is so weake in apprehension that GOD is faine to lead him as it were by the senses Not that there is a necessary receiuing of Christs materiall bloud by euerie one that shall be saued so it might sprinkle vpon the souldiers that crucified him who yet might go to hell But it is receiued Mentaliter Sacramentaliter there is a mentall and a sacramentall application Thus wee are said to drink his bloud that receiue it spiritually by faith The Papists in their opinion are fed orally with the very materiall bloud of Christ but then surely none of them can goe to hell for hee that eates the flesh and drinkes the bloud of the Sonne of Man hath eternall life But now the Priests for feare belike lest too many of the people should be saued and so Purgatory the Popedomes pillar be quite ouerthrowne haue taken away the Cup from them and turned Christs Bibite omnes into Bibite non omnes Drinke ye all into drinke ye onely Priests not the rest When they had giuen this bloud so high an honor they thought it too good for the common sort First they said it is really in the Cup there they gaue it too much then they tooke it from the people there they gaue them too little First they strained it and then they restrained it But they answere the people haue this bloud in the bread for that is flesh and can there be flesh without bloud If so why then doe themselues take the Cup Eyther it is necessary for the people or superfluous for the Priests Vnlesse they value a Clergy mans soule at a higher rate then a Lay-mans as if Christs bloud were not shed for the one so well as for the other But to let goe their sacrilegious absurdities let vs content our selues spiritually to receiue this bloud shed for vs and communicated to vs. This bloud is ready for application if our hearts be ready for apprehension To vs it is though not elementally yet alimentally profitable There is a bloud that nourisheth as the Pelican her young ones with her owne bloud Christ so feedes our soules to saluation with this bloud There is a bloud that mollifies as the warme bloud of a goate softens the Adamant wee haue obdurate hearts if Christs bloud cannot melt them There is a bloud that purgeth as the Kids so the bloud of Christ cleanseth vs from all sinne There is a bloud that colours as the Deeres so doth Christs bloud giue a pure colour to his Church Thou art all faire my loue These are they which haue washed their robes and made them white in the bloud of the Lambe This bloud is Semen vitae substantia gratiae fundamentum iustitiae aedificium meriti magna charta coeli A fluxe of bloud in the head is stanched by opening a veine in the foote but here to saue all the members from bleeding to death bloud must be drawne from the Head As Eue came out of Adams side sleeping so the Church is taken out of Christs side bleeding Thus God disposed it in mercy Ut effundatur sanguis Christi ne confundatur anima Christiani that Christs bloud should be spilt to saue our soules from spilling Of Aspersion in relation to the typicall maner Moses tooke the bloud and sprinkled it on the people To this alludes Paul here and Peter calling it the sprinkling of the bloud of Iesus Christ. In the Passeouer the dores were sprinkled with the bloud of the Paschall Lambe and the destroying Angell passed ouer them All those whom the eternall iudgement shall passe ouer must haue their hearts thus sprinkled We haue many spots had need of many droppes For a spot of auarice a drop of this bloud for a spot of lust a drop of bloud for a spot of drunkennesse a drop of bloud for a spot of oppression a great drop of bloud for the wounds and gashes of oathes execrations blasphemies many drops of bloud to stanch them Yea we are not onely sinners but saith Micah Sinnes therefore must be sows'd and drench'd in this bloud that wee may be be cleane That speaketh better things then that of Abel This is a Metaphor to shew the force of Christs bloud so preuailing with God as if it had a tongue The comparison is between Abels bloud and Christs now Abels is said to cry The voyce of thy brothers bloud cryeth vnto mee from the ground Clamitat in coelum vox sanguinis So Christs bloud is said to speake Quot vulnera tot voces so many wounds so many words There is great respondence of Christ to Abel Abel was slaine by his brother Christ by his brethren the voice of the Iewes was Crucifie him Abel was slaine because he sacrificed Christ was slaine that he might be sacrificed Cain enuied Abel because he was accepted the Iewes hated Christ because hee was good Abel might say to his brother For my sacrifice dost thou kill me Christ did say to the Iewes For which of my good workes doe you stone mee Abel was so slaine that his bloud was aboundantly shed and that in many places for it is said Vox sanguinum the voice of blouds So Christs bloud was let out with thornes scourges nailes speare As Cain sustained a threefold punishment he was cursed in his soule a vagabond on earth vnprosperous in his labours So are the Iewes plagued they haue no place they can call their owne when they haue heaped vp riches some other takes them away they cannot see their owne City but they must pay for it they are cursed in their obstinate blindnesse thus according to their owne request the bloud of Christ is vpon them and vpon their children But now Christs bloud speakes better things Abels cryed vindictam Christs speakes misericordiam That Lord see and reuenge this Father forgiue them they know not what they doe God hath an eare of mercy so well as of Iustice. If he heard that bloud speaking for confusion then he will heare this speake for remission If hee heard the Seruant he will much rather heare the Sonne if he heard the seruant for spilling hee will much more heare the Sonne for sauing Postula à me saith God to his Son Aske of me and I will giue thee the Father will deny the Sonne nothing Thus hath he saued vs Prece Pretio by his bloud and that a speaking bloud if that bloud speake for our safetie nothing shall confound vs. Now the bloud of this Mediator our Lord Iesus speake for vs to the Father of mercy that the Holy Ghost may seale vs vp to eternall redemption To whom three persons one blessed God be praise for euer Amen THE WORLDS GREAT RIDERS OR The rage of Oppression PSALME 66. 12. Thou hast caused men to ride ouer our heads wee went through fire and through water but thou broughtest vs out into a wealthy place THIS verse is like that Sea Math. 8. 24. So tempestuous at first that the vessell was
