God in three Persons be rendred all honour and glorie now and for euer Amen Marriage is honourable amongst all men and the bed vndefiled but fornicators and adulterers God will iudge A SERMON PREACHED IN THE CATHE DRAL CHVRCH OF WELS AT WHAT TIME FOVRE PERSONS DID PENANCE FOR INCEST COMMITTED BY ONE MAN WITH HIS WIVES DAVGHTER BY THE OTHER MAN WITH HIS WIVES SISTER DEVT. 27. VERSE 22 23. 22 Cursed is he that lyeth with his sister the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother and all the people shall say Amen 23 Cursed is he that lyeth with his mother-in-law and all the people shall say Amen WHEN GOD had deliuered the Children of Israel out of Aegypt he was pleased to enter into a Couenant with them at Mount Sinai the manner of it is set downe Exod. 24. But the Israelites quickly brake with GOD and GOD entred into iudgment with them he made them for the space of fortie yeeres to wander in the Wildernesse and in that space he so consumed them that of 600000 men remained aliue onely IOSVA and CALEB After so long displeasure GOD returned againe in mercie to them he vouchsafed to haue his Couenant renewed againe the forme of the renuing he prescribeth in this 27 of Deut. A most solemne forme for therein were to concurre three remarkable acts First The Law was to be fairly written vpon great plaistred Stones that the people before-hand might see whereunto they were to bind themselues for GOD would haue them enter into his Couenant aduisedly Secondly there was an Altar to be erected and thereon they were to offer whole burnt offerings and sacrifices of thankes-giuing which were to be reall acknowledgments that they did wholly deuote themselues to GOD and giue thankes for that GOD of his goodnesse would againe renue his Couenant GOD would haue them enter into his Couenant religiously Thirdly GOD commanded that the twelue Tribes should sort themselues into two diuisions sixe should stand vpon the descent of Mount Gerezzim and sixe vpon the descent of Mount Ebal both diuisions with their faces towards the mid Valley where the Arke of GOD the Type of his visible residence amongst the Israelites was borne vp by the Priests In this Theater as it were did GOD require that the Israelites should heare the Articles of Agreement betweene GOD and them both blessings and cursings and professe their conformitie thereunto GOD would haue them professe themselues party to his Couenant openly in the sight both of GOD and Men. In this third act you shall find a rehearfall of sinnes first in particular then ingenerall and a doome pronounced against the committers of those sinnes both by Priest and People Of the particular sinnes my Text specifieth two and specifieth withall the doome that belongeth to either of them The sinnes are vnlawfull matches one collaterall a brothers lying with his sister and because a woman may be sister more wayes then one here is an exegesis the word is expounded whether she be daughter of the mans father or daughter of his mother The second vnlawfull match is in the right line a mans lying with his mother-in law Of these matches you haue these penitent spectacles here presented before you The Text goeth on and tels these Penitents and whosoeuer else shall presume to be like vnto them what is their doome it is set downe in one word but that is a sharpe one they are cursed But farther obserue concerning this doome who doth pronounce it and who doth approue it They that pronounce it are the Leuites so we read verse 14 and they are willed to pronounce it with an audible voyce so audible that all Israel may heare They that approue it are the people they are required to say Amen in token that they all assent to that which they heare all the people must say Amen You haue the briefe of my Text I purpose GOD willing now to enlarge it I pray GOD I may so doe it as that we that stand may take heed least we fall and these that are fallen may learne to rise againe I begin with the sinne wherein we are first to make you see that the Text doth fit this occasion For neither of the matches therein specified seemeth to agree with theirs that are vnder the present Censure Not the collaterall for my Text speaketh of a sister by consanguinitie and these Penitents were brother and sister onely by affinitie not that in the right line for my Text speaketh of a mans lying with his mother in-Law or his wiues mother but this man here is censured for lying with his wiues daughter And so you may thinke that neither of these couples come within the compasse of my Text and therefore are neither of them guiltie of the sinne neither need feare the doome To take away this doubt you must take notice of two rules in Diuinitie The first is that affinitie makes persons as neere in the Law as consanguinitie doth The reason whereof is plaine Affinitie is grounded vpon mariage and by mariage two become one flesh and consequently their kinted whether ascendent or descendent or collaterall become alike neere on each side to the other Your wiues father and mother brethren and sisters sonnes and daughters are vnto you by her as neere as if they were of your owne blood This being true you perceiue that it was no lesse vnlawfull for this man to couple with his wiues sister then with his owne sister