it is to teach vs that which wee are hardly brought to beleeue namely that he is most ready to remit and to remoue his punishments yea when we haue prouoked him thereto by our sins if it repent vs. When Dauid confessed his sin the Prophet Nathan being sent of God to moue him to repentance and vnderstood by his confession that he did so answered him immediately thy sinnes are forgiuen thee So the posterity of this people heere mentioned when God had sent vpon them a strange iudgement in their wheat haruest euen thunder and raine that they might thereby perceiue and see that their wickednesse was great in asking a King contrary to Gods commandement who had forbidden them so to doe and the people had giuen testimony of their repentance in desiring Samuel to pray for them and confessing that sinne in asking a King and their other sinnes hee answered Feare not the Lord will not forsake his people for his great names sake because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people and I will not cease to pray for you but I will shew you the good and right way And the whole Scripture throughout is full of examples that tend to the same end So that it may boldly and truly bee said the Lord is gracious and of great kindlesse and repenteth him of the euill that hee had brought vpon his So that it remaines that this heauenly Scripture lie not by vs vnoccupied and without fruit and vse But seeing wee doe oft forget the Lord and thereby doe that which is euill in his eyes oh fickle and inconstant people that we are wee should not sleepe in our sinne but repaire to this remedie to rend our hearts rather then our garments and neuer to thinke our selues well till we haue recouered our losse and by faith see that wee are receiued into fauour with him againe for hee waiteth for this our humiliation and it shall neuer come before him in vaine and be frustrate but he will most certainly accept of it and as for vs we ought neuer to be quiet till wee doe so And wonderfull it is and to our great detriment that the way being so open to Gods mercy and louing kindnesse euen to them that stand in need of it while they smart for their prouocations of him it is I say to bee wondred at that so few take benefit by it yea and that assoone as they haue offended they hast not to returne to him againe but wander in vnbeleefe and hardnesse of heart till they bee driuen to it by meere necessity to bow and cry vnto God And the more wee bewray our blockishnesse herein in that wee bee so hardly brought vpon our knees when we haue sinned against God wee are to know for I thought it meet to vtter it that there are no knots nor difficulties in this doctrine namely that God will be found when hee is sought vnto and will heare when he is prayed to It is a most cleere and well approued truth and none faile of helpe but such as doe not either heartily seeke it if they know how or else such as are ignorant how to doe it And that which I haue said of repenting and returning to God when wee see some speciall fault committed either by negligence or wilfulnesse to wit that we should in solemne manner thus cry vnto God as we haue been taught euen so we ought to doe though there be no apparant wilfulnesse seene in our daily slips and infirmities to offer vp to God daily our sutable repentance for the same that so we may bee no time or not long in the least manner estranged no nor absent from God but continually goe in and out before him through the day and so all our life long which is our Paradise and felicity in this world And this be said of the first of the three examples as occasion hath been offered to the tenth verse THE NINETEENTH SERMON ON THE THIRD CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES WE haue heard how God raised vp a sauiour or deliuerer to the people of Israel when they cried to him in their oppression euen Othniel now it is shewed how he fitted and furnished him for so great a worke And that was thus Othniel being a priuate man and one of the meanest of his fathers house only somwhat enriched by his marrying of Acksah Calebs daughter and a man of some courage was the person whom the Lord stirred vp for this purpose And he being further off then many other from ability hereunto it is said that the Lord gaue him his spirit meaning the fruits of his spirit as knowledge and iudgement to vnderstand the matters of God and his will which are things most requisite for a gouernour and he gaue him also encrease of courage strength and wisedome for warre and besides them all certified him by his spirit that he was called of God to such a seruice Now all things being thus appointed by God he as it is said heere iudged Israel that is hee executed his office in taking vpon him the protection of his people wherein the Lord being with him hee rescued them out of bondage to liberty againe and gouerned them and restored the pure worship of God among them and more particularly concerning the subduing of the aduersary of Israel it is said that the Lord strengthened him against him that Cushan-rushathaim I meane and gaue him into his hands And this cleerely teacheth vs that all gifts of the spirit and all excellent effects therof they are none of ours they are the Lords he giueth and distributeth them at his pleasure as we see heere that it was the spirit of the Lord that came vpon Othniel whereby hee brought to passe the great things that he did And whatsoeuer is of any note in man for price and exceliency it is all of God and commeth from his meere bounty Alas there is no bird stripped of her feathers more bare and naked then man in himselfe is void of goodnesse for what hath he that he hath not receiued Insomuch as all that he hath to glory of is his sinne A most holy and approued truth which giueth God his due and layeth out man in his colours that hee is nothing else if her robbe not God of his honour and pranke not vp himselfe in his gifts he is nothing else I say but naked poore and a mirrour of misery Saul the King of Israel when he wrought so great a deliuerance for Israel against the Ammonites Moses and Ioshua in the mighty preuailing for them against the Heathen nations and that in spite of all their teeth who were the proudest of them yea and Salomon in all his royalties what had they to commend set out themselues withall but the gifts which God furnished them with How doe numbers iet vp and downe vaunting themselues who hauing some gifts giuen them of God but to a farre other
to sin openly and wilfully This be said of their sinne The punishment followes For this the Lord was sore displeased with them and what maruell so many sinnes being wrapped vp together as we haue heard And hee raised vp against them this King of Aram heere named who held them in bondage eight yeeres Heere it plainly appeareth that when God is prouoked hee will bee reuenged as wee haue seene in the former chapter and not winke at vs as we are giuen to thinke And this is not a matter that falles out now and then as we say but ordinarily and that vpon countries townes families as well as persons accordingly as the occasion is offered And yet he sheweth it not alwaies immediately as wee see in deferring his punishment to the old world an hundred and twentie yeeres after he was displeased with them So he sent a famine in Dauids time on the Israelites for sinne committed before by Saul in slaying the Gibeonites But though he sometime deferre it is to bring the offenders to repentance as the Aopstle saith to the Romans And if that come not he wil in deferring doe as he that draweth his bow deepely that the stroke may be the more deadly And yet oftentimes he deferreth not as in Corah Ananias and Saphira and others is to bee seene And when men commit knowne sinnes they may make their reckoning that one of these waies God will meet with them early or late the least of them both will be deadly and vnwelcome Now then the case standing thus and wee knowing how vnwelcome and wearisome his punishments are we see what we haue to doe that is to say to beware that wee prouoke not God by following the deuices and desires of our wicked hearts and so grow hardened through the deceitfulnesse of sinne Oh therefore that wee should be so bold and ready to offend who yet blanke so soone and are so sore dismaid yea when there shall but some small correction be laid vpon vs Oh that neither examples of other nor our owne experience can make vs wise to preuent and auoid so many and great iudgements as are drawne vpon vs daily by needlesse follie or wilfull offending And secondly if we haue already falen what should bee more looked after then speedily to remember from whence we bee fallen and to cast vp our gorge and repent lest the Lord come vpon vs vnprouided And as for such as at the hearing of this dare obiect againe that they beleeue that no such thing shall befall them for they haue they say done as much as I speake of and yet they are safe to this houre and haue escaped punishment I say of them what haue I to doe with them I tremble to heare of their brutish and bold insenciblenesse They are as one asleepe in the mast of a ship in great danger but they feare nothing and as one neare death by sicknesse but being senselesse feeleth no paine and as Naball a grosse sinner but regarded nothing that was said to him till he knew he must die and then he was as a stone or or blocke onely breathing The punishment of such as boast that they are safe for all their sinning and haue escaped all danger punishment although it be not seene of many nor of themselues is yet far more grieuous then if it were seene with eyes that it is the spirit of slumber or an hardened heart which is of all other the greatest punishment Thus we haue heard that God was displeased with them and therefore vengeance could not be farre off but must follow and now it is shewed in what manner that was executed Gods punishing them at this time was eight yeers embondaging them vnder an heathen and idolatrous King who might command them what he would and lay vpon them burthens at his pleasure And what the curtesie of strangers was wee may see in Deuteronomy namely such as that they should not regard the person of the old nor haue compassion on the young and such courtesie as Benhadad shewed to Ahab and yet it was before hee was in bondage to him and when hee did but besiege him and his chiefe city and had onely some likelihood to subdue him which hope of his yet was frustrated also For this it was thus he sent him word Thy siluer and thy gold is mine thy women and thy faire children are mine Or else I will send my seruants to thee by to morrow this time they shall search thy house and the houses of thy seruants and whatsoeuer is pleasant in thine eyes they shall take it in their hands and bring it away This was the courtesie which Benhadad shewed when he was but in besieging Israel but these were heere subdued to Cushan-rishathaim and already in his hands yea and that for eight yeeres which time vnder such bondage was we may be sure thought a long time Now we that heare it may iudge whether they paied not deare for their liberties that they tooke in sinning the chiefe of the which was Idolatry There is no doubt considering that which heere we reade but that the Idolatry and other sinne which was so pleasant to them in their prosperity was as bitter to them now in their bondage which it brought them into neither could it pluck them out of it But by this let vs learne what woe and misery men sustaine and bring vpon themselues for a little stolne liberty and to speake as the truth is onely for hauing their will but let none looke to finde sinne afterward to be as while it is in committing Eight yeeres sore bondage with the discommodities and irksomenesse that accompany it for a little liberty to liue at their pleasure And what excellencie or superabounding sweetnesse thinke wee and delight might that be which cost them so deare and which they enioyed so short a time Alas it was but the pleasing of their humour in falling downe before a stocke or astone And such are their delights at this day transitorie vaine and soone flitting away if not filthy also for which they pay so deare that they debarre themselues of all sound and true comfort for them heere that I say nothing how they prouide for themselues hereafter beside other annoyances that they meete withall Sodome and Gomer for a whole city Zimry and Cosby for particular persons the former to bee destroyed with fire and brimstone for their filthy pleasures the latter to be thrust thorough in their tent as they were about their vncleannesse What was their gaine if it be laid with their losse and for them that haue been thought to haue sped better in their matches by the like doings they cannot be reckoned vp nor found in the Scriptures nor yet in experience So that we might be wise if we did well weigh it to auoide the sinne that so we might auoid the punishment also The third thing noted in this first example
hands of Sisera and this vnto the end of the chapter and that deliuerance was wrought as I said before by the helpe ministery chiefly of the three persons mentioned afterwards in this chapter Debora Barak and Iael Debora though a woman was stirred vp by the Lord to iudge Israel that is to declare the will of God in that time of extreame calamity vnto the people to answere their doubts what they should doe and to bee the chiefe meane of their deliuerance by counsell giuing and encouraging of Barak and the rest Barak was he that should leade the army and pursue the enemies and with a small armie of the people to ouercome and destroy them and Iael killing the great captaine of their enemies I meane Sisera with her owne hands had her due commendation among the rest all were diuersly employed and yet each of them helping forward the execution of Gods iustice and charge vpon that huge armie of the Canaanites and for his peoples deliuerance This bee said in generall of the whole worke that followeth spoken of in this chapter Now I will goe to the particulars verse by verse And to begin with Debora to verse 14. and to see what she did First the holy Story describeth her in this verse and the next Secondly it is said the children of Israel came vp to her for iudgement vers 5. And thirdly it is shewed what she said to Barak hauing sent for him vers 6. 7. then how shee answered Barak when she saw him not forward vers 9. and last of all how she encouraged him to the battell after they had prepared themselues on both sides to it as is shewed to verse 14. She is described first by the extraordinarie place that she was set in to wit that shee was a Prophetesse secondly by her condition of mariage that shee was the wife of Lapidoth thirdly by her calling that she iudged Israel and fourthly by her dwelling vnder a Palmetree betweene Ramath and Bethel in mount Ephraim And by this woman and the other two persons before mentioned as I haue said God gaue a new and great deliuerance vnto his people out of their twentie yeeres bondage vnder that Iabin King of Canaan And this vnspeakeable goodnes of the Lord in passing by their so great and foule indignities so oft times wrought and committed against him doth yet better and better confirme vs in that which we haue been taught before that the Lord is so tenderly affected to his people that hee cannot turne away his eare from their prayers and grones vnder their heauie burthens but pitie and deliuer them No as the Prophet saith if a mother should forget and bee hardhearted to her owne child yet the Lord cannot bee so to his which doth iustly lay to their charge the wilfulnesse and stifneckednesse that is in many and heape hote coles vpon their heads seeing that when they may haue ease and helpe in their oppressions and miseries for the asking of it and praying for it without their further charge and trouble they cannot bring their hearts to it but chuse rather wilfully and frowardly to lie still in their sorrowes then to humble their hearts and seeke after God for deliuerance And as God is kinde to his so he setteth out himselfe to be so to the end he may harten and embolden vs to beleeue the same wee being in our greatest need most hardly perswaded so to doe through the great vnbeleefe that is in vs. Also he sheweth such compassion to vs in another respect euen that wee should also learne to shew the like goodnesse and kindnesse to our brethren in their calamities that we may so much the better resemble him But of this before Heere I will end THE TWENTIE FIVE SERMON ON THE FOVTRH CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES NOw to proceed besides that which wee haue heard wee may note hereby what weake and vnlikely meanes God deliuereth when it pleaseth him For as before hee raised vp Ehud a man lame of his right hand to deliuer his people and after him Shamgar who had no other weapon then an an oxes goade thereto so now he vsed a woman for shee was the wife of one Lapidoth as his instrument to the effecting of so great a worke as the ouerthrow of that Iabin was To shew that his power is not tied to valiant and mighty men lest his glory should be giuen to them also nor to strength and forces though hee allow them to be vsed and yet not trusted in but to this that wee put confidence in him who is our strong rocke against our strongest enemies as Prouerbs 18. 