Palme trée psal 92. Which for all the froste of Winter and scorching of Sommer and blustering of windes and pressing downe of waightes yet it will still bee greene and florishe and rise vp against and aboue the burtheng and therfore was giuen to Conquerors in token of victorye If you would knowe the reason hereof go no further theÌ„to the first promise The sedè of the woman shall bruse the Serpents head This is done by vertue of that seede Or go no further then the wordes of Elizeus They that are with vs be moe then they that be against vs 2. Reg. 6. And because Michaell and his Angels haue beene bee and shallbe to good for the Dragon and his Angelles for euer Appo 12. Therefore it suffiseth to resolue vs that it shall be so And heere as I haue spoken of the estate and condition of the Lordes flocke as it is in this lyfe present So if the time did not exclude me I had thought to haue laid before you the blessed prerogatiues thereof which it shall haue in the lyfe to come As first that it shall bee separated from all the noysome goates of this worlde Secondlye that it shal be scituate on the right hand of the Judge Thirdly that it shall be leased and possessed of that kingdome which was prepared for them before the foundations of the world Math. 25. But I come to the other thing which is gratiously warranted in this promise of the Lords protection which is specified in these wordes And I will spare them c. The like promise is made generally to all them that feare God Psal 103. Euen as a Father hath pittie on his children So hath the Lord compassion on them that feare him Indéed many Fathers haue béene vnkinde vnnatural to their children Saule made an odlawe when Ionathas his sonne was within the lurtch of it hee would haue cut him off had not the people stoode him in stead and rescued him 1. Sam. 14. Herode hauing but onlie two sonnes Alexander and Aristobolus vppon a false surmise strangled them both Whereupon Augustus said Melius est Herodis esse porcum quam filium It is better to bee Herodes hogge than his sonne Plutarch saith that in Rome rich men vsed to carry whelps and yong apes vp and downe the stréets in their armes which when Caesar sawe he would néeds know Ecquid apud ipsos mulieres liberos non parerent Whether women did not bring forth children with them But to let these monsters go which either praeter contra naturam haue thus rebelled repined against their own bowels do you but measure the tender affectioÌ„ of parents toward their children by olde Elie who hearing of the death of Hofni Phinehas his sons with very wo fell downe backward brake his necke 1 Sam. 4. Or by Dauid who at the death of that one sonne which was begotten in adulterie and after the death of that other sonne which letted not to coÌ„mit adultery with his fathers concubines I meane Absolon did so take on that very sorrow had almost broken his very heart insunder 2. Sa. 12. 2. Sam. 18. 33. And to read in histories that Gordianus wheÌ„ he heard of the death of his sonne strangled him selfe Or that Orodes king of Parthia hearing that his sonne Pacorus was slaine in war through extreame sorrowe fell madde Or that Pythias king of Bithinia when Xerxes had slaine his sonne left his kingdome to his wife and went to his sonnes graue and there ended his life with mourning Or that Aâ—geus surmising that Theseus his sonne had béene slayne of Minotaurus leapt into the sea drownd himself To read of all these infinit other the like examples how doth it demonstrate the deare and tender affection of fathers towards their sons therefore in that the Lorde promiseth to fill and to poure out his compassion after this rate and measure what a comforte is this But indéede our heauenly Father doth so entirely tender his children that there is no ende or comparison thereof to bee made And therfore as Esay saith he is our Father cap. 63. And as Ieremy saith He will be called our Father Ier. 3. So whye our Sauiour Christ should forbid vs to call any other by the name of Father here in earth saying For one is your Father in heauen Math. 23. I knowe no reason but this for that no father on earth doeth so tenderlye loue his owne children as our heauenlye Father doeth affect and like of vs being but his adopted children He spareth vs in three respectes in two of them much lyke a naturall Father but in the third there is no comparison I am sure and so you will say First as a naturall Father will not Kill or destroye his childe when he is sicke and feeble and cannot eat his meat or aborreth such things thorow infirmity as should be a mean to recouer his health So our heauenly Father will spare vs and not coÌ„demne vs or confound vs for euer although we be sicke in spirite and weake in faith do euen loath often times his heauenly woord which is the health and