Dauid cannot bee iustified in the sight of GOD neither can the proude Pharisey saucye Sadducey or popish Pelagian Such arrogant Papistes are well tearmed to bee full of winde For as the winde first distinguisheth the light secondly extinguisheth the dewe and thirdly bloweth vp the dust so this vaunting of merites darkeneth the pure light of Gods glorye it dryeth vp the dewe of his grace in them and so puffeth them vp with a swelling conceite of their owne holynesse that they attribute that to nature which is due to grace and that to merite which is due to the promise and that to the fleshe which is due to the spirite and that to works which is due to faith and that to the Lawe which is due to the Gospel and finally that to man which is due to God Vaine glory the sin of Sodome and of England Apoc. 3 16 17. Vaineglorye is another kinde of pride this was in the Church of Laodicia Thou sayest J am riche and encreased with goods and haue neede of nothing and knowest not how thou art wretched and miserable and poore and blinde and naked This vaineglory was in Alexander whome parasites had perswaded that hee was a God but in the end when he perceiued hee must dye hee vttered these woordes Now I perceiue I am but a mortal man Let vs not be desirous of vaineglory Gala. 6.26 saith the Apostle We cannot glory of things past for in times past wee haue committed more offences then good deedes wee cannot glorye of thinges present because wee are in exile wee cannot glorye of thinges to come because there is comming death and iudgement Vaineglorye is hardlye shunned for three causes first because it ariseth of well doing euen as the moth is bred in the garment when it consumeth and the worme in the wood which it rotteth Secondly al other vices are ouercome of some vertue as adultery by chastitye couetousnesse by mercifulnesse and hatred by loue but vaineglorye ariseth of well doing Thirdly by how much the more vainglory is kept down by so much the more it is encreased For euerye euill ariseth of an euill but onely vaineglory proceedeth of well doing Praise is desired ordinatly or inordinatly ordinately for the glory of God Mat 5 16. But let your light so shine before men that they may see your good woorkes and glorifye your Father which is in Heauen And secondlye for the profite of our Neighbour procure thinges honest in the sight of all men Rom. 12.17 1. Cor. 10.33 I please all men in all thinges not seeking myne owne profite but the profit of many that they might be saued Inordinatly men seeke praise first when they desire to bee praised for those thinges that be not worthye of praise as for riches and temporall thinges which are but vaine Secondly if they glorye in their sinnes why boastest thou O tyrant that thou art able to doe mischeefe Psal 52.8 Thirdlye when it is doone in contempt of our neighbour or of God For they loued the prayse of men Iohn 12.43 more then the praise of God Now vnto tht King euerlasting 1. Tim. 1.17 immortall inuisible vnto God onelye wise bee honour and glorye for euer and euer Amen Fourthlye when a man sinneth to get praise Mat. 6.1 Beware that yee giue not your almes before men to bee seene of them or else you shall haue no rewarde of your Father which is in Heauen How manye vaineglotious persons are in England which boast of the multitude of their riches reioyce in iniquitie and loue the praise of men more thē the glory of God you may know by Catoes rule for he saith Neither shalt thou praise nor dispraise thy selfe for this doe fooles that are vexed with vaineglory If all those that praise themselues be fooles then the world is full of fooles and these say there is no GOD But hee that sitteth in heauen will laugh them to scorne yea Psal 2.4 the Lord will haue them in dirision An other kinde of pride is selfe-loue Self-loue the sin of Sodom and of England Mal 2 10. of the which Malachie writeth Haue wee not all one Father hath not one God made vs why doe wee transgresse euerye one against his Brother This vice was in the Pharisey Luke 18.11 J am not saith hee as other men are extortioners vniust adulterers nor as this Publicane When Saul was little in his owne sight 1. Sam 15 17 hee was the head of the trybes of Israell But when hee despised Dauid a better man then himselfe God brought him low againe John Baptist humbled himselfe and saide Mat. 3.11 Hee was not worthye to vnloose the latchet of our Sauiours shooe But Christ saide Hee was a Prophet and more then a Prophet Mat. 11.11 Iohn 8 33. The Iewes saide that they were the children of Abraham and neuer serued any man But Christ saide Iohn 8 44. Yee are of your Father the Diuell