dwell but thou diddest thy selfe reiect God and didst cast the LORD thy Redeemer out of his owne Vineyard thou diddest with a loud cry in the sight of the Sunne and in the hearing of the Gentiles protest Wee will not haue this man to raigne ouer vs wee will haue no King but Caesar Thou diddest lead him out of thy City diddest crucifie him without the gate calling for the guilt of his innocent bloud not onely vpon thine owne head but also vpon the heads of all thy posterity And now the Lord is risen vp again and is departed the Vine is remoued and planted elsewhere and as for that olde Vineyard it is burnt it is burnt with fire and the wilde beasts of the forrest haue deuoured it vp Seeing then the Lord will not bee without a Church on earth without a Vineyard Psal 80. if wee demand where it is now 1. it is euident that since Iudah is for her contempt laide waste the Lord hath planted his Church in the desert of the Gentiles secondly it is as euident that according to the prophesies he hath enlarged the bounds therof and hath made it vniuersall and Catholike so that there is no City nor Nation which will receiue that eternall roote to bee planted in it which may not become a part of his Church and Vineyard This appeareth by the maner of Gods proceeding When Paul and Apollo the Lords workmen went forth to worke in what City soeuer they stayed they made a Vineyard Paul planted Apollo watered and by their industry the Lord had a new Church in Corinth a Church at Ephesus a Church in Galatia in Thessalonica in Philippi the other Apostles and Euangelists did the like in other Countries planting Vineyards as farre as India so that if any man would know where the Lords Church is wee need not seeke for secret marks and tokens These Vineyards are easily discerned from other partes of the earth And yet not by their fruits for often they bring forth wilde grapes but by their roote that is planted in them in what Country or place soeuer that Vine which came downe from heauen is planted wheresoeuer it is outwardly receiued as the roote and spring of mans life and saluation where there is Baptisme to ingraft and incorporate the new professed branches and the food of the word and the communion of the Lords Supper to make them encrease and grow there is a Vineyard because there both is his vine the means to make it spread to the Lord of hosts and therefore there is his eye and care and prouidence and protection there he expecteth fruit for wheresoeuer God vouchsafeth to bestow the outward grace of the knowledge of Christ Act. 16.9 and to continue the sowing of his seed of life it is an euident token that he hath some people in that place Thus of those seuen seuerall Vineyards and Churches in Asia with their Angels and ouerseers Reuel 1. though one Church was purer then another and some were so degenerated that the great LORD of the Vineyard doth threaten them with desolation and remouing the vine root yet his carefull eye was ouer them all hee that seemeth to bee gone into a farre Country yet was seene walking in the midst of them and as it were holding them in his hand And thus to seeke no other marks and notes of the Church then this present Parable affoordeth what greater assurance can we haue to our selues that the Lord hath chosen vs for a part of his Vineyard then this that he hath with such care and long assiduity laboured to plant the knowledge of Christ crucified among vs that he hath raysed vp such multitudes of Labourers amongst vs and indued them with excellent faculties and graces and sent them into his Vineyard to follow his spirituall husbandry that hee hath so many thousands dayly ingrafted into him by Baptisme that he so mightily protecteth them with his defences so continually feedeth them with the knowledge of his word so importunately calleth at their hands for the fruits of a Vineyard and no doubt receiueth some for it is impossible that all these things should be in vaine as not from God seeing not so much as the raine and snow from heauen doe returne againe in vaine Esai 55.10.11 The second question which the Vineyard moueth is concerning the state of the Lords Churches their purity or corruptions heere on earth whether they are alwayes cleane and not sometimes through the negligence of the Ouerseers ouergrowne with weeds or through their priuate couetousnesse sometimes planted among with other plants For first the Church of Iudah howsoeuer at this time in the dayes of Vzziah it held the publike profession of God purely yet was it both now so generally corrupted in maners that in Esai 1. God cryeth against it Ah sinfull Nation laden with iniquity corrupt children which haue forsaken the Lord After in the dayes of Ahas both Prince high Priest and people euen the whole outward state fell to Idolatry and by little and little so corrupted their waies that as Ezechiel chargeth her shee went beyond her sister Samaria in spirituall fornication and idolatry And yet notwithstanding this her vncleannes shee is still counted the Lords Spouse though a harlot also and the Lords vineyard though for the outward face in most part cleane degenerated yea and the Lord by his Prophets wooeth her as his owne because shee had not absolutely renounced his couenants otherwise God had no publike visible Church and Vineyard at all vpon the earth in those dayes Nay I may goe further and affirme of Israel that though it not onely worshipped God by calues and after in Ahabs time did set vp Baal also the god of