followeth that all the rest might bee cast vpon him as when Salomon desired wisdome before honour God gaue him wisdome and honour too because he sought the best first There was a poole in Iurie where the sicke and Leprous laye for at one time of the daye the Angell came and stirred the water and then he which stept in first was healed of his disease hee which stept in first was healed saith Iohn none but hee which stept in first so he which taketh time is sure but he which foresloweth time oftener faileth then speedeth For when golden opportunitie is past no time will fit for her If Elias would bee serued before the widdow when shee had but a little cruse of Oyle which was not enough to serue her selfe will God be serued after Elias will God bee serued after thee Nay after the flesh and after the diuell Thou maist reade in the 19. of Leuit. and the 13. that GOD would not haue the labourers hire staie in thy hands all night but would haue thee pay him before thou sleepe If God would not haue the labourers due stay in thy hands one night how darest thou keepe his due from him day and night so many dayes and nights and weekes and moneths and yeares together where is the morning sacrifice which God requireth nay where is the euening sacrifice which God requireth the glomy morning hath ouercast the whole day doest thou thinke it enough if thou do not sit in the chaire of scorners or if thou do not staÌ„d in the waie of sinners hee which standeth stayeth not he which sitteth taketh his ease but he which walketh goeth his way Yet he which walketh in the way of sinners though hee neither sit nor stand is not of the blessed number But hee which neither sitteth nor standeth nor walketh is blessed saith Dauid Psalm 1. ver 1. Alas then why doe we sit if they which stande are accurssed and they which walke are not blessed Christ saieth First seeke the kingdome of God and wee say first let mee burie my father first let me bid my friendes farewell and so many things first So long in burying our Father and bidding our friends farewell that is the riches and honours and pleasures of this worlde that there is no time left to seeke the kingdome but followe mee is turned to followe vs Christ must followe our sinnes and come after our pleasures or else he shall not be serued at al. When we were Children we deferred tyll we were men when we are men we deferre tyll wee bee olde men when wee are olde men wee deferre tyll death in all our lyfe wee finde no leasure to liue well but flit from sinne to sin from wicked thoughts to wicked speeches from wicked speeches to wicked deedes as the flie skippeth from scab to scab vntill wee bee cast so farre behinde that we haue no courage to goe forward or else straied so far out of our way that wee care not to seeke it againe Therefore I cannot say to you as Christ saide First seeke the kingdome of heauen for then you should haue sought it long agoe but now I must say with the Apostle Redeeme the time and at last Seeke the kingdome of heauen For it is to be feared that as little flies when many came together plagued and destroyed the Egyptians so short houres but many in sinne and securitie will steale away our whole life and deceiue our repentance while wee liue like beasts longer then Nabuchadnezzar There be not many Lots but many linger like Lot loth to depart vntill they see the fire burne If the Angell had not snatched him awaie Lot had perished with Sodome for his delaye There be not fiue foolish Virgins and fiue wise but fiue for one knock when the doore is shut There bee not many Simeons but many as old as Simeon which neuer yet imbraced Christ in their hearts They thought to repent before they were so olde yet now they doate for age they are not olde enough to repent yet Naye I answere many Masters of Israell Maiors Aldermen Sheriffes Iustices Baâ—liffes Constables Gentlemen know no more what it is to be borne againe than Nicodemus which came by night line after line sermon after sermon and the Black more like himselfe All their tearms are vacations all their religion promises and all their promises hypocrises In stead of catechising their children as Salomon teacheth them they catechise them to hunt hawke to ride and vaute to ruffle sweare to game and daunce as they were catechised themselues least the childe should prooue better than his father and then he is qualified like a Gentleman Is this to seeke the kingdome of heauen first or last or not at all Woe to the securitie woe to the stubbornnesse woe to the drousinesse of this age The theefe commeth at midnight and we sleep till the dawning of the day we let in sathan before wee bid him auoyd we sell our birthright before it come to our hands we seek for oyle when our lampes should burne this daye passeth like yesterday and to morrowe we will spend like this day So hee which should haue the first fruites