10. and to our prayers which auaile much with him if they bee feruent And this he requireth straitely to be beleeued of vs. And so hee vseth to doe also in the deliuerance of his peoples soules out of the bondage of Satan and hell For by meane men and those that bee of no great note for their wealth or preferment hee subdueth the hearts of the mighty piercing and breaking them with the powerfull force of their preaching if they wil lend their eares to heare them that so the excellent gift of faith may be wrought in them he so putting heauenly treasure in earthen vessels to that end and purpose and that all may say to his praise when they see it that it is hee that worketh and whose the power is though sillie man bee vsed by him as his instruments This woman as God vsed her to deliuer his people so she was also endued with the spirit of prophesie to reueale the will of God to them and to answere their doubts For which cause it is said in the next verse that the people came vp to her for counsell and iudgement For it is thought that their oppression by that Iabin was so great that the people of Israel could not haue ordinary Iudges Now though it was rare to haue women Prophetesses vet now and then God stirred vp such as Miriam the sister of Moses Hanna the mother of Samuel and Hulda in the daies of Iosias the King and in the new Testament as Anna the daughter of Phanuel and the 4. daughters of Philip in the booke of the Acts recorded And it is not vnlike that some of these women that were indued with the spirit of prophesie did instruct and teach the people declaring to them those things which God had reuealed vnto them seeing the gifts of God are not giuen to bee buried but to be vsed for the edifying of the Church in publike and priuate And for proofe of this which I say we are to know that prophesying is not onely taken for the foretelling of things to come but for making knowne the will of God in matters of saluation and to both ends God vsed women sometimes though now he forbid them As for those forged or diabolicall shee saints and Prophetesses of whom the Church of Rome boasteth we
world scoffed at Noah his building the Arke till the flood came and then his former preaching terrified them In like manner I say if we walked in our innocencie with vprightnes and reuerence among men the Lord would worke astonishment in the wicked and reprobates and the very godlinesse of his people should conuince and amase the beholders and contemners as Pharaos troopes were when they said The Lord fighteth against vs for Israel The next verses I referre to be handled in the next Sermon THE THIRTIE ONE SERMON ON THE FIFTH CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES NOw to goe forward these two next verses are the sixth and seuenth wherein is set downe their late receiued fauour of God as in the two former verses his loue of old to their fathers hath been spoken of In these two to the end that this their deliuerance by the Lord may be seene to be the greater and his loue to them she laieth out the desolation that they were in before the victorie that one contrarie might the better be seene by the other The holy Ghost therefore sheweth in what afflicted state the Church of God was by reason of their sinne and that from the death of Ehud till Debora got the full victorie For though Shamger and Iael did worthily and valiantly in their place yet Israel was sore oppressed after the death of the one and before the great act of the other so as passage by the high waies traffique iudgement and habitation in their villages were intercepted vntill now and Israel was constrained to keepe themselues in strong and well fenced Cities vnlesse they would become a prey to the Canaanites And this oppression continued by Iabin till Debora was raised vp by God and till her gouernment began Of Iael we reade not of any great thing that she did before neither is it like that she had done any because she had peace with Iabin and Sisera also fled to her as to a trustie friend and therefore it is like that she is named with Shamger for honour sake because shee liued in these troublesome and dangerous times and because shee did one worthy peece of seruice afterwards And heere by these calamities of the people of Israel and the desolation that they had been in when all good liberties and pleasant things were taken from them it is right worthie our consideration to thinke what a fauour of God it is that together with the true preaching of the Gospell all the forementioned commodities are enioyed of vs namely outward peace in the land and that we may dwell safely vnder our vine and figge tree and may eate of the fat and drinke of the sweet that wee may safely trauell and passe throughout all places and countries of this dominion by the protection of good lawes and that we haue exchange of our commodities with the benefit of good neighbourhood and husbandry to the preseruation of our liues and the maintaining of our families c. All these this people had been depriued of whereas the want of any of them would soone driue vs to complaine heauily and cry out Oh we do little consider how deepely yea how infinitely wee are bound to to the Lord for these liberties and for the great good wee may reape and enioy thereby And yet these many good things which the Lord hath vsually bestowed vpon vs and daily doth blessed bee his holy name therefore wee thinke because all the land enioyeth them as well as our selues wee owe no speciall duty of acknowledging them more then we see the most doe which is not worth the speaking of nay we looke for them by due and good right and which is worst of all many do spend them wastfully and to the maintaining and encreasing of diuers sinnes among them which we durst not do if wealth and quietnesse were wanting so truly the Wise man speaketh of one of them the rich mans riches are his strong city and as an high wall in his imagination And in a word we haue so little leisure to thinke of God his goodnesse that by abusing his benefits wee hast to bring vpon our selues the same misery which these were in vnder and especially after this Shamgar and before God stirred vp this Debora among them Oh how doe we prouoke our good God to cast vs into some fore calamities as they heere were in that we might cry to him by feeling the smart thereof as some daily doe whom God would haue to bee examples to the rest lest many should tast of their diet but fearefull it is for all this to see how few are the better for all the iudgements of God that bee vpon themselues or that they behold others for the same sinnes which they both commit boldly but runne on till their course come to suffer yet worse and heauier things at Gods hands for them But while wee cannot amend it in others let vs bewaile it in them which is a right property of true loue praying also for them and for our owne parts let this example of these their calamities so many and grieuous as haue been spoken of cause vs to account of Gods goodnesse so highly in withholding them from vs that they may make vs fruitfull thereby in euery good worke especially seeing wee haue many other good encouragements thereto and also for that when wee want them we say wee can doe little good without them But now in that she addeth Till I euen I Debora arose we must take it farre otherwise then it soundeth not ascribing her words to a passion of womanish impotencie and boasting much lesse to a contempt of Barak who was the instrument of the victorie as well as her selfe but to the heauenly exaltation of her spirit lifted vp pathetically to praise the Lord for the great deliuerance wrought by her as we see the like in Dauid in the Psalmes Paul and others And this deliuerance being wrought by Debora teacheth that al the forementioned calamities being remoued from the people by her their gouernour at that time it teacheth I say what great things the Lord worketh by the Magistrate and gouernour as he did by her shee being at that time the same to the people euen their Iudge in Israel But indeed this is done especially when they are zealous for Gods matters and doe their duties in their places and haue the spirit and affection of her euen to be mother like vnto the people who as shee gaue counsell to her inferiours as a mother to her children being a Prophetesse and deliuered them from their enemies being their Iudge So they being set ouer them as guides and Magistrates should bee vnto them who are committed to their charge euen like minded to her to wit to haue care that they may be taught though they be themselues no Prophets by such as are furnished of God to that purpose and with a motherly care to protect them from iniurie and wrong and to
man is commanded to walke in his particular calling and the duties therof For so saith the Apostle in the first epistle to the Corinthians Let euery man abide in the same vocation wherein hee was called But it followeth in the text Vers 12. Vp Debora vp arise and sing a song arise Barak and leade thy captiuity captiue thou sonne of Abinoam 13. For they that remaine haue dominion ouer the mighty of the people the Lord hath giuen me dominion ouer the strong NOw that Debora hath called all the people of Israel to thankesgiuing for the victorie in the three former verses shee stirreth vp her selfe in this twelfth verse by an elegant figure that other might bee whetted on by her example to doe the same And she calleth Barak to triumph and with a certaine pompe to make a shew of his enemies captiuity and conquest which was to the great honor of God when all might vnderstand that the Canaanites were for the most part slaine and they that remained aliue were prisoners to the Hebrues who were most like a little before to be chopped to pieces of them other of Gods enemies In the 13. verse she amplifieth the victorie by another comparison of the conquerers with those who were conquered these hauing been valiant wise and well prouided but that they ouercame them namely the Israelites were but as a remnant and yet base and contemptible This is the summe of these two verses Out of her prouoking of her selfe to praise God as if shee had been much behinde in that dutie when yet she had been commendable therein as wee haue heard and had also vrged other thereto wee may see that this hath been the manner and course of Gods people to thinke they could neuer do enough in praising God when they haue entred seriously into consideration of his goodnesse but euer thought themselues cold and backward in respect of that they ought to haue been Doubtlesse the due weighing of the cause made her stil to see more and more into Gods admirable kindnes till she was ashamed of her vnthankfulnesse But some will say all cannot be as Debora was it is well if we can be thankfull when we be prouoked by others they say and by good meanes as by the word c. To which I answere It is cleare indeed wee come behinde her in the duty but is there not enough to moue vs to be equall to her yea to excell her therein Shee is thus thankfull for the victorie wee haue no need nor cause to fight shee praiseth God for peace recouered with the hazard and danger of ten thousand men we enioy ours without putting it into question shee for bodily blessing we haue infinite to the maintenance of health and welfare then the which what could shee haue more for this present life besides many that are spirituall to season the other and yet wee come short of her in thankfulnesse neuerthelesse And that which I haue said of Debora the same we may see in Dauid Anna and others Hee in the Psalme hauing none equall to him in the performing of that duty affirming that hee would doe it three times nay seuen times a day and that hee would doe it openly in the congregation and priuately by himselfe yet as though hee had much forgot himselfe and had waxen dull and been behind other therein hee quickeneth vp himselfe to it saying O my soule praise thou the Lord and al that is within me praise his holy name Hee stirreth vp himselfe wee see to bee feruenter when yet he was very forward before Which I speake not as if both he and other Gods best seruants and most feruent did not feele oftentimes a kind of sleepy deadnesse in them to good duties and remissenesse of spirit creeping vpon them as it is certaine they doe seeing they carry that corruption about them which will oft cause a wearinesse in them of well doing for the time but they hauing a greater power of grace working in them to subdue it they gather vp and stirre themselues againe by such occasion to more earnestnesse and so finde themselues refreshed by a new meditation of their slacknesse with double courage to set vpon their duties And to that end they helpe and sharpen on themselues as Dauid and Debora did and sometime are supported by other as we see Moses his weake hands were faine to be holden vp by Aaron and Hur against Amalek By this we see a manifest difference betwixt them and the wicked who though as they say they like well of prayer and hearing and of thankesgiuing yet they professe they cannot endure nor away with such continuall seruice affirming where that is vrged that men shall neuer haue done For as they who beleeue how greatly they are beholding to God for his goodnesse do charge themselues with their vnthankfulnesse euen when they are forwarder then the most considering they are then but vnprofitable seruants so the other are ready to post it off to others as testifying thereby that they be more beholding to God then they hold themselues to be and thinke euery little to bee enough that they are to doe to God yea and that a word and away may serue the turne euen very froth it is that they offer to him a mocking no sacrifice the heart neuer enclining for it cannot to any such thing Another thing in this verse is concerning Barak and that is that hee should in a shew and with solemne pomp set out the conquest and victorie which God had giuen them ouer their enemies Which though after the victory in warre it was vsed to bee done by the Heathens ouer such as they conquered to the priding of themselues and the vttermost disgrace of them that were subdued yet this was we see spoken by the Prophetesse to the end that God might haue honour therby for one end she propounded both of his act and of her owne and that was the giuing of honour to the Lord. For the seeking of a mans owne glory is no glory but a taking it from God and a prouoking of him thereby Nay where men would thinke that it as a due desert to them yet euen there let them beware that they take it not but let vs all acknowledge Gods goodnesse with thankfulnesse for that he will vse our seruice to the honouring of his name But to flesh and pride our selues in the yoking and subduing of our enemies this were no better then the act of Adonibezek who most cruelly cut off the thumbs of the hands and feet of seuenty Kings and made them as dogs to eat bread vnder his table that hee might glorie in their extreme reproch and shame This act of triumph was common to the people of God with the Heathen but not done in so prophane and common a manner And as it hath been in war so the like in some sort we see at this day in the time of peace that tehre
