spilt as is sowen in that time and if besides occasions of the world do keep us from hearing or hinder us in preparing for it what in this case is bestowed on the world is stollen from God and our owne soules And therefore in the Decalogue where God commanded the Jews to sanctifie the seventh day as a day of rest for Gods service hee telleth them that they had six daies allowed theÌ„ to do their own works in but the seventh was a Sabbath of rest in which being freed from the world they should bee at leasure for God For better keeping of which day Moses commanded them that the day before the Sabbath they should (a) Exod. 16.23 bake what they had to bake and seeth what they had to seeth that so they might have no businesse of their own to do when they were to keepe Gods holy day And from hence it was that the Jews called the sixth day of the week (b) Matt. 27 6â— Luk. 23.54 the preparation of the Sabbath Some have thought that this was a peculiar title of the day going before the Passeover and sure there is reason to think that it was in an especiall maner used before that day because as that (c) Joh. 19.31 Sabbath day was an high day so this preparation day should be observed with more solennitie and care that it might usher in that great day with the more honour But yet I take it every Sabbath day had his preparation day going before according to that rule of Moses mentioned before And so (d) Parasceve Graeca vox est Latinè dicas praeparationem Eo nomine Judaei vocabant sextam Sabbathi seu sextam Hebdomadae diem eò quòd illo die pararent necessaria omnia ad vivendum die subsequenti ne qua re otium Sabbathi violare cogerentur Brugens in Matt 27.62 Vox Parasceve qua Romani hanc solam feriam sextam compellant communis est omnibus totius anni feriis sextis Parasceve verò praeparatio interpretatur quo nomine Judaei qui inter Graecos conversabantur sextam Sabbathi quae nunc à nobis sexta feria nominatur appellabaâ—â— c. Antiq. Liturg. tom 2. de feria sexta pag. 925. Vide Ca aeuÌ„ in Cassian Instit lib. 5. cap. 24 pag. 12. learned men generally do affirm Answerably whereunto and as I take it in imitation thereof the Christian Church hath beene accustomed to keepe Saterday half holy day that in the afternoon they might ridd by-businesses out of the way and by the evening service might prepare their mindes for the Lords day then ensuing Which custome and usage of Gods people as I will not presse it upon any mans conscience as a necessary dutie so every man will grant mee that Gods people as well Christian as Jewish have thought a time of preparation most fit for the well observing of Gods holy day And upon this ground I may be bolde to advise every good Christian that before the exercises of the LORDS day he will take care to lay aside worldly occasions and to cleare his minde from the thought of them that so he may have nothing to do with the world while hee is to converse with God nor bee distracted with earthly thoughts when hee is to bee busied about heavenly things In regard whereof I cannot but blame their loosenesse who follow the businesses of their trade in the morning of the Lords day or spend other parts thereof in talking with their servants about the disposing of the next weeks work as if they meant to make the Lords day a preparation day for the week following By which meanes it falleth out not seldome that such people come tardy to Church and heare without attention when they are come and go away without profit when all is done I like not their rigour who allow no word nor thought on a Sabbath day but such as is spirituall nor can I approve their loosenes who take so much libertie for themselves as hindereth any substantiall dutie of Gods service More I say not at this time grant mee but thus much and then ye will not denie but so much preparation is necessary as may make us fit for the duties of Gods service and may make the exercises of an holy day profitable for our soules II. A second preparative duty for right hearing is that wee refresh the body with seasonable moderat comforts that the senses spirits being refreshed the minde may bee made more chearefull in Gods service For our soules work as our bodies are fitted for them and the reason is because the senses of the body are the servants of the soule the spirits are the instrumeÌ„ts by which it worketh Now if a master-workman doe want servants to assist him he will do but a little work and if hee want tooles or have none but blunt ones he can do no work or none to any pupose And so if the bodily senses bee decaied and the spirits wasted the minde cannot be free or forward in good duties And consequently if we desire that our soules may be fresh lively in hearing or praying or praising God it will be necessary that the body bee kept in vigour by its usuall refreshings And these refreshings are two especially moderat diet and seasonable sleepe In these I require two things 1. that there bee a competent use of them allowed to the body and 2. that this use be moderat and seasonable And this the Apostle meant when hee said Make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof Rom. 13.14 for by these words (a) Cassian Inst Ib. 5 c. 8. pag. 116. saith a good writer non curam ejus omnimodis interdixit sed ut in desideriis fieret denegavit He did not forbid all care but denied the fulfilling of its lusts Voluptuosam ademit diligentiam carnis gubernationem vitae necessariam non exclusit hee tooke away the sensuall care of the flesh but not the right ordering of it according to the course of nature 1. It is necessary that there bee allowed a reasonable use of them that the senses may bee lively and active for their work For wee read of the Egyptian yong man that by long fasting hee was ready to die but when he had eaten some food then saith the Text his spirit came againe to him 1 Sam. 30.12 And so Ionathans eies were enlightened by eating a little honey in his hunger 1 Sam. 14.27 And againe if the people had beene suffered to eate of the spoile of their enemies there had beene a farre greater slaughter among the Philistines ver 30. (b) Efficaciùs semper corde concipitur quicquid sensim absque nimio labor corporis intimatur Cassian Collat. 14 cap. 19. pag. 651. And so in this case sleepe and food are necessary refreshings that wee may bee chearefull in Gods service And the reason is cleare in experience For we see that the famished body is unfit for worke
