to Ruth so goe not out of the plentifull field of Gods booke to gather Whatsoeuer is gathered elswhere prooues no corne but chaffe which euery gale of wind soone scattereth We must keepe our selues within our compasse that is within the Canon of the word as Shimey was charged not to goe beyond the Riuer Most certaine it is a matter of vndoubted euidence that no doctrine ought to be deliuered concerning faith and religion but Scripture The religion of God must stand simple as GOD himselfe left it Mans additions in Gods matters are but fantasies In other matters adde what they list but in matter cause of saluation Christ left nothing behinde him to be added any more eyther by Apostles or Martyrs or whomsoeuer because the perfection thereof is absolute nothing being lest vnperfect Wherunto who so addeth blasphemeth doth no lesse then infringe the testament of the Lord. Let the Papists then beware howe they maintaine vnwritten verities for in so dooing what do they els but infringe the testament Ambr. in â—uk lib 3. cap. 3. of the Lord. And they seek to eclipse the glory of Christ like Herod who caused all the genealogies of the Kings of Israel to be burnt because hee would not haue his pedigree abased or obscured What certainâ—e of truth can vnwritten verities cary since they resemble a tale that is told which passing froÌ„ mouth to mouth is told so many waies as theâ—e be men to tell it Beware of the leuen of the Phartsees saith our Sauiour So I say Beware of the leuen of vnwritten traditions for it is a phariseicall leuen it will sowre the whole lumpe The doctrines of men may not passe for the precepts of God These things are written that yee should beleeue that Iesus Christ is the sonne of God in so beleeuing you might haue life euerlasting Where it is showed that the Scripture is all sufficient hath nothing it it vnperfect It includeth all things that are necessarily to bee knowne in matters of saluation Let vs drawe then froÌ„ this most holy fountaine for goe the puddles of mans inuention But to end this note let vs haue recourse to Christ alone both in this place and elsewhere let vs make him our Pilot we shal be sure to be soundly directed in our compasse that we cannot erre Consider but of hys practize hyâ— proofes are Scriptum est His demaunds are Quomodo legis His apologies Scrutamâ—â—â— sâ—râ—pturas And the Apostles as they vvere taught by him so they learned to speake as he did I deliuered to you that which I receaued how that Christ died for our sinnes according to the Scriptures and that he was buried and rose the third day according to the Scriptures So Christ himselfe his Apostles all the holy men of God still poynt vs to the Scriptures as the onely Touchstone of Saluation whereby wee try the difference betweene light and darknes God and Beliall truth and heresie It is written My house c. In this place God appropriateth to himselfe the Church to be his house if it bee Gods house than are we to haue a greater regard of this than of our owne houses Dauid had a speciall care of this house when he said One day is better in thy Courts then a thousand elswhere He had rather accept of the meanest office in Gods house than to bee a princely commaunder in his owne house Yea were it but a Porters roome he valued the same so greatly that it made him register his loue to the world to all insuing posterities I had rather be a doore-keeper in the house of God than to dwell in Tabernacles of Cedar And againe hee saith to expresse further the care hee had of Gods house Shall the King dwell in his sieled house and the Arke of God remaine between the Curtaines This sheweth Dauids loue and care and it should draw from vs the like loue care to Gods house yea hee calls vppon vs for this carefulnes in the hundred psalme and in many other places O enter yee into his gates with prayse into his Courtes with reioycing c. The very name of the place as I haue sayd before should force from vs a religious worshippe It is Gods house the place that hee hath sanctified and chosen to himselfe to place his Name there In that it is called an house it dooth signifie the vnitie that must be betweene Christians They that are of this houshold may not be deuided The minister that serueth in the Sanctuarie and the people that come together in the holy assembly to heare or pray or to prayse God must be all of one mind of one affection The coate of Christ vvas Inconsutilis without deuision shewing that if we will weare Christes coate vvee must shun deuision As there is but one trueth one fayth one Baptisine one Christ one Lord ouer all and in vs all so there should be but one Shepheard one slock one Pastor and one pasture So all is Vnitie to shew that he was false that maintained â—nplicitie One lately writ a booke the title whereof was Tria sunt omnia But it had com neerer to the truth of Druinitie if he had altered his poesie thus Vnum sunt omnia For Trinity must be reduced to Vnitie before our fayth can be perfited It pittieth me to see and it is a matter of such griefe that it maâ— expresse and vvring teares from trees and stones where men are sencelesse in beholding the lamentable condition that citties townes almost euery particuler congregation is fallen into and all for want of this vnity The Minister