his heart my master deferreth his comming and shall begin to strike his fellowes and to eate and drinke with the drunken the Lorde of that seruant shall come in a day that he knoweth not and giue him his portion with vnbeleeuers O my beloued we are those seruants that haue secured our selues from wrath and thinke still it will not come yet Looke on our manners are they not drunken looke on our faith is it not idle looke on our care is it not vnprofitable looke on our liues and see if wee bite not oneanother from the throne to the footestoole none can escape vs. Doe we not abuse the patience of God which shoulde make vs resolute in repentance and it maketh vs dissolute in religion Wee say with the wicked priestes To morrowe shall bee as to daie and much more and with the heathen Psalm 10. Truely the Lorde regardeth not neither is there knowledge in the most high O miserable soules thus plagued that turne all thinges against themselues O let nothing delight vs but the presence of the Lord of hostes who is come downe into our lande and waiteth for our repentance Let vs giue him our sinnes we haue committed and our liues we haue to spende and our soules wee haue to saue that he may spare our bloud and take our lamentation Againe let vs seeke the Lorde while he may bee founde and call vpon him while hee is neere at hande Esay 55. 6. seeing hee dwelleth among vs and this is the time of long suffering nowe let vs runne after him day and night as Obadiah did after Eliah and neuer cease seeking till we haue founde him In seeking for the Lord we ought to haue a single eie a simple heart a cleane hande and a swift foote that wee may easilie see him earnestly desire him speedilie runne after him and reuerentlie laie holde on him Alas alas wee liue in an age wherein men will not trauaile to finde either God or grace except it fall into their mouthes if the Lorde lacke but one of his sheepe hee neuer ceaseth till he haue founde him againe but wee coulde abide to want him if wee might enioy our pleasures all the daies of our life Seeke for him in his temple goe to him in thy soule and pray to him in heauen for hee calleth vnto thee saying Open vnto me for the night hath watered my locks c. Seeke him as the Lorde doth his sheepe as the merchant did his pearle as the woman did her grote as the sicke man doth his phisition and as the disciples did Christ Hee is in thy house there seeke him hee is in thy field there seeke him he is in thy closet there seeke him and he is in thy hart there keepe him His time is but short his departure will be sudden his patience will be wearie and he will bee gone onely he tarrieth a little therefore if euer nowe run out to follow him And repenteth him of the euill This is the last argument whereby the prophet perswadeth them to repent because God will repent the euill that he threatened not that God indeede repenteth by correcting of himselfe for that cannot be seeing all his workes are yea and Amen 2. Cor. 1. 20. he is also vnchangeable and with him is no shadow of turning Iam. 1. 17. although the world change and the heauens waxe olde as a garment yet the Lord abideth the same for euer Psal 102. 18. but this is a phrase according to our capacitie for when wee change our mindes we repent in a sort so when the Lord seemeth to alter his purpose he sheweth as if hee repented Why then some will say if the Lord alter his purpose then hee changeth and why did he here tell the people that all this miserie should come vpon them and yet if they will it shall not Vnto which I answere that the first purpose of God shall euer stand for hee foreseeth and decreeth the ende but many times to trie our faith and to shewe his loue he propoundeth prophetically that is with condition of repentance the same which hee will neuer doe Howe then will you say shall we knowe his pleasure verily if two things bee propounded the one certaine the other vncertaine as here was repentance and iudgement let vs take the first and abide the last that is let vs embrace that which is certaine and let the vncertaine goe free Neither let vs be lesse carefull to please God because his iudgements bee conditionall but rather more careful to performe the condition least we feele the obligation God will repent him of the euill that is he will stay the euill that shall come vpon you From hence let vs obserue that the Lord is vnwilling to take vengeance of our sinnes Ezech. 33. 11. As I liue saith the Lord I will not the death of a sinner he willeth it not but he saith not I decree it not and if he decree it I dare not say hee doth it against his will and if hee both will and decree it I cannot say he dealeth vniustly for we may see in the scriptures that none can tell the reasons of his will or the cause of his decree or excuse the fall of man by the ordinance of God this I onely touch by the way for other haue more effectually laboured therein to whom I referre you And in this wee may see a notable testimonie of the loue of God that he will rather silence his iustice then his mercie and although we be at the very brinke of destruction if we repent he will repent If the Lord did take any pleasure in our harmes why then did hee crucifie his sonne sending abroad the ministers with his scriptures warning vs before hand of our end These doe shew vs that he is as vnwilling to punish our faultes as a father is to punish his sonne All this graunted let vs not dreame of an immunitie that we are vtterly exempted and be at libertie to doe whatsoeuer pleaseth vs for although hee bee a tender father yet hee is a wise father and knoweth that correction is as needefull as instruction It is no matter to vs if we be condemned either with the will or without the will of God for it commeth all to one ende our plagues and paines are neuer the lesse The reason hereof because God hath a naturall loue to all his creatures Psal 38. 6. the works of his hands are deere vnto him and for the worke of creation he loueth and spareth them By this we may see as Ezech. 33. 12. if ye turne all your transgressions shall neuer remooue his fauour from you What can bee more generall then that all shall be forgotten or more comfortable then that not one sinne shall bee remembred and if they bee not remembred saith Austen they are not imputed and if they bee not imputed they are pardoned Bee not afraide to come to the Lorde for thou seest hee will lay nothing to thy
charge his communing is for peace and not for wrath and his call is more for thy good then for his bee not discomforted because thou hast a guiltie crying conscience for thou seest that the Lorde is as vnwilling to strike as thou art to beare But thou wilt say that hee hath alreadie witnessed thy destruction yea but I say hee will repent him of the euill seeing thou repentest of thy sinnes his iudgements are conditionall hee which gaue the worde can recall it and who can saie he doth not his word Feare not I say though thou be as neere to death as Isaac was to be sacrificed for the Lorde hath an angell in heauen to saue thy life the godly shall come out of trouble but the wicked shall come in his steade Seeing the Lorde is vnwilling to take vengeance of our sinnes let vs bee as vnwilling to grieue him with our sinnes that so wee may bee the children of the most high For it cannot bee but that hee is mightily grieued when wee fall into newe follies in that hee is enforced to open once againe to vs the woundes of Christ and let more bloude issue foorth out of the side of his mercy Iacob was much offended with his two sonnes Simeon and Leui Gen. 34. when they slewe the Sichemites for saide he you haue made my presence to stinke in the sight of this people much more must the Lorde be offended with vs his sonnes being a more tender father then euer was Iacob when we grieue him with our sins for we bring his glorious name into contempt and religion into hatred Once bee thus affected and assured that thou art the childe of God then take part of the godly nature loue all as hee doth doe good to all as hee doth repent of euill as he doth and be as much afraide to sinne as hee is vnwilling to punish thee He euer thinketh on thee doe thou so on him he euer watcheth for thy sake do thou so for his he euer worketh for thy profite doe thou euer liue for his praise He woulde forgiue thee if thou offend and therefore although thou canst offende yet do not he endureth griefe to saue thy health and do thou endure tentation to saue his truth hee coulde reuenge yet doth not that thou mightest learne not to followe what thy hart suggesteth and thy flesh allureth The xxiij Sermon Vers 14. Who knoweth whether he will returne and repent and leaue a blessing behinde him euen a meate offring and a drinke offering vnto the Lord your God THis vers containeth another reason taken from the works of God to mooue them to repentance which is this that God will spare them and leaue something for his owne seruice although it be but a little For I take not this question for a simple affirmation as in other places but rather if it please him he may leaue an offring and for any thing they knew to the contrarie hee woulde From hence wee learne that God concealeth from vs the issue of our sorrowes and the ende of our liues that we may be kept in a continuall practise of repentance as appeareth by Dauid 2. Sam. 12. 23. Some are desperate in their miseries bicause they know not howe or by what meanes they shall be deliuered from it But good men and good mindes must take another course seeing they cannot know in these thinges the minde of the Lorde nor as Salomon saith who shall bee after them therefore their watch and care ouer their liues must bee more continuall This is a good lesson for vs to marke bicause our case is the verie same with the case of the Iewes wee are threatened as they were and we knowe no more then they did Let vs therefore watch in repentance that if our calamitie encrease we may bee readie for the graue and if it be reuersed we may be readie for praise Art thou desirous to make profite of the thing thou knowest not then be repentant for death and life ioy and sorrowe paine and ease riches and pouertie freedome and danger are both alike to a repentant man The first reason bicause by this meanes we are taught humilitie Rom. 9. 20. bicause wee are not able to reason with God or to plead against him for we are in his hande as clay in the hande of the potter Where are all our gallant youthes and lustie minded persons whose heades are so full of knowledge that they are able to teach the Apostles and no maruaile for it appeereth by their liues bearing themselues like Gods in the worlde But looke on your mindes againe you shall finde them stuffed with vanitie and not filled with knowledge if you knowe one thing you are ignorant of a thousande Therefore let this teach you that your mindes are carnall your liues bee sensuall and your soules endangered except you thinke better of others and baser of your selues Learne humility of thy selfe thy body is earth thy glory is earth thy brauery is earth and no maruaile for gold is but earth Why shouldest thou be lifted so high canst thou number thy sinnes or saue thy life or tell when or what death shall take thee away cast thy minde to the earth for then it will looke vpwarde for as yet it looketh downward and deceiueth it selfe Another reason No man can tell things to come Eccl. 7. 2. no not so much as the worke of an howre hence therefore seeing we are assured of nothing but death let death be our life that is let the death of our sins be the life of our soules But we can neuer slay them but by repentance and therefore euerie hower of our life to come calleth for it at our hands we know not when therefore now is the time we know not how therefore this is the meane we know not where therefore this is the place Youth biddeth vs repent age biddeth vs repent sickenes biddeth vs repent and all that is to come calleth vs to amendment because we know not what is to come From hence let vs learne to be contented with that ordinarie and certaine knowledge which the Lord hath shewed vs in his worde I meane to make vs repentant Paul telleth of himselfe that he regarded to know nothing saue Iesus Christ him crucified 1. Cor. 2. 2. the which hee learned from the Lord himselfe This was certaine that Christ was crucified therefore oughtwe to learne the same This is heauenly this is comfortable and this is glorious heauenly for God did it comfortable for it was for our sinnes and glorious for neither man nor angell could do the like and in this short sentence the Apostle hath lapped vp all religion Wouldest thou knowe how to be saued looke to the death of Christ Wouldest thou know how to liue looke on the crosse of Christ and wouldest thou know what to professe then consider the sorrowes of Christ This is heauenly wisedome not knowen of the angels this is
God continued Then euery father of a familie was a magistrate to punish a prophet to instruct a prince to gouerne his owne houshould Then was there no writing but much religion few bookes but many faithfull harts all studied in vnitie to preserue vnfained veritie But in Moses time the church grewe to a nation and therefore although as Ierome saith it were Maior numero yet it was Minor virtute the number of professors grew to be greater yet the zeale and power of godlinesse grewe to be lesser And therefore nowe was it to be put in writing or else all had beene cleane forgotten for the harts of men began to be deceitfull and the words of God coulde not safely lodge in the brests of all and therefore coulde not easilie and effectually bee conueied from one to another The Lorde first of all wrote his lawe then grewe the church to another gouernment more generall then before wherein the priestes did publikely care for the seruice of God and soules of the people and euery father and master priuately for himselfe and his familie and euermore this is to bee remembred that the children praied to the God of their Fathers meaning the same God whome their Fathers taught them to serue And this beloued putteth vs in minde what manner of men fathers and masters ought to bee euen such as are able to commend the true worshippe of God vnto others for sithence the worship of God became publique and generall the priuate neglect of this dutie in the gouernours of families hath wrought the poyson of all mankind and the vndoing of all religion For now the common sort thinke that they must not pray but in a church that they are not bound to teach others but the whole charge dependeth on the minister that the preachers and not the people must learne the word and finally it maketh no matter for their faith and manners if their pastours and teachers haue the knowledge of the Gospell Oh lamentable men Oh lamentable maners which onely is to be imputed vnto this neglect of parents duety By this onely gentilisme and heathenisme grow for if Noahs sonnes had taught that to their children which they learned of their father the world had not beene wearied with many diuelish Idolatries if Dauids children had serued that God which Dauid taught them their throne had continued as long as heauen and earth endured neither had so many women beene husbandlesse so many children beene motherles so many old men beene helples and so many of all sorts and degrees beene vtterly destitute of all worldly ease and heauenly blisse the decay of their faith wrought the destruction of their blood If Christians had taught that religion to their children which they receiued without all corruption from Christ and his Apostles so many countries had not been conquered so many cities had not beene laide euen with the earth so many famous churches had not beene buried in obliuion popery had not so much preuailed Mahomet had not so long prospered wicked ceremonies had not raigned in the place of holy truth and where now is the synagogue of Sathan there had beene the Temple of our Sauiour And I feare me beloued least this parents faulte bring foorth once againe the childrens folly and then oh then will the diuels banner aduance it selfe against Christs standard and so that when the Lord shall come he shall finde no faith on the earth Looke to this you fathers of our bodies and let not the blood of our soules cry vengeance against the parents of our liues teach vs what you haue learned charge vs on your blessing and God his blessing as we will answere before the Iudge of men and angels to saue the soules of our children by the precepts of your doctrine The reasons of this doctrine may be these first bicause as Dauid witnesseth that the workes of God are great and ought to be sought out of all that loue them So that this is an argument of vnfeined affection and true loue to the workes of God when with diligence we obserue them and with conscience we declare them and also it is an assurance of sincere pietie and reuerence towards God when as the same prophet speaketh all the day long we meditate on his iudgements and speake his praises This loue of men to the workes of God is then prooued and approoued when they teach them to those whose liues are in their hands and also it is the playnest token of true loue to your children when you keepe no part of the counsell of God from them which you know your selues For the Lords doings are of that maiestie and authoritie that by them tender hearts are nourished wauering harts confirmed and stubburne mindes are perswaded Your kindest friends will be more kinde vnto you when you shew them the kindnes of the Lord and your deadly foes will be more afraide of you when they shall see and heare the workes of God in your mouth and the word of God in your hands Therefore my beloued in the Lord Iesus seeing we haue no more plainer way to know the Lord then by his workes then haue we also no surer token that we loue the Lord then when we loue his doings Let vs seeke them in the cradles of our childhoode and the beds of our old age making as much of the Lords iudgements as we doe of our children whom we desire to leaue behind vs to the ende of the world euen so let vs leaue the Lords works in remembrance for euermore Secondly another reason of this doctrine is declared by Salomon Eccles 3. 14. That what God doth it standeth for euer that men might feare before him The workes of God are affected not as the ground is ploughed which serueth one for one season but as the earth was established which standeth for euer The Lord in euery age accomplisheth many wonderful things and different the one from the other that men might feare him for his iudgements and honor him for his power And therefore being not willing at all times to make triall and shewe of his omnipotencie hee willeth vs to remember the things that are done vnlesse we would haue him once againe open the fountaines of waters that the whole world might be destroyed or once againe raine fire and brimstone from heauen to confound vs as he did the Sodomites or once againe bring a vniuersall darknes ouer our land as he did ouer the land of Iudea or else once againe suffer our fathers to be burned our goods to be rauened our wiues to be shamed and our selues to be murthered for his sake as some haue bin before vs. Therefore by how much more easie it is for our hearts to consider those things then for our eies to behold them so much more carefull let vs be to instruct others by word of mouth least we our selues our posterity feele in ful measure that heauy hand of his wrath then Oh then
with mourning least they should esteeme the matter lightly that their sinne could be washed away with teares he telleth them plainly that the wine shal be pulled from their mouth and this he doth in my iudgement to driue them to a deeper conscience of their sinnes and consideration of the Lordes wrath So that he may seeme thus to say vnto them it is alreadie decreed that your euill shall not be turned away therefore lament your calamitie And from hence we may note that all the feigned repentance vncōfortable cries of the wicked shall neuer turne away the wrath of God from them So doth the holy Ghost declare Heb. 12. 17. Gen. 27. 38. when Esau with abundance of weeping cried out for the blessing yet he could not obtaine it Wherein there appeereth their endlesse misery that their teares shal be no more accepted of God then are the cries of a beast in the hand of a butcher The Lord knoweth that they are not humbled for his sake but for their owne and were it not more for the fear of their own misery then of his iudgements they would neuer take his name in their mouthes except to blaspheme him The Lord can and will shewe himselfe froward with them that are froward Psal 18. and haue as deafe eares at their cries as euer they had at our sermons he will be as merciles vnto them as euer they were to their brethren no children which seeme innocent no women which seeme penitent no olde men which seeme religious no yoong men which seeme glorious nor any bloode which seemeth precious shall remooue their paines and reuerse his sentence And this doth the holie Ghost alwaies perswade vnto the wicked bicause hee telleth them in other places as Prou. 15. 8. Mich. 6. 7. That their sacrifices are abhomination vnto him and if they woulde giue him the fruite of their bodies for the sinne of their soules yet will he not be mercifull vnto them What did the Lord in outward shewe better accept then sacrifice and what coulde outwardly shew greater obedience then with Abraham to offer vp their owne children yet it being done of a wicked man or womon all were woorth nothing Secondly the Lorde hath appointed a time wherein he woulde haue our conuersion performed which being passed there can bee no redemption Psalm 95. 7. Cant. 5. 6. To day if you will heare his voice then harden not your harts the fruitlesse tree in the Gospell had a time wherein it should beare fruite which being omitted without all mercy is hewed downe Therefore haue you also a time in the which if you be conuerted then shal your death be deare in the sight of the Lord but if you neglect this time your bloud shall be vile in his presence But when will you say is this time and how shall we knowe it Surely if a man in his last testament giue a legacie of money to his sonne or seruant and name not the time of the payment the lawe doth adiudge it to bee due at the death of the testatour so the Lorde hauing set no time in his testament when thou shalt repent either in yoong or in olde age in the day or in the night he thereby teacheth vs that euery day yea euery minute is appointed for our repentance till we haue repented therefore how much we liue without conuersion so much we loose and euerie day calleth vpon vs to fulfill our fathers testament except we be bastards Seeing now that the case of wicked men is so pitiles at the Lords hande let vs see what exhortations we may gather from hence for our instruction and first of all let vs take that which our Sauiour hath left Luk. 13. 24. Striue saith he to enter in at the straite gate for the time shall come that many shall striue and not be able to enter Labour I beseech you for Religion for the knowledge of the Gospell for obedience to the ministerie that your prosperitie may be continued and your aduersitie may be relieued What a shame is it for men of wealth woorth to be shut out of a noble mans gates or rather what a shame is it that the teares and sute of a sonne being in prison or beggerly shall not mooue his owne parents to clemencie so shall it be with you when you shall haue mercy shut against you bicause you cared not for the bloude of Christ and you shall haue your owne father by creation not once acknowledge you to be childrē or pitty your calamity bicause you disobeied him therfore now striue that then you may enter now obey that then you may be receiued now humble your selues that then you may be lift vp let this prouoke you like an iron grate vnto the embracing of the fear of God Presume not on the Lords mercie despaire not of your owne estates say not it is too soon for that is impietie yea the houre now is thinke not it is too late for that is blasphemie but if now thou canst enter now also thou shalt be receiued Another vse heerof doth the Lorde himselfe make Esay 17 13. That euen the same things wherein we trusted being in prosperitie shall if they can deliuer vs vp when we are in aduersitie when thou criest saith the Lorde the things that thou hast gathered togither shall deliuer thee but the winde shall take them away vanitie shall pull them away but he that trusteth in me shall inherite the lande and possesse my holie mountain The Lord mocketh and derideth at the wicked men as if he should say vnto them in this sorte you olde men you haue gathered many fables you yong men you haue hoarded many pastimes you women you haue laid vp many trifles you rich men haue encroched many purchases you noble men haue encreased your wordly honor now call to these your gods in sicknes in famine in warre in pouertie in miserie in death but I will blow them from you they cannot helpe you you shall onely knowe that they which haue relied on my blessing beleeued in my promise delighted in my truth they onely shall haue the earth for their possession and the heauens for their inheritance How foolish are men that seeke not for these things before hande that knowe not that in their wealth they choose for their life which they must abide and cannot auoide when they are in distresse either godlinesse which procureth their worldly ignominie and their heauenlie glorie or else wickednes and vnlawfull riches that causeth their worldly maiestie but their euerlasting miserie The eight Sermon Vers 6. For a nation commeth vpon my land mightie and without number whose teeth are like the teeth of a lyon and he hath the iawes of a great lyon NOw the Prophet commeth to his metaphoricall allusions whereby sometimes hee mooueth the people somtimes he describeth the persons which are the workers of this calamitie as in this vers where hee resembleth the beastes to a nation
hearers The reasons of this doctrine are these bicause in that time the Lorde sheweth himselfe to be an enimie Lamen 2. 5 8. And who is he that will not sorrow knowing that the Lorde is his enimie would he euer fall out so farre with his owne people as to suffer his owne glorie to bee darkened were it not bicause he hath kindled his wrath against them euen as a Lorde in this worlde taketh from his seruant his office his cognisance and in the end turneth him out of his dores bicause he hath displeased him so dealeth the Lorde with vs when he maketh men colde in his seruice and wearie of his Gospell O my beloued nowe I feare is the Lord an enimie vnto vs when hee suffereth such abuses and abusers of his goodnes to liue among vs. Poperie beginneth againe to growe ioyfully out of the earth in the Lordes fieldes Atheisme priuily stretcheth his selfe as the Iuie doth about the Oke the ministerie groweth careles the people waxeth wanton the rich men are idle and the poore men are ignorant of the Lords seruice Are not these sufficient tokens that the Lord beginneth to be an enimie vnto England O mourne therefore as a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husbande of her youth See we not how the worlde winneth vpon the possessions of the church if we haue a vnitie then bringeth he in securitie if there be diuisions then brocheth hee manie blasphemous heresies if we agree among our selues he maketh the world to hate vs if we please the worlde our own brethren suspect vs if we haue great gifts then are we enuied if we haue but smal gifts then are we despised and thus with nothing are all men pleased the Lords busines is still deferred Surely this will make the Lord fall out with vs be our enimie for euerie one thinketh that his owne dislike is reason enough to be absent from the Lords presence And if there be anie that loue the Lorde Iesus let them before hande sorrow that his second comming shall finde no faith on the earth Let vs therefore cast downe our selues as the Apostle wisheth vs Iam. 4. 9. Endure afflictions and weepe and sorrow let your laughter be turned into heauines and your ioy into mourning nowe is the time as Ieremie said that we giue glorie to the Lorde before he bring darknes or euer our feete stumble in the darke mountaines Let vs beholde as in a watch towre this enimie of the church marching neere at hande readie to fight against our saluation to poison our faith to abolish the Scriptures to silence the preachers to distract the people and to roote vp againe that foundation which the Lorde hath builded This let both princes and people clergie and temporaltie lament with all speede and without all ceasing that the bane of Religion is alreadie receiued and the foundation of darkenes is alreadie laide the workemen of iniquitie are building vpon it we cannot hinder but we will pray against it we cannot roote it vp but we wil set the fire of the Lords word to burne it we cannot deface it yet we will lament it Mourne O yee elders that your posteritie shall be thus endangered that in your daies you haue seene the Lorde a friende and an enimie to vs that you haue suffered the decay of that which all the worlde can neuer builde that you haue so laboured to builde your owne houses and names and haue rooted vp the walles of the church Weepe O yoong men for your selues and for your soules for your liues shall smart for your pleasures and I am afraide that the bloude of your harts must clense the wickednes of your times Crie out O children that you are deputed to haue but the reuersions of the truth which your elders deuoured and leaue you nothing but pay those debtes which they owe for their iniquities The meate offeringe All the offerings which were sacrificed in the olde lawe did betoken Christ to be sacrificed for vs vnto the which there was to be added as the Lorde commanded Numb 15. 4 5 6. a meate offering of fine meale and oyle and a drinke offering of wine without which there was no offering no sacrifice so that in this place when he saith the meat offering and drinke offering are cut off from the house of God he meaneth by one part the whole worship of God to be intermitted Frō whence we may note this that God hath so great regard to punish sinne that rather then it shall escape scot free he will discontinue his owne worship More plainly men know that so long as they keepe the worship of God and the pure outward profession of true religion no great nor generall change of state or iudgement of God shal ouerturne them therefore the Lorde will take away his worde his worship his truth from among them which are the charets of Israel and the garde of the church that he may more freely take vengeance of our sinnes Thus may we read he dealt with Israell Psal 78. 60. Lam. 2. 16. Now consider I beseech you what refuge can we haue against the Lorde or what shield to couer our sinnes why you will saie the Lords mercie but how if mercie haue beene offered and be refused and so the date thereof for our good be expired Yet you will saie his mercie endureth for euer but I may answere you that hee so little regardeth mercy to men and seruice to himselfe at sometimes that he taketh away all signe of his fauour all tokens of his presence all comfort of his word and commoditie by his worship and so let vs feare in England least we be so serued and rather ruled and least the time come that we may say heere stood a church there was the Gospell preached once we might safely professe the word of God but now we are excluded The reasons of this may be these first because the people so long as they say the temple of the Lord the Gospell of the Lorde so long they are obstinate in their sinnes and wilfull in all manner of wickednesse Iere. 7. 4 3. And for this cause to take away their shroude that they might cast away their vaine confidence the Lorde spareth not his owne worship to shew vnto vs that he also will not spare our liues This might be vrged to the vttermost for these our times wherein there are few that will crie the temple or the Gospell but amongst those few which vrge the bare name of religion and reformation how many are there that liue riotously and walke licentiously pitifully tronbling the world with their lustes and the church of God with their workes but let vs beware least both they and others cannot say the temple but that we had religion in England Secondly another reason may be this because we take not the true course and lawfull way to keepe the worship of God among vs. Rom. 9. 32. The Iewes saith the Apostle
