liued here vpon earth with vs. Here euery one may wash away all his sinnes bee they neuer so many and filthie This is that riuer of Iordan where Naaman may wash away all his leprosie and his flesh shall come vnto him againe like the flesh of a yong child And this is that poole of Bethesda where euery one may bee cured if hee wash lawfully of whatsoeuer disease hee hath Oh let vs blesse God for this fountaine of liuing waters 5. Fiftly if the law of God terrifie thee and threaten thee with the sentence of death and condemnation then appeale thou to the Gospel and to the law of faith this law is the law of life and is aboue the law of wrath and the law of death this law is like vnto the court of Chancerie which mitigateth the rigour of all other courts this is the law of mercie this is the new law which Christ brought with him from heauen and therfore he would not condemne the woman that was taken in adulterie here euen here thou maiest finde succour and reliefe whensoeuer thou art oppressed with the law of wrath if thou wilt appeale vnto it 6. Lastly whensoeuer the paines of hell catch hold vpon thee and the worme of conscience begin to gnaw within thee for some haue euen here in this life a taste of the torments of hell euen now I say after thou hast felt the sting if thou canst cast thine eyes vpō the brasen Serpent Christ Iesus and looke vpon Gods mercie all thy horrour and feare shall presently flye from thee For hee is our redemption as the Apostle sayth Ephes. 1. By whom we haue redemption through his bloud euen the forgiuenes of our sins and being redeemed ioy and peace of conscience must needes followe Wherefore sayth the Apostle being iustified by faith wee haue peace towardes God They therefore that being not content with a moderate and lawfull sorrow for sinne will by no meanes be brought to receiue the comforts that Christ hath purchased with his most pretious bloud are as much to be blamed as mad mē and contemners of this blessed work of our redemption For what man except hee were mad when hee is redeemed from his prison would goe and chaine vp himselfe againe and bight his owne flesh and so be a prison vnto himselfe I know beloued if God would and if hee were willing with it wee should bee tormented with the sight of our sinnes and with a guiltie conscience continually if hee should streightly marke what were amisse in vs euery moment O Lord who should stand wee should fall vpon our sinnes and our sins should fall vpon vs and wee should both fall vnder Gods reuenging hand and then all comfort should flye from vs but the Lord beloued hee is a God of mercie he would not the death of a sinner as the Prophet Ezechiel teacheth in his 18. chapter I desire not the death of him that dyeth sayth the Lord God With God is mercie with God is ioy with God is comfort with God is light oh who would not embrace this mercifull and sweete God And on the contrary if we fall away from him and if we now neglect his bountiful mercie in offering his grace so freely to redeeme vs from al our sinnes and miseries then it cannot be auoyded but we must needes be whurled into the pit of desolations and one destruction shal follow another Now beloued seeing that wee know our owne miserie and that there is nothing in vs which is found as I haue alreadie shewed vnto you from the sole of the foote vnto the head there is nothing whole therein but wounds and swellings and soresful of corruption they haue not beene wrapped nor bound vp nor mollified with oyle within are horrible desolatiōs without are terrors the sound of mightie iudgements and our destruction is like the ouerthrow of straungers oh why do we then sit still while we perish vtterly Is there no baulme at Gilead saith the Prophet Ieremy is there no mercie in God wherefore now beloued I witnes vnto you al here this day that the Lord is innocent from the death of you all and that if you will not lay hold vpon his mercie so freely proclaimed in your eares by the mouthes of his messengers your bloud shall bee vpon your owne heads for with God is mercie with God are all meanes of your saluation if you will sue vnto him for it Now you good fathers of families make these things knowne vnto your children that they may teach the same again vnto their children after them that God may haue the praise of his mercie through al ages and that all Israel may bee saued as it is written Make your houses little sanctuaries for Gods worship and bee telling of his louing kindnes from day to day let the mercie of God in Christ Iesus be as wel known to your familie as their meate and drinke be not ashamed to speake Christ Iesus because you cannot speake eloquētly the Gospel of Christ as the Apostle telleth you standeth not in words and wisedome of men but in power euidence of the spirite the Lord open your mouthes and fill your hearts with all