conuersation is in Heauen Albeit the deuill and his associats besiege Gods elect euery day yet they finde in them no resting place their dwelling is among the reprobate wicked according to that of S. Matthew When the vncleane spirit is gone out of a man he walketh thorow out drie places seeking rest and findes none then he saith I will returne into mine house from whence I came and when he is come he findeth it emptie swept and garnished then he goeth and taketh vnto him seauen other spirits worse then himselfe and they enter in and dwell there and the end of this man is worse then the beginning The Deuill is cast out of Heauen into the earth as in the text following that is into men of earthly minds who go vpon their bellies and eat dust all the dayes of their life The Deuill is cast out of the Temple into the court which is without the Temple that is out of the bounds of the Church among the Gentiles and such as know not God or else knowing God glorifie him not as God Rom. 1. 21. professing that they know God but deny him in their workes Tit. 1. 16. In these who mind earthly things Satan ruleth and worketh as their God and prince I heard a loud voyce saying in Heauen is now made saluation Here begins the Saints 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or victoriall hymne for the loud voyce from Heauen is nothing else but the publique consent of the faithfull in magnifying the mercies of God toward them in their fight against the Dragon and his angels And this conquest is tearmed in respect of men Saluation in respect of God the strength of his kingdome and the power of his Christ. Where Satan and sinne reigne there destruction is at hand for the wages of sinne is death Rom. 6. 23. But when once Satan is cast out and the word of God which is the sauing Gospell and the word of life dwelleth in vs plenteously then as Christ said vnto Zacheus saluation is come to our house It is tearmed the power of Christ and strength of Gods kingdome because this euidently sheweth his might and Maiestie So the Text following They ouercame the Dragon by the bloud of the Lambe Christ fighteth in vs and for vs and thorough his help we are able to doe all things euen to cast out Satan and to cast downe holdes and whatsoeuer is exalted against the knowledge of God 2. Cor. 10. 4. So that we may triumph and say with Paul Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect it is God that iustifieth Who shall condemne it is Christ which is dead yea rather that is risen againe who is at the right hand of God and maketh intercession for vs And 1. Cor. 15. 55. O death where is thy sting O graue where is thy victorie the sting of death is sinne and the strength of sinne is the Law but thankes be vnto God which hath giuen vs victorie thorough our Lord Iesus Christ. And by the word of their testimonie the bloud of the Lambe that is the death of Christ our paschall lambe is the chiefe cause of this one victorie but Faith is the hand and instrument applying the merits of Christ and opposing them against all the dangerous assaults of the dragon For when that common informer and accuser of his brethren shall accuse thee before God for breaking his Lawes as in many things all of vs offend then thou maiest answere The bloud of Iesus Christ clenseth vs from all sinne and there is no condemnation vnto those which are in Christ he so loued me that he died for my sinnes and rosâ—… againe for my iustification All that is borne of God ouercommeth the world and this is the victorie that ouercommeth the world and the prince of this world euen our Faith 1. Iohn 5. 4. See Epistle Sun 1. after Easter And therefore Paul aduiseth the Christian souldiour aboue all other weapons in the spirituall war-fare to put on Faith Aboue all take the shield of Faith wherewith yee may quench all the fierie darts of the deuill Ephes. 6. 16. See Epistle Sun 21. after Trinitie Now for as much as it is not sufficient vnto saluation to beleeue with thine heart vnlesse thou likewise confesse with thy mouth It is said here that the souldiours of Christ ouercame the dragon by Faith in the Lambs bloud and by the word of their testimonie And for as much as a true Faith is neuer idle but alway manifesting it selfe by good workes it is added in the next clause they loued not their lines vnto the death as who would say they were willing to sacrifice their loues and their liues in the quarrell of Christ against the Dragon and his Angels they remembred the words of their Generall he that loueth his life shall loose it and he that giueth his life in this world shall keepe it to life eternall and who soeuer shall loose his life for my sake and the Gospell he shall saue it The Gospell MAT. 18. 