sometime it is vnderstood of some outward blessing or deliuerance as he meant to Ioshua in saying I will be with thee against thine enemies and bring thee into the land of promise sometime of the inward and speciall grace of God to guide and comfort his withall as to Mary Luk. 1. 28. and sometime both as to Iacob when hee dreamed by the way of Aram God spake to him and said to him I will be with thee meaning it both of his grace that he would giue him to vphold him and also of other helpe as in the next words which he addeth there he doth more particulerly declare saying I will keep thee whither soeuer thou goest whereby he meaneth that hee would bee with him to deliuer him from outward enemies till hee should inherit the land which he promised him The words are to be vnderstood in this place in the first sense namely of deliuering the Midianites into the hands of Gedeon though I denie not but Gedeon obtained the latter also as well as the former And this should teach vs that if God haue promised to any of his who beleeue vnto saluation his power protection and helping hand in any outward troubles they may and ought to beleeue that he will doe as hee hath promised And as he shewed himselfe to be his in this manner so hee will vndoubtedly be with vs in this age to helpe deliuer and giue successe to vs as he hath alreadie done greater things for vs. But yet seeing we vse to look too narrowly to Gods outward promises that if they be not performed to vs to the full we are readie to complaine therefore know we this that if he doe faile in any point of that which wee looke for his promise being but conditionall he will supplie all such wants by his grace spirituall so as wee beleeue as patience contentation and confidence which are farre more worth then if we enioyed the outward benefit it selfe For the spirituall includeth temporall as reason in the soule of man containes the inferiour powers of motion sense growth and life Sunder not those that God hath combined together If hee haue giuen vs his Christ wee know he hath no greater things to denie vs and much lesse he will smaller And doubtlesse for want of beleeuing the greater wee faile sometimes of the smaller and that iustly as a punishment of our dishonouring God by our distrust Besides this we may learne here that the power of God communicated to vs is sufficient to make vs doe and worke great things farre aboue our reach and abilitie in warre or in peace in persecution also against sinne the diuell or whatsoeuer else as here when God promised his power to Gedeon he assured him that euen he a weake man should bee able to subdue a mightie and great people And when is this might giuen to men euen when God calleth and appointeth them to any seruice that shal require and stand in need thereof As now Gedeon being called to this ouercomming of the Midianites he was furnished with the gifts he had not before as wisedome courage strength and faith in particuler promise of assistance and victorie And therefore by it hee is said to haue been made strong and of a weake man valiant in battell Heb. 11. So hee enabled Paul to beleeue the promise of standing by him and bearing him out at sundrie times before his enemies whereby hee wrought such a worke as none but an Apostolicall spirit could worke And euen still the like courage cheerefulnes hope gifts he giues to such Ministers of his whom he meanes to vse to the great ends mentioned I meane to bring many to Christ Act. 26. and Ephes 4. which he denieth to them whom he calleth not and who beleeue not in him So that they neuer shall be able to compasse that which the other shall So had Moses and the Apostles as their place and occasions offered did require And so may and ought wee to be perswaded that how vnfit and vnworthie soeuer we are and feele our selues to be if the Lord call vs to any estate or dutie he will arme vs against all difficulties toile and tediousnesse therein The Lord doth not lay heauie burthens vpon men and giue them weake shoulders but dealeth out to euery member his measure according to the vse and seruice which belongs to it a double spirit to Elisha aboue Eliah according to his double neede Euen as we see the gift of strength is giuen to the armes and shoulders in mans body because they serue for the strongest vse And so because he knoweth the difficulties both within and without which a godly Christian shall meete with therefore he leaues him not to sinke vnder them but giues him faith and enables him by that to ouercome not one or a few but the world that is all And as our Sauiour speakes Hath the Lord so clothed the grasse the creatures and will he not much more prouide for his people So by the like argument hath God giuen euery creature euen the beasts some one gift or other according to the neede thereof to it own preseruation as swiftnes to the small strength to the great to some one kinde of armour to some another and shall he faile in the necessarie furnishing of his people with that grace without which they should not be able to attaine the end of their redemption and election No doubtlesse But here is a two-fold obiection First many who zealously desire to doe good in the Church or otherwise yet want gifts Answ It is not euery mans part to iudge aright of another mans gifts for gifts which may seeme meane to vs may be mightie through the blessing of God concurring to effect great matters Againe I say if God giue but small sufficiencie and gifts he requireth but a proportioned worke and seruice for he exacts not that vantage of him who hath but one talent which he doth of another who hath fiue To the second obiection that many whose gifts are great doe little good I answere Their sinne is the greater but that hinders not that doctrine for though all whom God sets on worke shall bee fitted yet not contrarily if he appoint them not to the worke neither call them to it Vers 17. And he answered him I pray thee if I haue found fauour in thy sight then shew me a signe that thou talkest with me Vers 18. Depart not hence I pray thee vntill I come vnto thee and bring mine offering and lay it before thee and he said I will tarrie vntill thou come againe Vers 19. Then Gedeon went in and made ready a Kid and vnleauened bread of an Ephath of flower and put the flesh in a basket and put the broath in a pot and brought it out vnto him vnder the oake and presented it Vers 20. And the Angell of the Lord said vnto him Take the flesh and the vnleauened bread and lay them
vpon this stone and powre out the broath and hee did so Vers 21. Then the Angell of the Lord put foorth the end of the staffe that he held in his hand and touched the flesh and the vnleauened bread and there arose fire out of the stone and consumed the flesh and the vnleauened bread so the Angell of the Lord departed out of his sight Vers 22. And when Gedeon perceiued that it was the Angell of the Lord Gedeon then said Alas my Lord God for because I haue seene an Angell of the Lord face to face I shall dye Vers 23. And the Lord said vnto him Peace be vnto thee feare not thou shalt not dye Vers 24. Then Gedeon made an Alter there vnto the Lord and called it Iehouahshalem vnto this day it is in Ophrah of the father of the Ezrites OF the first of the foure things mentioned in the 11. verse to wit who should deliuer Israel out of the hands of the Midianites which was Gedeon wee haue heard now followeth the second namely of the signe which Gedeon asked by which he might know who he was who talked with him To proceed therefore Gedeon hauing a promise of so great a matter as the victorie from the Angell who spake to him whom he tooke to be neither Angell nor God but a man to vtter the words of God vnto him he desires of him a signe that he might not be deceiued with a fancie but might know that he was such an one as could make good his word to him that is a man of God as hee tooke him to be Here before I goe on further in the storie I will stay a while by occasion of this speech of Gedeon And let vs know that which he did in desiring this of the messenger was meet for him to doe for it behoued him to trie the spirits whether they were of God or no. For an euill spirit can change himselfe into an Angell of light And this is especially to be done when any thing is vrged vpon vs that is doubtfull and which may seeme vnlawfull to be done For there a man may not easily assent vnlesse he be perswaded that such a thing is from God Excellent and commendable are the examples of Manoah Cornelius the men of Beroea for this wisedome And this is to teach vs that we ought to haue the like scruple and make the like question when any thing doubtfull is vrged vpon vs that for no mans pleasure nor by example of any we be led but to proue all things by the waights of the Sanctuarie which is the word of God that so wee may be satisfied And if in the mouth of two or three witnesses that bee confirmed which is brought vnto vs wee are there to rest and that should be enough to vs but as for miracles or signes now that it is the truth which is taught vs we are not to seeke or aske for any And the like we are to doe in all our troubles and feares and not to fetch comfort from conceit or the spirit without the word or from any thing else which is but a false ground And this wise regard in Gedeon to deale sure in so weightie a case and not rashly to depend vpon a bare mans word for the effecting of so great a work as hee knew none but God could enable him vnto laieth greatly to our charge who in matters of farre greater weight doe yet deale farre more loosely and slenderly then he did in this The wise man saith The foole beleeueth euery thing meaning euery thing which hee desireth and would faine haue he beleeueth and is easily perswaded of it that it is so as he would haue it though he haue nothing of moment and good ground to shew for it Among men it is counted a signe of great folly to deale thus rawly in things onely concerning our temporall estate and to rest vpon euery mans word and report yea though it be but ambigious and obscurely vttered and the reason is good why it is so they who doe so giue euery man aduantage to ouerreach abuse deceiue and wrong them besides the great controuersies and contentions suites and charge which they procure to themselues needlesly thereby But to speake of weightier matters what one among many counteth it his folly to hold his saluation vpon sandie grounds and euidences as vpon his owne good meanings and desires vpon the good opinion that others conceiue of him vpon some slight sorrow for sinne or confessing of it to God also vpon his hearing of the word vpon a blinde hope or vpon some good yet common fruites of hearing as good speech in some places vpon taking liking of good people liking the Ministerie or lending and giuing some thing to the poore in their distresse these things are good indeed and I am perswaded found to be in few but yet these are not to be taken for infallible tokens Nay concerning this waightie matter men are willing to build the hope of their saluation vpon the bare word of a Minister though hee neuer saw sound reason for his so speaking and assuring them thereof but for that they haue been baptized and doe liue in the visible Church neither haue they any thing out of the word of God to quiet and resolue themselues whereas the triall of a mans state to Godward stands in this that by the Scripture he can proue himself to be an happy person because the word hath humbled him changed him reformed him and wrought in him faith in the promise an earnest longing after that which is promised and a waiting for it till it be enioyed without wearinesse and an heartie desiring that other did so likewise with such other But of this much is written To proceed further Gedeon now hauing desired a signe for the confirming of his faith and thinking him to be as I haue said a man of God desired him to stay till hee went and prepared for him as Abraham and other had done in the like case and while he should refresh himselfe he purposed to talke further with him about the signe And the things which he prepared for him were both fit to be eaten as nourishment as also to serue for sacrifice though the word signifieth both a gift an offering but for proofe that Gedeon brought not these things foorth to the man of God as hee tooke him to be for sacrifice but that he might be refreshed by them hereby it may appeare that he neither set vp any altar there as he did afterwards to offer peace-offerings thereon reade verse 24. neither did hee take the man to be God to consume it with fire I haue set downe that meaning of the verse which by weighing both I take to be the truest And yet I denie not but that the Angell vsed that meate beside the expectation of Gedeon he vsed it I say for a sacrifice as appeareth in the 21. verse and thereby gaue the
companions are least pitied of men when the Lord entrappeth them in their owne snare Sooner would a man let loose a Lion if he durst out of the pit or the danger wherein it is then the Foxe because besides the hurtfulnesse it hath so many shifts to conueigh it selfe from danger and is so hardly catcht Who pitieth these men of Succoth and Penuel because they in seeking by subteltie to preserue their liues iustly were beaten with their owne rodde and lost them Whereas he who falles into danger either in a good quarrell or in his simplicitie is either saued by God or pitied in his ruine by men And is not this a double miserie when men are in distresse to heare others say of them they are well serued Heathens haue obserued this cowardly subteltie for who is more subtill then hee that is most fearefull to be euer vnprosperous and seldome euen in forren dissentions of Kings and States haue they sped well who haue held off and plaid the spectators of other mens successe For whosoeuer hath got the vpper hand they haue smarted if they whom they denied to succour they are made the prey of them whom they forsooke if the other yet they smart also in that they did onely forbeare for their sakes and not actually helpe So vnnaturall is it counted in a common calamitie to betray one enemie to another or not to helpe when we are able Which I speake not to excite men to parts taking alway in other mens iarres but to shew how iustly these were handled for their craftinesse in denying helpe not to strangers but their owne captaine And euen so how odious doth God make Newters and Temporisers in religion they are hated of Papist and Protestant and are as cursed as he that is hanged betwixt heauen and earth Touching the vse of this and how to abhorre this sinne reade before in the 2. doct of the 6. verse And these with like punishments for the like iniquities doe not light vpon other that are plaine vpright mercifull and in a word religiously circumspect in their carriage and who make conscience of their waies I doe not deny but that the best doe oft meete with sharpe persecutions but they are for good causes or else their troubles be but fatherly trials and corrections for their good so S. Peter saith If ye suffer for righteousnesse sake blessed are yee And againe If the will of God be that ye suffer it is better that ye suffer for wel-doing then for euill So that we see such haue to beare off the sharpenes and painefulnesse of their sufferings by their reioycing in the Lord and by the blessed estate that they are in whereas the other haue their punishments as forerunners of greater euen here before hand as the Apostle saith Indeed full often I confesse they shelter themselues to men-ward by their greatnesse and shift well inough when meane persons go to wracke According to the prouerbe Great men dote and poore men smart But when God who is higher then they as Salomon saith calleth thē to account as being their only competent Iudge when they haue broken through other iudgements by fauor feare or bribes as great flies breake through cop-webbes then they meete with their match As alas who seeth not what waies there are to bring this about As displeasure of prince factions and partakings treacheries challenges and highnesse of spirits As our owne English Chronicles for these 2. or 300 yeeres plentifully witnesse Now if the Lord spare not great ones let all fawning flatterers who seeke to such and willingly