beyond the preheminence of blessednes Now this word BLESSED as it is the first word and auspicious beginning of this First Psalme so is it likewise of Fiue more which begin with the selfe same word as f Ps 32.1 BLESSED is he whose vnrighteousnesse is forgiuen and whose sinne is covered g Ps 41.1 BLESSED is he that considereth the poore and needy h Ps 112.1 BLESSED is the man that feareth the Lord. i Ps 119.1 BLESSED are those that are vndefiled in the way and walke in the Law of the Lord. l Ps 128.1 BLESSED are all they that feare the Lord and walke in his waies But whereas in the English the word BLESSED is still an Adiectiue in the Hebrew both here in this Psalme as also in the rest it is alwaies ASHRE Blessings or Beatitudes not only a Substantiue and in the Abstract but also in the plurall nomber First for the Abstract it sheweth that they are Blessings Substantiall subsisting by themselues and that it is much more significant so to speake So the Poet Non vitiosus homo es Zeile sed vitium Martiol l. 11. Epig. 93. then to call a Man Blessed by the Adiectiue onely Like as the Apostle speaking of our Saviour and vs vseth the Abstract not the Concrete the Substantiue not the Adiectiue in both g 2. Cor. 5.21 He hath made him to be Sinne for vs who knewe no sinne that we might be made the Righteousnesse of God in him He saith not Sinfull or Righteous but Sinne and Righteousnesse The Plurall sheweth an heap of Blessings that betyde such a man not as Esaw h Gen. 27.38 said to Isaac Hast thou but one blessing my Father No but as Leah in an other case A troupe i Gen. 30.11 saith she commeth and she called his name Gad. For what is Blessednes indeed but a troupe or company of Blessings intimated by the l 1 Cor. 2.9 Apostle in his first Epistle to the Corinthians and specified by m Deut 2.3 Moses in his Book of Deuteronomy Some make it to consist of the Goods of the Body the Goods of the Mynd and of externall and outward Goods but our Sauiour slyes a farre higher pitch For beginning his Sermon on the Mount with n Mat. 5.3 Blessed are the pure in spirit for theirs is the kingdome of heauen he addeth thereunto Blessed are they that mourne for they shall be comforted Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth Blessed are they that doe hunger and thirst after Righteousnes for they shall be filled Blessed are the mercifull for they shall obteine mercy Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Blessed are the Peace-makers for they shall be called the Children of God and lastly to shew that where Blessednes ends there it doth as it were begin againe Blessed are they saith he that are persequuted for Righteousnes sake for theirs is the kingdome of heauen so that à primo ad vltimum there is in this Blessednes first the kingdome of heauen secondly all comfort thirdly inheriting the earth fourthly a filling full or fully satisfying fiftly obtayning mercy sixtly a seeing of God seauenthly a m Multi in Imperio Romano sunt sed maiorem Imperii gratiam qui propiores Imperatori sunt consequuntur Ambros sup Luc. l. 5. c. 13. neerer tye vnto him as namely to be called the Children of God eightly and lastly to begin againe and to haue in propriety and perpetuity the kingdome of heauen Incrementa Virtutum Incrementa Praemiorum the augmentation of Vertues n Ambros Ib. saith St Ambrose is the augmentation of Rewards Plus est enim Dei esse Filium quà m possidere terram consolationem mereri For more it is to be the Child of God then to possesse the earth and to be comforted But what is Man only is not Woman blessed to Yes doubtles for the word Man includeth both Hominis appellatione tam foeminam quà m masculum contineri non dubitatur There is no doubt o De Verb. significat nu 152. sayth the Ciuil Law but this word Homo compriseth the Female aswell as the Male and Viris Mulieribus commune nomen Homo Homo p Clem. Alex. Paedag. l. 1. c. 4. sayth Clemens Alexandrinus is a common Name to Men and Women both And if so be reply be made that the word in the vulgar is not Homo but Vir and in the Greeke not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 about which two Greeke words was q Vid. Act. Mon. edit 4. p. 1456. col 2. once no small adoe concerning Womens receiuing the Communion Saint Ambrose r Ambros in hunc Ps replyes againe that by the word Vir a Woman may be vnderstood to In Homine signatur vterque in Viro sexus exprimitur Sed quemadmodum cum Homo dicitur vterque comprehenditur ita cum Vir nominatur mulier cuius Vir ille sit intelligitur And going on in the same place Besides that their Nature being one sayth he their operations must not be severed and whose worke is equall their reward must be equall to Like to this ſ Bas in hunc Ps hath St. Basil The Creation of Man and Woman were both alike therefore their wages and hyre must be both alike to Man and Woman then being both of them capable of Blessednes you will happely demaund what Man what Woman The word Man is here indefinite and signifieth not this or that Man this or that Woman in particular but any or euery Man any or euery Woman as the Indefinite signifieth generally throughout the Scripture And therefore that saying of Moses t Deut. 27.26 Cursed is he or cursed is the Man that confirmeth not all the words of this Law to doe them the Apostle Saint Paul expounding that place Cursed is euery one u Gal. 3.10 sayth hee that continueth not in all things which are written in the Booke of the Law to do them Now what Men and what Women thus are blessed wee shall see by and by in the meane time let vs consider why the time present is here vsed seeing Blessednes is to bee hereafter and yet the Prophet here sayth Blessed is the Man It is an vndoubted trueth there is no Felicity in this World he that thinks of a Worldly Happines erres as farre as the World is wyde In the World x Ioh. 16.33 sayth our Sauiour ye shall haue tribulation and yet to sweeten those words againe Be of good cheere sayth he I haue ouercome the World Non armato milite sed irrisa cruce not by meanes of men at armes y Aug. in Psal 62. sayth St Austen but by meanes of my Crosse that was scorned at by men at armes and as himselfe led the way in this case so must euery one of his endeauour to follow him Now for euery one in this his following is assured that at the
