that can holde no water The change is very vnequall worse then the change of Glaucus who gaue his armour of golde for armour of brasse and the losse vnsupportable For what aequalitie betweene a naturall fountaine vvhich ever floweth because it is euer fedde in the chambers of the earth and artificiall cesternes or pittes fashioned by the handes of man cesternes that are broken and cannot holde I saie not water of life and perennity but no water at all But when they saw their folly herein as a thiefe is ashamed saith God when he is founde so was the house of Israell ashamed they and their kings their Princes their Priestes and their Prophets because they had said to a tree Thou art my father and to a stone Thou hast begotten me He yet proceedeth against thē They haue turned their backe to me and not their face but in their time of trouble they will say Arise and helpe vs. You see the fits and pangs of idolatours First they digge broken pits afterward they are ashamed first they flie to the tree stone for succour but when they are vexed they seeke after the help of the true God Clemens Alexandrinus marvelleth why Diagoras and Nicanor with others should be sir-named Atheists vvho had a sharper sight in discerning the false Gods thē their fellows Amōgst whom Diagoras hauing something to boile tooke his Hercules carved of wood thus spake vnto him It is now time O Hercules that as thou hast serued Euristheus in twelue labors so thou shouldest serue mee in the thirteenth so threw him into the fire as a piece of wood A practise not vnlike the counsell which I haue read giuen to Clodoveus the French king Worship that which thou hast burnt incense vnto burne that vvhich thou hast worshipped The childrē of Israel in the book of Iudges finding their error folly in idolatry made a recātation of it for whilst they served the Lord he deliuered them from the Aegyptians and Ammorites children of Ammō Philistines Sidonians Malachites Mahonites they cried vnto the Lord he saued them out of their handes But whē they worshipped strange Gods they were no more delivered nay they were vexed oppressed sore tormēted thē the Lord vpbraided them Go crie vnto your Gods which you haue chosen let them saue you in the time of your tribulation And to that exprobatiō they yeelded saying we haue sinned against thee because wee haue forsaken our owne God haue serued Baalam doe thou vnto vs whatsoever pleaseth thee onely deliuer vs this day The like irrision he vsed before in Ieremy to those that honored stockes and stones but where are thy Gods which thou hast made thee let thē arise if they cā helpe thee in the time of thy misery A forcible admonition to those whom a truth cannot draw from a doctrine of lies from the worke of their own hands worship of their own phātasies whom Clemens Alexandrinus not vnfitly matcht with those Barbarian tyrants who bound the bodies of the living to the bodies of the dead till they rotted togither so these being living soules are coupled and ioined with dead images vanishing in the blindnesse of their minds perishing in the inventions of their own braines And as the naturall pigeons were beguiled by the counterfet and flewe vnto pigeōs that were shaped in the painters shop so stones saith he flocke vnto stones stocks vnto stocks men vnto pictures as sensles of hart as stocks stones that are carved But whē they haue tired thēselues in their supposed imaginary Gods whō do they worship Praxiteles made Venus to the likenes of Cratina whom he loved Al the Painters of Thebes painted her after the image of Phrine a beautiful but a notorious harlot Al the carvers in Athens cut Mercury to the imitation of their Alcibiades It may be the pictures of Christ the blessed Virgin the saints which they haue placed in their windows vpon the walles of their houses fastned to their beds and carrie privily in their bosomes as Rahel hid her fathers idols in the camels straw are but Pigmalions pictures workes of their owne devising or draughts of their lovers friēds as vnlike the originals as Alcibiades was to Mercury Phrine Cratina to Venus Lactātius scattereth the obiections made for images in his times reneued in ours like fome For whē it was alleaged that they worshiped not the images thēselus but those to whose likenes similitude they were formed I am sure saith he your reason is because you thinke thē to be in heavē els they were not Gods Why then cast you not your eies into heauē why forgetting the feature of your bodies which are made vpright that your minds may imitate them not answering the reason of your name pore ye downe vpon the earth bow your selues to inferiour things as if it repeted you Non quadrupedes esse natos that you were not borne foure footed beasts Againe images were devised to be the memorials represētatiōs either of the absent or of the dead Whether of these two do you think your Gods if dead who so folish as to worship thē if absent as litle they deserue such honor because they neither se our actiōs nor heare the praiers which we powre before thē When they further replied that they afforded their presēce no where so sone or not at al as at their images he answereth it is iust as the cōmō people deemeth that the spirits ghosts of the dead walk at their graues reliques are most cōversant in churchyards I passe his further infectatiō how senseles a thing it is to feare that which it selfe feareth falling firing stealing away which being in timber was in the power of a contemptible artificer to bee made some thinge or nothinge vvhen no man feareth the workeman himselfe which must of force be greater then his worke when the birdes of the aire are not afraid of them because they roust and build and leaue their filthines vpon them and the figments themselues if they had any sense or motion would run to thāke worship the carver who when they were rude and vnpolished stones gaue them their being When Saint Augustine heard them say in his dayes that they tooke not the idoll for a God he asketh them what doth the altar there and the bowing of the knee and holding vp the hands and such like gesticulations They seemed in their owne conceiptes to bee of a finer◠religion such are the pruners and purifiers of popery the cleanely Iesuites of these times which were able to distinguish I worship not the corporall image onely I beholde the portraiture of that which I ought to worship but he stoppeth their mouthes with the Apostles sentence and sheweth what damnation will light vpon them which turne the truth of God into a lie and worship the creature more then the creator which is to be
