of his fauour and vnlocke the closet of his benefits wee shall haue priuatiue blessings which consiste in deliuering vs from euill we shall haue positiue blessings which consiste in doing vs good some in possession some in expectation some in act some in hope corporall spirituall temporall eternall his grace shall preuent vs his mercy shall follow vs all the dayes of our liues Let therefore the end of the sixt day be a bound to ouâ— busines like the bound on the k Ex. 19. 12 Mount which the people must not passe like the riuer which Shemei l 1. Kin. 2. 37 must not goe beyond an Herculis columna wherein is gâ—â—uen non vltra no further then thus let nothing draw our busines without the gates within which God hath confined it let not now worldly affayres looke in at our windowes if our couetous affections would be to bold let religion ouer-rule them curb them put them to a non plus and with checke and frowne keepe them vnder goe no further then we are led by this law as the wise men went no further then they were guided by the starre let our Omer be filled the sixt day then set we downe our rest and gather now no more Manna for refreshing the body till the seuenth day be past neuer set vpon that day which God hath set apart for himselfe let our trading stand still when it is come to the Lords day as m Mat. 2. 5. the Starre when it came vnto Christ so God shall blesse vs and saue vs and shew the light of his countenance vpon vs which shall shine more and more vntill it be perfect day vntill we celebrate an euerlasting Sabbath and finde continuall rest in Christ Iesus to whom with the Father and the holy Ghost three persons and one God be all glory power Praise and Dominion now and for euer Amen The fift Commandement Exod 20. 12. Honour thy father and mother that thy daies may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giueth thee ON two Commandements hang the whole law and the a Mat. 22. 40. ver 37. Prophets The first thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thine heart with all thy soule and with all thy minde on this hangeth the first table of the law as vpon a great nayle of the Sanctuary The second is like vnto this thou shalt loue thy neighbour ver 39. as thy selfe on this hanges the second table as on another nayle fastned in the holy place When the loue of God doth carry vs along toward the hauen of happines we take a good course as when one riuer runeth towards the Ocean it goes as it should but when this doth meete with the loue of our neighbour as one riuer meeteth with another then there is a current indeed and we set forward with a maine streame to a sea of blessednes and therefore as b Act. 2. 2. the holy Ghost was giuen from heauen that we should loue God so was it giuen on earth that we should loue men and therefore the Scripture maketh â— 1 Tim. 2. 2 godlynes and honesty to meete together d Luc. 1. 75 holynes and righteousnesse to kisse each other or rather weaues them together as e o 19. 23 the coate of Christ without seame that they might not be put a sunder both of them make vp one perfect paire of compasses which can take the true latitude of a Christian heart the first like the top of Iacobs ladder reacheth to heauen the f GeÌ„ 28. 12 second like the foote of the ladder rests on the earth or rather walkes about in a perfect circle of all such duties as one of vs owe vnto another by the first we walke in reuerent regard of all that duty wee owe to Gods Maiesty by the second in simplicity we serue our brethren and yeeld to euery callings seuerall person that duty which belongeth vnto him The first of these I haue already with the helpe of God passed ouer to the second I am to set forward at this time God againe giue winde to may sayles that I may run the point aright and let my words be not only like Peters Angle g Mat. 27. which cast into the sea tooke a fish but like Peters net a Luc. 5. 6. which let downe to make a draught inclosed a great multitude of fishes Honour thy father The words rest your eares on these two heads 1. A charge Honor thy father teÌ„porall as the father of the house as thy father by Nature Office countrey thy betters in place thy Elders in yeeres Spirituall thy Pastor and Minister which begets thee to God by the immortall seede of his word 2. A motiue to induce vs to harken to the charge i. a promise of long life that thy daies may be long pleasant and fruitfull habitation in the land which the Lord thy God giueth thee HOnour thy father A duty so necessary that Philo the Iew placed this fift Commandement in the first Table as though wee had not performed our whole duty to the God of heauen except wee gaue the honour heere required to Parents to Magistrates to all such as represent the person of God vpon earth Frst therefore honour thy father thy naturall father because thou art 2 man b Heb. 12. â— God indeed is the father of Spirits and therefore called c Num. 16 22. the God of the spirit of all flesh and though he made all his workes in six dayes and then rested yet this resting was from workes of a new kinde â—ot of the same kinde for he that d GeÌ„ â— 7. breathed in the first mans â—ace breath of life so that hee was a liuing soule doth still after a wonderfull manner create the soule in the infusion of it and infuseth it in creating it but goe to the flesh he vseth our parents as instruments of the worke and they are meanes in framing that part and therefore should children yeeld honour vnto them The Scripture vseth diuers Arguments to draw vs on to the performance of this duty as the care which parents haue of their children good education of which the Apostle speaketh when he saith e Eph. 6. â— Bring them vp in instruction and information of the Lord bring them vp this respecteth meate drinke and apparell parents are not like the Rauen which forsakes her young till they are of colour like vnto her selfe nor yet like the Kite which grieueth to see her young in good plight Indeed we read of parents which haue cast out their children whom the wolues haue nourished which though it bee not true yet hath a semblance of truth for wolues may become fathers fathers haue become wolues but these are such as Saint Paul brandeth with this marke f RoÌ„ 1. 30. 1. without naturall affection but by nature parents seruant depositum keepe that which God hath giuen them and haue a care to preserue the
require by vertue of this precept resteth in the soule you may dissemble with men you may set vp Idols in your heart and conceale it from them for I haue walled in the heart and mans eyes cannot be let into it but deceiue not your selues see you doe it not for I know the Anatomy of the heart and can gage the very bottome of the thoughts your doings are not behind my backe but before mee before my face in my sight I am all eye all hand all eare all foot I see worke heare all and am euery where I view all things as one and each one thing as all being whole together without diuision change or abatement Thus you see the streames into which this fountaine diuides it selfe now come to the waters and drinke raste of euery one as they present themselues in order to your view Wee must haue one God and he must be Dauids God a Ps 31. 14 I said vnto the e Lord thou art my God this God shall be our God vnto death therfore we must 1. loue him aboue all 2. feare him aboue all 3. trust in him aboue all for whatsoeuer we loue feare or trust in most that is a god to vs for the first loue him aboue all our Sauiour Christ said vnto Peter three seuerall times b Ioh. 21. 13. Simon Ioanna louest thou mee that his three-folde confession might wipe away the shame of his three-fold deniall or as Bernard c Mat. 26. 70. saith to teach thee that thou must loue God plus quam tuos tua te more then thy kinred more then thy substance more then thy selfe 1. More then thy kinred Great is the loue of children towards their parents it was a strange thing that Sarah d Gen. 18. 11. old Sarah when it ceased to be with her after the manner of women e 21. 7. should giue children sucke it was as strange that a childe should giue sucke to the parents yet Moses witnesseth the one the French Academy reports the other for when a father was condemned to die of famine his daughter gaue him sucke with her owne breasts which being made known to the Magistrates she obtained pardon for her fathers life here was loue much like the naturall loue of the Storke which feeds the dam when shee is old because the dam did feed her when she was young greater is the loue of parents towards their children magis discendit quā ascendit amor of the children the Poet said filius ante diē patrios inquirit in annos but the parents praied offred to the gods to preserue their children that they might ouer liue them therfore called superstitiosi the child is many times sicke of the father and weeps because his father liues so long whereas the father is ready to dye for sorrow that his child doth dye so soone When Iacob supposed verily that his sonne Ioseph was dead he would not be comforted but said f Gen. 37 35. surely I will goe downe into the grane vnto my sonne mourning and Dauid shewing his fatherly affection when hee heard of the death of Absolon wept as hee went and thus hee said g 2 Sam. 18 33. O my sonne Absolon my sonne my sonne Absolon would God I had died for thee o Absolon my sonne my sonne but this notwithstanding if our parents if our children stand betwixt vs and our God wee must not regard them nay in this case our holy carelesnesse must make them our footsteps God is loue and he that dwelleth in loue dwelleth in God and God in him yet loue it selfe speakes of hate in this respect and exhorts it h Ln. 14. 