outragioussy Mark 5.7 What haue I to doe with thee thou Iesus thou Sonne of the most high God I should sticke on this point Beloued which is a great stop to the progresse of the Gospell For when the Preacher brings the words of the wise you come not provided with the eares of the attentiue Every learner will bee a censurer and an offender a correcter All are gone out of the way there is not one that doth good no not one and yet as the Lord complaineth by his Prophet Hoseah no man must striue Hosea 4.4 or reproue another for the people are as they that striue with the Priest And is not this a iust cause why as here he taxeth Ephesus so our Saviour in like manner should haue somewhat against vs And because we may presume to expostulate with the Iewes in Malachi Cap. 1. Ver. 2.6 Wherein and wherein doe wee so much transgresse Let me thrust into this great Haruest a little farther my sickle to remember our naturall dulnesse with a therein therein Atheisme and flattery are eminent in the Court therein our Saviour hath somewhat against vs Sacriledge grates the Church Symonie is forced vpon the ministery therein and therein our Saviour hath somewhat against vs. In the whole Cōmonwealth whē vsury growes a vocation drunkennesse and whoredome the practice of good fellowship stabbing and swearing a note of resolution oppression a kinde of Iustice and tythes the Preachers portion the demaines of such men who commonly are worst affected to Church or Religion bee not herein and herein many somewhats which our Saviour may most palpably vrge against vs Ieremie's booke Chap. 36.8 Chap. 2.1 and Ezechiel's role written within and without cannot containe the particulars I might here descend vnto Somewhat might bee had against Husbands that suffer their wiues and children to be Recusants when they themselues can straine to professe any conformity Somewhat against wiues who cōmanded to hearken at home 1. Cor. 14.35 will needs bee Teachers abroad being Antichrists cheifest factors to vent his superstitions who should bee as the fruitfull vine vpon the house Psal 128.3 but proue the twining Ivie that plucketh downe the wall Somewhat against Magistrates and Officials who are luke-warme or false-harted in Gods cause to the deluding of good lawes and increase of superstition Somewhat against Reformers who busying their tongues most commonly in things that pertaine not to them disable themselues through faction to doe good in greater matters Beloued brethren paritie is not purity nor the wisest preaching the wrangling about ceremonies nor the vilifying of faulty Ministers the profitablest lesson the ignorant people can heare zeale may runne without discretion and doe more hurt then good Then straine at Gnats and tythe mint and cummin when thou hast reformed the greater breaches of the law And here if I should goe farther more might bee had against sacrilegious hypocrites who pretend purging and intend pilling who are sweeping Gods House and prying into every corner not to restore the groat that is lost but to take away the penny that is left Achan's stoning and Belshazzar's doome and Iudah's hanging might lesson these men sufficiently from such dangerous medling with consecreated things whereto the old Embleme may serue for illustration if thou snatch from the Lords Altar with the ravenous Eagle but a gobbet of a sacrifice to cramme thy young ones some coale perchance may sticke vnto it which brought to thy nest will set all on fire And to draw to an end in this point who seeth not what a great deale more might bee had against Parents for indulgence children for ryot masters for hardnesse seruants for vnfaithfulnesse young men for idlenesse old men for covetousnesse Tutors for carelesnesse Schollers for dissolutenesse Pastors for coldnesse and non-residence people for contempt and prophanenesse many for pride and luxury all for vnthankfulnesse who in so great plenty haue stored vp so little in such continued peace haue made so small profit vpon so good advantages haue gained no more ground of our adversaries Alas beloued with what nayles or goades shall I fasten this doctrine to our consciences Plenty peace meanes will all one day accuse vs for looking backe with Lots wife when wee should haue hastned forward which was the fault of Ephesus as the sequell sheweth wherein I will labour to prevent your wearinesse 13 Because thou hast left thy first loue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Rhemists giue it Because thou hast left thy first Charity Some Criticks put a difference betwixt dilection loue and Charity making loue more then dilection Polan syntag lib. 9. ca. 10. Illiricus as Cicero seemes to doe and Charity more then loue But this curiosity is here needlesse especially to set loue and charity by the eares which so well agree in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the originall The time permits mee not to sift things narrowly Not to trifle therefore on the word Loue according to Saint Augustine as Lumbard cites him in the 27. dist of the 3. of the Sentences is the most right affection of the minde by which God is loued for himselfe and our neighbour for and in God I include not here that incomprehensible loue which is in God or rather God himselfe essentially notionally and personally considered as the Schoolemen haue ventured to speculate but content my selfe with an habite infused by God effused in good workes Vid. Altenstaig in verbo charitas diffused amongst our neighbours Whose efficient end and obiect is God himselfe subiect mans heart fruits obedience patience and the not-seeking of our owne companions sincerity and constancie opposites distrust of our selues Diligens non diligenda aut aequè diligens quod minus vel amplius diligendum est aut minus vel amplius quod aequè diligendum est contra ordinem charitatis diligit Bonau Gabriel ibid. ex Aug. and a hard conceite of our brethren This loue is as orderly as forward and heedy as hasty in her proceedings For things not to bee beloued it loueth not things of different worth it loueth not alike things of equall esteeme it esteemeth not partially as Saint Augustine wittily observeth but aboue vs it findeth God in vs our owne soules besides vs our friends and enemies to spend its strength vpon Thus our Angell here of Ephesus began to doe and continued to doe for ought I finde objected For it followeth not thou hast runne into ill courses thou hast shaken off all goodnesse thou beginnest to bee hatefull and loathsome neither read wee absolutely as Ioachim Lyra In textum and the best Interpreters obserue Thou hast lost thy Charity no saith Thomas Ansbert and Richardus it was not the habit that was extinguished but some degrees slaked the fault was in the manner of doing thou hast not lost thy loue Aretius Brightman Viegas sect 7. Perer. in Apo c. 2. disp 5. but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 too true an
