He is not as Baal was whose seruants might crye and launce themselues with kniues and all for his honour yet himselfe be neuer the wiser The Niniuites fasted and put on sackcloth and prayed vpon the newes of the Prophets preaching and with lamentable behauiour did labour to shew their sorrow that they should be reputed iustly so vile in Gods eyes They acknowledge themselues to be ashes and dust they stand as the stubble now ready for the flame How the heauen might helpe they know not but from the earth is like to come no consolation The Lord whose drift it was to bring them to that passe and had no other end of the sending of Ionas so farre from his owne countrey but to worke them hereunto sitteth aboue in the heauen and beholding it is much pleased A fauourable Iudge who will turne his eyes of iealousie into a gracious aspect and will endure as much to saue men as he will to spill them As the crying sinnes of Niniue and of Sodome and like places had accesse vnto his cares and so did call for vengeance so the repentance of the Niniuites had accesse vnto his seate and did pleade hard for a pardon Yea to shew that he delighteth to helpe rather then to hurt to spare rather then to punish he who would not receiue the cryes of the great sinnes of the Sodomites vntill he came downe to prooue whether it were so or no taketh the sorrowes of the city euen at the first rebound and not standing to examine them in the strictnesse of his seuerity is by and by appeased He who is slow to anger is quickeâ— sighted at repentance and when his sonne is comming home he beholdeth him a great way off and meeteth with him and falleth on him and kisseth him and with much loue embraceth him 10 He saw that which they did But marke God saw their vvorkes That which they ouâ—wardly did was a token of their mind and a fruite of their faith which faith had entred into their heart and in some measure purified that which of it selfe was corrupt But he beheld their workes not their speech but their deedes not their tongue but their hands not that afterward they would do better but that alreadie they had left their filthinesse And this fruite is it which God requireth to testifie whether the roote be good If words would haue serued the turne the Prophet needed not haue gone to the Gentiles in Assyria the Israelites and Iewes could haue furnished him well inough who made no spare to say that they would serue the Lord the Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord was euer in their mouthes and afterward We haue Abraham to our father but they did nothing which was sutable but cleane contrarie to their speaking The Pharisees who succeeded long after our Prophets time had by this reckening bene very holy for they could pray in the streetes and disguise their faces with fasting yet Christ brandeth them for hypocrites and speaketh to all in generall Not euery one that saith vnto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdome of heauen but he that doth the will of my father which is in heauen Saint Basile vpoÌ„ these words of the Prophet Esay And if they multiply their prayers I will not heare them doth declare what the mind of God is toward such as thinke religion to be in words They who in this life do no worke which is worthy the name of vertue but only for the lengths sake of their prayers do hold themselues to be righteous let them heare these vvords vvith attentiue eares For prayers are not a helpe vvhen they are powred out in any sort vvhatsoeuer but if they be vttered vvith earnest and feruent affection For the Pharisee did multiplie prayers in shew but vvhat sayth the Scripture The Pharisee standing did pray thus vvith himselfe But it vvas not with the Lord. For all of it returned to the good opinion of himselfe for he still remained in the sinne of pride That man who would not be taken for such a Pharisee and so consequently be refused of the Lord must thinke that there is something else in the seruice of the Highest then to say or seeme to be holy For that is a matter common to reprobates to idolaters to dissemblers and deceiptfull men which yet escape not his eyes who trieth the hearts and reynes and rewardeth men accordingly Saint Bernard obserueth that the two Kings Saule and Dauid when they were reprooued by the two Prophets Samuel and Nathan cried peccaui both alike and yet Saule heard that sentence the Lord hath taken thy kingdome from thee and will giue it to thy seruant and Dauid heard that comfort The Lord hath remooued away thy sinne and thou shalt not dye for it What was this sayth Saint Bernard but that Saule had not that in his heart which he had in his mouth but with Dauid it was otherwise 11 Then he who hath gone astray and by that meanes hath offended God and desireth to returne at last after a thousand prouocations into the Iudges fauour let him first