way the blow will come nor where it will light Therefore Put on the whole armour of God that yee may bee able to stand against all the wyles of the diuell The loins the brest the head the feete all parts must bee armed The fruite of the Spirit those happy fruits which the Spirit of God worketh in vs and bringeth out of vs is manifold Galat. 5. Loue ioy peace long-suffering gentlenesse goodnesse faith meeknesse c. The Apostle chargeth vs to bee rich in good workes 1. Tim. 6. And for this cause bowes his knees vnto the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ that according to the riches of his glorie wee might be filled with all the fulnesse of God The reason is giuen by Christ. To whom much is giuen of them shall much be required And it was his commendation of Mary Magdâ—lâ—n that because shee had much forgiuen her therefore she loued much Happie then is that ground which abounds with good herbes the fruits of faith patience content charitie Not our riches but our worâ—s shall follow vs. Goodnesse shall only giue Pulchrum sepulchrum and as we vse to sticke dead bodies with herbes so these herbes our fruitfull good workes shall adorne and beautifie our memorialls when the name of the wicked shall â—ot I know England inueigh the Papists till their galls burst is full of pious and charitable workes It is a Garden full of good herbes Not to vs but to God bee the prayse who hath moued such instruments to workes of his glory Yet Queâ—on fecimus ipsi vix ca nostra voce let â—uery man quiet his owne conscience with the good herbes his owne garden produceth The rich man growes easily richer so the good man easily better It is the custom of most men to be pleased with a very little religion For the world wee are enraged and transported with such a hunger that the graue is sooner satisfied but a very little godlinesse contents vs. But if we would not bee barren nor vnfruitfull in the knowledge of our Lord Iesus Christ we must sayth the Apostle abound with these herbes And then for a proportionate reward An entrance shall be ministred vnto vs abundantly into the euerlasting kingdome of our Sauiour Christ. Blessed is he that brings forth herbes many herbes and lastly such as are 4. Meet for them by whom he is dressed THe word By whom may as well be translated For whom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Two instructions are here necessarily offered vs. 1. By whom this goodnesse comes 2. For whom it must be intended 1. By whom it is dressed GOD is the Husbandman that dresseth this ground and causeth in it Fertillitie It was the Pelagian errour A Deo habemus quâ—d homines sumus a nobis ipsis autem quod iusti sumus We are beholding to God that we are men to our selues that we are good men But the contrary is here euident God doth not onely make the ground but hee makes the ground fruitfull he raines vpon it hee dresseth it hee blesseth it Christ sayd not Sine me parum potestis facere sed sine me nihil Without me ye can doe nothing sayth our Sauiour and to the best men euen the Apostles not a little but nothing If God had onely made thee a man and thou made thy selfe a good man then is thy worke greater then Gods worke For Mel us est iustum esse quam te homâ—nâ—m esse Our meere being is not so happie as our better being No this Text conuinceth that lye For according to that distinction of grace 1. Here is Gratia operans God begins the worke he makes the ground good sanctifies the person 2. Here is Gratia cooperans God that begins performes the worke he raineth vpon he dresseth the heart and so causeth it to produce herbes 3. Here is Gratia saluans whereby hee crowneth our will and worke in the day of our Lord IESVS It receiueth blessing from God So Qui viret in foliis venit a radicibus humor The sappe of grace which appeares greene and flourishing in the branches and fruit comes from the root Now in all this Deus non necessitat sed factlâ—tat God induceth the good to good by alacritie not enforceth against their wills Quoniam probitate coacta Gloria nulla venit For God doth not worke vpon vs as vpon blockes and stones in all and euery respect passiue but conuerts our wils to will our owne conuersion Qui fecit te sine te non iustificabit te sine te Fecit nescâ—entem Iustificat volentem Hee that made thee without thy selfe will not iustifie thee without thy selfe without thy merite indeed not without thine act He created thee when thou knewest it not he doth iustifie thee with the consent of thy owne will Let this consideration lay vs all prostrate before the foot-stoole of God kissing the feete of his mercy who is the Beginner and finisher of our faith Who hath made the ground good and encreased the number of herbes with his holy dewes from heauen dressed it with his graces and promised to reward it with his blessings Thus By whom now For whom Meete for them who dressed it AND is it possible that man should produce herbes meete for the acceptation of God Hath he not pure eyes which see