on high first kéepeth it lowe and holdeth it downe with the force of a van and the gathering togither of much winde Euen so our God presseth vs downe and kéepeth vs lowe that he may lift vs vp and exalt vs on high he throweth vs downe héere in earth that he may exalt vs in heauen and laieth many times disgrace vpon vs in this world among men that we may be gracious in the world to come with himselfe his angels and his saints On the other side AS a wrastler imbracing him with whom he striueth in the wrastling place for victorie lifteth him vp the higher that with the greater force he may hurle him against the ground So this world doth extoll vs that with throwing vs downe headlong it may hurt vs and that we may fall from the top of deceitfull and transitorie glorie downe to the bottome of most certaine and perpetuall ignominie Cyprian saith The world smileth vpon a man with a cruell purpose it flattereth to deceiue it calleth a man to it to kill him it extolleth him to vndo him AS men mad and frantike are woont to teare and rent themselues So wicked and vngodly men inflict vpon themselues most deadly and incurable wounds yea they be most wilfull murtherers of their owne soules and bodies For that is true in the booke of Wisedome Man through his owne naughtines killeth his owne soule And what greater madnes can there be than a man to run headlong vpon euerlasting destruction Iob hauing a desire to describe the ignorance of such men and to declare that euen in matters most euident and plaine they be vtterly void and destitute of wisedome he saith In the day light they run into darknes and as in the night so stumble they at noone daies And whereas the feare of God is the beginning of wisdome as Dauid and Salomon his sonne do both affirme and vngodly men loden with all maner of naughtines to the feare of God are méere strangers it is plainly and truly concluded that they be not onely without wisedome but also that they haue not so much as the beginning of the same AS the filthie swine regard not but thrust from them roses that are most beautifull and swéete and séeme to contemne most fragrant and pleasant flowers and do rather séeke after foule puddles and stinking mire and forsaking dainty dishes and costly iuncates do franke themselues most gréedily with wilde mast and vncleane things So vngodly men haue no taste of the word of God but hunting after vncertaine riches which are in continuall hazard and at the length will deceiue them they are as it were fettered in the inchanting pleasures and pestilent flickerings of the world From the which the Lord preserue and deliuer vs. Amen AS in a fruitfull and fertile ground among many wholsome and very medicinable herbes some that be dangerous and full of poyson do grow So the wits and wisedome of men togither with some profitable and wholsome counsels and admonitions do bring foorth perilous and pestilent errors and are therfore with wisedome and great discretion to be regarded euen as herbes are to be gathered and vsed But this wisedome and discretion is to be sought for and had onely in the word of God which is a lanterne to our féete and a most perfect light vnto our pathes It is onely acceptable to the soules of Gods saints and nothing but it doth féede them to eternall life It is swéeter vnto them than hony and the hony combe In mens iudgements words and works we may be deceiued in the Lords we cannot Thy iudgements O Lord saith Dauid are iust and more to be desired than fine golde or pretious stones and they are swéeter than hony and the hony combe It is the power of saluation to all that beléeue it it is able to saue our soules if it be throughly rooted in vs. The word of the Lord laid vp in our harts doth preserue vs from sinne it clenseth our harts and by the working of the holy Ghost with it it createth right spirits within vs. By the meanes of it the saints and seruants of God attaine to that puritie and cleannes of hart and minde that they wish for and desire nothing but that which is good godly and holy The author of the word is God himselfe who can neither deceiue nor be deceiued and therefore whatsoeuer is written in it is truth whatsoeuer is taught in it is vertue and holines whatsoeuer it promiseth after death is eternitie and endlesse ioy to the children of God when this life is ended Whereto the Lord bring vs all if it be his good pleasure AS that man that will giue an onset and encounter with an enimie or wil defend and kéepe himselfe vnwounded at his hands hath néede of a sword in his hand to smite the enimie withall and to repell his violence So whosoeuer will triumph and carry away the victorie ouer this world flesh and diuell must hold fast in his hand that is in his maners conuersation and the whole course of his life the worde of God which is called the sword of the spirit is sharper than any two edged sword This the Lord commandeth to be closed and safely laid vp in the cofer of our harts and to be worne as a signe vpon our hands and to be had for a remembrance alway before our eies Salomon doth counsell vs to binde it fast to our harts and to vse it as a chaine about our necks and to take it with vs when we walke abroad And Christ himselfe saith If any man loue me he will kéepe my saying Againe Blessed are they that heare the word of God and kéepe it The apostle also Not the hearers of the law are righteous before God but the doers of the lawe shall be iustified And Iames saith Be ye doers of the word and not hearers onely deceiuing your owne selues The Lord giue grace and his holy spirit vnto vs that we may loue to heare his word and to do his will EVen as doues do loue and delight in houses that be faire whited and do willingly frequent swéete and pleasant places but contemne and flie from blacke foule and vnsauorie cottages So faithles and vntrustie friends do hunt and séeke after the friendship of those men by whose wealth and riches they may be holpen reléeued and enriched But men in pouertie and distressed persons vnable to fill their bellies to clothe their backs or otherwise to pleasure them with some worldly things they vtterly despise they care not for their companie their loue nor friendship feare they God neuer so much Yea if some blustering storme and terrible tempest of aduersitie shall blowe away thy wealth and shall separate thy riches and thy selfe thy greatest friends as thou thoughtest will hide them from thée and no where be found but a faithfull friend loueth at al times
and compasseth about with the shadow thereof all those that flie to him for succour yea all the poore birds of God shall safely builde their nests vnder the shadow of his boughes He that dwelleth saith the prophet in the helpe of the almightie shall rest in the protection of the God of heauen Indéede to be vnder the Lords protection and in his fauour is to be in all safetie against all power of men and diuels and to be from vnder the wings of his grace is to lie open to all dangers and to death and destruction it selfe of our soules and bodies The Lord therefore kéepe vs so néere vnto himselfe in due obedience to his will and word that he may vouchsafe to be our shield and buckler against all the assaults of sathan EVen as lightenings do smite whatsoeuer they finde in the earth except the lawrell trée as Plinie affirmeth in his second booke chapter 55 So great calamitie is able to take away and to ouerthrow whatsoeuer is in man or that he hath saue onely firme and constant vertue for constant vertue is a goodly lawrell trée euer florishing and gréene and will not be consumed burnt vp nor destroied with any fire that breaketh out of the cloudes be it neuer so fierce nor with any violence of torments and troubles whatsoeuer To this vertue doth the apostle exhort vs saying My déere brethren â—e ye constant and vnmooueable alwaies rich in the worke of the Lord and indéed they that are grounded in the loue of Christ and leaue nothing vndone to auoid the dishonoring of God and the offending of their brethren and do their best indeuour to honor and obey the almightie and to edifie his seruantâ— do not onely not feare the firebrands of any sorrow whatsoeuer but also do euen despise all the firie flashings and thunderclaps of the world and do remaine constant and vnchangeable in the seruice of God euen to the losse of their liues if néede be Infidels that knew not Christ but were méere strangers vnto him thought it better to lose their liues than to violate their promises and othes made to their enimies Much more then ought Christians in such cases to be constant The Lord himselfe in the mouth of Ezechiel the prophet affirmeth that he shall neuer thriue nor prosper that maketh no conscience of violating and breaking his oth wherewith he hath bound himselfe though it be to his deadly enimie And Iosua hauing promised vpon his oth that the Gabaonites should liue in the countrie vntouched afterward when their great deceit was discouered and they found most vnwoorthie to liue yet for his oth sake he spared their liues We haue sworne vnto them saith he in the name of the God of Israel and therefore we cannot touch them We learne by this to beware how we binde our selues by othes but if we haue once done it we must not regard to whom but by whom we haue sworne and bound our selues EVen as the lambes with the which the shéepe were conceiued as they beheld Iacobs rod were of the same colour that the rod was of So such as the religion and actions of princes péeres of realmes and countries ministers parents and gouerners be such for the most part is the religion and such be the actions of subiects and inferiour persons For as examples are very dangerous in euill things so be they of great force and vertue in good and holy things When princes will haue godlie vertuous loyall and obedient subiects they must deale with them as Iacob did with his shéepe they must lay before them the rod of true religion iustice holines righteousnes and integritie of life and maners and then no doubt they will conceiue in their harts thoughts that be pure righteous chaste sound and holy and bring foorth great plentie of fruits of the same colour that the rod is of to wit not words onely but works also of â—aith and obedience to God and man Parents with their natural children ministers of the word with their spiritual children and maisters with their seruants must do the like AS most pleasant perfumes do euen then when they be in the fire giue out a most excellent odor and their swéetest sauour Euen so a vertuous and godly man when he is thrust into the midst of the hote scorching fire of calamitie and miserie doth then shew most his vertue faith religion patience and constancie THere be some men which now and then do bestow great cost and much of their riches vpon those that néede them not not drawne therunto with either loue or mercie but caried with vaine glory with vanity it selfe so to do Such men are like fluds which send their waters into the sea and leaue the drie land which is very thirsty vnwatred But such men by the commandement and will of God should helpe the poore féede the hungrie cloth the naked harbor the harborlesse visite and redéeme captiues c. For that is the mercy whereto the Lords blessing and mercy belongeth according to that he saith Blessed are the mercifull for they shall obtaine mercy It is a worlde to sée and consider that man dare be so bold and so shamelesse to make but a tush or a thing of nothing of the Lords commandement when in the mouth of his prophets he saith Breake thy bread vnto the hungrie And Giue thy bread to the hungrie soule and couer the naked with thy garment if thou wilt liue and be saued How thinkest thou O man that God will heare thée séeing thou thinkest him not woorthie the hearing With what hart canst thou beg a kingdome of him to whom thou deniest a péece of bread when he sendeth thine and his owne brother for it dost thou thinke that he will bestow vpon thée an immortall garment of eternall glorie séeing thou refusest to giue to his poore naked seruant that is readie to perish and to die with cold one of thy superfluous and old moth eaten garments The vaine men of the world which do lauish out their riches and substance vpon néedlesse things and méere vanities without regarding the néedie saints of God will neuer be able to answer their dooings before the iudgement seate of Christ Will the Lord of heauen and earth take this in good part that haukes and dogs are kept and fed fat and faire and his séely soules that he died for haue neither coates nor flesh vpon their backs or doth this please him that wals and stones be most curiously and costly adorned and couered and men want to eate and wherewith to couer their nakednes How swéete a sacrifice were it to God and how highly would it please him if many rich and costly suits of apparell that men and women haue more then they néed and many golden chaines care rings and other costlie iewels which serue more for pride then for profit were willingly euen in loue to God translated by the owners of
pressed So man is brought to calamity that being pressed with sorrowes and exercised with afflictions he may bring foorth the swéete and pleasant liquor of obedience and vertue and so be aduanced to true Christianitie which is the greatest and highest dignitie in the world Miseries penuries and tribulations do for the most part kéepe vnder and stay our vnruly lusts and dangerous desires and are meanes that we lift vp our harts and mindes vnto God and that we be strengthened and confirmed in true pietie and vnfained godlines And on the other side prosperitie worldly wealth dignitie and honors are oftentimes meanes to hinder vs in holy exercises and to puffe vs vp with pride and vaine glorie and to drawe vs to disloyaltie and rebellion against our God The Israelites being stoong and torne of firie serpents they learned to knowe God and cried for his mercie And wicked Manasses being cast into the bands of the Babylonians and compassed round about with great calamities he fled vnto the Lord he acknowledged his sinnes sending vnto the Lord most feruent praiers and the Lord heard him And the prophet Nehemias saith They called vpon thée in the time of trouble and thou heardest them from heauen AS a master when his seruants obey him and do his will commandeth his steward or gouernor of his house to minister vnto them all things necessarie and that nothing be wanting but if they offend him and deale vnfaithfully with him he giueth a contrarie charge Euen so God the true and right owner of all things of whom the kingly prophet Dauid saith The earth is the Lords and all the fulnes thereof the round world and they that dwell therein if we do obey him and serue him faithfully and giue vnto him his due honor he commandeth the earth his ancient steward to minister vnto vs great store of necessaries and to giue vnto vs all good rich and pleasant things in due time but on the other side if we disobey him rebel against him and be not afraid to do those things which he forbiddeth vs and will commit we care not what sin euen with gréedines ioy and delight then he commandeth his steward the earth to denie foode vnto vs and to afflict vs with penurie and extreme want of all those things whereof it was woont to yéeld vs great abundance and not to be so bold as to reléeue or comfort vs vntill we be conuerted and flie vnto him confessing and acknowledging our sinnes from the bottome of our harts and most bitterly bewailing them shall prostrate our selues before the throne of grace crauing and crying for remission of our sinnes in the death and bloodshedding of our sauiour Christ crucified EVen as a colume or piller is somtime on thy right hand and sometime on thy left hand bicause thou dost change thy standing sitting or walking for it is vnmooueable and kéepeth one place So God is somtime fauorable and bountifull vnto thée and somtime séemeth to be wrath and angrie with thée bicause thou dost fall from vertue to vice from obedience and humilitie to pride and presumption for in the Lord there is no change no not so much as any shadow of change He is immutable alway one and euerlasting If thou wilt bend thy selfe to obedience and to a vertuous and godly life thou shalt euer haue him a strong rocke whereupon thou maist boldly build a castell and tower of defence he will be vnto thée a mighty pillor bearing vp heauen and earth whereto thou maist leane and not be deceiued wherein thou maiest trust and not be disappointed he will euer be at thy right hand that thou shalt not fall he will take thy part and will mightily defend thee against all thine enimies of thy bodie and of thy soule But if thou wilt shake hands with vertue and bid it adew and farewell and forsaking the waies of God wilt liue as thou list and follow thine owne corruption and make no conscience of ought thou doest defiling and blemishing thy selfe with all maner sinne and iniquitie then be sure the Lord will appeere vnto thee in his furie and indignation from whose iustice and iudgements none shall euer be able to deliuer thée the Lord therefore giue vs harts to feare him to loue him and to obey him EVen as the adamant stone placed néere vnto the load stone doth not suffer the load stone to drawe iron from it or if it seeme a little to mooue and to drawe it away it presently pulleth it backe and draweth it to it selfe Euen so a man indued with godly wisedome and righteousnes from God is firme and constant and doth so ouercome al the blustering blasts and burning brunts of calamities and miseries that he is not so scorched with the force of their flames that he prooueth vnconstant and loseth his dignitie And such is the iar and discord betwéene this world and him that being placed in the world he suffereth it not so much as in him lieth to bewitch men and to drawe them after it But if the world like a load stone shall at any time allure them to follow it he by and by bendeth himselfe with all his force by counsell by admonitions by his life and example to drawe them backe againe from it and to restore them to their former dignitie that is to the estimation and honor of true christianitie wherto the world and worldlings are méere strangers AS organ plaiers vnlesse some body blowe vnto them the windie bellowes do make no sound at all Euen so vaine men vnlesse they be pricked forward with commendations and praises of others haue neuer any minde or purpose to bend themselues to any good action EVen as marriners which are carried with the course and force of winds being in an hauen will not disanchor nor depart out of the hauen without a prosperous winde blowing to their very good liking So hypocrites do looke that the people should shout and clap their hands in token of their great praises and commendations they séeke for and hunt after vaine brutes and reports without which they are disposed to do nothing wel These men care not to do well and yet they séeke for and desire the rewards of well doing They haue no eie nor regard to God in any of their actions They are not to be imitated at any hand Christ himselfe doth giue vs warning of such Be ye not like vnto hypocrites c. But let vs do as the holy prophet of God doth teach vs I saith he haue set the Lord alwaies before mine eies he is at my right hand that I shall not be mooued Whatsoeuer he thought spoke or did he still behaued himselfe as one in the presence and sight of God and sought the glorie and praise of his name in all his actions So ought we to do the Lord grant we may This also is the Apostles counsell Whether ye eate or drinke or