can get no fruites because we mar the ground before we sowe it Consider this ye which might haue known a thousand things more than yee doo if yee had begun when Salomon taught you God will not alway knocke at the doore Christ will not alway clocke like an Henne Iohn will not alway crie in the wildernesse but mercy is in the foreward and iudgement in the rereward They which can saye now We haue a prophet shall say We had a prophet but wee entertained him like the Gergesites so God sent him awaie from vs like Ionah to the Niniuites when the Israelites despised him Yet Wisedome cryeth in the streetes Let euerie Ioseph store vp before the famine come for he which promiseth thee pardon when thou doost returne dooth not promise that to morrowe thou shalt returne Repentance is a gift and a gift must be taken when it is offered The time past is gone and thou canst not recall that to repent in the time to com is vncertaine thou canst not assure that to repent in the present time is onely thine and thou maiest repent in that but anone that will be gone too Therefore as Samuell began to serue God in his minoritie as Timothie read the Scriptures in his childhood and Iohn grewe in spirit as hee rypened in yeares so whether thou be olde or yong thy repentance caÌ„not come too soone because thy sinne is gone before If thou lackest a spurre to make thee runne see how euerie day runneth awaye with thy life youth commeth vpon childhood age commeth vpon youth death commeth vpon age with such a swift saile that if all our minutes were spent in mortifying our selues yet our glasse would bee runne out before wee had purged halfe our corruptions All these examples sentences and Prouerbs and
him in another Countrey where he had no sepulcher prouided Herod hoped when the people cryed at his words It is the voyce of God that hee should be worshipped euer after as God but God resisted his pride and before he descended from his throane the wormes so defaced his pompe that none which called him God would be like vnto him so whē women take more paines to dresse themselues then they doe all the day after and pay deerer to maintaine one vice than they neede to learne all vertues they thinke to please men by it but God resisteth their pride and al that see them though they cap and curtsie to them yet they iudge worse of them and thinke that they would not weare these signes of lightnes and pride vnlesse they were light and proud indeede Thus if their apparell condemne them before men how will it condemne them before GOD If sinne did not blinde them would they so deceiue themselues to take the contrary way and thinke that should honor them which disgraceth other But as Balaam was stopped knew not who stopped him so they are resisted and know not who resisteth them Though they doe al to please yet they can please none they please not God for God resisteth them they please not the humble for the humble are contrarie to thē they please not the proud for the proud doe enuie them which striue to bee as proude as they they please not themselues because they cannot bee so proud and braue as they would bee onely they please the diuell because their pride doth intitle him to them Thus much of Gods battailes against the proud Heere Peter leaueth the proud with this brand in their forehead This is the man whom God resisteth then hee turneth to the lowly and comforteth them But he giueth grace to the humble as if hee should say you are like Iohn the beloued Disciple which leaned on Christs bosome Iohn 13. 23. though God resist the proud yet hee will not frowne vpon you but when he resisteth them he wil giue grace vnto you as if hee should say the proud are without grace for God giueth not grace vnto the proud but to the humble according to that to Esay 66. 2. To him will I looke euen to him that is poore of a contrite heart and trembleth at my wordes therefore Learne of me saith Christ to be hūble meek as though the humble and meeke were his schollers Therefore God must needes loue the humble because they are like his sonne they shall haue his best giftes of which hee sayth 2. Cor. 12. 9. My grace is sufficient as if hee should say hee which hath giuen you his grace can he denie you any thing as Christ saith Hee which hath giuen vs his Sonne will he not giue vs all things with him Therefore grace may be called the gift of gifts because all gifts come with grace as the Court goeth with the Queene Therefore feare not to bee humble least you be contemned for all the promises of God are made to humilitie and yet men feare to be humble lest they shuld be contemned Humilitie did not make Iohn contemptible but when he refused the name of a Prophet Christ saith that hee was more then a Prophet Mat. 11. 