him but for that which we haue heard of him for it is not only Blessed are the eyes that see but also Blessed are the eares that heare the things that you heare Nor is it Blessed are the pappes that gaue thee sucke but rather blessed are they that heare the word of God and keepe it Ecclesiastes saith well Take heed to thy foote when thou entrest into the house of GOD and be more nere to heare then to giue the sacrifice of fooles for they know not that they doe euill The Maiesty and mercy of our God cannot be seene with mortall eye but he is apprehended by faith and hearing without further processe search or scrutiny Thomas may sound into his wound by feeling but he cā neuer sound his will but by hearing For euen as in aged Isaac when he blessed Iacob all his senses failed him but hearing and onely in that he was not deceiued So in the knowledge of Christ our Sauiour and in the certaintie of his trueth all our senses are senselesse but that of hearing the voyce is Iacobs voyce but the hands are the hands of Esau. The Paganes papizing and our Papists paganizing are palpable in their religion pleasing they are to all their senses in all their deuotions but onely to that of hearing and that also if it be fed with pipe and Organ but if you speake of preaching and would fil it with heauenly harmony they shut the dores they stop their eares and they will not heare charme you neuer so wisely Onely in this Isaac said true It is the voice of Iacob but when he said They are the hands of Esau he was deceiued Iacobs voice will not deceiue it is the word of God but Esau his hands will still deceiue you they are but the inuentions of men and beggerly rudiments of this world as Touch not tast not handle not which all perish with the vsing and are after the commandements doctrine of men And spake of him to all that looked for redemption in Ierusalem When the heart is full the mouth will vent and as is the liquor within so is the relish without I haue beleeued and therfore haue I spoken saith one and of the aboundance of the heart the mouth speaketh saith another Anna was full of her Christ therefore she could not but vent him she had treasured him vp in her dearest thoughts and for that she could not but lay him out to her best aduantage O wel said the kingly Prophet Dauid I will giue thanks vnto the Lord among the people I will sing praises vnto thee among the nations To thanke GOD in priuate is much to speak of him among the people is more but among the nations to sing his praises is most of all The doctrine is good and this it is the godly are neuer wanting in the practise of this piety that as they are faithfull and true to God in beleeuing so are they charitable towards men in publishing their Christ pregnant they are and they cannot but bring forth Consider what she speakes of she reades no destinies nor tels no old wiues tales she reports no newes like the Athenians or speaks of belly-cheare like the slow bellyed Cretians her speach is of no ryot ribaldry or wantonnesse but she speakes of him viz. of her Christ to all that looked for redemption in Ierusalem According to that of Peter If any man speake let him speak as the words of God Whereby we are admonished that our speach should be chaste godly and gracious euer tending to edification and the building vp of our brother in god lines and piety alwaies mindfull of our sauiours aduertisemēt that For euery idle word we must giue an account thereof at the day of iudgement And surely this is true sanctified and spirituall speeches do inflame the soule according to that of the Psalmist Ignitum eloquium tuum vehementer seruus tuus dilexit illud Thy word is wonderfull fiery and thy seruant loueth it And whereunto accordeth Ieremy 30.9 His word was in mine heart as fire c. And that of Cleopas Did not our hearts melt within vs when he talked with vs of these things But contrarily vaine idle and prophane speeches doe quenche the fire of our loue towards God and man according to that of the Apostle Stay prophane vaine bablings for they shall increase vnto more vngodlinesse And againe Euill words corrupt good manners and Sit omnis oratio tua in praeceptis altis simi Let thy talke be with the wise and all thy communication in the Lawe of the most high It is here further to be obserued that this blessed Matron spake of God not to all but to such as looked for redemption in Ierusalem To teach vs that wee must not cast our pearles before swine or giue holy things to dogs for such are not capable of heauenly doctrine or diuine mysteries witnesseth the Apostle Carnalis homo nō percipit ea quae sunt spiritus dei The naturall man perceiueth not the things of the spirit of God as also Esay the Prophet 28.9 Whom shall hee teach knowledge and whom shall hee make to vnderstand the things that he heareth them that are weaned from the milke and drawne from the brests And Dauid Secreta domini timētibus eum the secrets of the Lord are reuealed to thē that feare him c. Sapientiā loquimur inter perfectos But woe is me to tell fewe looke for redemption as it is in the text either of their sinnes of their sauiour or of their lost time of their sinnes wherein they liue which they are so farre from breaking off by repentance that rather they solace themselues in them according to that Laetantur cū malefecerunt et exultant in rebus pessimis The wicked are glad when they doe euill and reioice in their wickednes to preach to such is to beate the aire But rather our words will cary weight pierce and wound such as trauell and bee heauy laden groane vnder the burthen of their sinnes and looke for the day of their redemption And as for the time lost who doth redeeme it though the daies be dangerous And so I conclude from all I haue said of Anna her vnfolding of the heauenly misteries to such as looke for redemption in Ierusalem The misteries of God are treasures hid in the ground of our hearts wherein the Lord would bee kept as in a field of blessing which if thou discouer to the Babilonians that is make knowne to the wicked and vnworthy as Hezechia did to the messengers of Meradock-Baladan King of Babel when hee shewed them the house of the treasuries the siluer and the gold and the spice and the precious ointments and all the house of his armour I say take heede of the like sinne least thou fall into the like iudgement which is to go captiue
