Edward the sixth was granted the whole use of the Lords Supper that is under both kinds June 24. the sacrifice of the Masse was abolished and the Liturgy in the English tongue established Camd. Elisab In July the oath of Supremacy was ministred and in August images were removed out of Churches broken or burnt Tantae molis erat Romanam abscondere gentem Ver. 13. And it shall be to them a renown A Monument or Trophie of their triumph When the Suitzers Anno 1443. had vanquished the Thuricenses in battle Lanquet Chron. p. 263. they banquetted in the place where they won the victory using the dead bodyes of their adversaries instead of stooles and tables Pollinctores Vespillones Ver. 14. And they shall sever out men of continual employment Viros quotidianos men that shall stick to it making it their business So do our publike Professours and others to confute Popish Tenets and to decry their customes In doing whereof they are assidui accubui Ver. 15. Then shall he set up a sign by it A statue pillar or sepulchral monument that the buriers may bury it Oh that in like sort God would cause the Prophet all reliques and raggs of Popery and other heresie together with the unclean spirit to passe out of our land Zech. 13.2 Ver. 16. And also the name of the City shall be Hamonah i. e. Multitude or Tumult and all to keep up the memory of that signal victory Near unto the University of Cambridge on the South-East side there appear aloft certain high hills called Gogmagog-hills but wherefore I know not But not far from them is Heretikes-hill so called by the Papists because Bilney and Latimer were wont there to walk Ver. 17. Speak unto every feathered foul A further explanation of that which had been said ver 4. Assemble your selves Jer. 12.9 Rev. 19.17 See there To my sacrifice To this great slaughter or enemyes whom I do sacrifice as it were to my justice Ver. 18. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty Whose flesh may be perhaps more delicate And drink the blood Blood royal of a noble alloy Sed nihil inde colligas Oecol quam perpetuam eorum damnationem qui verbum Dei persequuntur quique populum Israel spiritualem exagitant It importeth the eternal damnation of Atheists and Antichrists Ver. 19. Of my sacrifice Or of my good chear So God calleth it to shew how well pleased he is with the destruction of his Churches enemies Ver. 20. With horses and charets i. e. With men that ride on horses and fight out of Charets Ver. 21. And all the heathen shall see my judgment Antiochus did so and Maximinus the Emperour and other tyrants when seized upon by such judgments of God as they could neither avoyd nor abide Ver. 22. From that day and forward Their experience shall breed confidence Ver. 23. And the heathen shall know They shall be convinced of the equability of my proceedings and the truth of my menaces Ver. 24. According to their uncleannesse I have not shewed my soveraignty or exercised tyranny towards them but done them right Ver. 25. Now will I bring again Three things he here promiseth his people notwithstanding all the sorrow 1. Effectual Vocation 2. Justification here 3. Glorification ver 29. The Sun of righteousness loves not to set in a cloud And will be jealous Or zealous the zeal of the Lord of hosts his free grace shall effect it Ver. 26. After that they have born their shame Are become soundly ashamed of their sinful practises hoc enim ingenium est verae fidei saith Oecolampadius for this is the nature of true faith to blush and bleed for sins past When they dwelt safely in their land And so settled on their lees through carnal security Ver. 27. And am sanctified in them i. e. Have fully shewed my sanctity and majesty both by their punishment and by their deliverance Ver. 28. And have left none of them any more there Here the Jews triumph and say When was this promise ever fulfilled and how then can the Messias be come already Hereunto it is rightly answered that this Prophecy is to be taken partly literally and so it was fulfilled at the return of the captives out of Babylon See Ezra â— 1 Partly spiritually Lavat in loc and so Christ will at the last day raise up every of his Elect that Israel indeed and gather them to himself not one of them shall be missing Ver. 29. Neither will I hide my face any more from them They shall have beatifical vision and fruition for ever See on ver 25. For I have poured out my spirit Have already and will do yet more liberally in the dayes of the Gospel Act. 2.27 Joh. 7.38 CHAP. XL. Ver. 1. IN the five and twentieth year c. After the defeat of Gog and Magog cometh in these last nine Chapters a new Prophecy aptly depending upon the former concerning the Christian Church and the spiritual state and constitution thereof which is here prefigured by types of rebuilding the Temple restoring the Levitical rites and repossessing the promised land To those Jews who herehence expect a most glorious Temple and State at the coming of their imaginary Messiah and for whose sakes these high things are thus expressed Christ may well say as afterwards he did to Nicodemus Joh. 3.12 If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not R. Abba R. Solomon Gal. l. 5. c. 12. how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly The wiser of their Rabbines as Galatinus testifieth convinced by good reasons understand these chapters not of an earthly building according to the letter but of an heavenly and in a mystical sense And John the Divine so interpreteth this Scripture Rev. 21. 22. viz. of the heavenly Jerusalem that mother of us all It is ordinary with the Prophets to speak figuratively of the amplitude splendour and magnificence of the Christian Church as Isa 54.11 12. I will lay thy stones with fair colours and lay thy foundation with Sapphires c. that is I will erect and raise my Church and Temple among the Gentiles and adorn and deck it with lustre and variety of precious graces Divines observe that God here sheweth Ezekiel a new Temple bigger then the old Jerusalem and a new Jerusalem bigger then all the land of Canaan yea according to the account of some learned Rabbines bigger then all the world for chap. 48.35 it was round about eighten thousand measures i. e. leucas say they Now in opening of this Prophecy it must not be expected that something should be said to every verse as elsewhere hath been done and yet we must know that there is nothing in holy Scripture that is not useful and profitable 2 Tim. 3.16 though at first sight it may seem otherwise Metals lye hid in hardest quarries wholesome herbes are found oft in roughest places and precious stones in barren sands Hippocrates