2. Humilitie did not make Moses contemptible but as he was the mildest man vpon earth so he was the greatest vpon the earth Numb 12. Humilitie did not make Dauid contemptible but when he humbled himselfe hee said vnto Micol I will be more humble yet and lowly in my owne sight yet thou and thy maides shall honour me 2. Sam. 6. 22. As Christ ceased not to be a king because he was like a seruant nor to bee a Lion because he was like a Lamb nor to be God because he was made man nor to bee a Iudge because he was iudged so man dooth not loose his honour by humilitie but he shal be honored for his humilitie as the Son was honoured when he was humbled Luk. 15. 8. Thus humilitie hath found that which pride sought like little Dauid which was least accompted of and yet gotte the victorie yea when no man durst encounter with the Gyant 1. Sam. 17. 28. This is the ladder whereby we must ascend Gen. 28. 12. pride did cast vs downe and humilitie must raise vs vp As the way to heauen is narrowe Mat. 12. 13. so the gate is lowe and he had neede to stoope which entreth in at it therefore be not proud least God oppose himselfe against you but be humble and the grace of God belongeth to you So long as thou art proude and readest this sentence GOD giueth grace to the humble thou mayst say to thy soule Soule thou hast no part herein for grace is the portion of the humble and the dowrie of the meeke and the treasure of the lowlie but to thee it is saide The Lord resisteth the proude as if he should say Auoide Sathan Math. 4. or Departe from mee ye wicked Math 25. 45. Thus you see howe you may haue GOD your friende or your enemie Hee resisteth the proud and giueth grace to the humble if thou disdaine to learne humilitie of man learne it of GOD who humbled himselfe from heauen to earth to exalte thee from earth to heauen to which Kingdome when the proud shall be shut out the Lord Iesus bring vs for his mercies sake FINIS THE YOVNG MANS TASKE Ecclesiastes 12. 1. Remember thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth IF it be so as they say that none but young men do heare our doctrine then this Text is well chosen for the auditory to teach young men that which if they learne they may say with Dauid I haue more vnderstanding then the auncient Psalm 119. 100. All Scripture is mans duetie and answeres like Iohn Baptist to What shall wee doe In the first of Iohn the second and the twelfth Iohn sayth I write vnto you babes I write vnto you children I write vnto you fathers I write vnto you youngmen I write vnto you old men So the word which is called aflying booke flyeth from one age to another from one sexe to another from one calling to another till like a Iudge it hath giuen euery man his charge Among the rest I may call this Scripture The young mans taske Wherein the Wise man sheweth when is the best time to sow the seede of vertue that it may bring foorth the fruite of life and make a man alway readie to die Let him remember his Creator in the daies of his youth and all his life shall runne in a line the middle like the beginning and the ende like the middle as the Sunne setteth against the place where it rose After Salomon had described man like Martha troubling and toyling himselfe about many things at last hee bringeth him to that one thing necessarie which Christ taught Marie and shewes him that if he had begun there at first he had found that which
her peace to keepe the peace Therefore they which keepe silence are well said to hold their peace because silence oftentimes dooth keepe the peace when wordes would breake it To her silence and patience she must adde The acceptable obedience which makes a woman rule while she is ruled This is the wiues tribute to her husband for shee is not called his head but he is called her head Great cause hath man to make much of his wife for great and many are her duties to him for Paul saith Wiues submit your selues vnto your husbands as to the Lord. Shewing that shee should regard his will as the Lords will but withall as the Lord commandeth onely that which is good and right so she should obey her husband in good right or else she doth not obey him as the Lord but as the tempter The first subiection of woman began at sinne for when God cursed her for seducing her husband when the Serpent had seduced her he said He shall haue authoritie ouer thee And therefore as the man named all other creatures in signe that they should be subiect to him as a seruant which commeth when his master calleth him by his name so did he name the woman also in token that shee should be subiect to him likewise And therfore Assuerus made a law that euery man should beare rule in his owne house and not the woman because she sinned first therefore she is humbled most euer since the daughters of Sara are bound to call their husbandes Lords as Sara called her husband that is to take them for their Lords for heads and gouernors If ye disdaine to follow Abrahams spouse the apostle biddeth you folow Christs spouse for