saluation of our soules Secondly like a natural father he spareth vs in respect of our wilfull prodigalities and wastinges of his blessinges and graces not vnlike that same louing Father in the gospell who forgaue his sonne which had so leudlye consumed his fathers substance and his owne portion Our race we haue as wilfully runne Our tyme we haue as vainely spent His fauours we haue as ilfauâ—â—rdly bestowed and his displeasure we haue as desperatly incurred But yet come home to his mercy by repentaunce and say father we haue sinned against thee c. and then you shall finde that he wil spare you and embrace you in the armes of his mercifull compassion c. But now to speake of that respect of the Lords gratious fauour which is without comparison What naturall Father euer did as he hath done to spare vs which were but his adopted children hee hath not spared his onelie begotten Sonne Christ Jesus So that to vs ward he was woorth his promise heere made but hee hath laide it vppon his naturall sonne with a witnesse 〈◊〉 our sakes He was faine to resigne a royall kingdome to come to an Asses cribbe to relinquish the sweete societie of Angels to liue among malitious rakehels the Scribes and Pharisees to surrender a throne of glory for a cursed crosse of wood to yéelde vp a crowne of blisse for a crowne of thornes to loose the fauour of his heauenly father to pleasure his deadly foes and to suffer death that miserable wretches might be spared and saued aliue O kind and tender Sauiuiour to spare and to saue vs thou hast suffered thy selfe to become a very spoile for the malice of Sathan I graunt you Fabius Maximus was verie desirous to spare and saue the Romane Captiues when hee solde all his patrimony to redéeme them But our Sauiour Christ hath suffered himselfe to be solde to redéeme vs his very enemies in respect Mithridates was wondred at for his tender affection toward Leonicus his deere frend because hee gaue all the Rhodian captiues to redeeme him but yet he gaue his enemies to redéeme his friend But Christ Jesus our blessed Sauiour hath giuen himselfe to redeeme his enemies To bee short when there was in Rome a sodaine gaping gulph which they could by no meanes fill vp and the Oracle had signified that except the chiefest thing and that which the commons loued best were cast into it it could not be stopped Curtius vnderstanding that he himselfe was their onely Jewel without any more adoe threw himselfe into it and so it was fild vp presently Yet this was done for his country that loued him so well that they accounted nothing better or more worthy theÌ„ hée But when y e gaping gulph of Gods most dreadfull vengeance was to bee stopped our blessed sauiour cast himselfe into the middest of it and died a most bitter death this he did for the people which thought they had nothing worse or more vile than hee no not Barrabas that arrant cutthroat What shall I say then of this so rare so royall so vnspeakeable and so incomparable loue of his towards vs I can say no lesse than Barnard said Opus sine exemplo gratia sine merito charitas sine modo Such a worke as hath no example a fauour without desert and loue without measure The Lord therefore graunt that such bottomles compassion in him may presently work some thankfull compunction in you And that as the vaile of the temple rent in sunder from the toppe to the bottome when these thinges were performed So the consideration of the extreame miserie which hée endured that hée might spare and saue our forlorne soules may ransacke euery vaine in our hearts in all due remorse And y â— as the very earth did quake in horrour of so great violence wrongfully offered to him and méekely suffered for you So our heartes and consciences may quake and tremble considered that an innocent person hath endured the same to spare our guilty and damned soules To him therefore which hath so entirely oued vs that he hath not spared his onely begotten Sonne to saue vs and to him which hath so dearely bought vs that hee hath layde downe his life to redeeme vs and to him that hath so wonderfully purged and sanctified vs through the Lauer of regeneratioÌ„ that hee hath thereby sealed vs vntill the day of Redemption id est to God the Father God the Sonne and God the holy Ghost three distict persons and one euerlasting God bee al praise power and dominion world without end Amen FINIS