and they sacrificed and none else but they altered and it came to one tribe and they also were abrogated and so it came to men approoued in the church who are deemed the speciall portion of the Lord in this world And surely if the seruants of Salomon were blessed that hearde his wisedome and waited in his court they are much more blessed which waite in the Lords house and heare and see the secrets of the kingdome of heauen It is therefore a most fearefull thing to aduance any vnto this to bee the Lords seruant who is not woorthy to sit in the chaire of Moses and there is no reason why they shoulde minister in the church which are not woorthie to be the porters of the doore Surely the prophanenes of many in these places is so great and so damnable that besides the iniuries done to Christ many run headlong into hell thorough the euill example of their pastours The Lords seruants followe their maister in holinesse and not the world in lewdnesse they looke to the soules but these waite for the fleeces they preach vpon conscience these doe it for fashion they preach onely the truth but these bring the fire of poetrie philosophie and such like to the altar of God to conclude they bee the helpers vnto faith but these quench their owne giftes and keepe other from pure knowledge The reasons are these because the whole life of the minister must be onely exercised in spirituall heauenly matters Act. 6. 2. 4. The apostles would consent to nothing which was not consonant to their ministerie or that might any waies hinder the same And for this cause the Lord hath so prouided that they should be exempted from all worldly businesse and receiue their maintenance from other not onely for themselues but for their children and families The which thing considered would aduertise a number of vs that wee which warre should not entangle our selues with the things of this life we should neuer giue ouer our seruice for that is nothing else but to forsake God wee must neuer cause our sinnes to make vs be thrust out of the ministerie for that will exclude vs from heauen wee must neuer bee idle and vnprofitable seruants in our ministerie for that will worke our curse and wee must neuer be wearie of our places for that will weaken and lessen our giftes But alas once there might come no rasor on the ministers heads but now adaies heads and beards and all are powled if wee shoulde not nowe looke to our owne maintenance wee might soone want sustenaunce and our children are easily suffered to begge though their parents haue well deserued of the Church of God Another reason is because none may offer them any violence but the Lorde accounteth it his owne Exod. 16. 8. and hee saith by the prophet Dauid Touch not mine annointed and doe my prophets no harme How desperate is the case of all men who are daily by wordes and deedes reuiling the ministers of the gospell and thinke themselues happy if they can giue a priest a deadly blowe by their enuenomed toong Truely I will say our owne sinnes were the cause of all this yet if the kisse of Iudas was so mortally punished these mens not kisses but wounds not with lips but with toongs and hands shall neuer escape vnrewarded for as by their toongs they haue killed vs so the Lord with his toong shall condemne them From hence let vs of the ministerie learne our dutie which is seeing we are the Lordes owne seruants let vs labour to present euerie man perfect in Iesus Christ Col. 1. 28. there is no seruant but he desireth not onely to do much worke but that hee may present it faire and beautifull to his masters viewe this is our labour to bring many soules and saints to the Lorde of glory Abraham sending his seruant to fetch a wife for Isaac his sonne he brought him godlie and beautifull Rebecah wee are the Lordes seruants and wee are sent to fetch a wife for Iesus Christ the sonne of God oh let vs be as faithfull vnto God the father and to Iesus Christ as that seruant was to Abraham and Isaac let vs doe our message with diligence let vs execute our charge with praier let vs giue them the golden bracelets of God his truth and let vs with all speede and haste returne againe to him that sent vs. When Iacobs sonnes went into Egypt Iudah promised him to bring Beniamin againe if he woulde let him go or else he shoulde slaie his owne two sonnes and so if wee bring not againe to the Lorde his beloued children he will slaie our bodies and soules for euer and euer for at our hands will he require them Come on therefore my deere and holy annointed brethren we haue the leading of God his children wee haue the keeping of Christs Queene we haue the tillage of the Lords corne we haue the vse of the Lords treasure we haue the price of our Sauiours bloud if we loose his childrē he wil slay ours if we defile his wife he wil curse vs if we neglect his husbādry he will spoile ours if we waste his treasure he wil sel vs to perpetuall bondage and if we spill our Sauiours bloud he shall condemne our bloud body and soule Oh therfore let vs be instāt in preaching holy in liuing earnest in praier zealous in exhortatiō careful in admonition instructing the children correcting the youth and comforting the aged that as Iacob returned with many more soules out of Syria into Canaan then hee brought so may wee come with many soules out of this world into the world to come Another vse shall be for the people that considering wee be the Lordes owne seruants and therefore open and shut the priuie chamber doore which leadeth vnto him and to vs is committed the building of the church then as the Apostle exhorteth you Ephes 4. 11 14. that ye giue heed to them whom the Lorde sendeth you for spirituall guides direct not your praiers to Angels and saints in heauen for they haue not the keeping of the Lordes workes but the ministers which be aliue are the priuie counsellers to the Lordes maiestie whom if you will not beleeue neither can you beleeue though an angell come from heauen vnto you And therefore as all the people were wonte to waite for the comming out of the priest that hee might blesse them so do you all euermore waite for the blessing and mercy and grace and counsell and loue of God to come from them to you As the Lorde turneth the bloude of a woman into milke for the nourishment of hir childe so doth hee turne our wordes and gifts and knowledge and learning and studie and life to be the nourishment of you his church Come to vs for comfort and instruction and edification and saluation you are the Lordes housholde we are his stewards come to vs for your meate of soule and wages
of God bicause thither came all the tribes to do seruice and sacrifice to the Lord therefore sometime it signifieth the church of God and all the members thereof as Psal 51. By these words I might note that although the ministers haue a priuate and a publique charge to warne the people yet they must haue a more speciall regard to the publique place Col. 4. 16. Isa. 66. 6. The reasons are First bicause Christ is alway present in the congregation Mat. 18. 20. and therefore if they haue any loue to their Sauiour there they must heare and see him Againe in the publique ministerie of the worde is giuen the holy Ghost Gal. 3. 2. so that if men would haue the pledge of their eternall inheritance thither they must resort where he is freely offered without money yea let them come from strength to strength that is be thy strength little or much vse the same to come to the church of God there is no more dispensation for weakenes then for health and therefore if thou wilt shew thy obedience and thy zeale to saluation then come when thy health and strength is most endangered for then will it bee like the poore widowes mite most acceptable to God If thou be a gentleman vse the helpe of thy horses and men if a woman take the helpe of thy husband if thou be poore craue thy neighbours hand as he did which was sicke of the palsie Mat. 9. 2. If thou be a seruant take so much the lesse pleasure to heare a sermon for in so doing thou shalt please the Lord and not disprofit thy maister Againe despise not the voice of him that speaketh Heb. 12. 25. for God which speaketh in vs is a consuming fire there was neuer angell that spake but the contempt of his words was seuerely punished and Zacharie because hee did a little doubt of the angels message lost his toong till his child was circumcised The ministers of God are called angels Reuel 2. 1. and therefore if thou beleeue them not then feare the losse of thy eares or thy toong or thy hands or thy heart but if thou contemne them and dally with them wantonly or despitefully oh feare the losse of body and soule for euer and euer but of these things we haue often times before spoken Againe if the voice of a trumpet could awake the Iewes and turne them to the Lord how is it that men and voices and Christ and Gospell cannot awake the men of our times the trumpet was blowen very seldome but the word is euery day and euery where preached and yet are not men prepared Nay verily a trumpet in the streets shall haue moe followers then a sermon in the temples and as Michab saith cap. 2. 11. new wine and strong drinke do make men rise early and goe late to bed that they may be filled therewith but yet the wine of the Lords truth cannot preuaile and therefore the wine of his wrath must make them drunken vnto death But in this that he biddeth the inhabitants to tremble at the sound of a trumpet we are taught that we must stand before the Lord with feare and trembling Ier. 6. 10. Ezr. 10. 9 but in our daies men quake in the congregation as steeples in the sea they are ready to laugh at that which should make them sorrow and to loath that which they should long after He is now accounted a milke-sop that will weepe when he heareth sinne reprooued and a very coward that feareth any euill yea though it bee eternall condemnation It is fearfull to consider that the presence of God shaketh the whole world and the power of his worde maketh the deserts to tremble and yet sillie men and in comparison of those like cornes of sand wil not shake nor tremble nor feare for any of all these And aboue all this mischiefe is to be considered that the longer we liue in the world the lesse feare of God or terrour of iudgement increaseth olde men grow carelesse through age yoong men grow dissolute through pleasure children waxe wanton through euill education and almost all men waxe woorse and woorse What is the church more regarded then an ale-house or a preacher more esteemed then an idoll or a saint more honoured then a diuell or religion more loued then Atheisine or the kingdome of heauen more longed after then an earthly inheritance No no truth yeeldeth to falshood charity to enuie quietnes to contention sobrietie to intemperancie law to vnrighteousnes faith to policie and christianitie to infidelity Helpe O you saints of the Lord to lament this mischiefe although we cannot amend it Put to your teares and your praiers that they may sound before God seeing GOD cannot any longer bee heard among men The reasons of this doctrine are these first because God dwelleth in them that tremble at his word Isa 66. 2. And againe this feare and trembling is a most manifest signe of the power of the worde Heb. 4. 12. so that where this trembling is wanting there can bee no true deuotion whatsoeuer diligence bee vsed because the word cannot haue any free passage in our soules For as a childe careth not for his maister whome he feareth not so a man careth not for the gospell when hee trembleth not Yea on the other side wee rebell against the wisedome of God and spurne his word with our feete when we suffer it not to go through our harts We reade that Og and Sihon two great kings would not suffer the people of Israel to goe through their countries the which discurtesie cost them their liues their land and their subiects and all because they woulde not graunt a path-way euen so if we let not the worde of God pearse cleane thorough vs and quietly with curtesie giue it entertainment in our harts he will take them by force and giue vs to be a miserable spoile to diuels If Iudas had had any grace when he heard our Sauiour curse that man that should betray him hee woulde neuer haue gone farther but let his action fall but hee did as our hearers doe heare his owne condemnation and not beleeue it and therefore they shall doe as he did repent when it is too late giuing their liues in stead of their eares and their blood in stead of obedience and yet alas alas all will not serue their turne The vses hereof are these first seeing we must feare and tremble at the ministerie of the worde then it followeth that we shall be comforted thereby for it is written Blessed are they that mourne for they shall be comforted and thus the Lord assureth his people Isa 66. 5. that for their feare he would giue them safetie and for their trembling hee woulde giue them ioy and their enimies should be ashamed at it Therefore if you would feele the sweete taste of the word of God and receiue the ioyfull newes of your saluation then learne to tremble at the hearing thereof
eares and hand and heart to theirs when they are humbled fall thou downe when they are praying praie with them when they are hearing heare with them when they are singing sing with them and when they are mourning lamenth with them If they ioine in petition to God oh account it happinesse for thee to subscribe thy name for they are blessed that are ioyned to the fellowship of the saints Another vse if wee must seate our selues in most conuenient place to heare then let vs also frequent the places of praier and religion When the church was compelled to a riuers side in steede of a cathedrall church Act. 16. 15. Lydia the purple woman resorted thither and once she had her hart opened and conuerted to the Lord In like manner let vs resort to the churches for at one time or other we may boldly assure our selues that we shall receiue the pledge of life eternall But in our daies men are so affected to this doctrine that the diuell laugheth at it and good men lament it for either they come not at all as the ghestes which were bid to a wedding or else they come without conscience as he did without a wedding garment or else they are present without attention as Eutyches that fell on sleepe at Paules preaching or else they depart out of our assemblies as Iudas did from Christ when hee went to betray him Standing times of praier in the church some say are of Poperie and in the house they are of other condemned for puritanisme so that godly praiers being the sword of the spirite are now growen rustie and dull that few mens sins or liues or harts are parted therewith But my deere brethren come to the times of praier and binde your selues not onely publikely but also priuately with seuere vowes and pay them to the Lord for so shall the fire of the spirite be kindled in you the holy Ghost shall raigne in you the saints shall be comforted by you and you shall trie that all things are possible to a Christian Spare thy people Now we are come to the praier which the prophet teacheth the priestes to make for the people which is thus much in effect Wee haue no refuge but to flie to thee O Lord we are guiltie of the punishment but yet thou maist stay thy hand and spare our liues Giue vs not ouer wee pray thee that our enemies reioice not ouer vs and blaspheme thy blessed name we are the fields of thine owne inheritance reuenge our cause from the handes of strangers oh spare vs that we may serue thee First out of the beginning of this praier we may note that petitioners and those which are suiters to the throne of grace must alway pleade guiltie in the presence of God Luc. 18. 12 13. The example of the Publican prooueth this that the Lord loueth vs better when we tell him of our follies then when we shew him our vertues The Lord which will seldome helpe till there be no helpe but in his mercie biddeth vs alway to condemne our selues so that when wee thinke most basely of our natures and speake most vilely yet truly of our liues and confesse most bitterly against our selues then are we most nigh to the end of our praiers For this cause let vs meditate before praier that we may sufficiently waigh our miseries and more lamentably bewaile our wants and more ardently pray for his mercie that we may more comfortably enioy his fauour The reasons hereof because there is not one man liuing that can bee iustified before God Psal 143. 1 2. but euery man is an vnprofitable seruant for which cause we must alway accuse our sins and call for pardon at the Lords hand This reason being knowen of the baser and wickeder sort they imagine that they haue gained a sufficient charter to continue in their euill why say they the most righteous are guiltie in the Lords sight and what are we more Doe what wee can yet we shall sinne and we can but craue pardon of him for many as well as for few but this is a wicked and an accursed reason For although the best fall into many enormities yet ought not you to sinne good men fall into sinne but you dwell in sinne they are sorrie for them but you delight in them Dauid sinned was therefore Absolom or Achitophel vnpunished because Peter denied his maister might therefore Iudas betray him or because one man falleth into debt by sicknesse may you therefore fall into debt through riot if a sound body doe now and then fall into sicknesse then hee which hath a crazie body had neede to looke to himselfe so if men of sound soules doe fall into euils you which haue sicke soules must bee much more carefull of your health Another reason our Sauiour giueth Luc. 18. 14. for the Lord resisteth the proude and giueth grace to the humble and meeke therefore ought wee to increase in the numbring of our sinnes that the Lord may aduance vs to the beholding of his mercie Let vs be assured if we pray without sorrow we doe but mocke the Lord but if we sorrow with earnest praier we prepare many ioyes for our soules First let vs learne that our praiers must bee ardent and continuall in the eares of the Lord as the Israelites were Iudg. 10. 3. to 13. for as we haue a continuall occasion of sinning so we must take continuall occasion of praying Who is he that hath beene but a little while in the practise of christianitie and hath not learned this lesson My sinnes are euer in my sight too heauie a burden for me to beare therefore as he which is vexed with a continuall want laboureth in a continuall worke and hee which hath a continuall sicknesse turneth on euery side to finde ease so must we which are euermore oppressed with sinne be euermore praying for helpe As the greatest burdens make the porters sweate the greatest drops so will our sinnes if we feele them make vs sweate drops of blood to be released of them therefore pray till thou be heard and take for thy example the poore widow which woulde neuer giue ouer till the iudge had righted her cause neither doe thou cease to pray til thy soule doe cease to sinne Many pray through want but not with want and for grace but not with grace they are cold and not continuall in their suites Who is so hard harted seeing a poore man with as many sores as his body can beare running after him a mile or twaine and begging but a penny that coulde denie him in like manner if wee shewe all our sores and sinnes and miseries vnto the Lord continually that when our voice is wearie our harts may speake and when our harts are sleepie our wounds may crie for mercie so that we may neither eate nor sleepe till we know our sinnes be pardoned Let vs neuer be afraide to come to the Lord notwithstanding we finde
hell will once againe commit and bequeath you to condemnation as the fruitles fig tree was Thinke not your selues happie that you liue so long before you bee called to beare for verily long agoe were you appointed and called to yeelde him his haruest If therfore you wil not striue to yeeld it thinke that God wil reape where he did not sowe and gather where he did not lende and hee will tarrie no time for the figge tree bore no fruit bicause the time of fruites was not come yet was it reprobated So if God come to thee although thou neuer were able to yeelde him any commoditie yet he will regarde himselfe and not thee his expectation and not thine his glory and not thy welfare for he which is hardlie prouoked is more hardly pacified neither sparing in his rage man woman beast or angell That the heathen These wordes containe another grounde of their praier wherein they desire that the Lorde woulde spare them least that by reason of famine they shoulde be driuen to the Lordes enimies for succour or else they feared that when their scarsitie shoulde bee noised abroade the heathen woulde come conquer them From hence we may obserue that there is not any thing more odious to godly mindes then that the heathen idolatrous men without religion should rule ouer them Psal 74 4 5. As it is vnnaturall and dangerous that men shoulde bee ruled by beastes sheepe by woolues and little birdes by the great hauke euerie minute threatening to teare them in peeces so is it when good men are driuen through want or warre or loue or feare of life to seeke harbour among the enimies of God Well they know that their libertie is woorse then imprisonment and that the highest place of dignitie among the wicked is inferior to the lowest in the church of God as Dauid saide I had rather keepe a dore in the house of God then to dwell in the tents of wickednes What pleasure haue we of sight liuing in darknes or of health liuing in imprisonment or of strength liuing in bondage or of meate liuing in sickenes and no more shall we haue of all worldly things when we are in the lande of heathens The first reason bicause in the dominion of the wicked there is no conscience of bloode or care of equitie Ezech. 22. 27. They turne their subiects to slauerie their widowes to destruction their children to beggerie and they send heapes of dead carkeises at one time to the graue they care not for religion neither respect the king of heauen and earth Although the streetes flowe with bloode and the liuing be not sufficient to burie the dead yet if they may raigne they care not Life and liuing and honestie is nothing woorth among them They denie God persecute his church and burne his worde most wickedly they regard not olde men rauish women and murther children villanouslie They take away houses landes rentes goods patrimonies and wiues from them that possesse them and therefore there is no greater crosse then to liue vnder the gouerment of a heathen Another reason bicause their wickednes shall be a continuall heart-burning vnto them 2. Pet. 2. 7. Psalm 120. 5. Their eares shall heare their blasphemies their eies shall see their idolatrie and their liues shall feele their treacheries All thinges shall bee lawfull among them saue goodnes for nothing is lawfull that tendeth to godlines Oh how will this grieue a godly soule to heare his Sauiour reuiled true religion slandered the godly to be hated the worlde to bee loued the diuell to bee worshipped and heauen to bee neglected Hee must not speake for feare of death he must not pray but in secret hee shall not dare to disclose himselfe hee shall finde no neighbours nor friends nor followers nor comfort among them The first vse Let vs therefore forsake the fellowship of vnbeleeuers Esay 52. 12. whose presence is damnable whose liues are abhominable whose profession is execrable and whose ende is condemnation of these the worlde is filled and yet we must auoide them Let vs not bee defiled with their sinnes nor corrupted with their manners nor allured with their pleasures but go out from the middest of them They are hated of God possessed of diuels bewitched with vanities and professed miscreants Howe shall wee loue God and dwell among them but either the anger of God or the loue of the worlde or the baite of lustes or the inchantments of vanities will drawe vs away Oh let vs take our selues to desolate places and rather dwell with the brute beastes then with these godles persons we cannot trust them we may not liue with them we must flie from them or else be condemned among thē therefore put them from your houses and from your tables and from your conference and from your friendship I knowe you woulde bee ashamed to bee seene daily conuersing with an open and shamelesse harlot therefore much more be ashamed and forsake their company whose liues are like beasts whose hearts are like heathens whose faces are like harlots and whose actions proceed of euill I tell you their waies do leade vnto death and their lodgings are chambers of hell Where is nowe their God That is either they are not the Lordes people that are thus afflicted or else their God is no God that cannot deliuer them From hence wee may gather that it is the propertie of wicked men if they get aduantage against a professour of religion then presently they turne it against God himselfe and fall to reuiling his glorious maiestie Psal. 74. 10. So in our times if any haue any small profession of religion and doe fall into the handes of the worlde then presentlie they scoffe and scorne and laugh and deride Christ the Gospell religion and all the followers thereof If they happen to be poore why wil an atheist say canst thou not get thy liuing by hearing of Sermons If they bee rich men their faults shall be aggrauated The reason heereof is bicause they might be knowne to be not so much enimies to the godly as to God himselfe like the Iewes that crucified Christ Matth. 27. Let vs rather lament them that fall into their enimies handes then reioice at their sinnes and ouerthrowes let vs know that the Lord will surely take their cause into his owne hande and seuerely punish such intollerable blasphemie as he did in Rabsakeh and the king of Syria Esay 37. although their wordes bee great their pride be infinite their power glorious their mindes ambitious and their crueltie extreme yet will and shall the Lorde defende his name and truth and children from all their blasphemies and this shall bee a cause of their more speedy destruction The xxvj Sermon Vers 18. Then will the Lorde be iealous ouer his people and spare his land NOw at the length by the mercifull assistance of the Almightie are we come to the last part of this prophesie wherein as in the
contrarie to al reason and nature For God which seeth more then we see can doe more then we can doe Therefore feare not thy worldly ioy which is as deere to thee as euer was Isaac to Abraham for God can raise it out of the pits of deepest sorrowe into the throne of euerlasting pleasure The xxviij Sermon Vers 22 Be not afraid yee beasts of the field for the pastures of the wildernes are greene for the tree beareth her fruit the fig-tree and the vine doe giue their force HAuing finished the generall exhortation now followeth the speciall whereof this first is directed to the beasts of the field bidding them not be afraide for now the fruits are budded out of the earth as they had already tasted of mans punishmēt which commeth by sin so now they should taste of mans blessing which commeth by repentance We must not so take this speech of the prophet as if the beasts did or could vnderstand but by a vsuall figure of the scripture whereby a person is fayned to do a thing that it cannot doe as in that of Ieremie Heare ô heauens hearken ô earth c. For as God calleth things that are not as if they were so he speaketh to things that vnderstand not as if they did From hence that the Prophet speaketh to bruit beasts we may note that it is the word of God that gladdeth both man and beast Gen. 1. 22. for when the word of comfort is withdrawen then they mourn as we heard in the former chapter but when it standeth then they reioice and when it waineth then they fal away The first reason because they doe reuerence thereunto now their reuerence proceedeth not of fear but of nature whereby the creature reioiceth in his creator Isa 45. 21. Againe their whole life doth depend thereon Psalm 36. 6. and therefore their whole care or rather their naturall incliation is to glorifie their creator Let vs also which are the creatures of God partakers of their natures as we haue a spirit with the angels sence and flesh with the beasts life and motion with trees and solide substance with the stones be glad and ioyfull with the earth in much fruit with the trees in a quicke and growing obedience with the beasts in a liuely sence of the Lords grace and with the angels in an euerlasting lauding of his maiestie or else he will take his word from vs and giue it to them which wil beare more fruit for although we be all destroyed yet is God able of the stones of the street to make liuing soules to sit with angels in his kingdome and let vs cast away all vncleannes Iam. 1. 21. that with them we may be cleere of sinne and readie for immortalitie I might also in this verse take occasion to shew you how all the creatures of God reioyce in his benefits the oxe for the grasse the foule for seeds the fishes for raine the Bee for the dew the horse for the pasture and the angels for the conuersion of men therefore let man bee conuerted that hee abuse not that which these honour and despise not that which saueth vs all Be glad then ye children of Zion and reioce in the Lord your God for he hath giuen you the raine of righteousnes and he will cause to come downe for you the first raine and the latter raine in the first moneth This verse containeth another speciall exhortation to the members of the church vnder the name of Zion as hath beene alreadie declared bidding them also to reioice for as there is a time to mourne so there is a time to reioise And the reasons of their ioy are rehearsed First because as raine so should righteousnes come downe vpon them 23. Secondly for fruitfulnes which should fill all their barnes 24. and fully recompence their former losses 25. and lastly that they should comfortably eate thereof vers 26. When he biddeth the children of Zion to be glad we may note that it is onely God that reioiceth our hearts Eccl. 2. 24. for as before he had bid them rend in sunder their hearts so now he biddeth them to sow them togither againe and he himselfe doth giue a plaister to make them whole for euermore Thus worketh repentance first by teares and then by ioyes as a woman that first groneth and afterward laugheth with her child in hir armes and like to old Iacob who went a long iourney into Egypt to see his sonne Ioseph and their first meeting was nothing but teares The reason because God onely taketh away sinne Prou. 29. 6. therefore our sinnes make vs sorrowfull when they are wantied to vs as a burthen to a horses backe and then they reioice vs when they are taken from vs but sinnes are not onely burthens on our backes but prickes in our sides and thornes in our eies which keepe vs from all rest and hinder vs from all sight of goodnes They play with vs for a season as the diuell seemeth to play with witches but alas in the end their mating faces are all turned into sorrowfull woes Another reason because God onely humbleth and raiseth vp and therefore he onely giueth sorrow and ioy Psal 51. 10. Let vs therefore knowe when we are heauie that God hath laid his hand vpon vs and feare his name Psal 86. 10. and not seeke extraordinarie meanes as Saul did by musicke to remooue from vs that dumpish greefe that presseth vs downe but rather take the exhortation of Iames when we be sorrowfull to lift vp our selues in praier for as those which were stoong with serpents must looke on the brazen serpent before they could bee whole so must wee which are stoong with sorrowe looke to the Lorde which wrought our sorrow before we can reioice Againe let vs seeke for those lawfull meanes in the creatures of God which may any way cause vs in the time of our sorrowes to lift vp our selues in praise to God Psal 70. 5. There is not any creature but it may put vs in minde of some benefite or other so that so often as we behold the same so often wee may reioice in the workmanship of our creator and truly as it is a great fault not to mourne when God calleth for lamentation so is it no lesse fault not to reioice when God biddeth to reioice Let vs therefore learne to be so affected that by the plentifull hand of God we may be stirred vp to praise but by withdrawing his benefites we may bee mooued to repentance Againe when hee speaketh to the church vnder the name of the children of Zion we are taught that the members of the church must be as children Matt. 18. 3. Children are euer growing so must we in grace children often hunger so ought we after the foode of our soules they take no care but their parents prouide for them no more ought we for God careth for vs their natures are pure so must ours be