one way the Magistrate another way and the people a third way deuided from them both Manasses against Ephraim Ephraim against Manasses both against Iuda Alas what is this else but in time to eate vp and deuoure one another and to bring in ciuill hostilitie the most mortall and capitall enemy to mankind and the very moth that fretteth and teares in sunder by little little the peace that maintaineth all Christian societies The Minister beates down vanity the Magistrate raiseth it on foote againe like Dagon and the people like men amazed wot not what to do nor whoÌ„ they should cleaue vnto whither to God or Baal When Aaron Myriam were deuided from Moses what came of it God departed from them the clowd a testimony of his presence likewise departed froÌ„ among them And we must not think the contrary but that God also departeth from vs when we cease to be at one When we deuide our selues God wil also deuide himselfe he will goe out from vs as Lot went out from Sodom to dwell in Zoar. Nay hee will not so much as leaue behind him the clowde the testimony of his presence that is his blessings graces all shal be taken from vs our peace our liberty our wealth whatsoeuer we had comfort in â—l we be left as naked as Adam wheÌ„
speculatiue courses nothing can be reformed in any wel ordered Common-wealth The Magistrates ought to haue Lynceos oculos to bee Eagle-sighted the better to looke into abuses They must be able to iudge of sinne Intus et in cute to make a scruting into euery corner of corruption that no sinne may escape without his censure They must rather shewe themselues seuere and straight like vnto Moses and Iosuah in the punishing of sinne than too slacke and remisse in theyr places like Ely who spared to correct the disobedience of his sonnes and so God tooke the iudgement 1. Sam. 4. into his owne hands and spared not to cut off both him and them in the seueritie of his iustice Magistrates must remember that they are the Lords Vize-gerents in Gods sled appoynted for the punishment of euill doers and for the prayse of them that do wel The Phylosophers lay downe three properties of a good eye that is To see quick To see long To see farre Like Balaam to see the vtmost coasts of Israell euen from Dan to Beershebath They are not sound Politicians nor profoundly learned in the Arte Speculatiue that doe not in this sort behold abuses They carry not in them the substance of magistracie till they haue learned to execute the edge of theyr authority in punishing offences As the Spirituall sworde hath two edges so the temporall or ciuil sword should haue two edges to cut two wayes In the foure-score and second psalme I haue said yee are Gods saith Dauid speaking in the person of God As if hee should haue saide During the time of your magistracie while you sit in Gods chayre you must forget that you are men least so base a conceit doe make you yeeld to weaknes and corruption but you are for that tyme more then men You are Gods and therefore consider of your places Behold and punish Looke into the nature of the sin and let the punishment be aunswerable Otherwise you are not like Gods more than in your names and titles as Labans Idols were called gods and yet were but blocks If Magistrates when they shall ascend theyr iudiciall seates did but consider of this theyr very names would teach them how to carry themselues and then woulde not sinne so violently breake out nor walk in the open streets so vncontroled as at this day it doth As no halt nor lame nor blinde might be admitted into the Ministery so vnto the Magistracie should no weake or corrupt or blinde Magistrate be preferred but the wisest and best approued It followeth He wept for it When Christ beheld the monstrous impietie and horrible sinnes in this citty committed without any hope of speedie reformation or amendement it greeued him to the very hart as once it greeued God his Father when looking vpon the sins of the old world hee repented that hee had made man And when he had once entered into this griefe he could not chuse but expresse the same by teares that flowed amaine frō his eyes in great aboundance like the waters of Hesbon Cant. 7. 4. Hee wept partly for theyr sinnes partlie for the iudgements of God which now already were begun to be poured out Saint Bernard principally noteth three things in Christ our Sauiour Dicta consolationis words of consolation Opera propitiationis works of propitiation Facta commiserationis deeds of commiseration or pittie as in this place and elswhere We read that he wept thrice once when he raised Lazarus in this place vpon Ierusalem and vpon the crosse Yet we are not to thinke but that hee wept more often For he did alwaies with teares no doubt lament the wickednes of men to teach vs not to glory in our neighbors fall but to weep bewaile their fraile cōdition Cyprian hath a sweet saying Vere patitur qui compatitur He is most patient that is most passionate Or rather he hath passion enough in him that hath in him compassion And it argueth a most Christian-like and charitable affection when we are in a pittifull remorse touched with our brethrens infirmities Such was Moses his compassion in the 25. of Numbers And Paule when he wept 3. yeeres for the Corinthians And Esdras for the afflicted Iewes Heere by Christes teares we are to learne three things First that hee was a man like others sin onely excepted which confuteth the heresie of the Manichees which do deny his humanity For they holde that Christ was not verus homo but quasi homo not very man but in the similitude of a man and that he had not corpus but quasi corpus viz. corpus assumptinum not a naturall body but an assumptiue body In maintaining whereof they crosse that Scripture Hee was made of the seede of Dauid according to the flesh Rom. 1. 