dissolute I feare and beare a reverent estimation 3. I am not carried away to dumbe idols I feare the Lorde God 4. who is not a God in heaven alone as your Iupiter nor in the sea alone as your Neptune nor alone in the earth as your Pluto but alone is the God of heaven and doth not hold by tenure but 5. himselfe hath made the sea and the dry land not only the land of Israel wherin he principally dwelleth and which I relinquished but the land of Tharsis also the continent dry ground belonging to the whole world not the land alone but all the waters of the maine sea which I tooke for my refuge and sanctuary I am an Hebrew From the beginning of the worlde to the time of Christ are numbred fowre propagations or generations the first from Adam to Noe the second from Noe to Abraham the third from Abraham to David the fourth from David to Christ. In the second generation was the name of the Hebrewes received in the third of the Israelites from Iacob sirnamed Israel whose grandfather Abraham was in the fourth of the Iewes after that Iuda and Beniamin which for the vnity of mindes were as it were one tribe following Rehoboam the son of Salomon of the tribe of Iuda made the kingdome of Iuda the other ten betaking them to Ieroboam of the tribe of Ephraim set vp the kingdome of the Ephraimites or of Israel One and the same people thrice changed their names Touching the first of these names there are sundry opinioÌ„s brought wheÌ„ce it arose 1. Some thinke they were called Hebrews of AbrahaÌ„ with the alteration of a fewe letters Hebraei quasi Abrahaei 2. some deriue them from Heber who was the fourth froÌ„ Noah 3. the graÌ„marians fetch theÌ„ froÌ„ an Hebrew word which signifieth over or beyonde because the posterity of SeÌ„ went over the river Tigris abode in Caldaea This sirname you shall first finde given to AbrahaÌ„ Gen. 14. where it is said that he which brought news that Lot was carried out of Sodome with the rest of the booty tolde it to Abraham the Hebrew because forsaking Vr of the Chaldees and passing over Euphrates he came into the land of Canaan therefore was he named of that couÌ„try people Ibreus that is one that past over So there is no doubt made but of Abraham they are called Hebrews because he harkned to the word of the Lorde and went beyond Euphrates Some haue gathered here-hence that in calling himselfe an Hebrew he maketh coÌ„fession of his fault that as the children of Sem Abraham past over rivers so by a borrowed speech he had past over the commandement of the Lord. For what is sinne but transgression transitio linearum the going beyond those lines limits that are prefined vs Other obserue that he implieth the condition of mans life heerein as having no abiding citie but a travaile vpon the face of the earth to passe from place to place as it is written of Israell in the Psalme they went from nation to nation from one kingdome to an other people and David confesseth no lesse I am a stranger and soiourner vpon the earth as all my fathers were Hierome vvoulde haue vs note that he tearmeth not himselfe a Iew which name came from the reÌ„ding of the kingdome but an Hebrew that is a passenger I take the letter of the text without deeper constructions that his purpose simply was to answere their last question which was yet fresh in his eares touching the people from whence he came and by naming his nation to make an argument against himselfe of higher amplification that lying in that corner of the worlde which was the diamond of the ring and as it were the apple of the eie heart of the body being sprung of that roote whereof it was saide Onely this people is wise and of vnderstanding and a greate nation for vvhat nation is so great to vvhome the Gods come so neere as the Lorde is neere vnto vs in all that wee call vnto him for or what nation so greate that hath ordinaunces and lawes so righteous as wee haue it might bee his greater offence to bee sovven good and come vp evill to bee richly planted in the goodlyest vine and baselie degenerated into a sower grape As it were a greater shame not to bee knit indissolublie to the worshippe of God in Englande than any other countrey almost it lying in Europe as Gedeons fleece in the flore exempted from the plagues of her neighbours and speciallye signed vvith the favour of GOD Hungary and Boheme busied with the Turkes Italy poisoned vvith the local seat of Antichrist Spaine held in awe with a bloudy Inquisition nether Germany disquieted with a forraine foe France molested with an intestine enemy Ireland troubled with the incivility of the place Scotland with her fatal infelicity England amongst all the rest having peaceable daies and nightes and not knowing any other bane but too much quietnes which shee hath taken from God with the left hand and vsed as the fountaine of all her licentiousnes After his country he placeth his religion I feare the Lord God of heaven which is here put for the generall worship and service that belongeth to God For that which God saith Esay 29. their feare is taughte by the precepts of men Christ interpreteth Math 15. by the name of vvorship In vaine doe they worship me teaching for doctrines the precepts of men Feare and worshippe in these scriptures are both one Come children saith the Psalmist hearken vnto mee I will teach you the feare of the Lord. And it is a notable phrase that the Hebrewes vse to this purpose as in the speech of Iacob to Laban Gen. 31. Except the God of my father the God of Abrâ—ham and the â—eare of Isaac had beene with mee surelie thou hadst sent mee avvay emptie where it is further to be marked that when Laban sware by the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor Iacob sware by the feare of his father Isaac that is by that God which his father feared that is worshipped and served It implieth thus much that the strength of Israell is a dreadfull God clothed with vnspeakeable maiesty as with a garment the glory of his face shining brighter than al the lights of heaven in their beauty yea the beholding of his countenance to a mortall man present death the Angels tremble the heavens melt the mountaines smoake the sea slieth backe the rivers are dried vp the fish rot the earth fainteth at the sight thereof therfore we ought not approach his grouÌ„d with our shooes on our feet with sensual base cogitations nor sit at his feast when the breade of his fearful word is broken without our wedding garment nor enter his house of praier with the sacrifice of fooles nor come to his holy mysteries with vnwasht handes or harts not
vt pueri Iunonis avem and schollers wondering more at men that they doe so little for them learning never departeth ashamed and discontented from your face I adde with most zealous and thankefull commemoration in behalfe of my mother and all the children at her knees your loue to our Vniversitie Of whose age and nativity which others haue beene carefull to set downe I dispute not But whither shee bee the elder sister it seemeth by that neglect wherein shee now standeth that shee hath lost the honour and inheritance of her birth-right or vvhither the younger your Lordship hath not many companions to ioine with you in compassion and say in these daies soror est nobis parva we haue a little sister and shee hath no breastes or rather hath not succor to fill out her breastes what shall vvee doe for her How many commō respectes to let private alone a vvhile haue naturally borne me to the centre and pointe of your Honours onely patronage I deny not when at my comming from the North it first came into my head to divulgate these readings my purpose was to haue made the chiefe founders and procurers thereof my two deceased Lords the chiefe patrones also that as the rivers runne to the place from whence they come so these tokens of my gratefull minde might returne to the principall authours Wherein the worlde might iustly haue censured me with the words of the Prophet what from the living to the dead contrary to the vse and fashion of all other men But so I meane both to avoide the suspicion of a fault which the world laboureth of flattering of great personages who was and am content that all mine expectations in any respecte from them or theirs bee laid in the same dust vvherein their bones lye and to shew that loue is