Againe let rich men especially looke to themselues Iam. 5. 1. for they for the most part esteeme more of gaine then of grace and of a great gentleman though he be an infidell then of a poore and true member of Christ Let them remember how fewe good rich men are named in the Scriptures and let them alway set before their eies that most dreadful saying of our Sauior It is easier for agable to goe thorough the eie of a needle then for a rich man to enter into heauen Let them bee liberall to good vses courteous to euery christian sparing in all expenses humble in all authoritie not gorgeous but clothed with Christ not couetous but open handed not ambitious but content with their place and not infidels but as farre exceede other in faith as they doe in wealth He shall giue you the first raine In those countries they had ordinarily two raines in the yeere especially desired wherof the first was most acceptable when they first sowed their seede and the latter raine was in the spring of the yeere which is here called the first moneth answering in some part to our March and Aprill because the world was made as it were in the spring of the yere But in this that the Prophet promiseth them the first and the latter raine we must obserue that it is the Lord that ruleth the cloudes giuing al seasonable and vnseasonable weather 1. King 18. 1. The reasons are bicause he will onely be knowen to blesse the workes of our hands Deut. 28. 1. Againe it is onely hee which decketh the heauens with clouds Psal 147. 8. Let vs therefore learne to feare the Lord by the consideration of raine Ierem. 5. 24. for hee reserueth for vs the appointed weeks for haruest Me thinkes that euerie creature of God do so admonish vs of our duetie that not so much as the little drops of raine but they teach vs to feare him Oh that our soules could so thirst for the mercie of God as the earth thirsteth for the water drops or the grace of God might so fall from heauen on our hearts as the raine doth issue from the cloudes on the ploughed land Againe let vs seeke for the testimonie of the Lords fauour towards vs in them Act. 14. 17. the Apostle sheweth the raine of the clouds the spring of the earth and the encrease of temporal things to be a sufficient meanes for the old world to haue searched for and found out God but yet they did not search into it and so is it now a good meanes for many ignorant soules to leade them to God at the first if they consider the world continueth the grasse groweth the corne increaseth the raine falleth down from heauē that by these as it were by the crosse-row of letters they might com to greater knowledge in religion When he saith that their barnes shall be full of wheat and their presses shall abound with oyle and wine he noteth thereby that their decaied houses shall be builded againe and their full ioy restored And also that if God do once begin to do good to his people hee neuer thinketh any thing too much that is bestowed on them if they be repentant The xxix Sermon Vers 25. And I will render vnto you the yeeres that the grashopper hath eaten the caterpiller and canker-woorme and palmer-woorme my great hoste which I sent among you NOw he toucheth the restitution of their goods lost in famine telling them that all their former yeeres deuoured by the beasts shall bee restored againe By which we may note a woonderful example of the Lords kindnes that he wil giue to the repentant whatsoeuer they haue lost in trouble It were enough for him yea more then he oweth vs if he did onely ease our miserie yet is he not contented therewith but giueth vs as much as we desire and beyond our desires as much as we lost so he dealt with Iob. cap. 42. 10. giuing him a thousand for fiue hundred sixe for three fourteene for seuen The first reason because he would haue none to be like him in mercie and liberalitie Mich. 7. 18. Secondly that the wicked may note a difference betwixt the iust and the vniust Mal. 3. 18. therefore let not any thing in the worlde hinder thy conuersion Ierem. 7. 14. for thy sinnes shall bee chaunged into much holines thy pouertie into great wealth thy sorrow into double ioy and thy short life into twise so many daies If thou hadst little ease now it shall be more or little peace it shall be increased or little grace it shall bee augmented or little ioy it shall be multiplied and thus will God take away curse and change it into blessing and turne our punishment into pardon Againe let vs hereby be instructed that there shall neuer be any hinderance to the ioy of the Lords saints Isa 40. 2 3. the crooked shal be made straight the high shall be made low the low shall be made high the weake shall be made strong the sicke shall be made whole the lame shall be made wel limmed the sorrowfull heart shall bee reioysed and the contrite soule shall be glorified the great power of sathan shall not hinder the tyrannie of sinne shall not preuaile nor the space twixt heauen and earth shall keepe vs from ascending to ioies Oh come on my brethren with hope and comfort and bestow your labour in the word more cheerefully that our single sorrowes may receiue double ioyes So you shall eate and bee satisfied and praise the name of the Lorde your God that hath dealt maruellouslie with you and my people shall neuer bee ashamed Hauing signified vnto them their plentie nowe hee granteth vnto them the free and lawfull vse of euerie creature telling them they shoulde eate and drinke them and praise the name of God for them When hee saith They shall eate and bee satisfied we may note a great blessing of God vpon meate temperately receiued for it satisfieth vs meaning it nourisheth and maintaineth life Hag. 1. 6. but when it is riotously and gluttonously deuoured then men fall into sicknesse in steade of health into raging in stead of quietnesse and this is the very cause why our affraies and quarrels are begunne at tauernes and alehouses and at great idoll and glutton feastes bicause men receiue them not in moderation but in excesse The first reason bicause meate so taken giueth strength to the body 1. Sam. 1427. Ionathan tasted but a drop of hony and his wearied body was strengthened and his eies almost blinde recouered their sight Another reason because meate thus taken cheereth the hart of man Ruth 3. 7. Let vs therfore learn what a singular benefit it is to eat be satisfied with the labours of our owne hande Eccle. 5. 16. 17. for if the Lord should breath thereon then were our trauaile in the dust meate hath no life in it and yet it
shall bee more against them then all the worlde and their helpes of nature shall giue them ouer and they left destitute of all hope shall be deliuered into the hande of diuels and surely they which scorne the companie of God his saints on the earth are woorthie to bee torne by the teeth and clawes of diuels in hell But hast thou no grace to consider this before hand and to thinke with thy selfe howe thou shalt see an infinite companie of Angels driuing thee to iudgement and then presently all the diuels in hell haling thee to damnation Be willing therefore to come to God in earth that thou maiest bee desirous to goe to God in heauen for bee assured that if thou feare iudgement and wishest it might neuer be thou art in a pitifull case for thy conscience doth alreadie condemne thee and if thou despise iudgement and watch not for it thou art more retchlesse for thou resistest God but if thou crie for the last day and say Come Lorde Iesus come quickly thou art a happie man for the Lorde is in thee Christ hath clensed thee sinne is dying in thee thou louest God his kingdome and therefore thou shalt possesse his kingdome Oh that we coulde willinglie submit our hearts to the Gospell and then shoulde wee not vnwillingly offer our soules to iudgement The reasons of this doctrine are these First because they shall be compelled by the power of God Matth. 26. 64. They which will not feele the power of God in sauing them shal feele it in condemning them and therfore as the power of God made Pharaoh to yeeld to Moses and Aaron and made Sisera to yeelde to Deborah and made Goliah to yeelde to Dauid and made the temple to rende a sunder when Christ was crucified and the sunne to loose hir light shall compell the wicked to the iudgement seate of God Another reason is bicause their hope for helpe or mercie or pardon is but in vaine Lam. 4. 17. And therefore although they woulde escape yet their hope shall deceiue them as the mother and wife of Sisera which told of the victorie when in the ende it turned to their owne ouerthrow I doe but briefly touch these things bicause I haue handled them more at large alreadie The vses which arise from hence are these First that wee come willinglie to the throne of grace Rom. 5. 2. or else we shall be vnwillingly drawne to the throne of wrath Come to all godlie exercises ioyfully heare the Gospell diligently reade the scriptures zealously loue the godly tenderly and praie to the Lorde comfortablie and then shalt thou come to grace not to wrath to glorie not to shame to life not to death to heauen not to hell Make no excuses for thy absence admit no delaies for thy hinderance suffer no temptations for thy allurement and let not the wife of thy youth keepe thee from praier and the throne of grace Feare God more than loue the worlde hate euill more than loue thy wife Saie vnto all cumbrancers awaie from mee for I will keepe the Gospell of my God I had rather loose my finger than my hande my haire than my heade my bodie than my soule my friendes than my GOD. I will feare the Lorde before wrath that I may reioice in iudgement Againe let vs learne to acknowledge and perswade our selues of this terror of God 2. Cor. 5. 11. for except wee consider before hande howe the heauens shall be consumed howe the earth shall bee burned howe the worlde shall bee ended and howe the Lorde shall be manifested the Gospell will be but a weake worde and an idle tale vnto vs But if thou canst beleeue the last iudgement and with the eie of faith beholde it a farre off and tremble at the secret meditation thereof then thou maiest easily feele the power of life vnto life and happily forsake the sentence of death Therefore euermore remember iudgement at thy feast in thy bed on thy table in the morning at thy labour before thy sleepe and with thy friendes that thou and they be not of the kindreds of the earth which shall waile and lament before the comming of Christ Reuel 1. 7. There will I pleade with them Hauing finished the gathering togither of the wicked into the place of iudgement now it remaineth that wee goe on to the causes of their destruction which the Lord heere openeth as pleaders do in their courts at the law and therefore he saith that he will plead with them for his people alluding to the manner of worldly iudgements so that heere wee may see that the Lord is both iudge counsellor for his church which may greatly comfort vs and discomfort our enimies for the Lord who is to tally for vs and eagerly against them hath the whole law in his owne hand But in this that he saith he will plead with them we may note that God will open all the sinnes of the wicked in iudgement Eccles 11. 9. For pleaders will not omit any thing which may discredit their aduersarie or the cause against which they speake yea they will suspect those things which they cannot gainesay and condemne those things very peremptorily which they can any way blemish In like sort the Lord when he shall draw thee to iudgement will there open all thy life and tell thy secret whooredome thy hidden theft thy often blasphemies thy idle words thy vaine expences thy proud gestures thy idle worship thy friend-pleasing vanitie and all thy hypocrisie Thy charitie he will defame with vaine-glorie thy prayers hee will account abhomination thy fasting he will call dissembling and thy gentle nature shall be accounted a flattering vertue All this will hee bring to iudgement hee will prooue it by thy conscience he will condemne it by his Gospell and he will punish it by condemnation oh then shall thy faults be written in thy forehead that al may know them and thy priuie doings blowen with a trumpet that all may heare them and thy forsworne sinnes opened by a crier that all may loath them Oh wretched wretches which had rather abide this iudgement of God then that which is in this life but if thou haue any meanes to perswade thy soule vnto goodnes or to terrifie thy flesh from euill let this helpe it forward that God shal open all thy faults at the day of iudgement and discredit all thy vertues be they neuer so many or neuer so glorious Thinke not that thy good deedes shall ouercome thy euil but as one blemish disfigureth a whole bodie so one sinne will disgrace a whole bodie of vertues The reasons of this doctrine are these because the counsell of euerie hart shall then be manifested whether it be good or euill 1. Cor. 4 5. and if the counsels of men be opened much more their sinnes Another reason is because they are remembred before God Reuel 20. 12. and if all the sinnes of the wicked be in the Lords
goods whereas you should haue laide your goodes at the Apostles feete what will ye doe when the mouth of God shall pronounce your destruction for medling with his tithes and his offerings and his sacrifices and his liuings as the hand of God did Belshazzars depriuation on the wall surely not your knees will bend but your harts wil quake not your countenance will change but your conscience wil tremble not your loines wil be loosed but your liues not your wealth shall be only destroied but your soules bodies for euer euer Secondly we may obserue out of this vers when he saith that they haue caried into their temples his goodlie pleasant things that God accounteth preciouslie of the meanes of his worship howe basely soeuer the world and all worldlings doe iudge thereof Leuit. 1. 2. for he calleth them his goodly and pleasant things The which thing I woulde haue most diligently obserued that wee may so thinke of the thinges of God as the spirite of God doth deliuer them vnto vs that we finde them goodlie as full of grace and pleasant as filled with delight that we may all saie Oh Lorde howe sweete are thy lawes vnto our hearts yea sweeter then honie to our mouthes For carnall minded men see no more grace in a church then in a tauerne nor no more delight in a christian then in a ruffian nor esteeme any whit better of a preacher then a craftesman or finde any more sweetenesse in a sermon then a plaie or take any more delight in the Gospell then in a little pedlars french Oh howe basely are you minded that cannot thinke better of the Lords matters One of you thinke that there is great goodnesse in an eare of wheate another findeth great delight in a fielde flower another sporteth himselfe with the smell of a rose but none of you can feele any pleasure in that corne that bringeth bread of life or that flower that sheweth the worke of life or that rose that offereth the smell of heauen Laie away thy base thoughts of spirituall matters and knowe that the church is the Lordes house who is greater then a king that the preachers are the Lordes stewardes who are better then lordes that the Gospell is thy soules food sweeter than any iuncate that a christian is the Lordes friend better than any rich man that a sermon is thy Sauiours praise higher then any prince and that the fellowship of saints is more woorth then the valour of knights Thinke I saie howe goodly and pleasant are the wordes full of grace the companie full of goodnesse the praiers full of sweetenesse the Psalmes full of melodie and the soules full of sorrowe which are gathered togither before the Lorde in his church The reasons of this doctrine are these First because hee euermore regardeth what himselfe hath appointed Cant. 5. 1. His church is his garden and therefore he hath planted euery flower growing therin wherewithall hee cannot chuse but bee highly delighted as he was at the beginning when hee sawe that all his workes were good Another reason is bicause he punisheth them seuerely that contemne any part of his ordinance Heb. 2. 2. 1. Cor. 11. 30. and therefore he accounteth preciously of his worde which hee defendeth by his power and of his poore saints whom hee maintaineth by his angels and of his mercie which hee manifested in his sonne and of the neglect of his Gospell which hee punisheth by condemnation Let vs therefore honour whom God honoureth Act. 10. 15. and that which God accounteth precious let vs not cast awaie as vile Because Assuerus honoured Haman all the people of his kingdome did him reuerence and therefore because the Lorde thinketh well of the worde and of the Sacraments and of praier and of preaching and of hearing the Gospell let him bee a dead dogge that speaketh against the same But alas alas as Vasthi would not come although the king hir husband sent for hir so will not our Vasthies men women olde and yoong followe religion and come to the Gospell although God our father and Christ our husband send for them neuer so earnestly but she was rewarded for hir disobedience and was diuorced from the king and so I feare will bee the ende of verie many in our daies to be put out of the Lordes fauour and diuorced from the blessings of Christ And again let vs learne to put on our eies of faith that wee may commend that which God commendeth for except wee can beholde the workes of God and the Gospell of God with spirituall eies it shall neuer bee goodly and pleasant before vs and cast away the blockish dulnesse that oppresseth your braines like a drouzie nap in a shining daie which will not suffer you to beholde the light with any comfort But lift vp your eies as the children of light that you may see the beautie of Christes church the riches of the Lords spirit the treasures of the Lordes saintes the ornaments of a faithfull soule and the glorie of another life The children also of Iudah and the children of Ierusalem haue ye sold vnto the Grecians that yee might send them farre from their border This verse contayneth the last cause of the Lordes iudgement vpon his enimies for that they had sold his seed and seruants vnto the heathen nations with this policie because when they were carried far from their own countrey they should liue like slaues without hope euer to returne home againe These Grecians to whom they solde the people of God were Gentiles or heathens the posteritie of Iauan the sonne of Iaphet who was the eldest sonne of Noah And in this that the Lorde now calleth them to a reckoning because they had solde away his people although they were their captiues vnto infidels we may obserue that it is not lawfull to commit the children of the beleeuers into the handes of vnbeleeuers And for this cause it is reported Gen. 12. 5. that when Abraham was commaunded by God to goe out of Haran where all were fallen to idolatrie into the promised lande of Canaan he tooke with him Sarai his wife and Lot his brothers sonne for he would not leaue him in the hands of Terah Abrahams father and Lot his grandfather because with the residue he then was fallen to idolatrie And this example is a sufficient proofe of the matter to teach vs that we should so loue the soules of the righteous seede that we leaue them not resident among the infidels or Atheists or Papistes or other prophane wretches but to our owne cost and labour redeeme them from the diuels tyranny But in this we may lament First that euen in our times we may see many of yeeres of discretion to runne away into papistical and heathenish warres or else to sauegarde themselues vnder the liueries of them that are open enimies to the Gospell and many to binde and put their owne children the fruit of their bodie
which they ought to consecrat to the Lord into the education of most blasphemous and abhominable Atheists are not these as much to be complained vpon as them whom the Lord heere condemneth for selling of Ierusalems seed into the hands of the Grecians Yea much more for these sold their enimies but our men sell themselues and their children these did it by the lawe of warre but our men doe it contrarie to the lawe of God these men in so doing did not sinne against their knowledge but our men in doing as they do sinne against their conscience O vnhappie parents which destroy your children in Popish houses what are you inferiour to them that sacrificed them to diuels O vnhappie yoong men which destroy your soules for the seruice of wicked men why do you to gaine a gentlemans cognisaunce loose your Sauiours crowne I pray God open your eies that you may come from them or else you will be destroyed with them The reasons of this doctrine are these First because it is not lawfull to make marriages with infidels heathens papists or Atheists Deut. 7. 3. and if in an equall band we may not aduenture our sonnes or our daughters much more may we not giue them ouer in an vnequal if it be not lawfull to giue them in marriage then is it not lawfull to sell or giue them to slauerie or seruitude The woorser part is apt to ouercome the better for if an infidell man do take a beleeuing woman or an infidell woman a beleeuing husband a thousand to one but the infidell will perswade the beleeuer as wise king Salomon who was perswaded to idolatrie by his wiues And then I pray you how will those that are wicked masters and gouernours compel and perswade their poore despised seruants and captiues hirelings and apprentices vnto whatsoeuer iniquitie commeth in their braine But peraduenture some will say that when we be ouercharged with poore people we are glad if wee finde any that will ease vs of our cost and we were better suffer our poore mens children to serue carnall men and papists and Atheists then to keepe them in idlenes or let them famish to whom I answere that God hath not so dealt with any in England for there are meanes sufficient to bring them vp with christians and not to suffer them to famish if men would but straine their abilitie a little to do good but all is too little that is reserued for the wanton posteritie of the wealthie and men choose rather that their vnthriftie children should consume all in leudnes which they haue got in miserie then that any portion should goe foorth of their coffers to maintaine poore mens children and so to put the lesse in their inuentorie Another reason to confirme this doctrine is this that there is no part nor communion betwixt the children of God and Belial 2. Cor. 6. 15. and therefore to send or giue our children vnto Pagans Atheists and carnall godlesse men to be by them instructed is to ioyne light with darkenes heauen with hell saints with diuels and God with Beliall Oh what a confusion is there now in the world for seeing God doth yet suffer a few Papists among vs as hee suffered Philistims among the Israelites to trie them and prouoke them now happie are they that can be in league with them for they haue good cheere fat beeues many great mannors goodly rich farms they are able to pleasure thē but such plesure wil cost more then a lawiers or a courtiers friendship althogh thou shouldst cōuerse with thē without al approuing of their superstitiō yet thou oughtst not at al for God hath no felowship with thē The vses which arise frō this doctrin are these first that by the former example of Abraham we haue singular care that al the childrē which are born amōg vs be godly vertuously brought vp carefully prouided for that they may do Christ som seruice in the cōmonwelth or church And surely as our sauior said Ma. 18. that whosoeuer doth offend one of those litle ones that beleeue in him it were better a milstone were hanged about his neck he cast into the sea but of al offences there is non so gret as to bequeath thē vnto their tuition that wil cast away their soules for men of corrupt cōsciences wicked affections will cōpas heauē earth to make any the childrē of dānatiō Oh therfore cast not away the seed of the righteous the childrē of Christiās the price of the pretious blood of Christ You haue made thē in their baptism whē they were yong to cōfesse Christ now make thē not again to deny Christ but if euer there be any poore mans child com to your prouisiō so set him forward deal for his helth that with the maintenāce of this life he may haue the assurāce of the life to com Bind thē to none but to Christ put thē to none but to christians sel thē to nothing but to the gospell leaue not young helplesse youths maidens in the hands custodie of old cākred wicked enemies of God Another vse if it be not lawful to cōmit the children of the righteous vnto the gouernmēt of the wicked then is it not lawful for masters lords to keep their seruants from the true seruice of God It was a wicked tyrannie of Pharaoh Exod. 5. 3 4. that he kept the children of Israel frō the seruice of God such surely is the tyranny of them that will busie their seruāts euen on the Lords day rather than send them or suffer them to serue the Lord oh think with your selues that Christ is your Lord and master Eph. 6. 9. therfore how will he take it at your hands to see you thus afflict his free men and how can you affoorde him your owne seruice which will deny him your seruants Rather follow the example of Iosuah and say that you and your houshold will serue the Lord and let there be as many Pharaohs as will be yet they shall knowe one day that there is no crueltie more punishable then is the authoritie which is vsed against the Lords seruice That you might send them farre from their border That is you haue a wicked policie to sell away my people because you would neuer haue them come againe but that you might for euer possesse their inheritances By which we may obserue that it is a most wicked and vile thing to depriue any of their patrimonies or inheritances and by violence and countenance to keepe them from them Ezech. 22. 7. And the reason is because the Lord nameth himselfe to be a father of the fatherlesse Psal 68. 5. therfore he that oppresseth them shall be oppressed by God and they that take away their inheritance how shall they looke for any inheritance in another life Giue vnto them and take not from them Deut. 24. 19. and augment their reuenues rather
