come safe to Moab and there to liue till they got fauour and dwelling and also maintenance was a singular fauour of the Lord towards both that howsoeuer they were afflicted yet they were not lefte destitute And this teacheth vs that in al our afflictions we receiue especiall blessings at the hands of God for this end that we should not bee swallowed vp of sorrowe There is no sicknesse but it is eyther short and sharpe or els tedious and light if it bee sodaine and verie extreame the continuance of it is but short if it belong and tedious it hath some time of ease some time of more quietnes so that in all our miseries we may say with the godly If the Lord had not bene on our side we had bene swallowed quick he tempereth the sodainest showres with least continuande and the longest winter hath many faire dayes Be strong therfor my brethren and sisters for sure the Lord will stablishe your hearts feare not all the daungers of the world though as many troubles compasse vs as there were Sirians about Eliseah yet lifte vp your eyes there are many thousands more with vs then are against vs. He that suffereth none to bee tempted aboue their power will not lay more vppon vs then we are able to beare but as he wrestled with Iacob with one hand he held him vp with the other so though hee afflict with one arme he shall sustaine with the other Which tooke them wiues Now we are come to the childrē the holy ghost expresseth the frendship which they receaued of the Moabits after the death of the father which is their mariage with their daughters Where first of all it may be demanded in this place seeing the Lord forbideth all strange mariages whither these sons of Elimelech did not offend against this law we know that the vnmaried are at liberty to mary whom they will onely in the Lord now the Moabits were heathen people and strangers from God his couenant and therefore these persons maried not in the Lord. To which I answere briefly that the Lord forbiddeth mariages with infidells for two causes first when wee may lawfully and without daunger ioyne our selues to them that are godly and wil presumptuously for worldly respects run to the daughters of men secondly that wee should refraine from all such mariages where wee are like to bee drawne away from our profession as wee see in Salomon But these sonnes of Elimelech offended in none of these For first they were now straungers and had no other choise and secondlie it appeareth by that which followeth that they were both well perswaded in religion For as Moses marryed a Madianitish woman and was blamelesse and Salman the sonne of Nahasson the prince of the Iewes maried with Rahab which both were the parents of Boaz mentioned hereafter and was faultles nay it was done by the permission of Iosuah therefore lawfull euen so these straunge Iewes moued with the same reasons chused the like mariages But some wil say the Iewes which had maried strange wiues in the captiuity of Babilon might haue alledged this against Nehemiah that they were in captiuitie had no women to take but strangers To the which I answere if they had so obiected they had spoken vntrueth and so would Nehemiah haue replyed for there were Iewishe women captiues as well as men and further I say that this their marying of strange women was the cause of the destruction of many Iewish women who being forsaken of their owne people must of necessity bee maried to infidells which could neuer returne to Ierusalem Again these sons of Elimelech by their mariage gayned greater fauour of the Moabits but especially the hande of God was in it that when they both should be dead Ruth might be maried to Boaz and be made a mother of Christ First therfore we note out of this that as these Moabits were kind to the father in giuing him residence so they were louing to the sons in giuing them wiues a notable example of humane curtesy giuen vnto vs by these heathens that we with the like fauour should entertaine strangers But manie couetous parents in these dayes which would be accompted Christians are so farre from doing this vnto strangers that they will hardly doe the like to their natural Countriemen rather imitating that vngodly Laban who made marchaundise of his daughters then godly Caleb in beestowing them on Othniell be he neuer so poore if they haue deserued well of Church or cōmon wealth rather desiring to aduance their postiritie in the glory of the world thē to discharge their duetyes in the presence of God They will say they ayme at this the feare of the Lord when as if they had matched their children with Turkes or infidells they would not or could not be more profane then those sauing onely these are outwardly obedient to a Christian prince that they might with more libertie followe theyr licentious Atheisme when as peraduenture the other woulde not so dissemble so that goods and not goodnesse the worlde and not the woorde earthly vanitie and not heauenly felicitie our parents ayme at But what shall wee saie to them that force theyr children not onely to match agaynst theyr mindes but to marrie with publike papists and knowen recusants onely for thinges of this lyfe Truely I aunswere that it is agaynst these that the Lorde speaketh when hee sayth You shall not take theyr daughters to your sonnes nor giue your daughters to theyr sonnes but as they haue marryed wythout the counsell of the Lorde in murdering the fruites of theyr owne bodyes euen so they shall prosper wythout the blessing of God in confounding the soules of theyr owne posteritie and as the children of the Iewes which were borne of strange women were separated from the newe founded temple euen so these shall bee excluded from the euerlasting Ierusalem And they tarryed there This time of theyr abode in Moab signifieth the great continuance of this miserie First for the Iewes at home who indured famine and secondly for these abroade which liued among Infidels tenne yeeres together It is a fearefull thing wyth vs that wee haue but one yeeres famine oh then wee thinke that the Lorde hath forgotten to bee mercifull But we haue heard alredie of famines of great continuance that in Iosephs time was seauen yeeres together that in Dauids time was three yeeres and a halfe and this miserie lasted tenne yeeres together Wherein many godly persons dyd patiently indure it Howe is it then that for this lyttle dearth among vs there are so great exclamations for corne and plentie such horrible blasphemies agaynst the Lorde himselfe saying Shall this indure alwaie Was there euer anie poore people thus afflicted Is this the fruit of the Gospell Are these the fauours of God and his righteousnesse in keeping his promise with such lyke too horrible to bee suffered as if the
your acquaintance to be carefull for theyr children as well as themselues first to try and then trust first to prepare somewhat that if sicknes come or charges come or are ouertake thee yet then thou mayest comfort thy selfe with thy owne gotten goods and rather be helpefull then chargeable to any Fourthly by this that Boaz sayeth he taketh Ruth to wife for to stirre vp the name of the dead and that the name of the dead be no more forgotten among his brethren in the gate of his place We note that our mariages must be taken in hand also to this end for the multiplying of the Church of God we haue alreadie shewed how one cause of this brothers mariage was for that vse and purpose and in this place not vnnecessary to confirme For the lawe of this mariage was speciall onely for God his people and therefore for the augmenting of the number of the Lords flocke And as this was among the Iewes that euery family might haue some temporall inheritours euen so is it among the Gentiles that if it be possible eueryone should bring one infant or other to be an inheritour of the Lords kingdome By the which parents are taught to be more carefull for the education and instruction of their children then for their procreation and birth for they are made the fathers and mothers of Christ in his members therefore they must not leaue him to Herod that is they must not giue their children to the power of Sathan by theyr negligence and want of teaching they are accursed that lay stumbling blocks before the blinde and shall not they also that leade them into the sea where is nothing but drowning euen so if godlesse parents doe leâ—de theyr children and innocent babes into damnable ignorance who shall aunswere for their soules shall not the authors of this destruction Had not parents neede then to looke to themselues for if they haue as much golde as Salomon had and as great inheritances as Caleb had and as much possession of Cattell as Iob had yet if they be not able to bring vp their children in the feare of God it were better for parents and children they had neuer beene borne then miserably to liue in wealth and bee euery houre in daunger of damnation But how then will you say must we be carefull for the instruction of our children I aunswere you must be carefull of these two things first that you teach them that which is good secondly that you giue no euill example vnto them Concerning the first for the teaching of them the truth you must first teach them the matter of theyr faith and secondly how to pray The matter of theyr faith is contayned in the twelue articles commonly called our creede or beliefe which euery father and mother is bound to teach theyr children with the pure vnderstanding thereof and as they be able to shewe them the proofes thereof out of the word of God I meane as the children be able to receiue it Heerein they must instruct them of the miserable estate of mankinde after their fall by the vse and vnderstanding of the morall lawe contayned in the two tables of the tenne Commaundements with the proofes thereof out of the scripture and the deliuerance by the death and bloudsheading of Iesus Christ the eternall and onely begotten sonne of God Againe you must teach them to pray according as the Lord hath taught vs in that forme which we call the Lords prayer with the vnderstanding thereof out of the word of God for except you teach them what they pray for by the vnderstanding of it you were as good to teach them in Greeke or Latine as in English For there are many thousands in England that call God Father in their prayers but I knowe not that there be any which knowe the meaning of the word I my selfe haue reasoned with many both young and olde and of men of good calling in the world about that one word which is the easyest and playnest in all the word of God but some fewe excepted which haue laboured for knowledge in the hearing of Sermons I neuer met with man woman nor childe that coulde giue mee any reasonable aunswere vnto this