stronger then death and that the vnexorable barres of the graue cannot forbid a man to continue that affection to the memory of the dead vvhich he carried to the living For which cause as others provided spices and balmes and monuments of stone or brasse to preserue their bodies so I intended a monument of paper and such other preservatiues as I coulde to keepe their names in life which the violence of time cannot so quicklye iniurye as the fatall vngratefulnesse of these latter daies But your Lordshippes most vndeserved and vnlooked for bounty towards mee hath altered that meaninge In whose countenance speech evermore from the first houre that I came into your honorable presence there dwelt such plentifull comfortes and encouragements to make me hope for better times that I never went a way but with more fatnesse to my bones And now the world can witnesse vvith mee how largely you haue opened your hand and sealed vp that care in freely bestowing vpon mee not Leah but Rahel even the daughter of your strength the best that your Honour had to bestow I say not for my service of twice 7. yeares but being yet to begin my first houres attendance Which more then credible benignity my right hande were vvorthye to forgette her cunninge if shee tooke not the first occasion to write and report with the best skill shee hath Notwithstanding I haue bene bold thus farre after the trees shaken and the vintage gathered to your Honours vse to leaue as it were a berrye or two in the vtmost boughes to my former Lordes and by making some little mention of their happy memories both to testify mine auncient duety towards them and to deliver them what I might from the night of forgetfulnesse who were the shining lampes of the North in their life time Such a Moses and such an Aaron such a Josuah to lead the people and such a Priest to beare the Arke such a Zorobabel and such a Jehozadak such a Centurion in Capernaum to rule the country and such a Jairus to governe the Synagogue when the Lorde shall send togither againe I will then saie hee hath restored his blessing amongst them To this purpose I haue added two sermons more to these Lectures vppon Ionas the one preached at the funeralles of my former Lord the late Archbishop of Yorke the other no way pertinent to the latter the right noble Earle of Huntingdon except because hee commanded it and it was not many weekes before his death and the subiect was so agreeable to his most faithfull and vnsteined heart For if the sound of the tongue and applause of the handes may perswade for him he never behelde the light of heaven within this land that more honoured the light of England Long may it sparkle and flame amongst vs according to his harty wishes Let neither distempered humours within quench it nor all the waters of the sea betwixt Spaine and vs bring rage and hostility enough to put it out but let the light of Gods owne most blessed countenance for ever ever shine vpon it It nowe remaineth that in the humblest manner I can I wholy resigne my selfe and the course of my life to your honourable both protection and disposition askinge pardon for my boldnesse and defense for these my simple endeavours beseeching the God of heaven earth to multiply his richest blessings vpon your Honour your Lady and your Children whither within or without the land Your Lordshippes most bounden and dutifull Chaplaine JOHN KINGE THE FIRST LECTVRE Cap. 1. verse 1.2 The word of the Lord came also vnto Ionah the sonne of Amittai saying Arise and go to Niniveh c. COmparisons betwixt scripture and scripture are both odious and dangerous In other sortes of thinges whatsoeuer is commendable may either be matched or preferred according to the worth of them I will not make my selfe so skilful in the orders of heaven as to advance angel aboue angel but I am sure one star differeth from another in glorie And God hath giuen the rule of the day to the sunne of the night to the moone because they differ in beauty The captaines of the sonnes of Gad without offence might beare an vnaequall report One of the least could resist an hundred and the greatest a thousand because their prowesse and actes were not aequall There was no wrong done in the Antheme which the women song from all the citties of Israell Saul hath slaine his thousande and David his tenne thousande The vnlike desertes of these two princes mighte iustly admit an vnlike cōmēdation One Cato may be of more price then hundreth thousandes of vulgar men and Plato may stande for all Our Saviour in the gospell preferreth old wine before new Aristotle liketh better of the wine of Lesbos thē the wine of Rhodes he affirmeth both to be good but the Lesbian the more pleasant alluding vnder that parable to the successour of his schoole and noting his choise rather of Theophrastus borne at Lesbos then Menedemus at Rhodes But the whole scripture is giuen by inspiration of God neither in his greate house of vvritten counsels is
vsuall speech as hee there confesseth that the commination of hell fire doeth no lesse commende the providence of God towardes man then the promise of his kingdome the terrour of the one and sweetenesse of the other working togither like oile and wine to make man vvise to his salvation Niniveh had not stood a longer time if Ionas had not said before Niniveh shal be overthrowne The message of their overthrow overthrew the message the prophecie fell and the citie fell not because her fall was prophecied O new and admirable thing saith he in a homily to the people of Antioch The denunciation of death hath brought forth life the sentence of destruction hath made a nullitie in the sentence c. It was a snare it became their fortresse it was their gulfe it became their tower of defence they heard that their houses should fall and they forsooke not their houses but themselues and their ancient wicked waies Secondly he sendeth him to Niniveh to make the cōversiō therof as it were of his first fruits a figure type of the cōversion of other the Gentiles and to shew to the people a far off far from the seat of Iudea farther frō the covenant that the daies drew on wherein they should be called by the names of sons daughters though they vvere now strangers And as ten men in Niniveh tooke holde of the skirt of one Ionas an Hebrew and said wee will goe with thee for we nowe heare that God is with you so tenne and tenne millions of men out of all languages should ioine themselues to the Iewes in the worshippe of that Lord whom they adored A glimpse of this overspreading light had now and then opened it selfe in some singular persons aliens from the common wealth of Israel as in Melchizedech king of Salē Naaman the Syrian Iob in the land of Vz in Thamar Rahab and Ruth inserted into the pedegree of Christ to shew amongst other reasons that as he came of the Gentiles so for the Gentiles to and that the waters of life as Zachary tearmeth them shoulde flowe from Ierusalem farther then to the river of Tigris vvhereon Niniveh stoode halfe of them towardes the East sea and halfe of them towards the vttermost sea that both endes of the earth might bee watered therewith Thirdly he sendeth him to Niniveh as he sent Ioseph into Egypt to provide a remedy against a mischiefe not farre of Ioseph to prepare bread for his fathers house in the famine Ionas to prepare a place for the Lords exiles in the captivity This carefulnes of their weldoing herein appeareth vnto vs in a