well Mendacium ex veritate superstitio religionem imitatur Lies come of truth and superstition taketh Religion for a patterne yet for all this lies are not truth superstition is not religion nor the torments which desperate men for euill causes endure shall euer make good mens sufferings to be lesse regarded The sheepe must not leaue off her skin because somtimes the wolfe commeth in her likenesse nor we must lesse esteeme the martyrs paines bicause the diuels souldiers likewise die for his sake by these two reasons it is euident that the prophets sermons are the Lords sermons Nowe let vs make some godly vses of this doctrine The first generall exhortation which we make heereof is that sentence of the Apostle 1. Thess 5. 20. Despise not prophesying That is now it hath been cleerely prooued that the prophets speeches are the oracles of God be not so beastly as swine to tread those precious pearles of deuine wisedome in the filthie dregs and stinking myre of your vaine displeasures It being apparant that God his ministers speake no more without his spirit then the conduit runneth without his fountaines springs those disgracing words which many vse of the spirituall exercises some at their table others in their clossets many at the tauerns and most in their houses are nothing else but meere reuilings and spitefull raylings against the spirit of God Sometimes the preachers want eloquence to smooth the itching eares of gallant persons sometimes they want learning to feede the curious mindes of vaine religion bablers sometimes they want wealth to maintaine their countenance with outward brauerie and sometime they want manners to make them companions to the gentle sort And euerie one of these thinke his sermons and labours in God his church to be nothing worth where he spieth but one want which his vaine conceite desired I like not this sermon saith one bicause he wanted words it was a silly peece of worke saith another bicause it was not bombasted with the sayings of Fathers and he seldome or neuer confuted the papists another saith that the preacher was but a poore beggerly fellowe and therefore it is no matter what hee say none of the great men would haue saide so much and others saide he hath more learning then wit more zeale then behauiour and his confident wordes are impudent speeches vnto all these I say Despise not prophesying See you not howe the diuell driueth you to condemne all for want of one and to a generall neglect for a particular desire shall the spirite of God be blamed because euery mans humour is not satisfied God forbid that such iniquitie should lodge among the professours of religion that those sermons which displease some should be despised of so many there is no pearle which all men will praise there is no garden so pleasant but some will dislike it nor anie house so commodious but some will dispraise it shall wee cast away pearles plowe vp gardens and race downe houses bicause all men are not pleased No verily no more shall prophesying preaching praying and exhorting be reiected although euery mans idle disposition be not answered Oh miserable and lamentable daies wherein men come to the congregation like buyers to a faire and they all crie it is naught it is naught though the Lordes wares be freely solde yet who will buie them at his hands The more plentifully they are offered the more scornefully they are reiected for looke vpon those places where the ministerie hath beene of longest standing and greatest practise where pastors according to the Lords owne hart are planted where the voice of the worde soundeth at least euerie Sabbaoth day I say looke there euen as narrowly as Ezechiel looked ouer Ierusalem and you shal finde them more ignorant in knowledge more lewde in liuing more obstinate in wordes and more disobedient in deedes then other people are Euen thus the diuell laboureth painfully where the Lord speaketh abundantly that he may maliciously condemne where the Lord woulde mercifully saue insomuch that the Lord may say to the congregations of England as he once saide to the assembly of Israel Ierem. 6. vers 10 Vnto whom shall I speake and admonish that they may heare behold their eares are vncircumcised they cannot harken behold the worde of the Lorde is vnto them as a reproch And where the worde of the Lorde can haue no being the wrath of the Lord will take vp the lodging therefore we may say as the prophet speaketh Abak 1. 5. Behold yee despisers and woonder and vanish away for I worke a worke in your daies a worke which you will not beleeue though a man declare it Consider this yee scornefull hearers among vs that God shall punish your contempt with infidelitie and although myracles should be wrought to conuert you yet they shall not profite you euen the myracles of Egypt till yee be vtterly consumed you which with lesse deuotion serue the Lord then your pleasures with lesse diligence followe the Church then the tauerne with more delight exercise vanitie then religion with more labour occupie your trades of life then the words of life euen you I meane are the despisers of heauenly pearles for earthly trash which neuer are pleased with the seruants of Christ It is your condemnation that sleepeth not whose conscience can pretend no excuse at the day of all daies that either yee wanted preachers or leasure or abilitie or time or meanes to beleeue those heauenly oracles Behold this yee despisers and repent shewe your sorrowe by your amendement and redeeme the time by diligence heereafter If the Lorde vtter his voice the earth is mooued and the mountaines tremble Psal 29. Mooue therefore your harts you rebellious sort from the world to god from ignorance to knowledge and from disobedience to faith stirre vp your resty bodies and idle limmes and go from strength to strength till you come to the Lords mountaine let not feare of sicknesse dread of pouertie loue of pleasures desire of profit drawe you from heauen but draw neere vnto God and hee will draw neere vnto you The gates of heauen are open enter you therein Secondly another vse we may adde heereunto is that exhortation of the Apostle 1. Cor. 14. 1. Aboue all other gifts desire prophesie what was more admirable then healing of sicke persons or more commendable then to speake strange toongs or more glorious then to worke myracles or more necessarie then to discerne spirits yet aboue all these saith Paul rather desire Prophesie Neither is it maruell that so great an honour is bestowed on so noble a gift because the Prophets speeches are the Lords sermons Then my beloued as for the merchandise of gold men endure the longest traficke the sharpest pains and greatest charges euen so for the obtaining of prophesie whether it be to preach or heare preachers sustaine my bowels in the Lord Iesus the roughest waies the longest studies the weariest iournies the coldest daies the hottest threats
and dearest cost for euen for these shall you receiue many thousand times more comforts in this world and ioyes in the world to come But oh my deerely beloued in the Lord I may complaine of the neglect of preaching and prophesiyng as Ieremie did of Ierusalem Lament 1. How doth that citie remaine solitarie that was full of people she is as a widow she that was great among the nations and princesse among the prouinces is made tributarie Euen so weepe you chaste doues of the Lord and you solitarie Pellicans professours of the truth take you vp this Lamentation and say how doe those loftie cities which are builded on the Lords hill the ministers of the word remaine desolate for there is none that come vnto them to buy their heauenly wares preaching of the vulgar and greatest sort is counted meere babling the glorious gifts of the spirit are as little as dreamers fits and many peraduenture in some one man haue some delight like to a strange muse wrought in a male contented minde by a consort of Musicke but what sinnes will they forsake at his request Surely as many as did Herod at the preaching of Iohn Baptist nay rather farewell friendship then welcome repentance though they like such a preacher well yet they loue their pleasures better Hereby may we of the ministerie try our owne friends and manifest the Lords followers if we meekely reprooue their follies which will beare vs in hand they loue and like vs well As for example if they be of the gentle sort tell them of their vaine expences if of the meaner tell them of their carnall minds if of the poorest tell them of their ignorance if the brauest shew them of their pride if the learnedst declare to them their vaine glorie and finally if the noblest bid them beware of despising the Gospell if they will abide these blowes and turne you the other cheeke also then account him for a Dauid or else reiect him for a Herod Oh how is the world altered from following preaching and prophesie in the purest age of the church their greatest glorie was in the ministery since that time euen in our owne memorie how would the people of the countrey flocke to follow preaching but now euen in our daies my beloued we our selues haue liued to see the preachers mocked as Elishah was the same people which once woulde seeme to care for nothing saue Christ the more are the preachers the fewer are the hearers Euen the Sabaothes of the Lorde are polluted with all manner of villanies and vanities as boldly as if the Gospels sounde had neuer beene shewed among vs. Euen the princesse of all professions I meane Diuinitie the Queene of al sciences the preaching of the worde is become the vilest in shew the poorest in practise the meanest in request and the greatest in slauerie The word of the Lord that came to loel the sonne of Pethuell That is to say which he sent or spake vnto Ioel the sonne of Pethuell In old time God spake diuers and many waies saith the Scripture Heb. 1. 1. to our fathers by the Prophets them I finde principally to be these first by vision as to Salomon 2. Chro. 1. 7. secondly by dreames as Moses saieth Deut. 1. 2. 6. and so he spake to Ioseph Mat. 1. 20. Thirdly by plaine face to face as hee did to Moses Fourthly by Angels Act. 8. 26. and lastly by secret instinct or motion of the spirit Luke 2. 27. and in this manner it is most likely the prophet Ioel receiued this prophesie Out of this we obserue this doctrine that if God send not his worde among vs we our selues euen the greatest among vs could or would not apprehend it For this cause the Scripture calleth it the word that came to Ioell meaning that then it came vnto him when he thought least of such strange euents terrible iudgements which he had giuen him in commission to denounce to his countrey men And the truth hereof may appeare by many testimonies of the word of God In that sinfull estate wherein all Israell stood in the time of Esay the prophet the Lord cried out Esay 6. 8. Whom shall I send vnto them as if there were none that would offer themselues to this busines And in the prophesie of Ieremie the Lord many times complaineth that he himselfe intended this busines earely and late morning and euening to send his prophets vnto them for their conuersion In other places where he bewaileth the destruction of his people he assigneth this for the cause The Prophets ran but I sent them not neither did they teach my ordinances So that if there be any forwardnes in the preachers and ministers that way to goe on their message before they receiue their arrand it rather destroyeth then saueth curseth then blesseth scattereth then gathereth the flocke of God togither Indeede when the Lord sendeth any he giueth them before hande the knowledge of his word so that they only which are apt and willing to teach are to be accompted the Lords ministers and no others Euen as the Lord gaue either more talents or fewer to euerie one of his seruants and we read not any called his seruant but he which had a talent at the least euen so in the ministerie where is not some sufficiencie to discharge that function I can neuer say he was of the Lords sending Therfore we must know that the great store of godly preachers and ministers of the word that abound in our daies in most corners of our countrey I would to God I could say in all were not either for desire of liuing or glorious estimation or any wordly cause aduaunced to the churches seruice but the Lord who hath indued their minds with knowledge their hearts with courage their toongs with vtterance and themselues with his spirit and word euen he aboue hath chosen them to be souldiers in his wars against Sathans kingdome and by the voice of his word like canon shot to batter downe the castles of darkenes The reasons hereof are manifest first because that mans nature in it selfe abhorreth nothing more then God his seruices Exo. 3. 11. 12 13. when Moses was called by the Lord to carie his name before Pharoh and the children of Israell how many delayes did he make and how many shifts did he inuent to exempt himselfe from this heauenly message sometime he wanted toong sometime strength and sometime authoritie now one while hee feared the king another while the people and although the Lord wrought miracles for him yet would he gladly auoide it Secondly it is apparant that when the people were in greatest extremitie and most of all felt the heauie hand of the wrath of God there was no calamitie that touched them so neerely or pressed them so deadly as this to thinke they had no Prophets left to inquire of the word of the Lord. For as a shippe in the midst of the sea tossed too
and fro amongst ten thousand waues being full of passengers without either pilote or mariner is in extreme hazard of drowning bicause they haue none to sound the bottomes for to throw foorth their anchor to staie them in the stormes or when the calme commeth they haue not one among them to direct them to the shore euen so when the floudes of troubles shall threaten the ouerthrow of any particular church or nation they hauing no preachers or prophets among them who should perswade them to patience during their aduersitie and to cast out the anchor of their hope during their danger or hauing escaped those fierie and fearefull troubles yet who but the ministers of God shall instruct them in righteousnesse and direct them to heauen In the raigne of Iosiah although his daies were happie through peace and his subiects ioyfull through a good king and religious nobles yet this was the glory of his kingdome that there was one Huldah a Prophetesse the wife of Shallum that tolde him his owne prosperitie bicause his hart melted at the voice of God his worde and also that there is one Helkijah a priest 2. Kings 22. that gaue him the law of his God so are we happie through long enioyed peace being shadowed vnder the wings of a mercifull Prince and religious Magistrates yet this is the glorie of our nation that many Prophets and Preachers haue offered vnto vs the verie word of God the which if it were wanting all were worth nothing therefore if God build not who can reare If he send not who can prosper If he speake not who can prophesie and if he diminish the number of his seruants the preachers we may complaine in our miseries as the Iewes did There is not one Prophet more left and yet remaine comfortlesse The vses which we will briefly make here of are these First the same which our Sauiour Christ teacheth vs vpon this doctrine Mat. 9. 28. Pray saith he the Lord of the vineyard that he would thrust foorth labourers into his haruest There is no more Christian exercise or necessarie practise then with vnfeined soules to desire at the handes of him who ruleth all with his hand that in times of ignorance and neglect of heauenly worship when the corne is ripe and fit to be gathered into the Lords barne that he would haue pitie vpon his wandring sheepe and care of his planted corne euen the worke of his owne handes and not suffer them to be cast away for want of instruction Oh howe would it and doth it grieue a christian soule to consider that the image of God himselfe should be lost which shineth so beautifully in euerie one of mankind pray therefore my beloued in the Lord for hereby onely shall you performe a worke acceptable to God because you are humbled beneficiall to the church because you aske for her labourers comfortable to your selues because you tender your brethrens soules and ioyfull to the verie angels for the conuersion of sinners The ruler of the temple Mat. 9. 18. hauing but his daughter sicke and diseased yet came to our Sauiour and entreated him for her health which he performed and she recouered Let vs therefore in pitie of many thousand sons and daughters of the world come to the courts of the Lords house within the closets of our owne soules and desire with feeling and earnest prayers the Lord Iesus that he would shewe and shine forth his truth by his word in the mouthes of many more ministers of peace to conuert many moe sinners vnto righteousnes to turne the hearts of fathers to their children of mothers to their daughters of princes to their subiects and of the nations to their God There is not any one point that proueth more substantially to a mans soule that hee loueth Christ vnfaynedly then this the practise of it to pray for the increase of heauenly pastors Euen as in the world nothing is so commendable as the workes of mercie as to feede the famished to cloath the naked to deliuer the imprisoned and to acquite him that is wrongfully condemned so in the church of God there is no grace like to the gift of the ministerie the starued are fed by them with the bread of life the naked are cloathed by them with the garments of a Sauiour they which lye fast bound in the verie dungeons of hell and the prisons of darkenes are deliuered by them into the glorious libertie of the sonnes of God and euen they which were condemned to temporall miseries and eternall calamities are acquited discharged and released by their message Let vs all therefore say vnto the Lord Lord increase the number of painefull preachers And if we ought to pray for them how damnable is their estate that pray vpon them if it be the highest seruice of God to promote them then is it the highest seruice of the diuell to persecute them If they be blessed where the word is preached and beleeued then are they accursed where it is not heard nor receiued If Christ blamed his disciples that would haue had him to blame them that cast deuils out in his name then are they to bee blamed which will vpon euerie light and easie occasion labour to the vttermost to stop the mouthes of Gods seruants to discourage the people from hearing the olde men from instructing the yoong men from studying the children from learning the women from asking the seruants frō obeying the word of God Therefore if we haue any care of the Lords seruice any compassion of them that are tyrannously oppressed any conscience of the soules of men then pray for the peace and number of the preachers For as when the teeth are fallen out of the mouth the life is hardly nourished and quickly turnd Euen so when the ministers which are the teeth of the church to grinde the word vnto them are remooued then followeth the graue and sepulchre of the Lords family To Ioel the sonne of Pethuell heerein is no hardnes and euerie one may easily perceiue the meaning hereof for the prophet nameth himselfe and also declareth his parentage and it is very like that his father was a man of good estimation that the Prophet thus barely without any further addition prefixeth his name to this prophesie We obserue out of this description of the ministring cause of this prophsie this doctrine that God preferreth the seruice of men before the seruice of angels in the building of the church he rather choseth and appointeth that his heauenly immaculate word should be manifested by earthly and sinfull men then by celestiall holy angels Act. 1. 8. The Lord Iesus maketh this his ordinance that his disciples shall witnes the redemption in Ierusalem Iudea and Samaria and the vttermost parts of the earth Euen the same Lord which not long before told them that he had the angels at commaund now rather vseth the helpe and ministerie of men Men would thinke it a strange proceeding
preachers the carnall and time seruing professours these shall goe to the place from whence they came there to be tormented world without end It is not cold and idle hearing that maketh vs the people of God but a sincere and diligent frequenting the place where his person dwelleth We must not be contented to be the Lords retayners but we must sue to be made his houshold seruants The Apostle Peter in his first epistle cap. 2. ver 5. calleth vs all that professe the Lord Iesus a spirituall priesthood now this was the office in old time of a priest euery day to appeare at the altar and their very lodging was in the Temple therefore must we come often to the Lords house and desire to dwell in his tabernacle that we may euermore heare and speake his worde The second reason of this doctrine is taken from the continuall course of the Iudgements of God All Egypt was plagued because they heard not the worde of God euen their king lost his eldest sonne and afterwarde he himselfe for the same follie was drowned and swallowed vp of the sea The noble man which would not beleeue and harken to the voice of the prophet when he told him of the great and sudden cheapnes of corne answered him that it was impossible except the windowes of heauen shoulde bee opened but he sawe it accomplished and for his infidelitie was troden to death by the people Reade the whole booke of God and you shal euery where plainly perceiue that for disobedience to God his worde and contempt of his messengers Kings haue been deposed and Queenes haue beene punished Lords Ladies Magistrates and subiectes old men and children haue tasted of the deadly cup of the Lords heauie wrath Lay vp this in your harts my bowels in the Lorde happy are they which auoide danger by the fals of other men Oh that the teares of our countrymen couldewash away the guilt of this sinne for our score is growne so great by our long continued credit that we haue made no conscience to pay the Lord his owne and we haue vrgent cause to consider and also to feare least the Lord sue the extremitie of the lawe vpon vs and neuer spare till we haue paide the vttermost farthing and felt the full weight of his hande and spent euery drop of bloud in soule and body for the notorious contempt of his most glorious Gospel There is no sacrifice to be compared to the hearing of the Lords worde and therefore the neglect thereof in whomsoeuer is most fearefull most deadly most damnable The vses which offer themselues vnto vs out of this doctrine are these first that the ancient and great men must suffer the words of the Lords ministers patiently and for this cause the Apostle willeth vs Tit. 2. 2. To exhort the elders to sobernesse and faith There be two things which should shine as bright in age and authoritie as the eies do in the heads of strong yoong men that see and be seene of others and yet see not themselues euen so ought sobrietie and faith to offer themselues vnto the view of all persons where the graie haires appeere like the buddes of an almond tree whereby the aged may see and correct the follies of youth and yoong men may see their example to be drawne in loue with their liues but they themselues ought not to be proud for that honour which the Lord hath bestowed vpon them Oh how vnhappie is that time when olde men and great men are as wanton as children and as faithles as those which neuer knewe God Wo bee to that lande whose Prince is a childe saith Salomon Meaning that the whole countrey is distressed where the gouerners thereof haue as little stay as children or as little faith as children In our daies if the Lords ministers which keepe the soules of our countrymen shall in meekenesse admonish old men they tell them they are but boyes to themselues and they knew what religion was before they were borne not knowing their antiquitie cannot preiudice the spirite of the Lord or not considering what our sauiour saide to the labourers in the vineyard They which were first shall be last and they which were last shall bee first Others thinke that if they beare an office in the common wealth no man may dare to counsell them in the Lorde they themselues thinke they are iniured and their friends thinke they are disgraced if the word of exhortation passe vpon them shall I say they being a gentleman well descended well instructed of so many hundred poundes reuenues bee in as much slauerie to this preaching as the poore artificer But vnto these we may answere that if their natures or offices exempt them from sermons they also exempt them from saluation For it pleased God through the foolishnes of preaching to saue them that beleeue What is a King better then a farmer a noble man better then an artificer a gentleman better then a plowman and a magistrate better then a subiect without true religion and obedience to the gospel Surely nothing for now whether had you rather bee poore Iacob bowing to the earth alone or rich Esau attended with fowre hundred men whether had you rather bee Pharaoh or Moses Ieroboam or the prophet Ziakijah or Ieremie the rich man or Lazarus Pilate or Christ Herod or Iohn Baptist the Apostles or the high Priests stagger not heereat but shew your consciences whether of these you woulde be you cannot bee both therefore choose one The way to heauen is narrowe and we being clothed with our owne conceites can neuer enter in there is too little roome for both we cannot beare the yoke of Christ and the worlde at one time the least of both requireth a whole man Therefore you my beloued fathers beare with the voice of vs your yoongers for when we exhort you it is not done in our name but in his who is the ancient of daies elder then the oldest wiser then the wisest stronger then the strongest and yoonger then the yoongest who is euery day borne in his members It is not vs but him that you heare who knoweth your harts seeth your liues and shall condemne your incredulitie The Lord told the rebellious Israelites when they refused Moses and Aaron that it was not against them but him that they had murmured and refused so it is not our youth it is not our frailtie it is not our weaknes that you blame for if wee were not ministers you woulde loue vs the better for it but it is against the Lorde that you striue Oh staie your toongs before they go too farre God which dasheth in peeces yoong infants careth not for your gray haires your swordes auaile not against him neither can your reuenues redeeme your soules Secondly we may make this one vse of this That forsomuch as the Elders and Magistrates must aboue others vse the hearing of the worde of God what is their estate
deadly warre disquieteth them then are they heauie then onely are they sorrowfull Reu. 18. 9 10 11. Luc. 17. 27. Hose 7. 14. They account it a speciall madnesse to mourne for the affliction of Ioseph that is to weepe for their owne sinnes for the persecution of the Lords flocke for the decrease of the faithfull and contempt of the Gospell also they thinke it a meere follie for men to reioice at the hearing of a sermon or the reproouing of sinne or the planting of a preaching minister and the remoouing of a cypher or the establishing of religion But let them knowe it is a thing accursed to reioice for vanitie and not for godlinesse to weepe more for the losse of a father or the want of bread or the feeling of sicknesse then for the famine of God his worde or the death of a faithfull man The reasons for confirmation hereof may be these because onely in these temporall and worldly things they place the rest of their soules Luc. 15. 19. The rich man hauing new builded his barnes reaped his corne and filled his storehouses biddeth his soule to take her ease for he had store ynough for many yeeres we maruell then that the losse of these things goeth so neere them when with them they loose the very health of their soules What shall wee say to the greedy cormorants which to gather wealth as this man did reposing therein the hope of their health while vnlawfully they would saue their soules vnrighteously they condemne them Oh let them also beware which being the outwarde professors of the Gospell yet neuer make an ende to encroach more liuing I cannot say they hope to be saued by them but I may be bolde to say that they much distaine the glorie of God while they aduaunce their names they endanger their soules Secondly another reason is because the loue of these carnall commodities banisheth away the loue of God 1. Ioh. 2. 16. How shal men which haue denied God and are become idolaters as all worldly men are Ephes 5. 5. care for any religion or reioice for any goodnesse yea rather lament it or how shall they lament any euill but rather reioyce in it because they are voide of all goodnesse themselues A godly father saide of them in this sort that they account that euill which doth not make them euill as famines sicknesse and other calamities but for swearing drunkennes whooredome and other vices they call them not euils They are not ashamed while they praise good things themselues to be euill and they thinke it a greater disgrace to haue a ragged towne a thatched house an vnhansome legge or a poore estate then to haue an ill life This said hee long agoe and now with teares I may say it againe that men in our times through the want of religion which through abundance they haue loathed and rebellion they haue vomited vp feare no God but the enimy loue no knowledge but their law euidence and they care for no health but bodily medicines and thus they weepe when they should reioice and reioice when they should weepe The vses which arise from this doctrine are these First that these carnall mindes and men shall neuer be eased in their carnall sorrowes or comforted in their worldly comforts Therefore Iames said cap. 4. 2 3. Ye lust and haue not ye enuie and haue indignation and cannot obtaine you fight and warre and get nothing be cause you aske not you aske and receiue not bicause you aske amisse that you might consume it on your lustes Wherein the heauenly Apostle hath set out to the full the nature of al worldly wishers carnal criers wherin these things I be seech you to obserue most diligently First that this is the nature of wicked mē in their praiers being in distresse that they enuie and haue indignation euen at God himselfe thinking that he doth them great iniurie thus to disquiet their ease and to trouble them with want Oh fearefull condition of wicked men that their very praiers are nothing else but murmuring against the Almightie Secondly he noteth the verie cause why the wicked craue any thing at the hand of their creator that saith he they might bestow it on their lustes And surely I am much afraid that the feigned praiers of a great number in this time of dearth and famine haue had the like inward motion which is the cause that the Lord regardeth not our praiers and remooueth not his iudgements Thinke not therefore that euer your cries for corne for bread for meate for plentie for cheapnes and for comfort shall take any effect although you fill the aire with your outcries or the earth with your teares vntill your carnall mindes be banished your enuying spirits be humbled your vniust and vnlawfull suites be silenced yea vntill you haue more regard to your soules then to your bodies to the Gospell then to the corne fields and to the glorie of God aboue wife or children life or saluation Another vse belonging to this doctrine our Sauiour giueth Mat. 6. 31. 32. Take no thought saith he what you shal eat or what you shall drinke or wherwithal you shal be cloathed for after these things seek the Gentiles your heauenly father knoweth that you haue neede of those things but seeke you first the kingdome of God and the righteousnes thereof and all these things shal be ministred vnto you Here may we learne the medicine for our sicknes the supply of our want the comfort of our distresse who shall bid vs mourn because we haue no meate Indeed it is to be lamented yet Christ saith take no thought for it thou art a poore man so was he thou hast a familie so had he thou liuest by thy labour so did he thou liuest in times of scarsitie so did he Then he speaketh by experience sorrow not for thy want he was the sonne of God so art thou it was his meate to do his fathers will so let it be thine Say not as the woman did to Eliah we will eate this and then die but rather we will endure this and then die The Gospell is my meate the sonne of God is my cloathing and the kingdome of heauen is my inheritance shall I lust after other meate or desire a woollen garment and wish for a worldly inheritance No no heauen is all things there is for me and my children Christ is all things he will cloath me and my children and the Gospell is all things it shall feed me and my family my soule shall eate my body my body shall not deuoure my soule Thus let vs comfort the poore members of Christ that want and encourage one another in distresse against distrust let vs weep with them that weepe and mourne with them that mourne that we may reioice with them that shall reioice in the kingdome of heauen For it shal be pulled from your mouth Hauing awaked these persons by calling and troubled them