⧠TO THE Right worshipfull Sir PETER LEIGH Knight grace be multiplied in this life and happinesse in the world to come AS Hanna dedicated her Samuel a Nazarite to her God at Shilo so am I bold at your intreaty to separate this mine Anna a Prophetesse to the Lord at Ierusalem and do pray 〈◊〉 may passe vnder the shelter of your worshipfull protection The Saint is but homely arrayed and not for these curious daies wherein wee liue and in which the Son though clad with glory yet cannot runne it course but with censure either of too high a pitch and then it burneth or of too lowe a being and so it heateth not Atheists Papists and Libertynes will censure my plainnesse both in matter of faith and fact I looke for no other but to feele their piercing eye and venomous tooth yet if I escape in some measure the sorrow of my Sauiour sighing and saying Thus was I wounded in the house of my friends I make lesse reckoning of those that are without Haply the Title of the booke may seeme strange and from the subiect therein handled but if you thinke vpon the Ladder Iacob saw in the way to Padan-aram whose first step was on earth and last step in heauen you will finde that none can attaine perfection aboue but first his feete must stand in the Lords presence belowe It was Anna her holy haunt she frequented the Church here that she might come to blessednesse there we may not leap out of our mothers wombe into our fathers ioy but wee must goe by staires from the Temple of grace to the Tower of glory In the meane time this is yours and so am I in all duty and deuotion obliged by many your respectiue fauours to me and mine from you and yours Nor doe I hope you will conceiue the length breadth and depth of the loue I beare you can euer bee contained within the circle of these fewe lines Epistles and papers may point at more loue then they can expresse but the heart is the closet that keepeth all how euer these papers speake And so I leaue you with my very good Lady your wife and all yours to the mercifull protection of the Almightie From London this 14. of December 1608. Your Worships euer in my loue W. LEIGH To my louing Countrymen but especially to the Parishioners of Standish in Lancashire MY deere brethren beloued and longed for these twenty yeares haue I wrastled with God as Iacob did in Bethel in teares and prayers to gaine a blessing to my selfe in the saluation of your soules and with what fruit he knoweth best who knoweth all as a father I haue trauailed in birth againe and againe that Christ might be formed or at least confirmed in you Many a Sabboth haue we sanctified with a double solemnity of prayer praise and prophesie Many a moneth haue we celebrated the Lords Table with the blessed memory of his death and passion Many a time as a Nurse haue I wiped and wrapped vp your stains and many a careful night haue I told in mourning after your defectioÌ„s And for any wrong I euer did you heere I am beare record with me before the Lord before his anoynted whose Oxe haue I taken or whom haue I impleaded God will witnesse with me before whom I stand in the sight of men and Angels that I neuer sought yours but you that you might be moulded for a better life and that Christ might be formed in you Yet may I say in some sort as it is in the Prophet This day is a day of tribulation and rebuke for the children are come to the birth and there is no strength to bring forth I speake not of all for many of you hath the Lord chosen and you are my hope my ioy and reioycing in the presence of our Lord Iesus Christ at his comming but of many I may say I feare left I haue bestowed vpon them labour in vaine While some with Reuben abide among the sheepfolds to heare the bleatings of the flocke they are couetous Some with Gilead abide beyond â—orden in the greene fields and medowes of their delights and they are carelesse Some with Dan remaine in ships and are gone beyonde the seas they dote vpon their Romish Idols and they are faithlesse Some with Meroz sit at home in the cels of their superstition and they are resolute recusants who will not come to helpe the Lord to helpe the Lord against the mightie Well I say no more but this These diuisions of Tribes are great thoughts of heart yet may we not bee heartlesse but hold on our course with vnwearied diligence hoping that if we sowe in teares we shall reape in ioy as did they of whom it is sayd by the Psalmist Ibant flebant mittentes sua semina They went weeping and carried precious seede but they shall returne with ioy and bring their sheaues A glayning of which sheaffe formerly fallen into your eares but now I feare forgotten and gone out of your hearts I haue thought good againe to present vnto your carefull and christian viewe for it grieueth me not to rehearse the same things often and for you it is expedient Asaphs song was melodious though Israel soÌ„g it ofteÌ„ the Arks