thou art reconciled vnto him For as the spirit of man it is an old Authors similitude neuer quickneth those members that are cut asunder or broken Serm. 2. ad fratres in Eremo vntill they be ioynted againe and set together so the spirit of God neuer giueth life to vs except wee be bound together in the bond of peace This prepareth vs to prayer which must be without wrath it fitteth vs to heare which must be with all meeknesse it prouideth vs for the Lords Supper 1. Tim. 2.8 Iam. 1.21 who accepteth no ghest without this Wedding garment Though thou speake with the tongues of men Angels Mat. 22.12 1. Cor. 13. hast the gift of prophesie knowest all secrets canst remoue moūtaines giuest thy goods to the poore and thy body to bee burned all this is but sounding brasse and tinkling Cymbals Vaunt of no such offerings at the Lords Altar before thou go and be reconciled to thy brother Go I say not expect when he will come vnto thee nor tarry till thou happen to meet him but seeke him out of purpose enquire for him commune with him And where thy presence cannot thy desire of peace saith Gregory must performe that office Satisfie him in thought Dialog l. 4. whom thy thoughts haue wronged in words make amends for thy injurious speeches as also for thy deeds let thy deeds recompence For why should our stubbornnesse so farre overmaster vs as to make our best services vnacceptable to our King and Master 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O the admirable benignity and vnspeakable goodnesse of God saith that golden-mouthed Father Chrysostome on this place Hee despiseth his owne worship to maintaine thy charity he will not be found of thee till thou hast sought this reconciliation Never pray come not at Sermons worship me not at all saith our Lord God what haue I to doe with your appointed feasts and solemne assemblies my soule hateth the oblations of such as foster or bring with them hatred in their soules Wherefore Beloved brethren let vs study to agree that wee may be beloued and feeke peace here that wee may enioy it in heaven Prou. 30.27 The very grashoppers can goe forth quietly altogether by bands as the wiseman telleth vs and the kingdome of Satan is not devided against it selfe Mat. 12.26 Now if you will farther know the party with whom wee are thus to agree it followeth Thy adversary which is the second circumstance I before proposed and commeth here in order to bee likewise handled 7 Agree with thine Adversary The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the originall is not so largely taken as adversarius in the Latine which may signify any kinde of enemy but rather as wee terme in English in our Law matters the plaintife in regard of the defendant or the defendant in respect of the plaintife to bee an adversary Adversarius litis saith Bellarmine in a passage vpon this place non iniuriae Lib. 1. de purgat c. 7. an Adversary not so much for an injury offered as in a triall to be had and therefore may not so properly bee expounded an enemy as a friend or neighbour of ours with whom wee haue a case in controversy What is answerable to this in the similitude divers are of divers opinions Some would haue this Adversary to bee the Divel Vid. Buccasen Enarrat in 5. Math. Beuxam Harmon Euing Tom. 2. pag. 20.2 Lib. 1. de serm Dom. in mont cap. 22. as Origen Euthymius Theophylact with whom we are to agree as S. Hierome expounds it by renouncing him wholy as our promise was in baptisme and so shaking him off that hereafter before the Iudge of heauen hee may haue no action against vs. But Calvin confutes this mainely following herein Saint Augustine whose argument is from the Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be friends or a well willer but betweene the Devill and vs there should be no such commerce or familiarity Others by adversary vnderstand the flesh This also liketh not Saint Augustine neither Saint Hierome who thinke it hard that the spirit should agree with the flesh which ever lusteth and rebelleth against it Saint Ambrose would haue this adversary to bee sinne But what peace or composition should be with that which wee are bound by all meanes to root out and extinguish Others therefore come neerer the truth as Athanasius Augustine Gregory and Beda who would haue this adversary to be either God or his law or our owne consciences And surely the best way it is for vs to curry favour with these whiles opportunity and time is granted vs. Yet I take the exposition of Hilary Anselme and Saint Hierome to bee more naturall for this place who goe no farther then the letter but by Adversary vnderstand Dominū litis quod est commune nomen vtrique parti litiganti as Tremelius notes on the Syriack word any man that hath ought against vs or we against him importing no other thing but that the offender should seeke and the offended embrace any Christianlike agreement without running to extremities Wherevpon I ground this generall doctrine That the going to lawe of Christians where a good end in private may be hoped for or had is contrary to that course of proceeding which our Saviour here prescribes in Iudiciall causes 8 A doctrine depending on the former but yet in such a sort that whereas there I insisted in generall vpon the matter to be fought here I declare in particular the manner how to finde it especially in such cases as breed the greatest jarres Wherein I would not be mistaken as though I went about to taxe such courses or vocations as our Common-wealth alloweth or held all publike trials before a civill Magistrate vnnecessary No my text cleane dasheth such Anabaptisticall conceipts wherein I finde an accuser a Iudge a Sergeant a Prison and all approved My purpose is therefore only to shew what mutuall moderation should be practised of vs all in our private differences and affaires For as not to agree in such dissolueth the bands of charity so in wickednesse to consent with any is felony treason or conspiracy Luk. 23.12 Prov. 1.14 So Herod Pilate were made friends Luke 23.12 but yet continued enemies to our Saviour Cut purses consent Prov. 1.14 but it is to doe a mischiefe and such cordes never hold longer then the strangling of their masters But our causes should be lawfull in which wee should agree and personall which wrong not estates and of that nature which need not so tedious a traversing Of which the Apostle speaketh 1. Cor. 6.7 1. Cor. 6.7 Now therefore there is vtterly a fault among you because you goe to law one with another why rather suffer you not wrong why sustaine you not harme See how earnestly he presseth that which our Saviour before had preached Mat. 5.40 Mat. 5.40 If any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coate
