laid to which if they shall adde but one scruple it shall be to mee sufficient ioy contentment recompence From your Hal-sted Decemb. 4. Your Worships humbly deuouted IOS HALL THE FIRST CENTVRIE OF MEDITATIONS AND VOWES DIVINE and MORALL 1 IN Meditation those which begin heauenly thoughts and prosecute them not are like those which kindle a fire vnder greene wood and leaue it so soone as it but begins to flame leesing the hope of a good beginning for want of seconding it with a sutable proceeding when I set my selfe to meditate I will not giue ouer till I come to an issue It hath beene said by some that the beginning is as much as the middest yea more than all but I say the ending is more than the beginning 2 There is nothing but Man that respecteth greatnesse Not God not death not Iudgement Not God he is no accepter of persons Not nature we see the sonnes of Princes borne as naked as the poorest and the poore childe as faire well-fauoured strong witty as the heire of Nobles Not disease death iudgement they sicken alike die alike fare alike after death There is nothing besides naturall men of whom goodnesse is not respected I will honour greatnesse in others but for my selfe I will esteeme a dram of goodnesse worth a whole world of greatnesse 3 As there is a foolish wisdome so there is a wise ignorance in not prying into Gods Arke not enquiring into things not reuealed I would faine know all that I need and all that I may I leaue Gods secrets to himselfe It is happy for me that God makes me of his Court though not of his Counsell 4 As there is no vacuity in nature no more is there spiritually Euery vessell is full if not of liquor yet of aire so is the heart of man though by nature it is empty of grace yet it is full of hypocrisie and iniquitie Now as it is filled with grace so it is empty of his euill qualities as in a vessell so much water as goes in so much ayre goes out but mans heart is a narrow-mouthed vessell and receiues grace but by drops and therefore takes a long time to empty and fill Now as there be differences in degrees and one heart is neerer to fulnesse than another so the best vessell is not quite full while it is in the body because there are still remainders of corruption I will neither be content with that measure of grace I haue nor impatient of Gods delay but euery day I will endeuour to haue one drop added to the rest so my last day shall fill vp my vessell to the brim 5 Satan would seeme to bee mannerly and reasonable making as if hee would bee content with one halfe of the heart whereas God challengeth all or none as indeed hee hath most reason to claime all that made all But this is nothing but a craftie fetch of Satan for he knowes that if hee haue any part God will haue none so the whole falleth to his share alone My heart when it is both whole and at the best is but a strait and vnworthy lodging for God if it were bigger and better I would reserue it all for him Satan may looke in at my doores by a tentation but hee shall not haue so much as one chamber-roome set a part for him to soiourne in 6 I see that in naturall motions the neerer any thing comes to his end the swifter it moueth I haue seene great riuers which at their first rising out of some hills side might bee couered with a bushell which after many miles fill a very broad channell and drawing neere to the Sea doe euen make a little Sea in their owne bankes So the winde at the first rising as a little vapour from the crannies of the earth and passing forward about the earth the further it goes the more blustering and violent it waxeth A Christians motion after hee is regenerate is made naturall to God-ward and therefore the neerer he comes to heauen the more zealous he is A good man must not bee like Ezekias Sunne that went backward nor like Ioshuahs Sunne that stood still but Dauids Sunne that like a Bridegroome comes out of his chamber and as a Champion reioiceth to runne his race onely herein is the difference that when hee comes to his high noone hee declineth not How euer therefore the minde in her naturall faculties followes the temperature of the body yet in these supernaturall things she quite crosses it For with the coldest complexion of age is ioined in those that are truly religious the feruentest zeale and affection to good things which is therefore the more reuerenced and better acknowledged because it cannot bee ascribed to the hot spirits of youth The Deuill himselfe deuised that old slander of early holinesse A young Saint an old Deuill Sometimes young Deuils haue proued old Saints neuer the contrarie but true Saints in youth doe alwaies proue Angels in their age I will striue to bee euer good but if I should not finde my selfe best at last I should feare I was neuer good at all 7 Consent harteneth sinne which a little dislike would haue daunted at first As wee say There would bee no theeues if no receiuers so would there not bee so many open mouthes to detract and slander if there were not so many open eares to entertaine them If I cannot stop another mans mouth from speaking ill I will either open my mouth to reproue it or else I will stop mine cares from hearing it and let him see in my face that he hath no roome in my heart 8 I haue oft wondered how fishes can retaine their fresh taste and yet liue in salt waters since I see that euery other thing participates of the nature of the place wherein it abides So the waters passing thorow the chanels of the earth varie their sauour with the veines of soile thorow which they slide So brute creatures transported from one region to another alter their former qualitie and degenerate by little and little The like danger I haue seene in the manners of men conuersing with euill companions in corrupt places For besides that it blemisheth our reputation and makes vs thought ill though wee bee good it breeds in vs an insensible declination to ill and workes in vs if not an approbation yet a lesse dislike of those sinnes to which our eares and eies are so continually inured I may haue a bad acquaintance I will neuer haue a wicked companion 9 Expectation in a weake minde makes an euill greater and a good lesse but in a resolued minde it digests an euill before it come and makes a future good long before present I will expect the worst because it may come the best because I know it will come 10 Some promise what they cannot doe as Satan to Christ some what they could but meane not to doe as the sons of Iacob to the Sechemites some what they meant for the
perillous and impious presumption continuance can no more make any wickednesse safe than the author of sinne no Deuill If I haue once sinned it is too much if oft woe bee to mee if the iteration of my offence cause boldnesse and not rather more sorrow more detestation woe be to me and my sinne if I be not the better because I haue sinned 99 It is strange to see the varieties and proportion of spirituall and bodily diets there bee some creatures that are fatted and delighted with poysons others liue by nothing but aire and some they say by fire others will taste no water but muddie others feed on their fellowes or perhaps on part of themselues others on the excretions of nobler creatures some search into the earth for sustenance or diue into the waters others content themselues with what the vpper earth yeelds them without violence All these and more are answered in the palate of the soule there bee some yea the most to whom sinne which is of a most venemous nature is both food and dainties others that thinke it the onely life to feed on the popular aire of applause others that are neuer well out of the fire of contentions and that wilfully trouble all waters with their priuate humours and opinions others whose crueltie delights in oppression and bloud yea whose enuie gnawes vpon their owne hearts others that take pleasure to reuiue the wicked and foule heresies of the greater wits of the former times others whose worldly mindes root altogether in earthly cares or who not content with the ordinarie prouision of doctrine affect obscure subtilties vnknowne to wiser men others whose too indifferent mindes feed on what-euer opinion comes next to hand without any carefull disquisition of truth so some feed foule others but few cleane and wholsome As there is no beast vpon Earth which hath not his like in the Sea and which perhaps is not in some sort parallelled in the plants of the earth so there is no bestiall disposition which is not answerably found in some men Mankinde therefore hath within it selfe his Goats Chameleons Salamanders Camels Wolues Dogs Swine Moles and whateuer sorts of beasts there are but a few men amongst men to a wise man the shape is not so much as the qualities If I be not a man within in my choices affections inclinations it had beene better for mee to haue beene a beast without A beast is but like it selfe but an euill man is halfe a beast and halfe a Deuill S. 100 Forced fauours are thanklesse and commonly with noble mindes finde no acceptation for a man to giue his soule to God when he sees he can no longer hold it or to bestow his goods when he is forced to depart with them or to forsake his sinne when hee cannot follow it are but vnkinde and cold obediences God sees our necessitie and scornes our compelled offers what man of any generous spirit will abide himselfe made the last refuge of a craued denied and constrained courtesie While God giues mee leaue to keepe my soule yet then to bequeathe it to him and whiles strength and opportunitie serue mee to sinne then to forsake it is both accepted and crowned God loues neither grudged nor necessarie gifts I will offer betimes that hee may vouchsafe to take I will giue him the best that he may take all O God giue me this grace that I may giue thee my selfe freely and seasonably and then I know thou canst not but accept me because this gift is thine owne FINIS MEDITATIONS AND VOWES DIVINE AND MORALL A THIRD CENTVRY By IOS HALL SIC ELEVABITVR FILIVS HOMINIS Io 3. ANCHORA FIDEI LONDON Printed for THOMAS PAVIER MILES FLESHER and John Haviland 1624. