children within the citty of Shusan throughout all the provinces of the kingdome should be destroied But did the Almighty sleepe at this wicked and bloudy designemeÌ„t or was his eie held blind-folded that he could not see it No that powerfull and dreadfull God who holdeth the bal of the world in his hand and keepeth a perfite kalender of all times seasons had so inverted the course of thinges for his chosens sake that the moneth day before prefined became most dismal to those that intended mischiefe Without further allegations this may suffice as touching the successe of the lots and consequently the providence of God in the moderation thereof It is now a questioÌ„ meete to be discussed the offender being found whether it stande with the iustice of God to scourge a multitude because one in the coÌ„pany hath transgressed For though I condemned their arrogancy before in that not knowing who the offender was they wiped their mouthes each man in the ship with the harlot in the Proverbs asked in their harts Is it I yet when the oracle of God hath now dissolved the doubt and set as it were his marke vpon the trouble plague of the whole ship they had some reason to thinke that it was not a righteous parte to lay the faults of the guilty vpon the harmelesse innocent This was the cause that they complained of old that the whole fleete of the Argiues was overthrowne Vnius ob noxam furias Aiacis Oilei for one mans offence Nay they were not content there to rest but they charged the iustice of God with an accusation of more vveight Plerunque nocenâ—es Praeterit examinatque indignos inque nocentes as though oftentimes hee freed the nocent and laide the burthen of woes vpon such as deserved them not It appeareth in Ezechiell that the children of Israell had taken vp as vngratious a by-word amongst them the fathers haue eaten the sower grape and the childrens teeth are set on edge and they conclude therehence the waies of God are not equall It was an exception that Bion tooke against the Gods that the fathers smarte was devolved to their posterity and thus hee scornefully matched it as if a physitian for the grandfathers or fathers disease shoulde minister physicke to their sonnes or nephewes They spake evill of Alexander the greate for razing the city of the Branchides because their auncestoures had pulled downe the temple of Miletum They mocked the Thracians for beating their wiues at that day because their foreruÌ„ners had killed Orpheus And Agathocles escaped not blame for wasting the island Corcyra because in ancienter times it gaue entertainment to Vlysses Nay Abraham himselfe the father of the faithfull heire of the promises friend of God disputeth with the Lord about Sodome to the like effect Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked Againe Be it far from thee for doing this thing to slay the righteous with the vnrighteous and that the iust should be as the vniust this be far from thee shal not the iudge of al the world do right In the booke of Numbers when God willed Moses Aaron to seperate themselues froÌ„ the congregation that he mighte at once destroy them they fel vpon their faces said O God the God of the spirits of every creature hath not one man only sinned wilte thou bee wroth with all the congregation In the first of Chronicles when for the offence of David in numbring his people the plague fell vpon them slew seventy thousand of them the king with the elders fell downe cried vnto the Lord Is it not I that commanded to number the people It is even I that haue sinned and committed this evill but these sheepe what haue they done O Lord my God I beseech thee let thine hand bee vpon me and vpon my fathers house and not on thy people for their destruction I answere this hainous crimination grievance against the righteousnes of God in few words froÌ„ the authorities of Ezechiel Ieremy before alleaged Behold all soules are mine saith the Lord both the soule of the father also of the sonne are mine the soule that sinneth it shall die O yee house of Israel is not my way equal or are not your waies vnequall If it vvere a truth which the poet sang to his friend Delicta maiorum immeritus lues Romane thou shalt beare the faultes of thy forefathers vvithout thine owne deservings the question vvere more difficult But who is able to say my heart is cleane though I came from an vncleane seede though I were borne of a Morian I haue not his skinne though an Ammorite were my father and my mother an Hittite I haue not their nature I haue touched pitch am not defiled I can wash mine handes in innocency say with a cleare conscience I haue not sinned But if this be the case of vs all that there is not a soule in the whole cluster of mankind that hath not offended though not as principal touching the fact presently enquired of as Achan in taking the accursed thing Corah in rebelling David in numbring the people yet an accessary in consenting coÌ„cealing if neither principal nor accessary in that one sin yet culpable in a thousand others coÌ„mitted in our life time perhaps not open to the world but in the eies of God as bright as the sun in the firmament for the scorpion hath a stinge though hee hath not thrust it forth to wounde vs man hath malice though he hath not outwardly shewed it it may be some sins to come which God foreseeth some already past which he recouÌ„teth shall we stand in argument with God as man would plead with man charge the iudge of the quicke dead with iniurious exactions I haue paide the thinges that I neuer tooke I haue borne the price of sinne which I neuer committed You heare the ground of mine answere We haue al sinned father and son rush branch deservedly are to expect that wages from the hands of God which to our sin appertaineth touching this present company I nothing doubt but they might particularly bee touched for their proper private iniquities though they had missed of Ionas Bias to a like fare of passengers shakeÌ„ with an horrible tempest as these were and crying to their Gods for succor answered not without some iest in that earnest hold your peace least the Gods hap to heare that you passe this way noting their lewdnesse to be such as might iustly draw downe a greater vengeance Besides it caÌ„not be denied but those things which we seyer part in our conceits by reason that distance of time place hath sundred theÌ„ some being done of old some of late some in one quarter of the world some in an other those doth the God of knowledge vnite and veweth them at once as if they were done
I to doe with thee get thee to the Prophets of thy father and to the prophets of thy mother c. see his further protestation Had he nothing to doe with the king when the king had so much to doe with him did hee not feare the wrath of the Lyon who could haue said to the basest minister that ate the salte of his courte take his head from his shoulders and hee would haue taken it But his commission was his brazen wall to secure him and that Iehoshaphat the King of Iuda witnessed saying The word of the Lord is with him This is the fortres and rocke that Ieremy standeth vpon before the priests prophets and people of Iuda If ye put me to death ye shall bring innocent bloud vpon your selues for of a truth the Lord hath sent me vnto you to speake all these words in your eares Yea the princes and people vpon that ground made his apologie This man is not worthy to die for he hath spoken vnto vs in the name of the Lord our God To spare my paines in examples fearefull are the woes and not milder then wormewoode and the water of gall for vnder these tearmes I finde them shadowed but shadowed by the prophets which he denounceth in the course of that prophecie against false prophets that spake the visions of their owne harts and said The Lord said thus and thus that were not sent yet ran were not spoken vnto yet prophecied that cryed I haue dreamed I haue dreamed when they were but dreames indeede They are given to vnderstand that their sweete tongues will bring them a sowre recōpense and that the Lord will come against them for their lies flatteries chaffe stealth of his worde as they are tearmed and other such impieties Their cuppe is tempered by Ezechiel with no lesse bitternesse for follovving their ovvne spirites playing the foxes seeing of vanity divining of lies building and daubing vp vvalles with vntempered morter The heade and foote of their curse are both full of vnhappinesse Their first entertainement is a vvoe Vae prophetis and their farevvell an Anathema a cursed excommunication They shall not be accompted in the assembly of my people neither shall they be written in the writings of the house of Isarell To ende this pointe let their commission bee vvell scanned that come from the Seminaries of Rome and Rhemes to sovve seedes in this fielde of ours vvhether as Ionas had a vvoorde for Niniveh so these for Englande and other nations yea or no whether from the Lord for that they pretend as Ehud did to Eglon or from Balaak of Rome who hath hired them to curse the people of God whether to cry openly against sinne or to lay their mouthes in the dust and to murmure rebellion whether of zeale to the God of the Hebrewes or to the greate idoll of the Romanes as they to the greate Diana of the Ephesians to continue their crafte as Demetrius there did and lest their state shoulde bee subverted whether to come like prophets vvith their open faces or in disguised attire strange apparrell in regarde of their profession a rough garment to deceaue with as the false prophet in Zachary whether their sweete tongues haue not the venime of Aspes vnder them and in their colourable and plausible notes of peace peace there bee any peace either to the vveale publike amidst their nefarious and bloudie conspiracies or to the private conscience of any man in his reconciliation to their vnreconciled church formall and counterfeite absolution of sinnes hearing or rather seeing histrionicall masses visitinge the shrines and reliques of the deade numbering of Pater nosters invocation of saintes adoration of images and a thousand such forgeries whether they builde vp the walles of GODS house with the well tempered morter of his vvritten ordinances or daube vp the vvalles of their Antichristian synagogue vvith the vntempered morter of vnvvritten traditions vvhether they come Embassadours from GOD and in steede of Christ seeke a reconciliation beetweene GOD and vs and not rather to set the marke of the beaste in our foreheades to make vs their Proselytes and the children of errour as deepelye as themselues If this bee the vvoorde they bringe a dispensation from a forreigne povver to resiste the povvers that GOD hath ordeined and in steede of planting faith and allegiance to sovve sedition and not to convert our countrey to the trueth but to subvert the pollycie and state heereof to poyson our soules and to digge graues for our bodies against their expected day to invade the Dominions alienate the crovvnes assaulte the liues of lavvefull and naturall princes to blovve the trumpet of Sheba in our lande yee haue no parte in David nor inheritance in the sonne of Ishai no parte in Elizabeth nor inheritance in the daughter of Kinge Henrye everye man to your tentes O Englande let them reape the vvages of false Prophets even to the death as the lavve hath designed and let that eye vvant sight that pittieth them and that hart bee destitute of comfortes that crieth at their downefall Alas for those men Their bloudy and peremptory practises call for greater torture then they vsually endure and deserue that their flesh should be grated and their bones rent asunder vvith sawes and harrowes of yron as Rabbah was dealt with for their traiterous and vnnaturall stratagemes I know they iustifie their cause and calling as if innocency it selfe came to the barre to pleade her vprightnesse and they are vvilling to make the vvorlde beleeue that they come amongst their ovvne people and nation not onelie lambes amongst vvolues but lambes of the meekest spirite amongst vvolues of the fiercest disposition vvhose delighte is in bloudsheade making vs odious for more then Scythian cruelty as farre as our names are hearde of and stretching the ioyntes of our English persecutions vppon the racke of excessiue speech more then ever they felte in the ioyntes of their ovvne bodyes They remember not the meane-vvhile hovve much more iustlye they fill the mouthes of men vvith argumentes against themselues for raysing a farre sorer persecution then they haue cause to complaine of They persecute the libertie of the Gospell amongst vs and labour to bringe it into bondes againe they persecute our peace and tranquillitye vvhich by a prescription of manye yeares vvee beginne to challenge for our ovvne they persecute the VVOMAN with the crowne vppon her head whome they haue wished and watched to destroy and longe agoe had they vndonne her life but that a cunning hande aboue hath bounde it vp in the boundell of life and enclosed it in a maze of his mercyes past their finding out vvhome because they coulde not reach vvith their hande of mischiefe they haue soughte to overtake vvith floudes of vvaters floudes of excommunications floudes of intestine rebellions forreigne invasions practised conspiracies imprinted defamatory libels that one waye or other they might doe her harme So
