your remembrances that Amos of a heardman or shepherd became a blessed Prophet to carry a terrible word and fearfull message from the liuing God to the king nobles priests and people of Israel Thereupon I commended to you this doctrine God chooseth vile and despised persons to condemne the great and mighty That doctrine proued I recommended to you the vses of it The first was to lift vp your mindes to the contemplation of Gods good prouidence Poore shepherds and fishermen God exalteth and aduanceth into the highest places of dignity in church and common wealth This might perswade you that neither Empire nor kingdome nor place in them of dignitie priority or preeminence ecclesiasticall or politique is gotten by the industry wisdome wit or strength of man but that all are administred ruled and gouerned by the deputation and ordinance of the highest power God almighty The second was to stop blasphemous mouths such as are euermore open against the God of Heauen to affirme that all things below the moone are ruled by their blind goddesse fortune and by chance Here my desire was that your hearts might be ioined with mine in the consideration of Gods most sweet and neuer sleeping care ouer vs in this lower world that we would not suppose our God to be a God to halfes and in part only a God aboue and not beneath the Moone a God in the greater and not in the lesser employments To this holy meditation I exhorted you taught by the holy scriptures that our God examineth the least moments tittles in the world that you can imagine to a handfull of meale to a cruse of oile in a poore widowes house to the falling of the Sparrowes to the ground to the feeding of the birds of the aire to the caluing of Hindes to the clothing of the grasse of the field to the numbring of the haires of our heads to the trickling of teares downe our cheekes Thus farre as Gods holie spirit assisted me I led you the last time Now let it please you with patience and reuerence to giue eare to the word of God as it followeth vers 2. And he said The Lord shall roare from Sion and vtter his voice from Ierusalem and the dwelling places of the shepherds shall perish and the top of Carmel shall wither In this verse I commend vnto you two generall parts 1 A preface to a prophecie And he said 2 The prophecie it selfe The Lord shall roare from Sion c. In the prophecie I must further commend vnto you 3. things 1 The Lord speaking Hee shall râ—are and vtter forth his voice 2 The place from whence hee speaketh from Sion and Ierusalem 3 The sequels of his speech They are two 1 Desolation to the dwelling places of the shepherds The dwelling places of the shepherds shall perish 2 Sterility and barrennesse to their fruitfull grounds The top of Carmel shall wither The first generall part the preface to the prophecie I must first speake vnto And he said He that is Amos Amos the heardman or shepherd whose dwelling was at Tekoa He said what said he Euen the words which he saw vpon Israel that is he spake the words of God committed to him by that kinde of propheticall instinct and motion which is commonly tearmed vision the words of God which were disclosed or reuealed to him in a vision Amos spake but his words were Gods words Here dearely beloued we may learne whence the holy Scriptures haue their soueraigne authority Their authority is from aboue euen from the Lord whose name is Iehouah whose a Matth. 5.34 throne is the heauen of heauens and the b Habak 3.15 sea his floare to walke in the c Esai 66.1 earth his footstoole to tread vpon who hath a chaire in the conscience and sits in the d Psal 7.9 heart of man and possesseth his secret reines and diuides betwixt the flesh and the skinne and shaketh his inmost powers as the e Psal 29.8 thunder shaketh the wildernesse of Cades This powerfull and great Iehouah God almighty spake in old time to our fathers by the mouth of Moses Exod. 4.12 and in the mouthes of all his Prophets Heb. 1.1 Know this saith S. Peter in his second epistle 1 ch ver 20. That no Prophecie in the Scripture is of any priuate motion Marke his reason ver 21. for the Prophecie came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moued by the holy Ghost Hence sprang these vsuall and familiar speeches in the bookes of the Prophets The word of the Lord came vnto mee The Lord God hath spoken Thus saith the Lord and the like This Lord who thus spake in old time by his Prophets did in fulnesse of time when he sent his Son to consummate and perfect the worke of mans redemption speake by his blessed Euangelists and Apostles This appeareth by the faithfull promise made them Mat. 10.19 Take no thought how or what yee shall speake for it shall be giuen you what yee shall say It is not yee that speake but the spirit of your Father that speaketh in you It must stand for truth in despight of al the powers of darknesse which is recorded 2 Tim. 3 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The whole Scripture and euery parcell thereof is giuen by inspiration of God and hath inward witnesse from that Spirit which is the author of all truth Hence ariseth this true position Scriptura est authentica regula tum fidei tum vitae nostrae The word of God which by an excellencie we call the Scripture is an infallible rule both of our faith and also of our life And another posiâ—ion followeth herevpon The authority of holy Scripture is greater than the authority of the Church Our obseruation here may be Since such is the worth of holy Scripture by reason of the author of it as that it is the perfect rule for our faith and life and is of greater authority than the Church it must be our part to take heed vnto it to heare it and to reade it with reuerence obsequie and docility This worth dignity and excellency of holy Scripture which is Gods holy word now commended vnto you yeeldeth a very harsh and vnpleasant sound to euery Popishly affected eare and may serue to condemne the Romish Church of impiety and sinne for her neglect and contempt of so inestimable a treasure How little they esteeme of Gods wriâ—ten word the word of life and sole food of our soules the graue and learned f B. Iewel defence of the Apologie par 4. chap 19. 20. §. 1. Brentius in his preface vpon Iacobus Andreas against Hosius makes it plaine vnto vs while he tels of the crying out against the holy Scriptures as if they were blinde and doubtfull and a dumbe schoolemaster and a killing writ and a dead letter yea and if it may like those reuerend fathers no better than Aesops fables Now lest
of knowledge of that his heauenly truth wherein consisteth our saluation that we may be saued What greater benefit can there be vnto vs then this What more ample testimonie of his eternall good will to vs For this benefit that is for the knowledge of Gods heauenly truth the blessed Apostle St Paul neuer ceased to giue thanks vnto God I thanke God saith he 1. Tim. 1.12 I thanke him who hath made me strong that is Christ Iesus our Lord for he counted me faithfull and put me in his seruice When before I was a blasphemer and a persecutor and an oppressor but I was receiued to mercy From this his thankefull heart proceeded those his words Phil. 3.8 Doubtlesse I thinke all things but losse for the excellent knowledge sake of Christ Iesus my Lord for whom I haue counted all things losse and doe iudge them to be but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 euen dung that I might winne Christ St Pauls charitie was not confined within the Temple of his owne bodie others had a tast thereof As the Corinthians to whom in his first Epistle cap. 1. ver 4. he thus manifesteth his affection I thanke my God alwayes on your behalfe for the grace of God which is giuen you in Iesus Christ that in all things ye are made rich in him in all kind of speech And in all knowledge I thanke my God alwayes on your behalfe not for your riches for your honors for your large possessions for your flourishing cittie but for the grace of God which is giuen you in Iesus Christ for your free vocation for your faith for your reconciliation for your iustification for your regeneration for your hope of eternall saluation for the preaching of the word of God among you and for your knowledge of the truth thereof The knowledge of this truth of God farre surpasseth all the treasures of this corruptible world Shall not we then poure out our soules in thankfulnes before almightie God for bestowing vpon vs so gracious a blessing as is this knowledge of the truth of God Let vs with the spirit of blessed Paul account all things which haue beene or are gainefull to vs in this present world to be but losse and dung in respect of this knowledge of Gods holy truth forasmuch as hereby we may winne Christ Thus haue you the second vse of my doctrine My doctrine was God is truth in himselfe in his workes and in his words The second vse concerneth our thankesgiuing for the knowledge of Gods truth The third tendeth to our imitation Is it true Is God truth in himselfe in his workes and in his words Why striue we not with all the faculties and powers of our soules to represent our God in truth He in the beginning in the first man in our forefather Adam created and made vs in his owne image after his owne likenesse Gen. 1.26 Then was man inuested with glorious roabes with immortalitie with vnderstanding with freedome of will then was he perfectly good and chast and pure and iust and true Whatsoeuer might appertaine to happines or holinesse he then had it For God created him so like vnto himselfe in perfect happines and holinesse that he might in some sort beare about with him the image of the great and glorious God of Heauen But alas our first Parent continued not long in that his first estate of puritie innocencie and integritie by his fall he lost vs that his precious Iewell which had he stood fast would haue beene vnto vs a chaine of gold about our neckes yea as it is called Psal 8.5 A crowne of honor and glorie But by his fall we are become miserable and vnholy and wicked and vncleane and false as vnlike to God as darkenesse is to light and Hell is to Heauen In this estate of sinne and death we all lay wallowing till God of his owne vnspeakeable mercy and goodnesse raised vs vp by his grace to a better state a state of regeneration and saluation wherein all we whose names are written in the Register of the elect and chosen children of God must spend the remainder and residue of the dayes of our pilgrimage in this world In this state wee must not stand at one stay but must alwayes be growing vpward We must day by day endeuour to encrease our spirituall strength and change our Christian infancie with a ripe and constant age and adde grace to grace till we become perfect men in Christ To vs now in the state of regeneration belongeth the exhortation of God vnto the children of Israell Leuit. 