depart from euill and purge himselfe of all poyson as the serpent doth going to drinke and let him neuer againe resume it but secondly therewithall let him do that which good His light must shine before men that they may see his good workes his life must shine before God in purity and integrity Of which how little all sorts of men do thinke now a dayes experience too much witnesseth For who is he almost that intendeth to that which he should I speake not of the Atheist who is an enemy to God the father I speake not of the Papist who is no friend to Christ the sonne many points of their doctrine crossing the life of his redemption but of those who seeme to be somewhat The Pastours which are learned are almost like the vnlearned The one cannot the other will not but neither of them do preach They thinke it is inough to be able to de somewhat when they shall see occasion that to censure the workes of other this was well or this was ill is a great part of learning but worke they will not themselues neither God nor men see their labours The gentlemen in the countrey I meane very manie of them thinke it is inough if they like not any thing which commeth from Rome but if they can declaime in the greatest assemblies against the errours of the Clergie or spie a fault in their gouernement they are more then common men yea but if they come so farre as to haue prayers in their houses which is a very holy sacrifice if other things accordingly be ioyned they thinke that there is no more needfull to heauen But as for any works of mercie or charitable pitie they are not oftentimes to be found They yeeld small comfort to the poore who perish before their faces Little helpe vnto the Minister who may
adultery Marke how these sins do multiply and one ingendreth another Murther maketh vp the measure And when all this put together wold haue troubled the strongest hart in the world yet without remorse of conscience without iote of cōpunction Dauid swaloweth it and deuoureth it and for the better part of a yeare neuer considereth of it How farre is the conscience of the reprobate and malignant seared if Gods children do thus fal No maruel if a Pharao adde drunkēnesse vnto thirst that is heape sin on sin or Herod do ioyne to his ambitiō a cruel massacring mind or Nero aboūd in wickednes linke villany vnto mischiefe When the bowels of Gods elect shal be so filled and possessed with carelesnes what shal refraine the wicked frō prouing to be some Iudas or some Iulian Afflictions threatnings counsels the holiest exhortations as S. Austen in another case doth make comparison are but as a blast of winde which in a vehement fire doth keepe downe the flame for a puffe but it riseth againe so much the stronger Or as a draught of cold water to a mā in a burning feuer which easeth him for an instāt but he is the worse for it afterward There is no measure with the wicked when the best sin in so great measure 4 It is old Satans pollicie so farre as lyeth in him to bewitch the hearts of Gods children that when they are filled with iniquity they may be drowned in security euen as a man who hath fed in gluttonie is ouertaken by some drowsie sleepe And then it fareth with the sinner as it doth with the Crocodile when his belly is stuffed with some pray For then as Plinie writeth doth he yeeld himselfe ouer to sleepe and leaueth his mouth open of purpose that a litle bird called Trochylus may picke his teeth and make them cleane But thereupon doth the Ichneumon a kinde of serpent take occasion to creepe into the belly of the Crocodile and being once in he neuer ceasseth there to gnaw till he hath eaten through his panch Thus doth Satan deale with vs for amidst our idlenesse and forgetfulnesse of that horror of euill which hangeth vpon vs he taketh possession of our soules and if a stronger then himselfe do not driue him from the same he will eate them out to damnation As therfore by the counsell of the Wise man we should giue the water no passage no not a litle so we should giue as smal entrance vnto Satan as possibly we may But let vs not so prostitute vnto him the whole sense of our soule that like to a frentike person when we be at worst we imagine our selues to be in a most happie estate He who wil not start in daunger is in case to suffer any thing but he that will sleepe in daunger when easily he may be awaked forgetteth himselfe beyond measure When our Sauiour Christ was now ready to be taken and Iudas was at hand so that the shepheard was to be stricken and the sheepe thereupon to be scattered Peter and Iames and Iohn were iustly reproued for their sleeping What could ye not vvatch vvith me one houre And afterward sleepe henceforth and take your rest meaning that it would not belong but they should throughly be awaked 5 They slept when the perill was to their maister and them selues had lesse cause