord made their owne bloud to wash away their murmuring And let not vs tempt the Lords power as they did nor yet lightly esteem these mercies we enioy being wearie of patience and grudging at our poore estate neither let our weake wits or sicke bodies excuse our follies for we see the Lord will plague vs with one miserie after another Some are of this minde that they thinke they may be borne withall if they goe awrie in aduersitie as to lie to sweare to steale to be absent willingly from sermons because they bee poore or lame or sicke or light-witted but they are farre deceiued for it is not lawfull to doe euill that they may be well If a stubborne sonne feeling his fathers rod shall reuile him he will punish him the more so God will punish vs the more if we abuse him in our aduersitie Iob was more blamed for his vnaduised speeches in the time of his trouble then for all the vanities of his former life Therefore my deere brethren let vs be aduised how we murmur against the Lord notwithstanding our aduersitie for the Lord will not holde him guiltlesse that presumeth on his mercie or despaireth of his goodnesse let not our wordes be stout against him that we defie him or too base that wee should forget him Another vse we knowe the Lord doth multiply our miseries to the intent that we should more earnestly seeke after him Hos 5. 15. He giueth vs the more stripes that wee shoulde giue him the more praiers hee encreaseth our sharpe sufferings that we should encrease our bitter weepings and for this cause he punisheth vs that he might bee knowen to be our God What then will some say hath he no other meanes to manifest his iurisdiction and to challenge our liues to himselfe then by laying on a loade on our backes of intolerable miseries To whome I answere that he hath moe meanes to worke it then any liuing are able to shew it but this meanes liketh him best especially after men haue forsaken him It is lawfull for him to crush their bones into powder their flesh into peeces their blood into dung and their liues into death if it please him and most blessed is their estate that are thus aduaunced by him Now then learne if thou haue tasted of the sower cup of sorrowe to flie to God more speedilie and to entreate him more earnestly He hideth himselfe that we shoulde seeke him he runneth from vs that wee should runne after him hee casteth vs off that wee should make account of him he it is that bringeth vs into danger that we might knowe he will deliuer vs out of danger We are taught by experience we are reclaimed by correction wee are purged by his rod and he taketh from vs our delight that wee might come to him for delights Let vs therefore goe out of our selues much more out of our houses to seeke his presence which is euery where his benefites which are generall and our owne happinesse in the valley of teares neuer giuing ouer till wee haue found him whome our soule loueth For he is gracious Now we are come to the reasons which the prophet vseth to perswade him to repentance which are set downe in this verse and in the next in this verse taken from the adiuncts or properties of God in the next they are taken from his effects or works His properties are described to be these fower gracious mercifull long suffering and repenting him of the euill whereof euery one hath a singular waight to perswade men to repentance By the first hee meaneth plentifull in giftes by the seconde readie to forgiue sinners by the thirde waiting for their conuersion by repentance by the fourth the changing of his iudgements threatened So that the prophet might thus reason with them Repent O ye men of Iudea for the Lord hath many blessings in store doe not loose them hee is most readie to pardon you doe not refuse it for he hath and doth tarrie long for your amendment abuse not his patience and it may be if you will repent these lamentable miseries shall be all reuoked Againe can you not repent the Lord is gracious he will helpe you with his spirite Are you afraide it will be in vaine noe he is euermore entreated Thinke you it is too late that cannot bee for he is long suffering Feare you that your land and liues shall bee yet destroied his promises notwithstanding I tell you plainly you shall no sooner repent of your sinnes but hee will change his minde and repent him of the euill By the first word gracious let vs learne that all the spirituall and temporall giftes of God do call vs to repentance Deut. 4. 33 38 40 Repentance being a thing so needefull as without it none can bee saued the Lorde hath made as many preachers thereof as he and all his creatures are If wee looke vp to him wee see his grace that putteth vs in minde of repentance if we looke to his creatures marke for whom they were made that is for vs then they ouercome vs if how they were made by the vnspeakable power of God then they dismay vs if we consider their estate sometime seene and somtime not seene somtime pleasant and sometime not pleasant sometime glorious and anon troubled all this will teach vs to bee troubled for sinne Thou changest thy garments then change thy life thou seest the earth
his heart my master deferreth his comming and shall begin to strike his fellowes and to eate and drinke with the drunken the Lorde of that seruant shall come in a day that he knoweth not and giue him his portion with vnbeleeuers O my beloued we are those seruants that haue secured our selues from wrath and thinke still it will not come yet Looke on our manners are they not drunken looke on our faith is it not idle looke on our care is it not vnprofitable looke on our liues and see if wee bite not oneanother from the throne to the footestoole none can escape vs. Doe we not abuse the patience of God which shoulde make vs resolute in repentance and it maketh vs dissolute in religion Wee say with the wicked priestes To morrowe shall bee as to daie and much more and with the heathen Psalm 10. Truely the Lorde regardeth not neither is there knowledge in the most high O miserable soules thus plagued that turne all thinges against themselues O let nothing delight vs but the presence of the Lord of hostes who is come downe into our lande and waiteth for our repentance Let vs giue him our sinnes we haue committed and our liues we haue to spende and our soules wee haue to saue that he may spare our bloud and take our lamentation Againe let vs seeke the Lorde while he may bee founde and call vpon him while hee is neere at hande Esay 55. 6. seeing hee dwelleth among vs and this is the time of long suffering nowe let vs runne after him day and night as Obadiah did after Eliah and neuer cease seeking till we haue founde him In seeking for the Lord we ought to haue a single eie a simple heart a cleane hande and a swift foote that wee may easilie see him earnestly desire him speedilie runne after him and reuerentlie laie holde on him Alas alas wee liue in an age wherein men will not trauaile to finde either God or grace except it fall into their mouthes if the Lorde lacke but one of his sheepe hee neuer ceaseth till he haue founde him againe but wee coulde abide to want him if wee might enioy our pleasures all the daies of our life Seeke for him in his temple goe to him in thy soule and pray to him in heauen for hee calleth vnto thee saying Open vnto me for the night hath watered my locks c. Seeke him as the Lorde doth his sheepe as the merchant did his pearle as the woman did her grote as the sicke man doth his phisition and as the disciples did Christ Hee is in thy house there seeke him hee is in thy field there seeke him he is in thy closet there seeke him and he is in thy hart there keepe him His time is but short his departure will be sudden his patience will be wearie and he will bee gone onely he tarrieth a little therefore if euer nowe run out to follow him And repenteth him of the euill This is the last argument whereby the prophet perswadeth them to repent because God will repent the euill that he threatened not that God indeede repenteth by correcting of himselfe for that cannot be seeing all his workes are yea and Amen 2. Cor. 1. 20. he is also vnchangeable and with him is no shadow of turning Iam. 1. 17. although the world change and the heauens waxe olde as a garment yet the Lord abideth the same for euer Psal 102. 18. but this is a phrase according to our capacitie for when wee change our mindes we repent in a sort so when the Lord seemeth to alter his purpose he sheweth as if hee repented Why then some will say if the Lord alter his purpose then hee changeth and why did he here tell the people that all this miserie should come vpon them and yet if they will it shall not Vnto which I answere that the first purpose of God shall euer stand for hee foreseeth and decreeth the ende but many times to trie our faith and to shewe his loue he propoundeth prophetically that is with condition of repentance the same which hee will neuer doe Howe then will you say shall we knowe his pleasure verily if two things bee propounded the one certaine the other vncertaine as here was repentance and iudgement let vs take the first and abide the last that is let vs embrace that which is certaine and let the vncertaine goe free Neither let vs be lesse carefull to please God because his iudgements bee conditionall but rather more careful to performe the condition least we feele the obligation God will repent him of the euill that is he will stay the euill that shall come vpon you From hence let vs obserue that the Lord is vnwilling to take vengeance of our sinnes Ezech. 33. 11. As I liue saith the Lord I will not the death of a sinner he willeth it not but he saith not I decree it not and if he decree it I dare not say hee doth it against his will and if hee both will and decree it I cannot say he dealeth vniustly for we may see in the scriptures that none can tell the reasons of his will or the cause of his decree or excuse the fall of man by the ordinance of God this I onely touch by the way for other haue more effectually laboured therein to whom I referre you And in this wee may see a notable testimonie of the loue of God that he will rather silence his iustice then his mercie and although we be at the very brinke of destruction if we repent he will repent If the Lord did take any pleasure in our harmes why then did hee crucifie his sonne sending abroad the ministers with his scriptures warning vs before hand of our end These doe shew vs that he is as vnwilling to punish our faultes as a father is to punish his sonne All this graunted let vs not dreame of an immunitie that we are vtterly exempted and be at libertie to doe whatsoeuer pleaseth vs for although hee bee a tender father yet hee is a wise father and knoweth that correction is as needefull as instruction It is no matter to vs if we be condemned either with the will or without the will of God for it commeth all to one ende our plagues and paines are neuer the lesse The reason hereof because God hath a naturall loue to all his creatures Psal 38. 6. the works of his hands are deere vnto him and for the worke of creation he loueth and spareth them By this we may see as Ezech. 33. 12. if ye turne all your transgressions shall neuer remooue his fauour from you What can bee more generall then that all shall be forgotten or more comfortable then that not one sinne shall bee remembred and if they bee not remembred saith Austen they are not imputed and if they bee not imputed they are pardoned Bee not afraide to come to the Lorde for thou seest hee will lay nothing to thy
doe not alway mooue him and shall we then tempt him to our and others euerlasting destruction in his wrath hee is an vnquenchable fire an vnresistable flood an vnpacifiable iudge and a destroyer of all that come in his way But alas with teares we may lament to see him prouoked euery day who is so sicke that sinneth not against him who is so weake that striueth not with him who is so vnwise that pleadeth not with him Looke with teares ouer all sorts of men the poore despise him the lame run from him the blinde come not at him the dumbe speake against him the rich will not feare him and the dead will not confesse him By all meanes we prouoke his wrath by tempting by murmuring by denying by abusing and abasing his glorie We tempt him in thinking he will pardon whatsoeuer we commit we murmur when wee haue not all our desires we denie him when we esteeme not his gospell we abuse him vsing our wealth to luxurie and our meate to gluttonie and wee abase him when wee more feare a mortall mans displeasure then the wrath of the highest When we see the Lord being angrie and so hardly pacified let vs vse all meanes to please him againe although it bee with the hazard of our owne liues as Moses did Deut. 9. 18 19. perceiuing the Lord to be mooued to wrath he fell downe on his face to entreate him for his people tarrying with him fortie daies and fortie nights neither eating nor drinking yea he desired God to be pacified with his people although he rased his name out of the booke of life What coulde bee done with greater zeale or more earnest affection the Lorde was angrie who coulde appease him but Moses and how could he be satisfied but with offering his body to death through fasting and his soule vnto condemnation Marke it I beseech you that we al learne with more zeale to entreate the Lord to be turned towarde vs. Offer we must our bodies to pining our members to tortures our health to sicknesse our wealth to pouertic our pleasure to paine and our life to death rather then the wrath of God shoulde proceede vpon vs. Oh let vs come vnto the Lord and offer him his whole man to satisfie his mercies neither be afraide to doe so but put it in speedie practise Come to him though thou be lame run to him though thou be blinde pray to him though thou be sicke and trust in him though thou be poore Abide not one miserie but all miseries that thou maist dwell with him neither care for the rage of man the want of maintenance the loue of friends or the feare of death for if thou loue these more then him thou art not woorthy of him Hauing willed the sucking babes to come to mourning he also inuiteth the new married folkes bridegroomes and brides to leaue of their vsuall dalliance and come among their neighbours to this sorrowfull banket From whence we obserue that wee must not in any thing be it neuer so lawfull hinder true repentance or the profession of godlinesse For there is nothing more honaurable then marriage more lawfull then a wedding feast more vsuall then pleasant mirth and more commendable then a ioyfull marriage day but all these being hinderances vnto repentance must bee laide aside as a mourner doth his daily attire Wee may reade Luc. 14. 21. how they were cursed that came not to the Lords feast among whome there was one that had married a wife it shall be no excuse before the Lord that they did but the course of the world in vsing these things it were better for vs to forsake our wiues then to loose our soules to renounce our mirth then to relinquish our liues to deferre our pleasure then to depart from the Lord. Let this I beseech you be your care in the Lord that you offend him not in the vse of his creatures neither let those comforts which you receiue in wedlocke in feasting in riches in beautie and the like worke your euerlasting discomfort in another worlde Liue not in mirth for then thou canst not repent reioice not in youth for it is but vanitie distrust thy ioyes for they are deceitfull be not alway mourning for thou canst not be thankfull bee euer repentant that thou maiest bee faithfull One reason heere of is giuen by the Lorde himselfe Ierem. 7. 34 bicause a desolation shall come and of all reasons there is none more forcible then the rod of vengeance and desolation so that in this sort might Ieremy and Ioel and other the Lordes ministers reason with the worlde Laie away your mirth let not the voice of musicke the day of marriage the means of ioyfulnesse or the comfort of pleasure bee had or heard among you for a desolation shall come Drawe the childe from the breast the elders from their ease the married from their loue and the people from their vanitie for a desolation commeth Houses shall be desolate without inhabitants parents shall be desolate without children cities shall be desolate without citizens and whole kingdomes shall bee desolate without professors Therefore put away this ioy like an vnlawfull wife come againe to the Lord with much weeping and reioice not in thy youth or thy age or thy wealth or thy friends or thy marriage Another reason bicause by this kinde of mirth we growe to hardnes of hart and neglect the wrath of God Amos 6. 1 5. It is much that men esteeme not the faire promises and sweete blessings of God but yet it is more fearefull when they make light account of his heauy iudgements Now if you marke who they be that care not for iudgement you shall see that they are those who eate in abundance liue in pleasure enioying wealth and children at their will and want is not knowne vnto them Againe poore people liuing in continuall scarsitie and are content with simple allowance hauing learned the feare of God a shower of raine and a cloudie day humbleth their knees to the earth and lifteth their praiers to heauen Let vs learne not to reioice in any vnlawfull manner all the time that the church of God is in aduersitie Psal 137. 2 3 4. Good men in captiuitie commanded by their enimies to sing one of the songs of Sion refused it bicause they were in a strange lande and so if we hope for mirth and ioy in another worlde let vs refuse it as much as may be in this life present for we be but strangers and pilgrims on the earth And verily if wee consider the matter well we haue as many causes to lament olde and yoong married and vnmarried as these people had to whom Ioell preached Famine was threatned to them but felt of vs they were vnder the Babylonian gouernment and we are subiect to the tyrannie of sathan they had abused manie benefites and prophets of God and so haue we they had reioiced in many worldly pleasures and
