dalliance and but a touch of youth Not rebuked but winked at Not punished but laughed at Wherefore it is necessary at this present Exod. 20. to treat of the sin of Whoredom and Fornication declaring unto you the greatness of this Sin and how odious hateful and abominable it is and hath alway been reputed before God and all good Men and how grievously it hath been punished both by the Law of God and the Laws of divers Princes Again to shew you certain remedies whereby ye may through the Grace of God eschew this most detestable sin of Whoredom and Fornication and lead your lives in all Honesty and Cleanness and that ye may perceive that Fornication and Whoredome are in the sight of God most abominable Sins ye shall call to remembrance this Commandment of God Thou shalt not commit Adultery By the which word Adultery although it be properly understood of the unlawful commixtion or joining together of a married Man with any Woman beside his Wife or of a Wife with any Man beside her Husband Yet thereby is signified also all unlawful use of those Parts which be ordained for Generation And this one Commandment forbidding Adultery doth sufficiently paint and set out before our Eyes the greatness of this Sin of Whoredom and manifestly declareth how greatly it ought to be abhorred of all honest and faithful Persons And that none of us all shall think himself excepted from this Commandment whether he be old or young married or unmarried Man or Woman hear what God the Father saith by his most Excellent Prophet Moses Deut. 23. There shall be no Whore among the Daughters of Israel nor no Whoremonger among the Sons of Israel Here is Whoredom Fornication and all other uncleanness forbidden to all kinds of People all Degrees and all Ages without exception And that we shall not doubt but that this Precept or Commandment pertaineth to us indeed hear what Christ the perfect Teacher of all Truth saith in the Now Testament Ye have heard saith Christ that it was said to them of old time Matth. 5. Thou shalt not commit Adultery But I say unto you Whosoever seeth a Woman to have his Lust of her hath committed Adultery with her already in his Heart Here our Saviour Christ doth not only confirm and establish the Law against Adultery given in the Old Testament of God the Father by his Servant Mâ—ses and make it of full strength continually to remain among the Professors of his Name in the new Law But he also condemning the gross interpretation of the Scribes and Pharisees which taught that the foresaid Commandment only required to abstain from the outward Adultery and not from the filthy desires and impure Lusts teacheth us an exact and full perfection of Purity and Cleanness of Life both to keep our Bodies undefiled and our Hearts pure and free from all evil thoughts carnal desires and fleshly consents How can we then be free from this Commandment where so great charge is laid upon us May a Servant do what he will in any thing having Commandment of his Master to the contrary Is not Christ our Master Are not we his Servants How then may we neglect our Master's Will and Pleasure and follow our own Will and Phantasie John 15. Ye are my Friends saith Christ if you keep those things that I command you Now hath Christ our Master commanded us that we should forsake all uncleanness and filthiness both in Body and Spirit This therefore must we do if we look to please God Matth. 15. In the Gospel of S Matthew we read that the Scribes and Phaâ—isâ—es were grievously offended with Christ because his Disciples did not keep the traditions of the Forefathers for they washed not their Hands when they went to Dinner or Supper And among other things Christ answered and said Hear and understand Not that thing which entreth into the Mouth d fileth the Man but that which cometh out of the Mouth defileth the Man Matth. 15. For those things which proceed out of the Mouth come forth from the Heart and they defile the Man For out of the Heart proceed evil Thoughts Murders breaking of Wedlock Whoredoms Thefts false Witness B asphemies These are the things which d file a Man Here may we see that not only Murder Theft false Witness and Blasphemy defile Men but also evil Thoughts breaking of Wedlock Fornication and Whoredom Who is now of so little Wit that he will esteem Whoredom and Fornication to be things of small importance and of no weight before God Christ who is the Truth and cannot lye saith Mark 7. That evil Thoughts Titus 1 breaking of Wedlock Whoredom and Fornication defile a Man that is to say corrupt both the Body and Soul of Man and make them of the Temples of the Holy Ghost the filthy Dunghil or Dungeon of all unclean Spirits of the House of God the dwelling place of Satan John 8. Again the Gospel of St. John when the Woman taken in Adultery was brought unto Christ said not he unto her Rom. 6. Go thy way and sin no more Doth not he here call Whoredom Sin And what is the Reward of Sin 1 John 3. but everlasting Death If Whoredom be Sin then it is not lawful for us to commit it For St. John saith John 8. He that committeth Sin is of the Devil And our Saviour saith Every one that committeth Sin is the Servant of Sin If Whoredom had not been Sin surely St. John Baptist would never have rebuked King Herod for taking his Brother's Wife Mark 6. but he told him plainly That it was not lawful for him to take his Brother's Wife He winked not at the Whoredom of Herod although he were a King of Power but boldly reproved him for his wicked and abominable living although for the same he lost his Head But he would rather suffer death than see God so dishonored by the breaking of his Holy Precept and Commandment than to suffer Whoredom to be unrebuked even in a King If Whoredom had been but a Pastime a Dalliance and not to be passed of as many count it now a days truly John had been more than twice mad if he would have had the displeasure of a King if he would have been cast in Prison and lost his Head for a trifle But John new right well how filthy and stinking and abominable the Sin of Whoredom is in the sight of God therefore would he not leave it unrebuked no not in a King If Whoredom be not lawful in a King neither is it lawful in a Subject If Whoredom be not lawful in a publick or common Officer neither is it lawful in a private Person If it be not lawful neither in King nor Subject neither in common Officer nor private Person truly then it is lawful in no Man nor Woman of whatsoever Degree or Age they be Furthermore in the Acts of the Apostles we read
She is the Mother of all these things for she is an infinite treasure unto Men which whoso use become partakers of the love of God I might with many words move some of this audience to search for this Wisdom to sequester their Reason to follow Gods Commandment to cast from them the Wits of their Brains to favor this Wisdom to renounce the Wisdom and Policy of this fond World to taste and Savor of that whereunto the Favor and Will of God hath called them and willeth us finally to enjoy by his Favor if we would give ear But I will haste to the Third Part of my Text wherein is expressed further in Sapience how God giveth his Elect understanding of the motions of the Heavens of the alteration and circumstances of Time Which as it followeth in words more plentiful in the Text which I have last cited unto you so it must needs follow in them that be endued with this Spiritual Wisdom For as they can search where to find this Wisdom and know of whom to ask it So know they again that in time it is found and can therefore temper themselves to the occasion of the time to suffer no time to pass away wherein they may labor for this Wisdom And to encrease therein they know how God of his infinite Mercy and lenity giveth all Men here time and place of Repentance And they see how the Wicked as Job writeth abuse the same to their Pride Job 14. and therefore do the Godly take the better hold of the time to redeem it out of such use as it is spoiled in by the Wicked They which have this Wisdom of God can gather by the diligent and earnest study of the Worldlings of this present life how they wait their times and apply themselves to every occasion of time and to get Riches to encrease their Lands and Patrimony They see the time pass away and therefore take hold on it in such wise that otherwhiles they will with loss of their sleep and ease with suffering many pains catch the offer of their time knowing that that which is past cannot be returned again Repentance may follow but remedy is none Why should not they then that be Spiritually Wise in their Generation wait their time to encrease as fast in their state to win and gain Everlastingly They reason what a brute forgetfulness it were in Man endued with Reason to be ignorant of their Times and Tides when they see the Turtle Dove the Stork and the Swallow to wait their times Jer. 8. as Jeremy saith The Stork in the Air knoweth her appointed times the Turtle the Grane and the Swallow observe the time of their coming but my People knoweth not the judgment of the Lord. Ephes 2. St. Paul willeth us to redeem the time because the days are evil It is not the Counsel of St. Paul only but of all other that ever gave precepts of Wisdom There is no Precept more seriously given and commanded than to know the time Yea Christian Men for that they hear how grievously God complaineth and threatneth in the Scriptures them which will not know the time of his Visitations are learned thereby the rather earnestly to apply themselves thereunto After our Saviour Christ had Prophesied with weeping Tears of the destruction of Jerusalem at the last he putteth the cause Luke 19. For that thou hast not known the time of thy Visitation O England ponder the time of Gods merciful Visitation which is shewed thee from day to day and yet will not regard it neither wilt thou with his Punishment be driven to thy Duty nor with his benefits be provoked to Thanks If thou knewest what may fall upon thee for thy unthankfulness thou wouldst provide for thy Peace Brethren howsoever the World in generality is forgetful of God let us Particularly attend to our time and win the time with diligence and apply our selves to the Light and Grace that is afforded us let us if Gods Favor and Judgments which he worketh in our time cannot stir us to call home to our selves to do that belonging to our Salvation at the least way let the malice of the Devil the naughtiness of the World which we see exercised in these perilous and last times wherein we see our days so dangerously set provoke us to watch diligently to our vocation to walk and go forward therein Let the misery and short transitory joys spied in the casualty of our days move us while we have them in our hands and seriously stir us to be wise and to expend the gracious good Will of God to us ward which all the day long stretched out his Hands as the Prophet saith unto us Isaiah 65. for the most part his merciful Hands sometime his heavy Hands that we being learned thereby may escape the danger that must needs fall on the unjust who lead their days in felicity and pleasure without the knowing of Gods Will toward them but suddenly they go down into Hell Let us be found Watchers found in the Peace of the Lord that at the last Day we may be found without spot and blameless yea let us endeavor our selves good Christian People diligently to keep the presence of his holy Spirit Job 2. Let us renounce all uncleanness for he is the Spirit of Purity Sap. 1. Let us avoid all hypocrisie for this holy Spirit will flee from that which is feigned Heb. 11. Cast we off all malice and all evil will for this Spirit will never enter into an evil willing Soul Let us cast away all the whole lump of sin that standeth about us for he will never dwell in that Body that is subdued to sin We cannot be seen Thankful to Almighty God and work such despight to the Spirit of Grace by whom we be Sanctified Heb. 10. If we do our endeavor we shall not need to fear We shall be able to overcome all our Enemies that fight against us Only let us apply our selves to accept the Grace that is offered us Of Almighty God we have comfort by his Goodness of our Saviour Christs Mediation we may be sure And this holy Spirit will suggest unto us that shall be wholsome and comfort us in all things Therefore it cannot be but true that St. Paul affirmeth Of him by him and in him be all things and in him after this transitory life well passed shall we have all things For St. Paul saith 1 Cor. 15. When the Son of God shall subdue all things unto him then shall God be all in all If ye will know how God shall be all in all verily after this sense may we understand it In this World ye see that we be fain to borrow many things to our necessity of many Creatures there is no one thing that sufficeth all our necessities If we be an Hungred we lust for Bread If we be Athirst we seek to be refreshed with Ale or Wine If we be