26 If any man come to me hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters hee can not be my disciple in this case odium in suos is pietas in Deum and if they lye in his way as he is going to God he must tread and trample them vnder his feet for loue vnto God forget his blood as i Gen. 29. 18. Iacob forsooke his kinred for loue he had vnto Rachell This serueth to reproue the father which maketh a God of his child as father Hely did he himself was a good man but his children of disposition vnlike himself the white Halciones hatch black young ones k Esa 5. 2. the vine in Esay brings forth wild grapes these children were young twigs that liked not vnder the old tree weeds that waxed out of measure noysome and fruit vpon which a bad aire falling it did quicklie rotte and fall from the tree and because their cockering father doting on them gaue them but light admonition for heauy sins and small l 1. Sam. 2. 23. 24. 29. rebuke for great offences Why doe you such things for of all this people I heare euill reports of you doe no more my sonnes for it is no good report I heare hee is said to honour his children more then God on the other side it serueth to reproue the child which maketh a god of his father Elisha was somewhat faulty this way who being too much wedded to his parents would first go m 1 King 19. 20. kisse his father and mother when he was called to the seruice of God more blameable was that disciple who being called to follow Christ would stay till his father was dead n Mat. 8. 21 Master suffer me first to goe and bury my father when the matter respecteth faith and religion and seruing of God o Mat. 23. 9 call no man your father vpon earth which should haue superiority ouer your faith or hinder you when God calleth for there is but one your Father which is in heauen 2. Loue God plus quam tua more then thy substance we may roue a riches but God must bee our standing marke Crates otherwise a wise man in this was reckoned but a Philosophicall foole to throw his mony into the sea with these words Ego te mergam ne mergar à te I will drowne thee lest thou shouldest drowne mee The Cappuchines are but Hypocrites who neither take nor touch siluer but start backe when it is offered as p Ex. 4. 3. Moses did from his rodde when it was turned to a serpent the prodigall man is blame-worthy who comming to his wealth before he comes to his wits runneth beyond his pale and liuing without compasse maketh his owne hands his executors and his owne eyes his ouerseers supposing he onely knoweth the value of the world and that others ouerprise it wee may haue riches as the Egyptians had their bondmen for vse onely and vse them as trauellers doe their third legge to helpe them along to their iourneies end but the immoderate loue of them must be left to the heathen which know no other heauen os homini sublime dedit whereas other creatures looke downewards to the ground God hath giuen man a contrary countenance that
hee might looke vp vnto him and hath placed the earth vnder his feet to teach him hee must not set his heart vpon it his chiefe affection must not be set on goods but God who giueth them God is the true Bread goods as the crums that fall vnder the table God as an habitation to rest in goods as a thorow-faâ—e to passe by mony is a prisoner wee keepe it vnder locke and key let it not be lord ouer vs make it out master we condemne our selues to our owne gallies make it our God q Col. 3. 5. couetousnesse is idolatry we set vp an idoll in our hearts r Phil. 3. 8. Paul esteemed all things as dung to win Christ esteeme not wee lightly of God to win all things besides Å¿ Mat. 19. 27. The Disciples forsooke all things and followed him doe not we forsake him and follow all things besides lose God for gaine wee lose a golden hooke for a silly fish Weigh God lighter then the world wee are deceitfull vpon the ballance let wealth seeme better in our sight then God from whom it comes t 1 Sam. 11 2. Nahash putteth out our right eyes and bringeth shame vpon vs. Loue the world better then wee loue God wee loue an harlot better then our owne spouse and therefore as Hosea aduiseth Israell wee u Hos 2. 2. must take away our adulteries from betweene our breasts This serueth to reproue those which make gold their hope and say to the wedge of gold thou art my confidence who set vp a new God for the old vpstart Mammon for the Ancient of daies as treason set vp a new King x 2 Sam. 16. 8. Absolon for old King Dauid which make the world bird-lime with which they so belime their affections that they cannot ascend vpward who hang their gold on their soules which like the weights of a clocke drawes them to the earth which no Alchimist can draw out of their hearts though it may be abstracted out of the earth who for loue of gold bury it though euen then they haue themselues one foote in the graue who are y Ps 76. 5. viri diuitiarum men â—friches not possessors of them as lords but possessed of them as seruants who contrary to this commandement doe greatest homage to that which should bee their basest drudge such are those stall-fed beasts in the Gospell which are so z Luc. 14. 18. yoked to their oxen and harnessed to their farmes that being sent for will not come to the supper they are fettered with the things of this life and so manacled they entertaine this World as a Queene and let it so rule in their hearts that the messenger may goe as he came and might haue had better thanks to haue held his peace such a one was the young man forward at first as though he would haue been a disciple of Christ but when it comes to poenam damni that hee must lose some thing that there must bee a parting blow betwixt him and his riches then hee takes his vltimum vale a Mat. 19. 22. and goes away sorrowfull that as the Disciples said of another thing was b Ioh. 6. 60 a hard saying he could not indure it such a one was Demas c 2 Tim. 4. 10. who to embrace this present world bids Paul adieu but loue God as this commandement enioyneth taste and see how sweet he is earthly things as playn dishes will be vnpleasant to vs let heauen become our obiect the earth will become our abiect long we after the water of life wee little regard the water at Iacobs well d â—oh 4 28 but with the woman of Samaria downe goes the pitcher e Mat. 14. 51. with the young man away goes clothing f Mat. 4. 20 22. with the disciples away goes ship and nets the loue of them though not the vse wee will not linger about earthly vanities we will not beat our braines and weary our selues in pursuit of the chase of this world superfluous desire of hauing shall not gnaue our hearts these glowing vanities shall not sticke so fast vnto vs wee will not thirst after them to get them with the losse of the loue of God and with the salue of our owne soules Or loue God plus quam tua more then thy delights and pleasures g Ioh. 2. 16 this followes the loue of the world where the world is our God our deuotion is pleasure and delight when h Mat. 4. 8. Satan the subtile sophister would bring our Sauiour Christ to an absurd conclusion he presseth both the premises together diuitias delitias hee should haue Power and glory the world the pleasures which it did affoord not but that there are iust delights which haue their warrants and their tearmes and therefore as one being asked whether a wise man might not eate sweet delicate meate answered yes except God made bees onely for fooles so if it were asked whether a good man may not vse pleasures it may be answered yes except God made the choise commodities of the earth onely for the wicked I will instance but in one kind of pleasure which we call pastime or recreation There are as well generous delights as ingenius studies and one of them must giue sweetnesse to the other diuers while they haue been so precise that they haue thought they might not delight in any sport at last haue been so out of heart that they delighted nothing but be acquainted with the quality let not sports be base let them not be lawles draw not occasion of delight from such pastimes as we should draw occasion of repentance thinke not the time well spent when we refresh our selues in setting creatures together by the eares sith this was bred by mans fall by our owne fault Be acquainted with the measure bend a bow too much it will breake lose it too much it will be a slugge bend the mind but doe not breake it slake it but do not loosen it Bee acquainted with the due and lawfull times make not play an occupation let it neither be a vocation for God would haue man labour in Paradise and he said fast and pray not feast and play nor yet an auocation from God Lastly Be acquainted with good carriage in it on the one side let it be as voide of rage as full of relaxation fall not out with heauen if thou art crost with an vnseasonable showre as though God did thee wrong if hee did not shine at thine appointed time on the other side ioy not to much if thou beholdest the Sunne when it shineth in his brightnes for by this ouer much delight thou makest a god of thy recreation these be lists and landmarkes within which we must bound the procession of our sports and in the licence of our desires wee must not remoue wee must not ouergoe them 3 Loue God Plus quam te more then thy selfe First more