wicked pastimes and so haue we they were warned to turne all into lamentation and so must we be Therefore if now you looke on the miserie of our time you shall finde it high time for all to be humbled Let the elders beginne the yoonger will followe yea the little children will crie for companie Let vs all take vs to the houses of mourning olde men bicause they haue seene good daies yoong men bicause they haue liued ill liues and children bicause they are appointed to fearefull destinies parents bicause they haue begotten sinne children bicause they were borne in sinne rich men bicause they haue gathered much married folke bicause they haue loued too much and poore men bicause these daies are but the beginning of sorrows Death calleth for the old let them weepe age calleth for the yoong let them bee sorrowfull correction calleth for children let them crie warres call for strong men let them lament and repentance calleth for all men therfore let al mourne But some will say doe you condemne all mirth that is vsed in our times and shall we liue eate drinke marrie and die in continuall sorrow then can we not account it anie benefite to liue in the world To whom I answere that this is no where commanded that men should so liue in continuall sorrowe but rather Eccl. 2. 24. Salomon saith That it is the onely portion of a man to reioice in the things that God giueth him for all men in health shall conceiue a naturall ioy by their eating drinking as Bohaz Ruth 3. 7. and Salomon saide That wine maketh glad the heart of man the which is lawefull for Christians and necessarie for health Againe there is another ioy which is spirituall and heauenlie which is called the ioy of the holie Ghost Rom. 14 17. This maketh all our afflictions seeme light and little to be regarded Rom. 5. 7. and without this inward ioy one can hardly be a christian the which is neuer lost though we endure neuer so many torments yet in repentance it is darkned and seemeth vtterly gone howbeit it returneth againe with greater measure as the sunne rising But whether naturall ioye bee lost in repentance it is hard to say for sometime a hart that is humbled hath no more ioy in meate and drinke then a sicke person As for carnall ioies which are inuented by iniquitie practised with greedines and loued with too much affection they are neither lawfull or necessarie for a christian and whosoeuer receiueth any comfort by them hee may iustly suspect that his sorrowe was not godly but some other heauie conceit which is easily remooued by company or ioy conceiued of pleasure The xxv Sermon Vers 17. Let the priests the ministers of the Lorde weepe betweene the porch and the altar and let them say Spare thy people ô Lord and giue not thine heritage into reproch that the heathen should rule ouer them Wherefore should they say among the people where is their God NOw the prophet sheweth vnto the priests how they must behaue themselues namely that they should weepe and hee telleth them the place betwixt the porch and the altar that is in the vtter court where the people waited for the blessing after the sacrifice For the people must now be gathered as we haue heard and it was not lawfull for them to come within the precincts of the priests wherefore the priestes must come foorth to them and in their place and assembly make their lamentation By the description of this place for the priestes to weepe and pray in we may note that all the publike exercises of the ministerie ought to be done in a place where the people may heare and see them and for this cause are they commaunded to weepe betwixt the porch and the altar So wee may read did Iehoshaphat 2. Chro. 20. 5. when hee made prayer for the people against the children of Moab and Ammon I thinke there is not any in their right mind but they will confesse the necessitie hereof except those which care not whether they pray for or against themselues standing aloofe in the Church as if they were afraid to heare what the preacher saith Let men therefore labour not only to pray but to come with diligence into the Lords house and publique place of praier where they must bestow thēselues with such care as they may pray when the pastor prayeth and heare when the word is preached that there be not one in a congregation but hee may depart better instructed and better edified The first reason because they can haue no knowledge of that which they heare not and vnderstand not 1. Cor. 14 15 16. alas it is a maruell to see that so many haue so little regarde what is prayed or taught in the congregation especially the poorer sort who are thrust behinde the doores in the greater assemblies by which it commeth to passe that all that is taught is little regarded and whatsoeuer is prayed for is coldly desired it is your duetie to presse into the middest of the assembly that you may hear vnderstand the mysteries of saluation modestie in chusing places is not to bee regarded where danger followeth too much curtesie Another reason in a conuenient place of hearing our harts are more touched and awaked by the word Act. 1. 13 14. there can bee no zeale in them that cannot heare the voice of the preacher neither any reuerence to almightie God and it is much better that they come not at all or depart out of the church then to sit there without obedience to God attention to the word or profit to their owne soules Let vs therefore so sorte our selues in the congregation where our eares may be beaten with an vnderstanding sounde and our hearts bee touched with a heauenly power that the coales of zeale may bee enflamed and the light of knowledge may be kindeled Therefore let this bee the forme of a congregation that the minister so speake and the people so heare that with one soule their praier may ascende to heauen and so wee may reade Acts. 4. 24. that the Apostles with one consent lift vp their voices to God and the place shooke where they were assembled one spake and all agreed their eares were attentiue to his wordes and all their harts were lifted vp at once to the Lord. The which honourable practise commendeth a congregation when as they being many make but one man at praier as the wheate-cornes being many make but one loafe at table Our Sauiour hath taught vs that if two or three shall agree on any thing in earth the same shall bee sealed and confirmed in heauen Agreement in battle getteth victorie consent in a common weale maketh peace vnitie in musicke maketh harmonie and the fellowship in praier conquereth the diuell getteth peace of conscience and soundeth sweetely in the eares of God Therefore if euerthou come into the place of any godly exercise ioyne thy mouth
our selues neuer so sinful Psal 9. 9 10. although we bee neuer so poore in spirit yet let vs know that ours is the kingdome of heauen So that if thou reason with the diuell himselfe who will if it be possible deceiue thy soule telling thee that thou art more vile then others and therefore it is but follie for thee to call on God for mercie yet say to thy soule that the Lord neuer despiseth the sighings of the poore although I haue sinned yet I haue sorrowed although I haue neglected grace yet with the Lord there is more grace be it that I haue no goodnesse in me the more neede haue I to goe to God the author of goodnesse Men seeke not to the phisition in health but in sicknesse and the more desperate is their disease the more speedily they sollicite him and a good phisition commeth quickly so I want the health of my soule and I see death standing at the doore and knocking for me therfore my praier shall goe to the Lord my physition and I knowe that he will speedily come vnto me He abhorreth not my weakenesse he hateth not my person he willeth not my destruction and therefore wil I pray for saluation I am exceeding base but he will bende to me I am very poore but he will giue mee the riches of the spirite I am a sinner and he is a Sauiour why shoulde I not goe vnto him and fall downe lowe vpon his footestoole for hee neuer despiseth the sighing of the contrite Giue not thine heritage That is the people whom thou diddest take vnto thy self aboue al the nations of the world from hence we may obserue as in a singular metaphor how deere the church is vnto God Deut. 4. 20. euen as deere as any mans inheritance is to himselfe for indeed an inheritance doth very fitly resemble and shadow out vnto vs the nature and condition of the church First because it is not woorth any thing except a man do plant sow the same and so is it in the church wherin if the Lord plow not and sow not there can no good thing grow therein Againe an inheritance is sometimes sold away for the barrennes thereof so when the church groweth secure and bringeth not foorth good fruits the Lord giueth it ouer for a season to be spoyled by strangers Againe if an inheritance will no way be amended then is it accursed and burned Heb. 6. 8. so if no means will reclaime the world from their wicked life then he accurseth them and giueth them ouer to the fire of hell Also as a man taketh singular comfort in his inheritance so the Lord doth in his church and as a man hedgeth and encloseth his inheritance to keepe it from being wasted euen so the Lord hath set a brazen wall about his church the which all the diuels in hell shall neuer be able to ouerthrow but men and angels shall fight for their safegarde and maugre sinne and hell they shall endure as the earth doth euen for euer and euer The first reason because hee might powre his blessing on it Esa 19. 25. for hee hauing many most excellent benefits in store hath made choise of his church to powre foorth all that he hath thereupon for whether we consider the blessings of this life or the benefits of the life to come they are all ordained for the good of them that be godly He is wise to instruct vs he is mightie to defend vs he is liberall to maintaine vs he is mercifull to receiue vs for our sakes were the heauens created the earth established the waters remooued and the fruits appointed for our sakes were the angels condemned the sonne of God crucified and the age and yeeres of the world is plunged Another reason because we should be holy vnto him Deut. 19. 2. Of all the creatures of this worlde there is none that can bee holy vnto the Lord saue onely mankinde for they are the image of God and if the lande whereupon Moses stood was holy much more is the land of our harts holy whereupon the Lord himselfe standeth for he raigneth in vs. And this is the cause why the Lorde hath made vs his inheritance that we should serue him in holines and righteousnes all the daies of our life for the heauens are holy whither wee are going the angels are holy with whom we shall dwell the church is holy wherein we liue and therefore we must bee holy or else we are accursed Seeing we are the inheritance of God purchased by his sonne then let not any of vs liue to our selues but to him that redeemed vs 2. Cor. 5. 15. how many waies might I vrge this doctrine that as the earth beareth not fruit for it selfe but for vs so should not we eate the fruits of our owne labours but offer them to the Lord. Our harts are the grounds our bodies are the hedges God his law is the plough the worde is the seede and himselfe is the husbandman Oh let vs not be ploughed and planted in vaine let vs not frustrate the Lords expectation and our soules saluation If we were but seruants yet we ought to worke for our hire but being his inheritance we must liue and die day and night to beare him fruit wee cannot put him away but he may put vs away our fruits do not profit him and yet the want of them will curse vs. Let vs not be for the weedes of sinne nor for pleasures to feede on as bullockes do on pasture-land but let vs bee his garden of sweete flowers his vineyard of fruitfull grapes his field of fine planted wheat and his possession for an euerlasting inheritance Let our words be as gratious fruit let our religion be as pretious pearle let our loue be as rockes of golde and let our bodies bee as fruitfull garners let vs bring him all for first fruits tenthes and offerings and sacrifices that we may be his blessed land vnto the worlds end Another vse seeing we are the Lords inheritance we may see that the Lorde will be very hardly driuen to forsake vs for he gaue a lawe Numb 27. that none shoulde sell awaie their inheritance but at the ende of fiftie yeeres euery one should reclaime thereunto So that if the Lord shall giue ouer his inheritance as hee did Israell Hos 5. 15. the case is very desperate but not perpetuall A man that hath manie barren fieldes doth not presently sell them away no more the Lorde which hath many barren soules in the compasse of his church doth presently forsake them but rather dresseth them by the ministerie of the worde that they may be made fruitefull Oh heare this you that are in the Lordes folde although he beare for a season with your barren hearts and suffer you manie yeeres to lie in rest thinking at the last you will bring him some profit bring it foorth with speede or else knowe that the Lorde which redeemed you from
hell will once againe commit and bequeath you to condemnation as the fruitles fig tree was Thinke not your selues happie that you liue so long before you bee called to beare for verily long agoe were you appointed and called to yeelde him his haruest If therfore you wil not striue to yeeld it thinke that God wil reape where he did not sowe and gather where he did not lende and hee will tarrie no time for the figge tree bore no fruit bicause the time of fruites was not come yet was it reprobated So if God come to thee although thou neuer were able to yeelde him any commoditie yet he will regarde himselfe and not thee his expectation and not thine his glory and not thy welfare for he which is hardlie prouoked is more hardly pacified neither sparing in his rage man woman beast or angell That the heathen These wordes containe another grounde of their praier wherein they desire that the Lorde woulde spare them least that by reason of famine they shoulde be driuen to the Lordes enimies for succour or else they feared that when their scarsitie shoulde bee noised abroade the heathen woulde come conquer them From hence we may obserue that there is not any thing more odious to godly mindes then that the heathen idolatrous men without religion should rule ouer them Psal 74 4 5. As it is vnnaturall and dangerous that men shoulde bee ruled by beastes sheepe by woolues and little birdes by the great hauke euerie minute threatening to teare them in peeces so is it when good men are driuen through want or warre or loue or feare of life to seeke harbour among the enimies of God Well they know that their libertie is woorse then imprisonment and that the highest place of dignitie among the wicked is inferior to the lowest in the church of God as Dauid saide I had rather keepe a dore in the house of God then to dwell in the tents of wickednes What pleasure haue we of sight liuing in darknes or of health liuing in imprisonment or of strength liuing in bondage or of meate liuing in sickenes and no more shall we haue of all worldly things when we are in the lande of heathens The first reason bicause in the dominion of the wicked there is no conscience of bloode or care of equitie Ezech. 22. 27. They turne their subiects to slauerie their widowes to destruction their children to beggerie and they send heapes of dead carkeises at one time to the graue they care not for religion neither respect the king of heauen and earth Although the streetes flowe with bloode and the liuing be not sufficient to burie the dead yet if they may raigne they care not Life and liuing and honestie is nothing woorth among them They denie God persecute his church and burne his worde most wickedly they regard not olde men rauish women and murther children villanouslie They take away houses landes rentes goods patrimonies and wiues from them that possesse them and therefore there is no greater crosse then to liue vnder the gouerment of a heathen Another reason bicause their wickednes shall be a continuall heart-burning vnto them 2. Pet. 2. 7. Psalm 120. 5. Their eares shall heare their blasphemies their eies shall see their idolatrie and their liues shall feele their treacheries All thinges shall bee lawfull among them saue goodnes for nothing is lawfull that tendeth to godlines Oh how will this grieue a godly soule to heare his Sauiour reuiled true religion slandered the godly to be hated the worlde to bee loued the diuell to bee worshipped and heauen to bee neglected Hee must not speake for feare of death he must not pray but in secret hee shall not dare to disclose himselfe hee shall finde no neighbours nor friends nor followers nor comfort among them The first vse Let vs therefore forsake the fellowship of vnbeleeuers Esay 52. 12. whose presence is damnable whose liues are abhominable whose profession is execrable and whose ende is condemnation of these the worlde is filled and yet we must auoide them Let vs not bee defiled with their sinnes nor corrupted with their manners nor allured with their pleasures but go out from the middest of them They are hated of God possessed of diuels bewitched with vanities and professed miscreants Howe shall wee loue God and dwell among them but either the anger of God or the loue of the worlde or the baite of lustes or the inchantments of vanities will drawe vs away Oh let vs take our selues to desolate places and rather dwell with the brute beastes then with these godles persons we cannot trust them we may not liue with them we must flie from them or else be condemned among thē therefore put them from your houses and from your tables and from your conference and from your friendship I knowe you woulde bee ashamed to bee seene daily conuersing with an open and shamelesse harlot therefore much more be ashamed and forsake their company whose liues are like beasts whose hearts are like heathens whose faces are like harlots and whose actions proceed of euill I tell you their waies do leade vnto death and their lodgings are chambers of hell Where is nowe their God That is either they are not the Lordes people that are thus afflicted or else their God is no God that cannot deliuer them From hence wee may gather that it is the propertie of wicked men if they get aduantage against a professour of religion then presently they turne it against God himselfe and fall to reuiling his glorious maiestie Psal. 74. 10. So in our times if any haue any small profession of religion and doe fall into the handes of the worlde then presentlie they scoffe and scorne and laugh and deride Christ the Gospell religion and all the followers thereof If they happen to be poore why wil an atheist say canst thou not get thy liuing by hearing of Sermons If they bee rich men their faults shall be aggrauated The reason heereof is bicause they might be knowne to be not so much enimies to the godly as to God himselfe like the Iewes that crucified Christ Matth. 27. Let vs rather lament them that fall into their enimies handes then reioice at their sinnes and ouerthrowes let vs know that the Lord will surely take their cause into his owne hande and seuerely punish such intollerable blasphemie as he did in Rabsakeh and the king of Syria Esay 37. although their wordes bee great their pride be infinite their power glorious their mindes ambitious and their crueltie extreme yet will and shall the Lorde defende his name and truth and children from all their blasphemies and this shall bee a cause of their more speedy destruction The xxvj Sermon Vers 18. Then will the Lorde be iealous ouer his people and spare his land NOw at the length by the mercifull assistance of the Almightie are we come to the last part of this prophesie wherein as in the