sayes there are many mansions But now whose Citie is this For it may be some poore decayed thing that hath onely some ruines of remaining monuments No it is the Citie of GOD. They are superlatiue things that haue attributed to them the Name of God Sauls sleepe vvas called Sâ—…por Domini a sleepe of God Rachel said With great wrastlings haue I wrastled Hebr. the wrastlings of God Thy righteousnesse is like the great Mountaines Hebr. the Mountaines of God Niniueh was an exceeding great Citie Hebr. a Citie of God This Hebrew dialect our Apostle followes to the Hebrewes and calls this excellent Citie the Citie of God Not that it is onely Gods â—…y way of asâ—…ription but euen by foundation and euerlasting possession but to vindicate it from any obscureneâ—…se it is the Citie of God But there were many conceiâ—…ed gods it may be this belonged to some Idol as Peorâ—…id â—…id to Paâ—…l and Ekron to Baalzebub No these were all â—…ead gods this is the Liuing GOD. The Psalmist calls â—…hem 〈◊〉 They did eate the sacrifices of the dead but this God is called Uiuens the Liuing and Deus viuentium the GOD of the liuing Well yet what is the name of this Citie Is it a Citie a Citie on a Mount a Citie of God and doth it want a name Not a great man but if he build a faire house hee will giue it some name Perhaps call it after his owne name The name is Ierusalem famous blessed Ierusalem a Citie of Peace But there was a Ierusalem on earth wherof we may onely say Fuit It was That was fulfilled on it which Christ foretold against it There shall not be left one store vpon another But this Citie is built with no other stones then Iaspers Saphirs Emeralds and Amathysts Reue. 21. 19. It is here distinguished from that terrene by the name of Heauenly aboue the wheele of changeable mortalitie it is not subiect to mutation The celestiall Ierusalem But yet though it be a Citie on a Mount though Ierusalem though heauenly yet the perfection of all may be empaired through the want either of Inhabitants or of good Inhabitants There be Cities eminent for situation glorious for building commodious for traffique yet haue all these benefits poisoned by euill Citizens When Alcibiades would sell a house among other conueniences for which he praised it he especially commends it for this that it hath a good neighbour Who bee the neighbours in this Citie Angels glorious excellent creatures the great Kings Courtiers heere our Guardians there our companions Yes you will say one or two Angels yea a company not like Dauids at Adullam nor Absolons in Hebron but innumerable Myriads of Angels Are there none in this Citie but Angels what habitation is there then for men Yes there is an Assembly of men not some particular Synode nor Prouinciall Conuocation nor nationall Councell but a Generall assembly What doe you call it The Church Of whom conâ—…sts it Ex Primogenitis Of the first borne But then it may seeme that younger brothers are excluded No the first borne of the world may bee a younger brother in Christ and the first borne in Christ may bee a younger brother in the world Be they younger or elder all that are written in heauen if their names bee in the Booke of life their soules are in the bundle of life All they none but they Then shall enter into it no vncleane thing but onely they which are written in the Lambes Booke of life But now is it a Citie so pleasant and peopled vvith such inhabitants and hath it no Gouernours Yes God Iudex vniuersorum 〈◊〉 Iudge of all But here is more matter of feare then comfort wee may quickly offend this Iudge so be quite cast out of this Citie the very name of a Iudge implies terror No for it is the part of a iust Iudge Parcere subiectis debellare superbos to punish obstinate Rebels and to protect peaceable and obedient subiects Somewhat was said of adopted Citizens such as were strangers borne and by grace naturalized What manner of creatures are they that GOD hath admitted to dwell there Spirits Why Diuels are spirits No spirits of Men. But many men haue wicked spirits and shall such dwell there No the spirits of Iust men Why Solon Aristides Phocion Scipio were iust men they were morally iust but not truely iustified not perfected These are iust spirits made perfect How came they to be thus perfect By Iesus vvho was deliuered for our offences and was raised againe for our iustification What is this Iesus A Mediator Man was guilty God was angry how should they be reconciled A Mediator must doe it For this purpose Apparuit inter mortales peceatores immortalem iustum mortalis cum hominibus iustus cum Deo Hee appeared betweene mortall sinners and the immortall Iudge mortall with men iust with God so was a perfect Mediator Whereof Noui foederis of the new Couenant The old was forfeited a new one comes by him that renues all Not Doe this and liue but belieue on him that hath done it for thee liue for euer How is this Couenant confirmed It is sealed with Bloud How is this bloud applyed Aspergendo by sprinkling