to purge his heart and to make roome for the holy worde that it may grow there alone and not be ouershadowed and choaked Now let vs marke well that which is sayde héere both of the stonie and also of the thornie ground how farre they procéede in professing Christ and imbracing his Gospell and we shall plainely sée how greatly those carnal Gospellers which will not haue faith to be tried by the fruits are deceiued Faith faith say they is that which doth iustifie it is true indéede but not a fruitlesse faith whosoeuer beléeueth shal be saued it is euen so but not after euery kinde of beliefe for then why should not these two sorts of herers be saued it is meruailous when the Scripture is so euident our sauiour Christ speaketh so plainly that this grose doltish errour shoulde possesse the minds of so many But indéed it is a swéet doctrine when a man may let loose the raines to all the lusts of the slesh at the least thus farre not to vere torment himselfe in subduing them yet by faith to be saued When heauen hell méete together and God and the diuel be reconciled then shal these fleshly Epicures and vaine proude men come to their happinesse When Christ shall denie that which he hath héere vttered then shall these bée true beléeuers Let men therfore take héede that they be not deceiued nor made slacke in looking to the fruits of their faith mortification of vaine fleshly lusts through the prophane pratling of such worldly belly Gods beléeue not them but beléeue Iesus Christ who telleth you that it is not inough to heare the word to receiue it with ioy to let it grow in vs vnlesse it bring forth reasonable and timelye fruit in vs. Againe let vs marke how strong and inuincible an Argument may be gathered out of this text against all contemners and despisers of the word such as care not for hearing these thrée sorts of hearers are before theÌ„ néerer to christianitie then they and yet come short therefore it must néeds follow that such ignorant Atheists as neither know nor desire to knowe any thing aboue this world are very far from God although they would séeme with their mouth lips to draw néere vnto him For if this matter were well obserued men would not regard nor haue those men in estimation to be good honest who are very dogs or swine not regarding the precious pearle of the Gospel but redy to bark bite at those which bring it Let a man inquire thus not of a few but of the greatest part of men how saie yée to such a man what thinke ye of him he is saye they a verye good man a good natured man a gentle person trustie to his frieÌ„d sure of his word doth kéepe as good an house as anye man of his calling in all this shire But how is he affected vnto Gods word is he zealous in religioÌ„ Nay surely I did neuer heare that he did deale yâ— way he is a very quiet man no medler at al. O notable honest man as deuout in the laws of God as the horse which he rideth vpon as careful to haue gods glorie aduaunced as the swine in the â—â—ie a great deale behinde these vnprofitable hearers which are â—â—â—â—â— waies yet forsooth being very bruit beasts before God in the state they be in yet vnlesse the Lord call them to bée zealous of his glorye they must be reputed for the best men Our fieldes are full of such Cattell as these and if the Lord do not put too his helping hand our case is very miserable If any of those which were so zealous to heare that they woulde to their hinderaunce in worldly matters leaue off their businesse and follow preaching as these which flocked to heare Christ wer yet neuerthelesse relected because they did not so sincerely as they should what shal we say of those which wil not step out at their dores euen when they haue nothing to do vnles it be to sit at cards or tables If such a man maye be damned as is mooued with some delight when he heareth the worde preached What shall we iudge of those woodden blockes and sottish men who féele no more ioye in it then a post when it is vttered vnto them If ther be some go to destruction which conforme themselues and haue a shew of fruite by the worde wher shal those wretches appeare whom the holy word of God cannot moue one whit to reforme their disordered beastly behauiours I néede not stande to mueigh out of this place against those helhounds which dare opeÌ„ their mouths to reproch and slaunder the setting forth of the Gospell The Lord diminish the number of them The last kind of ground are the good hearers which do not onely receiue the séede but also bring forth the fruits ther of Although not euery one a lyke or in the same measure for some bring forth an hundreth folde some sixtie fold some thirtie folde according to the measure of Gods graces in them Although héere be great ods in bringing forth the fruits yet they be all accepted and accompted for good grounde true Christians and sincere professors of godlinesse now as we be taught héere that it is required of all to be doers as S. Iames saith and not hearers only cha 1. ver 22. so are we also taught not to despise or rashly to condemne those which do not bring forth so great a measure of fruit as others do True it is as Christ saith héerein is my father glorified that ye bring forth much fruite Iohn 15. 