Put and Lubim were her helpers yet was shee carried awaie and vvent into captivitie her young children were broken in pieces at the heade of all the streetes and they cast lots for her noble men and all her mightie men were bounde in chaines The reason holdeth by equality the strength and puissance of No was abased and thy mighte shal be cast downe It was afterward accomplished vpon Niniveh because shee was full of bloud full of lies and robbery a maistres of witchcraftes her multitude vvas slaine and the deade bodies were manie there was no ende of her carkases and they euen stumbled as they went vpon her corpses Mercurius Trismegistus sometime spake to Asclepius of Aegypt after this sort Art thou ignorant O Asclepius that Aegypt is the image of heaven c. And if vvee shall speake more truely our land is the temple of the whole vvorlde and yet the time shall come when Aegypt shall be forsaken and that land which was the seate of the Godhead shal be deprived of religion and left destitute of the presence of the Gods It is written of Tyrus in the three and twentith of Esay that shee was rich with the seede of Nilus that brought her abundance the harvest of the river were her revenewes and shee was a mart of the nations c. Yet the Lord triumpheth and maketh disport at her overthrowe Is this that glorious citie of yours vvhose antiquitie is of auncient daies c who hath decreede this against Tyrus shee that crowned men whose marchants are princes and her chapmen the nobles of the worlde the Lord of hostes hath decreede it to staine the pride of all glory and to bring to contempte all the honorable in the earth It is fallen it is fallen saith the Angell in the Revelation Babilon the great citie having the same title of greatnes that Niniveh hath in this place and is become the habitation of divelles and the hole of all fowle spirites and a cage of every vncleane and hatefull birde though shee had saide in her heart I sit as a Queene I am no widovv and shall see no mourning That everlasting citie of Rome as Ammianus Marcellinus called her shall see the day vvhen the eternity of her name and the immortalitie of her soule vvherewith shee is quickned I meane the supremacie of her prelates aboue Emperours and princes shal be taken from her and as Babilon before mencioned hath left her the inheritaunce of her name so it shall leaue her the inheritaunce of her destruction also and she shal become as other presumptuous cities a dwelling for hedghogs an habitation for owles and vultures thornes shall growe in her palaces and nettles in her strong holdes The lamentations of Ieremie touching the ruine of Ierusalem sometimes the perfection of beauty and the ioy of the whole earth as neare vnto God as the signet vpon his right hand yet afterwardes destroyed as a lodge in a garden that is made but for one night if they can passe by the eares of any man and leaue not lamentation and passion behinde them I will say that his harte is harder then the nether milstone How were her gates sunck to the ground her barres broken the stones of her sanctuary scattered in the corners of every streete her mountaine of Syon so desolate that the very foxes runne vpon it whose strength was such before that the Kinges of the earth and all the inhabitants of the worlde woulde never haue beleeved that the enemy shoulde haue entered into the gates of Ierusalem I now conclude Greatenesse of sinnes will shake the foundations of the greatest cities vpon the earth if their heades stoode amongst the stars iniquitie woulde bring them downe into dust and rubble Multitude of offences vvill minish and consume multitudes of men that although the streets were sowen with the seede of man yet they shal be so scarse that a child may tel them yea the desolation shal be so great that none shall remaine to say to his friend leaue thy fatherlesse children behind thee and I will preserue them aliue and let thy widdowes trust in me The daies can speake and the multitude of yeares can teach vvisdome aske your fathers and they can reporte vnto you that grasse hath growen in the streetes of your cities for want of passengers and a man hath beene as precious as the gold of Ophir as rare almost to bee found as if the grounde of your city had beene the moores and wasts where no man dwelleth One would haue wished a friend more then the treasures of the East to haue kept him company releeved his necessity to haue taken some paines with his vviddowe and Orphanes to haue closed his eies at the time of his death to haue seene him laide forth for buriall and his bones but brought to the graue in peace The arme of the Lorde is not shortned hee that smote you once can smite you the second time hee can visit the sonnes as well as the fathers he is a God both in the mountaines and in the vallies in the former later ages he is able againe to measure the grouÌ„d of your citie with a line of vanity pull downe your houses into the dust of the earth and turne the glory of your dwellings into ploughed feilds onely the feare of his name is your safest refuge righteousnes shal be a stroÌ„ger bulwarke vnto you then if you were walled with bras mercy and iudgment and truth and sobriety and sanctimony of life shall stand with your enemies in the gate repell the vengaÌ„ce of God in the highest streÌ„gth therof And so I come to the 2 generall part wherein we are to consider what Ionas was to doe at Niniveh it is manifested in the wordes following Crâ—e against it Laye not thine hande vpon thy mouth neither drawe in thy breath to thy selfe vvhen the cause of thy maister must bee dealt in Silence can never breake the dead sleepe of Niniveh Softnesse of voice cannot pearce her heavy eares Ordinary speaking hath no proportion with extraordinary transgression Speake and speake to bee heard that when shee heareth of her fall shee may bee wounded with it It was not nowe convenient that Ionas should goe to Niniveh as God came to Elias in a still and softe voyce but rather as a mightie strong winde rending the mountaines and breaking the rockes abasing the highest lookes in Niniveh and tearing the hardest hearte in peeces as an earthquake and fire consuming all her drosse and making her quake with the feare of the iudgementes of God as the trees of the forrest Iericho must bee overthrowne with trumpets and a shout and Niniveh will not yeeld but to a vehement outcry A prophet must arme himselfe I say not with the speare but with the zeale of Phinees when sinne is impudent and cannot blush God cannot endure dallying and trifling in weighty matters The gentle spirit of Eli is not
fro and stagger like a drunken man and all their cunning is gone A liuely image of their vncertaine and variable liues and if you hearken to the comparison it is next to famine imprisonment a deadly disease to be a sea-man Sailers adventurors are neither amongst the living nor amongst the dead they hang betweene both readie to offer vp their soules to every flawe of winde and billow of water where with they are assaulted Yet these are the men and such the instrumentes and meanes whereby your wealth commeth in that liue by Marchandize you eate and drinke and vveare vpon your backes you traffique and spend the bloude of your sonnes and servantes So David called the water of the well of Bethlehem bloud because it vvas brought through the armie of the Philistines vvith the hazard of mens liues You owe much vnto God for the preservation of their liues your shippes and commodities are bounde to rehearse vnto your soules day and night that verse of thankesgiving which David repeateth in the Psalme before named as the burthen and amoebâ—um to those songes of deliverance Let vs therefore confesse before the Lord his loving kindnesse and his wonderfull workes before the sons of men let vs exalt him in the congregation of the people and praise him in the assembly of the elders And as you feare his maiesty your selues who turneth the flouds into a wildernes and a wildernes into springes of water who breaketh the shippes of the sea with an East-wind so see that your factors beyond the seas with all the officers and ministers belonging to your company bee men of the like affection It is not the tallenes of your shippes nor their swiftnesse manning and munition that can protect them against Gods vengeance You call them Lyons Leopards Beares and skorning the names of beasts you tearme theÌ„ Angelles Archangelles but remember when all is done that as Themistocles called the Navy of Athens wooddeÌ„ walles so yours are but woodden Beasts and woodden Angelles And woe be to him that saith to a stone thou art my father and to a peece of wood thou art my helper They haue good fortune written vpon their beakes saith Plutarke but many misfortunes in the successe of their labors Horace spake to as prowd a ship it should seeme as any those times knew Though Pontus pines thy frame A forrest faire thy dame Prowde be thy stocke And worthlesse name The windes will mocke To see thy shame Take heede The navy of Tyrus if the prophet describe it aright was the noblest navie that ever the seas vvere furrowed vvith the builders thereof made it of perfect beautie the boordes of the firre trers of Shenir the mastes of the cedars of Lebanon the oares of the Okes of Basan the bankes of the yvory of Chittim the sailes of the fine embrodered linnen of AEgypt the coveringes blew silke and purple of the Iles of Elisha They of Sidon and Arvad were her marriners the wisest in Tyre her pilottes the auncients of Gebal her calkers they of Persia and Lud and Phut her souldiours the Gammadins were in her towers and hung their shieldes vpon the walles round about and the King of Tyre saide in the hautines of his heart I am a God I sit in the seate of God in the midst of the sea yet see the ende in the same place her rowers brought her into greate waters and the east-winde brake her in the midst of the sea her riches together with marriners pilottes and calkers marchantes and men of warre all were overthrowen and came to a fearefull ruine The feare of the Lorde will be in steede of all these provisions feare him and both floudes and rockes shall feare you and all windes shall blow you happines and ship-wrackes shall avoide the place where your foote treadeth and as the apples of Gods owne eies so shall they reverence you and not dare to approch the channell where your way lieth hilles shall fall downe and mountaines shal be cast into the sea but those that feare the Lord shall never miscary the feare of the Lord shall both laÌ„d your ships in an happy haven and after your travels vpon the earth harbour your soules in his everlasting kingdome They were afraid I will not examine what kinde of feare it vvas vvhich surprised these marriners There is a feare that accompanieth the nature of man and the son of God himselfe was not free from it Marc. 14. It is written of him that he began to be afraid which feare of his and other the like vnpleasant affections he tooke vpon him our Divines say as he tooke our flesh vndertooke death rather in pitty then of necessity And Ierome vpon the place of the Evangelist before cited noteth that the feare of our blessed saviour was not a passion which overbare his mind but a propassion which he seemeth to collect from the word it selfe He began to be afraid 2 There is besides a fond and superstitious feare when men are afraid of their shadowes as Pisander was afraide of meeting his owne soule and Antenor would never go forth of the doores but either in a coach closed vpon al sides or with a target borne over his head fearing I gesse least the sky should fal down vpon it according to that in the Psalme They feare where no feare is The disciples were abasht at the sight of their maister after his resurrection supposing they had seene a spirite when neither had they seene a spirite at any time to moue that conceit neither is it possible that a spirituall substance caÌ„ sensibly be perceived We may easily acquite this coÌ„pany from such foolish feare it hath so apparant a reason to be grounded vpon 3 There is an other feare the obiect wherof is only God which by the praier and cry that followeth in the next wordes seemeth to be the feare meant though ignorantly misplaced and this in some is a servile feare ful of hatred malice contumely reproch if they durst bewray it tristis invtilis crudelis qui quia veniaÌ„ non quaerit noÌ„ consequitur saith Bernard it flieth abhorreth the Lord because he is Deus percutiens a God of vengance in other it is filiall such as the childe honoureth his father with perfitly good wherein there is nothing but loue reverence puritie ingenuitie borne of a free spirite the spirite of bondage slavery wholy abandoned so near in affinity to loue that you can hardly discerne them Pene illa est pene non est It is almost loue and almost not loue so little difference is it never beholdeth God but in the gracious light of his countenance There is mercy with thee O Lord therefore shalt thou be feared howsoever the cloudes of displeasure seeme sometimes to hide that grace away The feare of these men I cannot decide whether it were mixte with hope or altogether desperate and it skilleth not greately to
so disguised with our owne corrupt additions THE XI LECTVRE Chap. 1. verse 8. Whence commest thou which is thy country and of vvhat people art thou THese three questions now rehearsed though in seeming not much different yet I distinguished a parte making the first to enquire of his iourney and travaile for confirmation whereof some a little change the stile quo vadis whither goest thou askinge not the place from which hee set forth but to which hee was bounde or of the society wherewith hee had combined himselfe the seconde of his natiue countrey the thirde of his dwelling place For the countrey and citty may differre in the one wee may bee borne and liue in the other as for example a man may be borne in Scotlande dwell in England or borne at Bristow dwell at Yorke Wherein that of Tully in his bookes of lawes taketh place I verily thinke that both Cato and all free denisens haue two countreyes the one of nativity the other of habitation as Cato being borne at Tusculum was receaved into the people of the citty of Rome Therefore beeing a Tusculan by birth by citty a Romane hee had one countrey by place another by law For we tearme that our country where wee were borne and whereinto wee are admitted So there is some oddes betweene the two latter questions There was greate reason to demaunde both from whence hee came and whither hee would because the travelles of men are not alwaies to good endes For the Scribes and Pharises travaile farre if not by their bodilie pases yet by the affections of their heartes they compasse sea and land to an evill purpose to make proselytes children of death worse then themselues As the Pope and the king of Spaine send into India they pretende to saue soules indeede to destroy the breede of that people as Pharaoh the males of the Hebrewes and to wast their countries They walke that walke in the counsell of the vngodlie and in the waies of sinners but destruction and vnhappinesse is in all their waies They walke that walke in the waies of an harlot but her house tendeth to death and her pathes to the deade they that goe vnto her returne not againe neither take holde of the waies of life Theeues haue their ranges and walkes Surgunt de nocte latrones they rise in the nighte time they goe or ride farre from home that they may bee farre from suspicion but their feete are swifte to shed bloude and they bestowe their paines to worke a mischiefe Alexander iournied so farre in the conquest of the worlde that a souldier tolde him we haue doone as much as mortalitie was capable of thou preparest to goe into an other worlde and thou seekest for an India vnknowne to the Indians themselues that thou mayest illustrate more regions by thy conquest then the sunne ever saw To what other ende I knowe not but to feede his ambition to enlarge his desire as hell and to adde more titles to his tombe They haue their travailes and peregrinations that walke on their bare feete with a staffe in their hand and a scrip about their necke to Saint Iames of Compostella our Lady of Loretto the dust of the holy land What to doe the dead to visit the deade to honour stockes and to come home stockes to chaunge the aire and to retaine their former behaviour to doe penaunce for sinne and to returne laden with a greater sinne of most irreligious superstition meeter to bee repented if they knew their sinne Of such I may say as Socrates sometime aunswered one who marveiled that hee reaped so litle profit by his trauell Thou art well enough served saith he because thou didest travell by thy selfe for it is not mountaines and seas but the conference of wisemen that giveth vvisedome neither can monumentes and graues but the spirit of the Lord vvhich goeth not with those gadders put holinesse into them They haue their walkes and excursions which go from their natiue countrey to Rome the first time to see naught the second to be naught the third to die naught was the olde proverbe The first last now a daies are not much different they go to learne naught they drinke vp poison there like a restoratiue vvhich they keepe in their stomacks along Italy France other nations not minding to disgordge it till they come to their mothers house where they seek to vnlade it in her bosome to end her happy daies Ionas for ought these knew might haue come from his countrey a robber murtherer traitor or any the like transgressor therfore haue ran frō thence as Onesimus from his master Philemō to escape iustice wherevpon they aske him whence commest thou that they may learne both the occasion scope of his iourney And if you obserue it well there is not one question here moued though questions only cōiecturall but setteth his conscience vpon the racke and woundeth him at the hart by every circumstance whereby his crime might be aggravated Such is the wisdome that God inspireth into the harts of men for the triall of his truth in the honor of iustice to fit their demands to the conscience of the transgressours in such sort that they shall even feele themselues to be touched and so closely rounded in the eare as they cannot deny their offence There are diverse administrations yet but one spirit Warriours haue a spirit of courage to fight counsellors to direct prevent magistrates to governe iudges to discerne examine convince and to do right vnto all people For the questions here propoūded were in effect as if they had told him thou dishonourest thy calling thou breakest thy commission thou shamest thy country thou condemnest thy people in that thou hast committed this evill They aske him first What is thine art that bethinking himselfe to be a prophet not a marriner as these were not a master in the ship but a master in Israell set over kingdomes Empires to builde pull downe plant roote vp he might remember himselfe and call his soule to account Wretched man that I am how ingloriously haue I neglected my vocation They aske him next whēce cōmest thou that it mighte bee as goades prickles at his breasts to recount in his minde I was called on lande I am escaped to sea I was sent to Assyria I am going to Cilicia I was directed to Niniveh I am bending my face towardes Tharsis that is I am flying frō the presence of my Lord following mine own crooked waies Thirdly they aske him of his coūtry that hee might say to himselfe What are the deeds of Babylō better then the deeds of Sion was I borne brought vp instructed an instructor in the lande of Iurie in the garden of the worlde the roiallest peculiarest nation that the Lord hath and haue I not grace to keepe his commaundemente Lastly they enquire of his people a people that had al things but flexible