charge giuen to Moab in the prophesie of Esay Hide them that are chased out bewray not him that is fled let my banished dwell with thee Moab be thou their covert from the face of the destroier The time vvas to come when the sonnes of Iacob should go captiues into Assyria righteous and vnrighteous cleane and vncleane those vvhom hee tendered as the apple of his owne eie vvith their vngratefull and vngracious brethren yet such was his provident fore-sight tovvardes his little remnante grovving as thinne among the rest as oliue berries vpon the tree after the vintage a berrie heere and there in the outmost boughes that though they bare their parte of thraldome in a straunge lande yet they shoulde meete with some of milde and tractable spirits whose hearts had beene mollified before by the preaching of Ionas Lastlie hee sendeth him to Niniveh vvhich I rather fasten vpon to provoke his people of the Ievves with those that were not a people to vpbraide their contempte defie their frovvardnesse and to shevve that his soule loatheth abhorreth abhominateth their incorrigible rebellions Whom he had girt to himselfe as a girdle to ones raines and married in everlasting kindnesse to vvhome hee had risen earlie and stretched out his hande all the daie long and cryed vpon them all Harken O Israell and I vvill protest vnto thee Thou shalt bee my people and I will bee thy God whome hee had chidden and not chidden vvith so fatherlie a spirite and such obtesting protestations that they seeme to bee angrie without anger As I liue I woulde not your deathes VVhy will yee die O house of Israell wilt thou not bee made cleane VVhen shall it once bee lastlie to whome hee had appealed though men of vnaequall iudgementes yet not so farre from aequalitie as to condemne his vvaies wherein haue I grieved thee testifie against mee these hee giveth to vnderstande that at the preaching of one prophet when they had precept vpon precept a stranger amongst strangers a man of an vnknovvne tongue the whole people of Niniveh though heathenish and idolatrous shoulde bee wonne to repentaunce Arise Ionas goe to Niniveh Sanctifie a people vnto mee vvhere I had no people fetch mee sonnes and daughters from farre let the barren beare children and let the married bee barren I haue beene served vvith the sinnes of Israell a longe time I am wearie of their back-sliding let them henceforth lie and rotte in their iniquity Goe thou to Niniveh Manie the like angrie and opprobrious comparisons hath the mouth of the LORD vttered with much indignitie in other places in the eighteenth of Ieremy Aske nowe amongst the heathen who hath hearde such thinges The Virgin of Israell hath done verie filthilie Strumpets and brothels had done but their kinde but in the virgin of Israell vvho woulde haue thought it In the first of Hosea Goe take thee a vvife of fornication the meaning of the type is this I vvill finde more faithfulnesse in a lande inured to whoredomes then one vvhich I tenderly loved as mine owne vvife Christ in the gospell iustifieth this collection against the evill and adulterous generation of that time The men of Niniveh shall rise in iudgement with this generation and condemne it For they repented at the preaching of Ionas and beholde a greater then Ionas is heere And in the same Evangelist hee rateth them in parables for despising the doctrine of Iohn Publicanes and harlottes shall goe before you into the kingdome of GOD For they beleeved him and yee thoughe yee sawe it vvere not mooved to repentance The argumente brieflie thus standeth The people of Niniveh shall condemne the people of Israell For they vvill repente at the preaching of one Ionas the others repent not at the preaching of manie hundreds of Prophets It is a curse of all curses the verie bottome of the viall and dregges of the vengeaunce of God vvhen prophetes are vvilled to relinquish their accustomed flockes and their message is translated to forrainers and straungers the dust of vvhose feete but shaken against a citie or towne or the lappe of their garment emptied the least remembrance I meane and vvatchvvorde in the vvorlde betvveene GOD and his servauntes that heere or there they haue beene delivered their errande in his name and vvere not accepted shall vvitnesse
a marveilous worke a wonder For the wisdome of the wise men shal perish the vnderstanding of the prudent men shall be hid Before he bad them stay themselues wonder that men should be drunken but not with wine stagger but not with strong drinke The cause followeth the Lord had covered them with a spirit of slumber and shut their eies There are many and mighty nations at this day their soile most happy their aire sweetly disposed people for flesh and bloud as towardly as the ground carrieth most provident to forecast most ingenious to invent most able actiue to performe of whoÌ„e you would say if you tried them Surely this is a wise people and of great vnderstanding To whome notwithstanding if Christ shoulde speake in person as he spake to Saule before his illumination why persecutest thou mee why do you stumble at my gospell and are offended at my name and account the preaching of my crosse foolishnesse they woulde aske as hee did who art thou or what is thy gospell name and crosse that thou tellest vs of So blind they are to beholde our day-spring so ignorant and vntaught touching Iesus of Nazareth Or if we should aske them of the holy ghost haue you received the holy ghost since you beleeved nay doe you beleeue that there is an holy ghost they would answere as the Ephesians did to Paul we haue not so much as heard whether there be an holy ghost What new doctrine is this they seeme to bee setters forth of new Gods and though they acknovvledge some God which nature it selfe obtrudeth vnto their thoughts yet they know not the God of Sydrach Misach Abednego whom Nabuchodonosor with that difference confessed after his vnderstaÌ„ding was restored vnto him nor the God of Daniell whome Darius by that name magnified after he saw the deliveraÌ„ce of his prophet from the lions den nor the God of Abraham Isaac Iacob to whom the promises were made nor the Lord God of heaven which hath made the sea and the dry land here specified Is it not a wonder thinke you that the people of the Turkes the hammer of the world as sometimes Babylon the rod of christendome able to say as the Psalme spake of Gilead and Manasses c. Asia is mine Africke is mine over Europe haue I cast my shooe a warlike politicke stately magnificent nation shoulde more bee carried avvaie by the enchantmentes of their lewde Prophet Mahomet then by the celestiall doctrine of the everlasting sonne of GOD who shed his bloud and gaue his soule a ransome for the sinne of mankinde what is the reason heereof vvant they nature or an arme of flesh are they not cutte from the same rocke are they not tempered of the same moulde are not thâ—ir heades vpwarde towarde heaven as the heades of other men haue they not reasonable soules capable and iudicious VVhat wante they then It is rectus spiritus a right spirite whereof they are destitute they haue a spirite I graunte to enliue their bodies but not rectified sanctified regenerated renewed to quicken their soules They haue an hearte to conceiue but it is a frowarde hearte a slowe hearte a stonie hearte a vaine and foolish hearte a skornefull contemptuous insolent incredulous heart against him that framed it Now if AEgypt bee so darke