8. But it is also as true which he saith in the second verse of the same chapter Euery braunch that bringeth forth fruite he purgeth that it may bring forth more fruite Then to bring forth most is most of all to be desired that God maye haue the greatest glory to bring forth the least is not to be contemned because the Lord in time doth purge theÌ„ make them more fruitfull I néed not to stand héere for to handle manye things or to make large exposition the matter is excéeding plaine ther is no more but this that all our care in hearing professing the Gospell be to receiue it into good ground and to bring forth the fruites thereof What should I stand to rip vp the shamefull abuse in the contrary to vtter how manie euill fruits ther be in many which are Gospellers This shuld be but as it were to light a candle in the cléere Sun shine for all men do sée them I do not speake this as though it should not be good to crie out against them but because the former things which I haue now vttered doe fully disclose them And therefore I will héere ende desiring the Lord to write these things in our harts which we haue heard with our outward eares and to make vs good ground to receiue the heauenly séede to bring forth fruites of the same that glorifieng him in this world we may be glorified of him in the world to come through Iesus Christ our Lorde Amen FINIS
it ouershadowe and choake it insomuch that the Corne in the eare can not haue the benefit of the Sunne to make it ripe therefore the fruite that it séemeth to bring forth commeth to naught Some other séeds fall into good ground and grow vp and bring foorth seasonable fruite one karnell an hundreth another sixtie another thirtie This is the Parable Now for the meaning of it we are not to séeke farre neither to goe by coniectures for Christ himselfe doeth expound and interprete euery part of it a little after in this Chapter I néed not but to lay open his Exposition The séede is the word of God the sower of it is the Preacher and publysher of the same for as the Sower doth fill his hand and so casteth it abroad vppon the ground not setting it séede by séede or choosing a place for euerie séede but where it lighteth euen so the Preacher doth cast foorth the word among the people and looke how the ground is into which it falleth so doth it prosper for your hearts are the ground vpon which it is cast you that are the hearers and among whom the séede is sowen haue euery one a heart which is one of these foure sorts of grounde vpon which the séede falleth because the séede hath ben is still daily sowen among ye I think this parcell of Scripture is verie fit and agréeable euen as a touchstone for euery one to trie himselfe withall whether he haue rightly embraced the Gospell and to his saluation for what a sottishnesse were this when we haue so iust plain a rule not to measure our selues with it But going on on nothing consider whether we be not one of those thrée euill sorts of ground which receiue the séede but bring foorth no fruite thinking we be well if we professe the Gospell or heare it after any sort Let vs goe forward those which receyue the séede by the waye side are they which heare the word and doe not vnderstand it then commeth the euill one or as Saint Luke saith the Diuell and taketh it awaye from their heart In these first kinde of hearers we haue to obserue how that their hearts being hard and smooth lyke a path that is trampled and beaten with mens féete the word hath no entrance but lieth aboue vncouered for like as when a man casteth an handful of corne vpon a very hard smooth path it is all one as if it were cast vpon a pauement so also through the custome deceitfulnes of sinning the diuel hath made the harts of these vnméet to receiue the heuenly séed of the word looke how ye sée Crowes other foules folow the héeles of the Sower to picke vp deuoure such karnells as doe lie vncouered in like manner doe the diuels come like gréedie foules into the assemblies wher the word of God is preached to take it away from the hearts of the people that it may not grow there This peraduenture will séeme straunge to some that Satan shoulde haue anye entraunce into the Church among Gods people especially when they be about the best and most holy exercises of hearing the word and of prayer How straunge soeuer it may séeme and how many soeuer haue bene or be of that fond doltish opinion to thinke that the Diuell hath nothing to doe with them or commeth not néere them when they bée about these holye things we are to beléeue Christ who telleth vs the contrary we are wisely to consider that when we are nightest that which should do our soules good then is this enimie readiest at hande and doeth most busely bestirre him If this were not vttered by our Sauiour Christ himselfe we might wōder and for mine owne parte I woulde not cease wondering to see manye hearers which carry away almost nothing which is to any purpose let a man tell a long storie in a worldly matter they haue wit inough to recite it in order againe and to kéepe it in remembraunce a long time after but let the Preacher speake