learning said the mother of the Gracchi Do you aske me where be my treasures My treasures be my friends said Constantius the father of Constantine Briefly doe you aske me where be my hands My hands are the poore the blind and the lame whom I keepe of almes said Amadeus Lastly doe you aske what is the Romanes their science or occupation I confesse saith the Prince of Latine Poets Others can paint and carue and play the Orators and play the Astronomers artificially but Tu regere Imperio populos Romane memento c. Hae tibi erunt Artes c. Thine Astronomy and thine Oratory and thy caruing and painting c. must be to keepe in obedience Nations and to be good to them that liue in obedience and as for the proud and refractary to keepe them downe this must be thy Art Euen thus you heare that our Sauiour is not singular in his phrase in this 6. of Iohn touching Eating his Flesh and drinking his Blood but that the same in Analogie is vsed else-where by himselfe and euery where by others And to say the truth why should our Sauiour be thought to speake more properly and naturally when hee saith to vs You must eate the Flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his Blood then when he saith of himselfe My meate is to doe the will of Him that sent me c Yet of the former speech our Aduersaries the Romanists take hold of as did also the Capernaites before them to the later they take no exception It is certaine that it was Scandalum acceptum non datum our Sauiour spake none otherwise then he might doe but these men tooke it otherwise then they ought to doe And who tooke it in ill fashion The Text saith Many of his Disciples when they heard this said This is an heardsaying who may abide it Yea further that Many went backe walked no more with him ver 66. If the vulgar Gnain Haarets had cauilled with a few of the better sort only or if they had kept their dislike to themselues or if they had contained themselues within words it had bin another matter Mortui non mordent so words be but wind Verba dum sunt and so Muti non mordent But now for his owne Disciples to doe it and not a few of them but many and not within themselues but to vtter it openly and to proceed from words to deeds and de facto to fall from him as it made their sinne the more sinfull so it might make Christs Passion the more passionate though all his passions were sanctified and alwayes without sin Well after much preparation ridding of the way all necessary for the clearing of the occasion we are come at the length to the Text it selfe Wherein note with me three things A question An answere A reply The Question and Reply are moued by our Sauiour the Answere by Peter The Question is tentatory Will â—ou also goe away I haue deserued better of you The Answere is partly indignatory Lord to whom shall we goe thou hast the words of eternall life He seemed to take it ill that their fidelity was questioned pa rtly Protestatory Wee beleeue and know that thou art the Christ the Sonne of the liuing God Lastly the Reply is Expostulatory Haue I not chosen you twelue and one of you is a Deuill As if he said Ye are not all sound at the heart yee are not all the men that you would be taken for For the first namely the Question As all haue not faith 2. Thess. 3. So all haue not continuance in the faith You ranne well who did let you that you did not obey the truth Gal. 5. and chapter 3. Are you so foolish that after you haue begun in the spirit you will end in the flesh So it is No man is crowned except he striue lawfully that is except he hold out a conquerour to the end And No man putting his hand to the plough and looking backe is meete for the Kingdome of God Therefore the Grecians significantly call end and perfection by one and the same word And Cyprian speaketh sensibly Quicquid ante finem fuerit gradus est quo ad fastigium salutis ascenditur non terminus quo iam culminis summa teneatur That is Whatsoeuer is before the end it is a step whereby we clime to the top of saluation but it is not the vppermost griece whereby the highest point of the top maybe taken hold of A man may be tumbled downe from the ladder as well when hee is within a round or two of the top as when he is in the midst or below the midst and a man may make shipwracke when he is within a ken of land as well as when he is a thousand miles off What had it profited Peter to haue escaped the first and second watch if they had stucke at the Iron-gate and had not passed thorow that also And what did it benefit Samson to haue withstood and eluded Delilahs temptation three seuerall times when in the fourth he gaue ground and was ouer-come Who maketh account of land Oates that shead before the Haruest or of fruit be it Apple or Peare that falls from the tree before it be ripe If you heare these things happy are ye if ye doe them saith Christ and if you receiue the Word once with gladnesse happy are ye say I if you continue in liking of it It is not an ordinary or light sinne to fall from the Grace of Christ neither was it a small fault of these Disciples hauing beene once enlightned and tasted of the good gift of God to forsake Christ in the open field and to turne to him the backe and not the face No maruell therefore if Christ seeme so to wonder as he doth at their back-sliding if he be so carefull to admonish the twelue that they follow not their steps but be warned by their falls Will yee also gâ—e away As if he said Though Israel sinne yet let not Iudah transgresse You are they that I haue framed and fashioned for my seâ—fe the graffe of mine owne setting the shaft of mine owne Quiuer that I may bee glorified therefore though all should be offended because of mee yet be not you offended though all should goe backe yet be not you as they that withdraw themselues vnto perdition for surely your punishment should be so much the heauier by how much Gods mercies in so calling and trusting you haue been the greater To this effect our Sauiour Now here a couple of questions may be demanded the one touching our Sauiour himself the other touching his Elect. Christ demandeth of them what their minde was doth not this somewhat question his omniscience Againe he asketh them whether they would forsake him doth not this call in question the stablenes of Gods counsell touching the Elect These be the two questions which I will answere in a word or two Touching
resolute Peter answered and said The next note is like to it namely That we be forward yea and formost too in a good cause As Peter doth not straine courtesie nor pause to see whether any other would speake and ease him of his labour but as though the waight of it lay vpon his shoulders hee dischargeth himselfe of it valiantly and hardily The Lord loueth a cheerefull giuer saith Saint Paul and so The Lord loueth a forward Confessor say I. Thou commest to see me the last of all my friends saith Octauius to Tully in Appium And 2. Sam. 19. Dauid reproueth the Elders of Iudah for that they were behind to bring the King againe to his house he meaneth that they were hindmost and lag On the other side Shimei that had abused Dauid so villanously for words that no man was euer abused worse by any for hee called him man of blood and man of Belial yet because he was the first of the house of Ioseph that came downe to meete him after his restitution to his Kingly Estate Dauid thought himselfe bound to pardon him and so assured him of his life by an oath So much it importeth a man what he doth well to doe quickly and to doe it betimes then there is thanke with God thâ—n it is accepted of man Euen as Dauid setteth forth his forwardnesse saying I made haste and prolonged not the time to keepe thy righteous iudgements and Saint Paul his When it pleased God to reueale his Sonne in me immediatly I communicated not with flesh and blood but went about that worke And Iames and Iohn being called Math. 4. forsooke their ship and their father forthwith and followed Christ And Luke 19. Zacheus being bid to come downe from a tree came downe in haste and receiued him Now as this haste and forwardnesse is necessary and to be vsed by all so especially by them that are Ring-leaders and Captaines of the flock In their countenance there is hope and despaire in their courage there is life and death If L. Martius had not bestirred himselfe and shewed an vncontrolable quicke resolution and an vndauntable fiery courageousnesse after the ouerthrow giuen to the two Scipio's all had beene lost in Spaine the name of a Romane had beene no more in remembrance This one example for hundreds for matters of warre So if Nasica had not presently vpon the hurly-burly stirred by the Gracchi obiected himselfe as a Bulwarke against their seditious complotments the Common-weale had beene drencht in the gulph of sedition out of which it would hardly haue popped vp for the hearts of the valourous would haue failed them for feare and the hearts of the turbulent would haue been strengthened Thus one example out of hundreds for matters of peace So if Saint Peter vpon the reuolt of so many Disciples and staggering peraduenture of some of the Apostles had hanged the wing as they speake or let fall his Crest who doth know but that many by his example would haue beene drawne away to obiect cowardize or amazed distraction Therefore blessed be God that gaue such strength vnto him for by his strength many were confirmed Let vs thinke of this Beloued specially we that are or should be men in Christ let vs reproue them that cannot abide wholesome Doctrine and let vs confute such vpon occasion and modestie and in order as are contrary-minded and teach contrary to the truth that is the Scriptures For the Scriptures are true and whatsouer is repugnant to the same is false-hood Let vs not draw backe and say Why doth not such a one speake and why doth not such a one but rather as in a common fire let euery man bring his bucket of water to quench it let euery one presently put his hand to the worke and helpe to beare anothers burden and then he shall be blessed in his worke This is my second note That not onely we professe boldly but also that we doe it presently The third note shall be shorter then the second namely that we be charitable What in Gods name might one say what meanes Saint Peter to be so liberall to vndertake for others He knew what himselfe would doe but he did not know what others meant Cato refused to vndertake for Catulus his honesty and none of better note for vertue then Catulus Cato therefore was a wise man So Ieremy saith The heart is deceitfull and wicked aboue all things who can know it So Saint Paul What man knoweth the things of man but the spirit of man that is in him Paul was an Apostle as well as hee How then could Saint Peter say boldly To whom shall we goe but vnto thee Hee should rather haue said To whom shall I goe To make the matter short I answere in a word that Saint Peter sheweth hereby his great charity which thinketh none euill and his brotherly loue which conceiteth another as himselfe The better a man is the lesse euill he suspecteth to be in another the worse a man is himselfe the more naught he suspecteth to be in another It is written of Nero by Suetonius that persuasissimum habuit He was verily perswaded that there was no continent man vpon the earth What maruell he was most vicious and most abominable himselfe On the other side Solon that carryed a naturall heart to his Parents could not be induced to thinke that there was any vse of a Law to be made against murderers of Fathers Mothers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Nazianzen speakes that which is free from naughtinesse is slower to suspect naughtines As it is written for example of Francis the fiâ—st that carrying a generous minde himselfe he thought he should be intreated with like generousnesse by his enemy As on the contrary side the brethren of Ioseph that had vsed cruelty themselues were no sooner brought within their brothers danger specially their father being dead but they said It may be that Ioseph will hate vs and will pay vs againe all the euill which we did vnto him Now St. Peter was not like to these later bad ones but to those former good ones or rather better then they He knew whom he beleeued and he knew that his owne heart was established and his faith built vpon the Rocke Christ and therefore thought that others would be as forward as he and as firme as he Hee neuer thought that any of the Apostles would play the Traytor or that Iudas would be other then Iudas that is a Confessor He knew peraduenture that he was a Theefe and bare the bagge c. but yet who would not looke for reformation vnder such a Censor and Master This made Peter to say not in the singular number To whom shall I goe but in the plurall To whom shall we Let vs be slow to anger slowe to iudge swift to pity swift to hope Saint Paul hoped of the whole Nation of the Iewes that in time they should be saued Rom. 11. And
