man according to Gods owne heart The foolish Anabaptists obiect here that God indeed granted that license to the Iewes but hee denied it vnto Christians and answere is made that Iohn the Baptist who prepared the way for Christ allowed the calling of souldiers for when they did aske him Luke 3 4. What shall wee doe he did answere Do violence to no man neither accuse any falsly and be content with your wages Where Diuines obserue generally that Iohn approued the vocation of souldiers and condemned only three foule abuses in war Violence Calumnie Couetousnesse as Bernard sweetly contentos fore suis stipendijs indixit non omnem militiam interdixit Hee sayd in his exhortation a little before bring forth fruits worthy amendment of life Now then either he was a deceiuer or else souldiers continuing in their calling may bring foorth good fruits and escape the wrath to come According to this Commission the Saints of God haue warred and obteined prayse for the same being renowned because valiant in battell Heb. 11. 34. As Abraham Moses Iosua Gideon Samson Dauid and Naaman the Syrian is Chronicled for his fortune and fortitude in warre Fortune because he was the deliuerer of his countrey Fortitude because hee was a mightie man in valour 2. Kings 5. 1. And in the New Testament when the Centurion sayd vnto Christ I haue souldiers vnder mee Christ Highly commended his great faith but in no sort condemned his fashion of liuing and act 10. Wee read of Cornelius a Captaine who was a deuout man and one that feared God with all his houshold who gaue much almes and prayed vnto God continually neither did St. Peter who shewed him the way to saluation in Christ any way dislike his office but on the contrary protested that he was accepted of God It doth not follow which is obiected by some Polititians that because the religion of Christ teacheth peace therefore it is vnfit for warre and because it perswadeth patience therefore it makes men cowards for howsoeuer the first building of the Temple was without the noyse of any iron toole to signifie that it should bee the house of peace Yet in the second as it is reported Nehâ—…miah 4. 17. They built with one hand and held their swords in the other to shew that in a good cause it should not be vnlawfull for to fight and warre Nay the Lord of hostes vsually giues a blessing to Iust warres as when Abraham returned from the slaughter of the foure Kings Melchisedec King of Salem and a Priest of the most High God blessed him and sayd Blessed be the most High God possessour of heauen and earth which hath deliuered thine enemies into thine hands At the prayer of Moses Israel preuailed against Amalek when Duke Iosua fought at Beth-oren the Lord cast downe great stones from heauen vpon his enemies and they were moe who dyed with the hailestones then they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword and when hee was about to sacke Iericho an Angel appeared vnto him as a Captaine with a drawen sword to fight for him Iosua 5. In Ecclesiasticall hystorie wee find that God by miracles euidently shewen in the heauens encouraged Constantine the great to fight and that the Angels fought for Theodosius the yonger against the Saâ—…acens and that Honorius army was so blessed by the Lord of hostes against Rhadagaisus King of the Gothes that not so much as one Romane was killed or wounded whereas one hundred thousand of the Gothes were discomfited To the Testimonies of holy Scripture wee might adde the sayings of the most ancient and learned Fathers Tertullian in his Apology told the Gentiles Nauigamus et nos vobisâ—…um et militatamus c. We Christians are Sea-men and souldiers and husbandmen and merchant as well as yee St. Ambrose numbreth among other vertues Warlike fortitude and in his oration vpon the death of Theodosius Hee câ—…mmends him exceedingly for his skill in exercising of armes Chrysostome in an Homily concerning their excuses who came not to the wedding dinner you pretend saith hee that you are a souldiour the Centurion in the Gospels history was a good souldidiour and yet a good Saint St. Augustine in diuerse places of his workes both alloweth and commendeth highly the calling of warriours Bernard in his ser ad militis Templi Chap. 3. Miles Christi saith he securus interimit securior interit A souldiour beares not the sword for nought but is the Minister of God to take vengeance on him that doth euill and so when hee kils a malefactor Non homicida sed malecida Anabaptists obiect it is written Vengeance is mine I will repay saith the Lord Answere is made that the vengeance which is exercised by publique persons is not priuat grudge but the vengeance of God because Magistrates are the lieutenants and Ministers of God And whereas they further vrge the word of Esay they shall breake their swordes into matroks and their