the peoples In another place speaking of their righteousnesse he limiteth it thus They were righteous after a probable and laudable conversation amongest men He often distinguisheth betweene these two Peccatum querela Peccatum criâ—â—en the one sinne in generall which no man is freed from for it is an absolute sentence and needeth no exposition if we say that we haue no sinne wee deceiue our selues wee are but blowne bladders the other some great offences as David calleth it malicious vvickednesse some hainous notorious scandalous sinne culpable in the eies of men and vvorthy of censure and crimination Wee saie in his Enchiridion to Laurentius that the life of holie men may bee founde though not vvithout faulte yet vvithout an offensiue faulte Againe in his bookes of the city of God It is not the speech of vulgar and common men but of those that are rightly Saintes If vvee say that vvee sinne not c. then shall this liberty and immunity from passions bee vvhen there shall bee no sinne in men nowe vvee liue vvell enough if vvithout scandall but hee that thinketh hee liueth vvithout sinne hee doeth not thereby free himselfe from sinninge but from receiving remission of sinnes In the first epistle of Iohn the thirde chapter the Apostle seemeth to favour the opinion of absolute righteousnesse in man Hee that is borne of GOD sinneth not Peradventure saieth Augustine hee meaneth some certaine sinne not all sinne Vnderstande heereby a definite speciall sinne which he that is borne of GOD cannot commit It maye bee the vvante of loue Dilectionis carentia It may bee the greate sinne of infidelitie vvhich our Saviour noteth in the Iewes Iohn the fifteenth If I had not come and spoken vnto them they shoulde not haue had sinne the sinne vvherein all other sinnes are helde the sinne vnto death the sinne not to bee repented of and therefore not to bee pardoned Against Parmenian he aunswereth it thus Although we sinne not so farre foorth as vvee are borne of GOD yet there remaineth in vs some parte of our birth from Adam Bernarde vpon the Canticles giueth the reason why hee sinneth not The heauenly generation preserveth him that is the euerlasting predestination VVhich reason the Apostle himselfe seemeth to accorde vnto for his â—eede remaineth in him Surely there is no man that sinneth not Salomon preciselie affirmeth it in the dedication of the temple GOD hath concluded all vnder sinne Omnes odit qui malos odit Hee that hateth evill men hateth all men because there is none that doeth good no not one Noah may be a righteous man in his time and generation compared vvith thoâ—e amongst whom he liued Thamar may bee more righteous than Iudâ—h yet Thamar sinnefull enough the Publican may goe to his house more iustified than the Pharisee yet not simply iustified thereby The spouse in the Canticles may bee faire amongest women yet her beautye not such but that shee iustlye complaineth of her blackenesse Though she exceedeth the soules of men whilst they liue in the body yet shee is shorte of angelicall perfection Iohn Baptist had not a greater amongest the sonnes of vvomen but vvhosoever vvas least in the kingdome of GOD and all the coelestiall spirites are farre beyonde him The best that liue vpon the earth have brevia leviaque peccata shorte and lighte sinnes yet sinnes quamvis pauca quamvis parva non tamen nulla Though fevve in number small in measure yet sinnes in nature Therefore vve may conclude with the same father whose shielde I haue hitherto vsed against the enemies to the grace of God Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousnesse VVee must knovve our povertie and become suâ—ters and bâ—ggers for iustice if vve meane to speede Our righteousnesse in this life is such as â—ather consisteth in the remission of our sinnes than in the perfection of our vertues And to speake the trueth in the vvhole question of iustification betwixte the Papistes and vs our iustice is not iustice in proper and direct tearmes but mercy For that righteousnesse that we haue is meerely of mercy not actiue but passiue not that which wee worke our selues but GOD worketh it for vs. Abluta estis iustificati estis you haue washed or iustified your selues No you are vvashed and iustified And therefore it is called the righteousnesse of GOD because it commeth from abroad not inherent in our selues but from God deriued and by him imputed And 1. Corinthians 1. Christ is made vnto vs of God vvisedome and righteousnesse and sanctification and redemption First wisedome in preaching and instruction Secondly righteousnesse in the forgiuenesse of our sinnes Thirdly sanctification in the holinesse of our liues Fourthly redemption in his mighty deliueraunce from all our enemies that as it is vvritten hee that reioyceth may reioyce in the Lorde and knovve that neither of all these is of himselfe God obiected to the king of Tyrus in derision Ezechiell the twenty eighth Thou arte vviser then Daniell I aske of the children of Babylon what they thinke of themselues whether they goe beyonde Daniell in holinesse and integrity of life He in the ninth of his prophecie confesseth sinne and iniquitie and rebellion in all the men of Iudah and inhabitantes of Ierusalem and the vvhole people of Israell farre or neere kinges princes fathers and that righteousnesse is vvith GOD alone and vvith them confusion of face hee vtterly disclaimeth their owne iustice we come not to pray before thee for any righteousnesse in our selues and appealeth vnto the righteousnesse of the Lorde O Lorde according vnto all thy righteousnes let thine anger bee turned away ver 16. For the Lords sake that is thy Christ thine annointed verse 17. For thy greate tender mercies verse 18. Finallie for thine owne sake ver 19. This was the spirit of Daniell and they that come in the confidence of their owne pure spirites neither shall their owne praiers availe and the praiers of Daniel and Noah and all the righteous saintes in heaven which they hang vpon shall not helpe them You see our innocency iustice and perfection not that our sins are not but that they are remitted but that they are covered by the mercie of God but that they are not imputed which is the chiefe blessednes of man as wee reade in the 32. Psalme I coulde haue noted so much vnto you by a phrase which my text affordeth Lay not vpon vs innocent bloud For then are we cleere in the sight of God when the sins whereof we are guilty are not laide to our charges nor remembred Blessed are all those vvho are thus discharged of their vnsupportable soules burden that though they have many sinnes they are bound vp in a bundle and drawne into a narrowe roome though insolent climbing aspiring sinnes yet they are cast into the bottome of the sea though they are as red as crimson and scarlet yet their hue is changed they are made as white as wooll or snowe by the bloud
Ed. Campion our charitable countriman laid at the dores of our Church yea brought into the streetes of our Vniversities as if we were the fathers and patrons of it We never said it I say once againe to redeeme a thousand deathes if more were due to our sinnes we would not affirme it This we say whatsoever hath substance being perfection in the action of sin God is the author of it because it is good Ipsum quantumcunque esse bonum est the least essence in the world is good but not of the fault and defection therein I must once more repeate sin hath a positive privative part a subiect and the quality of the subiect nature corruption Prorsus ab illo est quicquid pertinet ad naturam prorsus ab illo non est quicquid est contrae naturam Whatsoever belongeth to nature is wholy from him whtsoeveâ— is against nature is in no respect from him Now death and whatsoever belongeth to the traine of death sin and the like are against nature In him we live and moove and have our being there is the piller of our truth a Poet of the Gentiles delivered it but an Apostle sanctified and ratified it and every creature in heaven in earth in the deepe crieth Amen to it And as that gentility and heathnishnesse of that vnbeleeving Poet coulde not marre Gods truth so the corruption depravation in the quality either of maÌ„ or action cannot hurt the substance Life is his whether we live to him as we ought to doe or to the lusts of our owne flesh or after the pleasure of the God of this world the prince of darknes MotioÌ„ is his whether we lift vp our handes to praier or whether to murther Essence is his the nature being substance of men of serpents of reprobate Angels are from him his good creatures He made not death he gave charge to the waters and earth to bring forth creatures that had the soule of life in them and when he made man hee breathed in his face the breath of life made him a living soule he made not darknesse he created the light neither was the authour of sterilitie and barrennesse hee made the bud of the earth which should seede seede the fruitfull tree And to speake a truth in proper tearmes these privations corruptions and defectes in nature as death darkenesse sterility blindnes silence and the like haue rather deficient than efficient causes For by the remooving of the things themselues vvhich these destroy they of their own accord succeede take their places Abandon the light of the sunne whereby our aire is brightened and illuminated you neede not carefully enquire or painefully labour how to come by darknesse the deficiencie and fayling of the light is a cause sufficient to bring in darknesse If the instrument of sighte bee decayed the stringes and spirites which serue for the eie inwardely wasted corrupted there is no more to be done to purchase blindnes to the eie the very orbity and want of seeing putteth blindnesse forth-with in possession If there were no speech or noise in this church what would there bee but silence and stilnesse wil you aske me the cause hereof It hath rightly none I can render the cause of speech there are instrumentes in man to forme it and there is an aire to receiue it from his mouth beare it to their eares that should partake it vpon the ceasing vvhereof silence hath a course to supplie without the service and aide of any creature in the worlde to produce it And these things we know and are acquainted with not by the vse of them for who can vse that which is nothing We know what light is by the vse thereof because we beholde it but who ever saw darkenesse if the apples of his eie were as broade as the circle of the sunne and the moone waking and wide open how could hee see darkenesse VVee know what speech is by the vse thereof because wee receiue it by the eare but who ever hearde silence Onelie vvee knovve them not by fruition of themselues but by want of their opposites which erst wee enioyâ—ed and now are deprived of I speake the more that I might speake plainely Wee were to enquire the efficient cause of sinne it hath none properly it hath a deficient cause Adam and Eue forsooke as it were the guide of their youth the word of God and his grace forsooke them Nature is now corrupted the soundnesse integrity of all the faculties therein diseased the image of God wholy defaced Vpon the decay and departure whereof sinne like a strong man entreth the house the bodie and soule are taken vp with a masse of iniustice the vnderstanding is filled with darkenesse the will with frowardnesse the senses with vanities and every part both of outwarde and inwarde man becommeth a servaunt to vnrighteousnesse Basill in a sermon vpon this argument now in hande vvilleth those that enquire of the author of sinne likewise to answere whence sicknesse and orbities in the bodie come for they are not saith hee the worke of God Living creatures were at the first well created having a proportion convenient to them but they fell into diseases and distemperatures vvhen they fell from healthinesse either by evill diet or by some other cause notwithstanding GOD made the bodie hee made not sicknesse and hee likewise made the soule but not the sinfulnesse thereof Ierome vppon the seconde of Abacuk giveth the like iudgemente Et si anima vitio suo efficitur hospitium Châ—ldaeorum naturâ tamen suà est tabernaculum Dei though the soule by her owne faulte is made an habitation or lodge for the Chaldaeans straungers to dwell in yet by hernature shee is the tabernacle of God Therefore hee should shew himselfe too ignorante that coulde not discerne betweene the corruption of nature and the author of nature And because we further were charged that we made the conversion of Paul the adulterie of David and the treason of Iudas the one the vprising of a sinner the other the falling downe of a saint the last finall revolt of a reprobate the workes and the proper workes of God all alike I prooved the contrary The first I acknowledged his proper and entire worke hee opened the vnderstanding changed the will did all therein In the other two hee tooke the wrll as hee founde it and without alteration thereof applied it to some endes which hee had secretly purposed and though neither the adultery of Dauid nor the improbity of Iudas were his proper workes yet God had his proper workes in them both for as he is a most holy creator of good natures so he is a most rightuous disposer of evill willes that whereas those evill willes doe ill vse good natures hee on the other side may well vse the evill willes themselves To conclude hee is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a
