now belonging to vs all who are of that one who either seuerally or ioyntly ought to make it our happines and blisse to enioy this gracious amity and friendship with God Which mind the Prophet teacheth vs to put on when hee so often saith q Psal 33 12. Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord and blessed are they whom he hath chosen to him to be his inheritance r Psa 144 15. Blessed are they who haue the Lord for their God Å¿ Psal 146. 5. Blessed is the man that hath the God of Iacob for his helpe and whose hope is in the Lord his God The reason whereof the Apostle teacheth vs when he saith t Ro. 8. 31. If God be with vs or on our side who can be against vs Be it that in wil and purpose they be against vs yet in act and deed they can effect nothing Which made the Prophet when he had but named u Esay 8. 8. 9. Immanuel God with vs to breake out into those words of defiance Girde your selues and ye shall be broken in peeces girde your selues and yee shall be broken in peeces take counsell together and it shall come to nought pronounce a decree and it shall not stand for God is with vs. Thus the people of God reioyce in the Psalme x Psal 46. 1 God is our hope and strength a very present helpe in trouble therefore will we not feare though the earth be moued and though the hils be caried into the midst of the sea though the waters thereof rage and swell and though the mountaines shake at the tempest of the same c. The Lord of hosts is with vs the God of Iacob is our refuge The Prophet Dauid is full of these meditations y Psa 27. 1. The Lord is my light and my saluation whom then shall I feare the Lord is the strength of my life of whom then shall I be afraid z Psa 62. 6. 7. God is my strength and my saluation he is my defence I shall not be remoued in God is my health and my glory the rocke of my might in God is my trust a Psal 73. 25. Whom haue I in heauen but thee and what do I desire vpon earth in comparison of thee my flesh and my heart faileth but God is the strength of my life and my portion for euer Herein standeth the ioy and contentment of the godly poore man that though he want the wealth and glory of the world yet he hath the grace of God he walketh with God and hath God to walke with him which though it cary no shew to the world yet he more esteemeth thereof then of all the wealth of the whole world And without this what is all the pompe and glory of the world though a man haue whatsoeuer the world can yeeld him yet what is it all without God The rich man in the Gospell reioyceth in the abundance of his goods he saith to his soule b Luk. 12. 19. Soule eate drinke take thy pleasure thou hast goods layd vp in store for many yeares But it was answered to him from aboue Thou foole this night shall they take away thy soule from thee and then whose shall those things be which thou doest possesse so is euerie man saith our Sauiour Christ that is rich in this world and is not rich in God He is a foole by the testimony of our Sauiour Christ who ioyeth to be rich in the goods of this world and neglecteth to be rich towards God rich in knowledge rich in faith rich in grace rich in good workes rich in all things whereby we should be fitted and prepared c Eph. 1. 18. to the rich and glorious inheritance of the saints of God In a word the life of the body is the soule and the life of the soule is God and as the body dieth in the departure of the soule so is the soule yea the whole man dead when he is left of God Without God what is all our life but a shadow which sheweth to be something and indeede is nothing what but a dreame which mocketh a man and maketh him beleeue that he is a king when he is but a peasant that he is rich and abounding in treasure when he is a very beggar d Esay 29. 8. that he is well refreshed at a goodly banquet when he is readie to die for hunger He saith afterwards Me thought it was thus and thus but he findeth it nothing so Euen so the glory of worldly state flattereth men and perswadeth them that they are the only fortunate and happy men when indeede being strangers to God and deuoide of his grace they are found in the end to be most wretched and vnhappie of all other e Psal 49. 14. Their beautie is consumed when they are caried from their houses to their graues death staineth the pride of all their glory and vpon the Beere it is written as to Baltasar vpon the wall f Dan. 5. 26. Mene God hath numbred thy kingdome and hath finished it thou hast henceforth no kingdome no glory nothing but confusion and shame but sorrow and paine because thou hast liued without God and art for euer dead to him 9 Now it enamoureth euery mans affection and mind to haue God to walke with him euery man will pretend a desire to haue it so and a hope that it is so But that wee may not deceiue our selues we are diligently to consider vpon what condition it is that God yeeldeth himselfe to walke with vs and to continue with vs when he hath begun This condition the Prophet telleth vs is agreement with God who will by no meanes condescend to walke with vs vnlesse we haue care to accord and agree with him And what is our agreement with God but our agreement with the word of God by which he is present amongsts vs and by the fame imparteth himselfe vnto vs. g Aâ—gust d verb. dom ser 1. If thou sinne faith Saint Austin the word of God is thine aduersarie and how canst thou be sayd to agree with God when thou art at variance with Gods word As touching this point the Apostle Saint Iohn notably well instructeth vs h 1. Ioh. 1. 