marching about Iericho seuen times was no shame in the siege sacking of Iericho As it is an office of the holy Ghost to leade vs into all truth so is it to bring all things to our remembrance which haue been told vs seldome told often forgotten and who is sufficient for these things You are nailes of the Sanctuary and it is not one stroke can fasten you to your hold but you must be often riuited with the same heart hand and hammer I hope to see you in the high feast of Christ his Natiuity towards yet for that I know not how the Lord may dispose of me and of mine occasions abrode I haue sent you this first step towards heauen as an exercise for the time It was Anna her holy haunt looking and longing for Israels coÌ„solation I pray God you may trace it on earth as she then did so shall you be sure to treade it in heauen as she now doth My good worshipfull friend required it I may not deny it your soules need it I may not withdraw it Take it then as a pledge of my deerest loue euer in my praier with you euer in my practise for you And now the very God of peace sanctifie you throughout so as both in soule spirit and body you may be kept blamelesse vnto the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ faithfull is he which calleth you which will also do it Brethren pray for vs and the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ be with you all Amen From London this 14. of December 1608. Yours in the Lord assured W. LEIGH ANNA HER HOLY HAVNT LVK. 2. 36 ANd there was a Prophetesse one Anna the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of
thinke diuinity too base for their profession O that wee had the gleanings of our noble gentle and princely bloud for the credit of our religioÌ„ weaned vowed and dedicated as Anna did her Samuel Nazarites for the Lord and in her owne words thus I will bring him that he may appeare before the Lord and there abide for euer The Lord from Horeb inioyned this exercise to all fathers that they should teach their children thus when thy sonne shall aske rhe in time to come What mean these testimonies and ordinances and lawes then thou shalt say vnto thy sonne c. Hezechiah rehearseth it as a benefit to all posterity that godlinesse should flowe from faithfull fathers to faithfull children The liuing the liuing hee shall confesse thee as I doe this day the father to the children shall declare thy truth And Paule leaueth it for an instruction irreuocable Ye fathers prouoke not your children to wrath but bring them vp in instruction information of the Lord. Of the Tribe of Ashur That Anna her testimony of Christ might bee of greater credit shee is here commended for the tribe wherof she came which was Ashur the eight son of Iacob but before I come to speak of that tribe in particular giue me leaue a little to tell you of the tribes in generall And why the spirit of God hath beene so carefull to distinguish tribe froÌ„ tribe in the course of all the scriptures which was I assure you for no other cause but to find out the promised seede eueÌ„ Christ the Messias and sauiour of all the world his blessed line and linage I say to proue the incarnation that sith it was his good pleasure to bowe the heauens and come downe to bee manifested in the flesh it might appeare in what flesh For as in the search of AchaÌ„s stealth Iosua seuered tribe from tribe and family from family maÌ„ from man till he came to Achan the sonne of Carmi of the tribe of Iuda and he was taken So search the scripture you shall finde in the booke of generations how carefull the Spirit hath been to seuer tribe froÌ„ tribe house from house man from man till it came to Iesus Christ the son of Dauid the sonne of Abraham the father of all the faithfull and so of Isaac Iacob and Iudah Now that Anna the prophetesse is of the tribe of Ashur and neither of the tribe of Leui or Iudah it is much to instruction and consolation to see that neither the spirit of prophesie is tyed to Leui nor saluation onely to the tribe of Iuda nor we must dispaire of the grace of God sith the Lord hath giuen saluation apparantly to those that were of another tribe yea to geÌ„tiles aliants from the common weale of Israel For if you looke into the booke of God yee shall find that Ashur was the sonne of Zilpa handmaid to Lea. Gen. 30.12.13 O Lord how wonderfull are thy mercies and waies past finding out The lawful wife despised the handmaid respected of her must come Ashur one of the tribes in Israel and of that tribe sealed vnto saluation as many as of the tribe of Iuda euen twelue thousand Now in this particular tribe of Ashur whereof Anna came I doe obserue a double blessing prophesied of one by Iacob honorable of much fruit and great aboundance thus Concerning Ashur his bread shall be fat and he shall giue pleasures for a king By Moses a religious and as it were a pregnant prophesie of this Anna the daughter of Phanuel for saith he Ashur shal be blessed with children and he shall be acceptable vnto his brethren and shal dip his foote in oile Thy shoes shall be iron and brasse and thy streÌ„gth shall continue as long as thou liuest For the first it may seeme that Ashur was an honourable Tribe and for honour to be humbled to the obedience of Christ and of his gospell is a rare thing in this wicked world for not many mightie not many noble are called but GOD hath chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise and God hath choseÌ„ the weake things of the world to confound the mightie things and vile things of the world and things which are despised hath god chosen and things which are not to bring to nought the things that are that