Wee may not therefore with the Pharisies iudge others and preferre our selues before them Fiue reasons why we may not ivdge our brethren For first humanitie doth require that we should not rashly censure the faults of other men Secondly our owne infirmitye should moue vs to the same Iam 3 2 for in many thinges we offend all Now doe wee see our owne faultes which are in the peece of the wallet that hangeth behinde vs. Thirdly we are fellow-seruants and being therfore in the same condition wee should liue in charitie which couereth the multitude of sinnes Fourthly Christ is the onely iudge of the quicke and the dead and therefore we may not male partly ascend into his tribunall seate Fifthlye our iudgemēts are to be suspected because we see only the outward and not the inward partes Basil Basill saith The wicked man doth most easily condemne the good but the good doth not easily condemne the wicked Most iustly therefore saith the Apostle Rom 14 4. Who art thou that misdeemest an other mans seruant hee standeth or falleth before his Lord. Saul breathing out mischeefe against the church of God was suddenly called and of Saul became Paul of a proud Pharisie an humble penitent of a malicious persecutor a zealous Apostle and laboured more in his vocation then all his fellowes Augustine saith Au. de verb. dom ser 1◠we must despaire of none as long as the patience of God doth lead him to repentance neither he that will not haue the death of a sinner but that he should turn and liue doth take him out of this life He is a Pagan to day how knowest thou but he may be a Christian to morrow he is an vnbeleeuing Iew to day what if to morrow he attaine to the Catholique religion he is a Schismatique to day what if to morrowe hee embrace the vnitie of the Church what if those in whom you finde all kinde of error and condemne as most desperate shall repent before they
THE CRIE OF ENGLAND A Sermon preached at Paules Crosse in September 1593. by Adam Hill Doctor of Diuinitie published at the request of the then Lord Maior of the Citie of London and others the Aldermen his brethren LONDON Printed by Ed. Allde for B. Norton 1595. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE THE Lord Maior of the famous Citie of London and the right Worshipfull the Aldermen his Bretheren and the Commons of the same Adam Hill Professor of Diuinitie wisheth grace peace and life euerlasting THere be foure things in the earth verie smal verie wise as witnesseth wise Salomon Prou. 30.25 c. the Pismires a people not strong yet prepare they their meate in the summer the Cunnies a people not mightie yet make they their houses in the rocke the Grashopper hath no King yet go they foorth all by bands the Spider taketh hold with his handes and yet is he in Kings Pallaces So must we prouide now in the summer time while the Gospell shineth out of the face of Christ Iesus against the winter which hath in it three moneths death iudgement and hell that as the Emmet escapeth the annoyance of the three winter moneths so wee may escape the terrour of death the rigor of Gods iudgement and the torments of hell The Cunnies build their house in the rocke so we may not trust to our riches which are vncertaine to our bowe which will breake to our speare which shall bee knapt asunder to our horse which is a vaine thing to our hoasts of men which are but flesh to our Captaines which are but locusts to men which are mortall or to Princes which shall die but to the Lord which can keepe our eyes from teares our feete from falling and our life from death The Grashoppers albeit they haue no king yet they goe foorth by armies we haue a father to rule in the house a preacher to teach in the Church a gracious Prince with manie honorable Senators to rule our Realme yet there is strife in euerie house sedition in euerie Citie and sects in euerie Church and therefore our house will fall our kingdome shall be desolate and our church will be the sinagogue of satan The spider is in Kings pallaces but wee dwell some of vs in the lusts of the flesh some in the treasures of the world and some are as enuious as the diuell fewe there are that say with Dauid Psal 84.2 My soule longeth yea and fainteth for the Courtes of the Lord for my hart and my flesh reioice in the liuing God To moue my countrimen therefore to a generall speedie and heartie repentaunce I haue laid downe in this treatise the crie not of Sodome but of England which if it be diligentlie weighed Luke 21.34 I doubt not but we shall take heede to our selues least our hearts be oppressed with surfetting and drunkennes and cares of this life We shall be watchfull