Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n
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A13710
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Demegoriai Certaine lectures vpon sundry portions of Scripture, in one volume. By Lewys Thomas: 1. Christ traualiing to Ierusalem. 2. Christ purging the temple. 3. The history of our Lords birth. 4. The true-louers canticle. 5. The propheticall kings triumph. 6. The anatomy of tale-bearers. 7. Peters persecution and his deliuerance. 8. Heauens high-way.
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Thomas, Lewis, b. 1567 or 8.
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1600
(1600)
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STC 24002; ESTC S103488
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105,094
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284
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sinne to teach vs to be speedy and quicke in beating downe corruptions whatsoeuer Doctor Speede is the best Physition for Mistres Vanity Sinfulnes is soonest resisted vppon her first entrance but if it rancle through continuaunce and growe to a running fore it must speedily eyther bee launced or quite cut off like a putrified member Because sentence against an euill worke is not executed speedily therfore the harts of men are fully bent in them to doe euill Eccles. 8. 11. The vse of this example to our selues is this When wee purpose to doe anie good thing wee must testifie our carefulnesse in dooing it presently If this were carefullie obserued much euill would soone be stopped euen in the fountaine before it might streame foorth to the vniuersall harme of country citty and common-wealth For many times when wee minde to doe good and doe it not presently our endeuours doe fayle betweene the purpose and the practize and so the good to be doone is not done at all but it dyeth with vs like a byrd in a mans hand while the head is deuising whether it were best to holde it still or let it goe As this concernes all men generally so in a more special manner it concernes them that are aduaunced to high place of authoritie in the Common wealth Officers are chosen for the punishment of euil doers the praise of them that doe well They must be zealous-in Gods cause by throwing out such as transgresse They must consider that they are appoynted as in Gods stedde to punish malefactors and therefore they must not suffer the sword of iustice to rust in the scabbard of long sufferance And zeale it is that will soone aduise you when and how this may be done zeale wil tell you by the qualitie of the offence how it may be best corrected For greater sins must of necessity haue greater punishmeÌ„ts as olde and festered sores require sharpe and bitter medicaments Onely be couragious saith the Lorde to Iosuah and I will be with thee so to the Magistrate God speaketh Onely be zealous and I will be with thee Zeale best graceth an Officer it is first named among those 4. in Exod. 18. 21. Such as must be ready with Phineas to kill sin in the act They must when occasion requireth learne to protest with Nehemiah If you doe it once more I will lay hands vpon you This want of zeale in Officers suffering sinnes to passe with immunitie is the cause that corruption nowe carrieth such a sway and doth spread it selfe like a cankerworme ouer the world What a discontentment mutinous outrage did Corah and his rebellious confederates cause the Israelites to grow vnto when being prepossest with a key-colde conceitednes and an ouer-weening opinion they would haue perswaded Moses that all was well and the people holy enough Surely the best workes we can doe yea our religion it selfe is starke dead afore vs vntill zeale come Religion without zeale is like the Sunamites dead childe vvithout breath life or soule in it All our knowledge our wisedom and other vertues can litle auaile vs litle can they doe if onely zeale be absent They can profit vs no more theÌ„ the prophets staffe could recouer the dead chyld till Elisha came himselfe Let fayth come and yet thou art vnperfect let patience come and thou art yet vnperfect let temperance come and thou art yet vnperfect let charity and chastitie and all come that may come and thou art still vnperfect Thou art but a maymed Christian like Agrippa till zeale come then as Dauid said The riuers of God are full so maist thou say The graces of God are full Thou art as well furnished as Zacheus was when Christ told him This day is saluation come to thine house But this is sathans policie when hee cannot drawe vs from religion nor from our prosession yet euen then will hee seeke to hinder vs in our good course he will stand like a Lyon in the passages that we be not too forward