men are subiect to * Frailetie and weakenesse of Faith and therby sometimes doe that which is Euill and can not be defended And so when Abram was come into Egipt the Egiptians behelde the woman c. Marke here the vanity of Worldly fleshly persons Abram vndoubtedly was a man of comely Stature Graue in countenaÌ„ce of much Humanitie and curtesie in behauior And Saray his wife a Sober matron Modest Chast and vertuous of farre more bewtie of mynde than she was of bodie And yet these fleshly men had no consideration of those giftes but with vnchaste affections * cast their eyes altogether vpoÌ„ hir fairenesse And euen for the same take her without further consideration to be a Present for the Prince hymselfe wherby may appeare a great corruption of that kingdome as well in the Prince as in the People For had not the Prince shewed himselfe in lyfe to be such a one as to satisfie his fleshly lust pleature he regarded neither honestie nor godlynesse but onely the bewtie of the person The Egiptians would neuer haue bene so readie to haue tolde the King nor he to haue taken her into his house vpoÌ„ their report Therefore it is well sayde that the Offence of a Prince is a Double Offence as well for the euill that is in the thing it selfe as that it is an Example to drawe many to the like euill For * such as the Prince is such are the People But the Lorde plagued Pharao and his house with great plagues c. God that is the author of Mariage is defendor of the Innocencie and Chastitie of the godly and sharpe Punisher of the breakers thereof as saiâ—t Paule sayth * Fornicators and adulterours God will Iudge Therefore with grieuous plagues doth he punishe Pharao and his houshold for intertayning Abrams wife and purposing vnlawfull Mariage with hir though it were to hym vnknowne that shee was Wyfe to an other man What Plagues then may they looke for at Gods hande that bende there whole endeuor to Allure the known Wiues of other men to wickednesse and Filthy Lust and take the same almost to be no Sin but a Solace and Pastime Surely they can not looke for so great punishment as God in his iuste measure of tyme wyll cast vpon them The first Sunday in Lent at Euening prayer Genesis 19. ANd there came two Angels to Sodome at euen and Lot sat at the gate of Sodom and Lot seing them rose vp to méete them and he bowed himselfe with his face towarde the grounde 2 And he saide Oh my Lordes turne in I praye you into your seruantes house and tarie all night and washe your féete and ye shall rise vp earely to go your wayes Which saide Nay but we will bide in the stréete all night 3 And he pressed vpon them excéedingly and they returning into vnto him entred into his house he made them a feast and did bake vnleauened bread and they did eaâ—e 4 And before they went to rest the men of the citie euen the men of Sodome compassed the house rounde about both olde and yong all people from all quarters 5 And they calling vnto Lot sayde vnto him Where are the men which came in to thée this night bring them out vnto vs that we may knowe them 6 And Lot went out at the dore vnto them and shut the dore after him 7 And sayde Nay I pray you brethren doe not so wickedly 8 Beholde I haue two daughters which haue knowne no man them will I bring out nowe vnto you and doe with them as it seemeth good in your eies onely vnto these men doe nothing for therefore came they vnder the shadow of my roofe 9 And they sayde Stande backe And they saide againe He came in as one to soiourne and will he nowe be a iudge we will surely deale worse with thée then with them And they pressed sore vpon the man euen Lot came to breake vp the dore 10 But the men put forth their hande and pulled Lot into the house to them and shut to the dore 11 And the men that were at the dore of the house they smote with blindnesse both small and great so that they were wearied séeking the dore 12 And the men sayd vnto Lot Hast thou here anye besides sonne in lawe and thy sonnes and thy daughters and whatsoeuer thou hast in the citie bring them out of this place 13 For we will destroy this place because the crie of them is great before the face of God for the Lord hath sent vs to destroy it 14 And Lot went out and spake vnto his sonnes in lawe which mariâ—d hys daughters saying Stand vp get ye out of this place for the Lord will ouerthrow this Citie But he séemed as thoughe he had mocked vnto hys sonnes in lawe 15 And when the morning arose the Angels caused Lot to spéede him saying Stande vp take thy wyfe and thy two daughters which be at hande â–ª lest thou perishe in the sinne of the citie 16 And as he prolonged the time the men caught both him his wife and his two daughters by the handes the Lorde being mercifull vnto him and they brought him forth and set him without the citie 17 And when they had brought them out the angels said Saue