an innocent person Yea the moe Dauids giftes and graces were and the more he was prospered of God and liked of the people all these was more wood to the fier and farther matter for his enuious imagination to fret it self vpon euen as in the fable of the snake comming into the smithes forge and finding a file there seing it had teeth thought nothing should haue teeth but it selfe and began to licke it and licked so long til she had licked off her tongue so Saul could neuer be quiet and Dauids good deeds successiuely following still one vpon another encreased Sauls greefe and out-rage continually so much the more as the fier burneth and in burning consumeth it selfe so was it with Saul and so is it with al enuious men One of the philosophers for a punishment could wish to the enuious person nothing but that hee might haue many eies and eares to see and heare the good haps and prosperity in other men For then is he lanced and cut and pearced with such euentes as it were with kniues and arrowes and sharp weapons on euery side where he discerneth any good Who euer he were that wrote those collations ad * Serm. 18. Aug. Tom. 10. fratres in Eremo among recital of sundry ensamples that Basil and Cyprian and others had touched before him as of Caius enuying the sacrifice of â—…el which was accepted Esaus enuying Iacob 〈…〉 when yet hee had sold it the Patriarkes enuying of Ioseph for their fathers liking and Sauls enuying of good Dauid c. Amongest other parables hee likeneth enuy to the worme in the greene gourde that shadowed the prophet to the worms in Manna that marred the Angels foode to the frogs in Aegypt in their fairest parlers Among the rest he compareth an enuious man to the Phoenix and they say there is but one bird of that kinde In deede it were to bee wished that there were neuer such a Phoenix at all as enuie is The story or the conceaued opinion of this bird is that she gathereth togither the driest and sweetest sticks of Synomom and the like and carieth them vp to some high mountaine and hote place neere the sunne and with flapping her winges vp and downe ouer the pile of stickes shee incenseth them and enflameth her self withal and both burn in one fier And this is right enuy which to burne another mans house setteth his owne house on fier and to put out both another mans eies wil be desirous at least to loose one of her owne yea and is content that her owne bowels may be eaten out to bring forth a viperous effect Paul teacheth vs a fairer way that we prouoke not one another but that we preuent one another in giuing honor and enuying no man and neuer contending but vppon necessary and butifull occasions crucifieng the fleshe which woulde otherwise rancle and fester and the affections of the fleshe which will boile and seeth and the lustes of the fleshe which against the true liberty of the spirit And thus if we liue in the spirit the life of the spirit is the death of the flesh and backwarde the life of the fleshe is the death of the spirite which maketh a man as colde as a stone and as stiffe as a dead man that wee cannot wagge much-lesse walcke in the waies of Godlinesse of righteousnesse and temperate behauiour in any good path But the Lorde loueth a bodie that is deade to sinne and hee altogether delighteth in the soule that liueth through his spirite For without his spirite wee cannot liue CHAP. VI. 1 BRETHREN if a man be sodenly taken in any offence yee which are spiritual restore such a one with the spirit of meekenesse considering thy selfe least thou also be tempted 2 Bear ye one an others burden so fulfill the Law of Christ 3 For if any man seem to himselfe that he is somewhat when he is nothing he deceiueth himselfe in his imagination 4 But let euery man proue his own work and then shal he haue reioycing in himselfe only and not in another 5 For euery man shal bear his own burden FOR a preseruatiue against the vices last spoken of viz. ambition strife enuy the best treacle is to take a quite contrary diet The ambitious the contentious the enuious maÌ„ wil keep a needelesse stur and trouble euery man without all cause But the contented Christian desireth to pacifie al things and to help euery where where help is wanting Sathan is a mighty enimy and man is weak and flesh is fraile and our waies are slippery Now if a man which is better than thy neighbours Ox or Asse whereof notwithstanding in cases thou standest charged if a man nay if any man thy like in nature and brother in Christ if any man for all may not onely of thy friends or thy kinne or some of thy family but if anie man be supprised by Sathan preuented by suttlety inueigled by sleights intised by sinners taken and vpon the suddain * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ouer-taken by infirmity what is to be doone He that is fallen may rise againe reach-forth thy hand and help him vp A member dislocated out of ioynt may bee set in againe restore such a member yea restore you such a man saith the Apostle that is fallen out of the order and place he should haue kept himselfe in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mutual help If one walke alone and no man goe with him nor any man care for him and fall then is his fall the more dangerous Likewise the single thread is soone snapt a sunder but when men intertwist themselues in mutual loue to help one the other the double the triple-folde woorke is like to hold out In like manner if men could and would ioine in one to the behoofe of one another I see no reason why things may not bee wel restored and reformed without any great a-do The Spirit of Lenitie The maner of this restoring is not to play the rude Chirurgian but to do al that may be in the spirit of lenitie The good sheepehard laieth the straied sheepe that straid by simplicity on his own shoulders the tender mother carieth the sicke childe in her armes the mercifull Samaritan setteth the wounded man vppon his owne beast and himselfe goeth a foote Yet note there is a difference between simplicitie and wilfulnesse betweene fore and fore leaper and leaper plague and plague fault faults sinners and sinners But this is the property of a peruerse zeale and perfect hypocrisie to stand most vpon trifles mint and commin and vpon matters of lesse importance to stick at a straw stride ouer a block to swallow an Oxe and straine a Gnat to hallow with hue and cry after a mote as if the sheepheard shoulde still trouble the weake sheepe and let the scabbed ram walke at will and spread his venom throughout the whole flock No brethren If any man be howsoeuer preuented in a
