handes but at your feete to your feete submitte their neckes and hold your stirrops or that Princes shoulde eate bread vnder your tables like dogges I shame almost to report that a skar-crow in an hedge should thus terrifie Eagles Wher was then the effect of that praier which David made in the Psalme O Lord giue thy iudgement vnto the king wheÌ„ the kings of the earth were so bewitched and enchanted with that cup of fornicatioÌ„ Christ though the iudge of the quicke and dead refused to be a iudge in a private inheritance who made me a iudge or divider over you these wil be iudges and disposers of Kingdomes Empires Dukedomes and put Rodolph for Henry Pipin for Childericke one for another at their pleasures And when they haue so done no man must iudge of their actions why because the disciple is not aboue his maister Let not a priest giue an accusation against a Bishop not a Deacon against a priest not a sub-deacon against a Deacon not an Acolyth against a sub-deacon not an exorcist against an Acolyth but as for the highest prelate hee shal be iudged by no man because it is vvritten non est discipulus c. So did the Devill apply the scriptures The Apostles all concurre in one manner of teaching let every soule be subiect to the higher powers hee meaneth of temporall powers because they beare the sword require tribute Chrysostome expoundeth it of all sortes of soules both secular religious Submit your selues to every ordinance of man feare God honour the king let prayer and supplcation bee made for all men for kinges those that are in authority that wee may leade a quiet and peaceable life vnder them This is the summe of their doctrine Now either the Bishop of Rome hath not a soule to be subiect or he is a power aboue all powers and must commaund others And so in deede he vsurpeth abusing that place of the Psalme Omnia subiecisti sub pedibus eius thou hast put all thinges in subiection vnder his feete all sheepe and oxen yea and the beasts of the field Where by oxen are meant Iewes and heretiques by beast of the field Pagans and infidelles by sheepe Christian both kings and subiects by birdes of the aire Angelles in heaven by fishes in the sea soules in purgatory I do wrong to your sober eares to fill them with such fables but subiection I am sure they deny if the whole world should be filled with bookes legall Evangelicall to admonish them Nay they will take both the law and gospell and make them speake vanity blasphemy meere contradiction rather than want authorities to vphold their kingdome Thus when Adrian set his foote in the necke of the Emperour he alleaged the words of the Psalme thou shalt tread vpon the adder the basiliske c. The Emperour highly sinned that he had not a sting to thrust forth against him and to tame his pride Iohn the 22. perverted the words of Christ to this purpose behold I haue set theeover kingdomes c. Innocentius the 3. fetcheth a prophecy of his vsurped Hierachie from the first creation God created two light in the firmament of heaven so in the firmament of the earth two rulers a greater light and a lesser light that is the Pope and the Emperour the one to governe the day the other the night that is the Pope to governe the Clergie the Emperour the laitie for this cause they say to shew the difference the Pope hath his vnction on the head the Emperour but on his armes· To leaue their glosses and devises let vs harken to their practise What a strange commauÌ„dement was that which Gregory the 7. sent forth we commaund that no man of what condition soever he be either king or Archbishop Bishop Duke Earle Marques or Knight be so hardly to resist our legates if any man do it we binde him with the bond of a curse not onely in his spirit but in his body and all his goods In excommunicating the Emperour then being he vsed this forme Henry the king sonne of Henry late Emperour I throw downe from all both imperiall and royall administration and I absolue from their othe of obedience all christians subiect to his authority and being requested to vse more mildnes in proceeding to excommunicate him answered for himselfe when Christ committed his church to Peter and said feed my sheepe did he exempte kinges afterward he calleth vpon Peter Paul saith vnto them go to now so vse the matter that all men may vnderstand if your selues haue power to binde loose in heaven that we may haue also power on earth both to take awaye and to giue Empires kingdomes principalities and whatsoever mortall men may haue Boniface the 8. whome Benevenutus called the tyrant over Priests Petrarch the terrour of kings nâ—mâ—d himselfe the Lord not only of FraÌ„ce but of the whole world Philip sirnamed the faire theÌ„ king of FraÌ„ce advised him not to vse that kind of speech to the overthrow of his kingdome Hence grew all those stirres and tumultes betweene them It is a notable admonition which Massonus there giveth in the knitting vp of his life I vvoulde wish the Bishoppes of the cittie not to make kings their enemies who are willing to be their friendes for let them not thinke that they are sent from GOD as bridles vnto kinges to maister them at their pleasure as wilde and vnbroken horses let them admonish and pray them and ther harty praiers shall bee insteede of commanding but to threaten terrifie raise vp armes is not beseeming Bishoppes Platina concludeth him almost to the same effect thus dieth Boniface vvhose endevours evermore were rather to bring in terrour than religion vpon Emperours kinges princes nations and peoples This Platina was a professed catholique living within a colledge at Rome that you may the lesse thinke the author willing to sâ—aunder them On a time vvhen Paul the seconde vvent about to pull downe that colledge hee besought the Pope that the matter might first bee hearde before the maisters of the rowels or other like iudges itané aâ—t nos ad iudices revocas What Is it come to this saieth hee doest thou call vs backe vnto iudges doest thou not knovvs that all the lavves are placed in the shrine of my breast Innocentius the sixt sendeth Carilas a Spanish Cardinall but withall a cardinall warriour into Italie to recover Saint Peters parrimonie if praiers were vnavaileable by force of armes for armes are the succours of Popes vvhen praiers vvill not serue Innocentius the seventh had a meeker spirite of vvhome Bapâ—ista Fulgosus vvrireth that such idle houres as hee had he bestowed in pruning his orcharde and wisheth that other Popes had done the like vvho vvere better pleased with making warre for it is fitter for the Bishopes of Rome to prune orchardes than men Iulius the 2.