let him haue thy cloake also That is rather then seeke private revenge which belongeth vnto the Lord and not to thee bee content to lose a garment or more of thy temporall goods for he easily contemneth such saith Chrysostome who hopeth for eternall treasures in heaven In Mat. c. 5. hom 11. Gen. 39.12 Hee will leaue his garment with Ioseph in the hand of his mistresse to escape vnspotted with the vaile of honesty And if wee must forgoe such necessaries saith Saint a Side necessarijs imperatum est quantò magis superflua contemâ—ere conuenit Ser. Dom. in mont l. 1. Augustine as coat or cloke or the like for quietnesse sake how much more should we contemne things of lesser value especially at the command of such a Lord and Master who will certainely see we shall be no losers by it 9 This is counsell beloued of the Great Law-giver not varying with the times but as a law of the Medes and Persians that altereth not Hest 1.19 Which if we could be content to follow by curbing and overtopping our impatient affections would saue vs much travell great charges hot bickerings infinite discontents and ever end our causes to our truest advantage Plutarch in Pyrrh Wee read in Plutarch in the life of Pyrrhus of one Cyneas a man of great imployment about that King who vnderstanding that at the Tarentines entreatie the King his master was resolued to make war on the Romans tooke occasion to discourse with him in this sort It is reported O King saith hee that the Romans are great Warriers and haue large command of puissant nations put case wee overcome them what benefit shall wee get thereby Pyrrhus answered That is a question which few wise men would aske why then all Italy Greece are straight at our command Cyneas pawsing a while replied But when wee haue Italy and Greece what shall wee doe then Pyrrhus not finding his meaning Sicily saith he thou knowest is hard adjoyning to vs and very well may be our next conquest But hauing that quoth Cyneas shall our warres be ended That were a jest quoth Pyrrhus for who would not then to Affricke and so to Carthage the passage is not dangerous the victory assured True indeed saith Cyneas but when we haue all in our hands what shall wee doe in the end Then Pyrrhus breakes out a laughing We will then good Cyneas quoth hee be quiet and take our ease and make feasts every day and be as merry one with another as wee can possibly Then Cyneas hauing that hee would thus closeth with him and what letteth vs now my Lord to be merry and quiet together sith wee enioy that present without farther travell trouble which we are now a seeking with such bloudshed and danger and yet we know not whether ever wee shall attaine vnto it after that wee haue suffered and caused others to suffer infinite sorrowes and calamities The application is so manifest that I need not stand vpon it For aske but our contentious wranglers what they aime at by their going to Law and their vexing one another their answere can bee no other but to right themselues that at length they may liue quietly But quiet thy bosome-enemies at home whosoever thou art and thy cause shall bee ended before the action bee entred For through pride man maketh coÌ„tentions Prov. 13.10 Prov. 13.10 Couldst thou but once take order with this malitious affection Discordia filia inanis gloriae Greg. Mor. lib. 13. c. 31. Aquin. 2 a. 2 ae q. 37. art 2. Eph. 4.26 't were easy to compound with thy greatest adversary But thou canst not bee so base as to yeeld vnto him and yet wilt thou be so base as to yeeld vnto the Divell Harken to the blessed Apostle Let not the sunne goe downe vpon thy wrath Eph. 4.26 and it immediatly followeth Neither giue place vnto the Devill But thine adversary provokes thee to strife and thou canst not endure it But thy Saviour commands thee to agree and wilt not obey him But should I lose mine owne to buy his favour But wouldst thou wreake thy anger to lose a Kingdome Loue suffereth all things 1. Cor. 13.7 it beleeueth all things it hopeth all things it endureth all things it seeketh not its owne but the things that are of God If thy cause be good and thy conscience vnspotted thou hast an Advocate with the Father Iesus Christ the righteous 1. Iohn 2.1.2 This was the Kings Attorny that David retained plead thou my cause O Lord with them that striue with me Psalm 35.1 and fight thou against them that fight against me But wee must haue writ vpon writ and Action vpon Action to vndoe our selues that we may vex our brethren Eseck and Massah Meribah Gen. 26.20 Exod. 17.7 Esa 8.6 the waters of strife and contention are those we delight to drinke of the gentle Shiloah runneth too softly for our turbulent humours whose counsell doe we follow in this Beloved but his who was a liar and a murtherer from the very beginning Are we Sheepe of the Lords pasture and yet like Dogs Psalm 100. and Swine will be barking and biting one another Mat. 24.29 and shall that servaunt speed well at his masters comming Luk. 12.45 who is taken molesting and smiting his fellow-servants Hence therefore let Tale-bearers and those Attournies learne who set neighbours together by the eares and egge them onward to contentions whose Apparitours and Agents they bee For if blessed bee the Peace-makers Mat. 5.9 for they shall be called the children of God then cursed be such Brawle-makers for they shall be called the Children of the Divell Mat. 5.9 But of you deare Christian brethren I am perswaded better things you haue learned of the Wise man Prov. 17.14 Prov. 17.14 that the beginning of strife is as the opening of waters which will quickely drowne if they bee not stopped Take vp therefore such contentions as now or at any time shall arise amongst you conferre together lay aside all malice vse the helpe of your neighbours and all other good lawfull meanes What is it so that there is not a wise man among you No not one that can iudge betweene his brethren But a brother goeth to law with a brother as the Apostle complaineth of the Corinthians 1. Cor. 6.5 and I may adde most commonly for a matter of small moment Rather make a friend of thy adversary to ioyne with thee in league against thy spirituall enemies and that effectually and that quickly without any farther prolonging which is the third circumstance I observed in the precept will quickly here by Gods grace your ChristiaÌ„ patience indevour to run it over 10 Agree with thine adversary quickly Maturè saith Castalion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 citò say the other interpreters all coÌ„meth to one seasonably or presently the present being ever most seasonable Because in actions of