and pulles out his eyes he tryeth the spirits and retayning the good in a resolute courage throweth Iezabell out at the window On the other side that holy man for so they call him in the 2. counsell of Nice will not leaue worshipping of our Lady though if he will doe it the diuell promiseth by his honesty hee will no longer tempt or trouble him yet all this notwithstanding a Ios 9. 9. idolaters in Ioshua to saue their liues pretend to honour God and receiue his religion but if death all the torments which can be deuised should stand betwixt vs and our God in our iourney to heauen this Commandement enioyneth vs to passe them all rather then giue ouer our loue vnto God for whose sake Esay is content to be killed with a Sawe Ieremie with stones Amos with an yron barre Daniell to be throwne into the Lyons den these were but Originalls there followed Counterpaines which agreed with them Ignatius Polycarpus Irenaeus and others suffered not death without a Copy without an example Paul was content to lose his head Bartholomew his skin Luke to be hanged on an Olyue-tree Steuen to be vnder a heape of many stones and as our Sauiour Christ sayd to Peter and Andrew b Mat. 4. 19 follow mee so they followed him though not Passibus aequis in his life though not with like innocency in his death though not with like constancy these pledged their predecessors in the cup of afflictions and began to their successors and amongst other to our English Martyres who in this time of Queene Mary did sticke ad iguem and to shew they loued God more then their liues were content to goe to him with Elias in a fiery chariot not doubting but that same mantle that same body which they should leaue behinde them should at the resurrection of the iust be restored in a more Glorious sort the former Martyres stood in the forefront of the battayle and therefore c 2 Sam. 11. 15. like Vriah receiued the first in counter violence of their enemies the latter like old beaten souldiers won the field in the rereward all of them when they could not go the white way to God in time of peace to shew they preferred Gods loue before their owne liues were content to goe the red way in time of persecution This serueth to reproue those which can bee contented to follow Christ in a calme but being d Mat. 8. 27 vnlike the disciples will giue him ouer in a troublesome sea who are forward at first but if they perceiue they shall be prickt for martyres shrinke backe as snailes which putting forth their hornes being a little pricked pull them againe who being crased vessels will not hold but breake in peeces when they come to the furnace like the aples which as men write grow about Sodome and Gomorrah pleasant to behold buts vanishing into soote or smoke as soone as a man put his teeth to them or like the Christall which seemes a precious stone till it comes to the hamering such are they which forsake Christ because they will not giue their flesh for him as they in the Gospell e Ioh. 6. 66 forsooke Christ because hee said he would giue his flesh for them who when the sunne of tribulation scorcheth hot are f Mat. 13. 5. 6. like the seede which fell vpon stony ground which sprung vp but when the sunn◠rose vp parched and for lacke of rooting withred away vnlike the Egels young ones who looke directly against the face of the sunne and indure the perching beames thereof whereby the Egle which carryeth them vp to make triall whether they are naturall Egles or bastardly branches acknowledgeth them as her owne which otherwise shee would extrude out of her nest Indeed Gods Church is made stockfish and goes along by weeping crosse g Gē 25. 22 Iacob cannot be quiet for Esay no not in his mothers wombe h Mat. 2. 16 Herod turns his rage vpon the poore infants of Bethlehem when his malice cannot dispatch Christ himselfe i Luc. 13. 34. Our Sauiour compares himselfe to a Hen and his Church vnto chickens because Herod plaies the foxe and lyes in waite for them The Kites and birds of cruell kind deale hardly with the little k Mat 13. 32. which build their nests in the branches of the little mustard seed l Gen. 4 8. A thorne of his owne blood troubles Abell m Ex. 2. 15. Phaaroh seeks for Moses to slay him n Ioh. 21. 18. Peter must bee bound and led whither hee would not in respect of flesh and blood which is vnwilling to this sacrifice not in respect of the inner man and of the spirit o Act. 5. ◠for he went away reioycing when he was whipped but when the persecutors thorough their beastly crueltie and tyger-like tyranny haue sought to racke rent the babes of Christs spouse and like curdogs with their teeth to teare the lambs of Gods pasture euen then life hath not been deere vnto the Saiuts in respect of his loue Reade we the Acts and Monuments of the Church wee shall find that Saunders tooke the stake whereunto he should be chained in his armes and kissing it said welcome the crosse of Christ welcome euerlasting life and being fastened to the stake and fier put to him full sweetly he slept in the Lord and Doctor Taylor comming to the place of his execution thanked God that he was euen at home Carolus according to his name was carelesse of his body in this respect and thirsting after the cup of Martirdome had it last filled vp to the hard brimme Alas saith he I lie p Ioh. 5. 5. like the lame man at the pooles side by Salomons porch and euery man goes into the place of health before me but God will appoint me one one day to put me in these and a thousand besides These were good grapes and feared not the presse were good gold and feared not the fire were good corne and feared not the flayle or grindging of their bodies with the teeth of the wilde beasts they desired to hold life with Christ and therefore feared not death for Christ and if some of them thorough infirmity of the flesh haue a little yeelded to their enemies and stained their cheeks with blushes of recantation yet like valiant souldiers after flying did againe fight and not giue ouer the field till they had finisht their course reioycing that the sentence of death did send them sooner to heauen then the course of nature would haue done and that their aduerfaries did helpe them to euerlasting blisse by their speedy dispatch The next duty to loue enioyned by this commandement is seare Loue and feare are sweetely tempered together in the hearts of the faithfull they loue God fearefully they feare God louingly whereas the vngodly feare him slauishly without loue and therefore are said to q Iob 18. 14 goe to the
that too rude and carelesse words doe not slubber vp good matter and vnhansome cloathes mishape a good body but I must needs speake sculpta for the substance of my matter speake of that which is carued of that which is grauen of that which is painted Thou shalt not make to thy selfe any grauen Image nor the likenes c. in which words the prohibition forbiddeth vs falsely to worship the true God or giue his true worship to a false God condemning such as are stained with their own workes and goe a whoring with their owne inuentions The Iniunction requireth vs to worshippe one true and euerlasting God in sincerity and truth as he hath prescribed in his word commending such as kisse the sonne and washing their hands in innocency doe compasse his altar Tereasons to make vs bow our necks to this yoke are two The first is taken from Gods loue vnto vs I the Lord thy God aâ— a italous God as if the Lord should say my heart did cleaue vnto thee my soule did long for thee I did kisse thee with the kisses of my mouth I entred into a couenant with thee and thou becamest mine neither can I in any case abide that thou shouldest be vnto any other therefore let me bee as a bundle of mirrhe vnto thee let mee and none other lie betweene thy breastes The second is taken from the loue of man to his posterity visiting the sinnes of the Fathers vpon the Children c. As if the Lord should say if you loue your children which are flesh of your flesh bone of your bones deuided peeces of your owne bodies and liuely pictures of your selues then doe not say to the worke of your hands yee are our gods but serue me with gladnes and offer to me the sacrifice of righteousnesse for my song is iudgement and mercy my visitation is like checker-worke blacke and white they which dishonour me shall come to shame they and theirs their children and their childrens children but those that honor me I will honour them and their posterity for euer more The hand of this Commandement leadeth mee to consider First the manner in deliuering it then the matter contained in it each of these hauing such variety of notes worthy to bee obserued that plenty it selfe making mee poore I know not where to beginne but let my first Obseruation in the manner of deliuery be this Our nature is very subiect and prone to this sinne of Idolatry Wee are very ready to erect vp altars vnto Baal and to hold vp our hands to a strange God for otherwise this commandement might haue been as short as that which went before or that which followeth after and the Lord needed not haue giuen a double charge or haue made a double fence hadge and ditch to keepe vs within bounds that wee transgressed not for this cause Ieremy compareth Israell r Ier. 2. 20. 23. 24. to a run-about harlot because she multiplied her fornication and could not be satisfied s to a swift Dromedary because shee did run more swiftly then a horse to the superstition of other Nations t to a wild Asse because shee could not bee wearied or made tame One sin of Israell was couetousnes u Hab. 1. 15 they tooke vp all with the angle they catched it in their net and gathered it in their yarne they loued siluer and were not satisfied with siluer whatsoeuer their measure held it was still capable of more but to set vp idoâ—atry they are content to part not with their siluer onely but with their gold also though they be farre fetcht and deare bought euen with the aduenture of their owne liues x Ier. 10. 