worthie if God should examine it without any Mercy at all And Iust men Å¿ Greg. Moral l. 8. c. 9. vid. D. Abb. Apol. against Bishop Part. 1. c. 8. p. 255. p. 293. saith St Gregory knowe before hand that perish they must without remedy if God in the iudging of them set Mercy aside because even that which seemeth our iust Life is but Sinne if Gods Mercy when he iudge that doth not excuse the same Behold t Iob 4.18 saith Iob he put no trust in his Servants and his Angels he charged with â—olly how much lesse on them that dwell in Hâ—uses of Clay whose Foundation is in the duâ—â— which are crushed before the moth The Party to whom the Petition is made is God aboue who is styled by the Apostle S. Paul a 2. Cor. 1.3 The Father of Mercies which though it be a sufficient Reason why this Petition is made to him yet the Prophet here implies another namely for that the Lord had set him at liberty when ever he was in trouble As b 1. Sam. 19.12 First when Michol saued him c 1. Sam. 20.38 Secondly when Ionathan d 1. Sam. 21.8 Thirdly when his owne Pollicy e 1. Sam. 23.28 Fourthly when the Messenger by bringing tydings to King Saul that the Philistians invaâ—ed the land f 2. Sam. 17.11 Fiftly and lastly when Hushai holpe him Hushai and the Messenger and his owne Wit and Pollicy and Ionathan and Michol his Wise being but so many severall Instruments which it pleased the Lord to vse in sauing of him g Ps 115.1 Not vnto vs O Lord not vnto vs but vnto thy Name giue the Praise for thy louing Mercy and for thy Truthes sake I but how comes it here to passe that the Prophet in these words styles the Lord The God of his Righteousnesse Heare me when I call O God of my Righteousnes Doubtles it was not in respect of any Righteousnesse of his owne Not his Speeches are to well knowne even in this his Booke of Psalmes for any confidence hee had in that respect As for example where he saith h Ps 19.12 Who can tell how oft he offendeth O cleanse thou me from my secret Faults And againe i Ps 130.3 If thou Lord wilt be extreame to marke what is done amisse oh Lord who may abide it And yet againe l Ps 143.2 Enter not into iudgement with thy Servant for in thy sight shall no man liuing be iustified What is his meaning then in these words DEVS IVSTITIAE MEAE O God of my Righteousnesse It may be taken two waies as First Thou O God who art the Redresser of my Right or Revenger of my Wrong or Secondly in regard of some righteous Cause hee had in hand mistaken by his Adversaries Much like to that which hee saith in another place m Ps 7.3 O Lord my God if I haue done any such thing or if there be any wickednesse in my hands If I haue rewarded evill to him that dealt frendly with me yea I haue deliuered him that without any cause is mine Enemy Then let mine Enemy persecute my Soule take me yea let him tread my Life downe vpon the Earth and lay mine Honour in the Dust So that in regard of those many Slanders raised against him by the Wicked he calls God to witnesse of his Integrity in those points and therefore may seeme to style him here The God of his Righteousnesse Our Reioycing n 2. Cor. 1.12 saith the Apostle is this the testimonie of our Conscience that in simplicity and godâ—y Synceritie we haue had our Conversation in the World And Conscience if it be bad as it is a continuall Torture so is a good one a continuall o Secura Mens quasi iuge Convivium Prov. 15 15. Vulg. Feast The great Benefit of a good Conscience S. Chrysostome declares by this Similitude As if you let fall a little sparkle p Chrys ad Pop. Antioch Hom. 25. saith hee into a large plash of water you presently extinguish it so all our Griefe and Sorrowe if so bee it light on a good Conscience it is most easily driuen away Verse 2. O yee Sonnes of Men how long will yee blasphâ—ame mine Honour and haue such pleasure in Vanity and seeke after Leasing It may seeme somewhat strange that hauing spoken in the Words before to God alone hee should now leaue speaking with God as it were and apply himselfe to the Sonnes of Men. But this is no novelty with David throughout his whole Booke of Psalmes who speaketh sometimes to the Lord sometimes to Himselfe sometimes to the Godly sometimes to the Vngodly and then to the Lord againe and that in one and the selfe-same Psalme The lesse cause had Cartwright and such as followed his steps to finde fault with our Church-Service for intermingling Reading of Scriptures and Prayers one with another We q T. C. vbi supra saith he haue no such Formes in the Scripture as that we should pray in two or three lines and then after hauing read a while some other thing come and pray asmuch more and so the twentith or thirtith time with pawses betweene If a man should come to a Prince and keepe such order in making his Petitions the Prince might well thinke that either he came to aske before he knewe what hee had need of or that he had forgotten some peece of his Suit or that he were distracted in his vnderstanding or some other such like cause of the disorder of his Supplication Loe here a Prayer euen in two or three lines after that as it were a Lesson namely an Instruction to his Adversaries Lastly somewhat concerning Himselfe namely how ioyfull in Heart Himselfe was and secure in hauing nothing when his Enemies had the World at will Shall we now say that David was distracted in this case God forbid Nay hee spake forth the Words of Truth and Sobernesse euen as did the Apostle S. Paul when hee also was r Act. 26.25 challenged by Noble Festus in like sort As for the Similitude hee brings of petitioning before a Prince and how vnsavory it would be to make Requests in such sort it is well Å¿ Hooker Eccles Pol. l. 5. §. 34. answered by Reuerend Hooker and retorted vpon himselfe and al his Complices how much more vnsavory it would proue to pray in their fashion who so much mislike ours Cartwright got nothing by that Similitude But now concerning the Words First for the Appellation here O yee sonnes of Men it is in the Hebrew t As there is difference betweene Home and Vir in Latine Non sentire mala sua non est Hominis non ferre non est Viri Senec. de Consolat ad Polyb. c. 36. so in the Hebrew betwixt Adam and Ish BENI ISH not ADAM wherein S. Ierom was mistaken as u Drus Observ l. 3. c. 19. Drusius obserues so that the
which are not the commandements of God but your owne erronious collections on him you must father whatsoever yee shall afterwards be led either to doe in withstanding the Adversaries of your cause or to thinke in maintenance of your doeings and what this may bee God doth know In such kindes of errours the minde once imagining it selfe to seeke execution of Gods will laboureth forthwith to remove both things and persons which any way hinder it from takeing place and in such cases if any strange or new thing seeme requisite to be done a strang and new opinion concerning the lawfullnesse thereof is withall received and broached vnder countenance of divine Authority 7. One example herein may serve for many to shew that false opinions touching the will of God to have things done are wont to bring forth mighty and violent practises against the hinderances of them and those practises new opinions more pernicious then the first yea most extreamely opposite unto that which the first did seem to intend where the people took upon them the Reformation of the Church by casting out Popish superstition they having received from their Pastours a generall instruction Mat. 15.13 that whatsoever the heavenly Father hath not planted must be rooted out proceeded in some forraigne places so farre that downe went Oratories and the very Temples of God themselves For as they chanced to take the compasse of their Commission stricter or larger so their dealings were accordingly more or lesse moderate Among others there sprung up presently one kinde of men Anabaptists with whose zeale and forwardnesse the rest being compared were thought to be marvellous cold and dull These grounding themselves on rules more generall that whatsoever the Law of Christ commandeth not thereof Antichrist is the Authour and whatsoever Antichrist or his adherents did in the world the true Professours of Christ are to undoe and found out many things more then others had done the extirpation whereof was in their Conceipt