he saith Let a wife be subiect to her husband as the church is to Christ A greater loue then this saith Christ no man can haue So a better example then this no woman can haue That the wife may yeeld this reuerence to her husband Paul would haue her attire to be modest and orderly for garish apparell hath taught many gossips to disdaine their husbands This is the follie of some men to lay all their pride vpon their wiues they care not how they slouen themselues so their wiues iette like Peacockes But Peter doth commend Sara for her attire and not Abraham shewing that women should braue it no more then men and God made Eues coat of the same cloath that he made Adams They couered themselues with leaues and God derided them but now they couer themselues with pride like Sathan which is fallen down before them like lightning ruffe vpon ruffe lace vpon lace cut vpon cut four twentie orders vntil the woman be not so precious as her apparell that if any man would picture Vanitie he must take a pattern of women or else he cannot draw her likenes As Herodias was worse for her fine dauncing so a woman may haue too many ornaments frisled locks naked brests painting perfume especially a rolling eye are the forerunners of adulterie and hee which hath such a wife hath a fine plague Once women were maried without dowries because they were well nurtured but now if they weighed not more in golde then in godlinesse many should sitte like Nunnes without husbands Thus we haue shadowed the mans dueties to his wife and the womans to her husband After their duties one to another they must learne their duties to their familie One compareth the maister of the house to the Seraphin which came kindled the prophets zeale so he should go from wife to seruants and from seruants to children and kindle thē in the zeale of God longing to teach his knowledge as a Nurse to emptie her brests Another sayth that a maister in his familie hath all the offices of Christ for he must rule and teach and pray rule like a king and teach like a prophet and pray like a Priest To shew how a godly man should behaue himself in his houshold whē the holy Ghost speaketh of the conuersion of any housekeeper lightly he saith That the man beleeued with all his houshold As Peter being conuerted must conuert his brethren so the maister being conuerted must conuert his seruants For therfore God said that he would not hide his counsel from Abraham because he would teach his familie and surely all dutie which is not done of conscience is but ey-seruice and fayleth at most need as Ziba betrayed his mayster when he should haue defended him Therefore before Onesimus was conuerted Paul said he was an vnprofitable seruant but whē hee was conuerted he calleth him more then seruant because such a seruant is better then many seruants Therfore though Laban was wicked himselfe yet hee reioyced that Iacob his seruaunt was godlie because God blessed him better for him Ioshua sayth I and my houshold will serue the Lord. Shewing that maisters should receiue none into their houses but whome they can gouerne as Ioshua did and if any haue crept into their doores then they must put him foorth againe for Dauid sayth I will not suffer a lyar to stay in my house Psal 101. 7. Hee sayth not a swearer nor a theefe but a lyer as if he should say I will rid him out of my doores before he be a swearer and a theefe for a lyer will grow to a swearer and a theefe in a daye as a Dicer groweth to a begger in a night Therefore it is noted of Cornelius that all his houshold serued God himselfe This is reported also of Ioseph and Marie for an example that they went vp euery yeare with all their families to worship at Ierusalem that their children their seruants might learne to know God as well as they These examples be written for housholders as others are for magistrates ministers and soldiors that no calling might seek further then the Scripture for instruction Wherefore as you are maisters now and they your seruants instruct them and train them as if you would shew what maisters they should be hereafter After the care of their soules they must care for their bodies for if the laborer is worthie of his hire which laboureth but a day what is the seruant worth which laboureth euery day Therefore Paul is so earnest with Philemon to make much of Onesimus his seruant that he desireth Philemon to receiue him as he would himselfe Therfore because cruell greedie masters should not vse them too hardly God remembred them in his creation and made euery weeke one day of rest wherein they should be as free as their maisters so God pittieth the labourer from heauen and euery Sabboth lookes downe vpon him from heauen as if he should say one day thy labors shall haue an end and thou shalt rest for euer as thou restedst this day By this we see as Dauid did limit