as the dore-posts sprinkled with the bloud of the Paschall Lambe caused the destroying Angel to passe ouer the Israelites So the aspersion of this immaculate Lambes bloud vpon the conscience shall free vs from the eternall vengeance But what 's the vertue of this bloud It speaketh better things then that of Abel That bloud cried for vengeance this cryes for forgiuenesse The voice of that was Lord see and iudge the voice of this is Father forgiue them they know not what they doe Thus briefely haue I paraphrased the Text. Now for methods sake in the tractation wee may consider generally these fiue points 1. There is a Citie Ierusalem the Citie of the liuing God 2. The situation whereon it is built Mount Sion 3. The Citizens who are Angels and men an innumerable company of Angels and spirits of iust men 4. The King that gouernes it GOD the Iudge of all 5. The Purchaser that bought it and gaue it vs Iesus the Mediator of the new Couenant But now the situation hath the first place in the words therfore challengeth the same in my discourse And indeed on good cause should the foundation goe before the building we first seek out a fit ground and then proceed to edifie on it Mount Sion Not literally that Mount Sion whereon Salomon built the Temple and Dauid his Palace That locall Sion became like Shiloh first exceedingly and superlatiuely loued afterwards abhorred and forsaken like the Tabernacle of Shiloh the Tent that he pitched among men This was threatned to that sacred place as a iust punishment of their rebellious profanenesse Therefore will I doe vnto this house
thy prisoners out of the pitte wherein is no water Set then the frost against the raine and you may goe in Purgatory dry-shod If there be nothing left but fire I make no question but there is not a sparke difference betwixt Purgatory and Hell I should narrow vp the scope and liberty of Gods spirit if I should heere tie my discourse to the letter Wee went through fire and through water It is an effect of our persecution and may thus be resolued we were by their malice driuen to great extremity Fire and water are two elements which they say haue no mercy yet eyther of them more then our oppressors The time was that a red Sea diuided the waters and gaue dry passage to the children of Israel and of God Whereof the Psalmist heere sings vers 6. Hee turned the Sea into dry land they vvent through the floud on foote there did wee reioyce in him And the fire in an Ouen whose heate was septupled touched not those three seruants of the Lord. But these more incensed and insensible creatures haue no mercy nor can they inuent a cruelty which they forbeare to execute Some translations haue it Wee went into fire and into water which extends their persecution to our deaths and comprehends the latitude of mortall martyrdome And thus vnderstood the next words of the deliuerance Thou broughtest vs out into a wealthy place must bee meant of our glory in heauen But the euident circumstances following deny that interpretation therefore I adhere to the last and best Translation Wee went through fire and through water Wherein two things may seeme to be imported and imparted to our consideration 1. We went They went so conueniently as they might and so conscionably as they durst from the hands of their persecutors 2. The hard exigents they were driuen to when to passe through fire and water was but a lesse euill compared with that they eschewed Per mare mactantes fugimus per saxa per ignes 1. From the former obserue that it may be lawfull in time of persecution to flie This was granted yea in some respects enioyned by Christ. But must be warily vnderstood and the rule in a word may bee this When our suffering may stand the Church of God in better stead then our flying we must then lose our liues to saue Gods honour and our owne soules To deny God this fealtie and tribute of our blouds when his glory hath vse of such a seruice at our hands is not onely to deny him that is his owne by many deare titles of creation which was ex spiritu oris by the breath of his mouth and of redemption which was ex sanguine cordis by the bloud of his heart But to withdraw this iustly required testimony is to betray and crucifie him and scarce inferior to their periury whose false witnesse condemned him In this we restore to God his talent with profit not only our owne soule he gaue vs but as many more as our example workes vpon and winnes to him When the people admired the great bounty of Iohn called Eleemosynarius he answered them O brethren I haue not yet shed my bloud for you as I ought to doe for my masters sake and testimony In the early morning of the world did Abel dedicate Martyrdome without example and the Lord did approue it by accepting Abels sacrifice and Abel for a sacrifice I haue read that a worthy Martyr of ours Dr. Rowland Taylor wrote first with inke after with his bloud that it is not enough to professe the Gospell of Christ ad ignem exclusiue but we must cleaue to it ad ignem inclusiuè This was an honor that Christ accepted presently after his birth the Holocaust or Heccatomb of many innocent infants murdered and martyred for his sake So that suffering for Iesus is a thing to which he promiseth an ample reward No man shall for sake parents or friends or inheritance or liuing or life for my sake but hee shall haue in exchange a hundred fold so much comfort in this life and in the world to come life euerlasting But all times and occasions yeeld not warrant for such a seruice Much lesse can the Seminaries dying in England for treason arrogate to themselues the glory of Martyrdome though a vicious affectation of it hath hartned and hardned them to such a prodigality of their blouds They come not to maintaine