neuer so plaine although they sit and looke him in the face yet if ye enquire of them so soone as they be out at the Church dores ye shal easely perceiue that as the common saieng is it went in at the one eare and out at the other They will say peraduenture after this manner It was a good Sermon I wold we could follow it he said very well he is a perfect ready man in the Pulpet But aske what doctrine did he handle Then are they at a pause and set at a dead lift They will make this answere we are not able to carry awaye so much as other can neuerthelesse we hope that we be as good toward God as they that carry away most They will also confesse that the word of God is good and that we should be ruled by it Let vs therefore déerely beloued if we desire not to be of the number of these marke well the subtill sleights and pollicie of the Diuell how he handeleth conueyeth the matter with this kinde of people There is no doubt of this but that if he can he will drawe awaye the minde from comming to the Sermon one pelting let or other must come in the waye if there be no worldlye businesse to be done then a paire of cardes or tables or some honest recreation it should be now no good ciuilitie to parte companye when friendes are met together this is the surest waye if it maye be obtained but what if he faile héerein They come to the place where the séede-shall be sowen sit downe minde to heare then the next way is to come with them and to attend at their elboe séeking how to depriue them of the word Now his best way is to bring them asléepe because they were then as good bée absent or into a slumber that they maye heare onely a sound and a confused humming without any perseuerance of the things vttered or els when they heare any perfect sentence or a few sentences they know not why they be vttered because they hard not that which went before Such as are not so drousie headed being wakeful he séeketh still to conuey some thoughts into their minds whereabouts they may be occupied and theyr vnderstanding drawen away the minde of a man being light and inconstant if he can put in but one motion it oftentimes draweth with it so manye lynkes as make vp a whole chaine in the meane time the Preacher goeth on and he vnderstandeth not what was sayd so whē his minde retourneth he can haue no sound knowledge of the things vttered but a confused opinion into these by thoughts men are oftentimes brought euen by occasion of some word or sentence which they heard vttered are caried so far that they cannot of long time recouer their minde to bring it again to the matter Séeing this great danger we ought when we come to heare Gods word taught to make
we vnderstand that a man may be zealous redy to heare preaching vnderstandeth carrieth away letteth it grow in his hart hath some ioy in it and yet neuer the better abiding still vnder the curse But there be some which will obiect against me say this is no good manner of teaching for the vse of true teaching is to build vp and edifie the faith but this séemeth to take away the certeintie of faith from al so that no man can tell whether he shall be saued For by what meanes can a man make a better triall proofe of his faith then this that he giueth eare to Gods word vnderstaÌ„deth it carieth it away ioyeth in it If such a maÌ„ may be damned who may not dispaire I auniÌ„were with S. Paule 1. Cor. 10. 12. He that thinketh he standeth let him take héed he do not fal If yâ— admonition were necessary to the Corinthes it is necessary for vs al One of the principall ends vses of preaching is to giue men warning that they doe not deceiue themselues with euery kind of faith or ioy in the word but to looke for good sound triall in themselues which is not the way to bring men to dispaire but to bring them to true godlinesse to cause them to shake of securitie loosenesse in the seruice of God to beware least their heartes be hard still within it causeth men to try theÌ„selues least they shuld be deceiued by a vaine shadow of a dead fruitlesse faith for Christ saith that these beléeue for so it is expressed by S. Luke the 8. 13. ioy in the word and yet are damned Then let vs come to the particular applieng of this point to sée howe wée are to deale with our selues WheÌ„ ye receiue the word take héede that ye giue it depth of earth inough looke that your heart be not soft and pliable inough a little aboue and a hard rocke of stone within but sée that it be digged and softened to the bottome that the word may take root déepe inough Alas what a miserable thing is it when Christ hath giuen vs warning héere so plainly for a man to be a zealous Gospeller not onelye willing to heare but hath an earnest desire and trauelfeth to heare taketh pleasure delight when he heareth yet neuertheles because he taketh no héed therto his heart within is so stony that he heareth but to his further increse of damnation Many think it goeth well with theÌ„ when as they receiue this testimonie froÌ„ men he is a sound Protestant he fauoureth delighteth in the truth these indéed be great tokens of yâ— feare of god but yet we are not to rest in theÌ„ our chiefe dealing is betwéene God our heart