and continue in are the Bodies and Minds of true Christians and the chosen People of God according to the Doctrine of the Holy Scripture declared in the First Epistle to the Corinthians Know ye not saith St. Paul 1 Cor. 3. that ye be the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you If any Man defile the Temple of God him will God destroy For the Temple of God is Holy which ye are And again in the same Epistle Know ye not that your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost dwelling in you whom ye have given you of God 1 Cor. 6. and that ye be not your own For ye are dearly bought Glorifie ye now therefore God in your Body and in your Spirit which are Gods And therefore as our Saviour Christ teacheth in the Gospel of Saint John John 4. they that worship God the Father in Spirit and Truth in what place soever they do it worship him aright For such Worshippers doth God the Father look for For God is a Spirit and those that Worship him must Worship him in Spirit and Truth saith our Saviour Christ Yet all this notwithstanding the material Church or Temple is a place appointed as well by the usage and continual Examples expressed in the Old Testament as in the New for the People of God to resort together unto there to hear Gods Holy Word to call upon his Holy Name to give him thanks for his innumerable and unspeakable benefits bestowed upon us and duly and truly to celebrate his Holy Sacraments in the unfeigned doing and accomplishing of the which standeth that True and Right Worshipping of God aforementioned and the same Church or Temple is by the Holy Scriptures both of the Old Testament and New called the House and Temple of the Lord for the peculiar service there done to his Majesty by his People and for the effectuous presence of his Heavenly Grace wherewith he by his said Holy Word endueth his People so there assembled And to the said House or Temple of God at all times by common order appointed are all People that be godly indeed bound with all diligence to resort unless by sickness or other most urgent causes they be letted therefore And all the same so resorting thither ought with all quietness and reverence there to behave themselves in doing their bounden duty and service to Almighty God in the Congregation of his Saints All which things are evident to be proved by God's Holy Word as hereafter shall plainly appear And first of all I will declare by the Scriptures that it is called as it is indeed the House of God and Temple of the Lord. He that Sweareth by the Temple saith our Saviour Christ John 2. Matth. 23. John 2. Sweareth by it and him that dwelleth therein meaning God the Father which he also expresseth plainly in the Gospel of Saint John saying Do not make the House of my Father the House of Merchandize And in the Book of the Psalms Psal 5. the Prophet David saith I will enter into thine House I will Worship in thy Holy Temple in thy Fear And it is almost in infinite places of the Scripture especially in the Prophets and Book of Psalms called the House of God or House of the Lord. Somtimes it is named the Tabernacle of the Lord Exod. 25. and somtimes the Sanctuary that is to say the Holy Place or House of the Lord. And it is likewise called the House of Prayer Levit. 19. 3 Reg. 8 2 Par. 6. as Solomon who builded the Temple of the Lord at Jerusalem doth oft call it the House of the Lord in the which the Lords Name should be called upon Isaiah 56. Matth. 12. Matth. 21. Mark 11. Luke 19. Luke 18. Luke 2. And Isaiah in the Fifty sixth Chapter My House shall be called the House of Prayer amongst all Nations Which Text our Saviour Christ alledgeth in the New Testament as doth appear in Three of the Evangelists and in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican which went to pray in which Parable our Saviour Christ saith They went up into the Temple to pray And Anna the Holy Widow and Prophetess served the Lord in Fasting and Prayer in the Temple Night and Day And in the Story of the Acts it is mentioned Acts 3. how that Peter and John went up into the Temple at the Hour of Prayer And Saint Paul praying in the Temple at Jerusalem was wrapt in the Spirit and did see Jesus speaking unto him And as in all convenient places Prayer may be used of the Godly privately So it is most certain that the Church or Temple is the due and appointed place for common and publick Prayer Now that it is likewise the place of Thanksgiving unto the Lord for his innumerable and unspeakable benefits bestowed upon us appeareth notably at the latter end of the Gospel of Saint Luke Luke 24. Acts 22. and the beginning of the Story of the Acts where it is written that the Apostles and Disciples after the Ascension of the Lord continued with one accord daily in the Temple always praising and blessing God And it is likewise declared in the First Epistle to the Corinthians Cor. 11. that the Church is the due place appointed for the use of the Sacraments It remaineth now to be declared that the Church or Temple is the place where the lively Word of God and not Man's Inventions ought to be Read and Taught and that the People are bound thither with all diligence to resort And this proof likewise to be made by the Scriptures as hereafter shall appear In the Story of the Acts of the Apostles Acts 13. we read that Paul and Barnabas Preached the Word of God in the Temples of the Jews at Salamine And when they came to Antiochia they entred on the Sabbath-day into the Synagogue or Church and sate down and after the Lesson or Reading of the Law and the Prophets the Ruler of the Temple sent unto them saying Ye Men and Brethren if any of you have any Exhortation to make unto the People say it And so Paul standing up and making silence with his Hand said Ye Men that be Israelites and ye that fear God give Ear c. Preaching to them a Sermon out of the Scriptures as there at large appeareth And in the same Story of the Acts the Seventeenth Chapter is testified how Paul preached Christ out of the Scriptures at Thessalonica And in the Fifteenth Chapter James the Apostle in that Holy Council and Assembly of his Fellow Apostles saith Acts 15. Moses of old time hath in every City certain that preach him in the Synagogues or Temples where he is read every Sabbath-day By these places ye may see the usage of Reading the Scriptures of the the Old Testament among the Jews in their Synagogues every Sabbath-day and Sermons usually made upon the same How much more then is it
day Apoc. 1. Sithence which time Gods People hath always in all Ages without any gain-saying used to come together upon the Sunday Numb 15. to celebrate and honour the Lords blessed Name and carefully to keep that day in Holy rest and quietness both Man Woman Child Servant and Stranger For the transgression and breach of which day God hath declared himself much to be grieved as it may appear by him who for gathering of sticks on the Sabbath day was stoned to death But alas all these notwithstanding it is lamentable to see the wicked boldness of those that will be counted Gods People who pass nothing at all of keeping and hallowing the Sunday And these People are of two sorts The one sort if they have any business to do though there be no extream need they must not spare for the Sunday they must ride and journey on the Sunday they must drive and carry on the Sunday they must row and ferry on the Sunday they must buy and sell on the Sunday they must keep Markets and Fairs on the Sunday finally they use all days alike Work-days and Holy-days all are one The other sort is worse For although they will not Travel nor Labour on the Sunday as they do on the Week-day yet they will not rest in Holiness as God commandeth but they rest in ungodliness and filthiness prancing in their Pride pranking and pricking pointing and painting themselves to be gorgeous and gay they rest in excess and superfluity in gluttony and drunkenness like Rats and Swine they rest in brawling and railing in quarrelling and fighting they rest in wantonness in toyish talking in filthy fleshliness so that it doth too evidently appear that God is more dishonoured and the Devil better served on the Sunday than upon all the days in the Week besides And I assure you the Beasts which are commanded to rest on the Sunday honour God better than this kind of People For they offend not God they break not their Holy-days Wherefore O ye People of God lay your hands upon your hearts repent and amend this grievous and dangerous wickedness stand in awe of the Commandment of God gladly follow the example of God himself be not disobedient to the godly Order of Christs Church used and kept from the Apostles time until this day Fear the displeasure and just Plagues of Almighty God if ye be negligent and forbear not labouring and travelling on the Sabbath day or Sunday and do not resort together to celebrate and magnifie Gods blessed Name in quiet Holiness and godly Reverence Now concerning the Place where the People of God ought to resort together and where especially they ought to celebrate and sanctifie the Sabbath day that is the Sunday the day of Holy Rest That Place is called Gods Temple or the Church because the Company and Congregation of Gods People which is properly called the Church doth there assemble themselves on the days appointed for such Assemblies and Meetings And forasmuch as Almighty God hath appointed a special time to be honoured in it is very meet godly and also necessary that there should be a Place appointed where these People should meet and resort to serve their gracious God and merciful Father Truth it is the Holy Patriarchs for a great number of years had neither Temple nor Church to resort unto The cause was they were not staid in any place but were in a continual peregrination and wandring that