Valedicamus in adagio Si sat procul sat bene Let vs speede him hence with the Prouerbe Far enough good enough Let not such a guest come till he bee sent for But alas he will neuer be farre enough off no not euen now whiles God is sowing the seede of Life will this Enemy forbeare to sowe tares Hee runnes about the seats like a Pick-purse and if he sees a rouing eye hee presents obiects of Lust if a drowsy head he rockes him asleep and giues him a nappe iust the length of the Sermon if he spies a Couetous man he transports his soul to his counting-house and leaues nothing before the Preacher but a mind-lesse trunke Well gone he is out of this Man and we must therein consider 2. things 1. His vnroosting 2. His vnresting In his vnroosting or departure wee haue iustly obseruable these 3 circumstances 1. The Person 2. The Maner 3. The Measure of his Going out The Person Is described according to his Nature Condition He is by Nature a Spirit by Condition or quality vncleane 1. By Nature He is a Spirit I will not trouble you with the diuerse acception of this word Spirit There is a Diuine Humane Angelical Diabolical Spirit yet are not these all Let euery thing that hath breath praise the Lord that is that hath a Spirit It is obserued that when this Article The is prefixed to Spirite and no attribute subioyned that may denominate or distinguish it it is meant of the third Person in Trinity the holy Ghost Rom. 8. The Spirite helpeth our infirmities c. So Ierom notes on the fourth of Mathew ver 1. Then was Iesus led vp of the Spirit into the Wildernesse to be tempted of the Deuill Heere the adiunct giues sufficient distinction As 1. Sam. 16. The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an euil spirit from the Lord troubled him This was an euill and vncleane spirit This makes against the Sadduces Atheists that deny the subsistence of spirits or imagine them to be onely qualities of the mind affirming that good Angels are but good motions and bad Angels nothing else but bad motions They may as well call the winde but imaginarium quiddam sickenesse but a phantasie and death it selfe but a meere conceit They shall finde that there are spirites created for vengeance and in the day of theyr wrath when God shall bid them strike they wil lay on sure strokes essentiall and subsisting natures Hell-fire is no fable Deuils are not nominals but reals not imaginarie qualities but afflicting spirites heere the tempters to sinne heereafter the tormenters for sinne Qui non credent sentient They that will not beleeue Gods wordes shall feele their wounds The Deuill hath a speciall Medicine for Atheysme 2. By Quality He is Vncleane and that in regard of his Condition Perdition Condition or property in himselfe Perdition which he doth worke vpon others for hee labours to infect man that he may make him both in wickednesse and wretchednesse like himselfe 1. Vncleane in respect of his owne Condition The Deuill was by creation good God made him an Angel of light he made himselfe an Angel of darknesse God saw euery thing that he had made and behold it was very good If euery parcel of the Creators workmanship was perfect without denial those Angels which once stood before his face and attended the hests of the Lord of hosts were principally perfect Therefore the deuill as he is a creature is good according to S. Augustine Ipsius Diaboli natura in quantum natura est non est mala The nature of the deuill insomuch as it is a nature is not euill But Iohn 8. When he speaketh a lye he speaketh of his owne He deriued his nature from God but the depriuation of it from himselfe He was good by generation is euill by degeneration In that he is Euill or Deuill he may thanke himfelfe for it A Spirit of Gods vncleane of his owne making Quòd spiritus a Deo est quòd impurus a seipso 2. Vncleane by his operation and effects His labour delight is to make man as vnclean as himselfe He striues to make Iudas his heart foule with couetousnesse Absalons with treason Gehesis with bribes Cains with murder Ieroboams with Idolatry nay euen Dauids with adultery God is Purity and Blessed are the pure in heart for they shal see God But a soule soyld and foyld with lust drunkennes swearing hypocrisie auarice is an vncleane habitacle for an vncleane spirit a fowle euill for a fowle deuill Euery sinne is vncleane but there is one sin called vncleannes as if it were more immediatly deriued from the Deuill and more naturally pleasing him Heereby God is robbed of that he bought with so deare a price the member of Christ is made the member of an Harlot It is continually ioyned with whore-hunting Ephes 5. 3. 5. Colos. 3. 