9 Siluer plates are brought from â—arshis and gold from Vphaz for the worke of the workeman and the hands of the founder But this mettall was not yet tryed and fined but remained in a rude lumpe and so it was a smaller matter to depart with it and therefore more then so y Iud. 17. 4 Michahs mother toke two hundred shikels of siluer and gaue them to the founder who made thereof a grauen and molten image and more then so In Exodus the women though women commonly loue to braue it more then men and to attire themselues more trimly then stands with their husbands state to whom it is death to goe from their iewels are content to strip themselues of that which is most deare vnto them to make a golden Calfe z Ex. 32. 2. Pluck off saith Aaron hereby thinking to restraine themselues from sinne especially considering a Ex. 30. 13 their taxation lately past and the displeasure that might arise vnto the husbands from their wiues in time to come the eare-rings the golden earerings which to weare was and yet is the faâ—â—ion in the east Countries which are in the eares of your wiues of your sonnes and of your daughters and bring them to mee stay there Aaron goe no further neuer adde that you wilt make an Image of them for thou hast already said enough and more then enough for the women like an arrow out of a bow or a bowle down a hill without commoning hasten about the businesse beeing ready to fulfill thy demande before thou hast ended thy words and to bid the husbands plucke the eare rings was more then needed for they themselues plucke them from themselues and bring them to thee if Aaron hadbut said bring mee some gold though not wrought a man woudl haue thought it had beene as good as a supersedeaâ— to their idolatrous petition if but a little siluer be demanded of vs to buy a Bible make a pulpit repaire a Church or prouide any thing fit for Gods seruice wee play b Mat. 19. 22. the young man in the Gospell and if we cannot possibly slip the coller we goe away sorrowfull but to make an image the women bring gold wrought gold Iewels of gold and and though they loue to be in the fashion yet put themselues out of fashion to fashion an Idoll What great affection and loue doth Nature worke in parents towards their children being liuely pictures and welking images of themselues How neere went this saying to Abrahams heart Cast out the bond woman and her sonne hee knew that the promised seed should come of his sonne Isaac c Gen. 21. 11. yet this thing was grieuous in his sight because of his sonne Iacob supposing that Ioseph had been dead vowed to mourne for him all his life long d Gen. 37. 35. I will goe downe to the graue to my sonne mourning but hearing of his welfare the text saith that as though hee had been as good as dead before e Gen. 45. 27. the spirit of Iacob reuiued Necessity is a sore weapon and what a plague is this when God doth not helpe men with the barne or the wine-presse when they must cut vp nettles by the bushes and Iuniper roots must bee their meat when God giues cleannesse of
said we did well to hallow with salt and prayers that by the sprinkling thereof our sins may be forgiuen neither was it onely auaileable for the soule but the water of Canterbury like a certaine Panacea could heale all diseases as feauers fistula gowte tooth-ach palsie consumption falling sicknes leprosie head-ach broken armes maimed legs swelling throtes with infinite other like as a cunning smith with one key should open all manner of locks I need not striue to put downe these they are so weake that they fall of themselues aâ—d the miracles wrought by them were said to bee so many that they loose their owne credit onely a word or two for confutation of that which is alledged in defence of Idols and then an end of the Prohibition In the Prophet Hosea q Hos 4. 17 Ephraim is ioyned to Idols let him alone if we must let him alone why then doe you blame those that keep the statutes of Omry all the manner of the house of Ahab which sacrifice to Baalim which haue borne Siccuth their King Chilum their Images the starre of their Gods which they made to themselues I answer the liberty that the Prophet Hoseâ— giueth vs a permission with indignation as if a father should say to his graceles sonne when hee seeth that hee hath shaken hands with hell and standing at defyance with goodnesse proclaimeth open warre to his soule and will not reclaime himselfe by good admonition but runs riot like a lawles and awles person euery day faster then other because the diuell driues him sirrha run your race take your swinge sape thy felfe in thy sinnes giue head to thy lusts still dance after the diuels pipe I will warne thee no more I will let thee alone see what will come thereof at the last the like speach concerning the same sinne is that of the Lord r Eze. 20. 39. Goe you and serue euery one his I doll seeing that yee will not obey mee the like is that of Salomon concerning an other sinne Å¿ Ec. 11. â— Reioyce o young man in thy youth and let thy heart cheere thee in the dayes of thy youth walke in the waies of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes the like is that of the Angell concerning all sinne t Reu. 22. 11. hee that is vniust let him bee vniust still and hee that is filthy let him bee filthy still otherwise when the Lord speaketh simply plainly he blameth Israell for that they u Ps 106. 28. ioyned themselues to Baal-Peor like the â—arbarian Tyrants which bound the bodies of the liuing to the bodies of the dead till they rotted together Againe some say they worship God in their hearts though they haue images the better to stirre vp deuotion though they kisse these images and bow downe to them yet they bee not so sottish but they know they are but stocks and stones and therefore as the Grecians said they would not worship images lest they should seeme to agree with the Romane Church but yet they would adore pictures or rather as Fredericke the Emperour when he prostrated himselfe in such sort before Alexander the third that the proud Pope troad vpon his necke said non tibi sed Petro I doe not this honour to thee but to Peter So say they when they prostrate themselues before an image non imagini sed Deo they doe not this honour to the Image but to God but this is as if the wife should say she loues her husband in her heart but she will haue another man in her house shee will keepe company with other men when he is abroad shee will set her eyes vpon them she will embrace them but this shee doth not for any loue to them but that by them shee might better remember her husband but this is to bee like Clodia who to excuse her incest said she did company with Metellus as with an husband but with Clodius as with a brother Thus though euery string be out of tune yet the Musicke shall not sound amisse but as Asinus is Asinus quanquam aurea gestit insignia so this whore is a whore though shee set neuer so faire a glosse vpon her sinne and varnish her lewdnesse and in very deed howsoeuer men sooth themselues in this sinne yet are they so sottish that as the Prophet saith x Esa 2. 8. they worship the worke of their owne hands with an ingemination which their owne fingers haue made otherwise why did they forbid ne Sanctorum imagines confringantur the breaking of images inflicting a greater punishment vpon him that should breake an Image then vpon him that should rent and teare God in peeces with his carrion and stinking mouth Why was one Rochus a caruer of Images borne in Brabant burned at Saint Lucas in Spaine Anno 1545. when he did but take vp a chisell and dashing it vpon the image of our Lady did blemish her face though hee alledged for himselfe it was his owne worke and if the workemanship disliked him what had any man to doe with it Why were they so wood and so testy with Testwood Anno 1544 as to threaten to kill him and therefore drew vpon him and that in the Church at Windsore but that he vp with his hand in which he had a key and smiting down a border about an Alablaster Image which the glance chanced to breake off the nose When Thomas Beckets Image was set vp at Mercers Chappell in London in Queen Maries time Anno 1555 why was there such a great reward promised by Proclamation to him which could bring newes who broke away first his two blessing fingers and afterward struck off his head but that this and the other images were prized at a greater valew then they deserued to bee esteemed The word of God is comprised in the Bible yet sometimes the paper thereof is wasted sometimes for that the translation disliketh vs sometimes for that it is old and worne and this we doe without any exclamation but let one breake or burne an Image that is worm-eaten by reason of age or for that it hath been abused Iam faces iam saxa volant furor arma ministrat Men rage as though not a stocke or stone but a true Saint of flesh and bone should be cast in the fire which argueth that they are to much addicted to the image it selfe and haue it into high a veneration but what need I light a candle in the sunshine doe not they themselues write that the image and Crosse of Christ ought to be worshipped with the same honour that is done vnto God doe they not say when we salute the Crosse that procured vs life we doe well to sing thy Crosse Lord doe we adore the speare which opened thy sacred and life-giuing side doe we adore and that you may not meruaile that men are so farre gone as in such sort to forget themselues doe you not see that many a man though