vncleannesse and imperfection in all our workes Is there any man so happy as to bee iustified in his sight No but it pleaseth him to looke vpon our workes in the Crystall glasse Christ and because they are the effects of a true faith in him to esteeme them meete S. Peter sayth This is thanke-worthy if a man for conscience toward God endure griefe suffering wrongfully Doe euen our sufferings then merite 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 euen this is grace To you it is giuen not only to beleeue in him but euen to suffer for his sake This was none of yours but giuen you And when you haue suffered yet you must truely with Paul reckon that the afflictions of this present world are not worthy of that high inestimable waight of glory There are no workes acceptable Quae praecedunt instificandum sed quae sequuntur iustificatum which goe before Iustification but these that follow it All of vs as Luther was wont to say haue naturally a Pope bred in our bellies a Mountebanke-opinion of our owne worth Narcissus-like wee dote vpon our owne shadowes and thinke our workes acceptable enough to God If wee haue prayed releeued beleeued the history of the Gospell or attentiuely heard the word these are works meete for God The Monke had but one hole in his Cell and though it was in the toppe vpward to heauen yet the Diuell made a shift to creepe in there The Serpent thrusts in his head often in some cracke of our good workes Luther paradoxically 〈◊〉 â—niustitiarum â—ere sola causa 〈◊〉 Almost the only cause of all vnrighteousnesse is a too-well conceited
them It is not onely spoken but commanded to be written of the dying Saints that their workes follow them Their owne workes not the workes of others No righteousnes of friend liuing or of Saint dead shall doe thee good but the herbes of thy owne Garden shall bee accepted of God Lastly this Righteousnesse must excell nisi abundauerit If it come short of those that come short of heauen what hope haue you It must exceed innocence and come to reall goodnesse We haue not sufficiently discharged our duties in being painfull vnlesse wee be profitable Some will take no paines vnlesse the Diuell set them on worke They must be their owne caruers in their imployment or they will sit idle But so a man may worke and haue no thankes for his labour It is not then simply and onely bringing forth commends a ground but bringing forth herbes The fruit of Peters repentance is not to deny his Master no more but to stand to him to the death We thinke if wee forbeare our wonted notorious sinnes wee are on the sodaine excellent Christians As if God were beholden to vs for not wounding his name with oathes for not playing out Sabaoths for not rayling on his Gospell for not oppressing his poore members when we neither reliue the poore nor obey the Gospell nor hallow his Saboths nor honor his name Perhaps an Vsurer when he hath gotten enough will cease that damned trade now he is sure of heauen in a trice Alas how repents Zaccheus if he restores not Shall I goe a step higher If he giue not liberally and shew compassion to the afflicted Saints Perhaps an old Adulterer when his sappe is growne to cinders breaks off his vncleannesse When the enuious looseth his obiect he may suspend his malice But where are the returned fruits of penitence manifest and visible obedience Say the weedes are gone where be the herbes To roote vp the weedes is but the first step to heauen and some are fortie threescore yeares taking this steppe How long will it be ere their garden be set with good growing herbes But Curse ye Meroz sayd the Angell of the Lord curse ye bitterly the Inhabitants thereof because they came not to the helpe of the Lord and that it might fully appeare that this curse came not on them for taking part with Gods enemies and fighting against him but onely for deniall of succour the song doubles it to the helpe of the Lord against the mighty The offended Lord deliuered that Seruant to the tormentors that did not extort from his fellow that hee had no right to nor wrest away an others goods but did onely say Pay me that thou owest and in a harsh manner or vnmercifull measure required his owne due It is the forme of the last doome I was hungry and ye gaue me no meate though you tooke not away mine yet for not giuing your owne Goe yee cursed But if that ground be neere vnto cursing that brings not forth herbes what shall we say to that which brings forth weeds What hell and how many torments are prouided for oppressing Diues when Diues that but denyed his owne shall be tortur'd in endlesse flames If he were bound to an euerlasting prison that rigorously prosecuted his owne right chaleng'd his owne debt whither shall they bee cast that vniustly vexe their neighbours quarrell for that which is none of theirs and lay title to another mans proprietie If hee that giues not his coate to the naked shall lye naked to the vengeance of God then he that takes away the poore mans coate shall bee