Salomon the wisest of all thought that if he might ioyne in affinity with his neighbour-Princes and take many of their daughters to be his wiues and women he should not onely strengthen the Kingdome in his owne hand but also stablish it in his house long and long also he thought peraduenture that by occasion of his marriages and affinities being so great many of the vplandish people would be trayned wonne to the knowledge of the true God of Israel but how was he deceiued His wiues and worshippingwomen turned his heart from the Lord he could do little or good no vpon them or theirs And as for the secret vnderminers of Salomons State succession where found they entertainment but among his allies Let me instance this point in one or two examples more Constantine the Great that worthy Christian and great Politician though that if he might build a City in the confines of Europe and Asia that might bee aemula Romae a match to Rome and place one of his sonnes there to keepe his Court he should not onely eternize his name but also fortifie the Empire no lesse then if he had enuironed it with a wall of brasse Also Phocas and Pepinus thought the one if hee might dignifie the Bishop of Rome with an extrauagant Title to bee called Vniuersall Bishop the other if he might lade the Church of Rome with Principalities euen with Principalitie vpon Principalitie they should deserue immortally well not onely of that Sea but also of the whole house of God But the way of man is not in himselfe as Ieremy saith neither is it in man to fore-see what will fall out luckily or crosse The building of new Rome was the decay of old Rome so it proued and the diuiding of the Empire was the destruction of the Empire and no lesse as wise men know also the lifting vp of the man of Rome was the hoysing vp of the man of sinne and the locking of him in the chaire euen in the chaire of pestilence Thus there is no policy so prouident no prouidence so circumspect but the same is subiect to errors and crosses and therefore no cause why it should be trusted to and therefore no cause why it should be gloryed in Let not the wise man glory in his wisedome c. If any wisedome might be boasted of surely one of those kindes of wisedomes that I erst reckoned vp vnto you to wit wisedome or skill in the Arts wisedome or knowledge in Diuinity wisedome or policy touching matters of State but these you haue heard are not to be relyed vpon because they are vncertaine because they are vnperfit and therefore much lesse are we to rely vpon any such as is worse or inferiour to these But yet the world is the world it hath done so doth so yea and blesseth it selfe for so doing therefore this wound hath need to be searched ransacked a little deeper Homer I remember crieth out against 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Discord O I would it were perished and therefore out of the company of the gods and men So Cyprian against Couetousnesse O detestabilis caritas mentium c. O the same detestable blindenesse of mens minds c. Hieronymus against Luxury or lechery O ignis infernalis luxuria O Lechery a very hellish fire Augustine against error mistaking O errare O delirare O what a vile thing it is to be blinded with error c. Thus euery one cryed out against those sins wherewith their times were most pestered poisoned Surely if I were appointed to touch the sore of the daughter of our people we haue many so res from the crowne of our head to the sole of our feete we are little else but sores and botches and biles but yet if I were to touch that which doth most of all apostumate and ranckle then I ought to cry out O Policy policy Policy I meane falsely so called but indeed cunning and cudgeling This letteth that the Prince and the Realme cannot be serued many times as they should be nor Iustice administred in many places as it ought to be nor the Gospell of the Son of God so propagated as were to be wished Many could wish that in musters presses the likeliest men to doe seruice and not the weakest of friends should be appointed also that they were holpen to their right that suffer wrong also that the incorrigible were cut off by the sword of Iustice also that the Sons deceitfull workers craftily crept in in pretence to aduance the Romish faith but indeed to supplant English loyalty and faithfulnesse that I say their goings out their commings in and their haunts were better marked and so the danger that is threatned by them preuented But yet to put our hand to the worke euery one to doe some seruice in his place as for ensample Constables to precept the ablest and fittest persons for the warres Sheriffes to make returnes of indifferent Iuries for the tryall of rights Iurors to haue God and a good conscience before their eyes and not to turne aside to by-respects c. This we will not be induced to doe What letteth vs Policy for we say If we shall be precise in our office this yeere or in this action at this time others will bee as precise against vs or ours another time and then what shall wee gaine by it And if we should not leaue somewhat to such a person and to such a cause wee should offend such a great One and he will sit on our skirts Thus policy ouerthroweth Polity that is the Common-weale and thus the feare of men casteth out the feare of God as the Wise man complaineth Another vanity nay wickednesse I haue noted vnder the Sun and that is this There be that haue the dore of faith opened vnto them and haue opportunity to heare words whereby they and their houshold might bee saued and the same doe also consent in the inward man to the doctrine taught and published among vs by authority that the same is the truth and the contrary falsehood and yet to giue their names vnto the Gospell soundly or to protest against Popery and superstition zealously they will not be drawne What with-holdeth them Policy for they thinke that continuing doubtfull nay though they should be enemies if but secret ones they shall leese nothing the State holding as it doth these be the times of mercy though certaine vngratefull men crie out against them as though they were bloody for none other cause but for that they are restrained from shedding innocent blood as heretofore they were wont in the dayes of their tyranny and if there should bee a change then their very doubtfulnesse and staggering would be remembred and they aduanced thereby Thus as Demades said to his country-men of Athens when they paused to decree diuine honours to King Demetrius Take heed my masters lest while you be so scrupulous for heauen and
heauenly matters you leese not the earth in the meane time and your earthly possessions So some seeme to make no reckoning at all of their heauenly inheritance so that they may vphold or better their state vpon earth Call you this wisedome or policy or prouidence or the like Then Achitophel was a wise man to preferre the expectancy of honour at the traytor Absaloms hands before the present enioying of fauour and good countenance from King Dauid his anointed Soueraigne Then Esau was politike to esteeme more of a messe of potage then of the blessing which afterward he could not recouer though he sought it with teares Yea briefely then that Emperour was prouident were it Nero or whosoeuer else that fished for Menise and Gudgeons with nets of silke and hookes of gold What is the chaffe to the wheate saith the Lord by the Prophet What is the shadow to the body the body to the soule frailty to eternity What shall it aduantage a man to winne the whole world if he leese his sâ—ule or can any man saue his soule that hath God his enemy or can any man haue God to be his friend that doth double with him Be not deceiued as God is called Amen or True in the Reuelation and calleth himselfe Truth in the 14. of Iohn so he loues truth or sincerity in the inwards parts Psalme 51. and without truth he loueth nothing that he doth loue A doubling man or a man with a double heart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Saint Iames is vnstable in all his wayes and can such a one looke for any thing at Gods hands Let them looke to it whosoeuer among vs play fast and loose and blow hot and cold with the Lord making bridges in the ayre as the Comicall Poet saith and making flesh their arme but in their heart depart from the Lord which the Prophet doth so much cry out against Surely such wisedome is not from aboue but is earthly sensuall and deuelish and as truely as the reproch deliuered by the Prophet Esay chapter 44. in respect of their corrupt iudgement is verified in them Hee feedeth on ashes a seduced heart hath deceiued him so that hee cannot deliuer his soule and say May not I erre So the Iudgement denounced by the same Prophet in another place in respect of their worldly policy shall take hold of them Behold saith he you all kindle a fire and are compassed about with sparkes walke in the light of your fire and in the sparkes that yee haue kindled This shall yee haue of mine hand yee shall lye downe in sorrow As if he said Your turning of deuices shall it not be as the Potters clay shall it not breake and crimble betweene your fingers Take counsell as long as you will it shall not stand make a decree it shall not prosper saith the Lord Almighty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the heathen man He that soweth the wind shall reape the whirle-wind let him be sure of it And let so much be spoken against glorying in wisedome either rightly so called or falsely so termed Let vs consider now of the second thing that we are forbidden to boast of to wit strength Nor the strong man glory in his strength There haue beene many strong men in all ages strong of arme as that Polydamas that caught a wild Bull by one of his hinder legges and held him by the force of his arme for all that the Bull could doe and that Pulio mentioned by Dio that threw stone at a Towne-wall besieged by Germanicus with such might that the battlement which he hit and he which was vpon it came tumbling downe which made them that held the Towne through wonderment at his strength to yeeld it vp strong of hand as that Marius one of the thirtie Tyrants that would turne aside a Wayne with one of his fingers and that Polonian of late in the dayes of Stephen Buthor that would knap a horse-shoo asunder were it neuer so hard betweene his hands strong of arme and hand and body and heart and all as that Aristomenes mentioned by Pliny who slew three hundred Lacedemonians in fight in one day and that Aurelian then or shortly after Emperour of whom they made this song Mille mille mille viuat qui mille mille occidit Let him liue thousands of yeeres or moneths who slew thousands of enemies These were famous men in their generations and no doubt but they were miraculously admired at by them that liued in their times yet for all that neither were others to haue gloryed in them nor they in themselues Not others to glory in them because Saint Paul saith Let no man reioyce or glory in men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. Cor. 3. And againe Let him that glorieth glory in the Lord 1. Cor. 10. Not themselues to glory in themselues because strength is not to be compared to wisedome and therefore wisedome being debarred from boasting as you heard already strength ought much more That strength commeth short of wisedome Salomon sheweth both by plaine words by an example by plaine words as when he saith Ecclesiast 9. verse 16. Then said I Better is wisedome then strength By an example as in the same Chapter verse 14. A little City and few men in it and a great King came against it and compassed it about and built Forts against it and there was found therein a poore and wise man and he deliuered the City by his wisedome c. Thus Salomon Nature also hath taught as much both in plaine words and by examples In plaine words as Musaeus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wisdome or sleight is alwayes better then strength By an example as Sertorius for example he caused a couple of horses to bee brought before him the one fat and fleshy the other a leane carrion Iade also a couple of Soldiers the one lusty and strong the other a silly sickly fellow to the leane horse he put the strong man and he going roughly to worke and thinking to doe the deed with dead strength haled and pulled and tired himselfe and was a laughing-stocke to the beholders but the weake fellow vsing some cunning for all his weakenesse did the feate and went away with the applause Wisedome therefore is better then strength and therefore this is one strong reason why strength should not be boasted of since wisedome is denyed Another reason may be this Strength of force bee it equall to the strength of a Lyon or Elephant yet it is but the stren gth of flesh neuerthelesse and all flesh is fraile and subiect to foyle whom one cannot ouercome many may whom sword cannot pierce shot will whom shot doth not hit sickenesse may arrest time surely and death will be sure to make an end of Now should a man be proud of frailty as of grasse of vapor of smoake of a shadow of a tale that is told c.