no flesh should reioice in his presence Nay many in respect of this that they are great noble princely haue dipt their foote in oile as was said of Ashur they take occasion thereby to wax proud vaine cruell against the poore grieuous ouer the Saints of God respecting religion with like reuerence as RubeÌ„ did his fathers bed who defiled it and so do they therefore I may say as he did your dignitie is gone Honour noblenes and gentility stand not so much in your desceÌ„t as in your asceÌ„t not how you are descended of men but how you doe ascend to God it is not the greatnesse of your bloud but the generosity of your spirit soaring like Eagles where Christ is feeding vpon him your selues bringing him downe for others repast to iustifie that Kings shall be thy nursing fathers Queenes shall be thy nurces they shal worship thee Which and if you doe not then take heede to your place high callings for PoteÌ„tes poteÌ„ter tormeÌ„ta patâ—eÌ„tur the mighty shall be mightily tormeÌ„ted Topheth is prepared of old euen for the mightie it is prepared Fulmen petit culmen The higher the spire the nearer to fire But come we to Moses prophesie of Ashur which seemes more proper to the present occasion as it were a pregnant prophesy of Anna Ashur shall bee blessed in his children c. Ashur in Phanuel Phanuel in Anna Anna in her Christ of whoÌ„ shee trauelled in expectation till shee saw him in the flesh presented in the Temple Ashur was blessed in his children Anna in her Christ. Ad to the blessing of the faithfull children a singular and rare constancy in the faith by such obedience thereunto as appertaineth mentioned in this Thy shoes shall bee yron and brasse and thy strength shall continue as long as thou liuest or as it is in one translation according with the originall Sicut dies iuuentutis tuae ita et senectus tua True in Anna if euer in any of that tribe whose shoes were yron and brasse she stedily stoode to the faith of Christ from the first day of her virginity to the last day of her widdowhead I say so long as she liued shee did continue a virgine a wife a widdow and was found faithfull and constant in all estates Sicut dies iuuentutis ita et senectutis As was her youth so was her age A iust reproofe to the men and women of these our wretched dayes wherein for the most part all are shod with corke for shoes of brasse and yron wee are not of Ashur stidy
God if they serue him by halfes performe some things but not all according to the lawe of the Lord Halfe prayer halfe preaching halfe Sacrament halfe Saboath will serue their turne in their demi-deuotion but Ioseph and Mary performed all Secondly such as do performe a seruice but after their own fashion vsing for doctrines of the Lord mens traditions in a voluntary religion and will worship neuer taught from Horeb neuer enioyned of the Lord to whom I may say with the Prophet Who required these things at your hands Moses was faithfull from the gold to the goats haire our faithfulnesse is more in the haire then in the gold The vse of al is this by the example of Ioseph and Mary to ayme at perfection in all our actions with God who requireth thee to bee faithfull and neuer to breake off thy course till thou hast finished the race for what will it profite thee to begin at the Font and to breake off ere thou come to the Graue to begin in the spirit and to end in the flesh to haue ingresse in Christ and egresse in Anti-christ sacramentally to reteyne Christ by baptisme really to forsake faith by breaking the vow I say what wil it profit thee to shift from Sodome vpon the Lords commaund and to looke backe and lust after it ere thou come at Zoar Irridebunt te sane Daemones Diuels will deride thee as one saith say hic homo coepit edificare non potuit consummare He began to build but he could not finish Iobs constancy was no lesse if not of greater perfectnesse in the feare seruice of his God wheÌ„ he said Chap. 27. vers 36. So long as my breath is in mee and the spirit of God within my nostrels my lippes surely shall speake no wickednesse and my tongue shall vtter no deceipt God forbid that I should iustifie you vntill I dye I will neuer take away mine innocency from my selfe Paule Paule thy contentions were many for the truth yet was thy constancy aboue all thy contentions when thou saydst with perfect faith and feeling 2. Tim. 4.7 I haue fought a good fight I haue finished my course I haue kept the faith The second thing clearing the humanity and incarnation of Christ is his persecution in this that they Returned into Galily to their owne city Nazareth Implying thereby that immediately after he was presented in the Temple and his mother was purified according to the law and hauing now recouered the strength shee had lost in her late labor wherby she became more able to vndergo the iourney Now must they to Aegypt ere they might returne into Galily to their owne City Nazareth This their flight foreseene of the Lord and foretold to Ioseph is set down at large by Matthew in the second chapter of his Gospell but omitted by Luke in this place To teach vs that it is vsual with the Euangelists ofteÌ„ one to omit that which another hath some one to supply that which is waÌ„ting in the rest so as all in one and not any one for all doe make perfect the circle of Christ his line life death and doctrine So is the body of all the Scriptures soulelesse and imperfect if you stand vppon any one booke without the supply of all but liuely absolute and perfect in their ioynt and iust proportion like the vision of wings wheeles beasts mentioned in Ezechiel which neuer goe but as they are chained linked and