former wee haue heard the wonderfull troubles vpon the afflicted Iewes so now we shall heare the same spirite assisting vs the singular comforts and promises which the prophet maketh vnto them vnto the ende of this prophesie These comforts are either the restitution of their owne abundance in this whole chapter following or the promise for the ouerthrow of their enimies in the last chapter vnto themselues in this chapter he promiseth worldly benefits vnto the 27. vers and spirituall benefites or graces from the 27. to the ende The worldly blessings are of two sortes First that hee will spare them from farther vengeance vers 18. Secondlie that he will heape on them many benefites In this vers he promiseth to be iealous ouer his land and spare his people Meaning that hee will watch ouer them with a reuenging hand to annoy and destroy all those that rise against them For iealousie signifieth an inordinate loue tending to reuenge Num. 25. 13. In this verse considering the order which the prophet maketh in that he first exhorteth them to repentance to praier and so presently descendeth to these sweete promises following wee may obserue that so soone as a man hath repented so soone is he capable of the tender mercies of God All this while wee haue heard of no mercie but iudgements threatning and thundering most fearefull wrath but now at length after some woorthie exhortations to repentance commeth this cheerefull promise of mercie to tell vs that we can no sooner repent on earth but the Lord will seale our remission in heauen Iob. 11. 14. 15. Naamans seruant told him that the Prophet bad him an easie thing when hee said goe wash and bee cleane and therefore if he would not wash he should not be cleane so is it but a short commaundement that wee should be repentant and then be saued therefore if men will not repent it is no pitie if they be not saued Oh I would to God that they might goe out of this life as free from sinne as Naaman went out of Israell free from leprosie but if the promises of God cannot be had without repentance no more then a cable roape can goe through the eie of a needle except it be spun as fine as any thread then are they like to lye on the Lords owne hand for there are but few that will buye them so deerely rather had they passe a short life without promises in the possession of vanities then lead a sorrowfull life in the fruition of godlines so that the contrarie shall bee saide to them that heere the Prophet speaketh God will neuer bee iealous ouer them and spare their soules The first reason because in repentance we mitigate the intolerable wrath of God Ion 3. 3. that thing which the euerlasting paines of hell cannot performe may be redressed by the sorrowes of our harts the teares of our liues for no blood no money no riches no torments nor any friends can appease the Lords wrath but a sorrowfull perplexed spirit can doe away all For as the ground is fit for the seed when it is ploughed so a heart is fit for the Lord when it is broken By this we may see what is the folly of wicked men for if by repentance good men escape damnation then without repentance euill men shall possesse damnation Tell me haddest thou leifer be drunk one meale and then fast for euer after or fast at one meale and then eate for all thy life following Canst thou not abide two or three blowes with a rod to auoide ten thousand with an iron scourage or were thou not better haue thy nailes pared then suffer thy fingers to be cut off and rather suffer a little blood to be taken from thee then let all thy life be lost so endure here mourning for an hower rather then in hell for euer and abide here the chastisement of God his worde rather then in hell the punishment of diuels let thy life loose all her ioy rather then thy soule should loose her saluation Another reason because it worketh or bringeth life eternall Act. 11. 28. now life eternall is all in all he that can haue this what matter is it though his life be poore his bodie be starued his name be odious his miseries be tedious his libertie be closed vp in irons his health be layed vp in sickenes and his friends be turned into mortall foes what are all these if a man be assured of heauen surely lighter then feathers easier then soft beds and welcommer then a long life Nay rather what are all things without life eternall great liuings daintie fare many friends obedient seruants goodly houses easie daies soft beds and long life but as the pleasant sting of a serpent which a while doth so tickle the veines and sinewes of the bodie that it delighteth euery member but in the end it swelleth the body poysoneth the blood breaketh the veines and destroyeth the life so are the goods of this life without the goods of the world to come Let vs therefore make this vse thereof that if it be but to dwell in our land let vs be repentant Ierem. 25. 5. God will not spare our land till we haue repented Oh how fearfull is it to thinke that we should begge in Italy or Spaine or Fraunce when we may enioy our reuenewes in England Let vs weepe at home that we lament not in other lands let vs sorrow in our houses that we complaine not in forreine prisons Now would the Lord feed vs with the finest flower the sweetest hony the fattest oxen and the best lambes in the flocke Oh why should we abuse all these to be carried where wee shall want all sustenance for life Some men hold their landes by suite of law and continuall danger let vs bestow as much for repentance to hold ours as they do to defend theirs Let vs repent for our selues for our possessions for our wiues and children and for our bodies and soules or else all will be taken from vs. Another vse God will neuer withdraw his mercy from a repentant man Zech. 1. 3. and this was it that our Sauiour meant when he said that all things are possible to him that beleeueth namely that he should begin continue and end well Feare not the assistance of God in any trouble or triall or death or affliction if thou haue repented for thou shalt hold out to the end Repentance made Abraham to trauell longer and be well contented it made the Israelites to waite for Christ it incouraged the Martyres to die for Christ therfore if thou haue repented thou maiest boldly assure thy self that thou shalt haue patience in euery trouble zeale in all thy life and comfort in any distresse and abilitie for euery temptation with power to abide death and glorie to reward thy soule For although thou maist slip after thou hast repented yet thou canst not finally perish for all the sinnes done after
thy conuersion shall be euerlastingly silenced I might also note out of this verse that God is more ready and willing to pardon vs then we are to aske pardon Rom. 10. 22. and therefore if we aske not he will not onely be reuenged for our sinnes but also vpon vs for the sinnes of our fathers Isa 65. 7. Againe let vs vpon this ground be bold to pray in hope and assurance for as God opened the iron gates for Peter to come foorth out of prison so hath he opened the gates of heauen that our praiers without al let may come vp before him I might also obserue in this verse that God doth somtime cast off his owne people for a seaso that he may for euer cast off the wicked Ezec. 1. 15. as a iealous husband putteth off his wife that he may for euer beware of his enimies for a friend cannot be hid in prosperitie nor an enimie in aduersitie The reasons bicause the wicked blaspheme the iust Ier. 30. 17. againe or else we should thinke that the wicked were happie Psa 37. 1 2 3. therefore when once good men beginne to crie then shall wicked men begin to fall Isa 35. 4. and we may boldly desire of God to turne his wrath from vs to them Isa 51. 22 23. that his enimies may feele his heauie hand Yea the Lord will answere and say vnto his people Behold I will send you corne and wine and oile and you shall be satisfied therewith and I will no more make you a reproch among the heathen In this verse and so forwarde to the 27. the prophet doth declare the speciall worldly benefits which God would giue to his people vpon their repentance the first that he will heare their praier vers 19. and herein he promiseth first to answere them by worde secondly to ease them In this that the Lorde saith he will answere them we may note that God hath euermore a regarde to the praiers of the penitent Ioh. 9. 31. howsoeuer hee shutteth his eares against sinners accounting of their praiers and teares as of abhomination yet he maketh great reckoning of their desires that are in league with him The faithfull are as deere to the Lord as Esther was to Assuerus or Herodias daughter to Herod who promised but one halfe of their kingdome vnto them but the Lord hath freely promised a whole kingdome if we will desire the same This must mightily stirre vs vp to praier for if the Lord regarde vs when we pray to blesse vs then will he regarde vs when we pray not to curse vs. Who liueth in the world but hee hath neede of many things if he haue neede he is blinde if he see it not if he see it he is wilfull if he aske not if hee aske he is vnfaithfull if he hope not to receiue The reasons first because penitent men haue felt pouertie Psal 79. 8. that is they haue beene cast downe ynough and therefore they shall be raised vp againe Againe they delight in God and therefore will God delight in them Isa 33. 6. for it cannot be that God should loue that man or that soule that hath no delight in his maiestie Therefore hereby shall men trie whether they be repentant if so bee the meditation of God and his mercie and their calling and holinesse and his word be sweete and pleasant in their mindes and mouthes First as we tender our owne liues and welfare so let vs pray vnto the Lord Ier. 29. 12. for we haue great neede to looke to our selues in this distressed estate of the world and for so much as onely the Lorde is our keeper how shall we commend our liues vnto him but by praier Pray alway my deere brethren as diligently as you labour as feruently as you thirst as ordinarily as you eate and as ioyfully as you sleepe pray I say as a woman doth in trauell as a sicke man doth in his fits as the mariners do in a storme and as a condemned man at the place of execution Oh what would you not do that you might liue and therefore what ought you not to doe that you might pray Vnto praier there must be no comparison in worldly things all earthly things must giue place as we see in Daniel sleepe must be put off as we see in Christ and ease must be banished as we see in Dauid and the Apostle willeth for praiers sake that married folks becom strangers one to another and therefore so let vs do for praier as we do for meate for we neuer cease from hunger till we be satisfied so let vs neuer cease from praier till wee be glorified Secondly in this vers when hee promiseth Corne and wine and oyle we may obserue that all abundance accompanieth and as it were waiteth vpon religion So long as the worde raigneth the church standeth and the Gospell is obeied so long wee neede not feare for our fieldes shall abound with corne our land shal flow with plenty Psal 81. 16. We haue had best experience of this thing in England for euer since the Gospell had any footing among vs and was publikely preached and generally professed we were neuer in any generall distresse but wee haue forgotten all sorrowe and I woulde God wee had not forgotten our peace and plentie giuer But since we began to be wearie of the truth that Diuines fell to wrangling professors to carnalitie hypocrites into Atheisme since that time we haue felt some want of corne and some terrour of warre Oh that we coulde so continue in profession that we might dwell in the Lords fauour so should we bee euer fedde with the finest wheate clothed with the warmest wooll and defended by the greatest angels but seeing we begin to be wearie of our religion God beginneth to bee wearie of his liberalitie so that I verilie feare till wee haue all repented our corne and plentie shall not bee restored The reasons First bicause by such abundance the Lorde breaketh in peeces the fierie violence of wicked men Psalm 37. 17. for they accuse religion for a base and poore profession and therefore after a calamitie God giueth to his church greatest plentie as after a long raine the sunne shineth brightest Another reason because by such plentie God cureth and healeth the miserie of his people Esay 30. 28. which being fearefully afflicted through famine are againe most ioyfully comforted through plentie so that abundance is like a medicine or plaister which with good aduise healeth and cureth but through abuse corrupteth and maketh the wounde more incurable First then let vs desire the spirite of God to be powred on vs and then shall the wildernes become fruitfull and the barren earth be amended Esay 32. 15. The same spirit that maketh good harts maketh glad fields that which giueth store of righteousnes giueth store of foode and corne And thus God giueth vnder one request two benefits For when we aske for
grace he giueth more also as Salomon asking for wisedome obtained wisedome and riches or as Ruth desiring to gleane after the reapers Boaz gaue hir leaue to gather among the sheaues and at length made hir ladie and mistresse of all hee had Seeke therefore the kingdome of God and the righteousnesse thereof and all other thinges as godly children obedient families plentie of victuals peace of life length of daies and glorie euerlasting shall be heaped on thee Againe if abundance followe the profession of religion then it is manifest that when plentie faileth religion also faileth Ierem. 9. 12 13. For as there can bee no preaching when there is no minister so there can be no plentie when there is no professing Oh this cutteth our nation to the quicke for the Lorde by this dearth doth auouch to our faces that there is among vs as great decay of his church as of corne and the seede of the worde hath beene as much choaked and drowned in the hearts of men as the seede of the earth hath beene choaked and drowned in the fieldes of men and what remaineth but as the Prophet saith that the Lorde feede vs with wormewoode and giue vs the bitternesse of gall to drinke I feare greatly if our miserie continue our religion will be cleane abolished and if our want be now redressed we shall be shortly cast into a bed of comfortles troubles for as yet I cannot see any generall or continuall repentance in lamentation Thirdly when the Lorde promiseth them to deliuer them from the reproch of the heathen we may note that it is a great blessing of God to be deliuered from slander Iob 5. 21. To liue without slander it is impossible except wee coulde liue without sinne And therefore if at any time thou bee suspected and defamed praie vnto the Lorde to bee deliuered from it The reasons First bicause life and death are in the power of the toong Prouer. 28. 21. So then who can continue life or bring death but God alone Secondly slanderous toongs doe hate them that are in affliction that is they will then more greeue them and belie them bicause they thinke then will euery body beleeue them Marke this thing well and you shall see that it is the common practise of this age Let vs not open our eares to euerie tale or take heede or aske what other men saie of vs Eccle. 7. 23. for that will hurt vs. And let vs refraine our toongs frō slander or else we haue no religion Iam. 1. 26. The xxvij Sermon Verse 20. But I will remooue farre off from you the northren armie and I will driue him into a lande barren and desolate with his face toward the east sea and his ende to the vtmost sea and his stinke shall come vp and his corruption shall ascende because he hath exalted him selfe to do this AFter the promise of plentie followeth the remoouing away of the Northren armie which are the Locusts palmers and the other noisome beastes who came by a northren winde and therefore are called the Northren armie whom hee will driue away into the wildernesse where they shall all starue and neuer come againe with their face or forefront to the east sea that is the dead sea which lay eastwarde so called bicause neuer any fish coulde liue therein And this is that sea which now couereth all the lande of Sodom and Gomorhe called the lake Asphaltite And his end to the vtmost sea That is the great sea which is called the Mediterranean sea And his stinke shall ascende Meaning there they shoulde lie vnburied and their filthines ascend and remaine odious to God and men From hence when he saith that he wil driue away wee must note that it is onely the Lorde that must take away from vs all noisome and hurtfull things Deut. 32. 39. We haue touched this doctrine alreadie when we shewed in the former chapter that no iudgement can bee remooued by naturall meanes The first reason bicause by this meanes hee is knowne to be the God of the world Exod. 7. 17. Againe as his hand sendeth euill Amos 3. 7. so his hande must remooue euill Esay 49. 9. Let vs therefore learne howsoeuer wee bee annoied to seeke for helpe of God and as we haue beene often admonished let the afflictions of the body wring foorth the teares and praiers of the soule Againe seeing God will driue from vs all hurtfull thinges let vs not feare the sting of death nor the power of the graue Hos 13. 14. And if we beleeue that God shall raise vs vp from death to life why shoulde we thinke that beastes or birdes or afflictions shall euer preuaile against vs It is the better for vs that God alone doth this thing and not our selues for our power is often weakned but his hande and strength is alway mightie Secondlie when he bringeth in the wildernes and dead sea to receiue these deuouring beastes Hee teacheth vs that there is as good vse of the barren as of the plowed lande and of the sea where nothing liueth as of the sea where all engender for these are made to destroy as the other are made to builde vp Whereby we may see that all the creatures of the worlde doe helpe God against his enimies to performe his wrath Ios 10. 12. The cloudes throwe downe stones and the Sunne stoode still a whole day till Iosuah had discomfited all his enimies The first reason bicause they wil not helpe them that God persecuteth Esay 15. 6. Dauid woulde not spare the men that slew Ishboseth his enimie and much more will not the creatures spare or helpe them that are enimies to God Againe the day of wrath is a day of affliction Esay 22. 5. and therefore the creaatures are afraide of iudgement themselues And as Iezabels messengers followed and turned after Iehu hir enimie so all the creatures of God turne after him when he is in war to destroy sinners Let vs therefore learne to look vpon our creator Esay 17. 7. that in this time when time of repentance may be had For as the inhabitants of Ceilah woulde haue betraied Dauid to Saul that hee might slaie him so woulde all the creatures of the Lorde deliuer and betraie vs vnto him though more iustly that he may make an ende of vs. God is almost forgotten among men to be their creator for they giue more reuerence to their parents then to him therefore will the creatures forget vs and deliuer vs vp for spies and enimies as Ioseph gaue Simeon his brother into prison Againe let this generall obedience of the creatures cause vs to walke more righteouslie Esay 33. 15. 16. or else they will one day be reuenged bicause wee haue caused them to bee subiected vnto vanitie What a greeuous thing is it that these dumbe creatures shoulde receiue when God giueth and giue when God asketh and obey when God commaundeth