Thebaid Saul Belshazzer Pilate who for fear of Caesar delivered up Christ to bee Crucified and was afterwards by the same Caesar kicked off the Bench yea off the Stage of the world those wicked Jewes that feared that the Romans would come and take away both their place and Nation John 11.48 which accordingly befell them some forty years after Hic rogo non furor est ne moriare mori at which time some of them also killed themselves lest they should bee taken by the enemy The like may bee said of our Richard the third see the Note on Vers 22. and Henry the Fourth of France after his revolt to Popery He being perswaded by the Duke of Sully not to readmit the Jesuites which had been banished by the Parliament of Paris answered suddenly Give me then security for my life Camdeâ—s Elisab pref and afterwards admitted them into his bosome making Father Cotton his Confessor and using them ever with marvellous respect yet was stabbed to the heart by Ravilliac through their instigation Excellent is that of Solomon Prov. 29.25 The fear of man bringeth a snare but who so putteth his trust in the Lord as Hezekiah did 2 King 17.4 5. and our King Edward the Sixth and that peerlesse Queen Elizabeth shall be safe But the desire of the righteous shall bee granted Provided that these bee the lawful desires of honest hearts If such ask and misse it is because they ask amisse Jam. 4.3 either they fail in the matter as Moses in his desire to enter into the promised Land or in the manner as the Church in the Canticles chap. 5.3 Virtutem exoptant intabescuntque relicta they would and they would not Peâ—â— There is a kind of wambling willingnesse and velleity but it boyls not up to the full height of resolution for God and utmost endeavour after the thing desired Now affection without endeavour is like Rachel beautiful but barren Or lastly they fayl in the end either of Intention Jam. 4.3 or of Duration Luk. 18.1 they draw not near with that true heart Heb. 10.22 that is content either to wait or to want the thing desired being heartily willing that God should be glorified though themselves be not gratified Let them but bring this true heart and they may have any thing See the Note on Matth. 5.6 Vers 25. As the whirlwind passeth away The whirlwind is terrible for the time but not durable Lo such is the rage of Tyrants and Persecutors Nubecula est cito transibit said Athanasius of the Arrian Persecution Our Richard the third and Queen Mary had as the bloudiest so the shortest reigns of any since the Conquest Bloudy and deceitful men shall not live out half their dayes Dioclesian Euseb de vit Const lib. 3. that cruel Persecutor giving over his Empire decreed to lead the rest of his life quietly But he escaped not so For after that his house was wholly consumed with Lightning and a flame of Fire that fell from Heaven hee hiding himself for fear of the Lightning dyed within a little while after Then terrours took hold on him as waters a tempest stealeth him away in the night The East wind carrieth him away and he departeth and as a storm hurleth him out of his place for God shall cast upon him and not spare hee would fain flee out of his hand Men shall clap their hands at him and shall hisse him out of his place as Job elegantly and emphatically sets it forth Job 27.20 21 22 23. But the righteous is the everlasting foundation Or is the foundation of the world as firm as the worlds foundation which remains unmoveable The Hebrews sense it thus The righteous is the foundation of the world which but for their sakes would soon shatter and fall to ruine Sanctum semen statumen terrae Absque stationibus non staret mundus Isa 6.13 I bear up the pillars of it saith David Psal 75.3 Vers 26. So is the sluggard to them that send him Habent aulae suum cito cito What thou doest do quickly said our Saviour to the Traytor Hee cannot away with dulness and oscitancy in any of his but condemns it in those slow things the Hebrews Heb. 5.11 and commands them double diligence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chap. 6.11 12. Not slothful in business fervent in spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12.11 A dull heart makes no riddance Baruc accendit seipsum Neh. 3.20 repairing earnestly and so finished his task in shorter time Let Ambassadours Ministers Messengers c. nimble up their business or look for no thank What a deal of content gave Cranmer to Henry the eighth by his expediting the business of the Divorce both at home and abroad in forein Universities And what a deal of distaste gave Wolsey by the contrary Vers 27. The fear of the Lord prolongeth dayes Heb. Addeth dayes viz. Beyond expectation or likelihood in a course of nature Gen. 27.41 The dayes of mourning for my Father are at hand said bloody Esau and then will I slay my brother Jacob. But threatned men if they fear God especially Eccles 8.12 13. live long For even Isaac who dyed soonest lived above fifty years beyond this See the Note on Exod. 20.12 But the years of the wicked shall bee shortned Bee not overmuch wicked neither bee thou foolish Why shouldest thou dye before thy time Eccles 7.17 Sin brings death and the worst of deaths an unseasonable death when it were better for a man to do any thing than to dye for to such death is a Trap-door to hell And as their friends are scrambling for their goods the worms for their bodies so are the Devils for their souls Vers 28. The hope of the righteous shall bee gladness The righteous doth not so fear God vers 2.7 but that hee hopes in him also See Psal 130.4 5. and that with such an hope as maketh not ashamed Deo confisi nunquam confusi The righteous hath hope in his death Prov. 14.32 his Motto is Cum expiro spero My hope lasts beyond life But the expectation of the wicked As Esau came from hunting with his head full of hopes but went away with his heart full of blanks and his face full of blushing Vers 29. The way of the Lord is strength The joy of the Lord that joy of hope spoken of in the precedent verse is their strength Neh. 8. the peace of God within them and the power of God without them bears up their spirits under whatsoever pressures such can boldly say It is well with mee for the present and it will bee better hereafter But destruction Such as they shall never bee able either to avoid or to abide Vers 30. The righteous shall never bee removed Or they shall not bee removed for ever though for a while they may seem to bee so But the wicked shall not inhabit the earth God sits upon the circle of the earth to shake them out thence as
than the Lion they have no power to flye from him Kings have long hands strong clutches Good therefore is the wise mans counsel Eccles 8.2 3 4. See the Note on Chap. 16.14 15. Vers 13. A foolish Son is the calamity of his Father Children are certain cares but uncertain comforts Let them prove never so towardly yet there is somewhat to do to breed them up and bring them to good But if they answer not expectation the Parents grief is unexpressible See the Note on Chap. 10.1 and 15.20 How many an unhappy Father is tempted to wish with Augustus O utinam caelebs vixissem orbusque perissem And the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping Like as a man that hath met with hard usage abroad thinks to mend himself at home but is no sooner sate down there but the rain dropping thorow the roof upon his head drives him out of doors again Conjugium Conjurgium De discordi conjugio Theomistocles dixit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Such is the case of him that hath a contentious wife a far greater cross than that of ungracious children which yet are the Fathers calamities and heart-breaks Augustus had been happy if hee had had no children Sylla if hee had had no wife All evils as elements are most troublesome when out of their proper place as impiety in Professours injustice in Judges discomfort in a wife This is like a tempest in the Haven most troublesome most dangerous Vers 14. House and riches are the inheritance of the Fathers Viz. More immediately God gives