eyther to stop vs in our running by one rub of iniquitie or other or by laying some pleasant baite before vs to tum vs aside out of the way as hee coosend Adam out of Paradice If needes thou wilt be religious sayth he yeâ— thou shalt not be zealous As Iacob said of Ruben Thou art my might the beginning of my strength but yet thou shalt not be excellent so though we be of power and might and haue made a good growth in Gods graces and doe carry about vs excellencie of dignitie as Ruben did yet saith sathan I le preuent thee thou shalt not bee feruent The Minister of Laodicia had many good qualities that graced him but one vice marrs many good vertues as one dead flie putrifieth the sweeâ—e oyntments of the Apothecary He was not zealous hee was neyther hote nor cold And therefore God sayd I will spew thee out of my mouth and so vndoubtedly God will also spue out of his mouth the luke-warme Protestants and the temporarie gospellers of this age that are neyther hote nor colde Oh then let vs labour to haue zeale or our religion profits vs nothing Knowledge zeale must be vnited together like the Vrym and Thummym to the consecrating of those holy ones One briefe note yet remaineth so we will descend to particuler application and so conclude If buyers and sellers of small things were throwne out of the church what and how great shall theyr punishment be that buy sell the patrimonie of the Church How shall they be throwne out from the presence of GOD and good men for euer that so sacriligiously dare intrude vnto gods possession as if it did descend vnto them by inheritance It is a matter of horrour to consider into what iniurie or rather into what iniquitie of times we are fallen Nothing is nowe so common and so familiar a matter as to see Schollers spending their times in Kinges Courts making their Courts theyr cloysters Merchants by theyr bylls entering into Gentlemens patrimonies and Gentlemen themselues intruding into Church liuings as if the whole frame course of the world were quite dissolued into the olde Chaos like Lots wife moulten into a saltpyllar so that the godly zealously looking into these intollerable abuses haue cause to cry out Tempora tempora quale Monstrum aluistis O iniurious times vvhat a prodigious monster haue you traueled vvithall Did these men but sounde theyr consciences in this behalfe Quocunque sint â—â—sts cauterio yet they must needes cry with theÌ„ and sound forth this ill-sorting harmonie that they haue no more right norinterest in Church-liuings then Herod had to Philips wife or Achab vnto Naboths vineyard But this is a sore that may not be ript vp the contagion thereof is so great and so vniuersall Onely wee are to pray that God may open the eyes of them that are the transgressors in this behalfe And that it woulde please him to worke a speedy reformation in
of soueraignty hee is called Rex a Regendo he must gouerne and not be gouerned But hee that should rule is heere ouerruled The subiect commaunds the King Herod plies himselfe to the humour oâ— his people Câ—ossing that Scripture Non sequeâ—e multitudinem ad faâ—iendum malum Wicked tyrants if they shall perceaue the people like affected to themselues will be the more imboldned in their cruelty This Herod could not abide that Peter should â—eprooue him in his sinnes no more than the other Heâ—od could Iohn Baptist And finding the applause of the people to concurre with his practise hee is the rather whetted on to doe wickedly Since therefore the successe and growth of religion depends so much vpon the peoples lyking or dislyking the Minister of the word ought especially to labour in this that the people bewel informed in the true way be soundly taught to know God if they shall shew themselues zealous professours Though a wicked tyrant did raigne ouer them yet should hee not preuaile to doe hurt to the children of God It pleased the people Heere is great ods a manifest inequality one against many and many against one The whole people oppose themselues against Peter to destory him like so many Philistims against Sampson but as Sampson brake the cords so Peter brake the prison or rather God for Peter opened the prison and so hee escaped and so Herods expectation was frustied the multitude of their purpose disappoynted the glory of God mightily magnisied as shall appeare in the sequell of the story You haue heard the reason why Herod tooke Peter Heere it followes how he vsed him where wee are first to note in a word the degrees of Herods cruelty First he tooke him or caught him which argues that he lay in waite for him before then he committed him to prison caused him to be kept with a straite guard no lesse then foure quaternions of Souldiers Lastly hee purposed after the feast to put him to death