the verity of Scriptures but the vanity of Traditions the entangling perplexities of Schoolemen the obscure tetricall and contradictory assertions of Popes who commands them to steale that with their liues which not onely is in inuolued beeing but in future contingence whatsoeuer the Romane Church that is the Pope shall heereafter constitute or declare 2. From the latter words Through fire and water obserue that the children of God must not expect a gentle and soft entertainment in this world but hard exigents when to flie from their enemies they are faine to passe through fire and water Affliction for the Gospell is called by Paul the markes of the Lord Iesus The world often sets a man as those three seruants of God were set in Daniels Prophecie On the one side a harmony of sweet musike the Cornet Flute c. on the other side a burning furnace hette aboue ordinary seuen times Worship the Idoll and enioy the delight of musicke not worship it and be cast into the fiery ouen Ioyne with the world in his vngodly customes and the world will loue feast tickle your eares with musicke Separate your selues and it will hate you Ioh. 15. If you were of the world the world would loue his owne but because I haue chosen you out of the world therefore the world hateth you Thou shalt bee like Abrahams Ramme tyed in a bush of thornes from which thou canst not extricate thy selfe till thou be made a sacrifice I haue read that Caligula the Tyrant being dead there were found in his Closet Duo libelli one called a sword the other a dagger wherein many were by name prick'd for death and destin'd to it in the Emperours bloudy intention Presumptuous enemies so cast lots on a Nation before they haue it and talke of diuiding a spoyle ere they come at it Iudg. 5. Haue they not sped haue they not diuided the prey So the proud aduersary in that wonderfull yeare 88. that came with an Inuincible Nauy and implacable fury the Ensignes of whose shippes weâ—…e victoria victoria brought ready with them instruments of torture as if the Land of peace and mercy had in it no such engines of cruelty and swallowed downe an abundant hope of our desolation They threw at dice for our wiues and daughters lands and vineyards houses and heritages shires and kingdome They purposed to driue vs through fire and water but fire and water was their destruction Fire broke the sinewes of their combination and the waues deuoured both their hopes
Libera nos Domine wee are naturally downe do thou O Lord graciously raise vs vp 3. Wee must Arise before we can Goe First arise then goe thy way saith Christ. Hee that is downe may creep like a serpent cannot go like a man Thou art to sight with cruell enemies Not flesh and bloud but Principalities and Powers wicked spirits in high places Thou wilt performe it poorely whiles thou art along on the ground The flesh will insult ouer thee with vndenyed lusts Quicquid suggeritur caeteris aggeritur there is not a sinfull motion suggested but it is instantly embraced and added to that miserable dunghill of iniquity And is not this wretched to haue Chams curse vpon thee to be a slaue to slaues The world will hold thy head vnder his girdle whiles he tramples on thy heart thou shalt eate no other food then he giues thee he will feed thee with bribes vsuries iniuries periuries blasphemies homicides turpitudes none of these must be refused The deuill will tyrannize ouer thee thou canst hardly grapple with that great Red Dragon when thou art mounted like Saint George on the backe of faith Alas how shouldst thou resist him being downe vnder his feet Arise therefore and take the whole armour of God that you may both Stand and Withstand Arise lest God comming and finding thee downe strike thee lower From him that hath not shall bee taken away that he seemed to haue Pauper vbique tacet is a Prouerbe more plentifully true in a mysticall then temporall pouerty We say Qui iacet in terris non habet vnde cadat hee that lies on the ground hath no lower a descent to fall to yes there is a lower place Iudas found a lower fall then the earth when hee departed In locum suum into his owne place Such was that great Monarchs fall How art thou fallen from heauen O Lucifer how art thou cut downe to the ground This was a great descent from heauen to earth But ver 15. Thou shalt be brought downe to hell to the sides of the pit This was a greater descent from heauen to hell Wee esteeme it a great fall ceremonially from a Throne to a Prison and the deuill meant it a great fall locally from the Pinacle to the ground But there is Abyssus inferna a lower precipice Dauid beginnes a Psalme of prayer De profundis Out of the depths haue I cryed vnto thee O Lord. But there is a depth of depths and out of that deepe there is no rising Arise now lest you fall into that deepe then Arise for if thou wilt not thou shalt be raised Si non surrexeris volenter suscitaberis violenter If thou refuse to rise willingly thou shalt be rowsed against thy will If thou wilt not heare the first Surge which is the Ministers voice thou shalt heare the last Surge which is the Arch-angels voyce Dicis Surgam thou saist I will rise but when Modo Domine modò Anon Lord all in time Will not this be a silly excuse at the day of Iudgement I will rise anon Thou must rise in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last Trumpe Though thou cry to the Mountaines Fall on me and to the Rockes Hide me yet Nulla euasio thou must arise and appeare There are two voices that sound out this Surge one Euangelicall and that is of mercy yet we drowne this as Italians do thunder by Drums Bels Cannons The other Angelicall and that is of Iustice a voice vnpossible to be auoided This is that last Sermon that all the world shall