offer themselues as instruments of oppression cruelty and wrong because they looke to be safe vnder their wings from punishment as Ziba and such like let such feare I say for their patrons shall not shelter themselues howsoeuer they no doubt thinke otherwise And this be said of this point for the fuller handling of that which I noted vpon the 9. verse to the same purpose And here we may more particularly marke by the executing of punishment vpon these chiefe men of the citie rather then vpon the common citizens that as the greatest in place and authoritie haue many priuiledges aboue the meaner persons both in credit wealth estimation and commanding others so the Lord brings them foorth to the terrour of inferiours and they lie open to greater danger hurt and losse thereby then others doe and in time it breaketh out and appeareth if they doe ill behaue themselues in their places This is a great cause why men who are aboue other should carrie themselues humbly and not proudly as too many of them doe and also looke well to themselues in euery part of their dutie for a time will come when they shall pay for all and when their estate shall be such as the meanest vnder them would be full loth to be in their roome And to such I say as Dauid in Psalm 2. Be wise now therefore serue the Lord in feare and kisse the sonne yee mightie ones lest he crush you in peeces Happie then are all they that trust in him if his wrath be kindled Also the inferiors should here learne not to murmure against them because they are so farre aboue them for they sometime goe vnder more sore and heauy punishments then they themselues doe yea and though they behaue themselues commendably in their places yet God oft correcteth them more then some others lest they should kick vp their heele against him by meanes of their wealth and greatnesse as it is too common a thing for such to do So that as God hath his number among all estates both high and low so he nurtureth them all by afflictions according to his heauenly wisdome that they may safely in their appointed time be gathered to their fathers But here being a fit place to make an end I will stay for this time THE FIFTY THREE SERMON ON THE EIGHTH CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES Vers 18. Then said he to Zeba and Zalmunna What manner of men were they whom ye slew as Tabor And they answered As thou art so were they euery one was like the children of a King 19. And he said They were my brethren euen my mothers children As the Lord liueth if ye had saued their liues I would not slay you 20. Then he said to Iether his first borne sonne Vp and slay them but the boy drew not his sword for he feared because he was yet but young 21. Then Zeba and Zalmunna said Rise thou and fall vpon vs for as the man is so is his strength And Gedeon arose and slew Zeba and Zalmunna and tooke away the ornaments that were on their Camels necks NOw after all this was done it followeth according to the diuision of the Chapter in the beginning of it how Gedeon executed punishment vpon the two Kings of Midian whom after hee had shewed them to the Princes of Succoth and Penuel hee purposed to punish And first seeing
them and theirs till restitution be made either in kind or to the poore the true heires of such goods if it cannot otherwise be to the pleasing of God as a fruit of their vnfained repentance So no man ought to buy or hire that which is passed ouer to another before nor couet wife seruant goods of another mans for that is nothing else but a taking of his right from him nor to receiue stolne goods for their aduantage So neither should the Pope vsurpe dominion S. Peter whose successor he saith he is forbidding dominion ouer the flocke for he hath no such authoritie as neither hath the best minister of Christ Gedeon answereth God shal raigne ouer them an holy speech for where shall they be found that will refuse a thing much lesse then a kingdome being offered nay how greedily would many haue fastened vpon a matter of small valew being offered them as the kingdome here was to him But some will aske Might not God raigne ouer them though hee had also I say Yes Neither was he of the Anabaptists opinion who thinke that such ciuill gouernment and subiection of people to Kings repugneth to Christian liberty And God raigned ouer his people when yet Saul and after him Dauid raigned ouer them also but his meaning was that the order that God had set of gouerning by such as had no continued gouernment should stand and not be peruerted by or for him or his but contrariwise to his power he would hinder it And God raigned indeed in the Common-wealth of the Israelites which florished in Gedeons time wherein the Elders were chosen by common consent some ecclesiasticall to giue the meaning of the law and others ciuill and temporall as men call it to rule the people thereby in which office if they did not well carrie themselues they were both punished and put from their places And if any warre fell out the Lord himselfe stirred vp Guides and Iudges and they were not chosen by men as appeares both by Chapter 1. 1. and after neither did their children succeed them and thus the Lord both in peace and warre ruled ouer them and so Gedeon meant that the office of the Iudge was no ordinary magistracy such as the King is but a temporary and occasionall much like to the Dictatorship of the Romans in respect of the vse wherto it serued although otherwise of diuine election immediatly not by men By this answere the singular modestie and the religious staiednesse and good gouernment of Gedeon appeareth who hauing occasion so fairely offered of possessing and inioying the kingdome refuseth it as resolutely as they offered it earnestly Hee is indeed the strong man who standeth out stoutly when the brunt commeth now Gedeous sinceritie and courage is tryed and now he plaieth the part of a truly heroicall captaine in reiecting the tentation that was set before him Which of how great force it was to batter and beate him down flat although meane persons cannot easily conceiue whose thoughts reach not so high yet by the comparing of great things with small may wel seeme to be forcible seeing that a little preferment fauour commendation or reward doth so bleare the eie and choake the conscience of many professors as if it were a petty Paradise In one instance consider of that which I say Gedeon refused a whole kingdome when it was offered him and the most desire vnlawfully a small commodity of their neighbours in comparison of a kingdome as his house and ground wife and seruant when they be denied them And yet many a bold person would bee ready to say euen of Gedeon He was a foole to refuse and neglect such an aduantage Doubtlesse he did it not for any feare or conscience of his owne insufficiency hee had been a man fir for the place if the office had been lawfull for him But the respect he had to Gods commandement was the meere cause that mooued him to denie and refuse A worthy paterne indeed of a man truly fearing God and making conscience of offending And so it be commeth vs both in sinnes of the grossest kind as adultery murther oppression from which the feare of God doth best and most safely keepe vs as Ioseph saith and also in the matter of a mans priuate gaine yea and that in the highest degree of a kingdome it becommeth vs I say to keep our consciences pure and good And yet for the smallest of these many a man otherwise vertuous would as the cōmon speech is straine a ioynt and think that for a kingdom he might venture to dispense with equity conscience And doubtles it is a great trial of a man what grace is in him when a matter of commodity promotion honour or the like of the greatest valew cannot surprise the conscience so neere is euery man to himselfe and indeed when these temptations assaile vtterly vnlike himself at other times This example of Gedeon most properly taxeth ambitious and aspiring spirits as wel Popish as other such as Absolons was not of immodesty onely but of insolencie also and intemperance the cause of all confusion in euery state especially being ioyned with discontentment and emulation But it were to bee wished that men of greater hope had but a little measure of Gedeons grace and were not rather led by the spirit of these whom I haue mentioned to wit that in meaner matters and of lesse valew they did not hardly containe and keepe themselues within compasse from coueting and laying claime to other mens commodities for the supplying of their owne wants and to seeke increase of that which they haue and not to looke after any thing which tends to the losse or hurt of other but that they liued contentedly with that which is theirs who ought in so liuely a glasse as this to behold how honourable a grace this was in Gedeon to rest satisfied in his estate as thinking that best befitting him which hee might enioy with Gods good liking and the quietnesse of his owne mind and as for other endlesse wishing or coueting to inhaunse himselfe which is most mens sinne hee had got the victory ouer himselfe in that behalfe which I thinke was a greater honour to him then all his conquest ouer the Midianites it being an ouerruling of himselfe and of his vaineglorious affection But to the shame of many Protestants I will adde one example euen an Heathen might set vs to schoole in this dutie who hauing subdued his enemies in battell and returned home with triumph was presented by some with a great masse of gold but he repelled thē with this answer I had rather rule them that owe the gold then be Lord and owner of the gold only or rather to be a seruant ruled and possessed by it Oh well were it for vs if the holy gouernment of our harts and affections were so pretious to vs Christians as it was to many of them who were Heathen whereas they were drawne by
saying Oh that my people were wise and would consider their end And the Apostle asketh this question of the Romanes what fruite or pleasure they euer had in that which in the end brought shame to them The wise the foolish virgins giue cleere proofe vnto this the foolish contenting themselues to bee without oyle in their lampes that is to walke securely were therefore shut out the wise waiting with oyle in their lampes till the Bridegrome came and therefore thus watching to the end were taken in and receiued readily Looke vpon Absolon for all the aduancing of himselfe and on Adonia looke vpon Baltazar for all his iunketting with his choice companie in the holy vessels of the Temple and vpon Haman though he onely was bidden to the banquet with the King by Queene Hester and for all his other honour that hee had which yet he himselfe did not a little boast of was not the end of it greater shame then the best of it was glorie Looke vpon the young man to whom Salomon speaketh who reioyced as if he should neuer be old nor meeâ—e with worse cheare then iollitie and mirth was it not told him he should come to iudgement And what better end of his delicious life found the rich man in the Gospell then torments And thus I might heape vp examples infinitly both out of the Scripture and out of our own experience of them who had gotten much here and they were many in number in al ages that did thus as the Midianites of whom I now speake and were for their greatnes and in their time the talke of the world yet hauing no sure hold of heauen nor part in other happinesse then transitorie came to naught and were worse then nothing so as one may say of them as Christ said of Iudas It had been good for them that they had neuer been borne Therefore I conclude blessed is the man that hath an eye to the end of his actions and of all things which he beholdeth here vnder the sunne and so dealeth that hee may finde and enioy thereby a good end of his life therfore when the holy Ghost to the Hebrewes commended the faith of some he willeth the reader to consider what hath bin the end of the conuersation of such And the Psalmist sendeth vs to the end of the godly Marke saith he the end of the righteous for the end of him is peace But for these that will be merrie otherwise howsoeuer they goe to worke their end will be in heauinesse according to the words of our Sauiour Woe be to you that now laugh fow ye shall howle and weepe Now that it is said here they had fortie yeeres peace after this subduing of the Midianites it was a great benefit that God bestowed vpon them and so all that enioy it or a great part of it shall see cause to say if they reade and consider the bondage and woe that men are in to enemies and strangers Therfore we should carefully looke what good may be done in such times of libertie and freedome from great disturbance especially that when wee haue generally peace in the land there be no priuate breaches with neighbours at home nor in familie but a quiet life with both and the peace of a good conscience to Godward chiefly and aboue all things procured Looke of this at large in chap. 5. and elsewhere Now that which followeth concerning Gedeon in this verse is this that it is said after this victorie Gedeon liued after a sort a priuate life to proue and make it manifest that he desired not as he had told them before the empire contrary to Gods ordinance So it is with some offices among vs annuall or temporarie If hee had in this priuacie liued idlely or wickedly as one that had done enough before and now waxt weary it would haue been set downe as other faults be That which wee haue to learne by this is that we so vse authoritie countenance preferment or any such libertie which is more then common that we remember it must be laid downe againe and haue an end and that also perhaps in this life and therefore that we swell not neither be puffed vp thereby neither forget what wee haue been for that and such like promotion or aduancement is but borrowed And nothing is more common then to see age abased and in little regard so that The minde as the saying is is all in all yea such as the minde is such is the man For else what should be the priuiledge of a godly man in respect of other both in life and at death Some may better haue thousands and vse them more soberly then some can hundreds He that makes his prosperitie his heauen cannot but thinke the contrarie to bee his miserie and vndoing But he that neuer ioyed too much in that he had neuer laid it too neere his heart when he lost or for-went it It is the speech of a foole to say It is most miserable to haue bin happie A wise man is neither so lifted vp with inioying that which he knoweth is vanishing and mutable as if it were happines nor so deiected in the forgoing it as if he had lost it and as if his hope were past The immoderate desire of the minde is like to him who hauing vsed his body to a plenteous and delicate fare being afterward compelled to streighter allowance pineth and by the alteration of a full fat comely and strong body into a thinne meager pale and decaied sheweth that the change of his diet hath made him vnlike himselfe Whereas the sober minded resembleth him who tieth himselfe to an ordinarie as most agreeable to health and soundnes and although hee come to an extraordinarie diet yet he is a law to himselfe he eateth no more of many then he did before of a few dishes So that as the one mendeth him not so the other appaireth him not Thus saith the Christian with the Apostle I haue learned to abound I haue learned also to want in diuers estates to be the same euen contented and thankfull A rare portion aboue al earthly treasure and such as he needed not be ashamed to confesse he had learnd for he was borne to no such priuiledge as he was to be a free citizen of Rome as he told Lysias but was taught it by the Spirit of God only Wee haue great need to note this for many by office place authoritie and superioritie in Ministery and Magistracy haue and doe daily forget themselues and especially if great wealth accompany the same yea sometime where there is no great matter in the persons to cause it And therefore when God shall blow vpon their estate and cast it downe and they be constrained to come to abasement and to their old condition againe wherein they once liued they scorne and cast it off and shift by vnlawfull meanes to wind themselues