haue an eye to the qualities of those to whom they intend to contract themselues whether they be caeteris paribus of a milde and gentle disposition least as meates of contrary qualities digest not well together so they should be alwayes one sicke of the other In our land the Guardein in chiualry shall not mary his Warde in chiualry to one that is vnequall to him as a bondwoman the 2. to one that is lame or the 3. deformed or the 4. hath some horrible disease as Leprosie or the 5. to a woman that is past child-bearing for it is disparagement but God ioyned himselfe to Israell when she was bond for sinne reigned in her when shee was lame for Ioshua takes her vp for halting when she was deformed and Å¿ Eze. 16. 6. Polluted in her owne bloud when shee was diseased for from the sole of the foote vnto the crowne of the head there was no whole t Esa 1. 6. part in her when shee brought forth nothing but sinne vnto death when Shechem would marry Dinah Iacobs daughter her brother said u Gen. 34. 14. they might not giue their sister to a man vncircumcised but God espoused Israell when she was of an vncircumcised heart and lips and wedded her which wanted a wedding garment tantus tantillos tales so great so righteous a God made choise of a spouse betwixt whom whether we respect estate or qualitie there was great inaequalitie Iacob loued x Gen. 29. 17. Rachell more then Leah he had some reason she was more beautifull but that God should praefer Iacobs sonnes before the rest of the world he had no reason but his owne good will y Gen. 34 25. for two of them Simeon and Leui were treacherous and bloudy men and the eldest Ruben came not behinde them in another kinde of iniquitie z Gen. 35. 22. for he went and lay with Bilhah his fathers concubine and what dignity could be in him who went vp to his fathers bed and defiled it The rest they and theirs were a a Ps 78. 8. froward crooked generation a generation that set not their hearts aright whose spirit cleaued not stedfastly vnto God as Mount Sion was not better then other Mountaines but more noble because it pleased God to dwell there so the Iewes were no better then other till God vouchsafed to make them his people because he had a fauour vnto them because his good pleasure was such And this is that which our Sauiour Christ saith b Ioh. 15. 16 yee haue not chosen me but I haue chosen you he chose them first by predestination and afterward by calling and culling them out from the rest but then did they also chuse him by consenting to that calling of both these mutuall choices doth Moses speake of the on c Deu. 26. 17. 18. thou hast set vp the Lord this day to be thy God of the other the Lord hath set thee vp this day to be a precious people vnto him now out of this that hath been spoken conclude as the Iewes did when they saw manifest tokens of Christs affection d Ioh. 11. 36. to Lazarus they sayd see how he loued him so when you consider the premisses and see the disparagement say see how he loued her see how great affection he bare to his Church e 1. Io. 4. 9. This must teach vs first to loue him because he loued vs first loue must be reciprocall and therefore the Bridegroome and the spouse in that sweete marriage song call one another Lone secondly it must teach vs to keepe vs only to him so long as we liue for if while the husband liueth the wife shall f Rom. 7. 2 take another man she shal be called an adultresse Neither doth wife admit any plurality when she is construed with one husband and therefore it was a kinde of Solacisme when Lamech said beare yeâ— wines of Lamech neither doth husband admit any plurality when he is construed with one wife now neither must vnus or vna haue a plurall number socium de te nesciunt God Mal. 2. 15. had aboundance of spirit and might haue made two for one but he made but one one man for one woman one woman for one man as the woman hath not power ouer her owne body either to deny it to her owne husband or to yeeld it to another man so neither hath the spouse of Christ yee are not your owne 1 Cor. 6. 20 for yee are bought for a price therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit for they are Gods we must therefore acquaint our selues with God as for Idols they are called strange gods as the harlot is called a strange woman because they should be Mal. 2. 11. Pro. 7. 5. strangers to vs and we should be strangers to them It is good for me saith the Psalmographer to keepe mee Psa 73. 28. fast to God for there is a nearer coniunction betwixt God and vs then betwixt man and wife for man and wife are one flesh Gen 2. â—4 but he that is ioyned to the Lord is one spirit if therefore a wife may 1. Cor. 6. â—7 not forsake the guide of her youth and forget the couenant of her God if her holy dayes must not be feasts of quicunque vult if she must not turne to vncleannes from her husband much lesse may Gods spouse breake her faith and giuing God sundry companions bestow his glory on them she must not bow her knees to Baal nor kisse him with her mouth A iealous God some men being better husbands then Christians and better bawdes then husbands can be content to be panders to their owne beds Nicholas the same as most men Act. 6. 5. thinke which was one of the seauen deacons being blamed for iealousie brought his wife who was faire to looke vpon among all the disciples giuing free leaue to all that would to vse her of him came the heretickes called Nicolaite who held that wiues should be common whose workes the Church of Ephesus hated Reu. 2. 6. to their great commendation Abraham is not much displeased that the fountaines be not his only but the strangers among whoÌ„ he is and therefore giues his wife this counsell say I pray Gen. 12. 13. thee that thou art my sister that I may fare well for thy sake nay his owne silence and his owne wordes are the cause that shee is taken into Pharaohs house to be his wife for Pharaoh blameth him both for the one and for the other for his silence why saidst thou not shee was thy wife for his speach why saidst thou she was thy sister hauing great cause to expostulate the matter with him for hereupon if God had not kept Pharaoh Pharaoh Gen. 20. 2. had kept Abrahams wife neither did he leaue by this but as though this sinne had been glued to him and that he did cleane as fast
euill hard-hearted flagella Reipublicae flabella seditionis that they would deuoure a whole Parlament-house and could well digest it if Ierusalem were made an heape of stones And shewing mercy vnto thousands of them that loue me and keepe my Commandements Our Sauiour Christ saith to Martha thou art Luc. 10 41 troubled about many things but one thing is necessary so wee are troubled about many things some about their farmes some Luc. 14. 18 about their oxen some about their wiues all these in the beginning of Ecclesiastes are vanity of vanities and all vanity Eccl. 1. 2. but one thing is nâ—câ—ssary and that is in the end of Ecclesiastes Ec. 12 13. feare God and keepe his Commandements but here the Lord doth not say feare but loue mee and keepe my Commandements to shew that all the duty wee performe to God must proceede from loue the law saith Saint Paul is not giuen to 1 Tim. 1. 9 the righteous man either to condemne him or to compell him for he will doe good of a good affection without further constraint God will haue the Israelits bring offerings for the making Ex. 25. 2. of the Tabernacle but hee will not straine vpon any but euery one shall giue as his heart doth encourage him and Ex. 35 21 as his spirit doth make him willing Sonne goe and worke today Mat. 21. 28 in my vineyard vineyard therefore a fit place to day therefore a fit time sonne therefore a fit person for he will goe with good will as readily as Samuell comes at a call Here am I 1 Sam. 3. 5 not that thou compelledst mee but here am I for you calledst Ex. 8. 25. mee The obedience of the wicked is wrested from them as was Pharaohs and their good deeds are spoiled in the working as many a good tale is mard in the telling but the godly yeeld freely to obedience for loue are not haled and dragged by force my heart is ready saith Dauid with an ingemination Ps 57. 7. my heart is ready ready for aduersity ready for prosperity ready to bee humbled ready to be exalted ready to doe whatsoeuer thou commandest This must teach vs to take heede wee doe not good things amisse that is true of the Canon Lawyers God loues aduerbs better then adiectiues not quam bonum but quam bene Luc. 18. 4. and therefore a good deed must be well done Iustice readily and therefore fye vpon the vniust Iudge Almes willingly for 2 Cor. 9. 7. grudging like Colloquintida spoiles the whole potte of pottage A good mind cannot free a man from offence when 2 Sam. 6. 6. he doth ill and therefore Vzzah doth ill to put his hand vnto the Arke but a bad mind may make a man sin in doing good and therfore Iudas was not without great fault in saluting Christ Mat. 26. 49 to betray him First therefore we must looke what wee doe for the matter to know this wee must aske counsell at the mouth of the Lord his word must bee a touch-stone to try our actions and the standard from which wee must not depart Secondly we must looke how we doe it for the manner whither of loue or of feare of a cheerefull or grudging mind and to know this wee must consult with our owne hearts with Moses put our hands into our bosomes rip vp our consciences Ex. 4. 