that the darkenesse thereof may be felt and it is a wonder in our eies to see such mistes in other places yet let Goshen reioyce that it standeth illightned still And those that haue seene an happye starre in the East to leade them to Christ which Herode and his princes the Turke and his Bassaws never sawe let them come and worship and bring presentes vnto the king of glory not of golde mirrhe and frankincense but of the finest mettall purest odours frankest offering of thankfull harts And let them not thinke but where more is received more vvill bee required and that they must answere to the Lorde of these talentes not onelye for nature but for a speciall inspiration besides wherewith they are endued And so to ende this point Blessed are your eies for they see and your eares for they heare I will not say that which many Prophets and righteous men haue desired but to change the speech a little that which many mighty Empires and large Continentes and not small cantons or corners but vvhole quarters of the world never attained vnto and will bitterly rue the time and wish to redeeme vvith the losse of both their eies that they haue not heard and seene as much as you haue done To come now to my purpose these marriners feare but where no feare is they feare nothing because they feare but idols and fansies the suppositioÌ„s of their owne braines And as they feare so they pray which was the second action and their errour therein being pardoned a naturall necessary service belonging to every mortall man their praier is consequent to their feare For vpon the reverence they carried towards their imaginary Gods they betooke themselues to this submissiue and suppliant service Primus in orbe Deos fecit timor Vnles we feared we could not thinke that there were a God But this actioÌ„ of theirs hath something good in it something to be reproved 1 In that they pray it sheweth the debility and weaknes of the nature of man if it be not holpen and commendeth the necessity and vse of prayer in all sorts of men 2 In that they pray with crying vehemency it noteth that their harts were fixed earnestly loÌ„ged for that which their lips craved 3 In that they cry to their Gods it proveth it a tribute due vnto God alone by the practise of heathen men 4 In that they pray every man as if in a common cause though they had not a common religion yet they had one soule hart and tongue common to them all it noteth the communion and fellowship of mankinde Thus far the observations hold good Their praying sheweth the misery of mortall men crying in praier their earnest desire to obtaine praying to Gods the maiesty of the immortal power praying togither that bond of humanity and brotherhood wherewith we are coupled 5 Their errour is a part of their obiect in the number of the Gods which they invocate that every person in the ship hath a proper and peculiar God whome he calleth vpon The Gods of the nations haue beene multiplied as the sandes of the sea what haue they not deified it cost but a little frankincense to giue the godhead vvhere it pleased them they haue turned the glorye of the immortall God into the similitude of the image of corruptible man and of birdes and foure footed beastes and of creeping thinges Besides the sunne and moone and the whole hoast of heaven they haue consecrated for Gods the sonnes of men vvhose breath is a vapour in their nostrels vvho shall be consumed before the vnprofitable mothes of
heads like burning coales that were bewitched with such preachings he protesteth vnto them not hiding his face nor dissembling his name Behold I Paul say vnto you that if yee be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing If he coulde not sustaine a little leaven in the lumpe as there hee calleth it what would he haue said of poyson I meane of an impious blasphemous sacrilegious manner of worship when this was rather curious frivolous and ceremonious When Moses and Christ togither were so offensiue vnto him he would never haue heard of a reconciliation betweene Christ and Belial light darknes righteousnes vnrighteousnes beleevers infidels the temple of God idols the cup of the Lord and the cup of Devils the table of the Lord the table of Devils in the coÌ„munion wherof he noteth an impossibility in both his epistles to the Corinthians I will not stand to dispute how vnpossible it is for any either person or state to serue two maisters the one not subordinate to the other but flatly repugnant say for example God and Mammon or Melchom or Baal or any the like abomination Must they not vse a ballance a ballaÌ„ce a conscience a coÌ„science that do so go after two waies But what danger ensueth vpon such confected religions halting consciences as Elias named theÌ„ they may best learne both by word and deed from that zealous God who hath taken expresse order against strange Gods executed his fierce wrath vpon those that haue offered but strange fire and ordayned his law strictly to be kept without declining to the right hand or to the lefte and himselfe will be served alone without corrivals of his glory with al our heart soule and strength as he hath often enioyned There is but one Lord one mediatour one spirit one baptisme one supper one faith al in vnity The body and state is then strongest when the multitude of beleevers haue but one hart one soule amongst them all shall one people within the same land and vnder the same government sunder distract themselues into many religions Or can the Lord bee at vnitie with that people where immunity is given to deale in the manner or matter of his service otherwise then he hath prescribed Nazianzen writeth that many people lying rouÌ„d about theÌ„ as a circle about the ceÌ„ter did much obserue marvel at the Cappadocians not only for their sound faith but for the gift of coÌ„cord which God bestowed vpon theÌ„ For because they thought aright of the Trinity defended it iointly against the Arrians they were defended by the Trinity theÌ„selues Clemens Alexandrinus wisheth much happines to the king of the Scythians vvhosoever that Anachatsis were vvho tooke a citizen of his for imitating some Greekish effoeminate sacrifices offered to the mother of the Gods hung him vp by the necke shot him through with arrowes because he had both corrupted himselfe amongst the Grecians infected others with the like disease The counsaile which Mecoenas gaue to Augustus the Emperour is very sage the reasons by him alleaged such as touch the quickest vâ—ine of the question in hand Put his words into the mouth of some other man whose lips an Angell hath touched with a cole from the altar of the Lord the holy ghost sanctified they are then right worthy to be accounted of Thus he exhorteth The divine godhead see that thou reverence thy selfe according to the lawes of thy countrey cause others to do the like And those that change any thing in matters appertaining thereunto hate correct not only in behalfe of the Gods whom whosoeuer neglecteth he will never regard oughte els but because such as bring in new Gods draw others also to alteration change And hence come conspiracies seditions conventicles things not expedient to a government Religion is the truest band betwixt man and man the knot of al coÌ„munion coÌ„sociation Now what coniunction of mindes can there be what attonement of iudgements what inward peace syncere charity harty god-speed in that disparity of religions where one house hath Iewes an other