to feare but our Prophet doth take his rest when he alone was to smart and the ruing of other men was only for his sake O wretced man saith Tullie against Anthonie as in deed so in this also that thou doest not vnderstand how wretched a man thou art Here is one far exceeding Anthonie Gods immediate wrath doth follow him he doth not conceiue it he is in the midst of euill doth not vnderstand it Here is euidently seene the great heauinesse of our nature who neglect those maynest matters which nearest of all do presse vs. Viues that worthy learned man doth wonder at some Phisitians that they could possibly be couetous greedy vpō the world in as much as both in their speculatiue study and their practise they behold euerie day how tickle a thing life is how soone the breath is gone how the strōgest dye in a moment the yongest fall on the sodaine and by a consequent that the vse of riches is so vncertaine so transitorie so short I would to God that our Phisitians of the soule were not sick of this disease We who know that flesh is grasse and the grace of it but a flowre that our breath is but a vapour and our life but as a bubble who speake much of mortality and preach other mens funerall Sermons yet in the midst of our studies of contemning the world we are in loue with the world and too much embrace this Mammon Thus we are like to the fishes of the sea who liuing in salt water yet are most fresh And as Ionas in the midst of daunger we sleepe in it passe by it we say it and do not see it The stormes by right should haue stirred vp Ionas and his conscience should haue quickened him so our knowledge should rowze vs vp and the fraude of the world should awake vs. Thus far you haue heard of a most carelesse man now harkē to another person of a cleane contrarie disposition who looketh well to his charge for his part amendeth that fault which is found in the former So the ship-maister came to him 6 As by occasion of the tēpest it lay vpon the gouernour of the ship to bestir him so it well seemeth that he was not idle He is somtimes aboue the boord somtimes vnderneath he cometh down vnder the hatches Cesar did neuer more lay about him in his great fights against Pompey where somtimes he playeth the captaine other sometimes the souldier here he speaketh there he striketh goeth from one ranke to another then the maister doth in this place He looketh whether any planke were rift or splint in two And perhaps with his vigilancie and care doing his best seeing all to be but in vaine he is glad to speake with any other to see if there might be helpe in him or any good word of comfort For as Hierome noteth on this place it is naturall vnto euery man in extremitie of danger to hope better of another thē he doth hope of himself therfore in such cases men do meete and as the brutish cattell runne together This maister knew his fellowes to be as bad as himselfe yea perhaps a great deale worse and therefore he goeth to this straunger Saint Hierome doth intimate this to be the reason but indeede because he so rebuketh Ionas and ratleth him for his drowsinesse I rather impute his going to the corners of the ship for the Prophet lay in one of those places to his diligence carefulnesse to see the charge which was committed to him that
vpon the Prophet his company asketh him from what nation he did come of what people he was borne By these the like interrogatories they desired to know the truth that the fault might lye on him who had deserued it and that they might be freed from the daunger of suffering shipwracke And thus haue you the first verse the demaunds which were made to Ionas Now let vs come to his answer And he answered them I am an Hebrew and I feare Iehouah the God of heauen 12 When the whip of God and the rod of his iustice had ouertaken Ionas so that now he seeth heauen and earth to be against him down cometh his proud hart the sleeper now awaketh the run-away crieth peccaui contrition confession come now tumbling vpon him yea to make vp his full penance there shal be satisfaction if his life can make amends Now with Dauid he will confesse his sinnes against him selfe in ingenuous manner no concealing no excusing no pleading for himselfe It is I who by my follie haue wrought you all this danger Wreake your anger vpon me Me me adsum qui feci in me conuertite ferrum O Rutuli mea fraus omnis It is I it is I here I am vvho did it turne your swordes against me all the fault is mine as Nisus saith in Virgil to saue his friend Eurialus To display my transgression and condemne my self the more I will tell you the whole matter I should be a man of some skill in Gods seruice I should be able to know good froÌ„ euill and practise it accordingly for I am an Hebrew he speaketh that with an Emphasis no idolater no infidell no ignorant person but an Hebrew trained vp in vnderstanding and