Vrias but it seemeth he perceived that this could hardly be done without the loss of moe Neither did hee write to David concerning this point but understanding that it was the Kings pleasure that Vrias should die he was resolute to perform it thogh the exployt should cost him an hundred mens lives Here it may seeme by Ioab that Captaines are sometimes too prodigall of the lives of their souldiers We read that Abner sayde to Ioab Let the young men arise and play before us So hee accounted fighting but a play and a sport Now though Captaines should be courageous in a good cause yet they must love and tender the lives of their souldiers If any man say that it was not David and Ioab which kild Vrias but the sword of the children of Ammon Let him consider the frame of a clock and he shall see how one wheele mooves another wheele and that another wheele and that the hammer and so the stroake is stricken but the cause of all this motion is a certaine secret weight or poyse which hangeth in a corner and is not seene As for example in the story of Naboth Naboth was condemned to death there the stroake was stricken the hammer that gave the stroake was the iudge which gave the sentence the wheeles that moved this hammer were the false witnesses the wheeles that moved these wheeles were the Nobles and Elders of Iezrael but the secret waights that set all these wheeles a going were Achab and Iezabel So Achab and Iezabel were the principall agents which mooved the men of Iezrael and they the false witnesses and they the Iudge and thus poore Naboth was put to death So in this present story Vrias was slaine there the stroake was stricken the hammer that gave the stroake was the sword of the children of Ammon the wheels that mooved this hammer were the souldiers which first made an hot assault and then suddenly retyring left Vrias to the sword of the enemies The great wheele which moved these lesser wheels was Ioab who so ordered the battell And the secret waight that mooved this wheele was David the first moover and cause of all the motion O David David What hast thou done Knowest thou not that innocent blood hath a cry yea and a loud and a shrill cry and what doth it cry but vengeance vengeance Let all men take heed of this crying sinne if it bee done never so secretly the Lord will finde it out If it bee in the forrest the tree of the forrest shall cry vengeance vengeance and the leaves of the tree shall answere it If in the fielde the beast of the field shal cry vengeance vengeance and the bird of the ayre shall answere it If in the house the stone out of the wall shall cry vengeance vengeance the ioynt out of the timber shal answere it Where ever it be the whole frame of heaven and earth shall cry vengeance vengeance and hell shall open her mouth and answer it And doth secret murther crie for vengeance and hath not open murther the same cry Yes vndoubtedly And heere I must needs taxe a vice which formerly in this kingdom hath much raigned amongst Nobles and gentlemen If they received any word of disgrace they would presently challenge one another to the field revenge their owne quarrels and trye it out with the point of the sword not without great iniurie to the King and his Lawe whom the Lord hath made revenger of wrongs yea to the King of kings for vengeance is mine and I will repay sayth the Lord. Should Subiects thus goe to single Combates for private quarrels Is this courage Is this valour No no it is nothing else but rashnesse and folly If you would be truly valorous then reserve your selves for your Prince and your Countrey for Christ and for his true Religion This indeed would argue a noble courage and a generous spirit But these private quarrels are most lamentable O how many fathers by these ungodly means have bin made childlesse how many children fatherlesse how many wives have lost their husbands how many Gentlemen whose auncestours have beene principall studs and pillers in their Country have by those desperate combates ruinated themselves and their posterity O miserable incounters wherein the very Conquerours gaine no other garland but shame and confusion either to lose their lives by order of Lawe or to forsake their owne Countrey and so to live in perpetuall exile with anguish and vexation of spirit O happy therfore and thrice happy be the Lords Anointed who set out that gracious proclamation against Duels so much tending to the glory of God and the good of this kingdome Here I exhort all such as desire to enioy a quiet conscience that they take heed of this crying sin For if there be no other to accuse the murtherer his own cōscience will accuse him Hee may for a time have a slumbring cōscience but when it wakens it will torment him We read of one Bessus who had kild his owne father of a time hearing but a Swallow chatter he caught the truncheon of a iaveling and did fling at it with wonderfull violence And being demanded why hee did so hee answered Did you not heare this