locked together The vse then is this that if you wil vnderstand one Scripture you must examine it by another and if you will bee ignorant in none you must giue your diligence to the reading of all according to that of Christ Search the scriptures for in them ye thinke to haue eternall life and they are they which testifie of me Not Scripture but Scriptures Some are of opinion to whom I assent not that Ioseph and Mary after they had performed the sacrifice of purgation returned to Bethlem that they might dwell there but it was not to be imagined that Ioseph had a dwelling place there where hee was so vnknowne that he could not finde a place to remain in as a guest And therefore I doe easily graunt that the iourney into Egypt was between these that is after the purification and presentation and before their returne backe to Nazareth So as that which Luke sayth of their dwelling again in their own City Nazareth was in order of time after their flight into Egypt which Matthew reporteth Chap. 2.19 c. Where if the story report aright Christ with his parents remained in exile full seuen yeares for so they calculate the time from Herode his slaughter of Innocents to the daies of Archelaus his sonne at what time Ioseph againe heard from the Angel of the Lord Arise and take the Babe and his mother and goe into the land of Israel for they are dead which sought the Babes life All to testifie that which was spoken of the Lord by the Prophet Out of Egypt haue I called my sonne A wonderful worke and prouidence of God that the Sauiour of Iudah should be cast out of Iuda and Egypt should nourish him Egypt I say euen Egypt from whence neuer any thing came before but euen that which was deadly to the Church of God If the Princes of Iuda will persecute Ieremy and cast him into the dungeon the Lord wil raise vp Ebedmeleck the Nigro to deliuer him out of that danger And true it is that the wise king saith If a mans wayes do please the Lord he will make his enemies at peace with him And it may be the Prophet meant this or the like prouidence of God towards our Sauior here and Saints else where when he saith The VVolfe shall dwell with the Lambe and the Leopard shall lye with the Kid and the Calfe and the Lyon and the fat beasts together and a little child shall leade them and the sucking child shall play vpon the hole of the Aspe and the weaned child shal put his hand vppon the Cockatâ—ice hole The Lord can play with poyson and tame the cruellest in his prouidence when he pleaseth to preserue either Saint or Sauiour If his prouidence be vpon the fire it burneth not if vppon the water it drowneth not if vppon the seas they swell not if vppon the windes they blow not if vppon the Lyons they deuoure not if vpon Egypt it persecuteth not if vpon the sonne it goeth not if vpon the graues they detaine not but deliuer vp their dead to the glory of their God according to that of Augustine Vbicunque fuerit prouidentia frustraÌ„tur vniuersa contraria Where the Lord hath his prouidence all crosse incounters are defeated But the vse is this though Egypt did preserue him yet Iudah did persecute him and soone it pricked that would be a thorne for if you search with care and sound with iudgement you
godly nature did not increase or waxed in this world but filled all yet was fined from all it knewe all things and was ignorant of nothing The idle Monks from their dern Cels haue much busied themselues about Christ his miracles done in the daies of his infancy when he was a Babe and a child They haue filled the world with many a fable of his deedes and doings in Egypt Bethlem Nazareth much like vnto that of S. Christopher the gyant who shrunk vnder the burthen of this Babe as they say when he bare the world vpon his backe like an Atlas but leaue we these idle drones in their derne diuinity and be we silent of that whereof the Scripture saith nothing but that of his persecution into Egypt Of his growth in stature with much increase of wisdome grace and fauour both with God and man Moses buriall was vnknowne lest the people should commit idolatry vppon his graue and the Lord would shut vp in like silence what Mary said and the child did in the dayes of his infancy lest the world might bee too curious of that in Christ which little concerned their saluation The aduertisement is good from the spirit of our God The secret things belong to the Lorde our God but the thinges reuealed belong vnto vs and to our children for euer that we may do all the workes of this law And now to shut vp all with the shower of his mercy Exinaniuit se He humbled himselfe that we might be exalted He bowed the heauens took our flesh with our infirmities that he might haue experience of our miseries and though hee were a sonne yet learned hee obedience by the things which he suffered He suffered wearinesse that we might haue rest He suffered hunger that we might bee filled He suffered ignorance that wee might haue knowledge Hee suffered death that wee might haue life And he did endure a crowne of thorne that we might be honoured with a Diademe of glory his strange cryes his salt teares his deepe sighes with many griefes and groanings shew to our solace that wee haue not an high Priest which cannot bee touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all things tempted in like sort yet without sinne And it is heere foolishly obiected that ignorance and these infirmities could not light vppon Christ because they are the punishments of sin the same may be sayd also of death But rather the Scripture affirmeth that he fulfilled the office of a mediator because what punishment soeuer we had