speares into sithes nation shall not lift vp a sword against nation neither shall they learne to fight any more S. Hierome answers that this Prophecie concerned only the very time when our blessed Sauiour the Prince of peace was borne For then as hystory reports there was an vniuersal peace throughout the whole world or as other it shewes that the Gospel of Christ sets not only God and man at peace but also man with man The summarie pith is briefly this that Christs people shall be meeke and hauing troden vnder their feet cruelty shall endeauour to liue peaceably but because part of Christs Kingdome is in this world that part hath here but a beginning the good being mingled with the bad and the good not absolutely good but imperfitly perfit therefore Christ inioyned Luke 22. 36. Hee that hath none let him sell his coate and buy a sword for albeit Christians may not offend other yet they may defend themselues in offending others so simple as doues in defending themselues so wise as serpents and therefore Caluin calles them braine-sicke Bedlams who by this place take from the Church the vse of the sword and condemne all manner of warre Yea but Christ himselfe sayd All that take the sword shall perish by the sword Diuines answere that a Prince takes not the sword of himselfe but hee receiueth it from God and hee giueth it to his Captaines and the Captaines to the souldiers and so by consequent all fighting in a lawfull warre put on Gods armour and are sayd expresly to fight the battailes of the Lord. Other obiect the weapons of the Church are the shield of faith sword of the spirit breast-plate of righteousnesse helmet of saluation as S. Paul armes a Christian. Ephes. 6 Answere is made that S. Paul in that place describes not any warre with men but a spirituall warfare which is against the deuill We wrestle quoth he not against flesh and
or Potentate who speakes of himselfe plurally We wil and Command Againe Princes in our age vse that stile that they might seeme to doe nothing alone but all as it were by the Counsell of their Nobles and other great ministers of state Whereas God neither needes nor admits any Counsellour and so consequently could not speake of himselfe in this sense Let vs make Or did God say this vnto the beastes of the field or vnto the birdes of the Heauen or vnto the fish of the Sea Nō for then the base should haue made the more Noble and the seruants haue created their Lord and master for so the Scripture doth esteeme man as Lord of the creatures Rule saith God ouer the fish of the Sea and ouer the foules of the ayre and ouer euery thing that moueth vpon the earth Gen. 1. 28. All things are put in subiection vnder his feete Psal. 8. 6. Againe man was created according to his Image who spake this and according to their Image to whom it was spoken But he was not framed to the likenesse of any beast Ergo the conceit is bruitish to thinke that Almighty God spake to beastes in saying Let vs make man Or did God speake this vnto his glorious Angels No Because then creatures should haue beene creators For albeit there be some question about the time when Angels were made Yet it is without all controuersie that they were created as Moses in his entrance to this Booke doth intimate saying In the beginning God created heauen and earth That is as himselfe doeth expound himselfe in the 4. Commandement The heauen and the earth and all that is therein And the blessed Apostle doth construe Moses all things inuisible aswel as visible Whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers For the same hand saith Augustine that made silly worms creeping on the earth created also the stately thrones singing in the heauens If God then vttered these wordes neither to the creatures more base nor yet to his Angels excelling all earthly beauties It is certaine that they were addressed to God the Sonne and to God the holy Ghost And so without any further dispute we may conclude that the most ineffable mystery of the blessed Trinity in Vnitie is in them obscurely touched and couched I say not that it is here set downe clearely nor in any place of the old Testament lest happily Gods people the Iewes exceedingly giuen to superstition Idolatry should adore three gods in stead of three persons and so Tritheisme prooue so bad as Atheisme Nay beloued in the new Testament where these mysteries are reuealed more plainely you may well note That in the rehearsing of the Trinity there is an Item for the Vnity as in the wordes of our blessed Sauiour Mat. 28. 19. Goe teach all nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost He doth expresse three persons Father Sonne and holy Ghost But saying In the Name not names He notes the vnity of essence For God is Vnus in Numine Howsoeuer Trinus in numero I and my Father saith Christ are all one Iohn 10. 