they might proceed in their powder-proiect seeing in the blowing vp of the King and Protestants divers also of the Papists must necessarily goe the same way replies very profoundly that no doubt it might well be done seeing it should redounde to the good of the Catholique Church And this Eudaemon defends with great earnestnesse Which puts mee in minde of a story related by Platina in the life of Iohn the foure and twentieth when one Facinus Canis was hired by the Gibellines to suppresse their contrary factions of the Gwelphes in the city of Papia and the covenant was that hee should haue the goods of the Gwelphes for his pay Hee obtaining the victory falls a rifling of the Gibellines also without distinction and being accused therefore as not standing to his promise replies That themselues indeed were Gibellines and should be safe but their goods were Gwelphes and must goe to wrack as well as those of their adversaries So assure your selues Beloued if Italians and Spaniards should once come which God of his infinite mercy forbid to compose the differences betweene vs our home-bred Recusants howsoeuer our blood should pay for it yet their estates might perhaps be confiscated as infected by our heresy Garnets decision would be of force such matters must not be stood vpon when the good of the Catholique cause is thereby advanced O that religion should ever be made a cloake for such atheisticall practises What hard measure had beene offered by our King and State that these traytours should bee so exasperated Were they hurried to the fire as in Queene Maries daies or was there a new Inquisition erected in imitation of that of Spaine with tortures and racks to rectify them Nay were they not tolerated at a small rate or none at all to enioy their possessions and liberty graced with titles of Honour admitted to be about His Maiesty and haue the protection of his lawes without any violence offered From whence then came the powder-plot but from the devill himselfe the malice of the whore of Babylon which delighteth to carouse in blood But God hath snared the wicked in the worke of his owne hands the snare is broken we are deliuered Isaih 47. Come down therefore sit in the dust sit on the ground sit silent O daughter of Babylon Is not thy nakednes vncovered thy shame seene art thou not taken in the crafty wilinesse that thou hast imagined O that our poore besotted recusants would but be brought to an ingenuous examination of these things whether it were likely they would lead them to heauen who devise and allow of such powder-stratagens from Hell Whether true Religion hath beene euer advanced by such bloudy and treacherous snares and engines Then would they surely afford their Higgaion Selah to celebrate with vs this day this thrice-happy Deliverance Which is the duty left for vs in the last place to conclude with 9 Higgaion Selah Few words and obscure yet importing more matter then could be well expressed in any other tongue And therefore as they are omitted in the Greeke and vulgar Latine as also in our Church-booke translation by reason of their obscurenesse and remotenesse from popular capacities especially in a continuate reading without interpretation so are they faithfully restored by our last Translatours as integrall parts of the text which are not to bee left out though the greatest skill of the Learned may be stagger'd at their meaning Needelesse therefore was the exception of some Critikes to our Church-Booke for not reading commonly those words to the people seeing they haue them otherwise in a more exact translation and reserved to the exposition of a learned Preacher Some there be that slight both the words as interiections expressing only a sudden passion vnder an imperfect sense But others diue deeper whom we haue good reason to follow Higgaion is but twise besides in this place found in the Scripture and that onely in the Psalmes once in the 19. Psalme Let the words of my mouth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the meditation of my heart be alwaies acceptable in thy sight Vers vlt. O Lord my strength and my redeemer And againe in the 92. It is a good thing to giue thankes vnto the Lord Vers 3. and to sing prayses to thy name O thou most high To shew forth thy louing kindnes in the morning thy faithfulnes every night 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vpon an instrument of tenne strings and vpon the Psalterie vpon the Harp with a solemne sound The word Selah wee haue 92. times but Higgaion and Selah together onely in this place which argueth more then an ordinary rejoycing proportioned to the Prophets deliuerance which out of doubt was extraordinarie All that I read deriue the word Higgaion from the root 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth to publish with the mouth to meditate with the heart to rowze vp all the faculties with the most serious intention Agreeable to this is the word Selah either from the root 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as R. Kimchi would haue it to lift vp to rayse properly a way to make it more passable or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to tread downe to make plaine To the same purpose Avenarius sayes that in all the Commentaries of the Rabbines he could obserue no certaine signification of this word and Buxtorfius is of the minde that it signifieth nothing but onely a tone peculiar to the Musitians of those dayes It were endlesse to heape vp all varieties which either word breedeth among the learned Iunius makes both joyned in this place to signifie rem meditandam summe a matter to bee especially thought on Vatablus with the Rabbines and the Chalday Paraphrase extend it to an everlasting Meditation They that restraine it to song or instruments differ not in a manner from them vpon the point for that which the former obserue in the subiect they afford vs in the tune All concurre in this That the greatest deliuerances are to bee celebrated with the greatest thanksgiuing no cheerefullnesse must be wanting no laudable solemnity of musicke assembling feasting congratulation neglected in performing such religious duties Private and daily or ordinary blessings may bee privately and daily or ordinarily recounted at least with a single Selah a stirring or chearing vp of our particular devotions but for such deliverances as that of Eighty eight and this publike and extraordinary freeing of the Church the whole State the preseruation of the King Queene Prince all the Nobles all the Iudges the Reverend Clergy and Lawyers the Worthies of all our Country and Corporations vpon the point to be blowne vp and dismembred by the Divels engine together with the vtter desolation of so flourishing a Kingdome here a Higgaion Selah must be joyned together Halleluiahs added vnto it Trumpets and Shalmes must be winded aloud Asaph's and Iedithun's must shew their skill new songs new cantica canticorum whole new sets of cāticles Mictham's Mismor's