deserued hee tooke from vs and layde vppon himselfe yea euen hell it selfe with all it horrour though some say contrary neither do we think that all ignorance is a punishmeÌ„t of sinne For it cannot bee thought that AdaÌ„ wheÌ„ he was yet perfect knew all things neither doe the Angels beare the punishment of sin when they are ignorant of anie thing They know much but not all for then were they as God they are ignorant of the last day so is Christ as the son of man though not as the son of God And therefore the speech of our Sauiour is indefinite But of that day and houre knoweth no man no not the angels which are in heauen neither the son himselfe saue the father Where as Ciril obserueth in his 9. booke of Treasures Chap. 4. he saith not the holy Ghost is ignorant but the Angels and the sonne neither doth he say the sonne of God but the sonne onely that it might not be grieuous to the Angels men to be ignorant of the last day therefore he saith the son also is ignorant and this is no derogation to his God-head as he was God he knewe it well but as hee was man hee was ignorant of it The vse is good that if Christ was not ashamed to confesse his ignorance as hee was man wee should neuer so stand vpon our learning and skill as to make our selues ignorant of nothing for to be ignorant of that which the Lord will not reueale is Docta ignorantia a learned and a deuoute ignorance Christ grewe we may not wither Christ increased wee may not stand at a stay woe is me to tell all states either stand at a stay or else are in a woefull declination The child waxed we men waine body spirit did grow together in him wee pamper the flesh we pine the soule we are of no growth for godlinesse We might haue been ere this men of might of ready resolution and of ripe iudgement strong as Sampson But Dalila hath cut our haires whereby we are become as weake as water and the Philistines haue put out our eies wee see nothing O tel it not in Gath nor publish it in the streets of Ashkelon lest the daughters of the Philistins reioice lest the vncircuÌ„cised be glad Popery practiseth much and hath mightily preuailed to make at if not to put â—ut the eyes of piety and our dalliance with the pleasures of this worlde in the lap of her delights as with Dalila hath cut off our strength made vs carelesse of our God O tell it not in Gath c. Caleb desired of Iosua that hee might possesse Hebron there to fight with the sons of Anakim for that they were mightie men and gyants And he went with this resolution I am this day 85. yeares old yet am I as strong as I was when Moses sent me as strong as I was then so strong am I now eyther for warre or for gouernment As was his name so was his nature Caleb is steele he grewe in strength with the child Iesus the number of his yeares abated not the vigor of his spirit he chose HebroÌ„ that he might cut off Anakim we flee Hebron for feare of Anakim we haue no courage for the truth Too too carefull we are of our selues and of our children that our bodies and theirs be faireful fashionable and yet al that grace is but grasse but for their growth in godlinesse piety and knowledge of the Lord for their strength in spirit and aboundance of heauenly grace we reckoÌ„ little and we regard or looke after no increase If it please God in iudgment to cut downe our children friends or family in the blade and greeuenesse of their yeares good Lord how then we waile weepe with Rachel for that they are not But when we see them dead in transgressions blasted with sinne shame and ryot we neuer shrinke or sorrow at it but rather solace our selues in the sight of their sinnes Answere me O answere me thou carelesse Christian why art thou so faithlesse in their funerals Quid corpus plangis a quo recessit anima animaÌ„ non plangis a qua recessit Deus Why doest thou weepe ouer the body whereout the soule is gone and mournest not ouer the soule whereout God is gone Fruits of the flesh must decrease but fruits of the Spirit
Prince and blessed Progenie the only remaine of our religious hope Nor hath the Lord yet failed vs in his prouidence but his mercie towards vs is stretched out stil fortie foure yeares wee enioyed a peerelesse Prince and a Maiden Queene as was her name so was her nature ordained of GOD to giue vs his peace for so is Elizabeth euen Gods rest But when her glasse was runne and done she must to demurre with death Then I say euen then if the Lord had failed vs in the right of succession we might haue said as Beâ—seba did to Dauid in the like extremitie If thou Lord doe not appoint a successor I and my sonne Solomon shall be reputed vile I say if any Romish Adonias had succeeded Elizabeth all the Protestants in the Land ere this had beene reputed vile but thou Lord God of the spirits of all flesh hast not failed vs but appointed a man ouer the congregation to lead vs out and in that the congregation of the Lord shoulde not bee as sheepe which haue no shepheard And as Moses praied for Iosua so doe we for thine annointed O giue him of thy glorie that all the congregation of the children of Israell may obey And so to come and close with the rest I ayme at hauing passed by the Lords prouidence so many Iordens of dangers and hauing enioyed so many merciful refreshings like the sweet running waters of Shiloas that goe softly by Sion hauing I say bene made blessed by so many deliuerances of old and now by this of new the greatest of all endangered by men but deliuered by God now let vs ioyntly giue him the glory who hath made vs so glorious by deliuerance Dread Soueraigne deare Queene sweet Prince and progenie cast downe your Crownes at the