question beside this that God made them and therefore is theyr Father which euery Iewe and almost euery Pagan knoweth as well as they Therefore as our righteousnesse must exceede the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisies Iewes and Gentiles so must our knowledge also for by our knowledge of Christ wee are iustified to be hys members And although wee repeate the Lordes prayer a thousand times euery day and vnderstand it not we doe but bable before the Lord taking his name in vaine vsing it in our lips when our hearts haue no vnderstanding and therefore our prayers are without fruite Lastly if you your selues doe not walke before them without reproofe in pure and sanctified conuersations whatsoeuer you teach them you presently tread out againe for simple people and young children liue by examples and not by precept If you teach them to worship God you must also before their faces worship the same that they may practise by your example If you bid them that they sweare not you your selfe must be carefull not to sweare or else they will not beleeue you for as the people looke vpon the life of their pastour so the young children beholde the steps of their parents And we see in bruite beasts that examples are much more effectuall then precepts they cannot speake yet how do they traine vp their young ones It is reported of the Harts of Scithia that they teach their young ones to leape from banke to banke from rocke to rocke from one turfe to another by their owne example leaping before them which otherwise they would neuer practise by which meanes when they are hunted no beast can euer take them Euen so if you goe before your children in examples while they are young Sathan the hunter and roaring Lion shall neuer haue them for his pray When they learne to speake they take the words from our owne mouthes euen so when they shall learne to worship feare loue honour and pray vnto the Lord let them take you for their examples as Iacob did Abraham and Izaak Now let vs giue prayse to God The fourteenth Lecture Chap. 4. ver 11.12 11 And all the people that were in the gate and the elders saide we are witnesses The Lorde make the wife that commeth into thy house like Rahel and Leah which twain did build the house of Israel that thou mayest doe worthily in Ephrathah and bee famous in Bethlehem 12 And that thy house be like the house of Pharez whom Thamar bare vnto Iudah of the seede which the Lorde shall giue thee of this young woman AS we haue hitherto heard of Boaz and his kinseman the one in resigning the other in receyuing his right in the place of iudgement and the presence of
accompted after wealth fayleth friendship withdraweth when they stand in most neede and least pitie is in the greatest extremitie Euery tree is greene in the Spring euery bird will sing in sommer and euery false hearted Christian will faune vppon theyr bretheren in prosperitie but bee ashamed of theyr want in aduersitie yea there neuer wanteth priuie repiners and grudgers at the wealth and welfare of euery one for some say it is too much if theyr neighbours corne increase others say it is too little when they are vexed and troubled by losse of their goodes and this maketh many medlers in other mens matters many backbiters for other mens welfare many enuye that any should haue theyr shares as good as themselues like him in the Gospell whose eye was euill because the Lords hand was good and as all the waues of the sea doe beate vpon the shore so all the braines of the world doe breathe against the prosperous Secondly the manner of theyr reioysing must be considered which the holy Ghost hath set downe in these words Blessed be the Lord wherein they testifye perfect ioy both to the Lord by praysing him and giuing thankes and also to Naomi vnto whome nothing could be more acceptable then to heare the name of God to be blessed for her sake To blesse in the scripture whensoeuer it is referred to God signifieth to prayse or to giue thankes as when Zachary sayth Blessed be the Lord God of Israell for he hath visited and redeemed his people that is Praysed be the Lord God of Israell Likewise the Apostle Paule sayth Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ the father of mercyes and the God of all consolation that is praysed be God And in another place he sayth If thou blesse with the spirit how shall he that occupieth the roome of the vnlearned say Amen to thy thanksgiuing that is if thou giue thanks with the spirit In this place it is of the first sence as if these women had sayd We prayse thee O God that thou hast looked on the misery of Naomi and hast reserued her a kinseman by whome the name of the dead might be raysed vpon the inheritance and his owne honor continued in Gods people By the which we are taught what manner of ioy the faithfull are to haue for their bretheren namely such as may redound to the prayse of God according to the saying of the Apostle that he which reioyseth must reioyse in the Lord for as bodily exercise profiteth little so carnall ioy profiteth lesse such as is the framing of vayne songs giuing ouer our labours and to reioyse in pastimes and such as is vsed in ringing of bells and the like sort being onely for man and not for God Therefore heere wee haue an excellent manner of reioysing when God is glorifyed by our mirth Thus we reade Moses and Aaron with theyr sister Miriam did after they came out of Aegypt Thus did Deborah and Barach after the victory against Sisera Thus did the women after the victory of Saule and Dauid when they came from the slaughter of the Philistins Thus did Zachary when his tongue was restored vnto him Thus did the children of Ierusalem cry when Christ came riding vpon the Asse Thus doe the faithfull reioyse after the destruction of Rome and Antichrist singing Praysed be God saluation and honour and glory and power to our Lord God And the Lord cryeth out of heauen vnto vs Prayse the Lord all ye his seruants and whosoeuer feare him both small and great Therfore beloued seing it becommeth the iust to be thankefull let vs prayse the Lord both euening and morning and let vs not see a sparrow to light on the ground without some prayse to God by whose prouidence all things are gouerned by whose will all things are ordered for whose glory are all things appointed that we should euermore giue thanks to him that sitteth on the highest heauens and ruleth the mightiest princes appointing the measure for the sea and calling the whole world to iudgement in whose presence is light and life for euermore Thirdly the matter of their thanksgiuing must be considered for they prayse God because he had kept a kinsman aliue for Naomi whose name should be continued in the people of God so that in plaine words they commend the kindnes of God because he had so prouided for this godly Naomi as she might be comforted by his meanes and his name continued by her daughter and all three eased by this one childe By the which we are taught these two profitable lessons first that we must magnify God for the life of our friends so doe these Iewes for the life of Bohaz by whome the Lord brought such great comfort to both these destitute and desolate widdowes for as we are sorry for their death when it is too late so must we be thankefull for their life when yet they are with vs the sonne for the life of his father and the father for the sonne the wife for her husband and the husband for his wife the seruant for his maister the subiects for their prince the people for their teachers and y e daughters for their mother There are few of these but they bring much benefit vnto vs and no small comfort doth arise by their presence which we shall better perceiue when we want them then now we enioy them and for these the Apostle also willeth vs to pray and one cause of these two miracles vpon Lazarus and Dorcas was that their life might bee prolonged with the church of God and more kindnes shewed to their godly frendes Secondly by this all those that are able to bestowe any kindnesse vpon other are taught their duties to their owne kindred that especially they bee carefull for the reliefe of their pouertie the maintaynance of their dignitie the preseruation of their honesty the nourishing of their own flesh for vnto that end hath y e Lord encreased their substance continued their name prolonged their daye and aduanced their seates that they may be more able to do for their poore brethren which are commended to them by the Lorde committed by the worlde compelled by nature which are bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh that they might bee maintayned as your owne selues When Dauid was made king he aduanced his sisters sons his kinsemen when Saule was king he aduanced Abner and other his frends and wee knowe that many of Christes Apostles were his kinsmen vnto the which end Paule exhorteth that poore widdowes be prouided for by their frendes that the Church be not charged with them This condemneth the forgetfulnesse of many in our age which being in wealth will scant acknowledge their poore kindred whereby they shew themselues like vnnaturall beasts as if the Lord were not able to bring thē down to y e footstool in the place of the other y t they