that in this thing whether our heart be not hard and rockie Those are a thousand times happie which féele melting hearts soft affections so that Gods word doth pearse into them and causeth them to tremble at the maiesty power of the same their tender heart doth sigh mourne for their iniquitie As on the coÌ„trary part they which make no conscience of sinne but are hardened in their affections although they séeme to be in good case yet are they cursed and miserable Let euery man therefore that goeth from the Sermon carry this with him I heare by Christes owne words that there is a stonie ground where the séede falleth where it groweth but not déep inough it springeth vp but doth not bring forth fruite this is a wofull case if I should be in the number of these for then all my labour is lost which I bestow in frequenting Sermons yea it were much better that I had neuer heard I féele that I ioy in it I would not for any thing but I had heard it but Christ saith that the reprobate some of them do heare the word with ioy so that if I looke not narrowly to mine owne hart I may for all this be damned therfore I must not satisfie my selfe with this but see that I couer the worde déepe inough that my heart be softned in such sort that I féele the roote goeth déepe yea so déepe that it can neuer bée rooted out And therefore let him continually crie vnto God and say O Lord make softe my harde and stonie heart let it be a melting heart that thy holy worde may growe in it for euer I woulde to GOD this doctrine of our Sauiour Christ might make euerye of vs to tremble and shake as indéede if it were well weighed it is so fearfull that it might cause the haire of our heades to stand vp for then would we not so loosely and securely walke in the hardnes of our hearts there would not be so manye backsliders in time of persecution there would not be so many braue boasters and praters of Religion who are ready to pull in their horns and to kide their heades so soone as there is anye feare of daunger or lykelyhoode of persecution neither would men beare themselues in hand that they â—e iolly Professors when they haue but a little tasted of the word and are no more but emptie barrels which giue a great sounde Héere then we be set a work with great toyle to haue this same harde stonye ground made soft and fit to receiue this heauenlye séede And he which is not carefull in this poynt to take paines ye shall sée him waxe so hard that euen as a continuall rayne dropping vppon a Rocke of stone maketh it neuer the softer so nothing can make his heart to relent This may teach vs then to cease maruelling when we sée so many which willingly giue themselues to be taught and haue still little remorre of sinne The Lord for his mercie sake make vs wise and sharpe sighted to iudge of our selues not to be leade on forwarde in a carnall profession but to giue credite to our heauenlye teacher who hath héere opened his holy mouth to instruct vs so plainlye and before hande to warne vs of the great daunger that we may stir vp our selues and de quickened in our dull spirits with all humble submission and boowing downe our neckes to receiue the doctrine of our Lorde and to open our heartes in such sorte that hée may digge in them and thrust in his spade to the bottome For otherwise it cannot goe well with vs. If this wer practised among vs we shoulde not haue so many olde rustie Protestants which if a man talk with them from morning to night they are able to continue speach in reciting stories and places of Scripture and will vtter matter agaynst the doctrine of the Pope but let a man vrge them with the doctrine of regeneration and stande vpon the necessitie of sincere repentaunce showing them that they must be trulye humbled vnder the burthen of theyr sinnes that they must mortifie and subdue their carnall lusts this is to hard a crust for their old téeth This matter doth marre all this
doeth robbe them of their glorie and therefore they cannot willynglye abide to heare of it Let vs come now to the third kinde of ground which receyueth the séed among the thorns héere is depth inough of earth so that as the second sort of hearers séemed to go far beyond the first so these séeme to goe farre beyond them and to come nigher to eternall life for héere the word doth grow and hath roote so déepe that it springeth foorth so farre that Christ saith it groweth vp and the thornes grow vp with it the stalk doth shoote foorth the eare and lacketh but riping For this may be proued by Saint Luke who saith that they be not Telesphorountes that is such as beare ripe and timely fruite for these professors doe many good workes and séeme to bring forth the fruites of the Gospell and that in such wise that men cannot alwayes discerne them but thinke their déedes to be notable but Christ Iesus doth shew that their works before God who onely cannot be deceyued are as Corne which lacketh riping which béeing ouershadowed with bushes withereth in the eare and commeth to naught this is a daungerous case if we looke not to it That a man may heare the Gospell preached carrie it away be moued thereby to doe many good workes and yet be damned