Doe this in remembrance of me that is these signes shall bee a remembrance of my death when you breake the bread you shall remember the wounding of my body and when you drinke the wine you shall remember the sheading of my blood If wee doe this is remembraunce of Christs bodie which was broken like the bread it is an argument that his bodie is not there because remembrance is not of thinges present but of things absent we remember not but wee see that which is before vs. This might put the Papists in remembrance that Christ is not sacrificed now when we do but remember his sacrifice this is not Christes sacrifice but a remembrance of his sacrifice he was sacrificed before and now it is applied lest his sacrifice should be in vaine This was done once reallie when he offered himselfe vpon the crosse therefore that offering was called a sacrifice because he was sacrificed indeed but this offering is called a Sacrament because it is but a signe of his sacrifice If Christ in this Sacrament were offered indeede then it should bee called a sacrifice as his once offering was but because it is but a remembrance of his sacrifice therefore it is called a Sacrament This is not a sacrifice of Christ but a sacrifice of our selues Lest we shoulde take it to bee a sacrifice of Christ Christ himselfe calleth it a remembrance of his sacrifice Do this in my remembrance Here is our worke as Christ hath done so must we doe so we minister and so you receiue wee can giue you nothing but that which we haue receiued from him as Paul saith Therefore if Christ did not giue his mortall bodie which stood before them and could not profite them nor his glorified bodie which was not glorified then and when it was glorified ascended vp vnto heauen and there abideth how can these iugling Priests make their God againe which made them They can no more turne wine into blood bread into flesh than they can commaund a gnat to become a camell for it is a greater worke to make God than to make the world Therefore as Christ saith When they tell you here is Christ and there is Christ beleeue them not So when they tell you that Christ is in heauen and that Christ is in earth in this place and that place beleeue them not for Elias ascension was a figure of Christes ascension when Elias was ascended yet some sought for his bodie vpon earth so though Christ be ascended yet manie seeke his bodie vpon earth but as they could not finde Elias bodie so these cannot finde Christes bodie although they haue sought three hundred yeares But if his bodie were vpon earth as they say should we handle it and touch it now it is glorified After his resurrection he sayd vnto Marie Touch me not because his bodie was glorified that is not to bee touched with fingers any more but with faith Therefore we reade of none which touched his bodie after it was risen but onely Thomas to settle his faith Thus you see wee neede to suborne no witnesses for euerie word in this Text which they alleadge for Transubstantiation doth make agaynst Transubstantiation whereby if Antichrist doth signifie those which are against Christ you see who may be called Antichrist There is no question in Poperie except Purgatorie the Popes publican and tasker about which the Papistes are at such ciuill warres among themselues as about this Transubstantiation They cannot tell when the chaunge beginneth nor what manner of change it is nor how long the change continueth some hang one way and some another like the Midianites which fought one against another And no maruell though their consciences stagger about it for to shew you the right father of it it was one of the dreames of Innocentius the third in the yeare of our Lorde 1215. so manie yeares passed before Transubstantiation was named and then a Pope set it first on foote so it came out of Rome the grandame of all heresies and for want of scriptures hath bene defended with fire and sword and swallowed mo Martyrs than all the gulfs of the Papall sea beside Now when the doctrines of men goe for scriptures you shal see how many errors rush into the Church for graunt but this to Pope Innocentius as the Papists do that the bread and wine are chaunged into Christes bodie First it wil follow that Christs body is not ascended vp to heauen because it remaineth vpon earth and so one of the articles of our faith shalbe falsified which saith He is ascended into heauen or if he be ascended and descended againe another article will be falsified which saith That hee sitteth at the right hand of his father that is as Peter saith he abideth in heauen Secondly it will follow that Christ hath not a true bodie but a fantasticall bodie because it may bee in manie places at one time for if his bodie be in the Sacrament he must needes haue so many bodies as there bee Sacraments nay hee must haue so many bodies as there be bittes in euerie Sacrament Thirdly it will follow that his