their tedious iourney was eased by their mutuall conference but what things happened to them by the way the scripture mentioneth not onely their intertainment is heere set downe how their comming being noysed about the citie they came vnto them and saluted their old acquaintaunce Naomi by name For this question is not this Naomi after the manner of the Hebrues is a vsuall manner of affirmation as we may see in these places of scripture Where first of all we see the wonderfull mercy of God toward Naomi which in so many yeares absent suffered not her memory vtterly to perish but at her first arriuing did publish her name and comfort her sorrowes Thus God hath many blessings in store for the relieuing of his poore afflicted saintes and surely hee is carefull that the candle of the righteous be not put out for euer But as in one day after many yeares sorrow for Ioseph famine for bread Iacob receiued tidings of the welfarre of his sonne and prouision for his familie euen so the Lord compasseth about the faithfull with songs of deliueraunce that though heauines endure for a night yet ioy commeth in the morning Let vs therfore with the losse and laying downe of our owne liues confesse the goodnes of the Lord for as he draue the king of Babilon for seuen yeares from the throne of maiestie to the wildernes of wild beasts so he called him aganie and restored to him his scepter and seate established his kingdome all the dayes of his life Therefore feare not feare not my beloued haue wee now famine we shall plenty againe Do we cary foorth our seed weeping We shal come againe with plentyfull sheaues Haue we sowed in teares wee shall reap in ioy Haue we bin strangers in other lands we are come home with Naomi to the citie of God his people finally those that feare the Lorde shall bee as mount Sion which can neuer be moued for as there is a time to mourne so there is a time to reioyse and as the wicked shall haue measure for measure so the godly shall receiue reward for reward Secondly by these wordes wee obserue the fruiâ—te of charitie or duetie of neighbours and acquaintance for as these cityzens of Bethlehem came to see and to comfort Naomi so must euery one beare some part of his brothers or sisters sorrow in relieuing their troubled minds by their presence and speeches We reade that Mary went to her cosin Elizabeth being with child that they might commune comfort theÌ„selues in the promises of the Lord. We read how the Iewes accompanyed Mary and Martha weepping for Lazarus and the same also we reade was done at the death of Dorcas What shal I say of the four men which brought the sicke of the palsie vnto Christ and most excellent is the felowship of the saintes in the primitiue church which are said to continue abide together with one accord in praier breaking of bread so that their spirituall comfort of praying and temporall refreshing of corporall foode were priuate to any but also for their comfort as a young child is wrapped in his swadling clothes so was the infancie of Christs church maintained by the company of their faythfull fellowship Oh that wee could loue and liue thus together in the bond of vnitye and christian concord that as we are members of one body so we shuld not be so strange one to another as if the eye had neuer seen the foote or the head neuer knowne the legges such is the scornefulnes of our age wherein men are ashamed of Christ in his members if they be a litle falen into decay how hardly will they comfort them as these Ephrathits do Naomi a poore widow now though once a noble woman They will rather curse theÌ„ with Shemei than blesse theÌ„ with Tziba but let the faithfull like feeling members of their brethrens affliction looke vppon the Naomies in our dayes some are poore and frendles other sicke and harborles some sorrowfull some hungry many destitute let vs gather to vs these members of Christ our company will more refresh them then our contribution our talke more then our almes our feelling and fellow prayers more then the distribution of our money let vs lay hold on that and yet forget not this for as God hath giuen both to vs so he looketh wee should giue both to other Thirdly by this we obserue how the world is wont to comfort one another for these Bethlemits say vnto her Is not this Naomi that is they comfort her with the consideration of her name which in hebrewe signifieth bewtifull or pleasant as if they had sayd vnto her Although thou art old yet thou art beautifull for thou remainest Naomi still thy name is a prophet vnto thee to forewarn thee of thy welfare and if thou be now like the stubble after the crop yet thou shalt shortly be as the green hearb or plesant plaÌ„t comfort thy self Iacob always preuailed with God because his name was alwayes Israel the doue shall bee chast because it is a doue the eie shalbe bright because it is the eie Naomi shalbe blessed because she is Naomi Thus worldly persons wish worldly things the best they desire most is outward prosperitie Neither is this simplie vnlawfull for such as is the sore such must bee the salue and where the wound is the medicine must be ministred if in the world they be oppressed in the same they may not onely wish but praie for release yet alwayes remember that friendes and parties must so desire and request it as may bee most for the glory of God Therfore this is our dutie that in praying for earthly benefites we aime at God his will but in desiring spirituaÌ„ blessings we must regard our saluations And more also wee must not so rauish the mindes of the worldly afflicted as if they had no other hope but this temporal welfare but so promise the blessings of God as they may haue a spirituall signification for worldly miserie is abated but with euerlasting felicity And Naomi said In these words Naomi answereth to the comforts of her frends telleth theÌ„ she rather deserueth to be called Mara then Naomi that is bitter then beautifull whereby shee teacheth vs howe vaine are outward and worldly titles for which cause Iames wisheth vs not to bee called many maisters knowing we shal receiue the greater damnation as if he had said worldly honor bringeth death but desire or loue of carnall comforts cause damnation When the arke of God was taken by the Philistines and the sons of Heli both slain the wife of Phinehas the son of Heli died after her trauaile and named her son Ichabod which is by interpretation wher is the glory although there a man child was borne yet the woman forgate not her sorrowe because the arke of God was taken by the heathen for if shee were the daughter to the chiefest in
might cry and not be heard And this shall In this verse is the second part of their ioy in so much as now Ruth hath brought forth a son it is better to Naomi then seuen sonnes for seuen is taken for many not for any definite number as when Dauid saith that he prayseth God seuen times a day y t is many times euery day Also they protest in this verse that it reioyceth them to see Naomi so comforted with the birth of this childe as that now her life is restored whereas before it was dying like an old stubble which had no greene twigges vpon it but nowe this one being shoote forth shee reuiueth and gathereth comfort in her olde yeares By this wee see the duetie of parentes which is to reioyce when their children encrease and they see their childrens children these Iewish women no doubt but spake by the experience of their owne dayes that as a woman lying at the point of death being recouered is ioyful thankeful for the same euen so old persons haue newe liues in their childrens children for which cause they ought to be thankeful to the Lorde for the comfort of their children who may likewise reioyce whē they see their parentes delight in their ofspring Thus no doubt but Abraham did when he saw Esau and Iacob his sonne Isaackes children being borne about fifteene yeares before his death this did Iacob when hee sawe Manasseh and Ephraim his sonne Iosephes children kissing and imbracing them and saying I had not thought to see thy face any more but the Lord hath let me see thy seed and posterity as if he had said I thanke God for seeing thee but I reioyce that I see thy children also And truely this I am sure wil godly aged parentes do who haue these for their examples of faith conuersation that they might with more thankfulnes prayse the Lorde who letteth them see their childrens children with greater comfort reioyce in them that were born of their owne bodyes but with greatest ioy and most willing mindes commend their withered age and all worne yeares to the hands of the Lord who hath multiplyed their seede in this life and will glorifie themselues in the life to come Nowe let vs giue prayse to God The end of the fifteenth Lecture The sixteenth Lecture Chap. 4. ver 16.17 16 And Naomi tooke the childe and laid it in her lappe became nurse vnto it 17 And the women her neighbours gaue it a name saying there is a childe borne to Naomi and called the name thereof Obed the same was the father of Ishai the father of Dauid IN the former wordes wee hearde the last Sabboath the prayer and thankes giuing of the people or the women of Bethlehem for the birth of this son of Bohaz and the comfort of Naomi but now in these words the holy ghost proceedeth to the education and circumcision of the childe in these two verses wherein the holy Ghost deliuereth vnto vs these thinges first that Naomi tooke the care of the education of this childe verse 16. Secondly the naming of the child by the neighbours the women of Bethlehem which they gaue vnto it by occasion of their owne wordes when they saide in the 15. verse that he should cherish her namely Naomi and therefore they call him Hobed which signifieth seruing thereby signifying that he shoulde serue for the comfort of Naomi of these parts let vs briefly speak in order as the spirite of God shall giue vtterance and the time permit And Naomi tooke the child After the mercy of God in the blessing of Ruth with a sonne who was the onely heyre vnto the house of Elimelech the husbande of Naomi which brought no small ioy to the old woman to see her name and the name of her family reuiued in the birth of this sonne when it was vtterly decayed in the sight of the worlde for she was olde a straunger in Moab and had no hope of any moe children neither was it likely that her daughters in lawe their husbandes being deade woulde returne from their countrey and kindred vnto a straunge people with whom they had smal acquaintance euen none at all Naomi their mother in lawe excepted so that the hope of her posteritie being buried in Moab the life of her family must needs decay in Bethlehem Therefore her returne to her owne countrey was a fauour of God vnto her and raysing vp the minde of Ruth to bee partaker of her iourney and companion in her trauaile was an especiall comfort to her wearied age but prouiding so honourable a marriage for her and making her so fruitfull a wife in short time was the life of Naomies death the renewing of her family the restoring of her hope and the resurrection of her dead sonnes for the continuance of their names in the gate of their places and therefore she like a ioyfull and thankfull grandmother for discharge of her conscience loue of the infant ease of her daughter becommeth a fellow nurse for the better educatiō of the child out of the which we note First that as we haue heard how the miseries of Naomi were cast vpon her together so now the mercies of God are multiplyed in the same in greater measure For then her wo was begunne by the death of her husbande continued through her long dwelling with the wicked Moabites and ripened through the death of her two sonnes so now it falleth againe as the darkenesse departeth at the dawning of the day and giueth place to the light of the Sunne so her miseries are repealed first with the louing and constant felowshippe of her daughter in law Ruth who was as a carefull husbande to her in labouring for her liuing and a blessed childe to increase her posterity Againe she now was in quyet dwelling among the people of God enioying the company of the faithfull and the fellowshippe of her frendes moreouer her posterity is restored in the fruitfulnesse of Ruth and she euen she herselfe liueth to see the day when al this falleth vpon her to the endles comfort of her withered age and present prayse of the name of God Thus we see it a righteous thing with God first to wound and then to heale first to strike and then to stroke first to cast downe and then to lift vp for this is certainely the cuppe of all the faithfull that they must taste of many bitter afflictions before they come to the possession of eternall blessednesse yea of worldly misery they must sustayne some crosse before they can be thankefull enough for that which they quietly inioy So wee reade of Iob howe in one day hee had his corne burnte his cattell stolne and his children slaine this was bitter vnto him for many dayes yet in the ende he was restored two for one and sawe more sonnes and more beautifull daughters yea his childrens children to his vnspeakable comfort The like may be said of innocent