Matt. 24.24 Mich. 6.8 Rom 12.12 Rom. 12.11 we shall doo iustlye and loue mercie we shall be instant in praier we shall be feruent in the spirit we shall not perseuere in sinne but continue in praier without ceasing saying Turne thy face away froÌ„ our sins Psal 51.9 O Lord blot out al our offences Psa 19.8 c. remeÌ„ber not against vs the former iniquities but make hast let thy tender mercy preuent vs help vs O God of our saluation for the glorie of thy name and deliuer vs and be mercifull to our sinnes for thy names sake so we thy people and sheepe of thy pasture shal praise thee for euer and from generation to generation will set forth thy praise which God giue vs grace to doo for his sonnes sake Christ Jesus to whom with the holie Ghost be all honor and glorie for euer and euer Amen Yours in the Lord Adam Hill Minister THE CRIE OF ENGLAND Genes 18. ver 21 22. Because the crie of Sodome Gomorrha is great and because their sinne is exceeding greeuous I will goe downe now and see whether they haue done altogether according to that crie which is come vnto me and if not that I may know OF all the holie Scriptures there is not one example more frequently vsed of the Prophets Apostles to feare the people from sinne than thys generall seuere and fearful destruction of the Sodomites The Prophet Jeremie saith Ier. 49.40 As God destroyed Sodome and Gomorrha with the places thereabout saith the Lord so shall no man dwell there neither shall the sonne of man remain there Amos. 4.11 So saith the Prophet Amos I haue ouerthrowen them as God ouerthrew Sodome and Gomorrha and ye were as a firebrand pluckt out of the fire yet haue yee not repented And the Prophet Zephanie saith Zeph. 2.9 Surely Moab shall bee as Sodome and Ammon as Gomorrha the breeding of nettles and salt pits and a perpetuall desolation So likewise it is said in the Euangelists And whosoeuer shall not receiue you Mat. 10.14 Mat. 6.11 Luke 9.5 nor heare your words when ye depart out of that house or that citie shake off the dust of your feete truly J say vnto you it shall be easier for them of the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of iudgement than for that citie And in the second Epistle of S. Peter it is said 2. Pet. 2.6 And turned the cities of Sodom Gomorrha into ashes condemned them made them an ensample vnto them that should afterward liue vngodly Iude 7. So in Iude As Sodom and Gomorrha and the cities round about them which in like manner as they did committed fornication and followed strange flesh are set downe for an ensample and suffer the vengeance of eternall fire As all the Prophets and Apostles yea and Christ himselfe haue vnto their hearers set downe Sodome and Gomorrha as an ensample of Gods iustice against sin impenitent sinners so doo I purpose by Gods grace to handle this fearfull panolethrie or vtter destruction to this Citie of London assuring my selfe that if this exhortation worke not in you a broken heart you shall by the yron rod of Gods wrath be broken in peeces like a potters vessell you shall be like the breeding of nettles and salt pits you shall not onely haue a perpetual desolation in earth which is lamentable but also suffer the vengeance of eternall fire which is intollerable A comparison betwâ—ene Sodom and London Sodom was in a frutefull valley so is London in Sodome there were gorgeous houses and fayre workes so there are in London in Sodome they did eate and drinke and fulfill the lusts of the flesh so doo they in London Sodom was in captiuitie vnder Chedor Laomer and freed by Abraham London all England was in subiection to the Pope hath been freed by our gracious Queene Elizabeth Sodome had Lot the Preacher of righteousnes sent vnto them whose spirit they vexed London hath had manie godly Fathers sent
here and there in euene place Saint Paul against whoredome thus writeth Meates are ordained for the belly 1 Cor 6.13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20. the belly for the meates but God shall destroye both it and them now the bodie is not for fornication but for the Lord and the Lord for the bodie and God hath also raised vp the Lord shall raise vs vp by his power Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot God forbid Doo ye not know that he which coupleth himselfe with an harlot is one bodie for two saith he shal be one flesh but he that is ioyned to the Lord is one spirite Flee fornication euerie sinne that a man doth as without the bodie but hee that committeth fornication sinneth against his owne bodie Know you not that your bodie is the temple of the holy ghost which is in you Whom ye haue of God and ye are not