the Gentiles and then as the Prophet chargeth them halted between God Baal yet the Lord not only in this place calleth it his Vineyard and professeth Ier. 3.9 I am a Father to Israel Ephraim is my first borne But his mercifull presence in the middest of these abominations did not clean forsake thē but that he had of his Prophets continually amongst them and many messages of kindnes he sent to their state and many miraculous deliuerances he wrought for them and after almost three hundred yeares Idolatry when Israel was for this their irreuocable obstinacy in rebellious fornication to be cast off into the hands of her enemies and yeelded vp to captiuity yet he is as it were distracted within himself Hos 8. How shal I deliuer thee vp O Ephraim My heart is turned within mee I will not yet execute the fiercenes of my wrath for though Ephraim were a prodigal sonne yet he was counted a sonne to his last being euen till he gaue vp the seale of circumcision and outward profession of the name of the God of Israel Can then an Idolatrous Church be counted the Lords Church and a degenerate Vine that onely groweth vpon another roote and bringeth forth wilde fruit of another kind
was to be planted in Canaan What are Leuiticus and Deuternomy but the heauenly rules and orders of husbandring disposing and pruning and dressing this vine to preserue it in state And lastly what are the histories of Iosua and Iudges and Kings but the mighty planting of it in the land of Canaan the casting out of the Cananits like stones thorns the weeding out of those mighty Nations which might hinder the growth of the Vine There the heauens and the earth the sunne the fire the cloudes and the sea together with the Angels host of heauen all were commanded in their seuerall callings to attend vpon this Vine for they were the people which the Lord called to be a holy generation his royall Priesthood and that was the place of which he prophesieth Psal 132. The Lord hath chosen Sion and loueth to dwell in it saying here is my rest for euer here will I dwell for I haue delighted therin I will surely blesse her victuals satisfie her poore with bread I will cloath her Priests with saluation and her Saints shall shout for ioy Now those temporall blessings of peace and abundance those temporary deliuerances from al enemies those miracles and those wonders and that sensible presence of God himselfe in the middest of them though they seeme strange in our eyes and at the reading of them doe make vs Christians to say Hee hath not dealte so with any Nation Hee hath not dealt so with any Christian Church yet wee are deceiued for the gracious kindnes of God died not with Israel but rather those visible mercies towards Iudah were the visible seales of his inuisible and perpetual graces towards his Church and euery part therof for where he hath an outward Church there he hath also some elect to bee placed in it for eternity and where any of his elect are there are all things necessary to their accomplishment his Ministers his Word his Sacraments his Graces his Protection his exceeding loue For seeing those outward visible Churches bee as it were the Lords Worke-houses wherein hee frameth the inuisible members of Christs body by grace and proportioneth them to glory that etern all wisdome and loue will so prouide order and proportion also those means one to another and all vnto the end that it may iustly challenge the whole world what should I say What could I haue done for my Vineyard which I haue not done And here though occasion is offered It were a good thing to prayse the Lord and to sing vnto the name of the most high to declare this his louing kindnes in the morning and his truth all the day vntill night season for so much of our life is Angelicall as is spent in songs of thankefulnes vnto our God yet I must leaue this work to be the sacrifice of your priuate deuotion In which that one onelie benefit vpon the Christian Church is more then wee shall be able to comprehend that this Vineyard this Paradice whereof himselfe vouchsafeth to be the husbandman hee hath purchased to himselfe by the price of bloud not as Ahab purchased Naboth his Vineyard by the cruell shedding of the right owners bloud and vniust robbing the possessor of it but by giuing an infinit price for it the bloud of his onely beloued sonne to redeeme it where it lay ingaged in the hand of iustice and the Apostle concludeth necessarily Rom. 9. Hee who spared not his owne sonne but gaue him for his Church how shall hee not with him giue all things to her he that hath yeelded vp the person of his infinitly beloued to be a sacrifice for her sins and doth giue his flesh to feede his Church and his bloud to bee her drinke how iustly may hee demaund What could he doe more for his Vineyard which hee hath not done But here though it be with the consent of all tongues acknowledged that the blessings of God vpon his Church and euery part thereof are exceeding great yet this challenging as it were of his own omnipotency What could I haue done more which I haue not done rayseth a doubt not to bee ouerpassed For might not this house of Iudah the inhabitants of Ierusalem haue replyed in the wordes of the Leper Math. 8.2 Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me cleane the ordinarie obiection which many godles persons in our times doe frame both against God and themselues attributing their impenitency not to their owne obstinacy and corruptions but to Gods vnresistable