Davids practice Ieremies Lamentations and our Saviours weeping for Lazarus and over Ierusalem are warranted to be Heroicall We haue more sinnes Beloued to bewaile but fewer teares to shead greater occasion to hide our faces but lesse contrition to doe it many Physitians shall bee first fee'd before this remedy bee thought vpon that Hezekiah prayed vnto the Lord. 6. Hee prayed Simon Magus had not the grace to pray himselfe but the face to intreat others I make no doubt but here the Prophet Isaiah prayed the Priests prayed the Courtiers and people prayed all were good helpes and it was their dutie yet this sufficeth not Hezekiah except hee pray himselfe hee could best plead his owne cause and commence his owne suit and haue the better audience But to whom doth hee pray Popery was not then on foot to pray to Saints departed before their images or buying Masses or applying reliques Isaiah had instructed them better that Abraham was ignorant of them and the Brazen Serpent was broken downe by the Kings command and called Nehushtan that no such praying should be vsed vnto it Hee prayed therefore as the text hath it vnto the Lord and none other him hee had onely offended his mercy hee had ever found ready his power hee was assured of he alone throughly knewe his wofull case and therefore not as much as dreamed of the mediation of any other The forme of his prayer is set downe in the twentieth of the 26. of Kings and Esay the 38. in the same wordes to teach vs to regard that the more which the Holy Ghost vouchsafeth so precisely to repeat From whence if our Puritans hope to drawe any instance for their extemporary brabbling and brawling against our set formes of prayer the text will shew them as repugnant to Hezekiah herein as commonly they are otherwise to all their lawfull Superiours For his prayer here was on his bed vpon his particular and extraordinary necessity they must vent theirs in the Church where no such occasion is offered to the excluding of better formes then their best premeditation can affoord vs. Hezekiah turned his face to the wall that this particular request of his might not bee heard or disturbed The gift of these men is vnder-valued if their proselytes be not about them to applaud and admire it More tolerable therefore it were that they troubled not the Church more by their prating then they helpe it by such praying In this case if their conceits were not too fleeting they might consider that prayer is of two sorts Publique or private Publique may be either solemne in the Church or more retired in a familie or some other occasioned assembly Now to thrust in here with sudden and vnconcocted flashes were not only to crosse Scripture Fathers and the continuall practice of all Christian Assemblies that euer deserved the name of Churches but also to abuse such Holy meetings by hindring the concurrence of devotions in knowne petitions wherein they ought to joyne and the saying Amen to that they must be sure is warrantable Private prayers I confesse are of another nature wherein divers notwithstanding may bee holpe what to say and directed what to aske by publike formes though such particulars may often fall out in regard of personall grievances sinnes or benefits that may dictate as it were an ejaculatory prayer as the occasion shall bee offered Such was Hezekiah's here and such were to be wished more rife among all sorts of people Notable examples herein wee haue of Iacob O Lord God of my Father Abraham and God of my Father Isaack Gen. 32.9 The Lord which saidst vnto me Returne into thy Countrey and to thy kinred and I will deale well with thee I am not worthy of the lest of all thy mercies all the truth which thou hast shewed vnto thy servant For with my staffe I passed over this Iordan and now I am become two bands Deliuer me I pray thee from the hand of my brother from the hand of Esau for I feare him So Sampson vpon his resolution to dye O Lord God saith he remember me Iud. 16 28. I pray thee and strengthen me onely this once O God that I may bee at once avenged of the Philistims for my two eyes And what are the most part of Davids Psalmes but a contexture of such heavenly wishes aptly composed for his owne vse and the direction of others that expect the same protection O how would it become the conversation of Christians in stead of corrupt communication and blasphemous oathes and cursings to haue their mouthes filled with such Prayses and Prayers How well doe such speeches sound from the mouthes of good subiects God saue the King or Giue the King thy Iudgements O Lord and thy righteousnes vnto the Kings Sonne In the warlike raigne of David wee haue a large description in Scripture of Captaines and Worthies but in Solomons succeeding Peaceable government of stately buildings notable examples of Iustice flourishing of the Arts trafficking with forraine Nations and the like All which are the extraordinary blessings of God and by his disposall haue their turnes and periods which most commonly are found in the body as the head is affected Where a King therefore makes the Lords Prayer the best Prayer the subject of his meditations with what face may subiects be backward in following such directions Hezekiah as wee all know wanted not titles nor treasure nor friends nor any other good parts that might grace a man and yet heere wee see in the vpshot of extremity his onely refuge is Prayer And this brings him to the speech of the Physitian which recouered him For when he had prayed vnto the Lord the Lord spake vnto him and hee gaue him a signe Where we haue the last words of my Text and third member of my division pointing at the Physitian and the course he tooke 7. And he spake vnto him and hee gaue him a signe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at sundry times and in divers manners hath it pleased the Lord of heaven to speake to men here vpon earth by his Sonne by his servants by Angels by men internally externally in dreames by open visions as Suarez vpon Aquinas's third part quest 30. Peucer in his commentary of the divers kinds of divination Mencelius in a peculiar tract of the knowledge of God doe at large declare This speaking here to Hezekiah was by Isaiah the Prophet as the text 2. Kings 20. clearely sheweth And as the extremity was great and vrgent so this speaking was quicke and comfortable in these most gracious tearmes Turne againe and tell Hezekiah 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Captaine of my people Thus saith the Lord the God of Dauid thy Father I haue heard thy prayer I haue seene thy teares Behold I will heale thee on the 3d day thou shalt goe vp vnto the house of the Lord. Could there be better newes to a dying man Yet this is not all I will adde saith he vnto thy