them to the Parents and they leave them to their children being moved thereto by God Though a carnal heart looks no higher than Parents cares not so hee may have it whence hee hath it It is Dos non Deus that maketh marriages with them good enough if goods enough mony is the greatest medlet and drives the bargain and business to an upsho◠Mostly such matches prove unhappy and uncomfortable How can it bee otherwise sith Hic Deus nihil fecit God indeed had a hand in it but for their just punishment that so followed after lying vanities and so forsook their own mercies But a prudent wife is of the Lord Nature makes a Woman Election a Wife but to bee prudent wise and virtuous is of the Lord. A good wife was one of the first real and royal gifts bestowed on Adam God set all the creatures before him ere hee gave him a wife that seeing no other fit help hee might prize such a gift not a gift of industry but of destiny as one saith for Marriages are made in Heaven as the common sort can say and as very Heathens acknowledge The Governour of Eskichisar hearing Othoman the Great Turk his relation of a fair Lady whom hee was in love with and had highly commended for her virtues seemed greatly to like of his choice saying that shee was by the divine providence appointed onely for him to have Turk Hist fol. 136. Vers 15. Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep Sloth bringeth sleep and sleep poverty See this excellently set forth Chap. 6.9 10 11. See the Notes there and on chap. 10.4 Vers 16. Hee that keepeth the Commandement keepeth his own soul This is the first fruit of shaking off sloth and sleepiness Hee that stirs up himself to take hold of God Isa 64.7 and to take hold of his Covenant Isa 56.4 to love the name of the Lord and to bee his servant vers 6. to love him and keep his Commandements Exod. 20.6 to do that little hee does out of love if it bee no more than to think upon his Commandements to do them Psal 103.18 this mans soul shall bee bound up in the bundle of life hee shall finde his name written in the book of life For in vitae libro scribuntur omnes qui quod possunt faciunt etsi quod debeut non possunt saith Bernard Their names are written in Heaven who do what they can though they cannot do what they ought If there bee a willing mind 2 Cor. 8.12 God accepts according to what a man hath not according to what hee hath not Aug. Exchir cap. 32. And here also Nolentem praevenit Deus ut velit volentem subsequitur ne frustrà velit God that gives both to will and to do causeth his people to keep his Commandements Ezek. 36. Isa 26. and worketh all their works in them and for them Lex jubet gratia juvat petamus ut det quod ut habeamus jubet Aug. in Exod. quast 55. The Law commandeth but Grace helpeth let us beg that God would make us to be what hee requires us to be But hee that despiseth his waies That is Gods waies chalked out in his word See the Note on chap. 13.13 Or Hee that despiseth his own waies Aut mentem aut restim comparandum Chrysip lives carelesly and at randome walks at all adventures with God cui vita est incomposita possimè morata contra gnomonem canonem Decalogi a loose and lawless person hee shall dye not a natural death onely as all do but spiritual and eternal There is but an inch betwixt him and hell which already gapes for him and will certainly swallow him up Vers 17. Hee that hath pitty upon the poor lendeth c. This is a second fruit of shaking off sloth and working with the hands the thing that is good Ephes 4.28 that one may have to give to him that needeth Hee doth not give it but lend it God accepts it both as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a gift and a Loue saith Basil Nay Orat. de Eleemos he lends it upon usury Faeneratur Domino and that to the Lord who both binds himself to repay and gives us security for it under his own hand here Hee will pay him again to bee sure of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Piel hee will fully and abundantly repay him mostly in this world but infallibly in the world to come Evagrius in Cedrenus bequeathed three hundred pounds to the poor in his Will but took a bond before-hand of Synesius the Bishop for the repayment of it in another life And the very next night saith the history after his departure appearing to him in his shape delivered in the bond cancelled and fully discharged Vers 18. Chasten thy Son while there is hope See the Note on chap. 13.24 Vers 19. A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment Hee that laies the reynes in the neck and sets no bounds to his wrath whether in chastising his childe or otherwise shall bee sure to smart for it shall bring himself and his friends into great trouble Such therefore as are cholerick should pray much and prevent all occasions of wrath as Callius and Cotis because they would not bee stirred up to anger burned their enemies letters before they were read The like did Pompey to the Letters of Sertorius and Casar to Pompey's Letters
Aegypt Auson Therefore that was no evil counsel of the Poet. Imprimis reverere teipsum And Turpe quid ausurus te sine teste time Vers 28. Mercy and truth preserve the King These are the best guard of his Body and supporters of his Throne Mildness and righteousness leuity and fidelity doe more safe-guard a Prince than munitions of rocks or any war-like preparations amidst which Henry the fourth of France perished when Queen Elizabeth of England lived and dyed with glory That French King being perswaded by the Duke of Sully not to re-admit the Jesuits answered Give me then security for my life But he was shortly after stabbed to death by their instigation when our Queen that stuck fast to her Principles was not more loved of her Friends than feared of her Foes being protected by God beyond expectation Our King John thought to strengthen himself by gathering mony the sinews of War but mean-while he lost his peoples affections those joynts of peace and came after endless turmoyls to an unhappy end So did our late Soveraign of bleeding memory Vers 29. The glory of young men is their strength sc If well used in following their Callings and fighting for their Countries as those young men of the Princes of the Provinces did 1 King 20.20 and not in quarrelling and Duelling as those yongsters of Helketh-hezzurim 2 Sam. 2. who sheathed their swords in their fellows bowels And the beauty of old men is their gray-head That silver crown of hoary hairs saith one which the finger of God doth set upon their heads makes them Venerable in all places where they come so that they carry an authority or majesty with them as it were See the Note on chap. 16.31 Vers 30. The blownesse of the wound cleanseth Some must be beaten black and blew ere they will be better neither is wit any thing worth with them till they have paid well for it The Jewes were ever best when in worst condition The Athenians Non nisi atrati would never mend till they were in mourning And Anglica geus est optima fleus pessima rident As a great States-man said of this Nation Physicians commonly cure a Lethargie by a Fever Chirurgians let their Patients bloud sometimes etiam ad deliquium animae The Scorpion heals his own wounds and the Viper being beaten and applied cures his own biting Surely as the scourging of the garment with a stick beats out the mothes and the dust so doe