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL SIR EDMVND BACON Knight increase of honour strength of body perfection of VERTVE SIR There is no wise man would giue his thoughts for all the world which as they are the most pleasing and noble businesse of man being the naturall and immediate issue of that reason whereby he is seuered from brute creatures so they are in their vse most beneficiall to our selues and others For by the meanes hereof we enioy both God and our selues and hereby we make others partners of those rich excellencies which God hath hid in the minde And though it be most easie and safe for a man with the Psalmist to commune with his owne heart in silence yet is it more behouefull to the common good for which both as men and Christians we are ordained that those thoughts which our experience hath found comfortable and fruitfull to our selues should with neglect of all censures be communicated to others The concealement whereof me thinkes can proceed from no other ground but either timorousnesse or enuie Which consideration hath induced me to clothe these naked thoughts in plaine and simple words and to aduenture them into the light after their fellowes Consecrating them the rather to your name for that besides all other respects of dutie they are part of those meditations which in my late peregrination with you tooke me vp vnder the solitarie hilles of Ardenna wanting as then the opportunitie of other employment J offer them to you not for that your selfe is not stored with choice of better but as poore men vse to bring presents to the rich Jf they may carrie acceptation from you and bring profit vnto my soule it shall abundantly satisfie mee who should thinke it honour enough if I might be vouchsafed to bring but one pinne towards the decking of the Spouse of Christ whiles others out of their abundance adorne her with costly robes and rich medals J commend their successe to God their patronage to you their vse to the world That God multiplie his rare fauours vpon you and your worthy Ladie and goe you on to fauour Your Worships humbly deuoted IOS HALL MEDITATIONS AND VOWES 1 GOOD men are placed by God as so many starres in the lower firmament of the world As they must imitate those heauenly bodies in their light and influence so also in their motion and therefore as the Planets haue a course proper to themselues against the sway of the Heauen that carries them about so must each good man haue a motion out of his owne iudgement contrary to the customes and opinions of the vulgar finishing his owne course with the least shew of resistance I will neuer affect singularity except it bee among those that are vicious It is better to doe or thinke well alone than to follow a multitude in euill 2 What strange variety of actions doth the eie of God see at once round about the compasse of the earth and within it Some building houses some deluing for metals some marching in troups or encamping one against another some bargaining in the market some trauelling on their way some praying in their closets others quaffing at the Tauerne some rowing in the Gallies others dallying in their chambers and in short as many
precept of the Philosopher who taught him that by sitting and resting the minde gathereth wisdome * * Guliel Paris Another leaning to some Rest towards the left side for the greater quieting of the heart * * Dâ—onys Carthus A third standing with the eies lift vp to Heauen but shut for feare of distractions But of all other me thinketh Isaacs choice the best who meditated walking In this let euery man be his owne master so be we vse that frame of body that may both testifie reuerence and in some cases helpe to stirre vp further deuotion which also must needs be varied according to the matter of our Meditation If we thinke of our sinnes Ahabs soft pase the Publicans deiected eies and his hand beating his brest are more seasonable If of the ioyes of heauen Steuens countenance fixed aboue and Dauids hands lift vp on high are most fitting In all which the body as it is the instrument and vassall of the soule so will easily follow the affections thereof and in truth then is our deuotion most kindly when the body is thus commanded his seruice by the Spirit and not suffered to goe before it and by his forwardnesse to prouoke his master to emulation CHAP. XII NOw time and order call vs from these circumstances Of the matter and subiect of our â—editation to the matter and subiect of Meditation which must be Diuine and Spirituall not euill nor worldly O the carnall and vnprofitable thoughts of men We all meditate one how to doe ill to others another how to doe some earthly good to himselfe another to hurt himselfe vnder a colour of good as how to accomplish his lewd desires the fulfilling whereof proueth the bane of the soule how he may sinne vnseene and goe to hell with the least noise of the world Or perhaps some better mindes bend their thoughts vpon the search of naturall things the motions of euery heauen and of euery starre the reason and course of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea the manifold kinds of simples that grow out of the earth and creatures that creepe vpon it with all their strange qualities and operations Or perhaps the seuerall formes of gouernment and rules of State take vp their busie heads so that while they would be acquainted with the whole world they are strangers at home and while they seeke to know all other things â—â—â—y remaine vnknowne of themselues The God that made them the vilenesse of their nature the danger of their sinnes the multitude of their imperfections the Sauiour that bought them the Heauen that he bought for them are in the meane time as vnknowne as vnregarded as if they were not Thus doe foolish children spend their time and labour in turning ouer leaues to looke for painted babes not at all respecting the solid matter vnder their hands We fooles when will we be wise and turning our eies from vanity with that sweet Singer of Israel make Gods statutes our song and meditation in the house of our pilgrimage Earthly things proffer themselues with importunity Heauenly things must with importunity be sued to Those if they were not so little worth would not be so forward being forward need not any Meditation to solicit them These by how much more hard they are to intreat by so much more precious they are being obtained and therefore worthier our endeuor As then we cannot goe amisse so long as we keep our selues in the tracke of Diuinitie while the soule is taken vp with the thoughts either of the Deitie in his essence and persons sparingly yet in this point and more in faith and admiration than inquiry or of his attributes his Iustice Power Wisdome Mercy Truth or of his workes in the creation preseruation gouernment of all things according to the Psalmist I will meditate of the beauty of thy glorious Maiesty and thy wonderfull workes so most directly in our way and best fitting our exercise of Meditation are those matters in Diuinitie which can most of all worke compunction in the heart and most stirre vs vp to deuotion Of which kinde are the Meditations concerning Christ Iesus our Mediator his Incarnation Miracles Life Passion Buriall Resurrection Ascension Intercession the benefit of our Redemption the certainty of our Election the graces and proceeding of our Sanctification our glorious estate in Paradise lost in our first Parents our present vilenesse our inclination to sinne our seuerall actuall offences the tentations and sleights of euill Angels the vse of the Sacraments nature and practice of Faith and Repentance the miseries of our life with the frailty of it the certainty and vncertainty of our death the glory of Gods Saints aboue the awfulnesse of iudgement the terrors of hell and the rest of this quality wherein both it is fit to haue variety for that euen the strongest stomacke doth not alwaies delight in one dish and yet so to change that our choice may be free from wildnesse and inconstancy CHAP. XIII The order of the worke it selfe NOw after that we haue thus orderly suited the person and his qualities with the due circumstances of time place disposition of body and substance of the matter discussed I know not what can remaine besides the maine businesse it selfe and the manner and degrees of our prosecution thereof which aboue all other calleth for an intentiue Reader and resolute practice Wherein that we may auoid all nicenesse and obscurity since wee striue to profit we will giue direction for the Entrance Proceeding Conclusion of this Diuine worke CHAP. XIIII The entrance into the worke A Goodly building must shew some magnificence in the gate and great personages haue seemely Vshers to goe before them who by their vncouered heads command reuerence and way Euen very Poets of old had wont before their Ballads to implore the aid of their gods And the heathen Romans entred not vpon any publike ciuill businesse without a solemne apprecation of good successe 1 The common entrance which is Prayer How much lesse should a Christian dare to vndertake a spirituall worke of such importance not hauing craued the assistance of his God which me thinkes is no lesse than to professe he could doe well without Gods leaue When we thinke euill it is from our selues when good from God As Prayer is our speech to God so is each good Meditation according to Bernard Gods speech to the heart The heart must speake to God that God may speake to it Prayer therefore and Meditation are as those famous twinnes in the story or as two louing Turtles whereof separate one the other languisheth Prayer maketh way for Meditation Meditation giueth matter strength and life to our prayers By which as all other things are sanctified to vs so we are sanctified to all holy things This is as some royall Eunuch to perfume and dresse our soules that they may be fit to conuerse with the King of Heauen But the prayer that leadeth in