your owne for ye are bought for a price therefore glorifie God in your owne body and in your spirit for they are Gods Here are 7 arguments against whoredome 7. arguments against whoredome the first is of the punishment in the 13. vers where he saith that meates are for the belly the belly for meates but God will destroy both it and them for gluttonie and drunkennes are maintainers of venerie the second argument is drawen from the condition of our bodies in the same verse the bodie is not for fornication but for the Lord for as God is worshipped in heauen of angels which are spirites so will he be worshipped in earth of men which haue bodies and therefore our bodies shall be raised vp to glorie the third argument is drawen from an absurditie It is against reason saith the apostle that our bodies being the members of Christ should be made the members of an harlot so to bring them from high dignitie to most vile indignitie the 4. argument is drawen from the comparison of God and an harlot for he that ioyneth himselfe with an harlot is one with an harlot in affection and shal be one with an harlot in affliction but he that coupleth himselfe to the chast God shall be one with God in glorie for euer the fifth argument is drawen from the effects of fornication for the fornicator defileth his bodie with the pockes leprosie and many other loathsome diseases and therefore vnnaturally sinneth against his owne bodie shortning his life by wasting the vigor of his bodie The sixt argument is drawen from the purposes whereunto the body is destinated your body is the temple of the holy Ghost and you are not your owne therefore in it God must be worshipped not the diuell The seuenth and last argument is taken frō the lawe in the last verse you are bought with a price that is not with gold nor siluer but with the most precious blood of Christ therefore not onely our soule must magnifie the Lorde and our spirit reioyce in God our Sauiour but also our flesh must reioyce in our God and in the life and death of our bodies God must be glorified bowing our knees to GOD the father of our Lord Iesus Christ which leadeth vs to life and not to whores and harlottes Pro. 7.27 Whose waies goe downe to hell Jeremies prophecie is fulfilled in them will be fulfilled in vs Ier. 5.7.8.9 Though I fedde them to the full yet they committed adulterie assēbled themselues by companies in the harlots houses they rose vp in the morning like fedde horses for euerie man neighed after his neighbours wife Shall J not visite these things saith the Lorde shall not my soule be auenged on such a nation as this climbe vpon their walles and destroy them take awaie their battlements for they are not the Lordes The harlot calleth her pleasure solace and so do our delicate dames of England but Jeremie saith this sweete sinne wil haue soure sauce For it will cause the walles of our Cities to be rased the battlements of our house to be beaten downe God bee mercifull vnto this pleasant Iland blesse it for if euerie house of our lande shall bee destroyed where this loathsome sinne of leacherie hath bene shamefully committed as the monkes houses were our fairest Cities no doubt will come to ruinous heapes GOD brought the Sodomites into captiuitie to shewe them that he did hate their sinne yet would they not repent GOD brought thē out of slauerie by Abraham to teach them that he was mercifull to the contrite yet would they not repent We haue bene vnder the tyrant of Spaine in the late dayes of Queene Marie yet we forsake not our former fornications we haue bene deliuered by her Maiestie yet we runne on desperately into all manner of abhominations forgetting the greefe of our calamitie and the comfort of our deliuerance the quietnesse of our priuate estate the peace of our kingdome or the felicitie which we haue by the word of God Oppression of the poore is another sinne that prouoketh GOD to plague vs. Oppression of the poore crieth for vengeance Exo. 3.7 J haue surely seene the affliction of my people which are in Egypt haue heard their crie because of their taskmasters for J know their sorrowes Iam. 16. Do not the rich oppresse you by tyrannie and draw you before iudgement seates who oppresseth Pharaoh the tyrant Nimrod the mightie and Nabal the rich Those that should giue do take awaie those that should feede do fleese those that should be mercifull be vnmercifull Whome do they oppresse their brother their owne flesh the Lords brother and the Lords apple of his eye And what brother his poore needie destitute and afflicted brother and to whome he should giue from him he doth take by violence whom he shuld cōfort