they could not conveniently build any Church But so soon as God had delivered his People from their Enemies and set them in some liberty in the Wilderness he set them up a costly and a curious Tabernacle which was as it were the Parish Church a place to resort unto of the whole multitude a place to have his Sacrifices made in and other Observances and Rites to be used in Furthermore after that God according to the truth of his Promise had placed and quietly setled his People in the Land of Canaan now called Jury he commanded a great and magnificent Temple to be built by King Solomon as seldom the like hath been seen a Temple so decked and adorned so gorgeously garnished as was meet and expedient for People of that time which would be allured and stirred with nothing so much as with such outward goodly gay things This was now the Temple of God endued also with many gifts and sundry promises This was the publick Church and the Mother-Church of all Jury Here was God honoured and served Hither was the whole Realm of all the Israelites bound to come at three Solemn Feasts in the Year to serve their Lord God here But let us proceed further In the time of Christ and his Apostles there were yet no Temples nor Churches for Christian men For why they were always for the most part in persecution vexation and trouble so that there could be no liberty nor licence obtained for that purpose Yet God delighted much that they should often resort together in a place and therefore after his ascension they remained together in an Upper Chamber sometime they entred into the Temple sometime into the Synagogues sometimes they were in Prison sometimes in their Houses sometimes in the Fields c. And this continued so long till the Faith of Christ Jesus began to multiply in a great part of the World Now when divers Realms were established in Gods true Religion and God had given them peace and quietness then began Kings Noble-men and the People also stirred up with a godly zeal and ferventness to build up Temples and Churches whither the People might resort the better to do their Duty towards God and to keep Holy their Sabbath day the day of Rest And to these Temples have the Christians customably used to resort from time to time as unto meet places where they might with common consent praise and magnifie Gods name yielding him thanks for the benefits that he daily poureth upon them both mercifully and abundantly where they might also hear his Holy Word read expounded and preached sincerely and receive his Holy Sacraments ministred unto them duly and purely True it is that the chief and special Temples of God wherein he hath greatest pleasure and most delighteth to dwell are the bodies and minds of true Christians and the chosen People of God according to the Doctrine of Holy Scriptures declared by St. Paul Know ye not saith he that ye be the Temple of God 1 Cor. 3. and that the Spirit of God doth dwell in you The Temple of God is Holy which ye are And again in the same Epistle 1 Cor. 6. Know ye not that your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost dwelling in you whom you have given you of God and that ye be not your own Yet this notwithstanding God doth allow the material Temple made with Lime and Stone so oft as his People come together into it to praise his Holy Name to be his House and
Hell to the intent to put us in good hope that by his strength we shall do the same He paid the Ransom of sin that it should not be laid to our charge He destroyed the Devil and all his Tyranny and openly triumphed over him and took away from him all his Captives and hath raised and set them with himself among the Heavenly Citizens above Ephes 2. He died to destroy the rule of the Devil in us and he rose again to send down his Holy Spirit to rule in our hearts to endow us with perfect Righteousness Thus it is true that David sung Psal 84. Ephes 4. Captivam duxit captivitatem Luke 2. Veritas de terra orta est justitia de coelo prospexit The truth of Gods promise is in Earth to man declared or from the Earth is the everlasting Verity Gods Son risen to life and the true righteousness of the Holy Ghost looking out of Heaven and in most liberal largess dealt upon all the World Thus is glory and praise rebounded upwards to God above for his mercy and truth And thus is Peace come down from Heaven to men of good and faithful hearts Psal 48. Misericordia veritas obviaverunt sibi Thus is mercy and truth as David writeth together met thus is peace and righteousness embracing and kissing each other If thou doubtest of so great wealth and felicity that is wrought for thee O man call to thy mind that therefore hast thou received into thine own possession the everlasting Verity our Saviour Jesus Christ to confirm to thy Conscience the truth of all this matter Thou hast received him if in true faith and repentance of Heart thou hast received him If in purpose of amendment thou hast received him for an everlasting gage or pledge of thy Salvation Thou hast received his Body which was once broken and his Blood which was shed for the remission of thy sin Thou hast received his Body to have within thee the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost for to dwell with thee to endow thee with grace to strengthen thee against thine Enemies and to comfort thee with their presence Thou hast received his Body to endow thee with everlasting righteousness to assure thee of everlasting bliss Ephes 5. and life of thy Soul For with Christ by true Faith art thou quickned again saith St. Paul from death of sin to life of grace and in hope translated from corporal and everlasting death to the everlasting life and glory in Heaven where now thy conversation should be and thy heart and desire set Doubt not of the truth of this matter how great and high soever these things be It becometh God to do no small deeds how impossible soever they seem to thee Pray to God that thou mayest have Faith to perceive this great Mystery of Christs Resurrection that by Faith thou mayest certainly believe nothing to be impossible with God Luke 18. Only bring thou Faith to Christs Holy Word and Sacrament Let thy Repentance shew thy Faith let thy purpose of amendment and obedience of thy heart to Gods Law hereafter declare thy true belief Endeavour thy self to say with St. Paul Phil. 4. From henceforth our conversation is in Heaven from whence we look for a Saviour even the Lord Jesus Christ which shall change our vile bodies that they may be fashioned like his glorious body which he shall do by the same power whereby he rose from death and whereby he shall be able to subdue all things unto himself Thus good Christian People forasmuch as ye have heard these so great and excellent benefits of Christs mighty and glorious Resurrection as how that he hath ransomed Sin overcome the Devil Death and Hell and hath victoriously gotten the better hand of them all to make us free and safe from them and knowing that we be by this benefit of his Resurrection risen with him by our Faith unto life everlasting being in full surety of our hope that we shall have our bodies likewise raised again from death to have them glorified in immortality and joyned to his glorious body having in the mean while his holy Spirit within our hearts as a Seal and Pledge of our everlasting Inheritance By whose assistance we be replenished with all righteousness by whose power we shall be able to subdue all our evil affections rising against the pleasure of God These things I say well considered let us now in the rest of our life declare our Faith that we have in this most fruitful Article by framing our selves thereunto in rising daily from sin to righteousness and holiness of life For what shall it avail us saith St. Peter to be 2 Pet. 2. escaped and delivered from the filthiness of the World through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ if we be entangled again therewith and be overcome again Certainly it had been better saith he never to have known the way of righteousness then after it is known and received to turn back again from the holy Commandment of God given unto us For so shall the Proverb have place in us where it is said The Dog is returned to his vomit again and the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire again What a shame were it for us being thus so clearly and freely washed from our sin to return to the filthiness thereof again What a folly were it thus endowed with righteousness to lose it again What madness were it to lose the Inheritance that we be now set in for the vile and transitory pleasure of sin And what an unkindness should it be where our Saviour Christ of his mercy is come to us to dwell with us as our Guest to drive him from us and to banish him violently out of our souls and instead of him in whom is all grace and vertue to receive the ungracious spirit of the Devil the founder of all naughtiness and mischief How can we find in our hearts to shew such extream unkindness to Christ which hath now so gently called us to mercy and offered himself unto us and he now entred within us Yea how dare we be so bold to renounce the presence of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost For where one is there is God all whole in Majesty together with all his power wisdom and goodness and fear not I say the danger and peril of so traiterous a defiance and departure Good Christian Brethren and Sisters advise your selves consider the dignity that ye be now set in let no Folly lose the thing that Grace hath so preciously offered and purchased let not wilfulness and blindness put out so great light that is now shewed unto you Ephes 6. Only take good hearts unto you and put upon you all the Armour of God that ye may stand against your Enemies which would again subdue you and bring you into their thraldom Remember ye be bought from your vain conversation