wicked bird accuse mee as though I had killed mine owne father Whereupon hee was examined and confessed the fact So Cain when hee had killed his brother thought that every one that met him would kil him Such is the nature of an accusing cōscience He that hath shed innocent blood hee will think that the very ground hee goeth on is embrued with blood that his garments are besprinkled with blood that his fingers distill with blood If he heare two talke he will think they whisper of blood If hee wake hee will thinke of blood And if he sleep hee will dreame of blood And verely if Davids conscience had not beene benummed hee would have thought that every bird had chattered Vrias that every winde had whistled Vrias that woods and mountaines had sounded Vrias and that the Eccho had redoubled Vrias Vrias But now David to his other sins addeth dulnesse and hardness of heart Thus poor Vrias is taken away a man vertuous and valorous cōmendable in his life honorable in his death For he died fighting in the forefront of the Lords battell and the face of his enemies Whereby hee is now dispatched out of the way hee will bee no more hinderance or obstacle unto them and therfore let us now see what course they take When newes came to Ierusalem that Vrias was slaine the woman she mourned with what minde I know not but the Text testifies that she mourned Which we may conceive to have been in this or the like manner O Vrias my husband my sweet husband Vrias How long this mourning lasted I dare not define The Wiseman saith Seaven dayes doe men mourne for him that is dead If Bathshebah mourned no longer it was very fitting
away captive to the lawe of sinne Wherefore wee had all neede to vse vigilancy and circumspection Watch therefore and pray that ye fall not into temptation The Spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weake And because it is weake therefore neglect no good means that the Lord hath appointed And when thou hast done all that thou canst put no confidence in thy selfe but rely upon thy God saying O knit my heart unto thee that I may feare thy name And thus much of the first point viz. the quality of the person which committed adultery now I come to the second that is the partie with whom The understanding wherof wil helpe vs to to discerne the nature and quality of the sin For if both parties be single it is single fornication but if both or one of them be either maried or contracted in verbis de praesenti it is adulterie Wherby also it appears that there are sundry degrees in adulterie but when a married man pollutes a married woman that is adultery in the highest degree Now with whom did David commit this folly was it with a single woman No but with one Bathsheba an other mans wife Then it was more then single fornication it was adulterie But was not David himself also a married man Yes vndoubtedly Then both parties were maried and therefore it was adultery in the highest degree Yea and peradventure he had moe wives then one Verie true he had many wives when he dwelt at Hebron and yet hee tooke him more when hee came to Ierusalem And had hee so ample a remedy against concupiscence and yet would transgresse Gods holy ordinance to eate of the forbidden tree Had hee so many wives of his owne and yet would defile the one onely wife of an other man O most horrible and execrable adulterie and that in the verie height of the highest degree But whose wife was she She was the wife of one Vrias by Nation a Hittite and stranger from the cōmon-wealth of Israel but by grace a Proselyte and an imbracer of the true Religion indeed a very holy and devout man He was by profession a Souldier a valiant Captaine and reckoned among the Worthies of David But where was he now he was in the field at the siege of Rabba of the Ammonites fighting for the glory of God for the Arke of the Covenant for the honour of his Prince and for the good of his Countrey And would such a man as David offer such a wrong to such a man at such a time ô what a blemish scandall was this for the Church of God ô tell it not in Gath and publish it not in the streets of Askelon lest the Daughters of the Philistines reioice and the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph And thus much of the second point But to come to the third point When did he thus forget himself and transgresse the Commandemēt of the most High To which I answere that the day and yeere are not recorded in holy Scripture neither can they be precisely collected out of the same It seemeth that the Holy Ghost did passe them over of purpose that they might be covered with eternall darkness and everlastingly buried in the lake of oblivion Wherfore let not that yeare bee measured with the motion of the sunne let not that be numbred among the dayes of the yeare in that evening let no starre shine wherein such a shining starre was eclipsed and let that night for ever remaine in darkness wherein was committed such a worke of darknes Notwithstanding