also Heresies Thirdly their seat and nest where they are hatched and reside In the midst of the church There must be also heresies amongst you Must implyeth a necessity Necessity hath no law no law Rom. 4.15 1. Iohn 3.4 no transgression sayth the Apostle no transgression no sinne By this reckoning then it will come to this that heresies are no faults as proceeding rather from Gods appoyntment then mans perversity Chrysostom Theodoret. Oe cumenius The Greeke Fathers answere that this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 oportet which wee render Must imports not any determination of God what shall be Gemina necessitas 1. judicij Dei seu disponentis 2. ex qualitate seu dispositione eorum qui in illa Ecclesia conveniebant Musculus in locum but a foretelling what would bee that notes the event not the efficient cause This necessity therefore sayth Salmeron the Iesuite is not to be taken simply but vpon supposall of mans perversnesse and Gods permission Hee might haue added the Divels setting on mens negligence and infirmityes and naturall propensity to novelty Which causes alwayes remaining the effects must needs follow except God of his infinite grace and power please to stop them which oftentimes he doth when and where and in what measure he holds it fit Not alwayes nor absolutely because his wisdome hereby takes the hynt to turne all to the best for his Church and Children So that Heresies which in regard of men are frailtyes and faults in respect of God are a tryall or punishment shall there be evill in the city Amos. 3.6 and the Lord hath not done it sayth the Prophet Our Saviour turnes this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 oportet Math. 18.7 into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 necesse est Necessary it is that offences come but woe vnto the man by whom the offence commeth Doth it come of necessity and yet bring a woe with it Our Saviour sayth it and we must beleiue it And all this will stand well together For as this is to bee taken for an infallible ground that all things come to passe by God certaine eternall appoyntment otherwise his infinite wisdome providence power and prescience might be prophanely cald in question So this is ever to bee conceiued withall that all things come not to passe as proper effects of his appoyntment but some as necessary consequences The consideration of which difference well vnderstood would satisfy divers scruples and make that evident which many hold most perplexed For that is not alwayes the cause sayth Cicero that goes before but that which goes before effectually Would any man say that the absence of the Sunne is the cause of darknesse as its presence is the cause of light Darknesse is but the consequence of his absence light the effect of his presence In like manner all good is the effect of Gods appoyntment all ill a consequent So heresies here then are not by any act of God but by his sufferance they follow They are effected necessarily by their proper causes the Divells malice and mans perversnesse which God hindereth not but ordereth to sort that to good which was meant ill Vid. Aqu. in locum Encheirid For God is so good it is a known saying of S. Augustin that by no meanes hee would permit any evill except he were also so wise and powerfull that out of that very evill he could picke good 7. It but agravates therefore our faults to cast them vpon God and to excuse our selues by necessity when we doe that which is wicked Wicked man vnderstand this that Gods revealed will in his word is the rule of thy actions and not his secret decrees which thou knowest not before they take effect David was told by Nathan the Prophet 2 Sam. 12.14 that his child borne in adultery should surely dye notwithstanding he fasteth and prayeth and lyes vpon the earth for hee knew these were the revealed meanes for pacifying Gods anger And afterwards instructs his servants that wondred at his carriage in that businesse while the child was yet aliue Vers 22. saith he I fasted and wept for I sayd who can tell whether God will be gratious vnto me that the child may liue but now he is dead it is past remedy Gods will is manifested wherefore should I fast It is one thing Beloued to consider how reverently wee are to thinke and beleiue of Gods infinite attributes and another thing what we are to doe according to his ordinance He by his prerogatiue may doe what he pleaseth but wee by our duty must performe what hee commandeth vs. When S. Peter commanded to follow our Saviour Iohn 21.21 would needs know what should become of Iohn who also followed hee receiued from his Master this checke for his curiosity If I will that he tarry till I come what is that to thee follow that me I would to God sayth a good interpreter this saying were so ingrauen in all mens minds Vtinam haec sententia omnium animis insculpta esset vt vnusquisque disceret in suam vocationem respicere Brentius apud Marlorat Deut. 30.29 Iohn 15.15 that every one would haue an eye to their owne calling and not be impertinently prying into things that belong not to them Secret things belong to the Lord our God it was one of the cheife proviso'es of Moses law but those that are revealed to vs and to our children that wee may doe all the words of thè law The servant knoweth not what his Lord doth It is not for vs to runne on in our wickednesse and to say with that desperate Monke in S. Augustine De hono perseu l. 2. c. 15. whatsoeuer I am now Talis ero qualem me Deus futurum esse praesciuit I shall be hereafter as God foresees I shall be He sayd true sayth that good Father but ended like a dogge in his own vomit For it is the Divells method to set a man on a pinnacle Math. 4. and bid him cast himselfe downe headlong Luke 14.10 but our Saviour directs vs to beginne at the lowest seate that thence we may heare Friend sit vp higher We must ascend then from the survay of our owne fayth and workes to the most comfortable perswasion of Gods immutable decrees and favour towards vs not beginne with predestination and end in desperation For would it not proue a mad kind of Logicke to make an inference vpon premisses which can be no way knowne How can wee coniecture that wee are elected or reiected but by that We belieue and doe If then our hearts be good and hands cleane and our intent sincere then God hath decreed to doe vs good for our encouragement But if otherwise we are not yet altogether past hope seeing it is impossible for vs to know any such perēptory decree which is past against vs but haue the meanes left to better vs the Iudge mercifull examples many of convertants receiued into favour If we can
