thing that is right For he that instructeth others with wholesome doctrine and doth so staine and blemish himselfe with vile and naughtie vâ—â—es that his life and doctrine be opposite and cleane contrary the one to the other so that it is séene and perceiued of all that there is no agréement betwéene them he is like vnto a sieue or a boulter wherewith meale is sifted or boulted which sendeth foorth the finest floure and best of the wheate and kéepeth the bran and woorst to it selfe The Lord coupleth togither in the priestes of the old law Doctrine and Truth regarding both their teaching and liuing He is a true and trustie teacher which doth himselfe that same that he teacheth The disciples of the Pharysies could espie so much though they loued it not when they said to Christ We know that thou art true and that thou teachest the way of God truely They confesse though with a wicked purpose that he did not onelie teach but also liue after the truth Wherein all christians ought to imitate Christ WHen in mans body the hart doth not impart vnto the members the vitall spirits but the arteries are stopt and shut vp and the blood forsaketh the veines it is a signe of death That man is either already dead or else he will die shortly Euen so when kings and princes of the earth are tyrannicall towards their loyall subiects withdrawing from them pittie mercy loue and liberalitie it threatneth and doth prognosticate the ruine of their kingdomes But through the mercy clemencie and loue of princes their kingdomes do mightily florish and the princes themselues do inioy great tranquillitie securitie and peace God put thankfulnes into the harts of all the true and faithfull subiects of England and else where within hir Maiesties dominions for our most gratious dread soueraigne Quéene Elizabeth for certainly that saieng of Salomon in his Prouerbes was neuer more truely verified in anie king or Quéene since the foundation of England then it hath béene in hir highnes Mercie and truth do kéepe the king and with clemency the kings throne is strengthened and established So all the worlde must be faine to saie Mercie and truth do kéepe good Quéene Elizabeth and clemencie doth strengthen hir throne Hir highnes doth that same that Artaxerxes speaketh of himselfe in the booke of Ester When saith he I did rule and gouerne many nations and had brought the whole world vnder my dominion I would not abuse the greatnes of my power but would gouerne my subiects with clemencie and lenitie All the world must néedes confesse the same of hir Maiestie towards all hir subiects Hir seate hath alwaies béene inuironed and compassed about with mercy which as Hieronimus saith doth lift man vp to Godward All the world is not able to lay to hir highnes charge so much as one dram of crueltie which as the same author affirmeth doth cast man downe to hell ward Euen as among the pretie swéete Bées that Bée onely which leadeth and ruleth all the rest either hath no sting or at the least doth not vse it So clemencie and mercy agréeth with none more in al the world then with a prince God giue grace to all hir Maiesties subiects so loyally louingly obediently and faithfullie to beare and behaue themselues that the mighty God of Israell may affoorde vs hir Maiesties life happy raigne chearefull countenance many yéeres Amen For in the chéerefulnes of hir countenuance is life INgratitude is a thing that the Lord could neuer abide It is a scorching winde that drieth vp the fountaines of piety and the streames of grace Whereas euery thing that is weighty and heauie tendeth and preaseth downward yet notwithstanding the cloudes that are full of water and swelled with moisture do ascend vpward bicause the sunne taketh them from the earth and with his force draweth them vp on high Which being lifted vp in the aire are gathered togither and thickened and so do couer and hide the brightnes of the sunne by whose helpe and attraction they were taken and caried vp but notwithstanding their malice they being dispersed and scattered abroad the sun that conquerer and ouercommer of darknes thrusteth through his beams breaketh the cloudes and giueth light with his shine Euen so the Israelites when they lay in Egypt a long time in obscuritie thraldome bondage and slauerie to Pharao and his people and were euen nailed as it were to the earth of all contempt and crueltie were then taken vp and set in great and high dignitie by the sunne of righteousnes but afterward they went about to obscure and extinguish the brightnes and light of God himself by whose benefit they had gotten that honor and dignitie which they had aâ—d without whom they were nothing but bond slaues of miserie and wretchednes but séeing they were like foule blacke cloudes they were dispersed scattered and vanished away And the glorie of Christ against their wils in spite of them togither with the brightnes of his name did break out and shine abroad and giue light throughout all the world I would to God that this ingratitude and vnthankfulnes had neuer a corner in England nor in any English hart it hath pleased the almightie by his faithfull seruant Elizabeth by his owne grace Quéene of England to deliuer our countrie from no lesse bondage thraldome and seruitude than he did the Israelites by Moses and Aaron and yet we finde to too manie that haue béen bred in England and owe their liues to hir highnes to murmure no lesse against hir happines than the Israelites did against the lords seruants Moses and Aaron The seruitude and slauerie of the Israelites was not greater nor woorse vnder Pharao that tyrant in Egypt than the bondage of England was vnder the Pope neither ought we to be lesse thankfull for our deliuerie from the slauerie of Rome than they should haue béen if they had well remembred themselues from the slauerie of Egypt We read in the booke of Wisdome that the hope of the vnthankfull man shall waste and consume like winters ice c. And tâ—…e Dauid the prophet saith O my soule praise the Lord and forget not all his benefits The Lord grant that we neuer forget any of the Lords benefits and that we may euer be thankfull to his diuine maiestie for the great benefit that he hath bestowed vpon England in his most faithfull seruant Elizabeth by his owne prouidence and appointment our most gratious Quéene and soueraigne whose life health and happines O Lord continue long Amen Amen Amen EVen as a moth or worme doth not bréede in the Cedar being a goodly and odoriferous trée alwaies fresh and florishing the wood whereof doth not rot So enuie is not bred in the hart of a wise and vertuous man but in the minde of a man that is wicked and vngodly and is gréeued and tormented at the happines and welfare of other men