feete of your Sauiour and say Wee haue beene saued by thee Earles Nobles and Barons lay by your Robes of estate with your ensignes of honour praise him who hath preserued you and say We haue beene saued by thee You officers in Court resigne vp your staues into the handes of God and say We haue beene supported by thee Ye learned Bishops and Fathers of the Church slide from your Consistories and say to the great Bishop of your soules Wee haue beene kept by thee Ye Knights Squiers and Gentry of the Land vnarme your selues and with your Crests lay your Lawrell in the lappe of Christ and say Wee haue conquered through thee Thou high Court of Parliament dissolue for a time and say O Angell of the great Counsell we will consult with thee And lastly Thou Lord God of Gods and preseruer of men let there bee silence in heauen for the space of halfe an houre till these Saints praises and praiers be offered vp So shall wee sing with a godly Ouation and a grace in our hearts Kings of the earth and all people Princes al Iudges of the world yong men and maides olde men and babes praise the name of the Lord for his name onely is excellent and his praise aboue heauen and earth hee hath exalted the horne of his people his Saints shall praise him euen the children of England whom he loueth and hath made so glorious by deliuerance Praise the Lord O virgin daughter London Praise thy God O England the glorie of Kingdomes and beauty of all Europes honor for he hath made fast the barres of thy gates and hath blessed thy children within thee hee hath set peace in thy borders and satisfied thee with the flower of wheat Let the praise of God therefore bee euer in thy mouth and a sharpe two edged sword in thy hands to be auenged of the Heathenish Atheist and to rebuke the bloudie Papist such honor haue al Saints And now to speake to you Authors and Abettors of these desperate Treasons Cease your Rebellions lay by your bloudie designes recount with your selues your former both faithlesse and fruitlesse attemptes against the Lord and against his annointed Reckon with your selues your former losses in the yeere 1588. wheÌ„ the windes the Seas Rocks and Shelues fought for vs when the Riuer Kishon swept them away from our English Coast to Dingie Cush in Ireland with a Beesome of such destruction to their great Armadae and frighting to our English Fugitiues abroad of their fauorites at home as by the grace of God hath brought them out of all heart out of all abilitie and possibilitie euer to atteÌ„pt the like Learne what it is to fight with GOD Wee must increase you must decrease for Babilon is fallen so told you by the Angel as a thing already past and done and doubled in speech like Pharaos dreame to tell you of the certaintie and expedition thereof Cease O cease to prouoke the Lord any longer and ende your mallice against his Saints ere malice end you lest hee say vnto you as he did vnto Mount Seir Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred and hast put the Israell of God to flight by the force of the sword in the time of their calamitie when their iniquitie had an end Therefore as I liue saith the Lord God I will prepare thee vnto bloud and bloud shall pursue thee except thou hate bloud euen bloud shall pursue thee God is witnesse before whom I stand in the sight of men Angels that I speake not this to seeke the bloud of any their bloud bee vppon themselues and theirs till they haue dried it vp by vnfained repentance I wish the conuersion of all viis modis by all good meanes I wish our Lawes may still be written in milke and that his Maiesties Royall heart may continue a depth of rare mercie I wish our preaching may sauour peace and that the Magistrate may still strike with a trembling hand Yet giue me leaue to pray withall that the rage of the enemy neuer grow so sower as to turne our milke into bloud mercy into iudgement peace into war sythes into swords and them to be hallowed in the bloud one of another which I feare both must will ensue if they grow so great in the contempt of God so grieuous to their Soueraigne and so intollerable to the State which if they doe then be wise O ye Kings be learned ye that be iudges of the earth Let mercy and truth meet together in you Let righteousnes and peace kisse each orher Take the sword into your owne hands and strike O ye Worthies of Israell for Zeba and Zalmana will neuer be killed by the weake hands of Iethro for as the man is so is his strength The Minister may speake the inferior Magistrate may strike and both with a trembling heart and hand like the child Iethro but assure your selues that Romish Zeba and Popish Zalmana will neuer die till you rise vp and with your owne hands fall vpon them as Gedeon did for as the man is so is his strength Sit in vobis materna pietas