11.44 Be ye holy for I am holy And that of Christ to his auditors vpon the Mount Matth. 5.48 Be ye perfect as your Father which is in heauen is perfect or as it is in St Luke Chap. 6.36 Be ye mercifull as your Father also is merciful By which places we are not exhorted to a perfection of supererogation as Monkes would haue it nor to a perfect and absolute fulfilling of the Law for that is impossible so long as wee carry about vs these vessels of corruption witnesse St Paul Rom. 8.3 But all that we are exhorted to is that we would do our best endeuours to resemble our God and to be like vnto him in holinesse in perfection in mercifulnesse Be holy as God is holy be perfect as God is perfect be mercifull as God is mercifull non absoluta aequalitate sed similitudine not absolutely and equally holy perfect and mercifull as God is but by a similitude God is our Father and will not we his children like good children striue to be accomodated and fitted to our Fathers vertues Beloued let vs apply our selues to this imitation of our heauenly Father to be holy as he is holy to be perfect as he is perfect to be mercifull as he is mercifull and for my present purpose to be true as he is true To this last we may thus be led God is our Creator and he is the God of truth Psal 31.5 Christ is our Redeemer and he is Truth Ioh. 14.6 We are renued by the holy Ghost and he is the spirit of Truth Ioh. 16.13 We liue in the bosome of the Church and she is the pillar and ground of Truth 1. Tim. 3.15 Thus liuing we are taught by the word of truth Colos 1.5 And are brought to the knowledge of the Truth 1. Tim. 2.4 And are sanctified by Truth Ioh. 17.17 Adde hereto that we are commaunded euery one to speake the Truth Ephes 4.25 And shall we doe our best to resemble God in Truth To be true as he is true Dearely beloued sith we are the children of Truth for God is Truth and his children we are let vs walke as it becometh the children of Truth let Truth be in our thoughts in our words in our workes in all our wayes What shall I more say to this poynt but exhort you in St Paules words Ephes 4.25 That ye would cast off lying and speake euery man the truth
our heads to the trickling of Å¿ Psal 56.8 teares downe our cheekes Why then are wee troubled with the vaine conceits of lucke fortune or chance Why will any man say this fell vnto me by good lucke or by ill lucke by good fortune or by misfortune by good chance or by mischance We may and should know that in the course of Gods prouidence all things are determined and regular This is a sure ground we may build vpon it The fish that came to deuoure Ionas may seeme to haue arriued in that place by chance yet the scripture saith the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Ionas Ion. 1.17 The storme it selfe which droue the pilots to his streight may likewise seeme contingent to the glimse of carnall eyes yet the Prophet saith I know that for my sake this great tempest is vpon you Ion. 1.12 The fish which Peter tooke might seeme to haue come to the angle by chance yet he brought in his mouth the tribute which Peter paid for his Lord and for himselfe Mat. 17.27 By the diuersity of the opinions among the brethren touching the manner of dispatching Ioseph out of the way wee may gather that the selling of him into Egypt was but accidentall and only agreed vpon by reason of the fit ariuall of the merchants while they were disputing and debating what they were best to doe yet saith Ioseph vnto his brethren you sent me not hither but God Gen. 45.8 What may seeme more contingent in our eies than by the glancing of an arrow from the common marke to strike a traueller that passeth by the way yet God himselfe is said to haue deliuered the man into the hand of the shooter Exod. 21.13 Some may thinke it hard fortune that Achab was so strangely made away because a certaine man hauing bent his bow and let slip his arrow at hap hazard without aime at any certaine marke t 1 King 22 34. strooke the King but here we finde no lucke nor chance at all otherwise than in respect of vs for that the shootâ—â— did no more than was denounced to the King by Micheas froâ— Gods owne mouth before the battell was begun 1 King 22.17 What in the world can be more casuall than lottery lyet Salomon teacheth that when the lots are cast into the lap the prouidence of God disposeth them Prou. 16.33 See now and acknowledge with mee the large extent of Gods good prouidence Though his dwelling be on high yet abaseth he himselfe to behold vs below From his good prouidence it is that this day we are here met together I to preach the word of God you to heare it and some of vs to bee made partakers of the blessed body and bloud of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ Let vs powre out our soules in thankfulnesse before God for his blessing You are now inuited to the marriage supper of the lambe euery one that will approach vnto it let him put on his wedding garment A garment nothing like the old ragges of the Gibeonites which deceiued Ioshua Ios 9.5 A garment nothing like the suit of apparrell which Micah gaue once a yeare to his Leuite Iud. 17.10 A garment nothing like the soft clothing worne in kings courts Mat. 11.8 But a garment something like the garment of the high priest which had all the names of the tribes of Israel written vpon his brest Exod. 28.21 For this your garment is nothing else but Christ put on in whose brest and booke of merits are written and registred all the names of the faithfull but a garment something like Elias Mantle which diuided the waters 2 King 2.8 For this your garment is nothing â—lse but Christ put on who diuideth your sinnes and punishments that so you may escape from your enemies sin and death but a garment something like the garments of the Israelites in the wildernesse which did not weare 40. yeares together they wandered in the desart and yet saith Moses neither their clothes nor their shooes waxed old Deut. 29.5 For this your garment is nothing else but Christ put on whose righteousnesse lasteth for euer and his mercies cannot be worne out Hauing put on this your wedding garment doubt not of your welcome to this great feast-maker If any that heareth me this day hath not yet put on his wedding garment but is desirous to learne how to doe it let him following S Paâ—â— his counsell Rom. 13.12 cast away the workes of darknesse and put on the armour of light let him walke honestly as in the day not in gluttony and drunkennesse neither in chambering and wantonnesse nor in strife and enuying let him take no thought for the flesh to fulfill the lusts of it so shall he put on the Lord Iesus u Psal 24.7 Lift vp your heads you gates and be you lift vp ye euerlasting doores that a guest so richly apparelled may come in and sup with the King of glory And the King of glory vouchsafe so to clothe vs all that those gates and euerlasting doores may lie open to vs all So at our departure from this vally of mourning we shall haue free and easie passage into the citie of God where our corruptible shall put on incorruption and our mortality shall be swallowed vp of life Euen so be it blessed Father for thy welbeloued son Iesus Christ his sake to whom with thee in the vnity of the holy spirit bee all praise and power might and Maiesty dignity and dominion for euermore Amen THE Second Lecture AMOS 1.2 And he said the Lord shall roare from Sion and vtter his voice from Ierusalem and the dwelling places of the shepherds shall perish and the top of Carmel shall wither IN my former Sermon vpon the first verse of this chapter beloued in the Lord I commended to your religious considerations fiue circumstances 1 Touching the Prophets name It was Amos not Amos Esaies father but another Amos. 2 Concerning his former condition of life He was among the heardmen that is he was a heardman or shepherd 3 Of the place of his vsuall abode At Tekoa a little village in the confines of the Kingdome of Iuda beyond which there was not so much as a little cottage onely there was a great wildernesse called 2 Chron 20.20 the wildernesse of Tekoa a fit place for a shepherds walke 4 About the matter or argument of this prophecie implied in these words The words which he saw vpon Israel Then you heard that Amos was by the holy spirit deputed and directed with his message peculiarly and properly to the 10. reuolted tribes the kingdome of Israel 5 Of the time of the prophecie which I told you was set downe in that verse generally and specially 1 Generally In the dayes of Vzziah king of Iuda and in the daies of Ieroboam the sonne of Ioash king of Israel 2 Specially Two yeares before the earthquakâ— After my exposition giuen vpon those fiue parts of that text I recald to
and stagger like a drunken man Thus saith the Lord This powerfull Iehouah whose throne is the heauen of heauens and the sea his floare to walk in the earth his footstoole to tread vpon who hath a chaire in the conscience and sitteth in the heart of man possesseth his secretest reines and diuideth betwixt the flesh the skin and shakest his inmost powers Psal 29.8 as the thunder shaketh the wildernesse of Cades Thus saith the Lord. Hath the Lord said and shall he not doe it hath he spoken and shall he not accomplish it Balaam confesseth as much vnto Balak Num. 23.19 God is not as man that he should lie nor as the sonne of man that he should repent Indeed saith Samuel 1 Sam. 15.29 The strength of Israel will not lie nor repent for he is not as man that he should repent All his words yea all the titles of his words are yea and Amen Verily saith our Sauiour Matth. 5.18 Heauen and earth shall perish before one iote or any one tittle of Gods law shall escape vnfulfilled Thus saith the Lord Then out of doubt it must come to passe Hereby you may be perswaded of the authority of this Prophecie and not of this only but of all other the Prophecies of holy Scripture that neither this nor any other Prophecies of old is destitute of diuine authority This point touching the authority of holy Scripture I deliuered vnto you in my second lecture and therefore haue now the lesse need to spend time therein Yet a word or two thereof God almighty spake in old i me to our fathers by the mouth of Moses Exod. 4.12 and not by the mouth of Moses only but by the mouths of all his Prophets Heb. 1.1 and 2 Peter 1.20 Know this that no prophecy in the Scripture is of any priuate motion He giueth the reason hereof ver 21. for the prophecy in old time came not by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moued by the holy Ghost Hence sprang those vsuall and familiar speeches in the bookes of the Prophets The word of the Lord came vnto me the Lord God hath spoken and this in my text Thus saith the Lord. This Lord who thus spake in old time by his Prophets did in fulnesse of time when hee sent to consummate and perfect the worke of mans redemption speake by his blessed Euangelists and Apostles This appeareth by the faithfull promise made vnto them Matth. 