they haue seldome sicknesse so ought wee seldome to sinne The reasons are first because children are without malice 1. Cor. 14. 20. for he is no member of the church that is malicious but a murderer againe children honour their parents so ought the members of the church to honour their God Mal. 1. 6. But alas malice hath deuoured the loue of man and the honour of God and we shall hardly finde one among a thousand that is not maliciously bent against one or other But let vs learne to leade our liues in feare seeing we are the children of God 1. Pet. 1. 17. for else we may be children but stubborne children and such as the Lorde will neuer acknowledge Againe let vs learne to doe the will of our heauenly father Matt. 21. 28. For not euery one that can say Our father which art in heauen or Lord Lord Christ our Sauiour and our redeemer shal enter into the kingdome of heauen Oh let vs be sanctified for this is the will of God euen our sanctification for except wee doe that which he biddeth and bring that which he calleth for we shal come to confusion as Babel did wherein when the builders called for stone they brought morter and when they called for morter they brought bricke so when we should doe one thing we doe another and when God calleth for holinesse we run to prophanenesse Againe when he biddeth them to reioice in the Lorde their God we may note that the ioy of good men is onely in God and spirituall things Psal 53. 7. it is not in masking and mumming piping and dauncing marrying or monkering eating or drinking hawking or hunting riding or running but in this that God is theirs and they are his and this is the best part which cannot be taken from them The first reason because he looketh on the estate of the poore abiect Isa 29. 19. but the world will not acknowledge a brother if he be in pouertie or a friende if hee bee in danger Againe God openeth his most secret goodnes to his saints Cant. 1. 4. bringing them into his cellars of wine who can but reioice in him that reioiceth in them and who can withholde his hart from him that gaue him hart and soule and life and all For one benefite or good turne Dauid tooke Abigaijl for his wife but if we hauing so much kindnesse from the Lorde doe refuse him from being our husband let vs beware least the wrath of God fall vpon vs as the wrath of Dauid shoulde haue fell on Nabal that hee would not leaue man woman or childe aliue of his posteritie Let vs not reioice in our workes Luc. 10. 20. nor in the world which is but transitorie nor in riot which is but labour nor in riches which are but vanitie nor in eating which is but necessitie nor in garments which are but shadowes of sinne nor in any thing but in God who hath registred our names in the kingdome of heauen Let vs also reioice with Iohn Baptist Ioh. 3. 29. That wee haue heard the voice of the bridegroome that his Gospell hath bin preached to vs his graces haue bin poured on vs his blood hath beene shedde for vs his death hath redeemed vs and that hee hath bought vs to serue him without feare all the daies of our life The raine of righteousnesse This is the first reason of his exhortation to ioy for as before they had wanted fruites through want of raine so they had wanted goodnesse through want of grace and nowe he promiseth both namely righteousnesse and fruitfulnesse for this raine of righteousnesse doth signifie abundance of righteousnesse wherein by the metaphor raine I might tell you from whence commeth grace righteousnesse iustification and sanctification from aboue as the raine doth and many other waies I might vrge the figure but I rest not in figures I will goe to the plaine wordes And seeing in the first place he promiseth them the raine of righteousnesse wee may note that religion and holinesse is better for the church then any riches Prouerb 28. 6. There is not any thing more needefull for a man then to liue vnder the winges of God and there is not anie thing more needfull for him that liueth vnder the wings of God that is in his church then the knowledge and practise of the pure worship of God The paradice where Adam was the riches of Salomon the peace of Augustus Caesar the glorie of Dauid or the pompe of Agrippa are nothing so needfull for the church as is preaching and hearing and praying and weeping Dauid was neuer farther from God then when he was most at ease The rich man was neuer so neere distresse as when his barnes were fullest The Israelites were neuer in more danger then when they were pampered with quailes and Noah was safer in the arke then on the drie lande And so are we all in better estate when the worlde thinketh vs to be miserable then when it iudgeth vs to be happie The reasons First bicause the things of this life doe drowne vs in miserable temptations 1. Tim. 6. 9. but religion quieteth the minde establisheth the conscience driueth away the diuell cutteth off manie sinnes is readie for death and is assured of saluation Againe all the good wee receiue by abundance is this that we shall haue no consolation in the life to come and therefore God hath better prouided for vs that we should liue here a little while in pouertie and euer after in glorie rather then heere a little while in riches and euer after in hell fire Let vs therefore bestowe all the labour wee can that we may haue religion and grow in graces 1. Cor. 1. 5. thereon aduenture thy money for thy merchandise shall bee warranted If there bee any man that hath religion buy some of him if there be any meanes to obtaine it vse them earnestly if there bee any faire or mart where it may be bought trauaile thither The ministers are the men that haue it praiers are the meanes to get it and the church is the place where thou maiest buie it the persons are noted thou maiest easilie finde them the meanes are cheape thou maiest speedily vse them the place is neere thou maiest quickly and often goe for thy store Oh trauaile for righteousnesse and grace and holinesse for all these are solde togither Bee not poore in religion but rich that thou maiest rather bee able to giue then to receiue As there be some very poore and make no spare for age or sicknesse so there bee some which haue little or no religion which onely take so much as will saue them from present danger of law or infidelitie and neuer thinke what they shall doe when they come to their graues Yet let these bee also warned that they labour to be rich in religion for a poore man may be rich in righteousnesse and a rich man may be poore in goodnesse
Againe let rich men especially looke to themselues Iam. 5. 1. for they for the most part esteeme more of gaine then of grace and of a great gentleman though he be an infidell then of a poore and true member of Christ Let them remember how fewe good rich men are named in the Scriptures and let them alway set before their eies that most dreadful saying of our Sauior It is easier for agable to goe thorough the eie of a needle then for a rich man to enter into heauen Let them bee liberall to good vses courteous to euery christian sparing in all expenses humble in all authoritie not gorgeous but clothed with Christ not couetous but open handed not ambitious but content with their place and not infidels but as farre exceede other in faith as they doe in wealth He shall giue you the first raine In those countries they had ordinarily two raines in the yeere especially desired wherof the first was most acceptable when they first sowed their seede and the latter raine was in the spring of the yeere which is here called the first moneth answering in some part to our March and Aprill because the world was made as it were in the spring of the yere But in this that the Prophet promiseth them the first and the latter raine we must obserue that it is the Lord that ruleth the cloudes giuing al seasonable and vnseasonable weather 1. King 18. 1. The reasons are bicause he will onely be knowen to blesse the workes of our hands Deut. 28. 1. Againe it is onely hee which decketh the heauens with clouds Psal 147. 8. Let vs therefore learne to feare the Lord by the consideration of raine Ierem. 5. 24. for hee reserueth for vs the appointed weeks for haruest Me thinkes that euerie creature of God do so admonish vs of our duetie that not so much as the little drops of raine but they teach vs to feare him Oh that our soules could so thirst for the mercie of God as the earth thirsteth for the water drops or the grace of God might so fall from heauen on our hearts as the raine doth issue from the cloudes on the ploughed land Againe let vs seeke for the testimonie of the Lords fauour towards vs in them Act. 14. 17. the Apostle sheweth the raine of the clouds the spring of the earth and the encrease of temporal things to be a sufficient meanes for the old world to haue searched for and found out God but yet they did not search into it and so is it now a good meanes for many ignorant soules to leade them to God at the first if they consider the world continueth the grasse groweth the corne increaseth the raine falleth down from heauē that by these as it were by the crosse-row of letters they might com to greater knowledge in religion When he saith that their barnes shall be full of wheat and their presses shall abound with oyle and wine he noteth thereby that their decaied houses shall be builded againe and their full ioy restored And also that if God do once begin to do good to his people hee neuer thinketh any thing too much that is bestowed on them if they be repentant The xxix Sermon Vers 25. And I will render vnto you the yeeres that the grashopper hath eaten the caterpiller and canker-woorme and palmer-woorme my great hoste which I sent among you NOw he toucheth the restitution of their goods lost in famine telling them that all their former yeeres deuoured by the beasts shall bee restored againe By which we may note a woonderful example of the Lords kindnes that he wil giue to the repentant whatsoeuer they haue lost in trouble It were enough for him yea more then he oweth vs if he did onely ease our miserie yet is he not contented therewith but giueth vs as much as we desire and beyond our desires as much as we lost so he dealt with Iob. cap. 42. 10. giuing him a thousand for fiue hundred sixe for three fourteene for seuen The first reason because he would haue none to be like him in mercie and liberalitie Mich. 7. 18. Secondly that the wicked may note a difference betwixt the iust and the vniust Mal. 3. 18. therefore let not any thing in the worlde hinder thy conuersion Ierem. 7. 14. for thy sinnes shall bee chaunged into much holines thy pouertie into great wealth thy sorrow into double ioy and thy short life into twise so many daies If thou hadst little ease now it shall be more or little peace it shall be increased or little grace it shall bee augmented or little ioy it shall be multiplied and thus will God take away curse and change it into blessing and turne our punishment into pardon Againe let vs hereby be instructed that there shall neuer be any hinderance to the ioy of the Lords saints Isa 40. 2 3. the crooked shal be made straight the high shall be made low the low shall be made high the weake shall be made strong the sicke shall be made whole the lame shall be made wel limmed the sorrowfull heart shall bee reioysed and the contrite soule shall be glorified the great power of sathan shall not hinder the tyrannie of sinne shall not preuaile nor the space twixt heauen and earth shall keepe vs from ascending to ioies Oh come on my brethren with hope and comfort and bestow your labour in the word more cheerefully that our single sorrowes may receiue double ioyes So you shall eate and bee satisfied and praise the name of the Lorde your God that hath dealt maruellouslie with you and my people shall neuer bee ashamed Hauing signified vnto them their plentie nowe hee granteth vnto them the free and lawfull vse of euerie creature telling them they shoulde eate and drinke them and praise the name of God for them When hee saith They shall eate and bee satisfied we may note a great blessing of God vpon meate temperately receiued for it satisfieth vs meaning it nourisheth and maintaineth life Hag. 1. 6. but when it is riotously and gluttonously deuoured then men fall into sicknesse in steade of health into raging in stead of quietnesse and this is the very cause why our affraies and quarrels are begunne at tauernes and alehouses and at great idoll and glutton feastes bicause men receiue them not in moderation but in excesse The first reason bicause meate so taken giueth strength to the body 1. Sam. 1427. Ionathan tasted but a drop of hony and his wearied body was strengthened and his eies almost blinde recouered their sight Another reason because meate thus taken cheereth the hart of man Ruth 3. 7. Let vs therfore learn what a singular benefit it is to eat be satisfied with the labours of our owne hande Eccle. 5. 16. 17. for if the Lord should breath thereon then were our trauaile in the dust meate hath no life in it and yet it
he had lost his strength and carrie their poore soules into miserable captiuitie Oh wouldest thou neuer weepe nor sorrowe nor wring thy hands for any worldly thing then bee religious and as peace was in Israel all Salomons raigne so shall it be in thy soule all the while that religion raigneth The first reason because religion is the wisedome of God Matt. 11. 19. 1. Cor. 1. 30. now this is the greatest point of wisedome to foresee that they doe nothing which may hurt them for this is true repentance not to commit sinne which must be repented and it is religion that onely awaketh vs when wee are sleepie ruleth vs when we are awaked We neuer read that the children of Israel had any cause to repent their obedience all the while that they were in the wildernesse no more shall we haue any cause to repent our obedience to the gospell which is our heauenly wisedome Another reason it is the power of God vnto saluation Rom. 1. 16. Let vs therefore say with Dauid 2. Sam. 6. 22. that for the Lord of hostes sake and for religion wee will yet be more vaine that is howsoeuer the world account of vs and of our zeale in religion yet we will aduenture their displeasure farther for all their mockes and reproches and by names slanders shall not dismay vs but we will go forwarde in our pretended course And as Mical was cursed with barrennesse all hir life long bicause she mocked hir husband Dauid when he daunced before the Arke so I praie God they be not as barren and voide of goodnesse that mocke at the professours of religion Againe let vs euermore hearken to the Lorde speaking in his worde Ierem. 38. 20. for then wee shall not bee burned with heate nor frozen with colde nor be ashamed of our youth or bee troubled with our age or repent our birth or curse the daie that wee came into the worlde for it shall shielde vs from all these mischiefes Oh let vs open our eares to his wordes that hee may open his eares to our praiers for as the Israelites were neuer blamed so long as they followed the cloud the pillar of smoke the Arke so shalt thou neuer be blamed if thou looke vpward to the Lord and ioyne thy selfe to the maine pillar of truth the church of God and followe the Arke which is the Gospell borne by the ministers or else thou shalt weepe and crie howle and repent at the last when thou canst not repent throughly Yee shall also knowe that I am in the middes of Israell and that I am the Lorde your God and none other and my people shall neuer be ashamed Nowe hee beginneth to follow the spirituall benefits from this vers to the ende of the chapter promising them first his presence vers 27 28 29. then his power in the verses to the ende His presence is promised first in regarde of the particular knowledge of his fauour resting among them vers 27. And in the two next verses by the powring out of his spirit And heereby we may first of all note that the church of God which is Israell hath the Lorde in hir continually Matth. 28. 19. Although by diuine power God bee present euery where yet is hee most present in the church in heauen and earth there doth hee shewe more power more mercy more iudgement more fauour then in other places I meane in that place where his Gospell is professed The first reason bicause in his church is his chiefe treasure Esay 33. 