staied not till he had serued seuentie Princes shamefully after his cruell humour but was fleshed more and more by his successe O horrible and vnnaturall blood-shedding crueltie Here wee may see what monsters are in the world worthily to be driuen frō amongst men and to be made spectacles and gazing stocks by open and most sharpe punishment inflicted vpon them Such were Athaliah Haman and Absolous Such were they who wrought that bloodie massacre in France and they who were the chiefe doers in the persecution here in England which may be remembred by some that yet liue and they of the Gunpowder-treason come nothing behinde that I say no more But how much more cruell are they who murther many soules for want of due foode But touching the sinne of crueltie I haue spoken in chap. 1. 7. and chap. 8. 20. and forward There let the reader supply this place from thence Many not ill minded desire to know why God doth suffer such abominations I answere that God knoweth the cause who ruleth iustly and who as a godly father speakes ordereth the euill appetites of the wicked to fulfill his prouidence though he infuse not euill into them as he wrought the saluation of his elect by the fall of Adam and the treacherie of Iudas and yet wee are not neither ought to bee altogether ignorant why God doth this Wee are not to appoint the Lord how to gouerne the world nor by whom nor how he will be glorified And he who may marueile that God is patient toward the bad how can he thinke himselfe too good to suffer for his own deserts be the instruments neuer so euil when our Sauiour suffered for vs without cause But if any of vs bee without danger and hurt by such wicked persons who are one of Gods scourges to correct vs let vs reckon it among the great blessings of God and vse it accordingly But in this verse let vs proceede further with Abimelech He considered that his seuentie brethren might be like to hinder and resist him and therefore what did he hee resolued to dispatch them all and so hee did except one The hainousnes of the fact deterred him not from going through stitch with it he would not leaue it by halues nay he could not be quiet till euery obstacle and hindrance was remoued and each eye-sore taken away It bewraieth a most fearfull propertie in the workers of euill that cannot desist nor leaue of till they haue brought their vngodly attempts to a full and perfect end wherein the godly seldome match them in contraire actions A man would haue thought these seuentie men had been a great blocke in an vsurpers way to keepe him from proceeding currantly in his bad course and Abimelech saw that to but yet it was not a barre strong enough to keepe him from villanie but he broke it as it were to peeces rather then it should stand vp in his way to hinder him from his purpose For that he was resolued to goe forward with and therefore whatsoeuer opposition should come against it hee would beare it downe as floods and windes pull downe hils bankes bridges gates trees and whatsoeuer comes in their way and yeelds not to them Woe be to him that meetes a Beare robbed of her whelpes and yet better so then crosse an vsurper of his ambitious desire although these his brethren had not crost him but by silence and sitting still Ambition is a raging monster we see and although it thirst after honour yet seldome is it asswaged without blood if occasion and opportunitie serue Nothing is so holy so pretious so neere which it prophaneth not defloureth and destroyeth not Euen his owne sonne it hee had stood in his way had tasted of the same sawce which his brethren did as it is reported Herod the great did in the massacre of the infants But it became him well enough to keepe that to himselfe by villanie which hee had inuaded by wickednes before Euen as his successors at this day these Italionated diuels and disciples of Machiauel both practise and defend according to his rules that a kingdome gotten by force must be preserued also by violence Againe he that will rule must not stand nicely vpon vertues but when occasion serues play both the lyon and foxe and worke out his enemies by fraud or crueltie any way so he can doe it Againe let them strike once but as Abishai said strike home and kill all at once that stand in his way and sit in his light For to kill often is odious but to make a riddance all at once roote and branch is with such policie and a necessitie pardonable When I thinke of this fact of Abimelech I could not but thus resemble it to these monsters who lately offered to giue vs an experiment of the like enterprise in their powder-treason which as no age euer matched so no age shall euer forget it to their eternall shame and the Lords endlesse praise For as they were Abimelechs in ambition and crueltie so the Lord made them Abimelechs in confusion Abimelechs ioy lasted not theirs was but hope and yet made them ashamed The Lord sent a spirit of diuision betweene him and Shechem so hee did betweene these one betrayed the other So let thine enemies perish O God c. Therefore let all wise men for all are not great ones circumspectly take heede and beware what sinnes they resolue to commit for surely whatsoeuer they giue ouer themselues vnto they will make no bones of the necessarie attendants thereof be they neuer so hideous and horrible As it is hard to say whether this parricide or his ambition were greater saue onely that the former serued the latter Men little dreame how deeply they plunge themselues when they vndertake any sinne themselues often are astonished at themselues but that when they haue begun they must play the men in going forward and not shrink for it Herod himselfe was not willing to behead Iohn but when he had said the word he must not goe backe he thought for his credit sake therefore hee went through Hee might thanke his luxuriousnes and iollitie which caused the oath and the oath the murther So saith the Apostle Because men set it downe they will be rich they meete with their match and fall into many temptations and snares c. Tush tell not them of trifles of lyons in the way they are busie in pursuing their game and they will get it whatsoeuer it cost them for they haue so decreed and set it downe Well learne to resolue onely vpon that which is lawfull and so be free from any great inconuenience and goe through it with commendation for all other resolution is diuelish I would bee larger in this but that there followeth in the sixth verse a doctrine not much differing from this argument But in this bloodie act of Abimelechs one of his brethren escaped his hands and in that one of
all most fearefully which painted estate of theirs all may see to be farre from the grace which the Lord wisheth to his people when he saith Oh that they were wise to consider their end And yet the worst end of the other is not seene And Gods mercy is great in cutting them off so soone who else should liue with them besides the preuenting of much iniquitie which would make their account heauier For all this one followes the steppes of another and the child when he comes into his fathers place beginneth not at first to weigh the shortnesse of his life how soone he shall be as his father is that is cut off from al that so he might apply his heart to wisdome but taketh possession of his place as if he were riuited into it for perpetuity and will not so much as thinke of any change or remouall from thence But to goe forward this euill spirit that was sent betwixt them being the first occasion of their ouerthrow was the diuell by whose malice and subtiltie ill will and hatred were kindled betwixt them yea and inflamed and this with the breaking their promise doth shew vs clearely that the league and friendship of the wicked is soone broken off For why it hath no good ground And although there be some outward things which vphold it as hope of profit pleasure preferment and the seruing one of anothers turne although I say these and such like patch vp an agreement betwixt them for a while yet their hearts are inconstant and many things fall out to breed alienation of affection one from another and a pritch is soone taken many conceits arise and reports are carried betwixt them and who can reckon vp all And yet if there were no other cause hereof as yet there is for they daube vp their friendship with vntempered morter which falleth away this were inough that is spoken of here that God can send an ill spirit betwixt them euen then when they are most strongly combined and knit together and cause them to breake their promise one to another and iarre and disagree And although it bee a great reproch to them that their contentions should break out and be knowne as if both consent together to smite the righteous and therefore in wicked policie they doe what they can to hide them yet otherwise they are diuided and strongly incensed one against the other which also breaketh out sometime and so confirmeth this truth that though they seemed to be glued in friendship and familiaritie together and make men belieue that their loue is firme yet their league is rotten and they grow to bee at defiance one with the other and that oft times betwixt themselues secretly before it breake foorth in the sight of men The vse whereof is that we make no such wicked and cursed leagues Secondly that we account no otherwise of them where they be made but as of the Spiders web soone swept downe and thirdly praise God highlie when wee see them broken For that turneth to the great benefit of the Church and the diuers members of it as we reade that the diuision of the Pharisies and Sadduces turned to Pauls deliuerance from their rage But let the godly continue their league that their loue may be strong as a threefold cord that is not easily broken Neither let them neglect their mutuall examples to profit thereby but rather be ashamed that heauen should not tie them together faster then hell tieth the vngodly yea let them bee ashamed I say that euen the smallest trifle and a very conceit of one against another is enough to estrange them as it too often falleth out and to set them at defiance betwixt themselues till the wicked laugh them and their profession to scorne whereas these cursed leagues of the malignant hold sometime longer though they be bound together with rotten threads through wicked policie which out reneweth them except the Lord disioyne and separate them especially if their concord and agreement be in opposing the innocent And seeing God curseth and scatters these combinations of the wicked as fast as they vnite and strengthen themselues as Psalm 2. saying of them as Iacoh did of Simeon and Leui Cursed be their rage cursed be their counsell let not the godly so much feare their bandings and fast knittings of themselues together as looke patiently till this curse as a moth consume them Iehoshaphat 2. Chron. 20. seeing Moab Ammon and Seir confederate to destroy him feared at the first but when he saw the sword of each against other till they had made a riddance of all he was comforted euen as that mysterie of the late matchlesse treason with what deepe secrecie was it carried how strongly complotted how firmely were the agents thereof vnited euen as firmely as oth vow and the Sacrament abused might knit them but the Lord blessed for euer by his name sent a spirit of diuision betweene them they were detected and discouered by each other And in that it is said that the Lord sent this euill spirit betwixt them wee may note that though God be not the author of euill as some would perhaps be too ready to gather yet that sinne which is in the wicked hidden in their hearts and neuer so secret he bringeth forth at his pleasure and lets it breake out at his commandement ruling and ouer-ruling the same And they that nourish it in themselues and doe not giue it a vent by repentance may euer iustly feare and doe sometime too truly find that as water pent in breakes out violently in some place or other euen so the sinne that is intertained in mens hearts shall one time or other breake out to their shame in their liues But as the stinke of the dunghill riseth not from the Sunne no more assure we our selues doth sinne proceed from God Also by this diuision betwixt them we may note that when God suffers diuision among the wicked or an euill spirit any way to leade them it is to punish their leaud fellowship and to reuenge the sinne of both parts and to make each the others executioner And yet Oh what a sweet libertie it is thought to be to inioy fellowship with such We see that the thatcht houses which stand close together though they fence each other from the violence of weather for a time yet if one be on fire it serueth but to hasten the consumption of the other And so there is no knot so wickedly knit betwixt men but while it lasteth it bringeth I grant some benefit to the confederates but when once the Lord hath dissolued the band their greatest vnion turnes to the most deadly enmitie that can be and is as the diuision of brethren stronger then the brasen barres of a palace or citie gates And first grudges secretly being conceiued they are nourished by iealousies and suspitions exasperated by daily iniuries till they breake
of the children of Ammon 8. Who from that yeere vexed and oppressed the children of Israel eighteene yeeres euen all the children of Israel that were beyond Iorden in the land of the Ammorites which is in Gilead 9. Moreouer the children of Ammon went ouer Iorden to fight against Iudah and against Beniamin and against the house of Ephraim so that Israel was sore tormented 10. Then the children of Israel cried vnto the Lord saying Wee haue sinned against thee euen because wee haue forsaken our owne God and haue serued Baalim NOw followeth a new reuolt of the people of Israel and this is handled to the 17. verse wherein the things to bee considered are these to wit a double repairing and returning by them to God when hee afflicted them by their enemies for their sin in forsaking him In their first seeking to him they had the repulse for their repentance was not sound In the second God deliuered them they seeking to him in repentance In the former note these foure things First their sinne which was a ioyning to the nations among whom they dwelt and this in the sixth verse The second is Gods punishing them euen by those whom they ioyned with in Idolatrie which is snewed in the next three verses The third point is their crying to God and lastly the fruite thereof in the tenth verse and so forward The fruite was diuers for first God denied to deliuer them to the fifteenth verse But at the second crying of the people to God hee deliuered them which is set downe in the next two verses vnto the seuenteenth Now let these things be looked into more particularly To returne therefore to the sixth verse and to begin with the peoples sinne it is said after the death of these two Iudges in whose daies they had enioyed peace fiue and fortie yeeres that the people fell againe to prouoke God as wee haue heard their fathers did And how by committing Idolatrie after the manner of the seuen nations that are here mentioned For both that was liking to the flesh and besides they thought those nations that did so liued in more abundance and in more pleasure then themselues did for many delights to tickle the flesh forward they adioyned to their false worship to draw away their hearts from seruing the true God aright whom it is said here that they forsooke Thus much for the summe of this verse and therein of their sinne And here are diuers things to be considered First it teacheth that we should not greatly marueile that so many in this our age giue themselues to Popish religion seeing Idolatrie hath in most ages been so common by reason that it hath so many player-like toyes and bables of sights to bleare the eye and sonets to deceiue the eare that it maketh them thinke they be in a peece of paradise while they embrace and are made drunke with such fond conceits when indeed they be thereby caried as it were fast asleepe to hell There is nothing that moueth or delighteth them in all the word of God rightly vnderstood but only blind deuotion in their false religion wherein they haue been nuzled vp and then a fond and fantasticall conceit that they shall goe to heauen thereby As for the authoritie and warrant of their Masse