be fed with delicates and dainties from heauen and are nourished with the grace fauor of God they holde vp their hands they turne vp their eies they lift vp their harts and mindes to God that is in heauen from whence their soules receiue comfort ioy saluation and euerlasting life Such men are not in loue with this worlde nor with the transitorie things of the same They know and consider that the earth and all that is in it was once nothing and that it shall returne to nothing againe All is vanitie and vanitie of vanities But all their felicitie ioye and comfort is in the worde and will of God to know it that whiles they liue héere below in the earth they may do it That the course of this life being ended they may haue and enioy euerlasting life through Iesus Christ our Lorde LEarned and famous writers do report that in the vniuersall world there is nothing harder then the adamant stone especially that which is had in the Indians which in firmenes hardnes and valure excéedeth the rest but I am of opinion that the hart of man is harder than it for the adamant though it will giue place to no other thing nor be softened by any other means yet is it said to be subdued and mollified with the warme bloud of a goate But the hart of a man being hardned through the continuance and custome of sinne wil not be mollified brideled nor tamed neither with the bloud of a goat nor yet with the bloud of that immaculate lambe Christ Iesus which gaue himselfe a sacrifice for vs vpon the altar of the crosse and there bestowed his bloud that he might mittigate and appease our wilde mindes and pricke to the quicke our harde and senselesse harts and to open vnto vs the waie to the attaining of eternal life and euerlasting saluation O harde saith Bernard and hardened sonnes of Adam that will not be mollified with so great a force and power of loue With whom the bitter pangs of Christ his death and passion cannot preuaile We are surely that people to whom the Lord speaketh by Esay the prophet sayeng I know that thou art hard harted and that thy necke is a synewe of iron and that thy face is of brasse And Ieremie out of doubt speaketh no lesse of vs than of the Iewes they haue made saith he their faces harder then flint and they will not be conuerted I would to God these sayings did onely touch the Iewes and did not also hit a number of vs that professe the name of Christ looke to be saued by him pat vpon the thumbes Wée are proud hawtie and high minded and we hate to be humbled we are couetous enuious leacherous and we will not be brideled Wée are very rich and religious in words but we are very beggerly and haue no religion in our works Our lips and tongues onely are gilded and tipt with good spéeches but our harts are far from the Lorde The almightie vouchsafe to open the eies of our mindes and to mollifie our harts that we may sée and receiue his grace offered vnto vs and that forsakeing our selues and our sinnes we may be conuerted vnto him Amen AS the sunne doth not leaue shining and sending foorth his bright beames although a cloude will sometimes darken his light Euen so we must not giue ouer to exercise godlines and to do well euen towards them that be our enimies and will hate and persecute vs and the better we do the woorse will deale with vs. Christ commandeth vs to loue our enimies and to do them good and to pray for them that hate vs and persecute vs. AS the nut and oliue trées although they be beaten with rods yet bring foorth most plentifull fruits So we must not be weary of well dooing nor caste the exercise and practise of godlines behinde vs but rather more willingly and feruentlie procéede go on in the same although the friends of this world shall braule and rate at vs shall curse reuile and most vnkindly intreate vs. The lot of vertue is to be enuied and to finde fewe friends and if at all to be but coldly intertained with the most parte and greatest number of the worlde The prophet of God complaineth that for his vertues sake the princes of the earth laid their heads togither against him and yet he shronke not EVen as a quiet calme and pleasant water will shew vnto vs if we looke into it the verie image and likenes of our selues as it were a glasse but mooued stirred and troubled it doth not so euen so our owne harts if they be quiet and not troubled with horrors nor distempered with feares will plainly shew vs what we be so that we may easilie know our selues and not be deceiued but being filled with feares tossed with terrors and ouerwhelmed with troubles they cannot do so It behooueth vs therefore that our harts be not troubled nor ouerladen with feares Christ willeth his disciples that they fears not nor that their harts be troubled and in another place hée saith Feare not my little flocke The prophet was in heauie plight when he cried O Lord my hart is sore troubled And in an other place I was troubled in my sléepe Therefore that we may haue our harts quiet our soules in peace and our consciences vntroubled Let vs beware of sinne flie from all iniquitie and walke vprightly before our God all the daies of our liues God grant we may Then may wée saie The Lorde is the protector of my life of whom shall I be afraid And againe I will feare no ill for thou Lord art with me And if God be with vs who can hurt vs A Scorpion is a venemous creature which hath a pleasant pace but woundeth deadly with hir taile shée stingeth not with hir face but with hir hinder part Such a one is euerie smooth toonged and flattering bodie Which speaketh faire to his neighbours face and killeth him in his hart Honest Cato to see too but cruell Nero in experience AS a Bée doth carie a floure in hir mouth but behinde doth pricke verie sharpely with hir stinge So verie manie in these daies do vse most sweet and pleasant spéeches wil euen stroke as it were thy humor and disposition with soft and sugred communication to the ende that by reason of some malice couched in their harts they may worke thy woe and vtter ouerthrow Of these Dauid speaketh They came about me like bees c. Wicked men therefore must be taken héede of For the Scriptures do painte them out in their colours that we may shun them Mathew and Iohn do call them woolues Luke foxes Mathew and Luke the generation of vipers The Lord deliuer vs from them Amen EVen as a candle that it may giue light vnto others it selfe is burned and consumed And as salt it selfe is brused and molten
flesh and blood the world and diuell haue their harts those go downward and take roote below Such men are like vnto trées which in the swéete and pleasant spring time will be well stored and full of goodly blossoms and wil make a franke offer and a large promise of much fruit but when the fruit is looked for and should be gathered there is none to be had they were but bare leaues and idle blossoms Such trées did Christ himselfe méete with when he was héere belowe vpon the earth in his bodie and at this day the whole world euen euerie citie and towne is very full of such trées yea it is hard to finde one house wherein there groweth not such a trée Well the Lord did curse them then and be we sure he will not blesse them now he that then did cause them to be cut downe and cast into the fire will in like maner cast into the fire and torments of hell all those that séeke him with their lips and are far from him with their harts Vngodly men which are delighted in forbidden things they come not néere the waies of the Lord whatsoeuer shew of holines they make with men they sit downe and rest themselues in the seate of wickednes for they haue onely their lips gilded with holines there is not one dram of godlines in their harts The prophet doth testifie so much when he saith that they which worke wickednes walke not in the Lords waies their harts are so far from séeking after God or any good thing that indéede they séeke after euill things as Salomon in his Prouerbs affirmeth Yet neuertheles there be some though the number of them be not great that euen as great and mighty vapors with the force and power of the sunne are taken and lifted vp from the earth and do séeke after the sunne by whose strength and vertue they are carried vp on high and growing into cloudes do euen follow the sunne So I say there is a remnant and a little flocke of Christs that in a true vnfained and sincere loue of God are lifted vp from the loue of this world and from all earthly and fleshly affections so far as is possible for man in this life to be and do séeke the Lord and his kingdome in the singlenes of their harts and thinking the time of their abode héere in this vale of all miseries to too long they daily sigh and grone for a dissolution and the comming of Christ to iudge the quick and the dead But this number is very small and we may admire them euen as the prophet Esay did and say Who are these that flie like scattered cloudes The Lord if it be his holy and blessed will turne the harts of all hypocrites and carnall worshippers of God to serue him in veritie and in truth and vouch he safe to increase the number of his single harted seruants Amen EVen as the blood in the bodie of a man being corrupted with a poisoned arrow doth by and by flie to the hart euen séeking and hoping as it were to finde some remedie and helpe there and yet doth euen so soone as it toucheth the hart finde death where it sought for life So men when they are sore pressed with calamities do make the world their first refuge and whiles they séeke for succour and comfort of the world they finde no better thing than death where they thought to haue found life Experience doth teach them that they sought for life in the house of death and for a medicine there where no good thing is to be had But it behooueth vs that do professe christianitie and do fight vnder that banner when we labour and are loden heauily with tribulations and afflictions foorthwith to repaire vnto God and with all spéede and possible haste to run vnto Christ who euen from the altar of the crosse where he offered himselfe for vs that by his death he might deliuer vs from euerlasting death calleth vs vnto him Our sauiour Christ is said to make a feast and to eate at the conuersion of a sinner when he forsaketh his wickednes and turneth vnto the Lord with a contrite and sorrowfull hart for his sinnes and offences committed against the word and will of God for so the Euangelist saith Bring hither the fat calfe kill it and let vs eate So that we can no way make the Lord a banket that will please and delight him but by forsaking the world our sinnes and our selues and in appealing to the throne of his grace and mercies seate We heare his voice euery day what meane we that we obey it not Why continue we in sinne which consumeth and rotteth our soules and bodies as rustines doth iron Why go we not home to our heauenly father We know his goodnes we haue great experience of his clemencie loue and mercie and yet still we linger Our patrimonie is gone we haue most lewdly spent wasted and consumed all so that we are no more woorthie to enter into the kingdome of God than are the very foule and dirtie swine and yet nothing wil driue vs to him It is euen as himselfe saith No man can come vnto me vnlesse my father drawe him the Lord then draw vs vnto himselfe What a madnes is it to séeke for helpe reléefe and comfort of the world which séeketh vs onely that it may deceiue and destroy vs The Lord calleth vs to giue vs comfort and vnspeakable ioy and we turne our backs to him the world doth but hold vp a finger and becken vs to it with a purpose to haue our companie to hell and damnation and we run and whine after it like a thirstie infant after the dug of his mother or nurse And thus we passe on séeking for life in the house of death and for ioy in the vale of miserie where none is to be found The Lord open the eies of our vnderstanding and make vs to know and to see that our helpe health comfort and life in this world and in the world to come standeth onely in him that made both heauen and earth Amen IDlenes as it bréedeth pouertie and beggerie in very many which might liue well and in good sort with diligent and faithfull labour So is it very dangerous in those that be rich and féele no smart nor want in this life for whiles they giue themselues to foule idlenes voluptuousnes doth ouercome reason and they are snared and taken in the deadly traps of the deceitfull flickerings of the world and are poysoned with carnall pleasures and fleshly delights which do beare them faire in hand for a little while but at the length do deceiue them and leaue them in shame and confusion For euen as the earth when it is not tilled nor trimmed doth bréede and bring foorth briers brambles and all noisome and vnprofitable things so idlenes in man doth bréede and broode in him vngodly thoughts and
he be throughly tried S. 35. P. 13. The best foode for the soule of man S. 36. P. 13. 14. Not proud but humble men do profite by reading and hearing of the worde of God S. 37. 38. P. 14. 15. The riches dignities and honors of this world and the life of man are fitly compared to clouds in the aire which are suddenly dispersed and scattered with the windes S. 39. P. 15. 16. The word of God is a looking glasse that wil deceiue no man If a man behold himselfe well in it he shall see plainly that before he was man he was earth and before he was earth he was nothing S 40 P 16. As a birde thrusteth hir bill through the loopes of hir cage in token of hir great desire to be at libertie So the soule of a true Christian groneth and sigheth in the bodie in desire to be dissolued and to go to dwell with the Lord Iesu S. 41. P. 16. 17. Papists compared to vipers S. 42. P. 17. Man for his inconstancie is compared to a ballance that is mooued with euerie little weight S. 43. P. 17 18. Man is so wauering that he is compared to a Chameleon which changeth his colour according to the thing that is next him and also bicause the Chameleon will be changed into any colour saue white S. 44. 45. P. 18. Not they that trust to a dead faith but they that haue a liuely and working faith shall be saued S. 46 P. 18. Many men of very good qualities and indewed with sundrie vertues and full of good parts haue been strongly altered and greatly disgraced through their familiaritie with the wicked S. 47. P. 18. 19. When Peter came into Cayphas his hall he denied Christ S. 48. P. 19. What it is not to eat the word of God and not to fill a mans bellie and bowels with it S. 49. P. 19. The harder that the tree of sinne and wickednes is to be cut downe the more earnestly and diligently ought the preachers of the word to strike at it with the sharpe edge of Gods most mightie and most holie worde S. 50. P. 20. The Lord doth humble vs in this world that he may exalt vs in the world to come this world doth smile vpon vs with a purpose to deceiue vs S. 51. 32. P. 20. Wicked men are wilfull murtherers of their owne bodies and soules S. 53. P. 21. Vngodly men finde no comfort nor sweetnes in the word of God S. 54. P. 21. In mens iudgements words and works we may be deceiued in Gods we cannot Whatsoeuer is writteÌ„ in Gods word is truth whatsoeuer is taught in it is vertue and holines and whatsoeuer it promiseth in the world to come is eternitie S. 55. P. 22. The onely weapon that we must vse to ouer come the world flesh and diuell is the word of God and the practise of the same S. 56. P. 22. Poore men feare they God neuer so much are little set by in this world S. 57. P. 23. Christ hath his cup and the world his the one is bitter but wholesome the other very pleasant but pestilent and deadly S. 58. P. 23. and 24 and also S 60. P. 24. As a guiltie man whose conscience doth accuse him would neuer see the iudge and a traitor would neuer willingly be espied of his prince nor a disloyall person of one that knoweth him and on the other side a true and faithfull subiect that hath done dutifull seruice desireth the presence of the prince in hope to be well rewarded So the wicked and vngodly ones of the world are greeued to heare of Christs comming to iudge the quicke and the dead but they that haue liued with good consciences do grone for his comming S. 61. P. 24. There be great braggers of religion which make a great noise as thogh none were right professors of the truth but themselues such be not the best men humble minded Christians are better than they S. 62. P. 25. Death commeth suddenly vpon many that neuer thought to die nor cannot tell what shall become of them when they bee dead S. 63. P. 25. 