5. God is light and in him is no darknesse at all if we say that we haue fellowship with him and walke in darknesse we lie and the truth is not in vs but if we walke in the light as he is in the light which what is it else but to agree with him then we haue fellowship one with another he with vs and we with him and the bloud of Iesus Christ his sonne clenseth vs from all our sinnes More particularly to expresse what it is to walke in the light and to agree with God it is sayd vnto vs i Mat. 5. 48 be ye perfect as your heauenly father is perfect k Luk. 6. 36 be yee mercifull as your heauenly
or commander but of the side and though as a companion yet an inferior to her husband and therefore that she ought a Eph. 5. 22 to submit her selfe to her husband that b Gen. 3. 16. her desire is to be subiect vnto him and he is to rule ouer her that c 1. Tim. 2. 12. she is not to vsurpe authoritie ouer her husband but d 1. Cor. 14 34. to be in subiection as the lawe teacheth It teacheth husbands e 1. Pet. 3. 7 to dwell discreetly with their wiues giuing honour to the wife as vnto the weaker vessell euen as they who are heires together with them of the grace of life Againe it teacheth the wife to be f Gen. 2. 18. a helper to her husband as was said before and not a hinderer g Eccles 36. 24. a pillar for him to rest vpon not a stumbling block to make him fall h Pro. 12. 4 the glory of her husband not an infamy and reproch to him a meanes i 1. Pet. 3. 1 to winne him by her good conuersation if he do not yet obey the word not an occasion to offend him and driue him further off from the liking of the word It teacheth k 1. Cor. 7. 33. 44. the husband in the things of the world to care how hee may please his wife and the wife likewise in the same to care how she may please her husband In a word it teacheth both husband wife to set God before their eies and to consider mariage as his ordinance and institution and that to him they shall giue account how they haue vsed it with that honour and regard which he hath required as due vnto it 18 Which that it may be the more duely performed necessary it is that with religion there be ioyned affection and without affection religion sufficeth not Affection I say whereby each is entertained and lodged in the heart of other and do yeeld each to other that contentment and delight as that it may bee betwixt them which Solomon saith l Pro. 5. 18 Reioyce with the wife of thy youth let her bee vnto thee as the louing Hinde and as the pleasant Roe let her breastes alwayes satisfie thee and delight thou in her loue continually It is very worthy to be noted how the holy Ghost in the Canticles to describe the amitie betwixt Christ and his Church demeaneth himselfe to the phrases of amitie betwixt the husband the wife m Cant. 2. â—0 4 10. 5. 2. my faire one my sister my spouse my loue my doue my vndefiled and such like as to consecrate and sanctifie the same to the vse of chaste and faithful loue so to import what the affection ought to bee which is to vtter it selfe by the issues and streames of such gratious and louely wordes It was truly said by him that said it that n Bodin de repub lib 1. cap. 3. ex Artemidore marriage loue ought to exceede and ouerpasse all other kindes of amitie and loue and therefore the foundations of mariage are to be laid accordingly that affection truly and faithfully obteined on both parts may be thenceforth as an impregnable fortresse castle neuer to bee conquered or ouercome Therefore rash and hasty and casuall marriages are to bee condemned wherin their wanteth time and occasion and meanes to linck together the hearts and affections of them that are to liue together and that barbarous and wicked couÌ„sell is followed which sometimes is giuen to marrie first and to loue after Whereby it commeth to passe that marriages many times are but discontentments and draw after them a long cord of miserie and sorrowe and grieuance of the one party against the other and both aduisedly repent of that which they vnaduisedly begun Of the same kind are those marriages which Hierome speaketh of wheÌ„ men make choice of wiues o Hieron idu Iouini au lib. 1. non oculis sed digitis not by their eies but by their fingers not by their eies by which the person and behauiour is discerned approued but by the fingers by which the money is told that only being respected how rich she is in the purse not how well to bee liked in her selfe the man many times by this occasion thinking that he hath a good marriage if the woman were away and the woman by like occasion thinking her selfe well married if the husband were away and the one hoping and wishing soone the sooner the better to bee rid of the other Lasciuious and wanton eies are indeed greatly to be condemned but yet in honest and lawfull loue the eie is the window by which affection and loue entreth into the heart and if the eie beare not some stroke in choice of a companion to liue so neerely with so as that the husband be to the wife p Gen. 20. 