cause Pauls doing is a better president But such wisedome courage constancy are not euery where found and not alwaies there perfourmed where they are much expected and greatly required Of all things a busie waspe and a quarelling or stubborne curst nature is woorst But if the cause be Gods if thy calling and giftes be according there is no * Eccl. 4.28 relenting at al no starting backe no shutting neck out of the coller in such cases in cases whereunto a man is expresly duly enabled warranted commanded Zeale without discretion is naught discretiō without zeal is nothing worth Wherefore 1. zeal without wisedome is neuer good 2. And yet what is wisedome without zeal 3. But zeal and discretion seemely vnited in one as it was in our Apostle is as the throne of wise Solomon and as the strong * 1 King 10.20 Lions at the staies and ascending vp vnto his throne 6 By them which seemed to be somwhat I was not taught whatsoeuer they were in time past it maketh no matter to mee God accepteth no mans person the chiefe added nothing to me 7 But contrariwise when they sawe that the Gospel ouer the vncircumcision was committed vnto me as the Gospell ouer the Circumcision was vnto Peter 8 For he that was mightie by Peter in the Apostleship ouer the circumcision was also mightie by me toward the Gentiles 9 And when Iames and Cephas Iohn knewe of the grace that was giuen vnto mee which are counted to bee pillars they gaue to mee and to Barnabas the right handes of fellowship that we should preach vnto the Gentiles and they vnto circumcision 10 Warning only that we should remember the poore which also I was diligent to do Paul in his conference gaue no place to the chiefe and the chiefe brethren gaue nothing to Paul by waie of authorizing his person or adding to his doctrine 1. and hee sheweth why it should be so 2. and withall declareth the chiefe Apostles due consenting vnto him 3. and onely requesting him to haue a careful eye to the poore which Paul respected and did ful diligently The motiue of Antiquity Among the argumentes the false Apostles vsed against Paul a maine matter was made and drawen from Antiquity that the other Apostles were ancienter than Paul and therefore questionles to be preferred Truly personal preferment was not the mark Paul shot at For he could be euer and was often wel content in all things to giue and yeeld so far foorth as might stand with the glory of Christ But in this ceremonious quarel opposed against the trueth of Christ and Christian libertie as before hee defied an Angell if to that end he should come from heauen so now he declareth that the name of Antiquitie in the Apostles might not cary him away nor driue him aside They were his auncients What mattereth that to me saith he And indeede it skilleth litle There is no prescription against the Prince and why should there be any against the trueth be it later or sooner in whomesoeuer This or that time past or present or future and to come is not in the nature of trueth neither are matters of faith measured by yeares nor is any point of religion liable to be decided by continuance pretended Iob. 32. Elihu said well There is a spirit in man but the inspiration of the Almightie giueth vnderstanding As if he had said man is made not onlie of a body but of a bodie and a soule and that soule is a reasonable spirit and that spirite in processe of yeares and tract of time gathereth politique experience as it were a stone that hath been long pitcht in one place gathereth much mosse But all that experience is but mossy terrene and earthly true wisdome is from aboue from the Father of lights and God of knowledge reueiled in his Son which illuminateth euery man not onely comming into the worlde but either entering into or els continuing priuatly or publiquely in the house of his church And therfore Elihu reformeth his thoughts voucheth that he was mis-conceited when he thought that it was the length of daies should speake and that the multitude of yeares should teach wisedome But yet of old and stil many men embrace rather Elihu his first opinion concerning age and antiquity than his later iudgement afterwarde wel rectified and truly reformed So an old prophet soone deceaued the young Prophet whom neither the threats nor entreaty of * 1. King 12. a king could moue at al. So * Iosh 9. old shewes olde battles findes bread torne sackes tottered rags like rotten relickes with profered seruice seruus seruorum and pretence of comming from far deceaued Iosue because hee rather respected such trinkets and consulted not with the Lord. Our aduersaries knowe how humane affections leane this way and therefore they beare the poore people in hand that theirs is the old religion and ours is an yesterdaies bird but with the like trueth and with the same spirite the Iewes said our sauiours doctrine was new the Apostles preaching new wine and the false Apostles here obiect that Saint Paul was an vpstart and deuoid of Apostolick warrant Sooner or later called it skilleth not old or new if true it forceth little If the name of new were alwaies naught why would Christ cal his louely commandement * Iohan. 13.34 a new commanded If the name of old were alwaies good why did S. Paul cōmand aduise the Corinthians that the * 1 Cor. 5.7 old leuen the incestuous person be purged out If you wil recourse to the first heade of all in this question it were another matter For God is for euer and before Sathan and Sathans fal the Lawe was first giuen and then ensued the transgression first the husbandman sowed his ground and afterward the enimie came sowed tares And which is to be obserued there was no long time betweene For Sathan took the next oportunitie of ignorance and securitie euen the next night as it were when the ground was yet new turned and trimmed for seede the enemie sparst some of his tares in the fielde and Church of God And then while truth and error were yet but greene in the blade the difference was not so easily discerned * Mat. 13.25 til the growth was greater And as it is this in the cause of truth compared with error so is it in the professors and Doctors of trueth compared among themselues the first teacher is not alwaies best for then the vsher must needes bee better than the schoolemaister and the country schoolemaister than the vniuersitie Reader Peter and Andrewe Iames and Iohn and others were called before Paul Hee asketh what was that to him There was no difference or prestancy therin He had antiquity enough that had Christ for his author So that in all materiall respects if they were Apostles so was Paul Nay * 1 Cor. 15.10 2 Cor. 11.23 hee laboured more