5. Saint Paul reasons against this sin by an argument drawne ab absurdo to couple that body to an Harlot which should mystically be vnited to Christ. Not vnlike that of the Poet Humano capiti ceruicem iungere equinam And howsoeuer this debauched age with a monstrous impudence will call it either no sinne or peccadillo a little sinne yet it hath that power and effect to make men as like to the Deuill as an vncleane body may be to an vncleane spirit Call it what you wil blanch it with apologies candy it with natures delights parget it with concealments vncleannes is vncleannes still and like the Deuill Vnlesse as in the Legend of Saint Anthony that when his Host set him a Toade on the table and tolde him it was written in the Gospel De omni quod tibi aponitur comedes Thou shalt eat of such things as are set before thee hee with the signe of the Crosse made it a Capon ready roasted you can metamorphose Satans poysons Toades and Serpents feculent and banefull sinnes into nutrimentall vertues wash the Black-mores skin white and make leprosies faire and sound the sinne of vncleannesse will make you like this vncleane spirit Let all this teach vs not to hate the essence but the workes of the Deuill His nature abstractiuely consider'd is good but as hee is wicked and a prouoker to wickednesse hate him In regard of his excellent knowledge gather'd by long obseruation and comprehension of the seminary vertues he is called Daemon 2. For his enuy emnity Satan 3. For his command Beelzebub 4. For his power the strong man 5. Lastly for his pollution an vncleane spirit Continually Deuil because he striues continually to Doe euil As these prauities shew themselues in him by domination and denomination hate him So doe all so say all An obstinate sinner returnes an honest reproofe with I defie the Deuil I will shielde my selfe from Satan as well as my admonisher the foule fiend shall haue no power ouer me Yet still deafes himselfe to
liued alone was either a God or a Deuil Yet solitarinesse is not so euill as euill company It is better to bustle with one Deuill in a close chamber then with many Deuils in a riotous Tauerne Art thou in the Court Satan walkes thither too and will fit Rehoboam with flatterers Ahab with lyer Pharaoh with Sorcerers Belshazzer with cups Solomon with Concubines Art thou in the Market He is ready with oathes with cozenages Nay art thou in the Temple Thither hee dares trauel too and peruert the eyes with shewes the eares with sounds the thoughts with fancies the senses with sleepe Wheresoeuer whensoeuer howsoeuer thou art busied he walkes to thee with his tēptations and like a nimble voluble shop-keeper interrupts with a what lacke you He hath a ship ready for Ionas a witch for Saul a wedge for Achan a rope for Iudas A booty stands ready for the theefe a pawne for the broker a morgage for the merchant a monopolie for the Courtier an harlot for the adulterer As hee walkes through the streetes there hee throwes a short measure a false ballance into a Trades-mans shoppe Hee steppes into a drinking house and kindles a quarrell Hee shoulders to the barre and pops in a forged euidence a counterfeit seale He dares enter the schooles and commence schismes and contentions nay climbe vp into the pulp it and broach sects and diuisions He trauels no ground but like a stinking fogge or a dying oppressor he leaues an ill sent behind him This is he that makes men serue God percunctorily perfunctorily to go slowly to it to sit idlely at it Whither where can we walke and not behold Satans walkes and see the prints of his feet as plain as if his steps were set in snow or like the Priestes of Bel in ashes that we may say the deuill hath been here He that shall trauell the lower Prouinces and in some parts thereof see the Cities ruinated habitations spoyled forts battered Temples demolished fieldes vntilled will say Sure the enemy hath beene here Hee that with obseruing and weeping eyes beholdes not our Temples but the piety in them dissolued not our Citties but the Citizens peruerted not our houses but their inhabitāts defaced with iniquity not our fields but our hearts lying vntilled our Lawyers turn'd truth defrauders our Citizens vsurers our Landlords oppressors our Gentlemen rioters our Patrons Simonists would surely say this is Satans walke the deuill hath beene here Let this fasten on our soules 2. instructions 1 To keepe out of Satans walkes Though he visiteth all places and his inquisition be stricter then the Spanish for that catches none but Protestants the Papists scape yet hee frequenteth some more then other Perhaps he may finde thee in the Temple as he tooke Iudas at the Communion but carry a faithfull and vpright heart and then though hee walkes thither to thee he shall walke to hell without thee When thou art for company chuse the best if they mourne mourne with them if they be merry refuse not mirth with them so it bee honest ad societatem not ad satietatem VVhen thou art alone reade pray meditate that either God may talke to thee or thou to God So with Scipio thou shalt be least alone when most alone The guard of Angels shall be about thee and the fellowshippe of the Holy Ghost within thee and let Satan wa◅ke whither hee will thou art like Enoch walking with God 2 Since Satan is so walking and busie a spirit let this teach vs not to