thy selfe and looke not behinde thee neyther â—ary thou in all this plaine countrey Saue thy selfe in the mountayne least thou perish 18 And Lot said vnto them Oh not so my Lords 19 Behold thy seruant hath found grace in thy sight and thou hast magnified thy mercie which thou hast shewed vnto mée in sauing my lyfe Beholde I cannot be saued in the Mountaine least some harme fall vpon me and I die 20 Beholde here is a citie by to flye vnto euen yonder little one Oh let me escape thyther Is it not a little one and my saâ—le shall liue 21 And â—e sayde vnto him Sée I haue receaued thy request as concerning this thing that I will not ouerthrowe this citie for the which thou hast spoken 22 Haste thée and he saued there for I can doe nothing till thou be come thither And therefore the name of the citie is Zoar. 23 And the sunne was now risen vpon the earth and Lot was entred into Zoar. 24. Then the Lord rained vpon Sodome and Gomorrhe brimstone and fyre from the Lorde out of heauen 25 And ouerthrâ—we those cities and all that playne region and all that dwelled in the cities and that that grewe vpon the earth 26 But Lots wife folowing him looked behinde her and was turned into a piller of salt 27 Abraham rysing vp early got him to the place where he stoode before the presence of God. 28 And looked towarde Sodome and Gomorrhe and towarde all the lande of that plaine countrie and behelde and lo the smoke of the countrie arose as the smoke of a furnasse 29 And it came to passe that when God destroyed the Cities of
consider that it was the Lord of al Mercy that appointed here this order of punishment and also let them remember what extreme crueltie it is for a Magistrate to whose charge God hath committed hys people to se the Soules of a number of his people by wicked Doctrine or other like indeuor to be pulled from God hys true worship and lamentablie drawen to Hel perpetual Damnation yet not to cause the Roots workers therof to be taken awaye that their poyson may not so largely be spred to the great daunger of other and the decaie of Gods glory and truth IF thy brother the sonne of thy mother or thine owne sonne c. The same that was before spoken of false Prophets teachers only is here applied euen to euery one of the people whose offence although it may seme somewhat the lesse bicause of their Ignoraunce that they haue not the Office of teaching yet the Forsaking of God his truth and the seking to misleade other with them is to God alwayes and in all persons vntollerable But this is to be obserued bothe in this place before that such punishmēt is not to be vsed but where Gods true Religion is throughly knowē and Settled as it was at this time among the Ievves This is to be considered how Earnestly God requireth this punishment to be done For he willeth vs not to regarde eyther brother or syster or childe or wife or any* persons whatsoeuer thoughe he be vnto vs as oure owne life Wherby he declareth how earnest our studie and endeuour should be to maintayn his True worship Al natural affections be they otherwise neuer so cōmendable yet ought they to * giue place to the zeale of Gods glory to the affection that we shoulde haue to the establishing of the same among his people For in gods cause to be * slack and colde in consideratiō of these persons what els is it than to set our affections against Gods commaundements and to shewe that we more esteeme oure Naturall friends than we do God and his Glory Wherfore sayth God Thou shalt not obey him thine eye which commonly is the instrument of pitie shall not spare him nor take mercye vpon him no nor thou shalt not hide him or kepe him secrete but cause him to be slaine and yet to make the charge more vehemēt he addeth Thine hande shall be firste vpon him to kill him This he speaketh bicause the maner* was that in stoning of persons condemned the witnesses shold cast the first stones at them to declare that in their conscience the witnesse was true The cause and ende of this seueritye added in the .11 verse is diligentlie to be marked And all Israell shall heare and feare and shall doe no more any such vvickednesse The good and godly are stayed from euill throughe the loue of God and reuerence of his worde but the other which are alwaye the more parte will not be brideled but with* Seueritie feare of punishment whereby we may learne howe necessary sharpe correction and punishment is in Christian cōmon weales For such is the corruption of mans nature that where they see hope of impunitie they runne on headlong to the greatest mischiefes But by example of punishment and feare of Iustice they be somewhat stayed and kept in order If thou shalt heare say in one of thy Cities which the Lorde c. If the infection of Apostasie and falling from God doe growe from the false Prophete to the people and from some of the people