26. All men are alike subiect to death whether they beyoong or olde this world is like a potters warehouse and all men in it are earthen vessels S. 64. P. 26. As the moone decreasing hath hir open side hanging downward but increasing and gathering light hath hir opening vp towards heauen So men meere naturall haue their harts set only vpon earth and earthly things but men regenerate haue the open side of their harts euer towards God heauen and heauenly things S 65. P. 26. 27. A common wealth without good lawes and holy ordinances put in practise is like a bodie without a soule S 66 P 28. As the horse is ordained to run the oxe to plough and the dog to hunt So is man borne to loue God aboue all things S. 67. P. 28. Mans hart is so hard that it must be smitten with the Lords owne hand and bruised with one calamitie or other or else no godo thing will euer issue out of it S. 68. P. 28. and S. 69. P. 29. S. 70. P. 29. The earth is the Lords steward and doth dispose and detaine the increase of it selfe at the Lords appointment when God wil plentie when he will scarciâ—ie S. 71. P. 29. 30. If man cleaue to God God will sticke to him if he will run from God yet can he not escape his hands S. 72. P. 30. A man that is vertuous without hypocrisie is an excellent iewell he is greatly greeued to see any bewitched with the forceries of the world he doth what he can that none may Carnall men are meere strangers to true christianitie S. 73. P. 31. Vaine and carnall men compared to organs S. 74. P. 31. Naturall men will do no good thing vnles they be pricked forward with the praise and commendations of the world S. 75. P. 31. 32. Hypocrites most plainly and truly described by a wood or groue full of goodly trees and pleasant plants to delight men and also full of stinging serpents to poyson and to kill men S. 76. P. 32. Heauenly meditations doe molliâ—ie and warme the hart and do greatly inflame men with a feruent loue of God This world and the things thereof haue euer been false and haue deceiued euen their louers and deerest friends at the length S. 77. P. 32. 33. The Lorde suffereth his owne children whom he loueth most deerely to bee oftentimes in great wants when the wicked haue euen the world at will The afflictions of this are not the maledictions and curses of God but rather most certaine signes of his loue and tokens of his grace S. 78. P. 33. 34. God doth suâ—fer his saints heere vpon the earth to be smitten and sore beaten of the world and to be throughly tried with diuers tentations to the end that their inward graces may breake
froth of gold doth differ from gold it selfe S. 215. P. 123. 124. They that with their hypocrisie do steale the praises commendations of men without any iust desert they either lose them before they die or not long after for the truth will out it will not be hid for euer The glorie of this worlde is buried with mens bodies when they be dead and posterities do forget it To be truely glorious is to despise the glory of this world S. 214. P. 125. 126. Singlenes of hart and true christian simplicitie is best seene and made most euident in troubles and afflictions S. 215. P. 126. 127. Sorrow and griefe shut vp and pestered in mans hart and no way vttered is verie dangerous and deadly weeping mourning and sighing doth lighten and ease the hart S. 216. P. 127. The reprobates and castawaies that be tormented in hell do confesse that the pompe and glorie of this world is transitorie and that it is a vaine thing for man to set his hart vpon Let christians therefore whiles it is to day that is whiles they liue heere vpon the earth set their harts and mindes vpon God heauen heauenly things not vpon this world or ought that belongeth to it let them either confesse heere in their life time that all those things be vaine which the world doth affoord vnto man or else they must confesse it in hell where and when it will be too late S. 218. P. 128. All they that with the eies of faith do behold the ioies and pleasures of heauen laid vp and kept in store for the saints of God in the world to come although they sit heere in the princely seates of all dignitie honor delights or whatsoeuer may hee had in this world yet will they vnfainedly desire to bee dissolued to remooue out of this world and to go to dwell with the Lorde Iesus S. 219. Pag. 129. Men being thirstie do earnestly desire water but their thirst being quenched they turne their backs vpon the fountaine where they found water so men distressed will crie and seeke after God but being eased they will forget him and turne their backs to him S. 220. P. 130. The knowledge and vnderstanding of the word and will of God doth not by and by worke an hungring and thirsting to leade a vertuous and a godly life in all those whom it hath instructed and most perfectly taught what they should do and how they ought to liue He that wil speake good things and will not do them is like an instrument that delighteth other men but not it selfe To what end a man should desire knowledge if he will desire to haue it aright S. 221. P. 131. 132. and 133. Mans bodie must not bee pampered but kept in subiection to the spirit otherwise it will be vnrulie and very vnapt to feare and serue the Lord S. 222. P. 134. Manie men when they be poore and in meane estate will be very lowly but once inriched and aduanced they forget both God and man as in such men honors change maners so were it very well if maners might change honors S. 223. P. 135. There be in this world two principall and chiefe fishers the one is Christ the other is the diuell Christ fisheth for men to saue them the diuell fisheth for men to destroie them The diuell catcheth far moe than Christ the reason is bicause his baite is more agreeable to the corrupted nature of man than Christs baite is but happie are they that take Christs baite and not the diuels S. 224. P. 136. 137. 138. Sathan is a subtle fisher and doth not by and by deale very roughlye with those of whom he maketh a sure account but doth suffer them a little to play and to sport them selues with his hooke in their mouthes vntill at the length they cannot escape S. 225. Pag. 139. and 140. They be most dangerous people that can keepe no counsell nor secrets S. 226. P. 140. 141. and 142. Verie manie will make a shew of vertue that haue no delight in vertue it selfe Such men are fitly compared to painters whose delight is more in colours than in the substance S. 227. P. 142. Very manie will follow Christ with their lips whose harts do neuer come neare him in words they will be with God but in deedes with the diuell S. 228. P. 144. Christ is said to make a feast and to eate at the conuersion of a sinner S. 229. Pag. 14â— and 146. Idlenes doth breede and cherish all wickednes and abhomination in man and doth not become a Christian S. 230. P. 147. The iudgements of God that hang ouer our heads for our vnthankfulnes S. 231. Pag. 147. c. When man in troubles seeketh for comfort from the world he seeketh for life in the house of death S. 229. P. 145. The world with a smiling looke and the diuell with a faire word can sooner haue at commandement to follow them and to do their wils the greatest number than Christ can with his death and the promise of his kingdome S. 231. P. 148. Man is the deerest purchase that euer was made in heauen or earth the like price and cost was neuer bestowed vpon any creatures as vpon man S. 231. P. 148. The goodnes of Christ considered there was neuer any creatures dealt so vnkindlie with him as man doth ibidem When Christ calleth vs to do good then we run headlong to do all maner of euill ibidem It will profite man nothing to abstaine from the committing of sinne if he loue it in his hart and doth it rather for feare of shame here or condemnation in the world to come than drawen with the loue of God ibidem Pag. 151. The people of Rome were mightily mooued with an oration made by Marcus Antoninus vpon the death of Caesar and expulsed the homicides out of the citie but when we heare of the death of Christ and knowe the cause of his death to be our sinnes yet we will not expulse sinne out of our selues they shed teares when they heard what Caesar had done for them but we can heare what Christ did for vs without one teare or anie griefe of hart S. 232. P. 152. Caesar was more beholden to the Romans than Christ is to the most part of the world S. 232. P. 153. The cause of the destruction of Sodom Gomorrhe and that the same sinnes be now very rife S. 232 P. 154. Very many will confesse that God in times past did most iustly punish the sinnes of men but the same confessors will do the like without either feare or loue of God S. 232. P. 154. The examples of Gods iudgements vpon others do no whit moue the vngodly in these daies S. 232. P. 155. and 156. Men in these daies are woorse than some of those Iewes which crucified Christ S. 232. P. 156. They that wil not profit any thing by hearing the worde preached nor will suffer no drops nor dewes of grace to
stéedily looke vpon the bright sphere of the sunne he should become blinde bicause the weake sight of his eies is not able to abide so great a brightnes So whosoeuer trusting to his owne wit shall cast the eies of his minde vpon the woonderfull and vnspeakable brightnes of the secrets of God he shall be ouerthrowen of the same and the sight of his minde being blinded and put out he shall neuer attaine to that which he would bicause the great and hidden mysteries of the most high God cannot be comprehended by mans wit being puffed vp with pride or else there should be no difference betwéene God and man if man of himselfe could attaine vnto the secrets of Gods eternall maiestie sealed vp in his blessed word and not to be opened but by the mightie power of his most holy spirit So much did those things signifie which were in sanctis sanctorum hid and couered Paule perhaps leaning trusting to his owne wit before he receiued the faith of Christ would pearce into Gods mysteries but comming far short of his purpose he wandred in a great and dangerous error and would néeds being inflamed with hatred euen kil those Christians with the sword whom he ought not to haue wounded or vexed with a word But a light from heauen compassed him about and falling to the ground he saw nothing yet his eies open as before wherby his former disposition was signified but afterward when he did cast downe and truly humble himselfe and all his pride laid apart came to Ananias he receiued his sight And in that his humilitie he said I am the least of the apostles which am not woorthie to be called an apostle bicause I persecuted the Church of God Dauid saith The Lord openeth his secrets inclosed in his word to those that feare him In which words our God promiseth that he will vnfold and reueale to godly and humble men of hart the secrets and priuities of his holy oracles Vpon whom shall I looke saith the Lord but vpon the sillie poore man that is contrite in hart and trembleth at my words Héerehence commeth that saying of the blessed virgin He hath beholden the lowlines of his handmaidē THou shalt sée somtimes in the aire a cloud hauing the figure and likenes of a tall and mightie man which by and by is spred abroad and representeth huge and high towers but in the turning of an hand being taken with a blast of winde it is dissolued and vanisheth away Euen such is the trust that we put in this transitorie world This world doth set before vs in the conceit of our imagination that we shall be great men and that we shall be very famous and attaine to great dignitie it doth promise vnto vs mountaines of golde and huge and lofti◠towers of honor and renowme but all these things are towers builded in the aire and castles made of winde and grounded vpon vanitie which are dissolued and dispersed most suddenly Iohn the seruant of God did well consider of this when he gaue this counsell Loue not the world nor those things that be in the world the world passeth away and the lust of the same And Paule saith The shape of this world passeth away he saith not the substance of this world but the shape passeth away If then this world must néedes passe away and returne to it nothing againe if that we take to be a substance be but a shape thinke we then that our life our hope our riches our pleasures shall continue no surely For Iames saith Our life is as a vapour appéering for a very short time and our life is dissolued as a cloud in the aire AS our eies which do behold heauen and earth and other innumerable creatures of God do not sée themselues but looking in a glasse by that meane they perfectly sée themselues So we do not sée and consider our owne frailtie and brickle estate but if we will set before our eies the glasse of the remembrance of death and the true knowledge of our selues beholding diligently I say that cléere glasse we cannot choose but very plainly sée our selues and what we be Iames the apostle doth point vs to the law of our God and willeth vs to vse that glasse to behold our selues in Indéed it is a true glasse it wil not flatter nor deceiue vs it will tel vs that we be but dust and that we shall againe returne to dust Iames séemeth to say plainly to vs thus Know your selues and least ye be deceiued behold your selues in the glasse of truth which is the perfect law of libertie Sée what thou art and what thou shalt be Remember that thou art a man and consequently dust and ashes O that we would remember this O that we would be content to imbrace this most certaine truth O that this glasse might neuer depart out of our hands and harts Augustine that learned teacher saith well Before thou wast man thou wast earth and before thou wast earth thou wast nothing Héere thou maist easily sée thy progenie thy nobilitie and the woorthinesse and excellencie of thy stocke and linage Be not proud therefore for thou art but dust and ashes EVen as a little bird shut vp in a cage although it be very pretious and costly and be made of Cedar Iuorie or gold yet she desireth to go out and striueth to haue hir libertie and in hir eager and earnest desire to be gone she doth oftentimes thrust hir bill through the loupes of the cage So the soule of a vertuous man inflamed with an vnfained loue of God being shut vp and holden in the coupe of his bodie although he abound with all necessaries fit for the preseruation of this temporall life yet most earnestly desireth to depart hence and to go to his countrie which is heauen And in token that he would faine go thither he fetcheth many a déepe sigh and many a gréeuous grone and doth full often craue of his creator with his chéekes all to bedewed and smeared with the teares of his eies that this exilement being finished he might rest for euer in that happie and holy house of blessed soules where he may haue the fruition of his God and euerlasting life through Iesus Christ his onely sauiour and redéemer Euery Christian man although he haue wealth at will and haue stately and roiall houses glittering and florishing with Iuorie and golde yet ought he to aspire towards heauen and in hart and desire to flie towards his best countrie saying with the Apostle I would faine remooue hence and go to dwell with the Lord. And againe I do séeke or desire to be dissolued and to be with the Lord Iesu EVen as vipers do eate out and teare in péeces the bellies of their bréeders that themselues may get out So not the Iewes onely but the Papists also do mangle and teare in péeces the law of God