aliue through ranges and armies of teeth on both sides without the collision or crushing of any limme in his body and entereth the streights of his throate where he had greater reason to cry thaÌ„ the childreÌ„ in the prophet the place is to narrow for me and liveth in the entralles of the fish a prison or caue of extreame darkenesse where he found nothing but horror and stinch and loathsome excrementes What shall we say herevnto but as Ierome did vpon the place where there was nothing looked for but death there was a custodie in a double sense first to imprison and yet withall to preserue Ionas Thus farre you have hearde first that a fish and for his exornation great fish secondly vvas prepared thirdly by the Lorde fourthly to swallow vp his prophet Now lastly if you will learne what tidings of Ionas after his entring in the monsters mawe it is published in the nexte wordes And Ionas was in the belly of the fish three daies and three nightes Therein I distinguish these particularities First the person Ionas not the bodye of Ionas forsaken of the soule as the bodye of Christ lay in the graue but the whole and entire person of Ionas compounded of bodye and soule livinge mooving feeling meditating not ground with the teeth not digested in the stomake not converted into the substaunce of the fish and neither vitall nor integrall part diminished in Ionas Secondly the place vvhere he was in the remotest and lowest partes the bovvelles of the fish as Ieremy was in the bottome of the dungeon where there vvas no water where what nutriment he had amiddest those purgamentes superfluities the Lorde knoweth but man liveth not by breade alone or what respiration and breathing being out of his elemente amongst those stiflinge evaporations vvhich the bellye of the whale reaked forth but wee may as truely saye man liveth not by breath alone Thirdly the time hovve long hee continued there three daies three nightes when if the course of nature were examined it is not possible to bee conceived that a man coulde liue so one moment of time and his spirit not be strangled within him Physitians giue advise that such as are troubled with apoplexies falling sicknesses or the like diseases should not be buried till the expiration of 72. howres that is three daies and three nightes In which space of time they say the humours begin to stop giue over their motion by reason the moone hath gone through a signe the more in the Zodiake For this cause it was that our Saviour vndertooke not the raisinge of Lazarus from the dead till hee had lien 4. daies in the graue least the Iewes might haue slaundered the miracle if hee had done it in hast and saide that Lazarus had but swooned The like he experienced in himselfe besides the opening of his heart that if falshoode woulde open her mouth into slaunder it might bee her greater sin because he was fully dead Who would ever haue supposed that Ionas fulfilling this time in so deadly and pestilent a graue shoulde have revived againe But the foundation of the Lord standeth sure and this sentence hee hath vvritten for the generations to come My strength is perâ—ited in infirmity vvhen the daunger is most felt then is my helping arme most welcome We on the one side vvhen our case seemeth distresseful are very importunate with God crying vpoÌ„ him for help It is time that the Lord haue mercy vpon Sion yea the time is come if in the instant he answer not our cry we are ready to reply against him The time is past and our hope cleane withered But he sitteth aboue in his provident watch-towre who is far wiser than men thinketh with himselfe you are deceived the time is not yet come They meete the ruler of the synagogue in the 5. of Marke tell him thy daughter is deade why diseasest thou thy maister any further Assoone as Iesus hearde that vvorde a word that he lingred and waited for he said vnto the ruler of the Synagogue be not afraid onely beleeue And as Alexander the great solaced and cheered himselfe with the greatnes of his perill in India when he was to fight both with men and beasts their huge Elephantes at length I see a daunger aunswerable to my minde so fareth it with our absolute true monarch of the world who hath a bridle for the lippes of every disease and an hooke for the nostrels of death to turne them backe the same vvay they came it is the ioy of his hart to protract the time a while till he seeth the heigth maturity of the daunger that so he may get him the more honour Martha telleth him in the 11. of Iohn when her brother had beene long dead lien in the graue till he stanke past hope of recovery Lorde if thou hadst beene here my brother had not beene dead And what if absent was he not the same God Yet he told his disciples not long before Lazarus is deade and I am gladde for your sakes that I vvas not there that you mighte beleeue You see the difference Martha is sory and Christ is glad that he was not rhere Martha thinketh the cure commeth to late and Christ thinketh the sore was never ripe till nowe In the booke of Exodus when Israel had pitched their tents by the red sea Pharaoh and host marching apace and ready to surprise them they vvere sore afraide and cryed vnto the Lord and murmured against Moses hast thou brought vs to die in the wildernesse because there were no graues in Egypt wherefore hast thou served vs thus to carrie vs out of Egypt c. Moses the meekest man vpon the earth quieted them thus Feare yee not stande still and beholde the salvation of the Lorde which he will shew to you this day For the Egyptians whome yee haue seene this day yee shall never see them againe The Lorde shall fight for you therefore hold you your peace Neither did Moses feed them with winde prophecy the surmises of his owne braine for the Lorde made it good as followeth in the next verse vvherefore cryest thou vnto mee speake vnto the children of Israell that they goe forwarde Thus when the wounde was most desperate they might haue pledged even their soules vpoÌ„ it we cannot escape when their legges trembled vnder them that they could not stand still their hearts fainted that they could not hope the waters roring before their face the wheels of the enimy ratling behinde their backs they are willed to stand still not on their legges alone but in their disturbed passions to settle their shivering spirites to pacifie their vnquiet tongues and to go forwardes though every step they trode seemed to beare them into the mouth of death The state of the daunger you see Ionas is in the belly of the fish three daies and three nightes Long enough to haue
a part put for the whole And thus they make their account the first day of his passion enterrement which was the preparation of the Iewish sabbath must haue the former night set to it The second was fully exactly run out The third had the night complete and only a piece of the first day of the weeke which by the figure before named is to be holpen supplied Now I go forwardes to explicate the behavior of Ionas in the belly of the fish Therein we are to consider 1. what the history speaketh of Ionas 2. what he speaketh himselfe The words of the history testifying his demeanour are those in the head of the chapter which you haue already heard Then Ionas prayed vnto the LORDE his GOD out of the bellie of the fish and saide VVherein besides the person of Ionas needelesse to bee recited any more wee are stored vvith a cluster of many singular meditations 1. The connexion or consequution after his former misery or if you will you may note it vnder the circumstance of time Then 2. What he did how hee exercised and bestowed himselfe Hee prayed 3. To whome hee prayed and tendered his mone To the Lorde 4. Vpon what right interest or acquaintance with that Lorde because he was his God 5. From whence he directed his supplications Out of the belly of the fish 6. The tenour or manner of the songe and request hee offered vnto him And saide Thus far the history vseth her owne tongue the wordes that followe Ionas himselfe endited Many thinges haue beene mentioned before vvhereof we may vse the speech of Moses Enquire of the auncient daies which are before thee since the day that God created man vpon the earth and from one ende of heaven to the other if ever there were the like thing done as that a man should breath and liue so long a time not onely in the bowels of the waters for there Ionas also was but in the bowels of a fish vvithin those waters a prison with a double ward deeper than the prison of Ieremie wherein by his owne pitifull relation hee stacke fast in mire and was ready to perish thorough hunger and when hee was pluckte from thence it was the labour of thirtie men to drawe him vp with ropes putting ragges vnder his armes betweene the ropes and his flesh for feare of hurtinge him closer then the prison of Peter who was committed to fowre quaternions of souldiours to bee kept and the night before his death intended slept betwixte two souldiours bounde with two chaines and the keepers before the doore yea stricter then the prison of Daniell the mouth whereof was closed with a stone and sealed with the signet of the king and the signet of his princes and the keepers of the ward by nature harder to be entreated than ten times 4. quaternions of souldiours Name me a prison vnder heaven except that lake of fire brimstone which is the second death comparable vnto this wherein Ionas was concluded Yet Ionas there liveth not for a moment of time but for that cōtinuance of daies which the greate shepheard of Israell afterwards tooke thought a tearme sufficient wherby the certain vndoubted evictiō of his death might be published to the whole world But this is the wonder of wonders that not onely the body of Ionas is preserved in life liuelyhood where if he receaved any foode it was more lothsome to nature than the gall of aspes or if he drew any aire for breath it was more vnpleasaunt than the vapours of sulphur but his soule also and inwarde man was not destroyed and stifled vnder the pressure of so vnspeakable a tribulation For so it is he lieth in the belly of the fish as if he had entered into his bed-chamber cast himselfe vpon his couch recounting his former sinnes present miseries praying beleeving hoping preaching vnto himselfe the deliveraunces of God with as free a spirite as ever he preached to the children of Israell vpon dry lande He is awake in the whale that snorted in the shippe VVhat a strange thing was this O the exceeding riches of the goodnesse of God the heigth and depth whereof can never be measured that in the distresses of this kinde to vse the apostles phrases aboue measure and beyond the strength of man wherein we doubte whether wee liue or no and receaue the sentence of death within our selues that if you should aske our owne opinion we cannot say but that in nature and reason we are dead men yet God leaveth not onely a soule to the body whereby it mooveth but a soule to the soule whereby it pondereth and meditateth within it selfe Gods everlasting compassions Doubtlesse there are some afflictions that are a very death else the Apostle in the place aforesaide woulde never have spoken as he did Wee trust in God who raiseth vp the deade and hath delivered vs from so great a death and doth deliver vs and in him wee hope that yet hee vvill deliver vs. Harken to this yee faint spirites and lende a patient eare to a thrice most happy deliveraunce be strengthened yee weake handes and feeble knees receaue comforte hee hath he doth and yet he will deliver vs not onelie from the death of our bodies when wormes and rottennesse haue made their long and last pray vpon them but from the death of our mindes too when the spirit is buried vnder sorrowes and there is no creature found in heaven or earth to giue it comforte The next thing we are to enquire is what Ionas did Hee praied All thinges passe sayeth Seneca to returne againe I see no nevve thing I doe no newe A wise man of our owne to the same effect That that hath beene is and that that shal bee hath beene I haue before handled the nature and vse of prayer with as many requisite conditions to commende it as there were chosen soules in the arke of Noah You will now aske me quousque eadem how often shal we heare the same matter I would there were no neede of repetition But it is true which Elihu speaketh in Iob God speaketh once and twice and man seeth it not There is much seede sowen that miscarieth some by the high-way side some amongst thornes some otherwise many exhortations spent as vpon men that are a sleepe and when the tale is tolde they aske vvhat is the matter Therefore I aunswere your demaund as Augustine sometimes the Donatistes when hee was enforced to some iteration Let those that know it already pardon mee least I offende those that are ignorant For it is better to giue him that hath than to turne him away that hath not And if it were trueth of Homer or may be truth of any man that is formed of clay Vnus Homerus satietatem omnium effugit One Homer never cloyed any mā that red him much more it is truth that one and onely Iesus
his spirit cried cried alowd if wheÌ„ he lay in the belly of hel even then he climbed above the stars of the firmameÌ„t though he saw nothing with his bodily eies he saw heaven opened vnto him with the eies of his vnderstaÌ„ding theÌ„ let vs not be dismaied my brethreÌ„ if tribulatioÌ„ come let vs not thinke it any strange thing yea rather if tribulation come let vs not thinke it an vnprofitable vnwelcome thing let vs receive it with thanks keepe it with patience digest it in hope apply it with wisdome bury it in meditation it shal end vnto vs no doubt in glory and peace more than can be spoken THE XXV LECTVRE Chap. 2. ver 2. I cried in mine affliction vnto the Lord and he heard me out of the belly of hell cried I c. IN the two members of this second verse signifying almost the same thing I observed first the measure of his afflictions explicated by two metaphors togither with the effect they brought forth secoÌ„dly the force zealousnes of his praiers declared likewise by two words and thirdly the audience which ensued vpon his praying The force of his praier wherin I am to proceed is interpreted by 2. phrases though not distinguished in our English traÌ„slatioÌ„s yet in the Hebrew Greek Latine of Tremelius somwhat variâ—d as if he had said I called cried or I cried outcried Which Ierome expouÌ„deth vel aquis cedentibus either the waters yeelding him away making passage vel toto cordis affectu or with the whole inteÌ„tioÌ„ of his hart The former is not likely I rather take it to have bene the vehemency of spirit such as is vsually meÌ„t in the scriptures vnder these or the like words as in the 119. Psalme expresly I have cried vvith my vvhole hearte Galath 4. God hath sent the spirite of his son into our heartes crying Abba that is father though it be in the hart alone yet it is called crying It ever notâ—th whither in propriety or by translation an earnest lowd importunate desire loath to loose audience for wante of speaking out and impatient of repulse when it hath spoken Therefore Elias bade the priestes of Baal cry with a lowd voice and he in the comoedy mervailing at overmuch patience sheweth what shoulde bee done Eho non clamas non irasceris What doest thou not cry art thou not angrie Annah in a part of her song telleth vs what the maÌ„ner of the wicked sometimes is Impij in tenebris tacent when they are afflicted they lay their handes vpon their mouthes and heartes too they frette with indignation repine to themselves letting neither voice nor grone come forth nor any other token of submission to him that hath cast them down Of whome I may say with Gregory To suffer so despâ—ghtfully and maliciouslye is not the true vertue of patience but a covered or concealed madnesse Now Ionas is many degrees beyond these 1. He is not silent which as you heard is sometimes a marke of impiety 2. He doth not mutter to himselfe as the philosophers in