3. The word was made flesh Iohn 1. 14. And againe We haue but one Mediatour euen the man Iesus Christ Let them but aske the deuill in this case and hee although the father of lyes vvill speake truth heerein to conuince them the rather of heresie Cast thy selfe downe head-long Mute te deorsum sayth hee to Christ The deuill is better then the Anabaptists for he acknowledgeth that Christ had a body which they denie The second thing that wee learne by his Teares is hee was vnwilling that the people of Israell should commit sinne against thē that most blasphemously affirme that God is the Authour of sinne Volens Efficiens Suggerens Crossing these Scriptures A prophane Writer that neuer sawe the light of Diuititie could confute such hereticall opinions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theopompus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neither must wee imagine that God is the Author of euill neither yet without God can any euill be done For the spirit of God hath spoken it Non est malum in Ciuitate quod non facit Dominus Thirdly by Christes weeping we learne the sympathie and holie vnion that is betwixt Christ and vs. Hee feeleth our sorrowes and is touched with our infirmities We read of his sighing in Marks gospel Mark 7. 34. when he cured one that was deafe heere wee reade of his weeping ouer Ierusalem that had in it many deafe eares and regarded not the voyce of the Charmer Of the necessity of weeping and howe farre teares may preuaile with God beeing powred out from the eyes of the godlie I haue plentifully spoken elswhere Thus much then shall briefely suffice cōcerning Christes weeping vpon Ierusalem Now let vs proceede by order of the Text to the cause of his weeping O if thou hadst knowne c. Ierusalems sinnes prouoked Christes teares and of theyr many sinnes one is here discouered They knew not theyr peace The learned doe expound peace three waies eyther it may signifie Externall or outward peace or peace of conscience or Christ the Authour of peace Ye may admit any of these significations in this place but in my iudgement the last is fittest and most specially meant by our Sauiour in this check when
the deuils entered into the heard of Swine And then they cry out in a desperate rage Whosoeuer findes me shall sley me Genc 4. 14 Not much different from this is that destinction of the learned wherein they make foure degrees of a sinner The first in voluntary delectation The second in cōsent The third in fulfilling it by worke The fourth in continuance VVherein whosoeuer is once buried is hardly raised to life againe without earnest prayer vnto God many teares on his owne behalfe And therefore it is said Languor prolixior grauat medicū but languorem breuem praecidit medicus A long vlcerat sore troubles the Phisition but a greene wound is easilie launced It followeth Tut now they are hid from thine eyes This call of Christ in this place was as it were the third Cocke to warne these people to repent The sinner cannot say but he hath been called Herod had a call when Iohn preached vnto him That other Herode had a call when he felt a desire to see Christ What a call had Pilat when he was made to vnderstand the innocencie of Christ And so Ierusalem had a call that a loud call by Christ himselfe preaching vnto them euery day in theyr Temple and working so many miracles before them which made Christ vtter with weeping eyes thys sentence so full of sweet compassion Oh if thou hadst knowne at least in this thy day those things that belong vnto thy peace Now I come to particular application so conclude When we come to our citties townes as Christ came to Ierusalem do cleerelie behold as we cannot chuse but see the manifolde pollutions and sinnes in them committed haue not we cause to take vp a lamentation and to weepe for our Ierusalem of England together with our other Citties and Townes and may not vvee as iustly proclaime with Christ in this place Oh if you had knowne at least now in this your day the things that belong to your peace VVee are as sinfull as euer the men of Ierusalem vvere Nay our sinnes exceede theyrs both in quantitie qualitie number and nature euery way beyonde comparison And may not our eyes then streame foorth teares for that vvee are they that do not knovv nor regarde the day of our visitation These dissolute Iewes liued securely too too much presuming vpon Gods long tolerance and lenitie Besides for that they had the Temple of God amongst them the Arke of his Couenaunt which promised blessing and life for euer-more they waxed the more carelesse mistrusted nothing Yet more then all this they trusted in the strength of their citty in the wise gouernment of theyr sage Senators and in the multitude of theyr horses Chariots But all