clad with burning confusion If hee that giues not wring his hands hee that takes away shall rend his heart The old world did but eate and drink build and plant marry and be merry and were swept away with the beesome of an vniuersal deluge which things were in themselues lawfull what shall become of lyars swearers adulterers idolaters malicious monstrous scandalous sinners whose workes are in themselues simply vnlawful There are 3. sorts of ground mentioned Marke 4. and the very worst of them receiues the seed yet all damned whither shall the tempest of Gods wrath driue them that would neuer giue the Gospell a religious eare O beloued waigh it Our Idle words must come to iudgement what shall be our answere for vnlawfull deedes If omission of good works be whipp'd with rods commission of impieties shall be scourged with Scorpions If they that stand in a luke-warme neutralitie shall be spewed vp sure the palpable and notorious offender shall bee troden vnder foote of a prouoked Iustice. Indifferency shall not scape and shall extreme presumption be spared that like dogges sup vp the dregges they haue vomited I haue read of a Popish Saint Henry the Dane that in a mad and hare-brain'd deuotion when wormes crawled out of a corrupt vlcer in his knee did put them in againe There are such franticke wretches that when the word hath squeased some poyson out of their consciences and driuen forth lusts like crawling worms they in a voluntary madnesse put them in againe As the Tode casts ont per poison when she goes to the water to drinke when shee hath drunke sups it vp againe Adam lost himselfe and all his posterity by one transgression and do we think can we hope that our infinite shall scape iudgement Or doe we extenuate our iniquities with such selfe-flattering mitigations that if they bee not innumerable they are pardonable and that a few shall bring no man to iudgement And what call wee this paucitie As the Glosse deales with a piece of Gratians Decretum The Text sayes Meretrix est quae multorum libidinâ— patet Shee is a whore who serues many mens turnes Now the Glosse brings this indefinite number to a certaine and giues Multorum a reasonable latitude saying the name of Whore should not be giuen her til she hath lyen with three and twenty thousand men So till we haue doubled iterated and multiplyed our lyes oaâ—hes oppressions lusts vnto thousands and thousands we do not thinke that we merite the names of lyers swearers oppressors or luxurious persons Beloued these things must be reckoned for and if nescience be beaten with stripes wilfull impiety shal be burned with fire Blessed ground then that brings forth herbes and that not in scarsitie but in 3. Plenty Many herbes THe good ground is plentifull in fruits It beares fruit good fruit much good fruit Multiplicitie of grace is requisite though not perfection What Garden is only planted with one singular kinde of herbe The Christian hath need of many graces because he is to meet with many defects to answere many tentations to fight with many enemies Therefore 2. Pet. 1. Ioyne with your faith vertue and with vertue knowledge and with knowledge temperance c. One Iewell will not serue Christs Spouse must haue diuerse to adorne her One piece of armour wil not secure vs we know not which
2. To Christ. 3. To the owne consciences of the committers First to men Plinie mentioneth three sorts of Bryers 1. The moorish Bryer that onely growes in ranke and fenâ—e places is nourished with rotten mud and such squalid putrefaction There is a generatioÌ„ of men like these bryars giuen to drunkennesse whose affections are fed only with the moisture of the pot They cannot liue but in fenny and moorish places Pliny saith that addars toads loue and eat the fruits of these bryars and it is the food of serpents The effects of drunkennes in like sort is a condiment for the diuell Augustine somewhat neare our purpose when he compares drunken places to the fens where are bred snakes and serpents and such vile noxious things which euery yeare must be burned It were a good turne if these morish brambles were stocked vp by the roots If you ask how you should rid them I will not point you to the Fen-men who to make quick dispatch of their anoiances set fire on their fens but I wil giue you another precedent When a king asked how he might be rid of certain noisome fowles which came abundantly flying into his land one answered him Nidos eorum vbique destruendos that the only means was to destroy their nests in euery place So if you would be shut of these morish bryers the course is to destroy their nests their haunts and rendeuous as they terme them the common quagmires of all filthinesse The ale houses are their nests cages where they exhaust and lauish out their goods and lay plots and deuises how to get more Hence they fal either to robbing or cheating open courses of violence or secret mischiefs till at last the Iayle prepares theÌ„ for the gibbet For lightly they sing thorough a