non irrisit as Bernard speaketh but if the world came vpon him he will be besotted by the world Therefore Thucydides recordeth it as a strange thing in the men of Chius that they were sober for all their prosperity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Euagrius ascribeth this for a speciall praise to Mauritius the Emperour that in his prosperity he retained his ancient piety In our naturall bodies it is thus the more fat the lesse blood in the veines and consequently the fewer spirits and so in our fields abundance of wet breedes abundance of Tares and consequently great scarcity of corne And is it not so with our soules The more of Gods blessing wealth the more weedes of vanity and carnality and the more rich to the world the lesse righteous to God commonly What meant Apuleius to say that Vbi vber ibâ— tuber but to signifie that pride and arrogancy are companions to plenty And what made Salomon to pray against fulnesse but to shew that as they must haue good braines that will carry much drink so they must haue extraordinary soules that will not be ouercome with the world Did not Dauid himselfe in his prosperity say that he should neuer be remoued say or speake vnaduisedly Nay did hee not doe lewdly and wickedly defiling himselfe with his neighbours wife and embruing his hands in his seruitours blood thus adding murder to adultery Did he attempt any such thing in the dayes of want and aduersity No no in his necessity he sought the Lord and gate himselfe vnto his God right earely and offered vnto him the sacrifice of righteousnesse c. And yet we grudge and repine if wee doe not swimme in wealth when wealth through the corruption of our nature doth dull vs and taint vs and make vs vnapt to euery good worke Againe wee shunne pouerty as we would doe a Serpent nay as the gates of hell yet pouerty through the blessing of God doth kindle deuotion and kill sinne in vs euen as Worme-wood or the like bitter things doe kill Moths or wormes This the time will not permit me to stand any longer vpon and therefore I come at once to the second verse and will end the same in a word or two Let him that glorieth glory in this that he vnderstandeth and knoweth me Mans wisedome strength and riches are vaine and not to be boasted of this much Ieremy hath told vs already and I haue proued vnto you by many reasons But now if you would know what is the thing wherein we may take true comfort and whereof we may safely glory the same is none other thing but piety or godlinesse the true knowledge of God the true seruing of God This hath the promise of this life and of that which is to come this we ought to labor for day and night that we may attaine and hauing attained we may reioyce with ioy vnspeakable and glorious This our Sauiour Christ doth warrant vs to doe by his owne example Luke 10. Who there is said To haue reioyced in the Spirit on our behalfe because we hâ—d our minds illuminated to vnderstand those things that belong to the Kingdome of God and our saluation Euen as else-where he defineth the happinesse of man to consist herein namely To know God the onely true God and whâ—m he hath sent Iesus Christ. Agreeably whereunto Augustine saith Infelix homo qui scit illa omnia Te autem nescit beatus autem qui Te sâ—it etiam si illa nesciat c. Vnhappy is the man that knowes all those things all secular learning if hee know not Thee but happy is he that knoweth Thee although he bee ignorant of the rest But he that knoweth Thee and the rest too is neuer-a-whit the more blessed for the tother things sake but for Thee onely if knowing Thee he glorifie Thee as God So Augustine The knowledge of God therefore that is the one thing that is necessary that maketh a Christian that lifteth vs vp vnto God that coupleth vs vnto him that iustifieth that saueth that worketh all in all Now by knowledge I vnderstand and the Prophet in my Text vnderstandeth not a bare apprehension or sense of the mind that there is a Diuine power greater and mightier then all for so much the most barbarous Heathen were not without They could say Dâ—us videt omnia Deo commendo c. as Tertullian sheweth yea as Saint Iames saith The very Deuils beleeue and tremble they haue a kind of beliefe therefore they haue knowledge butalso a consent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Clemens Alexandrin calleth it and perswasion of the heart touching both the Prouidence of God that he worketh all in all all for the best to them that loue him also and especially touching his mercy that hee will grant pardon to the penitent euen to them that craue it for his Sonnes sake and lastly touching his bounty that he will euerlastingly reward as many as are his euen as many as beleeue in his Name This is that sauing knowledge which the world knoweth not neither is it reuealed by flesh and blood but by the Spirit of our Father which is in heauen This is that knowledge whereof the Prophet Esay speaketh By his knowledge shall my righteous seruant iustifie many for he shall beare their iniquities This is that knowledge That precious treasure which so soone as a wise man findeth for ioy thereof he departeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth the field Briefely this is that knowledge in comparison whereof Saint Paul counted all things losse euen dung that he might know Christ and the vertue of his resurrection and the fellowship of his afflictions and be made conformable to his death To conclude this is that knowledge which whosoeuer seeketh is Wise whosoeuer getteth is Rich whosoeuer keepeth is Strong nay vertuous nay happy nay twice happy happy in this world he is by faith and happy in the world to come he shall be by fruition This knowledge the Lord vouchsafe to engraffe in them that want it and increase in them that haue it and make fruitfull in all to the purging of our consciences in this life and the sauing of our soules in the Day of the Lord Iesus To whom with the Father and the blessed Spirit be all honour and glory Amen A SERMON VPON THE SIXT OF IOHN THE SECOND SERMON IOHN 6. Vers. 67.68 69 70. Iesus therefore said vnto the Twelue Will yee also goe away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Simon Peter then or therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 answered him Lord to whom shall we goe Thou hast the words of euerlasting life And we haue beleeued and knowne Hebraism for we doe beleeue and know that thou art the Christ the Sonne of the liuing God Haue not I chosen you Twelue and one of you is a Deuill NOthing morevncertaine then rhe minds of the multitude you cannot tell where to haue
causa It is not the punishmeÌ„t it is the cause that maketh a true Martyr For our parts we say vnto them as Optatus doth to their like Nulli dictum est Nega Deum Nulli dictum est Incende Testamentum Nulli dictum est Aut Thus pone aut Basilicas destrue â—stae enim res solent Martyria generare That is To none of them hath it beene said Deny God To none of them hath it beene said Burne the New Testament To none hath it beene said Offer incense or throw downe Churches for these things are wont to engender Martyrdomes Thus Optatus lib. 3. And I pray you is not our cause like to Optatus his and theirs to the Parmenians When haue our Magistrates vrged any of them that haue beene sent from Rome much lesse Recusants to deny God except they make him of Rome to be their God Nay both they and we doe exhort them with all instance to turne from that vanity and to trust in the liuing God Cursed be he that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arme So When doe we vrge them to burne the Bible or any part of the Bible Nay this hath beene their fault and sticketh to them for infamy like the Leprosie of Gehezi To set fire vpon the translated Bibles wheresoeuer they could finde them and to burne them by hundreds on an heape yet the worst translation made by our men is founder and more agreeable to the Originall then the Translation of the Seuentie and yet the Apostles themselues suffered the same nay vsed the same as is euident to the Learned so farre were they from defacing it To be short When and where haue our men forced them yea or perswaded either to put Incense vpon the Altar or to throw downe Churches Nay it is their proper guise euen now in the time of the Gospell when shadowes and carnall worship should cease to perfume their Altar and their vestiments and many things that I know not nor care to learne and it hath beene their ordinary practice where they haue beene the stronger to destroy not onely Churches but also as many as haue beene assembled in them to heare Gods Word and to receiue the Sacrament euen bloudily and butcherly with a rage that reached vp to heauen Witnesse the Massacres that they made at Vassey at Merindol and Cabrias in Piemont in Calabria and where not So that we haue great cause to flee from them not onely to goe away and they no cause to flee from vs who neuer thirsted after their blood nor drew it but constrained and in our defence But to what purpose all this Since they whom it concerneth are not here and them that are here it doth not concerne yet as our Sauiour made full account that some of his Auditors would relate vnto Herod what opinion he held of him and therefore said vnto them Goe yee and tell that Fox So we are content that they take information by some of you that we maintaine and are instant that there is cruelty in their side and not in ours and a good cause with vs and not with them and therefore that there is cause why they should returne to vs and no cause in the world why we should turne to them And let so much be spoken of the Question It followeth Simon Peter therefore answered him Lord to whom shall we goe thou hast the words of euerlasting life And we haue beleeued and knowne for we doe beleeue know Heb. that thou art the Christ the Son of the liuing God In this answere Saint Peter doth two things First he denyeth flatly that hee or his fellow Apostles haue any such meaning Then he bringeth reasons of their constant adhering to him The denyall is set forth by way of Interrogation for more vehemency sake and containeth in it a reason drawne from the excellency of Christ before other teachers Lord to whom shall we goe meaning there was no Master worth the thinking of in comparison to him and therefore that they were farre from any such purpose The reasons drawne from the excellency of Christ are two The one from the excellency of his Doctrine Thou hast the words of euerlasting life the other from the excellency of his person Thou art the Christ the Son of the liuing God Our heart and conscience telleth vs so much therefore we are not men but deuils if we forsake thee To this effect is Saint Peters answer in the name of his fellowes Let vs take the words before vs in order as they lye and first speake of the Interrogation Simon Peter therefore answered him saying Lord to whom shall we goe The first thing that we are to learne out of these words is this namely That truth and a good cause hath alwayes some to maintaine it The Disciples fell away yea many of the Disciples fell away yea they fell away so that they came no more at our Sauiour as the Text hath it but yet hee was not left without witnesse he had the Apostles to beare record to him and to stand for him So the High Priests and the Elders yea and the whole multitude of the Iewes cryed out against him and would not otherwise be satisfied then with his death but Ioseph of Arimathea a Councellour a iust man and a good consented not to their plots and practices Luk. 23. So Obadiah was not carryed away with the streame of the time to kill Gods Prophets and those that worshipped the Lord with holy worship but hid them in Caues and prouided for them though it were with the jeopardy of his head So Ruben though he had sinned before a great sinne and had highly offended God thereby and his father too yet in this no question he pleased both that he dissented from his brethrens bloody designe to murder their bother Ioseph and both disswaded them and deliuered him The like example of constancy and magnanimity appeared in Caleb and Iosuah Numb 14. who opposed themselues not onely to their fellowes being tenne to two but also to the whole Congregation of the Children of Israel being an hundred thousand to one against all they stood boldly for the maintenance of Gods glory in the power of his might and the truth of his promise saying Rebell not against the Lord neither feare yee the people of the Land for they are but bread for vs their shield is departed from them and the Lord is with vs feare them not Thus they and this was counted to them for righteousnesse vnto all posterity for euer-more Yea that God that prospered the Midwiues of Egypt for not subscribing to the bloody decree of Pharaoh and his Councellors did also highly aduance these his seruants not onely bringing them into the Land of Promise the place of rest where they would be but also making one of them Generall Captaine ouer his people anâ— giuing him admirable victories and the other also a great man and a mighty and of such