will for if hee would say they he could sanctifie vs and make vs cleane also Wherein first that is vndoubtedly true that God who made Iron to swimme and rockes of stone to yeelde forth streames of water who made Aaron his dried staffe to bud and bring forth Almonds in a night he who could of stones raise vp children vnto Abraham if hee would by miracle could mollifie these obstinate sinners also and make their rockie hearts gush forth with teares hee could make them of stones children and of withered stickes fruitfull trees and that in a moment by the might of his omnipotent power but as in the gouernement of the world hee hath set downe an ordinary course according to the nature of his creatures which he doth not alter but vpon speciall occasion as our Sauiour noteth in the cure of Naaman and in the feeding of the widdow of Sarepththa Luke 4.27 so in the ordering of his Church also conuersion of the soules of men he hath set down an ordinary course of secondary spiritual causes agreeable to their end and fitted to perswade the mind of man as principally the word of truth and light in the mouth of his messengers accompanied with a measure of his spirit Thus by Moses and the Prophets hee conuerteth sinners if men will not heare them no though a man should rise from the dead saith our Sauiour they will not belieue for these are so forceable and so proportionated in his wisdom to the heart of man so seconded with the graces of his powerfull spirit both for the instructing of the mind and thereby the inclining of the will that vnlesse a man hath more then ordinarily corrupted himselfe in sin vnlesse he be like these trees in Iude his Epistle Twice dead and plucked vp by the rootes vnles hee bee like Lazarus not onely dead but stinking also in his graue habitually corrupted and that with such kinds of particular vices as are opposite to the receiuing of the life of grace it could not but draw him vnto God Of this sort are those obdurate sinners which haue hearts and cannot repent Rom. 2.5 for though all inherent sinne be contrary to God and his truth yet some sinnes and vices are more opposite to Christ then others which maketh some sinners conuersion more difficult then others Thus our Sauiour affirmeth that Publicans and Harlots shal sooner come to Gods Kingdome then proud Pharisies that stand vpon their owne righteousnes according to the Law and
same kingdome though hee be gone first through Gods mercy you shall shine as starres together and therefore seeing good my Lord he sleepeth but you are waking he is in heauen and you on earth what part or parcell of his writings can challenge as of right protection frō any man that liues saue only your self who haue so truely loued him in his life and so redoubled your affection vpon him in his since his death which his religious constant and truly sorrowfull widdow with her fatherlesse children doe finde and freely confes powring out incessāt praiers to almighty God for you and yours And how can you want the blessings of heauen which haue the widdow and fatherlesse to intercede for you vpon earth Oh giue mee leaue to say of your Lordship concerning this without suspition of flattery as Saint Hierom writes of Origen in his preface before his booke vpon the Canticles In ceteris libris omnes alios vicerit in Cantico Canticorum seipsum vicit So in other of your paynfull works you goe beyond others but in this worke of piety you exceede your selfe But not to trespasse too far vpon your Lordships patience seing thus the God of mercy hath moued your heart sincerely to affect the Author of this Sermon and next vnder God to regard his widdow and fatherlesse children let me presume to make this sute further vnto you in the behalfe of this the liuing Image of his soule the first fruit of his published labours that you being a Reuerend father of the church would giue it your blessing before it goe abroad yea that blessing which Iacob sent with his sonnes into Egypt Gen. 43.14 God Almighty giue you mercy in the sight of the man in the sight of the proud man that you may make him humble in the sight of the poore man that you may make him content in the sight of the stubborne man that you may make him yeeld in the sight of the penitent man that you may binde vp and powre wine and oyle into his wounds in the sight of the barren man that you may make him fruitfull in the sight of euery man that you may touch their consciences and winne their soules but especially in the sight of our Ioseph our Iesus who euer so blesse your Lordship that your waies may bee prosperous your sorrowes easie your comforts manie your vertues eminent your conscience quiet your life holie your death comfortable your election sure and your saluation certaine Amen Your Honours humbly deuoted Hamlett Marshall GODS LOVE TO HIS VINEYARD ESAY the 5. VERSE 2.3 Now therefore O Inhabitants of Ierusalem and men of Iudah Iudge I pray you betweene mee and my Vineyard What could I haue done any more to my Vineyard which I haue not done vnto it Why haue I looked for grapes and it bringeth forth wilde grapes WHereas the beginning of mans saluation the spur and goad which driueth him to Christ is the sence of his owne imperfections and terror of his owne sinnes Strange it is how auerse wee are by nature from this first meanes of our conuersion strange how blinde how partially how corruptly we iudge in our owne causes eyther not once considering or not faithfully acknowledging our own transgressions which