then by ill meanes to increase their wealth Blessed are ye that are impoverished for Christs sake for great is your reward in heaven And so of them that refuse not a nickname or reproach for profession of the truth Blessed are yee that are reproached for Christs sake for great is your reward in heaven And to them who had rather lose a preferment or a great friend then offend God and a good conscience Blessed are ye that are stripped of your friends and means for Christs sake for great c. And to them that had rather endure sicknesse and death then seek to wisards and soothsayers for recovery of health Blessed are ye that are tortured with sicknesse and diseases for Christs sake for great c. And so I would say as by the like reason I may say of all others who prefer the peace of their consciences before the profits and comforts of the world They are blessed even while they are distressed for Christs sake for great is their reward in heaven And this how should is comfort all disconsolate soules who in the midst of troubles serve God without fainting A learned and holy man of God when a friend of his was pained with a grievous sicknesse wrote to comfort him in these words * A letter written to ones friend in his sicknesse in the midst of Master Smiths Sermons I marvell not said he that you are pained for you are sick but I marvell that you are impatient who have learned to know Christ and to professe his Gospell For tell me Patient said he how many stripes is heaven worth And then turning his speech unto God hee prayeth Teach the Happy O Lord to see his happinesse through troubles Thus hee comforted his sick friend and thus every Christian that desireth to serve God may comfort himselfe in sicknesse and travells and troubles let him but think how much heaven is worth toward which he is sailing in this tempest and it will glad his soule in the midst of his greatest agonies God give us grace to make use of such comforts that in the end we may partake of his glory CAP. V. Gods word hath vertue in it to make a man blessed Cap. 5 OUr Lord in his correction of the womans speech saith of the true blessednesse that it is to be had by hearing and doing of Gods word and thence it followeth that Gods word hath vertue in it to make a man blessed This is further proved to be so 1. By Testimonies of Scriptures such as these are S. Iohn saith of his Gospell These things are written that ye might beleeve that Iesus is the Christ the son of God and that beleeving ye might have life through his name Ioh. 20.31 In these words S. Iohn telleth us that he wrote his Gospell for this end that men by it might be brought to beleeve in Christ and to be saved And from hence it followeth that either the holy Ghost propounded to himselfe a wrong end in delivering this Gospell which no Christian dareth imagin or else that this Gospell hath vertue in it to bring men to salvation Again S. Paul saith of the Gospel of Christ that it is the power of God to salvation to every one that beleeveth Rom. 1.16 And S. Iames exhorteth Receive with meeknesse the ingraffed word which is able to save your soules Iames 1.21 And our Saviour to the like purpose Search the Scriptures saith hee for in them yee think ye have eternall life and they are they that testifie of me In all which sayings there is a saving vertue ascribed unto the Scriptures and in this last is intimated unto us that it was the known opinion of Gods people in those dayes Yee think in them ye have eternall life saith Christ It is as if he had said not I onely but your selves also do agree that eternall life is to bee found in the Scriptures and therefore there is reason yee should search them 2. The same truth may be gathered from the Titles which are given to Gods word It is called the Gospell of the Grace of God Acts 20.24 and the Gospell of the Kingdome Mat. 4.23 and the Gospell of salvation Ephes 1.13 Implying that the grace of God and the Kingdome of heaven and salvation is there to be found and from thence to be derived Again it is called the word of Gods grace Acts 14.3 and the word of reconciliation 2 Cor. 5.19 and the word of salvation Acts 13.26 and 1 Pet. 1.23 the immortall seede by which we are new born All which names and titles given to the word what doe they else import but that therein there is meanes contained to work grace and reconciliation and eternall life This is proofe enough for the point yet it will bee worth the labour to consider how Gods word may bee said to contain this vertue and wherein it sheweth it selfe And thereto the answer is that this vertue of Gods word sheweth it selfe by three things 1. By teaching the ready way to blessednesse 2. By perswading men to walk in that way And 3. by enabling them with grace both to beleeve what it teacheth and to do what it perswadeth I. It teacheth the right way or it teacheth what to beleeve how to live and by what meanes we may be saved So S. Paul saith of this word