to a whole Citie God willeth the whole Citie not to be spared but to be put to punishmente and vtter desolation For better it were that a fewe dyd perishe * than Gods true worship should be ouerthrowen and his glory decaye But in this place especially as in the other also before Men proceede to punishment God woulde haue them enquire and searche out the matter diligently that they dyd not vpon light report rashly condemne men But if it were founde for a suertie then that they should smite them with the edge of the sworde and to declare Gods iuste wrathe against the Reuolters from his knowen truth and right worship and not to spare so muche as their Cattell And gather all the spoile into the middes of the streete thereof c. God willeth the whole furniture and Implements of the Citie to be gathered into one place and burned with fire and * not to turne any therof vnto their owne vse It maye be God somewhat herein respected their couetousnes that they might not couer a corrupt affectiō of couetousnes with a pretensed zeale of Gods iustice But the principall cause that Moises here vttereth that is that the people by this might be more accustomed to the hating and Detestation of that whiche they saw God so greuously dyd abhorre Whitsundaye at Morning prayer Deuteronomie 16. OBserue the moneth of newe corne that thou mayest offer the passouer vnto the Lorde thy God For in the moneth when corne beginneth to rype the Lorde thy God brought thee out of Egipt by night 2 Thou shalt therfore offer the Passouer vnto the Lorde thy God of shéepe and oxen in the place which the Lord shal choose to put hys name there Thou shalt eate no leauened breade with it but seuen dayes shalte thou eate vnleauened breade therewith euen the breade of tribulation for thou camest oute of the lande of Egipte in haste that thou mayest remember the daye when thou camest oute of the lande of Egipte all the dayes of thy life 4 And there shal be no leauened breade séene in all thy coastes seuen dayes long neither shall there remayne anye thyng of the fleshe which thou offerest the firste day at euen vntyll the mornyng 5 Thou mayest not offer the Passouer wythin anye of thy gates which the Lord thy God geueth thée 6 But in the place which the Lorde thy God shall choose to set hys name in there thou shalt offer the Passouer at euen about the goyng downe of the Sunne in the season that thou camest oute of Egipte 7 And thou shalte roste and eate it in the place whiche the Lorde thy God hathe chosen and thou shalte returne on the morowe and goe vnto thy tentes 8 Sixe dayes thou shalte eate swéete breade and the seuenth daye shal be a solempne assemblye before the Lorde thy God thou shalte doe no worke therin 9 Seuen wéekes shalte thou number vnto thée and beginne to number the seuen wéekes when thou beginnest to put the sicle to the Corne. 10 And kéepe the feast of wéekes vnto the Lord thy God with a frée will offering of thyne hande whiche thou shalte geue vnto the Lord thy God according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thée 11 And thou shalt reioyce before the Lord thy God thou and thy Sonne thy Daughter thy seruant and thy mayde and the Leuite that is within thy gates
which are rounde aboute you whether they bée nye vnto thée or farre off from thée from the one ende of the earth vnto the other 8 Thou shalte not consent vnto him nor hearken vnto him thyne eye shall not pitie him neyther shalt thou haue compassion on him nor kéepe him secrete 9 But cause hym to be slayne Thyne hande shall bée fyrste vpon him to kill him and then the handes of all the people 10 And thou shalte stone him with stones that he dye bycause he hathe gone aboute to thruste thée awaye from the Lorde thy God whiche broughte thée out of the lande of Egypt and from the house of bondage 11 And all Israell shall heare and feare and shall doe no more any suche wickednesse as this is among you 12 If thou shalte heare saye in one of thy Cities whiche the Lorde thy God hath giuen thée to dwell in 13 That certaine men béeing the children of Beliall are gone out from among you and haue mâ—ued the inhabiters of their Citie saying Let vs goe and serue straunge gods whyche ye haue not knowne 14 Then thou must seeke and make search and enquire diligently and beholde if it be true and the thing of a suretie that suche abhomination is wrought among you 15 Then thou shalt smite the dwellers of that citie with the edge of the sworde and destroye it vtterly and all that is therein and the very cattell thereof wyth the edge of the swoorde 16 And gather all the spoyle of it into the middes of the stréete therof and burne with fyre bothe the citie and all the spâ—yle thereof euery whitte for the Lorde thy God and it shal be an heape for euer and shal not be built agayn 17 And there shall cleaue naughte of the damned thing