dead Let not the lots of your inheritance deceiue you though their soile bee as fruitfull as this of Iudah and your possessions neuer so great he that in one night destroyed all the fruites of Egypt can also in one houre blast your corne with deawes consume your possession with drought for a fruitful land maketh he barren for the wickednes of them that dwell therein Secondly we note out of these wordes when he tooke his wife and children with him an example of a religious father and a louing husband he might if hee had consulted with flesh and bloud done like our husbands in these dayes which had rather in their wandering shifte about for themselues and leaue wife and children in a sea of troubles to sinke or swimme to some doubtfull releefe But the godly in old time knew that their wiues and children were as themselues and as they were carefull to cherish their owne bodyes so they were mindfull to nourish their owne families This the Lorde at the first mariage that euer was comaunded that for a mans wife he should forsake father and mother and they two shall be one flesh as if hee had sayd parents must not hinder fellowship of wedlocke much lesse pouertye or temporall wants as the barke is ioyned to the tree the fleshe to the bone if one be without the other they both perish so must husband and wife liue and loue togither vnlesse they will be the slaughter slaues of their owne destruction We read of this practise in the scripture when Abraham by reason of a famine went downe into Egypt hee tooke Sara his wife with him when I shak by reason of a famine wēt to Abimelech the king of Gerar he took Rebecea his wife with him How do we read of Iacob how twise he sent into Egipt for al his family the third time hee went down with all his household his sonne Ioseph fed him fiue yeares of famine yea the Apostle sayth that he is worse then an infidel that prouideth not for his own family and Christ going from his disciples asked them if they had wanted any thing and they answered nothing Against this pointe of doctrine there are manye that offend some that are married by their couetous parents who respect nothing but wealth are so matched as if a vine were planted in the flowing of the sea which prospereth best whē the water is lowest euen so these are in sweetest fellowship when one is a thousand miles frō the other Others there are which in theyr marryages please nothing but their eies which as old persons cannot see without spectacles so they cannot find wiues without the spectacle of bewty and these loue as long as bewty eudureth which is till they be sicke for sicknes is the cutthrote of beauty Some take wiues and husbands as fooles find pearles for as they cannot discerne them pebles so these are ignorant of all kind of dutie towards one another From hence proceedeth all the adulteries which are dayly committed here ariseth the fountaine of strife contention debate ielousie also the vnhappy blows which many giue to their wiues hence it cōmeth that so many gentlemen and others are seldome at home but eyther beyond the sea in warres or in trauaile which in their vnmaried estate wanted nothing but vviues but novv being maried vvant all things but vviues Hence it commeth that they termed them by the odious titles of crosses plagues troubles and also as I haue heard some say the causes of their vndoing vvheras they may as vvell accuse the eye of his blindnes as their vviues of their own wilfull miserie and to conclude there is not one breach of loue or kindnes betweene them but it springeth from these corruptions which then were sowed when they intended their mariage But oh beloued let not the godly be drawen away with the crooked conuersation of these contentious persons but let thē be armed vvith the forenamed examples of godly vnitie that as their troubled daies were eased in the ioy of their ovvne loue so let our miseries be releeued which you suffer in wedlock with your comfortable agreement in christian societie for so saith Salomon Let thy fountain be blessed and reioyce with the wise of thy youth and thus much of this second doctrine Thirdly by this we may note that the godly are oppressed vvhen the vvicked haue abundance heere vve see the Israelites vvhich vvere the Church of God had a famine but the Moabits to vvhom this man descended being a cursed generation incestuous gentiles had plentie abundance for els Elimelech vvould not haue gone thither to be relieued This may seeme a strāge thing that the godly shuld be oppressed with famine when worldlings heathens shall wallow in their wealth Of these Dauid speaketh I haue seene the wicked strong spreading himselfe like a bay tree And in another place They are inclosed in their owne fat And againe he saith They haue their portion in this life whose bellies thou fillest with thy hid treasure their children haue inough leaue the rest of their substance to their children And in another place there are on bands in their death but they are lusty strōg they are not in trouble like other men and a litle after these are the wicked yet prosper they always increase in riches The very like you may heare in Iob in the prophet Ieremy But of the rightous he saith often crieth out of their afflictions their sorrowes nakednes their hūger misery all the day long are they appointed as sheepe to the slaughter yea our sauiour Christ pronounceth himself in his members poore hungry naked harborles thristy and imprisoned the foxes haue holes and the birds of the aire haue nests but the sonne of man hath not where to rest his head And the authour of the epistle to the Hebrues sayth of the godly Some are stoned some cut asunder some slaine with the sworde some wandering abroad in goats skinnes and sheepe skinnes destitute oppressed euill entreated of whom the world was not worthy wandering in deserts in the mountaines in dennes and caues of the earth Iudge now I beseech you betweene the outward estate of the godly and the wicked are they not contrarie That which of the world is condemned is of the Lorde commended yet I beseech you my brethren be not terrified from godlynes but rather strengthened in your profession Then will you say tel vs the cause of all this inequality Our sauiour answereth it very wel You are not sayth he of the world if you were of the world the world would loue his owne and Dauid saith that their portion is onely in this life but Christ sayth our reward shall bee great in heauen and againe you shall weepe and lament but the worlde shall reioyse but your sorrowe shalbe turned to ioy like a woman that reioyseth
in religion or rather in worldlines so shal we haue fauour aspire to the greatest promotions for there is greatest profit finally take pleasure in vnlawfull things let vs say come behind vs sathan For it is not our frend but our enimy sathan that thus alureth vs with the baite of pleasure ease and profite that wee might hang on the hooke of perpetuall perdition Then seeing we haue espied his pollicy discouered his deceipt tried the discommodityes that ensue his obedience let vs innocent children once burned dread the fire and as Iacob said by his own sons Simeon Leui My soule come not into their habitation so let vs say to our derest frends when their counsell a good conscience cannot stand together better breake the league of frenshippe betweene vs then suffer the shipwark of a pretious peaceable conscience The wisest Salomon by hearkning to his wiues disobeyed the Lord it cost him ten tribes of his kingdome if such greene peeces be destroyed what shall become of the rotte feare therfore if angels from heauen must not be heard much lesse deuils frō hell drawing vs away from following the trueth by the mouth of our dearest nearest frendes though it were by your wiues that lye in your bosomes Therfore let vs take vnto vs the whole armour of God that we may stand fast in the day of battell better neuer run except we obtain the price better neuer to haue known God or his Gospell then now to fall away from him againe But Ruth said intreat mee not This is the first part of the answere of Ruth to the argument of her mother it is her petition with the reason of it wherein she protesteth that it is better vnto her not to bee intreated to depart or once to haue it motioned or mentioned to go frō hir for her resolution is that neither the troubles or trauailes of life could separate her neither the sorrowes of death or desolation of the graue shoulde depriue her of Naomies company for she saith Where thou dyest will I dye and there will I be buried Out of which I obserue these thinges First howe the godly behaue themselues in all tryalls and temptations namely that the very thoughts of departing from God and yelding to sin are very gall and bitternes vnto them insomuch as they say with Ruth intreate me not to leaue thee that is neuer speake worde to moue me from hearing God his word to ouerthrow my faith to turne me to disobedience to perish my conscience to hinder my course or to subuert my profession A notable example hereof is in Elisha who was intreated by Eliah as here Ruth is by Naomi First he bid him tarry at Gilgal till he went to Bethel but Elisha said as the Lorde liueth as thy soule liueth I will not leaue thee nor depart from thee then they went to Bethel together and bid him tary there for the Lord sendeth him to Iericho but Elisha answered as the Lord liueth as thy soule liueth I will not leaue thee nor departe from thee then they went to Iericho Eliah bid him tary there till he went to Iericho and Eliah bid him tarrie there till hee went to meete the Lorde at Iordan Elisha aunswered as he did before for Eliah foresee that if he went not with Eliah he shoulde haue no benefite by his seruice so if we abide not the obiections of our friends the reporches of our enemies the