that it is able to make one wise to salvation through faith in Christ Iesus and that it is profitable for doctrin for reproofe for correction and for instruction in righteousnesse that the man of God may be perfect throughly furnished to all good works 2 Tim. 3.15 16 17. In these words we have three things to be noted for this purpose First there is the main scope and end for which the Scripture serveth namely to make one wise to salvation Secondly there are the particular uses of this word by which it maketh men wise to salvation and they bee these first it is profitable for doctrine to teach whatsoever we neede to beleeve Secondly for reproofe or to confute and detect all contrary errors that gainsay the doctrine of truth Thirdly for correction or to reprove all sins that are against Gods will manifested in his word Fourthly for instruction in righteousnesse or to inform us in every duty belonging to our callings In summe it teacheth the truth which we ought to beleeve and the duties that we must perform with conviction and confutation of whatsoever is contrary to either of these two so that wee may neither be misled with any error against the faith nor misperswaded to any sin against Gods Law These be uses for which the Scripture is profitable Thirdly there is the sufficiency or ability which men gain by these uses and that is that the Man of God even he that is bound to know and doe most may want no direction that may serve either for instructing of his faith or ordering of his life Now by all this we have a punctuall and plentifull
men from sinne and to procure their pardon and consequently to make them blessed For blessed is he saith David whose transgression is forgiven and whose sinne is covered Psal 32.1 And thus much for Testimonies II. Secondly the same truth is proved by the constant practice and custome of Gods Church who from time to time have still caused the Scriptures to be read to the people according as was prescribed by Moses in the Law So for example Moses who wrote that Law for others did observe it himselfe He tooke the booke of the covenant and read in the audience of the people as himselfe saith Exod. 24.7 Ioshua did the like He read all the words of the Law the blessings and the cursings according to all that is written in the booke of the Law There was not a word of all that Moses commanded which Ioshua read not before all the Congregation of Israel with the women the little ones and the strangers that were conversant among them Iosh 8.34 35. And in the new Testament it is further said that Moses was read in the Synagogues every Sabbath day Act. 15.21 and chap. 13.27 the like is said of the Prophets that they were read every Sabbath day and v. 15. there is mention made of reading both of them together After the reading of the Law and the Prophets the Rulers of the Synagogue sent unto them to wit to Paul and his fellows being now present at their service in the Synagogue as it is vers 14. and invited them to use some exhortation unto the people By which passage it appeareth to have been the usuall custome of that Church that both that Law of Moses and the writings of the Prophets were read to the people for their instruction Which custome the a Buxtorf de Abbrev. Hebr. tit de Paraschis pag. 249. Jo. Gerhard Epist dedic praefixaÌ„ homiliis dominical Seraâ— in Maccab. pag. 613 614. Lorâ—n in Deuter. 31.10 11 12 13. learned tell us was observed in this maner The Law that is the five books of Moses they divided into 53. Sections and every week they read one of them for the first lesson that so once a yeare they might reade it all over And out of the Prophets they gathered as many Sections which were of like argument to those of the Law and those they read as second lessons answerable in matter to the former These Sections and lessons both in the Law and the Prophets are distinguished and noted out in the Hebrew Bible by which every one may see what portions of the Bible were read every Sabbath to the people The like custome hath beene observed in the Christian Churches also b Cassian Institut li. 2. c. 6. Gaz. ibid. Cassian telleth us that in those ancient times the Religious Fathers after the reading of the Psalmes did add geminas Lectiones unam veteris aliam novi Testamenti 2. Lessons one out of the old an other out of the new Testament By which words wee may learne that the custome now used in our Churâ—hes was begun in the time of the primitive Church onely with this difference that whereas we now a daies do constantly reade our lessons one out of the olde and an other out of the new they on the Saterdaies and Sundaies for in those olde times they kept both of them as holy dayes appointed and read both the lessons out of the new Testament By all which it appeareth that the Church of God in all ages have still beene accustomed to reade the Text of the Scriptures to the people the reason cannot bee imagined to be any other then this that the people by hearing the Scriptures read might learne to serve God aright and by his service might obtaine eternall life And this proveth that in all ages the hearing of the Scriptures read hath been esteemed as an ordinary way to blessednes immortal life III. Thirdly this point may further bee proved and made more cleare by considering the benefits and helps that a good Christian may reape by hearing the word read And they bee these and such like 1. It serveth to acquaint the people of God with the history of the Chuch and Gods dealing with it For example they may heare in the olde Testament how God created the world punished Adam and Eve for their disobedience drowned the whole world for their overflowing sins excepting Noah