pietie therefore my fall is most filthie I am ashamed of my selfe The name Hebrew was giuen to the people of God which theÌ„ was the onely sanctified seede of Heber who descended from Sem the sonne of Noe from whom by succession those came who were at that time the sole sonnes of adoption called Hebrewes of Heber as the Iewes afterward tooke their name of Iudah one of the twelue Patriarkes and the Israelites of Iacob whom the Angell after his wrestling called Israell This I thinke to be the true deriuation of that name 13 These Hebrewes instructed their children in the seruice of the highest euen as Moses Dauid commanded vnto them that they should teach their sonnes Gods miracles their children his preceptes The wals of their houses and the postes of their doores could remember them of his statutes The most vnlearned persons among them euen their children could as well rehearse the lawes giuen downe by Moses as they could recite their owne names For Iosephus against Apion doth giue that testimonie of them wherein I suppose that he meaneth the ten commaundements and not the whole law Then for a man a Prophet to forget that which a child or any vnlearned one could not chuse but thinke of to wit his precise duetie doth argue a great fault and he who acknowledgeth this doth not spare himselfe at all He addeth this more in his wordes to them that he feareth the Lord Iehouah the God of heauen he belongeth to his seruice and therefore should be expert in each thing that is good Iehouah is that name wherein the Lord appeared only to the Israelites and not to all them neither not to Abraham nor to Isaac nor to Iacob and the old Patriarkes but first of all to Moses This was that name which the Iewes reputed to be his dreadfull name the ineffable name of God the vnspeakeable name of the Lord which they dared not so much as to vtter that appellation by which he was distinguished from all other heathen Idols from Princes and from Magistrates to whom the name of God in some sence is permitted But Ionas to make him knowne doth giue him another title Iehouah the Lord of heauen who alone doth rule the skie who alone possesseth the firmament not many as you do suppose but he alone ruleth the heauen No doubt but this God had some one time or other bene specified to these mariners they vsed to go to Iapho a hauen towne neare Palestina and verie likely it is that there about they had heard of the miracles which this God had done before in Egypt what worke he made in Canaan His name was a name of fame ouer all the world And perhaps the word Iehouah was not wholy vnknowne to them â—he Romanes which were also heathen men and liued much farther of as I thinke did take some notice of that word when they called their great God Iupiter in some cases Iouis Iouem which might roaue at the name Iehouah But this is but a coniecture and it was some yeares afterward 14 But to let this go he feareth the Lord God of heauen that is either he dreadeth his iudgement for the grieuousnesse of his sinne or else he belongeth vnto him as a seruaunt he reuerenceth him and oweth duetie to him For oftentimes in the Scripture the feare of the Lord importeth his honour or his seruice and so Saint Hierome doth expound it writing vpon this place But as Saint Austen saith of Lucretia if she were an adulteresse why is she commended by those that write the storie of her and by common report if chast why was she slayne why did she kill her selfe So might not I say to Ionas if thou serue the Lord Iehouah why then doest thou flie from him or if thou runne from him how doest thou serue him Ionas thou shouldst haue serued him but thou didst not and that was thy heauy fault Indeed it was his fault as you haue heard oft before and himselfe doth now confesse it For he who giueth true honour to him that is his maker should be obsequious to his will and obseruant of his word in all things great and small much more in things important as Niniue was to the Prophet He that should withdraw from thee that daily foode which thou puttest into thy belly should be reputed of thee for an enemy and can the Lord thinkest thou take it well that thou shouldst withdraw from him that obedience which thou owest vnto him That speech which Saint Cyprian hath is very excellent to this purpose Thou requirest a duty of thy seruant and whereas thou art but a man thou forcest another man to be obedient to thee Yea whereas there is betweene thee and him but one sort of being borne one condition and quality of dying one substance of your bodies yet thou beatest him with the vvhip thou correctest him with the rod. And when thou wilt thus exercise dominion ouer another vvilt thou not acknowledge one to be a Lord ouer thee and do thy best seruice to him God doth expect this at thy hands for saith he if I be a father vvhere is mine honour if I be