him he doth spoile How doth he oppresse by his mony his might God hath giuen them riches and authoritie to defend the poore fatherlesse to see such as be in neede and necessitie to haue right and with their wealth and might they oppresse deceiue they grind the face of the poore and braye them as it were in a morter Ier. 5. their houses are full of riches gotten by deceipt When do they oppresse in the time of the Gospel Elisha said vnto his man when he had taken gold and garments of Naaman is this a time to take mony to receiue garments and oliues 2. King 5.26 and vineyardes and sheepe and Oxen and men seruants and mayd servants So say I to the Nimrodical oppressors of England is this a day of peace and of ioy is this a time to smite downe the people of the Lord to murther his heritage and to deuour widowes houses to eate vp the people like bred Gal. 6.10 While we haue time we should do good to all 2. Cor. 6.2 especially
let his dayes be few and let another take his charge let his children be fatherlesse and his wife a widow let his children be vagabonds beg and seeke bread comming out of their places destroied let the extortioner catch all that he hath let the stranger spoile his labour let there be none to extend mercie vnto him neither let there be any to shew mercy vpon his fatherlesse children let his posteritie bee destroyed in the generation following let their name be put out let the iniquitie of his fathers bee had in remembrance with the Lord and let not the sinne of his mother be done awaie but let thē alwaie bee before the Lord that hee may cutte off their memoriall from the earth As poison when it entreth into the body it infecteth first the vains secondly the blood thirdly the members last of al the heart so Atheisme begā in the vains of the lighter sort of people and from thence it hath crept into the blood generositie of this land by meanes whereof it is spread into all the mēbers and parts of this realme God keepe it from the heart that is from the Court the Citie of London If my flesh were of stone if I had the learned tongue of Esay or my face were of Adamant as Ezechias was if I had that spirit of fortitude which was in Elias or that bold spirit that was in John Baptist if my bones were of brasse and my sides of steddie steele Mat. 14.4 then as John said to Herod Jt is not lawfull for thee to haue thy brothers wife And as Elias said to Ahab ◠King 18.18 Thou art he that troubleth all Israel so I should say to our Atheists it is not lawful for thē to eate drinke liue or breath among christians for they are the cause that this land wil be brought to an euerlasting destruction My heart trēbleth and my eyes shed teares to see the faintnesse of my selfe and my bretheren that this sinne of Atheisme openly committed is not openly reproued that others may feare We shal say in time to come as the Prophet said Esay 6.5 Woe be vnto me because J held my peace As the sinnes of Sodome are euident In Sodome were many sinnes and so there are in Englande Exo 19 4 9. so are they many Behold this was the iniquitie of thy sister Sodome pride fulnes of bread and aboundance of Idlenes neither did she strengthen the hand of the poore and needie Pride is of 2. sorts carnal and spirituall carnall pride is that which cōsisteth in the decking trimming of the flesh against which Paul thus writeth Rom 13 4. Take no thought of the flesh to fulfil the lustes of it And women are forbidden to weare broidred haire or gold or pearles 1. Tim 2 9. 1 Pet 3 3. or costly apparell And the like is also inhibited by Saint Peter This pride was in the harlot Prou 7 16 17. who said she had deckt her bed with couerings and clothes of Egipt and made her hed to smell of mirrhe Aloes Cynamon And this pride Saint Paul reproueth when hee willeth vs not to fashion our selues according to this world Rom 12 2. But notwithstanding pride is first in al ages as in children yong and old Secondly in euerie sexe as in men and women Thirdly in all estates as in magistrats priuate men Fourthly in all times as in poperie and in the Gospell Fiftly in all places as in the market and in the temple Apparel was ordained for three causes Apparell was giuen for three ends for honesties sake to couer our vnseemly parts for necessities sake to defend vs from the iniurie of the weather and for dignities sake both to distinguish men from beasts mē of high degree from the lower sort GOD clothed the noble subiect of the soule with a vile bodie Phil. 3.21 to teach vs that we should not deck our vile bodie with gorgeous apparell not agreeing either with cōlines necessitie or our calling Ciprian I thinke it