16. the vaile of her eies to stay her from looking to any other and the wife to the husband q Ezech. 24. 16. the pleasure of his eies that hee may ioy to behold her ill is that mariage sorted and whatsoeuer other contentments there may bee in it there wanteth that which should be the seasoning sweetnes of all the rest 19 From religion and affection must grow patience both in husband and wife whereby vpon occasions of heare and anger without which hardly caÌ„ our life passe each can kindly beare with other and each is carefull to take that notice and knowledge of the nature and disposition of the other as may serue to preuent and exclude those vncomely extremities to which intemperate and vnbrideled fury carieth headlong both one and other Wee are all flesh and bloud we all haue our imperfections and ouersights but patience and loue digesteth all and still healeth that which offence woundeth But if there be no patience if by impatiencie the one be fire and the other flax and gunpowder what must needs followe but the blowing vp and burning of the whole house To be short r Eccl. 25. 1. three things are there saith the son of Syrach which reioice mee and whereby I am beautified both before God and men the vnitie of brethren the loue of neighbours and a man and wife that agree together The more gratious gladsome these things are and namely the amitie betwixt the husband and the wife so much the more it concerneth all partes to vse all care for the preseruing of amitie and vnitie as a iewell most pretious in the estimation and acceptation both of God and men 20 Now here I might further speake of the other two the vnity of brethren the loue of neighbors and generally of peace and concord as the garland crown of heauen the glory of the earth the strength of kingdoms the preseruation of families the ioy and happines of all societies the light of all mens eies and the marrow of all mens bones as on the other side discord and variance to be vncapable of heauen the confusion of the earth the destruction of kingdomes the ouerthrow of families the bane of all societies as thornes in all mens sides and as fire in the bones of all men But I haue already stood long and therefore will here end leauing the rest to be vnderstood by that that I haue sayde c. To God the Father God the Sonne God the holy ghost bee all honour and Glory for euer and euer Amen FINIS
A VVEDDING SERMON PREACHED AT BENTLEY in Darby-shire vpon Michaelmasse day last past Anno Domini 1607. WHEREIN IS SET FORTH the Bond and Preseruation 1. The spirituall coniunction betwixt God and man 2. The Corporall marriage betwixt man and vvoman 3 The neighbourly societie betwixt man and man By R. ABBOT Doctor of Diuinitie Printed at London by N. O. for Roger Iackson dwelling in Fleetstreet neere to the great Conduit 1608. To the right worshipfull Sir John Stanhope Knight the Father of the bridegroome Knight my most louing and good Patron RIght worshipfull Knight my verie good Patron albeit I made a question of vsing your name for the publishing of so small a matter as this sermon is yet I easily resolued that sith it had pleased you to craue the copy thereof you would pardon mee to grace it with the dedication I might wel doubt to offer so little wher I owe so much but that I considered that small offices sometimes are testimonies of great affectiōs presumed that according to your wonted loue you would take the wil in good worth howsoeuer the worke seeme to bee of small import Accept it therefore I humbly pray you as a very thankfull acknowledgement of your great fauour towards mee both in calling me first to the place where now I liue and giuing me since such respect and countenance as whereby I haue with comfort and contentment enioyed the same And surely if therein I haue done in publicke any profitable seruice to the Church of God a great part thereof is to bee reputed to you who so freely and graciously of your owne voluntary accord and onely for the workes sake which I performed being my selfe wholy strange and vnknowne to you vouchsafed by your gift to free mee of that incessant labour wherein I had beene imployed before for the space of tenne yeares in reading and preaching in the Cathedrall Church and Citie of Worcestor and to setle mee in a place where I might more freely dispose of my selfe though not to withdraw my selfe from the seruice to which I had deuoted my selfe yet in some part to bestow my time to the common benefit of the whole Church which before was limited to one onely congregation Amidst which imployments either publicke or priuate if I attaine to doe any thing to yeeld you any helpe or furtherance in things appertaining to God and in Gods behalfe to answer the end wherat you aimed in your first acceptance of me I much reioyce therein and euer shal reioyce and thinke that houre or time happily bestowed wherein I shall be the helper of your ioy and 2. Co 1. 