principall measure thereof is for all such as are called to this waighty charge of being Gods Messengers and Interpretors vnto the people For if no man can say that Iesus is the Lord but by the holy Ghost 1. Cor. 12. then who can preach worthily of Iesus and of the doctrine of saluation but by him And if this key of the Spirit be requisite for the opening of all points of doctrine then is it thrice necessary to reueale mysteries Beloued this point of doctrine concerning the Incarnation and Office of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ is not onely a mystery but a mystery of mysteries that is a most deep and hidden mysterie which the Patriarches saw in a glasse and as it were in a darke speaking the Prophets searched after the very Angels desired to behold And therefore not onely we that take vpon vs to vnfold the same haue need to pray with the Prophet Dauid Lord open thou our lips that our mouthes may shew forth thy praise and speake worthily of this high mysterie but also you that are here present before God this day to heare words from my mouth ought to pray with all manner of prayer and with all instance that he that tooke away the scales from Pauls eyes and is called by Daniel The Reuealer of Secrets would so open the eyes of your vnderstanding that that which shall be deliuered vnto you may not be as a booke that is sealed or clozed fast but that you may know Christ and comprehend him for whose sake you are also comprehended of him This short Preface I thought good to make vnto you in respect of the excellency and diuinenesâ—e of the Argument or Theme vndertaken by me to stirre vp your godly deuotion that there may spring vp in you no root of profanenesse nor cold pang of wearinesse oppresse you to make the Word vnprofitable For if they escaped not that despised Moses his Law much lesse shall we escape if we despise the Gospell that is if wee shall not reuerently heare and religiously lay vp in our hearts this most gladsome tydings concerning Christ manifesting of himselfe in the flesh to communicate himselfe vnto vs and to draw vs vnto him But let vs come to the glad tidings it selfe Behold a Virgin shall conceiue c. Three notable things or rather wonderfull are contained in this short verse 1. A wonderfull Conception 2. A wonderfull Birth 3. A wonderfull Coniunction of the Diuine and humane nature in one person A Virgin shall conceiue This is the first of the wonders A Virgin shall beare a Sonne This is the second His name shall be called Immanuel that is Gâ—d with vs because of the assuming of our nature vnto himselfe This is the third A Virgin shall conceiue This truth is contradicted by two sorts of men especially by the wrangling Iewe and by the doubtfull Infidell The one saith It was not so the Prophet did not meane that shee should be a Virgin that should be the mother of Immanuel The other saith It could not bee how can a Virgin conceiue c These be the obiections of the vnhappy miscreants the Iewes the Gentiles the Atheisticall scorners whom I will not answer diligently or at large lest I should seeme too much to honour them but I will confute them briefly that I may furnish you with some reasons against the day of battell against the time I say that your faith shall be shaken with such kind of persons To the Iewe therefore this I say That though we take no aduantage of the Etymon of the Word vsed by the Prophet and yet as the Learned know the Hebrew tongue doth excell all other tongues in fitting the nature of things with proper fit names yet forasmuch as the word signifieth one that is kept close and secret who else but a Virgin can be meant But to omit this aduantage and to omit also the authority of the seuenty Interpreters which were Iewes and so translated it before this matter was in controuersie and therefore not excepted against for partiality Let vs consider the matter it selfe Doth not the Prophet in Gods name promise to shew them a signe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a prodigious and strange thing surpassing the course of nature Quale autem signum erat adolescentulam non Virginem parere saith Origen against Câ—lsus What signe were that what wonder were that for a young woman that lyeth with a man to conceiue This were a wonder not to be wondred at Therefore either the Prophet Esay spake absurdly and called these things which were not such as though they were such which was farre from that wisdome and eloquence that was in him or an extraordinary Conception and which exceeded the bounds of nature and the experience of the world is here signified This is enough to beat downe the Iewes enough in this place for if I should stand to refute all their canils I should seeme to forgâ—t mine Auditory To the Infidels that cry out It is impossible that a Virgin should conceiue this I answere euen as Christ did in the like case That with men indeed it is impossible but with God all things are possible Whatsoeuer God will that hee doth both in heauen and earth or speake I this after the manner of the Scripture and saith not Nature the same Yes verily 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All things are easie to God c. for if any thing were too hard for God then he were not God but that which is too hard for him should be God rather since by reason hee that is strongest and aboue all hee onely deserueth the name of God It remaineth therefore that all things aâ—â— subiect to God subiect to his pleasure subiect to his motion then Nature specially then he may alter it as it pleaseth him Indeed Beloued though he hath made a Law for all his creatures yet he hath not made a Law for himselfe he will be brought vnto subiection to none He is and will remaine Liberrimum agens a most free Agent Therefore let no man say no Infidell nor any whatsoeuer This is not wont to be done therefore it cannot be done I doe not see how it may be done therefore it is impossible for surely he speakes rather madly then foolishly that speaketh so since there be infinite examples and in all ages to the contrary Why naturally we know the Lord hath made the sands for bounds to the Sea and hath appointed the same to checke the billowes thereof c. and yet many aliue haue seene the same to range ouer its bankes and to carry away with it whole Townes and Shires c. So naturally man onely hath the gift of speech and not presently after his birth but he must stay a certaine time but yet when it pleaseth God to shew a miracle euen Asses haue spoken and Oxen at the Plowe and a child in his mothers belly I doe not tell you fables but stories So
any will celebrate Christs Natiuity aright he must put off concerning the conuersationin times past the old man which is corrupt with the deceiuable lusts of error and be renued in the Spirit Verily for this cause Christ was borne that we should be borne againe he would be borne againe that we might walke in newnesse of life The conclusion is this that as Saint Peter saith It is sufficient for vs to haue spent the time past of our life after the lusts of the Gentiles walking in wantonnesse lusts drunkennesse c. And as it is in Exodus This moneth shall be vnto you the beginning of moneths so we endeauour euery one of vs euen at this present to cast away the workes of darkenesse and to make an end of those things whereof we haue cause to be ashamed and hence-forth to follow righteousnesse and holinesse and charity and brotherly kindnesse and loue towards them that call vpon the Lord with assurance of heart This is the feast of solemnity that the Lord requireth this will please the Lord better then thousands of Rammes or ten thousand riuers of oyle Let vs now come to the Third generall part concerning the wonderfull vniting of two natures in Christ and what comfort and fruit we may reape thereby And shee shall call his name Immanuel That we may speake in some order and so you remember the better what shall be spoken this course wee will take First we will speake of the party that was to giue the name because it is said here She shall call c. Secondly of the giuing of the name or calling She shall call Thirdly of the name it selfe Immanuel and what mysterie and Doctrine and comfort is contained therein The two first parts I will dispatch very briefly The last which indeed is the very kernell not onely of this Text but also of the whole Scripture I will dwell the longer on and euen spend the chiefest part of the time that is allowed me for this taske For the first it may be demanded why this honour should be atributed to the mother to giue the name to the Child since Adam gaue names vnto all creatures and not Eue if she were then made And when Rachel tooke vpon her to call her second sonne Ben-oni her husband crossed it saying His name shall be called Ben-iamin And to be short Elizabeths naming of her sonne was not yeelded vnto by her kinsfolke vntill they had knowne the fathers pleasure who called for writing tables and wrote His name is Iohn This for examples So for precepts you know what Saint Paul saith to Timothy I permit not a woman to vsurpe authority ouer the man And to the Corinthians I will that you know that Christ is the Head of euery man and the man is the womans head c. The preeminence therefore being in the man and this being accepted a matter of excellency and preeminence to giue the name it would seeme that too much was giuen to the blessed Virgin to haue this giuen her I answer That if it were a matter of preeminence indeed and so much to be reckoned of as many wise gossips with vs doe make reckoning of it striuing for the same at the Font as they would doe for the wall or for an vpper-seat If I say the matter were of importance and argued superiority and so not to be challenged by the women without the leaue of the man c. Yet for all that since the bleâ—sed Virgin was conceiued with child of the holy Ghost and of none other and so not subiect to man for her Child it is no maruell nor no wrong that the whole honour if it be any honour of naming the child be ascribed to her For the rule that is in the Decretall is true being taken out of Beda Quod non est licitum in Lege necessitas facit licitum Necessity maketh that lawfull which the Law dissalloweth as our Sauiour Christ himselfe defendeth Dauid for eating the shew-bread in the extremity of his hunger Forasmuch therefore as the blessed Virgin was mother and father too as it were for any earthly father that our Sauiour had by good reason is this honour ascribed to her being the onely earthly partie that had interest in his nature And verily for this cause especially doe I thinke it to be said in my Text She shall call and not He shall be called or the like to shew the miraculousnesse of Christs Incarnation as being to take nature of his mothâ—r without a father This point is not so waighty and therefore I wiâ—l not stand longer vpon it lest I should seeme to bestow in Lenticula vnguentum The second point was of calling or naming Shall call his name Here likewise it may be demanded why the Prophet should tell the Iewes that the promised seed the Messiâ—h should be called Immanuel that is to say God with vs and not say plainely He shall be God and man both since it is not so materiall what or how one is called but what he is I answer granting indeed that with men it is so they be not alwayes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their nature or disposition doth not agree with their name neither to good nor to euill It hath been an obseruation of the Popes that none were worse then they that called themselues by the most gracious names as that Vrban whom they called Turban for his turbulent nature and for troubling the whole world That Innocent that they called Nocent Non est Innocentius imò Nocens verè That Benedict whom they called Maledict and A re nomen habe Benedic Benefac Benedicte aut rem commuta Maledic Malefac Maledicte This for Popes The like writeth Epiphanius of Noëtus the Heretike that like as we vse to call our Dog though he be but a Curre by the name of Lyon and the Furies Eumenidas that is gentle by a kind of Antiphrasis c. So saith he this Hereticke was called Noëtus that is wise when indeed he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a very foole and senselesse in matters of Faith Thus Epiphanius But indeed what should I bring you one example out of one writer when all writers in all ages do afford many They were not all white that were called Albini nor black that were called Nigri nor wise that were called Catones or Catilines nor little that were called Pauli nor faire-spoken that were called Aemylij c. Thus of Romans So they were not all honorable that were called Cleons nor the best that were called Aristophanes nor the fairest that were called Calliae c. Thus of the Grecians So for the Hebrewes Rehoboam signifieth an enlarger of the people and he you know had tenne Tribes fallen away from him at a clap So Absalon signifieth a peaceable father and was there euer any more rebellious child whom though his father would haue had to escape yet vengeance Gods vengeance would not suffer him to liue The