be idle Indeed be not too busie in other mens matters nor too lazie in thine owne Shall wee knowe that the enemy walkes waites watches to destroy vs and shall wee not looke to our selues Hee sowes tares in the fielde of our hearts whilest we sleepe let vs awake and plucke them vp lest they choake the good seede of our graces It is not allowed vs to sit still we must be walking Eye to thy seeing eare to thy hearing hand to thy working foote to thy walking Vp and eate Elias arise O Christian thou hast sit too long hauing so great a iourney to go The Seruants in the Law were commaunded to eate the Passeouer with their shooes on and Saint Paul chargeth the Sonnes in the Gospell perhaps not without some allusion to that to stand with their feete shod vvith the preparation of the Gospel of peace When a man is standing it is saide he will bee walking Astronomers haue numbred the miles twixt earth Heauen as if they had climbed vp thither by Ladders to be 900. thousand But without doubt Christianity is a great iourney he that considers the way and distance betwixt mortalitie and immortality corruption and glory must needes conclude it is high time to be walking Vita breuis ars longa Life is short and this skill not soone learnt We cannot begin this iourny too early we haue sitten too lōg it is full time we were trauelling◅ Otherwise a walking Diuel shall condemne a slothful Man Tryal Through dry places The discontented Deuill cast out of man seekes about for a new lodging and findes all places dry he esteemes euerie place but in Mans heart ◅irkesome and vnpleasant as a dry barren and heathy Wildernesse Now as when a man hath long liued in a fertile Valley abounding with delightful fruites necessary comforts the grounds standing thicke with corne a pleasant riuer running along to glad his heart with a welcome moysture it cannot be other then a diseasing displeasing change to be banished into a mountanous desert wher the scorching Sunne burnes vp the grasse and withers the fruite or the vnhindred force of the wind finds a bleake obiect to worke vpon where the veines of bloud the springs of water rise not runne not to madefie the earth and cherish her plants Such is Satans case and cause of perplexity The wicked heart was his delighted Orchyard where the fruites of disobedience oaths lyes blasphemies oppressions coussenages contentions drunken proud couetous actions and habites made him fat For as God hath his Vineyard the Deuill hath his Orchyard The fruites that God expects and delights to gather are the good grapes of obedience Satans desire is wicked and wretched effects These he eyther found ready or made ready in the heart of man Whence displaced sedibus aedibus he is mad for anger and accounts all places dry He finds no rest in dry places Perhaps the Deuill loues the low Countries and wet ground In a moderate temperate dry braine he findes no footing but in the soule of the swilling drunkard as a foggy and fenny ground hee obtaines some residence Abstemious moderation and temperate satisfaction of nature is too dry a place for so hot a spirit as hell fire hath made him to quench his malicious thirst but in those that are filled with wine strong drinkes suauiter molliter acquiescit VVhen the Son of God threw a Legion out of one poore man
oyle of Lyons If Magistrates would vse that sword which the Lyon the King hath put into their hands to Gods glory the wolues would be in more feare and quiet Let him that hath Episcopall Iurisdiction consider what S. Bernard writes to Eugenius that it is his office Magis domare lupos quà m dominari ouibus And as they say the Subiect of the Canon law is Homo dirigibilis in Deum et in bonum commune so that Court which is called Forum spirituale should specially consider the publike tranquillity of these Lambes to eneruate the furious strength of wolues Let them that are deputed Superuisors of Parishes Church-wardens remember that nothing in the world is more spirituall tender and delicate then the conscience of a man and nothing bindes the conscience more strongly then an oath Come ye not therefore with Omne benè when there are so many wolues among you If you fauour the wolues you giue shrewd suspition that you are wolues your selues Is there nothing for you to present Gods house Gods day is neglected the Temples vnrepaired and vnrepaired too neyther adorned nor frequented Adultery breaks forth into smoke fame infamy Drunkennes cannot find the way to the Church so readily as to the Alehouse and when it comes to the Temple takes a nap iust the length of the Sermon And yet Omnia benè still Let me say Security and Partiality are often the Church-wardens Conniuence and wilfull Ignorance the Side-men You wil say I take for the profit of the Commissary I answere in the face and feare of God I speake not to benefit his Office but to discharge my owne office VVhen all is done and yet all vndone still the lambs must be patient thogh in medio luporuÌ„ God wil not suffer our labors to