heauenly wisedom that you may be helpers of Gods ministers to build vp his temple with spiritual stones and that you may lay your children and seruants the polished corners thereof Now after you haue taught your children the remedie against their own miserie which is Gods mercie for there is no other helpe besides this whether we looke to the East or to the West to the North or to the South thē you must shew them also the meane whereby they may come by this and how this mercie of GOD may bee profitable vnto their soules This meane is the hand of faith and without this hand of faith Gods mercie shall profite vs nothing at all God is mercifull in deede yea his mercies are infinite they are a multitude of mercies as the Prophet Dauid speaketh but if thou hast not a hand of faith to lay hold vpon them Gods mercies abide still in himselfe and they shall nothing auaile thee For all the benefit of Christs Gospell is in the vse and application of it Christ is called Emmanuel that is to say God with vs. Alas beloued though God be neuer so good yet without vs he doth vs no good Wherefore wee must get vs faith to draw him into our hearts and this is as the hand that layeth the playster vpon the wound and euen as it little profiteth the wounded man to haue the best medicine lying by him except he had a hand to lay the playster vpon the sore euen so the mercies of God can doe vs small good except wee had a faith to applie them vnto our sinfull soules This then you see is a speciall poynt and therefore most carefully to bee called vpon yea this is euen as necessarie for the life of the soule as
curteous towards their equals to be gentle and lowly to their inferiours and louing and kind to all This is another part of the trade of childrens way and this is no lesse needfull for youth then their meate and their drinke And if this trade and way of nurture bee not taught our children while they bee young when they be old they shall be found so head-strong that they will not bee gouerned but this consequent must needes follow that all order shall bee taken away and then confusion must needes insue For if nurture be neglected then our elders and gouernours shall not be reuerenced if they be not reuerenced they will not be regarded if they be not regarded they will not bee obeyed and if they be not obeyed then steps in rebellion and euery one will doe what he lusteth Now is fulfilled that heauie curse which the Prophet Esay threatned against the children of Israel The people shall be oppressed one of another and euery one by his neighbour the children shall presume against the ancient and the vile against the honorable now the bandes of the Common-wealth are broken and now is such a nation subiect to be rooted out to bee ouerrun of euery enemie or to bee destroyed of it selfe For whence comes warres whence comes seditions enuies braules quarrels fightings whence comes strife and lawings whence comes all manner of loosenes of life and whence comes it that one neighbour can not liue quietly by another but he pineth away and is the worse euery time he seeth his brother All this mischiefe springeth from the neglect of this duetie for that the hearts of such people were not broken and brideled while they were yong by good nurture Now one neighbour like a cur dogge leapeth in the face of another whereas if he had beene trained vp in ciuilitie and good manners though he neither feared God nor loued mā yet euen very shame would hold him from committing this follie Oh beloued good nurture and manners they are the cords and bands of the Common-wealth they are the nurserie of sweete loue and concord they are the preparation to religion it selfe For nurture a child wel breake his affections and teach him awfulnes at home and when hee commeth to Church and heareth the preacher denouncing the heauie threatnings of God against sinne he will by and by beginne to tremble he wil lay it to his heart and feare least he fall afterwards into the same danger whereas the childe that is not thus prepared and manured before when he commeth he careth not whether hee heareth or no but is readie to toy and play with euery bable that runneth in his eye and though at sometimes whether he will or no the word beateth vpon his eares and he must needes heare yet it goeth in at one doore and out at another he careth not for it but goeth away as lewd and reachles as he came and why because hee hath not bin trained vp in awfulnes hath not been so much as instructed and gouerned in ciuill dueties Againe hereof springeth an other mischiefe that euen those which haue imbraced christianitie for want of this good education doe not liue so louingly together as becommeth For when one neglecteth dutie and reuerence towards another by and by there arise dislikings dislikings breede contempt and contempt stirs vp bitter hatred and