that was the mark he aymed at and the drift of his endeuours His apprehending of him his committing him to prison his diligence in close and sure keeping him all was to murther him at last The deuils purposes and tyrants practises are both one hee is an aduersary hee goeth about he seeketh he roaâ—eth hee deuoureth So doe tyrants they neuer rest going about seeking watching threating till at length they haue deuoured vs. Mark the care that Herod took to keepe Peter that hee should by no meanes start from him hee would neuer haue vsed the like carefulnes in any good matter A quaternion contayned foure Souldiours so the whole make sixteene There was a keeper before the dore of the prison and two with him betwixt whom hee lay and the rest round about him in their seuerall wards or stations this was notable diligence they meant to make sure worke This theyr ouer vvarie circumspection was no doubt a testimonie of a guilty and distrustfull conscience In this tyrant so many circumstances in this Scripture deliuered concerning the apprehension of Peter may stand in steed of so many witnesses accusing him within of wrongfull imprisonment Hee saw in him selfe that hee had no iust cause to doe it and therefore he feared that this prisoner vvould by some meanes get from him notwithstanding this so sure a watch Such was Herods watchfulnes and such was Peters vveakenesse that no resisâ—ance might bee made But least this Tyrant should growe too insolent GOD himselfe sendeth his Angell to take part vvith Peter and to rescue him from Herods tyrannie Dalilah did thinke she had made Sampson fast enough with ropes and cords but through his strength he brake them Saul thought he had Dauid sure enough when hee was in his bed but hee escaped out of his hands his vvife Micholl letting him downe at a window Paule was by an earthquake deliuered out of pryson and at another time the Iewes tooke counsaile to kill him they laid vvayte day and night at the gates to take him but the other Aposâ—les put him out at a wall and lâ—t him downe in a basket and so he escaped And in this place the Angell deliuereth Peter in like sort from the hands of them who sought to slay him Rather then the enemie shall insult ouer the children of God hee will worke a miracle the rather to procure their safety euen beyond all expectation As Elias was fed by a Rauen at the Riuers side and Daniell refreshed with the pottage that Abacuck brought vnto him when he lay in the Lyons denne And as Ehsha compassed his aduersaries while they compassed him So in the midst of all our afflictions God will make a way for vs escape if it bee good for vs and stand with his will As the hills stand about Ierusalem so the Lord causeth a whole Armie of Angels to stand about vs. It followeth That night Peter slept betweene two Souldiours Peter is all this while in prison what dooth he in the midst of these so great extremities Our text tells vs what he did Hee slept VVhat meanes Peter to sleepe in so great a daunger as if hee vvere altogether carelesse as if hee had beene possest with a stoycall stupidity without all sence and feeling and this security or carelesnes to rest vpon him then when hee was ready to resigne vp his life euen the very night before he should be brought forth to be executed Indeede by reason of long watching before all the former time of his indurance nature might haue forced him to slumber a little but the words are he slept it was a sound sleepe that he slept His danger so imminent his sorrowes full of terrour and fearefulnes beeing the post maisters of death should haue beene able to keepe him waking and not to suffer the temples of his head to rest Some there are that expound this sleepe of Peter to signifie not a dissolute carelesnes but a godly security confident trustfulnes in him God commaunds vs to cast our care vppon him for he careth for vs and so Peter knowing that God did care for him did cast his care vpon the Lord. And therfore he mistrusting no euill suffered his body to take his repose hee knewe that God the watchman of Israell was also his watchman and so the rather might he sleepe in safety Peter had commended him selfe to his prouidence and protection hee knew his quarrell to be good if he were to die it was in the Lords cause and these reasons made him sleepe so soundly Others interprete this place otherwise they hold this sleeping in Peter to be an infirmity of nature and a great weakenes in him for which he was worthy reprehension then to be sleeping when hee should haue been most watchfull in attending the Lords leasure and in laying hold vpon the Lords mercies in working his deliuerance God would haue him to be a spectacle of infirmity to the end wee looking into our selues should acknowledge