10.19 Take no thought how or what yee shall speake for it shall be giuen you what ye shall say It is not yee that speake but the Spirit of your father that speaketh in you It must stand euer true what is recorded 2 Tim. 3.16 the whole Scripture and euery parcell thereof is giuen by inspiration of God and hath inward witnesse from that Spirit which is the author of all truth Here may you note the harmonie consent and agreement of all the Prophets Euangelists and Apostles from the first vnto the last not one of them spake one word of a naturall man in all their ministeries the words which they spake were the words of him that sent them they spake not of themselues God spake in them Whensoeuer were the time whatsoeuer were the meanes whosoeuer were the man wheresoeuer were the place whatsoeuer were the people the words were the Lords Thus saith the Lord How then dare we potters claâ— lift vp our hands against him that fashioned vs How dare we absent our selues from his house of prayer where God in and by his holy word speaketh vnto vs How dare we when we are come to this place behaue our selues carelesly negligently irreuerently But I will not at this time presse you any further with this point hauing heretofore in my fourth lecture occasioned by the Lords roaring out of Sion and vttering his vowe from Ierusalem exhorted you in many words to the due performance of your dutifull seruice of God in this place For this present I will onely giue you a taste of the sweetnesse of the word of the Lord conueyed vnto vs by the ministeries of his sanctified Prophets Euangelists Apostles It is the Lords most royall and celestiall testament the oracles of his heauenly sanctuary the only key vnto vs of his reuealed counsels milke from his sacred breasts the earnest and pledge of his fauour to his Church the light of our feet ioy of our hearts breath of our nostrils pillar of our faith anchor of our hope ground of our loue euidences and deeds of our future blessednesse Thus farre the preface proeme or entrance making for the authority of this prophecie Thus saith the Lord. Now followeth the prophecie against the Syrians wherein I commended to your Christian considerations foure things 1 The generall accusation of the Syrians vers 3. For three transgressions of Damascus and for foure 2 The Lords protestation against them verse the 3. I will not turne to it 3 The particular sinne by which the Syrians had so offended God verse the 3. They haue threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron 4 The punishments attending them for this sin set downe generally and specially Generally verse 4. I wil send a fire into the house of Hazael and it shall deuoure the palaces of Ben-hadad Specially vers the 5. I wil breake also the barres of Damascus and cut off the inhabitant of Bikeath-aven and him that holdeth the scepter out of Beth-eden the people of Aram shall goe into captiuity vnto Kir Order requireth that I begin with the first part the accusation of the Syrians verse 3. For three transgressions of Damascus and for foure This Damascus was a very ancient citie built as a Arias Montan In â—â—t lib. 36. Stephan Adrichom Hâ—erâ—n Hâ—â— qu â—â—t in Gen. some coniecture by Eliezâ—r the steward of Abrahams house who was surnamed Damascus Gen. 15.2 The first mention of this city is Gen. 14.15 b Aâ—ud H c. ibid Io eph aâ—â—â—q Iuâ—â—â— Lib 1 caâ— 7 â—â—llâ—t in Gâ—n cap. 15. Others holding the name of this city to haue beene more ancient than Abraham doe attribute the building of this city to Huz one of the sonnes of Aram Gen. 10.23 Whereupon Damaâ—cus was called also Aram as c In Esay 17. S. Hierome witnesseth Whatsoeuer were the antiquity of this city it is plaine by Esa 7.8 that it was the Metropolitane and chiefest city of Syria I need not tell you what Lewes Vertomannus a gentleman of Rome saw in this city about some hundred yeares since as the place where Caine slew Abel the place where the bodie of the Prophet Zacharie lay the tower wherein S. Paul was committed to prison and the like that would be beside my purpose For the present know yee that Damascus was the Metropolitane and chiefest city of Syria whence by a figure the figure Synecdoche it is here in my text put for the whole country of Syria By this figure Synecdoche in the name
The people of Aram Aram registred Gen. 10.22 to be one of the sons of Sem was the father author or founder of the Aramites or Syrians a Tremellius Willet in Genes 10.22 whereof it is that the Scythians after their returne out of Asia and Syria were called Aramei Aramites Plin. lib. 6. cap. 17. This country of Aram or Syria was diuided into sundry regions 2 Sam. 10.8 You may read of Aram Soba Aram Rehob Aram Ishtob and Aram Maacah from which prouinces there went a multitude of Aramites to aid the Ammonites in their warre against King Dauid The successe of their expedition is recorded vers the 18. Dauid destroyed seuen hundred chariots of the Aramites and forty thousand horsemen So let them all perish who make head and band themselues together against the Lords annointed 2 Sam. 8.6 You may read of Aram of Damascus out of which part there went a great multitude to succour Hadadezar King of Soba against Dauid Their successe is recorded in the same place Dauid slew of the Aramites two and twentie thousand men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let them all likewise perish who make head and band themselues together against the Lords anoynted 1 Chron. 19.6 You may read of Aram Naharaim which is by interpretation Aram of the riuers that is Aram lying betweene the two great riuers Euphrates and Tigris commonly knowne by the name of b Bâ—rtrâ—m Comparat Gram. Hebr. Aram. in Praesat Mesopotamia And these Syrians gaue aid vnto the Ammonites against Dauid and were partakers in their ouerthrow Gen. 28.5 You may read of Padan Aram whither the Patriarch Iacob was by his father Isaac sent to make choice of his wife of the daughters of Laban Tremellius and Iunius in their note vpon Gen. 25.20 doe make this Padan-Aram to bee a part of Mesopotamia that part which is called by Ptolomee Ancobaritis Thus doth the holy spirit in the sacred Scriptures describe vnto vs the country of Aram in its parts Aram Soba Aram Rehob Aram Ishtob Aram Maacah Aram of Damascus Aram Naharaim and Padan Aram. Hâ—re Aram put without any adiunct to limit it to any one region may betoken all Syria diuided by our Prophet Amos in this one verse into three parts vnder the three names of Damascus Bikeath-Auen and Beth-eden as Tremellius and Iunius haue noted vnderstanding by Damascus the country adioyning the whole coast of Decapolis by Bikeath-Auen the country called Chamatha which way Syria bordereth vpon Arabia surnamed the Desart by Beth-eden the whole country of Coelesyria wherein stood the city Eden The people that is persons of all sorts not only the ruder multitude but the noble also the word is generall and containeth all Shall goe into captiuity They shall be carried away from their natiue country into a strange land in slauery and bondage Vnto Kir not vnto Cyrene c Ribera a noble city in that part of Africa which is called Pentapolis the natiue country of d Arias Montanus Callimachus the poet and Eratosthenes the historian as e Apud Drusium Ionathan and Symmachus and S. Hierome doe seeme to vnderstand and Eusebius and the author of the ordinary glosse and Winckleman doe expresly affirme but vnto Kir a city in the seigniories or dominions of the king of Assyria as the Hebrewes and best approued expositors doe auouch Tremellius and Iunius vpon the 2 Kings 16.9 doe vnderstand by this Kir that part of Media which from this captiuity was called Syromedia It was named Kir that is by interpretation a wall because it was round about compassed with the hil Zagrus as with a wall This deportation and captiuity of the Syrians was foretold by our Prophet f Anno regni Oziae 23. almost fifty yeares before it was fulfilled It was fulfilled in the dayes of Ahaz King of Iudah who sent messengers to Tiglath Pileser King of Assyria for helpe Tiglath Pileser consented vnto him went vp against Damascus tooke it slew Rezin King of Aram and curried away captiue the people of Aram into Kir Thus is the story expresly deliuered 2 King 16. Thus farre the exposition of the words The people not only the ruder multitude but the nobles also of Aram not of Damascus onely but of all Syria shall goe into captiuity shall bee carried away captiue by Tiglath-Pileser King of Assyria vnto Kir a part of Media This accordingly came to passe For it could no otherwise be the Lord true in all his promises and threatnings whose words are yea and Amen he hath said it The people of Aram shall goe into captiuity vnto Kir saith the Lord. Now to the notes of instruction Here must I commend vnto you as I haue done out of the precedent clauses three circumstances the punisher the punished the punishment 1 The punisher the Lord by his instrument Tiglath-Pileser King of Assyria 2 The punished the Aramites or Syrians of all sorts the ruder and the noble 3 The punishment a deportation or carrying into captiuity This third circumstance is amplified by the place Their captiuity bondage and slauery was to be in an vnknowne strange and farre country Kir in Media From the first circumstance of the punisher the Lord of hosts imploying in his seruice the King of Assyria for the carrying away of the Aramites or Syrians into captiuity we are put in minde of a well knowne truth in diuinity Almighty God in his gouernment of the world worketh ordinarily by meanes or second causes I say ordinarily because extraordinarily he worketh sometime without meanes sometime against meanes Ordinarily he worketh by meanes And they are of two sorts Definite such as of their naturall and internall principles doe of necessity produce some certaine effects So the fire burneth the water drowneth Indefinite such as are free and accidentall agents hauing in themselues freedome of will to doe or not to doe In this ranke you may place Iosephs brethren at what time they sold him to the Ismaelites Gen. 37.28 they sold him not of necessity they might haue done otherwise In this ranke you may place Shimei for his carriage towards King Dauid 2 Sam. 16.6 His throwing of stones at the King and railing vpon him was not of necessitie he might haue done otherwise And the King of Assyria carried into captiuitie this people of Aram not of necessity hee might haue left vnto them their natiue country lands and possessions All these fire water Iosephs brethren rayling Shimei the King of Assyria and whatsoeuer else like these meanes or second causes definite or indefinite necessary or contingent are but instruments by which Almighty God in his gouernment of the world worketh ordinarily God laid waste Sodome Gomorrah and their sister Cities he did it by fire Gen. 19.24 God destroyed euery thing that was vpon the earth from man to beast to the creeping thing and to the fowle of the heauen onely was Noah saued and they that were with him in the Arke the rest he destroyed by water