corrections corruptions from the heart and as launcing lets out filth so doth affliction sin CHAP. XXI Vers 1. The Kings heart is in the hand of the Lord BEE Kings never so absolute and unaccountable to any yet are they ruled and over-ruled by Him that is higher than the highest Eccles 5.8 Gods heart is not in the Kings hand as that foolish Prince in Mexico pretends when at his Coronation he swears that it shall not rain unseasonably neither shall there be Famine or Pestilence during his Reign in his Dominions but the Kings heart that is his will desires devices resolutions are Gods to dispose of he turneth them this way or that way with as much ease as the Plowman doth the water-course with his paddle or the Gardiner with his hand Thus he turned the heart of Pharaoh to Joseph of Saul to David of Nebuchadnezzar to Jeremy of Darius to Daniel of Cyrus and afterwards of Alexander the great to the Jewes of some of the Roman Persecutors to the Primitive Christians and of Charls the fifth who ruled over twenty eight flourishing Kingdoms to the late Reformers Melanchthon Pomeran and other famous men of God whom when he had in his power after hee had conquered the Protestant Princes he not only determined not any thing extreamly against them Act. Mon. fol. 1784. but also intreating them gently he sent them away not so much as once forbidding them to publish openly the Doctrine that they professed albeit all Christendome had not a more prudent Prince than he was saith Mr. Fox nor the Church of Christ almost a sorer enemy Vers 2. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes See the Note on chap. 16.2 Such is our sinful Self-love that Suffenus-like wee easily admire that little Nothing of any good that is in us we so clasp and hugg the barn of our own brain with the Ape that we strangle it we set up a Counter for a thousand pounds and boast of those graces whereunto wee are perfect strangers We turn the perspective and gladly see our selves bigger others lesser than they are we flatter out own souls as Micah did his Judg. 17.13 Wherein it falls out oft as it did with the riflers of Semiramis her tomb who where they expected to finde the richest Treasure met with a deadly Poyson Seem wee never so just because first in our own cause God as Salomon saith of a mans Neighbour comes and searches us and then things appears otherwise Luke 16.15 Vers 3. Is more acceptable to the Lord Qui non vult ex rapina holocaustum as Heathens could see and say by the light of Nature The Jewes thought to expiate their miscarriages toward men and to set off with God by their Ceremonies and Sacrifices Isa 1. Jer. 7. Mich. 6. Some Heathens also as that Roman Emperour could say Non sic Deos coluimus ut ille nos vinceret Wee have not been at so much charge with the gods that they should give us up into the enemies hands But the Scripture gave the Jewes to understand that to obey was better than sacrifice that God would have mercy and not sacrifice and that for a man to love God above all and his Neighbour as himself is more than all whole Burnt-offerings and sacrifices Mar. 12.33 The Heathens also were told as much by their Sages as Plato in his book intituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where Socrates reprehending the gilt-horned Bulls of the Grecians and the sumptuous sacrifices of the Trojans at length infers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. It were a grievous thing if the gods should more respect mens offerings and Sacrifices than the holiness of their hearts and the righteousness of their lives c. Aristotle in his Rhetoricks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. saith he It is not likely that God takes pleasure in the costliness of sacrifices but rather in the good conversation of the sacrificers Vers 4. An high look and proud heart See the Note on Prov. 6.17 And the plowing of the wicked is sin As they plot and plow mischief being the Devils hindes and drudges so all their actions natural moral spiritual are turned into sin whether they plow or play or pray or eat or sleep to the impure and unbeleeving all things are impure Tit. 1.15 Their proud or big-swoln heart is full of filthy corrupt matter that woozeth out still and offendeth the eyes of Gods glory Every thing they do is as an evil vapour reaking
Licitis perimus omnes We generally most of all over-shoot our selves in the use of things lawfull as those recusant guests did Matth. 22. and the old world Luke 17.26.27 Hebraei ponunt rarum pro caâ—o ut 1 Sam. 3. Vers 17. Withdraw thy foot from thy Neighbours house This is an honey that thou mayest surfeit on therefore make thy foot precious or rare so the Original hath it at thy Neighbours house by too-oft frequenting whereof thou maiest become cheap nay burdensome At first thou mayest be Oreach as the Hebrew proverb hath it i. e. welcome as a Traveller that stays for a day At length thou wilt be Toreach a charge a burden And lastly by long tarrying thou shalt be Boreach an out-cast hunted out of the house that thou hast so immodestly haunted It is a very great fault among many saith one that when they have found a kind and sweet friend they care not how they overlay him or abuse his courtesie But as we say in our common proverb it is not good to take too much of a frank horse Vers 18. Is a Maul and a Sword and a sharp Arrow A Maul Hammer or Club to knock out his brains and make them fly about the room as the Hebrew word imports A Sword or Murthering weapon Psal 42.10 and 57.5 to run him thorow and let out his bowels And a sharp Arrow to pierce his flesh and strike thorow his very heart Loe here the mischief of an evil tongue thin broad and long like a Sword to let out the Life-bloud of the poor innocent nay to destroy his soul too as seducers doe that bear false witnesse against the truth of God and by their cunning lyes deceive the hearts of the simple Vers 19. Confidence in an unfaithful man c. In a Prevaricator a Covenant-breaker a perfidious Person such as Ahitophel was to David Jobs miserable comforters to him He compares them to the brooks of Tema chap. 6.16 17. in a moysture they swelled in a drought they failed Egypt to Israel a staff or broken reed whereon if a man lean it will goe into his hand and pierce it Isa 36.6 the Roman Senate to Julius Caesar whom they killed in the Council-chamber with twenty three wounds and this was done à pluribus amicis quam inimicis quorum non expleverat spes inexplebiles saith Seneca by most of his pretended friends whose unreasonable hopes he had not satisfied Sen. li. 3. de ira How good is it therefore to try before we trust yea to trust none that are not true to God David durst not repose upon Sauls fair promises whom he knew to be moody and slippery The French say in their Proverb When the Spaniard comes to parl of peace then double-bolt the door The Hollanders make no conditions with the Spaniard whom they know to hold that Machiavellian heresie Fides tam diù servanda est quamdiú expediat but such as are made at Sea and sealed with great Ordnance Calvin and other Protestant Divines were called to the Council of Trent but durst not venture thither quia me vestigia terrent as the Fox in the Fable said they had not forgot how John Hus and Hierome of Prague sped at the Council of Constance although they had the Emperours safe conduct They knew that Turks and Papists concur in this as they doe in many other Tenets That there is no faith to be kept with doggs that is with Christians as Turks understand it with Hereticks as Papists Vers 20. As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather Musick in mourning is held most unseasonable that was an Heathenish custom that the Jewes had taken up Matth. 