nothing is impossible as may further also appear by the inward Regeneration and Sanctification of Mankind When Christ said to Nicodemus Unless a Man be born a-new of Water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God he was greatly amazed in his mind and began to reason with Christ demanding how a Man might be born which was old John 3. Can he enter saith he into his Mothers Womb again and so be born anew Behold a lively pattern of a fleshly and carnal Man He had little or no intelligence of the Holy Ghost and therefore he goeth bluntly to work and asketh how this thing were possible to be true whereas otherwise if he had known the great power of the Holy Ghost in this behalf that it is he which inwardly worketh the Regeneration and New Birth of Mankind he would never have marvelled at Christs words but would rather take occasion thereby to praise and glorifie God For as there are three several and sundry Persons in the Deity so have they three several and sundry Offices proper unto each of them The Father to Create the Son to Redeem the Holy Ghost to Sanctifie and Regenerate Whereof the last the more it is hid from our understanding the more it ought to move all Men to wonder at the secret and mighty working of Gods Holy Spirit which is within us For it is the Holy Ghost and no other thing that doth quicken the Minds of Men stirring up good and godly Motions in their Hearts which are agreeable to the Will and Commandment of God such as otherwise of their own crooked and perverse Nature they should never have John 5. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit As who should say Man of his own Nature is fleshly and carnal corrupt and naught sinful and disobedient to God without any spark of goodness in him without any vertuous or godly Motion only given to evil Thoughts and wicked Deeds As for the Works of the Spirit the Fruits of Faith charitable and godly Motions if he have any at all in him they proceed only of the Holy Ghost who is the only worker of our Sanctification and maketh us new Men in Christ Jesus Did not Gods holy Spirit miraculously work in the Child David when of a poor Shepherd he became a Princely Prophet 1 Sam. 17. Mat. 9. Did not Gods Holy Spirit miraculously work in Matthew sitting at the receit of Custom when of a proud Publican he became an humble and lowly Evangelist And who can choose but marvel to consider that Peter should become of a simple Fisher a chief and mighty Apostle Paul of a cruel and bloody Persecutor a faithful Disciple of Christ to teach the Gentiles Such is the power of the Holy Ghost to Regenerate Men and as it were to bring them forth anew so that they shall be nothing like the Men that they were before Neither doth he think it sufficient inwardly to work the Spiritual and New Birth of Man unless he do also dwell and abide in him 1 Cor. 3. Know ye not saith St. Paul that ye are the Temple of God and that his Spirit dwelleth in you Know ye not that your Bodies are the Temples of the Holy Ghost which is within you Again he saith You are not in the Flesh but in the Spirit For why Rom. 8. 1 John 2 the Spirit of God dwelleth in you To this agreeth the Doctrin of St. John writing on this wise The Anointing which ye have received he meaneth the Holy Ghost dwelleth in you And the Doctrin of Peter saith the same 1 Pet. 4. who hath these words The Spirit of Glory and of God resteth upon you O what comfort is this to the heart of a true Christian to think that the Holy Ghost dwelleth within him Rom. 5. If God be with us as the Apostle saith who can be against us O but how shall I know that the Holy Ghost is within me Some Man perchance will say forsooth As the Tree is known by his Fruit so is also the Holy Ghost The Fruits of the Holy Ghost according to the mind of St. Paul are these Love Joy Peace long Suffering Gentleness Goodness Gal. 5. Faithfulness Meekness Temperance c. Contrariwise the Deeds of the Flesh are these Adultery Fornication Uncleanness Wantonness Idolatry Witchcraft Hatred Debate Emulation Wrath Contention Sedition Heresie Envy Murder Drunkenness Gluttony and such like Here is now that Glass wherein thou must behold thy self and discern whether thou have the Holy Ghost within thee or the Spirit of the Flesh If thou see that thy Works be vertuous and good consonant to the prescript Rule of Gods Word favouring and tasting not of the Flesh but of the Spirit then assure thy self that thou art endued with the Holy Ghost otherwise in thinking well of thy self thou dost nothing else but deceive thy self The Holy Ghost doth always declare himself by his fruitful and gracious gifts namely by the word of Wisdom by the word of Knowledge which is the understanding of the Scriptures by Faith 1 Cor. 12. in doing of Miracles by healing them that are Diseased by Prophesie which is the Declaration of Gods Mysteries by discerning of Spirits diversities of Tongues interpretation of Tongues and so forth All which gifts as they proceed from one Spirit and are severally given to Man according to the measurable distribution of the Holy Ghost even so do they bring Men and not without good cause into a wonderful admiration of Gods divine Power Who will not marvel at that which is written in the Acts of the Apostles Acts 5. to hear their bold confession before the Council at Jerusalem And to consider that they went away with joy and gladness rejoycing that they were worthy to suffer Rebukes and Checks for the Name and Faith of Christ Jesus This was the mighty work of the Holy Ghost who because he giveth patience and joyfulness of heart in Temptation and Affliction hath therefore worthily obtained this name in Holy Scripture to be called a Comforter Who will not also marvel to read the learned and heavenly Sermons of Peter and the Disciples considering that they were never brought up in School of Learning but called even from their Nets to supply the Rooms of Apostles This was likewise the mighty work of the Holy Ghost John 14. who because he doth instruct the hearts of the simple in the true knowledge of God and his Word is most justly termed by this name and title to be the Spirit of Truth Lib. 11. cap. 3. Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History cap. 3. telleth a strange Story of a certain learned and subtil Philosopher who being an extream adversary to Christ and his Doctrin could by no kind of Learning be converted to the Faith but was able to withstand all the Arguments that could be brought against him with little or no labor At length there started up a poor
ye see how all is of God by his Son Christ our Lord and Saviour Remember I say once again your Duty of Thanks let them be never to want still injoyn your self to continue in Thanksgiving ye can offer to God no better Sacrifice For he saith himself Psal 50. It is the Sacrifice of Praise and Thanks that shall honor me Which thing was well perceived of that holy Prophet David when he so earnestly spake to himself thus Psal 103. O my Soul bless thou the Lord and all that is within me bless his holy Name I say once again O my Soul bless thou the Lord and never forget his manifold rewards God give us Grace good People to know these things and to feel them in our Hearts This knowledge and feeling is not in our selves by our selves it is not possible to come by it a great pity it were that we should lose so profitable knowledge Let us therefore meekly call upon that bountiful Spirit the Holy Ghost which proceedeth from our Father of Mercy and from our Mediator Christ that he would assist us and inspire us with his presence that in him we may be able to hear the goodness of God declared unto us to our Salvation For without his lively and secret inspiration can we not once so much as speak the Name of our Mediator as St. Paul plainly testifieth 1 Cor. 12 No Man can once Name our Lord Jesus Christ but in the Holy Ghost Much less should we be able to believe and know these great Mysteries that be opened to us by Christ St. Paul saith That no Man can know what is of God 1 Cor. 2. but the Spirit of God As for us saith he we have received not the Spirit of the World but the Spirit which is of God for this purpose That in that holy Spirit we might know the things that be given us by Christ The Wise man saith that in the Power and Vertue of the Holy Ghost resteth all Wisdom and all Ability to know God and to please him For he waiteth thus We know that it is not in Mans power to guide his goings Wisd 9. No Man can know thy Pleasure except thou givest Wisdom and sendest thy holy Spirit from above Send him down therefore prayeth he to God from the holy Heavens and from the Throne of thy Majesty that he may be with me and labor with me that so I may know what is acceptable before thee Let us with so good Heart Pray as he did and we shall not fail but to have his assistance For he is soon seen of them that love him he will be found of them that seek him for very liberal and gentle is the Spirit of Wisdom In his power shall we have sufficient Abilty to know our Duty to God in him shall we be comforted and encouraged to walk in our Duty in him shall we be meet vessels to receive the Grace of Almighty God for it is he that purgeth and purifieth the mind by his secret working And he only is present every where by his invisible Power and containeth all things in his Dominion He lightneth the Heart to conceive worthy thoughts to Almighty God he sitteth in the Tongue of Man to stir him to speak his Honor no Language is hid from him for he hath the knowledge of all Speech he only Ministreth Spiritual strength to the powers of our Soul and Body To hold the way which God had prepared for us to walk rightly in our Journey we must acknowledge that it is in the power of his Spirit which helpeth our infirmity That we may boldly come in Prayer and call upon Almighty God as our Father it is by this holy Spirit which maketh intercession for us with continual Sighs Galat. 4. Rom. 8. If any Gift we have wherewith we may work to the Glory of God and profit of our Neighbor all is wrought by this own and self same Spirit which maketh his distributions peculiarly to every Man as he will 1 Cor. 12. If any Wisdom we have it is not of our selves we cannot glory therein as begun of our selves but we ought to glory in God from whom it came to us as the Prophet Jeremy writeth Jerem. 9. Let him that rejoyceth rejoyce in this that he understandeth and knoweth me for I am the Lord which sheweth Mercy Judgment and Righteousness in the Earth for in these things I delight saith the Lord. This Wisdom cannot be attained but by the direction of the Spirit of God and therefore it is called Spiritual Wisdom And no where can we more certainly search for the knowledge of this Will of God by the which we must direct all our Works and Deeds but in the holy Scriptures for they be they that testifie of him John 5. saith our Saviour Christ It may be called Knowledg and Learning that is other where gotten without the Word but the Wise Man plainly testifieth Wisd 13. that they all be but Vain which have not in them the Wisdom of God We see to what Vanity the Old Philosophers came who were destitute of this Science gotten and searched for in his Word We see what Vanity the School Doctrin is mixed with for that in this Word they sought not the Will of God but rather the Will of Reason the Trade of Custom the Path of the Fathers the Practice of the Church Let us therefore Read and Revolve the holy Scripture both Day and Night Psal 1. Psal 119. For blessed is he that hath his whole meditation therein It is that which giveth light to our Feet to walk by It is that which giveth Wisdom to the simple and ignorant In it may we find Eternal Life In the holy Scriptures find we Christ in Christ find we God for he it is that is the express Image of the Father He that seeth Christ seeth the Father And contrariwise as St. Jerome saith the ignorance of the Scripture is the ignorance of Christ Not to know Christ Psal 19. Heb. 1. John 14. is to be in darkness in the midst of our Worldly and Carnal light of Reason and Philosophy To be without Christ is to be in foolishness For he is the only Wisdom of the Father in whom it pleased him that all fulness and perfection should dwell Coloss 2. With whom whosoever is endued in Heart by Faith and rooted fast in Charity hath laid a sure Foundation to build on whereby he may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth length and depth and to know the love of Christ This universal and absolute knowledge is that Wisdom which St. Paul wisheth these Ephesians to have as under Heaven the greatest treasure that can be obtained Ephes 3. For of this Wisdom the Wise Man writeth thus of his experience All good things came to me together with her and innumerable Riches through her hands And addeth more in that same place Sap. 7.