for so saith the Apostle Hebrewes 4. And therfore so it preuailed with this people that it wrought in them a resolute conference for their conuersion and bettering of their conuersations And so it preuailed with Iosias and his people for at the reading of the booke of the law by Shaphan there was renting of cloathes and melting of harts and shedding of teares in all humility 2. King 22. And so it preuailed with the King of Niniuie and his People for at the preaching of Ionas there was proclaming of fastes and putting on of sackcloath and sitting downe in ashes and crying mightilye vnto God from the greatest to the least Iohn 3. And so it preuailed with the Israelites at the preaching of Esay for they letted not to inuite one another saying Come ye house of Iacob let vs walk in the light of the Lord Esay 2. And so it preuailed with the people which heard Peters heauenly sermon for they were thereby euen pricked in their hartes and said men and brethren what shall we do Act. 2. But I do not sée beloued in the Lorde that it hath so preuailed with vs and yet how mightilythe Lord hath called vpon vs both Judgelike Fatherlike in punishing and in fauours I knowe you can not be ignorant Haue not the mountaines trembled the foundatioÌ„s of y e earth béen shakeÌ„ in your daies Haue not bloodthirstye conspirators swarmed like grashoppers here at home in our own bosomes Haue not the furious executioners of Gods vengeance couered our seas with their ships and attempted to inuade vs Haue not the messengers of the Lord lyke so many truÌ„pets sounded daily in your eares that tribulation anguish wéeping gnashing of téeth vnquenchable fire vtter darknes the worme y â— neuer dieth euen the portion of hypocrites is prepared for all hard harted stifnecked sinners surely eueÌ„ these wer the voices of Gods vengeance and in euerye one of them hee hath said I will come nere to England in Judgement and will be a swift witnes against you And on the otherside wherhence is it that we haue receiued such gratious gouernment for such bloudy tyrannies such sunshine of the Gospell for such darkenes of Idolatrie such dayly preaching for suche damnable Massing such plenty for such scarsety such peace for such warre such health for such sicknes such fatherly blessings for such Pharaolik persecutioÌ„s as is meruellous in our eyes manifest to al the worlde As this is the Lords doings and in euery one of these his good graces he hath engrauen the voice of his mercy saying Returne to me and I will returne to you But I knowe not how we make no more account thereof then of a blast of winde naye as there was neuer that good or grace wroght to reclame these Israelites but the Lord hath vouchsafed the like or greater to vs. So what euill was there committed by them in Malachies time but it is doubled and tripled by vs in these daies and that in such measure both in Priest and People beginne where you will that it can not but irk our harts to think of it alas then why should it not vrdge our tongues to speake against it as the Israelites did euery man to his Neighbour For first as their Priestes polluted the Altar of the Lord in manye a foule abuse so doo we I may not conceale it cure it as I maye For some of vs are idle bellies do the worke of the Lord negligentlye for wee labour not but loyter in the Lordes Vineyard what is this but with the Priestes of Israell to offer vncleane bread and to present our worst gifts and to sacrifice the halt and maimed vnto him who is a great King Some of vs are men pleasers and such placebos that we laye pillowes vnder the eares and cushins vnder the elbowes of sinners and what is this but to say with the Priestes of â—uda that euery one that doth euill is good in the sight of the Lord Some of vs are brainsicke and fantasticall and euen like Narcissus are not only in loue with our owne shadows but wedded to our owne pestilent conceits so that no reason can perswade vs or aswage them and what is this but with the tribe of Leui to marry with y â— daughters of a strange God Some of vs are bitter contentious making ruptures in the Church our tender mother like so many vipers deuouring one another more like wolues then shéepherdes and deuiding the vnsemed coate of Christian vnity not vnlyke arrant théeues what is this but the miserye whereof Basile complaineth Hoc omnium miseratione vel maxime dignum est cum ea pars quae sana visa est in se deuisa est This is a most lamentable thing when that parte which séemeth to be sound is deuided in it selfe And the misery whereof Lactantius complaineth Gladium quisque habet quo hostem feriat sed nemo clypeum quo sedefendat euery one hath a swoorde whereby he may strike his enemie but no man hath a shéelde whereby he may defend him selfe And the misery whereof Barnard complaineth Omnes amici omnes inimici omnes necessarij omnes aduersarii omnes domestici nulli pacifici All are friendes and all are enemyes all are neighbours and all are aduersaries all are home-dwellers and none are peace-makers Now then beloued in the Lord is it possible for vs of the ministerie to finde and know these euils in our selues and yet to bée mute and silent surely these outrages are able to make him speake that is