heare Arise ye dead and come to iudgement Arise let vs now raise vp our selues from corruption of soule that we may one day be raised from corruption of body They that will not rise their soules must must and carry their bodies to iudgement This vvorld was made for man not man for this world therfore they take a wrong course that lye downe there He that lyes downe when he should arise and goe shall rise and goe when he would lie downe He that sleepes in the cradle of securitie all his life sinnes soundly without starting when he once starts and wakes he must neuer sleepe againe The deuill and mischiefe are euer watching and shal man whom they watch to hurt sleepe Hee that would deceiue the deuill had need to rise betimes The Lyon is said to sleepe with one eye open the Hare vvith both the worldling with both eyes of his soule shut He neuer riseth till he goes to bed his soule wakens not till his body falls asleepe on his death-bed then perhaps he lookes vp As sometimes they that haue been blind many yeeres at the approching of death haue seene whereof Physicians giue many reasons so the death-bed opens the eyes of the soule Indeed at that time there is possibilitie of waking but hazard of rising That poore winter-fruit wil hardly rellish with God Miserum incipete viuere cum definendum est It is wretched for a man then to begin his life when hee must end it It is at the best but morosa et morbosa panitentia a wearish and sick repentance wheras God requires a quicke and liuely sacrifice this is as sick as the person that makes it This indeed is not a Conuersion but a Reuersion or meere refuse To raise the secure from their vnseasonable vnreasonable sleepe God doth ring them a peale of fiue Bells 1. The first Bell is Conscience this is the trebble and doth somewhat trouble especially if the hand of GOD pulls it Many thinke of their consciences as ill Debtors doe of their Creditors they are loth to talke with them Indeed God is the Creditor and Conscience the Seriant that will meet them at euery turne It makes a syllogisticall conclusion in the mind Reason like Dauid drawes the sword and Conscience like Nathan knocks him on the brest with the hilts Dauid made the Proposition The man that hath done this shall dnee the death Nathan the Assumption Thou art the man Conscience the Conclusion Therefore thou must die If you heare not yea feele not the sound of this bell suspect your deadnesse of heart for that Citie is in danger where the Alarme-bell rings not 2. The second Bell is the Stint or certaine to all the rest Uox Euangelij the voice of the Gospell This Bell of Aaron is so perpetually rung amongst vs that as a knell in a great mortalitie quia frequens non terrens so cōmon that no man regards it Indeed if some particular clapper ring melodiously to the eare we come to please that rather then the soule Luxurient wits thinke the Scripture-phrase grosse nothing delights them but a painted and meretricious eloquence There are some that vvill not heare this Bell at all like Ieroboam they will not trauell to Ierusalem for a Sermon but content themselues with a Calfe at home Others looke that the Preachers tongue should incessantly walke but let their
be so invisible but the fruites of a good life will declare it Thus by degrees you see what is the right sauing faith As a Lapidary that shewes the buyer an orient pearle and hauing a little fed his eye with that outpleaseth him with a Saphyre yet out-values that with some Ruby or Chrysolite wherwith rauished he doth lastly amaze him with a sparkling Diamond transcending all Or as Drapers shew diuers cloathes of excellent colours yet at last for a Master-piece exceed all wiâ—…h a piece of Scarlet So there are diuers vertues like Iewels but the most precious Iewell of all is Faith And there are diuers degrees of faith as diuers coloured cloathes but the sauing faith is arrayed in the Scarlet robe hath dipped and died her selfe in the bloud of her Sauiour Iesus yet is she white pure white as the snow of Lebanon so are all that be washed in that red fountaine They haue washed their robes and made them white in the bloud of the Lambe Thy Faith This is the property of that faith that healed him his owne faith But how could Christ call it His faith when as faith is Gods gift It is indeed Datum so well as mandatum Commanded This is his Commandement that we should beleeue on the name of his Sonne Iesus Christ. So also giuen To you it is giuen in the behalfe of Christ to beleeue on him And This is the worke so well as the will of God that ye belieue on him whom he hath sent But this is not giuen without meanes as the woman of Tekoah said to Dauid GOD doth deuise meanes What 's that Faith comes by hearing Now when God hath giuen a man Faith he calls it his Thy faith for what is freer then gift So the Prophet calls it their own mercy They that wait on lying vanities for sake their owne mercy As the water in the Cesterne is said to be the Cesternes though it haue it from the fountaine But yet how doth Christ call it his faith had he a faith by himselfe There is one faith therefore not more his then others In regard of the Obiect vpon whom our faith reflects there is but one faith in regard of the subiect wherein faith resides euery one must haue his owne faith There is no saluation by a common faith but as all true beleeuers haue one and the same faith so euery true beleeuer hath a singular and indiuiduall faith of his owne Thy faith thine for two reasons to distinguish his Person from common men Faith from common Faiths 1. To distinguish his person from others the Nine had not this Faith They beleeued not but thou beleeuest Thy faith this declares him to be out of the common road Thoushalt not follow a