rebukes of sin for the Lord. Hos 4. 4. cōplaineth of the desperate estate of the people for he saide they rebuked the prophet This is the sin of England for there are among vs that will teach wise men and themselues being fooles they will controule learned men themselues being ignorant they will sohoole preachers yet they cannot heare they will rule magistrates themselues being subiects and they will seeme to doe all things being able to doe nothing But this is the point woorthie to be stoode vpon they will reprooue the minister of the Gospell If they suspect vs they condemne vs if there be but an vncertaine rumour they make it a certaine sclander so that our life our liuings our doctrine our calling and all our preaching is contemned by them Our life to be idle our liuings to be too great our doctrine to be suspitious our calling to be burdensome and our preaching to be onely for a worldly respect Oh incurable vndurable mischiefe why do men at once set Christ to schoole teach God to be wise refuse the Gospels gouernment and choose the tyranny of sinne Why do they rebuke vs and yet thinke they do well if the rod of magistrates light on vs for our sinnes let vs abide it but to let euery drunkard and ruffian and seruingman and euery base companion to crow against the Gospell and our calling let vs neuer abide They hate vs because they loue sinne they loue liberty because they abhorre discipline they regard not the ministery because they regard not God and therefore looke for a present and speedie calamitie for since that base fellowes became ministers base fellowes haue regarded none so that now we may preach out our hearts and pray out our soules and weepe out our eies yet we shall receiue nothing but scoffes and scornes rebuke and scander for our labor Weepe and howle hauing bidden them to be ashamed now he biddeth them to bee sorrowfull for well hee knew that their hope and health was lost when their corne and fruites were destroyed wherein they trusted more then in GOD. And from hence wee may obserue that if the worshippe of God bee once decaied there is not any so desperately wicked or dissolute but he shall smart for them we may say Esay 9. 10 11 12. That the wicked make great bragges if they were depriued of preaching the word they say they would turne brickes into hewen stone and tymber into Cedar trees but the Lorde telleth them that their enimies shall beset them and he will cut off both honorable and taile So is the course of his iudgement that when hee hath taken away his worship which is a helmet of proofe to keepe his wrath from vs then he sendeth greatest calamitie when we thinke we shall liue in greatest securitie The filthie Sodomites thought that they were well when Lot was gone from among them but there followed presently fire and brimstone from heauen By this our gallants may perceiue that if the Gospell be in the wrath of God translated from our countrey their brauerie and pride and wealth and prosperitie shall be ouerturned into perpetuall miserie They thinke it a burden intollerable to liue vnder the checke heereof but let them know that the little finger of humane tyrannie shall bee heauier on them then the loines and body of all christianitie Oh how do men deceiue themselues with sweete promises of great and incredible ease which they shall reape by the abasing of the ministerie by the decay of good men and the abandoning of all goodnes when they shall haue libertie to commit any kinde of sinne O miserable wretches saith one to whom it is lawfull to do wickedly surely you shall come out of a little brooke and runne headlong into the maine sea The reason of this doctrine is this bicause the wicked shoulde knowe that all goodnesse which they receiue is for the Gospels and godly mens sake Prou. 11. 11. there is not any thing in the worlde which the godly haue not a title vnto insomuch as all the wicked men are but vsurpers of the goods and landes and wealth and dignities they enioy so long as a godly man is liuing The worlde is a bodie religion is the soule thereof which being remooued is dead and fit for nothing The worlde is a building and the worship is the pillar postes thereof which being remooued it must needes fall as the house wherein Sampson slewe the Philistines So that it is most plaine that when our knowledge is turned to ignorance and the preachers of the worde of God cease to speake in the name of God and when the Gospell is banished from our lande and there bee a free libertie to doe what they list then I saie will the heauens threaten destruction the mindes of men shall be made blinde their vnderstanding shall bee taken from them and they shall liue as other people do without God his word to be slaues to their enimies drudges to their labours beastes in their liues enimies to God haters of good things and diuels by their death The vses which commeth from this doctrine is first of all that wee labour with speede to amende those things which are amisse among vs for else that iudgement which the Lorde once threatened to the Ephesian church Reuel 2. 5. shall take holde namely that the Lord will take away his candlesticke from vs if the light bee gone we shal liue in darknes if the word be gone we shall liue in blindnes if God his worship be taken from vs wee shall die in miserie This onely is the meate which if wee want will consume vs it is a sworde and if it bee not in our handes it will wounde vs it is a scepter which if the king of heauen holde not foorth we shall be condemned Feare the want of the Lords worship for if it goe from vs then he will depart if he depart then our prosperitie will cease and there shall not be a man aliue which will not desire to die Consider I beseech you if you haue enioyed great possessions goodly landes faire houses many friends delicate liues and many children but in one night thy aduersarie stealeth away thy euidence whereby thou holdest thy lande and then thou art turned out of possession thy landes are taken from thee thy friendes forsake thee thy children crie on thee and thou bee constrained either to harde labour or vnlawfull beggerie how wouldest thou take it but wish for a thousande deathes to bee deliuered from this shame So shall it bee with thee in the Gospell which is the euidence of thy peace thy health thy landes thy ioy and the kingdome of heauen the which being taken from thee thou canst neuer enioy any of these then thou shalt weepe without comfort sorrowe without hope liue without ioy die without peace and be damned without mercie Oh whose heart is not cleaued asunder to thinke vpon the danger of his soule Loue the
to serue him through tribulations when mens harts die in them for feare of the Lordes hand as Nabals did when he feared Dauids comming or when men growe desperate seeking vnlawfull meanes to be rid of their miseries as the Iewes did Esay 30. 16. and therefore the Lorde threatneth them that they shall flie as they determined and they shall ride on horses as they appointed but their enimies shoulde ride faster to ouertake and ouerthrowe them I haue obserued the constitution of many men and I founde them like the sea-faring marriners whose life is a continuall death and yet they are more open contemners and more obstinate enimies to all manner of goodnes then are other men and so those whose estate is poorest whose liues are most slauish hauing the prisons for their dwellings and continuallie destitute of meate and all kinde of necessaries none more wicked then these or more carelesse of any good thing But to let those passe there are many that haue escaped dangerous sicknes pyning famine the fearefull hande of warre and cruell death which seemed before their eies vnauoidable and yet remaine desperately wicked still and runne to their owne vomit and wallow in their loathsome myre of sinne these are they which are at a league with death and couenant with hell they hope to escape as well as other and while they be in the world why should they not liue merrily although they goe to hell for it afterwarde Seeing they are so carelesse of their owne welfare who shoulde take care for them and seeing the fearefull hande of God will not winne them the labour of vs his ministers shall neuer perswade them Out of this vers I might obserue vnto you that the pastours are not to proclaime fastings without singular warrant either from God himselfe or else from them that ought to direct them heerein Againe I might obserue that the people must come at the voice or call of their spirituall fathers and pastours also that publique fasting ought to be done in the publike congregation for that time being But wee will proceede to the next wordes where the prophet telleth them what they shoulde doe nowe when they were assembled togither in the fast that is they must cry on the Lorde meaning they shoulde humble themselues by praier And from hence obserue that fasting is nothing woorth without praier Esay 58. 3. Luke 18. 11. The common people doe imagine that when they cease from eating and punish their bodies with a daies abstinence that they doe vnto God high seruice Indeed it is lawfull for the preseruation of their health so to doe but for a diuine seruice or worke of religion they must not account it But this custome sprang vp from the perswasion of poperie which doe not onely account this kinde of abstinence a meritorious worke but also if men eate not flesh although they abouÌ„d in al other delicates with great store of daintie wines and strong drinke yet doe they obserue a druine fast to the Lorde although they neuer make anie conscience of praier and doe not so much as blesse their meate and drinke they receiue Therefore let all good Christians bee carefull to auoide in their fasts ignorance and superstition and let them either ioine praier with their fasting or else neuer reckon it for a worke of religion The reasons of this doctrine are these First bicause God doth not except vs for meate 1. Cor. 8. 8. that is with the Lorde if wee eate or eate not wee haue neither the more or lesse and therefore bare abstinence is not any part of religion But if the ordinarie taking of our meates and drink must be sanctified by praier which is a meere ciuill thing then much more the not receiuing either of meate and drinke for a religious cause must be consecrated by praier One saide well that those which place any part of God his seruice in their meate they doe verie neere make their bellie their God Yet though meate and drinke doth not make vs either the better or the woorse to God warde yet we must remember that heerby is not giuen vs any liberty to liue in gluttonie or drunkennes no more then to sterue and pine vp our soules voluntarilie but hee meaneth in the moderate vse or neglect heerâ—â—f Another reason is bicause God neuer commanded any such fast nor allowed it as wee may see in all the course of the Scriptures where euermore there was ioyned with fasting publike and most earnest praier and lamentation why then shoulde wee vse that in the Lordes seruice which hee neuer spake of and why should we frame that of our selues which he reprobateth truely euery plant which he hath not planted shall be pulled vp by the rootes and therefore in vaine should we worship him following the traditions of men liue in the obedience of the Gospell for that shall bring vs to life and whatsoeuer we do more we either performe for curiositie to finde fault with that which is done or else for vanitie to search into that which is forbidden From hence let vs learne to lead most christian liues which is to serue the Lord with fastings and praiers after the example of the ancient godly beloued saints of God as Anna Luk. 2. 37. and the Apostle Paul 2. Cor. 11. 27 both men and women haue liued in this kind of abstinence and religious seruice of God But alas we haue among vs thousands which would thinke they receiued great iniurie if they be not accounted as good christians as Paul and Anna which neuer in all their life did so much as fast and pray one whole day togither in their priuate houses I cannot tell what nimblenes and ioyfulnes they finde in themselues to the seruice of God but I am sure that there haue beene and now are others of another iudgement which without this exercise of praier and fasting grow many times heauie and so dull in the practise of their profession that they thinke that the spirit of God is departed from them And when they haue renewed this exercise they finde themselues againe more ripe and sharpe and readie in any kinde of goodnes Alas what practise of repentance is there in them that are strangers in this action it is a simple sorrow for sinne that taketh not away one daies stomacke from meate and causeth not the soule to hunger more after reconciliation then after a worldly recreation Therefore fast often and pray much so shalt thou be like the godly neuer be wearie of this practise except thou be wearie of christianitie and as thy sinnes encrease so let thy mortification bee enlarged that thou maist make more castles in thy soule to defende thee then the diuell doth engines to annoy thee Another vse is that wee absent not our selues from those solemne and appointed kinde of fasts 1. Sam. 7. 6. all Israell came to obserue this before the Lord in Mizpeh and so continued till Samuel sent them home
the world and dost breake foorth into wordes for the same Then turne thy complaint into praier or else it is but a murmuring against God as we may see in Moses and Aaron for it is by praier we make our sorrowfull hearts knowen to God and can enter into the Lords priuie chamber This duety also we may see neglected in our time for men were neuer more apt to complaine of the hardnes of the time of the wickednes of the world of the want of corne of the feare of warre of the power of the rich and of the prosperitie of the proude but they are but words for they turne not themselues to praier to shew God of the matter as they ought to do Know therefore my deere brethren that God hath left vs in this world as he left Iobs seruants for still one of them came to tell his master what had happened so we must often vse to pray and to complaine on our selues and on other men for if we confesse our sins God is faithfull that hee will pardon them but if wee iudge not our selues wee shall bee iudged of GOD. The reasons of this doctrine are these first because God forgetteth not the complaintes of the poore Psal 9. 11. 12. meaning of them that pray vnto him otherwise hee remembreth no more the poore mans enuie then the rich mans quarrell therefore let this stirre vs vp to make our complaint in praier as we reade Ezechiah did Isa 37. when Rabsakeh had blasphemed on the name of God Oh that men were as ready to pray as they bee to complaine for they can easily multiply many words to accuse other men and they might as easily finde wordes and matter to complaine vnto God for as an inferiour subiect must alway sue to his prince by petition so must wee alway make knowen all our desires vnto God by supplication Againe when men doe onely complaine of this or that want without praier they tempt God as wee may see Num. 11. 4. Therefore if we will obtaine any thing at the Lords hande to our good let vs aske by praier for although we murmur for raine and drouth and peace and wealth and such like and God giue it to vs as he gaue the Israelites quailes yet we were better want it for it shall in the end turne to our discomfort as theirs did Let vs from hence learne to aske of God without murmuring or grudging at our owne estate or the Lords hand Hos 7. 14 15. for the Lorde will complaine as fast on vs as we complaine to him Hast thou any suite to the Lord that thou wouldest obtaine of him say not oh that I had such a thing or thus thou O God maist giue me such a benefite or thus surely if God doe not heare me I would I had neuer beene borne or thus if God bee able let him doe this for mee for all this is but tempting and mocking of the Lordes power and mercie But goe to the Lorde with all humilitie cast downe thy knees and hart tell him of thy vnwoorthinesse and accuse thy selfe throughly remember him of his promises in the gospell for that must bee the foundation of praier then open thy wants and desire such a remedie as God himselfe shall like of and lastly praise him for all thy former benefites and then if thou want thy will it shall be most good for thee if thou obtaine thy wil thanke him hartily againe and vse it for the Lordes glorie Another vse is this that if complainers without praying be odious in the Lords sight although the cause bee indifferent then much more are those that neuer pray but for vnlawfull and filthie things that they might bestowe them on their lustes as the Apostle saith Iam. 4. 2 3. They desire health of body to wallowe in vanitie they craue many children to hoorde vp euill gotten goodes and to rob the poore they pray for riches that they may raigne ouer other men at their pleasure and liue in sinne without controllment they aske for marriages to abuse them in lust and finally they pollute all things that come in their hands or harts in their outwarde profession they doe but serue the time and therefore their inward constitution cannot bee very holy I am perswaded that a great sort would be ashamed to let men heare those things that they continually and immodestly desire in the presence of God Aske therefore but with wisedome enioy thine owne with thankesgiuing praise God for all things and thinke thy selfe happie whether thou liue or die Againe I might also note out of this verse how afflictions and sorrowes doe teach men to pray most seruently as we may see in Abimelech Gen. 21. 17. and in Dauid Psal 119. 67. and the reason is first because then men beginne to feele their sinnes 1. Sam. 7. 6. for in truth our consciences are all so guiltie that if we haue but our finger ake we presently conceiue it was for some notable sinne or other And for the truth of this we may finde it in many wicked rebels iustified which will then most lamentably bewaile their sinnes when indeede they feele the heauie hande of God vpon them and be either in trouble of life or in danger of death but this is with them but momentanie and like a sommer deaw but with the godly it is perpetuall for they being once spurred will trauell the better all the day following Againe as our afflictions are increased so are our sorrowes for the hart seemeth to bee pearsed with them Lam. 1. 22. let vs therefore in our afflictions not onely pray for our selues in our owne persons but also entreate of other to pray for vs as we see the Israelites did 1. Sam. 7. 8. for if we be once perswaded of the benefite of praier we will neuer cease to stirre vp our selues and others thereunto we shall be minded as Paul was that would haue the whole church of Thessalonica to pray for him 2. Thes 5. 2. for praier will make men more greedie then golde will Againe let vs thinke that afflictions shall not onely make the humble and gentle minded man to yeelde but also the most stubborne and strongest in the world Boast not your selues against the least affliction that can be for as the soft raine will lay along the rankest corne so slender troubles will bring to the earth the most obstinate sinners O Lord to thee will I crie When the prophet saith that he will crie vnto God he noteth vnto vs that in praier we must vse the most earnest and ardent affection that may be for crying is the voice of children or yoong creatures whereby all men are mooued to pitie them Therefore when we come into the Lords presence we are to stirre and mooue affections to the vttermost not with childe-like behauiour but with childe-like sinceritie and feeling as we may see in the godly Lam. 1. 20. where they desire God to behold them
saith Psalm 104. 27. That God openeth his hande and giueth them meate in due season And surely as God is most wonderfull in all his workes so is he most humble and gentle to all his creatures not disdaining with his owne hande to feede the basest swine or beast in the worlde But howe vnlike are they to God which doe not heare the voice of dumbe beastes no not of speaking soules and liuing men and if they doe yet their hands must not come neere them but either they must take it vp on the grounde or else receiue of their abridgers I meane their seruants The reasons of this doctrine are these First bicause God hath created them Gen. 2. 2. And for this cause before that euer he made beastes he made all the grasse and herbes of the fielde to be readie for them so kinde and constante is their nature that they neuer forget their creator but we shall finde moe men then are beastes that haue long agoe lost all their knowledge and grace and image of God calling into question whether there be a god or not Oh cursed creatures oh feareful times that bringeth foorth some men like men and some men like beastes and some men like monsters which are in bodies men in manners beasts and in mindes woorse then any creatures yea then diuels for they acknowledge and feare God Another reason is bicause men shoulde haue a taste of the excellencie of the Lordes mercy which saueth both man and beast Psal 36. 6. 7. As for mans sake they were subiect to vanitie so for mans sake they are receiued into tuitioÌ„ again the one was don for his sin the other was for his instruction that as the hainousnes of his sin did bring mo into danger beside himself wherby he might despaire so the greatnes of the Lords mercy might bring mo into fauour againe beside himselfe wherby he might be comforted And thus we may see how for our sakes is the rod of vengeance and the staffe of mercie for our example some are killed some are burned some are hewed and some are damned and for vs againe we may see the angels are maintayned the world is lengthened many good men haue beene preserued and many bruit beasts are continually maintayned The vses which come from hence are these First that we fall not into any despaire of God his goodnes toward vs either for our soules or bodies Mat. 6. 25 26. where our Sauiour biddeth vs to looke to the lyllies and to the yoong rauens for whom the Lord taketh care and verily euery haire on a good mans head is more woorth then all the beasts of the world therefore let vs perswade our selues that seeing God heareth their crie he will not denie our praier and seeing hee looketh on their mourning he will not despise our teares and seeing he regardeth their life he will not cast away our soules he that commandeth vs to be mercifull vnto them hath also bound himselfe to be mercifull vnto vs therefore let vs be assured that we are more woorth then the beasts in the arke or all the creatures in the world But alas why do I tell men of their woorth for they know it too well or of the Lords mercie for they are too proude of it Surely because as Bathsheba teacheth Salomon Prou. 31. 4 5. not to be giuen to excesse or to be wonne with vanitie because he was a king that is a worthie man in the world so I would teach men by telling them their woorth to auoide from their filthie abhominations What shall gold do in the dirt or pearle in a swines trough or money in a madâ—ans puâ—se or authoritie in the hand of fooles o 〈…〉 that we haue all vnder vs and yet be 〈…〉 honor is it to vs to be more worth then al creatures to haue the Lord for our creator and his mercies when we entreat them if in the meane season we be not godly then shal the best become woorst and at the latter ende wee shall wish we had beene woorst of all In the next words he telleth vs how the riuers of waters are dried and how the little countrey cottages wherein poore men cattle were fostered were burnt vp both very woonderfull that the one I meane the waters should loose their spring which seeme to haue an euerlasting assurance of perpetuitie But alas what can be perpetual when God altereth what can continue when he dissolueth it surely nothing for he beÌ„deth the heauens melteth the earth emptieth the sea therefore may easily drie vp the little land-brookes Therefore as on the earth is the safest going because it is lowest so in pouertie is the best estate because it hath nothing Once there were no riuers and so sometimes are not and one day shall cease to be againe so once men had nothing now in their richest estate they haue but little and one day they must forgo all But when he saith that the little cottages are burned vp wee may note that there is not any thing so small or so vile but the hand of God will finde it out Amos. 9. Poore men thinke because they be poore that God neither regardeth their well doing nor thinketh on their euill but they must be of another minde for as fire burneth vp all that standeth against it so doth the wrath of God meete with all that is against his lawe God is in the citie and in the wood and in the village and in the corne-field and in the wildernesse and on the sea he noteth thy doings in thy pallace and in thy house and in thy barne and in thy labour and in thy cottage and in thy ship euen as Christ sawe Nathaniel when he was vnder the figtree Surely the buildings of stone are too high to stand long the buildings of wood are too weake for the little lowe tabernacle with cordes tied togither shall come to an end And thus we see that fire shall be the ende of all as it was the end of Sodom so was it of Zeboijm and as of them so was it of the poore shepherds tents and as of these tents so shall it bee of heauen and earth Thus much for this first chapter The xvj Sermon Chap. 2. V. 1. Blow the trumpet in Zion and showt in my holy mountaine let all the inhabitants of the lande tremble for the day of the Lord is come for it is at hand IT hath beene shewed that the beginning of this chapter vnto the end of the 11. verse was the continuance of the former iudgements spoken of in the first chapter so that this verse belongeth to the charge of the ministers and people wherein the ministers are first exhorted to sound the trumpet and secondly the people are bid to tremble because the day of the Lords wrath is at hand Concerning this blowing of the trumpet wee may reade the right vse and first institution thereof Numb 10. First it was vsed for assembling the
the continuance of the earth and all thinges created doe witnesse the perpetuitie of his worde Therefore let vs by considering of this same knowe of a certaintie that rather than any iot or title of the Lordes worde shoulde be brought to nothing not onely the earth and all the course of nature shall bee altered but also the heauens so high and so immutable bee vtterly changed and passe away as nothing then also will not God spare his workmanship in the bodie of man but to verifie and iustifie his worde hee will bring manie to condemnation Let vs not nowe thinke to escape the better or the longer bicause nature shall continue for without changing of nature can God easilie bring vs to destruction as he coulde without breach of promise destroy all the Iewes and of the stones of the streete make newe children for Abraham He can destroy as well in light as in darknes as well in drought as in waters as wel by meat as by poyson as well by our own hands as by the mouthes of lyons tigers All the earth was not parted when Corah was punished al the world was not afflicted when Samaria was famished but the Lord will heere and there picke out the men that transgresse his law as he founde out Achan and the posteritie of Saul committing the guiltie to death and reseruing the guiltlesse for life Againe let vs feare how we endanger our selues to God for in his wrath he forgetteth that we be his worke and will cast vs off although we were as neere vnto him as the signet on his right hande Say not thou hast beene a professor or a preacher or a hearer or a martyr or a miracle-worker through the power of God for notwithstanding this he wil say vnto thee I know thee not if thou be not conuerted He casteth much golde into the sea he bringeth great kings into slauerie he taketh away plentie from whole countries and dasheth in peeces many yoong infants therefore thinke not thou but he will be reuenged on thee for thy presumption Yea to punish the Iewes he destroied his owne temple and therefore he wi spare neither house nor building nor nation nor person but in his wrath he wil bring all to cōfusion The xvij Sermon Vers 3. A fire deuoureth before him and behinde him a flame burneth vp the land is as the garden of Eden before him and behinde him as a desolate wildernesse so that nothing shall escape him IN this verse is contained the first similitude whereby the force of these beasts are described comparing their biting of the fruites to a fire for after an herbe hath beene bitten with a locust it will looke blacke like a cole Again he compareth the land before he touched it to the garden of Eden meaning the fruitfullest place in the world but after the beastes had ouerrun it it was like the most barren and forsaken wildernesse Concerning the comparison of fire it hath beene spoken alreadie and it noteth the vnmercifulnesse of the destroier But in this that he saith before him the land is as Eden and behinde him a wildernesse we may obserue that there is not any land so fruitfull so fertill and so pleasant but it is subiect to the curse of God and to barrennesse Gen. 3. 17. It is apparant in all the creatures of the worlde what the sinne of man hath wrought how it destroied themselues corrupted their soules annoied the beastes defiled the aire and brought the earth which was all good and no part there of but very fruitfull into brambles and briers and thistles and thornes and weakenesse and barrennesse to be tilled without ease kept with all labour and reaped with little profit And as we see in the best ground so we may knowe it is in the best man that he is also subiect to vanitie curse and destruction when the Lord shall in iudgement waigh their disposition And thus may euery husbandman that tilleth the earth and euery other man that treadeth thereon behold euery day with his bodily eies how sinne is punished and let vs feare that as the vnfruitfull land is not onely cursed but neere vnto burning so their soules more vnfruitfull are not onely cursed but neere vnto condemnation The reasons hereof are manifest first because the Lord in cursing the land destroieth the sinners Isa 15. 9 Againe he will destroy the fruites of the earth because men doe breake his couenant for when men doe breake bargaine with God the Lorde will make the earth to deceiue man and looke what authoritie man hath ouer the earth to plow to cut to drowne to harrow to dresse and to burne it so hath the Lord ouer man to kill to vexe to trouble to saue and to condemne him at his pleasure Therefore looke as the earth doth loose her fruitfulnesse so shall thy soule her blessednesse and when thou seest thy good land become barren beware least thy life be alreadie made wicked and know that the Lord setteth as little by a wicked man although a man as thou dost by a barren field although it be a peece of land Wherefore let vs make that vse that God teacheth Adam Gen. 3. 9. that seeing the earth is become vnfruitfull in the sweate of our faces let vs get our liuing that is as euery mans sinne is a cause why the earth is cursed and so become barren so let euery mans hande be a meanes whereby her fruit may be encreased that she and we may be both blessed They are not woorthy of land that labour not to amend it and to make it fruitfull for we may see that it is one part of our obedience since the fall of Adam to labour in the earth for our liuing It is a fault in many men which keepe the earth in barrennesse and onely sucke out the sweete from that land which is good by nature but we must knowe as God tilleth euery mans hart to bring it to goodnesse so ought man to trie euerie kinde of ground to bring it to fruitfulnesse like that good gardiner in the gospell which two or three yeeres together digged about his vnfruitfull tree Againe seeing the earth is cursed for our sakes let vs lament the barrennesse thereof Isa 16. 9. for in so doing wee sorrowe most iustly for the punishment of our owne sinnes The beholding of him is like the sight of horses and like the horsemen so shall they runne In this next place he compareth them to horses bicause in battle they are most fierce as we may see Iob 39. 20. Againe hee compareth them to horses for speede bicause as these are most swift in running so are the other most speedie in executing the Lordes wrath Aba 1. 8. Againe the horse is most terrible in battle Reu. 9. 7. and so shall these bee Heereby wee may obserue that the onely sight of punishment before it bee felt doth wonderfully perplexe a guiltie conscience Reu. 1.