1. At the same time â—…ame the Disciples vnto Iesus saying who is the greatest in the kingdome of heauen THere be two parts of this text 1. A question verse 1. wherein obserue 1. When it was asked at the same time 2. By whom the Disciples 3. Of whom they came vnto Iesus 4. What who is the greatest in the kingdome c. 2. An answere to the same verse 2. 3. c. The summe whereof is briefly this he that in Christs Church is most seruant is the greatest and he that is most Lordly the least or he that is least in his owne conceit is the greatest in Gods eye the least in this kingdome of heauen which is present shall be the greatest in that kingdome of heauen which is to come The which one point is pressed by the great Doctor of humility with a great deale of earnestnes for 1. as S. Marke reportes he sat downe 2. He called the twelue 3. When they were called together hee taught them by spectacle to their eye so well as by precept to their eare he set a childe in the midst of them and said 4. He vsed a vehement asseueration verily I say vnto you 5. A commination except ye turne and become aâ—… children ye shall not enter into the kingdome of heauen At the same time the occasion of this question among the Disciples as Hierom and other learned Doctors write was vpon emulation toward Peter whom alone they saw preferred before the rest in the payment of the tribute by these words of Christ in the former Chapter at the last verse that take and pay to them for me and thee But S. Marke relates Chap. 9. verse 34. that this contention began in the way before they came into the house where Christ appointed Peter to pay tribute
dearth obserue 1. Gods iustice in punishing the wicked with a dearth and that a great dearth and that through out the world 2. Gods mercy in preseruing the godly foretelling it by his Prophet Agabus and so consequently preuenting the rage of it by the prouident care and charitable contributions of Disciples and brethren In the death obserue the Murtherer Herod the King Martyr Iames the brother of Iohn Matter or cause why for that he was of the Church Manner with the sword Dearth is one of Gods foure sore iudgements Ezechiel 14. 21. Barrennes of the ground is a maine string of his whip against sinne when saith he the land sinneth against me by committing a trespasse then I will stretch out mine hand vpon it and will breake the staffe of the bread thereof and will send famine vpon it If ye will not obey me nor hearken vnto my commandements I will make your heauen as iron and your earth as brasse your strength shall be spent in vaine neither shall your land giue her increase neither shall the trees of the land giue their fruit Famine then is brought vpon a kingdome by Gods appointment and that for the sinnes of the land and surely Saint Luke points at the causes of this vniuersall dearth in saying it came to passe in the dayes of Claudius Caesar. For by the worlds Emperour we may iudge much of the worlds estate the vices of Princes first infect the nobles and then afterward the nobles infect the gentlemen and the gentlemen in fine corrupt the commons qualis rex talis grex such prince such people It is reported of this Claudius that he did indulgere conuiuijs concubitibus effusissimè growing thorough his intemperance so dull and vnfit for any good seruice that his mother vsed to say he was a monster of men a worke of nature begun but not finished he got his Empire by corrupting the souldiers and during his reigne he serued his belly committing all vncleannes euen with greedines no maruaile then if the Lord sent a dearth in the dayes of Claudius no wonder if he denyed the fruites of the ground vnto such a drunken and dissolute generation in our age moe then one Claudius reignes there be many Kings of good fellowes in the world drunkennes domineers in euery place the country village not excepted abusing the manifold blessings of God in wantonnes and idlenes and therefore wee may feare iustly that the Lord ere it be long will send some great dearth among vs as hee did in the dayes of our forefathers he hath already whet his sword and bent his bow and prepared his arrowe to shoote at vs he hath in these latter yeares turned our winters into sommers and our sommers into winters so that whereas Christ said the haruest is great and the labourers are few we contrariwise the labourers are many but the haruest is little he hath in the spring nipped the fruites of our trees and in autumne taken away the flockes of our sheepe hee hath also cursed our basket and our dough in so much as the poore haue long felt a dearth and the rich also begin to feare a famine the which is the most grieuous of all the foure sore iudgements of God for the noysome beasts and the sword kill in a moment but there be many lingring deaths in a dearth as the Prophet in his lamentations they that be slaine with the sword are better then they that be killed with hunger and to the same purpose Vegetius ferro saeuior fames And as for the pestilence there was alwayes in nature so well as in name so great affinity betweene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that as Physitians and experience daily teach after a great dearth ordinarily there followeth a great plague because men in a scarsity of victuals are constrained out of necessity to feed on vnwholsome and vnsauory meates in holy Bible we find example that extreame hunger made mothers murtherers and so turned the sanctuary of life into the shambles of death Lamentat 4. 