and other trumperie in the beginning of the world nay in our Sauiour Christs time and many hundred yeeres after there was no shred nor ragge of it vsed or knowne especially to any such end whereas the true seruing of God was alwaies as now it is euen from the beginning And how prone people are to worship God with ease for so farre they like whether it be sound and true or counterfeit it may be seene not onely in Poperie which is coyned for the purpose to deceiue the simple with strong delusions but also in our religion which for the outward manner of it is holy pure and good and consisteth in hearing prayer and the vse of the Sacraments for the substance thereof And yet many of them who allow it as the true manner of worshipping God what doe they for the most part but draw neere to God with their bodies but their hearts are farre from him As if they would say they would gladly goe to heauen but they would haue an easie way thither but to serue God in spirit and truth which is the direct way thither they cannot bend themselues thereto whereas there is as great delight in the worshipping of God aright and that by the Lords allowance and promise which in the two former kindes of popish and the other of only outward worship are wanting as great delight I say and as sound in true performing it so farre as fraile flesh may attaine to as there is reward promised thereto which is vnutterable In this verse also may bee seene what fruite this people yeelded to the Lord of their long enioyed peace euen as wee haue seene their fathers did and that was how they fell to lasciuiousnes and forgetting of God a sufficient watch-word whereof they had giuen them before by Moses Now for the laying out of this sinne both in them and our selues how fearefull and great it is let vs onely consider of it thus Seeing this point hath been largely handled already if the diseased person pained with the stone or strangury or the famished and hee that is in penury or the man that is in exile and banishment if these I say might be set free from that which oppresseth them what would they not readily offer and couenant to doe in the seruice of God yea and that much more feruently then other men Therefore how grieuous is their sin let all men iudge who may in health in wealth at ease and in outward peace doe this I meane serue the Lord which is the thing that he requireth of them and yet they can by no means be brought to it But this I leaue to be further considered as euery one shal see cause But more particularly in that it is said they forsooke the Lord it may be marueiled at that they should forsake him whom they had loued and serued before But by this we may see what force there is in sinne to besot and make drunken them who giue ouer themselues thereto be it whoredome the loue of the world or any other For it is able to bereaue them of sound reason to turne away their delight from prayer and all good practise and to forget the ioy that they had in both sometimes and yet to blindfold them so that they shall not suspect any danger to be toward them for al this while they may merrily serue their humour therein Sampson and other went farre this way And let the best of vs feare lest we be carried away of our lusts to loue and like where wee ought not and tempt we not God but let vs resist the beginnings of euill wee know little what
and guarded against all inward or outward aduersarie power of our saluation This is that approching with confidence to the throne of grace this is that freedom of spirit which calls God father whether the resistance be made by some lust or some diuels instruments or the diuel himselfe what libertie is this that a Christian may with hope which will not make him ashamed pray against it with assurance of being heard euen as Christ himselfe was in that which he besought his father for And why Because he is within the couenant and therefore warreth against all euill therefore hee may boldly pray for grace against it that he be not foiled for he is about Gods worke and the Lord is a louing Master he will not see his seruant frustrated of his hope in his seruice Thirdly these words note out this That it is wisedome for a man to bestow his chiefe cost there whence hee lookes for best recompence and acknowledgement in the time of most need The steward in his kinde is commended for this policie who would shew curtesie to such as he knew in a day of hardnesse and want would be readiest to remember it with thankes and requitall The contrary folly the Apostle to the Romanes taxeth what fruite had ye of those things whereof yee are now ashamed A man is not ashamed of that labour which hath brought him in plentifull gaine but of that which answers not his cost and hope Men that haue runne themselues out of breath all their life groping after a blind happinesse in their vnprofitable superstitious prophane course at length seeing themselues deceiued wish they had serued a Master who might haue saued them and receiued them into euerlasting habitations But he answers them bidding them go see if their money will saue them their god or their lusts their masters as for me I had none of their seruice neither shal they haue any wages frō me Thus the Lord is faine to vpbraid men though not by word saying Go to your Idols yet in effect in that he leaueth them shiftlesse or else who should perswade one of an hundred that he soweth among thornes or loseth his labour and cost when he casteth it and himselfe away vpon one Idoll a broken staffe or other And the truth is such a bewitching nature these Idols are of not Popish onely but spirituall also set vp in the loue of the heart that they possesse their seruants with an opinion of fruite which is to be obtained if they could hit vpon it till at length with other like themselues when time and strength thrift and cost is all spent and wasted they crye out miserably like theeues at gallowes they were deceiued leauing an example for others if they bee wise to profit by as for themselues neither rule nor example could doe them good as wofull experience witnesseth in too many other Vers 15. And the children of Israel said vnto the Lord Wee haue sinned doe thou vnto vs whatsoeuer please thee onely we pray thee to deliuer vs this day 16. Then they put away the strange gods from among them and serued the Lord and his soule was grieued for the miserie of Israel THe people hauing receiued an hard and sharpe answere of the Lord to them to wit that hee would not heare them laid it neere to heart and cried againe to the Lord how soone after it is not here expressed confessing their sinnes casting away their Idols which at their first suing to God they did not now in stead thereof they serued the Lord whom they had forsaken and beside all this they submitted themselues to him to doe what he would to them resting confidently perswaded of his mercie and so obtained deliuerance which they had earnestly sued for and sought out of that present calamitie for the Lord was intreated of them and granted their desire Now if it seeme strange to any that in their first crying to God their sute was reiected wee must know that they sought not to him for it in the vprightnesse of their hearts as is said before and therfore God meant to hold them on the racke as it were and not onely to keepe them in suspence but also to hold them in a deepe feare by denying helpe to them Secondly to bring them to a through repentance as indeed now they did shew signes of it and those also effectuall which they did not before and for this purpose he draue them more throughly to examination of them themselues then they had done before So that we see at first they gladly would haue been deliuered but in the meane while they would not cast away their Idols and other sinnes but would still walke in the waies of their owne hearts Which setteth before vs a common disease that is too oft euen in Gods deare children that in our afflictions we crie to God for mercy and helpe and faine would haue the punishment taken away but so that we would haue libertie to liue as we did before and hold fast our sinnes still and abide in them for they are dearer to vs then our owne flesh Euen after this manner many of vs too oft and boldly deale with the Lord so that repentance is hardly attained vnto no not euen then when we are to sue to the Lord for ease in our trouble As may bee seene in Dauid himselfe in the 32. Psalme that it was painefull to him to confesse against himselfe we need not the speech of the people of Anothoth to Ieremie to preach vnto vs pleasant things and againe that we will not heare the law of this thy Lord neither to follow Demetrius the siluer Smith in the booke of the Actes for these were wicked both of them And how did they foile themselues they of Anathoth to retaine their pleasures the other to vphold his wicked gaine But that it should be so with vs in any manner who are of the better sort how can it be borne And yet it may iustly be complained of Oh euen the better sort of men will not be reformed Insomuch that when affliction is vpon them of which they would most willinglie bee eased yet they cannot be brought to see or amend any thing that is amisse because they flatter themselues are great in their owne eies while their iniquitie is found worthy to be hated And yet there are worse then these who murmur vnder their affliction and doe what they can to hide their sinnes And here more particularly as it is cleare that this people saw they did euil in worshipping strange Gods but would not acknowledge it til God draue them to it by his sore iudgements So when we see and will not see how we prouoke him by any of our speciall sinnes let vs feare that he will if wee will not abhorre and be weary of them by his instructions and warnings which he giueth vs that he will I say bring vs thereto by sharpe correction So
to wit to preach the Gospell to the most nations of the world yet before they tooke it in hand he made them meete for the worke they went about So Iphtah when hee was to fight against the Ammonites for the deliuering of Israel hee was by the spirit of God indued with gifts for that purpose euen farre greater then he had before now when hee was set about a greater worke So the Ministers much more as the calling is farre more excellent when hee sendeth them to any people to conuert them and make them of his militant Church hee stirres them vp by loue zeale and labour to set their gifts of knowledge a worke and maketh a great change among the people by their ministerie They who are vnfit to doe the Lords message to them to whom they are sent are not sent by him but seeke themselues and their owne profit and not the peoples It is worthie our view to behold the difference of men called by God and such as climbe in by another way of their owne framing Both doe one and the same worke but the one sets himselfe aworke the other is set aworke by God The one after his fashion goes about it but how awkly and vntowardly by setting a bold face vpon the matter by carrying a great shew and bearing sway by preaching what and when he pleaseth and in the manner he liketh best but errand he hath none to doe to the people no more then Cushi had to Dauid and thereafter is his welcome For as hee faileth of the end of his office so loseth he the honour of it except with a few flatterers and hang-byes Alas they haue enterprized a long race and iourney without prouision to enable them to runne it through It is not the habit that makes the Minister nor the learning though that comes neerer degree dignitie or applause of man which onely will carrie this worke through stitch It is this that God hath said to him as to Paul and Moses Goe I will be with thee that is fit thee embolden thee for a Minister hath enough to discourage him euen from within himselfe as I haue noted elsewhere yea beare thee out against opposition and encourage thee by blessing thy labour otherwise all thy prouision is to little purpose thou maist stand like a foole errandlesse speechlesse Now being called and separated by God and therefore also qualified though thy selfe a weake earthen vessell yet what precious treasure doest thou carrie How admirably doth the Lord make way for him making high hils to stoope and lie leuell before him procuring honour from the consciences not the countenances onely of such as they haue wonne to God from the power of Satan and darknesse by conuerting and sauing them And by stopping the mouthes of such as might despise and discourage them saying Who is this new-found babler what will hee beare downe all and thinke to haue vs tyed to his girdle No no he deales for his Master who sent him and therefore seekes to bring yee vnder the yoke and girdle of Christ and therefore let the discouragements be neuer so great this worke shall prosper and euen out of the mouthes of blockish brutish sauage and ignorant yea prophane ones the Lord shall procure credit to his Ministerie when he hath changed them thereby and these shall iustifie wisedome against all cauillers scorners and enemies thereof Let them be of neuer so many kindes as in this age there are many who contrary to the manifest fruite they see impeach either the sufficiencie of their calling or the worthinesse of their message Oh therefore how lamentable is it that all congregations are not thus furnished and made partakers of so blessed an ordinance of God! Therefore the Lord Iesus to shew how pitifull a case it is to see the people dispersed as sheepe hauing no shepheard he not onely had compassion on them himselfe but also willed the Disciples to pray to the Lord of the haruest to thrust labourers into the haruest seeing none are forward to that worke except the Lord stirre them vp thereto This point hath been spoken of before I therefore will not be tedious therein to the reader The vow that I said before Iphtah made is heere shewed what it was namely that he would in token of his thankfull heart offer and dedicate to the Lord that thing that should first come out of his house to meete him if he returned with the victorie This vow though hee meant well was ill made and in great ignorance in that he did not make it more distinctly and aduisedly For what if a dogge had first met him which is a fauning creature and had been like enough to haue first come foorth to meete him hee could not haue offered it to the Lord it being vncleane and so forbidden to be made a sacrifice His words haue this meaning when he saith It shall be the Lords and I will offer it for a burnt offering that is I will offer it in sacrifice and it shall be a burnt offering to the Lord for hee meant simply that he would offer the first thing that should meete him if he had thought of his daughter would he haue made that vow And will any say that in so vowing he meant that if that which should first meete him should not bee fit for sacrifice he would offer it to virginitie and yet perhaps it should not be fit for that neither as if it had been a dogge and if he had meant to offer it to virginitie as some hold he did did hee not see that his daughter had been most like to haue bin the partie vpon whom his vow should haue bin performed For who had bin liker to haue first come foorth to meete him then she And would he thinke wee haue vowed that which might haue turned to his owne and his daughters so great sorrow Therefore I say hee meant no offering of that which should meete him to perpetuall virginitie Neither are those words of his to be taken disiunctiuely as some think they may thus That which first commeth forth to meete me shall be the Lords or I will offer it For though the Hebrew letter â— be so taken sometime yet very rarely and so little reason is it that it should be so taken heere being most commonly taken coniunctiuely as they well know that haue any vnderstanding in the Hebrew tongue yea and oft in some one chapter as may easily be shewed As for example in Genes 32. 1. 2. 3. 4. foure of fiue times it is so taken in 3. or 4. verses So in Genes 33. 1. 2. as oft in two verses and Genes 45. 1. 2. 3. As many times it is found to be and in most Chapters if not all throughout the old Testament this word signifieth and coniunctiuely not or disiunctiuely as I haue said before Therefore heere to take it otherwise there is small reason for it especially the sense of the place