bodie is diuided from his soule and consequentlie is a dead bodie because the bread is onely changed into his bodie and not into his soule Fourthly it will follow that the wicked and prophane reprobate may receiue Christ as well as the godlie because they haue a mouth to eate as well as the best Fiftly it will followe that Christes Sacrifice once for all was not sufficient because we must sacrifice him againe and breake his bodie and shed his blood as the Iewes crucified him vpon the Crosse Sixtly it will follow that the bread being turned into the bodie of our Redeemer hath a part of our redemption as well as Christ Seuenthly it wil follow that Christ did eate his owne bodie for all the fathers saie that hee did eate the same Bread which he gaue to his Disciples Lastly it will follow that a Massing Priest shalbe the creator of his Creator because hee makes him which made him All these absurdities are hatched of Transubstantiation Thus when men deuise Articles of their owne while they strike vppon the anuill the sparkes flie in their face and they are like the man which began to build and could not finish it When I see the Papist in so many absurdities for entertaing one errour me thinks hee seemeth like a Collier which is grymed with his owne coales Therefore as in maners we should thinke of of Peters saying Whether is it meete to obey God or men So in doctrines we should thinke whether it be meete to beleeue God or men Thus haue you heard the Author of this Sacrament The Lord Iesus the time when it was instituted in the night that he was betraied the manner how it was instituted after thankesgiuing the end why it was instituted for a remembrance of his death
he sought without trouble and been happier many yeares since than he is now Therefore to them which are young Salomon shewes what a vantage they haue aboue the aged like a ship which seeing another ship sinke before her lookes about her pulles downe her sayle turneth her course and escapes the sands which would swallow her as they had done the other So they which are young neede not trie the snares and allurements of the worlde or the issues and effectes of sinne which olde men haue tried before them but take the tryall and experience of others and goe a neerer way to obtaine their wished desires That is this sayth Salomon If thou wouldest haue any setled peace or heartie ioye in this vaine or transitorie worlde which thou hast beene seeking all the time since thou wert borne thou must Remember thy Creator which did make thee which hath elected thee which hath redeemed thee which daylie preserueth thee which will for euer glorifie thee and as the kinde remembrance of a friende doth recreate the minde so to thinke and meditate vpon GOD will supply thy thoughts dispell thy griefes and make thee cheerefull as the sight of the Arke comforted Dauid for ioye and comfort and pleasure is whereas God is as light and cheerefulnes and beautie is whereas the Sunne is Nowe if thou wouldest haue this ioy and comfort pleasure to bee long and wouldest escape those thousand miseries vexations and vanities which Salomon by many weary and tedious tryals sought to make naked before thee yet held all but vanitie when hee had founde the way thou must Remember thy Creator in the daies of thy youth at the first spring time and then thy happynesse shall bee as long as thy life and all thy thoughts while thou remainest on earth a foretaste of the glorie of Heauen This is the summe of Salomons counsaile Salomon findes man seeking happinesse out of the way as Esau hunted long for a blessing and yet went without it he pities to see him seeke and not finde to runne and not obtaine therefore he setteth him in the way like a guide sent from heauen which often had strayed himselfe before and being now recouered to his right way stands like a mark of knowledge in the turnings that leade vnto blinde by-waies to direct all those that passe by that they may followe the readie path that leadeth to eternall happinesse And because the Trauailour marcheth cheerefully which knoweth his way before he setteth foorth therefore from the first setting forth euen from the time of youth when a man beginneth to runne his pilgrimage Salomon tels him how he shall therein prepare himselfe to walke and sets him in a faire high way wherein is no turning either to the right hand or the left which he calleth the remembrance of GOD. As if he should say Walke with God as Enoch did and remember well that he which shall be thy Iudge doth see all that thou doest and heareth thee at euerie worde and this thought shall keepe thee in the way at all times like the clowde and piller of fire which went before the Children of Israel aswell by day as night when they trauailed in the wildernes In the next chapter before and the ninth verse Salomon sayd Reioyce O young man in thy youth now he hath