9.23 Cantabat moestis tibia funeribus saith Ovid. Fast lib. 4. Wee should rejoyce with those that rejoyce and weep with those that weep Nabla lyra lugentibus ingrata saith Plutarch Musick and mourning agree like Harp and Harrow like thin cloathing and cold weather or like Nitre and Vinegar saith Salomon There are that read the words otherwise and accordingly sense them Thus As he that putteth on a garment in the cold season or Vinegar on Nitre so is he that singeth songs to a sad heart That is Junius Tristitiam dissolvit cantus ut vestes discutiunt frigus acetum dissolvit nitrum As a garment warmeth the body and Vinegar dissolveth Nitre so a sweet singer by his delightsome ditty cheareth up the pensive soul and driveth sorrow out of it See 1 Sam. 16.24 2 King 3.15 Dan. 6.19 Vers 21. If thine enemy be hungry Elisha did so he feasted his Persecutours 2 King 6. by a noble revenge and provided a table for those who had provided a grave for him Those Syrians came to Dothan full of bloudy purposes to Elisha he sends them from Samaria full of good chear and jollity Thus Dr. Hall's contempt thus should a Christian punish his pursuers no vengeance but this is Heroical and fit for imitation Vers 22. For thou shalt heap coals of fire By heaping courtesies upon him thou shalt win him over to thy self as the King of Israel did those Syrians hee feasted They came no more after that by way of ambush or incursion into the bounds of Israel In doing some good to our enemies wee doe most to our selves And the Lord shall reward thee However men deal with thee It may bee they may prove dross that will not bee melted dirt that will not bee mollified but moulter to nothing crumble to crattle as stones c. as having no metal of ingenuity or good nature in them But desist not despond not God will reward thee and his retributions are more than bountiful Or as the words may be read God will pacifie for thee as he did Saul for David Never did a charitable act goe away without a blessing God cannot but love in us this imitation of his mercy who bids his Sun to shine upon the evil and unthankful and that love is never fruitless Caecias nubes attrahit Vers 23. The North-wind drives away raine Hence Homer calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fair-weather-maker and Hierom the ayres Beesome There is a Southerly wind that attracts clouds and ingenders rain So doth an angry countenance a back-biting tongue The ready way to be rid of Tale-bearers is to brow-beat them for like Whelps if we stroke them they leap upon us and defile us with fawning but give them a rap and they are gone so here Carry therefore in this case a severe rebuke in thy countenance as God doth Psal 80.16 Be not a re-setter to these privie Theeves a receptacle for these mures nominis as one calls them the Tale-hearer is as blame-worthy as the Tale-bearer and he that loves a lye as he that makes it Revel 22. See Psal 15.3 Rom. 1.31 Vers 24. It is better to dwell c. See the note on chap. 21.9 and 19.13 Vers 25. As cold waters to a thirsty soul
Caveatur osculum Iscarioticum consign their treachery with so sweet a symbol of amity yet those that love out of a pure heart fervently do therefore kiss 1 Pet. 1.22 as desiring to transfuse if it might bee the souls of either into other and to become one with the party so beloved and in the best sense suaviated That therefore which the Church here desireth Heb. 1.1 is not so much Christs coming in the flesh that God who at sundry times and in divers manners had spoken in times past unto her by the Prophets would now speak unto her by his Son as some have sensed it as that shee may have utmost conjunction to him and nearest communion with him here as much as may bee and hereafter in all fulness of fruition Let him kiss mee and so seal up his hearty love unto mee even the sure mercies of David with the kisses of his mouth Not with one kiss onely with one pledge of his love but with many there is no satiety no measure no bounds or bottome of this holy love as there is in carnal desires ubi etiam vota post usum fastidio sunt Neither covers mee to kiss his hand as they deal by Kings or his feet as they do the Popes but his mouth shee would have true kisses the basia the busses of those lips whereinto grace is poured Psal 45.3 and where hence those words of grace are uttered Prov. 31.26 Mat. 5.2 3 c. Hee openeth his mouth with wisdome and in his lips is the Law of kindness Hence her affectionate desires her earnest pantings inquietations and unsatisfiablenesses Shee must have Christ or else shee dies shee must have the kisses of Christs mouth even those sweet pledges of love in his word or shee cannot bee contented but will complain in the confluence of all other comforts as Abraham did Gen. 15.2 Lord God what wilt thou give mee seeing I go childeless Or as Artabâ—zus in Xenophon did when Cyrus had given him a cup of gold and Chrysantas a kiss in token of his special favour saying that the cup that hee gave him was nothing so good gold as the kiss that hee gave Chrysantas The Poets fable that the Moon was wont to come down from her orb to kiss Endymion It is a certain truth that Christ came down from Heaven to reconcile us to his Father to unite us to himself and still to communicate unto our souls the sense of his love the feeling of his favour the sweet breath of his holy Spirit For thy Love is better than Wine Heb. Loves The Septuagint and Vulgar render it Ubera Thy breasts but that is not so proper sith it is the Church that here speaks to Christ and by the sudden change of person shews the strength and liveliness of her affection As by the Plural Loves shee means all fruits of his love righteousness peace joy in the Holy Ghost assurance of Heaven which Mr. Latimer calls the sweet-meats of the feast of a good conscience There are other dainty dishes at that feast but this is the banquet this is better than Wine which yet is a very comfortable creature Psal 104.15 and highly set by Psal 4.7 Plato calls wine a musick miseriarum humanarum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the chief allayments of mens miseries Vers 3. Because of the savour of thy good ointments Or To smell to thy ointments are best Odoratissimus es As the Panther casts abroad a fragrant savour as Alexander the Great is said to have had a natural sweetness with him by reason of the good temperament of his body So and much more than so the Lord Christ Euseb that sweetest of sweets Hee kisseth his poor persecuted people as Constantine once kissed Paphnutius his lost eye and departing for here hee comes but as a suter onely till the marriage bee made up in Heaven hee leaves such a sweet scent behinde him such a balmy verdure as attracts all good hearts unto him so that where this all-quickning carkass is there would the Eagles bee also Mat. 24. The Israelites removed their tents from Mithcah which signifies sweetness to Cashmonah which signifies swiftness Numb 33.29 To teach us saith one