Acts 15. That when the Apostles and Elders with the whole Congregation were gathered together to pacifie the hearts of the faithful dwelling at Antioch which were disquieted through the false Doctrine of several Jewish Preachers they sent word to the Brethren That it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to them to charge them with no more than with necessary things Among others they willed them to abstain from Idolatry and Fornication from which said they if you keep your selves ye shall do well Note here how these holy and blessed Fathers of Christ's Church would charge the Congregation with no more things than were necessary Mark also how among those things from the which they commanded the Brethren of Antioch to abstain Fornication and Whoredom are numbred It is therefore necessary by the determination and consent of the Holy Ghost and the Apostles and Elders with the whole Congregation that as from Idolatry and Superstition so likewise we must abstain from Fornication and Whoredom It is necessary unto Salvation to abstain from Idolatry So it is to abstain from Whoredom Is there any nigher way to lead unto damnation than to be an Idolater No even so neither is there any nearer way to damnation than to be a Fornicator and a Whoremonger Now where are those People which so lightly esteem breaking of Wedlock Whoredom Fornication and Adultery It is necessary saith the Holy Ghost the blessed Apostles the Elders with the whole Congregation of Christ it is necessary to Salvation say they to abstain from Whoredom If it be necessary unto Salvation then woe be to them which neglecting their Salvation give their Minds to so filthy and stinking a Sin to so wicked Vice and to such detestable abomination The Second Part of the Sermon against Adultery YOU have been taught in the First Part of this Sermon against Adultery how that Vice at this day reigneth most above all other Vices and what is meant by this word Adultery and how Holy Scripture dissuadeth or discounselleth from doing that filthy Sin and finally what corruption cometh to Man's Soul through the Sin of Adultery Now to proceed further let us hear what the blessed Apostle St. Paul saith to this matter writing to the Romans he hath these words Rom. 13. Let us cast away the Works of Darkness and put on the Armour of Light Let us walk honestly as it were in the day time not in eating and drinking neither in chambering and wantonness neither in strife and envying but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lusts of it Here the Holy Apostle exhorteth us to cast away the Works of Darkness which among other he calleth gluttonous eating drinking chambering and wantonness which are all Ministers unto that Vice and preparations to induce and bring in the filthy Sin of the Flesh He calleth them the Deeds and Works of Darkness not only because they are customably in Darkness John 3 Matth. 25. or in the night time for every one that doth evil hateth the Light neither cometh he to the Light lest his Works should be reproved but that they lead the right way unto that utter Darkness where weeping and gnashing of Teeth shall be Rom. 8. And he saith in another place of the same Epistle They that are in the Flesh cannot please God We are Debtors not to the Flesh that we should live after the Flesh for if ye live after the Flesh ye shall die 1. Cor. 6. Again he saith Flee from Whoredom for every Sin that a Man committeth is without his Body But whosoever committeth Whoredom sinneth against his own Body Do ye not know That your Members are the Temples of the Holy Ghost which is in you whom also ye have of God and ye are not your own For ye are dearly bought Glorifie God in your Bodies c. And a little before he saith Do ye not know That your Bodies are the Members of Christ Shall I then take the Members of Christ and make them the Members of a Whore God forbid Do ye not know That he which cleaveth to a Whore is made one Body with her There shall be two in one Flesh saith he but he that cleaveth to the Lord is one Spirit What godly Words doth the blessed Apostle St. Paul bring forth here to dissuade and discounsel us from Whoredom and Uncleanness Your Members saith he are the Temples of the Holy Ghost which whosoever doth defile Gâ—d will destroy him as saith St. Paul If we be the Temple of the Holy Ghost how unfitting then is it to drive that Holy Spirit from us through Whoredom and in his place to set the wicked Spirits of Uncleanness and Fornication and to be joined and do Service to them Ye are dearly bought saith he 1. Pet. 1. therefore glorifie God in your Bodies Christ that innocent Lamb of God hath bought us from the Servitude of the Devil not with corruptible Gold and Silver Esaiah 38. but with his most precious and dear heart blood To what intent That we should fall again into our old Uncleanness and abominable Living Luke 1. Nay verily But that we should serve him all the days of our Life in Holiness and Righteousness that we should glorifie him in our Bodies by purity and cleanness of Life He declareth also That our Bodies are the Members of Christ How unseemly a thing is it then to cease to be incorporate or imbodied and made one with Christ and through Whoredom to be enjoined and made all one with a Whore What greater dishonor or injury can we do to Christ than to take away from him the Members of his Body and to join them to Whores Devils and wicked Spirits And what more dishonor can we do to ourselves than through Uncleanness to lose so excellent a Dignity and Freedom and to become Bond-slaves and miserable Captives to the Spirits of Darkness Let us therefore consider First the Glory of Christ then our Estate our Dignity and Freedom wherein God hath set us by giving us his Holy Spirit and let us valiantly defend the same against Satan and all his crafty Assaults that Christ may be honored and that we lose not our Liberty or Freedom but still remain in one Spirit with him Eph. 5. Moreover in his Epistle to the Ephesians the blessed Apostle willeth us to be so pure and free from Adultery Fornication and all Uncleanness that we not once name them among us as it becometh Saints nor Filthiness nor foolish Talking nor Jesting which are not comely but rather giving of Thanks For this ye know saith he that no Whoremonger 1 Cor. 6. neither unclean Person or covetous Person which is an Idolater hath any Inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God And that we should remember to be holy pure and free from all Uncleanness the holy Apostle calleth us Saints because we are sanctified and made holy by the
to detest and abhor that Sin which is so much to be hated and pernicious and hurtful to all Men. But among all kinds of Contention none is more hurtful than is Contention in matters of Religion Eschew saith Saint Paul 1 Tim. 1. 2 Tim. 2. foolish and unlearned questions knowing that they breed Strife It becometh not the Servant of God to fight or strive but to be Meek toward all Men. This Contention and Strife was in Saint Paul's time among the Corinthians and is at this time among us English Men. For too many there be which upon the Ale-benches or other places delight to set forth certain questions not so much pertaining to Edification as to Vain-Glory and shewing forth of their cunning and so unsoberly to reason and dispute that when neither part will give place to other they fall to Chiding and Contention and somtime from hot Words to further Inconvenience Saint Paul could not abide to hear among the Corinthians these words of Discord or Dissention 1 Cor. 3. I hold of Paul I of Cephas and I of Apollo What would he then say if he heard these words of Contention which be now almost in every Man's Mouth He is a Pharisee he is a Gospeller he is of the new sort he is of the Old Faith he is a new-broched Brother he is a good Catholick Father he is a Papist he is an Heretick O how the Church is divided O how the Cities be cut and mangled O how the Coat of Christ that was without Seam is all to rent and torn O Body Mystical of Christ where is that holy and happy unity out of the which whosoever is he is not in Christ If one Member be pulled from another where is the Body If the Body be drawn from the Head where is the Life of the Body We cannot be joyned to Christ our Head except we be glued with Concord and Charity one to another For he that is not of this Unity is not of the Church of Christ which is a Congregation or Unity together and not a Division 1 Cor. 3. Saint Paul saith That as long as Emulation or Envying Contention and Factions or Sects be among us we be carnal and walk according to the fleshly Man James 3. And Saint James saith If ye have bitter Emulation or Envying and Contention in your Hearts glory not of it for where Contention is there is Vnstedfastness and all Evil Deeds And why do we not hear Saint Paul which prayeth us 1 Cor. 1. whereas he might command us saying I beseech you in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you will speak all one thing and that there be no dissention among you but that you will be one whole Body of one mind and of one opinion in the Truth If his desire be reasonable and honest why do we not grant it If his request be for our profit why do we refuse it And if we list not to hear his Petition of Prayer yet let us hear his Exhortation where he saith Ephes 4. I exhort you that you walk as it becometh the Vocation in which you be called with all Submission and Meekness with Lenity and Softness of Mind bearing with one another in Charity studying to keep the Vnity of the Spirit by the Bond of Peace For there is one Body one Spirit one Faith one Baptism There is saith he but one Body of the which he can be no lively Member that is at variance with the other Members There is one Spirit which joyneth and knitteth all things in one And how can this one Spirit reign in us when we among ourselves be divided There is but one Faith and how can we then say He is of the Old Faith and he is of the New Faith There is but one Baptism and then shall not all they which be Baptized be one Contention causeth Division wherefore it ought not to be among Christians whom one Faith and Baptism joyneth in an Unity But if we contemn Saint Paul's request and exhortation yet at the least let us regard his earnest entreating in the which he doth very earnestly charge us and as I may so speak conjure us in this form and manner If there be any Consolation in Christ Phil. 2. if there be any Comfort of Love if you have any Fellowship of the Spirit if you have any Bowels of Pity and Compassion fulfil my Joy being all like affected having one Charity being of one Mind of one Opinion that nothing be done by Contention or Vain-Glory Who is he that hath any Bowels of Pity that will not be moved with these Words so pithy Whose Heart is so stony that the Sword of these Words which be more sharp than any two edged Sword may not cut and break asunder Wherefore let us endeavour ourselves to fulfil Saint Paul's Joy here in this place which shall be at length to our great Joy in another place How we should read the Scripture Let us so read the Scripture that by reading thereof we may be made the better Liverâ— rather than the more Contentious Disputers If any thing be necessary to be Taught Reasoned or Disputed let us do it with all Meekness Softness and Lenity If any thing shall chance to be spoken uncomely let one bear anothers Frailty He that is faulty let him rather amend than defend that which he hath spoken amiss lest he fall by Contention from a foolish Errour into an obstinate Heresie For it is better to give place meekly than to win the Victory with the breach of Charity which chanceth when every Man will defend his Opinion obstinately If we be the Christian Men why do we not follow Christ who saith Matth. 11. Learn of me for I am Meek and Lowly in Heart A Disciple must learn the Lesson of his Schoolmaster and a Servant must obey the Commandment of his Master James 3. He that is Wise and Learned saith Saint James let him shew his Goodness by his Good Conversation and Soberness of his Wisdom For where there is Envy and Contention that Wisdom cometh not from God but is wordly Wisdom Man's Wisdom and devilish Wisdom For the Wisdom that cometh from above from the Spirit of God is Chast and Pure corrupted with no Evil Affections it is Quiet Meek and Peaceable abhorring all desire of Contention it is Tractable Obedient not Grudging to learn and to give place to them that teach better for the Reformation For there shall never be an end of Striving and Contention if we contend who in Contention shall be Master and have the over-hand We shall heap Errour upon Errour if we continue to defend that obstinately which was spoken unadvisedly For Truth it is that Stiffness in maintaining an Opinion breedeth Contention Brawling and Chiding which is a Vice among all other most pernicious and pestilent to common Peace and Quietness And as it standeth betwixt two Persons and Parties for no Man commonly