into the secretes of God But it is as true which the Apostle demandeth on the behalfe of the Lord Is there any iniquity with God far bee it Therefore they sinne a sinne which the darkest darkenesse in hell is too easie to requite who when they haue spilte the bloud of the innocent like water vpon the grounde defiled their neighbours bed troubled the earth and provoked heauen vvith many pernitious infamous mischiefes rapes robberies proditions burninges spoylings depopulations c. spewe out a blasphemy against righteousnesse it selfe countenauncing their sinnes by authoritie of him who hateth sinne and pleading that they haue done but the will of God in doing such outrages I knovv that the vvill of God though they had staves of yron in their handes and heartes to resist shall be done Vngracious vnwillinge and vnbeleevinge instrumentes shall doe that service to God which they dreame not of When God saith kill not and they contradict wee will kill even then though they violate the law of God yet is his will accomplished He hath hookes for the nostrelles and bridles for the chawes of the vvicked which they suppose not I will adde more Iudge yee vvhat I saie and the Lord giue you vnderstanding in all thinges He hath spurres for their flankes and sides which they neuer imagined Senacharib founde a bridle to stay him and an hooke to turne him backe Pharaoh had a spurre to driue him forwarde I vvill harden the heart of Pharaoh Exod. 4. and in many other places Let him alone let him take his pleasure and pastime but when he hath hardened his ovvne heart by malice then will I also harden it by iustice Thus the will of God is one way renounced and as sure as hee liveth and raigneth in heauen shall at the same time and in the same action some other way be perfourmed And yet are the men wicked though they do that which God would God most holy iust though he would that which the wicked do They beguile theÌ„selues heerein by a fallacy they are taken in their owne nets which they lay for an other purpose For thus they presume Hee that doth the will of God sinneth not true keepe the commandements honour God obey the Prince loue thy neighbour as thy selfe this is voluntas signi his will recorded in holy writ published abroade signified to all flesh and as it were proclaimed at a standard by precept threatnings promises terrour reward earnestly and openly required Novv the murtherer assumeth vpon the former grounde I doe the will of God For had it not stood with his vvill my power had fayled my hart had not beene able to conceiue a thought within me and my hande had vvithered and shrunke togither before I had giuen the stroke true likewise But this iâ— an other will a secret will of God his will at the second hand if I may so call is and by an accident a vvill against a wil that because hee did not that which God had publiquely enioyned hee should doe another thing which he had privately deterâ—ined Augustine deliuereth it in wise and pithy tearmes De hijs qui faciunt quae non vult facit ipse quae vult Of those vvhich doe vvhat God would not hee doeth what hee would and by a marveilous vneffable meanes it commeth to passe that it is not done without or besides his vvill which is euen done against his wil. Euclide to one that neuer rested to enquire of the Gods aunswered deseruedly Other thinges I knovve not this I know that they hate curious and busie inquisitours Adam was driuen out of paradise for affecting too much knowledge Israell had died the death Exod. 19. if they had past their bounds to climbe vp vnto the mounte and to gaze vpon the Lorde The men of Bethshemesh vvere slaine to the number of fiftie thousande for prying into the Arke 1. Sam. 6. The question is as high as the highest heauens dwelleth in light as vnsearchable as God himselfe couered vvith a curtaine of sacred secresie vvhich shall neuer bee dravvne aside till that day come vvherein wee shall knovve as wee are knovvne and then but in measure and proportion VVho is able to decide that dwelleth vvith mortall flesh how farre the counsell of the Lord goeth in ordering and disposing sinfull actions This I am bolde to say because I am loath to leade you farther into a bottomeles sea than where the lambe may wade without danger of miscarying and if there be ought behinde which is not opened vnto you let this bee your comforte Deus revelabit GOD will one daie reveale it but in this present question there is an errour I suppose in two extremities either to thinke that God is the authour of sinne which sensuall and phantasticke Libertines rubbing their filthinesse vpon his puritie haue imputed vnto him or that GOD doeth only but suffer and permitte sinne sitting in heaven to beholde the stratagemes of the vvicked vvithout intermedling as if his Godhead were bounde like Sampsons armes halfe of his power and liberty restrained a greater parte of the world and the manners thereof running vpon wheeles and the cursed children of Beliall hasting like dromedaries to fullfill