10. The hands of pitifull women haue sodden their owne children which were there meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people Famine then as S. Basile termeth it is the top of all humane calamities for whereas the noysome beasts and the sword and the pestilence make quicke dispatch out of misery fames diutiùs malum ocyùs torquet lentiùs tabefacit sensim occidit In this great dearth it is certaine that the godly suffered among the wicked the good among the bad the beleeuing Christians among vnbeleeuing Gentiles the Church of Antioch as we read in the former part of this present Chapter endued with many notable graces and adorned with this eminent honour that the Disciples were first called Christians in Antioch is afflicted now with a grieuous dearth I say now when her goods were partly taken away by the rage of persecution and partly giuen away to releiue the poore brethren all the world was infested with this dearth and the Church in these respects more then all other of the world Now the reasons are manifold why God suffers his owne people to be crossed 1. To bridle the lust of our flesh that wee should not be condemned with the world 2. To teach vs patience saying with holy Iob shall we receiue good at the hand of God and shall we not receiue euill 3. To shew that he is as well able to deliuer vs in aduersity as to keepe vs in prosperity Psalm 37. 19. The godly shall not be confounded in the perillous time and in the dayes of dearth they shall haue enough So wee finde here that God in his anger remembring mercy comforted his Church in this vniuersall hunger-rot ouer all the world first in foretelling it and afterward by stirring vp the charitable mindes of good people to preuent the furiousnes of it as wel in themselues as in other he foretold this famine for surely the Lord God will doe nothing but he reuealeth his secret vnto his seruants the Prophets He foretold the flood vnto Noe the destruction of Sodome to father Abraham and righteous Lot the dearth in Egypt vnto Ioseph Gen. 41. And here the Prophet Agabus not by starre-gazing or figure-flinging or coniuâ—…ing or any curious arte but by the spirit signified that there should be great dearth thorough out al the world which also came to passe in the dayes of Claudius the Emperour It is obiected here which is said Mat. 11. 13. All the Prophets and the law prophesied vnto Iohn how then could there be Prophets in this age to this obiection answere is made that the meaning of those words is that Christ is the end of the law and the Prophets and so consequently their office who prophesied hee should come was at an end when Iohn the Baptist
mouth of his holy Prophets I haue beene sought of them that asked not I was found of them that sought me not he calleth vs before we call on him The 2. grace is sanctification and sanctified such as are called are by nature the children of wrath as well as other it is in vaine therefore to be called that is stirred and moued to receiue the faith vnlesse we be sanctified Iames 2. 14. What auaileth it my brethren though a man saith he hath faith when he hath no workes Herod seemed to be called and somewhat inwardly touched but he would not forsake his secret sinne of incest in keeping his brothers wife Simon Magus was baptized and so called but hee was not sanctified to leaue his gainefull sinne of couetousnes Iudas as being an Apostle was called and yet hee was a diuell and many deceiue themselues who thinke hearing of the word to be sufficient without doing Iames 1. 22. A sheepe resembleth a true Christian euery thing in a sheepe is good and vsefull his fleece is good his fell is good his flesh is good his entrals yea his excrements are good and so the sanctified Christian is a seruant vnto all the seruants of God euery good gift in him is profitable to some he lendeth his fleece cloathing the naked to some his bread in feeding the hungrie to some he lendeth his eyes and so becommeth a guide to the blinde to some he lendeth his strength and so becommeth feete to the lame to some he lendeth his vnderstanding and so becommeth an instructor of the simple he becommeth as Paul speakes all things vnto all men that hee may winne some vnto Chtist In this point of doctrine the Papists haue slandered vs exceedingly saying that our diuines in preaching of faith haue destroyed good workes whereas we