in thyne hande that the Lorde maye turne from the fiercenesse of his wrath and shew thée mercie and haue compassion on thée and multiplie thée as hée hathe sworne vnto thy fathers 18 Therefore shalte thou hearken vnto the voyce of the Lorde thy God to kéepe all his commaundementes whiche I commaunde thée this daye that thou doe that whiche is right in the eyes of the Lorde thy God. The Exposition vpon the .xiij. Chapter of Deuteronomie If there arise among you aprophete or a dreamer of dreames c. IN the later end of the former chapter Moyses had willed the people in any wise to beware of the strange worship of heathen Gods Now he willeth theÌ„ to take heed of false teachers rising amoÌ„g themselues seking to â—educe them froÌ„ the true worship of God that in any wise they do not herken or giue credit vnto theÌ„ The Deuil enuying the true honor of God doth not only seke to blemish ouerthrow the same by forain enimies but also eueÌ„ at * howe in the house of God he rayseth False Doctours and teachers â–ª that vnder faire titles and goodly pretenses of holinesse maye draw the people of God from his known truth Wherefore Moyses here noteth the coloures wherewith the Deuill by his ministers in this case vseth to deceiue meÌ„ They wil take on them the name of Prophetes or such as haue reuelation from God by dreames yea and sometime he will help theÌ„ by Gods sufferance to * work some straunge and miraculous thing that by such a Syâ—ne or wonder they maye gather the greater credite in their false doctrine Wherfore God here fore warneth his faythful people to take heede of suche gaye tales and to suspecte such faire pretences and to cleaue only to hys word and hearken to * his voice from whyche if their teachers do swarue and wil them to do that is contrary thereto they must not beleeue them but accompt them as wicked Seducers and deceiuers This lesson is so giuen to the Israelites that it may bee also an instruction to all the faithfull in the Church of God at all times and especially in these latter dayes wherin the Holy Ghost hath giuen warning before hand that Antichrist and his ministers should vse the same meanes and that so mightely that if it were possible he should Seduce* euen the elect of God. When Moyses sayeth The Lorde your God proueth you c. we must vnderstande that God doth not tempt or proue of purpose to lead or induce to that whiche is euill or to lay stumbling blocks at which his people may take offence fall but only by such meanes to examine and â—rie them to make that knowne openly to the World which he knoweth to be inwardly in their hearts whether it be good or euill So did God tempt Abraham Gen 22. that his faith might be â—nown â—o al meÌ„ So did Christ tempt the womaÌ„ of ChanaaÌ„ wheÌ„ he called hir dogge and refused to heare her praier And for this and doth S. Paule saye 1. Cor. 11. that There must be â—â—ctes in the church that they that be proued may be knowne For this cause then God suffereth suche Soducers to be in his Churche that by them the Hypocrites and dissimulers may be tryed from the faythfull and electe Children of god The good man may some times by suche meanes fall into errour and be intrapped of the wicked but it is onely in some parte and for a time and after returneth againe by repentance which god suffereth in him to punish his Negligence that did not bestowe sufficient diligence in studiyng and meditating in the word of God or did not Liue seuerely according to his profession and calling When in the. 5. verse Moises saith And the Prophete or dreamer of dreames shal die c. He declareth that we must not only * discerne false teachers from other and beware of them but that they muste by the Magistrate be seuerelie punished to the example of other least the infectioÌ„ of their corrupt Doctrine do destroy the soules of many and disturbe the Churche of god In that he appointeth the punishment of Death we haue to note these circumstaunces That it must not be executed by euery Priuate maÌ„ but by the Magistrate who hath * Aucthoritie giuen of God to punishe the wicked That not euery one that hath dispersed some errour to the offence of the godly is by and by to be taken and put to Death but such onely as be principall Ringleaders seeke by all meanes they can to drawe the people of God to Apostasie and forsaking of his fettled and knowen truth and vtterlye to subuert the same And lastly that the Crime must be euidently knoweÌ„ and tried and the partie fully conuicted It semeth to many that it is Extremitie trueltie in matter of Religion conscience to vse the punishment of Death and they saye that Christ was milde and mercifull required his Disciples to folow his steppes In so much that wheÌ„ they desired fire to come from heauen to punishe euill persons he said They knew not of what spirit they vveare But let those men