censure of that resolute Hierome Ego è contrario loquar c. I say saith he and in spight of all the world dare maintaine that now the Iewish ceremonies are pernitious and deadly and whosoeuer shall obserue them whether hee be Iew or Gentile in barathrum Diaboli deuolutum Shall frie in Hell for it Still Altars still Priest sacrifices still still washings still vnctions sprinkling shauing purifying still all and more than all Let them heare but Augustines censure Quisquis nunc c. Whosoeuer shall now vse them as it were raking them vp out of their dust hee shall not bee Pius deductor corporis sed impius sepulturae violator an impious and sacrilegious wretch that ransacks the quiet tombes of the dead I say not that all Ceremonies are dead but the Law of Ceremonies and of Iewish It is a sound distinction of them that profound Peter Martyr hath in his Epistle to that worthy Martyr Father Bishop Hooper Some are typicall fore-signifying Christ to come some of order and decencie those are abrogated not these the Iewes had a fashion of prophesying in the Churches so the Christians from them as Ambrose the Iewes had an eminent pulpit of wood so wee they gaue names at their Circumcision so wee at Baptisme they sung Psalmes melodiously in Churches so doe we they paid and receiued tithes so doe wee they wrapt their dead in linnen with odors so wee the Iewes had sureties at their admission into the Church so wee these instances might be infinite the Spouse of Christ cannot bee without her laces and chaines and borders Christ came not to dissolue order But thou O Lord how long how long shall thy poore Church finde her ornaments her sorrowes and see the deare sonnes of her wombe bleeding about these apples of strife let mee so name them not for their value euen small things when they are commanded looke for no small respect but for their euent the enemie is at the gates of our Syracuse how long will wee suffer our selues taken vp with angles and circles in the dust yee Men Brethren and Fathers helpe for Gods sake put to your hands to the quenching of this common flame the one side by humilitie and obedience the other by compassion both by prayers and teares who am I that I should reuiue to you the sweet spirit of that diuine Augustine who when hee heard and saw the bitter contentions betwixt two graue and famous Diuines Ierome and Ruffine Heu mihi saith he qui vos alicubi fiâ—al inuenire non possum Alas that I should neuer finde you two together how I would fall at your feet how I would embrace them and weepe vpon them and beseech you either of you for other and each for himselfe both of you for the Church of God but especially for the weake for whom Christ died who not without their owne great danger see you two fighting in this Theatre of the world Yet let me doe what he said he would doe begge for peace as for life by your filiall pietie to the Church of God whose ruines follow vpon our diuisions by your loue of Gods truth by the graces of that one blessed Spirit whereby we are all informed and quickned by the precious bloud of that Sonne of God which this day and this houre was shed for our redemption bee inclined to peace and loue and though our braines be different yet let our hearts be one It was as I heard the dying speech of our late reuerend worthy and gratious Diocesan Modo me moriente viuat ac floreat Ecclesia Oh yet if when I am dead the Church may liue and flourish What a spirit was here what a speech how worthy neuer to die how worthy of a soule so neere to his heauen how worthy of so happy a succession Yee whom God hath made inheritors of this blessed care who doe no lesse long for the prosperitie of Sion liue you to effect what hee did but liue to wish all peace with our selues and warre with none but Rome and Hell And if there bee any wayward Separatist whose soule professeth to hate peace I feare to tell him Pauls message yet I must Si tu pacem sugis ego te ab Ecclesia fugere mando Would to God those were cut off that trouble you How cut off As good Theodosius said to Demophilus a contentious Prelate Si tu pacem fugis c. If thou flie peace I will make thee flie the Church Alas they doe flie it that which should be therir punishment they make their contentment how are they worthy of pittie As Optatus of his Donatists they are Brethren might be companions and will not Oh wilfull men whither doe they runne from one Christ to another Is Christ diuided we haue him thankes be to our good God and we heare him daily and whither shall we goe from thee thou hast the words of eternall life Thus the Ceremonies are finished now heare the end of his sufferings with like patience and deuotion his death is here included it was so neere that he spake of it as done and when it was done all was done How easie is it to lose our selues in this discourse how hard not to be ouerwhelmed with matter of wonder and to finde either beginning or end his sufferings found an end our thoughts cannot Lo with this word he is happily waded out of those deeps of sorrowes whereof our conceits can finde no bottome yet let vs with Peter gird our coat and cast our selues a little into this sea All his life was but a perpetuall Passion In that he became man he suffered more than wee can doe either while we are men or when we cease to be men he humbled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yea he emptied himselfe We when we cease to be here are cloathed vpon 2 Cor. 5. Wee both winne by our being and gaine by our losse he lost by taking our more or lesse to himselfe that is manhood For though euer as God I and my Father are one yet as man My Father is greater than I. That man should be turned into a beast into a worme into dust into nothing is not so great a disparagement as that God should become man and yet it is not finished it is but begun But what man If as the absolute Monarch of the world hee had commanded the vassalage of all Emperors and Princes and had trod on nothing but Crownes and Scepters and the necks of Kings and bidden all the Potentates of the earth to attend his traine this had carried some port with it sutable to the heroicall Maiestie of Gods Sonne No such matter here is neither Forme nor Beautie vnlesse perhaps 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the forme of a seruant you haue made me to serue with your sinnes Behold hee is a man to God a seruant to man and be it spoken with holy reuerence a drudge to his seruants Hee is despised and reiected of men yea as
also procured the Bishops to helpe forward the same cause of decayed Doctrine with their diligent preaching and teaching of the people Goe now and say that suddenly in one day by Queene Elizabeths Trumpet or by the sound of a Bell in the name of Antichrist all were called to the Church Goe say with your Patriarch that we erect Religions by Proclamations and Parliaments Vpon these premises I dare conclude and doubt not to maintaine against all Separatists in the World that England to goe no higher had in the dayes of King Henry the Eighth a true visible Church of God and so by consequent their succeeding seed was by true Baptisme iustly admitted into the bosome thereof and therefore that euen of them without any further profession Gods Church was truly constituted If you shall say that the following idolatry of some of them in Queene Maries daies excluded them Consider how hard it wil be to proue that Gods couenant with any people is presently disanulled by the sinnes of the most whether of ignorance or weaknesse and if they had herein renounced God yet that God also mutually renounced them To shut vp your Constitution then Master Smith against R. Clifton Principl and Infer pag. 11. There is no remedie Either you must goe forward to Anabaptisme or come backe to vs. All your Rabbines cannot answer that charge of your rebaptized brother If we be a true Church you must returne if wee be not as a false Church is no Church of God you must rebaptize If our Baptisme bee good then is our constitution good Thus your owne Principles teach The outward part of a true visible Church is a Vow Promise Oath or Couenant betwixt God and the Saints Now I aske Is this made by vs in Baptisme or no If it be then we haue by your confession for so much as is outwardly required a true visible Church so your separation is vniust If it be not then you must rebaptize for the first Baptisme is a nullitie and if ours be not you were neuer thereby as yet entred into any visible Church SEP To the title of a Ring-leader wherewith it pleaseth this Pistler to stile me I answer that if the thing I haue done bee good it is good and commendable to haue beene forward in it if it bee euill let it be reproued by the light of Gods Word and that God to whom I haue done that I haue done will I doubt not giue me both to see and to heale mine errour by speedie Repentance if I haue fled away on foot I shall returne on Horse-backe But as I durst neuer set foot into this way but vpon a most sound and vnresistable conuiction of Conscience by the Word of God as I was perswaded so must my retiring bee wrought by more solid reasons from the same word than are to be found in a thousand such prettie Pamphlets and formall flourishes as this is SECTION XII AS For the title of Ring-leader wherewith I stiled this Pamphleter The answerers title if I haue giuen him too much honor in his Sect I am sorry Perhaps I should haue put him pardon an homely but in this sense not vnusuall word in the taile of this Traine Perhaps I should haue endorsed my Letter to Master Smith and his shadow So I perceiue he was Whatsoeuer whether he leade or follow God meets with him If he leade Behold Ier. 13.32 I will come against them that prophesie false dreames saith the Lord and doe tell them and cense my people to erre by their lyes If he come hehinde Thou shalt not follow a multitude in euill saith God If either or both or neither If hee will goe alone Woe vnto the foolish Prophets saith the Lord which follow their owne Spirits Ezech. 