forceth God in the ordinary courses of mans saluation sometimes to deale by policies and deuises and to propose his owne case to him not as his owne but in Parables and in the person of others that drawing him from himselfe he might also draw from him an vnpartiall sentence against himselfe Thus God dealt with Dauid when he lay asleepe in the sinne of Bershebah and would not awake himselfe to consider of his owne estate that when Dauid had giuen a seuere sentence against the rich man that slew the poore mans lambe and had pronounced death against him with an oath As the Lord liueth hee shall surely die The Prophet might strike him to the heart with the sentence of his owne mouth Thou art the man Thus and thus hast thou done And to omit the manifolde examples in Scriptures of this kind thus doth our Prophet in this place deale with the people of Iudah he proposeth to them a Parable and because it should bee taken vp in euery mans mouth he setteth it downe in verse and maketh a song of a Vineyard which after the infinite care cost of the husbandman in planting fencing weeding watering pruning it could not bee wonne to bring forth any thing but wild vnwholesom as the word signifieth stinking grapes wherin hauing euery mans secret iudgement that such an vnprofitable vine-yard were to bee left desolate and neglected hee concludeth out of this their owne seueritie against themselues Verse 7. Surely this Vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel the men of Iudah are his pleasant plants and he looked for iudgement and behold oppression for righteousnes and behold a crying And first by the way for the Parable it self God hath iudged it profitable thus to teach his Church sometimes by parables which though they be vayles and shadows do hide vnder them spiritual mysteries yet when they are opened and vnfolded they giue a great light to the thing which they shadowed and by their sensible similitude proportion they breed a sensible conceit of things remoued from sense Now to discourse of this whole Parable time will not permit I haue made choice of that one part onely in which the case of the Vineyard is put to the iudgement of the people that is their owne cause is referred to their owne arbitrement Now therefore O inhabitants c. Iudge I pray you c. In which wordes is comprehended the summe of the whole 1. The Church of Israel is proposed vnder the figure of the Lords vineyard 2. Is set downe the Lords care of prouision for his Vineyard What could I haue done for my Vineyard which I haue not done 3. The end of Gods care and benefites fruits good works I looked for grapes 4. The Churches vnthankefulnes It bringeth forth wilde grapes 5. and lastly the iudgement which passed on it Iudge I pray you First for the Church of Israel thus figured by a vineyard As there is one Creator both of heauen and earth so wonderfull are the similitudes and resemblances of one order of his creatures to another of things sensible to things intelligible whereby in earth wise men do beholde a shadow of heauen it selfe but of earthly things which represent spirituall nothing doth more liuely expresse the nature of the visible Church then doth a Vineyard A certaine householder saith our Sauiour Math. 21. planted a Vineyard And Iohn the 15. I am the Vine and yee are the branches and my Father is a husbandman For what property can wee finde in the one which is not in a sort answered in the other Both Church and Vineyard neither of them doe as selfe-sowne things naturally spring and multiply out of the earth both are to bee planted by
imposed lawes to his owne mother drawing all power into his hands and making himselfe as the Sunne from which all others both Moone and Stars do receiue their light Thus hath Lucifer inuaded Christs poore Family and hath made choyce of a person of humility by whom vnder the colour of piety and religion hee might bring into the Church of Christ the highest degree of pride that euer the world saw in any worldly state or the weakenesse of man is capable of whom hee setting vp on the foundation not of a rocke but of imagination and opinion only and crowning with a triple crowne hath perswaded both him to take and perswaded men to giue more then humane honours as high as to the titles of Optimus maximus our Lord God the Pope and as our Countryman Stapleton writeth to him Supremum in terris Numen forcing the Emperors sometimes acknowledged for his gracious Lords and Soueraignes to yeeld their neckes for him to trample on and the Kings and Princes of the earth to licke the dust of his feet and all the people for their saluation to fall downe before him as hauing all keyes and powers of heauen and earth and hell and purgatory as blasting with the breath of his mouth like lightning whatsoeuer hee curseth as hauing the oracles of God in his breast and that neuer ordinary priuiledge that he cannot erre This was the punishment of the Church after that thorow abundance and wealth and ease she became wanton and loued not the truth that as it was prophesied 2. Thess 2. God should send strong delusions and men should belieue lies to the astonishment of all other churches both Easterne and Southerne who wonder that wee can belieue such fancies As for the necessity of one visible Monarch to make the visible church one seeing the Apostles writings in their so often mention of the church and the pastors of the same neuer intimate this doctrine of this Monarchie seeing Eph. 4. the Apostle of purpose