pressed So man is brought to calamity that being pressed with sorrowes and exercised with afflictions he may bring foorth the swéete and pleasant liquor of obedience and vertue and so be aduanced to true Christianitie which is the greatest and highest dignitie in the world Miseries penuries and tribulations do for the most part kéepe vnder and stay our vnruly lusts and dangerous desires and are meanes that we lift vp our harts and mindes vnto God and that we be strengthened and confirmed in true pietie and vnfained godlines And on the other side prosperitie worldly wealth dignitie and honors are oftentimes meanes to hinder vs in holy exercises and to puffe vs vp with pride and vaine glorie and to drawe vs to disloyaltie and rebellion against our God The Israelites being stoong and torne of firie serpents they learned to knowe God and cried for his mercie And wicked Manasses being cast into the bands of the Babylonians and compassed round about with great calamities he fled vnto the Lord he acknowledged his sinnes sending vnto the Lord most feruent praiers and the Lord heard him And the prophet Nehemias saith They called vpon thée in the time of trouble and thou heardest them from heauen AS a master when his seruants obey him and do his will commandeth his steward or gouernor of his house to minister vnto them all things necessarie and that nothing be wanting but if they offend him and deale vnfaithfully with him he giueth a contrarie charge Euen so God the true and right owner of all things of whom the kingly prophet Dauid saith The earth is the Lords and all the fulnes thereof the round world and they that dwell therein if we do obey him and serue him faithfully and giue vnto him his due honor he commandeth the earth his ancient steward to minister vnto vs great store of necessaries and to giue vnto vs all good rich and pleasant things in due time but on the other side if we disobey him rebel against him and be not afraid to do those things which he forbiddeth vs and will commit we care not what sin euen with gréedines ioy and delight then he commandeth his steward the earth to denie foode vnto vs and to afflict vs with penurie and extreme want of all those things whereof it was woont to yéeld vs great abundance and not to be so bold as to reléeue or comfort vs vntill we be conuerted and flie vnto him confessing and acknowledging our sinnes from the bottome of our harts and most bitterly bewailing them shall prostrate our selues before the throne of grace crauing and crying for remission of our sinnes in the death and bloodshedding of our sauiour Christ crucified EVen as a colume or piller is somtime on thy right hand and sometime on thy left hand bicause thou dost change thy standing sitting or walking for it is vnmooueable and kéepeth one place So God is somtime fauorable and bountifull vnto thée and somtime séemeth to be wrath and angrie with thée bicause thou dost fall from vertue to vice from obedience and humilitie to pride and presumption for in the Lord there is no change no not so much as any shadow of change He is immutable alway one and euerlasting If thou wilt bend thy selfe to obedience and to a vertuous and godly life thou shalt euer haue him a strong rocke whereupon thou maist boldly build a castell and tower of defence he will be vnto thée a mighty pillor bearing vp heauen and earth whereto thou maist leane and not be deceiued wherein thou maiest trust and not be disappointed he will euer be at thy right hand that thou shalt not fall he will take thy part and will mightily defend thee against all thine enimies of thy bodie and of thy soule But if thou wilt shake hands with vertue and bid it adew and farewell and forsaking the waies of God wilt liue as thou list and follow thine owne corruption and make no conscience of ought thou doest defiling and blemishing thy selfe with all maner sinne and iniquitie then be sure the Lord will appeere vnto thee in his furie and indignation from whose iustice and iudgements none shall euer be able to deliuer thée the Lord therefore giue vs harts to feare him to loue him and to obey him EVen as the adamant stone placed néere vnto the load stone doth not suffer the load stone to drawe iron from it or if it seeme a little to mooue and to drawe it away it presently pulleth it backe and draweth it to it selfe Euen so a man indued with godly wisedome and righteousnes from God is firme and constant and doth so ouercome al the blustering blasts and burning brunts of calamities and miseries that he is not so scorched with the force of their flames that he prooueth vnconstant and loseth his dignitie And such is the iar and discord betwéene this world and him that being placed in the world he suffereth it not so much as in him lieth to bewitch men and to drawe them after it But if the world like a load stone shall at any time allure them to follow it he by and by bendeth himselfe with all his force by counsell by admonitions by his life and example to drawe them backe againe from it and to restore them to their former dignitie that is to the estimation and honor of true christianitie wherto the world and worldlings are méere strangers AS organ plaiers vnlesse some body blowe vnto them the windie bellowes do make no sound at all Euen so vaine men vnlesse they be pricked forward with commendations and praises of others haue neuer any minde or purpose to bend themselues to any good action EVen as marriners which are carried with the course and force of winds being in an hauen will not disanchor nor depart out of the hauen without a prosperous winde blowing to their very good liking So hypocrites do looke that the people should shout and clap their hands in token of their great praises and commendations they séeke for and hunt after vaine brutes and reports without which they are disposed to do nothing wel These men care not to do well and yet they séeke for and desire the rewards of well doing They haue no eie nor regard to God in any of their actions They are not to be imitated at any hand Christ himselfe doth giue vs warning of such Be ye not like vnto hypocrites c. But let vs do as the holy prophet of God doth teach vs I saith he haue set the Lord alwaies before mine eies he is at my right hand that I shall not be mooued Whatsoeuer he thought spoke or did he still behaued himselfe as one in the presence and sight of God and sought the glorie and praise of his name in all his actions So ought we to do the Lord grant we may This also is the Apostles counsell Whether ye eate or drinke or