that the Saints have no sooner tasted Christs sweetness but they are carried after him presently with incredible swiftness Hence they are said to have a nose like the Tower of Lebanon Cant. 7. for their singular sagacity in smelling after Christ and to flee to the holy Assemblies where Christs odors are beaten out to the smell as the clouds Isa 60.8 or as the Doves to their windaws For why they have their senses habitually exercised to discern good and evil Heb. 5.14 and their love abounds yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgement Phil. 1.9 Thy name is as ointment poured forth There is an elegant allusion in the Original betwixt Shem and Shemen that is Name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Ointment And Christ hath his name both in Hebrew and Greek from ointment for these three words in signification are all one Messias Christ Anointed See the reason Isa 61.1 The Spirit of the Lord that oil of gladness Heb. 1.9 is upon mee because hee hath anointed and appointed mee to preach good tidings to the meek 2 Cor. 2.2 14 15 16 c. Now when this is done to the life when Christ crucified is preached when the Holy Ghost in the mouth and ministry of his faithful servants shall take of Christs excellencies as it is his office to do Joh. 16.14 and hold them out to the world when hee shall hold up the tapestry as it were 2 Tim. 2.5 and shew men the Lord Christ with an Ecce virum Behold the man that one Mediatour betwixt God and Man the Man Christ Jesus See him in his Natures in his Offices in his Works in the blessed Effects of all This cannot but stir up wonderful loves in all good souls with hearty wishes 1 Cor. 16.22 that If any one love not the Lord Jesus Christ hee may bee Anathema Maranatha accurst upon accurst and put over to God to punish Therefore the Virgins love thee i. e. All that are adjoyned to mee in comely sort as chast Damosels to their Mother and Mistress The elect and faithful are called Virgins for their spiritual chastity They are Gods hidden ones as the word here used signifieth as they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Paellae absconditae propter secretiorem educationem Riv. Speed 1236. Psal 83.3 they are not defiled with the corruptions that are in the world through lust for they are Virgins Rev. 14.4 Else the Bride would not suffer them about her Psal 45.14 Of Queen Elizabeth it is said that shee never suffered any Lady to approach her presence of whose stain shee had but the least suspition These follow the Lamb wheresoever hee goeth ib. as the other creatures follow the Panther for his sweet odors as birds
sure to finde it as in hony-pots the deeper the sweeter Such as so eat are called Christs friends by a specialty and such as so drink his beloved as Gregory here well observeth and they onely do thus that hear the Word with delight turn it in succum sanguinem concoct it incorporate it as it were into their souls and are so deeply affected with it that like drunken men they forget and let go all things else that they may retain and practice it These are not drunk with wine wherein is excess but filled with the Holy Ghost Ephes 5.16 Vers 2. I sleep but my heart waketh It was no sound sleep that she took Shee did not short aloud in the Cradle of security as those do whom the Devil hath cast into a deep Lethargy but napped and nodded a little and that by candle-light too as those wise Virgins did Matth. 25.5 Shee slept with open eyes as the Lion doth shee slept but half-sleep the Spirit was willing to wake but the flesh was weak and overwayed it as it fared with those sleepy Disciples Matth. 26.41 Fain would this flesh make strange of that which the Spirit doth embrace O Lord how loth is this loitering sluggard to pass forth into Gods path said Mr. Sanders in a letter to his wife Act. Mon. fol. 1359. a little afore his death with much more to like purpose As in the state of Nature men cared not for grace but thought themselves well enough and wise enough without so in the state of Grace they are not so carefull as they should Heaven must bee brought to them they will scarce go seek it 1 Pet. 1.13 And as the seven tribes are justly taxed by Joshua for their negligence and sloth in not seeking speedily to possess the Land God had offered them Josh 18.2 So may the most of Gods people be justly rebuked for grievous security about the heavenly Canaan They content themselves with a bare title or hang in suspense and strive not to full assurance they follow Christ but it is as the people followed Saul trembling they are still troubled with this doubt or that fear and all because they are loth to be at the pains of working out their salvation Phil. 2.12 Something is left undone and their conscience tells them so Either they are lazy and let fall the watch of the Lord neglecting duty or else they lose themselves in a wilderness of duties by resting in them and by making the means their Mediatours or by pleasing themselves with the Church here in unlawful liberties after that they have pleased the Lord in lawful duties The flesh must bee gratified and such a lust fulfilled A little more sleep a little more slumber in Jezabels bed as Mr. Bradford was wont to phrase it Solomon must have his wine Act. Mon. and yet think to retain his wisdome Eccles 2.3 Samson must fetch a nap on Dalilahs knees till God by his Philistims send our summons for sleepers wake them in a fright cure security by sorrow as Physicians use to cure a Lethargy by casting the Patient into a Burning Feaver Cold diseases must have hot and sharp remedies The Church here found it so And did not David when hee had sinned away his inward peace and wiped off as it were Psal 51. all his comfortables It is the voyce of my beloved that knocketh Shee was not so fast asleep but that the hidden man of the heart as St. Peter calls him 1 Ep. 3.4 was awake and his ears arrect and attent so that shee soon heard the first call or knock of Christ whose care was to arrouse her that though shee slept a while through infirmity of the flesh yet shee might not sleep the sleep of death Psal 13.3 dye in her sins as those Jews did John 8.21 In the sweating sickness that reigned for many years together in this Kingdome those that were suffered to sleep as all in that case were apt to do they died within a few hours The best office therefore that any one could do them was To keep them waking though against their wills Sembably our Saviour solicitous of his Churches welfare and knowing her present danger comes calling and clapping at the door other heart and sweetly wooes admission and entertainment but misseth of it Hee knocketh and bounceth by the hammer of his Word and by the hand of his Spirit see Revel 3.20 with 2 Pet. 1.13 and if the Word work not on his people they shall hear the rod and who hath appointed it Mic. 6.9 that they may by some means bee brought to summon the sobriety of their senses before their own judgements and seeing their danger to go forth and shake themselves as Sampson did Judg. 16. Open to mee my Sister my Love c. What irresistible Rhetorick is here what passionate and most pithy perswasions Ipsa Suada credo si loqui posset non potuisset 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ubi quot verba tot tela quae sponsae animum percellant fodicent lancinent shee was not so dead asleep but