love thy Neighbour as thy self to honour thy Father and Mother to honour the higher Powers to give to every man that which is his due and such like Other works there be which considered in themselves without further respect are of their own nature meerly indifferent that is neither good nor evil but take their denomination of the use or end whereunto they serve Which works having a good end are called good works and are so indeed but yet that cometh not of themselves but of the good end whereunto they are referred On the other side if the end that they serve unto be evil it cannot then otherwise be but that they must needs be evil also Of this sort of works is Fasting which of it self is a thing meerly indifferent but it is made better or worse by the end that it serveth unto For when it repecteth a good end it is a good work but the end being evil the work it self is also evil To Fast then with this perswasion of mind that our Fasting and our Good Works can make us perfect and just men and finally bring us to Heaven is a devilish perswasion and that Fast is so far off from pleasing of God that it refuseth his mercy and is altogether derogatory to the merits of Christs death and his precious blood-shedding This doth the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican teach Luke 18. Two men saith Christ went up together into the Temple to pray the one a Pharisee the other a Publican the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself I thank thee O God that I am not as other men are extortioners unjust adulterers and as this Publican is I fast twice in the week I give tithes of all that I possess The Publican stood afar off and would not lift up his eyes to Heaven but smote his breast and said God be merciful to me a sinner In the Person of this Pharisee our Saviour Christ setteth out to the eye and to the judgment of the World a perfect just and righteous man such a one as iâ— not spotted with those vices that men commonly are infected with Extortion Bribery polling and pilling their Neighbour robbers and spoilers of Common-weals crafty and subtil in chopping and changing using false Weights and detestable Perjury in their buying and selling Fornicators Adulterers and vicious Livers The Pharisee was no such man neither faulty in any such like notorious Crime But where other transgressed by leaving things undone which yet the Law required this man did more than was requisite by the Law For he fasted twice in the week and gave Tithes of all that he had What could the World then justly blame in this man yea what outward thing more could be desired to be in him to make him a more perfect and a more just man Truly nothing by mans judgment And yet our Saviour Christ preferreth the poor Publican without Fasting before him with his Fast The cause why he doth so is manifest For the Publican having no good works at all to trust unto yielded up himself unto God confessing his sins and hoped certainly to be saved by Gods free mercy only The Pharisee gloried and trusted so much to his works that he thought himself sure enough without mercy and that he should come to Heaven by his Fasting and other deeds To this end serveth that Parable For it is spoken to them that trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others Now because the Pharisee directeth his works to an evil end seeking by them justification which indeed is the proper work of God without our merits his Fasting twice in the week and all his other works though they were never so many and seemed to the World never so good and Holy yet in very deed before God they are altogether evil and abominable The mark also that the Hypocrites shoot at with their Fast is to appear Holy in the eye of the World and so to win commendation and praise of men But our Saviour Christ saith of them Mat. 6. they have their reward that is they have praise and commendation of Men but of God they have none at all For whatsoever tendeth to an evil end is it self by that evil end made evil also Again so long as we keep ungodliness in our hearts and suffer wicked thoughts to tarry there though we Fast as oft as did either St. Paul or John Baptist and keep it as strictly as did the Ninevites yet shall it be not only unprofitable to us but also a thing that greatly displeaseth Almighty God For he saith that his soul abhorreth and hateth such Fastings Isai 1. yea they are a burthen unto him and he is weary of bearing them And therefore he inveigheth most sharply against them saying by the mouth of the Prophet Isaiah Behold when you fast Isai 58. your lust remaineth still for ye do no less violence to your debtors Lo ye fast to strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickedness Now ye shall not fast thus that you may make your voice to be heard above Think ye this fast pleaseth me that a man should chasten himself for a day Should that be called a fasting or a day that pleaseth the Lord Now dearly beloved seeing that Almighty God alloweth not our Fast for the works sake but chiefly respecteth our heart how it is affected and then esteemeth our Fast either good or evil by the end that it serveth for it is our part to rent our Hearts and not our Garments Joel 2. as we are advertised by the Prophet Joel that is our sorrow and mourning must be inward in heart and not in outward shew only yea it is requisite that first before all things we cleanse our hearts from sin and then direct our Fast to such an end as God will allow to be good There be three ends whereunto if our Fast be directed it is then a work profitable to us and accepted of God The first is to chastise the Flesh that it be not too wanton 1 Cor. 9. but tamed and brought in subjection to the Spirit This respect had St. Paul in his Fast when he said I chastise my body and bring it into subjection lest by any means it cometh to pass that when I have preached to others I my self be found a castaway Acts 13. The second that the Spirit may be more earnest and fervent to Prayer To this end fasted the Prophets and Teachers that were at Antioch before they sent forth Paul and Barnabas to preach the Gospel The same two Apostles fasted for the like purpose when they commended to God by their earnest Prayers the Congregations that were at Antioch Acts 14. Pisidia Iconium and Lystra as we read in the Acts of the Apostles The third that our Fast be a Testimony and Witness with us before God of our humble submission to his high Majesty when we confess and acknowledge our sins
thoughts which may hinder thee from Gods true Service The Bird when she will flie shaketh her Wings Shake and prepare thy self to flie higher than all the Birds in the Air that after thy Duty duly done in this earthly Temple and Church thou may'st flie up and be received into the glorious Temple of God in Heaven through Christ Jesus our Lord To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all Glory and Honour Amen AN HOMILY Wherein is declared That Common-Prayer and Sacraments ought to be ministred in a Tongue that is understood of the Hearers AMong the manifold Exercises of Gods People dear Christians there is none more necessary for all estates and at all times than is publick Prayer and the due use of Sacraments For in the first we beg at Gods hands all such things as otherwise we cannot obtain And in the other he embraceth us and offereth himself to be embraced of us Knowing therefore that these two Exercises are so necessary for us let us not think it unmeet to consider first what Prayer is and what a Sacrament is and then how many sorts of Prayers there be and how many Sacraments so shall we the better understand how to use them aright August de Spiritu An ma. To know what they be St. Augustine teacheth us in his Book entituled Of the Spirit and the Soul he saith thus of Prayer Prayer is saith he the Devotion of the Mind that is to say the returning to God through a godly and humble affection which affection is a certain willing and sweet inclining of the Mind it self towards God And in the Second Book against the Adversary of the Law and the Prophets August lib. 2 contra Adversariâ—s Legis Proph. August ad Bonifacium he calleth Sacraments Holy signs And writing to Bonifacius of the Baptism of Infants he saith If Sacraments had not a certain similitude of those things whereof they be Sacraments they should be no Sacraments at all And of this similitude they do for the most part receive the self-same things they signifie By these words of St. Augustine it appeareth that he alloweth the common description of a Sacrament which is that it is a visible sign of an invisible Grace that is to say that setteth out to the Eyes and other outward Senses the inward working of Gods free Mercy and doth as it were seal in our hearts the promises of God And so was Circumcision a Sacrament which preached unto the outward senses the inward cutting away of the fore-skin of the Heart and sealed and made sure in the hearts of the Circumcised to promise of God touching the promised Seed that they looked for Now let us see how many sorts of Prayer and how many Sacraments there be In the Scriptures we read of three sorts of Prayer whereof two are private and the third is common The first is that which St. Paul speaketh of in his Epistle to Timothy saying 1 Tim. 1. I will that men pray in every place lifting up pure hands without wrath or striving And it is the devout lifting up of the mind to God without the uttering of the hearts grief or desire by open voice Of this Prayer we have example in the first Book of the Kings in Anna 1 Kings 1. the Mother of Samuel when in the heaviness of her Heart she prayed in the Temple desiring to be made fruitful She prayed in her heart saith the Text but there was no voice heard After this sort must all Christians pray not once in a week or once in a day only 1 Thess 3. but as St. Paul writeth to the