dissensions So that what is the cause why euen the best professors many times fall out amongst themselues they embrace a religion which is not diuided but one they all thinke one thing and speake one thing but this clownish rudenes and want of ciuilitie will not suffer them long to agree together So that take away good nurture and ciuilitie and there will be no quiet and orderly liuing either in the Church of God or Common-wealth And therefore the Apostle diligently calleth vpon this dutie In giuing honour goe one before another As if he should haue sayd studie and striue who may bee most dutifull For hee which is most dutifull excelleth others and is most honourable Againe S. Peter sayth worthily honour all men where the Apostle by the wisedome of the holy spirit taketh away a double obiection This first is made in the person of the honorable What doe I owe duetie to those that are so farre my inferiours they are to honour mee and I am not to honour them The holy Ghost here steppeth in and sayth honour all men There are degrees in honour and he is most vnworthie which receiueth much and cannot bee content to returne some part backe againe neither is there any kinde of men so base which retaine the least part of Gods image for in the image of God made hee man but they are worthie of some honor for the image sake The second obiection is made in the person of the common people labouring together in poore estate and base trades What must we honour one another it is enough for vs to reuerence our betters small duetie will serue among vs. The holy Ghost here againe replieth honour all men As if he should haue sayd in more words let there be no degree or societie of men so barbarous as to contemne and auoyd all reuerence honor all men honour thy poore equals and thy poore inferiours But now adaies when neighbours meet there is no curteous salutatiō there is no preuenting of duetie but some one bolde word or other cast out and as they meet with rudenes so they depart with clownishnes O if men would vse ciuilitie and curtesie one towards another regard it it would so linke their mindes together in friendship and good wil that no smal offence or dammage should breake them asunder But here let vs find out the cause why this disorderly rudenes so fast springeth vp amongst vs. Truely the onely cause is the negligence of parents in instructing their children And againe what is the cause of this negligence of parents but that either they themselues were brought vppe so rudely too so they teach their children no more because they knowe no better themselues or els this commeth of a muckish minde because the hearts of parents are so set vpon this world that so their busines be done by their children and seruants they care not what language they giue them nor how vnmannerly they stand before them they doe not teach them to honor thēselues at home and therefore there is no dutie and reuerence toward others abroad Wherefore you parents knowe your estate let not the drosse of this world so blind your eyes that you should forget your honour know that the Lord hath made you parents and giuen you to look for duetie and reuerence from your children and seruants and though you doe not regard this dutie your minds be so base that you look not after any reuerence yet for your childrēs sake require it that so they may bee brought vp in the knowledg of their duetie receiue the blessing
the teaching of good manners is our conference And here the first rule which we must learne is to keepe silence while our betters are in place vntill wee be spoken vnto and thē we must make answer in few words without vnnecessarie circumstances and directly vnto the matter This is taught Prouerbs 17. A man of knowledge refraineth his wordes and a man of vnderstanding is colde of spirit 2. The second rule is to giue our elders and betters leaue to speake before vs. Example of this wee haue in Elihu that wise young man Iob. 32. Now Elihu had waited till Iob had spoken for they were more auncient in yeres then hee and hee sayd I am young in yeares and yee are ancient therefore I doubted and was afrayd to shew mine opinion For I sayd the dayes shall speake and the multitude of yeares shall teach wisedome 3. The third rule is not bee loude babling or hot in speech but colde and milde For Salomon sayth A man of vnderstanding is cold of spirit 4. The fourth rule is not to interrupt or trouble others while they are inspeaking For Salomon sayth Seest thou a man hastie in his wordes there is more hope of a foole then of him Prou. 29. Wherefore then if we will keep the bounds of good manners wee must not bee streporous or troublesome in talke but euery man must obserue and take his due time and course and if there be any thing spoken vnto which wee would willingly make answer wee must either curteously craue leaue of him