what are all we that be in it but earthen vessels The Apostle saith We haue this treasure in earthen vessels And saint Iohn saith As an earthen vessell shall they be broken Séeing then that all flesh is grasse and all must sée death but how when and where we cannot tell it standeth vs vpon to haue our mindes fixed in heauen and to be seeking those things which are aboue where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God in maiestie and power that liuing in his feare and dying in his faith we may haue a glorious resurrection and méeting him ioyfully in the cloudes we may heare him most cheerefully say to vs Come ye blessed children receiue a kingdome prepared for you before the foundations of the earth were laid The which kingdom God for his sonne and our sauiour his sake grant vs Amen THe moone when she decreaseth doth turne the opening of hir bowe downe towards the earth and hir backe vp towards heauen and so procéedeth to hir defect and the end of hir course by little and little losing hir light vntill at the length she be darke and vtterly void of all hir light And on the other side when she increaseth she turneth hir open side vp towards heauen and hir backe towards the earth and so goeth on growing and increasing by degrees vntill she come to hir â—ul and perfect light Euen so man when he fainteth and faileth in truâ— christianitie anst spirituall graces and so falleth away more and more he turneth the doore of his hart and the opening of his desires altogither to this world and being carried away with the loue of transitorie things he seeketh nothing but the earth and the things of the same turning him from immutable goodnes to things very vncertaine and changing euery day And whiles he thus falleth away and starteth aside like a broken bowe he loseth the light and excellent brightnes of Christian dignitie vntill he remaine not onely depriued of the light of grace but also blinde in his vnderstanding vtterly obscured and cleane couered with a most palpable darknes The Psalmist speaketh of such men saying They are without knowledge they haue no vnderstanding they walke in darknes And the holy Apostle saith Their foolish hart is full of darknes And againe Walke not ye as the gentils walke in the vanitie of their mindes hauing their vnderstanding darkened But when man groweth in diuine exercises and increaseth in a heauenly life and goeth on still in spirituall graces then he turneth his backe to the world and vtterly renounceth the vanities the flickerings the allurements and all the deceits of the same and turneth the opening of his hart and all his desires to God onely and so goeth on continually profiting and euerie day receiuing some brightnes vntill he be filled not onely with the light of grace but of glorie also Therefore by how much the more thou shalt see a man occupied in the vnsaciable desires of this world and busied with the troublesome affaires of vaine and transitorie things and such as be vnprofitable for his soule by so much the more vnderstand thou that he goeth backward and decaieth in Christian perfection And on the other side the more feruently and earnestly thou shalt see him to aspire to heauenly things knowe thou that so much the more he profiteth in the true knowledge loue feare and worshipping of God That we therefore may profite in heauenly things and be illuminated with the bright beames of grace let vs lift vpwarde our harts to God let vs send to him our desires our sighes and grones let vs neuer cease begging but continually craue at his hands that euerlasting life which is onely excellent onely best and kept in store for all that do truly feare God and walke in his waies EVen as a bodie without a soule is dead bicause it vseth not the sinewes ioints nor members So that common welth or that citie may well and truly be said to be dead where good lawes godly statutes and holy ordinances are not vsed and put in practise which are the sure binding bands of mans societie and the principall parts of a common wealth These missing iustice is contemned vertue banished honestie expulsed and all euill vice vilenes and all sinne iniquitie and abhomination cherished vpholden and maintained IF birds of all sorts do desire the aire fishes séeke for water and the fire of the earth mounteth and flameth vp towards the elementall fire and all things séeke their place and centre and do tend towards the same why then will we not seeke our God as we ought our onely rest our centre and onely good If floods and riuers with great force run into the sea bicause as Salomon saith they came out of the sea why will not we loue our God why will we not aspire towards him why will we not in all feruencie of loue drawe néere vnto him which is that immeasurable sea of all goodnes from whence we came for he hath made vs after his owne similitude and likenes As we are bound to kéepe the precepts and commandements of God so are we most straitly bound to loue honor and obey himselfe Euen as the horse is ordained to run the oxe to plough and the dog to hunt so is man borne aboue all things to loue God AS a stone preaseth to his centre So an hard harted man is preasing towards hel It is said of the obstinate Egyptians They went downe into the depth like a stone Their bodies went downe into the bottome of the sea and their soules into the bottome of hell And Ecclesiasticus saith An hard hart shall fare euill at the last God grant therefore that euery one of vs may iustly say as Iob saith of himselfe The Lord hath mollified my hart It is written in the bookes of Exodus Numbers that Moses did smite the rocke with his rod and that abundance of water flowed out Vnto which words the prophet Dauid alludeth saying He smote the rocke and the waters gushed out so that riuers did run thereat The Lord so smite our stonie harts with the rod of the crosse of Christ and of the remembrance of his bitter passion and so breake in péeces the hard rocks of the same that floods of most bitter teares may run from our eies and many déepe sighes and gréeuous grones may fal from our harts to mooue the Lord to wash away all our sinnes and rebellions against the Almightie in and with the blood of Iesus Christ our only sauiour and redéemer Amen AS wilde and fierce horses are woont to be broken with the hardnes of the bridle and sharpnes of the bit So our vntamed lusts and vnbrideled appetites are hampered and brought within the compasse of reason with the bridle of aduersitie troubles sorrowes and afflictions EVen as the grape that it may yéeld wine is brought to the presse that it may be throughly
and slaie all good works and all godly purposes yea he laboureth by all his meanes and instruments to strangle and to smother the very first motions of them in the harts and minds of men least they should increase and multiply he is that dragon with seauen heads which as Iohn saith in the Reuelation stoode before the woman when shée was to be deliuered of hir sonne that euen in the birth he might deuoure hir childe We may very fitly vnderstand by the woman the soule of man which when it thinketh and purposeth to do good works is said to conceiue and when it bringeth foorth and perfourmeth the same in deed is said to be deliuered as a woman of a childe but then sathan is foorthwith most eager and busie to stop the kindlie birth of vertue and godlines and to smother it so that it neuer come to light The Lord strengthen vs against his force and make vs wise against subtiltie that in all his sleights and craftie conueyances he may bée disappointed and we deliuered from him and that we may do the will and walke in the waies of our God mauger sathan and all his meanes EVen as the Ostrige being a great and mightie foule hath wings but doth not flie neither is lifted vp frō the ground with them so very many men in the world do séeme to bée caried vp to heauen vpon the wings of their ceremonies but are in déede in hart mind and desire fast nailed to the earth As the Ostrige hath wings and flieth not so they haue calling but they answere it not they haue knowledge but they practise it not they haue words but they worke not THe Kite being a most gréedie and rauening foule mounteth exceeding high so that you would thinke shee toucheth the gliding clouds and as shee flieth doth spred her wings and yet when shee is at the highest shee hath hir eies fast set and fixed below in the earth pryeng and spieng to catch if shée can some poore chicken or other praie within hir talons indéed shée flieth high but neuer looketh vp towards heauen but altogither downe towards the earth euen so thou shalt sée a number of men faining a certaine sanctymonie and counterfeiting much holines who although they are thought with the contemplation of heauenly things to be rauished and taken vp into the clouds yet they minde nothing lesse then true godlines neither any thing more then earth and earthly things Their studie is for worldly honor their greatest carking and care is for rich and large reuenues for dignities princes fauours and worldlie wealth Such men turne their backs to heauen and flie from God and so being disappointed of that light which they séemed to séeke for they are wrapped in palpable and most dangerous darknes but they that truely séeke after God do by the helpe and assistance of his holie spirite translate and conuey their minds from earth to heauen and so are illuminated with the brightnes of God his grace and loue for so saith Christ himselfe He that foloweth me walketh not in darknes but shall haue the light of life But we shall neuer follow Christ as we ought vnlesse we shall first vtterly denie our selues for he saith If anie man will folow me let him denie himself and take vp his crosse and folow me and then and so often do we denie our selues as treading vnder féete our old and former sins we leaue to be that we haue béene and begin to be that we haue not béene and follow the counsell of the apostle saying Layeng aside our old conuersation and putting off the old man which is corrupted after the lusts of the flesh let vs be renued in the spirit of our minds But alas I speake it with gréefe of hart the most part of the world despising and forsaking God do take for their guide and do folow as their captaine the violent lusts and foule appetites of their owne corrupted and cankered harts But if we woulde consider what that is that driueth vs whither we are going in such great haste what we do whom we folow what woe wée worke our selues and what will be the end we would surelie forsake those waies of our owne and turne our féete into the waies that is into the statutes and lawes of our God Dauid tooke this course and so the Lord graunt we may Amen EVen as a Bird doth not flie with one wing alone but with twaine So it is not enough that we know much of the Lords worde and will but we must do it also It will not suffice vs at the latter daie that we haue béene great professors of the Gospell and are deepely learned if also we haue not béene inflamed with a loue to God aboue all things and haue not loued our brethren as our selues if our knowledge our faith and profession do not mooue vs to praie to God for to visite and to comfort our poore brethren being sicke in prison or otherwise distressed if I say our faith and knowledge yéeld not fruits that we féede the hungrie cloath the naked call into our houses the harborlesse and shall not do to all men as we would be done vnto we shall be beaten with many stripes bicause we knowe the will of God and do it not Blessed onely are they that feare the Lord and walk in his waies And blessed are they that heare the word of God and kéepe it The greatest the highest the best and onely seruice that man can do and bring vnto the Lorde is his obedience to Gods word and the dooing of his will AS hée that maketh tooles and instruments of iron or other mettle maketh not rustines and canker neither is to be blamed if those things which he hath made by reason of too much moisture dust or other corruption shal afterward gather canker or rustines euen so that heauenly workeman our God did not bring in sinne and iniquitie neither can he iustly be blamed if his creatures do staine and blemish themselues with the foulenes of sinne and wickednes for he made them good God saw all things that he had made saith the holie Scripture and they were excéeding good Augustine in his 14. Booke of the Citie of God saith Good things may he without euill things but euill things cannot be without good things bicause the natures in which euill things are in as much as they be natures they are good For they be of God and in some measure they lead vs to the knowledge of him Dauid vnderstāding so much saith Howe excellent are thy works O Lorde thy thoughts are excéeding déepe An vnwise man doth not knowe these things and the foole doth not vnderstande them That man perisheth is damned and goeth to hell is not the Lords fault but mans owne EVen as plants and trées do spread abroad their rootes in the earth from whence they haue their nourishment So christian men bicause they
that it may giue good season and a swéete sauour vnto meates So a true Christian especially one aduaunced to dignitie and placed in authoritie should spare no labor but euen breake himselfe with studie and care and vndergo any paines to do good to profite many and to win some soules to God Such men indeede hath Christ appointed to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth They ought to be full of loue to God and man They should liue as strangers vpon the earth They should haue no acquaintance with pride couetousnes ambition emulation and such other sinnes of the world EVen as the sailers gnomon or rule which is commonly called the marriners néedle doth alwaies looke towards the north pole and will euer turne towards the same howsoeuer thou shalt place it which is maruellous in that instrument and néedle whereby the marriners do know the course of the winds Euenso euery Christian man ought to direct the eies of his minde and the waies of his hart to Christ He is our north pole and that fixed and constant north star whereby we ought all to be gouerned he is our hope and our trust he is all our strength whereupon we must still relie And as the gnomon doth euer behold the north star whether it be closed and shut vp in a cofer of golde siluer or wood neuer losing his nature so a right Christian man whether he abound in wealth or be pinched with pouertie whether he be of high or lowe degrée in this world ought continually to haue his faith and hope surely built and grounded vpon Christ and to haue his hart and minde fast fixed and setled in him and to follow him through thick and thin through fire and water through wars and peace through hunger cold through friends and foes through a thousand perils and dangers through the surges and waues of enuie malice hatred euill spéeches railing sentences contempt of the world flesh and diuell and euen in death it selfe be it neuer so bitter cruell and tyrannical neuer to lose the sight and view of Christ neuer to giue ouer our faith hope and trust in him Let vs followe the counsell of the holy Ghost which saith Put me as a signe vpon thy hart as if he should say Set me in thy hart in stéede of a marke whereat all thy thoughts words and works may be leuelled Put out of thy hart the marke of the world and place me there as the end vnto the which all thy purposes may tend vpon whom all thy cares may be cast and in whom thou maist rest thy soule in all peace A woonderfull gnomon and most excellent sailing néedle was that noble king and famous prophet of God Dauid when he said I set the Lord alwaies before mine eies for he is at my right hand that I shall not be mooued Therefore saith he my hart reioiced my toong was glad and my flesh shall rest in hope And the Apostle saith Let vs run toward the fight that is set before vs looking still vpon Iesus the author and finisher of our faith who hauing ioy set before him indured the crosse God giue vs grace continually to lift vp our harts and mindes our hand and eies to Christ Iesus and as Augustine saith To behold stedfastly our head AS all riuers of waters go into the sea bicause they came out of it and as Salomon saith All riuers and flouds returne to the place whence they came So let vs go and towards our God with all our harts strength and powers bicause we came out from him and were created of him Let vs therefore looke vpon him with the eies of a stedfast and constant faith grounded vpon his word let vs behold his glorie and the blessednes of his saints and let vs conceiue in our harts and soules an vnfained loue to him and let vs not haue two loues one for our selues and another for our neighbors but let vs loue them and our selues both with one and the same loue which may kindle and inflame our harts and mindes throughout with an earnest desire of immortalitie and that heauenly Ierusalem That we may say with the prophet O my soule returne vnto thy rest for the Lord hath done well to thée or as it may be translated bicause the Lord hath restored thée to thy selfe As if he should say O my soule when thou didst serue thy bodie and wast in bondage to it it was no maruell that thou didst séeke the pleasures thereof but now séeing thou art thine owne bicause the Lord hath restored thée to thy selfe séeke not anothers pleasure but thine owne séeke thine owne rest and not the rest of thy bodie of the flesh of the world séeke God delight in him flie vnto him and rest thy selfe in him put all thy cares griefs sorrowes in his loue and swéete comfort thinke of eternall blessednes presse it and print it surely in thy selfe This is thy spirituall rest this is thine own and only delight restored vnto thée by the benefit and bountifulnes of God THere is nothing liker vnto the world than the sea For as it floweth and ebbeth and all the waues thereof at the length fall into the earth So this world is neuer quiet it extolleth some and casteth downe others but all the vanities of it are ended in the graue If the sea lie open to many dangers how perilous then is the world if the sea be troubled with strange stormes with what tempests then is the world tossed If they that serue by sea are neuer without great perils how much more then the seruants of the world They whose heads are vnder the girdle of the world are continually shot at with the darts of enuie hatred and malice and are euer couered as it were with cloudes and stormes of a thousand cares How many are slaues to pride how many are dirtie drudges to couetousnes how many are consumed in substance soules and bodies by foule and filthie lecherie How many are deuoured and swallowed vp quicke of sorrowes and gréefes of hart and minde And doth not too much ioy and reioicing in worldly trifles kill some Many die laughing but mo sorrowing some with eating and drinking too much and many through want of sufficient giue the world adew Some grudge and whine bicause they haue many children and some are malcontent bicause they haue none some grudge not bicause they haue many but bicause they haue bad ones some boast of their beauties and some mourne for their blacknes Many desire to liue long but few to liue well All would be rulers and few will be ruled What then shall we thinke of this world Truly I thinke of it as of a thing most dangerous and most vaine and the going out of it is to me as the shore is to a man that hath trauelled far and long by sea and hath béene dangerously tossed with the surges and waues of