and his househould whom he had found upright in that wicked generation how hee destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone from heaven delivered the people of Israel out of the hand of the Egyptians led them through a vaste wildernes into a fruitfull land dryed up the river Jordan and the red Sea to make a passage for his chosen ones with many mo such occurrences which ech one may learne by the hearing of the Text read and by them may understand the goodnesse of God the ingratitude of most men and the dutie of all with many others points of instructions conducing towards a blessed life Againe in the new Testament if men heare the first chapters of S. Matthew read they will learne that CHRIST our LORD was borne of a Virgin persecuted by Herod honored by the wise men and miraculously preserved against those that sought his life If they proceede further to the following chapters there they will heare what miracles our Lord wrought what doctrines of religion he taught what tentations he endured and how hee lived from the Cradle to the Crosse And if they continue their hearing till the end of the Gospell bee finished they may acquaint themselves with the maner of his Passion and his Buriall and his Resurrection and his Ascension into heaven all maine points of the Christian Faith and such as every one ought to beleeve for the saving of his soule And yet further by hearing the history of the Acts and the Epistles of the Apostles they may see how the Apostles preached to the Gentiles planted the Churches healed the sick converted the Nations and suffered great wrongs for their masters sake The knowledge of all which will both guide us in the way to heaven and spurre us forward to go on towards eternall life For as David after hee had rehearsed Gods dealings with the ancient Fathers concludeth in the end of all Whoso is wise and will observe these things they shall understand the loving kindnesse of the Lord. Ps 107.43 So may I say of these and the like passages in Gods word that whoso is wise and when hee hath heard them will consider them they shall understand the wisedome and power and goodnesse and providence of God in the ordering of his Church together with his justice severitie against all them that would not be reclaimed and amended and hereby receive instruction for their owne soules 2. Secondly the hearing of the Scriptures read may serve to teach us many necessary duties of piety and an holy life Every one of us may learne
state a controversie and to give rules of a godly life then any other can do who hath not studied the points aforehand and turned over his bookes for his better information But if there bee any of us preachers who studie the world on the week daies and then preach on Gods day what commeth next to our lips I speake not of such nor dare I commend them for men that may direct Gods people in the way of godlinesse no nor them neither who value their labours by the number of Sermons which they preach rather then by the solid notes of instruction which they do deliver Such men may please idle professors who make their religion an eare-labour as Papists make their prayers a lip-labour But understand me of such preachers as besides their former studies do bestow the weeke dayes for provision on the Lords day and no man will denie but such are more able to teach godlinesse then they who have spent all the week on profane or worldly occasions There is great reason then to thinke that the learned preacher may teach us more of Gods truth then possibly we could learne by our selves And out of all this wee may observe the great mercy of God towards us and his great love to our soules who hath provided such varietie of meanes to bring us to happinesse and eternall glory First he hath given us opportunitie of reading his word at home in a knowen tongue and then hee hath provided us meanes that wee may heare it read in the publik congregation and lastly that both the publik and privat reading may bee made more profitable and usefull hee sendeth his preachers to guide us in the right understanding and applying of his word as he sent Philip to the Eunuch to instruct him in the faith And if after all this wee neglect so great salvation offered unto us how shall we escape the just judgment of God who commanded the unprofitable servant to bee cast into outer darknesse where is weeping and gnashing of teeth Surely for such a neglect God complaineth of the Jews as of men that had despised both his mercies and their owne comforts I saith he have written unto them the great things of my Law but they were counted as a strange thing Hos 8.12 Where 1. when he saith I have written the great things of my Law he putteth them in minde that his word is not a thing of small value or not worth the reckoning and esteeme But as Moses said of his Law It is no vaine thing for you because it is your life Deuter. 