that speaketh or els wee must carrie it in remembrance vntill our turne commeth to speake which is the better of the twaine 5. The fift rule is to giue an entercourse of speech vnto others we must suffer others to speake by vs. For as there is a time for a man to speake so there is a time to keepe silence and to heare others speaking He that will haue all the talke passeth the bounds of good manners and breaketh the rule of Saint Ambrose who requireth three things in the gouernment of our speech that is a yoke the ballance and the metewand the yoke to holde it in grauitie the ballance to giue it weight of reason and the metewand to keepe it within measure that it bee neither too long nor too short And thus much for the dueties of good manners in our speech The second generall head of good manners which parents ought to teach their children is the framing of their gesture to a reuerent and duetifull behauiour towards others which consisteth in these sixe poynts 1. The first is to meet those that are comming towards vs. And of this wee haue example in holy Abraham Gen. 18. where it is written And hee lifted vp his eyes and looked and loe three men stoode by him and when hee sawe them hee ranne to meete them from the tent doore Againe this example we find euen in K. Salomon sitting vpon his regall throne 1. King 2.19 Bathsheba therefore went to King Salomon to speake vnto him for Adonijah and the King rose to meete her 2. The second is to rise vp to our elders and betters when they passe by vs. And this is taught Leuit. 19. Thou shalt rise vp before the bore head and honour the person of the olde man and dread thy God I am the Lord. But now here I must warne you of a great abuse which is committed amongst you and which tendeth to the high dishonor of God which is this that you know not y e time of your duties but you will then rise vp to men when you should kneele downe to God as if one that is more honorable among you shal come into the Church while you are vpon your knees in prayer vnto God presently you start vp and leaue God to reuerence men Is this religion is this deuotion becomming Gods house is not this all one as if a man should say stay God here comes in my worshipfull neighbour and my good friend to whom I am much beholding I must doe my dutie vnto him I must rise vp till he be past and then I will come to thee againe What is this but to preferre men before God I haue forewarned you of this vice before but some spurned at mee for it and the rest haue not reformed themselues Wherefore I call the stones of the walles of this house to witnes against you that if you continue still in this obstinacie you are louers of men more then God and you that take this duetie and reuerence vpon you are robbers of Gods honour and you shall answere him for it Is there no time to shew our duetie towards men but euen then when we are about Gods seruice why know thou that when man standeth before God how honourable soeuer he be he is but dung and filth and not to be regarded and learne you this wisedome that while wee teach you duties towards men it is not to robbe God of his worship but there is an appointed time vnto euery dutie and purpose as Ecclesiastes in his third chapter well admonisheth To all things there is an appoynted time and a time to euery purpose vnder the heauen It is recorded of Leuy to his eternal praise Deu. 33. that in Gods cause he said of his father mother I see him not neither knew hee his brethren nor his owne children Euen so beloued our eyes and our mindes and deuotions should bee so fixed and intent vpon God whē we are in his seruice that wee should not see or regard any mā in that while And again we read in the 2. chapter of the Gospell after S. Iohn of our Sauiour himselfe who though hee was the most dutifull child that euer was borne of woman yet when he was about his fathers busines he saith vnto his mother Woman what haue I to doe with thee which examples well teach vs that whē we are about Gods seruice all other duties must sleep and be layd apart 3. The third dutie of good manners to be obserued in our gesture is to stand while our betters are sitting in place Example of this we haue in holy Abraham our father Gen. 18. where it is written of his entertaning of the two strangers And he tooke butter and milke and the calfe which hee had prepared set before them and stood by himselfe vnder the tree and they did eate Well may Abraham be called the father of the faithfull for giuing his children so good example For if we consider the circumstances we shall finde this to be a most rare example and going beyond all the curtesies of these our daies For these mē were but strangers vnto him hee knewe not from whence they came nor whither they would againe this was at his owne house and at his own table and the common prouerbe is that euery man is a Lord in his owne house yet so much did curtesie and ciuilitie