intisements of the world the persuasions of our owne fathers and mothers that are against vs in religion we shall loose al that we haue done before yea though they shoulde say as Rabsakeh sayd to the men of Ezechia The Lord hath sent vs to speake vnto you But many will say if profane worldlings shuld discourage vs in religiō those y t are open contemners shuld perswade vs from it thē we could abide it but it goeth nie vs whē our own wiues or husbands fathers or mothers brethren sisters companions acquaintāce shal try vs so narowly But marke dearly beloued thou art not alone Ruth was thus handled by Naomi her deare mother in law for whose sake she had departed from kindred country yet she trieth molesteth vexeth her yet by the sauing grace of God his assisting spirit in the end she acquiteth her selfe like a woman of strength in the Lords quarel for the Lord for our farther triall doth not only proue vs in the lest but in the greatest afflictions The Israelits cared but little for the philistins had they not had giants among them so the Lord will bring crosses like armed men to dismay vs that our valor and courage may be knowne Iob had first one herd taken away and then an other in the end his children crushed to death and then he was strangely visited in his own body but hauing only one comfort in al the world left his wife she bid him curse God die But some say we would willingly be professors but the preachers themselues tell vs how we must be mortified they cal vs in their sermons wretches cursed creatures these hard words hinder vs if they spoke faire vnto vs cried mercy mercy we would with more dilligence frequent their exercise I answere if they speake in God his name whose embassadours they are cannot you beare it for his sake they are not commō persons in that place but supply Christs roome now Christ called his disciples a faithles generation he called Peter sathan a poore woman he called dog when she came vnto him How did he deale with king Herod and with the Pharisees euery man knoweth and are you better then these Paul called the Galathians folish was it not to make them wise that therby he might draw them to the truth they had forsaken euen so the ministers of Christ must handle this rough world setting it out by the titles that by the name they may gesse of the nature If the rich man promise peace to his soule in the multitude of his possessions shal not the Lord cal him fool for his labor if all the world follow the prince that raigneth in the aire shall not we say that they bee without God and so without saluation Doth not the Lord chasten vs in this world y t we shuld not be condēned in the world to come Are not seruants contented to bear hard words at the hāds of their masters because they receiue wages of them euen so suffer God his ministers to speake the worst they can of you yet I assure you there is no faithfull preacher that will speake so basely of the notablest wicked person that is but he speaketh thinketh a thousand times more basely of himself Beare with them therefore you are children infants in religion not able to speake they speake for you to the Lord in as humble manner as may be knowing that the
said euen as a man striueth to be deliuered in the pangs of death so he from his tribulation Iob that mirrour of patiēce did so delight in his suffrings that in one place he seemeth to accuse God himselfe to adde to his transgressions that is to make his sins seem greather then they were and how doth hee desire to plead with God about his affliction cursed the day and houre of his death Our sauiour would neuer haue warned vs that in the world we should haue sorrowe and lamentation had he not knowne that the smart of our sufferings would thrust foorth abundance of teares through the vehemency of the paynes and presently hee addeth a secret comparison between a woman in trauail a christian in persecution so that as the one hath most vehement sorrowes and pitifull lamentations so also may the other infinite testimonyes might bee brought for the proofe of this to teach vs that God his children are made of fleshe as well as of spirite and the fleshe is weake though the spirite bee willing therefore wee may feare and cry vnder the burthen of our paines that our afflictions are bitter vnto vs and that the hand of the Lord is grieuous vppon vs. Againe for the comfort of the godly I speake this that if any haue grieuously complained of their sufferings let them impute it to the sharpnes of their paines and the weaknes of their natures wee see this Naomi calleth bitternes vnto her such as shee woulde not willinglye take except it were for the phisicke of her soule and nowe almost ten yeares space this griefe hath growen vppon her so that it may seeme of all others shee was most grieued for now she vttereth her minde as freshlye as if the potion were yet vndigested in the stomacke Be comforted therefore my sorrowfull brethren and sisters you see you are not alone in this miserie for Dauid Iob Naomi Annah Nehemiah and many other are as farre indebted to the Lord in this pointe as euer was any striue to suppresse it by prayer and quench it by singing of psalms neither let vs iudge but charitably of those which in this case are troubled bee it for the losse of their children the death of their husbands the decay of their wealth or the lacke and want of their health If they seme impatient and weaker then our selues let vs beare parte of their burthens vppon our christian comforts that they with vs we with thē like seling members of the same infirmities may sustaine our crosses by our mutuall supplications and obtaine our deliuerance by the bloud of Christ I went out ful In these words she amplifieth her former complaint by this comparison of a full vessell and an empty shewing that as the fullest vessell is the soundest the emptiest good for nothing so it fareth with her when she looketh vpon her former life when shee went foorth shee had plenty but now shee returneth in want then she was found but now broken then ioyfull but now sorrowful why should she be called pleasant or beautiful or by her old name seeing God hath humbled her whereas in times past hee vpheld her in prosperity but now hee hath cast her downe into aduersity Where wee first of all obserue the nature of worldly prosperity which to day is like a ful vessell but to morrowe like an emptye now it is greene anone it is withered now it groweth anone it is cut downe now like Nabuchadnezzar sitting vppon his throane with his counsellors and courtyers of estate about him but anone both Court and Countrey driue him to the companie of wilde beastes for as a little breache emptyeth the barrell so a lyttle trouble bringeth worldly welfare to wallow in the mire Therfore we read of none either king or country which had such a prosperous estate but it had one enimy or other to worke his woe if wee consider the raigne of Salomon where gold was innumerable and siluer as plentifull as stones yet it wanted not his miseries the people were punished by paiments to their prince the king was threatened which the losse of ten parts of his kingdome God stirred Hadud the Edomite against him where ended their peace Where is then y e roialty of Salomon was it not cast downe in one day his riches consumed his buildings burned his children captiuated his wisedome turned to idolatrie his posperitie decayed and al his honour ouerturned Oh that worldlings would consider their sickle estate and bee admonished of their iminent dangers the Lord putteth them into his balance finding them to light casteth them out Ieremy sayth they are but fatted sheepe kept for the day of slaughter now in the pasture and presently it the fire they are but aduanced to bee cast downe againe as the vessel is filled to bee emptied in due time the eares which are now full of corne in the field anon shall ly without on the dunghyll Babilon the queene of the world which ruled as yet was troden downe made a seruant Tyrus that crowned men with her wealth was consumed by warre for the Lord of hosts decreeth al this to staine the pride of glory to bring to contempt all that be mighty vpon the earth Weep weep O daughters of honor the days will come whē y e tēder shal not be regarded for your welth shal not al. ways endure the crowne abideth not from generation to generation your houses shall bee ouerturned your names forgotten your children impouerished your glory defaced your inheritance changed your welfare powred on the earth like water and your worship shall bee neuer repayred This haue God his dearest children felt and the greenest trees haue bene scorched which the fire of God his wrath for hee is not delighted in worldly brauery but hath buried great treasure in the sea which shall neuer bee found to keepe mankind kind from the ende of his purpose for this is their honour they get nothing but with much trauaile and in one houre loose labour life and wealth Secondly that which in our texte is the Lord hath humbled me in the hebrew is The Lord hath testified or witnessed against mee for by his iudgments hee humbleth vs as it ◠were producing witnesses to accuse vs of ous iniquityes as wee see in common iudgments all things passe by euidence if they be antient by witnes if it be late so the Lord when hee hath a quarrell against vs he first prooueth vs guilty by witnes of our sins and then punisheth vs for committing transgressions For this cause Moses commaundeth the book of the law to be laid vp in the side of the ark of the couenant for a witnes against the people so the Lord speaketh by Dauid Heare O my people and I will speake heare O Israel I will testifie vnto thee for I am thy God and after this hee reporteth his witnes against them first y t their sacrifices were corrupted