the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother The other rule is That more then is exprest in GODS Law is to be vnderstood when by analogie it may fairly be deduced there-from GOD himselfe is our direction to take notice of such analogie for if you compare this Chapter with the 18 of Leuit. you shall find that this verie instance of a man lying with his mother-in-law which is mentioned here is omitted there whereupon you may well conclude that some particulars which GOD forbids are not named in the Letter though they are within the meaning of the Law and that the meaning is as wide as analogie will suffer I will shew you in a word what this analogie is it is that persons which are not forbidden expresly and in the letter of the Law are there forbidden implicitely and in the meaning of the Law where others in the same distance of Consanguinitie or Affinitie are expresly forbidden As for example the Law forbids expresly a nephew to marrie with his aunt it saith nothing of an vnckles marrying with his neece yet these being as neere in degree as the other we may of them reasonably conclude that they also are forbidden in the meaning of the Law the exception of the Romanists is friuolous To our purpose by the letter of my Text a man may not marrie with his mother-in-law which may be either his wiues mother or his fathers wife if not with his mother-in-law which is his fathers wife then in the
inward man and frame that and worke it vnto sinne by questioning the truth wherein it is setled Eccles 7.20 God saith the Preacher made man right that is set him in the right way and set him vpright in his way But man sought out many inuentions what those inuentions were Salomon in that Booke expresseth in his owne person where he sheweth that he was Ambulans in Consilio he tooke a taste of all courses but could rest vpon none of them Cap. 5◠vers 20. the Prophet Esay compares wicked men to the restlesse seas Cap. 1◠c. 8. Saint Iames saith that they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men that can no where take sure footing And how should they that haue left a rocke to walke vpon the sands Vers 13. Saint Iude calleth them wandring starres and indeed nothing can better resemble them then a Planet who is sometime in coniunction with one star and somtime with another and varieth according to his coniunction and the world is at this day ful of these walkers in Counsell 2. Tim. 4.3 2. Tim. 3.7 persons hauing itching eares who are euer learning and neuer come to the knowledge of the truth And this breeds so many Sects in the world wherewith our Church as others hath beene and is not a little disquieted And yet mistake not I fauour not the blinde obedience or implicite faith where vnto the Church of Rome enthrals the consciences of her followers and makes them seale their Vow of obstinacie with the most sacred obligations of Oathes and Sacraments whereupon our Recusants are become like deafe Adders Psal 58.4 5. that stop their eares and wil not heare the Charmer charme hee neuer so wisely did wee teach any other doctrine then that which God first deliuered in Paradise and hath since vnfolded by his Prophets and Apostles from whence the world degenerated and whereunto we recall it they did well to stop their eares as our people shall doe well to stop their eares against them because they draw not vnto God but from him but it is one thing to forbid irresolutenesse when a man is assured of Gods will warranted by his Word such as was in Eue Gen. 3. Gen. 6. when she conferred with the Serpent and the Sonnes of God when they would needs be acquainted with the daughters of men and in the Israelites when they would learne the manners of other nations another thing to forbid that irresolutenesse which was in Nicodemus Nathaniel in Gamaliel when they began to stagger and could not presently resolue whither that they were with others to oppose Christ or else leaue their former course and become the Disciples of Christ neither of those courses being at the first assured to their consciences The Papists forbid this latter irresolutenesse when neither way is knowne to be right which irresolutenesse causeth a man to enquire and finde out that which is right we forbid the former irresolutenesse where one way is knowne to be right the other to be wrong which will bring a man from a sound resolution to an irresolution Certainely if we doe so walke in Counsell we haue receiued the seed of sinne Our lesson then must be this When God hath set vs in a right way neuer to aduise whether it bee good to take another way if wee doe then this ill seed of bad counsell sowen in the inward man will fructifie and shoot forth in the outward man Corrumpunt bonos more 's colloquia praua Ill counsell will corrupt good manners He that takes this kinde of counsell when he comes to resolue resolues commonly vpon the worse he will not stand in the right way though hee will stand in a way so it befell Rehoboam he heard the Ancients and hee heard the Youths 1. Kings 12 hee that had so little wit as to heare both had so bad a will as to follow the worse the like befell Ahab 1. Kings 2◠who was contented to heare as well the true Prophet as the false concerning his iourney to Ramoth Gilead but when he came to resolue he gaue more credit to the false than to the true the verie same befell the Iewes deliberating what way to take Ierem. 