both a solitarie place fit for the purpose and also farre from her fathers house to weane her selfe from thence or for to auoid recourse of her friends vnto her To teach vs that there fall out times and occasions to bee solitarie euen as it is it selfe commanded vs of God and that both extraordinary as here and in priuat fasting and ordinary also for meditation and these both the one and the other we should vse to our good when we haue cause either longer or shorter time to goe apart by our selues knowing that this is a speciall action of religious worship and therefore requireth seperation from hindrances So did our Sauiour Christ for a time after much preaching and being in companie goe into some solitarie place with his Disciples as it were returning to himselfe that hee might haue more freedome for heauenly contemplation and prayer So in the time of great lamentation as the people did mourne for the death of Iosias and in the time of Zachary the Prophet whē the familie did it apart one member of it from another the husband apart and the wife apart But fondly doth Popery abuse such examples to maintaine Monasticall life and such like fancies when they were vsed in the best manner if euer well vsed but now much more when they haue brought them to such abomination as they are come vnto that it is but a couer for much and great wickednesse And this point deserueth our obseruation that she being now in heauines wisely chose the fittest exercise to set it in on worke and did not yeeld to her passion which then would haue made her loggish and vnprofitable but vsed it to a singular good end euen to fit her selfe for her death and departure In mirth and ioy how hard a thing is it to recall home our wandring senses and straying affections and retire our thoughts and mindes from rouing in euery corner of the world our wofull experience can tell vs. Sorrow hath likewise many and those grieuous annoiances attending it but that of the two the comparison being equall is the fittest trumpet to sound this retreit And as naturally it contracteth the body and the spirits so if it be taken heed vnto it bringeth the superfluous and noisome cares delights and desires of the soule into a narrower compasse And when a man is wholly at home is he not fitter for any good dutie then when hee is absent in great part from himselfe Therefore as the day of griefe is a season and opportunitie for some good dutie which at other times is to vs vnseasonable so let vs vse it accordingly that is redeeme it Solitarinesse I confesse is not fit for euery sorrower and yet it is necessarie for the better doing of this dutie I therfore distinguish of persons Such therfore as are ignorant and yet oppressed with heauinesse for that they doubt and are vncertaine of Gods fauour for their sinne and especially if they bee pressed with melancholy To these I giue this counsell that they auoide solitarinesse in their pangs of griefe and melancholike passions and giue not vantage to their enemie the diuell to finde them alone as neere as they can lest they finde his delusions and temptations the more forcible as Iudas in his perplexitie did when hee went aside from all companie But let their sorrow driue them to aske counsell and make their cases knowne to such as can aduise or comfort them The diuell was bold to assault our Sauiour himselfe in his solitarinesse But to returne and to speake of the point If a suruey were taken I doubt wee should finde few houres I speake not of weekes or moneths dedicated by the most part of Christians to this heauenly worke of vsing solitarines for meditation especially for preparation to dye to make vp their accounts against they should be called for Oh they look to liue long they are not in the case of this maide who was within two moneths of her dying day and applied them wholly to fit her for death but they are made drunke with an vnsatiable desire of liuing still and therefore tell not them of such sad vnwelcome matters But oh fooles are they not suddenly taken and as vnprouided within few daies and houres of their death as they were many yeeres before Therefore to leaue them when the Lord at any time iustly occasioneth vs to be sorrowfull and pensiue let vs beware of blockishnesse which commonly accompanieth them who in in their mirth thinke of nothing but iollitie and say wee euery one thus to our selues Now the Lord calles me home to the practise of a dutie which indeed ought to be oft in vse to meditate of my estate to vnburden my mind and soule of those manifold needlesse and noysome thoughts and affections which I haue ouerloaden my selfe a long time withall now the Lord will haue me bent to search out my errors corruptions and disorders of hart and life and going aside to ease my stomack of them confesse loath renounce and aske pardon of them Now the Lord will haue me to pray that his spirit may be restored to me in greater measure that I may returne with more libertie to his seruice and beware that I be not againe surfeited with that which now I haue vomited vp as the world pleasures vaine desires vile and loathsome lusts This is a good vse indeed of heauinesse the house of such mourning is better thē the house of feasting And to this end oh it were to be wished that damsels as well as other liuing in these daies would setforth themselues to the world not in pride boldnesse nicenesse and curiositie of fashions but in modestie grace and wisdome as this maiden here did which were another manner of spectacle then to see many golden rings in a swines snout Now whereas it is said here to fill vp the measure of her due commendation that she returned at the time set vnto her father to doe to her as hee had vowed the faithfulnesse constancie and obedience of the maid is not onely to bee commended but admired For why did shee so but to serue God therein as she was perswaded Such keeping of couenant and promise made by her when it was to the forgoing of her life doth vrge all in smaller matters much more to keepe promise and to make conscience of their word and that not only towards God but euen to men also The like we see in Paul who hauing his liberty giuen him both in his iourney towards Rome and at Rome also where hee was Nero his prisoner whereby hee might haue made many an escape and shifted for himself yet neuer attempted any such course but faithfully returned to his Captaine and to his Keeper though to the perill of his life rather then he would procure safety by breaking away by distrusting God or by vnfaithfulnesse A good cause will seeke no such shifts and our great Iesuits if there were in them that
pursuite of our desires and that either with outward resistance of vs as he did Ahab by Elias when he was going to take possession of Naboths vineyard or with inward wound of conscience as most commonly hee vseth to doe to such as haue knowledge or with hardnesse of heart which alwaies hindreth and keepeth away repentance And by occasion of Samsons iourneying out of Iuda to Timnah of the Philistims I say more particularly let such as trauaile whether within the land or beyond seas into forreine countries see that their errands are lawfull and warrantable not expresly crossing the Lords charge as that of Shemei did Salomons lest although they scape Shemei his punishment yet a worse befall them Remember Dina and Gehazi Nay see they not onely that their businesse be good but look they also that their affection be well and orderly carried thereto otherwise their seeking after noueltie curiositie vanitie I speake of them that doe so or their sinister intent any other way will marre their action of trauailing be it neuer so lawfull And as that is nourishment to one creature which is anothers bane euen so is trauaile to sundrie sorts of men though to some other it be good and profitable It is apparant that many trauellers who went out with no euill purpose yet being vnarmed against euill and not strongly resolued to depart from it haue rushed vpon the pikes tempted God cast themselues vpon streights and indangered their bodies liues consciences manifold waies I speake to such as professe to haue God the directer of their waies as for others let the dead bury the dead That is a iourney well vndertaken which a man can take in faith and sanctifie it by prayer and so commit himselfe therein to Gods protection and blessing And surely if we goe otherwise to worke wee are as able to beare meekely and patiently either disappointment ill successe or any hard accident that shall befall vs as wee are to encounter a Lion if he should meete vs. But beside these vntimely and vnseasonable trauailings abroad there are other no lesse dangerous at home or neere at hand and among the rest for example sake when the Sabbath is abused to wanton and waily gaddings to stage-playes gaming houses drinkings on which yet by Gods commandement the most lawfull common actions and ordinary businesse ought not to bee done which may bee done on other daies This is one instance of many other wicked iourneyings and trauailings on that day which are as vsuall with the ill disposed as it is ordinary among the better sort to heare the word preached or to vse any other religious exercises But although such persons haue no stoppe in their way to turne them backe neither doe meete with the opposition that Balaam did to hinder and crosse their desires yet they shall reape the wages of their iniquitie as hee did and wish they had kept at home and been free from such company with many stripes The meeting of a Lion by Samson which was as wee haue heard with the perill of his life yet was to him as God did vse it an occasion to trie declare and shew foorth Gods power and strength in him which should else haue been hidden For the spirit of the Lord stirred vp in him an extraordinary gift of might and manhood more then is to bee found in the strongest person whereby he hauing nothing in his hands did yet teare the Lion in peeces one part and member from another as if it had been a young kid or lambe By this example wee may learne that though the crosse be to vs as feareful when we see it comming toward vs as a Beare or a Lion is to meet with yet the Lord who loueth vs as hee did Samson doth vse by his quickning grace to hearten vs against it so that wee finde it to turne to our great good and benefit But let this be marked which I say that God doth by his speciall grace bring it thus to passe not that we should looke for it by extraordinary meanes though he dealt so with Samson but wee are to beleeue and waite certainly for it because he hath promised it and by the helpe thereof we shall not need to doubt but that such strength shall be granted vs as shal put away feare or at least abate and restraine it but without that help from God we shall feare and be troubled when wee doe but heare of the crosse or danger as at the sight of a lion yea and be disquieted and ouercome with the heauinesse that we haue for it as if we should meete a Beare We haue too many examples of this weaknesse and feare in Gods deare people as in the seruant of Elisha who when hee saw an armie of Aramites compassing the house cried out and said Alas master what shall wee doe So in the Disciples the like is to bee seene who through their vnbeliefe thought they had seene a spirit and were sore afraid when yet that which they feared was Iesus their Master comming toward them to comfort thē So that we of our selues indeed are most timerous euen when we haue little cause much more otherwise but yet when great afflictions oppresse vs God being with vs as I haue said we are able through his might to do great things as the Apostle saith I am able to doe all things through the helpe of Christ who strengtheneth me Yea so great oddes is there betweene one and the same man oppressed with feare though for a small trouble when he is taken on the sudden and with a great one when hee is prouided for it as betweene the heate of the least candle and a greatest fire He that fainted at the one when he was weake in faith escaped and ouercame the force of the other being assisted therewith as hath at large been shewed in Gedeon at one time afraid to goe and behold that campe which after hee blanckt not both to encounter and to conquer And this whole storie of the Lion all that consider may vnderstand that it tendeth directly to this end to prepare and make Samson able to beare the displeasure and enmitie of the Philistims which was afterward raised vp against him the Lord giuing him strength for that purpose and that it might minister matter for the riddle which he did after propound to them whereby they did sore prouoke him By the first learne that when God indueth men with excellent gifts betimes as he doth many he thereby declareth that hee will both double and multiply them in those persons and also vse them to serue him to singular purposes if their proceeding be not hindred by some sinister practises of theirs to stand in their way or by the diuell and his instruments subtilitie diuerting his good gifts to bad purposes This is apparent by that which God did worke in Samson in his first yeeres of discretion and when hee was yet
but young compared with that which followed afterwards when he made strip and waste of the Philistims Euen so when he will worke I say in more speciall manner by some in future age he will giue signes thereof in younger yeeres which is notably to be seene in Dauid who in the great danger he was in by Goliah when Saul told him that he was but a boy but hee whom he vndertooke to fight with to wit Goliah was a man of warre from his youth answered vnto Saul Thy seruant kept his fathers sheepe and there came a Lion and likewise a Beare and tooke a sheepe out of the flocke and I went out after him and smote him and tooke it out of his mouth and when hee rose against me I caught him by the beard and smote him and slew him Therefore this vncircumcised Philistim said hee shall be as one of them seeing hee hath railed on the hoast of the liuing God And the like is manifest in Samuel whom because the Lord meant to make a more then ordinary instrument of his glorie in the function of both Iudge and Prophet therefore he reuealed himselfe familiarly by visions vnto him in his tender age yea before he seemed to be of discretion and ripenes of yeeres and iudgement the Lord began that work in him early which in time to come he meant to accomplish in great measure So that we see that the religious and prudent training vp of young ones in the knowledge of God and of themselues and good literature being the ordinarie meanes now adaies to promote this worke of God in time to come is not to be despised much lesse the towardlinesse of such as whom God in their youth shall begin to grace aboue others is to bee snibbed and checked as the practise is of some brutish persons to scorne and reiect such saying Tush what reckoning make yee of such A young Saint an old Diuell This truth is exemplified in many young persons at this day who by good education doe shew very great towardnes as schollers in the Vniuersitie in their learning and other in the countrey both young men and damzels in such things as wherein they are trained vp and both sorts in the practise of Christianitie farre differing from the common sort of youth who are saucie disobedient and prophane and giue fearefull signes of mischiefe working and sustaining miserie afterward And out of them hee raiseth excellent instruments some fit for Magistracie and some in other places to doe much good in the Ministerie not to be teachers onely but also fathers begetting many children to God and others to bring foorth much fruite to his glorie And herein that prophecie is verified that in those daies the Lord would powre out his spirit vpon all flesh not old men onely but euen the tenderest young men and maidens A fruite no doubt of that vnction of Christ Iesus the arch Prophet of his Church who began at the age of twelue yeeres to giue demonstration of strange forwardnes for wisdome and grace because in his riper yeeres hee was more fully to declare that he was annointed with the spirit without measure These therefore whom I spake of before if they vse well the gifts of God as