the lustes of their owne godlesse heartes vvithout the gouernment and moderation of the highest Lorde Either of these opinions mee thinkes denyeth the Godhead For howsoever in wordes both may admitte it they deny it in opinion They receaue it at the gates and exclude it at the posterne The one destroyeth the iustice goodnesse of the deity in that they charge GOD to bee the authour of sinne the other his omnipotency and providence in that they bereave him of a greate part of his businesse The latter of these two positions that God doeth permit sinne is sounde and catholike enough if more bee added vnto it for God doeth more than permit the former is filled to the brimme with most monstrous impiety If the devilles in hell may bee hearde to speake for themselues and against God what coulde they say to deprave him more than this Indeede wee haue sinned and forsaken our faith but God caused vs It is a most damnable and reprobate thought that any vessell of clay shoulde so conceaue of his former who in the creation of all thinges made al things good and past not a vvorke from his fingers without the approbation of his most prudent iudgment Beholde it was good very good God saw it Aske but the maisters of humane wisedome they will enforme you in this behalfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God by no meanes is vniust but as righteous as possible maybe Seneca asketh the cause why the Gods doe good hee aunswereth their nature is the cause They can neither take nor doe wronge they neither giue nor haue mischiefe in them You haue the same doctrine Iames 1. Let no man when he is tempted say that he is tempted by God for God is not tempted with evill and
at his discretion Horace commended Virgil his friend going towards Athens to the mighty goddesse of Cyprus the two brethreÌ„ of Helen the father of the winds that is to Venus the two twins Castor Pollux Aeolus wishing for his better speed that all the windes might be bounde vp besides Iapyx a quiet westerne winde with many the like fables not vnknowne to grammer schooles The blowing of the windes more or lesse wee impute not to Aeolus nor any the like devised God of the gentiles we honour the Lord of hosts alone in the power of this creature who sitteth vpon the circle of heaven and causeth both the sunne to shine and the raines to fall and the winds to blow in their seasons and at this time appointed this winde to a singular service It is he that flieth vpon the winges of the wind The channels of the waters haue beene seene and the foundations of the earth discovered at his rebuking and at the blasting of the breath of his nostrels You see it is called the breath of the Lord as also in the booke of Iob not that substantiall breath of his wherof we read in the 1. of Gen. the spirit of God moved vpon the waters but a created breath extracted and engendred out of other creatures The winde that came from the wildernes and overthrew the corners of the house wherin the children of Iob were feasting that saint acknowledgeth to haue come from heavenly disposition The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away Wind fire bands of robbers he assigneth not to any idol of the heatheÌ„ nor to the malice of men nor to the hazard of fortune which others made a goddes but to the almightines soverainty of him who ruleth al things And as his dominion is vndoubted in the aire so doth the sea submit it selfe likewise to his governance who sitteth vpon the water-flouds and is a king for evermore as the Psalme speaketh For who but he hath shut vp the sea with doores when it issued and came forth as out of the wombe who established his commandement vpon it when he set bars gates said hitherto shalt thou coÌ„e and no further here will I stay the proud waues Who els devided the red sea into two parts that the children of Israell passed through on dry foote But as for Pharaoh and his host the horse and the rider they were overthrown therin Who els turned the streame of Iordan the contrary way whereof the Prophet demandeth with admiratioÌ„ what aileth thee O IordaÌ„ that thou wentest backe who els turned the waters into bloud and drieth vp the rivers that the fishes rotte for wante of moisture Tell mee his name to vse the words of Iob if thou knowest it and what is his sonnes name It is he and his son who in the gospell of Marke rebuked the windes and saide vnto the sea peace and bee still and the winde ceased and there was a great calme and they could not be satisfied about it but asked who it was that both the winds the sea should thus obey him All kindes of vveather by lande or sea thunders and lightning even the coales of fire that were never blowne haile-stones stormy tempestes they come by his assignement who cleaveth the rockes asunder with his voice and shooteth forth his thunderbolts as arrowes at a marke who biddeth his lightnings walke and they say loe here we are and devideth the spouts in the aire to yeeld their moysture to the ground more or lesse at the will of their maker And we vtterly renounce herein not onely the palpable idolatrie of the Gentiles vvho gaue the glory of the most highe to â—heir base and inglorious abominations but the foolish ignorance of others nearer home vvho in the vvorking of these creatures never looke vp to the seate of maiesty that ordereth all thinges but whatsoever befalleth them by fall of fire blast of wind inundation of waters or the like they tearme it chance Alas chance is nothing for nothing is done in the whole world without an order from aboue and it vvas wisely noted by a learned man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nature bringeth forth that which we wroÌ„gfully cal chaÌ„ce because it commeth vnexpected I read of a certaine people in Africke who being troubled with the North-wind driving