suppose a presumptuous and vncharitable and vnchristian sinne and farre be it from me to haue the least thought of it I am rather induced to thinke that euery one here belongeth to Gods election for it standeth much with reason that grace should haue deepe roote in that people who so early before day-light come together with deuotion to heare what the Lord doth say concerning all of them And God increase this affection in vs all vnto the end Yet when I looke farther I see that all is not well He is blind who now beholdeth not that God is angry with vs. The continuance of his punishment doth testifie that his wrath is in no sort appeased I passe by other matters of a pestilence lately gone and the sword yet threatned to vs. But behold what a famine he hath brought vpon our land and making it to perseuere yet hitherto doth increase it One yeare there hath bene hunger the second there was a dearth and a third which is this yeare there is great cleannesse of teeth The poorer sort do most feele it the Lord haue mercy on them So that as in Dauids dayes there were three deere yeares together so we haue had alreadie accompting that for one wherein we now do liue And see whether that the Lord doth not threaten vs much more by sending such vnseasonable weather and store of raine among vs. Which if we will obserue and compare it with that which is past we may say that the course of nature is very much inuerted our yeares are turned vp-side downe our sommers are no sommers our haruests are no haruests our seed-times are no seed-times Ammianus Marcellinus doth write concerning the Citie Alexandria in Egypt that for many ages together scant any one day hath bene seene that the Sunne hath not shined vpon it We may say to the contrary that for a great space of time scant any day hath bene seene that it hath not rayned on vs. Or if there haue bene some few that haue bene otherwise their glory and our hope is foorthwith ouerturned And the nights are like the dayes we know not which are the better It was sayd in the time of the Emperour Augustus Nocte pluit tota redeunt spectacula mane It raineth all night but in the morning men returne to their sports againe the weather was so faire in the day time that all returned to their spectacles or playes or went about their businesse but with vs it is otherwise Athenaeus telleth that Stratonicus a â—esting fellow did vse to say concerning the mountaine Haemus as oft as he was asked of the temperature of the ayre there that for eight moneths in the yeare it was exceeding cold and for the other foure it was winter We may speake in such sort of this weather that in the daytime it raineth in the night it showreth or powreth downe and that is all the difference 8 Now as in the dayes of Dauid when the matter was looked into it was found that the famine fell vpon them for one sinne and that was for the deed of Saule and his bloudy house in murthering the Gibeonites neither could the land be purged till bloud were payd for with bloud so no man need doubt but this hurt is on vs for one sinne or another or for a multitude of wickednesses bound together for we make no spare of them Since we know not the particular let euery man suspect himselfe and priuatly crye to the Lord it is I who haue offended and it is my fathers house and let vs not thrust it as men do vse from our selues vnto other But who is he that hath altered or changed his wayes although the wrath of God be yet on vs and his hand be stretched out still I greeue to speake that which is truth who goeth not on as he did before and keepeth not his olde tenure Who yet hangeth downe his dead or whose countenance is abated May we not say with Saint Bernard Hovv many do vve see humbled and yet they be not humble striken but not grieuing at it dressed indeed by the Lord but yet they be not cured Who leaueth that sinne which he frequented his auarice or his malice or his swearing or his pride what here I say of our selues may be spoken of all our land The sore is farre extended and the sinne is growne as farre Then in generall we may aske whether bribery in the temporalty be diminished at all and detaining of that which should serue for a Minister to feede the peoples soules or simony in the Clergy or vsurie in the citizen or oppression in the mightie Do the pastours any whit more diligently informe the charge depending on them or do they shine before their people in honest conuersation and propose themselues examples of contemning the world Do the people with more deuotion or more increased numbers come together to sollicite and call on the God of heauen to be yet mercifull vnto them The manner in all times hath bene to do something which is not coÌ„mon while the smart hath bin vpoÌ„ men although afterward the badder sort do turne againe to their wickednesse Chrysostome vpon the Acts of the Apostles maketh