earth euermore a remnant that shall be saued as it 's intimated by the Prophet Esay Chap. 1.9 Except the Lord of hosts had reserued vnto vs euen a small remnant we shouâ—d haue beene as Sodom and like vnto Gomorah You see a remnant reserued though a small one Yea sometimes there is a reseruation of so small a remnant as is scarcely visible As in the daies of Eliah who knew of none but himselfe I only am left saith he 1 King 19.14 Yet God tells him in the 18. verse of seuen thousand in Israel which neuer bowed their knees to Baal Hitherto belongeth that Ioel 2.32 In mount Sion and in Ierusalem shall be deliuerance as the Lord hath said and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call t Ierem. 25.34 Howle yee wicked and cry and wallow your selues in the ashes for your dayes of dispersion and slaughter are accomplished and yee shall fall like the Philistines euery mothers childe of you the u Ierem. 46.10 sword shall deuoure you it shall be satiate and made drunke with your bloud there shall not be a remnant of you left But you the elect and chosen children of God your Father take vnto you x Esay 61.3 beauty for ashes the oile of ioy for mourning the garment of gladnesse for the spirit of heauinesse reioyce yee and be glad together Let the prince of darknesse and all the powers of hell assisted with the innumerable company of his wicked vassals vpon the earth ioyne together to worke your ouerthrow they shall not effect it For God euen your God will reserue vnto himselfe a remnant This remnant is the chaste Spouse of Christ the Holy Catholike Church enriched from aboue with all manner of benedictions Extra eam nulla est salus whosoeuer hath not her for his Mother shall neuer haue God for his Father Of this remnant and Catholike Church notwithstanding the challenge of Romish Idolaters we beloued are sound and liuely members Happy are the eyes which see that we see and enioy the presence of him whom we adore happy are the eares that heare what we heare and the hearts which are partakers of our instructions No Nation vnder Heauen hath a God so potent so louing so neere to them which worship him as we of this Iland haue The many and bloudy practices of that great Antichrist of Rome so often set on foot against vs and still defeated are so many euidences that our soules are most precious in the sight of God He he alone hath deliuered vs out of the Lions iaw to be a holy remnant vnto himselfe Now what shall wee render vnto the Lord for so great a blessing We will take vp the cup of saluation and call vpon his Name THE Fifteenth Lecture AMOS 1.9 10. Thus saith the Lord For three transgressions of Tyrus and for foure I will not turne to it because they shut the whole captiuity in Edom and haue not remembred the brotherly couenant Therefore will I send a fire vpon the walls of Tyrus and it shall deuoure the palaces thereof THis blessed Prophet Amos sent from God in Embassage to the ten reuolted Tribes doth first thunder out Gods iudgements against neighbour countries the Syrians the Philistines the Tyrians the Edomites the Ammonites the Moabites Which he doth for certaine reasons giuen in my Sixt Lecture that he might be the more patiently heard of his country-men the Israelites that they might haue no cause to thinke much if God should at any time lay his rod vpon them and that they might the more stand in awe of the words of this prophecie When they should heare of such heauy iudgements to light vpon their neighbours they could not but enter into a consideration of their owne estate and thus reason within themselues Is it true which this Amos saith Will the Lord bring such heauy iudgements vpon the Syrians Philistines Tyrians and other of our neighbours In what a fearefull estate are we then They seely people neuer knew the will of God and yet must they be so seuerely punished How then shall wee escape who knowing Gods holy will haue contemned it Of the iudgements denounced against the Syrians and Philistines you haue heard at large in former Lectures Now in the third place doe follow the Tyrians vers 9 and 10. For three transgressions of Tyrus c. These words containing a burdensome prophecie against Tyrus I diuide into two parts 1 A preface Thus saith the Lord. 2 A prophecies For three transgressions of Tyrus c. In the prophecie I obserue foure parts 1 A generall accusation of the Tyrians For three transgressions of Tyrus and for foure 2 The Lords protestation against them I will not turne to it 3 The declaration of that grieuous sinne by which they so highly offended This sinne was the sin of vnmercifulnesse and crueltie expressed in two branches 1 They shut the whole captiuitie in Edom. 2 They remembred not the brotherly couenant 4 The description of the punishment to befall them for their sinne in the tenth verse Therefore will I send a fire vpon the walls of Tyrus and it shall deuoure the palaces thereof The preface giues credit vnto the prophecie and is a warrant for the truth of it Thus saith the Lord The Lord Iehouah whose Throne is the Heauen of heauens and the Sea his floore to walke in and the Earth his foot-stoole to tread vpon who hath a chaire in the conscience and sitteth in the heart of man and possesseth his most secret reines and diuideth betwixt the flesh and the skin and shaketh his inmost powers as the thunder shaketh the wildernesse of Cades This Lord Iehouah so mighty so powerfull shall he say a thing and shall he not doe it Shall hee speake it and shall hee not accomplish it The Lord Iehouah the strength of Israel is not as man that hee should lye nor as the sonne of man that he should repent All his words yea all the tittles of all his words are Yea and Amen Heauen and earth shall perish before one iot or one tittle of his Word shall escape vnfulfilled Thus saith the Lord Out of doubt then must it come to passe And because it is the Lord that speaketh it is required of vs that we hearken to him with reuerence Thus briefly of the Preface whereof I haue more largely spoken in two former Lectures my sixth and twelfth Lectures vpon the third and sixt verses of this Chapter In which these very words are prefixed for a Preface to two prophecies the one against the Syrians the other against the Philistines I proceed to the present prophecie against the Tyrians It is much like the two former both for words and matter In regard whereof I shall be short in many of my notes For three transgressions of Tyrus and for foure Here is nothing new but the name of Tyrus This Tyrus is called in the Hebrew text * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tzor whence came the name
by nature betweene the Iewes Israelites and Edomites brethren lineally descended from two naturall brethren Iacob and Esau They knew full well that the Iewes and Israelites were the issue of Iacob and the Edomites of Esau they knew likewise that the Edomites bore a mortall hatred towards the Iewes and Israelites yet fold they the Iewes and Israelites vnto the Edomites and are therefore here said not to remember the brotherly couenant The man that conspireth mischiefe and destruction to his brother is a monster in nature worthy to be pursued with eternall detestation and whosoeuer abhorreth not from consenting to such a wickednesse but giueth furtherance or countenance thereto he is holden in the same impiety The Edomites sought the destruction of the Iewes and Israelites and the Tyrians did further them in their bloudy designes the Tyrians therefore are partakers with the Edomites in the sinne of vnmercifulnesse Which sin is here laid vnto their charge in these words They remembred not the brotherly couenant Hence we may take this lesson It is a thing very distastfull and vnpleasing vnto God either for brethren to be at variance among themselues or for others to countenance them in their quarrels Our assent to this truth the light of nature within vs doth extort from vs. Of the first part of my proposition wherein I auow it to be a very distastfull thing vnto God for brethren to bee at variance among themselues I shall haue fit opportunitie to entreat when I shall come to the eleuenth verse of this Chapter where Edom is reproued for pursuing his brother with the sword Of the other part wherein I do affirme it to be an vnpleasing thing to God for any to countenance brethren in their quarrels I will by Gods assistance speake at this time very briefly It is a thing very distastfull and vnpleasing vnto God for any to countenance brethren in their quarrels The aduice is good which Saint Paul giueth Ephes 5.11 Haue ye no fellowship with the vnfruitfull workes of darknesse but euen reproue them rather What are the workes of darknesse but the workes of the flesh Now in Galat. 