as necessary as of any thing before removed Hereupon they secretly made their dolefull complaints every where as they went that albeit the World did begin to professe some dislike of that which was evill in the kingdome of darknesse yet fruits worthy of a true repentance were not seene and that if men did repent as they ought they must endeavour to purge the truth of all manner of evill to the end there might follow a new World afterward wherein righteousnes only should dwell Private repentance they said must appeare by every mans fashioning his owne life contrary unto the custome and orders of this present World both in greater things and in lesse To this purpose they had alwayes in their mouthes those great things Charity Guy des Bres contre l'erreur des Anabapt pag. 4. Faith the true Feare of God the Crosse the Mortification of the flesh All their exhortations were to set light of the things in this World to count riches and honours vanity and in token thereof not only to seek neither but if men were possessours of both even to cast away the one and resigne the other pag. 5. that all men might see their unfained conversation unto Christ They were sollicitours of men to fasts to often meditations of heavenly things and as it were conferences in secret with God pag. 16. pag. 118. pag. 119. by prayers not framed according to the frozen manner of the World but expressing such fervent desires as might even force God to hearken to them Where they found men in diet attire furniture of house or any other way observers of Civility and decent order pag. 120. pag. 116. such they reproved as being carnally and earthly minded Every word otherwise then severely and sadly uttered seemed to pierce like a sword through them pag. 124. If any man were pleasant their manner was presently with sighs to repeat these words of our Saviour Christ Luk. 6.12 Woe bee to you which now laugh for you shall lament So great was their delight to be alwayes in trouble that such as did quietly lead their lives they judged of all other men to be in most dangerous case They so much affected to crosse the ordinary custome in every thing pag. 117. that when other mens use was to put on better attire they would be sure to shew themselves openly abroad in worse the ordinary names of the dayes in the week they thought it a kind of prophanenesse to use and therefore accustomed to make no other distinction then by number the 1 2 3 day 8. From this they proceed unto publique Reformation First Ecclesiasticall and then Civill Touching the former they boldly avouched that themselves only had the truth pag. 40. Which thing upon perill of their lives they would at all times defend and that since the Apostles lived the same was never before in all points sincerely taught Wherefore that things might be brought againe to that ancient integrity which Iesus Christ by his word requireth they began to controule the Ministers of the Gospell for attributing so much force and vertue unto the scriptures of God read whereas the truth was that when the word is said to engender faith in the heart and to convert the soule of man or to work any such spirituall divine effect these speeches are not thereunto appliable as it is read or preached but as it is ingrafted into us by the power of the Holy Ghost opening the eyes of our understanding and so revealing the mysteries of God according to that which Ieremy promised before should be Ier. 31.34 saying I will put my law in their inward parts and I will write it in their hearts The book of God they notwithstāding for the most part so admired pag. 29. that other disputation against their opinions then only by allegation of scripture they would not heare pag. 27. besides it they thought no other writings in the World should be studyed insomuch that one of their great Prophets exhorting them to cast away all respects unto humane writings so farre to this motion they condescended that as many as had any Bookes save the holy Bible in their Custody they brought and set them publiquely on fire 9. When they and their Bibles were alone together what strange fantasticall opinion soever at any time entred into their heads their use was to thinke the spirit taught it them Their frensies concerning our Saviours Incarnation the state of soules departed and such like are things needlesse to be rehearsed And forasmuch as they were of the same suit with those of whom the Apostle speaketh saying 2. Tim. 3.7 They are still learning but never attaining to the knowledge of truth it was no marvaile to see them every day broach some new thing never heard of before which restlesse levity they did interpret to be their growing to spirituall perfection and a proceeding from faith to faith pag. 65. pag. 66. The differences among
what end purpose mankinde was created and set in this world after they had driven the matter as far as they might by naturall knowledge at length they concluded some that man was made to know the properties and qualities the convenience or difference of naturall things either in the ayre or in the water or in the earth or under the earth Some other that man was made to consider and behold the Sunne and Moone the Starres course and revolutions of the Heavens And so they judged that man which either had most abundance of naturall reason or beheld and considered the heavens best to be most perfect of all others and that he came nearest to the end of his creation Thus said they as men without feeling of God onely endued with the light of nature But as God himselfe declareth who fashioned us and made us and knoweth us best the very true end why man was made was to know to honour God Therefore whoso knoweth him best and honoureth him with most reverence he is most perfect he commeth neerest the end of his creation When Solomon had described the deceaveable vanities of the world and said vanitie of vanities Eccl. 1. vanitie of vanities all is vanitie When he had concluded by long discourse that riches Empires honour pleasures knowledge and whatsoever else under the Sunne is but vanity he knitteth up the matter with these words Eccles 12. Feare God and keep his Commandements for this is the whole dutie of man that is this is truth and no vanitie this is our perfection to this end are we made not to live in eating and drinking not to passe our time in pleasure and follies not to heap up those things which are daily taken from us or from which we are daily taken away but that in our words in our life in our bodie in our soule we doe service unto God that we look above the Sunne and Moone and all the heavens that wee become the Temples of the holy Ghost that the holy Spirit of God may dwell in us and make us fit instruments of the glory of God Therefore God gave his holy word and hath continued it from the beginning of the world untill this day notwithstanding the Philosophers and learned men in all ages who scorned it out as the word of folly for so it seemeth to them that perish notwithstanding the wicked Princes and Tyrants high powers of the world who consumed and burnt it as false and wicked and seditious doctrine notwithstanding the whole world and power of darknesse were ever bent against it yet hath He wonderfully continued and preserved it without losse of one