nourishing and ripening of our wits let vs not suffer them to continue whole and vnaltered but let vs concoct them and digest them otherwise they will be for our memory onely and not for our wit To this effect he And to the same purpose say I Let vs not be like those filthy belly-gods that swallow downe their meate whole without masticating and passe away their drinke without any concoction as they receiued it in This is not to feed so on the word of God that we may grow thereby no but hauing once taken it into the stomack of our soule by the vertue attractiue we must there heate it and cherish it by the vertue retentiue yea as the veines of our Liuer doe not suffer the nutriment that wee haue receiued to abide still in the stomack but doe sucke out of the same that which is wholesome and conuey it to the Liuer by the veines whereof it is turned into blood so it becommeth a godly soule not to suffer any part of the Word which he heareth to passe away without fruite but to apply the same to his heart and conscience and to make vse of the same both for beliefe and sanctimony But let vs returne to our Apostle I am not ashamed c. If any might lawfully be ashamed thereof a man would thinke Saint Paul might for had hee not beene zealous of the traditions of the Fathers was he not a Pharisee the son of a Pharisee did he not persecute this way euen to the death did he not make hauocke of the Church of God how then could he without note of inconstancy change his note and sing a new song How could he goe about to plant the Doctrine which before he pluckt vp preach the faith which before he destroyed Indeed if hee had stood vpon the day of man or vpon mans iudgement if he had stood vpon his credit in the world his reputation with his friends his rising and aduancement in dignity his pleasure his profit he might in some sort haue smote vpon his thigh and couered his face for sorrow and shame that by giuing his name to the Gospell he had stript himselfe of all worldly comforts and aduantages But now Saint Paul cared not for any of these things neither was his life deare vnto him so that hee might fulfill his course He was carefull to please him that had chosen him to be a Souldier chosen him to his calling and for other respects he stood not vpon them yea the things that might haue beene vantage to him he counted them losse for Christs sake yea he iudged them to be dung that he might winne Christ. This was the Apostles resolution and was not the same a godly one and a wise and to be imitated by vs all There are and euer haue beene some who into what perswasion soeuer Quasi tempestate delati sunt they haue beene carryed by whatsoeuer wind of vanity or superstition of their friends or subtlety of seducers the same they thinke themselues bound to retaine and maintaine euen for constancy sake Haue I beene so long of this opinion now shall I change what will men say What foolish men say it is no matter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 said Cleanthes by the testimony of Clemens Alexandrinus Feare not vniudicious and impudent iudgement of the multitude And Saint Paul I if I should please men were not the seruant of Iesus Christ But now I will tell you whose speeches you should feare Feare them that shew themselues to feare God and to haue a right iudgement in all things that haue their wits exercised in the Word and doe proue what is the good will of God and acceptable and perfect these mens verdict seemeth to be of great moment and to giue light to that inquest that passeth of life and death truth and error Therefore if those condemne you for altering of your course I cannot blame you to starkle but now there is no such matter wise men teach and haue euer taught that it is not so much to bee enquired How long either he or our Fathers haue held an opinion but How consonant the same is to Gods reuealed will That must be the Touch-stone of our faith and the Load-stone of our perswasion Quum nobis intenditis auer sionem à Religione priorum causam conuenit vt inspiciatis non factum nec quid reliquerimus opponere sed secuti quid simus potissimùm contueri saith Arnobius When you obiect to vs our falling away from the Religion of our Elders you ought to consider the cause and not the fact not to tell vs what we haue left but to marke what we haue followed So he There is a way that seemeth to be old and yet it was but lately found out in comparison Againe there is a way that seemeth to be but of yesterday and yet it was but purged and renued then it was not then made What was Mishnah to Mâ—rah 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Deuteronomy that is to say the leauen of the Scribes and Pharises to the sweet bread of Moses and the Prophets yet for all that the same was dubbed with the honorable title of the Tradition of the Elders Math. 15. yea and equalled for esteeme with that which was knowne and confessed to be the vndoubted Word of God On the contrary side what more ancient then the Doctrine of the Gospell which hath testimony from the Law and the Prophets yea before the Law was written yea before the first Adam was cast out of Paradise it was yet for all that we find Mark 1. that all amazed they asked What new Doctrine is this Christs owne preaching was accused of nouelty so we haue heard already how Saint Paul was accused to be a setter forth of new Deuils or gods for the gods of the Gentiles were Deuils and the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and signifieth either a good Angell or a bad and so in the Primitiue time it was one of the ordinary obiections of the Pagans Why your Sect began but in the later time of the raigne of Tiberius was all the world deceiued till then Had God no care of the people before c To whom the Father 's answered in those times as Learned men doe in our times First 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Old Singers be not alwayes true Singers And Austine or an ancient Writer bearing his name Per traducem antiquitatis commendatur fallacia Falshood and guile is many times commended through the Pipe or deuices of antiquity Secondly thatour Religion is wroÌ„ged when it is charged to be new Non quod sequimur nouum est sed nos serò didiscimus quidnam sequi oporteat colere c. That which we follow is not new but wee haue learned but of late what wee ought tofollow worship c. Thirdly Reuelatione sacta veritatis cedat error veritaâ—i c. The
saith Saint Paul In nothing doe I feare mine enemies neither am I ashamed or weary of the Gospell it will haue the preeminence it will preuaile in the end maugre all aduerse power and policy We see therefore that the first part or major of Saint Pauls reason is firme namely that wee are not to bee ashamed of that which is powerfull Now for the Minor or second part of the Argument namely that the Gospell is the power of God That that I say is no lesse cleere it will many wayes appeare First à pronunciatis Saint Paul that could not lie hauing the seale of his Apostleship and of infallible truth from the holy Ghost sayes it is so in my Text therefore it is so euen a Diuine power and powerfull Instrument able to conuert soules to God Secondly à genere The whole Scripture is giuen by inspiration from God and is profitable to teach to improue to correct and to instruct in righteousnesse that the man of God may be absolute c. Which cannot be done without the power and Word of the Lord which without exception is liuely and sharper then a two-edged sword Then the Gospell which is a part of the Word of God that must be powerfull Thirdly à fortiori The Law that was giuen by Moses and written in tables of stone that was powerfull it gaue light to the blind wisedome to the simple conuerted the soule c. Psal. 19. Therefore the Gospell which was deliuered by our Sauiour Christ and had more precious promises and a greater largesse of the holy Spirit that must needs be powerfull Fourthly ab exemplo Did not all wonder at the gracious words that proceeded out of our Sauiours mouth when he interpreted to them the Gospell of the Prophet Esay for euen before the Apostle were borne the Gospell was it was from the beginning Was there any of the Synagogue that could resist the Spirit whereby Saint Stephen spake for he was full and so was his Doctrine of the holy Ghost and of power Doth not Saint Pâ—ul say that if all prophesie that is preach and expound the Gospell and there come in one that beleeueth not or is vnlearned he is rebuked of all men and is iudged of all and so the secrets of his heart are made manifest and so he will fall downe on his face and worship God and say plainely that God is in you indeed 1. Cor. 14 Lastly Ab effectis more plainely As the lightning commeth out of theEast shineth to the West Math. 24. And as the Sunnes going forth is from the end of heauen and his compasse vnto the end of the same and none hid from the heate thereof Psal. 19. So the efficacy and working of the Gospell was so sudden and so wonderfull that Saint Paul could say for his part only that from Ierusalem round about vnto Illyricum he caused to abound the Gospell of Christ Rom. 15. And for his time that the Gospell was come vnto all the world and was fruitfull euen as it was among them These wonderfull effects it wrought euen while the Apostles were aliue what maruell then if shortly after thâ— faith was so generally spred that Arnobius could say Nationibus sumus in cunctis We Christians are in all Nations And an hundred yeeres before him Iustin Martyr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That which the soule is in the body that wee Christians are in the world the soule is scattered through all parts of the body so are Christians in all Cities of the world c. And betweene them both Tertullian in his book against the Iewes that I speake of no more saith Euen the Getulians Moores Spaniards Galles Britannorum inaccessa Romanis lâ—ca And the Britans Land which the Romanes could not haue any footing in the Sarmatians also Germans and Scythians doe beleeue in Christ before whom the Gates of all Cities are throwne open and none are shut against him before whom also the Iron lockes are broken and the brazen Gates are opened that is the hearts of very many that were holden fast locked by the Deuill are now vnlocked by the faith of Christ. Thus Tertullian You see therefore how the Gospell did shew it selfe plainely to bee the power of God by the hasty generall spreading of it The same may appeare also by the strength of the forces that it did ouercome and throw downe If it had had to doe with Infants lately weaned from the brest that had receiued no former impression that were not seasoned with this or that liquor it had beene no mastery to haue brought them to the faith of Christ who were not rooted or grounded in any other nor could make resistance to any perswasion Argilla quiduis inuitaberis vda saith he And no hard matter for Turkes to make our Christian children Mahumedists when they snatch them from their parents in their tender yeeres before they can discerne betweene good and euill as it was no matter for the Spaniards to conquer the naked Indians Benzo an Italian traueller that had beene long in those Countries reporting that he durst be one of the twenty fiue that would fight with ten thousand nay twenty thousand of them Salmacida spolia sine sanguine sudore But now to encounter not ignorance onely but error not easily taken out of a deepe die strong illusions of Satan long-continued-will-worship generally-receiued superstition Oracles enchantments Idolatries and the same flourished ouer by wit and eloquence counteâ—anced by authority strengthened by miracle vpholden by Tyranny What could this be lesse then the wisedome of God and the power of God who was mighty in his Gospell and through his Gospell specially since it had to wrestle not with flesh and blood onely but with Principalities and Powers euen with the whole Host of hell When the Centurion saw the earthquake and the things that hapned at our Sauiours Passion hee confesseth saying Truely this was the Sonne of God Nay the Sorcerers Exod. 8. when they saw the dust turned into Lice vpon Aarons smiting the ground they readily acknowledged that it was the finger of God Nay Protogenes in Plinie vpon the sight of one small line drawne in his painting Table sâ—pposed presently that Apelles was in Towne Therefore we cannot escape iust reprehension to speak the least if being compassed with such a cloud of witnesses and hearing such a volly of reasons prouing and demonstrating the power of the Gospell wee shall not iustifie the assertion of Saint Paul and euen as the people cryed out vpon proofe that Helias made The Lord he is God The Lord he is God So we may exclaime The Gospell is the power of God It is so it is so What are we to learne hereby that the Gospell is the power of God Truly we of the ministry thus much that howsoeuer many times when we looke vpon the froward opposition that the world vseth to make and vpon our owne wants we begin
presently rise vp and come among them were they deliuered as soone aâ— they groaned O no The King sent and deliuered Ioseph the Prince of the people let him goe free but when his feet were first hurt in the stockes the yron entred into his soule He was many yeeres in prison first So the Israelites were hardly dealt with in Egypt by their Taske-masters that thâ—y cryed out for the very anguish of their hearts Againe in the Land of the Chaldees they serued tenne Apprentiships before they had leaue to returne to their Countrey This for the faithfull before Christs time As for the faithfull since as God in the 15. of Gen. told Abraham Know this of a surety That thy seed shall be a stranger in a Land that is not theirs foure hundred yeeres and shall serue them and shall be euill intreated but the Nation whom they shall serue will I iudge and afterward they shall come out with great substance So you shall find that the Church had but little peace or rest for the better part of foure hundred yeeres after Christs comming in the flesh and in the later perillous times prophesied of by the Apostles Antichrist had no sooner gotten to high strength which he compassed in Gregorie the seuenths time by superstitious false-hood established in Innocent the third his time by bloody Lawes but the faithfull went to the post and wandred vp and downe hungry and naked and had no dwelling place and were counted as the filth of the world and the off-scowring of all things yea the time was that whosoeuer killed them thought he did God good seruice and this for the most space in a manner that the persecution lasted in the Primitiue time This may suffice to shew Gods patience both towards his seruants and towards his aduersaries The second thing is his Iustice. For although God make a shew as though he were asleepe and saw not what is done as also he sometimes maketh a shew as though he heard not yet for all that at the appointed time he will not faile an inch but comming he will come and will not breake and the iust shall liue by faith but woe be to the wicked it shall be euill with him the reward of his hands shall be giuen him The Lords Seate is prepared for Iudgement and the Lord ruleth ouer all if he whet his glittering sword and his hand take hold on Iudgement hee will execute vengeance on his enemies and reward them that hate him Hee will make his arrowes drunke with blood and his sword shall eate flesh c. Deut. 32. This for his Iustice in punishing the wicked as for his Iustice to right the Godly and comforting of them you know what 's written in the 12. Psalme Now for the oppression of the needy and for the sighs of the poore I will vp saith the Lord and set at liberty them whom the wicked hath snared It is a righteous thing with God to recompence tribulation to them that trouble you and to you that are troubled rest with him For that the righteous should be euen as the wicked be that farre from God said Abraham Genes 18. In this world many times there seemeth to be but a small difference betweene the deuout and profane the pure and polluted him that sacrificeth and him that sacrificeth not Thus all things seeme to fall out alike to the one and to the other nay the wicked