deceaued them to iustifie the truth of that Scripture Cursed is hee that maketh flesh his arme Yea the Emperour Titus himselfe confessed it had been a thing in humaine reason impossible to ouercome it The Prophet Ieremie confirming the same The Kings of the earth and all the inhabitants of the world would not haue beleeued that the aduersary and the enemy should haue entred into the gates of Ierusalem But theyr false confidence deceiued thē GOD had so disposed that euen at Easter when there came infinite multitudes from all places to Ierusalem to worship the Citty should then be besieged And there were gathered together at one tyme about thirty hundred thousand as Iosephus testifieth In that bloody stratageme so many thousands left theyr liues that it greeued the very enemies that came to take it And it was commaunded by the Emperour vpon view of the dead bodies that so many as remained aliue should not bee slaine but be sold And the residue of the Iewes were had in so vile a reckoning that thirtie of them were valued but at one penny as they valued Christ our Lorde but at thirty siluerlings so God in his iust iudgement prized thirtie of them to be woorth but one siluerling and that to be a coyne of the smallest value Most Writers hold it to be but a farthing And at this day they are accounted the most cōtemptible nation in the world Yea the very name of a Iewe is odious and it is not so much as once mentioned vvithout disdaine And thus was Ierusalem defaced thus were the peculiar people of God become no people the citty that once was Shem the glory of the world nowe become the shame of the world wherein may not bee found one stone vpon a stone because they regarded not to know the day of theyr visitation So it pleased the most iust Iehouah to reuenge that place where our Lord was crucified and where the blood of Gods saints was spilt vpon the ground like water Hence let vs grow wise and learne by Ierusalems fall to stand Let the shrubs tremble when the tall Cedar trees are throwne downe Si hoc fit in viridi quid fiet de arid◠if this were done in the greene tree what shall become of the dry If God spared not Ierusalem because the people thereof knewe not theyr peace shall he spare vs that know not our peace Neuer did so many Prophets cry at once in our streets as at this day they do throghout the whole Land from Dan to Beerseba from Douer to Saint Dauys from Barwicke to the Mount Court Citty and Country but who doth listen to the voyce of the Cryer Neuer was the vvorde more plentifullie taught neuer more contemptuously reckoned neuer more talking of it but neuer lesse walking after it many that can speak well too too fewe that can doe well And so we deferre our conuersion till our confusion ouertake vs like the Iewes in thys place who woulde not beleeue till they smarted for it Well if wee perseuer and runne on the score with him as we doe certainly a Iubilee of yeeres cannot passe ouer vs till our iudgement come For the word is the same now it was then and GOD is the same to day and yesterday and the same for euer Therefore while the kingdome of grace is with vs let vs holde it least in despysing it wee lose a better Paradice than Adam did VVee liue in that age wherein wee may beholde the starre-bright cleerenes of that glory and the fulnesse of that peace which the Kings of the earth the mighty men before vs haue desired to see but might not attaine vnto it all which doth agrauat our sinnes the more for by howe much more plentifully GOD shines among vs in his graces by so much the sorer-will our punishment be For if the Worde when it was spoken by Angels was stedfast and euery transgression and disobedience receiued a iust recompence of reward howe shall vvee escape if vvee neglect so great saluation which was first preached by the Lord him Hebr. 2. selfe and after was confirmed of them that heard him Pyndarus writeth that it was counted a happy Citty on the which it was thought that golde
louing vs more then that howe carefull to manifest his loue in sending vs his onely sonne to reconcile vs and lastly what he requireth of vs in liew of this his carefulnes which is that he louing vs we should also loue one another God is the first that inuiteth and the last that forsaketh neuer leauing but first left and euer offering till he be refused Hee still spreadeth his armes like as the Cherubins doe their wings O let vs yeelde to his embracings least when wee would he will not and so wee seeke the blessing with Esau too late and cannot preuaile though we shedde many teares And so I end this Loue-song as I began to the end that if you be so dull of hearing as that you haue forgotten the sum of all that hath beene deliuered yet at least you may remember the burthen of the song Heerein is loue not that we loued God but that God loued vs and sent his Sonne to be a reconciliation for our sinnes Beloued if God so loued vs we ought also to loue one another Soli Deo gloria The Propheticall Kings tryumph PSALME 118. 24. This is the day that the Lord hath made Let vs reioyce and be glad in it The whole Argument of the Psalme is in substance thus much DAuid being the last and least of all his Father house being despised of his owne brethren persecuted by Saule and vtterly reiected of the Iewes dooth notwithstanding obtaine the Kingdome to iustifie the trueth of that Scripture There is no regard of persons with Acts. 10. 