42. whether to goe into Aegypt or abide in Iudea they asked Ieremie hee aduised them to abide in Iudea and that it was Gods will they should doe so they aske others they aduise them to goe into Aegypt Ierem. 43. and with contempt of Gods pleasure they obstinately did so But why doe I seeke for proofe to these stories Looke to the first deliberation that is of record that of Eue with the Serpent and iudge therby how dangerous it is at all to deliberate in such a case that first deliberation hath giuen vs a wofull proofe that he that doth Ambulare in Consilio improborum will stare in viâ peccatorum Saint Paul hath a rule Rom. 1.21 Rom. 1. that it is too naturall for men to bee vaine in these Dialogismes our foolish heart will be darkned and when we striue to be most wise we shall prooue most sottish well may we stand in a Way to make some triall of the Counsell that is giuen vs but it is more then likely that our Way will be the way of sinners And it were well if we bore only this fruit there is yet a much worse which is the Sitting downe in the seate of the scorners When the heart becommeth so corrupt that it depraueth the principles of Conscience and our iudgement is so peruerted that we speake good of euill and euill of good call darknesse light and light darknesse then wee are come so farre as to beare this second ill fruit But the phrase imports two things By Sitting in the Chaire it is meant that men proceede so sarre in Sinne that they become Doctors of it and the Chaire of scorners shewes that they scoffe all that are opposite to it Touching the first we must note that a sinner desireth not to bee single but as good things haue semen in speciem suam a seede for the multiplication of their kind so haue euill also The Serpent drew into his companie Eue Eue Adam the daughters of men corrupted the sonnes of God yea whatsoeuer sinne a man is giuen vnto hee desireth companie A Theise Prou. 1. an Adultresse Prou. 7. Idolaters Num. 25. The same may be obserued in others Sinners are ambitious to be teachers of their Sinne neither onely teachers of sinne but also mockers of godlinesse so Ismael dealt with Isaac the Israelites with the Prophets Gen. 21. 2. Chron. 36 the Scribes and Pharisees with Christ Saint Iude by a generall name calleth wicked men Mockers and hardly will he forbeare to scoffe at godlinesse Vers 18. that vndertakes to be an Aduocate of Sinne for whereas they are not able to resist the strength of the apparent grounds of pietie and truth they find that the best way to entertaine the fauourable
preserued by that Kings daughter and bred as if hee had beene her sonne There was a mysterie in it God typed out in his person the condition of his people whose deliuerer he was then designed to be Hee was vnexpectedly to set them free when in their owne eyes their case was most desperate Neither was his person only typicall his qualities also were heroicall Acts 7.22 first his Intellectuall skilfull in all the learning of the Egyptians to say nothing of his fortie yeares contemplation in Midian of which Philo Iudaeus there are foure morall vertues which they call Cardinall he had them all in a high degree Prudence God gaue him the spirit of Policie Numb 11. as it appeares by the storie of the seuentie Elders to whom God gaue part of his Spirit when they were made his assistants in the gouernment Iustice the apologie which he maketh vpon the rebellion of Korah Dathan and Abiram witnesseth that I haue not taken one Asse from them Numb 10. neither haue I hurt one of them the Holy Ghost giueth him this testimonie Heb 3.2 that hee was faithfull in all Gods house Temperance how little was hee transported with the loue of profit Heb. 11. or pleasure that thought the rebuke of Christ greater riches then the treasures of Egypt and chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God then to enioy the pleasure of sinne for a season Fortitude no man can doubt of that who considereth that being a single man in shew a meane man hee should aduenture to goe to so mightie a King in so vnpleasing an errand not fearing the Kings wrath when hee had exasperated him nor desisting from vrging what hee had in charge though hee were threatned by him certainly God that sent him on that message indued him with an extraordinarie courage Besides these Morall he was renowmed for his Theologicall vertues his Faith and his Hope Saint Paul hath chronicled Heb. 11. and ranged him with the most famous Worthies And in Charitie hee did exceed them all hee is not only commended for the meekest man that liued Numb 12 3. but so indulgent were his bowels towards his vngracious charge that hee desired rather to be blotted out of Gods Booke of Life Exod 32 v. 3â— then they should be punisht as they deserued Finally no Nationall Gouernour of the Israelites besides Moses did euer communicate as a type in the threefold honour of Christ Moses was a Prophet Deut. 34. and there neuer liued such a Prophet as Moses was for his Bookes containe the foundation of all prophesie therefore doe the Fathers call him Oceanum Theologiae the great Sea of Diuinitie He was a Priest yea Sacerdos Sacerdotum Nazian hee did not only act the function but also