religion be That saying of our sauior Christ of necessitie must euer be true and infallible He that exalteth himselfe shall be brought lowe and he that humbleth himselfe shall be exalted IT behooueth that sinne and iniquitie may greatly displease thée that the loue of thy selfe may be turned into a sincere loue of God For if thou shalt east into an hot burning fornace wood and stickes that be scare and drie and ready to burne there will arise and burne out a most pure and cleare flame of fire But if thou wilt cast into the same fornace gréene sticks wet and stinking rushes or some other such matter they will burne in déede but the fornace and whole house will be filled with smoke and will be euen blacke by reason of the thicke darknes which procéedeth of the foule and stinking smoke So the hart of man is a furnace continually burning if thou wilt nourish it with cogitations and heauenly meditations of the loue of God there will appéere and shine out of it a pure flame and bright light of true and vnfained loue to God and man But if thou wilt cherish and maintaine it with thoughts and deuises of selfe loue then it will be full of vile smoke stinch and darknes They perished saith the apostle in their own imaginations and their foolish hart was darkened The fountaine and originall of all euils and the center from whence the lines of all abhominations do flow is mans inordinate selfe loue Augustine saith that Adam did fall into that ouermuch loue of himselfe before he did eate the forbidden fruit And the same author saith that two loues did build two cities the loue of God Ierusalem and mans selfe loue Babylon It is selfe loue that Christ speaketh of sayeng He that loueth his life shall lose it And Paule saith In the latter daies men shall be louers of themselues couetous hautie high minded proude c. And againe we must not please our selues And Peter calleth the wicked and vngodly bold and pleasers of themselues There is no misery comparable to this that a man knoweth not his owne miserie And of follies there is none greater then not to know a mans owne follie but to haue an ouer well wéening of himselfe It is excéeding great and very laudable wisdome that a man cast downe and condemn himselfe that he may auoid the heauy iudgements of God and condemnation with the wicked world For the more vnperfect that we esteeme and iudge our selues to be the néerer to true perfection do we come For this in some measure is perfection euen to know and to acknowledge our owne imperfection EUen as after great showers and stormes of raine the aire is clensed and cléered So after great troubles sorrowes afflictions and temptations cleannes of hart quietnes of minde and peace of soule and conscience do follow AS with a pile or stacke of seare and dry wood the fire is quickly kindled and caused mightily to flame out Euen so the outragiousnes of carnall and fleshly lust is greatly prouoked mooued and stirred vp through rioting banqueting quaffing gussing swilling and continuall féeding and pampering of the belly and by taking the bodie from good lawfull and honest exercises and giuing it to idlenes slothfulnes and ouermuch ease and rest from labours EVen as of ouermuch fulnes of the stomacke and superfluitie of meats groweth that obstruction which the physitions do call oppilation or stopping whereupon bréedeth a continuall headach and that frensie which bringeth men to a madnes Euen so of a depraued and dishonest loue of this life of the corruption of manners of gluttonie and excesse eating doth spring an vnbridled and vntamed lust whereof ariseth that phrenetical madnes of heretikes and a corruption of their vnderstanding in matters of faith They which care not to kéepe a good conscience do at length fall to an incurable contempt of faith The apostle therfore ioyneth faith and a good conscience togither The which conscience saith he whiles some cast from them they haue made shipwracke of their faith If therefore thou wilt that the almightie shall like and allow of thy faith be sure that thou kéepe a good conscience without the which thy faith is dead and will do thée no good The Emperor Traianus compareth the treasure of rich men with the spleen EVen as when the spleen increaseth the other members ioyntes and parts of the bodie do consume and pine away So the great treasures and riches of couetous tyrants increasing the wealth of subiects and inferior persons is weakened and diminished whiles they pill and poll away their substance and goodes to enrich themselues withall And euen as the spléen increasing the other members do decrease So couetousnes growing greater and greater all vertues do vtterly decay and vanish away Bountifulnes liberalitie charitie truth righteousnes and all such excellent qualities are no more found in those men which are strangled and poisoned with a great and gréedie desire of worldly riches For being drowned in couetousnes they can neuer lift vp their harts to God nor stretch foorth their hands to do good to their brethren God giueth vnto men riches wit industrie knowledge and many other things signified and vnderstood by the name of Talents to the end that they should honor and worship God and bicause they should do him faithfull and true seruice which is the giuer of all good things The Euangelist saith that the Lorde called his seruants togither and gaue vnto them his goods Riches then and all goods whatsoeuer men haue in their possessions are not their owne but the Lords vnto whom they must make an account for the same The Apostle saith What hast thou that thou hast not receiued And the holy prophet his words are plaine The earth is the Lords and all the fulnes of the same the round world and they that dwell therein thou art then a seruant a steward a bailife the things which thou hast are Gods not thine they be his goods which he hath deliuered vnto thée that thou shouldest vse and bestow them not vpon thy foule lusts nor filthie pleasures vaine delights nor to hurt thy brother neither that thou shouldest hide them but to his good liking honor and glorie that his Gospell may be preached his poore seruants and distressed children reléeued that the honest causes of poore widowes and orphanes may be defended and that other such charitable déedes should be done and practised that the Lord finding thée faithfull in thâ—se small things may at the length giue thée greater matters that is the kingdome of heauen and the ioies thereof but if thou be faithlesse in these he will neuer trust thee with those Take héede and beware therefore that thou do not lauish waste and consume the Lords goods in the seruice of the flesh world and diuell It is a lamentable thing to sée how many yea innumerable men in these daies
with the riches goodes naturall gifts and talents which they haue receiued of the Lord do purchase and euen make sure vnto themselues euer lasting confusion death and damnation against the will and commandement of the Lord the owner and giuer of the same Ecclesiasticus saith truly that gold and siluer hath destroied many men If we would follow the counsell of the Apostle we should mortifie couetousnes which he calleth worshipping of idols The couetous man saith Augustine before he gaine monie he loseth himselfe and before he catch any thing himselfe is catched Couetousnes is a cruell tyrant and the riches of couetous men are those idols vnto the which that saying of the Lord by Ieremie the prophet may very well be applied Ye shall serue strange gods day and night which will giue you no rest The old philosophers purposing to describe auaâ—ice or couetousnes did faine that one Tantalus in hell was gréeuously tormented with thirstines and drought in the middest of riuers of waters signifying thereby that couetousnes is a very swallowing gulfe and an insaciable hel where couetous men euen burning with a loue of riches do most earnestly couet and gréedily run after those things wherof they haue great and vnspeakable abundance And the more they haue the more are they tormented with an vnquenchable thirst and an hote burning desire still to haue more and more In my opinion if a couetous man were so mightily and so heauily loden with gold and if it were possible fuller of riches than that ship that came to Salomon from Ophir yet he would neuer be satisfied RIuers and floods although they be most swéete and pleasant yet when they run and enter into the sea they are most bitter kéeping their right and due course they yéeld pure and wholsome water but once mingled with the sea they are as it were poysoned with bitternes Euen so the wealth and riches of this world although in the course of this life they do highly delight some men which haue them in possession not the lesse when they come to the sea of death whither all floods at the length shall come they séeme to be dolefull sower bitter intolerable and as it were poyson it selfe For rich and couetous men do then finde and féele that their riches wealth and prosperitie which the Lord gaue them to an excellent end haue béene vnto them many times occasions of euill That good man Augustine saith that pride is a sicknes or disease that commeth of riches Also gold is the matter or cause of cares labours toyles feares and of all vnquietnes it is perilous to the possessors of it and a great weakening of vertues in all them that set their harts vpon it And Chrysostom saith that riches are a schoole of malice enuie and hatred Christ Iesus therefore our heauenly schoolmaster saith Blessed are the poore in spirite for theirs is the kingdome of heauen And againe Lay not vp for your selues treasures in the earth Also You cannot serue God and mammon And yet this is euer to be vnderstood that riches of themselues are not euill but as they be to the wicked and vngodly hinderances of vertues so they are to the faithfull seruants of God helps and furtherances of many good things godly actions and very charitable works For godly men do possesse their riches be they neuer so ample and infinite and are not possessed of their wealth and goods their riches are drudges to them and not they to their riches EVen as gold is tried with a touch stone So is man tried with gold And as Chilo the Lacedemonian saith Gold doth most manifestly prooue and declare what they be that owe it And looke what the touch stone is to gold the same is gold to man The touch stone with rubbing the gold or siluer vpon it sheweth plainly what kind of gold or siluer it is and gold it selfe doth in like maner most easily bewray what maner of man one is There is no touch stone in all the world that doth more truly touch and trie al degrées of vertues and vices than gold wealth and abundance of riches The Israelites being very inclinable to the superstitions of the Egyptians were no sooner out of Egypt but they made a calfe of gold and iewels the which they worshipped in stead of God And in the land of promise they oftentimes consumed and wasted their gold and treasure in making of idols Whereupon did arise that great complaint which the Lord maketh by the prophet Oseas saying I haue multiplied their siluer and their gold which they haue made Baal as if he should say I haue giuen the Israelites great store of siluer and gold which they most wickedly haue wasted in making of the idoll Baal And by the same prophet the Lord saith Their siluer and their gold haue they made idols for themselues to serue But men that are godly and of sound and Christian religion do bestowe their goods their wealth and riches vpon building and repairing temples and churches dedicated to the holy seruice and true worshipping of God in féeding the poore saints of God in redéeming captiues in prouiding for poore widowes and orphanes and in doing such other vertuous and godly déedes of charitie The nobles of the Israelites returning from the captiuitie of Babylon did bring their substance and riches to build the temple of the Lord. And Tobias did féede the hungrie and gaue clothes to the naked The wise men of the east contrie opening their treasures offered vnto the Lord gold frankincense and mirrhe And now in our time that is truly offered vnto the Lord and is vnto him a sweete smelling sacrifice which is giuen to the poore distressed seruants of God I remember a report giuen out of one â—medeus when certaine orators talking with him demanded whether he kept any hounds or not he presently shewed vnto them a great multitude of poore beggers sitting all togither these saith he are my hounds with these do I hunt after the kingdome of God these do I kéepe and féede euery day the Lord send many such huntesmen HIeronymus saith that it is a part of sacrilege not to giue vnto the poore that which is their owne That is whatsoeuer thou art able to spare Money meate clothing harbour counsell comfort and whatsoeuer els thou art able to do That is not lost which thou dost distribute among thy poore brethren and sisters in the worlde For as Salomon saith He laieth in bancke vnto the Lord which hath pitie and sheweth mercy vnto the poore It can not be lamented and bewayled inough to sée how infinite thousands in the world do most vainly yea most vilely and wickedly spend and lauish out the goods and riches wherewith the Lord hath put them in trust to the end that they should vse them to his owne glory and the good of his church Some vnder the colour of religion and holines with their goods
of the Pharisies wherin is hypocrisie God giue vs grace to take héede and to beware of hypocrites which would séeme to be that they are not and hate to be that they séeme AS sticks and wood do nourish and maintaine the fire but the fire doth waste and consume them So a man that is flattered by smooth dissemblers and hypocrites doth maintaine his flatterers for the most part but in the end they wil deuour and vtterly vndoo him When men in old time did feine that one Acteon was torne in péeces and deuoured of his owne dogs which he kept and daily fed They ment verily that whosoeuer will please and delight themselues with parasites flatterers hypocrites and dissemblers and be at cost to féede maintaine them at the length shall be deuoured and swallowed vp of them And yet it is a world to see that neither the flatterers nor the flattered the deceiuers nor the deceiued will see and consider their wretched and miserable ends which are as cleere as the sun light at noone day The flattered shal be deuoured of his own dog the flatterer And the flatterer himselfe shal be a pray to sathan that cruell cur and hound of hell Thus that vngodly crue and rabble of scribes pharisies and hypocrites do for temporall and momentanie trifles lose great and most excellent things They exchange and forsake heauen for earth their soules for their bodies or rather that their bodies may be pampered héere for a short time for at the length soules and bodies must fare alike They gréeue the spirit to please the flesh they abandon vertue and imbrace vice and to be short they giue their backs vnto God and their faces vnto the world they vtterly forsake him to be in league and loue with it The holy Ghost by Salomon doth foretell their ende The end of their ioy is sorrow saith he And that of Ecclesiastes must euer be true Vanitie of vanities and all things are vanitie EVen as the birdes and foules of the aire that they may escape the nets and snares of the foulers are woont to flie vp on high so we to auoid the infinite snares of innumerable temptations must flie to God and lift vp our selues from the corruptions lyeng vanities and deceitfull sleights of the world And euen as those biâ—ds and foules which fall to the ground to take the foulers baits are taken themselues Euen so those men which do relie vpon the suggestions and inchantments of the deuill world and flesh and are taken in their traps do die a most miserable and as it may wel be called an immortal death For though they do escape such an end and death in this worlde as their desarts do craue yet besides the death of nature they shall taste of the death of hell which is endlesse easelesse and remedilesse Let vs therefore whiles it is to day lift and stir vp our selues and flie vnto God with our harts and mindes that we fall not into the nets and traps of our enimies I know it is an excéeding hard thing to giue ouer thine acquaintance with this world wherein thou art bred and brought vp euen as it is hard to bring an infant to forsake the brests that haue giuen him sucke The childe will loue his nurse for hir dugs sake though hir selfe be whoorish So we are readie to loue the world for the vaine pleasures and delights thereof though the world indéed be a very strumpet I wish that all would and I pray God that all may if it be his will euen steale and as it were priuily conuey themselues from their vanities euill cogitations naughtie deuises and whatsoeuer sinne they vse and take pleasure in if it be but one hower of a daie and I doubt not but by little and little they would learne to hate sinne renounce the diuell and despise the world And where as now men and women old and yoong do bestow all the houres of daies and nights about the vanities and deceiueable pleasures of the world and flesh yea yea and to serue sathan to they would not bestow one twinckling of an eie in so bad and dangerous a seruice EVen as fire when it breaketh out of compasse and order is more perilous in old buildings than in new houses So misdeamenor couetousnes lecherie pride dronkennes and blasphemie is more offensiue and doth more harme in old age then in gréene youth For an old man as in yéeres and experience he is beyond them that are yoong and gréene headed so he ought in life and example aswell as in counsel to instruct others For when an old man falleth into folly he hurteth himselfe greatly with his sin and other more with his example That he is corrupted bréedeth his owne woe and great trouble of minde and conscience to the church of God AS a marchant that is expert and skilfull in his profession and facultie will not open nor shew his rich wares and costly marchandise vnto those whom he well knoweth will not buie them which do come vnto his shop or warehouse either as curious persons or as crafty spies and subtle searchers not with any purpose to buie but to do some euill and calleth vnto him onely those whom he knoweth to be very willing and desirous to buie Euen so the Lord his maner is not to open his heauenly mysteries and the déep secrets of his sacred and most holy word vnto them whom he perceiueth and séeth plainly to séeke after them vainly and curiously or with a wicked minde and corrupted purpose to search them out to the end they may tread and trample them vnder their féete and doth call them onely to the true knowledge of his lawes and ordinances and doth instruct and teach them whom he is sure will both profit themselues and others thereby Giue not that which is holy saith Christ vnto dogs neither cast ye pearles before swine When Herod was very desirous that Christ standing before him would shew some miracle Christ would not onely not do any miracle or woonder but also not vouchsafe him one word for answere And when the Iewes said we would sée a sign of thée he answered A wicked adulterous generation séeketh a signe but no signe shal be giuen vnto it but the signe of Ionas the prophet But before his disciples and others that were with them he did shew many and great woonders when they did not aske for any But the Iewes did aske and went without bicause they had no minde to be conuerted either by his words or works but onely to sée his miracles and to heare his words to the end if they could to trap him and to quarrell with him If thou wouldst profit therefore by the word of God when thou doest read or heare it bring with thée faith and humilitie for God resisteth the proud and giueth grace vnto the humble and lowly AS that drie skin which a snake doth cast to renew