35. God but in all places and among all Nations who so feareth him and worketh righteousnes shall be accepted And agayne God hath chosen the vile things of the world to confound the honourable And the virgins song was this God hath Luk. 1 52. put downe the mighty from their seates and hath exalted the humble and meeke Dauid being the yongest sonne of Ishay and of smallest reckoning is taken from the sheepe-fold and crowned a King from guiding sheepe in Bethleem to gouerne a 1. Sam. 16. mighty Nation in Israel So God alone numbreth wayeth deuideth Hee measureth seasons times and yeares hee setteth vp Kings and putteth downe Kings at his pleasure as wee reade in the 2. of Dan. 21. The very coÌ„sideration of which kindnes and exceeding fauour of the Lord caused Dauid to pen this Psalme to testifie thereby his thankfulnes And this is briefely the substance of this Psalme And yet is this but a litterall construction you must knowe that another misticall matter and of greater import is heere deliuered In the person of Dauid Christ our Lord is most liuely set forth Who being the king of glory the very sonne of God heire and Lord of all things was notwithstanding reiected of the Iewes among whom hee was borne he came among his owne and his owne receaued him not But maugre the malice of the deuill and his instruments flesh and blood could not preuaile Herod and all the wayting for of the people of the Iewes could not ouerthrow Christ and his Kingdome Nay they rather ouerthrow themselues Hee is neuerthelesse exalted his enemies quite confounded yea hee hath crushed them with a Scepter of iron and broken them in peeces like a potters vessell To make the Tyrantes of the vvorlde to knovve how vayne a thing it is to band themselues against the Lord and agaynst his annoynted The carefull consideration heere of gladded the hart of Dauid more then the stablishment of his owne throane Yea it filled him vvith such vnspeakeable ioy when once the Spyrite of GOD had taught him that Christ shoulde come from hys loynes to be a Prince to his people and to gouerne them vvith righteous iudgements for euer and howe hee alone must make his enemies his foote-stoole I say it so reioyced him that hee could not choose but sing tryumphantly to the Lord. The right hand of the Lorde is exalted The right hand of the Lorde bringeth mightie thinges to passe The stone which the builders refused is become the head-stone in the corner And so in a heauenly kinde of meditation he contiâ—â—eth the same note to the words of my text proclayming as it were a new holy-day to the Lord which should religiously be obserued throughout aâ—l ensuing posterities euen to a thousand generations This is the day which the Lord hath made Let vs reioyce and be glad in it This Text needes no curious diuision for the words deuide themselues This is the day There is the Prophets proclamation Which the Lord hath made There is the Author from whom it is sent Let vs reioyce c. There is the celebration of it This is the day Dauid beeing endued with the spirit of prophecie could tell that Christ shoulde come in the flesh as could the Patriarchs and all the holy men before him And least a matter of so great tydinges should by the malice of sathan or by the practise of bloody tyrants be lapt vp in obscurity both our Prophet heere and all the rest did in all ages record the same in sundry places of Scripture as well to chalenge it from forgetfulnes and obliuion as also to take away all excuse from the vnbeleeuing Iewes who if they had not beene altogether giuen ouer to a reprobate sence they must of necessity haue acknowledged Christ since he was so liuely poynted at by so many prophecies throughout the whole Scripture Moses in the 3. of Genesis told it plainly or rather God himselfe by Moses speaketh that the seede of the woman shoulde breake the serpents head Zachary telleth Sion and Ierusalem that her King was comming He commeth poore Zach 9. 9. ryding vpon an asse c. Christ himselfe speaking of Abrahams testimony sayth Abraham sawe my dayes and reioyced As a lambe before the shearer so opened he not his mouth And diuers other testimonies whereof the Scriptures are plentifull Dauid as if hee had seene all prophecies sealed vp speaketh in this place of Christes day as it were as if he had beene already in the world This is the day Blessed is hee that commeth in the Name of the Lord. For Sions sake I will not hold my tongue Esiy 62. for Ierusalems sake I will not rest till the righteousnes thereof breake forth as the light What was that lampe light but Christ all the law and the Prophets did presignify to the world that Christ should come euen to the time that the Angell appeared to the Shepheards and bad them goe see him whom all the world desired to behold So that we may preach to our selues as Christ did to the Iewes In our eares this day are all these Scriptures fulfilled This is the day This proclamation is very sutable to that in the second of Luke Beholde I bring you tyâ—ings of great ioy which shall bee to all flesh that vnto you this day is borne a Sauiour It was indeed tydings of the greatest ioy that might come