good saith Cyprian that not onely maides and widowes but also married women be warned that they should by no meanes adulterate the worke of God Ierom. and his making for as Ierom saith These things are the nourishments of lust and the tokens of an vnchast minde How can she weepe for her sinnes or lift vp her eies and countenance to heauen whome God doth not know Thomas deceiued Iudas by trimming of apparell Iezabell painted her face to deceiue Ieho Cleopatra painted her face to deceiue Antonius who being overcome of Octauian he killed hir himselfe and buried her aliue with an aspe in the sepulcher of Antonius Ambrose in his Hexameron saith Ambr. in hexamer do not take awaie the picture of God and take on thee the picture of an harlot for that picture doth not become thee but is faultie not of simplicitie but of deceipt it beguileth and deceiueth so that thou canst not please him whom thou desirest to please which vnderstandeth that it is not his but an other mans that pleaseth and thou despisest thy maker whose workmanship is defaced For as Jerome noteth Ierom. If a woman decke her selfe that she may prouoke the lookes of men towards her although there follow no harme yet she shall suffer eternall condemnation for she hath offered poyson if any wil drinke of it Alas alas that greate citie that was clothed in fine linnen and purple scarlet Apoc. 18.16.17 gilt with gold and pretious stones and pearles for in one houre so greate riches are come to desolation Here yee see that pride goeth before and destruction commeth after So the Prophet Esay sheweth how this pride is punished with a generall seuere desolation Esay 3.19.17 Because saith he the daughters of Sion are hawtie and walke with stretched out neckes and wandering eyes walking and minsing as they goe making a tinckling with their feete therefore shall the Lord make the heades of the daughters of Sion bald the Lord shal discouer their secret partes in that day shall the Lorde take awaie the ornament of the slippers of the calles the rounde tires the sweete balles and the bracelets and the bonnets the tires of the heades and the sloppes the head-bandes and the tablets the earings and the mufflers the costly apparell and the vailes the wimples and the crisping pinnes all the glasses and the fine linnen the hoodes the launes and in steed of sweete sauors there shall be stinke in steede of a girdle a rent and in steed of dressing the haire baldnesse in steed of a stomacher a girding of sackclothe burning in stede of beautie thy men shal fall by the sword and thy strength in the battell Then shall her gates mourne and lament and shee being desolate shall sitte on the grounde Carnall pride is reckoned but a small fault but yet as yee do
wel see and learne out of the holy Sciptures it bringeth sword mourning and vtter desolation But consider I pray you the course of this world Christ saith wee should take no thought for apparell all our delight is to go braue the Isralites did weare their garmentes fortie yeares we must change our apparel euery tearme Christ cōmanded his Disciples they shuld haue but one coate we must haue for euery day in the weeke a coate Jhō Baptist was clothed in a Cāels skin but we must be clothed with Diues in purple fine white with Herod we must be attired in gorgeous apparel therfore with Diues Herod we shal suffer a suddē cōfusiō Queene Hester said Hest 14.16 Thou knowest O Lord that I hate the token of my preheminence worship which I beare vpon my head what time I must shew myselfe and be seene and that I abhorre it as vncleane cloth and that I weare it not when J am quiet and alone by my selfe As this good Queene did abhorre pride in apparel so the daughters of vanitie now adaies do highly esteeme it But as in a coffin when it is most sumptuously dect there is no doubt a dead carkas there lying so where yee see the daughters of men to haue their broidred haire their gold and pearles contrarie to the rule of the Apostle there no doubt is a dead stinking soule Democrates said There were two ornaments of a womā 2. Tim. ◠few wordes and few garments The woman of Lacidemon refused pretious garments sent them by Dionisius the Roman matrons sent backe againe golden roabes giuen thē freely by Pyrrhus I wil end therfore with an historie of the Bactrians whose wiues fell from the pride of apparell to whoredome not onely with their seruantes but with strangers and they gat such a masterie and rule ouer their husbands that albeit their husbands did see them committing adulterie yet they durst not reproue them But as I would haue the dames of England to leaue wanton and superfluous apparell