seeme to be the warmer and to haue a greater portion in this life What then is the way of the Lord vnrighteous God forbid nay let God be iust and all men sinners as it is written But this it is The Heauen of Heauens is the Lords and for them to whom it was appointed euen for them that call vpon him in truth and thinke vpon his Commandements to doe them but the earth and the commodities thereof He distributeth without respect of persons euen to them that are his children by creation onely and not by adoption But yet there is a difference betweene the prosperity of the one and the other for the ones is but with anxiety of heart euen in laughter their heart is heauy the others is with cheerefulnesse and ioy in the Spirit the ones is a pledge of the greater preferment in the world to come the others is their whole portion and as if God should say Let them take that and looke for no more the ones is with the blessing of the people who wish they had more the others with their curse and hatred who are grieued that they haue so much Briefly the one flourish but for a time and often fore-see the ruine of their house in their life-time but generally within a few Generations their name is cleane put out but now the other hauing their house built not with blood or oppression but vpon the foundation of Iustice feele no shaking or tottering of it while they liue and when they are to leaue the world they are full of hope that their house shall not be like the grasse on the house tops which withereth before it commeth forth Psalme 129. but that it shall continue for a long season euen for many generations Therefore let not the godly be discouraged because he is kept downe and troad vpon neither yet let the wicked be bragge because their imaginations prosper for God hath not forsaken the earth neither hath he forgotten to doe Iustice but his eyes are ouer the righteous and his eares are open to their prayers as for the wicked his countenance is set against them to roote out the memoriall of them from off the earth God is iust let this content the godly he telleth all their bones so that none of them are broken he hath all their teares in his bottle will right them in due time And that God is iust let this appall the wicked he shall cast vp that which he hath gotten vnlawfully the Lord will draw it out of his belly God ariseth to Iudgement This we haue considered of It followeth To saue all the meeke of the earth It is good to be zealous in a good matter alwayes sayes the Apostle to be wise to doe good and in euill to haue no skill as the Prophet doth intimate So it is good to rise betimes to serue God to doe the workes of righteousnesse of mercy and of our lawfull and honest vocation that is pleasing to God that is well reported of by men Abraham did so he rose vp early in the morning to offer a sacrifice to the Lord which he had prescribed So Iob rose betimes to offer for himselfe and his children The good Lepers blamed themselues for sitting still hauing so good newes to impart to their neighbours touching the great plenty of victuall the Lord had sent them by the running away of the Syrians So the people rose in the morning to come vnto Christ to heare him in the Temple Luke 2. And Lysias the high Captaine caused
mind to be expressed or at the least shadowed by the apparell of the body and the getting or possessing of these qualities to the attiring or adorning of the same You know what Saint Peter saith Decke your selues with lowlinesse knit it vnto yâ—u make it your girdles as it were And Saint Paul to the Galatians As many as are baptized haue put on Christ. And to the Romanes Put yee on the Lord Iesus make him your bearing-cloth as it were So to the Ephesians Cast off conceâ—ning the conuersation in times past the old man c. and put ye on the new man make him your inwaâ—d garment So to the Colossians As Elect of God holy and beloued put on the Bowels of mercies gentlenesse humblenesse of mind meekenesse long suffering make them your outward garment Many such places may be found in the new Testament For the old let one be in stead of all Let not mercy and truth forsake thee bind them on thy necke make them thy chaine and write them vpon the Table of thine hea t make them thy Tablet I will trouble you with no more Citations Now this and the like kinde of phrasing may be thought to be vsed by the holy Ghost for two causes First because wee are dull of vnderstanding and cannot conceiue of spirituall matters but by carnall descriptions secondly because he would draw vs away from that which is viler to that which is more precious from that which is pleasing to our senses to that which is profitable to our soules Further this phrasing our Sauiour and his seruants may be obserued to haue vsed in others matters besides apparell Doe you tell me that my mother and my brethren would speake with me Hee that doth the will of my Father in heauen the same is my brother sister and mother He doth not deny his carnall kindred but preferreth the Spirituall So in Saint Iohn Doe ye aske me who hath brought me meat My meate is to doe the will â—f him that sent me So againe Doe yee bragge that ye are Free-men and were neuer seruants to any If the Sonne hath set y u free then are yâ—u free indeed but if yee commit sinne then are yee the seruants of sinne So the Apostle will ye know what is the riches to be accounted of Godlinesse is great riches if a man be content with that he hath c. Would yee know what Sacrifices be best To doe good and to distribute forget not for with such Sacrifices God is well pleased So Bernard Would you know where be my merits My merit is the mercy of the Lord while hee is not voyd of mercy I am not voyd of merit So Chrysostome Would you know what 's the best fast To fast from sinne So Prosper The best keeping of Holy-dayes is to feriat from dead workes Yea out of the Church you shall find this figure and phrasing to be vsed Where are your children Epaminondas My children are my victories said he and namely that gottâ—n at Leuctra they will perpetuate my name Who is the best Patriot The best Carthaginian Hostem qui feriet mihi eâ—iâ— Carthaginiensis What 's the bâ—st Diuination 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The best Diuination is to fight fâ—r ones Country Who is the most Capitall Enemy What the Noblest Conquest To conquer ones affections that the greatest Conquest and sensuality the deadliest enemy So what 's the best Fortresse A good Conscience What true Nobility Vertue To returne to the faithfull Nazianzâ—n hath a good speech to our purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Shame-fastnesse is a faire flowre in a Maidens garland Palenesse that is a great ornament Vertues they be the brauest platting of the haire Thus he and Tertullian before him Vestite vos Serico probitatis c. Put on the Silke of honesty thâ—â—iffiny as it were of Sanctimony and the purple of Chastity Taliter pigmâ—ntatae Dâ—um habebiâ—â—s amatorâ—m If you trimme your selues thus nay if you paint your selues with this kind of painting you shall haue God himselfe your Louer By this time I know you are more then satisfied that â—ob in saying he did put on Iustice made it his garment did speake no strange thing but that which many both of the Church out of the Church haue spoken And this to drawe vs from that which is too much â—steemed to that which ought onely or chiefely to be esteemed Certainely gold and siluer and purple and scarlet and the like and garments and ornaments made of the same are not of themselues common or vncleane Euery creature of God is good saith Saint Paul And euery Ordinance of man not repugnant to the Ordinance of God is obediently to bee yelded vnto saith St. Peter Both Riches and Honour come of thee O Lord c. and it is in thy hand to make great and to giue strength 2. Chron. 29. And He that hath set some aboue their brethren in dignity for the maintenance of peace and order hath prouided for such more costly ornaments and habiliments for the better distinguishing of them from others Esau the elder brother had fairer clothes then Iaaâ—ob the younger Gen. 27. And Ioseph being promoted by Pharaoh was not scrupulous to weare a Ring of gold and a chaine of gold and Silke or fiue Linnen Gen. 41. No more was Daniel scrupulous to be clothed in purple being aduanced by Belshashar Dan. 5. No more Morâ—ecat to be brauely mounted and gorgeously apparelled by the appointment of Ahashuerus as it is in the Booke of Esther Nothing that entereth into the belâ—y defileth a man if his heart be cleane So nothing that is put on the backe if his heart be humble Howbeit as one may be a glutton and highly offend the Maiestie of God iâ— he feed aboue the measure of moderation though meates of themselues be things indifferent So let a man prate neuer so much that his heart is vpright that he is not high-minded and hath no proud lookes yet if hee weare apparell beyond the compasse of his calling or other then Law doth allow he lyeth and speaketh not the truth but maketh himselfe a grieuous transgressor Meates for the belly and the belly for meates saith the Apostle And so apparell for the backe and the backe for apparell and God shall destroy both the one and the other True yet as he that weaâ—eth should not despise him that weareth not So he that weareth not should not iudge him that weareth for God hath called vs in peace This I speake not to giue way to braueing and flaunting the speciall sinne of this age for the which the Land mourneth and fadeth and seemeth to be pressed downe with it as a Cart is pressed that is full of sheaues as the Scripture speaketh or to excuse them that offend that way By no meanes but to remoue superstition
written in the volume of Gods Booke to runne to and fro to heare the Word of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 said one Nil scire in vita iucundissimum said another Who liueth so merry as the ignorant man Mihi sex dies saâ—is sunt vitae septimum orco spondeo Better a short life and a merry then a long life and a weary Whose Iudgement long agoe was prepared and their damnation sleepeth not as Saint Peter speakes Doe they indeed prouoke the Lord to anger and not themselues to confusion of faces Who euer was fierce against him and preuailed Who euer despised the least of his Commandements and escaped vnpunished or is it not the euerlasting will of God that we should beleeue in him the onely God and whom he haâ—h sent Iesus Christ And how this but by forsaking our houses that is our naturall and imbred ignorance and by standing in the wayes that is by resorting to the Churches where Gods honour dwelleth and where he hath set his Name and where his voyce soundeth Where the dead body is thither the Eagles resort Be they Eagles or not Dawes rather that refuse to resort to Christ Iesus pointed out before our eyes in the preaching of the Gospell and among vs crucified in the breaking of the Sacrament My Sheepe heare my voyce Be they Sheepe or not rather Goates that despise them that come vnto them in Christs Name and bring his Word with them because forsooth they be not in Communion with him of Rome He that gathereth not with me scatters doth he say He that gathereth not with the Pope Where two or three are gathered together in my Name I am in the middest of them doth he say In the name of any Romish Priest yet Peter and Iâ—hn refused not to goe into the Temple at the set houre of prayer euen when Scribes Pharises did most shamefully pollute it And Saint â—aul reioyced when Christ was preached any manner of way though they that preached did it not sincerely But to whom doe we preach that they may heare Behold they stop their eares like the deafe Adder that they may not heare Behold the Word of the Lord is vnto them as a reproach they haue no delight in it Shall we say as the Prophet doth Ieremy 6. I am full of the wrath of the Lord I am weary of hâ—lding of it nay rather wee will pray yet against their obstinacy that the god of this world may no longer blind their hearts and that the partition-wall which they haue wilfully built betweene them and vs and the couering which by Gods iust Iudgement remaineth ouer their minds vntaken away may be remoued As for you Beloued which are of the day and to whom the Sunne of righteâ—usnesse hath so long shined be neuer weary of well-doing neither count ye it wearinesse to serue the Lord for surely the righteous Lord tryeth the very hearts and reines He seeth whatsoeuer is done by any in the chamber of his Imagery and noteth and billeth those that despise Rulers and speake euill of those that be in authority and that say to the Parliament as the Iewes did to Aaron Make vs gods to goe before vs Let vs haue our Imâ—ges againe in our Rood-loft and our Masses on the Altar and our god in the Pix or else we will doe so and so vnto them and worse too This is to doe that which Agesilaus did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to send a message of Intreaty vpon a Speares-point This is to deale as Cesars Conspirators dealt They fell vpon their knees before him and besought him of fauour for one of their Fauorites but withall they pluckt by force the Robe from his backe to make way for their Poniards Quid facis scelerate Casca cryed Câ—sar Thou wicked Casca what meanest thou by that And so may we aske What Deuill bewitched the hearts of our Rebellious ones sonnes of Belial to attempt things beyond all degrees of comparison enormous mischieuous bloody What King and Queene Prince and Peeres Iudge and Prophet Prudent and aged Honourable and Counsellour and Eloquent man to be destroyed and all at one blowe as it were and with one blast This would make a man cry out in Esaiahs words Who hath heard suâ—h a thing who hath seene such things Or with Ieremy O yee heauens be astonied at this be afraid and vtterly confounded saith the Lord. To end this point Note with me here the depths of Satan as Saint Iohn speaketh or rather the demonstrable Tyranny of him and his Vicar Generall with open face I meane how they worke and raigne in these Children of disobedience They that could not be moued or wonne by many yeeres