6. take our soules to taske and with the possessed returne vnto our owne house virtus uolentium nulla est He that Luc. 8. 39. doth good against his will doth ill God will haue vs voluntary men good deeds must not be wrung out of vs as veriuyce out of the crabs when they are pressed nor beaten out Ex. 17. 6. of vs as waters came out of the rocke when Moses smote it with his rod but they must sweetly flowe from vs as riuers Ioh. 7. 38. from the fountaine The seruice we doe to our neighbours is not accepted with God except it proceede from loue If I giue all that I haue to feed the poore saith the Apostle and haue not 1 Cor. 13. 3 loue it profiteth me nothing If I giue and not lend which is not so great liberality mine owne which I haue not another mans for many rob Peter and pay Paul build Almes-houses with the superfluity of their vsury make Hospitals with racking their rents inclosing of commons with that which they haue gotten by briberie oppression and extorting from other which indeed is not their owne againe if I giue not a part but all at the onely hearing whereof the young man Mat. 19. 22 shrunke backe and went away sorrowfull not to the rich but to the poore for that were but to cast water into the sea if I did all this to feed them and as you would say to put life into them when they were ready to perish for want of sustenance yet all this notwithstanding if loue be lacking there is wanting the best flowre in the garden without which the rest yeeld no sweet smelling sauour to God so likewise God accepteth no seruice we doe vnto himselfe except loue as in this place like a Gentleman Vsher doth go before it and therefore Saint Paul wisheth vs to offer vp our bodies a quicke sacrifice vnto God quicke not onely because wee must offer Rom. 12. 1. them quickely against those which say of the temple of their Hag. 1. 2. bodies as the Iewes of the Temple of Ierusalem it is not yet time to build the Temple of the Lord but because that which is quicke doth loue to be stirring is ready and willing to moue of it selfe And keepe my Commandements Loue and obedience are GeÌ„ 38. 30. twins and one followes the other as Zarah came after Pharez out of Tamars wombe mixe the one with the other and then is compounded the cup of saluation This maketh against Hypocrites and proud boasters which will inable themselues with their tongues and say they loue God but there is no such matter for then would their outward workes beare witnesse of their inward affection Gods spirit worketh in a spirituall man and makes him bring forth fruits of loue as nature worketh in a naturall man whose loue doth creepe where it cannot goe and inclosed as wee see in Ioseph shineth as a candle thorough the chinkers GeÌ„ 43 34. The Angell put on the shape of man that Manoah might Iud. 13. 1â— see him and loue must put on obedience that the world may see it Gideon must haue none to bee his souldiers but such as Iud. 7. 6. 7 vse as well their hand as their tongue let no man therefore glory more to bee a linguist then a realist The Church is a widdow for as shee is called a mother because shee bringeth forth children to God and nourceth them with the milke which streame out of her two breasts the Old and New Testament as shee is
workes and in very deed the best men haue some let spot or want euen in their very deuotions goe to prayer when the best men haue prayed they had need to pray againe that God would forgiue the faults in their prayers and therefore there is an Angell that powreth sweet odours into the prayers of the Saints to shew that they yeeld no sweet sauour to God without fauour in Christ Goe to loue a Reu. 8. 3. Peter loued much but yet hee did fault in his loue when hee heard of the passion as he did afterward fall from b Mat. 16. 22. his loue when the passion was hard at hand We desire to be c Luc. 22. 57. but conformable to the Angels d Mat. 6. 10. They will be done in earth as it is in heauen but the Angels are not without blemish in his sight and though there were no other thing yet the very corruption of our flesh it selfe doth infect that which of it selfe is pure as a muddie ground doth the cleane water and as an vnsauery caske doth the good wine that is put into it This serueth to condemne such as relie vpon their owne merits especially such as thinke Gods law too strait for their holinesse stand for supererogation aboue law supposing they are so farre from need of mercy that they haue satisfactions to spare for others ouer and aboue their owne discharge for when the Lord saith he will shew mercy to the best he insinuateth e Luc. 17. 10 that when wee haue done all wee can we are vnprofitable seruants and that reward is giuen not according to our deserts but according to the worthines of him that doth bestow it our merit is the mercy of the Lord and as long as God is manifold in mercies man is manifold of deserts indeed we are ready to stand too much vpon our good actions and therefore the Psalmographer teacheth vs to speake twice against our selues f Ps 115. 1. Not vnto vs O Lord not vnto vs but vnto thy name giue the praise A good man doth that for which hee came not so as hee can boast but so as God accepts it while he pardons his weaknes so that our righteousnes consists rather in forgiuenes of our sinnes then perfection of our vertues and when God rewardeth vs hee recompenseth vs according to his owne honour not according to the basenes of our owne hearts or the estimation wee haue of our owne worth Againe this serueth for the comfort of those which are determined to keepe the word of God which enforce themselues to obey it and to walke in the name of the Lord their God for euer yet grone vnder the burden of their sinnes and when they would doe good euill is present with them cals at their doors craues entertainement and of force will bee their tennant I say this is their comfort to know that God will shew mercy si faciunt pracepta etsi non perficiunt if they keepe his commandements in truth though they fulfill them not in perfection God accepteth that which his children doe willingly though weakely he takes the will for the worke and measuring the deed by the desire and the desire by sincerity will shew mercy hee will shew it it shall appeare and shine as Saint g Tit. 2. 11. Paul speaketh of the grace of God as if the Lord had reared it vp in the midst of the firmament like the sun that all the world might see it To thousands The Lord is mercifull and righteous and our God is full of compassion h Ps 116. 5 I the Lord thy God here the Lord is mercifull visiting the sinnes here he is righteous shewing mercy to thousands here our God is full of compassion visiting sins to the third and fourth generation not that he confines himselfe to three or foure discents for when he had executed vengeance vpon the posterity of Ham to the sixt and seuenth generation yet his wrath was not turned away but his hand was stretched out still and shewing mercy to thousands not that hee ties himselfe to any set number but making comparison of iustice and grace he sheweth that hee is more prone to mercy and that this mercy doth outgoe his iustice as that other Discipel did out run i Ioh. 20. 4 Peter as they posted to the sepulchre Iustice is Gods left hand mercy is his right now God is right-handed he vseth his right hand more then his left therefore that is the greater of the two if his wrath like Nilus hath ouerflowed a while at last like the flouds in k Ex. 15. 8. Exodus it stands still as an heape or else like Iorden it is driuen backe or is like the waters about Ierusalem which might be dryed vp with l Ps 1 14. 3 the tramplings of an army m Es 37. 25 but his mercy is as the fountaine of the gardens n Can. 4. 15 a Well of liuing waters and the springs of Lebanon the one like the garments of the Gibeonites worne out o Ios 9. 13. in a few discents the other like the p Deu. 29 5 garments of the Israelites in the wildernesse which did not weare the one like the wings of the Eagle in q Dan. 7. 4. Daniels vision pluckt off the other r 1 King 6 27. like the winges of the Cherubims neuer pulled in but euer stretched forth the one like Å¿ 2 King 4. 6. the widdowes Oyle which ran a while and then ceased the other like t Ps 133. 2 Aarons oyle for as that rested not on Aarons head but ran downe vpon his beard and went down to the very skirts of his garments So Gods mercy resteth not on the head on the good father but discendeth to his children to the next generation and so along still to the lowest borders of his religious issue Gods mercy died not with Abraham but stretched it selfe to his righteous seed from generation to generation as the kindnesse of the Athenians to that same good and iust Aristides dyed not with him but extended it selfe to his posterity for when hee died so poore that he left not to bury him according to his place and desert they respecting his children gaue his sonne Lysimachus one hundred Minas that is 240. pounds and married his daughters at the charge of the City This serueth first for the comfort of those good parents which haue a great charge of children and small meanes to leaue them who doe not see the riuers and flouds and streames of hony and butter themselues whose children inheriting the wind are like enough to be filled with pouerty this I say is a comfort to thinke that though they cannot make their sonnes and daughters plenteous in goods though their hand did not get much though they did not heape vp riches for them though they did not lay vp golde for dust and the golde of Ophir as the flints of the Riuer yet