is he therefore the wiser man The flagellant Friar may whip himselfe the whipping Iesuit may scourge himselfe Baals Priestes may cut themselues and others may be whipt cut scourged of others all these bee no marks that can make the cause good but the good cause sanctifieth those markes that men inflict vpon vs for righteousnes sake Wherefore argue not of prosperity for it is seldome found neither yet argue of the markes of aduersity without discretion except your cause be as Pauls was for though they be more common to most of the godly yet they are not euer necessary nor alwaies proper 18 Brethren the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ be with your spirit Amen The entrance into this Epistle was not hard the end is easie the middle hath beene as you haue heard and al to set foorth the Grace of God which is almost the first and last woorde of the whole wishing them and euen to their spirites a liuely feeling of his Grace which quickneth the soule And heere why shoulde I dilate or driue and sleek out that which is without pleats and plaine in it selfe and which hath beene laide open more than once already I know the Lombar Thomas Aqui. c. Sarcerius in dict scholasta Pelbartus in Rosareo aureo Schoole-men in steede of diuiding the various significations of this word Grace they break it into shiuers and beat it into pouder and neuer make an end In few and generally Grace is no way Grace that is not euery way gratiously graunted and freely giuen and it may bee offered where it may be refused But where God wil bestow it it shal be receaued Grace In special first the Grace of God is the fauor of the father 2. The Grace of the spirit is the operation of the holy Ghost 3. The grace of Christ is the merit of the sonne and the mystery of his passion And these three go al together and are neuer asunder And these three brethren beeing thoroughlie known and beleeued and laid to hart in a full and certain assuraunce of the spirit not swimming in the quick conceat of an imagining head and gliding vp and down in a slippery tongue but felt in the soule and setled by faith in the inward fruition of the secret parts what comfort work they not They quiet the conscience they pacifie the mind they order the whole tenour of a Christian conuersation in euery good way The feare of the Law hath not these effectes And therefore Paul especially wisheth the Galathians the Grace of Christ Ciuil salutatiō It was an ancient custom among the Gentils to subscribe their letters with an ordinary wish as of SAFETY and HEALTH c. And wee * Dion Nicaeus in vita Tiberi◠reade that when Tiberius the emperour had receaued letters from the Magistrates of Rhodes and by some negligence the customary subscription was omitted hee sent for them and caused them to set vnto their letters their vsuall wishes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to subscribe their letters as the vsage was Christian wishes I note as meaning not to note any farther matter of dict culty in this Epistle that our Apostle and so the rest of the Apostles wisely admitting the ciuil vsage of salutations yet with some amendment reducing all to the center and ground-work of all our doings and deriuing all from the fiest head he and they also wish Grace Mercy Peace Health and Saluation Health of Body Saluation of Soule and Safety of both and that not at a-ventures they knowe not from whom but certainly from the right spirite of all Grace euen from God thorough Christ our Iesus and onely Sauiour And thus the Apostle endeth And now I hope with your good leaue with this ende I may end and betake my selfe to a doubled charge nearer home and at home My deare friends and good Brethren of Abington Fare you wel I can but wish vnto you as to my selfe O Lord and Gracious Father let thine Apostle Pauls wish and praier take place among this people The Grace of Christ Iesu be with you al and with your spirit for euer more Amen NVMB. 6.24 The Lord blesse you and keepe you the Lorde make his face to shine vpon you and bee mercifull vnto you The lord lift vp his countenance vpon you giue you his PEACE FINIS
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Onely expect we in patience the Lordes leasure knowing assuredly that God wil make vs a forth and a way amids al temptations Neither wil hee suffer his children to be tempted aboue their measure Dauid had his Goliath Sampson his Lion to encounter with God knew the measure of Dauids courage and Sampsons strength Physitions giue the strongest potions to the strongest bodies And health is most acceptable after the greatest sicknes And the ioy of the sick soule is then enlarged when it returneth after sorrowe and then is the cry of the spirite heard with a quicker sense when for a while it had not beene heard at al. And thus much for the consequent that because we are sonnes wee are therefore endued with his spirite assuring vs though not euer alike Rom. 9. that we are his sonnes and heires because it crieth and certifieth our harts that God through Christ is become our father 8 But euen then when ye knew not God yee did seruice vnto them which by nature are not Gods 9 But now seeing yee know God yea rather are knowen of God how turne yee againe vnto impotent and beggerly rudiments wherunto as from the beginning yee wil be in bondage againe 10 Yee obserue daies and moneths and times and yeares 11 I feare of you least I haue bestowed on you labour in vaine The best way of discerning is euer to compare matters times persons causes condicions and circumstances together Paul taketh this course and sheweth them 1. What they were they knew not God c. 2. What they are they know God or rather are knowen of