not wilfully tonguefyed Atys Craesus sonne was dumbe neuer spake in al his life as Herodotus reports yet when he saw Cyrus about to cutte his fathers throat he burst out into these spéeches saide O homo ne interficias patrem O man kill not my father Wee see what wée sée and I do not see how wee can say lesse to them which intreate our spirituall and Ghostly Fathers as they doe that is euen cut the throate of their honorable reputation through spitefull slaunder of their goodlye reuenewes through priuate lucre and of their lawfull authoritie through proud insolencie I doe not see I say how wee can say lesse than this O homo ne interficias patrem O man kill not my father Thus then is the Altar of the Lord at this day in the Church of England polluted in many a foule abuse by vs of the ministerie and therefore great cause there is to lay our heads and hearts together and to lay aside all bitternesse and cursed speaking one agaynst another and to speake euery man vnto his neighbour as Israel did for repentance and against sinne But now let vs leaue the Altar of the Lord come Ad Atria where the people vse to stand Alas if such iniquitie dwell in the middest of the Sanctuarie and amongst the Priests what maruaile is it if it be farre worse in the streetes and among
heare you be sure for as Hillary sayeth Qui naturam audiendi humano generi impertit ipse extra auditus non potest esse naturam He that made the eare can heare and he can answeare you aswel by fire from Heauen as euer he did First by sending down the holy Ghost to comfort you There is not the softest misereri which you breath out of your mouthes nor the least penitent thought in your heartes but it is in his eares like the shirlest noise of a trumpet For he is non vocis sed cordis auditor not the hearer of the voice onelye but of the heart to And he can heare before men speak for he said to Moyses quid clamas ad me why cryest thou to mée And yet he spake not a worde only he sighed and groned Exod. 14. No more did Anna when the tears came down her chéeks and her lippes were séene to moue her voyce was not heard 1. Sam. 1. Loquebatur non voce sed corde praece occulta sed manifest a fide saith Ciprian Shée spake not with her voice but with her harte her prayer was hid but her faith was manifest heereby then ye may be bolde that the Lord is neare to all them that call vppon him I meane faithfully There is one kinde of voice which the Lord will not heare But there are thrée kinde of voices which he is most forward to hear and I beséech you let vs consider of it you which are the Gods of the earth I meane Judges and Maiestrats haue regarde and care to season and temper your eares thereafter for hee is the best Justicer and you can not better his president That one voice which the Lord will not heare is theirs which contemne his word and despise their owne saluation as al wilfull and malicious sinners And this very Judgement is laid downe expreslye against them by the Prophet though they cry vnto me yet I wil not heare them Ier. 11. and the Israelites felt the misery of it Deut. 1. and so did Dauids enemies for they cryed out for aide and were not heard 2. Sam. 22. and it was ment of such miscreants where it is said that God heareth not sinners I0 9. Therefore iudge you what a meruellous peuishnes it is yea worse then madnes it selfe to desire to wax oulde in sinne and to cary it to the graues and to say you will repent at your last end for it is a memorandum to man that sin wil bring the Lord so farre out of conceit with you that hee will not heare you And now the thrée voices which the Lord will heare and that both willingly spéedely are these First the voice of innocent blood and he doeth so hear it that it is alwayes to their cost which shed it for still it beggeth vengeance at Gods hands and is therein so importunate as that same poore widowe which followed the vnrighteous Judge woulde haue no naye but still cryed Reuenge me on my aduersary Luke 18. or it is lyke that same sorrowfull womā of Canaan which followed our Sauiour Christe crauing the health of her daughter so instantly that the disciples said Demitte eā quia clamat post nos Dismisse her for she crieth after vs Mat. 15. Did not the Lord tell Caine that the voice of his brothers bloode cryed vnto him from the earth and what a fearefull Judgement had he Gen. 4. And the bloode of all the Priests whome Saul slew so butcherlike for affecting Dauid neuer ceast crying out for due vengeance vntill Saul with his owne hands sheathed his owne sworde in his owne bowels 1. Sam. 31. And what an outcrye made the innocent bloode of Naboth shedde by the practise of Iezabel and was not her rewarde thereafter when her pride had a fall her necke was broken and the dogges deuoured her flesh gnawed her bones 2. Kin. 