mention of his time The yeare before saith he did not God strike our vvhole citie what then did not all run to their deuotions Did not whoremongers and wantons and effeminate persons forsaking their possessions and the places vvhere they conuersed turne and become religious But vvhen three dayes were past they returned againe to their malice There the end was amisse but the beginning was good I would that we might begin so I would hope for a better end Some extraordinary thing would well beseeme this time if we would not fast with the Niniuites whereof I may haue occasion if God will to speake hereafter yet publike prayers are much worth which comming ioyntly from whole congregations will eccho vp to the heauen and pierce the clouds and sky and as a man may say will offer a kind of violence to that God who did make vs. It will wring mercie and wrest louing kindnesse from him for so is his owne pleasure If we do thus then together with Ionas we make vse of our afflictions learning by those things which we suffer religion and true holinesse and patience and obedience which the Lord loueth more then sacrifice 9 Thus hitherto hauing spoken in generall of the readinesse of our Prophet to obey after his grieuous punishment it is not amisse to looke on that in speciall which my text doth import vnto vs farther And that doth not onely say that Ionas did arise and go to Niniue but addeth according to the word of the Lord. As much as if it were said that he both tooke the iourney and obserued all the circumstances which God proposed to him This was faithfull performance of his part to looke to euery tittle which should be required of
sinne maketh much mirth and glee and the humour is contented with it but when it is come foorth and now may be seene it causeth to the committer more sorrowes and anguishes then the sorrowes of a woman And what can be truer For what griefe is like that when the creature who might haue bene assured thereof shall make doubt of the mercy of his maker It is not well when the heart shall go but thus farre at the highest Who knoweth of God will turne or it may be that he will do it but we cannot recken of it 7 Yet as this which I haue spoken may be gathered from the hardnesse of the thing from the guiltinesse of maliciousnesse from the strictnesse of Gods iustice from the doubtfull speech of the King So obserue I pray you therein a faith like a graine of mustard seed a sparke among the ashes a little breath in the body Who knoweth if God will turne It may be yet it may be it is not a thing impossible God may do that which we thinke not of no man can sweare the contrary Here then was a wrastling betweene hope and despaire betweene faith and distrust where although the better part were foyled and ouerthrowne and layed along and wearied yet lying vpon the ground euen when it cannot arise it looketh vpward albeit it haue no strength to liue yet it will not dye while it can liue It is recorded as a famoâ—s matter of Abraham that he did hope beyond hope when all reason did cease yet he did not giue ouer Of Dauid that he held on when innumerable troubles did come about him when his sinnes had taken hold of him when they were more in number then the haires of his head yea his heart did fayle him too in verie great measure Such a property hath faith it is not quite discouraged where once it hath set footing Euen this Niniuite he who is farre from perfection doth thinke that God can spare sinners that it standeth with the nature with the custome with the honour of so excellent a being as that Supreme power is to pardon and forgiue That although in themselues the errours of men deserue desolation and irrecouerable destruction yet in that true compassion whereof God is the father he may be pleased to beare and winke at transgressions So that when of mans part not a dramme of any commiseration may be expected of the Lords part somewhat may be looked for And that is the onely stake whereunto we must trust the anker to flye to the altar to lay hold on in confidence whereof the offender who can beleeue may lift vp his head although his faith be full of weakenesse and had much neede to be helped If thou Lord shouldst be extreme to marke what is done amisse vvho might abide it But there is mercy vvith thee But there is mercie with thee 8 And indeed so there is very plentifully and aboundant mercie with our Creator and that more in this time of grace and the dayes of the Gospell then was in former ages He who in the wildernesse was a consuming fire to the Israelites is now a gentle father he who was an exacting Iudge is now a redeeming Sauiour he who punished those that came not now calleth men to come and with an appeased countenance and intent to be mercifull he meeteth them and embraceth them We may now crye with Saint Cyprian Thou vvho in times past vvast a God