letter untill this day that we have whereby truly to know him the true and onely God and his sonne Jesus Christ whom he sent Therefore have we Temples Churches places to resort unto all together to honour to worship and to acknowledge him to be our God to joyne our hearts and voices together and to call upon his holy name In such places God hath at all times used to open his Majestie and to shew his power In such places God hath made us a speciall promise to heare our praiers whensoever wee call upon him Therefore are they called the dwelling place and house of God In such places all godly men set their greatest pleasure thought themselves miserable when they were secluded or put off from the same as the Prophet and holy Prince David Psal 122. Laetatus sum in his quae dicta sunt mihi in domum Domini ibimus O saith that holy man my heart rejoyced within my body when my fellowes called upon me and said let us goe into the house of the Lord. Againe I am in love with the beauty of thy house And againe O how beautifull is thy Tabernacle O Lord O thou the God of hosts my heart longeth and fainteth to come within thy Courts His spirits were ravished with the sight majesty of the Tabernacle not for that the place it selfe at that time was so beautifull for in Davids time it was almost rotten ruinous a homely thing to behold nothing in comparison to that Temple that was afterwards built by Solomon But therein stood the shew worthinesse of that holy place that Gods truth and law was opened and proclaimed in it and the Sacraments ceremonies so used in such forme order as God had commanded them to be used and the people receaved them obediently lived thereafter Therefore when the Tabernacle was restored when the Arke was fet home from Obed-edom and set in the mount Sion when religion Revived which through the negligence and malice of Saul was forsaken when he saw his Nobilitie his Bishops his Priests all his people willing forward he could not refraine himselfe but brake out and sang Haec est dies quam fecit Dominus exultemus laetemur in ea This is the day which the Lord hath made let us be glad and rejoyce in it Let us be merry and joy that ever we lived to see it Even so Paul when in his time he saw the Gospell take root and prosper that the savour of life was powred abroad that the kingdome of God was enlarged the kingdome of Satan shaken downe his heart leaped and sprang within him Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile behold now is the acceptable time behold God hath looked downe mercifully upon the world behold the day of salvation is come upon us But the godly man as he rejoyceth at the beauty of Gods house so when contrariwise he seeth the same disordered filthily when he seeth the Sacraments of God abused the truth troden under foot the people mocked the name of God dishonoured he cannot but lament and mourne and finde himselfe wounded at heart When the good King Iosias saw the book of God which was so long hid in the wall and out of remembrance when he considered the blindnesse in which they had lived and the unkindnesse of their fore-fathers he could not forbeare but fell a weeping he feared least God should take vengeance upon them for so great contempt of his word When Ieremy saw the wilfulnesse and frowardnesse of the people which would not submit themselves and be obedient unto God he cried Oh that my head were full of water Ierem. 9. and mine eies a fountaine of teares that I might weep day and night c. Such care had they for Gods people Thus the zeale of Gods house had eaten them up Zeale if any man know not the nature of the word is an earnest affection and vehement love as is the love of a mother towards her children or of the naturall childe towards his mother This zeale cannot abide to see that thing which it loveth despised or hurt Such zeale care carrieth God over his people he loveth them as a mother loveth her children he will not suffer them to be hurt Esay 49. By the
leave your lands are stolne away from you Robberies and thefts are so common as if it were not only lawfull but also commendable as if sin were no sin and hell fire but a fable Thus we provoke God to anger many walk of whom we cannot think but with weeping they are the enimies of the crosse of Christ the name of God is blasphemed through them Many are so ignorant they know not what the Scriptures are they know not that there are any Scriptures they call them hereticall and new Doctrine many will believe neither side whatsoever they alleadge bring they truth bring they falshood teach they Christ teach they Antichrist they will believe neither they have so hardned their hearts Be the Preacher rough or gentle learned or unlearned let him use authority of the Scriptures of the Doctors of the Councels of Decrees or Decretals of Gods law of mans law nothing will move them nothing will please them because the Ministery of God and thereby God himselfe is despised These words haply seem sharp overvehement but the darknes of our hearts against God and the lack of zeale to his house inforce me to them We are almost fallen into the lowest pit we are left without zeale as senslesse men and as if we had clean forgotten our selves as the heathen which know not God Therefore unlesse we repent the kingdome of God shall be taken away from us he will send upon this land a famine of the word Hierusalem shal be overthrowne and made an heap of stones the man of sin they which have not the love of the truth shall prevaile with many and withdraw them from obedience to the Prince this noble Realm shall be subject to forraigne nations All this will the zeale of the Lord of hosts bring to passe I could have spent this time in opening some other matter but nothing in my judgement is more worthy your good consideratiō speedy redresse I would be loath rashly or rudely to abuse the reverence of this place but unlesse these things be cared for unlesse we shew forth greater zeal then hitherto if the yeares to come eat up and take away from the Ministery as the late yeares have done there will not be left within a while any to speak the word of God out of this place the Pulpits shall have none to use them the people shall grow wilde and void of understanding When Xerxes beheld the great company of Souldiers suddēly he brake into teares wept bitterly one said to him ô Sir you have cause to rejoice you have a goodly company they are able to fight for you against any nation But what shall become of them saith Xerxes after a 100 yeares not one of all these shall be left alive If the view of the small number of Preachers might be taken how few they are and how thin they come up we have greater cause then Xerxes to lament if we have any zeale to the house of God for of the Preachers which now are within few yeares none will remaine alive And Xerxes his souldiers left issue behind them which might afterwards serve their country But there is like to be small increase for the supply of learned men The Lord shall lack men to bring in his harvest the litle ones shall call for bread and there shall be none to give it them They that shall come after us shal see this to be true there is no house so spoiled as the house of the Lord there is no servant so litle rewarded as the servant of Christ and the