perswasion by the authority of two Soueraignes to stand in the wayes of God to stand in thy Gates O Ierusalem nay to put one foote into the Church in the time of Diuine Seruice Lo at the voyce of the man of sinne or to approue their seruice and deuotion to him they are easily perswaded to blow vp with one blast and to bury in one heape both their King and their Countrey and whatsoeuer ought to be holden neere and deare and to thinke that they did God good seruice thereby But their god is he that is described 2. Thessal 2. Who is an Aduersary and exalteth himselfe aboue all that is called God who hath the key of the bottomlesse Pit not of the Kingdome of heauen and is worthily called Abaddon sonne of perdition actiuely and passiuely His contentment they sought and his will they did and therefore their root shall be as rottennesse and shall not escape the vengeance of the Lord. Simeon and Leui brethren in euill the instruments of cruelty are in their habitations In their wrath they would haue slaine a man nay a Realme of men and in their selfe-will or for their pleasure they digged downe a wall Cursed be their wrath for it was fierce and their rage for it was cruell But God be thanked that euery one here can say as it followeth in that Chapter Into their secret my soule came not my glory was not ioyned with their assembly And as many as cannot say so and as many as yet say in their hearts as Tully did to one of the Conspirators against Cesar Vellem inuitasses me ad Coenam iam nihil â—uisset reliquiarum I would I had beene acquainted with the plot I would haue dealt so surely that they should haue beene dispatched euery mothers sonne Let the Crowes or Rauens of the Valley picke out their eyes as it is in the Prouerbs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let the Vulturs deuoure them to vse the Poets Phrase If they die in the City let the Dogs deuoure them and if in the fields the Fowle And that because they sought the destruction of so many Innocents endeauoured to set vp what God had throwne downe to throwe downe what God set vp Wee haue shewed sufficiently that though it be a
be serued with other plate then with earthen to shew how Nobly he was descended The other gaue for his Armes the Wheeles and had this Motto or rather Memento written in his bed-chamber in great letters Willigis Willigis recole vnde veneâ—is O Willigis remember whence thou camest This indeed is the way to become high to be exalted before God and before wise men to be lowly in our owne eyes to confesse that we are wormes and not men that we are sinfull men and not Saints that we are vnworthy the least of Gods mercies and that it is of his mercy onely that we are not consumed For what haue we that we haue not receiued what haue we receiued but we haue corrupted and made worse what haue we corrupted but for the same we deserue to be called to account yea to be cast forth of Gods house asvnprofitable seruants And is it a time then for vs to be high-minded or to feare to be lofty or to be humble This is certaine Christ came not to call the righteous those that in the pride of their heart thinke themselues to be such much lesse to reward them much lesse to crowne them but sinners penitent and humble sinners to faithfull repentance and consequently to saluation They that are whole need not the Physician care not for the Physician but they that are sicke and are heauy laden and bowed downe with the burden of their sinnes they cry out in great humility God be mercifull to me a sinner Those the Lord receiueth into grace and maketh them to sit at his right hand and giueth them a name in his house better then of sonnes and daughters as the Prophet speaketh Now as we are to thinke meanely of our selues in respect of Sanctity if we will be found in Christ not hauing our owne righteousnesse which is of the Law but that which is by the faith of Iesus Christ by which onely we can attaine vnto Gods Kingdome So we must beware that we take not too much vpon vs in respect of knowledge you know that knowledge puffeth vp 1. Cor. 8. And Iob Let men feare God for he will not regard any that are wise in their owne conceits And Nazianzen Whatsoeuer I know by my selfe I know nothing better 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wiselyer then others except some thinke this to be my wisedome to know that I am not wise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 neither doe I come neere true wisedome Thus Nazianzen And he had it from Saint Paul 1. Cor. 3. If any man among you seeme to be wise in this world let him be a foole that he may be wise Neither did Saint Paul make a rule for others onely and not for himselfe as the manner of the world is to lay heauy imputations vpon others and to exempt themselues no but as he strippeth himselfe of all opinion of righteousnesse 1. Timoth. 1. saying there that of sinners he was chiefe So to the Corinthians he disclaimeth all credit for knowledge for humane knowledge saying I esteeme to know nothing among you saue Iesus Christ and him crucified Thus Saint Paul iudged himselfe that he might not be iudged of the Lord to be arrogant And who would not propose to himselfe his example to follow rather then those proud 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as Sir Thomas Moore writeth of in an Epistle to Dorpius who take vpon them to be ripe in those things which they neuer heard nor read Doubtlesse many there bee that might haue attained to knowledge but that they thought they had attained it already as Seneca saith And therefore modesty and humility are good meanes through Gods blessing to aduance men to learning But to recount what we haue done in this later part and to proceed to that which remaines You haue heard Saint Peter promise on Gods behalfe that he will exalt those that humble themselues whether it be in matter of piety and vertue before God or in learning or skill before men Now some will say peraduenture we see not the accomplishment of these promises for how many modest and humble men be there and euer haue beene that haue wanted preferment nay that haue wrestled with great extremities Were not the Christians in the Primitiue time vnder Heathen Princes and in the later perillous times vnder Antichrist kept vnder the hatches for hundreds of yeeres Did not they hunger and thirst and were naked wandred vp and downe in sheep-skins goat-skins as it were and had no dwelling place and were counted as the filth of the world and the off-scouring of all things Call you this exaltation or aduancement Hic pietatis honos sic nos in Sceptra reponis I answere or rather Saint Peter answered for me in the one word of my Text which is as yet vntouched 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in due time they shall be exalted The Kingdome of God commeth not with obseruation saith our Sauiour Luke 17. And it is not for men to know the times and seasons which the Father hath put in his owne power said he againe Though it stay yet wait thou for it shall surely come and not stay as the Prophet speakes Knowne to God from the beginning are all his workes and best knowne vnto him are the best times of working Peraduenture wee shall not enioy our selues the Land or preferment that is promised to vs As Abraham got not himselfe in the Land of Canaan the breadth of a foot yet our posterity may haue it Peraduenture we shall be in trouble and heauinesse till our old age as Iacob was the greatest part of his time and then we may be prouided for to our content as Iacob was in the Land of Gosen Peraduenture we shall be oppressed by Tyrants diffamed by slanderers held in bands and imprisonment by vnrighteous Iudges yet when the time appointed shall come the Lord will cause their truth to appeare as the light and their righteousnesse as the Noone-day The King will send and deliuer them the Prince of the people will let them goe free He dealt so with Ioseph And did he not deale so with Daniel Also with Paul and Silas in the 16. of the Acts Well be it that you should be in continuall trouble and anxiety all your life long that you should be clapt vp in a Dungeon fast bound in fetters and iron and that you had none to comfort you and that none cared for your soule yet if Christ shall cause his heauenly light to shine into your habitation the light of the Gospell I meane If hee shall reueile himselfe vnto you and cause the scales of ignorance to fall from your eyes and especially the shackles of impiety and iniquity to fall from your hands and hearts you are no longer losers but gainers no longer of low and base condition but highly preferred and exalted Let the brother of low degree reioyce in that he is exalted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Saint
aduise the high Estates of all ages to strike sayle to our Sauiour and to yeeld obedience to his Law To put the matter out of doubt the Apostles themselues who could not be deceiued hauing receiued the first fruits of Gods Spirit and would not deceiue being indued with grace and sincerity from aboue they I say Acts 4. doe plainely apply this Psalme to our Sauiour that we should no longer be doubtfull in the matter but beleeuing yea as Saint Augustin saith out of Moses Deuter. 32. Inimiâ—us meus testis mâ—us that is My Enemy is my witnesse some of the chiefe of the Iewes doe grant that it may be vnderstood of our Sauiour either in their owne iudgement or in the iudgement of their Fathers or ancient Rabbins The former point is affirmed by Aben-Ezra surnamed the wise the other by Shelomoh somewhat more ancient then he So then the Kingdome that is here spoken of being chiefely to be vnderstood of the Kingdome of Christ and the opposition that is here signified to be chiefely directed against it we may without offring any violence to the Text hence exhort all Kings and Princes vpon whom the ends of the world are come to looke vnto themselues and to the station wherein God hath placed them and to esteeme it the greatest policy to be wise according to godlinesse and the highest Soueraignety to be subiect to Christ. Especially it being granted by all that the Scriptures were not made to serue one age or two onely No for then there must haue beene many Bibles made from the beginning of the world and then there must haue beene a continuall sending downe of the holy Ghost and a continuall sending forth of Apostles Prophets but to be the rule for faith the direction for manners to all posterity Therefore Irenaeus saith well That which the Apostles first taught they afterwards committed to writing to be the ground and pillar of our faith He speaketh indefinitely without limitation of time and therefore would be vnderstood to meane of all times And Tertullian not long after him is bold and saith Latè semper Scriptura diuina diuiditur vbicunque secundùm praesentis reisensum disciplina munietur The Scripture is of a large extent and wide circumference as oft as any thing from it is to be deduced that pertaineth either to information or reformation Hitherto I haue proued both that this whole second Psalme is chiefely to be vnderstood of our Sauiour and that my Text out of the tenth verse may rightly be applyed to the Kings and Princes of these dayes Now I come to the words themselues Now therefore be wise O Kings be instructed O Iudges of the earth Two kinds of persons are here called vpon Kings and Iudges Kings as the chiefe Iudges as they that are appointed by them for the punishment of them that doe iâ—l the praise of them that doe well Two kinds of duties are here vrged to be wise and intelligent this is required of Kings to be instructed and disciplined this of inferior Magistrates I at this time shall speake onely of the first kind of persons that is of Kings and their duties and therein I meane not to speake of Kings by themselues and of wisedome by it selfe that were not to deuide the Text aright but to breake it but of both together as God shall giue grace But first I obserue and it is worâ—hy to be obserued how the Psalmist begins with Kings surely great cause for it not onely for their place eminent and supereminent Imperator homo à Deo secundus soloque Deo minor Tertullian Supra Imperatorem non est nisi solus Deus Optatus Nor onely for their Titles Shepheards Leaders Fathers Sonnes of the Highest the liuely Images of God Gods Vicegerents Gods vpon earth Sine dubio Imperator non est nisi Deus terrenus saith the Gothe to Theodosius witnesse Paulus Diaconus but for two other more maine reasons first for the great dependency vpon their safety for that they neither stand nor fall to themselues Secondly for the great power of their example either to good or euill Touching the first they doe not stand or fall to themselues as I said but are the standing or falling of most in Israel They may be compared to the two Pillars vpon the which the great house of the Philistins did rely which while they stood did beare vp the whole building euen when there were many hundreds vpon the roofe but when they fell they pulled downe all with them and the fall of that house was great Also to the Sun in the Firmament which while it is ouer our Horizon and scatters abroad its glorious beames it giueth light vnto the world and reneweth the face of the earth but when it is whirled from vs or eclipsed by the interposition of the Moone then it causeth or occasioneth darkenesse and filleth all things liuing with horror and amazement Briefely to the head and heart of a man not to the head onely nor to the heart onely but to the head and heart vpon whose liuelinesse and soundnesse the life and motion of the whole body doth depend Smite the Shepheard and the sheepe shall be scattered it is said in Zachary Let me smite Saul King Saul but once and the Kingdome shall be thine and the victory thine said Abishai in effect Let me smite Dauid King Dauid and all Israel shall be gathered to thee said that wicked Counsellor Achitophel 2. Sam. 17. When Alexander was dead the Army was not lessened but by one man euery man knew but yet it was compared by the wise to the Cyclops which had his eye and the same his onely eye boared out In like manner fared it with the great forces that Cyrus the younger led against Artaxerxes when he through his forwardnesse was slaine all went to wracke and of vanquishers they became vanquished So with the Christians at Varna when their King Vladislaus was lost So with the French at Rauenna when their Foisee was ouer-throwne Therefore be wise O ye Kings ye carry about in your bodies not your owne liues alone but the liues of thousands you haue vpon the stake not your owne safety alone but the safety of thousands Thou shalt not goe forth with vs any more to battell lest thou quench the light of Israel for thou art worth tenne thousand When one exhorted Cleomenes to hold his life vile vnto him and to powre it out like water vpon the ground he answered I will not sticke for that if I had none to care for but my selfe but now I must make much of my life to doe my Countrey good When Cesar had giuen forth in speech that he had liued long enough and cared not though he dyed on the morrow Thou speakest reason said Tully if thou liuedst onely for thy selfe but thy Countrey cannot spare thee Sertorius his Souldiers were not wont to