5.20 in the Catalogue of the workes of the flesh we finde hatred debate wrath contention With these therefore we must haue no fellowship we must reproue them rather Must we haue no fellowship with them Must we reproue them rather What saith old Adam What saith flesh and bloud to this Our Gallants of this age can entertaine no such aduice that it may be fulfilled which our Sauiour Christ foretold of the end of the world Luk. 21.10 and 16. Nation shall rise against nation kingdome against kingdome a father against his son a brother against his brother a kinsman against his kinsman and a friend against his friend A fitter remedy for this malady I finde none than to imitate blessed Abraham There grew a debate betweene his seruants and the seruants of Lot their heardmen could not agree What doth Abraham in this case As the manner of Masters is now adaies No he breaketh not out into choler he saith not My seruants are abused my cosin Lot his seruants doe seeke to crow ouer them and to rule the rost as they list This is an iniury to mee their Master and a shame to suffer it So a man may be made a foole indeed and accounted a wretch and a dastard of no reputation Neuer will any man care to serue me if I sticke not better to my men than so Such language as the world now goeth is very rife among vs. But Abraham spake not so Grace was in his face and mildnesse in his words For thus spake he vnto his Nephew Lot Gen. 13.8 I pray thee let there be no strife betweene thee and me neither betweene thy heardmen and my heardmen for we are brethren We are brethren I pray let there be no strife betweene vs. Let vs be mindfull of the couenant wherein nature hath vnited our affections we are brethren the bond of brotherhood and consanguinity let it moderate our passions why shall we iarre and be at odds betweene our selues Are we not brethren An excellent patterne of imitation for all estates high and low rich and poore one with another Noblemen Gentlemen Yeomen all whosoeuer may say they are brethren either in nature or in Christ and religion haue in Abraham a patterne for their imitation We must abstaine not only from raising strife and debate our selues but also from fostering and cherishing it in others Such was Abrahams choice He would not maintaine his seruants against Lots seruants he tooke it to be farre more credit for him to haue vnity and good loue than the bitter effects of the contrary Among the beatitudes Mat. 5. the seuenth is Blessed are the peacemakers Blessed are they who loue concord regard peace seeke it and insue after it Blessed are they who bestirre themselues to cherish and maintaine peace and concord betweene others Blessed are they who doe their best to reunite in loue such as are fallen out to make an end of quarrels and dissentions Blessed are the peace-makers the reason is annexed for they shall be called the children of God that is they will by their loue of vnity and concord make it appeare vnto the world that they are the sonnes of God From whence it followeth by an argument from the place of contraries Accursed are makebates for they shall be called the children of the Deuill Cursed are they who are of themselues quarrelsome and contentious Cursed are they who bestir themselues to cherish and maintaine strife and debate in others Cursed are they who doe their best to set at variance such as haue long liued in peace and vnity Cursed are make-bates I annex the reason for they shall be called the sonnes of the Deuill that is They will by their loue of strife and debate make it appeare to the world that they are the sonnes of the Deuill Now dearely beloued in the Lord I beseech you to remoue farre from you all cogitation and thought of strife variance and debate and to remember your brotherly couenant Know ye that the bond of one body one spirit one hope one God one faith one baptisme is as farre aboue the bond of one father one mother one village one house and the like as the spirit is aboue the flesh spirituall things aboue carnall and God aboue man I will shut vp this point with the exhortation of S. Peter 1 Epist Chap. 3.8 Be ye all of one minde one suffer with another loue as brethren be pitifull be courteous render not euill for euill nor rebuke for rebuke but contrariwise blesse ye blesse I say and know that you are thereunto called that yee should bee heires of blessing Thus farre of the third part of this Prophecie Now followeth the fourth Vers 10. Therefore will I send a fire vpon the walls of Tyrus and it shall deuoure the palaces thereof This is a particular denunciation of a conquest and
to his neighbour For as much as the Lord will destroy all such as speake lies This you know by the fift Psalme ver the 6. But how will he destroy them It is answered Reuel 21.8 All lyars shall haue their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone Thus haue you the third vse of my doctrine My doctrine was God is truth in himselfe in his workes and in his words The third vse is our holy imitation of God in truth There is yet a fourth vse of this doctrine of the truth of God It serues for a redargution or reproofe of such as deny God and his truth Deny God and his truth Can there be any endued with a reasonable soule so voyd of vnderstanding Yes There is a generation of men monstrously mishapen in the powers of the soule who spare not to break the cords of Religion asunder and to cast her yoke from them They dare auouch with those in Tullie Totam de Dijs immortalibus opinionem fictam esse ab hominibus sapientibus reipub causâ vt quos ratio non posset eos ad officium religio duceret judging the seruice of God to be a meere deuise of man for the better gouernment of the Common-wealth wherein inferiors sith they will not be ruled by reason must be ordered by religion Tell such of the Scriptures you may as well vrge them with Lucians narrations tell them of repentance they cast it behind them tell them of faith they regard it not Speake to them of baptisme they hold it of no greater price then the washing of their hands Let them heare of the Resurrection this feeds them with many a merry conceit They thinke pleasantly with themselues what manner of bodies they shall haue at that day of what proportion and stature their bodies shall be whether their nayles and haire shall rise againe Impious wretches thus they make a scoffe at God and religion whom were they vsed according to their deserts the Preachers should pronounce and the Prince proclaime the foulest leapers that euer yet sore ranne vpon very worthy to bee excluded the hoast and to haue their habitation alone yea to be exiled the land and to bee expelled from nature it selfe which so vnnaturally they striue to bring to naught I say no more against them but leaue them to the God of truth whom they haue denied that he in due time may repay them home with vengeance Thus farre am I guided by my first doctrine grounded vpon this essentiall name of God his name Iehouah importing his truth in himselfe in his workes and in his words Thus saith Iehouah Thus saith the Lord Is not this the prophesie of Amos Are not all the words of this prophesie chap. 1.1 called the words of Amos the heardsman What then meaneth this phrase Thus saith the Lord As Almighty God in olde time spake to our Fathers by the mouth of Moses Exod 4.12 So did hee in succeeding ages speake vnto them by the mouth of other his Prophets Luke 1.70 Heereto S. Peter beareth record 2. Epist 1.20 Know this saith he that no prophesie in the Scripture is of any priuate motion and he giues the reason heereof verse 21. For the prophesie in old time came not by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were mooued by the holy Ghost Hence sprang those vsuall and familiaâ— speeches in the bookes of the Prophets The word of the Lord came vnto me The Lord God hath spoken and this in my Text Thus sayth the Lord. This Lord who thus spake in old time by his Prophets did in fulnesse of time when he sent to consummate and perfect the worke of mans redemption speake by his blessed Euangelists and Apostles This appeareth by the faithfull promise made vnto them Matth. 10.19 Take no thought how or what yee shall speake It is not yee that speake but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you It must stand euer true what is recorded 2 Tim. 3.16 The whole Scripture is giuen by inspiration of God The whole Scripture and euery parcell of it haâ—h inward witnesse from the Spirit which is the author of all truth Sweet then is the harmony consent and agreement of all the Prophets Euangelists and Apostles from the first vnto the last Not one of them spake one word of a naturall man in all their ministeries the words which they spake were the words of him that sent them they spake not of themselues God spake in them Whensoeuer were the time whatsoeuer were the meanes whosoeuer were the man wheresoeuer were the place whatsoeuer were the people the words were the Lords Hence ariseth this doctrine The Author of holy Scripture is neither man nor Angell nor any other creature how excellent soeuer but onely the liuing and immortall God This truth is euident by this which I haue but now delired For if God in old time spake to our Fathers by the mouth of Moses if God spake by other his Prophets if God spake by the Euangelists and Apostles if all Scripture be inspired of God then it well followeth that God is the author of Scripture and therefore not man nor Angell nor any other creature how excellent soeuer I can but point at the vses of this doctrine The first vse is redargution Is the liuing and immortall God the author of holy Scripture Heere are all they to bee reprooued who doe vilifie and debase the sacred Scriptures and esteeme not of them as of the word of God Such are they who bearing in their fore-heads the stampe of Christians haue notwithstanding giuen their names to that Antichrist of Rome and the now-false Church there They shame not to affirme that setting aside the authority of that Church and her head the Pope the Scripture is no better then a l Collâ—q Wâ—rmâ—t doubtfull vncertaine and leaden rule then a m Colloq Râ—tâ—bon matter of debate then n Ludouic Matoranus dead inke then o Eskins inken diuinity then a p Pighius nose of wax then a r Colloq Worm booke of discord then a Å¿ Pighius dumbe Iudge then t Hosius Gretser Heereof see my second Lecture vpon Amos 1. Aesops fables Impious wretches had they not wip'd all shame from their faces they would neuer haue layd such load of disgraces vpon Gods holy word Their Cardinall Hosius stayes not heere he proceedes a degree further He coynes a distinction of Scripture as it s vsed by themselues whom he calleth Catholikes and as by vs whom hee calleth Heretikes His words are in the end of his third book against Brentius his Prolegomena The Scripture quomodo profertur à Catholicis verbuÌ„ est Dei quomodo profertur ab Haereticis verbum est Diaboli as it is alledged by vs so must it bee forsooth the word of the Deuill but as by them so onely shall it be the word of God Blasphemous Cardinall hee marcheth not alone u