13.2 and haue seene nothing Howsoeuer your euill shall be reproued by the light of Gods word Your coniunction I cannot promise your reproofe I dare If thereupon you finde grace to see and heale your errours we should with all brotherly humblenesse attend on foot vpon your returne on Horse-backe but if the sway of your mis-resolued conscience be headie and vnresistable and your retiring hopelesse these not solide reasons these prettie Pamphlets these formall flourishes shall one day be fearefull and material euidences against you before that awefull Iudge which hath alreadie said Pro. 19.21 That iudgements are prepared for the Scorners and stripes for the backe of Fooles SEP Your pittying of vs and sorrowing for vs especially for the wrong done by vs were in you commendable affections if by vs iustly occasioned but if your Church be deeply drencht in Apostasie and you cry Peace Peace when suddaine and certaine desolation is at hand it is you that doe wrong though you make the complaint and so being cruell towards your selues and your own whom you flatter you cannot be truly pittifull towards others whom you bewaile But I will not discourage you in this affection lest we finde few in the same fault the most in stead of pittie and compassion affording vs nothing but furie and indignation SECTION XIII I PROFESSED to bestow pittie and sorrow vpon you and your wrong The Apostasie of the Church of England You entertaine both harshly and with a churlish repulse What should a man doe with such dispositions Let him stroke them on the backe they snarle at him and shew their teeth Let him shew them a Cudgell they flie in his face You allow not our actions and returne our wrong Ours is both the iniurie and complaint How can this bee You are the Agents we sit still and suffer in this rent Yet since the cause makes the Schisme let vs inquire not whose the action is but whos 's the desert Our Church is deepe drencht in Apostasie and we cry Peace Peace No lesse than a whole Church at once and that not sprinkled or wetshod but drencht in apostasie What did wee fall off from you or you from vs Tell me were we euer the true Church of God and were we then yours We cannot fall vnlesse we once stood Was your Church before this Apostasie Shew vs your Ancestors in opinion Name me but one that euer taught as you doe and I vow to separate Was it not Then we fell not from you Euery Apostasie of the Church must needs be from the true Church A true Church and not yours And yet can there be but one true See now whether in branding vs with Apostasie you haue not proued yours to be no true Church Still I am ignorant A Treatise of the Ministery of England against M. H. pag. 125. Queene Maries dayes you say had a true Church which separated from Poperie chose them Ministers serued God holily from thence was our Apostasie But were not the same also for the most part Christians in King Edwards dayes Did they then in that confused allowance of the Gospell separate Or I pray you were Cranmer Latimer Ridley Hooper and the rest
cogitation working as it commonly doth remissely causeth not any sudden alteration in our Traueller but as we say of Comets and Eclipses hath his effect when the cause is forgotten Neither is there any one more apparant ground of that lukewarme indifferency which is fallen vpon our times than the ill vse of our wandrings for our Trauellers being the middle ranke of men and therefore either followers of the great or commanders of the meaner sort cannot want conuenience of diffusing this temper of ease vnto both SECT XV. ALl this mischiefe is yet hid with a formall profession so as euery eye cannot finde it in others it dares boldly breake forth to an open reuolt How many in our memory whiles with Dinah they haue gone forth to gaze haue lost their spirituall chastity and therewith both the Church and themselues How many like vnto the brooke Cedron run from Hierusalem thorow the vale of Iehosaphat and end their course in the dead sea Robert Pointz in his preface to the testimonies for the reall presence 2 Chron. 24. A popish writer of our Nation as himselfe thought not vnlearned complaining of the obstinacy of vs hereticks despaires of preuailing because he findes it to be long agoe fore-prophecied of vs in the Booke of the Chronicles At illi Protestantes audire noluerunt It is well that Protestants were yet heard of in the old Testament as well as Iesuites whose name one of their owne by good hap hath found Num. 26.24 Like as Erasmus found Friers in S. Pauls time inter falsos Fratres Socrat. in Iosuam l. 1. c. 2. q. 19. Gretser contra Lerneum c. 1. 2. Vere aiquidam haereticus Iesuitas in sacris literis repertri But it were better if this mans word were as true as it is idle Some of ours haue heard to their cost whose losse ioyned with the griefe of the Church and dishonour of the Gospel we haue sufficiently lamented How many haue wee knowne stroken with these Aspes which haue died sleeping And in truth whosoeuer shall consider this open freedome of the meanes of seducement must needs wonder that we haue lost no more especially if he be acquainted with those two maine helps of our Aduersaries importunity and plausibility Neuer any Pharisee was so eager to make a Proselyte as our late factors of Rome and if they be so hot set vpon this seruice as to compasse sea and land to winne one of vs shall we be so mad as to passe both their sea and land to cast our selues into the mouth of danger No man setteth foot vpon their coast which may not presently sing with the Psalmist They come about mee like Bees It fares with them as with those which are infected with the pestilence who they say are carried with an itching desire of tainting others When they haue all done this they haue gained that if Satan were not more busie and vehement than they they could gaine nothing But in the meane time there is nothing wherein I wish we would emulate them but in this heat of diligence and violent ambition of winning Pyrrhus did not more enuy the valour of those old Romane souldiers which he read in their wounds and dead faces than we doe the busie audacitie of these new The world could not stand before vs if our Truth might be but as hotly followed as their falshood Oh that our God whose cause we maintaine would enkindle our hearts with the fire of holy zeale but so much as Satan hath inflamed theirs with the fire of fury and faction Oh that he would shake vs out of this dull ease and quicken ourslacke spirits vnto his owne worke Arise O North and come O South and blow vpon our garden that the spices thereof may flow forth These suters will take no deniall but are ready as the fashion was to doe with rich matches to carry away mens soules whether they will or no. Wee see the proofe of their importunity at home No bulwarke of lawes no barres of iustice though made of three trees can keepe our rebanished fugitiues from returning from intermedling How haue their actions said in the hearing of the world that since heauen will not heare them they will try what hell can doe And if they dare bee so busie in our owne homes where they would seeme somewhat awed with the danger of iustice what thinke we will they not dare to doe in their owne territories where they haue not free scope onely but assistance but incouragement Neuer generation was so forward as the Iesuiticall for captation of wils amongst their owne or of soules amongst strangers What state is not haunted with these ill spirits yea what house yea what soule Not a Princes Councell-Table not a Ladies chamber can be free from their shamelesse insinuations It was not for nothing that their great Patron Philip the second King of Spaine called them Clerices negotiadores and that Marcus Antonius Columna Generall of the Nauy to Pius Quintuâ— in the battell of Lepanto and Viceroy of Sicile could say to Father Don Alonso a famous Iesuite affecting to be of the counsell of his conscience Voi altri padri di Ihesu hauete la mente al ciclo le mani al mondo l'anima al diauolo SECT XVI YEt were there the lesse perill of their vehemence if it were only rude and boysterous as in some other sects that so as it is in Canon shot it might be more easily shund than resisted but here the skill of doing mischiefe contends with the power their mis-zealous passions hide themselues in a pleasing sweetnesse and they are more beholden to policy than strength What Gentleman of any note can crosse our Seas whose name is not landed in their books before hand in preuention of his person whom now arriued if they finde vntractable through too much preiudice they labour first to temper with the plausible conuersation of some smooth Catholike of his owne Nation the name of his Countrey is warrant enough for his insinuation Not a word yet may be spoken of Religion as if that were no part of the errand So haue we seene an Hawke cast off at an Hernshaw to looke and flie a quite other way after many carelesse and ouerly fetches to towre vp vnto the prey intended There is nothing wherein this faire companion shall not apply himselfe to his welcome Countryman At last when he hath possest himselfe of the heart of his new acquaintance got himselfe the reputation of a sweet ingenuity and delightfull sociablenesse he findes opportunities to bestow some witty scoffes vpon those parts of our religion which lie most open to aduantage And now it is time to inuite him after other rarities to see the Monastery of our English Benedictines or if elsewhere those English Colleges which the deuout beneficence of our well-meaning neighbours with no other intention than some couetous Farmers lay saltcats in their doue-coats haue bountifully erected There it is a wondes