24 of that faith wherby you shall stand in the day of the Lord Iesus As for this sermon being but a countrey exercise if any shall thinke it not so well polished as that it should bee fit in this sort to goe abroad your approbation shall be my excuse and in that nature I commend it to you that haue desired it wishing with it to you and to your whole house all happines and honour and that the Oliue by my seruice implanted into your stocke may yeeld many branches to the enlarging and strengthning thereof so resting alwaies Yours in all dutie much bounden and deuoted R. Abbot A WEDDING SERMON PREACHED AT the mariage of Sir Iohn Stanhope Knight second son to the right worshipfull Sir Iohn Stanhope Knight of Eluaston in the same County to Mistres Oliue Berrisford now the Ladie Oliue Stanhope sole daughter and heire to Master Edward Berrisford of Berrisford Esquire Amos 3. 3. Can two walke together except they bee agreed THe words are but few yet fewe as they are doe minister matter of a large discourse of the bond and preseruation of spirituall amitie and coniunction betwixt GOD and mā of corporall marriage betwixt man and woman and of neighborly sacietie betwixt man and man The locall vse and application of the words is to shew a iust reason of Gods withdrawing himselfe frō them to whome he speaketh and therefore they giue vs occasion principally to consider what is the occasion of breach betwixt GOD and vs. But the same reason being takē from the affections dispositions of men in sorting thēselues one with another do lead vs also to consider wherein standeth either the maintenance or the breach disunion of those coniunctions societies which god hath ordeined amongst vs. The Prophet hauing in the first verse of the chapter called the children of Israel to heare the word of the Lord propoundeth to them in the second verse to call to minde the great loue and mercie wherewith hee had respected honoured them aboue al the nations of the earth You onely haue I knowne saith the Lord of all the families of the earth Where by knowing he meaneth acording to the scripture phrase the taking knowledge of them in speciall loue and kindnes to be their God to do them good when as hee passed by other nations as a stranger as if hee had no respect or regard vnto them Now wheras the consideration of this great mercie should haue moued thē to all thankfulnesse duty towards God they contrariwise a Esay 5. 4. 7. in steede of grapes brought forth wilde grapes for iudgement righteousnes oppression and cruelty so as that they seemed nothing lesse thē to know or regard him who had so graciously of his owne meere and voluntarie loue accepted them Hereupon the Prophet addeth Therfore I will visit you for all your iniquities saith the Lord implying herein that rule of iudiciall proceeding which our sauiour Christ setteth downe as a thing certainly determined with GOD b Luk. 12. 48 To whomsoeuer much is giuen of him much shal be required the greater mercie the greater iudgement the higher the place the more deadly the fall c Bernard in cant ser 84. they saith Bernard who for grace receiued seemed to be the greatest for not beeing gratefull become of least reckoning with God In effect therefore hee saith vnto them as ye haue beene best beloued so ye shal be most greeuously seuerely punished somewhat may in equitie bee remitted to others but all shal be required of you I wil visite you for all your iniquities saith the Lord. And that it might not seeme strange vnto thē that he who had vndertaken d Leuit. 26 11. 12. to dwell amongst them and to walke with them should thus cast them off leaue their company in the words which I haue proposed he appealeth to themselues and maketh them Iudges whether his doing therein bee any other but what they themselues out of their owne conuersation must needes iustify and make good Can two or wil two walke together except they be agreed Will any two of you sort your selues to conuerse liue together who haue no accord or agrement each with other It is expedient to haue company on the way and there is comfort in it but will any man be companiō
to glorifie God to further the Church of God and common wealth to further righteousnes and truth to helpe the oppressed and afflicted to comfort the comfortles to releeue the widow and fatherles and to these ends to doe all other good workes which either the common duety of Christianity or our own priuate calling requireth of vs. Titus the Emperour of Rome when he had ouerpassed a day wherein he had done no speciall good deede no good turne to any man was wont to say Diemperdidi I haue lost a day Alas what a thing is it when a Christian man shall so spend a whole life as that in the end thereof hee may say Vitam perdidi I haue lost a life I haue liued so as that I haue neither done any faithfull seruice to God nor left any memoriall or example of any good that I haue done amongst men Seneca saith well that q Seneca de tranquil animi there is nothing more shamefull then an old man who hath no other argument to proue that he hath liued long but onely that he is old no good fruits no good effects by which it may be remembred that his life from time to time hath bene beneficiall to other men Euen so it is a long life is but a great reproch when by weldoing it hath left no testimonie of it selfe To which purpose it is worth the noting which Gregory obserueth that of good men it is sayd in Scripture that such a one or such a one died old and r Greg. Moral l. 35. cap. 15. full of dayes but neuer of an euill man as whereby wee should vnderstand that he is full of dayes who hath made good vse of his dayes and bestowed them in good deeds but otherwise we do but lose our dayes and by losing our dayes loose our selues also He that hath warned vs that we shall ſ Mat. 12. 