and transitorie spirituall things and fleshly matters the things that are aboue with God and the deceiuable trifles that are belowe in the earth may not be mingled togither Thou canst not both sauour of the Lord and of the world thou canst not beare both good and bad fruit it is not possible that thou shouldest both be barren and fruitfull If thou louest God and his doctrine be graffed in thée then art thou fruitfull if not thou art vnfruitfull For the truth it selfe saith He that abideth in me and I in him he bringeth foorth much fruit SAlt is made of sea water but so long as it is in the sea it is not salt it must be taken out of the sea and placed vpon the dry lande that being in salt pits where the sun may shine the aire blow vpon it the water may be thickned and so conuerted into salt This world is a sea so long as we liue in the world being tormoilde in the swelling surges of the pride thereof and tossed with the ebbings flowings of the worlds inconstancie and ouerwhelmed in the bitter waters of the sinnes and wicked practises of the same we are as yet no salt We must go out of the world and enter into the lande to wit into our selues and take a iust view of our owne imbecilitie and haue a due consideration of our owne miserable and wretched estate that the sun of righteousnes may thrust out his beames and the winde of heauenly grace may blow vpon vs and so we may be turned into an admirable and woonderfull salt that being seasoned our selues we may be meanes and the Lords instruments to season others We may be bold to inueigh against all iniquitie when we haue amended our owne amisses Yet must that be done in measure and according to knowledge for so it behooueth al men to do all things that they do It is well saide of one that salt is an excellent sauce and seasoner of all things so that measure be not wanting Otherwise measure and meane missing the salt it selfe is lost and that which should haue béene seasoned is vtterly spoyled For too much doth make very bitter that which measure would haue made ful swéete And yet notwithstanding all men must but especially the ministers of the worde lift vp their voices and crie out against all maner of sinne and wickednes For the Lord saith by Ioel the prophet Sound out the trumpet in Sion crie out vpon my holy mountaine and let all the inhabitants of the earth be troubled and quake And Esaias saith Crie out cease not lift vp thy voice like a trumpet The Scripture doth signifie so much when it saith That God commanded Moses to make two trumpets of siluer wherewith he should call the people togither when their tents were to be remooued For with the sound of those trumpets the people were roused and stirred vp to wars and to celebrate certaine daies wherein sacrifices were offered vp vnto God Euen so euerie preacher of the worde of God ought to call vpon sinners to remooue their tents from this wicked world and the maners and fashions of the same and so much as in him lieth to bring the people that are blinded in their sins and falling from God out of their errors perils and dangers with all their force and skill to mooue and stir them vp to be that in déede which true christianitie doth require That euery one may say with the prophet Esaie Let the vngodly man forsake his owne waie and the wicked man the cogitations of his owne hart and be turned vnto the Lord And with Iohn in the Reuelation My people auoide out of the midst of Babylon be yée not partakers of their sinnes As if he should saie Remooue and separate your selues from the transitory and lieng things of the world forsake the wickednes of it and pitch your tents by godly meditations and holie affections of your harts and minds not in the earth but in heauen For euery preacher of the Gospell ought to prepare his hearers so much as in him lieth and by his owne example to stir them vp against the enimies of their soules And to counsell them with the apostle To put on the armor of God that they may be able to stande against the deceits of the deuill for we wrastle not against the world flesh and blood but against princes powers and the gouernors of the darknes of this world It behooueth vs therefore to be well furnished with the armour of light and that the weapons of our warfare be not carnall but spirituall AS an expert and skilfull husbandman doth first draw out of his fields or lands and pulleth vp by the rootes thistles briers brambles and all other venemous and wilde wéedes and afterward committeth vnto them his good séedes Euen so a wise teacher of the word of God ought first to roote out sinne and vices and to till as it were the minds of his hearers and as much as in him lieth to draw and pull out of them both roote and rinde of all maner of euill and wickednes and to prepare and make them méete to receiue the good séeds of the holie word and to sowe in them those things which being rooted and growne vp may bring foorth both pleasant profitable and plentifull fruites And although vertue and godlines vnto the wicked and vngodly séeme euen horrible and bitter and all vice and naughtines swéete and well sauouring so that they are not willing that the gardens of their harts should be wéeded and trimmed bicause they would haue no vprightnes no integritie of life no truth nor honestie to grow there yet not the lesse the Lords ministers must euer thinke that the same is spoken to them which was deliuered to the prophets long since Make Ierusalem to know hir abhominations And shew my people their wickednes and the house of Iacob their sins Offer vnto them salt wherewith their corruption may be drawne out and they made to sauour swéetely in the nostrilles of God if they be not altogither rotten and consumed in their sinnes Thrust at them with the goade of the holie word and strike at them with the two edged sword of the law of God that if they be not starke dead in their abhominations and be not alreadie swallowed vp of hell if there be any recouery in them at all they may be awaked out of their deadly slumbers and may be so pricked at their harts that they may finde and féele how forlorne they are in the sight of God and flie to him for succour grace and mercy if they belong to his kingdome WHat doth it profite a riuer to flowe from a pure and cléere fountaine if it selfe be foule filthie and vnholesome Euen so the noblenes of fathers and the honours of elders and auncestours what doth it pleasure their sonnes when they themselues degenerate from their
naked vpon the crosse Before Christ did appéere in the flesh pouertie might haue séemed verie bitter and full of ignominie vnto men but after that the Emperour of heauen and earth had taken pouertie vpon himselfe and also touching himselfe said The foxes haue holes and the foules of the aire haue nestes but the sonne of man hath not where to laie his head Who doth not now sée that Christian pouertie in the seruants of God doth well become them and is honorable and that it is a true badge of Christian nobilitie IF a king should haue a certaine house fast lockte and close shut vp full of gold precious stones and costly iewels and would promise all those treasures to one that should open the same and would offer vnto thée two keies one of pure gold hanging at a costly string made of silke and golden threads but that would not open the same locke that thou mightest go into the house and the other of iron rustie and ill fauoured to sée to hanging at a thong of leather or whipcorde the which notwithstanding would open the doore and let thée in that thou mightest choose which of these keies thou wouldest were it not better and more profitable for thée to choose the old rustie iron keie then the keie of gold Yes no doubt The golden one indéed is more precious but what auaileth that when it will not open the doore and bring thee to the treasures The iron one is the viler but yet it is the better Such a king is our God and such an house is that heauenly habitation of his saints wherein are inestimable treasures endlesse ioies and vnspeakable good things which are woorthier and more excellent then man is able to expresse For so saith the holie Ghost No eie hath séene nor eare heard nor hart of man conceiued those thinge which the Lorde hath prepared for them that loue him All which heauenlie treasures God hath promised to all them that shal enter into his holie hill or house of saints The golden keie which the most part of this world do choose and trust to that they may enter into heauen is worldly wealth and aboundance of riches ioyned with couetousnes which will neuer open the Lords house where are kept his celestiall and inestimable treasures But that key doth rather open a foule and vile house of this world which is full of all filthines and abominations The iron keie is spirituall pouertie against the which the kingdome of heauen is neuer shut but standeth euer wide open to all them that bring with them that key so saith Christ himselfe Blessed are the poore in spirit for theirs is the kingdome of heauen Let vs therefore make no account of the golden key but let vs for Christ and his kingdom forsake and despise the deceitfull riches of this world which are desired and sought for far and neare by sea and land with dangers and losse of the bodies and soules of many thousands as though men could bribe God for their sinnes and purchase heauen with their worldly trifles and let vs without murmuring and grudging with all patience of hart and minde beare and imbrace pouertie and all those crosses and afflictions which vnto the world séeme bitter and intolerable of which kind very many do happen in the life of man Let vs earnestly séeke after the riches of the Lords kingdome and euerlasting life for they be stable and permanent let vs not set our harts and affections on this world for it waxeth olde rotten it staggereth is ruinous and readie to fall Iob speaking of rich men which do deliâ—iously pamper themselues euery day saith They leade their daies in pleasures and in the twinckling of an eie they go down into hel And Dauid saith They shall leaue their riches for others c. And Salomon saith Thy riches shal do thée no good in the day of vengeance And in the booke of Wisedome What hath pride profited thée and what good hath thy bragging of riches brought vnto thée all these things are gone away like a shadow and as a messenger running before EVen as a firebrand drawen from the fire and lying still waxeth cold and by little and little dieth and is extinct but being mooued and put to the fire burneth and flameth Euen so an idle life doth by little and little extinguish vertue but being well exercised it doth kindle and increase the same Therfore is it said in the booke of Iob Man is borne to labour And Ecclesiasticus saith that idlenes hath taught much mischiefe This mooued the Apostle to will Timothie to watch and to labour in all things And the same Apostle saith that euerie one shall receiue his owne hire or reward according to his labour Lawyers do say that inheritance is had with the burden thereof Séeing then that we be Gods heires and the fellow heires of Christ as the Apostle affirmeth it must néedes be that we come not â—â— our inheritance not with idlenes but loden with great and â—â—auie burdens of aduersities and tribulations and with sore â—â—â—our and gréeuous grones vnder the weight of the same If wâ— shall giue our selues to ease and shall séeke after rest in this lâ—â—â— and so slumber in securitie and idlenes our enimie the diuell â—ill surely deceiue vs. For whiles men slept saith the Eâ—…ist the enimie came and did sowe darnell vpon the wheate Christ himselfe doth highly condemne idlenes when he saith Why stand ye héere all the day long idle And a little after Call the workmen saith he to take their hire Idle persons are not called to take hire but they which haue laboured And they are called from their labours to rest from pouertie to heauenly riches and from their calamities to euerlasting pleasures Yea euen when they be dead then are they blessed and rest from their labours the spirit saith so and therefore it is most certaine and true When Tobias slept there fell out of a swallowes nest doong vpon his eies which made him blinde and wâ—iles we do sléepe and slumber in slothfulnes and idle securitie without being vertuously and godly exercised there creepe out of the nests of our harts most wicked and pestilent cogitations which do blinde and numbe our vnderstanding and carrie vs into most dangerous disobedience and rebellion against the Lord. MEn in these our dangerous daies are very close harted merciles towards the poore afflicted members of Christ And though they hear their cries sée their poore bodies readie to die at their doores in stréetes and in prison yet vntill they perceiue that there is no way but present death with themselues they will impart no part of their goodes and wealth vnto them Such men are like vnto beasts which are not eaten vntill they be dead and boiled or rosted For vntill death hath them in his pot and there boile them after his maner the
poore can haue no releefe at their hands whiles they liue they will do no charitable déedes nor works of mercie onely at the point of death in their last testament they will perhaps leaue some legacies to be giuen when they be dead but death must be sure of them before the poore be sure of a penny It were better done by much to releeue the poore with their owne hands in their life time it is not amisse that they do good then but it were better done before It is to be wished that man would consider whence he hath his name homo and finding that he hath it of humus the earth which yéeldeth to euerie man more than it receiueth at his hands and bringeth foorth and ministreth all maner of fruits to all men with great aduantage he would surely be afeard and ashamed that the earth should condemne him in bountifulnes and liberalitie The Lord doth very earnestly condemne the couetousnes and crueltie of the Iewes towards the poore in Ezechiel the prophet saying They did not stretch out their hands to the poore and néedie And Salomon saith He shall be blessed that hath pitie vpon the poore And indéede what a great blessing is it for things of no valure to receiue great and heauenly riches for dead things matters of life for things transitorie things eternall and to haue the Lord himselfe to be pay maister of all these things And the same Salomon saith that he laieth in banke vnto the Lord that hath pitie vpon the poore and also He that stoppeth his eares at the crie of the poore shall crie himselfe and not be heard And the Apostle calleth couetousnes worshipping of idols and affirmeth that the couetous man hath no inheritance in the kingdome of God He that loueth not his brother whom he seeth how can he loue God whom he seeth not Blessed are the mercifull saith Christ for they shall receiue mercie That man that vnmercifully kéepeth his gold monie meate cloth harbour or other comfort whatsoeuer and séeth his brother or sister want as he hath no loue of God in him so can he not by Christ be saued What then shall become of them which being rich do not onely not succour and comfort the poore but also dismay discomfort and dispoile them of that they haue surely such mâ—st néedes perish For theâ— are fettered and holden in the snares of sathan and wo wo is their reward It is a world to sée how the houses wals chambers bedstéeds and garments of rich men glitter and florish with gold and infinite poore soules that Christ suffered his death for are readie to perish in euerie place for want of foode and necessaries They enrich stocks and stones and suffer the seruants of God to be déepely distressed Whiles they hunt after worldly wealth they let slip the kingdome of heauen O miserable men what get they what haue they what possesse they surely nothing of any valure and yet they lose themselues They haue a vaile before their eies birde lime in their wings and fetters about their féete that they cannot sée the kingdome of God they cannot mooâ—e one feather of a wing towards heauen nor set one foote before another to go towards euerlasting saluation yet such men are merie now but their sorrow is not far off nor long to come AS feathers do lift vp and carrie on high the foules and birdes of the aire So the