so I will with Tertulian commend vnto them a good sute of raiment Come forth saith Tertulian yee women beutified with the ornaments of the Apostles Tertulian hauing the whitenesse of simplicitie the rednesse of chastitie hauing your eyes painted with shamefastnesse and your spirites with silence hauing in your eares the word of God and tying to your neckes the yoke of Christ subiect your head to your husbands and you shall be braue inough occupie your hands with wool fasten your feete at home and you shall please more then if you were clad in golde decke our selfe with the silke of sinceritie with the Satten of sanctitie and with the purple of probitie you shall haue God to be your paramour Thus farre of carnall pride Spirituall pride is of foure sortes blasphemye arrogancie vaineglorye and selfe-loue In blasphemie offended Nabuchadnezar Is not this great Babel which J haue built for the house of my kingdome by the might of my power and for the honour of my maiestie Dan. 4 27 Blasphemie the sin of Sodome and England Such Babilonian blasphemers haue we in England Iames saith Iam. 1.19 Euerye good gift and euerye perfect gift commeth from aboue from the father of lightes but the blasphemer thinketh his riches to come from fortune and corporall giftes to come from nature and giftes of the minde to come by study and experience Therefore as Nabuchadnezer was turned into a beast vntill hee did acknowledge these thinges to come from God so all they that call their gorgeous houses their owne as Nabuchadnezar did or do say their barneful of corne is for themselues as the rich man did Luke 12. Exod. 14. Num. 16. or boast of their armies as Pharaoh did or bragge of their holynesse as Dathan did or doe pride themselues in their kinglye estate as Saul did or of their tirannye 1. Sam. 15. 1. King 12. Esay 37. Iud. 6.15 Hest 4. Acts. 12. as Roboam did or of their victories as Sanacherib did or of their prowesse as Holofernes did or of their witte as Aman did or of their eloquence as Herod did or of their stocke Iohn 9. as the Jewes did These all haue the pride of Sodome and shall haue the punishment of Sodome vnlesse they repent Arrogancie is another sinne of Sodome fallen Arrogancye the sinne of Sodome and of England and of England falling and that is when we confesse wee haue receiued all good giftes from God but wee saye wee haue merited them Which sinne Saint Paul eftsoones reprooueth Ephe. 2.8.9 By grace are yee saued and that of faith and that not of your selues It is the gifte of GOD not of workes least any man should boast himselfe If wee bee not saued of our selues nor of workes how is it true that wee bee saued by merites Aquinas bringeth manye reasons to prooue that wee are not saued by workes which neither the Seminaryes which come from Rheimes nor the Iesuits which come from Rome can confute 7. Reasons against merits out of Aquinas The first is the indignitye of our merites For J counte saith Saint Paul that the afflictions of this present time are not worthie of the glorye which shall bee shewed vs. Rom. 8.18 Secondlye wee can not merite by reason of the contrarietye betweene the bodye and the soule For the flesh lusteth against the spirite Ephe 5.15 and the spirite against the fleshe and these are contrarye one to another so that yee cannot doe these thinges as yee would The third reason why wee cannot merite is because of the corruption of the fleshe Sap. 9.15 For the corruptible bodye is a burthen vnto the soule and the earthlye habitation presseth downe the minde full of cares The fourth reason why we cannot merit is the straitnes of the waye Mat. 7.13 Enter in at the strait gate for it is the broad gate and wide way that leadeth to destruction and many there bee which goe in thereat because the gate is straite and the way narrowe that leadeth vnto life and fewe there be that finde it The fifth reason why we cannot merit is because of the difficulty of good workes for vertue is occupied about that which is difficulte For it is an hard thing to beleeue but it is easie to presume or dispaire it is hard to be liberal but it is easie to be couetous or prodigall it is hard to be valiant but it is easie to be rash or timerous The sixth reason why we cannot merite is the incertitude of our owne righteousnes We haue all bene saith Esay as an vnclean thing Esay 69.6 and all our righteousnes is as filthy cloutes for our righteousnesse is neither pure perfect nor perpetuall The seauenth and the last reason is the straitnesse of the Iudge Psal 143.2 Enter not into iudgement with thy seruant saith Dauid for in thy sight shall no man liuing bee iustified If