9. The innocencie of Zachary the preist murthered by Ioas King of Iuda cryed so loud for vengeance that the Lord brought the Kings own blood vpon his owne head and suffred his own seruauntes to cutte him off in his neste 2. Kings 12. And heere-hence it is that you shall neuer lightly sée a murtherer prosper or thriue vpon the earth no albeit the parties be agréed withall albeit the Princes pardon be obtained and euery thing be thorowlye salued and why because the Lord heareth the voice and reuengeth the villanye of innocent bloodshedding Beware then you desperate ympes how ye séeke by blood to reuenge your drunken quarrelles and take héede yée cunning deep wittes how with false accusation and subtill packing you ly in waite to ease your dogged stomacks by shedding your neighbours blood And you right Honourable which are deputies and substitutes to our dread Soueraigne Gods Leiuetenant here in England be wise and let no intercession of fréendes no corruptions of bribes no affection of parties stop your eares or make you deafe when the causes of blood are in question before you for the crye thereof will then be as lowde against you for accessaries as against the very actors for principalls and all the water in Pilats Bason shall not washe away Gods vengeaunce from you and yours An other voice which the Lord will heare and that very quickely is the crye of the poore or oppressed be they widowes or fatherles be they fréendles or succourles And this is apparant by his owne promise Exod. 22. If thou vexe or trouble any such that is widowe or fatherles childe and so he call and cry vnto me I wil surely heare his cry so saieth Eccle. 38. he heareth the prayer of the opressed And marke it when you will the teares of the widowe runne not so fast downe her chéekes but they arise vp as fast into Heauen and the Lord which heareth them in due time pittieth them So that our mercifull God is not like those Lacedemonian Ephori certaine retchlesse magistrates which heard mens peticions they cared not how belike with their haruest eares Nor to that carelesse Emperour Adrianus who hauing receiued into his handes many billes of supplicacion in the very sight of the suters them selues threwe them all into the water But he is like himselfe id est is full of compassion and tender in affection towarde the distressed to whome all good Magisstrats and Justices ought in this respect to be lyke You may read in Xenophon what authority and fauour the Persian Kinges obtained by suffering the people to haue easie accesse vnto them when they came with complaints for redresse of their wrongs and you may read in Samuell how strangelye Absalon stale away the hearts of the men of Israell from Dauid his Father by complaint that there was none to heare them and by promise of spéedye dispatch if he him selfe might rule the rost I grant you Ad penitentiā properat qui cito Iudicat He hasteneth to Repentaunce which maketh haste to giue Judgemēt But it is ment of him qui preiudicat which giueth rash
God will stirre vp your harts not to be long or much behinde him And in trueth I â—â—â—â—der that this noble Cittie of London hath not heretofore looked into this want and had â—are to supply it 〈…〉 in there is no charitable wâ—â—ke almost vndoâ—â— or at the least vnprouided for You haue sundry not able frâ—e schooles founded in this Cittye where by you giue â—uâ—ture to the rude and learning to the ignorant You haue many goodly hospitals endewed wherein yoâ—â—eâ—e me and allowe Phisick to the 〈…〉 â—â—rgerâ— to the sore meate to the hungry drink to the thirsty cloaths to the naked houseroom for the h 〈…〉 ourles and good and godly education to Orphanes and infants And you haue store of faire and sweete Conduits wherebye you spare not for any coste to conuey water into euery place almost of this populus citty Yea there cannot be a fountaine heard of or a deuise thought of to yeelde store of water but lyke good and careful gouernours your hands are in your purses to laye out what so euer it will cost And will you bestow nothing vppon the blessed Pypes and sugred Conduites which bring you the water of lyfe You cannot bring water a quarter of a myle to the Cittie without your own great charges And doo you thinke it reason that the water of life should be brought you 40 or 50. myles at other mens charges Consider but of the excellency thereof and thinke but of the happines of these our daies wherein wee may haue it either for loue or money The waters of Sylaris in Lucania maketh soft things hard as a wand laid in it all night wil be as hard as a stone by the morning But the water of lyfe will make hard thinges soft as your hard stonye heartes it will turne into tender fleshy hartes The water of Sinnesana in Campania maketh mad men wise and sober and so this