6. And as Christ saide to vs where our treasures are there are our harts so the Lordes heart and soule is lodged in his church where are his treasures namely his feare zeale faith knowledge redemption and the graces of the spirit and I woulde God men did not cast his treasure before the swine of their filthie sinnes Another reason bicause the power of darknes shall not preuaile against it Mat. 16. 18. For as the sunne doth breake awaie the cloudes and the north winde driue away the raine so doth the presence of God in his church breake in peeces the strength of diuels and driue away the rage of sinne And truely as when Lot went out of Sodom the valley was destroied so when God shall forsake his church it shal come to ruine Let vs learne to glorifie the Lorde in the church 1. Cor. 6. 20. for hee is not far off but in the middest of vs. Againe let vs also by the consideration of his dwelling among vs hold fast our hope of trust Heb. 3 6. that we be not confounded at the last The presence of Debora made Barac get the victorie against Sisera and his nine hundred charets of iron let vs not by the presence of a woman or man but God Almightie put to flight all our sinnes and lead our pleasures captiues that they may neuer more offend the church of God Secondly by this verse wee must note that it behooueth euerie member of the church to haue a particular knowledge of the Lordes fauour towarde him not onely that God is or that Christ died for the worlde but that God is their God and Christ is their redeemer 2. Cor. 5. 11. So that as Elisha woulde not forsake Elijah because hee was his master nor Ruth forsake Naomi because shee was hir stepmother nor Peter forsake Christ because hee was his Sauiour no more must wee forsake the Lorde for hee is our master our father our Sauiour and our God In this one point is included all religion for this is the ende of all profession that God may bee ours and wee may bee his The first reason because without this assurance of faith wee cannot please God Heb. 11. 6. So that whatsoeuer we do for companie or custome or perswasion or of vncertainty doth not please almightie God Againe if wee knowe not that GOD is in vs then are wee reprobates and then were it better for vs that wee had neuer so much as liued vnder the time of the Gospell Therefore let vs seeke the Lorde more ardently for as the brethren of Ioseph might not see his face anie more except they brought little Beniamin with them so may not wee appeere before GOD except wee bring this perswasion with vs. Gedeon slewe fortie two thousande because they coulde not rightly pronounce one worde but the Lorde will slay many millions that cannot say that hee is theirs Oh learne to say vnto God my father as Isaac did that he may answere vnto thee my sonne as Abraham did Againe let vs open the way that other men may come to the Lord as well as wee Isai 26. 2. for God keepeth not his kingdome to himselfe as Noah did not builde his arke for himselfe or Salomon his houses for himselfe nor the Apostles possessed the spirite for themselues onely and so let vs not conceale the Lordes fauour to our selues onely but
hee may remember thee in thy death for as thou seruest thou shalt be serued againe The xxxj Sermon Vers 30. And I will shew woonders in the heauens and in the earth blood and fire and pillars of smoke 31. The sunne shall bee turned into darkenes and the moone into blood before the great and terrible daie of the Lorde come 32. But whosoeuer shall call on the name of the Lorde shall bee saued for in mount Sion and in Ierusalem shall be deliuerance as the Lord hath saide and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call NOw we are come to the last parte namely the manifestation of the power of God by great and fearfull signes in heauen and secondly by giuing saluation to the faithfull Concerning the great and feareful woonders much hath already beene spoken and nowe the lesse shall suffice For the interpretation take thus much That when Christ is come and ascended into heauen and the worlde conuerted from infidelitie vnto him then shall appeere manie extraordinarie tokens of the Lordes power both in the heauens and in the earth the lights shall bee most fearefully ecclipsed being in shew turned into darkenesse and blood the aire shall bee troubled and many terrible and strange things shall be seene So that heerein is described the constitution and euent of all thinges at the change of the worlde when God shall come to take vengeance on his enimies as it is in the chapter following I will briefely touch euery thing that I purpose to handle in this vers First in that hee telleth vs of these fearefull woonders presently to succeed or rather to accompanie the preaching of the Gospell the powring foorth of the spirite and conuersion of the worlde we may learne that God will giue vs temporall calamities with spirituall benefits Luk. 21. 9. So that there is no maruaile that in our times there haue been seene so many terrible things in heauen and earth seeing the Gospell hath beene preached vnto vs for calamities make vs to beleeue it more willingly Hos 5. 15. And if the Gospell bee not shadowed in this trouble and wee not ouerthrowne by them then haue wee a notable triall of the Lordes promise towarde vs Luk 21. 18. For as Gedeons fleece was drie when all the earth about it was wet so shall we be safe when many shal be cast down Let vs learne to commit our soules vnto him 1. Pet. 4. 19. that although the heauēs fall down the earth be remooued the sea be dried and the light be darkened yet we may possesse our soules and our soules may possesse our Sauiour for it is God that sendeth woonders ruleth all signes the same cloude did leade the Israelites to Canaan that brought other to destruction the same signes are for our saluation which are for other mens condemnation Secondly when hee saith hee will set woonders in heauen wee are taught that God will manifest his wrath before it commeth Rom. 10. 18. Heauen is in the sight of all and naturally we are inclined to looke vpward so that whatsoeuer we there see we know it commeth from God and therefore there are the signes manifested because euery one might see them The reasons first because wee may either confesse them or be confounded by them Isai 2. 18. Secondly that the greatest enimies of God may be stilled Psal 8. 2. Therefore learne so soone as you see the rod to feare him that ordained it Mich. 6. 9. Againe let vs make a good vse of the signes that wee haue alreadie seene and not trie the Lords patience any longer or tempt the power of God any more Amos 5. 18. The wicked Iewes would haue had Christ shewe them a miracle when he was on the crosse and then they woulde beleeue him but yet they were wicked and so you which desire more tokens of the Lords power that you may be amended are still wicked for if you cannot beleeue the liuing word you shall not beleeue the dead miracles Thirdly when he saith that all these shall come before the great and terrible day of the Lord we must note that all the woonders and signes in the aire must prepare vs to iudgement Isa 29. 6. Oh how can the Lorde change vs when he thus changeth the world and how doth hee prouide for our safetie and preach our repentance by all the woonders of heauen and earth Darknesse putteth vs in minde of hell fire putteth vs in minde of the latter day blood putteth vs in minde of destruction smoke doth admonish vs of the vanitie of our life the earth would moue vs to repentance by remoouing her selfe the light would couer our sinnes in darknesse by withdrawing it selfe and the cloudes would call vs to heauen Let vs learne to feare the power of God more earnestly in his creatures that if these strange things come vpon vs yet we may not forget our Sauiour who shall come in the cloudes But whosoeuer Least wee should thinke that these troubles shoulde ouerturne and ouercome all in the world when there shall be no light but darknesse no peace but thunders no comfort but fires nor any appeerance but wrath and iudgement the prophet in these words telleth them that then euen in those most desperate miseries God would remember to heare the praiers of his children for the godly cannot choose but feare mightily when they should see all the world in an vprore and heauen and earth roaring to their destruction Whereby I might note that good men must endure the feare of those euils which shall come on the world Isa 33. 4. because they loue their life too much Psal 119. 108. and because their whole life must bee mortified and mangled with many sorrowes Rom. 8. 36. yet let vs not so feare that we despaire how neer soeuer we seeme to destruction Isa. 41. 14. but be obedient as Noah was Heb. 11. 7. though the waters and cries of all the world be as neere to vs as they were to him First when he saith that all that call on the name of the Lorde shall bee saued we may note that saluation must bee praied for before we can haue it Heb. 7. 25. Saluation commeth not as honour came on Dauid which made him a king before hee thought on it but it must come on vs as cleannesse and health came on Naaman which he trauelled for and praied for and washed for seuen times in Iorden before he could be cleansed And as the poore Canaanitish woman entreated Christ a good while before he would graunt so the Lord looketh that men should entreate for saluation many daies and nights and times with many teares and sighes and grones thorough many sorrowes and cares and troubles before they can be saued The reasons first because saluation is the Lords Psal 3. 8. and therefore it must be praied for secondly we must be saued by faith now faith is no faith that praieth not for grace Ephes
2. 8. Therefore as the olde fathers searched for saluation 1. Pet. 1. 19. so doe thou and as the woman did for her money which neuer gaue ouer sweeping and seeking till she had found it in like manner doe thou but follow saluation as Isaac followed Abraham vnto the place where he should be sacrificed Secondly when he saith that there shall bee deliuerance in Mount Sion wee may note that God will euermore haue some among the people of the Iewes that shall be saued Rom. 11. 15 16 26. so that notwithstanding their intolerable hardnesse of hart and great obstinacie against the Gospell yet there are some beleeuers among them and it may be that there shall be a day when they shall all beleeue in the Messiah and I thinke verily that this is the very cause why they are reserued aliue for else in consideration of that great villanie offered to our Sauiour Christ with their infidelitie and other notorious sinnes they had long agoe beene destroied man woman and childe Thirdly the prophet alleageth the proofe hereofwhen he saith as the Lord hath said whereby we may note that the promise of God shall preserue his church in what distresse soeuer it be Heb. 13. 5. yea when heauen and earth shall be burned they shall be preserued The reasons first because all the promises of God in him are Yea Amen 2. Cor. 1. 18. 20. they are not changeable but constant as it is already declared because he is mighty that doth his word Againe life eternall is giuen by promise Col. 3. 14. and if the promises neuer faile in that no more they can in this Therefore let vs through patience doe the will of God and waite for the promise Heb. 10. 26. and hauing once receiued it let vs feare no euill nor any death Gen. 32. 9 10. Fourthly when he saith that saluation shall be to a remnant and to as many as God shall call we may note that but a remant that is a very fewe shall bee saued Luc. 13. 23. The reasons because of the great hatred of God against sinne Rom. 5. 14. the which hatred shall cause the damnation of many thousands Secondly the Lord will make but a short account of all the earth Rom. 9. 28. Therefore let euery one studie to enter although he knowe there be but few to be saued that if it may be he may be one of those few Luc. 13. 24. Againe let vs knowe that except the Lord of his great mercie did keepe this remnant from the violence of sinne and sathan no not one should or coulde euer come to life eternall Isai 1. 9. Lastly when he saith to as many as God shall call wee may note that we must be called by the gospell before we can be saued in the kingdome Iude 5. But of these points I haue often already spoken in the former treatises and therefore I may the safer excuse my breuitie and the God of all mercie giue a blessing to all The xxxij Sermon Chap. 3. Verse 1. For beholde in those daies and in that time when I shall bring againe the captiuitie of Iudah and Ierusalem THis thirde and last chapter of this Prophet Ioel containeth a most lamentable destruction of mankind namely of those which were the sworne enimies to the church of God which cannot choose but mooue a heart of stone to exceeding sorrowe and abundant teares to consider that so manie braue men stately kings warrelike souldiers honorable persons rich possessors beautiful women and innocent yoong children as it may seeme shoulde be violently driuen and drawen vnto the slaughter-house of woefull destruction Oh how may men forrowe that they were so borne to bee enimies to God and so liue that they hurt themselues and so shall die as they condemne their soules for their bloode is woorse then water their flesh is viler then dung their heart is baser then the earth and they were onely created that they might be destroied In the handling of this chapter we will obserue this method First the time when the enimies of the church shall be discussed and secondly the manner The time is set foorth in this vers to bee then when the Lorde shoulde bring againe the captiuitie of Iudah and Ierusalem that is when he shoulde deliuer them from all manner of thraldome For beholde The prophet after the vsuall maner of the Scriptures beginneth the matter with wordes of demonstration and attention and so telleth them of this matter as if it were alreadie in action bidding them to beholde it as we may see the like Esay 24. 1. 42. 1. Ierem. 51. 1. Matth. 24. 25. By which wordes wee may note the worde of God in prophets and preachers must teach vs to consider as well the things that are to come as those that are present 2. Cor. 4. 18. Wee looke not saith the Apostle on the things that are seene but on the things that are not seene The voice of the Lordes worde must not be like the stroke of the musition which onely affecteth a man while hee heareth the sounde but it must bee like a Phisitions potion which worketh in the bodie many daies after it is taken But what doe I talke of daies as Ionathan loued Dauid when he neither saw him nor hearde him so must we loue the word of God and thinke thereon when we neither see it nor heare it The oxe careth for the pricke which presently goreth him but yet he neuer thinketh on the slaughter which is comming the childe feareth the rod which hee seeth but thinketh not on it when it is hidden the sheepe windeth from the storme when it bloweth but in calmer times it neuer remembreth but God which hath made vs more excellent then oxen and sheepe and willeth vs to be more wise then children hath giuen his worde that wee may know and feare the things that are to come So that in this sort thou must perswade thy selfe if thou heare the preacher tell of any plague then thinke with thy selfe that thou now beholdest it a far off therefore it will certainly come Beleeue the Lord and his prophets saide Iehoshaphat and you shall prosper but alas our dull hearted hearers will beleeue no more then they see will feare no more then they feele nor bee righteous any longer then they are in affliction Death is farre off they care not for it and the day of iudgement will be God knoweth when and therefore if their time be so long they thinke it will be neuer Oh wretches beholde presentlie before your eies how the Lorde commeth how the sword wasteth howe the bloude runneth howe vengeance encreaseth howe Christ condemneth and all thinges are ouerturned If thou canst so beholde the comming miseries and with teares lament them as if they were present thou shalt likewise by the worde of God so beholde the comming ioies of another life with hart reioice as if now thou