heapes of sandes vpon their fieldes dwelling places they gathered an army of men to fight against it but with so evill successe that themselues were also buried vnder hilles of sandes Xerxes the Persian Monarke having received a losse by the rage of Hellespontus himselfe more mad then the sea caused fetters and manacles to be cast into the waters thereof as if he would make it his prisoner binde it with linkes of iron at his pleasure Darius did the like vpon the river Gynde who because it had drowned him a white horse threatned the river to devide it into so many streames so to weaken the strength of it that a woman great with child should goe over it dry-shod It is not vnlike the madnes of our daies who must not be crossed either with wet or dry winds or raines faire or fowle but we fall to repining murmuring banning blaspheming al kind of cursed either speaking or wishing at least But as God asketh Senacherib whome hast thou railed vpon or whome hast thou blasphemed so I aske these meÌ„ whome are you angry with who hath displeased you are you angry with the saw or with him that lifteth it do the winds and seas mooue your impatience they are but servantes vnto that Lord who saith vnto them smite and they do it favor they are obedient Rabsakeh speaketh to the nobles of Ierusalem Esay 36. Am I come hither without the Lord The Lord said vnto me Go vp against this land to destroy it So it is in the force of these creatures wheÌ„ either they drowne or blast or parch to much it is not done without the Lorde the Lord saith vnto them doe thus or otherwise Besides the impieties aboue named it is an error of our times heathenish enough to giue the honor of God in these and the like accidents to witches coÌ„iurers For if ever tempest arise more theÌ„ coÌ„mon experience hath inured vs vnto especially with the havock and losse either of life or limme in our selus or of our cattel or howsings forthwith the iudgmeÌ„t is given as if the God of heaveÌ„ earth were fallen a sleepe minded nothing there is some coniuring Be it so What is coniuring a pestilent commistion conveÌ„tioÌ„ stipulation betwixt men divels MeÌ„ divels what are they looke vpoÌ„ the sorcerers of Aegypt for the one Magorum potestas saith Augustine defecit in muscis they cried in the smallest plague that was sent and past their cunning to remoue this is the figure of the Lord their power is limited therfore Looke vpon
haue knowne it to turne from the holie commaundement given vnto vs. For where as the ende is the perfection of every thing the ende of the relapsed Christians is vvorse then their beginning There is scientia contristans a sorrowfull and wofull knowledge as Bernarde gathered out of the first of Ecclesiastes Hee that encreaseth knowledge encreaseth sorrow It is truest in this sense when wee are able and willing to say vvith the Pharisee are vvee also blinde and yet with our eies open vve runne into destruction The time shall come vvhen many shall say that you may knowe it is the case of a multitude to bee svvallovved into this gulfe Lorde vvee haue hearde thee in our streetes c. and yet their knowledge of Christ shall not gaine his knowledge of them but as straungers and reprobates they shal bee sent from him Our knowledge shall then bee vveighed to the smallest graine but if our holinesse of life put in the other plate of the ballance bee founde to lighte and vnanswerable vnto it our sorrowes shall make it vp Therefore vnlesse vve be still sicke of Adames disease that vvee had rather eate of the tree of knowledge then of the tree of life let vs be carefull of knowledge not only to sobriety but with profitte also that the fruit of a good life bringing eternity of daies to come may waite vpon it Blessed are those soules wherein the tree of syncere knowledge is rooted and the worme of security or contempt hath not eaten vp the fruit the Lord shall water them with the dew of heaven in this life and translate them hereafter as glorious renowned plantes into his heavenly garden THE XII LECTVRE Chap. 1. ver 10. Then were the men exceedinglie afraide and said vnto him why hast thou done this For the men knew that hee had fled from the presence of the Lord because he had told them BEcause the confession in the ninth verse is not so absolute as to aunswere all the questions which were propounded therefore the supply and perfection thereof must bee brought from this tenth wherein we vnderstande that the whole order summe of his disobedience was related albeit not described at large that being a prophet and sent vvith a message to Niniveh hee fled from the presence of the Lord that is cast his commaundementes behinde his backe The connexion then betwixt these two verses is this I am an Hebrew of the happiest people and country vnder heaven I am not ignorant of true religion For I feare the Lorde c. All which is by way of preface for amplifications sake the more to extende the fault mentioned in the words following yet am I fled from the presence of the Lorde I haue taken a froward and vnadvised course to frustrate his businesse With this addition you may shape an answere directly to every question 1. What is thine office shunning the face of God running from his presence contēpt of his voice 2. What is thine occupation not manuary and illiberall not fraudulent deceitfull but a calling immediate from God I stand in his sight as the Angels of heaven doe to heare my charge and when he giveth mee an errande my office is to performe it 3. Whence commest thou from the presence of the Lord from whose lips I received my late commission 4. What is thy country I am an Hebrew 5. Of what people the most scient skilfull in the service of God Thus haue you his whole confession Now he beginneth to be wise and with a prudent simplicity more worth then a thousande