passe vnrewarded Emittuntur non amittuntur agni VVhen we haue finished our course there is laid vp for vs a crown of righteousnes which the Lord the righteous Iudge shal giue vs at the last day Aristotle in his Ethicks affirmes vertue to be only Bonum laudabile making 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to bee the adiunct thereof but his Felicity to be Bonum honorabile and giues for the adiunct 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 making it the most honourable thing in the world But Gods reward to his seruants surmounts all Ethicke or Ethnicke happinesse bestowing a Kingdome vpon his Lambes on the right hand whiles the wolues and Goates on the left be sent away to eternal malediction Now the Lambe of God make vs Lambes and giue vs the reward of Lambes his euerlasting comforts Amen FINIS THE Spirituall Nauigator BOVND For the Holy Land Preached at St. Giles without Cripplegate on Trinity Sunday last 1615. By THOMAS ADAMS Reuel 15. 2. 3. I saw as it were a Sea of Glasse mingled with fire and they that had gotten the victory ouer the Beast and ouer his Image and ouer his Marke and ouer the number of his name stand on the Sea of glasse hauing the Harpes of GOD. And they sing the Song of Moses the seruant of God and the song of the Lambe saying Great and marueilous are thy works Lord God Almighty iust and true are thy wayes thou King of Saints LONDON Printed by William Iaggard 1615. TO THE TRVLY-Religious M. Crashavv M. Milward M. Dauyes M. Heling with other worthy Citizens my very good Friends GEntlemen Because you haue iust occasion in your callings to deale often with Merchandise I haue beene bold to call you a little from your Temporall to a Spirituall Traffique and haue sent you a Christian Nauigatour bound for the Holy Land who without question will giue you some relations of his Trauells worthy two houres perusing You shall finde a whole Sea sailed through in a short time and that a large Sea not a foote lesse then the World You will say the description lyes in a little volume Why you haue seene the whole world narrow'd vp into a small Mappe They that haue beene said after many yeares at last to compasse it haue not described all coasts and corners of it Euen their silence hath giuen succeeding generations hope to find out new Lands and you know they haue found them You cannot expect more of two houres discouery then of seauen yeares I leaue many things to be descried by others yet dare promise this that I haue giuen you some necessary directions for your happiest voyage Ouer this glassy Sea you must saile you are now sayling Truth be your Card the Holy Ghost your Pilot. Your Course being well directed you cannot possibly make a happier iourney The Hauen is before your eyes where your Sauiour sits with the hand of mercy wafting you to him You cannot bee Sea-sicke but he will comfort and restore you If the Tempest comes call on him with Peter Lord saue vs and he will rebuke the windes and the Seas they shal not hurt you Storme and tempest winds and waters obey his voyce What Rocks Gulfes Swallowes and the danger worse then that is called the Terror of the Exchange the Pyrate one plague which the Deuill hath added to the Sea more then Nature gaue it of that great Leuiathan Satan and other perils that may endanger you are marked out Decline them so well as you may and consider what Prouidence guides your course this Sea is Before Gods Throne Keepe you the Cape of good Hope in your eye and what euer becomes of this weake Vessell your Body make sure to saue the Passenger your Soule in the day of the Lord Iesus What is here directed you shall be faithfully prayed for by him That vnfainedly desires your Saluation Tho Adams THE Spirituall Nauigator BOVND For the Holy Land Reuel Chap. 4. ver 6. Before the Throne there was a Sea of Glasse like vnto Chrystall I Haue chosen a member of the Epistle appointed by our Church to be read in the celebration of this Feast to the most Sacred Trinity There is One sitting on the Throne which is God the Father on his right hand the Lambe which was slaine onely worthy to vnseale the Booke which is God the Sonne and seauen Lampes of fire burning before the Throne the seauen-fold Spirit which is God the Holy Ghost Vnus potentialiter trinus personaliter Which blessed Trinity in Vnity and Vnity in Trinity inspire mee to speake and you to heare Amen Before the Throne c. The Reuelation is a booke of great depth containing tot Saâ—…menta quot verba as many wonders as words mysteries as sentences There are other bookes of the Gospell but Bullinger cals this Librum euangelicissimum the most Gospel-like booke a booke of most happy consolation deliuering those euentuall comforts which shall successiuely and succesfully accompany the Church vnto the end of the world It presents as in a perspectiue glasse the lambe of God guarding and regarding his Saints giuing them triumphant victory ouer all his and their enemies The writings of S. Iohn as I haue