enioiedst them Therefore beholde iudgement and terrour and thunder and fire and the ouerthrowe of all thinges which one daie shall bee that thou maiest feare thy proude and sinfull nature and so behold mercie the resurrection the life to come the face of God and the fellowship of Angels that thou maiest quietlie repose thy soule in the sweete profession of the Lordes Gospell The reasons of this doctrine are these first because they are base minded if not beastly affected which onely looke to the temporall things that they see and not to the heauenly and eternal things which they see not as the Apostle in the before-named place saith and therefore it is farre more honourable that thou shouldest beleeue the things that are to come when we heare them in the word then the things that are past and present which our eies beholde Againe our Sauiour saith Marc. 9. 23. that all things are possible to him that beleeueth which is verified in nothing more then in this when we giue vp our whole harts to the things that are preached and daily waite when they shall be performed And if all things be possible then is saluation and the ioyes of heauen possible for thee if thou canst beleeue them and so liue as thou maiest obtaine them The vses which wee are to make of this doctrine are these first seeing wee must be instructed by the word of God to behold the things that are to come as if they were present then let vs euermore bee faithfull the which thing the Apostle teacheth vs when hee saith that wee stande by faith Rom. 9. 23. so that as our bodies stand vpon our legs so our soules stand vpon our faith And if this be so how many lame soules are there in the world nay they are not lame that neuer had legs but those that had them yet are they monsters and such monsters are faithlesse and infidel men If thy legs be sicke thou wilt goe to thy surgeon and if thy faith be sicke goe to thy Sauiour what comfort hast thou of the worlde if thou canst not walke in the world and what ioy hath thy soule if it haue no faith to walke in the scriptures Stand by faith and fall not beleeue soundly and strongly bring not a woodden leg I meane a woodden faith such as men can make but a true and substantiall faith which the Lorde onely giueth Let not any thing mooue thee for all things are possible to the beleeuer though the earth remooue bee not thou afraide though the heauens passe yet the world shall not passe beleeue all things say not this will be long or that will be late or the other is doubtfull or God is mercifull his minde may alter or the preachers are but men they may be deceiued or the iudgements be conditionall they may be reuersed or the promises be vncertaine they may be recalled Oh beware of an infidell hart Heb. 3. 12. and depart not from the liuing God Moses because hee did but once distrust God he could not enter into the land of Canaan the gouernour that would not beleeue the prophet was trod to peeces the princes which would not beleeue Ieremie were slaine by the Babylonians and the soules which will not beleeue the preachers shall be ouercome by diuels Oh consider how fearefull a thing it will be for you to say as the Iewes Ezech. 33. v. vlt. surely there was a prophet among vs. Therefore as the husbandman looketh to the haruest in the winter when the corne appeereth not as the seruant thinketh on his wages long before it commeth as the birde thinketh on her yoong ones long before she breedeth and the builder thinketh on his dwelling long before it be finished so doe you thinke on the ioyes and woes which shall bee long before they come And account your selues the happiest men aliue whome God warneth with his owne word that you may auoid the day of destruction for if you liued not vnder the check of the gospell and the controulment of preachers you might goe as other barbarous nations doe blindfolded that is vnwitting and vnknowing to the slaughter of your bodies the butcherie of your soules Surely the Lord doth nothing but he reuealeth the same to his seruants the prophets and therfore blessed are they that liue among them but more blessed are they which heare them beleeue thē loue them receiue them regarde them because God hath sent thē Secondly in this vers we may obserue when he saith In those daies and in that time that God wil haue the redemption and deliuerie of his saints and church to bee most certaine and knowen for vpon this occasion doth the prophet double the note of the time as it were noting both the day and the moneth So as once hee tolde Abraham that his seede shoulde be a stranger in another land fowre hundred and thirtie yeeres and no longer to shewe vnto him that they shoulde bee assuredly deliuered So doth hee heere by this prophet though not so precisely note the assurance of their redemption The reasons of this doctrine are these First because wee are not redeemed with any temporall worldly or earthly price but by and with the most precious blood of Christ Iesus 1. Pet. 1. 18. Againe another reason is because as the Apostle saith 1. Timoth. 2. 6. that this was done in due time The vses which come of this doctrine are these First seeing the Lorde will haue the redemption of his people to bee sealed and certainly knowen then let vs looke for that time and that day when Christ shal finally deliuer vs from the wrath to come 1. Thess 1. 10. What shoulde make good men to feare the latter day their redemption is certaine the Lorde is their Sauiour the Sauiour is their head their head is their brother and vntill Christ come they are subiect to wrath but when he is come they are deliuered from death Againe let vs receiue any pledge or token of the Lordes loue and fauour towarde vs which is shedde in our hearts by the holy Ghost Rom. 5. 5. and seeing this is it that we are certainly redeemed and our soules health is not builded vpon peraduentures but it is surely established then let vs certainly perswade our selues that God loueth vs with an euerlasting loue What will hee keepe from vs that giueth vs his owne sonne and will kill him to acquite vs If this perswade vs not to bee penitent and to loue God againe then is not the loue of God nor the bloude of Christ sprinkled in our hearts Naaman woulde haue giuen to Elisha manie thousande poundes bicause the water of Iorden had clensed his leprosie what woulde he haue giuen if Elisha had cured him by medicine But Christ hath cured our soules and bodies by the riuer of his owne bloud and by the losse of his owne life then are we worthie to giue heart for heart bloud for bloud bodie for
shall bee more against them then all the worlde and their helpes of nature shall giue them ouer and they left destitute of all hope shall be deliuered into the hande of diuels and surely they which scorne the companie of God his saints on the earth are woorthie to bee torne by the teeth and clawes of diuels in hell But hast thou no grace to consider this before hand and to thinke with thy selfe howe thou shalt see an infinite companie of Angels driuing thee to iudgement and then presently all the diuels in hell haling thee to damnation Be willing therefore to come to God in earth that thou maiest bee desirous to goe to God in heauen for bee assured that if thou feare iudgement and wishest it might neuer be thou art in a pitifull case for thy conscience doth alreadie condemne thee and if thou despise iudgement and watch not for it thou art more retchlesse for thou resistest God but if thou crie for the last day and say Come Lorde Iesus come quickly thou art a happie man for the Lorde is in thee Christ hath clensed thee sinne is dying in thee thou louest God his kingdome and therefore thou shalt possesse his kingdome Oh that we coulde willinglie submit our hearts to the Gospell and then shoulde wee not vnwillingly offer our soules to iudgement The reasons of this doctrine are these First because they shall be compelled by the power of God Matth. 26. 64. They which will not feele the power of God in sauing them shal feele it in condemning them and therfore as the power of God made Pharaoh to yeeld to Moses and Aaron and made Sisera to yeelde to Deborah and made Goliah to yeelde to Dauid and made the temple to rende a sunder when Christ was crucified and the sunne to loose hir light shall compell the wicked to the iudgement seate of God Another reason is bicause their hope for helpe or mercie or pardon is but in vaine Lam. 4. 17. And therefore although they woulde escape yet their hope shall deceiue them as the mother and wife of Sisera which told of the victorie when in the ende it turned to their owne ouerthrow I doe but briefly touch these things bicause I haue handled them more at large alreadie The vses which arise from hence are these First that wee come willinglie to the throne of grace Rom. 5. 2. or else we shall be vnwillingly drawne to the throne of wrath Come to all godlie exercises ioyfully heare the Gospell diligently reade the scriptures zealously loue the godly tenderly and praie to the Lorde comfortablie and then shalt thou come to grace not to wrath to glorie not to shame to life not to death to heauen not to hell Make no excuses for thy absence admit no delaies for thy hinderance suffer no temptations for thy allurement and let not the wife of thy youth keepe thee from praier and the throne of grace Feare God more than loue the worlde hate euill more than loue thy wife Saie vnto all cumbrancers awaie from mee for I will keepe the Gospell of my God I had rather loose my finger than my hande my haire than my heade my bodie than my soule my friendes than my GOD. I will feare the Lorde before wrath that I may reioice in iudgement Againe let vs learne to acknowledge and perswade our selues of this terror of God 2. Cor. 5. 11. for except wee consider before hande howe the heauens shall be consumed howe the earth shall bee burned howe the worlde shall bee ended and howe the Lorde shall be manifested the Gospell will be but a weake worde and an idle tale vnto vs But if thou canst beleeue the last iudgement and with the eie of faith beholde it a farre off and tremble at the secret meditation thereof then thou maiest easily feele the power of life vnto life and happily forsake the sentence of death Therefore euermore remember iudgement at thy feast in thy bed on thy table in the morning at thy labour before thy sleepe and with thy friendes that thou and they be not of the kindreds of the earth which shall waile and lament before the comming of Christ Reuel 1. 7. There will I pleade with them Hauing finished the gathering togither of the wicked into the place of iudgement now it remaineth that wee goe on to the causes of their destruction which the Lord heere openeth as pleaders do in their courts at the law and therefore he saith that he will plead with them for his people alluding to the manner of worldly iudgements so that heere wee may see that the Lord is both iudge counsellor for his church which may greatly comfort vs and discomfort our enimies for the Lord who is to tally for vs and eagerly against them hath the whole law in his owne hand But in this that he saith he will plead with them we may note that God will open all the sinnes of the wicked in iudgement Eccles 11. 9. For pleaders will not omit any thing which may discredit their aduersarie or the cause against which they speake yea they will suspect those things which they cannot gainesay and condemne those things very peremptorily which they can any way blemish In like sort the Lord when he shall draw thee to iudgement will there open all thy life and tell thy secret whooredome thy hidden theft thy often blasphemies thy idle words thy vaine expences thy proud gestures thy idle worship thy friend-pleasing vanitie and all thy hypocrisie Thy charitie he will defame with vaine-glorie thy prayers hee will account abhomination thy fasting he will call dissembling and thy gentle nature shall be accounted a flattering vertue All this will hee bring to iudgement hee will prooue it by thy conscience he will condemne it by his Gospell and he will punish it by condemnation oh then shall thy faults be written in thy forehead that al may know them and thy priuie doings blowen with a trumpet that all may heare them and thy forsworne sinnes opened by a crier that all may loath them Oh wretched wretches which had rather abide this iudgement of God then that which is in this life but if thou haue any meanes to perswade thy soule vnto goodnes or to terrifie thy flesh from euill let this helpe it forward that God shal open all thy faults at the day of iudgement and discredit all thy vertues be they neuer so many or neuer so glorious Thinke not that thy good deedes shall ouercome thy euil but as one blemish disfigureth a whole bodie so one sinne will disgrace a whole bodie of vertues The reasons of this doctrine are these because the counsell of euerie hart shall then be manifested whether it be good or euill 1. Cor. 4 5. and if the counsels of men be opened much more their sinnes Another reason is because they are remembred before God Reuel 20. 12. and if all the sinnes of the wicked be in the Lords
goods whereas you should haue laide your goodes at the Apostles feete what will ye doe when the mouth of God shall pronounce your destruction for medling with his tithes and his offerings and his sacrifices and his liuings as the hand of God did Belshazzars depriuation on the wall surely not your knees will bend but your harts wil quake not your countenance will change but your conscience wil tremble not your loines wil be loosed but your liues not your wealth shall be only destroied but your soules bodies for euer euer Secondly we may obserue out of this vers when he saith that they haue caried into their temples his goodlie pleasant things that God accounteth preciouslie of the meanes of his worship howe basely soeuer the world and all worldlings doe iudge thereof Leuit. 1. 2. for he calleth them his goodly and pleasant things The which thing I woulde haue most diligently obserued that wee may so thinke of the thinges of God as the spirite of God doth deliuer them vnto vs that we finde them goodlie as full of grace and pleasant as filled with delight that we may all saie Oh Lorde howe sweete are thy lawes vnto our hearts yea sweeter then honie to our mouthes For carnall minded men see no more grace in a church then in a tauerne nor no more delight in a christian then in a ruffian nor esteeme any whit better of a preacher then a craftesman or finde any more sweetenesse in a sermon then a plaie or take any more delight in the Gospell then in a little pedlars french Oh howe basely are you minded that cannot thinke better of the Lords matters One of you thinke that there is great goodnesse in an eare of wheate another findeth great delight in a fielde flower another sporteth himselfe with the smell of a rose but none of you can feele any pleasure in that corne that bringeth bread of life or that flower that sheweth the worke of life or that rose that offereth the smell of heauen Laie away thy base thoughts of spirituall matters and knowe that the church is the Lordes house who is greater then a king that the preachers are the Lordes stewardes who are better then lordes that the Gospell is thy soules food sweeter than any iuncate that a christian is the Lordes friend better than any rich man that a sermon is thy Sauiours praise higher then any prince and that the fellowship of saints is more woorth then the valour of knights Thinke I saie howe goodly and pleasant are the wordes full of grace the companie full of goodnesse the praiers full of sweetenesse the Psalmes full of melodie and the soules full of sorrowe which are gathered togither before the Lorde in his church The reasons of this doctrine are these First because hee euermore regardeth what himselfe hath appointed Cant. 5. 1. His church is his garden and therefore he hath planted euery flower growing therin wherewithall hee cannot chuse but bee highly delighted as he was at the beginning when hee sawe that all his workes were good Another reason is bicause he punisheth them seuerely that contemne any part of his ordinance Heb. 2. 2. 1. Cor. 11. 30. and therefore he accounteth preciously of his worde which hee defendeth by his power and of his poore saints whom hee maintaineth by his angels and of his mercie which hee manifested in his sonne and of the neglect of his Gospell which hee punisheth by condemnation Let vs therefore honour whom God honoureth Act. 10. 15. and that which God accounteth precious let vs not cast awaie as vile Because Assuerus honoured Haman all the people of his kingdome did him reuerence and therefore because the Lorde thinketh well of the worde and of the Sacraments and of praier and of preaching and of hearing the Gospell let him bee a dead dogge that speaketh against the same But alas alas as Vasthi would not come although the king hir husband sent for hir so will not our Vasthies men women olde and yoong followe religion and come to the Gospell although God our father and Christ our husband send for them neuer so earnestly but she was rewarded for hir disobedience and was diuorced from the king and so I feare will bee the ende of verie many in our daies to be put out of the Lordes fauour and diuorced from the blessings of Christ And again let vs learne to put on our eies of faith that wee may commend that which God commendeth for except wee can beholde the workes of God and the Gospell of God with spirituall eies it shall neuer bee goodly and pleasant before vs and cast away the blockish dulnesse that oppresseth your braines like a drouzie nap in a shining daie which will not suffer you to beholde the light with any comfort But lift vp your eies as the children of light that you may see the beautie of Christes church the riches of the Lords spirit the treasures of the Lordes saintes the ornaments of a faithfull soule and the glorie of another life The children also of Iudah and the children of Ierusalem haue ye sold vnto the Grecians that yee might send them farre from their border This verse contayneth the last cause of the Lordes iudgement vpon his enimies for that they had sold his seed and seruants vnto the heathen nations with this policie because when they were carried far from their own countrey they should liue like slaues without hope euer to returne home againe These Grecians to whom they solde the people of God were Gentiles or heathens the posteritie of Iauan the sonne of Iaphet who was the eldest sonne of Noah And in this that the Lorde now calleth them to a reckoning because they had solde away his people although they were their captiues vnto infidels we may obserue that it is not lawfull to commit the children of the beleeuers into the handes of vnbeleeuers And for this cause it is reported Gen. 12. 5. that when Abraham was commaunded by God to goe out of Haran where all were fallen to idolatrie into the promised lande of Canaan he tooke with him Sarai his wife and Lot his brothers sonne for he would not leaue him in the hands of Terah Abrahams father and Lot his grandfather because with the residue he then was fallen to idolatrie And this example is a sufficient proofe of the matter to teach vs that we should so loue the soules of the righteous seede that we leaue them not resident among the infidels or Atheists or Papistes or other prophane wretches but to our owne cost and labour redeeme them from the diuels tyranny But in this we may lament First that euen in our times we may see many of yeeres of discretion to runne away into papistical and heathenish warres or else to sauegarde themselues vnder the liueries of them that are open enimies to the Gospell and many to binde and put their owne children the fruit of their bodie