of reuengement novv pitiest and sparest those vvho haue offended thou healest the broken in heart and bindest vp the vvounded to the prodigall sonne returning thou reprochest not his riot to the adulterous harlot thou obieclest not her vvantonnesse thou refusest not the seruice of the vvoman albeit she vvere a common sinner to him vvho ought thee money thou doest forgiue the debt So the wounded conscience may apprehend that comfort in another which it cannot find in it selfe and may oppose Gods onely loue as a most sufficient shield against all temptations And where this is once conceiued with a mite of catching faith which is true and vnfained faith although an humble stowping creeping weake and vnable faith there the soule doth not quite sinke but floateth aboue the water vntill more strength be gathered The sonne of man sheweth pity seeketh out that which is lost bindeth vp that which was broken helpeth that which is weake the brused reede he breaketh not the smoking flaxe he quencheth not His comming was to saue sinners he came not to call the righteous If we had no faults in vs we had no worke for his bloud and our sinnes be they many or be they mighty are not so powerfull but his bloud is of more vertue Therefore as Gregorie speaketh Let not the multitude of our vvounds depresse vs vnto despaire because the power of our Physitian is greater then the greatnesse of our sicknesse For what is it that he cannot repaire vnto saluation vvho could create all things of nothing And when we shall rest our selues vpon this euen after our offence some comfort doth remaine But my purpose here is not much to follow this point concerning Gods mercy because a full occasion of discussing the same will be offered againe in the second verse of the next Chapter yet now withall remember that although the king of Niniue were frighted at first lest pardon should be denied him for the haynousnesse of his crimes yet he doth not despaire but with a glimce of faith doth put it to the aduenture saying God can returne he is able to stay the plague which we haue deserued And the doctrine of Christianitie doth most incline to this where albeit we speake of iustice yet we rather offer mercie according as Saint Iohn doth direct vs My babes I write these things vnto you that you sinne not that is that you abstaine from it so farre foorth as you may that willingly you do it not nor of purpose nor presumtuously but if any man haue sinned that is by weaknesse or infirmitie or repent for it when he hath done we haue an aduocate with the Father we be not left quite destitute euen Iesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins And thus hitherto hauing spoken of the doubt of the king now let vs see how God determineth it And God saw their vvorkes how they turned 9 It is a rule in giuing of benefits that those are bestowed happily who light on such a one as is so farre intelligent as to know what he receiueth that he may thinke thereof accordingly and surely in our deuotions it is mans great felicity that he sendeth them vp to God who knoweth all and considereth all Not one cup of cold water but he taketh notice of it If it be for his sake and for a good conscience that we are driuen vp and downe he telleth our flittings he putteth our teares into a bottle he noteth all in a booke
to strike vs because otherwise he cannot awake vs but let vs watch to him that his anger may sleepe to vs. 21 If our Ionas haue offended by wilfull disobedience let vs dread to do the like if he were punished for that then let not vs presume to sinne by his example if God sent a tempest against him he can vse his rods against vs if Satan be sometimes the instrument of Gods iustice let vs feare to come in his fingers if the Lord so hateth iniquitie that the companions of the wicked are oft punished for their sakes let vs hate sinne as a serpent and flie from the profane if heathen men preferre their liues before their wares let not vs aduenture our soules to get temporall trash on earth if idolaters serue their Gods once when they be in daunger let vs serue our God euer to keepe vs free from daunger if they pray when they haue neede let vs pray euerie day because euerie day we neede Lord guide vs still with thy grace and bring vs vnto thy kingdome To thy name be prayse for euer THE IIII. LECTVRE The chiefe points 1. The drowsinesse of Ionas in his daunger 2 Sinne breedeth sinne 4 Satan is desirous to make vs secure 6 A superuising diligence should be in all that haue charge 10 The ship-maister teacheth the Prophet 11 Idolaters had many Gods and their vsage toward them 14 One man is more acceptable to God thē another 15 Danger of praying to many Gods 16 Heathē men know there is a God 17 In crosses it is good to suspect that there is some sin 18 The vse of lots and diuerse circumstances in them 23 Sinne will be