filthinesse of the sinne was not so great as the impudency of the manner When the Prophet Nathan came with that heauy message of reproofe and menace to Dauid after his sinne with Bathsheba hee could say from God Behold I will raise vp euill against thee out of thine owne house and will take thy wiues before thine eyes and giue them vnto thy neighbour and he shall lie with thy wiues in the sight of this Sunne For thou didst it secretly but I will doe this thing before all Israel and before this Sunne The counsell of Achitophel and the lust of Absalom haue fulfilled the iudgement of God Oh the wisedome of the Almighty that can vse the worst of euils well and most iustly make the sins of men his executioners It was the sinne of Reuben that he defiled his fathers bed yet not in the same height of lewdnes what Reuben did in a youthfull wantonnesse Absalom did in a malicious despight Reuben sinned with one Absalom with ten Reuben secretly Absalom in the open eyes of heauen and earth yet old Iacob could say of Reuben Thou shalt not excell thy dignitie is gone whiles Achitophel sayes to Absalom Thy dignitie shall arise from incest Climbe vp to thy fathers bed if thou wilt sit in his throne If Achitophel were a politician Iacob was a Prophet if the one spake from carnall sense the other from diuine reuelation Certainly to sin is not the way to prosper what euer vaine fooles promise to themselues there is no wisdome nor vnderstanding nor counsell against the Lord. After the rebellion is secured for continuance the next care is that it may end in victory this also hath the working head of Achitophel proiected Wit experience told him that in these cases of assault celeritie vses to bring forth the happiest dispatch whereas protraction is no small aduantage to the defendant Let me saith he choose out now twelue thousand men and I will vp and follow after Dauid this night and I will come vpon him while he is weary and weak-handed No aduice could be more pernicious For besides the wearinesse and vnreadinesse of Dauid and his army the spirits of that worthy leader were daunted and deiected with sorrow and offered way to the violence of a sudden assault The field had beene halfe won ere any blow stricken Achitophel could not haue beene reputed so wise if he had not learned the due proportion betwixt actions and times He that obserueth euery winde shall neuer sow but he that obserues no winde at all shall neuer reape The likeliest deuices doe not alwayes succeed The God that had appointed to establish Dauids throne and determined Salomon to his succession findes meanes to crosse the plot of Achitophel by a lesse-probable aduice Hushai was not sent backe for nothing where God hath in his secret will decreed any euent hee inclines the wills of men to approue that which may promote his owne purposes Neither had Hushai so deepe an head neither was his counsell so sure as that of Achitophel yet his tongue shall refell Achitophel and diuert Absalom The pretences were fairer though the grounds were vnfound First to sweeten his opposition hee yeelds the praise of wisdome to his aduersary in all other counsels that hee may haue leaue to deny it in this His very contradiction in the present insinuates a generall allowance Then he suggests certaine apparent truths concerning Dauids valour and skill to giue countenance to the inferēces of his improbabilities Lastly he cunningly feeds the proud humor of Absaloza in magnifying the power and extent of his commands and ends in the glorious boasts of his fore-promised victory As it is with faces so with counsell that is faire that pleaseth He that giues the vttrance to words giues also their speed Fauour both of speech and men is not euer according to desert but according to fore-ordination The tongue of Hushai the heart of Absalom is guided by a power aboue their owne Hushai shall therefore preuaile with Absalom that the treason of Absalom may not preuaile Hee that worketh all in all things so disposeth of wicked men and spirits that whiles they doe most oppose his reuealed will they execute his secret and whiles they thinke most to please they ouerthrow themselues When Absalom first met Hushai returned to Hierusalem hee vpbraided him pleasantly with the scoffe of his professed friendship to Dauid Is this thy kindnesse to thy friend Sometimes there is more truth in the mouth then in the heart more in iest then in earnest Hushai was a friend his stay was his kindnes and now he hath done that for which he was left at Hierusalem disappointed Achitophel preserued Dauid Neither did his kindnesse to his friend rest here but as one that was iustly iealous of him with whom he was allowed to temporize he mistrusts the approbation of Absalom and not daring to put the life of his master vpon such an hazard he giues charge to Zadok and Abiathar of this intelligence vnto Dauid we cannot be too suspicious when we haue to doe with those that are faithlesse We cannot be too curious of the safety of good Princes Hushai feares not to descry the secrets of Absaloms counsell to betray a traytor is no other then a commendable worke Zadok and Abiathar are fast within the gates of Hierusalem their sonnes lay purposely abroad in the fields this message that concerned no lesse then the life of Dauid and the whole kingdome of Israel must bee trusted with a Maid Sometimes it pleaseth the wisedome of God who hath the variety of heauen and earth before him to single out weake instruments for great seruices and they shall serue his turne as well as the best No councellor of State could haue made this dispatch more effectually Ionathan and Ahimaaz are sent descried pursued preserued The fidelity of a maid instructed them in their message the suttlety of a woman saued their liues At the Well of Rogel they receiued their message in the Well of Bahurim was their life saued The sudden wit of a woman hath choked the mouth of her Well with dried corne that it might not bewray the messengers and now Dauid heares safely of his danger and preuents it and though weary with trauell and laden with sorrow he must spend the night in his remoue Gods promises of his deliuerance and the confirmation of his kingdome may not make him neglect the means of his safety If he be faithfull we may not be carelesse since our diligence and care are appointed for the factors of that diuine prouidence The acts of God must abate nothing of ours rather must we labour by doing that which he requireth to further that which he decreeth There are those that haue great wits for the publique none for themselues Such was Achitophel who whiles he had powers to gouerne a State could not tell how to rule his owne passions Neuer till now doe we find his counsell balked neither was it now
now all hearts are cold all faces pale and euery man hath but life enough to runne away How suddenly is this brauing troupe dispersed Adonijah their new Prince flies to the hornes of the Altar as distrusting all hopes of life saue the Sanctity of the place and the mercy of his riuall So doth the wise and iust God befoole proud and insolent sinners in those secret plots wherein they hope to vndermine the true sonne of Dauid the Prince of Peace he suffers them to lay their heads together and to feast themselues in a iocund securitie and promise of successe at last when they are at the height of their ioyes and hopes he confounds all their deuices and layes them open to the scorne of the world and to the anguish of their owne guilty hearts DAVIDS end and SALOMONS beginning IT well became Salomon to begin his Raigne in peace Adonijah receiues pardon vpon his good behauiour and findes the Throne of Salomon as safe as the Altar Dauid liues to see a wise sonne warme in his seat and now hee that had yeelded to succession yeelds to nature Many good counsels had Dauid giuen his Heire now hee summes them vp in his end Dying words are wont to bee weightiest The Soule when it is entring into glory breathes nothing but diuine I goe the way of all the earth How well is that Princely heart content to subscribe to the conditions of humane mortality as one that knew Soueraigntie doth not reach to the affaires of nature Though a King he neither expects nor desires an immunity from dissolution making not account to goe in any other then the common track to the vniuersall home of mankind the house of age Whither should earth but to earth and why should we grugde to doe that which all doe Be thou strong therefore and shew thy selfe a man Euen when his spirit was going out he puts spirit into his Sonne Age puts life into youth and the dying animates the vigorous He had well found that strength was requisit to gouernment that he had need to be no lesse then a man that should rule ouer men If greatnesse should neuer receiue any opposition yet those worlds powers A weake man may obey none but the strong can gouerne Gracelesse courage were but the whetstone of tyranny Take heed therefore to the charge of the Lord thy God to walke in his wayes and to keepe his Statutes The best legacy that Dauid bequeathes to his heire is the care of piety himselfe had found the sweetnesse of a good conscience and now he commends it to his successor If there be any thing that in our desires of the prosperous condition of our children takes place of goodnesse our hearts are not vpright Here was the father a King charging the King his sonne to keepe the Statutes of the King of Kings as one that knew greatnesse could neither exempt from obedience nor priuiledge sinne as one that knew the least deuiation in the greatest and highest Orbe is both most sensible and most dangerous Neither would he haue his sonne to looke for any prosperity saue onely from well-doing That happinesse is built vpon sands or Ice which is raised vpon any foundation besides vertue If Salomon were wise Dauid was good and if old Salomon had well remembred the counsell of old Dauid he had not so foulely mis-caried After the precepts of pietie follow those of iustice distributing in a due recompence as reuenge to Ioab and Shimei so fauour to the house of Barzillai The bloodinesse of Ioab had lien long vpon Dauids heart the hideous noyse of those treacherous murders as it