Thessalonians without ceasing And as St. James writeth James 5. The continual Prayer of a just man is of much force The second sort of Prayer is spoken of in the Gospel of Matthew Matt. 6. where it is said When thou prayest enter into thy secret Closet and when thou hast shut the door to thee pray unto thy Father in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee Of this sort of Prayer there be sundry examples in the Scriptures but it shall suffice to rehearse one which is written in the Acts of the Apostles Acts 10. Cornelius a devout man a Captain of the Italian Army saith to Peter that being in his House in Prayer at the ninth hour there appeared to him one in a white Garment c. This man prayed unto God in secret and was rewarded openly These be the two private sorts of Prayer The one mental that is to say the devout lifting up of the mind to God And the other vocal that is to say the secret uttering of the griefs and desires of the Heart with words but yet in a secret Closet or some solitary place The third sort of Prayer is publick or common Of this Prayer speaketh our Saviour Christ Mat. 18. when he saith If two of you shall agree upon Earth upon any thing whatsoever ye shall ask my Father which is in Heaven shall do it for you for wheresoever two or three be gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them Although God hath promised to hear us when we pray privately so it be done faithfully and devoutly for he saith Psal 50. Call upon me in the day of thy trouble and I will hear thee And Elias being but a mortal man James 5. saith St. James prayed and Heaven was shut three Years and six Months and again he prayâ—d and the Heaven gave rain Yet by the Histories of the Bible it appeareth that publick and common Prayer is most available before God and therefore is much to be lamented that it is no better esteemed among us which profess to be but one body in Christ When the City of Niniveh was threatned to be destroyed Jonas 3. within forty days the Prince and the People joyned themselves together in publick Prayer and Fasting and were preserved In the Prophet Joel God commanded a Fasting to be proclaimed Joel 2. and the People to be gathered together young and old man and woman and are taught to say with one voice Spare us O Lord spare thy People and let not thine Inheritance be brought to confusion When the Jews should have been destroyed all in one day through the malice of Haman Hester 4. at the Commandment of Hester they Fasted and Prayed and were preserved Judith 8. When Holophernes besieged Bethulia by the advice of Judith they Fasted and Prayed and were delivered Acts 12. When Peter was in Prison the Congregation joyned themselves together in Prayer and Peter was wonderfully delivered By these Histories it appeareth that common or publick Prayer is of great force to obtain mercy and deliverance at our Heavenly Fathers hand Therefore Brethren I beseech you even for the tender mercies of God let us no longer be negligent in this behalf but as the People willing to receive at Gods
beloved of God and wrapt in spirit with an ardent zeal to Gods glory He spake not of a private hatred and in a stomach against their Persons but wished spiritually the destruction of such corrupt Errors and Vices which reigned in all devilish Persons set against God He was of like mind as St. Paul was when he did deliver Hymeneus and Alexander with the notorious Fornicator to Satan to their Temporal confusion that their Spirit might be saved against the day of the Lord. And when David did profess in some places that he hated the wicked yet in other places of his Psalms he professeth that he hated them with a perfect hate not with a malicious hate to the hurt of the Soul Which perfection of spirit because it cannot be performed in us so corrupted in affections as we be we ought not to use in our private causes the like words in form for that we cannot fulfil the like words in sense Let us not therefore be offended but search out the reason of such words before we be offended that we may the more reverently judge of such sayings though strange to our carnal Understandings yet to them that be spiritually minded judged to be zealously and godly pronounced God therefore for his mercies sake vouchsafe to purifie our minds through Faith in his Son Jesus Christ and to instill the Heavenly drops of his grace into our hard stony hearts to supple the same that we be not contemners and deriders of his Infallible Word but that with all humbleness of mind and Christian reverence we may endeavour our selves to hear and to read his sacred Scriptures and inwardly so to digest them as shall be to the comfort of our Souls sanctification of his Holy Name To whom with the Son and the Holy Ghost three Persons and one living God be all Land Honour and Praise for ever and ever Amen AN HOMILY OF Alms-Deeds and Mercifulness towards the Poor and Needy AMongst the manifold Duties that Almighty God requireth of his Faithful Servants the true Christians by the which he would that both his Name should be glorified and the certainty of their Vocation declared there is none that is either more acceptable unto him or more profitable for them than are the Works of Mercy and Pity shewed upon the Poor which be afflicted with any kind of misery And yet this notwithstanding such is the slothful sluggishness of our dull Nature to that which is good and godly that we are almost in nothing more negligent and less careful than we are therein It is therefore a very ncessary thing that Gods People should awake their sleepy minds and consider their Duty on this behalf And meet it is that all true Christians should desirously seek and learn what God by his Holy Word doth herein require of them that first knowing their Duty whereof many by their slackness seem to be very ignorant they may afterwards diligently endeavour to perform the same By the which both the godly charitable Persons may be encouraged to go forwards and continue in their merciful Deeds of Alms-giving to the Poor and also such as hitherto have either neglected or contemned it may yet now at length when they shall hear how much it appertaineth to them advisedly consider it and vertuously apply themselves thereunto And to the intent that every one of you may the better understand that which is taught and also easilier bear away and so take more fruit of that shall be said when several matters are severally handled I mind particularly and in this order to speak and intreat of these points First I will shew how earnestly Almighty God in his Holy Word doth exact the doing of Alms-Deeds of us and how acceptable they be unto him Secondly how profitable it is for us to use them and what commodity and fruit they will bring unto us Thirdly and lastly I will shew out of Gods Word that whoso is liberal to the Poor and relieveth them plenteously shall notwithstanding have sufficient for himself and evermore be without danger of penury and scarcity Concerning the first which is the acceptation and dignity or price of Alms-Deeds before God Know this that to help and succour the Poor in their need and misery pleaseth God so much that as the Holy Scripture in sundry places recordeth nothing can be more thankfully taken or accepted of God For first we read that Almighty God doth account that to be given and to be bestowed upon himself that that is bestowed upon the Poor For so doth the Holy Ghost testifie unto us by the Wise Man saying He that hath pity upon the Poor Prov. 19. lendeth unto the Lord himself And Christ in the Gospel avoucheth and as a most certain truth bindeth it with an Oath that the Alms bestowed upon the Poor was bestowed upon him and so shall be reckoned at the last day For thus he saith to the charitable Alms-givers when he sitteth as Judge in the doom to give sentence of every man according to his deserts Mat. 25. Verily I say unto you whatsoever good and merciful deed you did upon any of the least of these my brethren ye did the same unto me In relieving their hunger ye relieved mine in quenching their thirst ye quenched mine in clothing them ye clothed me and when ye harboured them ye lodged me also when ye visited them being sick in Prison ye visited me For as he that hath received a Princes Embassadors and entertaineth them well doth honour the Prince from whom those Embassadors do come So he that receiveth the Poor and Needy and helpeth them in their affliction and distress doth thereby receive and honour Christ their Master who as he was poor and needy himself whilest he lived here amongst us to work the Mystery of our Salvation at his departure hence he promised in his stead to send unto us those that were Poor by whose means his absence should be supplied and therefore that we would do unto him we must do unto them And for this cause doth the Almighty God say unto Moses The Land wherein you dwell Deut. 15. shall never be without poor men because he would have continual trial of his People whether they loved him or no that in shewing themselves obedient unto his will they might certainly assure themselves of his love and favour towards them and nothing doubt but that as his Law and Ordinance wherein he commanded them that they should open their hand unto their brethren that were poor and needy in the Land were accepted of them and willingly performed So he would on his part lovingly accept them and truly perform his promises that he had made unto them The Holy Apostles and Disciples of Christ who by reason of his daily conversation saw by his Deeds and heard in his Doctrine how much he tendred the Poor the godly Fathers also that were both before and since Christ indued without doubt with the Holy Ghost and most
O thou that art desirous of this Table of Emissenus a godly Father Euseb Emiserem de Euchar. that when thou goest up to the reverend Communion to be satisfied with spiritual meats thou look up with Faith upon the Holy Body and Blood of thy God thou marvel with reverence thou touch it with the mind thou receive it with the hand of thy heart and thou take it fully with thy inward man Thus we see Beloved that resorting to this Table we must pluck up all the roots of infidelity all distrust in Gods promises that we make our selves living Members of Christs Body For the unbelievers and faithless cannot feed upon that precious Body whereas the faithful have their life their abiding in him their union and as it were their incorporation with him Wherefore let us prove and try our selves unfeigned without flattering our selves whether we be Plants of the fruitful Olive living branches of the true Vine Members indeed of Christs Mystical Body whether God hath purified our hearts by Faith to the sincere acknowledging of his Gospel and embracing of his mercies in Christ Jesus so that at this his Table we receive not only the outward Sacrament but the spiritual thing also not the Figure but the Truth not the shadow only but the body not to death but to life not to destruction but to salvation which God grant us to do through the merits of our Lord and Saviour To whom be all Honour and Glory for ever Amen The Second Part of the Homily of the Worthy Receiving and Reverent Esteeming of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ IN the Homily of late rehearsed unto you ye have heard good People why it pleased our Saviour our Christ to institute that heavenly memory of his Death and Passion and that every one