the time permit Now Naomies husband In this verse is contained the description of Boaz vppon whome the whole historie following dependeth This Boaz was the sonne of Salmon who was sonne to Nahasson the prince of the hoast of Iudah the mother of Boaz was Rachab the harlot which receiued the spies of Israel into her house at Iericho as we see in Mathew and is commended for her faith by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrewes So that euerie waie wee see this dignitie commended vnto vs if we looke for birth his grandfather was the chiefe of the princely tribe of Iudah if for authoritie he was sayth this scripture of great power if for wealth his inheritance must needes bee great who was deriued of such noble ancestours and the reaping of his corne lasted to the end of all haruest the chief of all his religion is excellently commended vnto vs in the text and historie following So that we haue not to deale heere with meane and base personages being all of a kindred howsoeuer some are soner come to decay then other but out of this wee learne many profitable lessons First that seeing Boaz and Elimelech are said to be kinsmen as those which are desceaded from the same predecessors or ancestry wee are admonished of the frailty and vanity of worldly dignity that howsoeuer parents prouide for the maintenance of posterity yet the Lord must dispose the decay of their children Here we see poore Naomi hath a wealthy and an honourable kinsman yet shee a destitute and a desolate widdowe Her husband and shee were no meane persons but vndoubtedly both descended of noble familyes the yeares were but few since the death of Iosuah vnder whom the inheritance of euery tribe was giuen by lot and all the Iewes Israelits wealthy possessors yet see this godly Naomi is faine to liue of the gleanings of her daughter which neither her parents nor her husband did euer thinke vppon Beholde therefore as in a glasse the perfect image of temporall felicyty the father a king the children beggers the father honourable the sonne not worshipfull the predecessors the chiefest in authority but the successors the meanest in calling this made the fathers thinke that the world was like the sea heere a mighty waue and there a great downefall some thought it to be like ise where a man can neuer stand sure but the one will bee breaking or hee bee slyding some like to trees whereof the tallest are soonest ouerturned but all agree in this that worldly felicity is miserable vanitie For our present wealth is like a pleasant summer which must needes come to an end though all the world should striue to the contrary it was accounted to king Dauid for a specyall blessing of God vnto him and none other that shee shoulde not bee without a sonne to sit on his seate if his posteritie would obserue his commaundements yet wee see in Ioseph and Mary the mother of Christ beeing both of his ofspring how they could not obtaine in his owne citie a chamber to lie in but were faine to lodge in a stable so that this is not onely to the wicked but to the dearest saints of God Adam continued not still in paradise but was cast out that his felicity might bee heauenly and not earthly euen so the posterity of the righteous are brought into pouerty that they set not their mindes vppon temporall glory Therefore the Lord doth heere correct vs with pinching pouerty that there wee shoulde not with the world be condemned for delighting in vanity Then by this we learn humilitie in our wealth and worship honour and dignitie Set not vp your homes so highe sayth Dauid and if riches encrease set not your hearts vppon them for the Lorde resisteth the proude and giueth grace to the humble and meeke Wee read of stately kings and Emperours which haue beene caste from throne to the foote stoole of wealthy persons which in one houre haue beene vtterly vndone but of children whose parents were honourable riche many thousandes brought to perpetuall slauerye If you feare not your owne estates yet care for your posteritie and make much of them whome now you see cast downe the poore the destitute the despised the miserable for if Ionathan in his honour make of Dauid in his humilitie when Dauid commeth to his kingdome hee will aduaunce his ofspring to his owne table euen so if you make much of them that are poore nowe when you shall bee humbled in your posterity the Lord shall prouide for your issue by these that haue beene fauoured by you The wheele of the world runneth round sometime that which was lowest is highest and that which was highest is made lowe againe So bee you assured the Lord aduanceth dayly out of the dust to set with princes therefore make you friendes of the vnrighteous Mammon that when you shall haue neede they may receiue you into their euerlasting habitations Distribute liberally giue plentyfully line peaceablie walke humbly for the wealth of the world doth not alway last neither the crowne from generation to generation Secondly by this we gather that the godly may safely enioy great possessions of the blessing of God be exceeding rich men but some will say indeede they may be wealthy but with the hazarde of their soules for Christ sayth How hardly shall they which haue riches enter into the kingdome of God it is easier for a cable to go thorough the eye of a needle then for a rich man to enter into the kingdome of heauen Then if the danger of it bee so great the poorest condition is the safest welfare I grant you but Christ speaketh of carnal wealthy which make their goods their God as after he saith those that put their trust in their riches Of this sorte the world was neuer fuller as on the contrary of the other there was neuer fewer you shall haue them in all places which speake against the Gospell because it is an enimy to their liuings and offices promotions and honors like Demetrius for Diana a heathen deuill you shall haue other that will offer largely to the Gospell like the young man that came to Christ but when it toucheth a litle greater cost then farwell religion But this is the faulte of the men not of their wealth and yet I am persuaded that there are many wealthy Abrahams which will giue of the tenthes of their possessions to the heauenly Melchisedech Iesus Christ many Lots that will harbour the angels of God and rather wishe violence to their own daughters then to the righteous and finally like to this Boaz in riches religion of whom wee dayly pray the Lord increase the number Thirdly we see in this Boaz an excellent example of the reward of religion and faith for we haue heard that hee was the sonne of Rachab which receiued the spyes of Iosuah who afterwarde was married to Salmon the son of Nahasson by
your pensioner hangbies and luke warme professors papisticall Atheistes which come to our Churches to sleepe and there dreame who being come vnto you make you beleeue that their dreames were the preachers sermons and you that are apt to beleeue lies beleeue liars But to come to the purpose you accuse vs for condemning good workes when we attribute no merites vnto them this we deny for the reason is like this None will become a papist but hee that hopeth to bee Pope so none will do good workes but hee that hopeth to bee saued or crowned by them If they graunt the latter then they must giue the former which I am assured many honest minded papistes would not bee though they might haue as much as the Popes father the Deuill offered Christ which was all the worlde Therefore as a papist is not a papist because hee woulde be a pope so good workes must not bee done that men might bee crowned by them Euery Catholike which beleeueth as the Church beleeueth must not presently steppe into Peters chayre no more euery one that doth a good worke must by that ascend vp into heauen Good workes haue another vse then to iustifie Because the eye cannot smell shall it therefore bee puld out noe it was created to see and not to smell because good works iustifie not shal no man do them God forbid they were giuen to the faithfull for outwarde testimonies of fayth and of God his spirite that by them they they might assure themselues and others to be sanctified and elected not that they should helpe in their saluation As the tree dyeth without the barke and fire is nothing without heate so workes without faith and faith without workes is cursed and vnprofitable Therefore wee say let euery one that calleth on the name of Christ depart from iniquitie eschewe euill and do good feede the hungrie cloath the naked visite the sicke and imprisoned harbour the harbourles prouide for children and widdowes yea and builde Churches and Colledges for the maintenance of God his worship and learning Yet we say we are iustified by faith we haue peace with God through our Lorde Iesus Christ by whome we were brought to this grace through which we stand glorie vnder the hope of y e glorie of God for all the works in the world cannot satisfie for one sin because there is none other name vnder heauen by which wee may bee saued but onely by the name of Christ Out of this first wee gather the goodnesse of God which of his owne promise and owne mercie accepteth that little obedience of faith which wee offer vnto him What can we doe to the fulfilling of the lawe if we keept all and yet fayled in one we had lost all our labour but if we kept one point onely and faulted in the rest it were like to a man that was bounde to pay ten thousand pound and should offer a shilling but we keepe none and yet hee accepteth vs in the death of his Sonne that our righteousnesse might abound to euerlasting life Nowe the vse of the mercy of God is that hereby wee shoulde bee made more fearefull and carefull not to offende him not as some imagine that hereby is giuen the greater libertie to sinne because the Lorde speaketh peace vnto vs in his beloued Christ for this is as the prophet speaketh being escaped out of a ditch to fall into a snare and as a man which is drawne out of a riuer should cast himselfe into the sea But the regenerate must bee more affraide to offend the mercy of God then the vnregenerate at his threatning iudgementes They will not sinne because they loue God the other will abstayne feare of punishmente the promises of the Gospell terrifie them more then all the terrors of the lawe for they find a sweeter comfort in the presence of the spirite then to rest in all the gardens of pleasure when they finde accesse to the throne of grace through the blood of Christ and by him all their infirmities couered their petitions graunted their sinnes remitted they at peace with God like ioyfull men discharged from euerlasting imprisonment they walke in holines and righteousnesse before him all the dayes of their life Oh that these mercies would sinked deeper into our hard harts that the force of the cogitation of the blood of Christ might both soften and mollifie purge and cleanse them from wauering and doubting wantonnes and presumption and prepare our fallow groundes fit to receiue the Lords owne feed his euerlasting word which is able to saue our soules Secondly by this when he saith vnder whose winges thou art come to trust the dignitie of the faithfull is commended vnto vs for they liue vnder the wings of the Lord Which is a Metaphor or borrowed speech comparing him to a hen which couereth her chickens with her winges shewing vnto vs that then wee are in safetie when wee are couered with the winges of the Lord. This our sauiour noted when hee saide that hee woulde haue gathered the Cittie of Ierusalem as a henne gathereth her chickens This dignitie of the faithfull is by many such speeches manifested in the scripture wherein the Lorde sheweth vs the care hee hath for our safety when he calleth vs the apple of his eye He sheweth his loue when he calleth vs his childrē his brethren and spouse to teach vs our dueties he calleth vs the braunches of a vine which are good for nothing but to bring forth grapes euen so are the godly pleased with nothing which they doe saue onely the worshippe of God This consisteth in the holy fellowship which the faithfull haue with God which Dauid faith bringeth life for euermore with whome is a well of life and the fulnes of all ioy And in another place the Lord saith Behold I stand at the dore and knocke if any man open I will come in and suppe with him and he with me and Iohn saith He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the father and the Son Here is the comfort of the spirit that dwelleth in vs the assurance of faith which ouercommeth all the worlde the euidence of our saluation euen the confession of the Gospel with the mouth and the beleeuing in the hart the hearing of it when it is preached and praying in the assemblies of the faithfull for wheresoeuer are two or three gathered together in my name there am I in the middest of them saith the Lord for he dwelleth among his saints the Arke is with his ministers the couenaunt or tabernacle of presence with them that feare him for euermore Oh who will not be drawne to be the member of Christes owne bodie the heauenly Temple for the holy Ghost to dwell in the sincere professor of true religion that they may haue both the Father and the Sonne Who will not open to the Lords knocking that hee may receyue the king of glorie for his guest