whatsoeuer ye do else do all to the glorie of God AS a thicke wood and goodly groue giuing great shadowe very pleasant to behold doth delight the eies of the beholders so greatly with the varietie and thicknes of florishing trées and pleasant plants that it séemeth to be ordained onely for pleasures sake and yet within is full of poisonful serpents rauening wolues and other wilde hurtfull and cruell beasts Euen so an hypocrite when outwardly he séemeth holy and to be wel furnished with the ornaments of all sorts of vertues doth please well and delight much the eies of his beholders but within him there lurketh pride couetousnes enuie and all maner wickednesses like wilde and cruell beasts walking and wandring in the wood of his hart So that whiles he séemeth to be that he is not neither will be that he séemeth his exercise is to séeke whose house he may deuoure whose goodes he may gripe whose credit he may cracke whose name he may blemish and whose honest disposition and godly simplicity he may most abuse In the hypocrite this is verified Fained sanctitie is double iniquitie So that I speake with reuerence if any be a knaue the hypocrite is more if some may serue for one he may well stand for two Hypocrisie is a subtill euill a secret poison a lurking venome a painting and counterfetting of vertue a moath of holines In mine opinion there be no woorse men liuing than hypocrites be for when they purpose most to deceiue they handle the matter so and do so paint themselues with counterfet colour that you would thinke them to be very vertuous and godly disposed AS a flint smitten against iron or stéele doth driue out sparks of fire So godly meditations of heauenly things draw out of hard harts some warmnes and as it were fire of the loue of God The prophet Dauid had experience thereof when he said My hart wareth warme within me and in my meditation a fire was kindled That soule which shall be replenished with vertues and shal take pleasure in the contemplation of heauenly things shall no doubt haue most swift and speedie wings and shall be called most woorthily Auis petens alta se à terrae laqueis eripiens A bird that mounteth on high and pearseth the clouds fréeing hir selfe from the traps and snares of the earth Such was the soule of the prophet when he said My soule is euen as a bird escaped out of the snare of the hunter Let vs whiles it is to day and we may flie be lifted vp towards our God and forgetting the vaine things of the earth which are behinde vs and preasing with all our powers to the things aboue and neuer satisfied with the loue of God and the desire of heauen let vs boldly go forward and stretch out our selues to the reward of the high calling of God in Christ Iesu our Lord. For the things of this world haue euer béene false and at the length haue deceiued their louers and déerest friends EVen as he that hath a sonne which is in good and perfect health and a seruant that is excéeding sicke dealeth more roughly and seuerely with his sonne than with his seruant not bicause he loueth his seruant more than his sonne but bicause he would if it might be restore his sicke seruant to his former health but his sonne whom he loueth most déerely he reprooueth checketh taunteth and correcteth Euen so our God somtimes afflicteth his déere children whom he most tenderly loueth and doth suffer them to be exercised with wants with wéepings and wailings with sighes and sorrowfull sobs with hunger and cold with nakednes and want of harbour with heauines of hart and vexation of soule with sicknes of bodie and want of libertie and with a thousand other calamities and cares and in the meane time suffereth the wicked and vngodlie ones of the world to want nothing he giueth them health wealth and libertie worldly honor and dignitie and what not meaning and purposing by these meanes if the fault be not in themselues to bring them to knowe to feare to honor and to serue him by whose prouidence and appointment they haue and enioy all those good blessings and so be cured and healed of the sores and sicknes of their soules The holy men and seruants of God haue euer béene wel experienced in the Lords chastenings Ieremie the prophet saith to God Thou hast chastened me O Lord and I am corrected And the Apostle saith Whom the Lord loueth he chasteneth and he correcteth euery sonne that he receiueth Againe Let vs reioice in tribulations And to the Galathians God forbid that I should reioice but in the crosse of our Lord Iesus Christ whereby the world is crucified vnto me and I to the world by the crosse vnderstand the afflictions of Christ wherewith the Apostle was exercised for Christs sake For this must euer be true All that will liue godly in Christ Iesu shall suffer persecution So that the troubles and afflictions of this life are not reiections maledictions and the curses of God but rather and most truly infallible signes of his grace and true tokens of his loue and mercies toward vs. Blessed are they saith truth it self that suffer persecution for righteousnes sake AS the skilfull pearle seller and cunning lapidarie doth willingly suffer the Indian diamond or adamant to be smitten and stâ—ooken with great and weightie blowes bicause he knoweth well that the hammer and anuill will sooner be bruised than the diamond or adamant will be broken So our most wise God yea onely wisedome it selfe suffereth men of excellent vertues of vnquenchable loue charitie and inuincible constancie to fall into diuers temptations and to be plunged déepe into manifold miseries bicause he will haue their inward graces to breake out and so shine before men that they seeing the constancie of his saints may glorifie God which is in heauen For he is sure that they be constant and that nothing can separate them from the loue of God Ioseph was imprisoned in Egypt Ieremie in Iudea Ezechiel in Chaldea and Iohn Baptist by wicked Herod and yet all these and infinite others did neuer shrinke from God but as they liued in him so they died in him and are exalted vp on high and shall dwell in his tabernacle and rest in the hill of his holines for euer and euer And so shall we do if we will be as they were AS when thou séest a great and goodly citie consisting of many and sundry sorts of men some of great reputation and very many of smal estimation some exceeding rich and infinite others extremely poore some in their fresh and florishing youth and some crooked with old age where all these though among themselues selues they be diuers and sundrie do liue in great concord and agrée well togither and are kept all within the bounds and limits of good and godly discipline thou wilt