they fall to their earth againe Here you must teach your children that whē all we euen al the nations of the world were in the hole of Adams side and as yet vncut out God gaue vnto Adam and so vnto vs being in his loines a law with two conditions the lawe was this that wee should not eate of the tree of knowledge of good and euill standing in the middest of the garden of Eden as we may read Gen. 2. The conditions of this law were these the one life euerlasting if we would keepe this law figured out vnto vs by the tree of life of which it was lawfull for vs to eate euery hower the second was that in the same daye wherein wee shoulde breake this law we should dye the death It was not long after this lawe was made but Adam broke it as we may read in 3. chapter of Genesis and so death presently seazed vpon Adam and al vs his posteritie being yet in his loynes according vnto Gods word who said in the same day that thou shalt eate of it thou shalt dye the death and as it is saide 1. Cor. 15. In Adam all di and as it is said Rom. 5. By one man sinne entered into the world and death by sin and so death went ouer all in whom all men haue sinned So that now if wee would looke vnto our fountaine and to our original pit from which we were first digged we should soone see our miserable estate which is nothing els but deadly And now that we might come to the bottom of this pit that so wee might the more fully and cleerely see all our miserie to humble vs vnder the mightie hand of God I must shewe you howe death hath entred vpon vs and howe it hath killed vs and giuen vs the deadly wounde euen while wee liue and yet wee perceiue it not This death hath first seazed vpon our reason and vnderstanding and put out the light of it so that nowe wee bee as blinde as a stocke to beholde anie heauenly thing For Saint Iohn sayth in his first chapter of the Gospell The light shineth in the darkenesse and the darkenesse comprehended it not that is Gods word shineth into our minds and yet wee cannot see it so blinde are wee of our selues Now if we cannot see the light it selfe though it shineth into vs which light is the cause why all other things are seene as the Apostle sheweth Ephesi 5. For it is light that maketh all thinges manifest then much lesse can wee truely beholde any other thing else And whereas the Apostle here calleth our reason and vnderstanding darknes which is all the light of our soules if it were light then howe great is our darkenesse Our Sauiour sayth in the fift of Matthew The light of the bodie is the eye wherefore if the light that is in thee be darkenesse how great is that darkenesse so wee may here say if our reason and vnderstanding which is the eye of the soule bee darkenes how great is this darkenes oh death hath killed vs it hath put out all our light in heauenly things Secondly our miserie which hath fallen vpon vs through this death is so much the greater for that though all our light be put out yet we thinke we see and therefore we doe not with the two blind men in the gospell crie out vnto our Sauiour O Lord the sonne of Dauid haue mercie vpon vs. For the whole hath no need of the phisition and so we walke in blindnes all our dayes to our destruction and goe on without anie mistrust euen as the sheep that are driuen vnto the slaughter vntill we fall from the darknes of this life vnto that vtter darknes in the life to come where is nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth Oh great misery A demonstration of this doctrine wee haue in the ninth chapter of the gospell after Saint Iohn where our Sauiour saith I am come vnto iudgment into this worlde that they which see not might see and that they which see might bee made blind Then some of the Pharisies saide are we blind also They could not beleeue that they were blinde and therefore our Sauiour there telleth them that their sinne remained And thus much to shew you how death hath taken the possession of the minde and reason of man in so much that it hath spoyled it of al light in heauenly vnderstanding Secondly this death hath passed from the vnderstanding and reason and hath entred vpon the will and affections and giuen them also the deadly blow so that now we cannot will or affect any thing that good is and profitable to life eternall no more then a stone that is without life vntill such time as Gods preuenting grace repaireth vs and giueth vs a new power from heauen And therefore our Sauiour saith in the sixt of Iohn No man can come to me except the father which hath sent mee drawe him And Saint Augustine vpon these words saith Non trahimus nisi nolentem Wee doe not drawe any thing but that which is vnwilling So that now we hauing lost the life of our will we must be haled and drawen by Gods grace euen as men hale and drawe a logge that