and in that the loue of God in Christ to his Church that though we dye without fruit in barrennes yet the Lord will giue vs a name whereby after a few dayes we shall liue with him for euer But in these words we first of all note when he saith that he must buy it at the hand of Ruth the Moabitesse the wife of the deceased that one cause both of the redemption of lands and marriage of the brother or next heyre to the widdow was for the womans or widdowes sake namely that she should not be left destitute for we reade in the Gospell of Luke that barrennes was a great reproch among women in those dayes now we know that this law was onely for barren widdowes and not for them that were fruitfull and who would marry with such a woman whome in his owne heart he feared would be fruitlesse therefore the Lord to succour these poore desolate widdowes gaue this for a lawe that the brother or neerest kinseman to their husbands deceased should take them to be their wiues where he againe commendeth vnto vs the carefull estate of destitute widdowes if they be oppressed we must ease them if reiected we must receiue them if forsaken we must comfort them if reproched we must acquire them and finally if they will marry they may yea their owne friends or the Church must prouide them husbands And seeing the Lord would thus decree by a lawe the safegard of those that were despised much more would he defend by iudgement the cause of poore fruitfull widdowes the mothers of many children Now although we are not bound to this lawe of mariage yet wee are tyed to doe good to the widdowes for the nature of the lawe being long since abrogated yet the vse thereof remayneth for euer and euer For maintenance by the word of God must be allowed them wherewithall they may liue theyr husbands beeing dead Therefore Boaz telleth hys kinseman that hee must redeeme the inheritance at the handes of Ruth the Moabitesse because by her marriage it is made the widdowes the husband dying without issue like as in this place wee obserue that all the inheritance descendeth to the widdow and therefore she bestowed her selfe vpon the next of the kindred who indeede with vs is the heyre to all Therefore by this we must all learne but especially the married or those that intend it hereafter that it is one especiall duty of a carefull husband to prouide before hand for the maintenance of their wiues that if death neuer so suddaine take them away yet they may not leaue them as many haue done harbourles without house comfortles without friends and wealthles without conuenient maintenance By this we see the cōmendable assurance of ioyntures dowers in lands or money which many parents do wisely take for their daughters to be a thing alowable by the word of God yet many offend in the excesse that they will neuer match where they can haue none though there be neuer so great hope in time to come so that wealth and nothing els is the end of most mariages Then by this we see cōdemned first all those which hauing sufficiēt will hardly leaue to their wiues anything beside that which they cannot keep from them and hence it is that many leaue to their children hundreds and thousands but scant twentyes or fortyes to their helples widowes Other hauing many children leaue the greatest part of their wealth to their widdowes through whose youthfull mariages many times their whole posteritie is brought to pouertie But a third sort there are which mind nothing saue only mariage and to borrow a little for their festiuall day but afterward let the world sinke or swimme children without bread wiues without comfort themselues as bare as the grashopper in winter and their whole families most pitifully tormented they repent though all too late the children wish they had neuer bin borne the parents curse the day of their first acquaintance the family complayne of pouerty the countrey of charges the people of necessity but they poore seely soules the innocent infants are left to the merciles world to liue in beggery Oh that this godly forecast would enter into the minds of many headlong parents that their liues might be more blessed their children more happy their families more contented the countrey better furnished and the poore better succoured that there might bee no complayning in our streetes no leading into captiuity and not one feeble person among vs that our sonnes may bee as the fruitefull garners and our daughters like the polished corners of the temple Oh blessed are the people that bee in such a case yea blessed are the people whose God is the Lorde Then should the name of God bee honoured by our liues and praised in our deathes when our widdowes are prouided for our children maynetayned our families nourished and our soules shalbe blessed Then the kinsman said This seconde question of marriage being propounded the kinseman in these wordes answereth that hee cannot redeeme the inheritance vpon that condition and giueth a reason thereof because then to saue anothers hee shoulde destroy his owne meaning if hee had but one childe by Ruth that shoulde bee for Machlon her deceased husbande and so his owne name shoulde bee forgotten in his inheritaunce Whereby wee see that he opposeth the feare of the losse of his owne name against the seuere commandement of God and doubteth that if hee followe the lawe of God and custome of the faithfull his land may lacke an heyre his house a mayster and himselfe a sonne The like vnto this was that of Onan the seconde sonne of Iudah when he shoulde haue taken the wife of his deceased brother would not performe his duety towarde her but abusing in filthines his owne body because he woulde not benefite his brother was therefore iustly slaine by the Lorde And I feare that a great many are sicke of this disease that loue the world aboue the worde their lande aboue the lawe of God their children more then charitie requireth who thinke they are borne for no bodie but onely for themselues but especially in mariage they had rather haue the lande then the man the portion then the woman like this man which was willing to take the inheritance but vnwilling to marrie the widdow for this cause they oppresse both children and widdowes they preferre their priuate gaine before publike godlines who for their posteritie some are occupyed in briberie some in vsury some in extortion and many in vnlawfull bargaining whose only and chiefe care is for nothing but that they may die rich but better is poore Lazarus at his death then all the rich gluttons in the worlde for wealth maketh not to die well but rather choketh the soule with infatiable care onely religion is the surest badge of a godly man whose riches is pouertie whose pleasure paine and whose rewarde is saluation But this man is well contented to
be by his blessing increased with his fauour preserued and to his glory bestowed Nay nay if none had no more wealth then that which they had gotten by prayer their glorious shewes would in little space grow as bare as the trees in the winter when they haue neyther fruite nor leaues to couer them This I speake not to the discredit of any wealthy persons but shew them the way to attayne the end of their desire the continuance of their posteritie in godlines and wealth which is by prayer For as Christ prayed for Peter that his faith should not faile him so parents must pray for their posteritie that their names may not decay in them If any thinke when theyr barnes are inlarged their corne gathered they filled health enioyed wealth increased and rest obtained that eyther soules or children shall haue the greater rest like that foole in the Gospell their markes are much amisse for wealth and issue are lost both in an houre looke vpon the example of Iob the death of his children and decay of his wealth Againe none must be hereby emboldened to present their prayers before the face of the almighty for the maintenance of their children in worldly vanitie to make that the onely end of all their desire which is to be more carefull for the shoe then the foote for the rayment then the body and for the body then the soule but this must be their direction as the Lord commaunded the Iewes if they kept his statutes then should their oxen be strong to labour their sheepe bring foorth thousands and ten thousands in their streetes their daughters like the polished corners of the temple and their sonnes as their fruitfull garners which neuer are emptye For vngodly Haman was hanged though he were the prince of the princes but godly Mordecay was aduaunced which was as poore as the basest Shebna was depriued of his office because he was wicked when godly Eliakim was promoted to his place euen so it is not honour but the feare of God that bringeth and sustaineth honour that you must pray for your children Kings for vngodlines were depriued of their seates and thrones of maiesty whereunto they were borne much more will the Lord execute his iudgements of pouertie and slauery vpon those that would be aduaunced and yet are wicked for Salomon sayth that the prosperitie of fooles slay them and the crowne doth not endure from generation to generation