the Poet humming within themselves and vttering a kinde of vnsensible and vnarticulate silence 3. He doth more than speake for that might argue the heart of a man but indifferently disposed to obtaine 4. He speaketh with most endevored contention he crieth vnto the Lord when he hath once cried crieth againe with an other kinde of crying For as if the former word were not enough a latter is added to signifie either a different kinde or if the same in a more intensive and forcible affection This ingemination either of one and the same word again repeated or of sundry bearing the same sense giveth as it were a double strength to the declaration of that which is delivered As Phavorinus gave his iudgement of the verse in Homer wherin Idaeus laboureth by perswasion to pacifie the contention betwixt Aâ—ax and Hector 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Warre not any longer beloved youngmen neither fight togither that the addition of the second word though adding nothing in significatioÌ„ to the former is not to make vp the verse but as they continued in their strife so duplex eadem compellatio admonitionem facit intentiorem his twise speaking vnto them in the same maÌ„ner of speech maketh his advise the more earnest And if they were the same words yet one might very wel think them to be others quia aures animum saepiùs feriunt because they beate the eares and the minde of a man often These often and fierce inclamations within the spirit of Ionas speaking to the Lord as it were with a doubled and cloven tongue and sending vp his Praiers into heaven as incense casteth vp smoke without intermission condemne the dissolute and perfunctorie prayings of our daies both in churches chambers who vtter a forme of wordes as the manner of hypocrites or the Gentiles was or as the parret of Ascanius recited the creede rather of custome than zeale flattering God with our mouths and dissembling with him with our tongues leaving our spirites as it were in a slumber the meane time or if we cal theÌ„ vp to praier leaving them again as Christ his disciples before we haue thoroughly awaked them as if the offering of the halt and the lame body without soule or soule without devotion voice without spirit or spirit without clamor and vociferation could please him The praiers of David I am sure had an other edge vpon them In the 55 Psalme I mourne in my praier make a noise Evening and morning and at noone will I pray and make a noise and he will heare my voice In the 38. before I roare for the very griefe of mine heart Lord mine whole desire is before thee and my sighing is not hâ—d from thee Cor meum palpitat my hearte panteth or runneth too and fro I haue no rest no quietnes within me Such was the pange and palpitation of Iâ—bs hart My groning commeth before I eate effunduntur velut aquae rugitus mei and my roarings are powred forth and waue like waters not gronings nor cryings but plaine roarings with a continuall inundation velut vnda impellitur vndâ as one water driveth on an other â—hese are wonderfull passions The Lion in the forest never roared so much for his pray nor the hart after the water-brookes as the soules of the faithfull after Gods goodnes Yea the Lion indeed hath roared who will not feare the Lord God hath spoken who can but prophecie The mightie Lion of the tribe of Iudah hath roared in his supplications and his righteous spirit beene vexed and disquieted within him and shal not we be moved of him it is witnessed in the 11. of Iohn that at the raysing of Lazarus he not only wept but groned or yearned in his spirite and troubled himselfe about it It was trouble indeede Tartarus hath his name from such troubles
He roared then for Lazarus whom he loved and for Martha's sake and for other of the Iewes that were there abouts But afterwardes in his owne cause when not onely his soule was vexed vnto death and vexation helde it in on every side but when he cried with a great voice My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee and crying againe with a great voice gaue vp the ghost Therefore the Apostle speaking of the daies of his flesh and that fruite of his lippes and spirite which wee are now in hande with thought it not sufficient to make mention of his praiers and supplications nor of his teares which watered his blessed plantes nor of a crie alone weakely sent forth but of a stronge cry which if heaven were brasse were able to breake through it So it is saide of the â—pirite of God who helpeth our infirmities that because wee know not our selues what to aske as wee ought to doe hee maketh request in our names with grones not to bee expressed Ipse inducitur gemens qui gementes facit hee that putteth groninge into vs is brought in groninge himselfe The voice of the 〈◊〉 is hearde in our lande the groninge of this turtle doue is heard within our bosome Vox quidâ—m gementinon caâ—enti similis a voice in truth as of one that mourneth and that siâ—geth not Thus the example of the glorious Lorde of life who mourned vnspeakably not for the sinnes of his owne person but of the sonnes and daughters of Ierusalem who led the way before vs in water and bloud not in water alone but in water and bloude both who with his bleeding teares shewed vs the right forme of faithfull supplications this very example biddeth vs crie in our prayers The helpe and assistance of the blessed spirit of God groning as vnmeasurably on the other side not for his owne necessities but for ours his wretched creatures and clientes not of infirmitye in himselfe but of compassion towards vs whome wee continually greeue and no way so much as for want of our greefe and repentance biddeth vs cry The dreadfuâ—l maiestye of the sacred LORDE of hostes whome wee stande before the roialty of his nature sublimity of his place dominion over men and angelles who with the spirit of his mouth is able to consume ouâ— both bodies and spirites biddeth vs cry The view of our wretched mortalitye as Adam and Eue when they sawe their nakednesse fled Miriam when her leprousy sheee was ashamed after mortality exceedingly mortall the view of our sinne exceedingly sinfull that wee are not worthy to cast vp our eies towards the seate of God and after our sinne our misery exceedinglye miserable that the prophet was amased in himselfe to see either man or the sonne of man so kindelye visited biddeth vs crye Lastlye the hope and expectation of successe vnlesse wee will sowe and not reape plant vines and not drinke the wine thereof powre out many prayers and not bee hearde the delicacie and tendeâ—nesse of the eares of God which must bee wisely entreated and the precious favour of his countenance which must be carefully sought bid vs cry Let vs not thinke that the sounde and noise of our lippes as the ringing of basons or vocall modulation without cordiall and inward meditation can procvre vs audience Valentiores voces apud secretissimas dei aures â—on faciunt verba seddesiâ—â—ria The most effectuall speech in the secret eares of God commeth not from wordes but from desires He that heaâ—eth without eares can interpret our praiers without our tongues He that saw and fansied Nathaniel vnder the figtree before he was called saw and sanctified Iohn Baptist in his mothers wombe before he came forth he seeth and blesseth our praiers fervently conceaved in the bosome of our conscience before they be vttered but if they want devotion they shall be answered by God as the praiers of those idolators in Ezech. though they cry in mine eares with a lowde voice yet will I not heare them And he hearde me The Hebrew saith he answered me which doth better expresse the mercy of God towards Ionas than if it had bene barely pronounced that he heard Ionas For a man may heare when he doth not answere as Christ heard the false witnesses when the priests asked him answerest thou nothing tâ—cuit he held his peace And likewise he heard Pilate wheÌ„ vpon the accusatioÌ„ of the priests he askt him answerest thou nothing yet he answered not so as Pilate mervailed at his silence David in the 18. Psal. confesseth of his enemies that they cried but there was none to save them even vnto the Lorde but he answered them not Now this answere of God wherof he speaketh is not a verbal answere sharpt of words but a reall substantiall satisfaction and graunt directly fitly applied as answeres should be to questions so this to fulfill the minde desire of Ionas For as be heard the heavens Osee 2. not that the heaveÌ„s spake or he listened the heavens the earth the earth the corne oile wine the corne oile wine Israel not by speech but by actuall performaÌ„ce of some thing which they wanted he the heaveÌ„s by giving vertuous dispositioÌ„ vnto theÌ„ they the earth by their happy influeÌ„ce the earth her fruits by yelding theÌ„ iuice these Israel by ministring their abuÌ„daÌ„ce so doth he answer Ionas here by grauÌ„ting his petition For as to answer a questioÌ„ is not to render speech for speâ—h aloÌ„e but if ther be scruple or vncerteinty in the matter proposed to resolve it so to answere a suite is to ease the hart satisfy the expectatioÌ„ of him that teÌ„dred it In this case Pub. Piso a rhetoriciaÌ„ in Rome was abused by his servaÌ„t who to avoide molestatioÌ„ had given his servants a charge to aunswere his demandes briefly directlye without any further additions It fell out that he provided a supper for Clodius the generall whome he long lookt often sent for at the howre â—et Clodius came not At leÌ„gth he asked his man didst thou bid Clodius I bad him Why commeth he not he refused How chanceth thou toldst me not so much because you demaÌ„ded it not Plutarke in the same booke where hee reporteth that tale maketh three sortes of aunswerers For some giue an aunswer of necessity some of humanity others of superfluity The first if you aske whether Socrates bee within telleth you faintly and vnwillingly he is not within perhappes hee aunswereth by a Laconisme 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not The second with more curtesie and to the sufficient measure of the demaund willing to instruct the ignorant hee is not within but in such a place at the exchange The third running over with loquaâ— city knoweth no ende of speaking hee is not within but at the exchange waiting for straungers out of Ionia in vvhose behalfe Alcibiades hath written from Miletum c. The aunsweres
his rest before he had first laboured and finished the vvorke of sixe daies wee are ever in our Sabbathes and restes and suffer our daies of worke to slide without remembraunce But as verily as the God of heaven hath sanctified both labour and rest in his owne person so truely shal it be fulfilled that if we rest in the time of labour we shall labor in the time of rest Ionas arose And went to Niniveh The first-borne of idlenes is to do nothing the next issue shee hath is to doe that that appertaineth not vnto vs. For to follow vnnecessary businesse to keepe our selues in exercise is little praise and most commonly it falleth out that there is a fellowshippe and affinitie betweene these two as Paule vvriteth of the wanton yong widowes that they learned nothing in their idlenes but to go about from house to house and that they were not only idle and did nothing but were also pratlers and busi-bodies and given to vtter vncomely speech a curious kinde of people to know the liues and affaires of other men desidious and negligent to amende their owne The corruption is natural to vs al aunciently descended Adam in that richest roiallest liberty of his over all the works of Gods handes had more desire to knowe and to doe that that was forbidden him then all the rest and the very commaundemente of God which should haue restrained him gaue occasion to his vvill to become more wilfull From thence it commeth that we his vnwise and vngracious children are Physitians to other men rather then our selues states-men in forraine common-wealthes rather then our own medlers in any calling of life rather then that which God hath enioined vs. Harpers will deale with the scepters of princes and tel them how to rule The people will put on Aarons robes and teach him how to teach The cobler will finde fault with the thigh of the picture though his art go no higher then the foote The Emperours stewarde will pervert scriptures to strengthen the Arrian heresie though fitter to be a market man or to command broth for the Emperour in the kitchin Vzzah will beare vp the arke though he overthrow himselfe by it and Nadab and Abihu offer strange fire though they burne in the flames of it God will surely require of vs all for doing more then we should or that which wee ought not as he did of the Iewes for doing lesse Quis ista à vobis requisivit VVho hath required these things at your hands There are diversities of giftes and diversities of administrations and diversities of operations though the spirite be but one and God the same that worketh all in all Are all apostles are all prophets are all teachers are all doers of miracles haue all the giftes of healing doe all speake with tongues doe all interpret Or hath not God devided these graces to sundry men that every one mighte knowe and doe what belongeth to his calling The members in the body of man are not the same nor ordained to the same function If the whole bodie were an eie where were the hearing or if the vvhole vvere an eare vvhere vvere the smelling Seeing then that we haue giftes that are diverse according to the grace that is given vnto vs whither we haue prophesie let vs prophesie according to the proportion of faith or whither an office let vs waite on the office hee that teacheth on teaching hee that exhorteth on exhortation hee that distributeth let him doe it with simplicitie he that ruleth with diligence hee that sheweth mercy with cheerefulnesse Let every man as hee hath received the gifte mâ—nister the same and not his brothers or companions as good disposers of the manifolde grace of God One and the same spirite which is the author of order not of confusion see how constant he is and like himselfe in the mouthes of sundry Apostles to teach this ambitious and idly busie age bringing into nature the like deformed informity of thinges by mingling all togither wherein the worlde sometimes was and whilst it doeth all thinges doing nothing worthy of thankes neither to bee wise in matters appertaining to God or man more then may stande vvith sobriety and having a charge of their owne properly distinguished not to trouble their heades with aliene and vnnecessary affaires It was a worthy epigramme that Aldus Manutius wrote vpon the dore of his chamber to avoide such wearisome ghestes Their cause of troubling him a maÌ„ carefully bent to enlarge the bounds of good learning was negotij inopia want of businesse for then their agreement was Eamus ad Aldum come let vs go to Aldus At length to prevent them hee set an vnmannerly watchman at his dore which could not blush and whose entertainement was on this maner Whosoever thou arte Aldus doeth heartily beseech thee if thou haue ante bunesse with him briefely to dispatch it and presently bee gone vnlesse thou commest as Hercules did when Atlaâ— was wearie to put his shoulders vnder the burthen For neither thy selfe canst want worke of thine owne at anie time nor any of those that repaire to this place To conclude the note Ionas arose and hasted before at his first call there wanted not speed to his travaile he went like the lightning as Ezechiell speaketh of the foure beastes and spared neither the paines of his body nor the benefite of winde and sailes to beare him forwardes But he lost the approbation and rewarde of his labour bâ—cause he mistooke Tharsis for Niniveh and bended his course to a wrong place Now he hath learned the song of David I will not onely runne but I will runne the way of thy commaundementes And as the feete of the beastes before mentioned which in the tenth of Ezechiell are interpreted to bee Cherubins were straight feete so are the feete of Ionas straitned towardes Niniveh and like an arrow that flyeth to the marke so setteth he his face and heart vpon the place commaunded According to the worde of the Lorde The most absolute constant infallible rule that ever was devised and as many as walke according to this rule they shall not faile to be blessed It was deservedly wished and longed for in the Psalme O that my waies were made so direct that I might keepe thy statutes so shoulde I not bee confounded vvhilst I had respect vnto thy commaundementes It is said of the children of Israell Numbers the ninth that at the mouth of the Lorde they iournied and at the mouth of the LORD they pitched or lay still They knew his minde by the clowde that vvas over the tabernacle For if it abode vpon the tabernacle two daies or a moneth or a yeare they also abode but if it vvere taken vp then they vvente forwarde Againe it is added in the same place and as it were vvith a breath to praise their obedience At the commaundement of the Lorde they pitched and