laieth the grounds of vnity alledgeth those other bonds One Lord one Faith one Baptisme and omitteth this seeing after reckoning vpon the seuerall degrees of Ministers both ordinary and inordinary giuen to his church after his affection for the building of it in truth and loue hee setteth downe Apostles Euangelists Prophets Pastors Teachers this one Monarch is not once named to the church seeing before Christs comming God had a visible Church in Iob his house not depending vpon the Church of Iudah and is also granted by Bellarmine and yet the Church of God was alwayes one seeing since Christ the Primitiue Church had no such head but as Aeneas Siluius acknowledgeth Ante Nicenum Concilium sibi quisque viuebat ad Romanam Ecclesiam paruus ad modum respectus habebat and yet in the long time of that little regard of Rome the Church of Christ was one seeing to this day all Churches in the three partes of the world haue so anciently renounced this one head who notwithstanding may not be accounted castawayes and no partes of Christs Church seeing whatsoeuer reason is vrged of necessity one Bishoppe doth as necessarily proue the necessity of one King ouer all the Christian world truely we are so farre from thinking the necessity of one visible head to be an article of our faith that contrariwise wee agree in iudgement with Gregory the Great concerning the danger of the same who disputing against the very name and title of an vniuersal Bishoppe bringeth this reason against the thing Ecclesiae vniuersa corruit si ille vniuersus cadit if that vniuersall Bishoppe should fall his fall be the ruine of the whole Church This our lamentable experience hath made good not onely in the gouernment of the Western Churches in which he hath been like a wilde Bore in the Lords Vineyard but also in their faith which by reason of their generall subiection to that one head was as generally tainted with the same errors for as when one foot slippeth the other may stand and vphold the body vnlesse it bee carried with the sway of that which slipped so when one Church faileth in any point of truth an other may stand vphold the same vnles they be dependant one vpon an other respect not that only vncorruptible head Christ and his vnchangeable lawes 2 Now that we haue found out the Lords Vineyard and considered the nature and state of the same wee are in the next place to consider the husbandry which the Lord of this Vineyard vseth the labour the cost the skill and care hee bestoweth on it to make it prosper for since that vniuersall curse pronounced by the mouth of God Cursed be the earth for mans sake thornes and thistles shall it bring forth Gen. 3. good things do hardly thriue without skilfull and Industrious planting and cherishing their impediments are many their helpes must be so many that the Vineyard which is neglected and left to it selfe may seem in a manner blamelesse though it proue not fruitfull for these duties therefore of the husbandman the Lord conscious to himselfe of his own goodnesse towards it doubteth not to make the Vineyard and Church it selfe and euery plant thereof euen all the inhabitants of Iudah his Iudges what one thing hee hath omitted which might haue smothered it What could I haue done to my Vineyard saieth God which I haue not done The particulars were set downe before 1. The choice of the seat of Canaan My beloued had a Vineyard on a verie fruitfull hill 2. His fencing it from spoyles He hedged it about with his mighty protection 3. The choyce of the plants Hee planted it with the best plants the roote the true Vine that came downe from heauen the branches the sonnes of Abraham 4. The preparing of the Soile he gathered vp the stones that might hinder the growth the Cananites and Hittites 5. For a further defence hee built a Towre in the middest of it his glorious Temple 6. He set vp a Vinepresse in it an Altar vpon which they might offer the fruits of their free will offerings to those hee added continuall pruning and dressing watring of it from the cloudes of heauen It appeareth after Ver. 6. For the proofe of these particulars reade the old Testament What is the whole history of the Bible but the narration of Gods blessings vpon his owne people as if hee minded no other nation no part of his creation but onely them What is Genesis but the miraculous preseruation of them in their first spring and tender beginnings till they were growne into a great people now a plant able to bee remoued and to stand by it selfe What are Exodus and Numbers but a powerfull translating of this Vine by a mighty hand out of the Garden of Egypt where it was borne downe and the gracious ordering and preseruing of it as it were aboue ground in a wildernesse where it had nothing to liue on for forty yeares till it