32.47 So our God telleth his people that his word was no vaine or idle thing but the things therein contained were great things matters of life and eternall happinesse 2. When hee saith I have written unto them these great things he implieth that these weightie things are hard at hand lying by them in store that they may take up the Bible and read and learne those rules and directions that may carie them into heaven 3. When he addeth But they these great things of my Law were counted as a strange thing he upbraideth the people with their great negligence or contempt rather that having such a faire opportunity they despised so great salvation as if it were a matter that concerned them not And so it will bee with us Christians if we neglect either to read Gods word by our selves in privat or to heare it read in publik now that we have it so fairely and legibly written for our uses God may chide us for our contempt of his mercies that upon better grounds and with more reason then hee did chide the Jews For 1. he wrote indeede great things for them but they are farre greater things that he hath written for us They had the books of the old Testamēt wherein CHRIST and salvation were scantly and obscurely taught but we besides those books have the writings of the Evangelists Apostles wherein CHRIST JESUS is crucified before our eyes wee are brought into the Sanctum Sanctorum the Holy of Holies that wee may see God as it were with open face In respect of which cleare light it is that Kings and Prophets have desired to see those things which wee see and have not seene them Nay the very Angels in heaven did desire to looke into those things 1. Pet. 1.12 which are made knowen by the preaching of the Gospell Besides these greater things of the Gospell are conveyed to us in a more easie and lesse costly way then to our fathers of olde They had Gods word penned by the hand of a Scrivener which required much paines in the writer and great cost in the Buyer and some skill in the reader of it But since God hath sent printing into the world we may purchase the whole Bible at a lesse price then our fathers could have obtained S. Matthews Gospell alone and every boy girle may reade with readinesse and speede that which the learned might stumble or stopp at The summe is God offereth us a greater treasure at an easier rate and if now wee despise or set light by such a mercie God may complaine of us with more reason then hee did of the Jews I have written to them the great things of my Law but they are counted with them as a strange thing Againe God upbraideth the Jews for an other contempt of the like mercie The Lord saith Jeremie sent unto you his servants the Prophets rising earely and sending them but ye have not hearkened nor inclined your eare to heare Ier. 25.4 Hee meaneth that besides the Law written hee sent the Prophets to preach and explaine and applie that Law unto them but they contemned all as things of no value And is it not so with us too God hath sent preachers in abundance and what use wee have made of their labours let him judge that knoweth what our dealings be I onely will say how shall wee escape Gods anger if we neglect so great salvation It importeth us then to make use of these mercies which being used aright may help to make us blessed and being neglected may breede no small danger For our better direction wherein besides what hath beene said already wee may take these further observations or rules If God give us the opportunitie of these helps together as to most of us he hath we must not separate in our practice those things which God hath joyned together in his precept It is our dutie to reade the Scriptures at home and it is no lesse our duty to heare them read in the Church and a duty also it is to heare the word preached All of them have their use all of them are commended to us in the Scriptures all of them are availeable for salvation and consequently all of them are to be made use of by us in the fitt season If any man shall sett Gods ordinances together by the eares and is either so addicted to privat reading
vim atque virtutem quà m dictatoris cogitent dignâ— tatem Salvâ—an contra Avarit epist ad Salonium pag. 9. So weak saith he are mens judgements now a dayes that they which read the works of other men do not so much consider what it is which they reade as whose it is nor do they weigh so much the force of the speech as the autoritie of the speaker But Ludovicus Vives a late learned men laieth the fault of this error upon the factious minds of men who partially addict themselves to one side (b) Videmus hodie rem potiùs affectibus geri sicut in partibus factionibus Civitatum quà m ratione judicio Sic Judaeus adhaeret mordicus suae secta sic Saracenus caeteri quoniam eas à parentibus acceperunt Nec excutiunt quò meus ratio si aprè in confilium adhiberentur eos essent tandem perducturae Ludov. Vives de Verit. Fidei in praef vide pag. 357. Now a dayes saith he the businesse of religion is managed by passion rather then by reason as it usually happeneth in the faction and siding of Cities The Iew adhereth to his sect and so doth the Saracen and others to theirs because they have beene so bred and taught by their parents nor do they consider whither reason and judgement would conduct them if they were admitted for counsellors to advise with We may well joyne both these causes together and say that faction and siding in matters of religion doth so possesse mens minds that they give not themselves leave to use reason and judgement for discerning of the truth For as Tullie observed long agoe the (c) Obest pleruÌ„que iis qui discere volunt autoritas coruÌ„ qui se docere profitentur desinuÌ„t enim suum judiciuÌ„ adhibere id habent ratum quod ab eo quem probant judicatuÌ„ vident Cicer. de nat DeoruÌ„ paulò post principium pag. 197. lin 4. and multas falsas malas opiniones bene volentiâ— erga dicentes eorumque apud nos autoritate inducti in errorem amplectimur Plutarch de Auditione pag. 41. autority of the Teacher doth many times hinder the profiting of his Scholars For while they take all for good which he saith desinunt adhibere judicium suum they forbeare to use their owne judgment Nor saith he was it a commendable practice in the Pythagorians who being demanded a reason of their sayings alledged the autority of their Master and thought it a reason good inough if they could say Ipse dixit Our master said so Tantum opinio praejudicata poterat ut etiam