them they should not affect so much knowledge but debarre themselues of their chosen felicitie hauing more respect to the health of the body then wealth in the braine Againe we must carefully looke to the safety of our brothren that their dayes may be long in the land that fulfilling the number of their yeares they may goe to the graue in a full age b Mat. 15. 22. The Cananite is carefull for her sicke daughter c Ioh. 4. 47. the ruler for his sicke sonne the d Mat. 8. 5. Centurion for his sicke Seruant e Luc. 10. 33. the Samaritan for the wounded stranger f Mat. 4. 24 the multitude for all sicke people that were taken with diuers diseases and gripings and them that were possessed with diuels and those which were lunatike and those that had the Palsey Pompey when there was a great dearth in Rome hauing prouided store of corne abroad shipped the same intending presently to relieue the hungry and thirsty whose soule fainted in them and while the mariners were backward in hoysing sayle by reason of a tempest he himselfe being verâ— forward first entred vsing these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it were better for vs to dye then not set forward preferring the reliefe of many before the safety of a few Nature hath ingraffed in beasts without reason a care to preserue one anothers life and therefore Harts swimming ouer great Riuers when they goe to rut in some Iles place the strongest formost the second staies his necke on the backe of the first the third on the second so all to the last and the first being weary an other takes his place thus like g Act. 27. 44 Paules company on boards and certaine peeces of the shippe they come all safe to lande that there may be this care one of anothers welfare we must loue one another for where loue is not men are so farre from seeking to preserue life that they seeke to take it away a Amos 5. 10. they hated him saith the Prophet that rebuked in the gate b Es 29. 21 they tooke him in a snare saith another Prophet which reproued them in the gate c Gen. 27. 41. If Esau hateth Iacob hee will make reckoning to kill him d Gen. 37. 18. If Iosephs brethren hate Ioseph they will lay their heads together to slay him malice would dispatch him whom it hateth and therefore Saint Paul reckoning vp a bedrowle of sinnes against charity e Gal. 5. 20 begins with hatred and ends with murder for the one by degrees and steps riseth vp to that cruell height of iniquity but where loue is there is compassion when our brethren vndergoe any losse or any crosse if they are set as a marke to shoote at and hunted as a Lyon if the arrowes of the Almighty are in them and the venome thereof doth drinke vp their spirits if we loue them they doe not more feele the burden of their misery then we are grieued to see their distresse neither are we onely fellow commoners with them in their sufferings but are as actiue in kindnesse as passiue in a sensible feeling of their sorrow we are not in stile but indeed serui sernorum Dei and therefore if God visit any with sicknesse so that either with the f 2 K. 4. 19 Shunamites sonne they cry out my head my head or with Asa a 2 Mac. 9. 5. my feete my feete or with g 2 Chr. 16. 12. Antiochus my bowels my bowels if b Mat. 8. 14 with Peters wiues mother they complaine of a feuer with the c Mat. 8. 5. Centurions seruant of a palsey if diseases bereaue them of their appetite so that they surfet of the very smell nay of the very sight nay of the very thought of the best dishes if sicknesse bereaue them of rest so that they weary themselues with changing sides and counting the lingring houres thinke that the sunne stands still d Ios 10. 13 as it did in the daies of Ioshua or e 2 K. 20 11 goe backe as it did in the daies of Ezechias if we loue them we will with the f Mat. 8. 5 Centurion goe and speake for them g Mat. 2. 4. with the Porters we will for their recouery set too our helping hands Rise while it is yet darke not put out our candle by night we will girde our loynes and strengthen our hands to good Againe if they be oppressed so that great men with their talones and pawes catch at them prey vpon them make hauocke of all they haue and like the sea making a rupture leaue neither land nor house nor trees but play sweepe-stake if we loue them we not onely grieue to see charity which in Christs daies was waxen cold and in Basils daies was dried vp to be now quite dead to see how much more cunning men are in substraction then diuision but wee are painfull to helpe them and so willing that no paine can weare vs wee vse all good meanes we can to deliuer them from their oppressors a Esa 1. 15. whose hands are full of blond whose hearts are as hard as yron and as the nether milstone who thinking themselues ill seated while they dwell by neighbours depopulate Parisheâ—s and being caterpillers and cormorants of the earth like whales of the sea swallow vp quicke other little fishes who like Lyons deuoure other beasts like Kites seaze plume and prey vpon other birds like greedy wolues deuoure all and are indeed like the Asses iaw-bone b Iud. 15. 15 with which Sampson flew a thousand men Againe if they suffer want of things necessary so that being hungry and thirsty their soule faint in them if we loue them our plenty shall supply their penury according to our abllity we will fulfill their want as riuers fill vp the empty places as they passe by loue will driue vs to compassion and compassion to reliefe and therefore to conclude by loue be linked one to an other as by faith you are vnited to God c Ex. 26. 6. like the câ—rtaines of the Tabernacle be twisted and knit together be alwaies paying this debt yet thinke you are debters still put on this liuery coate d Ioh. 13. 35. whereby you are knowne to be the seruants of God e RoÌ„ 13. 8. this is the complement of the law f Ioh. 13. 34 the supplement of the Gospell the fulfilling of this Commandement Thou shalt not kill The seuenth Commandement Exod. 20. 14 Thou shalt not commit Adultery CHildren and the fruit of the wombe are an heritage and gift that commeth of the Lord but beâ—ause a Ps 127. 3. b Mal. 2. 15 God sought c a Godly seede such as should be borne in lawfull wedlocke in this Commandement he â—or biddeth vs to run vpon the rockes of vncleannes so make shipwracke of all honest behauiour and commandeth vs to keepe our selues chaste as vndefiled
sonnes Noahs Gen. 7. 7. 13 wife and his sonnes wiues to shew that when iudgement is toward they which haue wiues should be as though they had none that they may giue themselues vnto prayer but when they goe out of the Arke God ioynes them together goe forth of the Arke thou and thy wife thy sonnes and thy sonnes wiues with thee to shew that when iudgement is past they must come together againe that Satan tempt them not for their incontinency 1. Cor. 7. 5. but this note came but in by the way and shall not carry me so far out of the way but I will keepe my selfe resident vpon my Text let euery man haue his wife saith Saint Paul his wife 1. Cor. 7. 2. not his concubine his wife not his wiues and they two not they three shall be one flesh to shew that none must be sicke of a Plurisie Edh. 5. 31. or be like the diuell which sowed another mans ground Mat. 13. 25 if God had dispensed with any it is like Kings should haue had this priuiledge that they might haue had an heire of their owne body to succeede them when their owne wiues went childles but euen Kings come within the compasse of this prohibition neither shall any of them take him many wiues when Deâ— 17. 17 a man seeth his flesh grow prowde and boyleth vnto lust of necessitie he must take a wife or else fall but if he fall hauing taken a wiâ—e he is like a Pilot which suffereth shipwracke when he is come to the hauen or like Lots wife which is cast away though she hath escaped out of Sodome and might haue been saued in Zâ—ar It was therefore a good answere which a Gen. 19. 29 married woman in Lacedemonia made to a young man who desired her company young man quoth she I would grant that thou askest were it mine to grant but that which thou demandest while I was single was my parents they had a care to preserue it now I am married it is my husbands only hee must haue it it was as good which the Lady Gray made vnto King Edward the 4 the first of our English Kings who married a subiect for when he being enamored of her would haue proceeded further she hearing of a mariage concluded for him in France and of a precontract with the Lady Lucy plainely tolde him she knew her selfe too simple to be his wife and thought her selfe to good to be his concubine The example of Alexander is worth the remembrance who hauing conquered Darius and alwaies hauing in his host the wife of the same Darius would after he had once seene her beautie neuer after haue her once come in his presence saying it would be a great shame to him who had conquered the husband now to be subdued by the wife It is written of the Parthians that they forbid their wiues not only to conuerse with men but not so much as to talke with them or cast an eye vpon them yet they themselues marching vnder Venus banner will haue many wiues but this is as much as if they should bid them fight against enemies fight against pleasures to which they would yeeld themselues the man is the head of the woman the head 1. Cor. 11. 3 should goe before the members follow after if the woman liue more chastly then the man the house is out of order and the head doth hang downeward The meanes to keepe chastitie is loue betwixt man and wife for as hee which loues an harlot hates his wife so hee which loues his wife hates an harlot and therefore Salomon dehorting from the strange woman wisheth vs to reioyce with the wife of Pro. 5. 