therefore conceiued no need of repentance and redemption by an other Sauiour Thus he generally affirmeth of the Iewes whose eares and hearts were by custome growne more then as all men naturally are so obstinately hardned in contempt against the word of truth that Mat. 11.21 had the signes and wonders that were done amongst them beene done in Tyre and Sydon nay in Sodom they would haue repented in Sackcloth and Ashes as the Nineuites did at the preaching of Ionas onely And this is that obstinate opposition of some against the ordinary meanes of mans saluation that caused not onely the Prophets to mourn but our Sauiour Christ to sit down and to weepe ouer Ierusalem when he saw that shee would not bee gathered to her Redeemet as if Christ should haue said as God by our Prophet What could I haue done more for my Vineyard which I haue not done 3 After the consideration of this so exceeding great cost and care bestowed vpon the Lords Vineyard wee are in the third place to looke vnto the end of these his labours and husbandry bestowed on his Church that is the same which euery man which plāteth a vineyard doth expect of his plants fruits I looked for grapes fruites naturall and proper to a Vine proper to a Christian that receiueth the nature the sappe the spirit of the roote Christ Why the good workes and fruites of Christians are compared to grapes and themselues to vines I partly shewed before For as nothing is created for it selfe so the poorest creature that GOD hath made is inabled with some gift to imitate the bounty and goodnesse of the Creator and to yeeld somthing from it selfe to the vse and benefit of others and this is their naturall worke thus the Sun and Moone and Starres as they are indued with light vertue so they restlesly moue to impart their light and influence to the inlightning and quickning of the inferiour world Thus doe the cloudes flie vp and downe emptying themselues to inrich the earth of which notwithstanding they reape no haruest Thus doth the earth without respect of her priuate profit liberally yeelde her riches and fatnes to the innumerable armies of creatures which all sucke her brests and hang on her for maintenance as on their common mother and not to depart frō our Parable thus doe all fruit-bearing trees spend themselues and the principall part of their sappe and moisture not on the increase of themselues but in making some pleasant fruit or berry of which neyther they nor their young springs shall taste and this when it is ripe perfect they voluntarily let fall at their masters feet thus neither doth the Vine make her selfe drunke with her owne grapes nor the Oliue annoint her selfe with her own oyle and yet they striue to abound with fruites For the more euery thing furthereth the common good of the world the higher is the excellency of the nature thereof and the greater resemblance it hath to the Creators goodnesse Now when heauen and earth are fruitfull in their kinde when neyther beast nor tree are idle but are alwaies bringing forth something to the good of others when not onely the creatures vnder man but the blessed Angels of heauen are ministring spirites perpetually and willinglie seruing for our good when God the father himselfe with the Lord our King are yet working and diuiding the streames of their goodnesse to the best behoofe of the world how can it bee allowable that when all the Armies of heauen and earth the Creator with the creatures are thus busied in bringing forth fruit onely man should remaine vnfruitfull his faculties and graces idle himselfe a burthen to the earth It cannot be for not onely the Church of God for the gathering of her children the propagation of truth and piety amongst them but the world it selfe for the vpholding of her estate doth necessarily require mans fruits for seeing we grow together as members in a body and branches in a tree the life and sappe strength and helpe of the root and head cannot be deriued to vs vnlesse it be conuaied by ioynts and by sinewes by armes and by boughes by the mutuall ministery of man by the works of iustice and mercy from one to another and therefore vnlesse the Pastor yeelde the fruit of his light and knowledge vnlesse the Magistrate do yeelde the fruit of his iustice and authority vnlesse euery priuate man doe yeeld forth the fruite of those faculties graces which they receiue not for themselues but for the good of the body they are no parts of Christs body neyther haue they the spirit of the head the spirite of loue in them but they are theeues and murtherers enemies to Christ and to his Church they starue his body and purloine from their fellow members those good things which the mercifull head hath so intended by them to vs that the benefite might be ours and the thanks theirs and al might grow by the naturall fruits of loue But here ordinarily ariseth in the mind of man a vaine shift which much hindreth his fruitfulnes and maketh him draw in all to himselfe and recall his sappe from the fruits into the roote againe and that is a false reasoning with himselfe that because doe he the best he can yet his fruits will bee earthly and sowre and neuer perfect and kindely ripened because were they neuer so perfect and abundant yet they cannot merite lifes eternity to him that beareth them and because that which is wanting is fully supplied in the all-sufficient fulnesse and superrogatiue merits of the head and therefore it is but lost labour to spend himselfe in bringing forth such vnperfect fruites so helpeles in the worke of his owne saluation thus doth iniquity lie vnto her selfe and turneth the truth of God into a lie for though those three promises are all true yet the conclusion we inferre vpon them is altogether vncoherent True it is that though wee bee ingrafted into the eternall Vine Christ yet wee retaine something of the nature of the olde stocke whence wee were taken which giueth to our best fruites an earthly taste and some relish of the olde man True it is that though we are planted with the best heauenly plants of piety yet they grow in a forraine soile and in a colde clime farre from the Sun and our fruites are not concocted and perfect euen our most spirituall fruits our prayers haue not a pleasing taste vnlesse they haue some sweetning But this defect is supplyed by the great Angell of the couenant who when he presenteth these our fruits to God the great husbandman addeth to them of his owne precious incense which helpeth their infirmity and harshnes and maketh them acceptable Renel 8.4 Again true it is that these our fruits were they neuer so abundant and as excellent as mans perfectly restored perfection can afforde yet can they not merite those crownes and kingdomes and the eternity of that glory but