more famous then that for goodnes and Integrity And in what haue wee read in succeeding age of the like abominations Who more proud then some of their Popes and Cardinalls and who more stupidly deboisht then some of their Friers Anachorites Few haue generally more learning then the Iesuits and commonly few more Ignorance then their common Masse Priests Their Cleargy and Monkes must not marry to avoid pollution yet concubines and somewhat worse shall finde Advocates to plead for them and Indulgences to allow them A Nunnery and a stewes the silent Carthusian with the Capuchine an frollick Iacobine the Neat Iesuit and the nasty Franciscan shall finde a ioynt entertainement in the large lappe of Mother Church The Souldier shall haue his sword the Melancholy his Cell the Superstitious his Beades and bayre cloath the dissolute his pardon and absolutions the incestuous his dispensation the Scholler his Library and the Ambitious his preferment Every humour shall be pleased to giue all content that all may speake for them So that I may well conclude as the Oratour did of Catiline Cic. pro Coelio There had never beene that advantage gotten vpon the Common-wealth of Rome as it then stood Nisi tot vitiorum tanta immunitas quibusdam facilitatis patientiae radicibus niteretur And so it was impossible that the Pride incroaching and Tyranny of the Pope and his Complices should haue put the Church of God to such a plunge but that they masked all their villanies with a varnish of devotion and humility 6 But this is not that humility which the Apostle makes the groundworke for true exaltation The Prophet David advanced from a sheephooke to a scepter hits right vpon it Lord I am not high minded Psal 131. I haue no proud lookes I doe not exercise my selfe in great matters which are too high for me but I refraine my soule aad keepe it low as a child that is weaned from his mother yea my soule is even as a weaned child Such a child our Saviour set in the midst of his disciples Math. 18. that contended for superiority and lesson'd them vpon it Mat. 18. Verily I say vnto you except ye be converted and become as litle children ye shall not enter into the kingdome of heaven S. Augustine discussing the poynt why simple people in primitiue times were more forward to receiue Christianity then the learned Phylosophers renders this for the apparant reason Quia Christus humilis Illi autem superbi Because Christ was humble and meek but they supercilious and presumptuous This 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as S. Basil termes it haughty and contemptuous carriage in Augustine the Monke Epist 10. when he came to treat with our playner Brittish Bishops Bed Eccles Hist l. 2. c. 2. breakes off all Christian communication betweene them to the great distraction and almost destruction of the poore Church in this I le And I pray God the like causelesse strangenesse and statelinesse of some so different from Apostolicall humility to their meaner and weaker brethren haue not made more Schismatiques and as we call them Puritans then all the vantages that could bee evertaken against gainst the sacred order of our Reverend Bishops or any part of our Church-discipline or ceremonies Tell yee the daughter of Sion Behold thy King commeth vnto thee meeke and sitting vpon an Asse Zach. 9.9 but now most of this meeke Kings followers will stomacke to be so meanly mounted Pride makes vs ashamed of our humble Masters lowlinesse we like well of the promised Crowne but shunne the burden and yoke that leads vnto it Enter wee would willingly into the heavenly mansions but had loth striue and stoope to contract our selues and bow at the streight gate But alas Beloued what finde we in our selves to make vs proud or obserue in others that we should much envy or despise them Our roote taynted our birth lamentable all the dayes of our Pilgrimage few and evill not assured so much of any thing as of infinite vncertaintyes Those that haue most may quickly part with it and those that know most vnderstand not their own ignorance we forget that which is past stagger at the present and ambiguously expect that which is to come What a presumption therefore is it to talke of merits supererrogation naturall abilityes to doe all or more then is required or the like No Beloued our approches to Gods tribunall must be by humble Petition with feare and trembling in regard of our owne vnworthinesse Abraham hath taught the way Gen. 18. Behold now I haue taken vpon me to speake vnto the Lord which am but dust and ashes Come let vs worship and fall downe kneele before the Lord our maker Iacob treads the same path O God of my father Abraham God of my father Isaac I am not worthy of all thy mercyes and all the truth Gen. 32. which thou hast shewen vnto thy servant Deut. 26. Moses hath a forme for it A Syrian ready to perish was my father and he went downe into Egypt and soiourning there with a few there was evill intreated thence was with a mighty hand deliuered now brings vnto thee O Lord the first fruits 2 Sam. 15. which thou hast given me David most Pathetically practised it in his flight from Absolon If I shall finde favour in the eyes of the Lord thus and thus will he doe as it there followes But if hee say thus I haue no delight in David behold here I am fiat voluntas tua let him doe to me as it seemeth good vnto him Such bruised reedes such smoaking flaxe such broken and contrite hearts Humbling and prostrating and begging and by such meanes offring violence to the kingdome of Heaven the bowells of the tender compassion of the most highest will not breake quench or despise But shew his strength in their weaknesse by extending his mighty hand which assureth the Patrones ability in the next place to be considered 7 Humble your selues therefore vnder the mighty hand of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As it abateth our presumption to finde our selues vnderlings so the mighty hand of God must needes make vs confident This Might appeareth in a twofold manner first in plucking downe those who proudly exalt themselues next in exalting the humble against all oppositions Whence God is said by some to haue two hands the one to depresse the other to lift vp Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezar felt the first and the Church distressed by them the second The Bush may bee on fire but consumeth not the heat of the furnace seaven fold augmented yet sindgeth not the vpper garments of the children cast into it whom the mighty hand of God protecteth Whence we may safely gather that God hath inough in store to guard and supply all suiters to their full content To make this good vnto vs who are too much bent by nature to dote vpon our owne plots and to distrust any