that shee could hear at first and tell every tittle that he said And this she doth here very finely and to the full that shee may aggravate against her self the foulness of her fact in refusing so sweet an offer in turning her back upon so blessed and so bleeding an embracement the tearms and titles hee here giveth her are expounded before Vndefiled or perfect hee calleth her for her Dove-like simplicity purity and integrity For mine head is filled with dew i. e. I have suffered much for thy sake and waited thy leisure a long while and must I now go look my lodging Doest thou thus requite repulse thy Lord O thou foolish woman and unwise Is this thy kindness to thy friend Jer. 13.27 Wo unto thee O Jerusalem wilt thou not bee made clean when shall it once bee It is the ingratitude that makes the Saints sinnes so hainous which otherwise would bee far less than other mens sith his temptations are stronger and his resistance is greater Oh when Gods grace shall come suing to us nay kneeling to us when Christ shall come with Hat in hand and stand bare-headed as here and that in foul weather too begging acceptance and beseeching us to be reconciled and we will not what an inexcusible fault is this Vers 3. I have put off my Coat Thus the flesh shews itself not onely weak but wayward treacherous and tyrannical rebell it doth in the best and reign it would if it might bee suffered This bramble would fain bee playing Rex and doth so other-whiles till hee be well buffeted as St. Paul served it 1 Cor. 9.27 and brought it into subjection But what a silly excuse maketh the Church here for her self Trouble mee not for I am in bed as hee said to his friend Luk. 11.7 My cloathes are off my feet are washed and I am composed to a settled rest But are you so might
curse pronounced against it Judg. 5.23 the very name and memorial of it is utterly extinct and blotted out as also what befell the barren Fig-tree when once cursed by Christ it withered away suddenly Mat. 21.19 20. both root and branch though naturally the Fig-tree is the most juyceful of any tree and beareth the brunt of winter-blasts Scuke Ver. 22. Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine Iteratò taxat hoc vitium eò quod invaluerat The Prophet inveigheth against this vice a second time because it was grown so common Drunkards also are a sottish kind of creatures and had therefore more then need to be double dealt with like as Physicians use to give double quantities to such as have Palsies or Epilepsies so to awaken their dull drowsy senses Many of these sots take it for a great glory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athen. Vopisc in Bonoso that they are mighty to drink wine as did Darius King of Persia who caused it to be written upon his tomb I was a great hunter I could also drink much wine and bear it bravely This was as one well saith to glory in his shame it being rather the commendation of a tun then of a man for a beast will scarce abide it to be able to take in and contain much liquour When Bonosus the drunken Roman had hangd himself it went for a byword Amphoram pendere non hominem that a tun or tankard hung there and not a man And when one was commended to King Alphonsus for a great drinker and able to bear it he answered that that was a good praise in a sponge Gentiles ipsi risere tales athletas but not in a Prince This if Alexander the Great and Tiberius the Emperour those great drinkers and incouragers of others to that vice had well remembred they would not have been so infamous as they are and will be to all posterity Aristoph in Ranis Civilis est irrisio non carens sale Oecolamp And men of strength or valour but to do what 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Comedian hath it to drink and do worse onely a goodly prize surely a fair commendation fortes esse strenuos non contra hostes sed ad exhauriendos calices gigantes esse non ad bellandum sed ad potandum to be carpet-knights not of Mars but of Bacchus and fitter for a canopy then a camp To mingle Or to pour in whether into their own wide gullets or into the cup to make others drunk for preventing whereof Minos King of Creet made a Law that men should not drink one to another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to drunkenness So did Lycurgus at Lacedemon And our King Edgar made an Ordinance for putting pins in cups that none should quaffe whole ones or cause others to do so Ver. 23. Which justify the wicked for reward q. d. Woe to such also for even they both are abomination to the Lord Prov. 17.15 See the Note there See also chap. 1.23 Ver. 24. Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble For all the crimes afore mentioned and for that to all the former they add this that they have cast away the Law of the Lord and despised his word As the fire Heb the tongue of fire that is the top of the flame which resembleth a tongue that is also thin broad long and of a fiery colour setting on fire the course of nature and is it self set on fire of hell Jam. 3.6 Devoureth the stubble and the flame consumeth the chaff Sin doth as naturally draw and suck judgments to it as the loadstone doth iron as dry stubble and light chaff doth fire suddenly and with no ado shall sinners be consumed when God once taketh them to do exorientur exurentur So their root shall be rottenness in allusion to the vine ver 1. which brought forth rotten grapes ver 4. And their blossom shall go up as dust shall vanish and come to nothing as it needs must where the root is putrified Of wild vines Pliny saith Ostentant fructum potius quam porrigunt Lib. 16. cap. 27. they rather make a shew of fruit then yeeld any And there are some vines saith Varro whose fruit ever rotteth before it hath time to ripen Var. ap Cas D on He meaneth they shall vanish in their greatest flourish of seeming felicity Ver. 25 Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled For contempt of the Law 1 Thes 2.16 but especially of the Gospel wrath came upon that wretched people of the Jews to the utmost or untill the end as some read it They are to this day a people of Gods wrath and curse and become a wofull example of that Rule Atrocia delicta puniuntur atrocibus poenis Hainous sins bring heavy punishments This desolation of theirs as Daniel prophesieth chap. 9. shall continue to the end And he hath stretcht forth his hand against them His mighty hand as St. James hath it wherewith he oft leaveth bloody wailes on the backs of the best when they provoke but crusheth the wicked in pieces and crumbleth them to crattle And hath smitten them Revenge is the next effect of anger And the hills did tremble i. e. The highest among them or literally Ar. Montan. Hype bole the senseless hills seemed sensible of so great displeasure And their carcasses were torn in the middest of the streets What havock there was made of men at the last destruction of Jerusalem Josephus Egesippus Orosius and Eusebius fully tell us What with the extremity of famine what with the fury of the sword and what with sickness during the siege there perished about 600000 able men or as others say 1100000 besides 97000 carried captive Titus the Roman General seeing the infinite carcasses of the Jews cast out unburied without the walls of the City was much grieved Joseph and took God to witness that he was not the authour of that calamity but that the fault was altogether in those stubborn Jews that held out the City against him For all this his anger is not turned away With those froward ones God will shew himself froward Psal 18.26 and not give place to their pertinacy till they had enough of it It must be an humble submission that pacifieth Gods wrath Ver. 26. And he will lift up an ensign That is by his secret providence he shall bring on the enemies army The Roman forces are called Gods armies Mat. 22.7 and Titus confessed that he only lent God his hand to execute his wrath on that rebellious people the Jews And will hiss unto them Bring them together with little ado as Pilots hiss for their ship-boyes or shepheards whistle for their sheep to come about them From the end of the earth Rome was far remote from Jerusalem and in the Roman army were likely many French Spaniards Italians and perhaps Britons And behold they shall come with speed Sooner then those mockers imagined who said ver