and doth chasten him that he may helpe and heale the wounds and sores of his soule The Lord himselfe doth say I kill and I make aliue I wound and I make whole And in the mouth of Amos the prophet God hath these words to the Israelites You onely haue I knowen of all the families of the earth therefore will I visite all your iniquities that is I will be reuenged and will punish all your sinnes For in the scripture somtime to visite is to punish As in the Psalm 89. If they breake my statutes and kéepe not my commandements then wil I visite their transgressions with the rod and their iniquitie with strokes yet my louing kindnes will I not take from him neither will I falsifie my truth c. As if the Lord should say If he offend I will punish him and haue mercie vpon him The Lords iustice will haue punishment and his promise will haue mercie This is to our euerlasting comfort that the Lords chastenings are to his children his mercie EVen as in a sea mooued and tossed with great waues and mightie surges the pilots skill and wisedome is throughly tried and his manlines and courage perfectly séene Euen so a man that is godly without dissembling and religious without hypocrisie in the middest of terrible tempests of great troubles when he is throwen vp and hurled downe tossed héere and crusshed there in a thousand stormes of dangers then declareth his patience his spirituall courage and his vnmooueable constancie in vertue and true holines The princely prophet Dauid being woonderfully afflicted did beare most patiently and tooke very quietly the shamelesse reproches of Shemei leauing vnto vs an euerlasting monument of an vnfained and voluntarie patience Yet when Dauid had gotten the victorie of his enimies through the Lords mightie and stretched out hand he tooke a great and dangerous fall in causing the people to be numbred wherein he offended God most highly and brought a fearfull plague vpon them yet repenting he found mercy and forgiuenes of his gréeuous and intolerable sinnes Héere may we see the benefit and commoditie that commeth by the meanes of troubles and calamities and that the Lord hath mercy vpon vs euen then when he séemeth to shew no mercie but onely to deale in iudgement AS when one part of a man that is sicke is not capable of the remedie wherewith he may be holpen we are woont to applie the same remedie to another part as if one be greeued with extreme ache of the head we are woont to strike a veine of the arme bicause the head will not abide phlebotomie or blood letting So that we may helpe and heale many diseases of the soule we must kéepe the bodie in subiection to the spirit and tame the lusts of the flesh and labour to bridle our affections and to keepe them within the compasse of reason sobrietie and temperance AS a water pot or a violl full of liquor if suddenly it be ouerthrowen doth shed and scatter the liquor So a deuout and godlie hart abounding with teares being mooued and troubled with sorrow bicause of the iniuries dishonor wrongs and blasphemies committed against the Lord doth presently powre out great abundance and as it were mightie streames of salt and bitter teares The sinnes of the Iewes committed against God did draw out of the hart of Christ great store of teares and sent them trickling downe his cheekes and the prophet Dauid his eies gushed out and did run ouer with water to sée the wickednes of the vngodly And Peters denying of Christ when he came to himselfe made him wéepe bitterly We are to too eager and forward to reuenge euery little wrong done to our selues but iniuries done against the Lord do neuer once mooue vs but we ought to be gréeued with his wrongs and beare patiently our owne EVen as wilde beasts being about to inuade and to set vpon their praie will stoupe lowe and bende themselues that they may fall and rush vpon it with the greater force and more violence euen so proude and mischieuous men being slie and subtle sometimes will crouch and beare themselues verie lowlie that vnder the colour of dissembled vertue they may supplant and deceiue the simple and godly honest man aduaunce themselues and worke mischiefe to others The holie Ghost by the prophet doth signifie so much when he speaking of the proud man saith He will crouch and bowe that he may get the vpper hand of the poore These are dangerous men their steps are not to be followed True and single harted christians must and wil imbrace true and vnfained humility and lowlines of hart They imitate him that saith Learne of me for I am humble and lowly in hart They are euer ready most easilie to pardon and forgiue detractions and slanders giuen out against their liues iniuries and wrongs offered and don to their innocency obloquies and false reports diuised and caste abroad to blemish their good names and to staine their credits And on the other side they bée euer bold and earnest in reproouing of sinne as spéeches that bée vaine and idle rather offending then profiting the hearers blasphemie and whatsoeuer may prouoke the almightie to displeasure and anger These iniuries committed against the Lorde do gréeue their harts a thousand times more then any violent or tyrannicall torture that can be offered vnto their bodies and liues They make them waile wéepe sigh and sob I speake of good Christians the number of them is small the Lorde increase it and make it greater Amen AS the wings of eagles with their stripe or blowe do marthe wings and breake the feathers of other birds So the mightie and great men of the Iewes with their tyrannicall crueltie and most hellish impietie were wont to draw to destruction and to drag to death the weaker sort and such as were innocent and tendered the glory and praise of God As the scripture in many places doth declare Manasses as it is written shed innocent bloud excéeding much till he replenished Ierusalem from corner to corner And Christ himself beholding Ierusalem with a pitifull voice saide O Ierusalem Ierusalem thou that killest the prophets and stonest to death those that are sent vnto thee c. And Stephen the martyr of Christ as Luke maketh mention in the Acts saith to the Iewes Which of the prophets haue not your forefathers persecuted and haue killed them that foretold of the comming of that iust And in the Epistle to the Hebrewes the apostle saith they were stoned they were hewen a sunder they were tempted they were slaine with the sworde they wandred vp and downe in shéepe skins and goate skins being destitute afflicted and tormented Thus was it then I would to God there were not the like nowe euen among some that professe the name of Christ and his Gospel now as though they would die in his quarrell and spend all