successe we apprehend no evidence for in the second causes the Attribute of Father Almighty is set in the forefront of our Creed as the primò creditum the first principle to bee taught and learned in religion To assure vs at the first entrance that as God is our Father and therefore willing so hee is also Almighty and therefore able to giue vs what wee want and to augment what hee hath given vs and to furnish vs further with whatsoeuer hee shall see convenient for vs. Surely as an earthly Prince will hardly afford him a kindnesse that shall question his ability or authority so much lesse will the king of kings be bountiful to those that make a doublt of the All-sufficiency of his mighty hand This appeared by his expostulation with Moses distrusting how more then 600000 should bee provided for with flesh in the wildernesse Num. 11. Is the Lords hand waxed short Thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to passe Reinforced in Isaias Chap. 5. Is my hand shortned at all that it cannot redeeme or haue I no power to deliuer Math. 9. whence our Saviour indents with the blind men before he cure them Beleiue that I am able to doe this There needes no further proofes to iustify a truth so confessed Vnthankfull men may sacrifice to their owne nets Iob. 22. proud men may set their nests in the tops of Cedars and pile vp mountayne vpon mountayne with Gyants to beleiger heaven But I will stretch out my hand vpon thee sayth God and rowle thee downe from the rockes Ib. 51. The right hand of the Lord will haue the preheminence the right hand of the Lord bringeth mighty things to passe Psal 118. At his stroake the heads of Dragons and Leviathans flye in peeces and what can ward the blow when this mighty hand is whirled about to take vengeance This doctrine Beloued as it is best for direction to bee sure to speed so it ministreth the like comfort to encounter any crosse that may thwart vs. S. Iames so ioyneth in one verse this submission to Gods mighty hand with our resisting the Divell as though the fayling in the first were the falling into rebellion by the second Wherevpon hee calls vpon the double minded sinners to cleanse their hands and purifye their hearts and so humble themselues in Gods sight that not only doing but speaking ill of another should be vtterly bannished from amongst Christians 8 This wee acknowledge to be true and like the Apes in the fable arrayed in mans apparell can daunce our measures at times very demurely but the least oportunity of commodity or competition for preferment as nuts cast in among them sets vs all a scrabling Ioab for ought we finde loved his cosen Amasa well enough before he had the place of Captayne of the host which he conceiued belonged to himselfe but afterward hee never rested till he treacherously layd him at his feete So far is the mighty hand of God forgotten in matters of revenge and in emulation we talke of Gods mighty hand but walke as the world leades vs. Fowre faults in this behalfe especially haue beene ever here declaimed against but yet finde continuall entertaynment sometimes by those especially who would seeme most to oppose them Flattery and Bribery to make our owne markets calumniating and supplanting to marre other mens The first most commonly passeth smoothly vnder the veile of discreet obseruance The second is either excused by equivocating or commended as a provident or civill kind of thankfullnesse The third is borne out vnder pretence of zeale to the common cause and the last is made as it were an exercise pro forma to passe from one degree to an other Thus when Gods mighty hand should lead vs and his rod and staffe direct vs we slip as much as in vs lyeth from betweene his fingers Every disciple for his vantage will outrunne Peter and rather then fayle offer with Simon Magus or driue the bargayne with Iudas whatsoeuer curse or Acheldama may be purchased by it But when all our plottings and shiftings and shewes and shouldrngs are out of breath this mighty hand of God will alwayes prevayle to the shame of those that oppose it If it appeare not in the beginning but let men runne along it will bee manifest in the end to the astonishment of all contemners O that flesh and bloud therefore would seeke no further but rest contented to bee wholly guided by this mighty hand of God! That we would bend our wits and vse all manner of effectuall policyes to be neare and deare vnto this patrone who hath every moment enough in store to furnish vs and will fit vs better then our owne hearts can imagine Ioseph by this policy only came to bee a Prince in Egypt Samuel to bee a Iudge David a King Hester a Queene In such cases the man of God told old Eli whereto hee should trust Those that honour me sayth God I will honour and those that despise me 1 Sam. 2. howsoeuer in the eye of the world they flourish for a season in the end shall bee as the grasse on the house top Psal 129. whereof the mower filleth not his hand nor the passenger wisheth them good lucke Now if experience tell vs that these are tried cases our conscience tell vs that these things are true and that other courses are but vagrant that here lyes the certayntie what vnaduisednesse wil it then prooue in vs Beloued to shunne or oversee so direct and streight a path to involue puzzle our selues in endles inextricable Labyrinths Where our vnguided ambitious designes draw on vnnecessary troubles troubles finde crosses Crosses Cares Cares discōtentmēts leaue vs to vntimely diseases or vnwelcome old age that to a disquieted cōscience that to death that to an vnauoydable reckoning And then perchance this hand of God wil be as terrible to strike as now it is mighty to doe vs good 9 Last of all this doctrine may season vs with patience to take all in good part that may befall our selues and not to murmure or repine at any advancement of others but settle at length vpon the Apostles moderation that in what estate soeuer wee are therewith to bee content It was a cutting message that Samuel brought his Master Eli 1 Sam. 3. that his ruine should not bee prevented nor his house purged by sacrifice or offerings for ever But what was the humble mans answeare It is the Lord let him doe whatsoeuer seemeth good vnto him Whatsoeuer his mighty hand disposeth wee must bee content Ioseph had the vantage to be quits with his bretheren that sold him after his fathers death and they shrewdly feared it but considering the mighty hand of God had turned their malice to his advancement what an admirable resolution haue wee from him fit to bee thought vpon of all great ones when ye thought evill against me God meant it good