God c. 3. And therefore their relapse is strange to the beggerly Elementes and thereupon hee feareth their greater danger to ensue The effectes of Ignorance The condicion and state wherein the Galathians liued was in ignoraunce and liuing in ignorance of the liuing God they serued them which by nature were no Gods For certes if they had knowen the true God they woulde haue serued him Ioh. 4. The woman of Samaria if she had known with whom she talked as Christ requested water of hir so would shee haue craued of him the waters of eternal life Mat. 25. The wise Virgins had their entrance with the bride and haue their due commendation for they were wise But the folish virgins though virgins yet because they were fooles and ignorant reaped the sour fruit of their security are reputed thereafter were excluded when the bride was entred Ephes 2. The Ephesians to whom our Apostle writeth the next Epistle what were they How liued they Read the second chapter They folowed the sway of this sinful woorld Sathan ledde the dance hee went before and they thronged after their whole conuersation was altogether in the lusts and wil of the flesh Aske yee the reason They were Aliants from the common wealth of Israel they were strangers from the couenant of the promise they were in the same case were these Galathians and al the Gentils else they had no hope and were very Atheists that is men without God Aske yee why they were Atheists why they hoped not why they trusted not in God The answere is easie and was laide downe in the woordes before because they were strangers and vnacquainted with gods promises Testimonies and Lawes because they were Aliantes from the statutes and ordinances of his church and common wealth because in one woord they knew not God therefore they serued false Gods and by name Diana and cried out like man men Acts. 19. Magna est Diana Ephesiorum Great is Diana the Goddes of the Ephesians Read the thirteenth and the fourteenth Chapters of Wisedom and you should see it vouched that many inconueniences specially Idolatry and the seruice of strange gods and very Idols came in by Ignorance And were mens eies in their heads and their sight cleared and enabled so as to discerne but indifferently it were impossible that the wicked inuention the doctrine of lying the discipline of vanity the multitude of Idolatrous seruices shoulde so preuaile and that men shoulde serue as God that which is incomparably woorse than man that man made by his creation after the Image of God shoulde creepe to a materiall crosse gad to a shrine say my father to a peece of wood yea that a man purposing to saile the Seas should call vpon a stocke and a rotten Roode more rotten than the vessel that carieth him But ignorance is the mistres the mother and the nurse of this deuotion or rather superstition Rom. 4.21 The Romanes because they knewe not God they glorified him not but became vnthankful vanishing away in their Imaginations And why Their foolish harts were ful of dareknesse And being fooles they turned the glory of God into the similitude of innumerable increadible and corruptible vanities In this state at the first were the Romans the Ephesians the Galathians c. And al through ignorance I could dilate and be long and enter disputation with our known and neerest aduersaries because of their introducing and bringing in because of their maintenance and supportation of intolerable Ignorance and Idolatry I know they haue shiftes and distinctions curiously wrought but spiders webs cannot holde out winde or weather The worshipping of Images The ignorant is ignorant hee knoweth not the difference they vainely make of Douly and Latry and Hyperdouly and it is a toy and greeke as we say to the people And it is greeke indeede and that to the English man that knoweth nothing but his owne language And in his ignorance hee creepeth and croucheth lifteth vp handes and falleth downe and adoreth all the Images in their Temples and knoweth litle God knoweth what these sorry proportions and terms meane I aske you do you know them Douly Latry Hyperdouly I know you know them not O learne to know God and thou will worship God alone and in such sort as himselfe hath prescribed But liue in Ignoraunce and straite thou rangest inordinately and seruest straunge gods euen as the children of Israel when the onely God had wrought their strong delyuerance yet sacrificed and gaue the praise thereof euen to a Calfe that eateth hey And say not say not brethren that you you serue not strange gods for all this The Israelites sayde they worshipped God when they adored a Calfe you say you worship God when you fal downe before the Image of the father before the picture of his sonne or of his Saintes but they worshipped strange gods notwithstanding and so doe you in that you worshippe God after a straunge manner which is not Gods-worshippe but a wil-worship and an idol of your owne deuising and that expresly against the scriptures and all for want of true knowledge and by reason of ignorance The making of Images Moses conuenting the people of Israel togither commandeth on gods behalfe on this wise In the day the Lord spake vnto you out of the mids of the fier in
had thought that the name of Protestants had not beene so ancient and we gesse the books of Chronicles were not written in Latine so expresly to hit vpon the name of Protestantes and we take that the matter you alleadge is a flat story of the present fact not a fore-prophesieng of a future euent And we tel you and by occasion of your falsifieng master Pointes we tell the woorld you haue told a tale of a tub of the man in the Moon and of Protestants of your owne making How and when the Name of Protestantes came first vp May it please you brethren to bear with me and in a woord I shall shew you both why we are named Protestants and what the name of Protestants meaneth in that place of the scripture For Master Points is quite beside the Text. In the yeare of our Lorde * Sleid. Com. lib. 6. 