hir age hath in it the shape likenes and prints of eies and that thin rynde also wherewith the eies of the snake are couered and yet indéed hath no séeing eies So the wicked vnbeléeuing Iewes did séeme to haue eies but indéede they were blinde and idle and emptie skins and ryndes without sight they were men but not of God they had eies of the flesh but none of the spirit they could sée creatures but they had not one eie to behold the creator And as for Christ they had no more sight noâ— knowledge of him that then â—ad of the sun and moone when they were yet in the wombes of their mothers The diuine miracles of Christ were most pure and cléere looking glasses without blemish spot or deceit wherein they might haue séene both the omnipotencie of him that wrought them and also their owne most miserable and wretched estate howbeit they were so stone blinde that they could not see the glasse much lesse themselues in the glasse So that when they sought after Christ and to sée his miracles this might well haue béen said to them Quid caeco cum speculo What should a blinde man do with a looking glasse The Euangelist saith that they came vnto the Lord that they might despise his mysteries and woonders And they said We know not whence this fellow is But bicause they came vnto him onely vpon their féete and departed far from him in their harts and mindes for they came vainly curiously and deceitfully therefore the Lord did most sharply reprooue them and that which they demanded they neuer obtained The papists no doubt notwithstanding their braue shewes and vauntings of religion holines and deuotion are in the same predicament with the incredulous Iewes Let vs therefore take the counsell of the holy Ghost which saith Thinke of the Lord in goodnes and séeke him in the singlenes of hart for he is â—ound of them that tempt him not and appéereth vnto them that put their trust in him Let vs come vnto Christ with a true hart and in the fulnes of faith Many do come to church to heare the word of God at the mouth of the preacher but all profit not bicause all do not come with humble mindes and lowly harts to that end AS of many men comming into a goldsmithes shop one buieth a chaine of gold another a costly ring some a rich iewell and some buie plate cunningly and curiously wrought and some one among the rest stoupeth downe and taketh vp a blacke cole which he turneth and tumbleth in his hands till it foule and make blacke his fingers Euen so very many do come to the church to heare the word preached and do learne and beare away excéeding good and heauenly lessons and do gather great strength to their faith and much comfort to their scules and peace to their consciences and some againe do come without any such good purpose intending to take some occasion to quarrell with the preacher and to marke if any thing fall from him vnwisely vndiscréetly or barbarously wherewith they may sport themselues and scorne him such as they came with wicked purposes and cauilling mindes so they depart with harts as hard as adamants sâ—ared consciences and brasen faces so bloodles that they cannot blush far woorse than when they came The preaching of the Gospell is in deede a very rich shop fully and throughly furnished and stored with iewels of great valure to wit with most wise holy and heauenly sentences procéeding from the almightie himselfe through the mouth of his seruants though séelie wormes and mortall men And whosoeuer will come woorthily to the preaching of the Lords lawes and ordinances of God and of the Gospell of Christ Iesus he must come with an holy and godly minde desirous to vnderstand and to know the will of God that he may do it They that come thus vnto the Lord do most certainly learne those things which appertaine to the saluation of their soules Such onely doth the holy Ghost instruct teach and comfort and doth inflame them with a woonderfull loue of the holy word and heauenly things But the Lord sendeth emptie away all such hearers as approch and come néere vnto him with their eares and lips and are diuided far from him in their harts and mindes being full of hypocrisie deceit and all abhomination To them speaketh the Lord himselfe by Ezechiel the prophet Shall I make answere vnto them when they aske me any thing as if the Lord should say I will not PLinie reporteth in his 14. booke that myrrhe doth kéepe mens bodies from corrupting and preserueth them from putrifaction and rottennes but howsoeuer that is true or otherwise this is most true in the children of God that calamities and afflictions taken and borne patiently do profit and preuaile much to kéepe out foules from the corruption and â—anker of grieuous euils and heinous sinnes and from being spotted of this wicked world For when we are afflicted then do we flie vnto God in oâ—r dangers and extremities as to our only refuge besides whome there is none can helpe or comfort vs. We craue and beg most earnestly his mercie and do make great haste and euen run as it were to meditate of his omnipotencie and readines to do vs good and to deliuer vs. And although we sée our selues to be as it were banished soules and crossed with a thousand troubles and to be euen abiects among men to be thrust out of the societies and companies of worldlings yet we neuer forget the goodnes and mercies of God nor cast out of our minds the remembrance of his louing kindnes toward his seruants The loue and fauor of God is euer before the eies of his saints and their calamitie doth euen stay and rest it selfe in the swéete remembrance of heauen and heauenly things though they be sore wroong in this life and gréeuously pinched yet they are neuer so oppressed that they be discomforted In the midst of mourning and sorrow they do woonderfully reioice in extreme pouertie they féele no want they séeme daily to be cut off and yet still they increase and florish they are still afflicted and yet continually refreshed Thus doth it come to passe that an admirable greatnes of loue and obedience towards the Lord doth grow very feruent and hote in them For they vnderstand that they be therefore afflicted that they should flie vnto God the heauenly and onely comfort as a most strongly fenced tower and inuincible castle that they may be turned from their sinnes and be saued Tobias knowing so much saide O Lorde when thou art angry thou shewest mercie and in the time of trouble thou forgiuest them their sins that call vpon thée And the Lord saith Iob woundeth and he healeth he smiteth and his hands shall heale againe And the kingly prophet Dauid saith Thou art my refuge in my trouble which compasseth me round about And againe The