though wee cannot define the time in particular yet we may describe it in generall by three circumstances For David incurred this sinne in his declining age during the time of the warres with the Ammonites he him selfe then lying at home in Ierusalem in plenty and prosperity idleness ease First it happened in his declining age for David was thirty years old when hee began to raigne and he raigned in Hebron seaven yeares and six moneths and then hee raigned in Ierusalē After which time first hee wonne the fort of Sion expelled the Iebusites Secōdly he overcame the Philistines in three sundry battells Thirdly hee smote the Moabites and measured them with lines Fourthly hee spoyled the children both of Ammon and Amalec Fitftly hee fought a great battell with Hadadezer King of Zobah in Armenia vpon the river Euphrates and he tooke from him a thousand Chariots seaven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand footmen And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succor Hadadezer David slew of them two twenty thousand and put garrisons in Syria Damascena Sixtly hee vanquished Idumaea and put garrisons in Edom. Seaventhly the King of Ammon assisted with thirtie three thousand Syrians made warre against Israel but Ioab forced them into their Citie After a while they issue out againe and Hadadezer brought foorth the Syrians beyond the river Euphrates which David hearing assembled all Israel and went to battell and subdued the Syrians who became his servants and after that time assisted the Ammonites no more The next spring following David sent out Ioab and all Israel with him against the Ammonites And in the mean while he lying at home in Ierusalem defiled himselfe with fleshly lusts Now so many great and sundry battels and some of them so farre distant with divers passages of peace between them must needs require a long time and many yeares which being added to the former thirtie seaven yeares and six moneths I may safely say that David was then in his declining age And yet he was not now exceeding olde For he lived in all but seaventie yeares and it is evident that this happened before the birth of Salomon who is reckoned the fourth sonne that Bathsheba bore to David But whether the holy Ghost in that place use the order of nature or some other order I will not determine Moreover in what yeare of Davids raigne Salomon was borne or how olde he was when David died and hee began to raigne is not revealed in holy Scripture and therefore upon this wee can ground no certaintie Some coniecture vpon the premises that David was now forty six yeares olde some that hee was fortie eight others imagine that he was above fifty But what the holy Ghost hath concealed that I will not take upon me curiously to define and therefore I content my selfe with this generalitie that David was now in his declining age O what a shamefull thing was this that hee which had bridled his affections in the flower and flame of his youth should thus staine his honor in his riper years For though no age be priviledged to sin yet incōtinencie in a decaying age is most intolerable Euen a young man so soon as he is born hath one foot in the grave but a decaying man is ready to put in the other foote also There was a riddle propounded by the Theban
TWO SERMONS PREACHED at the Kings Court this January 1620. Concerning Davids Adultery and his politick Practices By Francis Mason Archdeacon of Norfolk and Chaplain to his Maiesty in ordinary Blessed are the undefiled in the way who walke in the Law of the Lord. Psa. 119. 1. LONDON Printed by H. L. for Nathanael Newbery and are to bee solde at his Shop under Saint Peters Church in Cornehill and in Popes-head Alley 1621. To the Reader COurteous Reader whereas heretofore my slender writings published to the world and my Sermons in that Royall Auditory have been in part polemical incountring with some controversies of these times it pleased God this last year so to inflict upon me that tormenting paine which is incident to students and doth commonly accompany a sedentary life that I did interpret is as an Angel sent from God to put me in minde of my mortality Whereupon I resolved to divert my course from disputation to devotion from controversies to conscience and from henceforth to labour to worke in my selfe and others true mortification and sanctified affections and accordingly to temper both my study and my stile Wherfore being called by my ordinarie course of attendance to preach in that eminent place first of all I considered what sins are likely to be found in Princes Courts And among sundry other two especially did offer themselves to my cogitation carnall Concupiscence and politick Practices For where there is pomp in apparell delicacie in diet and beautifull obiects all concurring many times with idlenesse and ease there a man walketh in the midst of snares and is in danger to be set in combustion with the fiery darts of the Divell Againe Kings