yet the feare of the Lord abideth for euer Secondly by this verse we may note when they expressely make mention of Thamar the mother of Pharez and wish the posterity of Boaz to be like his the great blessing of God vpon that incestuous birth for we know the history how that Thamar was y e daughter in law of Iudah the wife widdow of his eldest son dissembling her selfe to be a whore by her apparell and place had the company of her father in law by whome she was conceiued of two sonnes the elder was this Pharez and the yonger Zerach yet wee see how y e Lord doth magnify this Pharez with a glorious and godly posterity By the which he teacheth vs these two profitable lessons that the sinnes of the faithfull are forgiuē though they be neuer so great We see this Iudah an excellent man yet ouercome in this action had not any such plague inflicted on him as Ruben his eldest brother or Simeon Leui but he which couered and omitted that sin of Abraham with Hagar of Iacob with Bilhah and Zilpah of this Iudah with Thamar Lot w t his own daughters and such like wil also forgiue all the defaults of the godly vnto the end of the world By the which we gather exceeding comfort when we come to this persuasion that there is no condemnation to them that are in Iesus Christ that the gates of hell shall not preuaile against the mercies of y e Lord that the victory of our faith shall conquer the world when Noah shall be cleansed from his drunkennes Moses and Aaron frō their doubting Miriam from her murmuring Dauid from his murther Peter from his deniall of Christ and all because the Lord will couer the sins of his Saints be they neuer so great when he punisheth the faults of many thousand wicked persons with eternall damnation although they haue not sinned with the like transgression Secondly by this we learne that the Lord doth not punish the childrē for the parēts faults if they commit not the like themselues for this Pharez begotten in incest was blessed by the Lord not only with temporal glory in himself and his issue but also with this that he was made one of y e fathers of Christ And this teacheth vs that this vpbraiding of men for their birth be they base borne or free borne is no fruit of the word of God but the malice of the deuill which first deceiued the parents and now would discredit the childe Let it not therfore beloued be any speech in our mouths to shoot at them whom the Lord hath wounded by nature any thought of our hearts to enuy their welfare were their parentage neuer so base but pray for them that though they proceede not of a sanctified birth yet they may grow vp to a sanctified and holy life to make a godly a blessed end And finally let vs be encouraged vnto religion by the fauour of God which dealeth thus mercifully with his Saincts neuer suffering any thing to be laid to the charge of his chosen stopping the mouth of the deuill himselfe y t he neuer rise in iudgement against y e faithful or bring any litle sin of theirs into the remembrance of God but washing them all in the lauer of regeneration y e bloud of his sonne and will giue thē white robes clensed frō al filthines y t they may be chast virgins for y e Lords seruice and feed at his own table for euermore this cōsideration made Dauid to cry out and say oh whē shal I come and appeare before the presence of God it made Simeon to say now Lord let thy seruant depart in peace it caused Paule to vtter these words I desire to be dissolued and to be with Christ for blessed are the people that are in such a case yea blessed are the people whose God is the Lord. Thus much for this verse Now let vs goe to the verse following In these three verses following the holy Ghost declareth the blessing of God vpon this mariage of Boaz and Ruth The words containe in them two parts the first part is of Boaz ver 13. the second is of the women that were present at the trauaile of Ruth The first part sheweth how Boaz taking Ruth and vsing her as his wife had the blessing of God in conceiuing and bearing him a sonne the other part of the women is their reioysing with Naomi for this fruitfulnesse of Ruth it comprehendeth two partes the first theyr
East and West North and South all the children of Abraham to enioy the presence of his Maiestie the inheritance of his kingdome and the end of their faith the saluation of their soules Pharez begat Hezron Now we will briefely giue you the exposition of the names so make an end of this Historie Pharez or rather Peretz in Hebrue signifieth a diuision and the occasion of this name was because of the two twinnes in the wombe of Thamar he first of all brake foorth and therefore they called him a diuision from the time of his birth hee was borne in the land of Canaan Hezron or Chetzron which was also borne in the land of Canaan and the Sonne of Peretz who was borne about the time that the Israelites went into Egypt and signifieth in our English tongue the arrow of ioye for till the Israelits went into Egypt they endured a great famine which â—zechiel calleth the arrowe of famine and when they were deliuered from this famine by going into Egypt for corne this child being then borne he was called the arrow of ioy as the famine is called the arrowe of sorrow as a remembrance of the mercie of God to them in giuing them bread Ram was the Sonne of Chetzron and was borne in Egypt about the time of Iacobs death when the children of Israel began to be hated of the Egyptians and therefore they called him Ram which signifieth in our English tongue cast downe or cast off because they then began to bee afflicted and saw no doubt great misery like to fall vpon them and they should be cast downe so soone as either the king or Ioseph should bee dead Haminadab the Sonne of Ram was also borne in Egypt about the time of Iosephes death when he tolde the Israelites that the Lord would visite them and deliuer them from the Egyptians and it signifieth in our English tongue a people that would be free being compounded of two words wherein the Israelits testifie the hope of their deliuerance that although they were now in thraldome yet they should bee in freedome againe Nahashon or Nachschon the Sonne of Haminadab was also borne in Egypt a little before the departure of the Israelites when hey cryed grieuously to the Lord for their affliction which they endured in Egypt vnder the Taxe-masters and it signifieth a crying or complayning thereby noting in the name of the child that hee was borne in affliction which might put him in minde of his Fathers miserie this man when the children of Israel were gon out of Egypt and pitched their tents in wildernesse of Sinai was by election or appointment of God made the Prince of the whole Tribe Salmon or Shalmon the Sonne of Nachschon was borne after the Israelites were departed from Egypt while they wandered in the desert and were deliuered from the Amalekits and other their enemies and his name signifieth peaceable because they liued then peaceably being freed from the Egyptians and other calamities this man married with the victualer Rachab of Iericho of whoÌ„ he begat Boaz. Boaz signifieth in strength who was born about the time of the deliuerance of y e Iewes from the tyrannie of the Moabites by the hand of lame Ehud by which meanes they got strength and remained a long time in peace Obed signifieth a seruant who was borne as wee see in Ephratha Bethlehem his mother being Ruth the Moabitesse the women gaue him this name because hee shoulde serue for the raysing vp of Elimelechs family the restoring of Naomies life and the comfort of his parents Boaz and Ruth Ischai or Ishai the Sonne of Obed signifieth an oblation and was borne about the daies of Iipthach and it may bee had his name giuen by reason of the vowe of Iipthach when he went against the Hammonites that he would offer the first liuing thing that met him after he returned with y e victorie whervpon his daughter meeting him she liued in perpetuall virginitie Dauid the youngest Sonne of Iischai who no doubt was borne in the time of Heli signifieth beloued because commonly the youngest are best loued or else his name did prophesie that hee should be so loued of God with whom he would establish his couenant concerning Christ and aduance him to the kingdome By which wee may plainely see that this Historie was written after he was chosen from his brethren and anoynted to be king after Saule or else the eldest Sonne of Iischai should haue beene named because the birth-right belonged to him Lastly by this we may gather that the foundation of the Gospell must be searched for in the olde Testament for this Genealogie as all the other of Christ is taken from thence and the Apostle defining the Gospell saith that God had promised it before by the Prophets in the holy Scriptures that is in the olde Testament and therefore it was needfull for Mathew to begin his Gospell with the Genealogie of Christ from Abraham and Dauid who had most liuely promises of his incarnation also Marke and Luke begin with Iohn Baptist who was the promised Eliah and the forerunner of Christ according as before it was prophesied and Iohn fetcheth it from the creation and beginning of the worlde as it appeareth in the entraunce of his Gospell By which we may see the hope of the Fathers for the comming of Christ to be the same with ours and had the liuely promises thereof reuealed in the law and the Prophets Secondly the heauenly agreement that is betweene the olde Testament and the new for there he was promised thence he was proued to be the Messiah all the Prophets giue witnesse vnto him now he is exhibited humbled and aduanced to the highest degree the gouernment heauen and earth sitting at the right hand of God making intercession for his Saints working in the calling of his seruantes with the ministerie of his worde disposing all things to the damnation of the wicked and the saluation of the godly Now let vs giue praise to God FINIS Gen. 1.1 Esay 1.1 Iere. 1.2 Eph. 1.1.2 Math. 2.1 Mar. 1.3.4 Luke 1. â— Iudg. 2.18 21 25 Pro. 20.30 1. Ki. 14.16 16 2.3.4 1 Kin. 18 35 37. Hos 7.14.13 Ier. 44.19 1. Kin. 18 17 1. Kin. 18 15.17 Psa 127.5 Mat. 25.3 Mat. 21.30 Ioh. 15.2 Ioh. 10.14 Ge. 31.34 Pro. 7.22 Mat. 3.10 Reu. 18.4 Num. 16.12.32 Hos 6.1.2 Deut. 28.23.24 Dan. 6.9 Psal 12. â—6 Ps 145.17 2. The. 1.6 Eze 18.26 1. Pe. 4.17 Heb. 12.6 Mat. 25.48 Eze. 5.16 1. Sam. 24 14.15 Ge. 12.10 Gen. 26.1 Ge. 41.30 2. Sam. 21 1. 1. Kin. 18.2 2. King 6.25 Act. 18.28 Am. 8.11 Ios 19.15 Ge. 35.19 Math. 2.1 Chap. 15. 1. Kin. 22 34. Psa 29 6.6.8 Psa 149 8 Psa 113 7 Exo. 10.22 Exod. 11.29 2. Kin. 25 10. Gen. 2.24 Gen. 12. â—1 8. Gen. 26.1 Gen. cap. 42 43.44 1. Tim. 5.8 Gen. 6.1 Pro. 5.18 Psa 37.35 Psal 17.14 Psal 73.4 Ver. 12 Iob. 21.7 Ier. 12.1