hath no moouing in it or else we can neuer come to heauen This doctrine is confirmed by the saying of the Apostle Rom. 7. where hee speaketh of the same thing Who shall deliuer me from the body of this death as if hee should haue saide all is dead euerie part and member of it Moreouer this death hath not onely made the will vncapable of all good things but also it hath so disturbed it that it is become like a furious or mad man repugning and striuing against all reason and therefore the Apostle sayth Gal. 5. The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirite against the flesh and these are contrarie one to another so that yee cannot doe the same things that ye would And againe Rom. 8. The wisedome of the flesh is enimitie against God for it is not subiect to the law of God neither in deed cā be 3. This death hath not rested in the reason will but it hath gone further takē hold on the body also euery member of the body and strooken them all out of frame so that now our eares are the eares of folly our eies are the eies of vanity our hands are the hands of strife our mouth is a mouth of cursing our lippes are full of poyson our throate is an open Sepulchre and our feete are swift to shed bloud and generallie al our members are the instruments and weapons of vnrighteousnesse as the Apostle speaketh Roman 6. euery one being captiues to sinne and standing fighting against God and our owne saluation so that now if the Lord shold streightly marke what were amisse in vs Oh Lorde who shall stande 4. This death hath not onlie
reuerence and common maintenance so the people must honour their pastour the child his parent the wife her husband and the seruant his master All these must bee honoured and obeyed of vs not sleightly but seriously and vnfeynedly euen as purposing to honor God in them for this also is a part of Gods seruice and the dueties which wee giue vnto them wee must giue as vnto God himselfe setting God alwaies before our eyes whome in all thinges wee ought to worship and reuerence And on the other side superiours must know so to carie themselues towardes their inferiours in gouerning teaching and defending of them in all wisedome and grauitie that they may seeme worthie of those honours which according to Gods ordinance are bestowed vpon them Secondly for the helping and relieuing of our brother wee must not doe it by halfes but fully as God himselfe hath commaunded We must not aide him in his bodie and hurt him in his goods and wee must not helpe him in his goodes and offend him in his name and lastly wee must not care for him in his bodie goodes and name and suffer his soule to perish by vs for want of our spirituall counsell and exhortation but wee must labour to vpholde and defend him in all these together but especially in his soule because this is more pretious then all the other For euen as one member of our own bodie is as deere vnto vs as another so should all our brothers things be vnto vs because we are all members of our deere Sauiour who hath loued vs all alike in giuing his whole selfe for vs all Thirdly and lastly so shoulde wee loue all men as well those which haue no neede of vs as those which stand in need that no offence being giuen on either side wee liuing as lightes in the worlde and shewing forth the vertues of him that hath called vs out of darkenesse into his marueilous light as Saint Peter sayeth all men maye haue iust cause to praise GOD for vs and so God to be honored all in all 3. The third highest part of our seruice is to liue holily towardes God and this is to set vp and exalte the Lorde onelye in our heartes and to establish his kingdome and gouernement in our soules banishing and auoyding from within vs all forraine powers of the world the flesh and the diuell that so there may be but one sole and absolute regiment of Gods spirit within vs that hee onely may commaund forbid controule chastize and direct in all his waies And secondly that as hee onely is wise to prescribe so wee should giue our selues wholy to serue him not as wee our selues thinke best but as hee commaundeth in his worde that is spiritually inwardly and vnfainedly and in such particulars as hee himselfe setteth downe vnto vs. And thirdly because hee is such a great GOD holding all the worlde vnder his obedience saying to the king as it is in Iob 34. Thou naughtie man and to the nobles you wicked men therefore now we should vse his name with all holy reuerence and neuer presume to speake of him but with titles of maiestie and honour And fourthly and lastly wee must performe all our homage and seruice vnto him in frequenting his courts diligently in hearing his word preached gladly in praying to him deuoutly in receiuing his holy Sacraments reuerently in casting our selues downe at his feete acknowledging all our possessions wealth honours priuiledges