riches and dignities of this world are woont to extol and carrie men into the aire and clouds of vanitie And as haukes trusting to their wings will flie excéeding high as though they woulde pearce the clouds themselues for their too high flieng are oftentimes lost So men depending vpon the wings of prosperitie being puffed vp and swelled with pride the higher they clime the more mischéeuous is their fall and with the greater disgrace are they hurled downe headlong These be those feathers of vanitie which God commanded to pull out and to cast them into the dust The remembrance of death is a place of dust where we ought continuallie to reuolue in our minds those things which the men of this world do déeme and iudge to be most excellent considering how they all in the twinckling of an eie do vanish away and are consumed and we with them are turned into dust TRées growing in the woode are knowne some by the difference of their truncks or bodies some by the propertie of their boughes branches leaues flowers and fruits but this knowledge is had of them whiles they stande growe and are not consumed but if they be committed to the fire and turned into ashes they cannot be knowne for how is it possible that when the ashes of diuers kinds of trées are mingled togither the tall pine trée should be discerned from the great and huge oke or the mightie popler from a little lowe shrub or anie one tree from another Euen so men whiles they liue in the wood of this world are knowne some by the stocke of auncetors some by the florishing leaues of their words and eloquence some in the floures of beautie and some in the fruits of honestie manie by their sauage barbarousnes and some by their milde lenitie and kindnes But when death doth bring them into dust and hath mixed and mingled them all togither who can by their ashes earth and dust discerne and know them when the ashes and dust of all are mingled togither what difference is there then betwéene the mightie princes of the worlde and the séelie poore soules that are no account made of into the remembrance of such dust and ashes we ought to cast the beautifull and faire feathers of this world least being puffed vp with our owne conceites and with an ouer well wéening of our selues we vtterlie lose all temperance and measure kéeping and plunge our selues into intollerable errors For it is a plaine case that where vaine glory doth dominéere and beare the rule there is no place for temperance neither can vertue be suffered to be resident in the kingdome of vanitie HAukes of the best kind whiles they liue are highlie estéemed and much made of and are daintily fed and tenderly looked vnto and are caried vpon the fists of great and mightie men but when they be dead they are throwne out vpon the dunghill And on the other side the partridge when she liueth is troubled afflicted pursued of al euery cartar ploughman is readie to fall vpon hir to do hir violence and to kill hir But when she is dead she is brought to the tables of princes and is very honorably set before them So very many that in this life are counted very famous and notable men and do lead their liues in great prosperitie and worldly wealth and haue all things at their wils and pleasures when they remooue hence and go out of this life they shall be hurled vpon that most foule and filthie dung hill of
very good king and setteth down a very plaine paterne a most liuely picture of his vertue that such a man as walketh in an vndefiled way to wit whose life is vnreprooueable shall serue him and be to him a courtier and a counseller and voweth that no man of pride no vaine person nor speaker of euill things shall dwel in his house nor kéepe within his court As if he should say I will diligently inquire and search who they be which in any land countrie and kingdome are faithfull and do loue righteousnes and by their counsell with I be instructed and the familiaritie of them will I vse but all vngodly proud blasphemous lying deceitfull and wicked persons of all sorts will I vtterly expulse out of my house and driue and thrust them out of my court and will suffer them to finde no rest within my kingdome God grant that all good godly Christian princes may follow the steps and example of king Dauid in this and all other his princely vertues and holy exercises Amen IT is the part and dutie of euery good Christian that whatsoeuer he doth in word or déede he do all in the name of the Lord Iesus that is to the glorie of God and in an affiance and confidence that he hath in the name of God that he wil protect defend blesse prosper and preserue him in doing of the same and so to giue vp his hart minde will worke and all vnto God before he do attempt the doing and performance of the same There be very many that do some dédes which to sée to are very good works but not the lesse they kéepe their harts mindes and wils diuided and separated far from God Those things to wit their harts mindes wils and purposes they steale from the Lord and do bestow them vpon the world they regard not God they séeke onely to please men in the action of vertue they haue no respect vnto vertue it selfe but onely and barely to the shew and shape or likenes of vertue Such men are like vnto painters which haue a greater regarde to the colours and shadowes of images and pictures than vnto the substance of the same and contemning the inward parts they bestow all the wit skill and cunning they haue in expressing and painting out a bare shadow and outside of the thing and the more they deceiue the eies of them that behold it the more excellent men are they iudged But the Lord requireth at our hands first fruits that is our harts mindes wils desires and all that is in vs and that we should euen offer vp and consecrate vnto him our selues euen our bodies a quicke aâ—â—â—iuing sacrifice holy and pleasing God which is our reasonable seruice of God And when the Apostle willeth vs or rather beséecheth vs that we giue our bodies a liuely sacrifice holy and acceptable to God and calleth the same our reasonable seruice of God he meaneth that the offering of dead calues and vnreasonable beasts as in times past the Iewes offered vnto him wil not please God now neither that the Lord will accept and take in good part any seruice or sacrifice that we shall bring and lay before him either in words or works so long as we loue sinne and harbour iniquitie in our harts mindes and members The Lord will receiue no sacrifice nor seruice of those that be strangers vnto him but onely of those which are graffed in Christ Iesu and are now become in him new creatures in whom there is a newnes a righteousnes and holines of life in whom all old foule filthie and vngodly conuersation is past And therefore the Apostle saith to the Ephesians Be ye renewed in the spirit of your minde and put ye on the new man and to the Colossians he giueth counsell that they destroy the olde man with all his trash and put on the new man and most louingly he beseecheth the Romanes saying Let vs walke in newnes of life But bicause this newnes cannot be wrought in vs without the grace and holy spirit of God Dauid the prophet doth mightily crie vnto the Lord and saith O God create a new hart within me and renew a right spirit within my bowels or inward parts The Lord requireth of vs a lambe that is innocencie humilitie and méekenes and he would haue vs to offer vnto him a yoong pigeon or a turtle doue that is true contrition and puritie of hart and minde for those swéete birds do vse mourning in stéed of singing and are pretie and fine paterns of puritie and innocencie The Lord will not take receiue nor accept barking curre dogs that is railing raging cursing lying slandering blaspheming or any such vngodly persons neither their offerings sacrifices nor praiers when they come and bring and lay them before him no more than he did the sacrifice of Caine. The roring and cruell lion the rauening wolfe the foule and dirtie swine the blinde mole or want that is the tyrannicall and mercilesse man the oppressor piller and poller of his brethren the man that is méere naturall and carnall the man that is blinde and ignorant in spirituall and heauenly things they are neither sacrifices nor sacrificers that God will or is woont to take any pleasure in as he doth abhorre the vices so for the vices sake he doth detest the vessels vntill such time as they be purged and clensed of such foule and filthie matter If there were no other but onely Salomon to tell vs that the Lord requireth and calleth for our harts it is great reason that we should beléeue the Lord at one word and at one message when so louingly and fatherly he saith My sonne giue me thy hart The Lord helpe vs and grant that we may giue him our harts and whatsoeuer else of the inward and outward man Amen HEliotropium the herbe of the sunne so called bicause it windeth it selfe about with the sunne in the morning very early it beholdeth the rising thereof and all the day it euen followeth the course of the sunne euer turning the leaues towards the same but the roote it neuer changeth stirreth nor mooueth it hath that still fast fixed within the earth So very many will séeme to follow the sunne of righteousnes Christ Iesus but it is onely in leaues and outward shewes for their rootes that is their harts are far and fast within the earth where indéede their treasure is according to that which Christ himselfe doth say Where thy treasure is there is thy hart also Such men will lift vp their hands eies and voices towards heauen and God and with such goodly gréene leaues will make a faire florish and a beautfull shew but their harts and affections are surely set vpon earthly vaine vile and transitorie things and are as far from God as heauen and earth are distant one from the other They shew vnto the Lord onely bare and fruitlesse leaues
wicked cogitations of all sorts and doth allure hale drawe and euen drag him to do those things which are so odious in the sight of God that he must either most earnestly repent that he hath done them or else he must die eternally for doing of them Idlenes therefore doth not become Christians for so doth our God and maker teach vs when he saith to Adam in the labour of thy hands shalt thou eate all the daies of thy life And iust Iob saith that man is borne to labour And the Apostle saith If any man will not labour let him not eate When Dauid continued at home in idlenes then did adulterie and murther créepe into his hart and ceased not vntill it broke out into effects and most dangerous actions Christ did shew a great hatred to idlenes when he said Why stand ye héere all the day idle SOmtimes it falleth out that a hen sitteth vpon ducks eggs and with hir diligent sitting the heat of hir bodie she doth hatch and bring them foorth and when they be able to follow hir she clucks them after hir maner as though they were hir naturall chickens she doth call them about hir but they being not of hir but the ducks kinde though by hir they haue beene hatched and of hir haue receiued life and though she hath a continuall care to bring them vp and to defend them from such enimies as séeke to deuoure them yet neuerthelesse they wil follow and séeke after that whereunto by nature they are inclined and giuen When she is scraping and scratching the earth to finde them foode they will be in the water mire or foule puddle after their kinde she may clucke and walke alone they will not kéepe hir companie vnlesse perhaps in some danger when the kite is readie to catch them for some succour they will â—lie to hir howbeit at the length when she perceiueth them to be vnnaturall and vnkinde to hir she doth forsake them and giue them ouer Euen so our swéete Sauiour Christ Iesus hauing taken great paines for vs and hauing humbled himselfe euen in the lowest degrée of all humilitie that can be named as in comming down out of his fathers bosome being most perfect most holy and omnipotent God being euery way equall and in nothing inferiour to his father to take our weake fraile and féeble nature vpon him and sinne excepted to haue a perfect féeling of all our infirmities as wearisomnes of bodie hunger and thirst and such others and besides the induring of these many yéeres togither hauing suffered a most cruell death and euen at his death vpon the crosse hauing tasted and taken a full cup of his fathers furie and indignation which was in déed filled and prepared for vs as a iust reward for our sinnes and should haue béen our owne cup and our owne portion for euer and euer had he not euen then taken and supt it vp to cléere and to frée vs from it Againe after all these things hauing still continued his humilitie in suffering death to kéepe his bodie thrée daies in the graue and euen as it were to tread and trample vpon him and then mauger death hell diuell and Iewes hauing risen againe and being ascended and gone vp to his father where now vntil his comming again to iudge the quicke and the dead he sitteth at the right hande of maiestie and power He now speaketh and calleth vnto vs by his prophets apostles and ministers and willeth vs to remember what case and estate we were in before he died and suffered all these things for vs and he would haue vs to know to be sure and neuer to forget that if he had not suffered death héere vpon the earth as he did we should neuer haue found any way or entrance into heauen the celestiall ioyes and pleasures of the Lords saints saluation and eternall life should neuer haue belonged vnto vs we should haue had no more to do with them then they that liue without faith and die infidels The horrors of hell and the stincking lakes of vnspeakable shame confusion torments endlesse death and damnation should haue béene our inheritance lot and perpetuall portion Christ therefore doth daily put vs in minde that we be not our owne but his and that we be the greatest and déerest purchase that euer was made in heauen or in earth and that the like price and cost was neuer bestowed vpon any creatures as vpon vs. When the angels which werâ— in heauen in the presence of their creator did once offende they were hurled out and cast into hell Christ woulde not bestow vpon them one peny of all that great price and rich ransome which he paid for vs he would not then become man to shed one drop of blood for them but for our sakes he spared not one drop but shed all The Hen that himselfe speaketh of was neuer so diligent and carefull to gather hir chickins vnder hir wings as he hath euer béene most ready to shroude and to protect vs against all the enimies of our soules and bodies Many mothers shall sooner forget the children of their own wombs and vtterly forsake them before Christ will forsake vs yea he will neuer forget nor forsake vs vnlesse we first forget and forsake him Now therefore we being his so déerely bought and so truely paide for he calleth vpon vs euery day he clucketh vs and looketh for vs that we should follow him and tread in such steps as he hath appointed and that we shuld not range at randon but kéepe our selues within the hearing of his voice and our liues within the limits of obedience vnto the same these things I saie he looketh for at our hands But how deale we with this most kinde most louing and most mercifull redéemer and if the fault be not in our selues the fauiour of our seules and bodies Verily euen so as the vnnaturall and vnkind ducks deale with the hen of whom they haue receiued life they regarde not hir clucking neither we Christs calling when she is séeking and prouiding for them on the faire drie and wholesome earth they will be in some foule water filthie mire or stinking puddle And when the Lord Iesus calleth vs to integritie of life to do the thing that is iust and right in his owne eie and to speake the truth according to the knowledge of our harts then will we with gréedines pollute our soules and bodies with all wickednes and things that be abominable then will we oppresse our brethren not caring who sincke if our selues swim then will we not sticke to speake lies euen to Gods owne face And when the Lord calleth and sendeth vs to seeke heauenly things we presently returne to the foule puddles of the world carnall delightes and vaine yea vile pleasures so that we euer take the contrary wâ—y to that which Christ commandeth Christ calleth for our harts to haue them in truth and sinceritie with all diligence