liued in Aegypt They fashioned vnto themselues the semblance and counterfeit of the Aegyptian Oxe they adored Beelphegor they worshipped Astaroth and Baalim Beelphegor Astaroth Baalim these were the Idols as S. Hierome commenteth by which the inhabitants of Iudah were deceiued Deceperunt eos idola eorum their Idols deceiued them For Idols our English translation readeth Lyes the Hebrew fountaine is our warrant the word there signifieth Lyes Their Lyes caused them to erre Lyes are of two sorts some are in commercijs some in cultu divino some in commerce with me some in the seruice or worship of God Lyes in commerce with men are coÌ„mitted 3. manner of wayes in words in manners in things A Lye in words is when we speake one thing thinke another and this is either iocosum or officiosum or perniciosum it is either a lye in iest or an officious lye or a pernicious lye not one of these can be excused no not the lye in iest though S. Austin call it otiosum an idle lye and exempteth it from blame as also some do officiosum the officious lye A Lye in manners you may call simulation dissimulation counterfeiting dissembling This is seene in false-Christs false-Prophets false-Apostles false-Teachers such as make a faire shew of honestie or for a i Luc. 23.14 pretence make long prayer or k Math. 7.15 weare sheeps clothing but are hypocrites deuourers wolues These lye in their manners of these it is said frons oculi vultus persaepe mentiuntur the forehead the eyes the countenance do often lye The lye in things is when one thing is substituted or put in the place of another a counterfeit for a true thing as when a cosener sells opium for apium or broome twigs for balmewood or alchimie for siluer or copper for gold But these lyes obuious and frequent in commerce with man I must passe ouer They are not intended in my text The lyes intended in my text are lyes in cultu divino lyes in the seruice and worship of God Their lyes caused them to erre These lyes in the seruice and worship of God what are they Lyranus will tell you Quaecunque fiunt aut cogitantur sine Dei verbo Whatsoeuer things in diuine worship are done or deuised without the warrant of Gods word they are lyes So saith that learned Professor of Paris Mercer Omnia humana figmenta qua contra Dei verbum in Dei cultu excogitantur All humane inventions in diuine worship deuised contrary to the word of God they are lyes Summarily thus I say By lyes in this place we are to vnderstand fictitios cultus whatsoeuer worship of God is forged or counterfeited l Coloss 2.23 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all will-worship all superstitious and blinde worship These are the lyes that caused Iudah to erre Their lyes caused them to erre First they betooke themselues to the Idolatrie of the Gentiles they made their sons to passe through the fire according to the abominations of the Heathen 2. Kings 16.3 Secondly they forsooke the seruice of the Lords house his holy Temple at Ierusalem and sacrificed and burnt incense in high places on hills vnder euery greene tree 2. King 16.4 Thirdly they m Hos 10.1 8.11 increased their Altars multiplied their sacrifices and augmented their ceremonies supposing thereby ex opere operato euen for such their superstition sake to demeâ—it vnto themselues the fauor of God though they were vtterly voide of faith and repentance These were the lyes that deceiued Iudah these their lyes caused them to erre Commenta falsi cultus their new-deuised feigned and forged worships of God were the lyes that caused them to erre This appellation of lyes is also giuen to false worship Rom. 1.25 where S. Paul chargeth the Gentiles with changing the truth of God into a lye They changed the truth of God into a lye that is the true worship of God they peruerted and changed into false worship The reason why false worship there is called a lye is because it s opposed to truth n Drusius Quicquid veritati contrarium est mendacium est Whatsoeuer is contrary to truth that is a lye And therefore our Prophet here in this text opposeth lyes to the law of God because Lex Dei veritas Psal 119 142. the law of God is truth This antithesis betweene the law of God and a Lye we finde Psal 119.163 Mendacium odâ— immo detestatus sum legem tuam diligo I hate a Lye yea I abhorre it but thy Law do I loue We see now what these lyes were which caused Iudah to erre they were humane deuises and inuentions in the worship of God defiling and infecting the sinceritie of that worship which God onely approueth And yet is the Holy Spirit here pleased further to notifie vnto vs these Lyes of Iudah in these words After the which their fathers walked Their Lyes caused them to erre after the which their fathers haue walked What fathers meaneth he Those which o Psal 106.19 made them a calfe in Horeb and worshipped the molten image and turned their glory euen their God into the similitude of an Oxe that eateth grasse of whom we read Exod. 32.4 Or meaneth he those which serued strange Gods in Vr of the Chaldees of whom we read Iosuah 24.2 Whatsoeuer the Fathers were here meant by our Prophet they were to these inhabitants of Iudah their ancestors they were their forefathers such as tooke delight in the seruice of false Gods Their Lyes caused them to erre after the which their fathers walked It is no new thing no strange thing for children to striue to imitate their fathers that they may be like vnto them This doth S. Stephen Act. 7.51 obiect to the successors of these Iewes Yee stiffe-necked and vncircumcised in heart and eares yee doe alwaies resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did so doe yee Your Fathers were a stiffe-necked people so are yee Your Fathers were of vncircumcised hearts and eares so are yee Your Fathers resisted the Holy Ghost so do yee Yee stiffe-necked and vncircumcised in heart and eares ye do alwayes resist the Holy Ghost as your Fathers did so do ye By Fathers in this place the Protomartyr S. Stephen meaneth maiores their predecessors their ancestors their fore-fathers What Are these words of S. Stephen extended to all the ancestors of the Iewes Were they all a stiffe-necked people Were they all of vncircumcised hearts and eares Did they all resist the Holy Ghost This may not be imagined The many and glorious titles and appellations bestowed vpon that people in Sacred Writ do euidently make good the contrary We must therefore distinguish of those ancestors and forefathers Some of them were excellent men and sincere worshippers of the true God such were Abraham Isaac Iacob and all the faithfull that issued out of their loynes these are not the Fathers whom S. Stephen meaneth Other some there were notoriously infamous for their
In our now-sacrifices we need not garlands of Vervim nor the inwards of beasts nor turffs of earth but such things onely as proceed from the inner man righteousnesse patience faith innocencie chastitie abstinence such are the sacrifices to be offered vp vpon Gods holy Altar placed in our hearts In the Chapter following Chap. 25. his obseruation is that there are two things to be offered vp vnto God donum sacrificium a gift and a sacrifice the one perpetuall the other temporall According to some the gift is whatsoeuer is made of gold siluer purple or silke and the sacrifice is a beast slaine or whatsoeuer is burnt vpon the Altar But God hath no vse of these These are subiect to corruption but God is incorrupt Wee must therefore offer both gift and sacrifice in a spirituall manner so shall God haue vse of both Our gift must be integritas animi the vprightnesse of our minde our sacrifice laus hymnus prayse and thankesgiuing That I may conclude Beloued brethren let me sum vp together the Euangelicall sacrifices which the giuer of the new law requireth of vs. A broken spirit obedience to the will of God loue towards God and man iudgement iustice mercie prayer thankesgiuing almes-deedes our bodies and our soules these are the Euangelicall sacrifices the sacrifices of Christianitie to be offered vp vnto the Lord vpon the Altar of a faithfull heart A faithfull heart I say For if the heart be vnfaithfull the sacrifices will not be acceptable they will not be esteemed aboue the sorceries of Simon Magus Call them not sacrifices they are sacriledges if the heart be vnfaithfull But let the heart be faithfull and the sacrifices which it offereth vp will be as the beneficence was Phil. 4.18 which the Philippians sent by Epaphroditus vnto Paul they will be odours of a sweete smell acceptable sacrifices and well pleasing vnto God Neither did that precious oyntment that ranne downe Aarons beard Psal 133.2 nor that that the woman powred vpon Christs head Mat. 26.7 nor that sweete incense Exod. 25.6 nor that wine of Lebanon Hos 14.7 yeeld so pleasant a sauour as doe the sacrifices of Christianitie that ascend from a faithfull heart O! the sweete sauour of a good life that springs and sprouts from a true beliefe farre surpasseth all other sweets in the world O! Let our sacrifices be such Let them spring from a true beliefe let them proceede from a faithfull heart so shall our minds when we thinke on God and our wils when we obey God and our soules when we loue God our tongues when we prayse God and our feete when wee walke with God and whatsoeuer else we haue when we vse it for the glory of God be an odour of a sweet smell an acceptable sacrifice and well pleasing vnto God I end Vouchsafe we beseech thee most mercifull Father so throughly to sanctifie vs with thine holy Spirit that all our sacrifices our preaching our hearing our prayers our prayses our thankesgiuings our deeds of mercie and pittie and charitie may euer be acceptable in thy sight Graunt this deare Father for thy best beloued Sonne Iesus Christ his sake to whom with thee in the vnitie of the holy Spirit be all prayse and power might and maiestie dignitie and dominion for euermore Amen THE XII LECTVRE AMOS 2.8 And they drinke the wine of the condemned in the house of their God THis is the last branch in the enumeration of the sinnes of the Israelites It concerneth the Iudges of Israel and the Rulers of that state them principally It is appliable to others also to the richer sort The words are a reproofe of the grosse superstition of that people They thought their dutie touching the seruice of God well discharged so they repaired to their temples Such holy places they thought were of themselues sufficient to clense them albeit they should euen there betake themselues to inordinate eating to vnmeasurable drinking to infamous luxurie yea to euery kinde of villanie For my more plaine proceeding in the handling of the words of this text will you be pleased to note in them First the action for which the Israelites are here reproued it is a drinking of wine They drinke wine Secondly whose wine it is they drinke It s not their owne its vinum damnatorum it 's the wine of the condemned They drinke the wine of the condemned Thirdly where they drinke it They drinke it not at home which were more tolerable but in domo deorum suorum in the house of their Gods They drinke the wine of the condemned in the house of their Gods The first convinceth them of riot and excesse They drinke wine immoderately They are so giuen to it that they absteine not euen then when they are in their temples and would seeme most religious For they drinke it in the house of their Gods The second convinceth them of oppression The wine they drinke is vinum damnatorum it is the wine of the condemned it is vinum mulctatorum the wine of such as they haue fined or mulcted wine bought with the money of them whom they haue in their vnrighteous iudgments spoyled of their goods The third conuinceth them of idolatry They drinke their wine in the house of their Gods not in the Temple at Ierusalem that once glorious Temple of the true and liuing God but in the temple of their gods in Dan and Bethel and other places before their golden calues and other their Idols They drinke the wine of the condemned in the house of their Gods First They drinke wine Wine Why might they not Is it not one of the good a 1. Tim. 4.4 creatures of God that may well be vsed with thanksgiuing God himselfe giues it to the obedient to them that loue and serue him Deut. 11.14 I will giue you the raine of your land in due season the first raine and the latter raine that thou maist gather in thy corne and thy wine and thine oyle That thou maist gather in thy wine Christ his miraculous turning of water into wine at the marriage of Cana in Galilee Ioh. 2.11 is euidence enough that he allowed the drinking of wine Yea himselfe dranke wine Else the people would neuer haue called him a wine-bibber as it appeareth they did Matth. 