are dark at his chiding and they shine at his bidding so let vs liue to praise him while he giueth life and die to honour him when he sendeth death And the Lord shall vtter his voice before his hoste for his hoste is very great for he is strong that doth his word for the day of the Lord is great and verie terrible and who can abide it Hauing spoken of the darkning of the lights the shaking of the earth now it followeth that we proceed to the vttering of the Lords voice which signifieth thunder Psal 29. 3. and most plainely Psalm 18. 14. The Lorde thundred out of heauen and the highest gaue his voice By the consideration of which phrase wee are giuen to vnderstande the infinite and vnspeakable power of God which hath so wonderfull and powerful a voice the which when the Israelites heard Exod. 19. 20. they were not able to abide and so desired that Moses shoulde speake vnto them euen so are we vnable to endure the same if the Lorde shoulde so speake vnto vs as we shoulde haue had no benefite by Christ except hee had taken vpon him the nature of man so wee coulde not endure the powerfull worde of God if it were not offered by the toong of man As the waies of God are not like the waies of men so the voice of God is not like the voice of men that is stronge but this is weak that is high but this is lowe that is fearefull this is simple that is terrible this is easie The people that coulde not abide Salomons gouernment had a worse then was Salomons for they lost their kinges and their God euen so when wee can no longer abide the voice of man then let vs looke for the fearefull thunderclaps of heauen wherefore heare the wordes of God in the mouthes of men or else you shall feare and tremble and melt at it in the stroke of the ayre Againe the prophet Dauid Psalm 29. 11. maketh another vse of thunder telling vs that for the power thereof euery one in his temple doe speake his praise It is a wicked and damnable opinion of the multitude that the diuel can raise thunder whereas we are to account it onely in the Lordes power Iob 38. 25. although the diuell can doe much yet is hee but weake and his power restrained therefore wee need no more feare his power in the time of thunder then in the cleerest sun shine day but rather let vs praise the Lorde for his power who is so woonderfull in all his works Againe if thunder be the voice of God why do the papists in the time of thunder ring their bels to staie it as if it were an vnholie thing surely it well be commeth them for seeing they will not heare God in the Scriptures they wil not heare him in the cloudes if wee oppose Scripture to them they say wee speake as heretikes if the Lorde sende thunder then they say there is a diuell abroade Oh blasphemous mouthes and hearts that are so simple and yet so great great in blasphemous heresie and simple in true diuinitie Againe when the prophet saith that he will vtter his voice before his hoste for his hoste is very great hee meaneth the noisome beastes that hee shoulde sende like an hoste of men as hath beene alreadie shewed Whereby we are taught that euery creature since sinne entred into the worlde is become an enimie one to another like to the enimies in warre Psal 105. 34. The great birdes are enimies to the small the great fishes to the little the great beastes to the inferiour and so are the great men to the little ones the oxe cannot abide the lyon the sheepe cannot endure the woolfe the foxe will not tarrie with the goate the horse will not dwell with the Beare the Hart will not attende the hounde and many moe liue in hatred one with another but most of them al are enimies to man The reasons are these First as man destroyed his owne nature so God destroieth or rather altereth the nature of all other things Secondly God will surely be knowne that hee giueth power to the spoile Amos 5. 9. What can an enimie doe in warre or a theefe by the high way side or a beast that deuoureth man surely nothing but by the working hand of God for the diuels themselues are vnder his correction One lion destroied a prophet 1. Kinges 13. yet we know that Daniel was cast among a denne of lions and had no hurt at all surely it was the Lorde that opened the mouth of the one and muzled the iawes of the other Let vs therefore knowe that whensoeuer either man or beast shall annoy vs that it commeth of God Iob. 1. 4. When Shemei cursed Dauid Dauid woulde not haue him punished bicause saide hee The Lorde hath bid him curse and so if wee be bitten by any beastes or stung by any serpent or haunted by any foules or oppressed by any enimies let vs then thinke with our selues this hath the Lord done to vs and praie for the remission of sins This doctrine wil take away al reuenge against man for any iniurie when we shal bee perswaded that God by them doth fatherlie correct vs. Againe let vs thinke with our selues how many waies the Lorde hath to correct vs for our sinnes the angels are about vs when God biddeth them they strike the beastes are among vs when hee commandeth they discomfort vs the flies and wormes ouercome vs wee are enimies one to another and one wound and kill another as Cain did Abel yea we cannot trust our owne hands for feare they destroy vs as we see in Saul Achitophel and Iudas and when all this is done there are ready all the diuels in hell to torment vs. Now who would loue his life nay who would loue his sinnes that bring with them vpon him such an euerlasting and intolerable hatred Againe when he saith that he is strong that doth his word he meaneth him that doth his commandement whereby we are taught that euery creature hath power giuen him to doe that which God assigneth him 1. King 17. 4. The rauens at the commandement of God fed Elijah morning and euening with bread and meate and so euery one when he biddeth them goe they goe when hee biddeth them come they come The reason is first because they waite vpon God Psal 145. 15. secondly they worship their creator Reu. 5. 14. and so we may learne that God neuer aduaunceth any but he giueth them giftes to performe their callings When he saith that the day of God is great and who can abide it he thereby teacheth vs that the wrath of God is intolerable Deut. 9. 18. 19. The reasons are because there is no way to flie frō his presence Amos 5. 18 19. Secondly there can be no mediator in wrath Ier. 15. 1 2. By which we are taught how inestimable is the benefit of redemptiō by Iesus
and speake for thy conuersion Seest thou not the danger of life worse then death so long as thou liuest in an vnrepentant state there is but a little aire twixt thee and death there is but a little time twixt thee and hell Repentance is the Lordes gift and he giueth it to them that aske it I dare be bolde to saie that of all suites commenced before God this was neuer denied and if thou haue any minde to bee saued praie that thou maiest be conuerted Art thou dissolute in life and resolute in vanitie yet hearing some sermons of death and fearing some iudgements for thy sinnes wouldest willingly wish that thou couldest doe better and dost thou sometime wring out teares to see the preacher so earnest and yet by no meanes thou canst reforme thy life then commune with thy soule and praie to the Lorde that thou maiest so liue as hee hath taught and so die as thou shalt wish Praie I say not onely in companie but secretlie not for a season but continually not with an indifferent minde but with an earnest affection and then I assure thee drunkennes shall not drowne thee couetousnes shall not preuaile with thee pride shall not deface thee whoredom shall not vndoe thee stealing shall not shame thee the worlde shall not deceiue thee nor the flesh shall euer condemne thee Another vse is this seeing wee must aske repentance of God we must needes know our sinnes before we can repent them Ierem 3. 13. So then if thou wouldest praie most earnestly for thy conuersion and bring all thy euidence into the Lordes sight that hee might pronounce sentence on thy side thou must not come with general words say I am a sinner as other men are I haue liued sinfully as my neighbours haue done and I knowe I haue offended thy maiestie greeuously But thou must knowe thy sinnes thou must account them to knowe the number so neere as thou canst possible thou must weigh them vprightly fee which were directly against God and which were against thy neighbour thou must aggrauate them mightilie and make them as heinous as the greatest thou must condemne thy selfe open thy whole soule and abhor thy owne life Then shalt thou knowe thy sinnes that their number is infinite their rewarde is damnation that their power is execrable that their presence is intollerable Tell them as a couetousmā doth his siluer look on them as the husbandman doth his furrowe consider them as the carrier doth his loade condemne them as the iudge doth the theefe pray against them as a marriner against a storme fight against them as a souldier against an enimie accuse them as a lawyer doth his aduersarie and forsake them as a lambe doth a lyon Then shalt thou knowe that one sinne is woorth a soule that one drop of mercy is worth a world and that true repentance hath winges to beare thee vp to heauen If the preacher tell thee thy sinnes then knowe them if the lawe tell thee them then remember them if thy conscience accuse them then repent them if thy brother rebuke them then euer after loue him if the church reprooue then yeelde vnto it and if thy enimie cast them at thee yet receiue it for this will make thee know them and if thou know them thou wilt pray against them and if thou praie against them thou wilt repent them Turne you vnto me By this sentence wee may obserue that God neuer regardeth any of our sufferings or crosses till wee be repentant Or more plainly be it that our houses are burned our children murthered our inheritances remooued and our owne liues tormented yet all this doth not appease his wrath except wee adde contrition the which thing the prophet insinuateth when hee maketh this conclusion vpon all the former iudgements Therefore nowe saith the Lorde turne vnto me c. As if hee had vsed more wordes saying you O people haue had your land wasted with beastes your liues pined with famine your cattle mourning for foode the heauens obscured with darknes the earth quaking to trouble you and terrible thunders roaring to disquiet you yet for all this is not the Lord contented with you except you be repentant The selfe-same thing may wee see Esay 57 3 4 5. where the Lorde telleth them that it was not their fasting and sorrowes that he regarded but their vnfeined conuersion As a father hauing an euill sonne is not pleased with him bicause hee is whipped openly in the streetes or imprisoned and so arraigned for his follie except he bee repentant euen so is it with the Lorde hee regardeth not the punishment saith Augustine but the person that suffereth It is not our sufferings voluntarie or inuoluntarie our sicknes warre famine pouertie or bloud that can satisfie the Lord or saue our soules insomuch as after thou hast endured harde fits wicked slanders wrongfull oppressions many hungrie daies manie sharpe stripes and many dangers of death yet for all this without the ornaments of a christian thou are neuer the neerer to God Some will saie this is harde meate to be digested that the Lorde is not pleased nor pacified although hee punish vs why are not all these sufferinges the punishments of sinne and when wee are punished heere is not the Lorde too rigorous to punish vs also hereafter I answere wee suffer for our sinnes but not to satisfie for our sinnes for the rewarde of sinne is death euerlasting and all miseries which may bring vs to our ende Therefore excuse not your selues for pouertie or sicknes or famine or labour or slauerie or seruice or anie other crosse for a man may haue all this and yet bee a cast away The first reason heereof is Matth. 24. 8. That all the sufferinges of this life are but the beginning of sorrowes they are not one quarter of that vengeance which the Lord will take for our sinnes except we repent Oh consider the intollerable hande of the Lordes wrath which regardeth not our bloude nor woulde looke on a burnt sacrifice made of a whole nation and yet regardeth the broken harts cast down soules what are the plagues in the worlde to come and the wages of sinne in another life if heere wee may haue a pining sicknes a despised life an easelesse heart and an endlesse feare one man neuer lyeth in bed another neuer eateth bread another neuer liueth merrie day som lie tormented in a burning fire some bed-redden with the gout some tormented with a collicke some scalded to death some cut in peeces inchmeale some are put into furnaces of burning lead and yet all these are but the beginning of sorrowes and without repentance if it were possible for one man to endure all yet afterwarde he might goe to hell fire Another reason is bicause the sufferings of this life are alike common to good and bad vncircumcised and the people of God Ezec. 32. 28. Although God chasten euerie one that hee loueth yet he
all sorrowes to put away thy sins Another reason bicause vnto outward tokens of repentance the Lord is readie to giue remission Dan. 4. 23. when men satisfie their for iniuries distribute their goods weepe for their euils and pray for pardon then is the Lord most willing to seale a release in the blood of his sonne For in truth there must be a change in al the parts of a mans life possessions When a sicke man is recouered he weareth not the same clothes he vseth not his old diet or apparell and rest so when our soules are recouered by repentance then we cannot eate stolen bread nor weare gorgeous apparell nor yet rest in that wealth which wee vnlawfullie gayned but all must bee turned into charitie and pietie The first vse of this doctrine is this Isa 31. 6. seeing wee haue sunke deepe in rebellion let vs turne againe vnto the Lorde from whome wee are fallen as we were not ashamed to sinne so let vs not be ashamed to be conuerted As couetous men care not for their names so they may get wealth and vncleane persons little esteeme their infamie so they may fulfill their lusts and as theeues make but a pastime to rob and steale if they may escape the gallowes so let vs account it a farre lesse discredit to confesse our faults in goodnesse then they doe to commit them in wickednesse Turne therefore as we haue sinned we haue many sinnes let vs shed many teares we haue great sinnes let vs sigh many sorrowes we haue long dwelt in them let vs speedily forsake them we haue watched in sinne now let vs watch in praier we haue loued sinne let vs embrace correction we haue delighted in vanities let vs reioice in teares How can a man reioice in teares verily vnto a good soule teares are more welcome then ioyes and it reioiceth in tribulation finding it more safe to bee washed with weeping then to bee delighted in musicke There is not any man that hath felt the power of godlinesse that will denie this and if he doe let Dauid teach him when he protesteth that teares were his repast when the enemies of God reproched him Looke on thy soule weeping as thou wast woont to beholde thy pleasure reioicing and thinke that this is the Lordes great mercie towarde thee which hath yet knocked at thy hart for amendment loue the meanes which will make thee tender harted delight in those sorrowes which will procure thy endlesse ioyes shed thy teares here that hereafter thou maist be freed lament in sorrowes this life that in another thou maist reioyce in comforts Secondly let vs not alway lie in sorrowes and liue vnreformed but follow the counsell of the prophet Ier. 26. 13. to make our waies of euill good When men are repentant they enter into a new iourney for as before they were ioyfully sailing to hell so now they are painfully trauelling to heauen and seeing a good way is the wish of a traueller let vs amend our waies that we may hasten to our iourneyes ende When thou hast well drenched thy soule in sorrowes then proceede to reformation and remooue those blocks out of thy life which would haue hindered thy passage into heauen If thou hast beene a drunkard be now temperate hast thou been an Atheist now feare God if thou haue beene a swearer vse his name more reuerently and as Paul said of theeues Let him that stole steale no more so say I of all notorious sinners let them be so no more but rather labour to doe good vnto other By this we may see that repentance is not in shew but in hart not in hart but in works not in works but in affections not in affections but in conuersation Some thinke they haue well repented if they be a little sorrowful other thinke they are well reformed if they be a little reclaimed and wearie of theirvanities but these men must knowe that if good liues bee not ioyned with godly mindes and reformed waies with weeping harts neither the one nor the other shall profit them Therefore now my deere brethren let vs win the field from our sinnes and ouerthrowe the troupes of our pleasures let vs now conquere our desires and reforme all the abuses of our liues that wee may yeeld to the gospell liue in the church eate at the Lordes table and worke out our owne saluation with feare and trembling In the second place the Lord biddeth them to fast that is to abstaine from all delights and desire of meates that as they haue alreadie pined their soules with sinning so now they should punish their bodies with fasting And in this place the prophet speaketh of priuate fasting for as yet he is not come to the publike fasts which must be directed by the cleargie-men who onely had authoritie to proclaime them of the which we haue spoken in the first chapter In this place we may obserue that hainous offences and generall must haue greeuous and generall lamentation It is most requisite that when we haue any graund cause to craue at the Lords hand we vse most humble tokens of an instant and longing desire Iudg. 20. 26. The Israelites ouercome by the Beniamites fast and pray al the day till euening and the day following they get the victorie the which is a warrant for vs to doe the like that wee may so slay our sinnes as they did their enimies The which must instruct euerie man in his familie during these times of vengeance wherein we haue no more power to be deliuered then a woman in trauell to cast foorth her childe that they abstaine from glutting and deuouring the Lords benefites For the Lord will not redresse our want till wee haue generally lamented our miserie and we can no way better punish our bodies then by fasting that the Lorde may be mooued to pitie vs as he did Abraham being willing to sacrifice his sonne yet he restrained him The first reason is this bicause fasting maketh vs praie with more feeling affection which our Sauiour insinuated Matth. 17. 21. when he saide that fasting and praier woulde heale the falling euill and nothing else Indeede to shewe you howe men are affected in the time of their fasting I can hardlie doe it except youfelt it howe sweete are their sorrowes howe earnest are their praiers howe strong are their grones and howe acceptable are their hearts vnto the Lorde their teares are their drinke their cares are their meate their nakednes their brauerie ashes their beauty humilitie their health their eies are not drouzie their mindes are not wearie their handes are not filthie and their cries are not easie The Lorde accepteth their obedience in doing that they are not able and their faith in beleeuing that they haue not in them and their praiers in desiring that which is aboue them then can men affoorde to die for God that they may liue for euer for themselues Another reason is bicause fastes doe mightily mooue
thee a broome to sweepe thy passage that nothing hinder thee it is the key that openeth the gate of Christes mercie and a sure friende to sue out thy pardon Another reason is because Christ will not come but to such spirits Luc. 19. 10. so that if thou wouldst goe vp to Christ thy sorrow will lende thee wings if thou wouldest haue Christ to descend to thee thy sorrowe will perswade him Christ is the phisition of the minde and he will not come till thy minde be sicke As in winter the most raine falleth so in distresse of conscience most comforts come downe this doctrine bringeth great ioy of glad tidings which shal be to all harts where godly sorrow dwelleth But let vs not alway lament these sorrowes or rest in the graues of our easelesse cares but let our praiers be multiplied as our dangers are increased so doe the godly Hos 6. 1. Flie therefore to the Lord when thou feelest any smart in thy soule and let not musicall delights or pleasant companions entise with conceites to banish this greefe but let thy greefe be thy meate and drinke and the meanes to stirre thee vp to praier It is to be feared that many haue beene either vtterly condemned or desperately endangered by vsing worldly medicines for these heauenly sores for so soone as their harts waxe heauie by reason of their sinne they call for worldly delights which either driue them to desperation or harden them to condemnation Drinke is good to the thirstie but it is dangerous to them that are sicke of burning feauers in like sort vnto them that haue eaten poison so mirth is good but vse it not to driue away godly sorrow but abide it patiently with praier and fasting As thou seest thy sinnes so let the Lord heare thy praiers and as thy greefe for them is increased so let thy cries against them be multiplied Thinke whome thou hast offended wherewithall thou art greeued and how thou canst be pacified If thou be rich let thy closet bee thy sanctuarie if thou be poore let the woods and secret places be thy temple if thou haue little knowledge resort to them that haue more if thou be heauie and feelest no comfort yet pray still and giue not ouer for the ende shall bee blessed although the beginning bee desolate Againe as Hoseah teacheth chap. 14. 5. let vs in our mourning take with vs the hope of pardon or else a Christian soule shoulde haue no more feeling then a desperate wretch for we may lawfully perswade our selues how sharpe soeuer we feele our pangs and soule-fits yet there is neuer taken from vs the hope of pardon yea if faith bee not vtterly couered we may bee bolde to assure ourselues of victorie What then how if hope and faith be buried and we yeeld vnto death denying the sweete promises of Christ is not this desperation no verily for as there may bee life in the body although men cannot perceiue it so there may be in the soule although none discerne it for although Dauid said This is my death yet he recouered both life and peace of conscience Therefore a contrite spirit is alway regarded of God and if he euermore loue it in other hee doth also like it in thee Be patient the same hand which made the wounde shall heale the greefe and if thou feele a decay of grace stirre vp thy selfe more earnestly by calling on God and hold fast till the Lord come Receiue good comfort in the middest of thy sorrowes as a watchman espying the dawning long before it bee light although it be bitter in thy mouth it shall bee sweete after digestion and say I will abide the Lords leisure I will drinke his potion it is a cup but not of deadly wine I will receiue it for the purgation of my sinne although it make me sicke The xxj Sermon Vers 13. And rent your harts and not your garments and turne to the Lord your God for he is gracious and mercifull slow to anger and of great kindnes and repenteth him of the euill THese words are another part of the Prophets exhortation vnto repentance wherein hee noteth the greatest measure of Repentance vnder this metaphor Rent your harts Meaning the most extreme and comfortlesse paines in the action thereof not that indeed men should rip vp their breasts and rend in twaine their harts no more then when our Sauiour biddeth vs cut off the arme or plucke out the eie that offendeth vs wee should dismember our bodies for euery fall or ouersight But by the rending of the hearts wee are taught that the paines of true repentance exceede all other paines death excepted neither whipping of the body as the Iesuites do nor launcing it with kniues as the priests of Baal did or pricking it with bodkins or sickenes or famine or trauaile are comparable to repentance for these may bee quickly eased by man but the other cannot bee redressed but by God Vpon this the godly Israelites pray Iudg. 10. 15. that God would deliuer them meaning from the terrours of their sinne and lay whatsoeuer pleased him vpon them besides The insufferable wounds of a tormented minde are the onely paines which are like to the paines of hell so that neither brimstone nor fire commeth any thing so neer vnto it as this doth Wherupon it was said that good men haue their hell in this life meaning that the paines of repentance are so smart vnto them that it differeth many times verie little from the plagues of the other life Now I beseech you that are godly that haue long rested in this restles harbour to acknowledge with me the truth hereof and you that haue perswaded your selues that not onely teares but easie sighing grones doe goe for payment of your sinnes Learne of me this one lesson that your minds must be more perplexed and your hearts more inwardly vexed not onely for a day but for a longer time yea peraduenture a whole life that you may sing with all the godly The paines of hell came about me The first reason bicause that repentance is the dressing of the soules wound so that as the soule is more dangerous than the bodie so the wound therein must needs be more painfull then a wound in the flesh And for this cause are the ministers charged with the soules of men Heb. 13. 17. because they dresse not their woundes and shew not their sinnes that lie secret in their soules The which account is now a daies little regarded of many ministers ' and lesse of many people one careth not for their sinne and the other regardeth not their soule but the more they be the more is the pitie or rather the more shall be their iudgement Neither let vs be amazed to heare of these vnspeakable gripes of minde for they crie continually in the eares of God for mercie as a wound calleth for a salue Another reason because in repentance men feele the wrath of God against
worthie learning not knowen to many learned kings and princes and this is true felicitie not felt of euerie one therefore Paul said I esteeme to know nothing but Christ and him crucified It maketh no matter to be ignorant of thy owne death if thou knowe the death of Christ it skilleth not to know what shall bee if thou know that he died for thee if thou know him his death will mortifie thee his wounds will wash thee and his stripes will saue thee He died wilt not thou repent He was condemned wilt not thou be saued He was crucified wilt not thou be sorrowful Study not to liue but to be leeue care not what shal be after thee in this world so thou be assured of the world to come Thou knowest not what shall be to morrow therefore repent to day thou knowest not whether God will hereafter therfore do it now learne this lesson speedily for as the Israelites could not gather Manna after the sunne was risen so thou canst not haue repentance after time is ouerpassed Seeing God concealeth many things from vs therefore let not vs curiously enquire after secret and hid things the which fault our Sauiour reprooueth in his disciples Act. 1. 7. In our times there be many which busie themselues about idle and vnprofitable questions as whether they shall know one another in the next life what God did before he made the world whether Christ should haue beene borne if Adam had stoode in innocencie and when or what time of the yeere shal be the latter day of which questions the schoolmen abound Againe there be other that thinke themselues verie christianly busied if they let alone the studie for knowledge the practise of prayer and the keeping of the morall law yea they are ignorant of the order of saluation but they turne to fro to find plat-formes of gouernment to speake against authoritie to erect new states and to prie and enquire into the secret liues and sinnes of men vnto whom I say with our Sauiour it is not for you to know these things I might wearie you to tell the conceits of them which take themselues for wise men and the dreames of the simpler sort vnto whom I say you teach and learne the lighter points of the lawe but iudgement and knowledge and sanctification you let alone Amend this fault for it is good to be ignorant of some things and what the Lord saith not beleeue not what is not disclosed enquire not what cannot be prooued receiue not and what the Lord hath silenced know thou not A meate offering we haue declared in the former chapter that there was no sacrifice but there was a meat and drink offering annexed vnto it for as the sacrifice was for God so was this for man And herein the Prophet teacheth vs seeing his desire is not for continuance of plentie or restitution of aboundance but for a meate offering and a drinke offering which was a small portion of meale and oyle and wine vsed in the seruice of God that we must rather impart our goods to the Lords worship then to the maintenance of our owne liues as Dauid did with the water of Bethleem 2. Sam. 23. 16. 17. I say wee must haue more care to serue God then to liue at ease and we must rather want for our selues then let religion go to the wall This I may teach but I know there are few that haue any wealth but had rather to depart with their profession church temple ministerie sacrifice gospell and God then with the Sarephthian widow to giue their little to Elijah I know what I speake I see much taken frō the Lord but little giuen to him Woe worth these lamentable times wherein already wise men may see that if want shoulde encrease surely the name of God would be forgotten vnles it were to be blasphemed Do we not see that a feast hath more guests then a sermon and a dinner more eaters then a church hath hearers Doe you thinke that they would desire but a meate offering for the Lords seruice nay rather they will weepe if their bellies be not serued before the Lord would they which gaine their meate by the life and sweat of other men do as Dauid did offer it to the Lorde no no we haue them among vs which care not what paine and danger and trouble they procure to other so themselues may eat the flesh drinke the best The first reason because it is the Lords portion that is allotted thereto Numb 18. 8. The Lord for the rent of all our goodes and lands which we holde of him as our cheefe Lorde hath reserued but two partes the one for the church and the other for the poore if we pay not these we forfeit all yea more then all into the hands of his maiestie Grudge not therefore at the charges of the gospel for thouseest how good thy farme is how smal thy rent is how large thy lease is how few are thy couenants and how easie to be kept depart with it willingly it is the Lords shal not the maister be serued before the man and shall not the Lord be paid though our cofers say nay O my brethren pay him cheerefully for you are bound by blood you are in danger to loose all and that woorthily if you giue not that little Another reason because it is better to die in miserie then to liue in impietie therefore it is better to liue godly with want then wickedly with abundance Psal 37. 16. A little thing that the righteous hath is better then the great riches of the vngodly Therefore serue the Lord before thy life and preferre his worship before thy appetite let not distrust hinder it the Lorde hath ynough for thee let not pouertie stay thee for thou must liue by the worde as well as by bread doe not refraine because thou hast little for if thou hadst much he can scatter and hauing little he can multiplie it Feare not want in age doubt not of helpe in sicknesse and despaire not of a supply when all is spent as God commanded thee The first vse we must knowe that God loueth that most deerely which we offer to him with the hazard of our owne want for this cause did our Sauiour so much commend the action of the poore widow Luc. 21. 4. before all the abundant offerings of the wealthy saying that her two mites were more then all theirs because she did it of meere loue to the Lord but the other of superfluitie And we if we haue any minde to the like commendation let vs put on the like affection although wee labour with our hands watch aboue our howers and fast aboue our ordinarie to giue the bread of our liues into the treasurie of the Lorde Neither ought wee to thinke but that the Lord doth highly accept the willing and rich offerings of the wealthy especially if they reserue it from vaine and proud expences