1.20 21. One of Austin's wishes was to have seen Christ on earth Bede comes after and wisheth rather to have seen Christ in his glory and on his heavenly throne Ver. 27. And I saw as the colour of amber See ver 4. Heb. chashmal which being read backward as the Cabbalists observe is Lammashach or Lammashiach i. e. Messias As the appearance of fire Christ is very terrible in his executions and even our God as well as the Jews God is a consuming fire Heb. 12. ult See Exod. 23.20 From the appearance of his loyns even upward This may well be understood of Christs Divinity as the parts downward of his Humanity partaking of the same most resplendent glory by virtue of the hypostatical union and having partner-agency with the Godhead according to its measure in the works of redemption and mediation Ver. 28. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud Here as in the salt sea or as in a pot of hony the deeper the sweeter The Rainbow was set for a sign of the Covenant of mercy to mankind Gen. 9.12 Isa 54.12 See Rev. 10.1 with the Note This was the appearance c. For no more of God can be seen by any mortal wight Exod. 33.20 This and other Prophets saw the Charret but not the Rider in in it as the Rabbines say Quasi fasees suos submittens I fell upon my face As astonished and as adoring the Divine Majesty And I heard a voice This the Vulgar Latin prefixeth before the next Chapter CHAP. II. Ver. 1. ANd he said unto me Christus solio sic infit ab alto Christ from his lofty throne thus bespake me who had now my mouth in the dust and had no more to say but this Speak Lord for thy servant heareth Son of man So this Prophet is called almost an hundred times in this Book four times in this short Chapter The reason hereof I take to be this saith a judicious Divine He had visions both more in number and more rare in kind revealed unto him then any other Prophet had Now D. Gouge lest he should be exalted out of measure through the abundance of Revelations the Lord often putteth him in mind of his estate by nature that he was but a son of man a mortal man even a worm Stand upon thy feet God for good ends casteth down sometimes those that are dearest to himself but then he comforteth the abject 2 Cor. 7.6 Dejicit ut relevet premit ut solatia praestet And I will speak unto thee So Dan. 10.11 Oracles are for standers not prostrate ones they require utmost attention of body intention of mind and retention of memory See Num. 23.18 Judg. 3.20 with the Notes Ver. 2. And the Spirit entred into me This was right when Word and Spirit went together See Isa 59.21 with the Notes And set me upon my feet Called me off from earthly cares and made me hear savingly In the Scriptures the Holy Ghost speaketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 4.1 Let him that hath ears to hear hear c. Let him draw up the ears of his mind to those of his body that one and the same sound may pierce both Ver. 3. I send thee to the children of Israel So they will needs call themselves But what saith God Mic. 2.7 O thou that art named the house of Jacob is the Spirit of the Lord straitened are these his doings See the Notes there To a rebellious nation Heb. Gentiles so the Jews call us Christians in scorn The Jews call the Turkes Ishmaelites the Ethiopians Cushites but Christians that call Gojim an abominable Nation and Mamzer-goll a bastard people so God calleth them here in great contempt a rebellious nation See Amos 9.7 Gentes Apostatrices as the Vulgar here hath it They and their fathers have transgressed against me A serpentine seed they are a race of rebels neither good egg nor bird but Mali corvi mala ova Even unto this very day being nothing bettered by all that they have suffered See Jer. 16.13 Isa 1.5 Ver. 4. For they are impudent children Heb. hard of face Sin hath oaded such an impudency in their faces that they can blush no more then a a sack-but Os tuum ferreum saith Cicero to Piso that brazen face of thine and Durus hic vultus lachrymare nescit Thou canst not blush much lesse bleed for thine offences saith Seneca to one And stiff-hearted Duri-cordes incurvi cervicati quosque citius fregeris quà m flexeris such as will sooner break then bend Many of our hearers alasse are no better We do even wash a tile-sheard draw water with a seive c. Bern. I do send thee unto them About hard service sed curam exegerit non curationem it is the care and not the cure of the charge that is charged upon thee Thou shall say unto them Proficiscere Prophetato Thou shalt be as my mouth Jer. 15.19 Ver. 5. And they whether they will hear or whether they will forbear Some refractaries will not so much as hear a Minister of God but bid him as those old Italians once did the Roman Embassadour ad quercus dicere se interim alia acturos speak to the posts they had somewhat else to do then to give ear to them See 1 Cor. 1.22 Of those also that do hear scarce the hundreth man believeth our report saith Calvin nay scarce the thousandth man saith Chrysostom For they are a rebellious house This was small encouragement Hence Prophets have so hung off as Moses Isay Jonah Jeremy c. Knox when called first to preach burst forth into abundance of tears Bradford was hardly perswaded by Bucer to enter into the Ministery c. Act. Mon. Yet shall know that there hath been a Prophet amongst them Let them prove incorrigible they shall also prove inexcusable and self-condemned See 2 Cor. 2.16 with the Notes Hieronym Convinced they shall be if not converted and who knows how the word now slighted may hereafter work upon them Saepe fit ut audientes verbum moleste Act. Mon. suscipiant fructuose they may better bethink themselves Ver. 6. Be not afraid of them Of their lordly looks such as Steven Gardiner set upon Dr. Taylour and was well told of it of their bitter scoffs dreadful threats as if they could undoe us at their pleasure Our times are in Gods hands kill us they may but hurt us they cannot See Jer. 1.17 Matth. 10.25 When Bonner said to Hawkes A faggot will make you turn Act. Mon. 1443. No no said Hawkes a point for your faggot you shall do no more then God permitteth you c. A Minister of God should live by faith and not dye by fear he should make his hearers afraid of him rather as Herod was of the Baptist Vâ—lens of Basil c. When Eudoxia the Empresse threatned Chrysostom Go tell her said he that I fear nothing but sin I will