houses being not onely places of pleasure but also ever-flowing fountaines of profit and preferment no marvaile if nimble wits doe there set themselves aworke to attaine their owne endes and politickly to supplant all those that stand in their way or hinder their proiects For that they doe so will be evident as I suppose by the Chronicles of all Kingdomes and Countries Now though the English Court guided by so godly and gracious a Soveraigne bee of all other most remarkeable for learned preaching religious prayers and angelicall lauding and praising of God with spirituall Hymns and ravishing straines of melodious musick though it be beautified and adorned with a most worthy garland of sage Senatours Nobles and Gentlemen Yet I dare not altogether exempt it from such sinnes as have alwaies beene incident more or lesse to the Palaces of Princes Therefore in the second place I sought such a Text as might lead mee by the hand to reproove those vices and immediately I laid hould upon the story of King David But though David were a King yet I did not therefore single him out because hee was a King neither intended I preaching before a King to take occasion by King David to glanse in any wise at the sacred persons of Princes God forbid For our King God be thanked though in the highest pitch of worldly prosperitie is for chastity another Ioseph And though hee be for wisedome like an Angel of God and can dive into the depth of humane policies yet hee loveth and practiseth sincerity in all his dealings like to Nathanael the true Israelite in whō was no guile But I proposed David as a generall glasse of humane frailty wherein all men may behold their own imbecillity Neither had I any purpose when I preached these Sermons to publish them to the world but it pleased the Almighty to vouchsafe a blessing beyond expectation For hee that caused the hearts of the Disciples to burne within them while hee opened the Scriptures unto thē as they went to Emmaus did in the riches of his mercy kindle some such sparkles in the hearts of my hearers Which I perceiving by the multitude of those which desired copies did at last yeeld to let them passe to the Presse being mindfull of that of the Apostle As wee have oportunity let us doe good to all men especially to those who are of the household of faith Moreover wheras thou gentle Reader hast long expected my booke of the cōsecratiō of Bishops which by cōmand of authoritie was to bee translated into Latin I certifie thee that I have already finished the translation and by occasion of the opposition of my many Antagonists who have written against mee much inlarged the Worke and prepared it for the Presse under this title De ministerio Anglicano But the childe being brought to the birth as yet there wanteth strength to be delivered Yet I hope that our good God in his due time will give it a comfortable issue In the meane while enioy these my poore labours and giue them leave to worke upon thine affections And so I commend both thee them to the blessing of God Thine in the Lord Francis Mason Faults escaped Page 16. line 20. day is wanting Page 45. l. 4 vanquished for vanished Page 48. l. 8. race for name Page 54. l. 6. Ammon for Amnon p. 78. l. 23. disseised for defeated THE FIRST SERMON Preached at White-Hall before Prince CHARLES vpon Tuesday the ninth of Ianuary 1620. 2. Sam. 12 13. And David sayd vnto Nathan I haue sinned against the Lord And Nathan sayd vnto David the Lord also hath put away thy sin thou shalt not dye HEer are three things in David to be considered his sinne his repentance and his absolution The first thing is his sinne which is ingraven in my Text as it were with the point of a Diamond and that with such great and Capitall Letters that a man may runne and read it in these words AND DAVID SAID VNTO NATHAN PECCAVI DOMINO I HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE LORD The second thing is his repentance presented unto vs in the selfe same words being vttered by way of lamentation as though he should say It is true Nathan it is true that thou hast sayd for I confesse I have sinned alas I have sinned most grievously and that against the Lord. The third thing is his absolution pronounced in these words And Nathan sayd unto David the Lord also hath put away thy sinne thou shalt not dye So first he sinned secondly hee repented and thirdly he was absolved He sinned there was the corruption of nature he repented there was the operation of the Spirit hee was absolved there was the unspeakable goodnesse of God In his sin let us behold our own frailety in his repentance let us learne our owne duty in his absolution let us magnifie Gods mercy The sinne of David reproued by Nathan and here confessed by himselfe was first of all that hainous sinne of adulterie and secondly those other sinnes which he committed while he went about to hide and cloake his adultery Of the former at this time by the grace of Christ of the residue heereafter when it shall please the Lord. Now that wee may rightly understand the haynousnesse of his adultery let vs briefly ponder