thy conuersion shall be euerlastingly silenced I might also note out of this verse that God is more ready and willing to pardon vs then we are to aske pardon Rom. 10. 22. and therefore if we aske not he will not onely be reuenged for our sinnes but also vpon vs for the sinnes of our fathers Isa 65. 7. Againe let vs vpon this ground be bold to pray in hope and assurance for as God opened the iron gates for Peter to come foorth out of prison so hath he opened the gates of heauen that our praiers without al let may come vp before him I might also obserue in this verse that God doth somtime cast off his owne people for a seaso that he may for euer cast off the wicked Ezec. 1. 15. as a iealous husband putteth off his wife that he may for euer beware of his enimies for a friend cannot be hid in prosperitie nor an enimie in aduersitie The reasons bicause the wicked blaspheme the iust Ier. 30. 17. againe or else we should thinke that the wicked were happie Psa 37. 1 2 3. therefore when once good men beginne to crie then shall wicked men begin to fall Isa 35. 4. and we may boldly desire of God to turne his wrath from vs to them Isa 51. 22 23. that his enimies may feele his heauie hand Yea the Lord will answere and say vnto his people Behold I will send you corne and wine and oile and you shall be satisfied therewith and I will no more make you a reproch among the heathen In this verse and so forwarde to the 27. the prophet doth declare the speciall worldly benefits which God would giue to his people vpon their repentance the first that he will heare their praier vers 19. and herein he promiseth first to answere them by worde secondly to ease them In this that the Lorde saith he will answere them we may note that God hath euermore a regarde to the praiers of the penitent Ioh. 9. 31. howsoeuer hee shutteth his eares against sinners accounting of their praiers and teares as of abhomination yet he maketh great reckoning of their desires that are in league with him The faithfull are as deere to the Lord as Esther was to Assuerus or Herodias daughter to Herod who promised but one halfe of their kingdome vnto them but the Lord hath freely promised a whole kingdome if we will desire the same This must mightily stirre vs vp to praier for if the Lord regarde vs when we pray to blesse vs then will he regarde vs when we pray not to curse vs. Who liueth in the world but hee hath neede of many things if he haue neede he is blinde if he see it not if he see it he is wilfull if he aske not if hee aske he is vnfaithfull if he hope not to receiue The reasons first because penitent men haue felt pouertie Psal 79. 8. that is they haue beene cast downe ynough and therefore they shall be raised vp againe Againe they delight in God and therefore will God delight in them Isa 33. 6. for it cannot be that God should loue that man or that soule that hath no delight in his maiestie Therefore hereby shall men trie whether they be repentant if so bee the meditation of God and his mercie and their calling and holinesse and his word be sweete and pleasant in their mindes and mouthes First as we tender our owne liues and welfare so let vs pray vnto the Lord Ier. 29. 12. for we haue great neede to looke to our selues in this distressed estate of the world and for so much as onely the Lorde is our keeper how shall we commend our liues vnto him but by praier Pray alway my deere brethren as diligently as you labour as feruently as you thirst as ordinarily as you eate and as ioyfully as you sleepe pray I say as a woman doth in trauell as a sicke man doth in his fits as the mariners do in a storme and as a condemned man at the place of execution Oh what would you not do that you might liue and therefore what ought you not to doe that you might pray Vnto praier there must be no comparison in worldly things all earthly things must giue place as we see in Daniel sleepe must be put off as we see in Christ and ease must be banished as we see in Dauid and the Apostle willeth for praiers sake that married folks becom strangers one to another and therefore so let vs do for praier as we do for meate for we neuer cease from hunger till we be satisfied so let vs neuer cease from praier till wee be glorified Secondly in this vers when hee promiseth Corne and wine and oyle we may obserue that all abundance accompanieth and as it were waiteth vpon religion So long as the worde raigneth the church standeth and the Gospell is obeied so long wee neede not feare for our fieldes shall abound with corne our land shal flow with plenty Psal 81. 16. We haue had best experience of this thing in England for euer since the Gospell had any footing among vs and was publikely preached and generally professed we were neuer in any generall distresse but wee haue forgotten all sorrowe and I woulde God wee had not forgotten our peace and plentie giuer But since we began to be wearie of the truth that Diuines fell to wrangling professors to carnalitie hypocrites into Atheisme since that time we haue felt some want of corne and some terrour of warre Oh that we coulde so continue in profession that we might dwell in the Lords fauour so should we bee euer fedde with the finest wheate clothed with the warmest wooll and defended by the greatest angels but seeing we begin to be wearie of our religion God beginneth to bee wearie of his liberalitie so that I verilie feare till wee haue all repented our corne and plentie shall not bee restored The reasons First bicause by such abundance the Lorde breaketh in peeces the fierie violence of wicked men Psalm 37. 17. for they accuse religion for a base and poore profession and therefore after a calamitie God giueth to his church greatest plentie as after a long raine the sunne shineth brightest Another reason because by such plentie God cureth and healeth the miserie of his people Esay 30. 28. which being fearefully afflicted through famine are againe most ioyfully comforted through plentie so that abundance is like a medicine or plaister which with good aduise healeth and cureth but through abuse corrupteth and maketh the wounde more incurable First then let vs desire the spirite of God to be powred on vs and then shall the wildernes become fruitfull and the barren earth be amended Esay 32. 15. The same spirit that maketh good harts maketh glad fields that which giueth store of righteousnes giueth store of foode and corne And thus God giueth vnder one request two benefits For when we aske for
Lords family Whom they haue scattered amōg the nations We haue alreadie shewed that one principall part of a captiuitie was the scattering and dispersing abroad of the people into many countries where they shoulde neuer gather strength or hope to returne home againe This is the first cause why the wicked are thus iudged bicause they scattered abroad the seede of Iacob that it might die and neuer growe for so is the meaning of the word Whereby wee may obserue that the wicked are neerest to destruction when they most of all triumph ouer the godly as heere we may see the first cause of their condemnation is the scattering of Israell So the Lorde affirmeth by the prophet Esay 49. 25. that when the mightie were at the pray and the tyrant at the spoile then will the Lorde come and spoile them but deliuer his children The lion and the Beare that Dauid slewe might haue escaped with pray and life if they had not medled with Dauids lambes and so the wicked might escape damnation if they coulde refraine from biting of the Lordes sheepe But seeing then they are at the brimme of destruction when they are in the highest of their mischiefe O vnhappie men which die assoon as they conceiue pleasure The reasons of this doctrine are these First bicause they helpe to aggrauate the euill vpon the poore saints of God Zech. 1. 15. I did it a little saith the Lorde but thou didst it much more so they make our faults greater then they are and giue vs more stripes then God hath appointed them therefore doth the Lorde so suddenly destroy them Beware how thou accuse a good man although thou doe it iustly for if thou make it anie thing more it shall redound to thy owne danger Againe when the poore and good men are most oppressed by the wicked then the Lord ariseth to heare their crie Psal 12. 5. and when he ariseth he commeth with all wrath to recompence the iniurie And as alreadie I haue warned so I must againe and againe make not a good man complaine on thee to God for thy oppression for the Lorde hath more delight to reuenge the cause of one that is helpelesse and friendlesse then of ten thousande that are able to defende their owne businesse and in my choise I had rather be vniustlie accused of treason to my prince then by a godlie man to be iustly complained for iniurie vnto God The vses of this doctrine are these First that we comfort our selues in the destruction of the wicked Isaie 62. 1. For although wee are not to reioice at their ouerthrowe for our owne sakes yet for the Lordes cause by whom they are ouerturned we may lawfully and ioifully be comforted for their ende For God doth then take them when they are in their deepest mischiefe and when they purpose to execute their most deadly malice None can knowe it but God bicause none shoulde haue the praise for their ouerthrowe but God Therefore it is a vile thing for any to lament the losse of wicked men the enimies of God for their life is not to be desired that liue not for the benefite of the Lordes household Although Dauid lamented Saul and Absolon yet that maketh not against this doctrine for Dauid lamented Saul because he had vndone himselfe and lost the glorie of the fielde and Absolon bicause so kinde a father coulde not chuse but be mooued for the vtter condemnation of the fruite of his loines But this is most lamentable that euen in our daies there are yet some that lament the ouerthrow of God his enimies the Pope and Spanish forces and it grieueth them that so many cardinals and mitred fathers so many abbots and shaueling friers are cleane driuen out of England whereas if these had continued the Gospell of Christ must haue beene banished As well might Moses and all Israell lament the ouerthrow of Pharaoh and the Egyptians in the sea which they reioiced at as these lament the ouerthrow of papists and poperie for which they shoulde be thankefull and I praie God giue vs shortly as good cause to reioice against all Atheists and idolaters Another vse is this that wicked men learne to knowe their owne danger for woe bee vnto them that laugh for they shall lament Luke 6. 25. Blesse not thy selfe when euery one honoureth thee as they did Haman for presently hee fell to the gallowes Exalt not thy selfe bicause others praise thee as they did Herod for by and by he was deuoured of wormes fret not thy selfe because others deserue better then thou as did Saul with Dauid for hee fell into a lunacie followe not anie man nor anie cause with a desire to oppresse as Saneherib did for the Angels of God destroied his hoste and his owne sonnes made an ende of his life And parted my lande Another point of a captiuitie is the taking away of the lande from the possessors thereof for we must not thinke that if the Lorde shoulde suffer an inuasion that men shoulde escape with a tribute but rather their houses and lands should be distributed to strangers Their demesnes their free-holdes their mannors their copieholds their rents their knights-fees and all other their possessions shall bee quite and cleane taken from them which the conquerors challenge by lawe of armes But this is woorthy to be noted that notwithstanding this lawe of armes God alleageth this parting of the land and dispossessing the ancient inheritors thereof to be one cause why the wicked should be iudged they woon it in deede but yet they are called to an account for it By which we may obserue that it is not lawfull in warres so to triumph ouer the godly and their possessions as it is ouer other men Tzeph 2. 8 9. although the king of Syria had triumphed against Amath Sepharuaim Iua and many other countries and kingdoms and cities yet when once he came to touch Ierusalem and to raile vpon Ezechiah he and all his host were quickly dispatched and in like sort when the wicked come to deale tyrannously with the church of God and put them to extremities then doth the Lorde take their cause into his owne hand The Spaniards boast of wonderfull countries which they haue conquered among the silly heathen and barbarous Indians which may well be so but what haue they gotten in these partes of the world which are the beloued Ierusalem of the Lord surely nothing but blowes for here they loose more men at the siege of a towne then there in the conquest of a countrie and therefore they may teach vs that such barbarous crueltie as they haue vsed among the Indians and such tyrannie as they would haue practised in the Lowe-countries must not bee offered to any Christian nations but rather as Dauid was glad that Absolon his sonne had lost the fielde yet was hee sorrie that he was slaine so must wee reioice if God giue a Christian enemie into our hande and yet be
then diminish them Is God their father who will not giue them are they not brethren who will oppresse them are they not helplesse orphanes who will hurt them If we see but the sonne of a meane gentleman we are readie to gratifie him with the richest gifts we haue and then let vs not be backward to helpe fatherlesse children euen with our owne vnto their owne Oh my deere brethren it is the cause that belongeth to vs all and therefore neuer suffer an orphane to be oppressed for euen thy posteritie may come to the like calamitie God taketh more care for children then for oxen or sheepe or birds or beasts and he would not haue any to be oppressed therefore be assured that he will not let thee goe vnpunished if thou oppresse the fatherlesse Take not away their landes which parents left them take not away their goods which God gaue them take not away their libertie which Christ hath gotten them and depriue them not of those gifts which nature hath bred in them Some I know there are which make slaues and fooles of their wards and pupils and desire nothing more then to get all that they haue into their owne hands whose bookes of account and bils of reckoning shal surely follow them to the Lordes iudgement and they thinke they are verie charitable if they can get away any mans lands and liuings afterwards bring vp their heires in their kitchins to be scullions or else at their ploughes or sheep-folds to be drudges and slaues all the daies of their life O miserable and wretched charity to make them the seruants to their owne goods and to pay their hire with their owne lands Others wil cosen for lands and extort al that they can and then will make them their farmors who were the owners and thinke they doe them a pleasure and thus they threaten kindnes like lawyers and vsurers which pay themselues with ours and yet say we are beholding to them The xxxix Sermon Vers 7. Beholde I will raise them vp out of the place where yee haue solde them and will render your rewarde vpon your owne head HAuing hitherto dealt with them and opened their iniuries as it were in seuerall billes of enditement which they offered to the church hee nowe proceedeth to their condemnation And first of all he sheweth them in this verse that their pollicie in oppressing his people and selling them to strangers so farre off that they might neuer returne home againe shall be vtterly void for he will raise them vp againe and will recompence the iniurie as if the enimie had preuailed and therefore he biddeth them beholde it bicause the wicked shall certainly see and perceiue that their counsels against the Lordes saints shall bee all in vaine and to no purpose But first of all we may note when hee saith that hee will raise them vp out of the place where they had solde them that God will for euermore preserue his church in the seede of the righteous Psalm 102. 28. So that although wee cannot say that this mans children or that mans posteritie shal continue in the church yet wee may certainly beleeue that the posterity of righteous men shall bee the church for euermore for God saith he will raise them vp yea if they were dead as Abraham thought he woulde doe with his sonne Three seuerall times hath God in one man knit vp his church First in Adam who was a righteous man although hee fell out of Paradise and of him came all both good and bad Afterward he destroied the wicked and in Noah one good man did he combine his church but when his posteritie fell to idolatrie then in Abraham did he blesse the worlde What if wee see many called to the faith whose late parents were enimies to the Gospel yet we must know that they are descended from some that were godly insomuch as that we may boldly affirme that there is not any righteous man in the world but he came from some parents that had beene godly and so may hope that God will againe raise vp out of his seede although many yeeres to come some that shall bee saued No doubt but Adam had some fruite in Cain as Noah had in Cham Abraham in Esau and Iacob in the sonnes of his bondseruants And if this were not so good men might doe well to leaue of from marrying but God which hath determined the worlde will haue vs in a continuall hope of good children and a holy posteritie and therefore hath instituted marriage to continue as long as the worlde shall endure The reasons of this doctrine are these First because the power of God shal vpholde them and this was it that Iohn Baptist told the Pharisees Matth. 3. 9. that God was able of the stones to raise vp children to Abraham Againe the gates of hell shall neuer preuaile against the church Matth. 16. 18. There is no enimie that men ought more to feare then sinne which is ment by the gates of hell but yet sinne shal not for euer preuaile against the seede of the righteous We may see many times a yoong sprout comming foorth of an olde stub which hath long been dead and so we may consider that as Samuel came of the rebell Corah who murmured against Moses and Aaron so shall there some good seede come from them who seemed to be dead and drowned in sinne But yet this must not make good men to set any thing lighter by their sinnes because God hath promised it shall not preuaile but we must know that the promise is that it shall not condemne the church yet may God cast thee out of the church and there condemne thee if thou abide in sinne Let vs therefore after the example of Moses Exod. 32. 13. remember God of his promise when the church is in affliction and feeleth his heauy wrath For the promises of God are the pillers of the church insomuch as euerie member therein is called the childe of promise Roman 9. 8. Nowe then none can so forget the church of God as that hee shoulde forget himselfe for hee is borne by promise as that standeth by promise But it is no maruaile that the church of God so decreaseth that good mens children become wicked and wicked mens issue multiplie waxing woorse and woorse because there is not a Moses left to remember the Lord of his promise Manie are more afraide that their posteritie will be too righteous rather then too profane and therefore their mouthes are opened against Ierusalem because they are opened against heauen Yea good men are too loose in this point for they forget to remember the Lorde of his promise to continue his church and therefore I feare the Lorde forgetteth them in their progenie Blessed was Abraham Genes 17. 18 20. that he neuer gaue ouer to pray for Ismaell till God had promised to make him a mightie man and therefore the church of God woulde bee much greater
and the posteritie of the righteous much happier and godlier if more often with Moses wee remember him to take awaie his wrath by continuing his church Another vse are wee taught Ier. 32. 39. which is that wee likewise pray that our posteritie may haue one and a single hart that they may dwell for euer in the presence of God We can no way so much benefite our posteritie as by praying for them for then wee lay vp their treasure in heauen before the Lord making him the ouerseer of our willes and his kingdome their inheritance So that as hee promised Dauid that he should neuer want a man to sit on his throne if they would continue in his couenant so may euery righteous man assure himselfe that they shall neuer want posteritie if they continue in the Lords worship As there is but one God so men should haue but one hart and as there is but one heauen so men shoulde haue but one soule now the hart is one when it abideth in the worship of God but when it wauereth and is distracted into as many follies as affections there is no hart at all as it is all one to make mo gods and to denie God so is it all one to haue many harts and no hart Therefore pray for thy children whom thou hast nourished in the worlde that they may bee single harted and remaine before the Lorde for euer and euer for surely if they multiply their harts God wil remooue their graces For as Ahab by seeking to winne Ramoth-Gilead lost his owne life because he woulde encrease his territories so shall wee loose our owne soules if wee enlarge our harts for more vanitie Remember that Ierusalem was so built as it was at vnitie in it selfe and so must euery member of Ierusalem that is of the church haue one hart in himselfe that his hart may fit the Lorde and his soule may serue for heauen Secondly wee may obserue in this verse that the policie of wicked men cannot alway preuaile against the good Psal 124. 1 2 3. It was one of the wonders of the world that euer the counsell of Achitophel was so soone confounded that hee tooke against Dauid but the Lords hand was in it for seeing he had promised that Dauid shoulde raigne was not wise Achitophel a foole that woulde assay to breake the couenant and so were these gentiles in taking counsell against the Iewes to keepe them from euer returning to their countrie againe The first reason the Lord will purge iniquitie from his sanctuarie Dan. 8. 13 14. and therefore he will not suffer iniquitie to ouerthrowe his sanctuarie For the policie of wicked men in the destruction of the godly is not so much against mankinde as it is to burie for euer the worship and worshippers of God Would God that this reason might be well waighed of them who are euermore corrupting the sanctuarie of God who broach all the deuises of the world to corrupt the gospell But as the Romaine Image standing in the holy place was called the abhomination of desolation in like manner shall the imaginations of hereticall and proud men standing in the church be called the abhominable desolation of religion Another reason because good men might not fall from God by enduring their iniuries Psal 125. 4. and therefore be assured if God will make one of his owne saints worth a thousand of his enimies then will hee rather destroy their counsels then want his worshippers The vse is let vs then knowe that not all the counsell of men nor all the policie of the diuell nor all the power of the angels shall euer cast downe the members of Christ Apoc. 7. 3. Oh sweete instruction for vs miserable deemed wretches when we neede not to feare all the engins and deuises of the diuell if hee stirre vp princes yet God is greater if wise men God is wiser if strong men Christ is stronger and if learned men yet God catcheth the learned What shall I say more all the diuels in hell cannot take away one soule from the Lord. They are bound they cannot roue they are muzled they cannot rore they are ruled they cannot rage and they are damned they cannot hurt vs. Nay they can neither hurt body nor soule for the same that redeemed soules redeemed bodies and preserueth both Therefore feare not death that hath lost his sting and feare not the diuell that hath lost his force Another vse let this confidence for our raising vp out of miserie into glorie out of iniquitie into holinesse out of death into life and quitteth vs from the wicked stirre vp euery mans soule and hart to cleaue to the Lorde for euermore for as Dinah was safe in her fathers house and none could touch her so shall we be safe in the Lords presence none can hurt vs. Thirdly by this verse when he laieth to their charge the selling of his people that they might neuer return againe which they coulde not bring to passe but yet hee telleth them he woulde punish them wee may note that God punisheth our deuises and thoughts of euill although they proceede no farther as if the thing had beene effected and the sinne perfected Genes 11. 4 8. The builders of Babell thought to builde a tower to reach to heauen but they coulde not preuaile and yet God punished their enterprise by confounding their language So that imagine with thy selfe howe often thou hast stollen by coueting howe often thou hast committed adulterie by lusting and how often thou hast deserued actuall punishment by mentall transgressing wee doe therefore all of vs most iustlie suffer the danger of all kinde of deathes because we liue in the danger of all kinde of sinne neither is there anie man liuing but at one time or other hee hath lusted after euerie sinne that he knewe for if we knewe not sinne we shoulde not sinne And indeede these builders and this building of Babel doth notablie describe and decypher vnto vs the nature of sinners and sinne for as Babell was built without God his consent so is sinne as the builders made the substance and frame thereof of themselues so do wee of sinne As they did it to continue their names that the floud shoulde no more ouerflowe them not trusting to the former promises of God so doe sinners forsake God his promise and for worldly causes fall into many follies Againe as they would build neuer cease building till they had brought it vp to heauen so is the measure of sin it woulde neuer cease till it ascended vp into the sight of God and filled all the space betweene heauen and earth And lastly as the building was not staied but by the confounding of their toongs so shall not sinne be staied but by confounding the soules of men The reasons of this doctrine are these First bicause they which consent to sinne and goe no farther are woorthie of death Rom 1. 32. So that it
is a greeuous thing to bee made priuie vnto any vnlawfull practises and not to reueale and open the same Secondly our corrupt estate is such that our temptations doe drawe vs from God Iam. 1. 14. The first vse Let vs follow the counsell of the prophet Isa 1. 16. That we take away the euill of our hearts Men thinke it lawfull for them to range in conceit vpon any follie or sinne or lust or treacherie whatsoeuer and to plaie with the diuell in imagination suffering his delusions to tickle their delights and delight their soules with an inwarde desire onelie But in truth this kinde of sport is a most vnlawfull game condemned by the Lordes owne statute when he biddeth vs to take away the euill of our harts Clense your handes yee sinners and purge your hearts you wauering minded the diuell first commeth into your hearts by doubting then by entreatie or begging then by delighting when once hee delighteth hee hath erected his throne in thy soule and if thou labour not to cast him out he wil become vnresistable Dallie not with him as Samson did with Delilah for it will betray thee trust him not as Sisera did Iael for it will destroy thee desire him not as Dauid did Bathsheba for it will repent thee chuse him not as Lot did Sodom for in the ende it will vexe thee Remember that God which seeth thy hart will punish the sinne of the hart for in truth thy heart is the principall in euerie offence and the bodie is but accessorie Thy heart prouoketh thee to sinne as the high priestes prouoked Pilate to crucifie Christ and thy bodie obeieth as Pilate did while in the meane time thy conscience giueth thee warning as Pilats wife did him and therefore haue nothing to do with sin which is poison with the knowledge of it for it will infect thee and purge thy soule from euill thoughts as Ezechiah purged Israell from idolatrie Fourthlie when hee saith that hee will render their recompence vpon their owne head Wee may note that the same measure which we offer vnto others shall be repayed to vs againe Isaie 33. As we smite with the sword so shall wee perish with the sword as we shed the blood of other so shal we haue our owne blood shed againe We know that as Ahab and Iezabell did cause Naboth to come to a violent death and the dogs to licke his blood so the dogs did licke vp their blood againe And this falleth out with the most godly in the world as we may see in Dauid who tooke away the life and wife of Vrijah he lost his owne sonnes and escaped himselfe verie narrowly and in the end you know how his sonne Absolom lay with his wiues before all Israell Therfore harken vnto this my deerely belooued that you neuer offer any other things to other but the same that you would haue offered to you againe Take what libertie thou wilt to offend other to waste their goods to shame their liues to open their sinnes to defile their wiues to oppresse their goods to harden thy heart against the poore and to heape vp iniuries in the highest measure for as Salomon saide He that stoppeth his eare at the crie of other shal cry himselfe and not be heard so shalt thou be offended and wasted and shamed and opened and defiled and oppressed and iniuried and reuenged as thou hast deserued We see the king escaped not this law and therefore thinke not thou whether thou be rich or wise or great or noble or worshipfull or poore or strong or weake or yoong or old or learned or ignoraunt but as thou hast reioyced in others harmes so shall other in thine as thou hast defiled others wiues so shall other thine as thou hast stollen other mens goods so shall they steale thine as thou hast reproched other mens liues so shall thine be as thou hast beene pitiful to others so thou shalt receiue pity for this law shall neuer be broken that whatsoeuer we do to other we shall receiue of other againe The reasons First because this is the whole doctrine of the law and the prophets Matth. 712 for surely there is not any thing that sauoureth more of beastly tyranny or lesse of godly pietie then to do that vnto other which we would not receiue of other therefore in the practise of religion betwixt man man let this serue instead of the golden rule whereby the weake shall be neuer offended or the poore bee euer oppressed or the rich be euer enuied or the godly be euer defamed This will take away all bribing from officers all tyrannie from princes al pride from gentlemē al couetousnes from landlords and all malice from enimies Truely truely there was neuer precept giuen better for the church for the common-wealth or for the world for the church for it teacheth to saue soules for who would loose his owne to the common-wealth for it preserueth life for who would kill himselfe and to the world for it keepeth humanitie for who would become a beast Let vs therefore learne to forget iniuries Leuit. 19. 18. for their remembrance prouoke vs to reuenge and all reuenge is damnable before God Oh whose soule is not set on fire to embrace this doctrine which I might follow with all the examples of the world For who can abide to haue his owne blood shed his owne body maymed his owne children murthered and his owne soule damned therefore do not so to other but write this law on the palme of thy hands that it may neuer be out of thy sight It will teach thee all religion it wil saue thee from the strife of toongs the shame of fooles the blame of good men the furie of diuels and the wrath of God for if thou canst beare the iniuries of thy brother and not reuenge them thou wilt also beare the afflictions which God sendeth and the sorrow which good men endure and not repine at it but as Ioseph hauing all his brethren that sold him yet did not hurt one of them so doe thou not hurt any of them that hate thee The xxxviij Sermon Vers 8. And I will sell your sonnes and your daughters into the hand of the children of Iudah and they shall sell them to the Sabeans to a people farre off for the Lord hath spokenat HAuing shewed them that he would doe vnto them as they had done vnto him and his people that is hee would take their sonnes and daughters and giue them into the hands of the children of Iudah whom they had spoiled and the children of Iudah should sell them away to the Sabeans who dwelt in the vtmost partes of Arabia being great merchants which should likewise sende them away into a very farre countrey that so their owne policie might returne to their owne dammage Wherby here commeth a question to be handled namely whether it be lawfull for Christians hauing conquered any nation their enimies to sell