For in the booke of Wisdome they are produced speaking these words What good hath our pride done vs And what profite hath the pompe of our riches brought vs All these things are gone away like a shadow and as a poste that hasteth by Let vs therefore set our harts and mindes and bend we our whole desires to heauenly things And let vs make no account of earthly transitorie fraile and the deceitfull things of this old withered and ruinous world For if we will déepely consider and carefully thinke of that happines which is laid vp in store in heauen with God the father through Iesus Christ for all them that do beléeue liue and die in Christ we will not giue our selues to the spéeches of rude ignorant and vngodly people neither will we hunt or hauke after the vaine reports and idle praises and commendations of men nor yet put any trust in any thing that man can do But we will aspire and draw néere vnto that God of ours which is for euer whom no processe nor continuance of time wasteth nor consumeth Of whom the prophet speaketh plainly Thou O Lord shalt indure for euer all other things shall waxe old as doth a garment and as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed But thou art the same and thy yéeres shall not faile And the Lorde himselfe saith to Moses I am that I am And he saide Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israell I am hath sent me vnto you As if he should say He that euer hath béene is and euer shall be whose eternitie is not comprehended within any limites or bounds hath sent me vnto you If then worldy things do much mooue vs which are of no such strength but that in processe of time they are weakned and cleane consumed if I saie that which is of no stabilitie in this life but is sodainly broken and perisheth or at the least by little and little decaieth groweth out of remembrance and is quite forgotten is woont to stir vs vp to take great paines and to vndergo almost intollerable toyles through manifold perils and dangers Why then not much rather yea and a great deale more are we not stirred vp and mooued by him that is for euer to vndergo and to indure the like or if néede be greater paines by many degrées whose promise and maner it is to giue to all those that in truth and singlenes of hart do loue him immortall rewards and to bestow and place them in euerlasting blisse in his owne kingdome with his owne and onely most déere sonne euen Christ Iesu our onely sufficient and alone Sauiour and redéemer God giue vs grace and the assistance of his holie spirit that we may withdrawe our harts mindes and affections from all those vaine and transitorie things which are subiect to ruin rottennes and consumption and that we may set them surely vpon our God follow him and obey him according to his owne will in his written word Amen AS the excellent and noble hauke called a faulken vpon the fist of the fouler séeing a pray flieng on high doth by and by spread hir wings and offer to breake the strings wherewith she is holden and to be gone after the praie but if she be hooded she neither séeth the pray nor is any whit mooued Euen so man whose nature far excelleth all other liuing creatures thinking vpon the things that are aboue in heauen with God and with the eies of his minde beholding eternall blisse and endlesse felicitie he is inflamed and pricked with a great and woonderfull desire to attaine vnto the same but if he be hooded with ignorance spirituall blindnes and a loue of this worlde he will neuer be touched with any heauenly motion nor any whit mooued with any right loue to God nor once turne so much as one eie of his minde towards heauen nor God That most noble faulken I meane the most famous and kingly prophet Dauid being rapt and as it were rauished with an vnspeakable loue and desire to heauen and God did sing this song Euen as the Hart desireth the water brookes so doth my soule long after thée O God My soule is a thirst for God yea euen for the liuing God When shall I come to appéere before the presence of God And the holy apostle being very desirous to flie out of the bands of the body and to shake them off said thus Christ is to me life and death is to me aduantage And immediately after he saith that he hath a great desire to depart and to be with Christ And such ought the desire of all good Christians to be God grant it may be such Amen AS they which haue great néede of water do make haste to come to the fountaine or well where water is to be had but hauing drawne the water and filled their vessels do depart and turne their backs to the fountaine which hath supplied their want satisfied their desires So very many when they be compassed round with perils and dangers and are beset on euery side with afflictions and troubles then they flie apace to the fountaine of grace mercy but when they haue obteined the water of comfort then they do despise that flowing spring of liuing water which complaineth of their vnkindnes by the prophet Ieremie saieng They haue forsaken me the fountaine of the water of life There be to too many of all sorts and degrées in the world which when they are in the straightes of calamities and miserie will with all possible spéede flie and run vnto God and will power out before him many deuout and feruent praiers vpon their bare knées with teares trickling and streaming downe their chéekes and will vse the name of Christ in hope for his sake to be the sooner reléeued bicause as the holy Ghost saith He is the propitiatiō and attonement for our sins by faith in his blood and they will implore and beg the mercy and helpe of God with most lamentable shrikes and gréeuous grones but so soone as they perceiue that God is a God of pittie compassion and mercy and do finde and féele themselues to be lightened and eased of their gréefes they by and by forsake God turne their backs vpon him shake off all obedience and returne to their old vomits and practise their former foule sins with greater gréedines them before And when they should be most mindfull of gods benefits bestowed vpon them then do they vtterly forget him But it is the part and dutie of euery good christian if he once dedicate and betake himselfe to the seruice of God to procéed and to go forward from vertue to vertue and from grace to grace and not to turne the Lords precepts and commandements behind him when indéed he ought to be most thankfull for his louing kindnes and fauor which he hath found and receiued So much doth the Lorde signifie by the prophet