multitude to doe euill that Bâ—…llua multorum capitum must not lead thee Some were deuoted to Christ but they could not come nigh him for the prease It was the multitude that rebuked the blind mans prayers As a riuer leades a man through sweet medowes greene woods fertile pastures fruit-loden fields by glorious buildings strong Forts famous Cities yet at last brings him to the salt Sea So the streame of this world carries along through rich commodities voluptuous delights stately dignities all possible content to flesh and bloud but after all this brings a man to death after death to iudgement after iudgement to hell Heare one of the Romists authenticall pleas for their Church falls to the ground vniuersality They pleade Antiquity so a homicide may deriue his murder from Cain They plead vnity so Pharises Sadduces Herodians combined against Christ. They plead vniuersality yet of the ten Lepers but one was thankfull The way to hell hath the greatest store of passengers Company is good but it is better to goe the right way alone then the broad with multitudes It is thought probably that at this day Mahometisme hath more vnder it then Christianity though wee put Protestant and Papist and Puritan and Separatist and Arminian and all in the scale to boote and that meere Paganisme is larger then both Where many ioyne in the Truth there is the Church not for the many's sake but for the Truths sake Saint Augustine teacheth vs to take Religion not by tale but by waight Numbers make not a thing good but the waight of truth Some are so manerly that they will not goe one steppe before a great man no not to heauen Many say with Hushai Whom the people and all the men of Israel chuse his will I be But they leaue out one principall thing which Hushai there put in as the prime ingredient Whom the Lord chuseth they leaue out the Lord. But Ioshua was of another minde Chuse youwhat gods soeuer you will serue I and my house will serue the Lord. The Inferiour Orbes haue a motion of their owne contrary to the greater good men are moued by Gods Spirit not by the Planetary motions of popular greatnesse Let vs prize righteousnes highly because it is seldom found The pebles of the world are common but the pearles of graces rare The vulgar streame will bring no vessell to the land of peace 2. To distinguish his faith from the common faith Thine another kinde then the Pharises faith To belieue the Word but traditions withal vera fides non pura fides is a true but not a pure faith To beleeue the Maior of the Gospell not the Minor Vera non sana fides is a true not a sound faith To belieue a mans own saluation how debauchedly soeuer he liues nec vera pura sana nec omnino fides is neyther a true pure sound faith nor indeed a faith at all but a dangerous presumption To belieue thy owne reconciliation by the merits of Christ and to strengthen this by a desire of pleasing God is a true found sauing faith and this is Fides tua Thy Faith Whosoeuer vvill goe to heauen must haue a faith of his owne In Gedeons Campe euery souldier had his own pitcher among Salomons men of valour euery one wore his owne sword and these were they that got the victories The fiue wise Virgins had euery one oyle in her owne lampe and onely these enter in with the Bridegroome Anothers eating of dainty meate makes thee neuer the fatter Indeed many haue sped the better for other mens faith so the Centurions seruant was healed for his masters sake As thou hast beleeued so be it done vnto thee But for the saluation of the reprobates Though Moses and Samuel stood before me saith the Lord yet my minde could not be toward such people Though Noah Daniel and Iob interceded yet they should deliuer but their owne soules by their righteousnesse Pious mens faith may often saue others from temporall calamities but it must be their own faith that saues them from eternall vengeance Lutâ—… was wont to say There is great Diuinity in Pronounes Thy faith One
through with reward Let the Philosophers stop their mouths Scelus aliquis tutum nemo securum tulit Some guiltie men haue beene safe none euer secure This euerie eye must see Let adulterie plead that nature is encourager and directer of it and that she is vniust to giue him an affection and to barre him the action yet we see it plagued To teach vs that the sin is of a greater latitude then some imagine it vncleane fedifragous periured Broad impudence contemplatiue Bauderie an eye full of whores are things but iested at the committers at last find them no iest when God powres vengance on the body and wrath on the naked conscience Let drunkennes stagger in the robes of good fellowship and shrowdit selfe vnder the wings of merriment yet we see it haue the punishment euen in this life It corrupts the bloud drownes the spirits beggers the purse and enricheth the carcase with surfets a present iudgement waites vpon it He that is a theefe to others is at last a theefe also to himselfe and steales away his owne life God doth not euer forbeare sin to the last day nor shall the bloudy Ruffian still escape but his owne bloud shall answere some in present and his soule the rest eternally Let the Seminary pretend a warrant from the Pope to betray and murder Princes and build his damnation on their tetricall grounds which haue Parum rationis minus honestatis Religionis nihil Little Reason lesse Honestie no Religion Yet we see God reueales their malicious stratagems and buries them in their owne pit Piercies head now stands Centinell where he was once a Pioner If a whole land flow with wickednes it escapes not a deluge of vengeance For England haue not her bowells groaned vnder the heauy pestilence If the plague be so common in our mouthes how should it not be common in our streets