away their children whom they had taken prisoners vnto heathens and infidels as the Lord here saith that the Iewes should sell them to the Sabeans who were infidels First for the opening of this place it was lawfull for the Iewes so to doe because they had the expresse commaundement of God as it is here set downe and if at the commaundement of God they must in their warres kill man woman and childe much more at his commaundement may they sell their prisoners to heathens Secondly wee must not make this place any rule or example for vs to imitate but take it for a speciall curse vpon the enemies of the Iewes at this time because they should sell them as they had sold theirs Then to the question I thinke it not lawfull for vs to sell any vnto heathens yea though they be heathens and our enemies The reasons are these first because Deut. 20. 11 12. the Lord propoundeth an euerlasting lawe for warre standing vpon these conditions first that they offer peace secondly if they ouercome their enimies then shall they make them their tributarie seruants and not sell them away or if they refuse peace being offered then shall they destroy them all so then selling of men and women becommeth barbarous and heathen men and not the children of God Secondly by selling away our enimies wee doe not weaken the common enemie of our faith but rather strengthen him for a bond-slaue can fight as well against the gospell as a free man therefore it is better to slay them outright than to make a gaine of them vnto heathens or men of no faith Thirdly it is not lawfull to sell them because it is an vnnaturall thing for one man to buie another or to sell another as we may see in the historie of Ioseph Fourthly they were better bee among vs and bee the least in our congregation where they may possibly come to learne Iesus Christ than to be among heathens where Christ is hated and so I cannot see how wee can wash our hands cleane from the guilt of their damnation So that now it appeereth that men must looke especially that they vndoe not those whom the Lord hath commended to their safetie and preseruation besides many other reasons which I could adde vnto the former And againe by this verse we may see how the children of the wicked beare their fathers faultes for here are the sonnes and daughters to bee solde so may wee reade Psal 127. 9. that they are blessed that reuenge the fathers crueltie on the children Oh my deere brethren let your tender babes procure pitie and pietie in your soules for you see how their liues shall pay for your wrongs and their butcherie for your tyrannie It were an easier calamitie if the hand that sinned should onely be cut off but wee see that if the right hand slay a man the whole body must perish thereby It is a singular blessing of God to be descended of godly parents yea the wicked brag thereof Ioh. 8. 39. Matt. 3. 9. Therefore if you will make your posteritie happie and blessed make your owne soules godly and your works holy Let not your children be made slaues to the wicked and bondslaues to the diuell for your follie but be you gentle that they may liue bee you patient that they may be beloued bee you honest that they may bee honoured and be you good to the godly that they may possesse your reuenues Publish this among the Gentiles prepare warre wake vp the mightie men let all the men of warre drawe neere and come vp Nowe are wee come to the second meanes whereby the Lorde taketh vengeance on the enimies of his church that is by warre for as by warre they had wasted the Iewes so by warre shoulde themselues be confounded In this warre we are to consider First the preparation thereof by souldiers verse 9. then the instruments or weapons verse 10. Secondly the execution in the verses following First then in this verse he calleth for the souldiers and biddeth that the warre shoulde be proclaimed and that all the men fitted thereunto shoulde come vp to fight Whereby wee must first of all obserue that warre must bee proclaimed before it be waged Ios 22. 12. For it becommeth not anie prince or great person so to deale with his enimies that he ouercome them before they haue intelligence of him The reason First bicause peace must be first of all offered Deuter. 20. 10. For warre which is the slaughter of mankinde must be the last meanes for princes to right and trie their iniuries It must be taken in hande for necessitie not for pleasure and it must bee executed with mercie not with crueltie Another reason bicause victorie onely dependeth on God 2. Chron. 13. 12. and therefore wee must vse all good meanes in the vndertaking thereof least beginning without the Lordes counsell wee ende with his curse being guiltie of our own death others Let vs not then in this latter age of the world fear any of the rumours of warre Mat. 24. 6. for the Lord of hostes is the great warriour whose souldiers wee are and if hee can vse the roaring of the diuell to driue vs from hell then thinke also he will vse the trumpets of warre to bring vs into heauen Feare not I say all the rumours of warre in France Flanders Hungarie Turkie or in other places of the worlde for if the wicked die in them it is for sinne if good men by the punishment for sinne they kill sinne and all this shall promote the Gospell and preserue the church Secondly when he biddeth to awake the mightie men we may note that men of greatest courage and valour are fit for the warres 2. Sam. 10 9. But of this matter we haue spoken in the second chapter Againe when he calleth them to draw neer and to come vp we note that souldiers should beware that they haue a calling from God and a commandement from him to fight 1. King 22. 7. Iehoshaphat woulde not fight with Ahab against the Syrians till hee had inquired of the Lorde and this wee may see in Dauid many times For seeing warres are the cause of many mens death let vs beware that we adde not curse to curse like the king of Moab who being ouercome by the Israelites went home and sacrificed his owne sonne in the fire The reasons are First because they cannot prosper that waite not for the Lordes calling Ios 1. 17 18. Secondly he giueth power to fight Psalm 18. Let vs therefore bee so minded in warres that wee neuer vndertake them when the Lorde disalloweth them Numb 14. 44 45. The Israelites fighting with the Amorites contrarie to the Lordes wil were slaine and driuen backe againe whereas at other times they lost not a man but returned in victorie Againe let souldiers learne to keepe themselues from euill Deuter. 23. 9. For the battle or warfare is like a mans
verie sorie to execute his wrath vpon the wicked for so our Sauiour expressed his griefe for Ierusalem Luk. 13. 34. when hee cried out O Ierusalem Ierusalem howe often woulde I haue gathered thee c. The which thing putteth vs in minde of the infinite loue of God whereby hee woulde pittie our losse reuoke his sentence silence his wrath and saue vs from heauie destruction But such is our nature as is the nature of children in their birth which thinke not vpon the paines of their mothers in trauaile although they die in extremitie yet they forget them when they bee olde and so doe we both the anger and the loue of God we regarde not his mercies nor his iudgements nor his gospell nor his teares nor the bloud of our Sauiour The reasons of this doctrine First in regard of vs because we knowe not the things that belong to our peace Luke 17. 42. So wretched is the estate of men that they are not able to discerne when God blesseth them or curseth them when hee wisheth them well and when he wouldeth them euill This is cleerer then the sunne for Christ and his Gospell being offered to the worlde and preached to euery degree of men you shall see nothing more vilely esteemed or basely regarded insomuch as wee may say that the men of our time doe not knowe the thinges that belong to their peace For if the Lorde threaten them then they spurne if he blesse them then they are wanton if he punish them then they murmure if hee honour them then they are proude and euerie one thinketh that the Gospell serueth but for a time and they shall doe as well without it as with it They knowe not that nowe is their visitation or that nowe they worke their death or life or that nowe they are married to God or the diuell Surely if men beleeue not the Gospell and walke not thereafter they are sathans bond-slaues although their wealth be as great as Salomons and their authoritie as great Hamans but if they ioyfullie embrace it in the ministerie of the worde then are they the wife of the lambe and the elected heires of grace Another reason secondly in regard of God because hee rather willeth repentance then vengeance of this wee haue often spoken Let vs make this vse First when we see the froward and wicked disposition of the world that will not bee reclaimed by any warning or any mercy of God let vs doe as Christ doth for the Pharisies Marke 3. 5. Mourne for the hardnesse of their heartes It is the custome of some vaine professours for so I may terme them to raile odiously at them that will not bee ruled by their wordes and so it is of some cholericke and vnwise preachers who will take libertie in their pulpits rather to reuile men then to reclaime them except at the first they come and lay their hands vnder their feete in the one it is foolish zeale in the other vaine folly Learne therefore by our Sauiour how to be affected when thy people or thy children or thy seruants or thy friends or thy neighbours will not bee gouerned by thy instruction namely to mourne for their hardnes of hart and no maruell for thou seest God to mourne for them when thy words can no longer preuaile then let teares and if they will not be mooued by warning let them be by mourning Hardnes of hart is a sickenes sent by God and it lyeth not in the power of man to cure the same therefore cast not away a man when he is sicke not a soule when it is hard but let sorrow and prayer speake for it to God when there is no helpe in mans phisicke Another vse seeing God is vnwilling and therefore mourneth for our destruction and so do all good men also oh let vs not despise and neglect all their sorrowes and cares and teares which they powre foorth for vs it is vngodlines not to regard the Gospell but it is vnnatural not to regard the sorrowful In heauen is nothing but ioy oh wretches that wee should make the Lord sorrowful for vs in the church there is al sorrow oh vnkinde and pitilesse men that we should encrease their sorrow and mourning and teares and adde to their affliction but that which is worst of all wee are hardened and will not care for their cries Be mooued to repentance and conuersion and holines and religion for God and men do mourne for thy rebellion let their teares make thee weep in this life or else they will make thee roare in another life Secondly we may obserue in this verse when hee calleth vpon the multitude to come to destruction that God careth no more for a multitude then for one man and will as easily cast many into hell as one soule as we may see in the drowning of the old world Gen. 7. 21. The reason because all are but flesh Gen. 6. 3. that is but vile made of earth but weake wanting strength and abhominable corrupted with sinne Now what should the Lord striue and stand with earth or weaknes or sinne he hath not an angell but it is stronger then a world and therefore a multitude are as easily giuen to damnation as one or two Let vs learne not to doe euill after the example of a multitude Exod. 23. 2. Although many be blasphemers or Atheists or heathens or papists or whooremongers or neglecters of the Gospell despisers of preachers and such like yet bee not thou so for it is no ease to haue company to hell Againe when he calleth them to come into the valley of threshing meaning the place of wrath vsing no other meanes to draw them thither but his call we may note that the onely word of God shal bring men to iudgement Psalm 50. 1 2 3. and the reason is because he is strong that giueth the word Ierem. 30 7. Oh therefore that the same word might stirre vs vp to saluation which shall prepare vs to condemnation and iudgement 2. Thess 3. 1. For verily if it be so powerfull as to bring all the world in one companie togither and to raise the dead out of their graues and make liuing men out of the dust of the earth in whom I beseech you is the fault that it gathereth not vs to heare it when the Lord speaketh in the congregation and rayseth vs not vp to the life of righteousnes surely as the Lordes hand is not shortened so his word is not weakened The xlj Sermon Vers 15. The sunne and the moone shall be darkened and the starres shall withdraw their light 16 The Lord also shall roare out of Zion and vtter his voice from Ierusalem and the heauens and earth shall shake but the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the children of Israel AS in the former chapter when the destruction and calamities of the Lords owne people the Iewes were threatened the heauens were said to be
any blood Secondly the nature of it is to crie for vengeance in the eares of God Gen. 4. 10. as the Lord saide to Cain and therefore I thinke verily there will come a day that our recusants which are the ofspring of many bloodie persecutours shall haue the blood of the Lords saints reuenged vpon them But if the blood of saints shall be so reuenged then much more shall the blood of Christ Heb. 10. 29. There are only two kinds of people vpon whom the Lord wil bring the blood of his son the Iewes whom we see scattered ouer all the world being accounted a verie miserable and forlorne people the other are the contemners of the Gospell which make no account to be saued thereby who are in a maner as guiltie of the death of Christ as were the soldiers Iewes that nayled him on the crosse Wherfore God will not forget how they tread vnder their feete his pretious blood Againe let vs take occasion to praise the Lord which letteth not the blood of his children be shed in vaine Deut. 32. 43. as he blesseth them that take reuenge vpon his enimies make them fall to the earth so he curseth thē that cause any of his seruants to com to their latter end Again by this verse we may note that the blood of the Lords saints is innocent 2. King 21. 16. whatsoeuer lawes of princes or decrees of men be laide to their charge yet this must stil comfort them that if they die for the Lords cause they are innocent and shall certainly receiue life eternall The reasons because thorough hatred and malice of the world are they deliuered Ioh. 17. 4 Secondly being the seruants of righteousnes they cannot bee iustly executed for the same Rom. 6. 18. Let vs bee heereby encouraged not to feare death 1. Pet. 2. 19. for if we die naturally we die happily and if we die violently we die innocently Againe let not any of vs that are Christians suffer for our euill doing 1. Pet. 4. 15. but rather let vs watch ouer our liues that no sinful danger of humane lawes doe euer ouertake vs. But Iudah shall dwell for euer and Ierusalem from generation to generation For I will clense their blood that I haue not clensed and the Lord shall dwell in Zion These verses containe the last promises of the Lord vnto his church grounded vpon the presence of God among them First for their perpetuitie Secondly for the declaration of their innocencie which hee noteth when he saith that he will clense their blood c. when as vpon the report of the iniuries receiued in the former verse he presently addeth that they shall dwell for euer we may note that the wrongs which good men in this life endure shall bee one meanes to forwarde their rest and glorification Psa 12. 5. For this is the fruit of our afflictions to perswade the Lord for our immortalitie for as when the Israelites cried in Egypt then the Lord brought them into Canaan so when wee crie for our wrongs we are readiest for heauen The reasons God euermore hath an eie to the afflicted Psal 9. 13. Secondly then are we most like to the sonne of God and when we are likest to him on earth wee are neerest to him in heauen Let vs so beare our afflictions and wrongs as if we were borne for them 1. Cor. 4 9. for we see they shall turne to our greater ioy But of this matter we haue spoke often I might also remember out of this verse when he saith that Iudah and Ierusalem shall dwell for euer hee meaneth not the citie Ierusalem for that is long agoe destroied but he meaneth that the Iewes shall neuer be vtterly destroied but many of them shal be saued in the world to come When he saith that he wil clense their blood that is hee will manifest to all the worlde that they were not iustly executed but vniustly murdered whereby we may see at length that the wicked whether they were wilfully blinded or ignorantly affected in persecuting good men yet they shall know and so shall other that they murdered them vniustly as the Iewes which shall see Christ whom they pearced Reuel 1. 7. Mat. 27. 3 4. for wilfull murders cannot be euerlastingly concealed and it is al one before God to steale by authoriti◠or without law to kill by law or without authority Lastly we may see when he saith he will dwell in Zion that the presence of God preserueth the church Reuel 1. 13. how can it euer perish when the Lord maintayneth it Surely sathan told Christ that he could not do amisse for the Angels watched about him and held him vp that at no time he should dash his foot against a stone If the helpe of Angels in the diuels conceit was so great to preserue Christ then much greater is the presence and hand of God to vphold his church Hee alone buildeth it that it fal not keepeth it that it fade not dresseth it that it may be holy preserueth it that it may be godly so that so long as the Lord endureth so long shall the church stand maugre the might of all the diuels in hell To the which God euerlasting immortall and onely wise the most glorious Trinitie the Father the Sonne the holy Ghost let vs render all praise ascribe all maiestie and giue our whole spirits soules and bodies that he may be glorified in vs and we be glorified in him Amen Amen FINIS Cassianus Ioseph de antiq lib. 12. Herod lib. 7. Sabel Enn. lib. 9. Enn. 5. Ioseph lib. 7. cap. 24. Stobaeus ser 96 Fulg. lib. 1. 2. Cypr. aduers Demetr Aug. de Ciuit. lib. 7. cap. 11. Sab. lib. 4. Ennead 6. Plutarch Boeth lib. 8. Eurip. Plut. de amore Duditius de cometis The time of this prophesie The scope of this labour The diuision of this prophesie Cap. 1. vers 1. The prophets sermons are the Lordes owne words Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. Vse 2. If God did not send his word none would aske for it Reas 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Men preferred before angels in the preaching of the word Reas 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 The ministers must call on the people to heare Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 The greatest men should be the greatest professors Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. a Principes cum ad limen delubri veniunt proinde sunt atque priuati 2 None must liue in the Church vnlesse they outwardly bee subiect to the Gospell Reason 1. 2 Vser 2 God his works must be perpetually remembred Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 We must tell our children what God hath done in our daies Reason 1. 2 Vse 1 2 Be carefull what we commit to posteritie Reason 1. No impiety but it will find some followers 2 Vse 1. 2 A speciall iudgement to increase hurtfull beastes Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Euery little beast can ouercome the welfare of man * Ecce me inquit qui vobis Deus videor
their body were changed into wormes as Herods was should not this neither Oh yes but seldome times will you say are these things wrought I graunt it so indeede but much seldomer are men amēded by hearing of them in other or feeling them in themselues Tarry not to conuert I beseech you till these wonders be wrought againe tempt not the Lord of heauen and earth with deferring the day of repentance For bee you assured that contemning the riches of his grace and abusing the patience of his long suffering while his word and Gospell is preached and not beleeued he will verifie that prophesie vpon you that was long agoe pronounced Reuel 19. 17. vpon the enimies of Christes Gospell Come ye foules of the heauen to the great supper of the great God that yee may eate the flesh of kings and captaines and mighty men of horses and riders offree and bond of small and great Oh then will it be too late to cast away pleasures to curse your delaies to imbrace the Gospell and to crie peace when the sword of God is dipped in blood Another vse hereof may be this that seeing the greatest and strongest creatures were by nature and creation subiect to man now not onely they but also all other both great and small through our transgressions are become either our enimies or else our conquerors This must teach vs how odious and abhominable a thing is sinne and wickednesse in the presence of the eternall God and his vnreasonable creatures it was forbidden by God it was condemned by angels it is reuenged by beastes and punished by diuels it droue Adam from paradise it kept Moses from Canaan it destroyed the inhabitants of Ierusalem and hath excluded infinite thousandes from the kingdome of heauen It was committed by the blood of soules it was redeemed by the life of Christ it was reprooued by the death of martyrs and yet it is maintained by the practise of multitudes Oh whose hart is not diuided to see such a monster more made of than all good things which was hatched by the diuell and fed by the life of soules and yet raigneth that it may winne millions of soules to condemnation Shall reasonable men rescue it when vnreasonable beastes fight against it euery creature in his kinde cries vengeance against it It made the angels damnable it made the world abhominable it maketh the beastes corruptible and it maketh men miserable Miserable I say by birth for they are borne in it miserable by life for they are vexed with it and most miserable by death for they are cursed with it We haue already heard that the sinnes of Egypt were punished and reuenged by lice and the sinnes of Herod were requited by wormes and vnto these adde the sinne of the prophet that reprooued Ieroboam 1. Reg. 13. 24. which was rewarded by a lion Thus doth the earth crie woe vnto it for it cursed her thus doth the heauens hate it for it destroyeth her children thus doth the starres fight against it because it dazeleth their light and thus doe wilde beastes warre against it because it encreaseth their grones Oh then let not vs men bring vp that mōster hatch vp the coccatrices egs which so soone as it is deliuered and conceiued it giueth our liues mortall woundes If wicked Herod in slaying the children of Bethleem thinking thereby to slay Christ did not refraine his crueltie from his owne houshold but also put his owne sonnes to death least they should afterward trouble him for his kingdome how much more ought we not to imitate his crueltie but his policie to bridle our natures to chaine our affections to subdue our lustes to conquer our desires and to forsake our pleasures that we might bathe the sword of God his lawe in the blood of our owne sinnes seeing if it liue we must die and if it die we shall liue It commeth vnto vs with the Sirens song it embraceth vs friendly as Ioab did Abner but while it saluteth vs with one hand it stabbeth vs with the other It promiseth vs faire as Iael did to Sisera and it giueth vs milke in steede of water it serueth vs in plate it clotheth vs in purple it lodgeth vs in ease but in the end it slaieth our soules as she did Sisera it maketh much of vs as the high priests did of Iudas it maketh vs gentlemen of rascals it maketh vs rich men of beggers it maketh vs companions of princes it deliuereth vs when others are endangered but in the ende it tieth the halter to our necks and maketh speede for our execution it serueth vs as the harlot did the yoong man Prouerb 7. it kisseth vs it flattereth vs it pleaseth vs and it promiseth vs all sugred ioyes but yet it draweth vs as the oxe is drawen to the slaughter it biddeth vs take our ease followe pastimes auoide preaching loue not the prophets come not at the churches and forget all manner of godlinesse but in the ende it serueth vs as a noble man doth his olde spannell commending some to the gallowes some to the prisons some to noysome sicknesse some to pouertie some to slauerie some to madnesse some to vntimely death and some to vnmercifull hell Therefore heare and follow Salomons counsell Prou. 7. 24. Heare O my children let not your hearts decline to her waies and walke not in her pathes for she causeth many to fall downe wounded and strong men are slaine by her her house is the way vnto the graue which goeth downe to the chambers of death The sixth Sermon Vers 5. Awake O yee drunkards and weepe and howle O yee drinkers of wine because of the new wine for it shall be pulled from your mouth NOw we are to handle the exhortations of the prophet made and grounded on the premised calamitie The which exhortations for our more orderly and formall proceeding I will thus diuide some of them concerne the miserable ouerthrowe of their countrey by famine whereunto they are prepared by the prophets sermons and these are in this first chapter and to the twelfth verse of the second chapter the other generally stirre them vp vnto repentance from the twelfth to the eighteenth The first of these whereby the inhabitants of the land are admonished prepared for the iudgement is either for the people as in ver 5. 8. 11. or for the cleargie or ministerie as in the 13. of the first chapter the first of the second chapter That part which is directed to the people is by speciall names notes of persons described which are of two sorts either for their manners as drunkards ver 5. or for their occupation or trade of life as husbandmen ver 11. And also these exhortations haue their seueral reasons to mooue the people withall as in this we haue in hand he moueth the drunkards either to awake or to lament ver 5. 8. Vpon these causes the first concerne themselues vnto the nienth and from the nienth to the
eleuenth they concerne the Lord. That which mooueth them for themselues is first of all their penury and want ver 5. their pleasures and plentie should be pulled from their mouths Secondly in regard of the meanes how this should be effected which he describeth metaphorically by comparing the little beasts to a mighty nation ver 6. whose power is there also described in the 7. ver the worke which he should worke that the vines and figge trees the most pleasant profitable and necessarie plants of their countrey should be vtterly subuerted And this we will by the mercifull assistance of God his holy spirit first of all handle First of all the prophet calleth vpon those drunkardes to awake for we know that much drinking bringeth much sleeping and therefore before the prophet could speake vnto this kinde of persons he calleth vpon them to awake from their wine and to rouze vp themselues from the soft bed of their easie or rather beastlie sinnes And out of this we may behold how sweet is the sinne of drunkennes euen as sweet as sleepe is to the wearie body Againe here we may note how dangerous is the sinne of drunkennes that raigning in the bodies of men their mindes cannot be instructed their follies cannot be reprooued and their liues cannot be amended for they are alwaies sleepie and drouzie so that nothing can enter into their hearts so long as the loue of drinke raigneth in their mouthes and many other waies I could vrge this similitude or metaphor of the prophet but I omit them because they are well and worthily declared by other This therefore will I obserue out of this worde Awake that if men be not reclaimed by the preaching of God his worde they shall suddenly be destroied by the comming of his iudgements Awake saith the prophet as if in other words he had declared his meaning you sinners you gluttons you drunkards you vnmercifull men which are taking most delightfull pleasure in your seuerall iniquities You are lulled a sleepe by them but lift vp your eies with speed if you be not speedily remoued ere euery you thinke therof you shall be suddenly cōfounded The prophet Dauid Psal 58. 5. 7. 8 telleth vs that those which will not be rebuked by the prophets are like to the deafe adder which will not be cast out by the charmer and therfore he plainly telleth them that they should consume as the Ise doth and that they should melt away as a snaile in her owne shell that they should be ouerthrowne as quickly as a fire of small thornes that they should be like the vntimely fruit of a woman and that they should as speedily perish as an arrow flieth out of a bowe this selfe same wisedome threatens to her disobedient and incredulous children Pro. 1. 27. that seeing she had called but none had answered therefore their feare should come like sudden desolation and their destruction like a whirle winde There is not any thing among vs but serueth for some vse and the want therof is noysome vnto vs the day for labour the night for rest the winter for ploughing the sommer for reaping and so the worde of God is sent to awake vs before iudgement least iudgement should destroye vs. The old world would not be awaked by Noah and therefore they were drowned the Sodomites would not be awaked by Lot and therefore they were burned the Israelites would not be awaked by Ieremie and therefore they were captiuated the Iewes would not be awaked by Christ and therefore they were destroyed the Corinthians would not be awaked by Paul therfore they were spoiled by the heathen the inhabitants of Constantinople would not be awaked by Chrysostome and then the Barbarous Turke deuoured them and our countreymen of England will not be awaked by the preachers therefore famine warres plagues and sickenesses are seised vpon vs to ouerthrow vs. Oh if euer we will let vs now looke vpon it there is not one among vs but will cry against an open and notorious witch burne her burne her shee were not worthy to liue but against the open rebels against the word of God which as Samuell told Saule is equall or as damnable before God and all good men as is witchcraft yet we say nothing thereunto yea rather as Augustine saith most heauenly He is accompted a publique enimy who is displeased with these kinde of coniurations and him do the multitude turne out of audience displace out of reuerence and if they durst destroy him from among the liuing Oh my deare brethren what wil be the end of these mischiefs God his maiestie is alreadie reuiled Christ his sonne is alreadie denied the diuell their enimie is alreadie embraced the Gospell our saluation is already despised the church of God our most deare mother is already weakned the preachers of truth our most painefull watchmen are already defaced and will not the iudgements of God come also speedily to take vengeance vpon so manifold contempts and so abhominable rebellions yet let vs at least receiue this for truth that if yet we be not awakened we shortly shall be confounded The reasons of this doctrine are manifest First because as Salomon saith that the prosperitie of fooles shall slay them that is euen the meate which wicked men eate the clothes that couer them the friends that flatter them the professions that enrich them and the pleasures that reioice them shal turne God his word from them and them from euerlasting comfort Oh lamentable miserie or miserable follie that we should all of vs be so bewitched with our wealth which is a most mercifull and liberall blessing of God that we should be all rather payred then amended thereby such is the state of them that be rich to themselues and not to God Let vs then take heede to the most certaine worde of God to bee instructed by it to the most holy voice of preachers to be reclaimed by them and to the most terrible iudgements of God whensoeuer they bee vttered that we be not condemned by them for if we embrace and beleeue not the former we shall be embraced and corrected by the latter Secondly another reason heereof doth Dauid giue Psal 73. 27. That all those which withdrawe themselues from God shall perish and those which haue not the worde of God haue not God neither any comfortable feeling of his presence but rather a fearefull looking for of vengeance Oh how terrible and dangerous is the condition of all papisticall and carnall Recusants which do willingly absent themselues from our assemblies what doe they else but withdraw themselues from the Lorde and worke out their owne condemnation and therefore heauie is their case which as Esay saith 5. 24. As the fire deuoureth the stubble and the chaffe is consumed of the flame so their roote shal be as rottennes and their budde shall rise vp like dust because they haue cast off the lawe of the Lorde of hostes and contemned the