dispensers of the mysteries of God Oh that your Grace did behold the miserable disorder of Gods Church or that you might foresee the calamities which will follow It is a part of your Kingdome and such a part as is the principall prop and stay of the rest Cyrill Epist ad Theodos valent I will say to your Majestie as Cyrillus sometimes said to the godly Emperours Theodosius and Valentinian Ab ea quae erga Deum est pietate Reipub vestrae status pendet the good estate and welfare of your Commonwealth hangeth upon true godlinesse You are our governour you are the Nurce of Gods Church we must open this griefe before you God knoweth if it may be redressed it hath grown so long and is run so farre but if it may be redressed there is no other beside your Highnesse that can redresse it J hope I speake truly that which I speake without flattery that God hath endued your Grace with such measure of learning knowledge as no other Christian Prince he hath given you peace happinesse the love and true hearts of your subjects Oh turne and employ these to the glory of God that God may confirme in your Grace the thing which he hath begun To this end hath God placed Kings and Princes in their State as David saith that they may serve the Lord that they may see cause others to see to the furniture of the Church The good Emperour Justinian cared for this as much as for his life Constantine Theodosius Valentinian and other godly Princes called themselves Vasallos the subjects and bond-servants of God they remembred that God furnished them in their houses and were not unmindfull to furnish his house When Augustus had beautified Rome with setting up many faire buildings he said Jnveni lateritiam marmoream reddidi I found it made of brick but I leave it made of marble Your Grace when God sent you to your inheritance the right of this Realme found the Church in horrible confusion in respect of the true worship of God a Church of brick or rather as Ezechiel saith daubed up with unseasoned morter Your Grace hath already redressed the doctrine now cast your eies towards the Ministery give courage and countenance unto Learning that Gods house may be served so shall you leave to the Church of God a testimony that the zeal of the Lords house had eaten you up And you ô dearely beloved if there be any such which are neither hot nor cold which doe the work of the Lord negligently which esteem the word of God but as a matter of policy which are ashamed to be called Professours of the Gospell of Christ pray unto God that he will increase your zeal Let us continue rooted and built in Christ and stablished in the faith let us have care for the house of God Whosoever is not after this sort zealous is a man of a double heart We may not halt between two opinions If the Lord be God follow him but if Baal be he then goe after him he that is not with Christ is against him Many talke of the Gospell and glory in their knowledge but it is neither talke nor knowledge which shall save them in that day He that feareth the Lord and serveth him with a pure heart and may truly say the zeal of thine house hath consumed me he shall be saved If they shall
yet afterwards when he was baptised l Euseb Jb. c. 63. Graece p. 255. b. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now of a truth saith he I knowe my selfe to be BLESSED and that I am counted worthy to inioy hereafter everlasting life that I am made partaker of heavenly light Vers 2. But his delight is in the Law of the Lord and in his Law will be exercise himselfe day night Nobis initium bonorum abstinentia peccatorum est To vs m Ambros in hunc Ps saith S. Ambrose the beginning of good things is an abstinence from sinnes and therefore we read n Ps 37.27 Flâ—e from evill and doe the thing that is good The Prophet in the former verse hath taught vs to flee the evill but because that is not sufficient he teacheth vs now a new Lesson namely to doe the thing that is good That is to delight in the Law of the Lord and to exercise our selues therein First for the Law of the Lord. The Latine word Lex which signifyeth the Law is o Vid. Vrsiâ— Catech. Angl. edit 1611. p. 886. deriued from Lego which hath two significations namely to read and publish or els to choose With the former derâ—vation agreeth thâ— Hebrew word Thorah with the later 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Greeke In the Hebrew the Law iâ— called Thorah Doctrine because Lâ—wes are published vnto all that euery one may learne them The Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 commeth from a Wotd that signifieth to diuide and distribute and therefote the Law is so called because it distributeth vnto euery one proper charges and functions Now the Law as it is sometimes taken in holy Scripture for the whole Old Testament in generall so sometimes againe for the Bookes of Moses only as here in this place Moses wrote Fiue in all winch were therefore called the LAVV for asmâ—ch as all the Lawes that belonged to the Iewes Morall Ceremoniall and Iudiciall were comprised in those Bookes The Morall Law is a Doctrine agreeing with the eternall Wisdome and Iustice of G d discerning things honest and dishonest knowen by nature and engendered in reasonable Creatures at the Creation binding all the reasonable Creatures to perfect obedâ—ence both Internall and Externall promising the fauour of God and euerlasting Life to those which performe perfect Obedience and denouncing the wrath of God and euerlasting Paines and Punishments vnto them who are not perfectly correspondent thereunto The Ceremoniall were Lawes deriued from God by Moses concerning Ceremonies that is Externall solemne Actions and Gestures which in the publique Worship of God were to be performed binding the Iewes vntill the comming of the Messias that they should distinguish that People and the Church from others and should be Signes Symbols Types or Shadowes of spirituall Things to be fulfilled in the New Testament by Christ The Iudiciall were Lawes concerning the ciuill Order or ciuill Government or maintenance of externall Discipline among the Iewes according to the tenour of both Tables of the Decalogue that is of the Order and Offices of Magistrates of Iudgment Punishments Contracts and of the distinguishing bounding of Dominions deliuered from God by Moses for the setling and preseruing of the Iewes Commonwealth And these are that Law here intimated by the Prophet and whereof he speaks so much in his 119. Psalme It is the longest and largest Psalme in all the Booke consisting of 176. Verses and not one of all those Verses one only p There are in the English fiue more the 84. the 121 the 132 the 149 and the 156. but in the Latine they haue one of these Words according to the Latine excepted namely the 122 but makes mentioÌ„ of this Law or by that very name or by the name of Testimonies Way or Wayes Word or Words Commandements Statutes Iudgements Ceremonies Righteousnes or Trueth In these Lawes it should seeme the Iewes were so perfect that Iosephus speaking of them Euery one q Ioseph cont Appian l. 2. sayth he of our Nation being demanded of our Lawes can answere as readily as he can tell his owne Name For euery one of vs learning them as it were so soone as we come to the vse of Reason we haue them as it were