11.19 S Paul 1. Tim. 5.23 wisheth Timothie no longer to drinke water but to vse a little wine for his stomackes sake Wine hath its praises in the Scripture It makes glad the heart of man Psal 104.15 It cheareth God and man Iudg. 9.13 How then is it that the Israelites are here reproued for drinking wine I answer not for drinking wine but for the abuse in drinking are the Israelites here reproued It is with wine as it is with euery other good creature of God It may he abused Wine is abused when men are drunken with it This abuse of wine S. Paul desirous either to preuent or to reforme in the Ephesians thus speaketh to the Ephesians
member I haue Yet if it shall please God to smite me in any member I haue in arme or in legge Psal 22.14 or in all so that I be as if all my bones were out of ioynt I shall euer acknowledge the hand of God and his particular prouidence without which not so much as a little sparrow falleth on the ground as it is testified by our Sauiour Christ Mat. 10.30 So true is my propounded doctrine Nihil accidere nisi à Deo prouisum that nothing falleth out in this life no calamity no misery nothing good or euill but by the prouidence of God The obiections that are by the ignorant cast out against this holy and comfortable doctrine I cannot now stand to refute they may if God will be the ground-worke of some other meditation For the present that I be not ouer-troublesome vnto you I will adde but a word of vse and application The first vse may be to stirre vs vp to glorifie God for all his mercies For sith we know that whatsoeuer befalleth vs in this life it is by the prouidence of God what should come out of our mouthes and hearts but that of holy Iob Blessed Blessed be the name of the Lord for it In the time of our prosperity when the face of the Lord shineth most cheerefully vpon vs what should pierce the inward parts of a childe of God but these or the like motions O Lord Lord that the hearts of these men my righteous friends or others are turned vnto me it is of thee alone Of thee alone it is that I haue their loue their fauour their benefits thou alone art the fountaine they are but the instruments Thy instruments they are such as next after thee I will thankfully regard but neuer before thee nor without thee Also what any other creature yeeldeth me of comfort profit or good any way the power the strength and the means thereof is from thee alone from thee my God my strength my hope and my stay for euer A second vse may be to worke patience in vs euen through our whole life and in our greatest afflictions For sith wee know that whatsoeuer befalleth vs in this life be it to the flesh neuer so sowre it commeth to passe by the prouidence of God why should any one that is the childe of God murmure or repine when he is fed with the bread of teares Psal 80.5 O then when wee are pinched with aduersity let vs not imagine that God is our enemy beleeue we rather that of his good and fatherly purpose he chasteneth vs for the remnant of sin abiding in this corrupted nature of ours thereby to stirre vs vp to the exercise of true Christian patience Vpon this beleefe I am resolued neuer to looke so much at any ill that shall betide me as at the blessed hand that shall be the guide thereof A third vse which for this time shall be my last vse of the doctrine now deliuered is to driue vs to our knees early and late to begge and desire at this our good Gods hand the continuance of his euer sweet prouidence ouer vs and for vs that by his good guidance wee may quietly saile ouer the sea of this wicked world and when his blessed will shall be we may arriue in the hauen of eternall comfort euen his blessed and glorious and euerlasting Kingdome to which the Lord grant vs a happie comming for his dearely beloued Sonne Iesus Christ his sake to whom with the Father in the vnitie of the holy Spirit be all praise and power Amen THE Sixth Lecture AMOS 3.5 Shall one take vp a snare from the earth and haue taken nothing at all YOu may at the first blush thinke it a needlesse labor for me to stand vpon the exposition of this second branch of this fift verse because it seemeth to be coincident with the former It is true that as well in this branch as in that the similitude is taken from the manner of a fowler yet I doubt not euen from hence to gather some good and profitable fruit for our instruction in the way of piety and godly liuing My custome hitherto requireth that first I cleare the reading and then proceed to some wholsome obseruation If the Hebrew be rendred word for word it will sound thus Nunquid aescendet laqueus è terrâ capiendo non capiet Shall a snare ascend from the earth and in taking shall it not take So are the words translated by Mercerus and by Vatablus and by Drusius Shall a snare ascend from the earth To ascend in the Hebrew tongue signifieth to be taken away to be remoued Laqueus ascendit quum tollitur a snare ascendeth from the earth when it is taken thence For this same ascendet the Septuagint haue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Shall a snare be loosed from the earth shall it be broken vpon the earth Herewith agreeth the Chaldee Paraphrast The Vulgar Latine hath Auferetur Shall a snare be taken from the earth Shall it be taken By whom By whom but by a fowler The fowler is expressed by Tremelius and Iunius and by Caluin the rest that expresse him not must of necessity vnderstand him Shall a fowler remoue his snare from the earth Et capiendo non câ—piet and in taking shall he not take It is an Hebraisme for which the Greekes haue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without taking somewhat the old Latine hath antequam quid ceperit before he haue taken somewhat Caluin and Brentius priusquam capturam ceperit before he hath taken a prey Gualter si omnino nihil ceâ—e it It he hath taken nothing at all Those hit the sense of our Prophet though they leaue his Hebraisme and herein I reprehend them not For I dissent not from S. Hierome Comment in c. 1. ad Gal. who there saith Non in verbis Scripturarum esse Euangelium sed in sensu non in superficie sed in mâ—dulla non in sermonum folijs sed in radice rationis His saying is that the Gospell is not in the words of the Scriptures but in the sense not in the outside but in the marr w not â—n the leaues of the booke but in the root of reason Well then haue the Greekes and the Vulgar Latine and Caluin and Brentius and Gualter left the word to giue the sense So hath our countrymâ—n Tauerner whose reading is Takâ—th a man his snare vp from the ground afore he catch somewhat The meaning he well expresseth So doe our newest Translators but the better by how much the neerer they cleaue vnto the words Shall one take vp a snare from the earth and haue takâ—n nothing at all Shall be To this interrogation as to the former the answer should be negatiue No he shall not Shall hee not How so A fowler may be deceiued hee may misse of his prey and so may be driuen to take vp his snares his ginnes his nets though he haue taken nothing Luther for the remouing
vrge this dutie First from the honour of him that speaketh Secondly from the danger of him that heareth negligently Thirdly from the profit of him that heareth with diligence First the preaching of the word of God is to be harkened vnto with all reuerence for the honours sake of him that speaketh For the honours sake of him that speaketh Why Who is he Is he not some Prophet some Apostle some Priest or Minister one whom wee know to be of meane descent some a Amos 1.1 Heard-man some b Matth. 4.18 Fisher-man some c 1 Thess 2.9 Act. 18 3. Tent-maker some d Matth. 13.55 Carpenters sonne Is not his mother called Mary and his brethren Iames and Ioses and Simon and Iudas And his sisters are they not all with vs How then is it that you vrge vs to giue eare with reuerence to the preaching of the Word for the honours sake of him that speaketh Our blessed Sauiour Christ Iesus vntieth this knot for me He to comfort his Apostles against the time of persecution thus saith vnto them Matth. 10.19 20. Take no thought how or what yee shall speake for it shall be giuen you in the same houre what yee shall speake For it is not yee that speake but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you In the thirteenth of Marke Verse 11. thus It is not yee that speake but the holy Ghost In the twelfth of Luke verse 12. thus The holy Ghost shall teach you in the same houre what yee ought to say Now see It is the Spirit of your Father the Spirit of God the holy Ghost that speaketh in his Ministers Why then yee are with reuerence to giue eare to them when they preach vnto you for the honours sake of him that speaketh Qui vos audit me audit saith Christ vnto his Disciples Luke 10.16 Hee that heareth you heareth mee and hee that despiseth you despiseth me He that heareth you heareth mee It is an admirable and gracious dispensation from God to speake vnto man not in his owne person and by the voice of his thunders and lightnings Exod. 20.18 or with the exceeding loud sound of a trumpet but by Prophets by Apostles by Disciples by Ministers by men of our owne nature flesh of our flesh and bones of our bones by men of our owne shape and language Iames 5.17 by men subiect to the same passions whereto wee are subiect God is hee that speaketh from aboue that blesseth and curseth that bindeth and looseth that exhorteth and disswadeth by the mouth of man For this respect and relations sake betweene God and his Ministers whom it hath pleased of his mercy in some sort to dignifie with the representation of his owne person here vpon the earth the world hath euer held them in very reuerent estimation Remember the Galatians Though Saint Paul preached the Gospell vnto them through infirmitie of the flesh Galat. 