had pierced heauen so it still filled the eares of Dauid He could abhorre that villanie though he could not reuenge it What he cannnot pay hee will owe and approue himselfe at last a faithfull debtor Now hee will defray it by the hand of Salomon The slaughter was of Abner and Amasa Dauid appropriates it Thou knowest what Ioab did to me The Soueraigne is smitten in the Subiect Neither is it other then iust that the arraignment of meane malefactors runnes in the stile of wrong to the Kings Crowne and dignity How much more 〈◊〉 thou O Sonne of Dauid take to thy selfe those insolencies which are done to thy poorest subiects seruants sonnes members here vpon earth No Saul can touch a Christian here below but thou feelest it in heauen and complainest But what shall we thinke of this Dauid was a man of Warre Salomon a King of Peace yet Dauid referres this reuenge to Salomon How iust it was that he who shed the blood of warre in peace and put the blood of war vpon his girdle that was about his loynes should haue his blood shed in peace by a Prince of peace Peace is fittest to rectifie the out-rages of Warre Or whether is not this done in type of that diuine administration wherein thou O father of heauen hast committed all iudgement vnto thine eternall Sonne Thou who couldst immediately either plague or absolue sinners wilt doe neither but by the hand of a Mediator Salomon learned betimes what his ripenesse taught afterwards Take away the wicked from the King and his Throne shall be established in righteousnesse Cruell Ioab and malicious Shimei must be therfore vpon the first opportunity remoued The one lay open to present iustice for abetting the conspiracy of Adonijah neither needes the helpe of time for a new aduantage The other went vnder the protection of an oath from Dauid and therefore must be fetcht in vpon a new challenge The hoare head of both must bee brought to the graue with blood else Dauids head could not bee brought to his graue in peace Due punishment of malefactors is the debt of authority If that holy King haue runne into arerages yet as one that hates and feares to breake the banke he giues order to his pay-master It shall bee defraid if not by him yet for him Generous natures cannot be vnthankfull Barzillai had shewed Dauid some kindnesse in his extremity and now the good man will haue posterity to inherite the thankes How much more bountifull is the Father of mercies in the remuneration of our poore vnworthy seruices Euen successions of generations shall fare the better for one good parent The dying words and thoughts of the man after Gods owne heart did not confine themselues to the straites of these particular charges but inlarged themselues to the care of Gods publike seruice As good men are best at last Dauid did neuer so busily and carefully marshall the affaires of God as when he was fixed to the bed of his age and death Then did he lode his sonne Salomon with the charge of building the house of God then did hee lay before the eyes of his sonne the modell and patterne of that whole sacred worke whereof if Salomon beare the name yet Dauid no lesse merits it He now giues the platforme of the Courts and buildings Hee giues the gold and siluer for
attract the heart of a Publican Hee arose and followed him We are all naturally auerse from thee O God doe thou but bid vs Follow thee draw vs by thy powerfull word and we shall runne after thee Alas thou speakest and wee sit still thou speakest by thine outward Word to our eare and wee stir not speake thou by the secret and effectuall word of thy spirit to our heart The world cannot hold vs downe Satan cannot stop our way we shall arise and follow thee It was not a more busie then gainfull trade that Matthew abandoned to follow Christ into pouertie and now hee cast away his Counters and strucke his Tallies and crossed his bookes and contemned his heapes of cash in comparison of that better treasure which he fore-saw lie open in that happy attendance If any commoditie bee valued of vs too deare to bee parted with for Christ we are more fit to bee Publicans then Disciples Our Sauiour inuites Matthew to a Discipleship Matthew inuites him to a feast The ioy of his call makes him to beginne his abdication of the world in a banquet Here was not a more cheerefull thankfulnes in the inuiter then a gracious humilitie in the guest The new seruant bids his Master the Publican his Sauiour and is honoured with so blessed a presence I doe not finde where Iesus was euer bidden to any table and refused If a Pharisee if a Publican inuited him he made not dainty to goe Not for the pleasure of the dishes what was that to him who began his worke in a whole Lent of dayes But as it was his meat and drinke to doe the will of his Father for the benefit of so winning a conuersation If he sate with sinners he conuerted them If with conuerts he confirmed and instructed them If with the poore he fed them If with the rich in substance he made them richer in grace At whose board did hee euer fit and left not his host a gainer The poore Bridegroome entertaines him and hath his water-pots filled with Wine Simon the Pharisee entertaines him and hath his table honoured with the publique remission of a penitent sinner with the heauenly doctrine of remission Zacheus entertaines him saluation came that day to his house with the author of it that presence made the Publican a sonne of Abraham Matthew is recompenced for his feast with an Apostleship Martha and Mary entertaine him and besides diuine instruction receiue their brother from the dead O Sauiour whether thou feast vs or we feast thee in both of them is blessednesse Where a Publican is the Feast-master it is no maruell if the guests be Publicans and sinners whether they came alone out of the hope of that mercy which they saw their fellow had found or whether Matthew inuited them to be partners of that plentifull grace whereof he had tasted I inquire not Publicans and sinners will flocke together the one hatefull for their trade the other for their vitious life Common contempt hath wrought them to an vnanimitie and sends them to seeke mutuall comfort in that society which all others held loathsome and contagious Moderate correction humbleth and shameth the offender whereas a cruell seueritie makes men desperate and driues them to those courses whereby they are more dangerously infected How many haue gone into the prison faulty and returned flagitious If Publicans were not sinners they were no whit beholden to their neighbours What a table full was here The Sonne of God beset with Publicans and sinners O happy Publicans and sinners that had found out their Sauiour O mercifull Sauiour that disdained not Publicans and sinners What sinner can feare to kneele before thee when he sees Publicans and sinners sit with thee Who can feare to be despised of thy meeknesse and mercy which didst not abhorre to conuerse with the outcasts of men Thou didst not despise the Thiefe confessing vpon the Crosse nor the sinner weeping vpon thy feet nor the Canaanite crying to thee in the way not the blushing adulteresse nor the odious Publican nor the forswearing Disciple nor the persecutor of Disciples nor thine owne executioners how can wee bee vnwelcome to thee if wee come with teares in our eyes faith in our hearts restitution in our hands Oh Sauiour our brests are too oft shut vpon thee thy bosome is euer open to vs wee are as great sinners as the consorts of these Publicans why should wee despaire of a roome at thy Table The squint-eid Pharisees looke a-crosse at all the actions of Christ where they should haue admired his mercy they cauill at his holinesse They said to his Disciples why eateth your Master with Publicans and sinners They durst not say thus to the Master whose answer they knew would soone haue conuinced them This winde they hoped might shake the weake faith of the Disciples They speake where they may bee most likely to hurt All the crue of Satanicall instruments haue learnt this craft of their old Tutor in Paradise We cannot reuerence that man whom wee thinke vnholy Christ had lost the hearts of his followers if they had entertained the least suspition of his impuritie which the murmure of these enuious Pharisees would faine insinuate He cannot be worthy to be followed that is vncleane He cannot but be vncleane that eateth with Publicans and sinners Proud foolish Pharisees ye fast whiles Christ eateth ye fast in your houses whiles Christ eateth in other mens ye fast with your owne whiles Christ feasts with sinners but if ye fast in pride whiles Christ eates in humilitie if ye fast at home for merit or popularitie whiles Christ feasts with sinners for compassion for edification for conuersion your fast is vncleane his feast is holy ye shall haue your portion with hypocrites when those Publicans and sinners shall be glorious When these censurers thought the Disciples had offended they speak not to them but to their Master Why doe thy Disciples that which is not lawfull now when they thought Christ offended they speake not to him but to the Disciples Thus like true make-bates they goe about to make a breach in the family of Christ by setting off the one from the other The quicke eye of our Sauiour hath soone espied the packe of their fraud and therefore hee takes the words out of the mouthes of his Disciples into his own They had spoke of Christ to the Disciples Christ answers for the Disciples concerning himselfe The whole need not the Physitian but the sicke According to the two qualities of pride scorne and ouer-weening these insolent Pharisees ouer-rated their owne holinesse contemned the noted vnholinesse of others As if themselues were not tainted with secret sinnes as if others could not be cleansed by repentance The searcher of hearts meets with their arrogance and finds those iusticiaries sinfull those sinners iust The spirituall Physitian findes the sicknesse of those sinners wholsome the health of those Pharisees desperate that wholsome because it cals for the