Samaritans some calling vpon God some vpon Angels Saints creeping to crosses bowing to images so burning in emulation for their severall services as fire and water shall sooner agree then their iudgments affections Let our laws be grounded vpon the law of God it wil be the greatest safety of our land to enact as the Athenians sometimes did that whosoeuer should speak one word of their God beside their lawes should be punished vnmercifully for it It hath beene a favourable compromission of men more partiall then wise that the questions betwixt Rome and the reformed churches might easily be accorded I finde it not And I will be bolde to say as Tully somtimes of the Stoickes Academickes That the coÌ„tentioÌ„ between vs is not for bouÌ„ds but for the whole possession inheritaÌ„ce whether God or maÌ„ grace or nature the bloud of Christ or the merits of saints written verity or vnwritten vanities the ordinaÌ„ce of the most high in authorizing princes or the Buls of Popes in deposing them shall take place We haue altar against altar liturgie against liturgy praiers against praiers doctrine against doctrine potentate against potentate Pope against Prince Religion against Religion subiection against subiection faith against faith so diametrally opposed as the Northerne and Southerne poles shall sooner meet togither then our opinions standing as they do can be reconciled Looke vpon Fraunce and nether Germany for the proofe hereof The effusion of so much Christian bloud the eversion dissipation of so many noble houses the commotions and tumults of so many yeares whence haue they sprung The reason or pretence at least of those murthers massacres wasts tragedies hath beene contrary religions If this be the fruit then shall every subiect in a realme be priviledged in his house to haue a God to himselfe a priest to himselfe a worship to himselfe as Micah had in Ephraim shall hee beleeue and pray and obey shall he both feare God honor his king as himselfe listeth But what will yee doe in this case Their mindes are as free as the Emperours Every man is a king in his own house as Telemachus said his conscience is his castle and fortresse nothing is so voluntarie as religion wherein if the minde be averse it is now no religion We maie shifte the bodies of men from place to place wee cannot change their mindes Wee shall sooner enforce stockes and stones to speake vnto vs. Advise will doe more then threatning and faith commeth rather by perswasion then by compulsion I graunt it Therefore first speake to the conscience by good counsell but if the eare of the conscience bee stopt with wax shake the whole house about her and raise her vp speak to the eares of the body inheritance liberty let the body tel the
blessed for ever For to returne where I first began besides the folly of the thinge the mischiefe is behinde Go cry vnto your Gods which you haue chosen and let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation What a wofull discharge and dismission were this to be lefte vnto such Gods whose heads the hands of a carver hath polished and if their eies be full of dust and their clothes eaten vpon their backes with mothes they cannot helpe it the beastes are in better case then they for they can geâ— them vnder a covert or shadow to do themselues good Then they may cry as the Apostles did vpon the motion of the like departure Lorde whether shall I goe for as Christ there had the words so hath the blessed Trinitie alone the power and donation of eternall life When Senacherib and Rabsakeh bragged that both the kings and the Gods of the nations vvere destroied by them Ezâ—chias aunswered the obiection Trueth it is Lorde that the kings of Assur haue destoyed their nations and their lands and haue set fire on their Gods for they were no Gods but the worke of mens handes even wood and stone therefore they destroyed them now therefore O Lorde our God saue thou vs out of his hand that all the kingdomes of the earth may know that thou O Lord art onely God This argument Moses tried vpon the golden calfe whereof Israell had said Behold thy Gods O Israell to shew that it was no God hee burnt it in the fire grounde it to powder strawed it vpon the water and then caused the people to drinke it To conclude the pointe It is most true which the Prophet resteth vpon Psalme 86. Amongst the Gods there is none like vnto thee O Lord and there is none that can doe like thy workes And as there is but one trueth encountered with as many falshods as there were gobbets and shreddes of dismembred Pentheus so is there but one true God opposed by as many false as happily there are falshoods It may be the maister of the ship finding a defect miscariage of their former labours that there was no succour to bee had vvhere they sought comfort that though they had all prayed they are not released standeth in a wavering touching the Gods which they called vpon and thinketh there may be a God of more might vvhome they knowe not so as in effect vvhen hee thus spake vnto Ionas he set vp an altar and tendered honour vnto an vnknowne God As if he had said I am ignorant whom thou seruest but such a one he may be as is pronest to do vs good and best able to saue our shippe For as an idoll is nothing in the worlde and there is no time in the worlde wherein that nothing can do good so there are many times vvhen idolaters that most dote vpon them as Ieremy speaketh are brought to perceiue it Esay in the second of his prophecie speaketh of a day vvhen men shall not onely relinquish but cast away their idols of siluer and golde vvhich they haue made to themselues to worship vnto the mowles and battes children of darkenesse fitter for those that are either bleare eied or that haue no eies to see withall then for men of vnderstanding go into the holes of the earth and toppes of cragged rocks from the feare of the Lorde and glorie of his maiestie when he shal arise to iudge the earth You see the fruit of idolaters that as they haue loved darkenesse more then the light so they leaue their Gods to the darkenesse and themselues enter into darkenesse a taste and assay before hand of that everlasting and vtter darknes that is provided for them If so bee God will thinke vpon vs. Now that this was the minde of the maister of the shippe to distrust his Gods I gather by this vvhich followeth vvherein the vncertaintie of his faith is bewraied and his hope hangeth as the crowe on the arke betwixt heauen and earth finding no rest without resolution of any comforte Si forte if so be is not a phrase fitte to proceede from the mouth of faith it is meeter to come from Babylon whereof the Prophet writeth Bring baulme for her sore si fortè sanetur if happilie shee maie bee healed her wounds were so desperate and vnlikely to be cured It is meeter to be applied to the sores of Simon Magus whome Peter counselled to repent him of his wickednesse and pray vnto God Si forte remittatur if so bee the thoughte of his hearte mighte bee forgiuen him The nature and language of faith is much different it nesteth it selfe in the woundes of Christ as Doues in the cleftes of rockes that cannot bee assaulted it standeth as firme and stedfast as mount Sion that cannot be removed it casteth an anchor in the knowledge of the true God and because he is a true God it doubteth not of mighte and mercy or rather mercie and might as the heathens call their Iupiter Optimus maximus first by the name of his goodnesse