1529 after sundry debateings precedent for the reformation of things amisse and some agreement accorded vpon in that respect yet it was put in the head of the Emperour how to deuise for a contrary course to be taken in a meeting at Spiers Whereupon the Princes of Germany were constrained to frame did frame out their lawful Protestatiō A thing vsual and known in euery common court to protest against the iniquity or nullity of proceeding So did these Pieres Princes Nobles of Germany others associating themselues in so iust a cause concerning the honor of God and glory of his name Whereupon the name of Protesting and Protestantes was not vnwillingly accepted of al who misliked disorders And so it became a common appellation vnto this day And this is the true original or short and plaine narration to the demaund and motiue for the name of Protestants Now for the allegation of Points his Scripture and so may I cal it for the scripture it selfe is to another sense and if his grammer woulde serue him but to conster the woordes he would soone haue seene his palpable error Verily the meaning is that God sent his Prophets and his Prophets went and protesteth the wrath of God but there were not Protestants but there were that would not giue eare to the protestations of the Prophets quos Protestantes illi audire nolebant There were that woulde not hear the Protestants and these Protestants were Gods Prophets Religion goeth not by Names And hence if we would trifle in names we might make a faire shew by the name whence foolishly he seeketh our vtter shame But it is too vaine a labor to argue of names good or bad the one way or the other But backe againe to our purpose what euer we are called by you or otherwise are you called the catholick Church Who calleth you so Your selues We doe not But suppose you were so called Thinges goe not by names For then as the country-man saith we should haue no Wood-hens for all the birds of that kind are named and called Wood-cockes And were he not then a proper wise man that woulde ground his reason vpon common speach This were good for your Popes who hauing ill fauored faces and wriemouthes and woorse maners and yet when they can gette and clammer vp into the Papacy they change their names into words of flattering signification But you see names are not forceable proofes neither against others nor for themselues either for the goodnesse of their verie Popes or for the Catholicknesse and Motherdome of their Church The Rhomish dame is too ceremonious to be the free Mother 2 Secondly as the Romane Church being at the most when she was best but a Church and therefore not the Catholique whole Church so Rome as she is now she is too seruile a dame to be the Mother of those who are free and freed in christ She is too Ceremonious too Slauish too Peeuish in her Ceremonies and God which hath abolished his owne rites must needes abhor her trinkets which seeme to some faire and greatly adorning and gracifieng all like the Iuy about the Tree which in the ende will be the death of the tree it embraceth What are hir Duckings Beckings Fiskings vp and downe apish Illusions infinit endlesse and purposelesse Obseruations with terror of Conscience and trouble of mind onely occupied and set on woorke with friuolous wil-worships and fond conceats in euery thing to draw men from a solid and sound vnderstanding of the substantial points of true deuotion Col. 2. Touch not Tast not Handle not Eate not Marry not now but when we appoint not you but you whom we permit and al vpon pain of damnation peril of saluation in as many as misse the heauenly hestes of holy Rome Is this the spirit of Christ pacifieng our minds or rather intangling our soules with so many wind-laces The true worshippers Iohn 4.23 worship in spirite and truth And what spirit is there in these and these like toyes There is no substaunce no truth no graine but all chaffe in these eares in these filly-follies Reply to D.F. Pag. 119. No maruel if Bristow require in Christians not the spirit of truth but the spirite of obedience but of what Obedience To what And whom If men were but meanly directed by the truth it were impossible they shoulde so obediently delue and dig and so grouelingly serue in the mines and misteries of slauery it selfe Wherfore because Rome is not Catholicke because Rome is too too be-spanged and set about with Ceremonies vnfruitfully therefore she is none of our Mother nor we her children 3 The Catholick Church is not locally tied to any territory The motiue of the visibility of the Church Both for the consideration of Catholicisme and also for that shee descendeth FROM ABOVE and is by grace and holdeth not of any place and looketh vpward and seeketh those things which are aboue and setteth hir affections on heauenly things There is much adoe about the VISIBILITY of the Catholicke Church May I tary you now in sifting somewhat more that question a while Paul describeth the Church to be from aboue spiritually by speciall fauour and reflecting againe vpward in inward hartines and requisite dueties Our aduersaries seeke hir on earth and require hir to be liable to the ey and locally visible and that in Rome as Hierusalem was in Iurie where God for a time was best known We speak of the catholique Church * The Catholick Church property taken what it meaneth which is the society or company of all the Saints of God of al times and places the whole body whereof cannot bee seene nay the meanes whereby any part of the Church is made a part and continueth a part thereof is secret inward and inuisible and the certainty thereof is an article of faith and not obiect of the ey sight Credo Ecclesiam not Video Ecclesiam I beleeue that God hath a chosen Church and that the Lord knoweth who are his though I discerne it not by sense For the glory