30. Vnum sumus as Augustine pithily not vnus all one power but not all one person God the Father is not aliud but alius another person albeit not another essence then is God the Son For in speaking of the Trinity wee must especially take heede of two rockes of Arrius on the right hand who together with the Trinity of persons maintained a Trinity of essences of Sabellius on the left hand who with the vnity of essence maintained an vnity of persons These two we must heedfully shunne lest as S. Paul speakes wee make shipwracke of faith euen sayling in the middle way neither confounding the persons nor diuiding the substance But leauing this argument which is so high and hard that a good Christian ought rather by beleeuing to adore simply then by disputing explore subtilly I come to speake of mans dignitie more principally intended in our text and more naturally gathered out of euery word in the same 1. Out of the word faciamus When almighty God made light he sayd onely Let there be light and there was light and when hee made herbes hee sayd onely let the ground bring foorth herbes and it did so Hee spake the word and it was done He commanded and it was effected Psal. 33. 9. But when he made man he breathed himselfe as Abbinus is bold to speake and as Clemens Alexandrinus and other of the most ancient Doctours He held a Counsell let vs make man So that whereas all other creatures were made with his bare word only man was framed as it were with his owne handes as Prosper hath it hunc manibus quo plus genitoris haberet Dignatur formare suis. Neither was this in respect of any hardnesse in the doing for shall any thing be hard to the Lord Gen. 18. 14. If hee had sayd onely let man bee made as he sayd only let there be a firmament he could haue done the one aswell as the other and as easily but it was to shew the r greatnesse of the worke For as wise men in managing matters of importance vse the deeper consultation and mature care to performe them Euen so the scripture speaking after the manner of men affirmes of God that he tooke heere deliberation and so commends the wonderfull and exquisite workemanship of God in the creating of man as being a more noble creature then heauen itself 2. The dignity of mans creation is much amplified by the circumstance of time when he was made to wit after all other things were created for as Albinus and other obserue Deus imprimis parauit domum et deinde dominum Almighty God first created the whole world as an house then he made man as the master of this house God saith Ambrose like the feast maker in the Gospels history first prepared his dinner he prouided his oxen and his fatlings and got all things ready then he doeth inuite his guestes and say come to the marriage When he had created all thinges for man he put man in possession of all and sa◅d Ruleouer the fish in the sea ouer the foules in the heauen and ouer euery thing that moueth vpon the earth Againe Serum concilium is Serium vsually the last workes of a cunning Artificer are most absolute S. Ambrose therefore doth obserue that God hauing framed man instantly rested himselfe and made Holy-day He made birds flying in the aire fish swimming in the Sea worms creeping on the ground and yet he did not rest He made lilleys and other flowers of the field which are more beautifull in the spring then Solomon in all his Royalty but yet he did not rest he made the goodly lights glorious Angels of heauen and yet he did not rest But assoon as he had
made maÌ„ hee rested hallowed a Sabbath as hauing now made him for whom al other things were made 3 God made man last as an abridgement of all his other Creatures and an Index as it were to his great Booke in Folio therefore called of the Hebrewes Olam Hakaton and of the Greekes microcosmos that is a little world When as the Lord had furnished the heauen and earth with all the Creatures and ornaments thereof hee made man consisting of an heauenly and earthly nature Hauing the beauties of things without life euen the chiefest as of the Sunne and Moone and starres Eccle. 12. 1. 2. Remember now thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth when the Sun is not darke nor the light nor the Moone nor the starres He hath also growth as plants Gen. 49. 22. Ioseph shall be a fruitfull bough euen a fruitfull bough by the well side So Dauid saith our children grow vp as the yong plants Psal. 144. 12. Sense and sensible properties as beastes Gen. 49. 9. Iudah as a lyons whelpe shall come vp from the spoyle Dan as a serpent by the way as an adder by the path biting the horse heeles Reason and wisdome as Angels 2. Sam. 14. 