tergiversations to returne vnto him by confessing his fault from whome hee was fled by disobedience to recover his lost iustice by accusing himselfe to cast forth the impostumated matter of a dissembling conscience vvhich being concealed had beene presente death to honour the righteous Lorde whom hee had grossely dishonoured and by opening his lippes into an humble confession to shut the mouth of hell which began to open vpon him My sonne saith Iosuah to Achan I beseech thee giue glory to the Lorde God of Israell and make confession vnto him and shewe mee nowe what thou hast done hide it not from mee It is a part of the glory of God to shame our selues I meane to confesse our sinnes which in modesty and shamefastnes we striue to keepe close not onely vnto God against whom onely vvee haue sinned and to whom onlie it appertaineth to saie I haue pardoned I will not destroy but vnto men also either to the magistrate vvho hath authority to examine either to the minister who hath power to binde and loose either to our brethren generallie that the common rule of charity one in supporting the others infirmities may be kept in practise And it is on the other side an iniurie to God not to iustifie his iudgementes nor to acknowledge the conquest of his trueth when it hath prevailed but in a fullen and melancholy passion to strangle it vvithin our bones and never to yeelde the victorie therevnto till as the sunne from out the cloudes so trueth hath made her a way by maine force from out our dissimulations The first degree of felicitie is not to offend the seconde to knowe and acknowledge offences And as men dreame in their sleepe but tell their dreames waking so howsoever wee may sin by carelesnes yet it is an argument of health and recovery to confesse our sinnes For vvhat shal we gaine by dissembling them Wounds the closer they are kept the greater torture they bring sinnes not confessed will bring condemnation vpon vs without confession What followeth When Ionas had confessed his fault 1. They knewe it for his owne mouth hath condemned him They had a presumptuous knowledge before by the eviction of the lottes but now they are out of doubte by his owne declaration So the texte speaketh The men knew that hee had fled from the presence of the Lord because hee had tolde them 2. Their knowledge wrought a feare in them Then were the men exceedingly afraide 3. Their feare brake forth either into an increpation or a wonder at the least They saide why hast thou done this Their knowledge was consequent of force to his confession they could not but be privie therevnto because hee powred not his speech into the aire but into their eares that they might apprehend it But this knowledge of theirs was not a curious and idle knowledge such as those men haue who know onely to know but a pragmaticall knowledge full of labour and businesse it went from their eares to their heartes and made as greate a tempest in their consciences as the winde in the seas it mingled and confounded all their cogitations it kindled a feare within them that sundered their soules and spirites And though their feare before was vehement enough in the fifth verse when neither their tongues were at rest for crying nor their wares had peace from being cast out yet
circle to the centre of it is the absolutest patterne of misery that ever sanke into humane invention For as nothing is more direfull and vnsufferable then hell so nothing more fit in the nature of things wherevnto the hugest tribulation may be compared The word in the Hebrew carryeth it selfe indifferently either for hell or the graue for they are both alvvaies craving Bring in and thence they haue their name the graue is never satisfied with the corpses of the dead nor hell with the soules of the damned that descende into it I rather take it to signifie hell in this place one saith because of the horrour an other for the darkenesse some for the depth some for the hugenesse of the belly of the fish· Venter inferni alvus caeti tanti magnitudiniâ— vt instar obtineat inferni The belly of hell is the belly of the fish so large and capable that it may goe insteeede of hell The belly of the fish saith an other alter mihi infernus erat vvas an other hell vnto mee David vseth the same phrase with Ionas the paines of hel compassed mee aboute and the snares of death over-tooke mee But in an other Psalme more distinctly Thou hast delivered my soule from the â—â—thermost hell What did Ionas or David ever descende into that fâ—ery lake to know the torments thereof Or as Pythagoras ghest at the stature and pitch of Hercules by the length of his foote which was but one part of his body so by a taste of bitternesse incident to this present life haue these conceived what sorrow and vexation is reserved to the wicked for times to come Vndoubtedly the griefe of heart hath beene infinite and as much as mortality coulde ever admitte The mournings of Hannah Iob David Ieremy Ierusalem such as his hart must needes bee harder then the stithy which the smith beateth vpon that readeth the catalogues of their woes and is not moved at them But if all those foresaide agonies and as many besides as ever wrunge and wrested the spirite of man since the breath of life was breathed into him were put togither to parte the tormentes of hell among them parte after parte as if they woulde empty the store-houses and breake the streame of it yet hath the hand of hell an vnmeasurable portion behinde to distribute to her children an endelesse patrimony of howling wringing and gnashing which all the forepassed mischiefes and maimes in this life haue skarse beene shadowes and counterfeites of The belly of hell you heare but in a type or figure where the worde is mistaken and abused and broughte from his proper sense though it be fearefull