willing their torment they may be made most sensible of paine and by the obedible submission of their created nature wrought vpon immediately by their appointed tortures Besides the very horrour which ariseth from the place whereto they are euerlastingly confined For if the incorporeall spirits of liuing men may bee held in a loathed or painfull body and conceiue sorrow to bee so imprisoned Why may wee not as easily yeeld that the euill spirits of Angels or men may be held in those direfull flames and much more abhorre therein to continue for euer Tremble rather O my soule at the thought of this wofull condition of the euill Angels who for one onely act of Apostasie from God are thus perpetually tormented whereas we sinfull wretches multiply many and presumptuous offences against the Maiestie of our God And withall admire and magnifie that infinite mercy to the miserable generation of man which after this holy seueritie of iustice to the reuolted Angels so graciously forbeares our hainous iniquities and both suffers vs to be free for the time from these hellish torments and giues vs opportunitie of a perfect freedome from them for euer Praise the Lord O my soule and all that is within me praise his holy Name who for giueth all thy sinnes and healeth all thine infirmities Who redeemeth thy life from destruction and crowneth thee with mercy and compassions There is no time wherein the euill spirits are not tormented there is a time wherein they expect to be tormented yet more Art thou come to torment vs before our time They knew that the last Assises are the prefixed terme of their full execution which they also vnderstood to be not yet come For though they knew not when the Day of Iudgement should be a point concealed from the glorious Angels of heauen yet they knew when it should not be and therefore they say Before the time Euen the very euill spirits confesse and fearfully attend a set day of vniuersall Sessions They beleeue lesse then Deuils that either doubt of or deny that day of finall retribution Oh the wonderfull mercy of our God that both to wicked men and spirits respites the vtmost of their torment He might vpon the first instant of the fall of Angels haue inflicted on them the highest extremitie of his vengeance Hee might vpon the first sinnes of our youth yea of our nature haue swept vs away and giuen vs our portion in that fierie lake he stayes a time for both Though with this difference of mercy to vs men that here not onely is a delay but may be an vtter preuention of punishment which to the euill spirits is altogether impossible They doe suffer they must suffer and though they haue now deserued to suffer all they must yet they must once suffer more then they doe Yet so doth this euill spirit expostulate that he sues I beseech thee torment mee not The world is well changed since Satans first onset vpon Christ Then hee could say If thou be the Sonne of God now Iesus the Sonne of the most high God then All these will I giue thee if thou wilt fall downe and worship me now I beseech thee torment mee not The same power when hee lists can change the note of the Tempter to vs How happy are wee that haue such a Redeemer as can command the Deuils to their chaines Oh consider this ye lawlesse sinners that haue said Let vs breake his bonds and cast his cords from vs How euer the Almighty suffers you for a iudgement to haue free scope to euill and ye can now impotently resist the reuealed will of your Creator yet the time shall come when yee shall see the very masters whom ye haue serued the powers of darknesse vnable to auoid the reuenges of God How much lesse shall man striue with his Maker man whose breath is in his nostrils whose house is clay whose foundation is the dust Nature teaches euery creature to wish a freedome from paine the foulest spirits cannot but loue themselues and this loue must needs produce a deprecation of euill Yet what a thing is this to heare the deuill at his prayers I beseech thee torment me not Deuotion is not guilty of this but feare There is no grace in the suit of Deuils but nature no respect of glory to their Creator but their owne ease They cannot pray against sinne but against torment for sinne What newes is it now to heare the profanest mouth in extremitie imploring the Sacred Name of God when the Deuils doe so The worst of all creatures hates punishment and can say Lead me not into paine onely the good heart can say Leade mee not into temptation If wee can as heartily pray against sinne for the auoiding of displeasure as against punishment when wee haue displeased there is true grace in the soule Indeed if wee could feruently pray against sinne we should not need to pray against punishment which is no other then the inseparable shadow of that bodie but if we haue not laboured against our sins in vaine doe wee pray against punishment God must be iust and the wages of sinne is death It pleased our holy Sauiour not onely to let fall words of command vpon this spirit but to interchange some speeches with him All Christs actions are not for example It was the errour of our Grand-mother to hold chat with Satan That God who knowes the craft of that old Serpent and our weake simplicitie hath charged vs not to enquire of an euill spirit surely if the Disciples returning to Iacobs Well wondred to see Christ talke with a woman well may wee wonder to see him talking with an vncleane Spirit Let it be no presumption O Sauiour to aske vpon what grounds thou didst this wherein wee may not follow thee Wee know that sinne was excepted in thy conformitie of thy selfe to vs wee know there was no guile found in thy mouth no possibilitie of taint in thy nature in thine actions Neither is it hard to conceiue how the same thing may bee done by thee without sinne which wee cannot but sinne in doing There is a vast difference in the intention in the Agent For on the one side thou didst not aske the name of the spirit as one that knew not and would learne by inquiring but that by the confession of that mischiefe which thou pleasedst to suffer the grace of the cure might bee the more conspicuous the more glorious so on the other God and man might doe that safely which meere man cannot doe without danger thou mightest touch the leprosie and not be legally vncleane because thou touchedst it to heale it didst not touch it with possibility of infection So mightest thou who by reason of the perfection of thy diuine nature wert vncapable of any staine by the interlocution with Satan safely conferre with him whom corrupt man pre-disposed to the danger of such a parle may not meddle with without sinne because not without perill It is
the opportunity of Ahabs presence when he might be sure Iezebel was away Obadiah meets the Prophet knowes him and as if he had seene God in him fals on his face to him vvhom he knew his master persecuted Though a great Peere hee had learned to honor a prophet No respect was too much for the president of that sacred colledge To the poore boarder of the Sareptan here was no lesse then a prostration and My Lord Elijah from the great High Steward of Israel Those that are truely gracious cannot be niggardly of their obseruances to the messengers of God Elijah receiues the reuerence returnes a charge Goe tell thy Lord Behold Elijah is here Obadiah finds this lode too heauy neither is he more striken with the boldnes then with the vnkindnesse of this command boldnesse in respect of Elijah vnkindnesse in respect of himselfe For thus he thinkes If Elijah do come to Ahab he dies If he doe not come I die If it bee knowne that I met him and brought him not it is death If I say that he will come voluntarily and God shall alter his intentions it is death How vnhappy a man am I that must be either Elijahs executioner or my own were Ahabs displeasure but smoking I might hope to quēch it but now that the flame of it hath broken forth to the notice to the search of all the Kingdomes and Nations round about it may consume me I cannot extinguish it This message were for an enemy of Elijah for a client of Baal As for me I haue well approued my true deuotion to God my loue to his Prophets What haue I done that I should be singled out either to kill Elijah or to be killed for him Many an hard plunge must that man needs be driuen to who would hold his conscience together with the seruice and fauor of a Tyrant It is an happy thing to serue a iust master there is no danger no straine in such obedience But when the Prophet bindes his resolution with an oath and cleares the heart of Obadiah from all feares from all suspicions the good man dares bee the messenger of that which he saw was decreed in heauen Doubtlesse Ahab startled to heare of Elijah comming to meet him as one that did not more hate then feare the Prophet Well might he thinke thus long thus far haue I sought Elijah Elijah would not come to seeke me but vnder a sure guard and with some strange commission His course mantle hath the aduantage of my robe and Scepter If I can command a peece of the earth I see hee can command heauen The edge of his reuenge is taken off with a doubtfull expectation of the issue and now when Elijah offers himselfe to the eies of Ahab He who durst not strike yet durst challenge the Prophet Art thou hee that troubleth Israel Ieroboams hand was still in Ahabs thoughts he holds it not so safe to smite as to expostulate He that was the head of Israel speakes out that which was in the heart of all his people that Elijah was the cause of all their sorrow Alas what hath the righteous Prophet done He taxed their sin he foretold the iudgement he deserued it not he inflicted it not yet he smarts and they are guilty As if some fond people should accuse the Herald or the Trumpet as the cause of their warre or as if some ignorant peasant when he sees his fowles bathing in his pond should cry out of them as the causes of soule weather Oh the heroicall Spirit of Elijah he stand alone amids