36. giue account of our idle words doth thereby aduertise vs that we shall giue account of our idle houres and much more of our dayes and moneths and yeares which so many of vs bestow wholly in a manner in pleasure and vanity in riotousnesse and vnthriftinesse in sinne and wickednesse and therefore when they come to their end lye tumbling in their sicknesse t Esay 51. 20. like a wild bull in a net as the Prophet speaketh full of the wrath of the Lord without any hope without any comfort because their life hath bene such as hath yeelded them no hope or comfort towards God Blessed is he who when the summons of death commeth set thy house in order for thou shalt die can say to God as Ezechias did u Esay 38. 3. O Lord I haue walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart 6 But this walking importeth not only mouing and stirring but mouing and going forward wherby we gain the way more more and come neerer and neerer to the end Euen so are we still to be gaining and growing and going forward in the wayes of God in all vertue and goodnes not to stand still at one stay and as it were to runne in one ring but as wee labour to thriue in the goods of this world so much more to encrease in those things whereby we may be x Luk. 12. rich in God y Psal 84. 7. To goe from strength to strength z Ro. 1. 17. from faith to faith a 2. Cor. 3. 18. from glory to glory b 2. Pet. 3. 18. to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Sauior Iesus Christ Thus doth Solomon instruct vs that c Pro. 4. 18. the way of the righteous shineth as the light which shineth more and more vnto the perfect day Which he that careth not to doe is as the man that spendeth of the stocke and groweth thereby to decay for d Gregor in Pastoral par 3. admonit 35. the soule of man in this world is like vnto a ship or boate as Gregory saith going against the stream which cānot rest in one place but by the sway of the water is caried downeward vnlesse it be still labouring to go vpward Therfore Bernard saith e Bernard in purific ser 3 Not to go forward in the way of life is to go backward f Idem epist 2 53. not to care to increase is to decrease g Idem epist 91. look where thou beginnest not to regard to grow better there thou quite giuest ouer to be good at all h August de verb. Apost ser 15. If thou say I haue enough saith Austin thou art gone thou art vtterly vndone 7 Lastly this growth requireth perseuerance continuance till we come to the end whereto our walking is directed The end is all in all to giue ouer before we come to the end though it be but in the last attempt is the losse of all our labour and reward Therefore i 1. Cor. 9. 24. so run saith Saint Paul that ye may obtaine which is k Heb. 3. 14 when we keepe sure vnto the end that beginning wherwith we are vpholdē that is hold fast to the end the true doctrine and faith of Christ wherewith we first began and is a sure foundation for vs to build vpon for l Mat. 24. 13. hee that continueth to the end saith our Sauiour Christ he shall be saued Many begin in the spirit and seeme for the time to be nothing but spirit and yet afterward end in the flesh and m Gal. 6. 8. of the flesh reape corruption Many n Luk. 9. 2. lay their hand to the plough and afterwards looke back and thereby are vnfit for the kingdome of God Therefore let vs hearken to Saint Iohn o 2. Iohn vers 8. Take heed to your selues that wee lose not the things that we haue done but that we may receiue a great reward We lose the things that we haue done when we growe weary of doing them p Gal. 6. 9. weary of well doing and leaue to go forward in that course wherein we haue well begun And thus much of the life of man set forth vnto vs by a walke 8 It followeth now that we speake of the conueniencie of this walke which standeth in walking together in company and fellowship which as the Prophets words leade vs to consider beginneth first at two as we find accordingly the first societie to haue bene betwixt two God and Man and the second betwixt two Man and Woman From whence spring all other societies which God hath ordeined for the behoofe of the life of man God made man of the dust of the earth that from the earth he might haue company to dwell with him in heauen but yet so as that first he would walke with man and would haue man to walke together with God here vpon earth Which duty of walking with God and of care to haue God to walke with vs though on our part it began but in one yet is