these foure points 1. The quality of the person or what manner of man this David was which committed adultery 2. With whom 3. When. 4. How he was plunged into this gulfe of sinne The first point is the quality of the person Concerning which I may truly affirme that David was the most eminent and remarkable man that was then living upon the face of the earth for it was famously knowne both to Iewes and Gentiles that the God of heaven had been his continuall Buckler and Defence even from his youth up He had defended him from a raging Beare from a roaring Lion from a huge and terrible Giant from the fury of the Philistines from the cruell persecution of bloodthirsty Saul and in a word from a thousand dangers And as the Lord had compassed him about with gracious deliverances so he had crowned him with blessings upon blessings temporal spirituall ordinarie extraordinary First when he was a poore Shepheard following the Ewes the Lord sent Samuel to anoint him King over Israel Secondly the Lord gave him a glorious victory over Golias all Israel did see it and reioiced Thirdly the Lord gave him honour in the hearts of the people so that the women did sing in their dances Saul hath slaine his thousands David his ten thousands Fourthly the heart of Ionathan the Kings sonne was knit vnto him for he loved him even as his own soule Fiftly Michal the Kings daughter loved him so David became the Kings sonne in lawe And after the death of Saul and Ionathan the Lord advanced him to the royal throne the glittering Diademe was set upon his head he raigned over Iuda seven yeers and sixe moneths and then over all Israel even from Dan to Bersheba Besides all this the Lord gave him plenty of gold and silver and victory over all his enemies so that his victorious banner was displayed even from Ierusalem to the River Euphrates Moreover he was a Prophet of the Lord a type of Christ a Secretary of the holy Ghost in penning those sacred and mellifluous Psalms he was also the sweet Singer of Israel and a Composer of those melodious harmonies that were used in the Tabernacle of God hee was likewise one of the Patriarks for so Saint Peter stiles him and God had sworne unto him that he should be one of the Progenitors of Iesus Christ. Now for inward gifts and graces hee was a Child of God a member of Christ a Temple of the Holy Ghost a vessell of grace a sanctified Soul a sweet and well tuned Cymbal a heavenly Organ of angelicall sound in all his workes he prays'd the Lord with words of glory every Psalme breathing religion and devotion in so much that God himselfe gave him this testimony that hee was a man according to Gods owne heart O what eminencie of grace what sublimitie of honour what preheminence of prerogatiues was here and yet for all this David euen this David committed adulterie Now that we may make vse of this example first let vs obserue the frailty and infirmity of man Behold hee that was supposed to be strong as a Lyon and tall as a Cedar was not only incountred but also conquered with a temptation Wherefore in his frailety wee all may behold as in a glasse the plaine image of our owne imbecillity for if the Lyon be conquered what shall the little Lamb doe If the Cedars of Libanus be shaken what shall the tender plant doe Alas what are wee if God withdraw his grace Even the best man upon the face of the earth if he were left to himselfe should perish everlastingly Look upon Saint Peter ô what a confidence and hye conceit had he of himselfe and yet for all his boasting hee did not onely deny but also forsweare his Master Wherfore lay away all presumption let no arogancy proceed out of your mouth but let every man cōsider his own infirmity therby learn a holy and a gracious humility Secondly let us observe the danger wherin we stand for if David a man according to Gods owne heart were tempted what man upon the face of the earth can be free from temptation I confesse that all men are not tempted alike to the same sinne of adultery For as our Saviour sayth There are some Eunuches which were so borne from their mothers wombe but all men are tempted to one sinne or other Now where the banke is lowest there the water will over where the wall is weakest there the enemy will batter and where man is weakest there the divell will soonest assault him for our adversarie is like to a cunning fisherman he cōsiders the natures and inclinations of the fishes and accordingly baiteth his hooke If Iudas be covetous the divell will baite his hooke for him with thirtie pieces of siluer If Achan love pride in apparell the divell will angle for him with a goodly Babylonish garment If Absolon be ambitious the divell will seeke to catch him with the hope of a kingdome Thus hee observeth all and accordingly he tempteth all and therefore looke for temptation whosoever thou art Alas my brother thou carriest