He is a thousande folde madde therefore which doeth not looke to himselfe in this point to trye what soundnesse there is in the fruits of his faith and how sincerely he doth imbrace Gods word As before I sayde that some would obiect and say this wil destroy the faith so am I sure that héere it will be said much more because this séemeth to take away the surest tryal of faith if a man may not by and by saye I haue good workes therefore I haue the true and lyuely faith I aunswere that whosoeuer hath any good worke in him the same hath the true faith which hath brought foorth that good worke because it is impossible without faith to do any good thing or to haue any good motion or intent but withall I saye that it is one thing to séeme good before men and another thing for to be good indéede before God In outwarde appearaunce there is little difference betwéene the good déeds of them which feare God sincerely and the vntimely fruite of worldlyngs but God whose eye doth not looke vpon the outward shew but the inward affection séeth which procéedeth of faith and which doth procéede of vaine glorie or some other sinister respect putteth as great difference betwéene them as he did betwéen the sacrifices of Cayn Abel We must take héed then that the fruits of our faith be ripe timely otherwise they be good but in shew We must come then to sée first what these thorns are in S. Mathew they are called the cares of this world the deceitfulnes of riches in Saint Luke the cares of riches pleasures of this lyfe And in very deed these thornes doe grow together For were it not for the pleasures of this life there would be no cares of riches he which doth séeke gréedelye for wealth it is eyther because he woulde be able to haue wherewithall to fill the lusts of yâ— flesh and to pamper his body delicately or els to set forth himselfe in pride to clyme ambitiously to honour For so long as a man doth take pleasure in any of these so long he is couetous raketh together so much that as the common saieng is he raketh vp the Diuell and all What must we doe then Our heartes are as a ground that is ranke bringeth foorth many wéeds we are set a work as God speaketh by his Prophet Ieremy chap. 4. 4. Plow vp your falow sow not among the thorns we must put all diligeÌ„ce care that our hearts may be rid of such noisome wéeds as will choke the word of God make that it shal not bring forth fruit in vs. So long as we suffer any of these in vs either to loue daintie delycate féeding of our flesh and to fill our selues with the lusts thereof or to be gallant in the eies of men hautely to lift vp our selues in our vainglorious mindes for the maintenance of these delights bend our care to the world so long shall we be vnprofitable scholers in the school of Christ Alas poore men which wold faine come to God yet are glewd to the world they offer one hand to Christ the other to the diuel they can talke of the spirit yet are led by the flesh the gospel is in their mouth couetousnesse lodgeth in their hearts their workes glister are gréene before men and are withered before God they séeme to be faithfull are faithles to be heires of glory yet are the children of coÌ„fusioÌ„ Ther are great pleÌ„tie of these herers specialy in such places wher ther is wealth and honours how many fall away cheked with the world And yet we are not afraid of our selues to take héede that we stand fast A great mercie of God it is that we haue not onely the doctrine layed before vs but also fearfull examples so that we may buy our wit with other mens cost For when we sée the world with delights and pleasures with conetousnesse and ambition to carrie away those which professe the Gospell is not our owne matter in hande are not we made of the same mettall they are doth not the world assault vs as it doth them Yes and we shal be ouercome also if the Lorde haue not mercie vpon vs. The hardnesse of this worke ought not to discorage or make vs slack but hearing what Christ saith whome we ought to beléeue the more harde the more we are to stirre vp our selues vnlesse we make small reckoning of the saluation of our soules He that shall yéeld and giue ouer the digging vp of these thornes because he perceiueth they grow déepe in his heart and spring as fast as he can cut them is not worthy to enter into life be which will not continually till and wéede this grounde may well haue the Gospell in some sorte for to grow in him but not to saue him Déerly beloued we must be surely perswaded of this that as there be many godly men so haue they atteined it with great labour and toile yea they are still set a worke and cannot come to an end because these thornes cannot be vtterlye roâ—ted out Those are greatly ouerséene which thinke it to be an easie thing to professe Christ vnto saluation make no further account but to bée Gospellers at ease if they can vanquish in disputatioÌ„ to thinke they haue won the field no no they haue a heart which is harde to ouercome they haue thornes which wil not easily be destroied héere lieth the victory and getting of the spurs this man shall be crowned because he hath willingly giuen vp himselfe to the power of Gods grace