art but the painting of a graue or whiting of a rotten wall the cover and case to a lumpe of mortal flesh vaine and vnprofitable ornament I am weary of thy service thou haste made mee honourable in the sight of men thou canst worke me no reverence or estimation before the Lorde of hostes 6. It had beene enough to haue proceeded thus farre to haue stripte him into his weekely and ordinarie attire to haue gone like a common man as Ahab in the first of Kings chandged his apparrell that his enemies might not know him first the king of Niniveh doeth not so but hee that had silver and golde as the dust in the streete and precious stones as the gravell in the river Tigris to haue wrapt his body in and to haue glistred against the rayes of the sunne as Herode in his shininge gowne forgetteth the wardrobe of the Empire and goeth to the beggers presse humbleth himselfe like a bond-man one that had grounde at the mill coulde not haue taken a garment of baser condition hee putteth on sacke-cloath nay hee covereth himselfe vvith sacke-cloath sacke-cloath is all the apparrell hee weareth sacke-cloath is the diademe to his heade sacke-cloath the mantell to his backe from the crowne of the head to the plant of his foote there is nothing but sacke-cloath The king hath wounde his body in sack-cloath as a corps made ready for the buriall and fitter to lie in the ground then to liue and breath vpon the face of the earth Lastly when hee hath all done he lieth not on an heape of violets roses as the Sibarites were wont to do nor vpon a couch beautified deckt with the tapestry of Egypt neither goeth he into the temple of Niniveh to cleaue to the dust of the pauement nor shutteth himselfe into his closet to grovell vpon the flore therof but he sitteth dwelleth abideth in an heape of ashes sacke-cloath was the ground ashes is the garnish lace and welt to all his garments A wonderfull alteration from a king of the earth to a worme of the earth from a robe to sacke-cloath from a throne to a dunghill from sitting in estate to lying in ashes from the pompe of a monarch to the image of a caitife he whom all the reverence of the world attended vpon to whom the knee was bowed the head vncovered the bodye prostrated who had as manie salutations as the firmament starres God saue the kinge longe liue the Emperour throweth away his crowne his scepter his maiestie with all the signes and solemnities thereto belonging and in effect rebuketh himselfe Why art thou prowde O earth and ashes Humble thy spirite see thy mortalitie tremble before the presence of that God who sendeth terrour into the heartes and confusion into the faces of all earthlye potentates To make an ende for I haue ever for the most part against my meaning and purpose offended you with prolixitye of speech I haue briefly two instructions to commende vnto you the one to the magistrates in particular that they serue God as beseemeth magistrates It is not the sworde scepter and robe nor the highest roume and other preheminence that maketh a magistrate but as he doeth make lawes so hee must take lawes contrary to the minde of lavvlesse Caracalla and be a rule both to others and himselfe as the king of Niniveh in this present example is first and formost in the service of God The other in general to all sortes of men The king of Niniveh you heare for whome the silver and golde and riches of the earth are provided for who should enioy these rather then princes goeth from his throne and putteth on sacke-cloath about him as one that must giue account to the highest God like those of the meanest condition I haue saide yee are GODS but yee shall die like vulgar men and sitteth in ashes as one not forgetting his first foundation that as he was bred of the ashes so to ashes he must returne My brethren let not the pompe of the worlde deceaue you whither it stand in authority or opulency or voluptuousnesse of life I say let it not deceiue you As the fresh rivers runne into the salt sea so shall all the honours of the world ende in basenesse all the pleasures of the vvorlde ende in bitternesse all the treasures of the worlde in emptinesse all the garmentes of the world in nakednesse and finally al the viands and delicates of the world in lothsomnesse and rottennesse Throw away your robes and costly caparisons you Kinges and Queenes of the earth you that are such not by the ordinaunce of God but by your owne vsurpation that take such honour vpon you not beeing called thereto but beare the bravery of princes the royalty of Salomon vpon your backes throw away your robes least he giue you a rent that gaue you a garment and cloth you with worse then leprosie that hath hitherto cloathed you with honour and beautie But why doe I spende my time in so impertinent and vnprofitable exhortation fashion brought them in these disguisementes I meane and fashion must beare them out or nothing will doe it Fashion is the best preacher and oratour of our age I woulde to God our preaching were in fashion to for then I am sure it would winne both men and women we vse all the fashions therein that our commission can extende vnto we preach season and not season wee bring forth olde and newe wee giue milke and strong meate we come in a spirite of gentlenesse and with a rod we entreate we threaten wee preach mercie we preach iudgement all these fashions we vse and yet without successe But the fashion of the world preacheth and perswadeth with more effect Fashion brought in silkes and velvelts at one time and fashion brought in russets and graâ—es at another fashion brought in deepe ruffes and shallow ruffes thicke ruffes and thinne ruffes double ruffes and no ruffes fashion brought in the verdingale and carried out the verdingale and hath againe revived the verdingale from death and placed it behinde like a rudder or sterne to the body in some so bigge that the vessell is scarse able to beare it Thus whilst wee fashion our selues after this worlde and every garish devise therein or rather after the devill himselfe for these are Satanae ingenia the inventions of sathan not of man It is to be feared that when God shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead hee will not knowe those who haue so defaced and multiplyed that simple fashion which hee created Opus hoc meum non est nec haec imago mea this is not my workemanshippe nor this the similitude I first made The Lorde is king let all the kings of the earth ascribe glory vnto him he rideth vpon the cherubins let all their chariots and chaires of estate stoope before him he hath put on glorious apparell let all their glistering and counterfaite ornamentes
the light of his countenance the life of his compassions taken away his wrath kindled nay his fierce and furious wrath the length and breadth whereof no more than of his mercies canne be measured there ensueth an abundance of misery vvith a diligent traine of all kindes of plagues having an open field to range in because there is no wil in God to resist them Therfore they beleeved in the fourth place that if his presence were recovered his decree changed and his wrath stopt they should be freed from the danger threatned vnto thē assuring thēselues otherwise that the buildings of their city should sinke downe stone after stone and that the children thereof should all be buried and entombed togither in one cōmon destruction Therefore miserable is their estate who liue within the vapour and heate of Gods displeasure We are all by nature the children of wrath borne to inherite it as we inherite our fathers lands but Christ hath purchased vs favour by his bloud we confirme it to our selues in some sort by making conscience to offend walking warily in the feare of the Lord. But such as run on their wicked race without turning draw their vnhappy breath vvithout repenting heaping anger vpon anger and not caring to pacifie the force therof their ende is the ende of the sentence that they are sure to perish not in themselues alone but in al that appertaineth vnto them their tabernacles children posteriey memortials nor onely in the life of their bodies but in the life and eternity of their soules nor for an age and generation of time but whilst God raigneth in heaven able to do iustice To avoide this danger it shal be safe for vs all to quēch the anger of God in time to take the bloud of the Lambe and cast vpon the flames therof and through the riches of his merites to seeke the acceptance and to hold acquaintance friendship vvith our God that we perish not And God sawe their workes c. We are now come to the fourth part of the chapter the mercy of God towardes Niniveh greater than both the former because it is not exhibited to one as vnto Ionas nor vnto a fewe as vnto the mariners but vnto a whole citty plentifully peopled and stored with inhabitantes Even so it is whither one or more many or fewe man woman childe citties kingdomes Empires worldes all generations past present and those that are to come wee drawe out waters of ioy and comfort out of this well of salvation There is a degree also in the wordes of this sentence For 1. God approoveth their workes and conceaveth a liking of their service done if you will knowe what works you haue it by explication made plaine their conversion from their evill waies that is their whole course of repentance Secondly vpon that approbation hee repented him of the evill which hee saide hee woulde bringe vpon them Thirdly vpon that repentance and change of minde he doth it not The words are not greatly obscure a little explanation may serue to vnfold them God saw Why was he a straunger till that time in Niniveh or did he but then begin to open his eyes to take the knowledge of their works or is ther any thing in heavē or earth or in the deepe that he seeth not with his eies tē thousand times brighter than the sun yea though it were hid I say not within the reines hearts of our bodies but in the reines and hart of the lowest destruction Some interpret it thus he saw that is he made thēselves to see or the world to see that hee was well pleased with their workes others more simplie and truly he saw their works that is himselfe approved them as Gen. 1. hee saw that the light was good that is he allowed it by his iudgement so heere hee shewed by his fact event that followed that the repētance of Niniveh highly cōtented him Likewise Gen. 4. God looked vnto the gift of Abel but not vnto the gift of Cain he saw thē both with his eie of knowledge but not of liking good affection Or to say further God saw that in the works of the Ninivites which if Ionas or the whole world had presumed to have seene they had deceived themselves he saw their hearts from whence those works proceeded how truly syncerely they were done without dissimulatiō In this sense we say that the church is invisible as we are taught in our Creede we rather beleeve that it is thā with our eies can behold it not that we turne men into spirits not having flesh bones or into trāsparēt substāces such as the aire is which we cannot see but because although we behold the body the outward appearance wee cannot search into their spirites neither are able to discerne them in that whereby they are Christians and of the householde of faith Wee thinke they are myrtles when they are but netles lambes when they are but vvoolues and citizens of Ierusalem vvhen they are but Iebusites Their workes Not onely their workes of ceremony order and discipline as fasting sackcloth crying which are not godlinesse it selfe but gestures and behaviours setting it forth nor onely their morall workes of charity towardes God and man in forsaking their wicked waies and making restitution of ill gotten goodes for these are most of them outwarde workes but hee sawe the workes also of the inward man and as it is expounded in the next vvordes hee saw their perfect and full conversion which consisted not in fasting and sackcloth alone or in formall professions but in the change and alteration of all their powers Thus to acknowledge the true and immortal God is a worke but a worke of the spirit both because the spirit of God is the author and because the spirite of man is the actour and administer thereof To beleeue is also a worke of the spirit for when they asked Ioh 6. What shall wee doe that wee might worke the workes of God Iesus answered them this is the worke of God that yee believe in him whome hee hath sent GOD sawe all these workes in them what they thought howe they beleeved which way the purposes of their heartes were bente hee sawe their faith as well as their ceremonies their iustice Evangelicall aswell as their Legall hee sawe their whole bodye of repentance wherein there was knowledge desire iudgement affection faith hope and whatsoever else was requisite to bee vsed in that worke And God repented Wee had the worde before who knoweth if God will repent But can this bee Repentance hath ever some griefe annexed vnto it and an accusation of our selues of something done amisse which wee woulde gladly retract both these are far from God who sitteth in heaven having all sufficiencye of pleasure and contentment in himselfe and for his workes abroade they are so exactly done by rule that wee cannot suspect any errour