enough and the extremity of paine hath so beguiled and besotted some I speake it with sobriety in the iudgementes of their mindes that they haue thought it very hell indeede yet woe bee to them ten thousande times more and more then can be imagined by any heart as deepe as a floude whome the belly of very hell hath swallowed and closed vp It is not possible to be spoken it is more vnpossible to be endured yet it must bee endured what the terrours and tortures of hell are Take him saith the gospell binde him hande and foote is it no more but so I â—ictor liga manus goe seargeant binde his hands yes cast him into vtter darkenesse outwarde to those inwarde wherein they delighted before blindnesse of minde and vnderstanding outward because the whole man body and soule shal be folded and comprehended therein outward because in extremitie without the limites and borders of any favour of God to bee extended Where neither the lighte of the sunne moone and starres and much lesse the sight of Gods glorious face shal ever shine There shall bee vveeping and gnashing of teeth there is there shal bee no time set It standeth for all aeternity no myriade of yeares shall ever determine it There the eies shall destill like fountaines and the teeth clatter like armed men and all the partes of the body relinquish their natural vses and spend their cursed time in wretchednesse and confusion These are the straightes indeede not like to those vvhich before I mentioned when handes and feete are so bounde body and soule so hampered and snared not with cordes and withes as Sampsons were but vvith the vnexplicable bandes of longe nighte that not a part of either of the two shal haue any power or activity left to gratifie their owner with neither the minde to contemplate more then endlesse infelicity nor the memory to recounte more then auncient and thrice most hatefull sinnes nor the phantasie to present more then fearefull visions nor the eies to behold more then legions of vncleane spirites nor the eares to heare more then the roarings of findes nor the nostrelles to smell more then the smoake of brimstone nor the handes to catch hold of more then flames of fire nor the feete to walke further then their giues and chaines wil giue them leaue Tormentes invented and inflicted by tyrants haue been most hideous the teeth of vvilde beastes hote glowing ovens and fornaces caldrons of boyling oyle fiery brason bulles powning to death in motters rowling in barrels of nailes rosting vpon spittes boaring with angers parting the nailes and fingers-endes with needles nipping the flesh with pinsers racking and rending a sunder the iointes with wilde horses no pittye no remorse taken whilest there was either flesh or bloud or sinew or bone or I say not member but wound in the body to worke vpon But the torments of hell are in greater variety Had I an hundred tongues and mouthes to hold them A voice of iron yet could I not vnfould them and in an other kinde or rather indeede without kind Ibi ordo nullus horror sempiternus where there is no order but everlasting horrour For who can define either by speech or vnderstanding a thing so infinite so monstrously compact of natures most disparate and repugnant an ende not ending a death not dying vnquenchable fire yet a darkenesse withall to accompanie it more palpable then the fogges of AEgypt and blacker then blacknesse it selfe everlastingly burning yet not consuming So much more vnsufferable then any torments of tortours vpon earth as the inventions of devilles can better devise then man and the malice of devilles better put in execution This this is the cup of the deadliest wine that ever was tasted of these these are those deepe graves in the Psalme from whence there is no rising againe This is the fire that goeth not out the worme that never leaveth gnawing in the last of Esaie These are those waters of gall in Ieremy those fearefull thinges wherewith the Lorde shall pleade against the vnrighteous of the earth as he pleaded sometimes against Gog and Magog in Ezechiell pestilence and bloud and sore raine and huge hailestones and fire and brimstone not such as fell vpon the sisters Sodome and Gomorrhe the witnesses wherof for many succeeding
or more passions if they vvill goe into captivity againe let them goe but they shall not returne if they sell themselues to the will of their enemy let them never hope for a second ransome VVhen my soule fainted In the second circumstance of the first branch wherein is noted the affection of his soule I will rather marke the efficacie of the worde heere brought than make discourse vpon it The very noting of the worde is discourse enough The wordes that the holy ghost vseth are not vaine vvordes such as are vsed by men to deceiue with the examination search wherof yeeldeth no profit but he that wil weigh them aright must not only view the outwarde face of the whole sentence at large but sucke out the iuice and bloude of every severall vvorde therein contained The extremitye of the soule of Ionas seemeth to bee very greate because there is no little trouble and care how to expresse it The Septuagints render it an eclipse or if you will a dereliction and death of the soule Calvin a convolution or folding vp togither Tremelius an overvvhelming Ierome a streightning or compacting into a close roume Pomeran a despairing VVhatsoever it is Rabbi Kimhi affirmeth that the vvorde is never vsed but of greate miserie happily such as shall accompanie the last times when men shall bee at their wittes endes for feare and their heartes shall faile them because of troubles Nowe whither you saie that his soule forsooke him as if it were and there was deliquium animae a disparition of it for a time as if it vvere not like the state of Eutychus in the Actes who was taken vp