to Babilon robbed of all thy riches and the virgin Sion mourne to see her sonnes or Eunuches in the pallace of the King of Babell If wee preach peace and they will not receiue peace wee may shake the dust of that place from our feete and bee gone that dust shall iudge dust in the great day Into the citie of Samaria enter ye not they looked for no redemption and therefore the secret therof might not be reueled vnto theÌ„ according to that Secreta domini timeÌ„tibus euÌ„ the secret of the Lord is reuealed to them that feare him If any shall say beeing suncke in sinne wee are no worse then dogs and yet dogs may eate of the crums that fall from their masters table I answere true indeed if you rise out of sin be no such dogs as bite and barke at our deuotions but come in all humility and as the Chananite did sue and seeke in true faith and feeling the cruÌ„mes of mercy that fal froÌ„ your masters table then come and taste with Anna how sweete the Lord is then come speake of him with Anna to all that looke for redemption in Ierusalem And when they had performed all these things according to the Law of the Lord they returned into Galilie to their owne city Nazareth Although this scripture say nothing of Anna whose story hitherto we haue followed for the better manifesting of Christ in the flesh yet it is necessary to be annexed further to make plaine the history of Christ his incarnation by speciall growth in body and strength in spirit with al complements of wisedome fauour and grace both with God and man Wherein I pray you would obserue three things all clearing the truth of the incarnation and prouing our Christ to be perfect man against Ebion Carpocrâ—s Cerinthus and such like who dire the deity in denying some the humanity some the diuinity I say this is cleared in this place by a threefold subiection whereunto the Lord would yeeld himselfe as the Son of man but neuer as the Son of God The first is his subiection to the Law out of these words when they had performed all things according to the Lawe The second was his subiection to persecution which I may terme a iudgement of the Lawe in these words they returned into Galilie to their owne citty Nazareth The third and last is his subiection to increase and growth in body and strength in spirit by little and little infallible proofes of his humanity and no waye applyant to the diuinity out of these words And the child grew and waxed strong c. Christ was subiect and vnder the Lawe 1. Morall 2. Ceremoniall 3. Iudiciall According to that When the fulnesse of time was come God sent foorth his sonne made of a woman and vnder the Law that he might redeeme them which were vnder the Lawe that we might receiue the adoption of sonnes He was subiect to the Lawe Moral when he said Math. 5.17 Thinke not that I came to destroy the Lawe or the Prophets I am not come to destroy them but to fulfill them He was subiect to the Lawe Ceremonial when he was circumcised and presented in the Temple c all ended when the vaile of the Temple rent asunder from the toppe to the bottome which Temple after was ruinated body and all Nepopulus rediret ad Iudaismum He was subiect to the Lawe Iudicial when he endured his painfull passion and vpon the Crosse was cursed for vs all according to that Gal. 3.13 Christ hath redeemed vs from the curse of the Lawe when he was accursed for vs for it is written cursed is euery one that hangeth on a tree He performed all that he might make an end of all so as no lawe might rise vp in iudgement against vs. When Christ was transfigured vpon the holy mount it is sayde that Moses and Elias talked with him and told of his departure which he should suffer at Ierusalem Luk. 9.30.31 To teache you no other then that ye are here taught to wit that Christ is the end and accomplishment both of the Lawe and Prophets whereof Moses and Elias are chiefe for whereat points the Law but at a bloudy sacrifice whereon stand the Prophets but vpon the Messias sent and slaine and what is their communication with Christ but of his departure which he should accomplish at Ierusalem So then the Lawe and the Prophets do accompany Christ and Christ in person doth accomplish them Christ not Moses not Elias nor one of the Prophets and yet Christ with Moses with Elias and with all the Prophets they to find out his lyne he to finish their course And all this sprung from the endlesse fountaine of his loue which loue I may say with the blessed Apostle is the fulfilling of the Law Rom. 13.10 or end if ye wil for so saith the same Apostle The end of the commandement is loue out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and of faith vnâ—aigned which holy loue streamed with his bloud when it issued from all his veines to redeeme vs from this killing lawe Where by double right and authority he hath conquered First as the sonne of God Lord of the law Secondly as the sonne of man in our person which is as much as if wee had ouercome the lawe our selues for his victory is ours All the iurisdiction of the lawe was executed vpon Christ. First it accused him as a blasphemer and a seditious person Secondly it made him guilty before God of the sinnes of the whole world Thirdly it so terrified and oppressed him with heauinesse and anguish of spirit that his sweate was like drops of bloud trickling downe to the ground Luke 2â— 44 And lastly it condemned him to death euen to the death of the crosse a maruellous combate where the law a creature giueth such an assault to his creator and against all right practiseth his whole tyranny vpon the sonne of God and he most innocent But to proceed it may seeme by the text that the Euangelist doth more specially ayme at some performance of the law done by Ioseph and Mary in that it is sayd When they had performed all those things c. True it is this their performaÌ„ce may be a president to vs whereon to looke in all our deuotions First that we leaue nothing vndone which the Lord hath commanded by his law Secondly that wee performe nothing of our owne deuising but as it is enioyned vs by the eternall law of the eternall God The Babe was crucified Mary was purified and the childe presented according to the law they performed al left out nothing they did it according to no deuice of their owne but as the line and leuell of the same lawe ledde them And here two sorts of people are sweetly taught if not iustly taxed by the spirit of God of intollerable impiety First such as thinke they please