consecrated Aaron and his sonnes therevnto Finally hee was a King a mightie King not only ruling the twelue Tribes but also conquering their enemies the Amalekites the Midianites the Ammonites the Bashanites but aboue all the Egyptians and also he sacred his successor Iosuah giuing him part of his glorie I haue insisted the longer in this delineation of Moses perfections to the end that you might perceiue that though God Almightie can compasse his will by the weakest of meanes yet he vseth to endow men proportionably to that wherein he meaneth to employ them he doth performe waightie workes by worthy men such a one was Abraham the Father of faithfull men Dauid the Father of faithfull Kings and our Moses called to be the Law giuer of Israel This Person so eminent a person went betweene the parties to the Couenant The Parties are two each called by two names The first is called the Lord God Lord that is the name of his nature Iehouah hee is of none and all things are of him God that is the name of the persons subsisting in the nature or in whom the nature doth subsist Elohim signifieth all three so that we haue here Trinitie in Vnitie and Vnitie in Trinitie euen the true God and such a one is he that is the first partie to the Couenant Neither is it enough to conceiue of God in grosse wee must so as it were resolue him We must behold God the Father that becommeth our Father God the Sonne that maketh vs sonnes and God the Holy Ghost that vouchsafeth vs to be his Temple all three persons act their part in the Couenant Notwithstanding all three concurre yet must wee take speciall notice of the second Person Verbum Dei as the Chalde Paraphrase calleth him here Esay 63 v 9. Mal 31. Acts 7. and throughout this Chapter The Angell of Gods presence the Angell of the Couenant that is Christ he was the Angell that conuersed with Israel in the Wildernesse And indeed it was hee that in this Couenant became the Bridegroome of the Church for the day of the Couenant was a wedding day as anon I shall shew you more at large The true knowledge of this first partie maketh much to the Dignitie the Commoditie the Constancie of the Couenant Dignitie for with whom can wee contract more honourably then with our Lord God The higher he is aboue vs the more honour in the contract is done vnto vs. And this Partie maketh the Contract as Profitable as it is honorable 〈◊〉 2. Ezâ—k 16. not only because he can doe vs good that is the Lord God but also because he will doe it because his contract maketh vp a marriage knot Finally a Couenant made with such a partie is a Couenant of salt Iames 1.17 an vncorruptible Couenant there is no variablenesse nor shadow of change with him and therefore in regard of him we need not feare any diuorce The second Partie is also set forth by two names the house of Iacob the children of Israel which yeild vs a Ciuill and a Mysticall Obseruation The Ciuill is in the first name therefore are they called the house of Iacob because they were his ofspring Reade Genesis the tenth and you shall finde that all Nations in the beginning of the World did this honour to their first Ancestours they were called by their name after this patterne were the Edomites Moabites Ammonites Ismaelites distinguished by the stocke from whence euery one sprang Conquests and Colonies haue long since altered this fashion neither can wee now tell the true originall of any Nation vnder the Sunne except that of the vagrant Iewes who by Gods special prouidence remaine yet vnconfounded with other Nations The mysticall obseruation is in the second name the same people are also called children of Israel Israel was a second name giuen to Iacob signifying that hee had preuailed with God and his Enemies should not preuaile against him Now because that blessing was to be not only Personall but Nationall his posteritie communicated in his second name and Iacob confirmed it vnto them in the benediction which he gaue to the twelue Patriarches In these two names then we are
of Austria It is true that in Electiue States men are absurd that make choyce of a woman but in States that are inherited Municipall Lawes she was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the transgression she past the bounds which GOD set her and broke a Law which was ordained to be a rule of her life Ioyne she was deceiued with she was in the transgression and then you shall see how the Serpent instils sinne into man we are not constrayned but allured to doe ill we swallow euill that is branched with the shew of good so did Eue and so doe all But how doth the Apostle deny that Adam was guiltie as well as Eue We must obserue that he doth not deny that Adam was in the transgression for then he should contradict himselfe who saith elsewhere that by man came sinne into the world yea he should contradict Adams owne confession Rom. 5. who acknowledged to GOD that his wife gaue him and he had eaten of the forbidden fruit Some therefore answer that not Adam but Eue was first in the transgression posterior in factura prior in culpa saith St HIEROME and because she was so forward not he but she was to beare the blame Some cleare the place by vnderstanding the words comparatiuely as if Eues sinne were so much greater then Adams that Adams deserued not the name of