sinfull flesh and bloud about thee and dost thou thinke thou shalt not be tempted The world is full of alluring provocations and doest thou think thou shalt not be tempted The divell goeth about like a roaring Lion seeking whom hee may devoure and dost thou think thou shalt not be tempted Wee have an enemy sayth Saint Hierome Cui nomina mille mille nocendi artes atque ego infoelix victorem me putabo dum capior He hath a thousand names and a thousand subtill devices to intrap and intangle the soules of men and I poore wretch shall I thinke my selfe a Conquerour even then when I am taken captive Beleeve me beleeve me haec tranquillitas tempestas est this calme will proove a storme for even then thou art tempted when thou thinkest thou art not tempted nay therefore thou art tempted because thou thinkest thy selfe free from temptation Our blessed Saviour when he taught his disciples to say Forgive vs our trespasses hee taught them likewise to say And leade vs not into temptation thereby teaching us that even those children of God whose trespasses are forgiven are still notwithstanding subiect to temptation Wherefore my sonne when thou entrest into the service of God prepare thy selfe for temptation Thirdly seeing wee are all so weake and yet walke in such danger what is then to bee done That we may learne of the Apostle Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall But how shall we take heed that we may learne of our blessed Saviour when he sayth Watch and Pray If the watch be neglected but one night the Citie may bee taken David had kept watch and ward over his senses all his life time and now neglecting it but one Evening he is not onely incountred but carried
lest thou be taken by that which is precious in her If beeing removed from the obiect thou canst not put her out of thy cogitation then strive to raise up thy thoghts from the creature to the Creator and consider that all the beautie of the creature is from the Creator and nothing els but a sparke of that fire a beame of that Sunne a drop of that vnemptiable Ocean and say with thy selfe If there be such beautie in a creature ô how incomprehensible is the beautie of the Creator ô my God when shall I behold thy glorious face in whose presence is all fulnesse of ioy and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore If still thou feele the fire to kindle upon thee then consider the subtiltie of the Serpent that lieth lurking even in the fairest creatures to kill and destroy thee and take unto thee the whole Armor of God the Shield of Faith the Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God Draw this sword shake and brandish it against thy carnall corruptions in this or the like manner Thou shalt not commit adultery no fornicatour shall enter into the kingdome of heaven whoremongers and adulterers God will iudge and if thus thou use this fiery and flaming sword then by the grace of God thou mayest behead the temptation Fiftly if for all this the flame increase then fall upon thy knees pray unto thy God imitate Saint Peter who when the windes began to blowe and hee began to sinke cryed Lord save mee and Christ reached out his hand and saved him even so when thou feelest thy selfe begin to sinke in a temptation cry Help Master I perish And hee that reached out his hand to helpe Peter wil reach out his hand to help thee The third steppe was concupiscence for his eyes collecting the beames of her shining beauty became a burning glasse to set both bodie and soule and all the powers and faculties of nature in combustion So the image of the obiect was transported from the outward to the inward senses and namely to the fancie the fancie commended it to the heart so now the eye lookes the heart lusts and the more it lookes the more it lusts Thus concupiscence crept in at the window of a wandring eye and set the heart on fire This is that which was expressed by Nathan in the parable of the rich man who had many sheepe and yet when a travailing stranger came vnto him hee would not give him intertainement with his owne sheepe but he tooke the poore mans one and onely lambe This poore man was Vrias the Hittite his one and onely lambe was his young and beautifull wife The rich man was David his many sheepe his many wiues and the travailer was Concupiscence indeed a great travailer which hath travailed far and neare thorough the wide world Goe to the East or West Indies to the Pole Artick or Antartick to what Coast or Climate you will you shall be sure every-where to finde the foot-steps of Concupiscence This travailer doth visite both the Kings Court and the Countrey Cottage yea and I can tell you hee is well acquainted in the Popes Palace Let a Monke betake him to his Cloyster concupiscence will go with him Let the Hermite flie to the forsaken Wilderness concupiscence will follow after him Let the Recluse bee mued or mured up in a wall yet concupiscence will finde him out Wherefore concupiscence may iustly be