since it was reformed we know no other differēce from that which it was before then such as wee see in the Vineyard and Church of Iudah which in the dayes of Manasses was full of superstition in the dayes of Iosiah had her abominations cast out and the purity of Gods seruice restored according to his owne law There were crept into our Church grauen Images the likenesses of things in heauen and things in earth and men did bow downe and worshippe them contrary to the law and contrary to antiquity for as yet appeareth euen by the buildings and walles of our most ancient Churches there was no place within the Church prouided for them To these Images of dead men they did light candles and burned Incense and offered gifts after the custome of the heathen the light of the Church was remoued out of the candlesticks and the word of God which is the true light of the world and lanterne to our feet was hidden vnder an vnknowne tongue as vnder a bushell that which the Apostle calleth both our milke and our meate was taken away and nothing was read to the peoples vnderstanding but the lies of their Legend the author therof had a leaden head a brazen forehead as Viues a lerned Papist cēsureth them The holy Sacraments of the church were prophaned to the sanctified water in baptisme cream was added salt spittle by the people receiued as parts of the sacramēt the Lords Supper was mangled the cup of blessing which is the Cōmunion of the bloud of Christ was sacrile giously remoued the communion of the bread was turned into a priuate masse of dead ceremonies These and infinite other abominations were growne vp so high that they did both draw all the fatnes from the roote and ouerdrop and ouershadow the true vine and euen called for the fickle to cut them downe for there was not any learned deuout man amongst themselues in those ages who did not both bewayle the corruptions of the Church as appeareth by them that wrote and in particular acknowledge some one error of theirs or other though now authority stoppeth their mouthes and clippeth such tongues and the Indices expungatorij do rase those confessions out of their writings Now the indisposition therefore eyther of the Church of Rome or any other neighbor Church to reform themselus can be no iust excuse for our Church and her ouerseers not to reforme her selfe then it had beene for Israel to sinne because Iudah sinned or for Iudah because of the sinne of Israel In these cases of Gods seruice and honor the expectation of neighbours and desire of vnity is no allowed answere but that of Iosuah belongeth to all gouernors which he spake to all Israel Iosu 15. If it seeme euill in your eyes to serue the Lord chuse you this day whom you will serue but I and my house will serue the Lord and that rule of Hosea If Ephraim be ioyned vnto Idols let him alone and if Israel play the harlot yet let not Iudah sinne Only our hearty prayer vnto God is that as we do communicate in the general grounds and foundations of Christianity and ioyntly professe the same Creede so the Lord would giue them hearts to remoue these abominations which blocke vp the way of peace and communion between Church and Church or if eyther for pride or couetousnes they will acknowledge no error yet hee would giue them contented minds to keep to themselues their owne corruptions which now being cast off by vs would be so much the more loathsome to put on againe The third doubt which the vineyard of the house of Israel answereth is the vnity of the Church seeing the deuided houses of Ephraim and Iudah not so much seuered in state as in religion are yet by our Prophet accepted as one vineyard for though one read of many seuerall Churches in the new Testament also Psal 64. yet that of Saint Augustine is most true there be many Churches yet but one Church and in such sort many yet they are all but one Nay in the vnity of the Church wee must yet goe further and acknowledge with the same father the Church is the body of Christ not that which is here or there but that which is euery where throughout the world Psalme 90. neither that which is at this time but euen from Abel vnto those which shall hereafter bee borne and belieue in Christ vnto the end the whole company of saints belonging to one City which is the body of Christ and whereof he is head for this is that which the Apostle affirmeth of all beleeuers Bee they Iew or Gentile bond or free they are al incorporate into one Company they all make one body But this vnity is properly meant of Christs mysticall body and Church which is inuisible of which church these men are no part who are onely in Sacrament is Ecclesiae as Saint Augustine expoundeth himselfe that is of the whole body of the faithfull from Adam to the end of the world yet notwithstanding these outward visible societies of professed christians in which the militant members of Christ mingled with the bad are yet in framing for eternity these also haue