who are converted by the word of faith should no otherwise be confirmed and strengthened than by that only word For our owne partes we cannot worke wonders we cannot call downe lights visions from heaven we must vse such meanes as God hath enabled vs vnto And therein tell mee also by experience If as in former times the Gentiles were confuted by the writings of the Gentiles which is either a parte or at least a preparatiue to conversion for wee must first remooue the preiudices conceaved against the trueth by the philosophy of Plato Trismegistus and others vvhich Iulian a wise but wicked Emperour saw beholde vvee are wonded vvith our owne quilles out of our bookes they take armour vvhich in fighte they vse against vs and therefore made a lawe that the children of the Galilaeans shoulde not reade philosophers nor Poets and as the Iewes in later yeares by the Talmud of the Iewes for proofe whereof I send you to the Truenes of ChristiaÌ„ religion written both in Latin French put into English by as honorable a translator as the author was So in the winning reclaiming of Papistes at this day it bee not an ordinary way to roote vp their errors besides the scriptures of God not onlie by consent of Fathers decisions of Councels but even by principles of philosophy by reason outward sense from the verdict wherof in many questioÌ„s amongst them they are wholy departed In TransubstantiatioÌ„ by name do we not shake coÌ„vince their in extricable absurdities by evidence of sense by that which our hands handle our eie declareth vnto vs by natural demensions which a natural body is subiect vnto by circuÌ„scriptioÌ„ of place collocatioÌ„ in one place at once how vnsensible a thing it is to have accideÌ„ts without their subiect roundnes whitenes the rellish of bread without bread even as the Lord himselfe proved the truth of his body by a truth of philosophy when they tooke him for a spirit touch me handle me see me TaÌ„gere enim tangi nisi corpus nulla potest res for nothing caÌ„ touch or be touched but a true body Is it enough in this coÌ„flict to tel a Papist that Christ is ascended into heaven there must sit til al things be restored doth he not drive thee froÌ„ thine holde put thee to a further replication So do they also in many other questions wherin if we rest vpon scripture alone we shall send them away vnsatisfied because they admit not this iudge without other copartners to sit give sentence alone in the ending of our controversies And therefore they must be vanquished as Basilides Saturninus were in Eusebius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both by written demonstrations and by vnwritten redargutions Is this now to make the pulpit a philosophers schoole or rather the philosophers schoole a foote-stoole to the pulpit and to vse it as a servant to Divinity that it may the better proceede in the necessarye vvorke The histories of the Heathen as lightly as we reckon of them of Moab and Ammon and all the cuntries of Canaan in former times of the Medes Persians auncient Romanes Graecians at this day of the Mores Moscovites Turkes and Tartarians their religion sacrifices manners lawes leagues wars stratagemes and even the wars of HaÌ„niball and Scipio wherin the providence of God mightily wrought and the pollicy of men carefully bestirred it selfe have they nothing in them fit for the vse of the teÌ„ple for the building of Gods house Then why do we traine vp our children in poets orators histories Greekc Latine old new not presently set theÌ„ to the testaments everlastingly keepe theÌ„ in the reading conning of only catechismes if all that elementary learning for so I confesse with Seneca rudimenta sunt non opera they are rudiments beginnings not workes must be wholy forgotten and laide aside in the exercising of an higher calling Or is it a point of wisedome thinke we to season these new vessels when their taste of life to come is especially to be framed with such vnprofitable licour wherof ther is no good vse to be made in riper yeares and at sounder discretion If such were the vanity and no better fruites of these yonger studies when an elder profession and a more settled iudgment hath them in handling let Licinius be cleared of that infamous speech of his in tearming good Letters the poison of a coÌ„moÌ„-wealth let al our bookes be heaped togither burnt in the market-place as those books of curious arts Act. 19 let their barbarous opinion who cry to pull downe schooles vniversities find favour good speed in the wishings of al men But I ever retained til I am better informed wil endevor to maintainea more honorable opinioÌ„ of learning such poore friendship as I am able to lend to the defence of it I wil ever be ready to shew as Ionatha did to David not only in the field where no man seeth it but even to the face of those by whoÌ„ it is most discredited Because I have ever found by my little simple experience that neither the vse of GraÌ„mer in the proprieties of words nor of Logicke in distinguishing ambiguities nor Rhetoricke in following precepts rules of speech nor Philosophy in scaÌ„ning causes their effects nor history in calculating times nor of any of these in many other vses and services could at any time be missing to the mistres Queen of al these arts I meane to the handling of Divinity which is the scieÌ„ce of sciences S. Austin writing against Petilian telleth vs that his adversary sometimes with open mouth and full breath would accuse him for a Logician bring Logicke it selfe to her triall before the people as the mistresse of forgery lying because he shewed some Rhetoricke would note him by the name of Tertullus the orator charge him with the damnable wit of Carneades the Academicke but you must know the reason CuÌ„ ad interrogatum respondere non posset when he was not able to answere the question propounded No doubt it was some great disgrace to that learned father to be blamed for good artes and to beare an obiection and reproach for too much schollership Thus let ignorance ever be able to obiect to the champians of the true church and propugners of the faith of Christ. And because I am falleÌ„ into the testimony of S. Austin let me further acquaint you what hee writeth of this very argument in his 2. booke of christiaÌ„ learning His iudgement is ample plaine that if the philosophers so called especially the Platonickes had spokeÌ„ any truth consonant to our faith we should be so far of from fearing it that we should bereaue them thereof as vniust owners and possessioners apply it to our owne vse For as the Egyptians had not onâ—ly idols burthens
take him into her possession Let the covetous also remember this Nature shal as narrowly examine them at their going out as at their first entring They brought nothing with them into this world but skin over their teeth and over the other partes of their bodie and it is as certaine they shall carry avvay nothing They ioine house to house field to field by disioyning the companies and societies of men they vvill dwell alone vpon the earth leaue the inheritance of the worlde to their babes after them And as they vvere happy common-weales heretofore wherein these speaches Mine Thine were least heard so are we falleÌ„ into these vnhappy and vnrighteous daies wherein there is small care taken what communities bee overthrowne and dispersed so all may acrue to a fewe Lordes Socrates carried Alcibiades bragging of his landes to a map of the world and bade him demonstrate where his land lay He could not espie it for Athens it selfe was but a smal thing I will not deale so sparinglie with you ye rich men of this world for the Apostle distinguisheth you to shew that there are both riches and a worlde to come I will tell you where your lande lieth and vvhat is truely mine and thine and belonging to every man So much measure of ground to the length and breadth of your bodies as maie serue to burie them in or so manie handfulles of dust as your bodies goe into after their consumption This is terra mea terra sua terra vestra my earth and his earth and your earth more than this we connot claime Therefore as the son of Sirach asked the prowd Quid superbis terra câ—â—is so I the covetous quid concupiscis terra cinis VVhy doest thou covet earth and ashes vvhen if it vvere possible for thee to possesse as much grounde as ever the devill shewed vnto the sonne of GOD from that high mountaine yet in the ende thou shalt be driven from all this as the people of Canaan vvere driven from that lande vvhich they thought their everlasting inheritance and thou must betake thy selfe to thine ovvne earth to that little quantitie and rod of grouÌ„d which nature hath proportioned unto thee Ecce vix totam Hercules Implevit vruam Behold great and victorious Hercules the subduer of the monsters of the world when he was dead and his bodie resolved into ashes scarselie filled an earthen pitcher Amongst other thy purchases forget not to buy a field as AbrahaÌ„ did to bury thy dead in a potters field such as they had at Ierusalem bought with the price of bloude vvherein thy bones and the bones of thy sonnes and nephewes may be bestowed· Now the thoughtes of man are endlesse Aboue all things man hath an vnfaithfull hearte saieth the Prophet as deepe as the sea vvho can finde it out I leaue it to the searcher of all hartes to examine The ambitious hath his thoughtes as lardge as hell such as Pyrrhus had from Macedon to Greece from Greece to Italy c. The voluptuous his thoughtes let vs eate and drinke Better is a living dogge than a dead lion The malicious his thoughtes vvho vvill giue mee of his flesh to eate The covetous his thoughtes soule take thy rest to daie or to morrovve wee will goe into such a cittie and there continue a yeare and buy and sel and gaine Such are the purposes and supposals of men minding earthlie things But the Lord knoweth the thoughts of meÌ„ that they are but vanity I would they were not grosse impiety And they imagine such counsailes as they are not able to bring to passe for their thoughts perish Plus proficitur cum in rem praesentem venitur there is more good done by one example than by manie preceptes Perhaps I haue told you a tale as to men a sleepe and novve I haue done you aske me vvhat is the matter This is the matter if there vvere none other explication the present spectacle before your eies is the example of this precept the life of this letter this precept the sentence or moral of this spectacle For if you will aske me of the person proposed to your view what he was surely he was a Prince a great state of the land and I maie saie of him as David said of Abner hoaâ—e princeps cecidit in Israele this daie is there a chiefe man fallen in England If you demauÌ„d further what he was by generatioÌ„ I auÌ„swer one of the sonnes of men If what by impotencie and imperfection vnable to helpe either himselfe or others there is no salvatioÌ„ in him If whither he were mortall or no yea for his spirit is departed from him If what becommeth of his body you see we haue brought it to the earth and thither 〈◊〉 must returne If what of his minde his thoughtes are also gone Lastly if you wil know the vse take an advise and counsaile out of all these put not your trust in him nor in anie the like fraile mutable creatures Blessed is the man whose helpe is in the Lord Non â—lle homo aut ille homo non ille angelus aut ille angeâ—u not this man or that man not this Angell nor that Angell but the God of Iacob the Lorde of hostes vvhich made heaven earth the sea and all that therein is and keepeth his promise for ever He that not long since was a glorious tree amongst vs like the Cedar of Libanus his boughes were a shadow to these North partes hath had the message of the Lord by his angell accomplished vpon him hew downe the tree and there is but a stumpe left a remnant of that substance now to be hid and buried in the earth till the daie-spring froÌ„ an high the light of Gods couÌ„tenance shal againe visite it Do you doubt of the fal of Princes handle see his body that here lieth examine his nostrels if there be any breath in them his eies if they haue any sight his cheeks if any colour his veines if any warme bloud and then beleeue as the Samaritans did not because of my word but because your selues are witnesses vnto it And as his body in life hath giveÌ„ you many an instructioÌ„ so let his dead breathlesse corpse adde one more vnto you of coÌ„moÌ„ vnevitable mortalitie It hath bin the maÌ„ner of auÌ„cient times to coÌ„meÌ„d their dead rather to testifie their good affection bemoane their losse to hold out the lampe of their vertuous liues to others left aliue than to gratifie the deceased Thus David commended Saul and Abner Elizaeus Elias the Apostles those Sainctes whome the worlde was not worthy of Nazianzen Basil making his followers in comparison with him for his excellent parts no more than an Eccho to the true voice Thus Bernard lamented Malachy complayning that his very bovvells were pulled from him and he could not but feele the wounde Our
draw my speech into a narrower coÌ„passe As Paul witnesseth of himselfe 2. Cor. 12. so he both spent and was spent amongst you You caÌ„nnot truly say of him Ditavimus Abrahamum we haue made Abraham rich he hath not a shoe-thread more thaÌ„ he brought at his first comming P. Scipio being called by the Senate to giue an account of his administration in Afâ—icke made aunswere thus for himselfe Whereas I haue subdued all Africke to your government I haue brought away nothing therehence that may bee called mine but onely a sirname What hath this reverend Prelate gained and carried away vvith him by continuing amongst you these many yeares saue onely the name of an Archbishope In the consideration of whose estate I cannot but remember a speech that Cato vsed in A. Gellius I haue neither house nor plate nor any garment of price in mine handes If I have any thinge I vse it if not I know who I am The worlde blameth mee for wantinge manye thinges and I them that they know not hovv to want I neede not apply the speech But vvill you haue the reason of all this Nepotianus noster aurum calcans schedulas consectatur Our Nepotian conteÌ„ned gold and wholy gaue himselfe to follow his study And I am sure the commendation is that which Bernard gaue to Martin in his 4. of consideration Nonne alterius secâ—res est transire per terram auri sine auro Is it not an heavenly disposition and fit for the other vvorld to liue in a countrey where a man may be rich and not gather riches Now touching the other member of my speech his travaile and paines in his function hee delt both the gospell of Christ and himselfe amongst you whose saying ever was that which hee also tooke from a famous light of this land One that was Iulium sydus a Iewell of his age vvhere shoulde a preacher die but in the pulpit Oporteâ— imperatorâ—m in acie stantem mori a Generall must die in the field vpon his feete and surely hee thoroughly perfourmed it For when the infirmity of his body was such that the least moving and stirring thereof by travaile drew his bloud from him even then he drew out his breasts and fed you with the milke of Gods most holye vvorde whereas the Dragons of the vvildernesse are cruell in their best health and regard not their young ones Lastly which is the last of all because the end is both triall and perfection and in this sense Vnus dies par omni One day is as much as all the rest for it is aterninatalis the birth day of eternity and as the tree falleth so it lyeth and as we goe out of this life so wee shal bee restored to that other that you may not thinke he did as the manner of feastes is at the beginning set forth good wine and then that which is worse or that he kept one hoofe backe from the full sacrifice I will shortly repeat vnto you what his end was Wherein I must vse that protestation before that Seneca somwhere vsed Nunquam par fuit imitator authori There is no equality betwixt one that imitateth and the author himselfe and a thing done by way of repetition and rememoration must needes come short of the truth Notwithstanding this I can constantly affirme in generall that all other cares and consultations which the world might haue drawne him vnto laid aside and not so much as named he only applied himselfe to make some profession promulgation of his faith Which he rathest chose to doe as the Apostle speaketh Act. 10. not to all the people but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to vs witnesses then Chaplaines in his house chosen of God to the same dispensation of the faith wherein himselfe had beene His speach was to this effect I haue sent for you to this end that before my departure I might giue some