death-bed and although a man haue made no conscience all the time of his health yet on his death-bed will he lie most deuout so let deuotion and religion raigne in them that follow the warres that euery mans death may be a sermon of repentance vnto them and let the trumpet admonish them of iudgement and their continuall danger awake them for the Lordes comming Oh that men of this life woulde so liue that they might fight in lesse danger ouercome with smaller losse liue with greater holinesse and die with greater honour die I saie to honour their countrey with their liues and their Sauiour with their soules Breake your plow shares into swordes and your sithes into speares let the weake say I am strong Hauing handled the pressing of the souldiers now it followeth that we goe to the preparation of weapons in this verse where he biddeth them to take their tooles wherewith they husbande the earth and turne them into the instruments of warre whereby we may obserue that the warre which the faithfull haue against their enimies is as needfull or more needfull then tillage of the earth Gen. 14. 14 15. Abraham to recouer againe Lot tooke all his houshold both shepherds and other and followed the kings which lead him away captiue and by a mayne battle ouerthrew them all And surely many times there is none but they may doe more good in the warre then at the plow and at the slaughter of men then at the mowing of corne If Abraham had not stirred presently all had beene lost and then woe had been Lot which should haue liued a prisoner and forgot the God of Abraham therefore better was it to leaue the sheepe to the danger of the woolfe and the earth to bee vntilled and ouergrowen with weeds then to let any soules of God be captiuate by man or bee taken away from the flocke and visible church of God The reasons First because it is waged for the Lord and for the church 2. Sam. 10. 12. now then it being sometime a part of the Lords seruice what worldly worke is there that must not yeelde vnto it Yea though it be as naturall as the tillage of the earth Againe then doth the Lord take vengeance of the sinnes of wicked men whereupon they were accursed by the prophet Ieremie that did the worke of the Lord negligently meaning those which did not execute the fulnesse of his wrath vpon the wicked that he had giuen into their hands Therefore learne the necessitie of warre and when thou art called then refraine not to come Ios 1. 14. to helpe thy brethren for they are accursed that follow not willingly the warre of God Iudg. 5. 23. Deborah cursed Meroz because it did not helpe Barac against Sisera and so are those faint harted and white-liuered souldiers who are afraide to loose their life in the Lords quarrell Some that are great presse forwarde those that are vnder them other beeing lawfully called buie out their calling with money and so auoide the warre substituting some one or other in their place who peraduenture runneth away before the battle Yea if it be so necessarie let them learne that God is sometime as well serued by killing in the fielde as at an other time by praying in the church and it is better for them to leaue wife and children to goe and fight against the Lords enemies then to liue at home and follow their dayly labour Let vs also learne to entreate the Lord to go forth with our armies against our enimies Psal 44. 9. for there is no policie like his presence no captaine like his direction no power like his grace no sworde like his anger no foe like his displeasure no shot like his breath and no danger like his absence Oh therefore if Barac would not goe except Deborah went with him then goe not to the warre except the Lord goe with thee The Israelites neuer lost battle wherein Iosuah was and therefore neuer shall wee loose the field if the Lord be on our side Let his call command thee his cause prouoke thee his presence arme thee and then shall neuer foe hurt thee Let him be thy captaine to go before thy company to follow after thy prouision to feed thy campe let his lawes gouerne thy souldiers his presence shal preserue thee from danger Oh pray when thou goest that he may guide thee when thou trainest that he may see thee whē thou fightest that he may saue thee Secondly when he thus calleth vnto thē to turne their plowshares into swords and their siethes into speares we may note that it is a thing requisite that euery one doe prouide him weapons for the defence of his countrie and therefore doth the spirite of God 1. Sam. 13. 23. account it a detestable policie of the Philistines who tooke away all the smiths out of Israell because they woulde keepe the Israelites without weapon for therein they were neuer able to trie their cause and to auenge themselues of their tyrannie The reason first because no man by the law of God is forbidden to defend himselfe although in his owne defence he kill his aduersarie yet coulde he not be blamed because the Lord had deliuered him into his hand And in truth I thinke it a rare policie of the diuell in the mouthes of Anabaptists denying Christians to weare weapons because thereby the Turks and Pagans might come vpon vs vnarmed men and so take away our liues and our profession together therefore I hold it as needefull for a man to weare weapon to defende himselfe from wounds as for a man to take physicke to preserue himselfe from sicknesse Let vs not spend more time herein then needeth but let vs learne that we prouide the weapons of the spirit Ephes 6. 11. Bee not armed against men and vnarmed against the diuell be as cunning to defend thy soule from hell as thou wouldest bee to defende thy life from death Seest thou not that a whole nation are ouercome without weapon and so shalt thou be ouercome without the sword of the spirite the shield of faith the helmet of saluation and the darts of faithfull praiers to wounde the infernall foes They are stronger therefore thou must learne more cunning they are wiser therfore thou must get more strength they are swifter therefore thou must strike more sure they are more dangerous therefore thou must bee more zealous Againe when he biddeth the weake to say that they are strong he thereby teacheth vs that we must not admit any excuse to keepe vs from the battell neither sicknesse nor lamenesse nor pouertie nor riches nor youth nor gentrie nor weakenesse must excuse men from fighting of the Lords battels but rather the zeale to doe him seruice must exceede and excell the want which oppresseth vs. Therefore learne from hence how thou oughtest to liue in all thy waies that God looketh for at thy hand no excuse can be
neuer ceaseth to suggest new temptations and wee are seldome able to resist them therefore he neuer is idle but euer proceedeth farther and farther till he haue plunged vs ouer the eares in sinne that so he might drowne vs. When he made Peter denie Christ once then hee made him to denie him thrise so when he hath perswaded vs a little to follow the waies of our owne hearts then he neuer giueth ouer till hee haue made vs to denie him often so that this encreasing in sinne must bee attributed to the diuell for in truth the diuell shall be punished for the sinnes of the whole worlde and yet euerie wicked man shall be punished for his owne Let vs learne then that there is a measure appointed to receiue our sinnes and ifwe cease not till it bee full we cannot cease till it runne ouer and if we suffer it to runne ouer wee cannot hinder it from ouerrunning vs. There is none that woulde bee willing to sell his inheritance to fill a theeues purse with golde Therefore let not any of vs be so simple as to fill the diuels measure full of our sinnes which wee buie by selling away our soules Oh that we were as hard to the diuell when he craueth for a sinne as we are to a begger when he crieth for an almes we thinke well if we bestowe a pennie in a weeke vpon such a person and wee can hardly be drawen in for more but sinne after sinne we commit as fast as haile commeth from the cloudes Let vs then emptie the measure of our sinne and not fill it and be as vnwilling to cast one follie into the diuels hande as manie are to cast one farthing into the poore mans boxe Let vs resist the temptations of sinne as Iacob resisted the voice of his sonnes perswading him to suffer his little Beniamin to goe with them into Egypt and let vs neuer yeeld vnto him let vs not be ouercome rather let vs die For their iniquitie is great These wordes contayne the reason of their iudgement namely because of their sinnes for in truth if men did neuer sinne they should neuer be iudged and therefore seeing euery one that is borne hath sinned euery one borne shall answere for their sinne at iudgement But when he saith it is great hee teacheth vs that euery man shall be punished according to the quantitie of his sinne Luc. 12. 47. Many sinnes many stripes great sinnes great iudgement As in ciuill politicall gouernment there is a difference so also is there in the heauenly regiment for euery one shall bee punished according to the measure of his sinnes Therefore now take occasion to stay the heate of thy sinnes seeing many pleasures many ioyes many thefts many adulteries many othes many lies and many wicked actions shall bring vnto thee manifold indignation Moses would not suffer any of Israel to sacrifice in Egypt because the Egyptians would slay them if feare of death made them cease sacrificing to God then let feare of death make thee cease to sinne against God Some men will not eate the best meates although they loue them well because their price is too costly oh that we could as willingly abstaine from sinne which we loue too well because it will cost so deerely for one howers pleasure will bring a whole worlds paine The first reason because God hath ordained his church to haue seuerall kindes of punishment Matt. 18. whereby he teacheth that he will obserue the same order in the worlde to come to cast out obstinate offenders into the pit that is prepared for heathens and hypocrites for all the actions in the church militant do leade vs to the like in the church triumphant Secondly another reason is or else the greatest wretch of the worlde were in no woorse case then the new-borne babe but this cannot be for then were there not degrees of the Lords iustice as there are in his mercie Let vs learne to make this vse thereof seeing the Lorde woulde haue a man that had stolen any goodes or taken wrongfully from any man to restore it fowerfolde then let vs learne by the greatnesse of our sinnes to aggrauate our sorrowes for surely if we still remaine impenitent in the church of God his wrath will in the end ouertake vs as it did Ioab who was slaine at the hornes of the altar For the slaughter of the Gibeonites which Saul made vniustly God after his death caused seuen of his posteritie to bee hanged because Saul had not pacified the matter himselfe Be carefull therefore to repent thy sinnes with sorrow and to recompence them with obedience least thy desarts fall vpon thy posteritie otherwise thy delight will bee too deere and the fruites of thy pleasure will bee more bitter then wormwood Had Iudas knowen when hee was with Christ at supper that which now he feeleth all the priestes of Iewrie and al the money in their seueral treasuries could neuer haue perswaded him to that treason Trie not the aduenture of thy sinnes for hell is hotter then the fornace of Babylon and they which once come in it can neuer come out againe Learne also to knowe the waight of euery one of thy sinnes that thou maiest easily see they are odious to God infamous to men and dangerous to thy soule how the diuell hatcheth them the flesh nurseth them the worlde maintaineth them and God abhorreth them Looke I say vnto their waight for they are a burden too heauie for thee to beare if thou keepe them they will eate thee if thou striue with them they wil weary thee if thou beare them they will hurt thee if thou forsake them they will follow thee and if thou knowe them they will feare thee therefore learne to measure them and number them and waigh them that thou maiest emptie and lessen and cast them downe neuer to take them vp againe O multitude In this verse is contained the seconde similitude whereby their destruction is decyphered For after haruest commeth threshing and in my opinion in the former verse is set downe their first death and in this verse their second death by reason of the resemblance betwixt the paines of hell and the action of threshing First the stroke of the thresher seemeth to threaten the corne to strike it in peeces but yet it doth not so a man woulde thinke that the paines of hell woulde make an end of them that suffer them but yet they abide them Secondly threshing followeth the cutting of the corne and so hell followeth the death of the body Thirdly threshing is a continuall striking of one sheafe and so hell is a continuall tormenting of one soule for paine followeth paine as stroke followeth stroke But certaine it is a destruction is heere signified and that a more sharpe and seuere one then was noted in the former verse wherefore he calleth vnto them mournefullie O multitude ô multitude The which phrase of speech teacheth vs that God is
verie sorie to execute his wrath vpon the wicked for so our Sauiour expressed his griefe for Ierusalem Luk. 13. 34. when hee cried out O Ierusalem Ierusalem howe often woulde I haue gathered thee c. The which thing putteth vs in minde of the infinite loue of God whereby hee woulde pittie our losse reuoke his sentence silence his wrath and saue vs from heauie destruction But such is our nature as is the nature of children in their birth which thinke not vpon the paines of their mothers in trauaile although they die in extremitie yet they forget them when they bee olde and so doe we both the anger and the loue of God we regarde not his mercies nor his iudgements nor his gospell nor his teares nor the bloud of our Sauiour The reasons of this doctrine First in regard of vs because we knowe not the things that belong to our peace Luke 17. 42. So wretched is the estate of men that they are not able to discerne when God blesseth them or curseth them when hee wisheth them well and when he wouldeth them euill This is cleerer then the sunne for Christ and his Gospell being offered to the worlde and preached to euery degree of men you shall see nothing more vilely esteemed or basely regarded insomuch as wee may say that the men of our time doe not knowe the thinges that belong to their peace For if the Lorde threaten them then they spurne if he blesse them then they are wanton if he punish them then they murmure if hee honour them then they are proude and euerie one thinketh that the Gospell serueth but for a time and they shall doe as well without it as with it They knowe not that nowe is their visitation or that nowe they worke their death or life or that nowe they are married to God or the diuell Surely if men beleeue not the Gospell and walke not thereafter they are sathans bond-slaues although their wealth be as great as Salomons and their authoritie as great Hamans but if they ioyfullie embrace it in the ministerie of the worde then are they the wife of the lambe and the elected heires of grace Another reason secondly in regard of God because hee rather willeth repentance then vengeance of this wee haue often spoken Let vs make this vse First when we see the froward and wicked disposition of the world that will not bee reclaimed by any warning or any mercy of God let vs doe as Christ doth for the Pharisies Marke 3. 5. Mourne for the hardnesse of their heartes It is the custome of some vaine professours for so I may terme them to raile odiously at them that will not bee ruled by their wordes and so it is of some cholericke and vnwise preachers who will take libertie in their pulpits rather to reuile men then to reclaime them except at the first they come and lay their hands vnder their feete in the one it is foolish zeale in the other vaine folly Learne therefore by our Sauiour how to be affected when thy people or thy children or thy seruants or thy friends or thy neighbours will not bee gouerned by thy instruction namely to mourne for their hardnes of hart and no maruell for thou seest God to mourne for them when thy words can no longer preuaile then let teares and if they will not be mooued by warning let them be by mourning Hardnes of hart is a sickenes sent by God and it lyeth not in the power of man to cure the same therefore cast not away a man when he is sicke not a soule when it is hard but let sorrow and prayer speake for it to God when there is no helpe in mans phisicke Another vse seeing God is vnwilling and therefore mourneth for our destruction and so do all good men also oh let vs not despise and neglect all their sorrowes and cares and teares which they powre foorth for vs it is vngodlines not to regard the Gospell but it is vnnatural not to regard the sorrowful In heauen is nothing but ioy oh wretches that wee should make the Lord sorrowful for vs in the church there is al sorrow oh vnkinde and pitilesse men that we should encrease their sorrow and mourning and teares and adde to their affliction but that which is worst of all wee are hardened and will not care for their cries Be mooued to repentance and conuersion and holines and religion for God and men do mourne for thy rebellion let their teares make thee weep in this life or else they will make thee roare in another life Secondly we may obserue in this verse when hee calleth vpon the multitude to come to destruction that God careth no more for a multitude then for one man and will as easily cast many into hell as one soule as we may see in the drowning of the old world Gen. 7. 21. The reason because all are but flesh Gen. 6. 3. that is but vile made of earth but weake wanting strength and abhominable corrupted with sinne Now what should the Lord striue and stand with earth or weaknes or sinne he hath not an angell but it is stronger then a world and therefore a multitude are as easily giuen to damnation as one or two Let vs learne not to doe euill after the example of a multitude Exod. 23. 2. Although many be blasphemers or Atheists or heathens or papists or whooremongers or neglecters of the Gospell despisers of preachers and such like yet bee not thou so for it is no ease to haue company to hell Againe when he calleth them to come into the valley of threshing meaning the place of wrath vsing no other meanes to draw them thither but his call we may note that the onely word of God shal bring men to iudgement Psalm 50. 1 2 3. and the reason is because he is strong that giueth the word Ierem. 30 7. Oh therefore that the same word might stirre vs vp to saluation which shall prepare vs to condemnation and iudgement 2. Thess 3. 1. For verily if it be so powerfull as to bring all the world in one companie togither and to raise the dead out of their graues and make liuing men out of the dust of the earth in whom I beseech you is the fault that it gathereth not vs to heare it when the Lord speaketh in the congregation and rayseth vs not vp to the life of righteousnes surely as the Lordes hand is not shortened so his word is not weakened The xlj Sermon Vers 15. The sunne and the moone shall be darkened and the starres shall withdraw their light 16 The Lord also shall roare out of Zion and vtter his voice from Ierusalem and the heauens and earth shall shake but the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the children of Israel AS in the former chapter when the destruction and calamities of the Lords owne people the Iewes were threatened the heauens were said to be