tearmed a travailer an exceeding great travailer And because this travailer came now to David as a stranger thereby it appeares that hitherto hee had kept his vessell in sanctification and honour I feare mee there are many with whom concupiscence is not so great a stranger I pray God keep us all from entertaining acquaintance with such a stranger For concupiscence is like a Serpent if once he get in his head he will wriggle-in his whole bodie First he comes in with flattering blandiments but if once hee get an entrance then looke to thy selfe he will seek to be thy Master The fouth step was a curious inquisition For concupiscence being now entertained did presently perswade him to send and enquire what woman that was in whom there appeared such a blazing beauty And one said Is it not Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam the wife of Vrias the Hittite To what end was this curious enquiry Paradventure some will say hee did it with an intention to marry her also if shee had bin without an husband It may bee so But when hee vnderstood that she was anothers mans wife hee should have surceased and have laboured to put such idle cogitations out of his minde hee should then have taken no further notice of her but have let the memorie of her beautie have passed away like a blaze of fire which is suddenly extinguished like a flash of lightning which is presently vanquished or like when one beholdeth his face in a glasse and remembreth the fashion of it no more But David proceeded from evill to worse For after an idle inquisition there followed the fift step that is a vaine and an idle message unto the woman that she should come unto him Oh what a folly was this Can a man carry coales in his bosome and not be scoarched Can the fly play with the candle and her wings not be singed Thus he poures oyl into the fire and increaseth the flame My brother if the like temptation befall thee do not thou as David did but pray unto thy God read the Scriptures resorte to grave and godly company and use all good meanes to quench such fiery darts of the Divell and say with holy Iob I have made a covenant with mine eyes why then should I thinke upon a maide If not upon a maide then surely much lesse upon another mans wife And now in the meane time while the woman was sent for it must needs bee that David felt a great battell in him selfe between the flesh and the spirit Oh she is faire and beautifull saith the flesh yea but she is another mans wife saith the spirit Mariage is honourable among all men and the bed vndefiled but whoremongers and adulterers God will iudge O thou art a King and mayest command her saith the flesh yea but there is a King of Kings saith the spirite to whom all earthly Kings must giue an account of all their actions We all both Kings and Subiects must appeare before the iudgement seat of Christ to give an account of every thing that wee have done in the flesh whether it be good or evill Oh there are many examples of it saith the flesh yea saith the spirit but we must not live by examples but by precepts Let every man therfore examine his owne worke for every man shall beare his owne burthen O but it is pleasant to enioy her saith the flesh O but the comfort of conscience is more pleasant saith the spirit But oh
how pleasant are the ioyes of heaven And what a madnesse is it for a little pleasure of sinne that lasteth but a season and bringeth nothing but repentance to endanger the losse of those eternall ioyes which never eye hath seen nor ever eare hath heard nor ever entered into the heart of man And not so only but also to bee cast into hell-fire there to burne everlastingly with the Divell and his Angels Besides all this what a blemish and scandall would this be to the Church of God How would it grieve the godly reioice the wicked and cause the holy race of God to bee blasphemed O but the matter shall bee carried in secret saith the flesh Alas there is nothing so secret saith the spirit which shall not be revealed if not in this world yet in the world to come before men and Angels And in the meane time hee that formed the eye shall not hee see Hee that planted the eare shall not he heare His eyes are ten thousand times brighter then the sunne all things are open and naked in his sight hee is about thy bedde and about thy path spyeth out all thy wayes While thus the flesh and the spirit were contending together in comes the woman and David beholding her was inflamed with her beauty So while hee looked lust kindled and the flesh prevailed against the spirit And now hee is come even to the brinke of the pit For behold here followeth the sixt step that is temptation Hee that should have beene the protector of her chastitie was not ashamed to tempt her unto folly Thus the infection spred from the eye to the fancy from the fancie to the heart frō the heart to the tongue That tongue which before was his glory is now become his shame and that tongue which had been a great