4.13 without the honour without the ostentation without the pompe of this world rather as one that studied to bring his person into contempt than otherwise yet were they so farre off from despising or reiecting him that they rather receiued him as an Angell of God yea as Christ Iesus And he bare them record that if it had beene possible they would haue plucked out their owne eyes and haue giuen them to him If it had beene possible that is if Nature and the Law of God had not forbidden it or if it had beene possible that is if they might haue done it sine suo dispendio as Haymo and Remigius doe interpret it if they might haue done it without their owne vtter vndoing or if it had beene possible that is if it might haue beene ad Ecclesiae vtilitatem so speake Aquinas and Gorran if it might haue beene for the good of the Church they would haue plucked out their owne eyes and haue giuen them to Paul Would they haue plucked out their owne eyes Nihil habet quisquam charius oculis suis There is nothing more deare vnto a man than are his eyes And yet if it had beene possible would the Galatians haue plucked out their owne eyes and haue giuen them to Paul When the Children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron Moses said vnto them Exod. 16.8 The Lord heareth your murmurings which yee murmure against him and what are wee Your murmurings are not against vs but against the Lord. What are we but Serui Ministri the Seruants and Ministers of the Lord Your murmurings are not against vs but against the Lord. This is that which the Lord saith concerning his Prophet Deut. 18.19 Whosoeuer will not harken to the words which hee shall speake in my name Ego vltor existam I will require it of him I will bee his auenger Whereupon Didacus Stella Hominem non debes aspicere sed Deum Enarrat in cap. 10. Lucae qui in eo loquitur Looke not vpon man set not thy thoughts vpon him but vpon God that speaketh in him For the words which hee speaketh hee speaketh in the name of God But say the Preacher bee a naughtie a wicked man what shall I then doe Deum qui per ipsum loquitur debes respicere Thou must haue regard to God that speaketh by him God diuinâ admirabili suâ virtute God of his diuine and maruellous power is able to bring to passe excellent and diuine workes by euill instruments God fed Elias by the ministery of Rauens Rauens brought him bread and flesh in the morning and bread and flesh in the euening 1 King 17.6 Did Rauens bring him food Cur ita Why so Lord Couldest thou not command Doues and other cleane birds to feed thy Prophet but thou must prouide for him by Rauens Note here the mystery God vseth many times to giue vnto his people the spirituall food of their soules sound and wholesome doctrine by euill and wicked men as he gaue good bread and flesh to Elias by Rauens tu vero comede onely eat thou and receiue thou from the hand of God what he sendeth and be not curious to know whether hee that brings thee thy soules meat be a Rauen or a doue a wicked or a good man so the food hee bringeth thee be sound and come from God By this time you see you are to giue eare with reuerence to the preaching of the word of God for the honours sake of him that speaketh You are now in the second place to be vrged to the performance of this dutie from the danger of him that heareth negligently The danger is great Saint Augustine discouers it by comparing the word of God for the estimation that is to be held of it to the Body of Christ in the Eucharist His words are in the six and twentieth of his fifty Homilies Non minus reus erit qui verbum Dei negligenter audierit quà m qui Corpus Christi in terram cadere suâ negligentiâ permiserit Whosoeuer shall heare the word
the valour of their souldiers their fenced Cities the strength of Samaria and the succour of Damascus Thus haue you the reasons of my Doctrine why there is not any confidence to be put in creatures either in the strength of man or the munition of 〈◊〉 â—s The vse is to admonish vs that we depend not vpon the vaine and transitory things of this life but vpon God alone who onely is vnchangeable and vnmoueable that we resigne our selues wholly into his hands and confesse before him in the words of the Psalme 91.9 Tu es Domine spes mea Thou art O Lord my hope Serm. 9. in Psal Qui habitat Sweet is the meditation of Saint Bernard vpon the place Let others pretend merit let them bragge that they haue borne the burden and heat of the day let them tell of their fasting twice a weeke let them glory that they are not as other men Mihi autem adhaerere Deo Psal 73.28 bonum est ponere in Domino Deo spem meam but its good for me to cleaue fast vnto God to put my hope in the Lord God Sperent in aliâ—s alii Let others trust in other things one in his learning another in his nobility a third in his worth a fourth in any other vanity Mihi autem adhaerere Deo bonum est but its good for me to cleaue fast vnto God to put my trust in the Lord God Dearely beloued if we shall sacrifice to our owne nets Habak 1.15 16. burne incense to our owne yarne put our trust in outward meanes either riches or policie or Princes or men or mountaines forsaking God God will blow vpon these meanes and turne them to our ouerthrow Wherefore though we haue all helpes in our owne hands to defend our selues and offend our enemies as that we are fenced by Sea fortified by ships blessed by Princes backed with friends stored with munitions aided with confederates and armed with multitudes of men yet may we not put our trust herein for nobis etiam adhaerere Deo bonum est it s also good for vs to cleaue fast vnto God to put our trust in the Lord God who alone giues the blessing to make all good meanes effectuall There is not much remaining The small number of the Israelites that were to be deliuered from the fury of the Assyrian resembled by the two legs or the tip of the eare taken by the shepheard out of the Lions mouth yeelds vs this obseruation that In publike calamities God euermore reserueth a remnant to himselfe When God punished the old world the world of the vngodly 1 Pet. 2.5 bringing the floud vpon them he saued Noah the eighth person the preacher of righteousnesse When God condemned the Cities of Sodome and Gomorrah with an ouerthrow turning them into ashes making them an ensample vnto those that after should liue wickedly he deliuered iust Lot from among them There is a remnant left Esay 1.9 Except the Lord of hosts had left vnto vs a very small remnant we should haue beene as Sodome and we should haue beene like vnto Gomorrah You see a remnant reserued though it be very small Yea sometimes there is a reseruation of so small a remnant as is hardly visible as in the daies of Eliah who knew of none but himselfe I only am left saith he 1 King 19.14 Yet God tells him vers 18. of seuen thousand in Israel which neuer bowed their knees to Baal I finde Ioel 2.32 deliuerance in mount Sion deliuerance in Ierusalem and deliuerance in the remnant when the Lord shall call There is then a remnant to be called euen in greatest extremity Wherefore you the Elect and chosen children of God the Father be ye full of comfort take vnto you beauty for ashes Esay 61.3 the oyle of ioy for mourning the garment of gladnesse for the spirit of heauinesse reioyce ye be glad together and be ye comforted Let the Prince of darknesse and all the powers of Hell assisted with the innumerable company of his wicked vassals vpon the Earth ioyne together to worke your ouerthrow they shall not be able to effect it For God euen your God will reserue vnto himselfe a remnant And what is this remnant but pusillus grex It s a little flock the chaste Spouse of Christ the holy Catholike Church Extra cam nulla est salus Out of it there is no Saluation for hee that hath not the Church for his Mother shall neuer haue God for his Father So much for the explanation of this twelfth verse And Gods blessing be vpon it THE Fifteenth Lecture AMOS 3.13 14 15. Heare yee and testifie in the house of Iacob saith the Lord God the God of hosts That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel vpon him I will also visit the Altars of Bethel and the hornes of the Altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground And I will smite the winter house with the summer house and the houses of Iuory shall perish and the great houses shall haue an end saith the Lord. THe words of the Lord are iust by whom soeuer they are vttered and the authority of the holy Spirit is wonderfull by whom soeuer he speaketh Non minùs de ore pastoris quam de ore Imperatoris pertonat he thundereth or he speaketh with as much Maiestie from the mouth of a shepherd as from the mouth of an Emperour Amos our Prophet is this shepherd from whom the holy Spirit here thundereth Before he came with a proclamation to the palaces of Ashdod and to the palaces of the Land of Aegypt Now he comes with a Contestation to the house of Iacob Hereafter you may heare his message to the King of Bashan that are in the mountaines of Samaria Chap. 4.1 If Amos had from a shepherd beene aduanced to the Maiestie of a King as Dauid was what could we wish should haue beene added to the greater maiestie of his elocution The contestation is the thing whereupon I shall at this time principally insist The words are a Prosopopaeia the Almighty is brought in calling vpon his Priests and Prophets to giue eare vnto him and to beare witnesse of the calamities which he was purposed to lay vpon the house of Iacob that when he should punish them for their euill deeds he would visit their Temple and proudest buildings with desolation The parts are two One is a mandate for a Contestation or Testification The other is the matter to be testified That vers 13. This vers 14 15. For the first these particulars may be obserued 1. Who it is that giues the mandate It is he that best may doe it Euen the Lord. The Lord God the God of Hosts 2. To whom he giues it Sacerdotibus Prophetis to his Priests and Prophets for to them is this by an Apostrophe directed 3. How he giues it thus Audite contestamini Heare and testifie 4. The place where this testification is to be