20. My Lord is wise according to the wisdome of an Angel God added to mans being life which he denyed vnto stones to life sense which he denyed vnto plants to sense speech and vnderstanding which hee denyed vnto bruit beastes hee bestowed vpon this one creature the perfections of all the rest Lastly man was happily made last after heauen and earth were created because saith Ambrose Terra exercitium est hominâ—… Coelum Corona Earth is the place where man is to seeke God heauen the place where man is to see God Earth is the place where man is to run his race heauen is the place where he receiues the price If any man seriue for mastery saith Paul he is not crowned except he striue as he ought to doe 2. Tim. 2. 5. This world is the Theater where man is to wrestle with flesh and blood and with spirituall wickednesses in high places He must fight with beastes and birdes and with all the fruites of the earth at his table he must in his pilgrimage here fight with a great many dangers aswell by land as sea he must in his warfare here fight with the pomps of the world and with the power of hell hee must fight with all the creatures and make them to serue him that he may the better serue God It was therefore fit that the earth should be created before man as being the stage wheron he must act his part and that heauen should be created before man as being his reward and Crowne But the dignity of mans creation appeares yet in the next word Image more fully Let vs make man according to our Image Some peradu nture will obiect here that God wil haue no likenesse or Image of himselfe The Papistes indeed crucifie certaine textes in the Bible to prooue their idolatrous adoring of Images But saith Esay to whom will yee liken God or what similitude will ye set vp vnto him He will not he cannot he should not bee pictured Homo enim dificit ab illo qui eum fecit quum sibi praeficit ipse quod fecit Man is then vnlike himselfe if he thinke any thing like to God beside himselfe Answere is made that God set vp his Image himselfe who knew best to make it Let vs make man in our Image Whosoeuer therefore defaceth it commits high treason insomuch that whereas it is no sinne simply to kill a beast it is a fearefull oâ—…trage to slay a man and murther for a man to destroy himselfe Thou shalt not kill thy neighbour Ergo not thy selfe because thy selfe is neerest vnto thy selfe If a man sent to â—…he goale by lawfull authority for fellony breake prison he shall dye for it although he quit himselfe of the fact wherewith hee was charged And so beloued If thy soule breake out of thy body before God open the prison doores and deliuer it out of her bonds it is in danger of hell fire the resolute Romanes and oâ—…her in killing themselues did magnè but not benè saith Augustine and the reason is plaine Man is Gods Image and his superscription is vpon him and so consequently will not suffer his stampe to bee battered or contemptuously defaced In euery creature there bee certaine prints of the deity for seculum is speculum The heauens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweâ—…h his handy-worke Vniuersus mundus as one sayd nihil aliud est quam Deus explicatus In the creation of â—…he visible world we may behold â—…he inuisâ—…ble thinges of God Rom. 1. 20. In omnibus creaturis est aliqualis Dei similitudo per modum vesligij saith g Aquin. Sed in sola rationali creatur a similitudo Dei per modum Imaginis In other thinges we may see Gods power and some other expresse trackes of the Trinity but man and only man is Gods Image all the doubt is what is meant by this Image and in what part of man it is placed Rupertus vnderstandeth here by Image the second person of the Trinity God the sonne and by likenesse or similitude the third person of the Trinity God the holy Ghost But in that the Lord sayd Let vs make man in our Image He doth intimate that God is the liuely representation and Image not of one or two persons only but of the whole Trinity Other thinke that man was created according to the likenesse of that humane nature which our blessed Sauiour Christ the sonne of God was in fulnesse of time to assume but the Scripture teacheth euidently the contrary that Christ tooke vpon him the likenesse of man and not man his likenesse Phil. 2. 7. Augustinus Eugubinus and Oleaster thinke that God tooke vpon him an humane shape when he created man and therefore sayd Let vs make man in our Image But neither did God the father appeare euer in any such shape neither could it be sayd to bee Gods Image being assumed only for a time Other as Paulus Fagius reports affirme that the soules immortallity represents Gods eternity Therefore man hauing a soule immortall is like to God eternall Basil Chrysostom and some other referre this likenesse to mans dominion ouer the creatures being as it were a God on earth which occasioned Heraclitus to terme men mortall Gods and the Gods immortall men Other haue this conceit that as there is nothing in heauen or earth like to God so God created man that among millions of men there should not bee found one in all features and figures of the body like to another These Doctours shoote faire but farre off It is true which is deliuered by them in this particular but it commeth a great deale short of the marke Some of the Fathers and Schoole-Doctours