chaunged his note to Remember O young man in thy youth No more Reioyce but Remember Salomon mocked before and shewed what they did remember here he shewes what they should remember least anie Libertine should misconster him and say Salomon taught vs to reioyce Salomon gaue vs leaue to sinne Salomon said doe as ye list for you are yong men and haue a priuiledge to bee lasciuious and vaine he recants with a breath and denyes forthwith his word euen where he spake it What sayd I Reioyce O young man in thy youth I would say Remember O young man in thy youth So God mockes vs while wee sinne like Michaiah which bad Achab fight agaynst Aram and then forbad him againe so hee bids them reioyce and forbids them agayne Reioyce not in thy youth but repent in thy youth One would thinke that Salomon should haue giuen this Memorandum rather to olde men then to young men let them repent which looke to dye Oh saith Ieremie it is good for a man to beare the yoake in his youth if it be good to suffer in youth it is better to learne in youth Therefore if Dauid wisht that his tongue might cleaue to the roofe of his mouth if hee forgot Ierusalem what are they worthie which forget GOD the King of Ierusalem Can a childe forget his father Is not GOD our Father therefore who is too young to remember him seeing the childe doth knowe his father As the deepest wounds had neede to be first tented so the vnstablest mindes haue neede to bee first confirmed In this extremitie is youth as Salomon shewes them before hee teacheth them For in the last verse of the former chapter he calleth youth vanitie as if he would speake all euill in a word and say that youth is euen the age of sinne Therfore when he had shewed young men their sollie vnder the name of vanitie like a good Tutor he taketh them to schoole and teacheth them their dutie Remember thy Creator as though all sinne were the forgetfulnesse of God and all our obedience came from this remembrance that God created vs after his owne image in righteousnesse and holinesse to serue him here for a while and after to inherit the ioyes which he hath himselfe Which if we did remember doubles it would make vs ashamed to thinke and speake and doe as wee are woont For what man dooth remember his Creator or why he was created while he sweareth and forsweareth and maketh his trade of sinne as though there were no God to iudge nor hell to punish This is because the remembrance of God which would wake sinners is so chased from men for feare it should curbe them of their pleasures that they dare not thinke of him but striue to forget him that they may sinne without feare Therefore he becommeth a Schoolemaster for God and calleth children vnto him before they be corrupted to teach them this one lesson for the guide of their life Remember thy Creator To which he draweth them as it were with two cordes the short slight of their youth and the infinite infirmities of age To shew how soone our youth is gone which we thinke will neuer haue ende Salomon doth not reckon it by yeares but by dayes in the dayes of thy youth so the Scripture numbers our life by dayes and houres and minutes to teach vs to make vse of al our time and euery day to thinke vpon the ende Yet least they should post ouer this remembrance vnto age which is the generall daye that all set to repent after this verse Salomon brings in the old man deafe and blinde and lame and stammering for the
his Sonne should come into the world he came at the same time as the Prophets and the Euangelists accord so he hath appointed a time when all his blessings shall come vnto vs they come at the same time As we reade of Ioseph when his appointed time came shewing that God appointed a time when to exalt him and before that time came hee could not bee exalted therefore Christ saith so often My time is not yet come shewing that he knew the time of his baptizing the time of his preaching the time of his working the time of his rising and the time of his ascending As for that which is obiected of Ezechias because Esaie shewed him that hee should die and after tolde him that fifteene yeres were added to his life it is like the preaching of Ionas to the Niniuits Fortie daies and Niniue shall be destroyed and yet Niniuie was not destroied because they repented so Ezechias was not abridged because he repented Therefore you must vnderstand the phrase of God as when we say that wee will iourney to morrow we vnderstand If God will so when God saith I will destroie he vnderstands if we persist As al the promises of God are coÌ„ditional to take place if we repent so all the threatnings of God are conditionall to take place if we repent not and therefore some time this woord if is put in as where there is no blessing nor cursing without an if I may answere againe that God is a iudge and spake like a iudge to Ezechias a iudge dooth not condemne