sine ratione valeret autoritas Such was their prejudicat opinion of their Masters worth that with them his autoritie was sufficient without reasoÌ„ Thus wise men in all ages have thought theÌ„ unprofitable scholars who have factiously and partially addicted themselves to some Masters of their own liking therefore I may upoÌ„ good ground say that such are bad hearers or such as heare Gods word amisse Thus much for the first sort of partiall hearers 2. The second sort are they who will heare with all readinesse and attention till the Preacher touch upon their owne sore but their darling sin is a noli me tangere touch that and ye touch the aple of their eie Such a one was Herod who heard John Baptist gladly when he heard him did many things according to his direction But when he tould the King It is not lawfull for thee to have thy brothers wife then insteede of hearing him and following his directions he first sent him to the prison and then to the block Mar. 6.17 18 20 c. And as bad or worse were they who said to the Seers See not and to the Prophets Prophecie not unto us right things speake unto us smooth things Prophecie deceits Isa 30.10 Where we may not so construe the Text as if this people did utter those expresse words they were not so shamelesse or so devoid of reason But it is the maner of Scriptures to put into mens mouths those words which are agreeable to their thoughts according to which rule when the Prophet saith they said Prophecy not right things we must understand him to meane that such were their thoughts as might very fitly bee expressed by these words or that they did in effect as good as say so for either they maligned and opposed the Prophets when they tould them of their sins or else they withdrew their maintenance and favours from them but if any would sing a Nightingalls song and speak that which either might countenance or did not controll their ill-dealings hee was the man that carried away all the favour And like to these were those of whom Micah speaketh If a man saith hee walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie saying I will prophecy to thee of strong drink he shall even bee the Prophet of this people Micah 2.11 Hee meaneth that such a Teacher would be the onely man of account with them they would even put him into their bosom Thus it hath beene in old time and the like may be observed to bee usuall among us at this day For there is no man who is resolved to go on in a sin but he is grieved when hee heareth it gainesaid by the Preacher nor is there any man lightly but will bee glad to heare that sin gently handled wherewith himselfe is delighted Of Ahab wee read that hee hated Micaiah because he never prophecied good but evill unto him that is hee preached that which pleased him not And so wee see it to happen still wicked men will hate the Preacher who telleth them the truth This hatred against the true Prophets as it is seene in all sorts of carnall men so more especially in these two sorts of sinners 1. in them who bee in higher place 2. in them who contribute to the Preachers maintenance for the one sort think themselves priviledged from reproof by their greatnesse above him and the other sort by their well-deservings towards him And therefore as the first do over-aw him by their power that for feare of displeasure hee may holde his peace so the second sort do over-aw him by their purse that for feare of losse he may forbeare them In either kindes we have an example in the Scriptures the former in Ieroboam the King of Israel and the later in Balak the King of Moab I. The first is in Ieroboam of him and his Courtiers wee read that when Amos preached against them for their idolatrie Amaziah the priest of Bethel said unto Amos O thou Seer go flee thee away into the land of Iudah and there eat bread and prophecy there But Prophecy not any more at Bethel for it is the Kings Chappell and it is the King Court Amos 7.12 Note heere 1. what Amaziah permitteth him to do and that is to prophecy in Iudah there to speake his mind if he pleased 2. What hee forbiddeth him to
thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument For they heare thy words but they do them not Ezek. 33.30 31 32. Where wee may note that though this people shewed great zele in flocking to the Prophets Sermons Yet all that they cared for was to please themselves in his words not unlike them who heare a piper or a fidler because they delight in the musick This fault was in (a) Aug. confess l. 5. c. 13 14 pag. 43. S. Aug. before his conversion he went to hear S. Ambrose not for any care of his doctrine but for love to his eloquence and rhetorike And such also was the fault of those Monks of whom (b) Qâ—â—m fratribus quibusdam de rebus necessariis ac spiritualibus disputaâ—et eosque videret lethaeo quodam sopore demergi otiosam repente faâ—ulam introduxit c. Cassian de Instit li 5 c. 31. See Eras Chiliad p. 325. de Asin umâ—ra Cassian reporteth that while the Abbot was discoursing about points of faith and religion fell into a dead sleepe but when the old father meaning to correct their drowsines began to tell them a merie tale of some idle fiction then they rubbed their eies and lifted up their eares and heard him with great attention And not much unlike is the fault of many in our daies For some like no Sermons but such as are stuffed with fine words and abound with wittie turnings which make musick to the eares like the gallants of our time who like no clothes but those which are cut and jagged and according to the new fashion Others if they heare a Preacher that hath both eloquence and good matter they single out the rhetorick for their use and passe over the