red lattice before they cry through an iroÌ„ grate And when those bryars are hamperd put into prisons it is said that those places teach them more villanie then they knew before That when a lewd fellow comes out of prison he is furnished with such a pack of mischiefs that he now sets vp schoole and teacheth others It is wonderfull that places ordained for reformation should bee instructions of worse lewdnes I speak not against mercy but experience truth witnesseth that the mercy of some times is crueltie And the pittie to a notorious malefactor argues vs of a hard heart of vnmercifulnes to the common-wealth The sparing of rapes robberies whoredomes cheatings frauds vniust measures false balances occasioneth yea encourageth the like If thou be a Magistrate deputed to iudge it and sparest a man that hath shed bloud the next bloud he sheddes thou art guilty of Thou consentest to the second robbery of a thief that hast remitted him the first A Father brings in a notorious malefactor arraigning at the bar before the Iudge When the mother coms miseraÌ„davlulatione with bitter weeping desiring mercy for her son The wife Lachrimabili voce with mournefull speech imploring mercie for her husband The little children plorantibus ocellis with crying eyes beseeching mercy for their Father The people wishing he may be spared for the goodlinesse of his person Yet sayth the Iudge Non misereor modo I pitie but must not spare Pereat vnus potius quam vnitas Better one perish then all Weed vp the implacable thornes for they will keepe the ground barren It hath beene sayd Beare one iniurie and prouoke more but here in case of iustice forgiue one publick iniury I mean a fact of horrid nature as I formerly taxed and you prouoke and encourage many The Marriners would faine saue Ionas but when there is no remedy they will rather loose one Ionas then all themselues 2. Plinies next sort of Bryers are Tribuli agrestes Field-bryers which are sayth he shrewd enemies to tillage and the fruits of the earth This Iland of ours within these late dayes hath bred a great number of these field-bryars which vnnaturally turne their mother into barrennesse Oppressors Inclosers Depopulators Deportators Deprauators that runne the land to ruine for a priuate benefite and work out a particular gaine from a publicke and generall losse Gaine said I Where is it Did you euer know Inclosers prosper I will speake boldly I neuer knew great man grow greater by his depopulations and I hope no man will say he hath growne better by them Corne-fields are turned to sheep-walkes once-inhabited townes feede Oxen and Churches are made Shepheards Cottages and yet the doers of all this neuer the richer They keepe lesse Hospitality for a few roomes in London serue their turnes they extort sorer rents and yet they haue neuer the more money It cannot bee denyed but the maine end of these courses was profite and euhansing their estates and loe in this very end GOD crosseth-them Speake what you will of their pride of turning the alms they should giue to the poore into feasts for the rich of their infrugall courses I say confidently hic digitus Dei here is the very hand of God striking them Man though hee hath authority will not looke to these Field-bryars but let them waste and forrage and play the Abimelechs but God will But if wee doe not looke to it let me say to you as Iotham to the Shechemites of that aspiring Bramble Iudg. 9. If fire come not out of Shechem to deuoure Abimelech fire will come from Abimelech to deuoure Shechem If you vndoe not the oppressions of the Field-bryers their oppressions will vndoe vs all 3 There is the Town bryar too which groweth in our mounds and fenses and about the closing of townes You in the City haue no great plenty of these bryers yet you are troubled in a metaphoricall sense with Towne bryers and City-brambles which would not a little vexe you if you were not those your selues 1. What say you to the Vsurer Is hee not a Thorne amongst you If you were not Vsurers your selues you would confesse it But they say the most horrible vsurie in the world is here practised to 40. in the hundred nay to doubling of the principall in one yeare A landed Gentleman wants money he shall haue it but in commodities which some compacted Broker buyes of him for halfe the rate they cost him in ready money Are these Christians dare they shew their faces in the Temple But I know you haue been often told of these things In a word euen the gentlesâ— vsury is a most sharpe thorne and pricks the side of the Countrey till the bloud followes An Vsurer with his money is like a man that hath no worke of his owne yet keepes a seruant to let out and takes not onely hire of others for his dayes labour but chargeth him to steale somewhat besides and neuer to returne home emptie You vnderstand me I neede not further apply it These are vile winding and wounding bryers that fetch away clothes and skinne and flesh too Now the mercie of God ridde vs of these thornes