With that plague wherwith we curse others the iust God curseth vs. Wee shall find in that Emperiall state of Rome that till Constantines time almost euery Emperour dyed by treason or massacre after the receiuing of the Gospell none except that reuolter Iulian Let not sinne then be made a sport or iest which God will not forbeare to punish euen in this life 3. But if it bring not present Iudgement it is the more fearefull The lesse punishment wickednes receiues here the more is behind God strikes those here whom he meanes to spare hereafter and corrects that sonne which he purposeth to saue But hee scarce meddles with them at all whom hee intends to beate once for all The Almond tree is forborne them who are bequeathed to the boiling Potte There is no rod to scourge such in present so they goe with whole sides to hell The purse and the flesh scapes but the soule payes for it This is Misericordia puniens a greeuous mercie when men are spared for a while that they may be spilled for euer This made that good Saint cry Lord here afflict cut burnt torture me Vt in aeternum parcas that for euer thou wilt saue me No sorrow troubles the wicked no disturbance embitters their pleasures But remember sayth Abraham to the merry-liu'ed rich man Thou wert delighted but thou art tormented Tarditas supplicij grauitate pensatur and hee will strike with iron hands that came to strike with leaden feete Tuli nunquid semper feram no their hell-fire shall be so much the hoter as God hath beene coole and tardy in the execution of his vengeance This is a Iudgement for Sinne that comes inuisible to the world insensible to him on whom it lights To be giuen ouer to a reprobate mind to a hard and impenitent heart If any thing be vengance this is it I haue read of plagues famine death come temperd with loue and mercie this neuer but in anger Many taken with this spirituall lethargie sing in Tauernes that should howle with dragons and sleepe out Sabboths and Sermons whose awaked soules would rend their hearts with anguish Fooles then onely make a mocke at sinne 4. Sinne that shall at last be laid heauy on the conscience the lighter the burthen was at first it shall be at last the more ponderous The wicked conscience may for a while lie a sleepe but Tranquilitas ista tempestas est this calme is the greatest storme The mortallest enemies are not euermore in pitched fields one against the other the guiltie may haue a seeming truce true peace they cannot haue A mans debt is not payd by 〈◊〉 bring euen while thou sleepest thy arrerages run on If thy conscience be quiet without good cause remember that Cedat iniustissima pax iustissimo bello a iust warre is better then vniust peace The conscience is like a fire vnder a pile of greene wood long ere it burne but once kindled it flames beyond quenching It is not pacifiable whiles sinne is within to vexe it the hand will not cease throbbing so long as the thorne is within the flesh In vaine he striueth to feast away cares sleepe out thoughtes drinke downe sorrowes that hath his tormentor within him When one violently offers to stoppe a sourse of bloud at the nostril it finds a way downe the throate not without hazzard of suffâ—…cation The stroken deare runs into the thicket and there breakes off the arrow but the head stickes still within him and rankles to death Flitting and shifting ground giues way to further anguish The vnappeased conscience will not leaue him till it hath shewed him hell nor then neither Let then this Foole know that his now feared conscience shall be quickned his death-bed shall smart for this And his amazed heart shall rue his old wilfull adiournings of repentance How many haue there raued on the thought of their old sinnes which in the dayes of their hote lust they would not thinke sinnes Let not then the Foole make a mocke at sinne 5. Sinne which hath another direfull effect of greater latitude and comprehensiue of all the rest Diuinam incitat iram It prouokes God to anger The wrath of a king is as messengers of death what is the wrath of the king of kings For our God is a consuming fire If the fire of his anger be once throughly incensed all the riuers in the South are not able to quench it What piller of the earth or foundation of heauen can stand when he will wake them Hee that in his wrath can open the iawes of earth to swallow thee sluce out flouds from the sea to drowne thee raine downe fire from heauen to consume thee Sodome the old world Corah drunke of these wrathfull vialls Or to goe no further he can set at iarre the elements within thee by whose peace thy spirits are held together drowne thee with a dropsie bred in thy owne flesh burne thee with a pestilence begotten in thy owne bloud or bury thee in the earthly graue of thy owne melancholy Oh it is a fearefull thing to
ten Tribes come to Iudah not Iudah goe to them Ishbosheth to Dauid not Dauid to Ishbosheth The Gospell must be preached though hell breake out into opposition and we must keepe faith a good conscience though persecutors print in our sides the markes of the Lord Iesus 3. That the fruit of the Gospell is so farre from allowing carnall peace that it giues Dissention It hath euer beene the destinie of the Gospell to bring commotion trouble and warres though no doctrine teacheth so much peace Math. 10. I came not to sâ—…nd peace but a sword Not that the Gospell of it selfe causeth warres for it maketh peace betweene God and man man and man man and his inward soule but it ouerturneth the tables of the money-changers spoileth the Banke of vsurers will not let Herod keepe his Herodias barres Demetrius of his idolatrous shrines puls the cup from the mouth of the drunkard denounceth confusion to the oppressor vnuizardeth painted