water chaungeth worldly folly into Heauenly wisedome The water of Clytumnus if Oâ—enor shéep being neuer so blacke vse to drinke of it it wil make them as white as the driuen snowe So this water albeit sinne hath made you as blak in soule as any Ethiopian is in bodye yet it will wash you and purge you and make you cleane and white And as the water of Bethesda when it was moued by the Angell cured them which stept into it whatsoeuer disease they had So this water will cure and recouer al the infirmities of your sicke soules if ye step into it and embrace it when Gods ministers moue it and poure it out before you To be shorte as Varro writeth of Zame a fountaine in Affrica that it runneth with such sweete singing noise that thereby bothe men and beasts are allured to drinke of it So the waters of lyfe running and falling in this publik and famous place through such learned pipes and gratious Conduites as comes from the Vniuersities are moste pleasant and of maruellous force to allure all men bothe cleane and vncleane to taste of them and to hath their sinfull soules in them Wherefore the vertue and excellencie of this water being so singuler and soueraigne as you haue heard I hope it will not grudge you with all spéede to prouide that it maye haue moste frée and plentifull passage to this Cittie thorow your Christian relief and lyberalitye I am not the first that hathe moued this sute but you may be the first that euer tendered it or prouided for it two and fifty poundes a yere would bountifully performe it a good parte whereof as I haue toulde you a Reuerend and moste learned Bishoppe meaneth to yeld And if you would vouchafe to ioyne with him and to lay out the rest and so make vppe the somme out of your common treasurye for the cittie you should not onely be thankfully remembred in this place vnto the worlds end but also this good woorke of your compassion shall be recorded in the booke of the Lords Remembrance and at the last day you shall reap the frute of your well doing finde that with such sacrifice God is highlye pleased Lastly in this booke of Remembrance shall be written the sorrow and remorse of our penitent and broken harts And hereof what better testimony then this present Scripture The Lord caused a booke of Remembraunce to be written c. It is doubtles a great and gratious fauour when the Lord sayeth At what time soeuer a sinner shall repent I will blot his wickednes out of my Remembrance Ezech. 18. But this passeth and is with out all comparison that he will make a memoriall of it and write a booke of Remembrance of our repentaunce and recorde it in the booke of lyfe So that with Israel we shal not onelye escape all euill or the greatest euill in this lyfe but also at the last and most deâ—adfull time be tide what shall come the day of the Lord neuer so glowmingly sound the trumpet neuer so fear fully arrise the dead neuer so sinfully approch the deuils neuer so fiearsly smoake the mountaines melt the hilles tremble the earth vanishe the sea flash and flame the whole vnâ—uersall worlde neuer so furiously yet this shal be our comfort and refuge that we haue repented vs of our sinnes and that our Repentance is of record and written in the booke of the Judges remembrance And so to come to the next obseruation in this comfort Seing the Prophet in plaine termes saith that this booke was written for them that feared the Lord and thought vpon his name let all the woorkers of Iniquitye which forget God and put farre from theâ— the euill day which saith in their hartes tush God hath forgotten hee wil not sée it which are at their leagues with death and at their bargaines with hell let them all stand backe and know that there is no place for their names in this booke And why the Lord himself yeelds the reason Whosoeuer sinneth against me I will put his name out of my booke Ex. 32. And againe I will make their rememberance to cease from among men No No Ieremie telleth them plaine enough where they shal be writen euen in the dust or in the earth Ier. 17. and why because they haue forsaken the Lord the fountaine of liuing waters Therefore let them write their names vpon their owne stately houses and vpon their sumpteous tombes and Sepulchers no man will controll them But it is their JudgemeÌ„t to be scattred lyke the chaffe before the wind Psal 1. To be withered lyke grasse before the Sonne Psal 37. and to melt or consume lyke waxe before the fire Psal 68. that is to be forgotten and to be raked vppe and buried in the forlorne ashes of all obscuritye and obliuion And yet their punishment shall not be forgotten I warrant you for that is written and set downe in another kinde of booke then we haue yet spoken off I meane the blacke booke of Gods most bitter vengeance wherof Ezechel speaketh Chap. 2. Which