discouered IONAH 1.5.6.7 But Ionah was gone down into the sides of the ship he lay down and was fast a sleepe So the ship-maister came vnto him and said vnto him what meanest thou ô sleeper Arise call vpon thy God if so be that God vvill thinke vpon vs that vve perish not And they said euery man to his felow Come let vs cast lots that we may know for whose cause this euill is vpon vs. So they cast lots and the lot fell vpon Ionah WHen Alexander the Great with his happy temeritie as a Philosopher doth call it but by the prouidence of God as Daniel doth describe it had proceeded so farre as that after one great ouerthrow giuen to Darius in person in the straights of Cilicia he was now a second time in the fields neare Arbela or as the best writers haue in the fields neare Gaugamela to ioyne battell against him whereas many things should haue inforced him to looke about him as the smalnesse of his armie the strength of his aduersarie the widenesse of the field where he had none aduauntage his distaunce from his owne home and no place to flie vnto yet when it was farre day that verie morning when the battell was to be tried and by that time his armie should haue bene ordered and raunged into aray the enemie comming forward the Generall Alexander who otherwise did stirre with the formost was fast asleepe in his tent Parmenio and his Nobles who for no cause of their owne but for his sake and his honour there aduentured their liues were troubled aboue measure they were in a sea of cares and scant knew which way to turne them onely he whom all concerned and whose making or marring depended on that dayes triall and for whom and whose sole sake they endured all things which they were then to sustaine as a man that knew not of it or one that tooke no care which end went forward lay in his bed soundly sleeping The Prophet in this place shall be no whit behind him but rather much beyond him He hath listes to enter with the verie wrath of God his life doth lye vpon it and his soule too if his God should not deale kindly with him the ayre is now disturbed and yeeldeth a mightie tempest the waues they froath and roare the windes they beate and blow the sea is moued exceedingly the ship is almost broken the sea-men are afrayde happie man that can pray fastest the burthen of the ship be it costly or be it necessarie it must out into the water and all for Ionahs sake his cake it is that is baking the euent concerneth him onely and he alone as the man who of all other did know least and was a straunger to the action doth seeke a secret corner the inner sides of the ship where he may lye rest Oh Ionas thou who shouldst be a mā beyond a many euen the Prophet of the highest thou art now short of a mā thou art now below thy selfe sleeping snorting then when all the powers of thy spirits were too few to looke about thee 2 If the man had not liked of Niniue for reasons which once I named but yet wold still haue kept his calling and wold haue held on his preaching his sin had weighed the lighter he might haue bestowed his talent at Tarshish when he came there and done some good on the marchants by the way going thither he might haue giuen exhortatiō to his fellow trauellers to serue the true God of Israel If he had not had so many auditours as were in Niniue or so many as S. Peter had when at one sermon he won three thousand soules to Christ yet he should haue had some hearers if it had bene but one Plato to haue attended Socrates he had not vtterly lost his labour he who hath conuerted one sinner from going astray out of his way shall saue a soule from death and shall hide a multitude of sinnes which either the conuerted or conuerter hath committed But it is not for this cause that our Ionas goeth to the sea his preaching is turned to sleeping Let the world go how it wil he is got away from his maister will thinke no more of the matter See what the best man on earth is if God withdraw his Spirit eclipse his grace but a moment We are desperate to all wickednesse but beetles and blocks to goodnesse Here is an obdurate sinner a hard brawne is ouer his heart a thicke skin and insensible let the sea roare and the mariners crie and tumble out their packs our Ionas taketh a nap in verie supine securitie and maketh no more of it Oh the stubburnnesse of iniquitie and mans auersenesse from his maker But when we haue once passed the lines of duty obedience and grosse sinnes haue taken hold vpon vs then we must iustifie our actions we will run we care not whither from the shoes vp to the shoulders yea sometimes ouer head and eares 3 Sin stealeth on vs by degrees but cōmonly the last step is the deepest Dauid being idle had spied out Bethsabe there idlenesse was the beginning then did his eye as the window of his mind let in concupiscence into his hart Of idlenesse cometh cōcupiscence Therof foloweth