sinne in comparison of hers she was deceiued by the Serpent he by his Wife by how much more vnreasonable it is for a woman to be guided by a Serpent then for a man to be guided by his wife by so much was her sinne more soule then his But neither of these two answers fits the argument It lyeth rather in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eue was deceiued and not Adam she made tryall of her wisedome in reasoning with the Serpent Adam did not she deceiued Adam Adam did not deceiue her consider her passiuely consider her actiuely she shewes her selfe vnfit to be a teacher wherefore she must be contented to be a scholler Semel docuit saith St Chrysostome omnia perturbauit she taught once and disordered all the world let her neuer be allowed to teach againe And indeed GOD so doomes her Gen. 3. Thy desire shall be to thy husband and he shall rule ouer thee If this subordination be not kept the course of nature will be depraued saith St HIEROMI and faults will be multiplyed in the world But we may not mistake and thinke that sinne was the first cause of womans subiection and that she was made inferiour quia abus◠est parilitate because she abused that coequalitie which she had with man which was the opinion of some ancient and moderne Diuines that conce it is refuted by the first Reason But as man before the Fall was to husband the ground which after the Fall was imposed vpon him to be done with the sweat of his browes so women were to obey before but after the Fall their obedience was made more harsh and vnpleasant yea and a verball ordination is added to the reall But I will conclude with reference of all this vnto our present occasion Adam and Eue liue still their weaknesse liues in their posteritie if you doubt it behold here spectacles of it I mistake Eue is away but here are many of Adams children Eue shewed the frailtie of the whole nature of her sexe and if her daughter were here I would let her see how like she is to such a mother but because she is not I will direct the rest of my speech vnto these sonnes of Adam Those that are blind seeke such guids as can see and they will be sure they haue better sight then themselues before they will commit themselues vnto them we chuse the best Lawyers for our Cases the best Physitians for our Bodyes but to supply the defect of our Soules to guid our Iudgement and our conscience in Religion we trust we know not whom certainly you haue and shewed your selues vnworthy to be men that could be so weake as to become Schollers to a woman I cannot tell how better to resemble your humor then to the distemperate appetite of girls that haue the Greene-sicknesse their Parents prouide for them wholsome food and they get into a corner and eat chalke and coales and such like trash so you that may in the CHVRCH haue graue and sound instructions for the comfort of your Soule in Conuenticles feed vpon the raw and vndigested meditations of an ignorant vsurping Prophetesse You may happily thinke that your fault is but small but it is no small fault to violate the orders set down by GOD for women to lift themselues aboue their ranke or men to fall below theirs it is lesse lawfull to doe so then for men to weare womens apparell or women to weare mens Put you on their Vaile and be you their glorie and let them put it off and be the glorie of GOD contrarie to St PAVLS rule or if you be loath to make such an exchange hence-forward let euerie man keepe his ranke and be forrie that you haue broken it yea be sorrie that you haue raised a scandall against your Soueraigne and your Pastors Conuenticles make shew that you haue not freedome of Religion and thereby you derogate from the honour of his most Christian gouernment and you haue wronged your Pastor by your Conuenticle casting an imputation vpon him that he cannot or he will not instruct you as he ought These things are included in your fault and you are to be sensible of these things confesse them and aske GOD and his CHVRCH forgiuenesse for them And God grant that you and we all may remember that it is our greatest honour to obserue Gods Order and that no woman presume to be an Eue no man abase himselfe to be an Adam to imitate either of them in that wherein they inuerted their ranke but that euerie one may abide in that whereunto he is called of God Amen A SERMON PREACHED AT St ANDREVVS IN WELLES WHEN ONE DID PENANCE FOR BLASPHEMIE LEVIT 24. VERSE 15 16. 15 And thou shalt speake vnto the children of Jsrael saying Whosoeuer curseth his God shall beare his sume 16 And he that blasphemeth the Name of the LORD he shall surely be put to death and all the Congregation shall certainly stone him as well the stranger as he that is borne in the Land when he blasphemeth the Name of the LORD shall be put to death COmmon-weales are gouerned by two kind of Lawes fundamentall and occasionall Fundamentall I call those by which the Common-weale was first framed Occasionall such as are from time to time added vpon emergent occasions you may resemble them by our Common and our Statute Lawes If men did liue as they ought according to the former I meane the fundamentall Lawes there would be no great need of the Lawes which I called occasionall But because they doe not Ex malis moribus bonae leges the enormous behauiour of some