vs as is the honie and the honie combe well wel swéete meats wil haue sower sauce If thou hadst béen an eie witnes of the ouerthrow drowning of Pharao his chariots and horsemen in the red sea dulie examining what sin that might be wherewith God was prouoked to iâ—flict that heauy iudgement vpon him and shouldest haue found the selfe same sinne to be in thy selfe and euen highly to please and delight thée wouldest thou not haue trembled and feared least the same God with whom there is no respect of persons which punished that sinne in Pharao would not spare or fauour it but euen most sharply punish it in thée also Or if thou haddest séene with thy bodilie eies some of the grudging and murmuring Israelites stoong to death with veâ—emous and poysonfull wormes in the wildernes and some of them consumed with fire that came from heauen and the earth also opening and swallowing vp some of them and sending them downe quicke into hel would it not haue terrified thée and haue made thée deâ—â—st and abhor those sinnes which brought such destructions vpon the committers of them all the daies of thy life And why dest thou not so now If thou hast any faith and if the word of God beare any credite with thée thou art no lesse perswaded of the truth of those things than as if thou hadst séene them All these and such other things are written for our learning that we beholding the Lords wrath executed vpon so manie in all ages and from one generation to another for displeasing and offending the Almightie we might beware and take héede that we do not the like déeds least we be beaten with the same or sharper rods The sodaine and fearefull death of Ananias and Saphyra his wife for their hypocrisie dissimulation and séeming to be that they were not will it no whit mooue vs Can we liue without feare and a continuall looking for the like presente and sodaine death our selues when our owne consciences earely or late at home or obroad shall checke and charge vs as truely and as iustly as their consciences did checke and charge them With how many and how great fearefull and deuouring plagues that haue swallowed vp infinite thousands of men women and children hath the Lord tried vs and most louingly admonished vs in England within these few yéeres Hath not the whole masse and weight of the earth trembled tottered and shaken vnder vs as though it euen groned and were excéeding wearie of our sinnes rebellion and disobedience towards our creator and redéemer and that of late within our owne knowledge and remembrance And yet for all that we procéede in our wickednes and are woorse and woorse euerie day So that we séeme to be that wicked crue and pack of fooles mentioned by the prophet which haue said in their harts there is no God Those mariners and méere idolaters which were in the ship with Ionas that had no true knowledge of God nor any vnderstanding how to honor and to worship him aright yea they knew nothing but Paganisme and idolatrie may make vs greatly ashamed for they hauing but a very little familiaritie and conference with the prophet did become very good and true worshippers of the liuing God and did offer sacrifice and vowe vowes vnto him But we haue the lawe and the prophets of God also Christ himselfe and his apostles we haue not conference with one but with them all we haue his ministers and messengers daily vnfolding and interpreting the scriptures of God vnto vs and yet neuer the better we will forsake no sinne but rather choose eternall damnation to do our owne wils then euerlasting life to do the will of God Are we not woorse then those Iewes which crucified the son of God euen Iesus Christ Surely we be for they hearing Peter preach but one sermon a great number of them were conuerted But we hearing manie hundreds are neuer touched with any remorse of conscience nor mooued to any serious or true repentance We are like vnto lepers vpon whom no water will sticke nor abide by reason of the foulnes and greasie matter of their leprosie Such lepers and far woorse are we vpon whom no â—ewes nor any drops of the grace and word of God will cleaue abide and continue We do nothing for gods sake nothing of conscience nothing of loue all our actions the Lord amend it do sauour and smell of hypocrisie It is to be feared that were it not for vaine glory sake and to haue commendations and praises of men verie few would do any good and were it not for feare of shame or punishment few would abstaine from any sinne Idolators blasphemers and violators of the sabaoth will neuer blush saie what you will Children in these daies thinke it great wisedome to controule yea to scorne and to disobey their parents elders and superiors To murther is manlines to commit adulterie and fornication is but a tricke of youth to steale a pretie sleight to beare false witnes is counted a gainful trade and serueth finely to pleasure a fréend and as for coueting another mans house his wife his seruant his maide his oxe asse or any thing that he hath it is so common as houses be in England yea in London where they stande neerest one to another What then shall the Lords ministers messengers and preachers keepe silence giue ouer their labour and cease vtterly to crie out against sinne God forbid the Lord hath a little flocke and a small remnant like a litle wheat in a great heape of chaffe for their sakes let the seruants and messengers of the Lord labor stil Againe the harts of al men are in the hands of God as he made them of nothing now they are made to conuert men from sinne Let all the seruants and children of God in this case trie what they can do with the Lorde and neuer giue ouer calling vpon him for their saluation if it be his will to grant it They haue indéede harde faces and harts like adamants that will not be brused saith the Lord yet go to them and let them know my minde do thy office though they be disobedient lift vp thy voice like a trumpet and shew my people their transgressions and to the house of Iaacob their sinnes Blow ye the trumpet in Gibeah and the shaume in Rainah set the trumpet to thy mouth It may be that the wals of sinne and wickednes will fall downe flat at thy shouting and battering them with the iudgements of God as the wals of Iericho did at the sound of the trumpets and the shouts of the people I beséech God it may be so And indéede good reader that is the onely thing that I desire séeke for and beg daily at the hands of God euen that all idolatrie hypocrisie superstition blasphemie breaking of the Lords sabaoth and whatsoeuer is against any precept of the Lord
out that men seeing their constancie in the loue of God may glorifie their father which as in heauen S. 79. P. 34. The good agreement and well hanging togither of the in 〈…〉 creatures of God in this world though differing in natures and the apt placing of the whole may very well teach vs that there is a mightie creator a great gouernor and a wise preseruer of all these things S. 80. P. 34. 35. The cause of the sinnes and iniquities which man committeth is in himselfe euen as the tree is in the kernell and the herbe in the seede Self loue is a perilous and common theefe ranging and robbing in euerie place it maketh men fooles and doth put out their eies and yet is welcome to all S. 81. Pag. 35. They that be godly are most easily moued to do good vpon any occasion offered the troubles and afflictions of their brethren are to them as if they were their owne if they do but heare of anie distressed they by and by cast with themselues how to do them good such be good though few S. 82. P. 36. A good christian though he be heere vpon the earth in bodie in affect and desire he is in heauen S. 83. P. 36. Gods children despise those things which vnto the worldlings seeme very precious not earth but heauen hath their harts S. 84. P. 36. As he that walketh vpon coards fastened on high had need to looke to his footing so it behooueth vs to be very carefull where we place our affections For there be two that daily striue for them God calleth and sathan allureth Sathan doth keepe a continual siege against all vertue to kill it if he can euen when it is a hatching in the hart of man S. 85. P. 36. 37. Many men haue calling but they answere it not knowledge but they practise it not words but they worke not such are compared to the ostridge that hath wings and flyeth not S. 86 P. 38. All that be aduanced into places of high dignitie are not the best men though some be very good yet some seeke more their own praise and profit than gods glory but that is not to follow Christ S. 87. P. 38. 39. The greatest highest and best seruice that man can do vnto God for the comfort of his ownesoule and his happines in the world to come is his due obedience vnto the word of God S. 88. P. 39. 40. That man perisheth for euer and goeth to hell is mans owne fault not the Lords the Lord is no more to be blamed for mans destruction then the smith that made for thee som instrument of iron or steele is to be blamed if thou wilt suffer it to growe rustie and cankered the smith made not rustines neither God thee to sinne S. 89. P. 40. The children of God vnderstaÌ„ding by the word that this world and all that is in it is meere vanitie they haue their felicitie ioie and comfort in knowing of the word and doing of the will of God S. 90. P. 40. The Indian adamant which in hardnes doth excell all other stones is said to be mollified with the warme bloud of a goate But the hart of man hardned with continuance and custome of sinne will not be mollified with the bloude of the immaculate lambe Christ Iesus S. 91. P. 41. Though the world intreat vs vnkindly and be daily harming vs yet we must no more giue ouer doing good then the sunne giueth ouer shining though many clouds do continually couer it S. 92. P. 42. Vertues lot is to be enuied to finde very colde intertainment if any at all with the men of this world and yet for all that the seruants of God will neuer be wearie of well doing S 93 P. 42. Mans hart being quiet and not troubled with horrors nor distempered with feares wil plainly shew a man what he is so that he may easily know himselfe but being tossed with terrors and ouerwhelmed with feares it cannot do so S. 94. P. 42. A flatterer to see to is honest Cato but in experience cruell Nero and therefore verie fitly compared to a scorpion S 95. P. 43. There be many dissemblers and smooth tongued flatterers in the world that will euen stroke as it were mens humors and dispositions with words as soft as oyle and so sweet as honie and al to creepe within them that at the length they may worke their wo and destruction S. 96. P. 43. As a candle that it may giue light to others is consumed it selfe and salt that it may draw corruptioÌ„ out of flesh keepe it sweet and wholesome for mans body is all to brused broken and wasted it selfe So euerie christian man and especially teachers of others ought to spare no labour to do good to others and to win some soules to God if it please him to blesse their labours S. 97. P. 43. The saylers gâ—oâ—on called the marâ—iners needle lockt shut vp or kept in a â—offer of gold siluer wood or whatsoeuer will euer stil looke towards the north pole So right christians which are throughly resolued concerning their saluation and euerlasting life will neuer turne from Christ but haue their harts and minds still fixed in him come wealth or want sicknes or health libertie or imprisonment life or death S. 98. P. 43. 44. A christian will not haue two loues one for himselfe and an other for his neighbour but will loue his neighbour with one the same loue wherewith he loueth himselfe S. 99. P. 44. 45. The soule of man so long as it is in bondage vnto the bodie it seeketh onelie the bodies pleasures and delights but hauing once recouered that seruitude and brought the bodie to be subiect vnto it then it seeketh no longer the peace pleasure ease and rest of the bodie but now being freed from that bondage and restored to it selfe it seeketh it owne peace rest health and happines for euer S. 99. P. 44. 45. That man is in a wofull case that hath his head vnder the girdle of this world he shal neuer find any rest peace or quietnes Put no trust in the world if thou dost it will deceaue thee and giue thee quid pro quo that is a mischiefe in stead of a pleasure promised The going out of this world to a christian is like a safe sure haueÌ„ to a man that hath bin very long and dangerously tossed in a most troublesome and perilous sea S. 100. P. 45. 46. A corrupted iusticer or iudge by the vertue of a precious stone or some other rich iewell bestowed vpon him freely will make a bad matter go for good and a very iust cause go for nought Yea for a good round sum of money though it be in an old leather purse he will now and then sell iudgement break the necke of iustice Where this corruption and abuse is it breedeth this slaunderous report of the law which is good Parâ—is cornis
borne in the world yet they very little or nothing resemble it they rather resemble heauen in some measure from whence they receiue the influeÌ„ce of the grace and fauor of God S. 124. P. 58. Preachers of the word of God must temper and frame themselues to meete with the maners qualities conditions and sinnes of all men S. 125. P. 59. The preacher of the word is to take good heed that none of his hearers for want of discretion in him depart vntouched S. 126. P. 59. A preacher must do his best indeuour to know the maners qualities and dispositions of his auditorie S 127. P. 59. A Christian will shew patience and constancie in all calamities S. 128. P. 59. Whatsoeuer is in the hart of man at the length it will breake out For not onelie the toong will speake but the rest of the members of the bodie wil also be exercised according to the abundance of the hart S. 129. P. 60. That common wealth house or man is very happie that is ruled and gouerned by such counsell as is grounded and built vpon the holy word of God S. 130. P. 60. By our words deedes gestures and moouings our enimie sathan doth knowe the secrets of our harts and so worketh vpon vs S. 131. P. 60. 61. The hart of man is like vnto a smithes forge his bad cogitations are hote coles he that doth blowe the bellowes to make them burne and consume both soules and bodies is the diuell the euill thoughts in mans hart are compared to the frie of vipers which in comming to light do breake the bellies of their breeders and so kill them S. 132. P. 61. The nearest waie for man to obtain Gods fauour and free remission of sinnes is to acknowledge and confesse them with greefe of hart for committing of them and not to doubt through Iesus Christ the forgiuenes of them and not to trust to any merits or righteousnes of his owne S. 133. P. 62. Nothing in the word of God is superfluous it must all be beleeued imbraced and honored with all obedience possible It is not gold and earth togither that a man may take the one and refuse the other it is all most pure and all to be applied to the comfort of man S. 134. P. 62. This world will cosen and deceiue all that put their trust in it S. 135 P. 63. Sathan doth very easily drawe after him euen whither and to what he will men that are not setled in true religion nor armed with the holy word of God yea the best armed and strongest in faith haue much adoe to escape his snares S. 135. P. 63. They that are continually exercised with great troubles and afflictions in this life are not to be iudged reprobates and cast awaies as though God had giuen them ouer but rather we are to thinke that by that meanes the Lord will throughly trie them and finding them faithfull and constant doth make them the fitter for his kingdome neither are we to iudge all to bee the children of God that liue without afflictions S. 136. P. 63. 64. Vnlesse a man be well grounded in true religion and clothed with the armor of righteousnes on the right hand and on the left to wit on euery side and against all brunts and assaults whatsoeuer he shall neuer quit himselfe well against the subtle sleights and forcible tentations of his professed enimies world flesh and diuell S 137. P. 65. If man woulde remember that he was moulded of earth dust and ashes and that he must be tumbled into the earth againe it would bring him to a far better temper than otherwise hee will bee brought vnto S. 138. Pag. 65. The groundworke of Christian philosophie is vnfained humilitie and the deeper that the same is laid and setled in our harts the surer and more permanent will the building of our religion be S. 139. 140. P. 66. The centre from whence the lines of all abhominations do flowe is mans inordinate selfe loue Two loues builded two cities the loue of God Ierusalem and mans selfe loue Babylon S. 141. P. 66. 67. There is no miserie comparable to this that a man knoweth not his owne miserie and of follies none greater than that a man seeth not his owne follie S. 141. P. 67. After great troubles do follow quietnes of hart and minde and peace of soule and conscience S. 142. P. 67. Ouermuch ease and pampering of the bellie are great prouocations to sinne S. 143. P. 67. 68. They which care not to keepe a good conscience do at the length fall into an extreme contempt of faith he that will haue his faith acceptable in the sight of God must keepe a good conscience otherwise his faith is dead S. 144. P. 68. The riches of couetous tyrants increasing the wealth of inferior persons doth decrease and as couetousnes doth increase in men vertues do decrease in them Riches are the gift of God and to be bestowed to his owne glorie and the comfort of our brethren The couetous man in gaining riches loseth himselfe The couetous man if he had more golde and greater riches than was in that ship which came from Ophyre to Salomon yet would he neuer be contented nor any whit neare satisfied S. 145. 146. P. 68. 69. 70. The riches of this world are to verie many poison but godly men possesse their riches and not their riches them Their riches are drudges to them and not they to their riches S. 147. P. 70. As the touch stone trieth golde so golde trieth man A very good huntesman and his hounds S. 148. P 71. Not to giue vnto the poore if a man be able to giue is sacrilege It is a very lamentable thing to see and consider how viâ—ely and wickedly manie men do lauish out and consume the riches wherewith God hath put them in trust to vse them to his owne glorie and the good of his church S. 149. P. 72. Christ suffered and died as he was man but as he is God he neither suffered nor died All that be surely grounded and graffed in Christ Iesu whatsoeuer tribulations and heauie crosses they beare in their bodies yet their faith hope and loue to God will neuer shrinke but they will be constant come what shall S. 150. P. 73. Wicked men are neuer satisfied with committing of any euill they make no ende of their vngodly practises the more euill they do the more still do they desire to do S. 151. P. 73. 74. The vnskilfull and vngodly minister that deliuereth the worde and sacraments to those that are well prepared woorthily to receiue the same hurteth himself only though he perish they may be saued they receiuing it woorthily his vnwoorthines doth not preiudice them S. 152. P. 74. It greeueth our God greatly to see man make so little account of his soule and so lightly to regarde that which he hath loued so deerly he cannot abide to see it beset with wicked