Dauid and Samuel did which they receiued in their youth shal after they haue gotten experience see how God prospereth and inlargeth them to their sound and great reioycing and the good of many other and helpe to to cast downe and destroy the workes of darknesse and of the diuell in places where they bee not too strongly resisted and set against by such as loue darknesse more then light because their deeds are euill But if after they haue begun well and in their younger yeeres giuen great hope if I say they comming further into the world shall be dazled with the deceitfull beautie of it as though they had found a better portion then grace and shall be blindfolded with profit pleasure and promotion so that thereby they cannot do their former workes they shall complaine too late when all these must forsake them that they were once in the way to do well if they could haue seene it And all may see that howsoeuer they woond out of the diuels hands in the first maine temptation wherein they were in danger to be brought to despaire and in the next also which tended to bring them to presumption yet that he hath preuailed against them in the third about the glorie of this present world and thereby hath deceiued them And thus much be said of the first thing which I mentioned now last in this verse to wit of the gifts of God appearing in Samson in the first yeeres of his discretion of the second namely that this storie doth minister matter of the riddle afterwards I will speake in place where I shall haue a fitter occasion offered namely in the fifteenth Chapter Lastly in this verse in that it is said hee told not his father nor mother of this that hee did to the Lion it shewed both that neither hee himselfe was vainglorious for then not onely they but other should soone haue heard thereof but also it appeareth that he saw no cause nor end of vttering it to them at that time So let vs learne when to speake and when to hold our peace and to be silent euen when our speaking can doe no good or more hurt then good or when it cannot but doe hurt And by this rule which guideth vs how to be silent and when let vs also learne how to speake and when namely when wee see it may doe good and no hurt or more good then hurt The same is repeated of him in verse 9. and agreeth with that which I haue often vrged in the generall to wit that wee should shew all godly wisdome as well as vprightnes in our doings as our Sauiour Mat. 11. would not commend Iohn Baptist before his Disciples were gone lest it should haue as much hindred them as profited the people Vers 8. And he went downe and talked with the woman those things that were pleasing in the eyes of Samson 9. And within a few daies when he returned to receiue her he went aside to see the carkeis of the lion and behold there was a swarming of Bees and hony in the body of the lion 10. And he tooke thereof in his hands ond went eating and came to his father and his mother and gaue vnto them and they did eate but he told not them that he had taken the hony out of the body of the lion 11. So his father went downe vnto the woman and Samson made there a feast for so vsed the young men to doe 12. And when they saw him they brought thirtie companions to be with him Then Samson said to them I will now put foorth a riddle vnto you and if you can declare it me within seuen daies of the feast and finde it out I will giue you
as if it it had been sword staffe or other weapon And when hee had slaine them hee shewed what heapes hee had made with so slight a helpe or instrument Heere we see that these Philistims lately so exceedingly ioyfull did not onely lose their ioy but their liues also And this may tell vs yet a heauier thing then the former For it teacheth that for the most part looke what fearefull and blind estate the blind and bad people liue in and chuse to repose themselues in in the same they continue for the most part and end their daies For is there almost any place left for amendment Therfore the Apostle saith The wicked and the deceiuer wax worse and worse and when they crie peace peace and all things are safe then commeth destruction suddenly vpon them before they be aware as the trauell vpon a woman with child and they shall not be able to auoide it When the rich man in the Gospell reioyced most in that he had he was nearest a wofull end So Baltazzer when he was drinking wine merrily with his Princes and Concubines in the vessels of the Temple then the fearfull hand writing appeared on the wall hauing this meaning God hath finished thy kingdome So Agag And as such liue so they die Although I denie not but God where it pleaseth him can giue a new hart where it is sought and cause such vanity to bee distasted as wherein men haue delighted and worke found reioycing instead thereof Therefore chuse wee the best delights and so the longer we hold them the soundlier wee shall enioy them vntill we keepe them vnto our end Another thing that he did was that when he had slaine an heape he correcteth himselfe when hee smote them on both sides with the iaw-bone they preasing about to take him and he saith two heapes or many as if he should haue said heapes vpon heapes had been slaine by him And seeing hee knew that God gaue him the strength thereto hee being a godly man why doth he vtter these words but that al might see and acknowledge what a great worke God had wrought by him and that by a weake meane euen with the iaw bone of an Asse To teach vs that where the Lord will haue vs execute iustice without pitie vpon euill doers we must not faint nor be negligent to doe his commandement vpon them as Samson did here Ioshua before on Achan Ehud vpon the King of Moab and Shamgar on the Philistims God will haue the wicked smart for their trespasses openly committed to smart I say by men according to the weight and hainousnesse of them and vtterly forbiddeth foolish pity to be shewed in such a case according to the saying of Salomon It is an abomination to iustifie the wicked The like may be said against that foolish pity which ariseth in vs when wee behold Gods immediate hand vpon them and yet wee ought not then for all this to insult ouer them but we must ascribe honour to God with those 24. Elders in the Reuelation and Dauid vpon the death of Nabal Now followeth the third point that as Samson honoured God in shewing what hee had done by him in slaying heapes of men euen a thousand so he added this thereto that he gaue a name to the place where hee did it as a memoriall thereof that all posterity comming after might know vnto the end of the world what great things God did for his people against their enemies The name of it he called Ramath-Lehi as if he should haue said the lifting vp of a iaw-bone which remaineth as a monument of Gods mighty worke by him euen to this day Thus and by this meanes Gods seruants haue praised him in times past as in the booke of Numbers Ioshua and other is to bee seene as well as other times by songs and dances that wee all may marke and remember his benefits and great workes and praise him among the generations following to the quickening and comforting of his people and the feare of his enemies although not in the same manner that some haue done in ages past But of this before once or twice The fourth part of the Chapter Vers 18. And he was sore athirst and called on the Lord and said Thou hast giuen this great deliuerance into the hand of thy seruant and now shall I die for thirst and fall into the hand of the vncircumcised 19. But God claue an hollow place that was in the iaw and there came water thereout and when he had drunke his spirit came againe and he reuiued wherfore he called the name thereof En-hakkoreh which is in Lehi vnto this day 20. And he iudged Israel in the daies of the Philistims twentie yeeres NOw followeth the fourth and last part of this Chapter wherein is shewed what an exceeding great thirst Samson had after the slaughter of these Philistims and that he prayed to God and he giue him water so that he reuiued and so he praised God there And 〈…〉 time that hee iudged Israel is in the last place adioyned and set downe â—â—ch was twentie yeres By this thirst of his the Lord would haue him to know himselfe and to be held vnder lest by that which hee had done to the Philistims hee might haue been lifted vp aboue that which was meet Thus he dealeth with his intermixing his chastisements with blessings that both they may be held in humility by the one and yet may haue sufficient encouragement to abide constantly in a good course and not forget the Lord and become high minded as they are easily brought to bee by the other to wit his benefits And thus the Lord saw good to deale euen with Paul himselfe who was buffeted by Satan when hee had been listed vp to the third heauen by the rauishing of Gods spirit yet hee had that humour remaining in him which needed setling and cooling that his ioy might be kept within holy lists and bounds And the same I haue noted in that famous accident of Iphtah his daughter whom God set on to abase him that hee might proceed on to the triumph more soberly Wee must thinke Gods seruants are deare to him when hee sticketh not to bereaue them of their preciousest delights to the end they may hold their delight in him and not turne their sweetnesse into bitternes I meane their holy reioycing into fleshly presumption The reason hereof is because else God cannot trust vs in the businesse he sets vs about except hee giues vs coolings and abasements to consume the superfluity of our hypocrisie conceitednesse of our selues pride and security which are as vnfit dealers in heauenly matters as Nadab and Abihu their strange fire was to kindle incense or offer sacrifice withall And secondly the Lord honoreth many of his deare seruants whose faith and setlednesse in grace and freedome from such grosse staines hee is priuie vnto by giuing them
mightest Trust not thy selfe thy strength in this case will be a brused reede The best lawes leaue as little to the Iudge as may be because man is subiect to corruption and except Gods grace be a law within thee suspect that in a strong pursuite of lust thou who art as Iudge to aduise thy selfe wilt hardly be a law to thy selfe to gouerne thee But if thou be fearfull to giue a little libertie to thine heart in euill a great shall not master thee if thou feare anger thou shalt be no murtherer if thou flee from the baite the snare shall not catch thee Euer beare this in minde Sinne as it groweth it will be predominant and get the masterie And a man may as well be mad with reason as sinne with reason and think to moderate himself when he will yeeld once and be euer a slaue for sinne will force thee to yeeld after euen as a strong fit of an ague maketh him to doe whom it strongly shaketh Thus much for this time THE EIGHTIE FIVE SERMON ON THE XVI CHAPTER OF THE BOOKE OF IVDGES NOw to proceed in the story because we see how Samson though otherwise indued of God with singular graces yet was most impotently giuen ouer to the loue of women when wee doe not reade that hee was else tainted with other sins let it admonish vs that we may possibly be more weake in resisting and more prone to the committing of some one sinne then of another and it shall not bee amisse for vs to think seeing we haue so many examples of it in Scripture that this sin of his is more common among the most then other The which I say to this end that euery one of vs should obserue our selues where we see our selues weakest and there to vse most meanes to strengthen our selues against the same as watching prayer reading and this not houerly but heartily if we seeke to be the better thereby and in no wise to dare be bold to commit it seeing we cannot but bee as sure of ill successe as Samson was before hee did it When the husband-man suruaies his ground he vseth not to fence where the quick set is strong and thicke but where the hedge is thin or troden downe wee loue to lay on load where there is no need but if there be a blemish in our liues which makes all the rest disgracefull and therefore requireth more labour to blot it out wee cannot abide to set our selues to amend it nor so much as to take knowledge of it And yet one dead flie corrupts a whole pot of the sweetest oyntment and the sweeter the sooner How did Salomons excessiuenesse in this kinde defame all his other excellency and gifts And doe we not see by experience the truth hereof He is an honest man saith one but a couetous an hasty an vncharitable a breaker of promise and one or other interposition there is to eclipse his light credit Yea and as Paul in the like kinde spake of the house of Cloe there is cause Now in this so weighty a case what do we euen tush off the matter and say One infirmity is none and wee hope that our many good qualities in our conceit at least must priuiledge vs and license vs for a few scapes Alas we erre foully one secret lurking companion is enough to betray the house and when we are espied what say men of vs but this Nay hee that will doe thus or thus will do worse I dare not trust him in any kind if occasion serue Oh cast out that diuell by watching fasting prayer and oft renued couenant which lurketh behind to doe mischiefe when many others seeme to be cast out And till then beare not thy head on high for doubtlesse God will not suffer such a one to prosper and what doe we professing if we take this liberty except we wil haue our good deeds shame our euil and become execrable because of their company as Israel was for Achans sinne Wee will not keepe a seruant in our house otherwise none of the worst but painfull for some leaud qualities sake though he would giue vs his seruice and shall God endure vs A man may feele what the sin is which hee cherisheth as well as the meate he loueth and he that doth know it let him know God is not mocked let him not suffer that sinne to rankle and fester in him but labour to purge out euery superfluity of flesh and spirit and to sanctifie the whole lumpe that it may bee seasoned in euery part and the conscience may bee good in all things Now we haue heard that she had brought him to tell her where his great strength lay let vs shut vp this second part of the Chapter and see what followed vpon this which is set downe in these next three verses First shee caused the Philistims to come yet againe to her in better hope then they did before And then causing Samson to sleepe vpon her knee his locks she caused to be cut off the Philistims were there ready to take him and he thinking to doe as hee had in times past done and to free himselfe out of their hands he found too late as Adam after eating the fruit that the Lord was departed from him Heere in that shee and the Philistims hauing been disappointed and deceiued so oft euen three times at the least yet for all that are not discouraged nor wearied but goe on still yea and preuaile at length we may see how euill persons are not withheld nor discouraged from their bad attempts but take hart and go forward after many repulses The reason is they haue hope to preuaile and doe not commonly misse of their purpose following it so earnestly and going so substantially to worke as they doe God suffering them to goe forward seeing hee is purposed to destroy them This is most cleerely to bee seene in the spitefull and shamelesse attempts of the Priests against our Sauiour in seeking his life Though Pilate had three times alleaged his innocency to them and giuen them their answere to desist yet could they not bee made to leaue off but procured by themselues their false witnesses and other confederates in such wise that they had that which they sought before they made an end But if this diligence and vnweariednesse in good causes bee sought for in them who yet are such as would gladly effect them where shall they bee found Nay they are soone answered and put off as faint suters Ester indeed and some other did ieopard their liues in and for a good cause to preserue the Church of God in their time but how many followers of them may be seene Indeed many logs are in the way to hinder goodnesse and much discouragement is giuen to such as would bee forward but yet mens backwardnesse for all that may in no wise be excused For what know we whether the Lord may one time