and gracious instrument to sound out the praise of God is now become a wicked instrument to instill the poyson of the subtle Serpent And here somewhat would be said concerning the woman First the bathing of her selfe cannot be reprooved there were many legall impurities which so required But the place was not so secret nor the manner so wary as became the modestie of a woman shee should have considered that every windowe hath an eye and every Tower and Turret might overlooke her Secondly that being sent for shee came to her Soveraigne is not to bee reprehended She had no reason to suspect or imagine any vncleannesse from such a man But when shee saw his speeches tend to dishonestie then shee should haue fled away as from a Serpent shee should have endured a thousand deathes rather then have suffred her body to be polluted But who can tell what womanish cogitations might bewitch her Peter Martyr is of opinion that peradventure she thought a bill of divorce might bee procured from her husband Vrias and then shee by this meanes might become a Queen So dangerous a thing is it when great personages provoke unto sinne Their words are bewitching their perswasions are potent they fill unsettled heads with flattring hopes which blind the understanding and make bold to offend Wherefore all you to whom the Lord hath given honour and riches power and authority see that you perswade to that which is good but do not tempt to that which is evill Or if men should tempt yet women should esteeme their chastitie aboue all earthly treasure A shamefast and a faithfull woman is a double grace and her continent mind cannot bee valued But Bethsheba at this time wanted this grace So David tempted shee consented and then followed the last step that is perpetration so folly was committed in Israel But now mee thinkes I heare the licentious Libertine reioyce and say If David a man of such sanctitie commited adulterie why may not I What do I hear why may not I O wicked and profane wretch if a man of sanctitie commit a sinne wilt thou neglect his sanctitie and imitate his sinne Thou shouldest imitate his sanctitie and bewaile his sin But what a thing is this Wilt thou first observe in Gods Saints their falls of infirmitie and then encourage thy selfe to sinne by example of their frailtie and lastly shrowd thy sinne under the vaile of their sanctitie So did not David He sinned indeed but it was as Saint Austin truely saith Lapsucupiditatis non patrocinio sanctitatis that is He was drawne away by his owne concupiscence and inticed but hee did not provoke himselfe to sinne by other mens example Hee did not propose to imitate their frailtie and then hide his wickednesse under the vaile of their holiness Wherfore if thou commit adulterie by the example of David thy adulterie is farre worse then was the adultery of David Hee sinned of infirmity thou sinnest upon presumption Hee was surprized on a sudden thou sinnest upon premeditation He was carried away captive by a violent passion but thou pullest sinne unto thee as it were with cart-ropes But tell me did David scape unpunished for his sinne Thou knowest hee did not But as he defiled another mans daughter so his owne daughter was defiled even his daughter Thamar and that by her owne brother Ammon As he defiled another mans wife so his owne wife was defiled and that by his owne sonne Absalon upon the top of the house in the face of all Israel in the sight of the sunne Now if iudgement beginne at the sanctuarie of God where shall the wicked and ungodly man appeare If the Lord deal so with the trees of Paradise what will he doe to the bramble of the wildernesse If hee thus punished David dost thou thinke hee will spare thee If hee dealt thus with David dost thou thinke hee will dally with thee No no but rather if hee corrected him with rods hee will scourge thee with scorpiōs Wherfore as thou castest one eye upon the sinne of David so cast thy other eye upon the punishment of David then if there be any grace in thee thou wilt not imitate his sin but tremble at his punishment Now seeing these things were written for our learning therfore let there bee no adulterer no nor fornicatour amongst us but let men keepe themselves undefiled as it becommeth Saints He that commits fornication he wrongs his owne soule his owne body his owne credit and is a dishonor and staine to his fathers house He that commits fornication hee wrongs the woman which hee polluteth and brings a perpetuall disgrace upon her and this disgrace redounds to her father her friends and the whole familie He that commits fornication he wrongs his owne childe and brands it with a perpetuall reproach Finally he that commits fornication he violateth the fiery lawe of the most High and the royall commandement of his God and pulleth downe wrath and vengeance upon his owne head For no fornicator unlesse hee repent shall ever inherit the kingdome of heaven And if fornication be so execrable what shall we say