matter as unworthy of their noting These kind of hearers * Plutarch de audit p. 41. Plutarch compareth to women who gather out of their gardens such flowers as may make a nosegay or adorne the windows of their house and I may not unfitly compare them to some Gentlemen among us who with great cost and care plant Tulips and strange flowers which delight the eie with varietie of colours but respect not either pott herbs that may serve for meate or physicall flowers that are fit for medicine But good hearers saith Plutarch are more like to Bees For as they sit upon thyme and such other herbs whence they may gather most honey though they be bitter and unpleasant to the taste so good hearers delight in such Teachers from whom they may gather best caveats against sinne and best rules for a godly life and out of every Sermon they will pick that which is most for their soules health though it have some bitternesse and unpleasant relish with it If men then in hearing of Sermons respect the tickling of the eare with fine words rather then the stablishing of the soule with holesome doctrine these are a sort of bad hearers And therefore when our Saviour said Take heede how ye heare he meant that among other faults in our hearing we should beware of itching eares which love vain delight more then solid doctrine V. The fifth and last sort of bad hearers are those that bee fruitlesse which heare but do not like the fruitlesse figge tree which made a faire shew by its greene leaves but had no fruit that might refresh nature And these hearers are of two sorts proud profane men 1. Proud men I call such who when they know what God commandeth and are in conscience convinced of the truth yet will not submit to Gods Law but break through all without feare Such were the Iewes of whom Ieremy writeth that when hee had told them of their idolatrie with Gods expresse command to the contrary they answered As for the word which thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord we will not hearken unto thee but wee will doe whatsoever goeth out of our owne mouth c. Ier. 44.16 And not much unlike unto these though somewhat more shamefast then they are those other mentioned by the same Prophet Ieremie had told them from God that they should not goe into Egypt Chap. 42. and then it followeth Chap. 43. Then spake Azariah and Iohanan and all the proud men saying to Ieremiah Thou speakest falsely the Lord our God hath not sent thee to say Goe not into Egypt to sojourne there But Baruch the sonne of Neriah setteth thee on against us for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans c. So they obeyed not the voice of the Lord to dwell in the land of Iudah Ier. 43.2 3 4. In these passages of the Prophet note 1. the difference betweene these two sorts of men the first are peremptory and plaine We will not hearken say they but the latter maketh an excuse though an unjust one Thou speakest falsely say they to the Prophet and The Lord hath not sent thee c. 2. Consider their agreement in the like sinne they both refused to hearken and obey Gods word 3. See the censure that God passeth on them which is that they are proud men For so it is expressely said of the more manerly sort and therefore must necessarily be meant of the more peremptory if he bee a proud man that obeyeth not because he saith the Lord had not said so hee is much more proud that saith I will not hearken to the word of the Lord. And proud men the Prophet calleth theÌ„ because they durst withstand Gods word when it is evidently declared unto them And so in our dayes wee have some that are peremptory and say they will do it the rather because the Preacher prateth so much against them Others are more manerly in making of excuses sometimes they alledge danger and sometimes their care for wife and children and sometimes occurrences of necessary businesses and such other reasons like the guests in the Gospel who thought themselves excused because they had maried a wife and bought a yoke of oxen and purchased a piece of Land But of all it is true that they may rightly be called proud men if they presume to disobey when Gods will is made manifest to their consciences And therefore it is that David calleth the sinnes of such men * Substantive positum significat peccata quae quis sciens ac volens-perpetrat Schâ—ndl Pentagl in verbo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is word for word Prides or proud sinnes which for perspicuity sake is rendred in our Bibles presumptuous sins and they in the Text are opposed to secret sinnes or sins of ignorance and inadvertencie Who can understand his errours saith David cleanse thou mee from secret faults Keepe back thy servant also from presumptuous sinnes let them not have dominion over me then shall I be upright and I shall be innocent from the great transgression Psal 19.12 13. By this appeareth that some sort of