for deade though his life remayned in him or vvhither it were wrapt and vvounde vvithin it selfe that her owne house was a prison vnto her and shee had no power to goe foorth no list to thinke of heaven no minde to aske the counsaile of GOD or man as vvhen a birde is snared the more it laboureth the harder it tieth it selfe and though it vse the legges or the vvinges it vseth them to a further hinderaunce so all the thoughtes that the soule of Ionas thought were not to ease the hearte but more to perplexe it and all fell backe againe vpon himselfe or whither the soule were overwhelmed vvithin him with her owne weighte as one that shoulde gather stones for his owne graue or that it was pinched and pressed within a narrowe place that all those former impedimentes promontories and barres of the earth did not imprison him so close as his owne feare or whatsoever it were besides what was it else but either the messenger and fore-runner or a neare companion to that vnnaturall and vngratious sinne which wee haue often alreadye smitten at with the sworde of Gods spirite accursed desperation Howe is the golde become drosse howe is the soule of man turned into a carkeise The chaunge is marvailous That that was given to quicken the bodie and to put life into it is most dull and liuelesse it selfe That that was given to giue liberty explication motion agilitie and arte to every parte of the bodye is nowe the greatest burthen that the body hath If I shall giue the reason heereof it is that which Bernarde alleageth in a Sermon The reasonable soule of man hath two places an inferiour vvhich it governeth the bodie a superiour vvherein it resteth GOD vvhich is the same in substance that Augustine had before delivered in his nineteenth treatise vpon Saint Iohn it quickneth and it selfe is quickened VVherefore if that better life vvhich is from aboue relinquish the soule vvith the comfortes and aides of GODS blessed spirite hovve is it possible but that the soule should also relinquish her body with the offices of her life This is the reason then that the soule faineteth shee first dyeth vpwardes then dovvne-wardes and invvardely to her selfe Shee forgetteth her maker and preserver and hee likevvise striketh her vvith amazement and confusion in all her powers that shee lyeth as it vvere in a traunce and knovveth not howe to apply them to their severall and proper functions Nowe therefore if the floudes and waues of the sea wherewith hee was embraced on every side had beene as kinde vnto him as ever were his mothers armes and those ragged endes of the mountaines like pillowes of downe vnder his bones if the promontories and barres of the earth had vnbarred themselues vnto him of their owne accorde like those dores of the prison in the Actes to let him out yet if the soule within him did remaine thus fettered and gived with the chaines of her owne confusion and all the devises and counsailes of her heart were rather hinderances than helpes vnto her and her greatest enmitie or at least her least friendship came from her owne house that either shee thought nothing or all that shee thought was but the imagination of a vaine thing I would not wish her greater harme Hee wanteth no other miserie that is plagued with a fainting soule Aske not the malice of the sea the malice of the lande the malice of hell against him vvhom the vntovvardenesse and distruste of his ovvne soule hath beaten downe The thirde circumstaunce maketh mention of the subiect or place vvherein his soule fainted that you may knovve there is no power in man to vndoe such implicite cordes and to loose the bandes of sorrowe and death vnlesse some vertue from vvithout set too an helping hande The sense is verie plaine that in himselfe his soule fainted that is there vvas no domesticall earthly naturall helpe that coulde release him but vvhen his father mother friendes lande sea his soule all had forsaken him the Lorde tooke him vp and gaue him better hope For vvho should restore to libertie a soule confounded as this was and re-deliver it to her former abilities teach her to vnderstande arighte prudentlie to deliberate assuredly to hope who reconcile a man fallen out with himselfe and make peace within his borders or rather reviue and recover a man fallen from himselfe but hee who is said to order a good mans goinge and to bee a GOD of order not of confusion VVhen the earth was vvithout forme and voide and darkenesse vpon the deepe and neither heaven nor earth lande nor water day nor night distinguished who fashioned the partes of that vnshapen Chaos separated light from darkenesse and brought the creature into a comely proportion but even the same LORDE who finding this wastnesse and informity in the soule of Ionas made it perfit againe It is evident in the nexte wordes For marke the connexion VVhen my soule fainted within me I remembred the Lorde How is it possible for did his soule faint and was it in maner no soule vnto him as it fareth with some who seeme for a space to bee deade and their spirites to haue forsaken them was all the strength thereof consumed stifled choked given over within him and had hee a memorie