a bond of vnity also and though they bee many yet are they but as one Now the outward bonds of these visible Churches are diuers for 1. they all spring by propagation from one originall mother Church Ierusalem which is beneath is the mother of vs all and from Sion came the Gospell by propagation vnto all Nations But this bond is not so strong as to tie them in one that are sprung from one beginning There is a stronger which this Parable of a Vine doth lay before vs for the Vine or tree which is diuided into so many seuerall branches some dying some springing vp and one bough perhaps bearing seuerall fruits from another what is it that maketh them all one but their owne stocke and roote on which they all vifibly grow this is the visible bond of the seuerall armes and parts of the visible Church they all outwardly ioyne in that one roote Christ in whom they are all visiblie ingrafted on whom they all make outward shew that they doe stand and grow The Apostle Ephes 4.5 exhorting Christians to vnity setteth downe this bond and to it addeth two other kinds the vniformity of our faith and articles of beliefe There is one kinde of ingrafting one badge of their incorporation Baptisme One Lord one Faith one Baptism i. One King vnder which they liue one Law by which they are guided one common badge of their incorporation which they all publikely receiue so that seeing the Iewes howsoeuer dispersed amongst al the Nations of the earth and liuing without dependance vpon any one common gouernour and yet accounted but as one Nation because of the bond of their vnity in the publike profession of the Law of Moses and seeing they that hang on Mahomet as their
Sion there now Zims and Satyres dance the Ostrich the Shrich-owle doe dwell there and the inhabitants themselues being cast out of their Cities and Vineyards and scattered ouer the whole earth amongst them that hate them doe liue vvithout GOD vvithout a Sauiour and Protector vvithout a sacrifice vvithout hope and comfort a forlorne Nation according to the Prophesies the reproch and hissing and scorne of all people a perpetuall exemplary monument in the middest of Christians and Nations of all tongues of the Lords iustice vpon his owne vnthankfull Church and family Concerning novv our selues vvho haue succeeded the Ievves in Gods inheritance and are made a parte of his Vineyard vvhat can vvee alledge for our selues why the same sentence should not passe vpon vs If vve compare Gods mercies towards vs vvee goe beyond the Ievves as farre as the light of Christ and his Apostles doth exceede the light of Moses and his Prophets and the sonne of righteousnes doth goe beyond the Starres of the night the grace of the Gospel beyond the cōmandements of the law If vve compare our fruits of thankefulnesse what one complaint doe the Prophets make of the Ievves couetousnesse vniustice oppression vvantonnesse and pride vvhich is not by altering the names as it vvere spoken to our land besides the sinnes of sacrilege of gluttony proper to vs VVherfore seeing where the Lord had iuster cause to expect such multitude of grapes hee is prouoked vvith a continual Vintage of these vvild grapes I wil not dare to pronounce the LORDS sentence that thus and thus vvill hee doe vnto his Vineyard Yet seeing GOD referreth it to our iudgements to pronounce vvhat it hath deserued I may vvith the secret assent of your ovvne consciences affirme that in that hee hath not yet executed that sentence vpon vs hee hath not dealt vvith vs after our sins neyther revvarded vs according to our iniquities for the hedge of Iewrie is broken downe and the wilde Bore hath destroyed that Vine The Beasts of the field haue deuoured it vp But the LORD hath kept our hedges and the Bore hath not deuoured the wild beastes haue not broken in vpon vs. The LORDS finall Sessions are approching and who knoweth whether by his exemplarie iustice hee being sufficiently knowne to the world These publike corporal executions of his wrath vpon sinnefull Nations bee not referred vnto that day This is our chiefest cause of feare lest a spirituall curse proceede out of his mouth against vs like that of our Sauiour Christ vpon the barren figge-tree lest he neglect to prune and dresse this his Vineyard lest hee neglect to weede out our thornes and suffer the brambles to choke that little good that is found amongst vs lest to our finall desolation and spirituall vastity hee commaund the cloudes not to raine their raine vpon vs lest hee make the Heauen ouer our heades to bee as brasse for then the earth shall bee as yron or as drie and fruitlesse dust What fruite can earth yeeld when it is forsaken of heauenly grace Oh stirre vp therefore the graces of GOD which are in you and apply them vnto fruitfulnesse that yee may yet take and lade the Altar of the LORDS wine-presse with the sacrifice of your fruites Say in your hearts as the Vine Iudg. 9. Should I leaue my Wine whereby I cheare both God and man and goe to aduance my selfe aboue other trees That as Esai 65. When there is wine found in the cluster one doth say Destroy it not for there is a blessing in it So our Lord visiting this Vineyard may haue cause to say There are clusters found in the Vine destroy it not for there is a blessing in it and a blessing be vpon it Thus and thus onely may wee continue Christ the Vine vnto our land our selues a Vineyard vnto Christ A Seate of perpetuity for the Lords mercies and inheritance of life to our Children and Posterity Amen FINIS