of us ought to celebrate the same at his Table in our own Persons and not by other You have heard also with what estimation and knowledge of so high Mysteries we ought to resort thither You have heard with what constant Faith we should clothe and deck our selves that we might be fit and decent partakers of that Celestial Food Now followeth the third thing necessary in him that would not eat of this Bread nor drink of this Cup unworthily which is newness of life and godliness of conversation For newness of life as fruits of Faith are required in the partakers of this Table We may learn by eating of the Typical Lamb whereunto no man was admitted but he that was a Jew that was circumcised that was before sanctified Yea St. Paul testifieth 1 Cor. 10. that although the People were partakers of the Sacraments under Moses yet for that some of them were still Worshippers of Images Whoremongers Tempters of Christ Murmurers and coveting after evil things God overthrew those in the Wilderness and that for our example that is that we Christians should take heed we resort unto our Sacraments with holiness of life not trusting in the outward receiving of them and infected with corrupt and uncharitable manners For this sentence of God must always be justified I will have mercy and not sacrifice De Bapt. lib. 1. cap. 3. Wherefore saith Basil it behoveth him that cometh to the Body and Blood of Christ in commemoration of him that died and rose again not only to be pure from all filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit lest he eat and drink his own condemnation but also to shew out evidently a memory of him that died and rose again for us in this point that ye be mortified to Sin and the World to live now to God in Christ Jesu our Lord. So then we must shew outward testimony in following the signification of Christs death amongst the which this is not esteemed least to render thanks to Almighty God for all his benefits briefly comprised in the Death Passion and Resurrection of his dearly beloved Son The which thing because we ought chiefly at this Table to solemnize the godly Fathers named it Eucharistia that is Thanksgiving As if they should have said Now above all other times ye ought to laud and praise God Now may you behold the matter the cause the beginning and the end of all Thanksgiving Now if you slack ye shew your selves most unthankful and that no other benefit can ever stir you to thank God who so little regard here so many so wonderful and so profitable benefits Seeing then that the name and thing it self doth monish us of thanks Heb. 13. let us as St. Paul saith offer always to God the host or sacrifice of praise by Christ that is the fruit of the lips which confess his Name For as David singeth Psal 50. He that offereth to God thanks and praise honoureth him But how few be there of thankful Persons in comparison to the unthankful Luke 17. Lo ten Lepers in the Gospel were healed and but one only returned to give thanks for his Health Yea happy it were if among sorty Communicants we could see two unfeignedly give thanks So unkind we be so oblivious we be so proud Beggers we be that partly we care nor for our own commodity partly we know not our Duty to God and chiefly we will not confess all that we receive Yea and if we be forced by Gods power to do it yet we handle it so coldly so drily that our lips praise him but our hearts dispraise him our tongues bless him but our life curseth him our words worship him but our works dishonour him O let us therefore learn to give God here thanks aright and so to agnize his exceeding graces poured upon us that they being shut up in the Treasure-house of our Heart may in due time and season in our life and conversation appear to the glorifying of his Holy Name Furthermore for newness of Life it is to be noted that St. Paul writeth That we being many are one bread and one body For all be partakers of one bread Declaring thereby not only our Communion with Christ but that Unity also wherein they that eat at this Table should be knit together For by Dissension Vain-glony Ambition Strife Envying Contempt Hatred or Malice they should not be dissevered but so joyned by the bond of Love in one Mystical Body as the corns of that Bread in one Loaf In respect of which strait knot of Charity the true Christians in the Primitive Church called this Supper Love As if they should say none ought to sit down there that were out of love and charity who bare grudge and vengeance in his Heart who also did not profess hiâ— kind affection by some Charitable Relief for some part of the Congregation And this was their Practice O Heavenly Banquet then so used O Godly Guests who so esteemed this Feasts But O wretched Creatures that we be at these days who be without reconciliation of our Brethren whom we have offended without satisfying them whom we have caused to
that are strayed from thee This Experience was perceived to be true of that holy Prophet Jeremy Jer. 15. O Lord saith he whatsoever they be that forsake thee shall be confounded they that depart from thee shall be written in the Earth and soon forgotten It profiteth not good People to hear the goodness of God declared unto us if our hearts be not enflamed thereby to honor and thank him It profited not the Jews which were Gods elect People to hear much of God seeing that he was not received in their hearts by Faith nor thanked for his benefits bestowed upon them their unthankfulness was the cause of their destruction Let us eschew the manner of these before rehearsed and follow rather the Example of that holy Apostle St. Paul who when in a deep Meditation he did behold the marvellous Proceedings of Almighty God and considered his infinite goodness in the ordering of his Creatures he burst out into this conclusion Surely saith he of him Rom. 11. by him and in him be all things And this once pronounced he stuck not still at this Point but forthwith thereupon joyned to these words To him be glory and praise for ever Amen Upon the ground of which words of St. Paul good Audience I purpose to build my Exhortation of this day unto you Wherein I shall do my endeavour First To prove unto you that all good things come down unto us from above from the Father of Light Secondly That Jesus Christ his Son and our Saviour is the mean by whom we receive his liberal goodness Thirdly That in the power and vertue of the Holy Ghost we be made meet and able to receive his gifts and graces Which things distinctly and advisedly considered in our minds must needs compel us in most low reverence after our bounden Duty always to render him thanks again in some testification of our good hearts for his deserts unto us And that the entreating of this matter in hand may be to the glory of Almighty God Let us in one Faith and Charity call upon the Father of Mercy from whom cometh every good gift and every perfect gift by the mediation of his well-beloved Son our Saviour that we may be assisted with the presence of his Holy Spirit and profitably on both parts to demean our selves in speaking and hearkning to the Salvation of our Souls In the beginning of my speaking unto you good Christian People suppose not that I do take upon me to declare unto you the excellent Power or the incomparable Wisdom of Almighty God as though I would have you believe that it might be expressed unto you by words Nay it may not be thought that that thing may be comprehended by Mans words that is incomprehensible And too much arrogancy it were for Dust and Ashes to think that he can worthily decâ—are his Maker It passeth far the dark understanding and wisdom of a Mortal Man to speak sufficiently of that divine Majesty which the Angels cannot understand We shall therefore lay apart to speak of the profound and unsearchable Nature of Almighty God rather acknowledging our weakness than rashly to attempt what is above all Mans capacity to compass It shall better suffice us in low Humility to reverence and dread his Majesty which we cannot comprize than by over-much curious searching to be over-charged with the Glory We shall rather turn our whole Contemplation to answer a while his goodness towards us wherein we shall be much more profitably occupied and more may we be bold to search To consider the great Power he is of can but make us dread and fear To consider his high Wisdom might utterly discomfort our Frailty to have any thing to do with him but in consideration of his inestimable goodness we take good heart again to trust well unto him By his goodness we be assured to take him for our refuge our hope and comfort our merciful Father in all the course of our Lives His Power and Wisdom compelleth us to take him for God Omnipotent Invisible having Rule in Heaven and Earth having all things in his subjection and will have none in Council with him nor any to ask the reason of his doing Dan. 11. For he may do what liketh him and none can resist him For he worketh all things in his secret Judgment to his own pleasure Prov. 16. yea even the wicked to damnation saith Solomon By the reason of his Nature he is called in Scripture consuming Fire he is called a terrible and fearful God Heb. 11. of this behalf therefore we have no familiarity no access unto him but his goodness again tempereth the rigor of his High Power and maketh us bold and putteth us in hope that he will be conversant with us and easie unto us It is his goodness that moveth him to say in Scripture It is my delight to be with the Children of Men. It is his goodness that moveth him to call us unto him to offer us his Friendship and Presence It is his goodness that patiently suffereth our straying from him and suffereth us long to win us to Repentance It is of his goodness that we be created reasonable Creatures where else he might have made us brute Beasts Prov. 8. It was his Mercy to have us born among the number of Christian People and thereby in a much more nighness to Salvation where we might have been born if his goodness had not been among the Paynims clean void from God and the hope of Everlasting Life And what other thing doth his loving and gentle Voice spoken in his word where he calleth us to his Presence and Friendship but declare his goodness only without regard of our worthiness And what other thing doth stir him to call us to him when we be strayed from him to suffer us patiently to win us to Repentance but only his singular goodness no whit of our deserving Let them all come together that be now glorified in Heaven and let us hear what answer they will make in these Points before rehearsed whether their first Creation was in Gods goodness or of themselves Forsooth David would make answer for them all and say Know ye for surety even the Lord is God he hath made us and not we our selves If they were asked again who should be thanked for their Regeneration for their Justification and for their Salvation Whether their deserts or Gods goodness only Although in this Point every one confess sufficiently the truth of this matter in his own Person yet let David answer by the mouth of them all at this time who cannot chuse but say Not to us O Lord not to us but to thy Name give all the thanks for thy loving mercy and for thy truths sake If we should ask again from whence came their glorious Works and Deeds which they wrought in their lives wherewith God was so highly pleased and worshipped by them Let some other witness be brought in to testifie