flesh and blood the world and diuell haue their harts those go downward and take roote below Such men are like vnto trées which in the swéete and pleasant spring time will be well stored and full of goodly blossoms and wil make a franke offer and a large promise of much fruit but when the fruit is looked for and should be gathered there is none to be had they were but bare leaues and idle blossoms Such trées did Christ himselfe méete with when he was héere belowe vpon the earth in his bodie and at this day the whole world euen euerie citie and towne is very full of such trées yea it is hard to finde one house wherein there groweth not such a trée Well the Lord did curse them then and be we sure he will not blesse them now he that then did cause them to be cut downe and cast into the fire will in like maner cast into the fire and torments of hell all those that séeke him with their lips and are far from him with their harts Vngodly men which are delighted in forbidden things they come not néere the waies of the Lord whatsoeuer shew of holines they make with men they sit downe and rest themselues in the seate of wickednes for they haue onely their lips gilded with holines there is not one dram of godlines in their harts The prophet doth testifie so much when he saith that they which worke wickednes walke not in the Lords waies their harts are so far from séeking after God or any good thing that indéede they séeke after euill things as Salomon in his Prouerbs affirmeth Yet neuertheles there be some though the number of them be not great that euen as great and mighty vapors with the force and power of the sunne are taken and lifted vp from the earth and do séeke after the sunne by whose strength and vertue they are carried vp on high and growing into cloudes do euen follow the sunne So I say there is a remnant and a little flocke of Christs that in a true vnfained and sincere loue of God are lifted vp from the loue of this world and from all earthly and fleshly affections so far as is possible for man in this life to be and do séeke the Lord and his kingdome in the singlenes of their harts and thinking the time of their abode héere in this vale of all miseries to too long they daily sigh and grone for a dissolution and the comming of Christ to iudge the quick and the dead But this number is very small and we may admire them euen as the prophet Esay did and say Who are these that flie like scattered cloudes The Lord if it be his holy and blessed will turne the harts of all hypocrites and carnall worshippers of God to serue him in veritie and in truth and vouch he safe to increase the number of his single harted seruants Amen EVen as the blood in the bodie of a man being corrupted with a poisoned arrow doth by and by flie to the hart euen séeking and hoping as it were to finde some remedie and helpe there and yet doth euen so soone as it toucheth the hart finde death where it sought for life So men when they are sore pressed with calamities do make the world their first refuge and whiles they séeke for succour and comfort of the world they finde no better thing than death where they thought to haue found life Experience doth teach them that they sought for life in the house of death and for a medicine there where no good thing is to be had But it behooueth vs that do professe christianitie and do fight vnder that banner when we labour and are loden heauily with tribulations and afflictions foorthwith to repaire vnto God and with all spéede and possible haste to run vnto Christ who euen from the altar of the crosse where he offered himselfe for vs that by his death he might deliuer vs from euerlasting death calleth vs vnto him Our sauiour Christ is said to make a feast and to eate at the conuersion of a sinner when he forsaketh his wickednes and turneth vnto the Lord with a contrite and sorrowfull hart for his sinnes and offences committed against the word and will of God for so the Euangelist saith Bring hither the fat calfe kill it and let vs eate So that we can no way make the Lord a banket that will please and delight him but by forsaking the world our sinnes and our selues and in appealing to the throne of his grace and mercies seate We heare his voice euery day what meane we that we obey it not Why continue we in sinne which consumeth and rotteth our soules and bodies as rustines doth iron Why go we not home to our heauenly father We know his goodnes we haue great experience of his clemencie loue and mercie and yet still we linger Our patrimonie is gone we haue most lewdly spent wasted and consumed all so that we are no more woorthie to enter into the kingdome of God than are the very foule and dirtie swine and yet nothing wil driue vs to him It is euen as himselfe saith No man can come vnto me vnlesse my father drawe him the Lord then draw vs vnto himselfe What a madnes is it to séeke for helpe reléefe and comfort of the world which séeketh vs onely that it may deceiue and destroy vs The Lord calleth vs to giue vs comfort and vnspeakable ioy and we turne our backs to him the world doth but hold vp a finger and becken vs to it with a purpose to haue our companie to hell and damnation and we run and whine after it like a thirstie infant after the dug of his mother or nurse And thus we passe on séeking for life in the house of death and for ioy in the vale of miserie where none is to be found The Lord open the eies of our vnderstanding and make vs to know and to see that our helpe health comfort and life in this world and in the world to come standeth onely in him that made both heauen and earth Amen IDlenes as it bréedeth pouertie and beggerie in very many which might liue well and in good sort with diligent and faithfull labour So is it very dangerous in those that be rich and féele no smart nor want in this life for whiles they giue themselues to foule idlenes voluptuousnes doth ouercome reason and they are snared and taken in the deadly traps of the deceitfull flickerings of the world and are poysoned with carnall pleasures and fleshly delights which do beare them faire in hand for a little while but at the length do deceiue them and leaue them in shame and confusion For euen as the earth when it is not tilled nor trimmed doth bréede and bring foorth briers brambles and all noisome and vnprofitable things so idlenes in man doth bréede and broode in him vngodly thoughts and