them nothing more vnconstant then their mindes and hearts you cannot tell when you haue them nothing more vngratefull or a worse esteemer of mens deserts you cannot make account of any recompence ftom them humorous clamorous vnrespectiue these haue beene their proper adiuncts Looke but vpon two or three examples Regium est cùm bene feceris malè audire It was the complaint of a great King that is It is the Fate of Kings to be rewarded with euill speeches for their good deseruings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It was said of another King Agamemnon deserued wel of the Graecians but hee was rewarded with bands or cruell death for his labour Neither haue Gods people beene free from these faults None e uer more faithful in Gods house then Moses none deeper in Gods Booke none more graced with miracles none more carefull of the peoples good c. Yet if any feare of hunger or thirst or enemies c. doe assaile them presently they are ready to returne into Egypt and to that end to elect another Captaine in place of Moses as you may see in Exodus and the Booke of Numbers so great interest had he in them I skip ouer Samuel Dauid Ieremy and other Kings and Prophets and righteous men Come we to Saint Paul and his Galatians his I call them because he had begotten them in the Gospell and as a Nurse cherisheth her children so was he tender among them but when he came to reape fruit from them hee found that he reckoned without his Hoast and so was disappointed of his hope At the first I grant they receiued him as an Angell of God euen as Christ Ieâ—us they were ready to pull out their owne eyes and to giue them to him if they would doe him good but after they had harkened once to seducers which turned them away from the simplicity of the Gospell then was Saint Paul no longer a Father vnto them but an enemy and in stead of plucking out their owne eyes they seemed forward enough to pull out Saint Pauls to doe their false apostles pleasure so great hold had he of them Neither did they better intreat the Lord of the house Christ Iesus himselfe for these were but his seruants It is true the Father said They will reuerence my Sonne and indeed so he well deserued for hee went about doing good and healing all that were possessed of Deuils or visited with any other sicknesse for God was with him He spake so diuinely as never man spake his enemies being witnesses yea the people wondred at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth and flocked betimes to heare him and hung as it were vpon his shoulders Thus Christ might seeme to say of them My beloued is mine and I am hers I haue married her to my selfe in righteousnesse iudgement and mercy But all this was but Hony-moone or as the hasty Summer fruits within a while they became rotten and corrupt and forgate their first loue Nay for a word spoken which that they did not vnderstand was their owne fault onely they gaue him the back and became Apostates Looke a little higher vpon the 51. verse and so downeward Because Christ said that he was the Liuing Bread that came downe from Heauen And Except yee eate of the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke of his blood you haue no life in you Hereupon groweth a quarrell and such a quarrell as will not be taken vp by any Apologie or mediation but they must needs part yet all Lawes and common reason also will allow a man to interpret his owne meaning and when he professeth that he speaketh figuratiuely and spiritually he ought not to be taken properly and carnally When Christ affirmeth and auerreth that the words that he speaketh are Spirit and life that is are spiritually to be taken and then they will giue life as Augustine full well expoundeth Spiritualiter intelligenda sunt Intellexisti spiritualiter Spiritus vita sunt Intellexisti carnaliter Eâ—iam sic illa Spiritus vitae sunt sed tibi non sunt Hast thou vnderstood them spiritually Then they be Spirit life Hast thou vnderstood them carnally Euen so also they be Spirit and life but to thee they be not Should not this content indifferent men though neither himselfe nor others had spoken so before But now it hath beene an vsuall thing with Christ by a kind of Anagoge to deduce matters from the currant carnall â—ense to an heauenly vnderstanding and therefore with more equity may he be allowed here You know Math. 12. when one said to him Behold thy mother and thy brethren stand withouâ— desiring to speake with thee He answered and said Who is my mother and who are my brethren And stretching out his hand vpon his Disciples he said Behold my mother and my brethren for he that shall doe the will of my Father which is in heauen he is my brother sister and mother Thus Christ. Now I aske Was Christ ashamed of his kindred By no meanes for he taught others to honour father and mother and not to turne away their eyes from their owne flesh therefore himselfe would not be found defectiue in that duty But this is that that Tertullian saith Hoc dicto vsus est ad excutiendam importunitatem ab opere reuocantium That is By this saying he would meete with and shake off their importunity or vnseasonablenesse that withdrew him from his worke and therefore I say that he denieth that simply in shew which hee denieth not but in comparison indeed namely that if any hinder him in his heauenly vocation hee would not take him for his kinsman So Iohn 4. My meate is to doe the will of him that sent me and to finish his worke Had he no other meat at any time Yes hee did hunger and thirst and eate and drinke as other men doe but in comparison of this he cared not for the other this was meat and drinke to him So the Prophet Esay Is not this the fasting that I haue chosen to loose the bands of wickednesse to take off the heauy burdens and to let the oppressed goe free c. To deale thy bread to the hungry c. There was another bodily fasting or pinching of the belly but that was nothing to this spirituall One. So another Prophet Rent your hearts and not your garments And another Circumcise the fore-skin of your hearts c. Neither doe the Scriptures only vse to speake thus but ordinary wise men also whether they were in the Church or out of the Church What dost thou meane to angle for Trowtes and Gudgeons or the like Thy angling is Castles and Towres and Forts c. said Cleopatra to Marcus Antonius Doe you aske me where be my Iewels My Iewels are my husband his triumphs said Phocions wife Doe you aske me where be mine ornaments My ornaments be my two sonnes whom I haue brought vp in vertue and
Iames in that he is exalted to the knowledge of God to the faith of Christ to the Adoption of sons to be a Citizen with the Saints and of the house-hold of Gods He is not a bond-man that is set free by Christ nor poore that is rich in faith nor contemptible that is enrolled in the booke of life nor base-borne that hath God to his Father and Christ to his brother If the King would bestow an Office vpon you you would not onely be glad but be proud but now if a great man would adopt thee to be his sonne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Arrianus vpon Epictetus your superstitiousnesse and arrogancy would be intolerable Now see saith Saint Iohn how great loue the Father hath shewed vs that we should be called the sonnes of God If sonnes then heires saith Saint Paul heires of God and fellow-heires with Christ. And yet doe we complaine of our hard fortune as though God had done nothing for vs And yet doe we demand impatiently Where is the promise of his comming Where is the exalting preferment the Apostle speaketh of Beloued if we haue murmuring within our selues and grudging at the good-man of the house because he setteth vs below and not aboue because he doth not cast vs vp our Indentures before we haue serued our yeeres then doe we walke and talke vnorderly after the fleâ—h and not after Christ We doe not humble our selues vnder the mighty hand of God And so there is no promise made vnto vs. The Husbandman must first labour before he receiue of the fruite Iacob must serue seuen yeeres before he haue his hearts desire in one thing and seuen more before he haue it in another and seuen to that before he haue it inthe third Vnderstand what I say the Lord giue you vnderstanding in all things Blessed the man that endureth temptation for when he is tryed he shall receiue the Crowne of life if he faint not But take heed that you doe not mistake the case and make that to be a temptation or a crosse that is not You haue not so much as you would haue but haue you not more then you deserue You are made the taile and not the head as Moses speaketh Peraduenture it is good for the Common-weale that you be so yea and good for your selues too Many being set on horse-backe haue roade so madly that they haue broken their horses necke and their owne also Therefore let euery one be content with the estate that God hath giuen him and let him not enuy him that is greater or higher then himselfe For the promise of exalting which is in my Text if you referre it to the blessings of this life hath a secret condition implyed namely if it be good for vs. And shall we be so vnwise or vnhappy to wish for that which will doe vs no good God forbid children indeed will be medling with kniues with edge-tooles also they will not feare to take a Snake or Adder by the taile in stead of an Eele But wee must not be children in vnderstanding but in wit be perfit As concerning maliciousnes and ambition and greedinesse it were good to conuert and become as children but for knowledge and discerning betweene good and euill we must be of a ripe age we must not be deiected for euery light affliction neither must we be puffed vp for any good successe or aduantage We must reioyce as though we reioyced not and mourne as though we mourned not vsing the world as though we vsed it not and humble our selues vnder the mighty hand of God and take all things in good part saying alwayes The Lord be praised This is true riches to be content and this is true honor not to be ambitious and this is true preferrement nay happinesse to be in the fauour of God which none sooner getteth then the humble man if his humility proceed from a pure heart and a good conscience and faith vnfained The Lords Name be euer blessed Amen Amen A SERMON VPON THE SECOND PSALME THE TENTH SERMON PSALME 2. verse 10. Now therefore be wise O Kings be instructed O Iudges of the earth SOME of the Iewish Doctors would haue these words to be an Apostrophe to those Kings and Princes which plotted against the Crowne and dignity of Dauid first to keepe him from his right then to disrobe him being inuested The Psalmist therefore doth aduise them to bethinke themselues better and not to make head any longer against Dauid lest they be found to fight against God himselfe This exposition is good but it is not good enough if that which is not good enough may be truly called good For as Tertullian saith Ratio Diuina non in superficie sed in medullâ plerumque aemula manifestis That is The sence pith of the Word of God is not in the vttermost skinne but in the marrow and commonly crosseth the apparancy of the letter And as Hierome to Paulinus Whatsoeuer we reade in the Scripture it shineth truely and glistereth euen in the rinde but is sweeter in the marrow Therefore to rest vpon the Type or Figure and not to proceed so farre as the thing figured is to deale as weakely as if a man searching in minerals for gold or siluer should content himselfe with the first rubble and giue ouer before he come to the precious Oare It is truth that Dauid did not onely speâ—ke and prophesie of our Sauiour as is euery-where to be seene in the Psalmes and euery-where vouched in the New Testament but also was a Figure of him so expresse a one and liuely that Christ might seeme to haue beene borne in Dauid euen long before He came in the flesh and Dauid to haue reuiued and beene borne againe in Christ euen long after he was dead and rotten This is not to make Iesum Typicum with the Franciscans nor yet to bring In Somnia Pythagoraea that is the passing of soules from bodies from one body to another with those phantastikes but this is to teach as the truth is in Iâ—sus that Christ not onely is now painted out before our eyes and among vs crucified in the preaching of the Gospell but also was shadowed and fore-described in the Old Testament by certaine personall Types as it were Verbo visibili as Augustine speaketh To such an effect as Iustine Martyr toucheth when he saith The G spell what is it but the Law fulfilled The Law what was it but the Gâ—spell foretold This I would say that as Dauid did and suffered many things which were not to haue an end and consummation in Dauid but were to fore-shew the doings and sufferings of Christ the true Dauid He is called Dauid by Hieremy Ezechiel and Hosea to speake of no more and the glory that should follow after so we are to thinke that the Psalmist requiring the Kings of those dayes to be wise and to stoope to Dauids command doth by good consequent