personal pains setting the wounded man on his owne beast and bringing him to the Inne and taking farther order for farther charges requisite knowing that there was a mutuall neighbourhoode not euer by neerenes of place but for necessity and extremity of pure neede And he that loueth cannot lacke the vnderstanding to discerne who is a neighbour Loue is wise and Loue is euer willing to doe any good to any man to the vttermost The inconuenience of diuision 3 If the excellency of louing bee so great the inconuenience of not louing cannot bee little And in not louing is not ment a meere want of charity but which euer ensueth where charitie wanteth a present enducement of the contrarie quality And where the cōtrary affections raign there is snarling and biting and deuouring and a plain consuming one of the other For the diuided house cannot endure And it is an euil land that deuoureth their own inhabitants and the spirit of the lord doth not lightly rest in these whirlewind-spirits such as troubled the Galathians and turmoile impertinently euery place where euer they come without lawefull and necessary cause as if they were made of wild-fier to enflame and burn vp the world O Lord if it be thy wil take away al iust occasion of mislike quench all their furies which seeke occasions there where none are offered The dew and grace of thy holy spirit can doe al this may it please thy goodnes to grant vs this fauour in Christ Iesu So be it Amen 19 Moreouer the works of the flesh are manifest which are adultery fornication vncleannesse wantonnesse Albeit the roote of sinne be deepe and the corruption of fleshly hidde and lurke in the inwarde parts yet the woorks thereof are not obscure but euident to the ey big grosse open and manifest so that a man may soon know that the tree is naught by the vitious fruits it beareth And if a man may iudge of the workman by his workes some of the woorkes of the flesh are adultery fornication vncleannes wantonnes Fornication Adultery Wantonnes breedeth vncleannes vncleannes breaketh forth into sinful fornication where the partes are single and into abominable adultery where either party offending is a married person By the Law of God the adulterer and the adulteresse shal dy moriendo morientur Leuit. 20. there should bee no remedy There were Lawes among the Gentils to the same effect But Iuuenal complaineth Lex Iulia dormis May not wee rather Lex Iehouae dormis Whether Adulterie should be death There is a great deale of questioning about this matter whether the penalty of adultery must necessarily bee death or no for it may be and that it deserueth there is no question Giue me leaue to say thus much that if it were death adulteries woulde bee fewer quarrels of marrying againe after adultery the adultresse liuing would not be so rife and loue to the certaine vndoubtedly known and only children would be much increased betweene the Parents If a man steale xij d hee shall bee hanged if a man abuse twelue mens wiues yet he may liue The peace is broken in my Ox or Horse is the peace kept when my wiue is defiled my daughters deflored Other vices swarme but this is a Noes flud Young men are no niggards Olde men are no wasters countrimen are no ruffins nor townsmē quarrelers But old and yong towne and country had neede to looke better to this vice There is no good giuing place to a flattering sinne Nature is frail and the flesh lusteth against the spirite and there is no sirding at all for a man that standeth vppon a Pinnacle Wherefore all causes yea al occasions of this way sinning must be deuoyded Praeparatiues to vncleannes Shal I be plain or why should I not painting of faces frisling of hair mōsterous starcht supported rufs pride vpon pride in apparel exces of diet minsing dances wanton gestures ribaldry talke amorous ditties vaine discourses Venus court and the Pallace of pleasures and the like wherein there is no Pallas no wit verily no true wisdome all these for the most part are nothing but the ministers many times of much vncleannes and the Apostle who cannot abide any wantonnes would he tolerate these enormities Go to the commandement and study wel the precept Thou shalt not commit adultery and these follies these preparatiues to adultery will soone be forsaken As our Sauiour Iohn 8.4 when talke was about the woman that was taken * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the act hee stooped downe and wrote on the ground so I could desire to speak as if it were vnder a vaut in most secret termes for the amendment of this sinne but the works of darknes are become bould and men are not ashamed of their turpitude and shame and they can looke thorough a white sheete and neuer blush The Israelites made of the house of God the house of iniquity the Iewes of the temple of God a denne of Theeues but these offenders make the Temples of the holy Ghost and the members of Christ that should bee the members of an harlot and the Temples of the holy Ghost they make to be the cage of vncleane birds a very sty for hogs and a stable for horse that neieth after that which is none of his owne O Lord were it not better or is it not the nature of mariage thine holy ordinance that for the * 1 Cor. 7.2 auoiding of fornication euery man should haue his wife and euery woman her husband and beeing in that honorable state should keepe themselues from strange flesh shrouding themselues from all inconueniences vnder the broad vine leafe of thine owne planting If any man or woman among vs haue offended herein let neither him nor her henceforth ad drunckennes to thirst let him not walowe in this mire any more let him rise vp by repentance let him vomit out by confession this surfeiting and let him deepely consider that he is made after the image of God which he should not deface that he is the member of Christ which he may not prostitute and that our bodies are as an holy place if we know so much euen the Temples of the holy spirite which howe it is greeued with these transgressions it hath beene told you at sundry times 20 Idolatry witch-craft hatred debate emulations wrath contentions seditions heresies 21 Enuy murders drunckennes gluttony and such like whereof I tel you before as I also haue told you before that they which doe such things shal not inherit the kingdome of God Paul entendeth not to make a iust beadrol and ful computation of all sinnes that eyther were in the Galathians or might arise out of the flesh or els to marshal euery vice and disorder in a precise order Certaine manifest enormities are onely touched and in the end he addeth and such like and of them al he denounceth that they wil weigh a man to hell and exclude