openly the foxes haue holes and the birdes of heauen haue nestes but the sonne of man hath not whereon to rest his head And Martin Luther a second Elias who by fire from heauen descried and described that abomination of desolation in Gods temple writes of himselfe that of all sinnes hee was euer least subiect to couetousnesse The Papists obiect often that professours of the reformed religion are Lutherans but I would to God both we and they were true Lutherans in this point I haue read that Cardinal Burbonius should say he would not leaue his part in Paris for his part in Paradise But a man of God on the contrary must account all thinges losse that he may win Christ If euery sinne be lesse or more deformed ex parte boni cui inordinate subditur as the schoole speaks then vndoubtedly couetousnesse is a most abiect sinne because goods of the world are worse then either goods of the body or goods of the mind it is but a dirty sin to loue thick clay If we may not too solicitously care for to morrow Mat. 6. 34. Then it is the serpents head and height of impiety to carke for many morrowes building our nest on high that wee may escape the power of euill to come hording vp secret treasure not only for our children but also for our childrens children as the Lawyers speake setling inheritances and making vncertaine riches which according to Gods booke haue wings as an Eagle perpetuities for euer This insatiable both intent and extent is an euill couetousnesse in Gods eye Now concerning our neighbours auarous increasing of wealth is often reported and repeated in this Prophecie to be spoyling of other which are either superiours equalls or inferiours as for superiours euill couetousnesse denyeth vnto Caesar the things that are Caesars It with-holds tribute to whom tribute custome to whom custom honour to whom honour belongeth It renders not to minister and master and magistrate that which is due by the lawes of God and man As for equals it is euill couetousnesse that occasioneth so many quarrels in law and makes so many breaches in loue As for inferiours it is euill couetousnesse that maketh a man hard hearted and fast handed toward the poore the true character of Nabal is to get much and keepe much but to spend little and giue nothing Not to run in the field of this common place beyond the bounds of our text hee that inlargeth his desires as the hell and is as death and cannot be satisfied but gathereth vnto him all nations and heapeth vnto him all people he that buildeth his nest on high erecting it with blood and iniquity he that increaseth that which is not his owne and leaues so much hid treasure to his babes that all of them may liue like gentlemen and Idle men is an enemy to the Church and common weale loosing the one many good Pastors and the other many good professours and tradesmen If gallant vpstarts like nettles today peeping out of the ground to morrow perking to the top of the hedge had not bene left an opulent fortune they would haue got their liuing either by the sweate of their braynes or else by the sweat of their browes whereas now the state both Ecclesiasticall and Ciuill is depriued of their industry Lastly this sinne is the roote of euill vnto our selues auarus nemini bonus sibi vero pessimus A muck worme doth no good vnto any much hurt vnto himselfe he coueteth an euill couetousnesse saith our Prophet to his owne house he sinneth against his owne soule and consulteth shame to his owne posterity It is euill vnto his house for the building of it so high vpon so bad a foundation will be the ruine thereof and make it euen with the ground so Cyrillus Alexandrinus vpon the place Posuisti nidum in alto sed miser eris et repente sub pedibus inimicorum Thy stately towers and townes ouertopping the heads of thy friends shall vpon the sudden bee trampled vnder the feet of thy foes for although all men should hold their peace yet sayth our Prophet the stone shall cry out of the wall and the beame out of the tymber shall answere it the dumbe creatures answere one another as voices in the quire and their cryes as S. Iames telleth vs enter into the eares of the Lord of hostes and the Lord cryeth although thou exaltest thy selfe as an Eagle and make thy nest among the starres yet thence will I bring thee downe for as thou hast done so shall it be done to thee thy reward shall returne vpon thy head Obadia 4. and 15 verse It is euill to his posterity for vnconscionable gaine will occasion his children to be lazie lazinesse will occasion lewdnesse and lewdnesse will occasion vtter ruine for them that honour mee will I honour and they that despise mee shall bee despised sayth the Lord God of Israel 1. Samuel 2. 