appeared to Ioshua supposed to be Christ the second person in the Trinitie commanded him Loose thy shooe from off thy foot for the place whereon thou standest is holy Iosh 5.15 Consider in these passages 1 what was required And that was it was required of Moses that he should not come neare the place where God appeared but keep distance Calceos exuere jubens admiratione metu ad humilitatē ipsum crudit format Calvin in Exod. 3.5 Jos 5.15 like the Publican who stood afarre off in the lowest part of the Temple And secondly both Moses and Ioshua are commanded to put off their shooes The meaning whereof saith Calvin is to instruct and frame them to humilitie and an awfull feare For as wee pull off the glove when we salute our friends and take them by the hand in token of our observance toward them and as countrey people and servants who go in pattons in the street do in good maners put them off when they come into a Citizens house of any note so in those easterne countreys where Moses Ioshua dwelt they were used to put off their shooes in token of reverence and respect when they came into place where their betters were And therfore when GOD said to Moses Put off thy shooes he meant to teach him his duty towards his LORD as we when we bid a Child put off his hat make a legg do meane to teach him good maners towards his betters 2. We may consider in the Text what the reason was why this outward cariage was required at this time and in this place and that was because the place was holy ground But why were these places where Moses and Ioshua stood more holy then any other places in the countrey especially seeing the one of them was in the desert an untilled and ill ordered ground and the other a place by Jericho at that time a profane city of heathenish and idolatrous people To this question the answer is that the onely reason hereof was because God appeared there and shewed tokens of his presence And hence wee have this observation that wheresoever God is in any peculiar sort present there the place is made holy by his presence and where God doth so sanctifie a place there we ought to declare our humilitie and dutifull respect by externall gestures of reverence and by decent behaviour and carriage Secondly I finde that when God was to appeare on mount Sina there to deliver the Law to his people he first commanded to sanctifie them and that they should wash their clothes Exod. 19.10 The meaning of which ceremonie was partly to admonish them of the purity of heart required when wee come into Gods presence partly to teach them that they ought to come decently in a comely maner lest they might shew neglect of his presence if they came in a sluttish or unsemely sort And therefore as Ioseph when he was to go before Pharaoh shaved himselfe and put on other apparell so wee ought to come into Gods presence in grave and comely attire which may beseeme godlinesse neither rudely like clownes nor finically like wantons A note not unfit to bee thought on by our sober maidens who come both into Gods house and unto Gods board with bare breasts and naked armes and long locks and such loose behaviour as either beseemeth Ruffians alone or no Christian at all Thirdly I read of Constantin the Emperour Euseb de vita Constant l. 4. cap. 33. pag. 400. that being present in the Church when Eusebius preached he stood up all the while and though hee were once and again intreated to sit down he still refused it The reason whereof was because as himselfe said Nefas est institutis de Deo disputationibus negligentes aures praebere It is not lawfull when things concerning GOD are in handling to be negligent in hearing And the like custom do I finde to have beene used by many others in ancient time but neither was it observed generally by all nor do I require it as necessary of any Onely thus much I observe that holy and devout men have been zelous to shew reverence in Gods service by every behaviour that fitted the purpose Fourthly I finde in some of the Learned who prescribe rules of decency in the time of divine service that they will not permit men when they are hearing of Gods word to smile in secret or to looke about or to laie one legg over an other or to whisper in their fellows eare or to look sowre as if somewhat displeased them or to leane and lie on one side Nigron in Reg. commun 2. nu 57. pag. 167. c. And surely even in these lesser things there is a decencie to be used in our outward carriage at lest so farre as that nothing appeare which may bewray either dislike of the Preacher or disesteeme of God and his word And hence we have two lessons 1. A reproof for them who allow no outward ceremonies or religious gestures in Gods service lest they should be superstitious and Popish There be men that dare not kneele when they receive the holy Sacrament nor put off the hat when they passe through a Church nor kneele downe and make a privat prayer in a publik place so that as the ancient worthies upon all occasions expressed their inward devotion by outward gestures of reverence so these men take care to shew how they detest superstition by avoyding all helps and expressions of religion 2. Wee have hence a ground of exhortation for our selves it is this that according to the rules of Scripture which require reverēce in the outward man after the example of holy godly men who have observed those rules with diligence and zele we also as occasion shall bee offered would shew our esteeme of God and his word by seemly behaviour and gestures of reverence and humility Where notwithstanding I will presse no mans conscience with a necessity of every expression used by the Ancients because for the most part they are not simply necessary but to be used with a kinde of freedome and as occasion and reason shall require Onely thus much I may boldly say and as I suppose with the good leave of all that are well in their wits that looke what modestie and signes of reverence we would use before a temporall Lord or Prince so much at least is due to him who is King of Kings Lord of Lords And if any will shew but a like reverence to God that he would shew to his Prince I will think him more devout then most men among us are at this day 3. The third and last duty by which wee ought to shew reverence is an awfull quietnesse and silence which is when neither by words nor deeds we either trouble the presence or hinder the work in hand For by such behaviour as this men use to shew their respect to their Betters Iob saith of himselfe