written and printed in our mindes and by this meanes offend we much more seeldome and when we offend we are sure to be punished Secondly where it is said His delight is in the Law it may very well be taken for continuall Reading the same Law Orationi Lectio Lectioni succedat Oratio Let her pray and read r Hieron ad Lect. de Instit Filiae sayth St Ierom read and pray wrighting to a Gentlewoman concerning the bringing vp of her Daughter And writing to an other Let the Booke of sacred Scriptures Å¿ Hieron ad Rust Monach. sayth he be neuer out of thy hands or from thine eyes Discatur Psalterium ad verbum As for the Book of Psalmes get that in thy memory word by word For such is our Nature t Aug. Quaest mixtim qu. 120. saith St Austen as that it becomes dull and heauy if we accustome not our selues to reading For as iron if it be not vsed gathereth rust so the Soule vnlesse it be frequent in reading diuine Scriptures is surrounded with Sinne as it were with rust Thirdly after Reading he meditates thereupon and therefore is it here added And in his Law will he exercise himselfe day and night Excellent things they are that are spoken of Meditation and it is strange what in this case Authors report euen of Bruit Beasts This u Plin. Nat. Hist l. 8. c. 3. saith Pliny is knowen for certain that on a time there was an Elephant not of so good capacity as his Fellowes to take out his Lessons to learne that which was taught him Wherevpon being oftentimes beaten for that blockishnesse of his was found studying and conning those Feates in the night which he had bene learning the day before The same x Plin. l. 10. c. 42. Pliny tells vs the like of Pyes and Stares Nightingales and y Plutarch de Solert Animal Plutarch tells of a Pye that to learne certaine Tunes which shee heard Minstrels play waxed dumbe many dayes after At length vpon the sodaine she brake forth into the same Tunes which those Minstrels had playd before to the astonishment of all that heard her and thought she would neuer haue sung again But to returne vnto my purpose Meditation is that in the Old Law which was signified by Chewing the Cud. For as there the Swine was z Levit. 11.7 vncleane to the Israelites because it chewed not the Cud howsoeuer it divided the Hoofe so howsoeuer we read the Word and divide our times to that purpose yet vnles we Meditate thereupon and doe as the Blessed a Luc. 2.51 Virgin did lay it vp in our hearts as in good ground either the wicked One commeth and catcheth it away b
Learned First for the Wisdome here meant it is no Machiavellian Wisedome that 's Hypocrisie Satis est Principem externâ specie pium religiosum videri etiamsi ex animo non sit It is sufficient for a Prince y Machiavel de Princ. c. 18. saith Machiavel to seeme in outward shew Deuout and Religious though in Heart he be not so and hee had wont to bee the Oracle of Princes But he that so palpably taught Hypocrisie in those dayes no vnlikelyhood but hee hath by this time his Portion with Hypocrits z Mat. 24.51 where is Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth The next way to obtaine true Wisdome indeed is to follow that Counsell which the Lord gaue to Ioshua This Booke of the Law a Iosh 1.8 saith God shall not depart out of thy Mouth but thou shalt meditate therein Day and Night that thou mayst obserue to do all that is written therein for then thou shalt make thy Way prosperous and then thou shalt haue good successe or as it is in the Margent as agreeing to the Originall And then thou shalt doe wisely Secondly for Learning here it is not that high Speculation or Humane Knowledge or Skill in the Liberal Arts and Sciences that in this Place is required which yet is very necessary in time and place but the Instruction and Reformation of their mindes in b Rom. 15.4 Godlinesse and indeed the c Ephes 4.20 Doctrine of CHRIST Where by the way what shal we say of them that so generally haue maintained that d Vid. B. Iewels Defence of the Artic. Art 27. Ignorance is the Mother of Devotion No Ignorantia Iudicis plerunque est Calamitas Innocentis The Party Innocent e Aug. de Civ Dei l. 19. c. 6. saith St Austen many times smarts for the Ignorance of the Iudge and Origen speaking of Divels Possident omnes qui versantur in Ignorantiâ They possesse themselues of all f Orig. in Num. Hom. 27. saith he that remaine in Ignorance Indeed concerning the Heathens Mysteries it was the saying of g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. Casaub Exerc. 16. c. 43. p. 550. Synesius Ignoratio Mysteriorum est illorum veneratio proptereà Nocti creduntur Mysteria The Ignorance of those Mysteries was the Honour and Reverence of them and therefore were they alwayes performed in the Night but it is not so in Heavenly Mysteries Nay euen in their owne Vulgar they may read it themselues h 1 Cor. 14.38 Si quis ignorat ignorabitur Who so knoweth not shall not bee knowne I cannot here forget how this parcell of Scripture wee haue in hand was alleaged by S. Austen against the Donatists in behalfe of Christian Princes for dealing in Church Affaires Gaudentius the Donatist of old as Papists now adaies taking much exception against it Our Lord Christ i Aug. Cont. 2. Gaudent Epist l. 2. c. 26. saith he the Saviour of Souls sent Fishermen not Souldiers for the propagation of his truth God never expected the ayd of worldly Warriers seeing it is he onely that can iudge both of the Liuing and of the Dead To whom as S. Austen then answered so may we to our Adversaries in like case Heare therefore the holy Prophets as also the holy Fishermen and you shall not find religious Princes obnoxious to you For I haue shewed before saith he that it appertained to the care of a King that the Ninivites appeased God whose anger the Prophet Ionas had declared to them before And therefore as long as you your selues doe not hold that Church which the Fishermen foreshewed the Apostles planted so long Kings that hold the Church iudge it most rightly to appertaine to their care that you scape not scot-free in rebelling against the same And againe a little after God expecteth not the ayd of worldly Warriers seeing to Kings he giues this benefit that he inspires into them a care that his Lawes be kept in their Kingdomes For they to whom it is said Be wise now therefore O ye Kings be learned ye that are Iudges of â—he Earth serue the Lord in Feare acknowledge that their Power ought so to serue the Lord that they ought to be punished by that Power which will not obey the will of the Lord. But whereas you bring their Souldiers into envy doubtles if this care appertaine to Kings as in holy Scriptures hath now beene shewed by whom shall those Kings performe so much either against rebellious Circumcellions and their mad Complices or Ring-leaders but only by Souldiers that are their Subiects Vers 11. Serue the Lord in feare and reioice vnto him with reverence A specifying of that Wisdome as also of that Learning that was spoken of before namely Feare Reverence Wisdome and Learning are no other but each of these Feare and Reverence A seruing with Feare a Reioycing with Reverence First for Feare it is the Alpha and Omega the Beginning and End of Wisdome the Beginning as l Ps 111.10 David the Father teacheth vs the End as m Eccles 12.13 Solomon the Sonne in his Ecclesiastes or the Preacher But it is no Servile Feare The Apostle S. Iohn speaking of that Feare There is no Feare in Loue n 1. Ioh. 4.18 saith he and Feare hath Torment No but this is a Filial Feare it is a pleasant Garden of Blessing and there is nothing so beautifull as it as the Sonne of Syrach o Ecclus. 