30 It is euill to his owne selfe for as the liberall and mercifull man rewardeth his owne soule Prouerbs 11. 17. So the cruell and couetous sinneth against his owne soule sayth our Prophet and this euill is the worse for that it growes stronger and stronger as he growes weaker and weaker omnia vitia saith Zanchius Cum senectute sâ—…nescunt auaritia sola iuuenâ—…scit other sinnes as wee grow in yeeres are lesser and lesser only couetousnesse which Abacuc telleth vs is a kind of drunkennesse reignes in old men especially an apprentise hauing serued certaine yeeres is a free-man and a scholler hauing studied at the vniuersity seauen is a master but the couetous person is neuer a free-man or a master but alwayes a seruant and a slaue to Satan and sin deficient in euery good office concerning his naturall life ciuill life spirituall life eternall life all which is included in this one word Woe wherby the Prophet doth intimate that couetousnesse is the roote of all euill which a man suffers Woe to him that coueteth an euill couetousnesse An Angel cryed Apoc. 8. 13. Woe woe woe to the inhabitants of the earth inhabitantibus non accolis as S. Ambrose distinguisheth vnto such as are not onely soiourners but setled inhabitants who so dwell on earth as that they make it their mansion and heauen and neuer looke for another city which is aboue Woe to such in their life woe to such in their death woe to such after death as the godly man whose conuersation is in heauen hath the promises of the life present and of that which is to come so the worldly man who coueteth an euill couetousnesse whose minde is set on earthly things hath the punishments of the life present and of that which is to come Woe wo woe to such a one woe to his body which is a temporall wo wo to his soule which is a spirituall woe woe to both body and soule which is an eternall woe Concerning
the soule of the world the Clergie of the Church and the Iesuites of the Clergie Iesus in this answere to the Pharisees expressed equity trueth piety but the Iesuites in their disputes regarde quaestum magis quam quaestionem All seeking their owne and not the things of Iesus Christ as S. Paul phraseth it Philip. 2. 21. Which occasioned a learned Diuine to say that they were Suitae not Iesuitae louers of themselues and not followers of Christ. Iesus here would haue scandalous accusations of our brethren written in the dust and trodden vnder feet of all that passe by But their doctrine is composed of lyes and libels and all thinges are fed and mainteined by such things of which they are bred and made the aliments of Popery must be correspondent to the elements of which it consisteth aequiuocation is their Diana lying their best helpe Machiauel their fifth if not first Euangelist as Caesar sayd si ius violandum est regni causa violandum and I haue heard that Sambucus alluding to that Apophâ—…egme should say when he had stolen a manuscript out of a library si ius violandum est eruditionis causa violandum so these men are resolued if a man must lye hee must lye for the good of the catholike religion and if lye in so good a cause lye to some purpose Iesus is a Sauiour of his people the Prince of Peace the God of loue but the Iesuites are destructiue doctors as rash Empiricks they can cure none but by letting of blood no treason plotted as Camerarius obserues in any state but a Iesuit hath a finger if not his whole hand in it either at the beginning middle or end so drunken with the blood of the Saints that as their old acquaintance writes the very Canibals and Anthropophages shall condemne them at the last day Thus haue they nothing of Iesus except only the bare name and nomen inane saith a Father is Crimen immane for their nature they resemble more Christs aduersaries the Scribes and Pharisees as being their offall and off-spring not so much flesh of their flesh as spirit of their spirit Now beloued I beseech you giue me leaue to say that vnto you which Moses in the 30. Chap of Deuter. to his auditours I haue set before you this day life and death good and euill blessing and cursing chuse therefore life shun the wayes of Antichrist which are the paths of death and follow Christs example which is the way the truth and the life that foâ—… both you and your seede may liue good subiects in his kingdome of grace and blessed Saints in his kingdome of glory IAMES 5. 16. Confitemini invicem peccata vestra Confesse your faults one to another OVr iniquities make a separation betweene God and vs and withhold his good thinges from vs Ierem. 5. 