at the commandement of the Lorde they iournyed and at the commaundement of the Lorde they kepte the Lordes watch by the hande of Moses O happy and heavenly sound of wordes where the lustes of their owne eies and counsailes of their owne hearts were displaced and the commaundement of the Lorde in all thinges for going and tarrying from a day to a month and so to a yeare was only observed That which David demaunded in behalfe of a yong man wee may aske of yong and old and all sorts of men In quo corriget c Wherewithall shall a yong man amende his waies or an old man his or theirs the Prince subiect noble vnnoble Priest prophet for we are all crooked and haue neede to be rectified But wherewithall even by ruling our selues after thy worde Whither shall we else goe as Peter akt his master in the gospell Thou hast the words of eternall life not only the words of authority to commaunde and binde the conscience nor the wordes of wisedome to direct nor the wordes of power to convert nor the woordes of grace to comforte and vpholde but the wordes of eternall life to make vs perfitely blessed And therefore wo to the foolish prophets that follow their owne spirites and prophecie out of their owne heartes so likewise wo to the foolish people that follow their own spirits walke by the dimme and deceitfull light of their owne devises I may say vnto such as Ieremy to their like in the eighth of his prophecie How doe yee saie we are wise and the law of the Lord is with vs for he answereth them with wonder and demonstration to the world that they were to senselesse to builde vpon so false a grounde Loe they haue reiected the worde of the Lorde and what wisedome is in them The messenger that went to Micheas to fetch him before Ahab and Iehosaphat might sooner haue craved his head and obtained it then one word from his mouth contratying the word of the Lord. He spake him very faire in a fowle matter Beholde nowe the wordes of the prophetes declare good vnto the king with one accorde Let thy worde therefore I pray thee he like the word of one of them and speake thou good But the prophet wisely aunswered him knowing that the best speech is that not which pleaseth the humours of men but the minde of GOD As the Lorde liveth though I die for it my selfe whatsoever the Lorde saith vnto me that will I speake So like wise whatsoever the Lorde saith vnto vs that let vs doe and let vs learne how dangerous it is to swerue from his will I say not by open rebellion as Ionas did but in the least commaundemente by the smart of Moses and Aaron who being willed in the twenteth of Numbers onely to speake vnto the rocke and to vse no other meanes saue the word of their mouthes and it shoulde giue water vnto them because they smote it with the rodde and smote it twice both to shew their distrust of the promise of God and to vtter their impacience they were also smitten with the rod of his lips and had a iudgement denounced against them that they should not bringe the people into the land which hee had promised vnto them Now Niniveh was a great and an excellent citty of three daies iourney Wee haue heard of the greatnesse of Niniveh twice before once so late that a man woulde thinke it were needelesse so presentlye to repeate it Howbeit we shall heare it againe and this third time in an other manner then before forciblie broughte in as it vvere and breaking the hedge of the sentence and with greater pompe of wordes and every place of her ground exactly measured vnto vs. Ionas was going apace to Niniveh The history was running onwards as fast and keeping her course And it may be the mindes of those that heare or reade the history passe too quickly lightly over the sequele thereof They heare of the greatnes of Niniveh as that Queene did of the greatnesse of Salomon but they will not beleeue howe greate it is vnlesse they may see it with their eies and haue a table or map thereof laide before them at lardge This is the reason that first the vvisedome of God interrupteth the sentence and maketh an hole as it were in the midst thereof as God in the side of Adam and closeth not vp the flesh againe till the greatnes of Niniveh be thoroughly known Now Niniveh c. That is I must tell you by the way once againe for feare of forgetting I will rarher hinder the history a while then not put you in mind of a matter worthy your gravest attnetiō That Niniveh was a great cittie yea very great a citty though lent to men yet better beseeming the maiesty of God so stately and excellent that we find not in earth wherewith to match it and somewhat to say in particular not filling your ere 's alone vvith generall tearmes the very vvalke of their borders will aske the travaile of three daies A great and excellent cytty or exceedingly great The mother tongue wherein the history was written hath it thus a cytty great to God The like maner of speech is vsed by Rachel Gen. 30. Whē Bilha her maid had the secōd time borne a son to Iacob Leah ceast to be fruitful with the wrestlings of God haue I wrestled with my sister and gotten the vpper-hand that is with wrestlings aboue the nature and reach of man I take the meaning of the phrase to be this if life finite and infinite haue any proportion Either that Niniveh was as greate for a cittie as God is great for a God or that it surpassed so farre the nature of created and inferiour thinges that nothinge but the most excellent himselfe must bee named vvith it or happily as Troy vvas feigned to bee the buildinge of the Goddes so no worke-man in heaven or earth vvas worthye to bee credited vvith the building of Niniveh but the chiefe of all Others do otherwise interpret it I knowe That therefore it is called a cittye to GOD because there was no idoll in it but it was truely and properly dedicated to the service of one onely God whereas the contrary is manifest both by the multitude of her fornications mentioned in the thirde of Nahum and by Nisroch their false God which Senacharib was worshipping in the temple of Niniveh when his two sonnes slew him or because it was in especiall regarde with GOD in that hee sent a prophet to reclaime it and to plucke it foorth of the fire of his intended iudgement whereas Bethleem the least amongest the thousandes of Iudah and but an handefull to Niniveh and Bethania the towne of Marie and Martha though more tender in the eies of GOD for the birth doctrine and miracles of more then a prophet were never so called Vndoubtedly the reason