and then of his greatnesse His mercies it doubteth not of because they are passed by promise indenture covenaunt othe before vnmoueable vvitnesses the best in heaven and the best in earth His promises are no lesse assertained because they are signed with the singer of the holy Ghost and sealed with the bloud of his anointed and beloved By faith yee stande saith the Apostle to the Corinthians it is the roote that beareth vs the legges and supporters and stronge men that holde vs vp If we listen to the prophet Abacuk we may yet say more For by faith wee liue it is the soule and spirite of the new man wee haue a name that we liue but indeede are dead to Godwarde if wee beleeue not For if any withdrawe himselfe therehence the soule of God will take no pleasure in him Woe vnto him that hath a double hearte and to the vvicked lippes and faint handes and to the sinner that goeth two manner of waies woe vnto him that is faint hearted for he beleeueth not therefore shall hee not bee defended It is not the manner of faith to be shaken and waver like a reede to and fro nor of a faithfull man to bee tost of every winde as a waue of the sea that is ever rowling And therefore we are willed to come to the throne of grace with boldnesse and to drawe neare with a true hearte in assurance of faith and not to cast awaie that confidence vvhich hath greate recompence of rewarde and when we aske to aske in faith without reasoning or doubting and to trust perfectlie in that grace which is brought vnto vs by the revelation of Iesus Christ. Our life is a warfare vpon earth a tried and expert warriour one that bare in his body the skars of his faithful service keeping the tearmes of his owne art so named it and wee are not to wrastle against
they had no answere they cried lowde nay they cut themselues with kniues and launcers till the bloude flowed out so they prayed not only in teares but in bloud that they might be heard I would the children of the lighte vvere as zealous in their generations But rather let them receiue their lighte and directions for the framing of this holie exercise from the sunne of righteousnesse of vvhome the Apostle vvitnesseth that in the daies of his flesh hee offered vp praiers and supplications with strong crying and teares vnto him that vvas able to helpe him And the gospel further declareth not only that he kneeled at the naming of whose name all knees haue bowed both in heauen and earth and vnder the earth but that hee fell vpon the grounde the foote-stoole of his owne maiesty and laie vpon his face which never Angell behelde without reverence and when he had praied before he praied more earnestly as the scripture recordeth hee once praied and departed and a second time departed and yet a third time and departed evermore vsing the same petition his praier ascended by degrees like incense and perfume and not only his lips went but his agony and contention within was so vehement that an angell was sent from heaven to comfort him and whereas the Priestes of Baal vsed art to make them bleede cutting their flesh with launcers and kniues to that purpose he with the trouble of his soule swet a naturall or rather vnnaturall sweat like dâ—oppes of bloude trickling downe to the earth Wee when wee goe to praier as if our soules and tongues were straungers the one not weeting what the other doth the lippes babbling without and the hearte not pricked with any inwarde compunction honouring GOD with our mouthes and our spirites farre from him deserue to bee answered as hee answered the Iewes Esay 1. When you stretch foorth your handes I will hide mine eies from you and though you make many praiers I will not heare you The reason is there your hâ—ndes are full of bloud the reason to vs may be your heartes bleede not you call me Lord Lord but meane it not the alter is without fire praier without heate wordes without intention gesture of the body without the consent of the inwarde man They cried vnto the Lord. It is not lesse then a miracle that men so newely endued with the knowledge of God can so presently renounce their ancient idolles which they had ever served and within but few minutes of time most religiously adored they call vpon Iehovah that hidden and fearefull name which earst they had not knowne and neither the accustomed maner of their countries nor colour of antiquity nor want of experience in another Lorde nor the simple narration of one singular prophet nor any the like motions can holde them in awe of their former imaginary GODS and keepe them from invocation of the Lorde of hostes No reason can bee yeelded but this The winde bloweth where it lifteth and the spirite breatheth where it will and the mercy of God softneth vvhere his pleasure is It is a gifte from him alone who giveth the new hart and putteth the new spirit within a man who taketh the stony hart from him and giveth him an hearte of flesh in steede thereof who of the stones by the bankes of Iordan saith Iohn Baptist is able to raise vp children to Abraham daily doth raise vp children to himselfe to do him worship and service of those that were hardned in idolatry before like flintes in the streetes Turne vs O Lord and we shall be turned wash vs with cleane water and we shall be cleansed renue vs as the eagle her daies and we shall be renued gather thy chosen flocke from the mountaines and desertes wheâ—n they stray to fulfill thy fold and we shall be gathered say thou wilt sweepe thy house and finde thy groat and we shall be found Nature cannot make a newe birth entring into our mothers wombe againe is vnable to worke it the gold of Sheba and Seba cannot purchase it No man commeth to the sonne vnlesse the father drawe him and if the father haue once given him into his handes all the devils in hell cannot pull him out againe I make it the wisedome of him that praieth to levell his heart and affections at the very right center and marke of praier which is God alone hee is the sanctuary to whome we must flie the periode and scope in whome our requestes must end Praier and faith if the Apostle deceiue vs not must kisse each other howe shall they call on him in whome they haue not beleeved faith is the ground of praier First we beleeue and then speake so was the order of David Doe wee my brethren beleeue in Angels for that is the Apostles phrase howe shall they call on him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in whome or vpon whome they haue not beleeved We beleeue that there are Angels which the Sadduces denied And if an Angell should come from heaven vnto vs with a message from God as he came to Mary and others we would beleeue Angels that is giue credence vnto them as they did But if we beleeue in Angels we forget their place of ministration which they are apointed vnto and make them our Gods Much lesse beleeue we in the sonnes of men which are lesse than Angels Therefore the gleaning of these Marriners is more worth than the whole vintage of Rome who in a moment of time haue gathered more knowledge howe to informe their praiers aright than they in the decourse of many continued generations These pray to Iehovah the true subsisting God they not only to God but to Angels and men and stockes and stones and metalles and papers and I knowe not what It may be a challenge sufficient vnto them all to say no more that in so many praiers of both auncient and righteous patriarkes prophets Iudges kings registred in the booke of GOD and in an hundreth and fiftie Psalmes an hundreth whereof at least are praiers and supplications and in all the devout requestes that the Apostles of Christ and other his disciples sent into heaven if they take the pen of a writer and note from the beginning of Genesis to the end of the Revelation they cannot finde one directed to Cherub or Seraphin Gabriel or Raphael Abraham or Moses or Iohn Baptist after his death or any other creature in heaven or earth saue only to the Lord and his annointed Haue these all erred Even so will we and more sweete shall our errour be vnto vs with these of whome we make no question but that they are bounde vp in the bundell of life with the congregation of first-borne than a newe and recent devise of praier obtruded vnto vs by those who falsly suppose themselues to bee the pillers and staies of Gods militant church The 86. Psal. to giue you a little portion of foode to ruminate vpon as some