and whatsoeuer els wee enioy that good is all to bee held from his gracious hands most heartily thanking him for the continuance of them vnto vs and being readie whensoeuer hee shall call to surrender them vp vnto him againe In this present world Now in that the holy Apostle restraineth his exhortation to the time of this present world he teacheth vs that there is no longer deferring to serue God but wee must euen now at this present instant change our hearts and set vpon his worke for this present instant is a parte of this present world and so you see here that the Lord hath left vs no time in this life to serue our owne lustes and pleasures Secondly the Apostle here setteth foorth vnto vs the common stade of Gods seruice which is this present life This present life and this present world God hath appoynted out for seruice and that which is to come hee hath ordained for reward and rest Wherefore now if men will serue God they must serue him in this life or els they shall neuer serue him I know well that many could be content to serue God after they bee dead so they might enioy and follow their pleasures in this present world then they would liue soberly and righteously and holily but then it is too late For this present world as I sayd is the time of seruice and the next is the time of reward the reward of glorie and rest to such as haue serued God in this world and the reward of vengeance and torment to such as haue disobeied him Verse 13.14 Looking for that blessed hope and appearing of that glorie of that mightie God and of our Sauiour Iesus Christ who gaue himselfe for vs that he might redeeme vs from all iniquitie and purge vs to bee a peculiar people vnto himselfe zealous of good workes NOw hauing taught you what the whole seruice of God is and what is required at our hands for our saluation redemption because our hearts are so heauie and sluggish that few of vs regard these things And againe such of vs as regard them can better talke of them then performe them and considering the lets of Christianitie to bee many I haue thought good here to vse such forcible motiues as I can best gather out of Gods worde whereby our colde zeale may bee enflamed and wee violnttlie thrust forward to laye hand vpon Gods busines 1. The first motiue which the holie Ghost here offereth vnto vs is the lifting vp of our eyes vnto the marke or reward which is set vp for vs at the ende of our race to drawe vs forward with all our might For as it is in the game of running which similitude the Scripture often vseth there is a marke or crowne of rewarde erected vppe on high on some pillar at the race end to the end it might be seene a far off and that it might bee alwayes in the eye of the runner like the load-stone to drawe him forward with all his might and power euen so vnto vs Christians which runne in the spirituall race of Gods seruice wherein the great God and his Angels are lookers on there is a great price set vppe for vs euen in the height of the heauens which is here called the blessed hope and the glorie of the mightie God which at that day shall breake forth as a floud of light from his owne glorious maiestie to glorifie all his saints And for the more efficacie of this motiue I will bring
honorable and heauenly deseruings at our hands wee cannot doe it If our gracious Prince to shew her puissance against a forraine power should call forth one or two of her subiects who are most beholding vnto her to iust and turnie in her presence for her honour would they not straine all their strength in this seruice yea and their liues too Now shall wee doe more for our Prince then we would for God Hath not our God called vs out by name to fight for his honour to bee a chosen and peculiar people vnto himselfe to stand on his parts to shew foorth his vertues and to bee zealous of good workes yea and that wee might the better performe this seruice hee hath furnished vs with his owne armour and weapons yea and his owne hand is with vs too though all men see it not and shall not we now doe valiantly for our God and shall not wee nowe endeuour our best to answere the expectation of our heauenly King O my deare brethren see the ende of your calling You are not called to shewe your owne strength or your owne vertues or your own holines but you are called to shewe foorth the strength and the vertues and the holines of the almightie and to bee zealous of good workes But what is this zeale that we may know it and followe it This zeale as the Spouse in the last chapter of the Canticles teacheth vs is no small matter but a most ardent and burning loue vnspeakable ouercomming all the affections in man Loue is strong as death and zeale is cruell as the graue the coales thereof are fierie coales and a vehement flame yea the flame of God as the Hebrew worde signifieth Much water cannot quench loue