all whom he saith he will condemne nor a Schoolemaster beate euerie one whom he saith he will beat to make him learne yet the iudge and schoolemaster doe not dissemble but menace this is not lying but threatning But you will say if any time be set thus long I shal liue and I cannot pasâ—e then I will take no phisicke You may as well say I will take no meat God hath not ordained the end without meanes but the meanes as well as the end If he haue appointed one to die in his youth he hath appointed some meanes to shorten his life as he did Absolons if he haue appointed one to liue long he hath appointed also some meanes to preserue his life as Ioseph cherished Iacob in his age Therefore though God had promised Paul that his company should not be drowned yet he told the marriners that vnlesse they kept in the ship they should bee drowned as if their safety should not bee without meanes but a good minde dooth neuer quarrell about these things The third point is that our life is but a short life as many little skuls are in Golgaâ—ha as great skuls for one apple that falleth from the tree ten are pulled before they bee ripe and the parents mourne for the death of their children as often as the children for the decease of their parents This is our Aprill and May wherein we florish our Iune and Iuly are next when wee shall bee cut downe What a change is this that within fourescore yeares not one of this assemblie shall bee left aliue but another preacher and other hearers shall fill these roomes and tread vpon vs where our feete tread now The Rauen and the Phoenix and the Elephant and the Lyon and the Hart fulfill their hundreds but man dieth when he thinks yet his sunne riseth before his eye bee satisfied with seeing or his eare with hearing or his heart with lusting death knockes at his doore and will not giue him leaue to meditate an excuse before hee come to iudgement To shew the shortnesse of mans life Moses vsed the shortest diuision in nature to expresse it by he might haue said Teach me O Lord to number my moneths or my yeares but he speakes of dayes so the Scripture is woont to number our life by dayes and houres and minutes to shewe vs that wee shall giue account for houres as well as for daies for daies as well as for weekes for weekes as well as for moneths for moneths as well as for yeares which warneth vs to make vse of all our time and euerie daie to thinke vpon the last This was the Arithmeticke of holie men in former times to reckon their dayes so that their time might seeme short to make them applie their hearts to wisdome The Hebrewes did number their dayes thus first they did deduct the time of sleepe so that if our yeeres bee threescore and tenne as the Prophet saith fiue and thirtie of these yeares are striken off at one blow because wee spend halfe our time in sleepe then they did deduct the time of youth which Salomon calleth vanity as though it were not worthy to be called life but vanitie Then they did deduct the daies of sorrow because in sorrow a man had rather dye then liue so when the houres of sleepe the houres of youth and the houres of sorrowe are taken away what an Epitomie is mans life come to The Fathers vsed an other account First they did deduct all the time which is past for the time which is past is nothing then they did deduct the time to come because the time to come is vncertain and no man can say that he shall liue Now when the time past and the time to come is set aside there is nothing left but the time present that is a moment which is not so much in respect of eternitie as a little mote to the whole earth Dauid numbered his daies by a measure My life saith he is like a span long Psal 39. 5. when he measured his life he took not a pole nor an ell nor a yard to measure it by but a short measure his short span My life is like a span long Thus you haue learned to number your daies or rather the houres of your daies as some came into the Vineyard in the morning and some at noone and some at night so some goe out of this Vineyard in the morning some at noone some at night some mans life hath nothing but a morning some haue a morning and noone he which liueth longest liueth all the day and therefore the yongest of all pray but for this day if he liue till to morrow then he prayeth for that day saying still Giue vs this day our daylie bread So that a pleasant life may bee compared but to a glorious day and a sorrowfull life to a clowdie day and a long life to a summers day and a short life to a winters day How comes it to passe that when a man dies all his yeares seeme but so many dayes and before hee dyes all his daies seeme so many yeares Iob speaketh of all a like Man which is borne of a womaÌ„ hath but a short time to liue Iacob was 130. yeares old and yet when hee came before Pharaoh he sayd Fewe and euill haue my daies been Though Pharaoh did not