testimony of that faith wherein I haue hitherto lived and am now to die What I haue received of the Lord that I haue ever delivered I haue red much written much often disputed preached often yet never could I finde in the booke of God any grouÌ„d for Popery neither haue I knowne any point of doctrine received in the church of England that is not consonant vnto the word of God VVherefore he exhorted me my colleague beeing then absent to continue in that building wherein I had already laide my foundation and because I was nowe his ghostly father which was the vnworthy name a father bestowed vpon me a childe in comparison required that I would not neglect to repaire vnto him twise or thrise before his ending I told him that having often in his life ministred so good comfortes to others he could not want comfort to himselfe He graÌ„ted it but because omnis homo mendax wherein we tooke his meaning to be that a man might flatter and beguile himselfe therefore he a gaine required my resort vnto him I replied that I thought it the best and I feared would be the last service that ever I shoulde doe vnto him Howbeit the comfortes which I had to giue I coulde but powre into the outwarde eares and that it must be the spirit of God which inwardly comforteth the conscience To this his auÌ„swere was The spirit of God doth assure my spirit that I am the childe of God I yet proceeded You haue seene long peace and many good daies in Israell I hope also shall depart in peace and leaue peace behinde you Neither know I any thing in the world wherewith your conscience should be troubled He finally concluded I die in perfite peace of conscience both with God and man So he licensed me to depart not willing he said to trouble me any more at that time Indeede it was the last trouble that ever in breath he put me vnto For the next entraÌ„ce I made was iustly to receiue his last and deepest gaspe Of whome what concerneth mine owne private estate I say no more but as Phillip said of Hipparchus being gone He died in good time for himselfe but to me to soone Thus he that was ever honourable in the vvhole race of his life was not without honour at his death For as Sophocles commeÌ„ded Philoctetes at what time he was killed himselfe he killed others gloriously Hee fought a good fight both in defence of the faith and in expugnation of heresies schismes seditions which infest the Church I call that labour of his because hee made none other at that time his last will and testament Wherein the particular legacies which he bequeathed were these 1. To my selfe which I holde more precious than the finest gold fatherly exhortation to go forward in plaÌ„ting the gospel of Christ which I had begun 2. To the Papists wholsoÌ„e admonitioÌ„ to relinquish their errours having no grouÌ„d in the scriptures And let theÌ„ wel advise theÌ„selues that at such a time when there is no cause to suspect
sinceâ—noted you you that are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lovers of pleasure more than of God or if you loue it no more than that it maketh you to forget God in whose presence is the fulnesse of ioie and at his right hande pleasure for evermore Psa. 16. and vvho giveth vs drinke out of a vvhole river of pleasures Psalme 36. contemne these transitory gourdes and reserue your selues for a better building in heaven vvhere is neither sunne nor winde to beate vpon your heades nor vvorme to alter your happinesse VVhere your ioye shall ever be present yet can you not be filled rather you shall be filled but cannot be satisfied Or if I say that you cannot be satisfied then there is hunger or that you may then there is loathing I know not what to say Deus habet quod exhibeat God hath somewhat both to reveale and to bestow vpon you which I know not but 〈◊〉 beata vita in â—onte there is blessednesse at the heade of the spring not in cisternes or brookes that I am sure of Were you able to drinke vp the pleasures of the worlde in as plentifull manner as Cleopatra dranke the riches the value of fiftye thousand pounde at a draught yet remember that it is but a draught and quickely downe the throate The length of the throate saith Bernard is but two or three inches at the most or if it were as long as a cranes necke which Philoxenus the Epicure wished that the sweetnes of his meats and drinkes might the longer abide with him the matter were not much But when they are drunke and digested then what becommeth of them more than of your meates and drinkes to bee cast out into the draught so these to perish with their vse not without shame and sorrow of heart to bee throwne away as vnhappy superfluities whereas the pleasures of aeternity before the face of God deserue that commendation which Booz gaue to Ruth and with his words wee may blesse it blessed art thou my daughter for thou haste shewed me more goodnesse in the latter eâ—de than at the beginning To conclude the blessedst tree is in the midst of the paradise of God neither on the East nor on the West side of Niniveh nor any other city of the world And the leaues of the tree are not only for shadow as these of the gourd but to heale the nations with and it hath both leaues and fruites to satisfie our hunger and twelue manner of fruites every month brought forth to satisfie our pleasure And it groweth by a river side cleare as christall proceeding out of the throne of God that it cannot possibly wither For it let vs keepe our better appetites and let vs beseech him who hath planted it with his owne right hand that we may liue to taste how holesome and pleasant that tree is THE XLVII LECTVRE Chap. 4. ver 1. And when the sun did arise God also prepared a fervent East-winde and the sunne beat vpon the head of Ionas c. THe temporary ioy which Ionas entertained for the gouâ—d is as quite forgotten as if it had never beene and buried vnder an heape of succeeding griefes as the fruitfull years Gen. 41. were buried vnder the yeares of famine for so said Ioseph the famine shall bee so greate that the yeares of plentie shall not be thought vpon It followeth in the line of those afflictions which God stretched out vpon the heade of Ionas that when the sunne did arise God prepared also a fervent East-winde c. For it did not suffice him to haue sent a worme which smote the gourd but he adioineth new corrosiues and calamities to afflict the soule of Ionas For as his blessings when he watcheth to do vs good as the prophet speaketh the foote of the one shall ever bee treading vpon the heele of the other so also in his castisements and corrections he doth not desist to inflict theÌ„ till he haue left an inwarde sense in those who are his patients Thus he dealt in the scourdging of Iob though a servant dearly beloved as appeareth by his complaints how long will it be ere thou depart from me thou wilt not let me alone while I maie swallow my spittle Againe thou renuest thy witnesses that is thy plagues witnesses of thy displeasure against me changes armies of sorrow are against me Surely God is wiser in handling our sins thaÌ„ any Physitian in dealing with sicknesses therfore he best knoweth both what medicine is fittest how long to be applied 1 The sun ariseth as a gyant refreshed with wine to run his race or rather as an enemy prepared to the battaile the only enemy vvhich Ionas had cause to feare his fortresse castle of boughes being takeÌ„ froÌ„ him 2 After the sun a winde and that fighting vnder the banner of the sun confaederate with him an East-winde for the quality of it a fervent East-winde 3. The sunne is not sent to shine to cast forth his beames but to beate 4. Not any inferiour part but that which was highest next to heaven the head of Ionas 5. The effectes that follow al these are 1. his fainting in his body 2. in his soule wishing to die 3. professing it with his tongue it is better for me to die than to liue And when the sunne did arise The arising of the sun noteth no more than the opportunity of time which God taketh to punish Ionas He beginneth with the beginning of the day the shadowes of the night are gone the fresh dews of the morning sone dispersed and the sunne at his first discovery hath a chardge from God to assault the heade of Ionas no part of the day as it seemeth not the coolenesse teÌ„perature of the morning are friendly vnto him He rather wished in his heart as Iob did let the day be darkenes still and let not God regarde it from aboue nor the light shine vpon it but let darkenes clowdes the shadowe of death staine it that is let there be an everlasting night rather than the beams of the sun should come forth to do me this violence as the sun did once go backe in the daies of Hezekias vpon the diall of Ahaz so it would haue reioiced him if it had gone backe againe to the North or stoode vnmoueable in a place that the earth might haue beene as a piller betweene him and the heate thereof God prepared also a feruent East-wind I should but roule the same stone once again too ofteÌ„ to speak of the author of this whole busines his speedy expedition therin which I haue told you before is noted in the word of preparatioÌ„ whose mighty over spreading providence is as the soule of the world as inward familiar to al the actions therin great small as the spirit to our reines better may a body liue without breath than any counsaile or
worke vnder heaven proceede without it But I leaue those repetitions The sun the wind we see rise togither set thēselues against Ionas as the two smoaking fire-brāds Rezin Pekah against Ierusalē cōbining binding thēselues not to giue over til they haue both done their part in the vexing of the prophet The wind here mentioned is described by 2. attributes the one of the quarter or coast from whence it blew an East-wind the other of the quality which it had a fervēt East-wind The cardinall principal windes as appeareth both in many places of the scripture and in forreine authours are but 4. breathing from the 4. quarters or divisions of heaven as in the 37. of Ezechi come from the 4. vvindes O breath And Math. 24. God shall gather his elect from the foure windes Afterwardes they added 4. more which they cal collateral or side-windes subordinate to the principal thence proceeded to the nūber of 12. In these daies we distinguish 32. Betweene every two cardinal winds seven inferiour We may read Act. 27. that Paul was very skilful of the sea-card vsed in those daies for describing his voiadge to Rome he maketh mention not only of East West South but of South-west by West of North-west by West as the Westerne winde blew either nearer or further of But not to trouble you with these things the winde that is here spokē of some take to be Eurus or Vulturnus which is the Southeast by East followeth the sun in his winter rising others to be the principal high East-winde following the sun when he riseth in the Equinoctial Now the nature of an East-wind in any point therof is to be hote dry for the most part a clearer of the aire but this of al the rest being so serviceable to the sun going forth so righte with it walking in the same path which the sunne walketh in must needs be an hoter wind thā if it had crossed or sided the sun any way 2. Touching the quality or the effect which it wrought it is called a fervent East-wind some turne it vehement not for the sound and noyse that it maketh but for the excessiue heat For no doubt it is distinguished frō Caecias North-east by East which is a more soūding blustering wind not so fit for the purpose of God in this place Of that ye haue mention Exod. 14. where it is said that the Lorde made the sea run backe with a strong East◠winde all the night made it dry land Some translate it silent quiet to put a differēce betwixt this the former East-wind albeit others giue the reason because it maketh mē silent deafe with the soūd that it hath others because it maketh the rest of the winds silent quiet when it selfe bloweth Howsoever they vary otherwise they al agree in the heate for it is a gētle soft wind which whē the aire is enflamed by the sun is so far frō correcting the extremitie therof that it rather helpeth it forwarde becōmeth as a waggon to carry the beames of the sun forth-right It is manifest by many places of scripture that it is an easterne wind which burneth with his heate not only the fruites but the people of the earth The 7. thin eares of corne Gen. 41. were burnt with an East-winde so are the fruites withered Ezek. 19. so is the fountaine dried vp Ose 13. The vulgar edition doth evermore translate it vrentē ventum by the name of a burning winde and whersoever it is mentioned in the booke of God the property of it is to exiccate and dry vp Columella writeth that at some time of the yeare especially in the dog-daies mē are so parched with the East winde that vnles they shade thēselues vnder vines it burneth them like the reaking of flames of fire I haue now shewed you both the nature and the quarter of this winde that albeit it were a winde yet you may know it was not prepared to refrigerate but to afflicte the head of Ionas When the sunne and the winde are vp what do they the sunne not vvithout the helpe of the vvinde vvhich vvas in manner of a sling or other instrumente to cast the beames of the sun more violently vpon them although created for another end to governe the daie and to separate it from the night and to giue light in the earth yet here receiveth a new commaundement and is sent to beate all other inferiour partes omitted even the head of Ionas wherein is the government of the vvhole creature the seate of the minde the top of Gods workmanshippe from vvhence the senses and nerves take their beginning In this assault of the principall part the danger was no lesse to the body of Ionas than if an enimy had besiedged the Capitoll of Rome or the Mount Sion and Anthonies towre in Ierusalem But we shall the better conceaue the vexation of Ionas if we ioyne the effectes which these two enimies draue him vnto 1. It is saide hee fainted I marvell not for the force of heate is vntolerable vvhen the pleasure of God is to vse that rod. So hee telleth them Amos 4. Percussi vos vredine I haue smitten you with blasting or burning and you returned not On the other side it is numbered amongst the blessings of God which Christ shall bring vnto his people Esay 49. they shall not bee hungrie neither shall they thirst neither shall the heate smite them nor the sunne which is spoken I graunt by translation but that from whence it is transferred in the naturall sense must needes be very commodious because it is applyed to the highest mercies So likewise in the 3. of Act. the state of everlasting life is called the times of refreshing or respiration 2. Hee wishte in his hearte to die my text saith not so in tearmes though in effect but he desired his soule or he made petition and suite to his soule to die that is to relinquish and giue over his bodie or hee desired death to his soule as a man forlorne and forsaken having no friend to make his moane vnto he vttereth his griefe to his private spirit speaking therevnto that if it vvere possible some remedy might be had 3. Though the eare of ielousie which heareth all thinges heard the wishes and desires of his hearte yet hee is not contente with secret rebellion vnlesse his tongue also proclaime it for he saith it is better for mee to die than to liue I shewed the madnes of Ionas before in this very wish It was not better for Ionas to die than to liue nor for any other in his case a milstone about their necks to haue drowned them in the bottome of the sea had beene lesse vnhappinesse When they die let them pray to the Lord of life to close vp their eies and