40.27 tells vs. Of this kinde of Feare S. Gregory speaking As Feare in the way of this World p Greg. Mâ—â—â— l. 5. c. 13. saith he begetteth Weaknesse so in our Iourny and Course towards Heaven Feare begetteth Fortitude Now this kinde of Feare is so farre from hauing Torment that it hath Reioycing annexed with it as wee see in the next words Secondly for Reverence it is in a maner the same with â—eare for it is a holy Feare of the Heart towards God witnessed by all seemely Behauiour Gesture Attire Countenance Attention and such like And Reioycing is here annexed with it as it were to season every of these to shew indeed they are all done not Formidine Poenae for Feare of After-claps but Virtutis Amore in Loue to Vertue as the q Horat. Epist l. 1. ep 16. ad Quint. Poet obserueth well making a difference in this respect betweene the Good and the Bad. I cannot before I goe from this Verse but remember those excellent Passages which S. Austen hath herevpon How doe Kings serue the Lord with Feare r Aug. Ep. 50. saith he but by forbidding and punishing with a religious severity those things which are done against the Lawes of God He maketh instance in the King of Ninive in Darius in King Nabuchodonosor and then goes forward in these Tearmes For the King serueth God one way as a Man another way as a King As a Man by liuing faithfully as a King by making Laws with convenient Vigour to command that which
Wickednesse of Man which yet he in no sort worketh in him but the whole Contagion and Filth thereof ariseth from the Corruption of Man himselfe All that we say in this case may be proued by the Fathers I by our Adversaries themselues as against that Bishop in name that worthy Doctor since a Bishop indeed d D. Abbot Ib. p. 81. hath well obserued And but that D. Bishop now of late hath put Life into this Sclander I should thinke by the Doway Bible and their Notes vpon this place that his Puefellowes are halfe ashamed to cast it any more in our teeth Even this might haue taught D. Bishop some modesty but how should he haue plaid his Prizes then and been so copious in this point who I suppose had that of e Tully Tusc Quaest l. 1. Tully in his mind when he began that Passage Quia Disertus esse possem si contra ista dicerem I will knit vp all this with those excellent Wordes of an other Prelate of our Church who wrighting vpon f My L. of Lond. on Ionas Lect. 18. Ionas God is of pure g Habac. 1.13 Eies and can behold no Wickednesse he hath laid Righteousnesse to the Rule and weighed his Iustice in a Ballance his Soule hateth and abhorreth Sinne h Esay 42 2â— Amos. 2â— 5. I haue serued with your Iniquities It is a Labour Service and Thraldome vnto him more then Israel endured vnder their grieuous Task-masters his Law to this day curseth and condemneth Sinne his Hands haue Smitten and Scourged Sinne he hath throwen downe Angels plagued Men overturned Cities ruinated Nations and not spared his owne Bowels whilst hee appeared in the Similitude of sinfull Flesh he hath drowned the World with a Floud of Waters and shall burne the World with a Flood of Fire because of Sin The Sentence shall stand immoueable as long as Heauen and Earth endureth i Rom. 2.9 Tribulation and Anguish vpon every Soule of Man that doth evil of the Iew first and also of the Gentile Seeing God then abhorres all Wickednesse and can by no meanes away therewith how ought wee also to frame our Liues accordingly therevnto Our Saviour hauing shewed that hee came to fulfill the Law and interpreting the Law concerning KILLING to bee but Angry with our Brother vnadvisedly and the Law concerning ADVLTERY to be but to Looke on a Woman lustfully and the Law concerning SWEARING to Sweare not at all and the Law of louing our NEIGHBOVRS to Loue even our Enemies his †Mat. 5.48 Conclusion at length is Bee yee therefore perfect even as your Father which is in Heauen is perfect Agreeable wherevnto is that of the Apostle l Heb. 1â— 14 Follow Peace with all Men and Holinesse without which Holinesse no man shall see the Lord. Vers 5. Such as be foolish shall not stand in thy sight for thou hatest all them that worke Vanitie Who they are in Holy Scripture that are meant by Foolish is evident to such as are conversant therein They are in very deed Sinners and Wicked Men who despising the Wisdome of the Word of God follow their owne Lusts and sinfull Appetites and consequently betake themselues to the Wisdome of the Flesh Now the m The carnall Mind Last Translat Rom. 8.7 Wisdome of the Flesh is Enmity against God for it is not subiect to the Law of God neither indeed can be No marvaile then though it bee here said they shall not stand in Gods sight for what n 2. Cor. 6.14 Fellowship hath Righteousnesse with Vnrighterusnes what Communion hath Light with Darknesse S. Austen giues the same reason They shall not stand in his sight o Aug in hunc Ps saith he for that their Eyes that is their Minds are in regard of the Darknesse of their Sinnes reverberated or beaten backe againe by the Light of Truth Gerunt secum Noctem suam They carry their Night about with them that is not only the Custome of sinning more and more but also the loue of it We had the Phrase before in the p Ps 1.6 First Psalme and the Iudgement there specified is intimated here in this place But the Reason is here annexed also why they shal not stand in his sight namely for that Hee hateth all them that worke Vanity Where first concerning Hating if any bee inquisitiue how the Lord is said to Hate seeing God is Loue q 1. Ioh. 4.16 saith S. Iohn and where Loue is in the Abstract there can bee no Hating at all hee may bee answered by r Zanch. de Nat. Dei seu de diuin Attrib l. 4. c. 7. Zâ—nchius that Hatred as it is a thing that is most commonly in Men a Passion and Feeblenesse of the Minde so is it not in God nor can be for so is it Vitious but Hatred as it is a Purpose not to haue Mercy on the Wicked or as it is a Decree to punish them or as it is his Displeasure with them so the Scriptures doe attribute it to him and Truely and Properly it belongs vnto him Hee maketh instance in these very words Thou hatest al them saith he that worke Iniquitie that is thou dost not only abhorre them but thou hast decreed to punish them and so indeed thou doest Is it not the Property of God to punish the Wicked saith hee Yes it belongs vnto his Iustice and therefore Hatred saith he in that Sence that the Scriptures attribute it vnto God agreeth truly vnto God and is properly attributed vnto Him Secondly concerning Vanity it is that which in an other Word is cald Iniquitie and therefore shall hee say in that day Å¿ Mat. 7.23 Depart from me yee that worke Iniquitie If the Question be here asked why Iniquitie is cald Vanitie and the Workers therof the Workers of Vanitie It is therfore cald Vanity for that Iniquitie in it selfe is a thing of no esteeme and serueth to no vse They trust in Vanity t Esay 59.4 saith the Prophet Esay speake Lyes they conceaue Mischiefe and bring forth Iniquity They hatch Cockatrice Eggs and weaue the Spiders Web. Their Webs shall not become Garments nether shall they couer themselues with their Workes Nor is this spoken in that sence as those Words of the Preacher were u Eccles. 1.2 Vanitie of Vanities saith the Preacher Vanitie of Vanities all is Vanitie For All there intimated to be Vanitie are all Temporall and worldly Things in comparison of true Felicity but the Vanitie here meant is absolutely by it selfe without any reference to better Things In comparison of true Felicity Knowledge Riches Authoâ—ity howsoeuer Gods good Gifts bee all of them but Vaine but Mischiefe and Inquitie haue a deeper dye in Vanitie Thirdly whereas it is here said Thou hatest all them that worke Vanitie the Categoricall word ALL shewes that he makes no difference at all betweene King Subiect Master and Servant Mistris and Maid Bond Free Of a truth