conceiue was not a Psalme composed for any particular vse but lefte to the church of God as a generall rule and prescription to fit the condition of every man Wherin there are first some reasons in our owne behalfe wherwith we insinuate our selves into the favour of God that he may heare vs. 1. Bow downe thine â—are vnto me O Lord. Why I am poore and needy the exigence of my distressfull affaires requireth thy helpe 2. Preserue thou my soule Why I am mercifull I aske not mercy at thy throne but as I shewe mercy againe to my brethren 3. Saue thou thy servant my God Why because he putteth his trust in thee he hath no other rocke to cleave vnto 4. Be mercifull vnto me O Lord. Why I crie vpon thee continually I haue constantly decreed with my selfe not to give over the hope of thy comfort 5. Reioice the soule of thy servant Why for to thee O Lord doe I lift vp my soule the best and chosenest member I haue shall doe thee service His misery mercy faithfulnesse constancy syncerity speake for audience Now on behalfe of God there are other inducementes recited from the 5. verse why wee resort to the winges of his favour when we are distressed 1. from his mercy and kindnes to all that call vpon him for thou Lord art good and gracious and of great compassion therefore giue eare to my praier and harken vnto the voice of my supplication 2. from experience and triall In the day of my trouble will I call vpon thee for thou hearest me 3. from comparison and greatnes of his workes Amongest the Gods there is none like vnto thee and who can doe like thy workes 4. from consent of the worlde All nations whome thou hast made shall come and worship before thee O Lord and shall glorifie thy name 5. from the solenesse and singularitie of his godheade which is the chiefe for thou art greate and doest wonderous thinges and art God alone 1. His generall exhibition of mercy to all 2. particular and personall application to some 3. the rarenesse and maiesty of his workes 4. the consent of nature and nations 5. the singularity of godheade these are motions and perswasions to call forth our prayers and these if they can be verified either of Angels or men I refuse not to giue them a part with God in this our sacred oblation They cried and said Their praiers were also vocal expressed The gronings of the spirit vndoubtedly though Zâ—chary be dumbe and cannot speake a worde shall never bee reâ—used Hee made the heart and the tongue that vnderstandeth the language of both alike he is as neare to our reines as to our lippes and the voice of the one is not more audible to him that heareth without eares than the others intention In Dei auribus desiderium vehemens clamor magnus est remissa intentio vox submissa In the eares of God a vehement desire is a great crie a remisse and carelesse intention is a submisse and still voice Anna a type of the church spake in her hearte her lippes did onely mooue and her voice was not hearde Yea the gestures of her body through the griefe of her soule were such that â—â—li reprooved her of drunkennesse Indeede shee was drunke not with the wine of grapes but vvith the wine of devotion which ranne from the wine-presse of a troubled spirit and the Lord remembred her petition though shee praied with her hart alone and her tongue stirred not What then hath the tongue immunity therby from doing that homage vnto the Lord which he hath enioyned it shal not the calues of our lippes bee required because we haue tendered the calues of our heartes must not both the heart beleeue and the mouth make confession and as the one is the cistetne within thy selfe to conteine the honour of God so must not the other be the pipe to convey it to thy brethren surely yes Aske both body and soule and every part of them both vvhose image and inscription they beare they will tell thee Gods then pay the tribute of both and glorifie God with thy bodie and spirit for both are his And as thou liftest vp thy soule with David in the 86. Psal. so lift vp thy handes also with Moses lift vp thine eies with Steven lift vp thy voice with Deborah and with all the children of God whose pleasure and ioy it is to heare God praised in the great congregation If there be priestes to pray for the people which must weepe betweene the porch and the altar even in the body and navell of the church vvhere the sounde of his voice may best bee hearde and saye spare thy people O Lorde c. if there bee temples and churches which the prophet hath tearmed and Christ ratified to bee the houses of praier if there be seldome and set times apointed for these duties to bee done in if there bee formes and patternes devised even from the sonne of God how our praiers should be conceived then is there no question but we must open our lippes in the service of God and our mouthes must be willing to shew forth his praise Wee beseech thee O Lord. They vse the properest tearmes of submission that may be They come not to bragge wee are worthy O Lord whome thou shouldest do for as the princes of the people spake for the Centurion in the gospell they come not to indent and bargaine If thou wilt be our God c. they knowe they stand vpon grace not desert and that the Lord must be entreated or they cannot liue Humility is both a grace it selfe and a vessell to comprehend other graces and this is the nature of it the more it receaveth of the blessinges of God the more it may For it ever emptieth it selfe by a modest estimation of her owne giftes that God may alwaies fill it it wrastleâ—h and striveth with God according to the pollicy of Iacob that is winneth by yeelding and the lower it stoupeth towardes the ground the more advantage it getteth to obtaine the blessing O quà m excelsus es domine humiles corde sunt domus tuae O Lord how high and soveraigne art thou and the humble of heart are thine houses to dwell in where is that house that yee will build vnto mee and where is that place of my rest To him will I looke even to him that is poore and of a contriâ—e spirit and trembleth at my wordes Plutarke writeth of some who sailed to Athens for philosophy sake that first they were called sophistae wise men afterwardes Philosophi but lovers of wisedome nexte rhetores onely reasoners and discoursers last of all idiotae simple vnlettered men The more they profited in learning the lesse they acknowledged it Thus in spirituall graces vvee should study to bee greate but not knowe it as the starres in the firmament though they be bigger than the earth yet they seeme much lesse