a quicke sand let vs eate and drinke like Epicures and belligods for to morrow we shal dy and there is an end Nay not so for as you who so offend shall bee excluded the inheritance of euerlasting life so shall you also for such enormities be tormented for euer in endlesse paines without repentance The rich glutton in the Gospel goeth gaily fareth deliciously euery day al purple aboue silcke within diet most exquisite He taketh his rest in idlenes eateth in gluttony quaffeth in drunckennes passeth the time in * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iocondnes But Lazarus lieth after another sort being sicke and coulde not stand but was faine to ly downe at the gate and lay in open sight euen at the gate was no counterfet but ful of sores and not able to driue away the dogges and a small almes would haue serued him for he was but one person and he required no great matter but a fewe crommes and euen such as fell from the rich mans table but this rich man releeueth him not himselfe and his eate all drinke all or wastfully spill all But was this all This proude greedy Hauke or rather Rite that was thus pruned and trimmed euery day thus curiously fed so carefully kept thus gorgiously vsed in fine he dieth soudenly and straite he plumpeth downe to hell and there is detained in euerlasting torments and so is storied to be for an ensample to al that so egregiously delight to pamper the flesh and cram the body 22 But the fruite of the spirite is Loue Ioy Peace Long-suffering Gentlenes Goodnes Faith 23 Meekenes Temperance against such there is no Lawe 24 For they that are Christs haue crucified the flesh with the affections and the lusts 25 If we liue in the spirit let vs also walk in the spirite 26 Let vs not bee desirous of vaine glory prouoking one an other enuieng one an other Contrary causes produce contrary effectes The fleshe and the spirit are contrary and therefore the workes of the one and the fruites of the other are contrary And therefore also these fruites of the spirite come not at all from the contrarie cause which is the flesh but from the spirit alone which doth incubate fructifieth and woorketh in our nature otherwise not onely barren of good woorkes but quite repugnant to all goodnesse For in whom the fleshe ruleth you heard howe it worketh but whom the spirite guideth you see what fruits spring thence only thence to wit Loue Ioy Peace and euery gracious vertue The caterpillers of the Orchard where these fruits should grow were the aboue named vices Paul distinctly noteth three in the ende of this Chapter 1. Ambition 2. Contention 3. Enuy. 1 Euerie thing hangeth in the ambitious mans light 2. The contentious man is neuer content 3. But the enuying eye is not possibly quiet Ambition 1 Ambition is a tree that groweth in euerie ground rooteth deepe and spreadeth wide especially being watered with folly selfe-loue and pride For as humility contentation lowlinesse are seldome found so an aspiring minde as the catching bramble resteth and prooueth in euery mans brest The baits of pomp are sondry the weak brain of man is fanciful flesh is soone puft vp and there is leauen enough in the world to make it rise and swell And set but a beggar on horsebacke and he will ride a gallope Yea our nature is as the vntamed colt except it be kept in and held short and rained hard there wil be no rule The towne the country the great City generally all flesh hath an ouer-weening thought of it selfe When the Peacoch vieweth her fowl feet she laieth downe her proud feathers and yet a litle after forgetting all that she pranketh vp herselfe as before In like manner when God toucheth vs somewhat neare doubtlesse the godly stoupe full low fall downe flat as Paul from his horse but being raised vp againe wee doe not euer consider thoroughly by what strength we were raised and when he remoueth his hand wee strait forget that it was euer laide vpon vs and to what end to wit to teach vs humblenesse meekenesse sobriety patience and al goodnes for euermore The last enimy that the Godly in Christ shall ouercome is death but one of the last and that not the least is a vaine conceit either of being vaine or tending to vaine glory And this is a general fault yea the very heardman thinketh as well of his horne as of the siluer trumpet the minoe in the fresh water is as proud as the whale of the sea the pricking fruitles * thistle is as high minded as the profitable Cedar Austine in his * Lib. 6. cap. 6. confessions agnizeth plainely his imperfection in this behalfe in sense confessing thus I gaped full wide after promotion honour gaine a good mariage and the like and in seeking to satisfie these my lusts I endured many a hard brunt much bitternes and sundry dangers On a day I was to make an Oration before the Emperour or Gouernour therein I tooke not a little pains to depaint out his praises therby entending to purchase some fauour and credite and opinion of credit with his honour But as I was in the way and while my head was ful and my hart heauy and I as it were with child til this wind were vented and I deliuered of that which I had conceaued I met a beggerly drunkē rogue that sang ful merily and was marueilous excessiue pleasaunt I stoode and considered the man and compared his state At last I began to reason with my companions that it went far better with this fellow than it fared with me by how much mirth is better than sorrow a gladsome hart than a heauy soule and albeit it might be said that the ioy I might conceaue of my learning were to be preferred verily I must confesse where that fault secretly wringeth alas my learning knowledge and study is more bent to please than to profit to speak to the eare than to the consciences of men And this is a very vanity And though the druncken mans mirth may seeme more vile than a fancy of vaine glory yet it is not so For to glory but not in the Lord is the greatest shame To seeke to bee great but not in Christ is the weightiest sinne To striue for honor in the kingdom of humility is worse than a drunkennes Againe the begger getteth a penny or two easily and so a drunkennes of so small a charge is soon disgessed with one nights sleep but the price of vaine glory is ouer-costly and the giddines it bringeth is not so soone concocted I goe to bed many nightes and rise many a morning yet stil my drunckennes is the same it was c. Thus could Austen bethink himselfe and such was his humble confession to God and sober conference with his companions And this did hee turne the sinne of another to the reformation of himselfe And herein is true wisedome and