Philosopher be put to Silence nay hee had such Skill that when hee was thought most of all to bee caught and taken like a slippery Snake hee would slide away from them But that God might shew that his Kingdome is not in x 1. Cor. 4.20 Word but in Power there was among the Bishops One of the Confessors by a Man most simple and knowing nothing els but y 2. Cor. 2.2 IESVS CHRIST and him crucified Who when hee saw the Philosopher insulting vpon our Men and boasting himselfe vpon the Skill hee had in Reasoning desires of all that were by to yeeld him roome that he a little might talke with that Philosopher Our Men that knew the Simplicity of the Man and his vnskilfulnesse in that kind began to Feare and withall Blush least that holy Simplicity of his should happely be exposed to the Scornes of those crafty Companions The old Man persisted in his Purpose and thus began O Philosopher saith he in the Name of IESVS CHRIST heare thou those things which are true God that made the Heauen and Earth and gaue Man a Spirit whom he framed of the Dust of the Earth is one he hath by the Vertue of his Word created all things both Visible and Invisible and strengthened them by the Sanctification of his Spirit This Word and Wisdome whom we call the Sonne taking pity vpon humane Errors is borne of a Virgin and by the Passion of his Death hath deliuered vs from euerlasting Death and by his Resurrection hath giuen vs euerlasting Life Whom we looke for to come to be the Iudge of all we doe O Philosopher beleeuest thou this Whereupon he as if he had neuer learnt the Art of Contradiction was so amased by Vertue of the Words that were spoken that being mute to all that was alleaged onely this he was able to answer that it seemed so to himselfe indeed and that there was no other Truth then what was deliuered by that Party Whereupon the old Man Why then if thou beleeuest saith he these things to bee true arise and follow me to the Church and take thou Baptisme the Seale of this Faith Hereupon the Philosopher turning to his Disciples or to those that there were present and came to heare O you Learned Men saith he hearken vnto me While this Matter in hand was perfourmed by Words I also opposed Words vnto Words and those things which were spoken able I was to confute them by the Art of Speaking but now that insteed of Words Power is proceeded from the Mouth of him that speaketh neither can Words resist that Power neither can Man withstand GOD. And therefore if any of you here present can beleeue these things that haue bene spoken as I my selfe doe beleeue them let him beleeue in CHRIST and follow this old Man in whom GOD hath thus spoken And so at length the Philosopher being made a Christian was glad that hee was so vanquished I shall not need here to relate those Legendary Tales of S. Nicholas when he was an Infant how as soone as hee was borne he began to serue God for he would not take the Brest to suck a The Liues of Saints in Spanish by Alfonso Villegas and translated by W. and E. K. B. Part. 2. Decemb 6. Printed at Dâ—wâ—y 1615. they say but one time onely in a Day especially twice a-Weeke to wit on the Wednesday and the Fryday and how hee obserued this Fast all the Dayes of his Life Of S. Romuald who as soone as he was borne b Nova Legend Anâ—l in Vita Runâ—wâ—ldi See My LORD of CAN 1. Answer to Hill 〈◊〉 6. â— spake Divinity and forthwith being baptized did preach high Points of Doctrine and liued in all but three Dayes Or of the Child of nine c Dr Poynets Defence of Priests Marriages p. 200. Dayes old Christned by B. Aldelme and answering to certaine Questions and clearing Pope Sergius of a shrewd Crime that was laid to his Charge All that I will say to these and to such like Stories as these is that of Iob d Iob. 13.7 Will you speake wickedly for God and talke deceitfully for him Truth indeed may spare such Proctours Verse 3. For I will consider the Heauens euen the Works of thy Fingers the Moone and the Starres which thou hast ordeined There are specified in holy e Zanch. de Oper l. 1. c 4. Scripture three kindes of Heauens The First is that whole Space that reacheth from the Earth to the Moone where the Meteors are engendered or to speake more plainly the Aire next vnto vs where the Birds vse to fly and from whence the Raine doth showre downe vpon vs. Thus the Windowes of Heauen were opened as we read in the Booke of f Gen. 7.11 Genesis of Heauen that is of the Aire for so Heauen is taken in diuerse Places of the g Mat. 8.20.13.32 Marc. 4.4 Luc. 8.5 New Testament The Second kinde of Heauen is all those Heauenly and mooueable Orbs that is all that Space that those visible Heauens and Orbs doe containe and herein the Sunne the Moone and the Starres are all of them comprehended whereof we may reade in h Deut. 17.3 Deuteronomy and in many other Places of Scripture besides and with these Zanchius comprehendeth the Ninth Sphere also howsoeuer it bee invisible to the Eye The Third Heauen which is of a farre other kind then are the other Two is that peculiar Place where GOD himselfe is said to inhabite and into which as we read our Saviour CHRIST did ascend and wherein our i Ioh. 17.24 selues also as many as shall be found Faithfull shall be hereafter with our Sauiour And to these Three the Apostle S. Paul did seeme to allude when speaking of himselfe he said that hee was caught vp into the l 2 Cor. 12.2 Third Heauen No doubt but the Prophet here meanes them all Three especially the Second for that the same of all the Rest was onely visible to the Eye That hee calls them here the Workes of the Fingers of God and in an other place the m Ps 102.25 Work of his Hands and the Prophet Esay to the selfe-same purpose n Esay 48.13 Mine Hand hath laide the Foundation of the Earth and my Right Hand hath spanned the Heauens it is for that they are of such Excellency as if they had bene his handy-worke indeed which yet were made by his Word onely as o Gen. 1.6 Moses and p Ioh. 1.3 S. Iohn doe declare q St Francis Eacon of the Advancement of Learning l. 1. p. 27. b. Excellent is that Passage which that great Advancer of Learning hath and suitable hereunto It is to be obserued that for any thing which appeareth in the History of the Creation the confused Masse and Matter of Heauen and Earth was made in a Moment and the Order and Disposition of that Chaos or Masse was the Worke of six Dayes such a Note of