all the traine of Ahab and dares not onely repell this charge but retort it I haue not troubled Israel but thou and thy fathers house in that yee haue forsaken the Commandements of the Lord and thou hast followed Baalim No earthly glory can daunt him who hath the cleere and heartning visions of God This holy Seer discernes the true cause of our sufferings to bee our sinnes Foolish men are plagued for their offences and it is no small part of their plague that they see it not The onely common disturber of men Families Cities Kingdomes worlds is sinne There is no such traitor to any state as the wilfully wicked The quietest and most plausible offender is secretly seditious and stirreth quarrels in heauen The true messengers of God cary authority euen where they are maligned Elijah doth at once reproue the King and require of him the improuement of his power in gathering all Israel to Carmel in fetching thither all the Prophets of Baal Baal was rich in Israel whiles God was poore Whiles God hath but one hundred Prophets hid closely in Obadiahs caues Baal hath eight hundred and fifty foure hundred and fifty dispersed ouen the villages and townes of Israel foure hundred at the Court Gods Prophets are glad of bread and water whiles the foure hundred Trencher Prophets of Iezebel feed on her dainties They lurke in caues whiles these Lord it in the pleasantest groues Outward prosperity is a false note of truth All these with all Israel doth Elijah require Ahab to summon vnto Carmel It is in the power of Kings to command the Assembly of the Prophets the Prophet sues to the Prince for the indiction of this Synode They are iniurious to Soueraignty who arrogate this power to none but spirituall hands How is it that Ahab is as ready to performe this charge as Elijah to moue it I dare answer for his heart that it was not drawne with loue Was it out of the sense of one iudgement and feare of another hee smarted with the dearth and drought and well thinkes Elijah would not be so round with him for nothing Was it out of an expectation of some miraculous exploit which the Prophet would doe in the sight of all Israel Or was it out of the ouer-ruling power of the Almighty The heart of Kings is in the hand of God and he turnes it which way soeuer he pleaseth Israel is met together Elijah rates them not so much for their superstition as for their vnsetlednesse and irresolution One Israelite serues God another Baal yea the same Israelite perhaps serues both God and Baal How long halt yee betweene two opinions If the Lord be God follow him but if Baal then follow him Nothing is more odious to God then a prophane neutrality in maine oppositions of religion To go vpright in a wrong way is a lesse eie-sore to God then to halt betwixt right wrong The Spirit wisheth that the Laodicean were either hot or cold either temper would be better borne then neither then both In reconcileable differences nothing is more safe then indifferency both of practice and opinion but in cases of so necessary hostility as betwixt God and Baal hee that is on neither side is the deadlyest enemy to both Lesse hatefull are they to God that serue him not at all then they that serue him with a riuall Whether out of guiltinesse or feare or
we are blest by their protection Who wonders not to heare a Prophet call for a Minstrell in the middest of that mournfull distresse of Israel and Iudah Who would not haue expected his charge of teares and prayers rather then of Musicke How vnreasonable are songs to an heauy heart It was not for their eares it was for his owne bosome that Elisha called for Musicke that his spirits after their zealous agitation might bee sweetly composed and put into a meet temper for receiuing that calme visions of God Perhaps it was some holy Leuite that followed the Campe of Iehoshaphat whose minstrelsie was required for so sacred a purpose None but a quiet brest is capable of diuine Reuelations Nothing is more powerfull to settle a troubled heart then a melodious harmony The Spirit of Prophesie was not the more inuited the Prophets Spirit was the better disposed by pleasing sounds The same God that will reueale his will to the Prophet suggests this demand Bring me a Minstrell How many say thus when they would put God from them Profane mirth wanton musicke debauches the soule and makes no lesse roome for the vncleane spirit then spirituall melody doth for the Diuine No Prophet had euer the Spirit at command The hand of the Minstrell can doe nothing without the hand of the Lord Whiles the Musicke sounds in the eare God speakes to the heart of Elisha Thus saith the Lord Make this valley full of ditches Yee shall not see wind neither shall ye see raine yet that valley shall be full of water c. To see wind and raine in the height of that drought would haue seemed as wonderfull as pleasing but to see abundance of water without wind or raine was yet more miraculous I know not how the fight of the meanes abates our admiration of the effect Where no causes can be found out wee are forced to confesse omnipotency Elijah releeued Israel with water but it was out of the cloudes and those cloudes rose from the sea but vvhence Elisha shall fetch it is not more maruellous then secret All that euening all that night must the faith of Israel and Iudah bee exercised with expectation At the houre of the morning sacrifice no sooner did the blood of that Oblation gush forth then the streames of vvaters gushed forth into their new channells and filled the Countrey with a refreshing moisture Elijah fetcht downe his fire at the houre of the euening sacrifice Elisha fetcht vp his water at the houre of the morning sacrifice God giues respect to his owne houres for the encouragement of our obseruation If his wisdome hath set vs any peculiar times wee cannot keepe them without a blessing The deuotions of all true Iewes all the world ouer were in that houre combined How seasonably doth the wisdome of God picke out that instant wherein hee might at once answer both Elishaes prophesie and his peoples prayers The Prophet hath assured the Kings not of water onely but of victory Moab heares of enemies and is addressed to warre Their owne error shall cut their throats they rise soone enough to beguile themselues the beames of the rising Sunne glistering vpon those vaporous and vnexpected waters caried in the eyes of some Moabites a semblance of blood a few eyes were enough to fill all eares with a false noise the deceiued sense miscaries the imagination This is blood the Kings are surely slaine and they haue smitten one another now therefore Moab to the spoile Ciuill broyles giue iust aduantage to a common enemy Therefore must the Camps be spoiled because the Kings haue smitten each other Those that shall bee deceiued are giuen ouer to credulity The Moabites doe not examine either the conceit or the report but flie in confusedly vpon the Campe of Israel whom they finde too late to haue no enemies but themselues As if death would not haue hastened enough to them they come to fetch it they come to challenge it It seizeth vpon them vnauoidably they are smitten their Cities razed their Lands marred their Wells stopped their trees felled as if God meant to waste them but once No onsets are so furious as the last assaults of the desperate The King of Moab now hopelesse of recouery would bee glad to shut vp with a pleasing reuenge with seuen hundred resolute followers he rushes into the battaile towards the King of Edom as if he would bid death welcome might he but carie with him that despighted neighbour and now mad with the repulse he returnes and whether as angry with his destiny or as barbarously affecting to win his cruell gods with so deare a sacrifice he offers them with his owne hand the blood of his eldest sonne in the sight of Israel and sends him vp in smoake to those hellish Deities O prodigious act whether of rage or of deuotion What an hand hath Satan ouer his miserable vassals What maruell is it to see men sacrifice their soules in an vnfelt oblation to these plausible tempters when their owne flesh and blood hath not beene spared There is no Tyrant to the Prince of darknesse ELISHA with the Shunamite THE holy Prophets vnder the old Testament did not abhorre the mariage bed they did not thinke themselues too pure for an institution of their Maker The distressed widow of one of the sonnes of the Prophets comes to Elisha to bemoane her condition Her husband is dead and dead in debt Death hath no sooner seized on him then her two sonnes the remaining comfort of her life are to be seized on by his creditors for bond-men How thicke did the miseries of this poore afflicted woman light vpon her Her husband is lost her estate clogged with debts her children ready to be taken for slaues Her husband was a religious and worthy man hee paid his debts to Nature he could not to his Creditors they are cruell and rake in the scarce-closed wound of her sorrow passing an arrest worse then death vpon her sonnes Widow-hood pouertie seruitude haue conspired to make her perfitly miserable Vertue and goodnesse can pay no debts The holiest man may be deepe in arerages and breake the banke Not through lauishnesse and riot of expence Religion teaches vs to moderate our hands to spend within the proportion of our estate but through either iniquitie of times or euill casualties Ahab and Iezebel were lately in the Throne who can maruell that a Prophet was in debt It was well that any good man might haue his breath free though his estate were not wilfully to ouer-lash our ability cannot stand with wisedome and good gouernment but no prouidence can guard vs from crosses Holinesse is no more defence against debt then against death Grace can keepe vs from vnthriftinesse not from want Whither doth the Prophets widow come to bewaile her case but to Elisha Euery one would not be sensible of her affliction or if they would pity yet could not releeue her Elisha could doe both Into his eare doth hee vnload her