8. 18 19. our youth and delight in her loue continually this loue is armour of proofe and will not suffer vnchast thoughts to enter into the heart First therefore knit hearts before you strike hands first be heart fasted then hand fasted first chose your loue then loue your choise like the bridegrome and the spouse in the Canticles call one another loue therefore the husband the first yeare hee was married was freed from the warre that Deu. 24. 5. loue might grow vp as the water cresses little by little but with a deepe roote where this is in the man another womans person shall not be the prison of his heart nor lodge within his breast his eyes shall not looke vpon strange women nor his flesh yeeld to the seruice of Venus where this is in the woman she girdeth her loynes with strength her heart is not deceiued by a man where this is wanting in man or woman they are ready to embrace the bosome of strangers to ouerflowe the bankes of chastitie to set fire to their honesty to violate the rites of matrimony and set forth marriage to all râ—proach and villany for though they dwell together in one house yet are they like two poysons in one stomacke one is sicke of another like Eles in the pot which would faine be out like Spaâ—iels coupled which hale one one way another another way and if they goe any time quietly together it is because they cannot goe a sunder and though matrimony be a coniunction yet in such it is a coniunction disinuctiue as are ioyned in body but disioyned in affection hereupon it comes to passe that some in these dayes are as ready to venture their liues for a common wench as other in former times haue been forward to hazard them for the common-wealth hereupon it comes to passe that man and wife alledging some foule plea to clowt vp their foule play seeke to be separated one from the other those whom God hath ioyned together man should not put a sunder the woman is bound by the law to the man while Rom. 7. 2. he liueth and on the other side the man to the woman Kings are bound with these chaines and Nobles with these linkes of yron but when man and wife loue not they will not be tyed with this tackling they breake these bonds a sunder cast away these cordes froÌ„ them the hart of the husband must cleaue to his wife the heart of the wife must cleaue to her husband the wife is the glory of the man euery man loueth his glory they two are one flesh as God at first made two of one by resolution Gen. 2. 22. so marriage makes one of two by composition they are two boughes of one tree together beare one fruite as a sience taken from one tree and grafted in another stocke and as children are a mans selfe multiplyed so the wife is a mans selfe diuided Adam saith she is flesh of my flesh if any man hateth Gen. 2. 23. his owne flesh he is carried to Bedlem and is like c 1. Kin. 18. 28. the Baalits which wounded their owne bodyes d Leu. 19. 28. contrary to the Commandement Man had his make made of his owne flesh and
so had no creature beside and therefore man should exceed all other creatures in the loue of his make and therefore Darius aforesaid when Alexander the great had ouercome him yet shewed himselfe stoute and inuincible till he vnderstood his wife was taken prisoner at hearing whereof his heart did melt his knees did smite together sorrow was in all his loynes being more grieued for her imprisonment then losse of his owne liberty victory credit and estimation Againe concerning the woman shee was taken out of the side of man neere the heart when she was first made and when shee is married there is a ring put by her husband on the fourth finger of her left hand where there is a veine which goes to the heart to teach their to loue him from the heart The Chronicle stores vs with a cluster of many singular examples of this loue some for loue to her husbands haue been content to hazard their estate as Some haue been content to leaue their Countrey when Lâ—ntulus Crustelio was banished into Sicily Sulpicia followed Gen. 12. her husband like Sarah for when Abraham by Gods commandement left his Countrey shee without commandement left her Countrey also as if shee should say to her husband as Ruth to Naomi whither thou goest I will gâ—â— and where thou dwellest Ruth 1. 16. 17. I will dwell where thou diest I will die and there will I bee buried the Lord doe so to mee and more also if ought but death depart thee and mee Some haue been content to loose their goods to loose their good name to loose their liues When Guelfus and other Noble men with their wiues were taken prisoners after a siege in the Castle of Winsberg the women hauing leaue to goe away and carry with them whatsoeuer they could beare on their shoulders they leauing all other things tooke vp their husbands and away they went A woman as we read in the Acts and Monuments defamed herselfe to deliuer her innocent husband it was Calaway a Gold-smith in London who should haue been cast away had it not been for his wife for he being indited of a crime which was death by the law and might not haue the benefit of his clergy because hee had married a widow for the law was that Bigamus might not haue his booke and he was accounted bigamus who had been twise married himselfe or else had married a woman whose former husband was dead his wife came forth before the Iudges and deposed that shee neuer was married to him that was accounted her first husband but liued in adultery with him When Nero condemned Seneca to dye he gaue him leaue to chuse what death he would dye whereupon he caused his veines to be opened in a Bath his wife Paulina of her owne accorde did the like choosing rather to dye with him then liue without him I cannot omit one example of an English Queene and that is Eleonor wife to King Edward the first for when he going to the holy Land was wounded by a Morian with a sword so enuenomed that art and medecine could not cure him this good louing wife with her owne mouth did day by day sucke and drawe out the venemous humour and without hurting herselfe helped her husband cured and closed his wound in remembrance of whose great affection King Edward did build her many monuments A second breach of this law and branch to bee cut off is Fornication which though it be not so great sinne as Adultery as I haue already proued yet flye Fornication for these 1 Cor. 6. 18 things are common to both these sinnes a diseased body a damned soule a poore purse a shamefull name a wronging of posterity and of the party with whom the folly is committed For the first these finne against their owne bodies wasting their strength in pleasure as the flame consumeth the candle and therefore are like Sparrowes which Aristotle saith doe therefore liue but a short time because of their common copulation they procure to themselues such infectious diseases as will hasten their death and such as will sticke by them when their best friends giue them ouer Concerning their soules Saint Paul excludeth them from 1 Cor. 9. 6 the Kingdome of heauen as he will haue them separated from 1 Cor. 5. 9 11. 13. the company of men vpon earth Concerning their estate pouerty commeth vpon them as one that trauaileth by the way and necessity like an armed man this sinne is purgatory to the purse though it be paradise to the desires Danae doth then like Iupiter when he comes vnto her in the forme of a showre of golden rayne and therefore the Poet saith Nuda Venus picta est nudi pinguntur amores Nam quos nuda capit nudos dimittat oportet How soone had the prodigall childe consumed his portion Luc. 15. 14 when once he light among harlots but you will say this sinne may bring a meane man to pouerty and a poore man to beggery but great ones may wallow in this sinne and yet their estate neuer be empaired nay women are like enough to gaine by the trade for they be receiuers with e Mat. 26. 15. Iudas they are at their Quantum dabis as if their louers bring any thing they are welcome if any of them say with Peter g Act. 3. 6. Siluer and f Gen 38. 16. gold haue I none ibit for as there is no entertainement for him f Thamar the string of their hearts reach to the pulse of their hands and must be rubbed with gold Concerning Name men haue a care of their credit and would haue a good reputation among men next to the approbation of God and the testimony of a good conscience for if a mans name be once tainted with iust reproch postea nullus erit but is like a garment which once rent is like to be torne on euery nayle now he that committeth adultery with a woman looseth his name a bad report is his portion while he liueth a bad heyre when he is dead and such a one as shall outline all his posterity his reproach shall neuer be put away and â—ro 6. 33. it were well if onely he himselfe did pay for it but this is not all but euen the children vnlawfully begotten doe feele the smart of it for first the staine remaineth to them and bastardy is their blemish then which what can be a greater and therefore when the holy Ghost would brande the Israelites with a marke of greatest reproch he cals them the seede of Esa 51. 3. the Adulterer and of the whore Againe parents are not so carefull of the good education of such children their birth is not so base but their bringing vp is as base as their birth such fathers care not though with the Israelites they offer such sonnes and daughters vnto diuels they haue no care to correct them they care not though they haue their swinge though