comming secondly by hoping for our glorification and thirdly by purging our selues in a word this is all We are made holy by regeneration and sanctification for a new minde is a holy minde as a new life is a holy life So then wouldest thou be holy the word must beget thee in the wombe of the church and the blood of Christ must purge thee in the tabernacle of thy flesh this is the way to make a saint first by the word thē by the blood of Christ and all of this must bee done in this life for they doe but mocke and delude the world which canonize saints after they be dead except they can bring them to life againe So then a pure life maketh not a saint that is holy without a new minde nor another minde without a cleane life Some are of opinion that there are no saints but in the kingdome of heauen but they are easily confuted by the scripture which calleth the godly at Corinth at Ephesus at Colossa and many other places by the name of saints But they say we do all them saints which the scripture calleth holy men and I pray what difference is there betwixt a saint and a holy man surely none at all but euery holy man is a saint in all toongs that euer I learned But if they vnderstand saints to be the soules of godly men in heauen then I say that in all good diuinitie and sound writers there are none such spoken of I meane that the blessed soules in heauen are onely called saints To conclude heare the gospell beleeue the promises waite for the appeering of our Sauiour and take but a drop of his blood to purge thy soule and life and thou shalt bee holy thou shalt be a saint otherwise thy life lead in long iniquitie shall ende in euerlasting woe paine and miserie And no strangers In these words he telleth them one benefit of his presence and their sanctification or holynes which is this that no strangers shall any more go thorough Israell meaning that they should neuer be ouercome by any enimies otherwise to harbour strangers is the commandement of God But by these wordes we are taught that onely religion maketh a common-wealth or kingdome to bee peaceable and happie 1. Sam. 12. 14 15. Although humane policie and worldly wisedome do much in the gouernment of any nation yet there is not any thing that so establisheth a people and maketh them happie as religion which is the wisedome and written word of God Why was not Ahabs gouernment as good as Dauids or Ieroboams a most politike king as good as Salomons Surely because the one was stablished in the law of God and the other was mingled with filthie idolatrie Let all the Polititians of the world and cursed Machiuillian Atheists murmur what they dare into the eares of kings and great persons that they must sometime regard Stratagems contrary to the Scriptures or else thrones cannot stand yet they are all deceiued for no policie nor counsell can stande against the Almightie Oppression breach of promise toleration of malefactors insinuations examinations extortions creations of offices and all the like policies cannot stand without religion for there was neuer yet any Polititian but he ended his life in great sorrow as did Achitophel I meane such as are not ruled by the scriptures We haue reade many policies of wicked men as of Pharaoh to keepe the Israelites in Egypt of the Philistims to keepe them without weapons of Ieroboam to keepe them from Ierusalem of the kings of Assyria to keepe them from returning home againe of Herod to kill our Sauiour Christ but what gained they all by their policie◠surely nothing but their owne sorrow and death for as Dauid saith The Lord intrappeth the wicked in the net that he laid for other Psalm 9. The reasons of this doctrine are these First because for sinne God dissolueth kingdomes Prouerb 28. 2. and therefore for religion he establisheth them for there is not any thing so contrarie to sinne as is the Lords worship I meane religion for all other humane vertues are rather in the compasse of sinne then in the shadow of true godlinesse Neither yet are all policies so condemned as it is vtterly vnlawfull to vse any for some are godlie and may bee practised as wee may see in Ioseph with his brethren who was a great courtier and yet vsed no vnlawfull extremitie of his authoritie so wee may reade of Moses that sent spies into the land of Canaan of the Israelites fighting with the Beniamites and of Gedeon when he slew so many of the Ephramites whom he found out by pronuntiation of the word Shibboleth but if policie bee grounded vpon any sinne or accompanied with any vnlawfull thing then better abide the hazard than that wee should do euill that good may come of it Another reason because Kings raigne by the Lord and by him Princes beare rule Now we must not thinke that he fauoureth or accounteth any nation blessed without his worship for he regardeth not a soule that feareth him not For this cause he droue Nebuchadnezzar from the throne to the heards of cattle that he might teach him that his throne depended vpon him Now shall we say that God is where there is no God accounted or if accounted yet not worshipped or if externally worshipped yet not sincerely where euery fancie of a worldly wise man is preferred before that truth which is sealed with the Lords blood I graunt that Iethro a heathen gaue Moses counsell how to behaue himselfe in his gouernment but GOD approoued it and so let euerie man speake for the good gouernment of a nation but let the word of GOD gouerne their sayings The vses first let vs take that counsell of the wisest king that euer was Prou. 25. 5. Take away the wicked from the king and his throne shall be established in righteousnesse If the wicked be remooued wicked counsell will be silenced and if wicked counsell be silenced then will the princes throne bee established in righteousnesse Dauid would not haue them to be his courtiers that slew Ishboseth his enemie and no more woulde he haue any vaine persons or liers to bee his seruants Psalm 101. 5 6. for as Gedeons armie was most honorable when he had sent away all dastardes and fearful soldiers although it was small so a kings court is most glorious when all wicked are banished from it although very fewe be left Multitudes are verie dangerous many men many wicked men Our Sauiour Christ had but twelue and yet one of them was a traytour and so it is most likely there is not any great company liuing in court or countrey but there are some wicked among them Although wicked men may bee good for the common wealth yet they cannot establish the kings throne in righteousnesse therefore I woulde that all the princes of the world would say with Dauid Psal 119. Awaie from me yee wicked
nanc finem viuendi facere cogor necessariò Reason 1. Vse 1. 2 If the preachers awake vs not we shall sleepe till we bee destroyed Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Such as are our sins such shall be our wants Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Vngodly men very beastes in aduersitie Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Wicked men onely merry and sorie for wordly things Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 No mercie procured by feigned and worldly sorrowe Reason 1. 2. V se 1. 2 No resisting of the Lords iudgement Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. Vers 7. Fruits faile for mans sinne Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. z We must as earnestly affect heauenly things as earthly Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Lamentation for the dead not vnlawful Reason 1. 2. Vse 1. 2 Vers. 9. He cannot feare God that sorroweth not when religion faileth Reason 1. Vse 1. God will punish sinne although hee take away his owne worship Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. A great iudgement to see the publike vse of religion violated Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 The ministers are the first in any danger Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 God giueth fruits of the earth for his worship Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 We cannot perfectly without sin serue God in this life Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Vers 11. The ministers must exhort all men Reason 1. Vse 1. 2 The outward worship of God doth good vnto all Reason 1. Vse 1. No creature but for same it shall be destroyed Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Worldly sorrow a fearefull thing Reason 1. 2 Ves 1. If we humble not our wils God will humble them against our will Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 None so for ward in religion but they may be exhorted farther Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 All must be throughly humbled in a common praier for a common miserie Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Ministers are onely the Lords seruants Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 God by threatning wrath mooueth vs to his worship Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. Fasting nothing worth without praier Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Vers 15. Good men mourne before iudgement commeth Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Nothing feareth good men so much as the wrath of God Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. The seruice of God to be performed with ioy Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Vers 17. No naturall meanes to resist the Lords power Reason 1. 2 2 Vers 18. The beastes punished for our sakes Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Famine the greatest punishment Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Ad de praier to our complaints Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 All our affections must be pitifully affected in prayer Reason 1. Vse 1. 2 Verse 20. God heareth the voice of beasts Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. The vse of the trumpets in olde time I The ministers must shew all dangers Reason 1. Vse 1. Ministers must mooue affections Vse 2. Reasons The publique ministerie to be regarded principally How we must behaue our selues in churches Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Vers 2. Clouds and darkenes admonish vs of iudgement Reason 1. 2 Nature seldome changed Reason 1. 2 2 1 Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Vers 4. A guilty conscience feareth punishment Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Vers 5. Vers 6. Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Wicked men desperate in aduersitie Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 1 The condition of soldiers 1 2 The exercise of a soldier 2 Institution in martiall affaires 3 Celeritie in a souldiour Vers 8. 1 Order in battle 2 Souldiers must looke to themselues Vers 9. 1 Confusion in victorie All villanie made lawfull in warre Vse 1. Vers 10. 1 Signes shew iudgements Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 2 Earth-quakes betoken God his anger Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Verse 11. 1 Creatures enimies one to another Reason 1. Vse 1. 2 Reason 1. The wrath of God intollerable Reason 1. 2 ◠1 No iudgement without the word worketh repentance Reason 1. The end of Gods iudgements 2 Vse 1. 2 2 Reason 1. 2 Vse 1 2 God regardeth no sorrowe but repentance Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 3 Repentance is the conuersion of the whole hart Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. Outward signes with inward repentance Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 2 In great calamities we must fast priuately Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 3 Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. Vse 2. The paines of true repentance exceeds the paines of the flesh Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 2 Outward holines abhominable Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 3 Till we turne to God we go from God Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 In our greatest miserie we must account God very merciful Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 1 Al creatures doe mooue vs to repentance Reason Vse 1. 2 2 God his mercy must moue vs to repentance Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 God deferreth venge ance and why Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Reason Vse 1. 2 Why wee know not the ende of our sorrowes Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 All things must be applied to religion Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Generall lamentation Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 2 No lawfull action must hinder repentance Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. All the exercises of the ministerie must be so done as they may be vnderstoode Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 1 Our praiers must begin with confession Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Reason 1. 2 Nothing more grieuous to good men then the regiment of the euill Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. Reason Repentance maketh vs fit for al benefits Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 3 Verse 19. 1 God euer heard good mens praiers Reason 1 2 Vse 1. 2 All abundance to religion Reason 1 2 Vse 1. 2 3 Reason 1. Vse 1. 2 God onelie driueth away hurtful things Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 2 All things helpe God to destroy his enimies Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 A man may offend God in doing that which he willed Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Vers 21. The promises of God must euer preuaile with good men Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 The worde of God gladdeth man and beast Reason 1. 2 Vers 23. God onely giueth ioies Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 3 Reason 1. Vse 1. 2 3 Wherein good men reioice Reason 1. 2 Religion better for the church then riches Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 The Lord ruleth the cloudes Vse 1 2 We haue no losse by affliction Reason 1. 2 Vse Vers 26. Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. ◠Reason 1. 2 Vse 2. God vseth ordinarie and extraordinary power to deliuer his church Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Religion neuer maketh ashamed Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Vers 27. God euermore in the church Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Euerie one must know how he is in Gods fauour Reason 1. 2 2 3 We must not doubt of our religion Reason 1. 2 After knowledge commeth the holie Ghost Reason 1. 1 Vse 1. 2 3 None prophesie but by the spirite Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 They which labour not to prophesie do deface the kingdome of Christ Reason 1. 2 3 None in the church too good for to studie diuinitie Reason 1. ◠4 Christians must haue religious seruants Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Reason Vse 1. 2 God sheweth his wrath before he doth it Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 3 1 Reason 1. 2 Some of the Iewes shall euer be saued 3 God his promise shall preserue his church Reason 1. 2 4 Few shall be saued Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 5 By the worde wee beholde what is to come after vs. Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 2 Redemption must be certainly known Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 3 God determineth the ende of good mens trouble before trouble Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 The infinite power of God can at one time assemble the whole world Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. The wicked shall be vnwillinglie drawne to iudgement Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 All sinnes shal be opened in iudgement Reason 1. 2 Vse God will adiudge the iniuries done to his church Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. Wicked men in their greatest ioy neerest to hell Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 No lawfull triumph ouer the godly in warre Reason 1. 2 Vse Euill men make good things euill Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. Wicked men esteeme more of their owne lust then of others life Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Wicked men set nothing by the godly Reason 1. 2. Vse 1. 2 Be not angrie with God Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 What is once lawfully giuen to religion may not be recalled Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 God taketh pleasure in his worship Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. Verse 6. Commit not the children of beleeuers to Infidels Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 A wicked thing to spoile orphanes of patrimonies In the seed of the righteous shall good men be preserued Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Wicked mens policie cannot alway stand Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Thoughts to doe euill like euill actions Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. What we doe to other wee shal receiue of other Reason Vse Reason 1. Vers 9. Warre proclaimed beforehand Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Souldiers must haue a calling from God Reason 1. 2 Vers 10. Warre as needfull as husbandrie Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Weapons needfull and lawfull for any christian Reason The strongest ouerthrowne by God Reason 1. 2 Vse A sudden destruction to the wicked Reason 1. 2 Vse 1 2 The neerest foes of the Church in the greatest danger Reason 1. 2 Vse Reason Vse Sinne will neuer cease growing Reason 1. Vse 1. Such as is our sinne shall be our paine Reason 1. 2 2 Vers 14. God is sorrie to destroy vs. Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. ◠◠Fearefull things in the church Woonders make good men to hope in God Reason 1. 2 Vse Vers 17 Holines is the perfection of the church Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Religion only maketh a kingdome happie Reason 1. 2 2 The peace of the church reioice the creatures of God Reason 1. 2 Vse Vers 19. Vers 20 21