25. Now then vt cessante causa cesset effectus that the cause ceasing its effect also may cease S. Iames in the closing vp of his Epistle prescribeth a three-fold remedie for the remouing of our sinnes Eclipsing the Sunne of righteousnesse and hiding his face from vs. The first is confession of our faults one to another in our present text The second is prayer one for another in the words immediatly following The third is exhorting one of another in the 19. and 20 verses Concerning confession hee sets downe fiue conditions especially to wit that it be 1 Non involuta sed aperta not inuoluved and intricate but ingenuous and plaine noted in the verbe fatemini 2 Non diuisa sed integra not a partiall acknowledgement but a Plenarie noted in the preposition Con. Confitemini 3 Non reciproca sed transitiua not recoyling toward our selues but vttered vnto others also noted in the Aduerbe Inuicem 4 Non defensiua sed accusatiua not defensiue but accusatiue noted in the Nowne peccata faults 5 Non aliena sed Propria not another mans but our own noted in the Pronoune Vestra your faults Touching prayer one for another he shewes the great power thereof illustrated by the Prophet Elias example who being a man subiect to the like passions as wee that is frayle both in respect of his mind and body in respect of his mind as fleeing from angry Iesabel 1. Kings 19. In respect of his body as being fed by Raueâ—…s and by the little cake of a poore widdow dwelling in Zarepta 1. Kings 17. Yet with one prayer he shut vp the windowes of heauen and it rained not on the earth for three yeeres and sixe moneths And with another earnest prayer hee did open them againe and the heauen gaue raine and the earth brought soorth her increase As for exhorting one another he doth vrge that duty from the most excellent reward thereof If any of you haue erred from the trueth and some man hath conuerted him let him know that hee that hath conuerted the sinner from going astray out of his way shall saue a soule from death and shall hide a multitude of sinnes It is the worke of God only to saue soules causally but occasionally good men as Ministers and Instruments of God are sayd to saue soules in conuerting sinners from euill courses vnto the right way by fruitfull instructions and good examples So the Scripture speakes Matth. 18. 15. If hee heare thee thou hast won thy brother and more plainly 1. Tim. 4. 16. Take heede vnto thy selfe and vnto thy doctrine continue therein for in so doing thou shalt both saue thy selfe and them that heare thee I am at this time to treat of confession and the condition thereof I therefore resume my text Confesse your faults one to another A sinner vnregenerate is like Sampson grinding in the prison house corne for his enemies the greater his labour the more his losse Now the first step out of this vnhappy prison is the acknowledgement of his faults as the reuerend Father Nilus initium salutis est sui ipsius accusatio The condemning of his infirmities is the beginning of his sauing health Adam in couering his offence did offend more then in committing it all the sonnes of Adam haue this imbred cunning to hide their nakednesse with fig-leaues that is their naughtinesse with idle cloaks and excuses it is mother-wit to post and passe sinne from our selues vnto some other As when almighty God arraigned Adam in Paradise for transgressing his commandement in eating of the forbidden fruit hee presently layd the fault vpon Eua his wife she being questioned layd it vpon the serpent and the serpent vpon God Albeit vngodly men as our notes declines their sinnes throughout all the cases in the Nominatiue by their pride to get them a name in the Genitiue by their fornication in the Datiue by their Bribes in the Accusatiue by their Detracting and backbiting In the Vocatiue By their adulation and flattering In the Ablátiue By their oppression and robberies Yet they will not
dayly yet wedlocke is Gods institution and worthy to bee honoured among all men and though vngodly Princes abuse their Empire Yet the powers that bee are ordeyned of God And in this case let vs alwayes remember the saying of Gregory secundum merita subditorum disponit Deus corda praepositorum Almighty God in whose hand the hearts of all Kings are disposeth of them according to the merits of their people so that if higher powers be not good it is for our sinnes and for our saks who gouerne our owne families ill and our persons worse 3. Bad Princes often benefit the State more then hurt for many good Lawes haue bene by them enacted and many good deeds acted in the dayes of vsurpers and impious gouernours Finally it is better to haue a bad King then none according to that of Solomon Vbi non est gubernator corruit populus Where no gouernour is the people perish For whereas in a corrupt Monarchie there is one Tyrant in an Oligarchie some few Tyrants In a Democratie many Tyrants In an Anarchie all are Tyrants And it is vndoubtedly more safe to liue in a place