professe that our calling is fruitles without holines of life See Epistle 2. Sun in Lent Preserued in Iesus Christ As it is in vaine to be called first vnlesse we be sanctified so likewise to be sanctified vnlesse we may be kept and preserued in Iesu Christ not to lose our sanctification Our life is a continuall warre-fare vpon earth and therefore though we be called outwardly and sanctified in some part inwardly yet the Dragon and his Angels fight against vs daily that we may fall from faith and hope receiued that wee may turne the grace of God into want onnesse like the dogge returned to his owne vomit and the sow that was washed to the wallowing in the mire and so end in the flesh howsoeuer we began in the spirit Demas fell away from the Gospell embracing the present world many are called but few chosen Mat. 20. 16. It behoueth vs therefore continually to pray that Christ Iesus the great shepheard of our soules may hold vs in his hands from the griping pawes and grinding Iawes of the roaring Lyon who goeth about daily seeking whom he may deuoure And surely such as are giuen vnto Christ effectually called and truly sanctified shall bee preserued to the end Zerubbabel did both lay the foundation of the temple and finish it so God will establish and make perfect his worke begun in vs Psalm 68. 28. Hee that hath begun this worke of our saluation will also performe it Philip. 1. 6. I know Gods elect may for a time lose some good meanes and some great measure of grace too Dauid and Aaron and Peter and other haue fallen foully yea fully but none finally God is more watchfull in helping vs then Satan is or can bee wrathfull in hurting vs. He which is the father of mercies giueth vs preuenient grace subsequent grace cooperant grace grace before grace and grace after grace keeping vs by his power thorough faith and preseruing vs to his heauenly kingdome It is not of our selues that we perseuere thus vnto the end and in the end it is the power of God who giueth as our Apostle sheweth here grace first to be called secondly to be sanctified thirdly to be reserued or preserued in Iesu Christ. Mercy vnto you and peace and loue be multiplied Mercy from God the father in the forgiuenes of your sinnes Peace in Christ in feeling this forgiuenes Loue in the holy Ghost in being assured of Gods grace toward vs euery day more and more Mercie from God the father of Mercie Peace from God the sonne the Prince of peace Loue from God the holy Ghost the loue of the father and the sonne Mercy in pardoning your sinnes Peace in quieting your conscience Loue ioyning you to God and one to another or hee wiâ—…eth encrease of Gods mercy toward them and a multiplication of their peace and loue toward one another That their sinnes may be forgiuen he prayes for Gods mercy that they may forgiue other men their trespasses he prayes for peace that both these may be multiplied in them he prayes for loue First he begins with Gods mercy which is the fountaine of euery good and perfect gift if wee taste of his mercy we shall soone be filled with his other graces he that hath enough mercy can want nothing For as Samsons chiefe strength was in his haire so Gods chiefe vertue in his mercy Mercy good Lord is the total summe in the humble suite of a sinner O Lord haue mercy vpon vs miserable sinners is the first petition and the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ is the last in our Liturgie When I gaue all diligence Here S. Iude begins to prescribe his Salue which is an exhortation to contend earnestly for the faith and the causes mouing him to write this vnto the Saints are two 1. His duty when I gaue all diligence to write vnto you of the common saluation c. 2. Their danger because they nourished certaine seducers as serpents in their owne breasts whom hee describes by their sinne in generall verse 4. shewing their hypocriticall entring into the Church craftily crept in vngodly carriage being entred In their life turning the grace of God into wantonnesse In their doctrine denying God which is the only Lord and our Lord Iesus Christ. In particular from the 4. verse to the 17. Punishment of olde ordained to this condemnation and so S. Iude describes these wicked impostors and false brethren as Pope Celestine did his successor Bonifacius the 8. Ascendisti vt vulpes craftily crept in regnabis vt leo denying God and turning his grace into wantonnesse morieris vt canis of old ordained to this condemnation The Gospell IOHN 15. 17. This command I you that ye loue together c. CHrist in this Gospell is said to doe three things especially 1. He doth exhort his followers vnto mutuall loue 2. He comforts them against the worlds hatred 3. He promises to send vnto them the holy Ghost who being the comforter and the spirit of loue may both instruct them how to loue together and how to suffer affliction in the world Of