neither can the flouds drowne it Now then beloued you see the end of your redemption and calling it is not only to do good works but to be zealous of good works you are called and redeemed to the heate and fire of good works you are called and redeemed to such a burning loue of them that nothing may quench it nay euen as death and the graue ouercome all things so this zeale in vs of good workes should ouercome and cast downe before vs all the lets and impediments which stand vp against vs in the seruice of our God for loue is strong as death zeale is cruell as the graue Wherefore O you redeemed of the Lorde not with golde and siluer as Saint Peter speaketh but with the pretious bloud of his owne sonne lay this vnto your hearts and stirre vp your selues vnto Gods seruice you that haue eares to heare heare and you that haue zeale within you bee inflamed for euery one cannot I call vpon you all as the Apostle Saint Iohn writeth I call vpon you little children because you are well acquainted with your fathers deare loue and tendernesse towards you I call vpon you young men because your affections are strong in you and you are best able to beare the Lordes burthen and I call vpon you olde men because you by reason of your long experience haue most knowledge of your dueties giue the Lorde his due and right and abound in all manner of good workes which he hath ordained for vs to walk in to the glorie of his holy name Teach a child in the trade of his way and when he is olde he shall not depart from it Pro. 22.6 When I began to read this verse vnto you I told you it consisted of two parts of a precept and the reason of the precept Hitherto I haue spoken of the precept and of the necessarie circumstances belonging vnto it and now I am come to speake of the reason of it that so I might stirre vp the life of the precept in his working in you And when he is olde he shall not depart from it that is if thou faithfully instructest him in his way while hee is young he shall haue the benefit of it all his life after But now that parents might bee compassed about with a cloude of exhortations I haue thought good here not onely to presse forth the principall scope of this text but also to sucke out of the bowels thereof the more hidden and abstruse collections and to gather the like arguments out of other scriptures because the whole scripture is one and lendeth hand to it selfe 1. The first reason which should moue parents to take in hand this dutie of instructing their children in this trade of their waye is drawne from the necessitie of the precept because euery child naturally is conceiued and borne out of the way as the Prophet Dauid teacheth vs Psal. 51.5 Behold I was borne in iniquitie and in sinne hath my mother conceiued me And the Apostle Saint Paule sayth Ephes. 2. That we are by nature the children of wrath And Moses in the 6. chapter of Gen. teacheth vs that all the thoughts and imaginations of mans hart are continually euill and the Apostle sayth 1. Cor. 2. that the naturall man cannot perceiue the thinges which are of the spirite of God And againe Rom. 8. hee telleth vs that the wisedome of the flesh is enimitie against God for it is not subiect to the lawe of God neither indeed can be Wherefore now you see plainely how euery mothers child is borne into the world blind in his vnderstanding froward in his will and affections corrupt in all the motions of his hart dead in the life of God wholy possessed with sin so that except now his nature be changed by good education hee cannot possibly applye himselfe vnto any good waye but hee must needs all his life long runne astray and in the end fall headlong into hell fire Wherefore O you parents as you haue giuen your children the worse so giue them the better also as you haue brought them forth the children of wrath and death so now teach them howe they may become the children of grace and life teach your children in the trade of their way they must needes bee taught for except their education and teaching bee better then their birth they are cast away for euer and they may curse their parents that euer they brought them into the world 2. The second reason to moue parents to this vertuous teaching of their children is taken from the oportunitie thereof For if euer they will doe their children good nowe they must doe it while they bee children The Smyth must strike wile the iron is hot and the Plowman must plowe while his ground will worke and the Sayler must saile when hee hath winde and tide and as you see euerie trade hath his proper oportunitie so this trade also of education hath childhood for his fittest time to worke vpon If you doe not teach your children and traine them vp in good nourture while they bee yong all your laboure shall bee but lost afterwardes you shall strike vpon the colde iron you shall plowe in the