when their pride pleasures and riches and themselues be parted and on the other side there be not a fewe which do liue heere in great troubles and manifold afflictions and are no whit regarded of the world fâ—â—re they God neuer so truely the end of whose liues doth bring the beginning of their ioyes S. 191. 105. Whatsoeuer this world doth or can afford vs is so light as a feather more subiect to a change then the moone more vnconstant then the winde The world therefore with all the trifles and trash it hath is to be contemned and the kingdome of God and the righteousnes therof is diligently to be sought for for that indureth for euer S. 192. P. 106. 107. The vertue of godly princes do mightilie mooue the harts of subiects to true religion a right worshipping of God and due obedience S. 193. P. 117. Humble men when they stoupe lowest and prostrate themselues most before the Lords throne then rise they vp highest and draw neerest to the likenes of God on the otherside vaine and proud men when they exalt themselues most then are they likest vnto the deuill S. 194. P. 107. They that be in great prosperitie are commonly in great dangers a low and meane estate is safest S. 195. P. 107. 108. To be vnder the Lords protection and in his fauour is to be in all safetie against all power of men and diuels and to be from vnder the wings of his grace is to â—â—e open to all dangers euen to death and destruction of soules and bodies It is good for vs therefore in al obedience to keepe our selues neere vnto the Lord S. 196. P. 108. Calamities troubles and afflictions will ouerthrow any thing whatsoeuer is in man saue onely firme and constant vertue but that is so goodly so fresh and so florishing a lawrell tree that it will not be coÌ„sumed burnt vp nor destroied with any fire that breaketh out of the clouds be it neuer so fearce nor with any torments or troubles whatsoeuer S. 197. P. 109. When princes will haue godly vertuous loyall and obedient subiects they must vse them as Iacob did his sheepe they may laie before them the rod of true religion iustice holines righteousnes and integritie of life that by the sight of those things they may conceiue good things and bring foorth fruit of that colour And so must parents deale with their naturall children and ministers of the word with their spirituall children and masters with their seruants S. 198. P. 110. When a man is in most danger and greatest distresse then is his vertue and constancie best tried S. 199. P. 110. The last daie of all daies that is the generall iudgement daie wil be a verie glomy and a blacke sessions daie for those men that do keepe their gold siluer and riches and see their poore brethren distressed and in great want and will not releeue them S. 200. P. 110. 111. Riches as gold money and such like laide vp in chestes and lockt vp in cofers are in danger to be lost through theeues fire or other meanes but being dispersed and scattered among the poore they are in safetie and will bring foorth much fruit and will be very profitable both to the giuer and to the receiuer S. 201. P. 112. The Lord calleth him a blessed man that releeueth the poore and needie and doth promise that he will deliuer him in the day of trouble A little is great riches to him that hath nothing S. 202. P. 112. It is very vnreasonable and vngodly that one christian doth not comfort and releeue another in their tribulations and wants S. 203 P. 113. Christians are commanded to lend without looking for any gaine thereby Vâ—uâ—ers commit theft they must die and not liue They make marchandise of other mens myseries and their owne gaine of other mens losses The vsurer is like him that vnder the colour of loue wil take his neighbour which is alreadie downe by the hand to lift him vp that he may giue him a greater fall S. 204. P. 114. In the ministers of the word true doctrine and godly life must go togither He that teacheth good things to others and teacheth not himself to do them is like a sieue or boulter wherewith meale is sifted or boulted which sendeth foorth the finest floure and best of the wheat and keepeth the bran and woorst of the wheate to it selfe S. 105. P. 114. The tyrannie and crueltie of princes towards their loyall subiects doth threaten the ruine of their kingdomes but lenitie mercie doth make their kingdomes mightilie to florish and brings peace and safetie to themselues Mercy becommeth a christian prince verie well Mercy and truth haue kept do keepe Elizabeth our gratious Queene of England and elemencie doth strengthen hir throne Mercy doth lift man vp to Godward but crueltie doth cast man downe to hell warde S. 206. P. 114 115. Ingratitude is a greeuous sinne wherwith the Lord hath euer beene highly offended the Lords hand hath euer beene stretched out against it England hath receiued great infinite benefits both for their bodies and souls but England is far behind with thanks giuing vnto the Lord wherefore we must be either more thankfull or else looke assuredly for more punishment S. 207. P. 115. 116. Enuie is not bred in the harts of vertuous and godly men but in the harts and minds of the wicked and vngodly Enuie will not be tamed a man may ouercome and subdue his enimies but not their enuie Enuie doth teare and rende in peeces the man in whom it is The enuious man doth make the felicitie of another man his owne torment S. 208. P. 117. The Lord will haue his seruants tried in this world with many afflictions to the ende that the difference which is betweene them and the children of this world may appeere and be euident and that vertue may growe to perfection in them A christian man may be a martyr and euen liuing without losing his life by fire or sword S. 209. P. 117. 118. 119. Words of doctrine are verie profitable but when they are seene to worke holines and righteousnes in the teachers they then preuaile the more with them that are taught S. 210. P. 119. 120. The lighter ballance will euer be highest and the vainer and woorse man will euer extoll himselfe most the heauier ballance will euer be lowest and the better man will euer humble himselfe most It is in a christian man som perfection to know and to acknowledge his owne imperfection S. 211. P. 120. A theefe will speake thee faire and yet wil rob or kill thee The nature and conditions the bloodie tyrannie and more the beastlie crueltie of vsurers plainly and truly opened S. 212. P. 120. 121. 122. A verie true perfect and plaine description of hypocrites what is true vertue among Christians They that would seeme to be religious vertuous godlie and honest do differ so far from that they seeme to be as the