hypocrisie and discouers the vgly face of fraud to the world therefore it hath enemies euen to the effusion of bloud and endeuourd extirpation of all that professe it So that partly this proceeds from our owne corruption that cannot endure the light because our deedes are euill and partly from the malice of Sathan who by the growth of the Gospell looseth his Iurisdiction For looke how much ground Christianitie gettes that bloudie infernall Turke looseth So that neither can the Deuill so vncontrollably lead men to quiet damnation neither can the euill heart bee so securely euill For the Gospell informes the vnderstanding the vnderstanding tels the conscience and the conscience will not spare to tell men their wickednesse Though Gods hand forbeares to strike outwardly the conscience smites inwardly and the former vniust peace is broken by a new iust war Men shall by this meanes know hell before they salute it and discerne themselues in that broad way that leads to damnation Safe they may be they cannot be secure Thus the Gospell begets all maner of enemies forraine ciuill domesticall Forraigne the Deuill who now makes apparant his hornes as if it were high time to bestirre himselfe Hee sees he cannot lead soules to his blacke kingdome in a twine-threed as hee was wont without reluctancie he must clap irons vpon them and bind them with his strongest tentations Ciuill the world which erst ticed vs on as a baite doth the fish not knowing that there is a hooke so neere the iawes wee tooke it for a kind and familiar friend but now it is descried and described for a very aduersary Domesticall thy owne bosome is disquieted and thou must muster vp all the forces of thy soule to take the Traytour that lurkes within thee thy owne flesh This is a neare and a deare enemie yet we must fight against it and that with a will to subdue it denying our selues and forsaking our delighted lusts and pleasures The godly must be faine to sit like the Nightingale with a thorne against their brest If they scape conflicts abroad they are sure to haue them at home and if forraigne and profest aduersaries should giue ouer their inuasions yet this domesticall rebell lust must with great trouble be subdued After which spirituall combate our comfort is that in the end the victorie shall be ours It shall not haue rule ouer them that feare God neither shall they be burnt with the flames thereof Hence we learne fiue vsefull lessons 1. That we haue neede of Patience seeing we know that the law of our Profession binds vs to a warfare and it is decreed vpon that all that will liue godly in Christ shall suffer persecution When Fire which was the God of the Chaldeans had deuoured all the other wooden deitie Canopis set vpon him a Caldron full of water whose bottome was full of holes artificially stopt with waxe which when it felt the heat of that furious Idol melted and gaue way to the water to fall downe vpon it and quench it The water of our patience must onely extinguish this Fire nothing but our teares moderation and sufferance can abate it But this patience hath no further latitude then our proper respect for in the cause of the Lord wee must must be iealous and zealous Meam iniuriâ—…m patienter tuli iniuriam contra Sponsam Christi ferre non potui Our owne iniuries wee must bury in forgetfulnes but wrongs to the Truth of God and Gospell of Iesus Christ we must striue to oppose and appease Patience is intollerable when the honour of God is in dangerous question Otherwise we must consider that by troubles God doth trie and exercise our patience Ideo Deus misit in terram bonam separationem vt malâ—…m rumperet coniunctionem Therfore God sent on earth a good separation that he might dissolue an euill coniunction 2. That wee must not shrinke from our profession though we know it to be the fewell that maintains this fire Daniell leaues not his God though he be shewed the Lyons nor those three seruants their integritie and abomination of the Idoll though the heat of the fire be septupled Let the Pope spue out his execrations interdictions and maledictions for his holie mouth is full of curses yet keepe wee our faith it is better to haue the Pope curse vs then God His curse is but like Domitians thunder if you giue care to the crackes and noyse it seemes a terrible and hideous matter but if you consider the causes and effects it is a ridiculous iest Reuolt not from the Gospell from thy faith and innocencie and though he curse the Lord will blesse Balaam could say Quomodo maledicam ei cui non maledixit Dominus How shall I curse him whom the Lord hath not cursed Rash and headlong iudgement hurts not the person de quo temerè iudicatur against whom it is denounced but him that so indiscreetly iudgeth Qui conantur per iram aliena coereere gra uiora committunt To correct other mens errors in anger is to commit a greater error then theirs Let not the thunders of malignant opposers disharten thy zeale The iust shall liue by faith but if any man draw backe my soule shall haue no pleasure in him 3. That we thinke not much of the troublous fires that are thus sent to waite vpon the Gospell He that gaue vs that blessed Couenant meant not that wee should sticke at these conditions It is enough to haue this Passeouer though we eate it with sower herbes to enioy the Lillie though among thornes Let the Iewes fret and Deuils run mad and many giue ground to these persecutions yet say we with Peter Master whether shall we goe from thee thou hast the words of eternall life He is vnworthy of Gods fauour that cannot goe away contented with it vnlesse he may also enioy the fauour of the world It is enough to haue the promise of a Crowne albeit we climbe to it by the Crosse. The ancient Christians vsed to