fault let him be restored in the spirite of lenity and with meeke discretion in a proportionable rate There is a publique restoring and there is a priuate restoring You are priuate men and yet priuate men rather looke into publique orders than into their priuate owne doings And in deed as he said nos quoque eruditos oculos habemus you see somewhat and you say as much as you see The execution of the Law is the life of the Law There is order taken for commuting of penance and the open restoring of the penitent But I grant lawes without execution are no lawes Quid leges sine moribus Vanae proficiunt There is no profite by such lawes nay they are lawlesse and as if they were no lawes at al. And therefore a latter law comming after with full meaning to put in execution the former law is said to reuiue such a law therby inferring plainly that the law wanteth life and is deade when it lacketh execution In the most honourable audience of the high court of Parliament they were the words of wise and right worthy Sir Nicolas Bacon the Lord Keeper whose memorie is as the memory of Iosias very sweete in euery mans mouth his wordes were that the best instruments and sharpest weeding tooles did the garden no good though they were prepared and if they were laid vp in the store house and not put to vse and so forth to the same purpose much But I am beside my Text pardon me in one word your selues haue made you haue lawes and yet notwithstanding as if you had none you who can find fault with others why doe you not execute your owne lawes and mulctes appointed for the restoring of greater repaire to the hearing of the holy word of the Lord Wil you see men fall from god and fal to vice and profanenesse euen the Lecture time and will ye not restore these members to their old order If you were spirituall no doubt these things would be better ordered For shame looke to it The ground of the Apostles exhortation for the maner of restoring is because they be spiritual and for that the Lawe of Christ requireth that men deale with men as meekely and louely as they may wherein I obserue two notes 1. The cause of their standing who stood when others fel 2. Then the vrgent duety to endeuor to raise vp them who are fallen 1 The cause why wee stand is not in the strength of our selues ye that are spiritual it commeth from Gods spirit verse 3. If any man seem to himselfe to bee but somewhat hee is deceaued The spirit is ready but the flesh is weak and al the readines we haue to stand to it in persecution to persist in al temptations either outwardly assalting or inwardly molesting is from the spirit of God because we are spiritual The Popish partition betweene spiritual and temporal as if amongest them and their orders euery doore keeper Church sweeper bel ringer or taper bearer c. were necessarily spiritual men and all men else were not spirituall is a toy and wel confuted of * D. Bilson of Christian subiection part 1. Pag. 244. late Paul writing generally to the Galathians calleth them by that which they should bee spirituall in the cariage of themselues mutually one to another Wherein my note is to that end wee looke vpward to the spirit of Gods assistaunce and to his powerfull hand that holdeth vs vp that are ready to fal There were 7000. that did not adore Baal and not so much as bow their knees to the Idoll but this came not of themselues but they were kept vp by God The candlesticks in the Reuelation are held vp by no other hād but by the hand of Christ Wherfore as it is in the song of Anna it is God that ruleth the woorlde it is the Lorde who guideth and directeth the feet of his Saints it is his woorde that teacheth and his spirite that conducteth his chosen seruants The Lawe of Christ 2 The vrgentnes is also thereby enforced of a good duty toward the repairing of a sinner that the Law of Christ prouoketh vs thereunto The Law of Moses is full of feare and terror but the Law of Christ is ful of loue and as the body is a perfect body that is sustained with meate and drinke inwardly and kept warme externally with clothes so the faithfull man is a right Christian that feeleth within the food of life the consolation of the spirit and the comfort of Christ and in the exercise of good works and brotherly kindnes as it were thorough clothes to warme and to foster his good actions and all this after the commandement law and ensample of our Sauiour who did al that he did for others and nothing for himselfe euen as the sheepe both in fell and flesh is for his owner and not for himselfe Wherefore brethren let vs suffer one with an other euen for his sake that suffered for vs al. Let vs beare one an others burden for his sake who vpō the crosse bore al our burdēs It is the law of christ that it shold so not thereby that we become sauiors of our selues but because he hath saued vs already and therefore may make a Lawe for his saued which most willingly they must walke in He that considereth wel his owne faults will the better beare will the imperfection of other men The hye-way thereunto is if a man can descend into him-selfe if that his considerations be like Solomons windows Skued to giue light rather into the house thā that a mā may stand at the windowe to loke abroad and if he iudge himselfe rather than others and proue himselfe and know say that if such or such a one be a sinner in such or such a case by infirmity well euen I either haue bin or am perchance and certainly by nature am and therefore may be if now I am not as great an offender as that my brother and therefore I must and wil doe for him as I would wish to be done vnto my selfe seeking to restore him as wel as I can and that with al lenity For there is no insulting vppon or vpbraiding of one another man in a fault The mariners of Tharsis fell to casting of lottes to know who was the sinner but that God had a purpose therein the lots might haue fallen rather vpon any of the mariners than vpon Ionas In Paradise there were but two and they two being both faulty began to post off their sinne the one to the other but it went not by that euerie man shal beare his owne burden And a quiet conscience is a continuall feast And that conscience which is blowen vp in pride and goeth for a time merrily like the wind-mill with the gale of vaine praise or selfeliking or that conscience that can disgest yron like the Estrige that is al his own bad doings and yet square it out and compare it with