where nothing is lawfull then where all things are lawfull a bad husband is better then none the worst Emperour is the Minister of God and if thou be wise for thy good Their second reason is ab efficiente from the founder author of authority for they maintain that Magistracie is not ordeyned giuen of God but only vsurped by men so wee read that Nimrod and Nabuchodonosor and Caesar by vexing and oppressing their countrey became Kings as a Pirat told Alexander the great I am called a robber on the Sea because I sayle in a little boate but you are called Emperors because you infest and spoyle the whole world with a great Naâ—…ie the difference is not in our fault but in our fortune To this obiection answere is made Prouerb 8. 15. By me Kings reigne Dan. 2. 37. The God of heauen hath giuen thee a kingdome power and strength and glory And St. Paul in this present Chap. at the 1. verse There is no power but of God The manner of getting kingdomes is not alwayes of God for Alexander the 6 obteined the Pope-dome by giuing himselfe to the deuill Phocas by sedition got his Empire Richard the third came to the Crowne of England by butchering his Nephewes and other of the blood Royall Yet the power of it selfe is euer from God as Christ told Pilate thou couldest haue no power except it were giuen thee from aboue So some kingdomes in respect of their wicked ends which vsurpe them are most vniust as Augustine writes Latrocinia Yet in respect of Gods purpose and prouidence who brings light out of darkenesse and disposeth of wicked men and wickednesse it selfe to his good ends They bee iust and necessary Salmanazer Senacherib Nabuchodonosor and other Tyrants oppressing Gods Israel and leading them into captiuity did herein offend with an high hand and yet almighty God ordered their ambition and cruelty to the setting foorth of his greatnesse and to the good of his chosen And therefore God sayd of Nabuchodonosor that hee was his seruant and of Cyrus that hee was his anoynted whose right he did vphold to subdue nations before him and of Ashur that he was the rod of his wrath Esay 10 â—… Their third reason is taken ab origine that one man should haue dominion ouer another was not so from the beginning in the state of innocency but after the fall of man in the state of sinne God sayd at the first vnto man rule ouer the fish of the Sea and ouer the soules of the Heauen and ouer euery beast that mooueth vpon the earth He sayd not exercise gouernment one ouer another Answere is made that if Adam had continued in his innocency yet notwithstanding there should haue beene higher powers and that is plaine by these three reasons 1. There should haue beene generation encrease and multiply Gen. 1. 28. Ergo Disparity of sexe necessarily preceding generation and Disparity of age necessarily following generation If disparity of sexe the woman is subiect vnto the man in Gubernatione though his mate in generatione the husband is the wiues head as Christ is head of the Church Ephes. 5. 23. If Disparity of age following generation necessarily then also Disparity of wit and goodnesse for euen in that estate men vndoubtedly should haue bene wiser then children and some men excelling other in grace Now the light of nature teacheth vs that the young is to be gouerned by his elder and he which is lesse good by those which are more good and hee which is a little wise by those which are a good deale wise See Thom sum 1. part quaest 96. art 3. Secondly wee say there bee certaine distinctions and degrees of Angels in the quire of heauen as reading in Holy Scriptures of principalities and powers and thrones and dominations and Seraphins and Cherubins and Belzebub is termed Prince of deuils Matth. 12. 24. Which authority he did not obtaine by sinne but had in the beginning ouer those spirits that fell with him If then there bee subiection and Soueraignty betweene the blessed Angels in heauen why should there not haue beene the like among men in the state of inocency Thirdly politique gouernment is so neessary for mankind that without it his nature would be destroyed because man is by nature a sociable creature and what society can there be without order Beastes are both armed and clothed by nature by nature they build their nestes and by nature they be Physitians vnto themselues by nature they can liue alone without others company But man is borne naked ful of wo ful of wants not able to helpe himselfe to cloth himselfe or feed himselfe or arme himselfe so that it is impossible for him to liue alone the which his very speech bewrayes for had hee bin borne to liue solitarily hee should not haue needed any language Well then if mans nature require societie doubtlesse society requires gouernment for what is society but a multitude well ordered consisting of some that command and others that obey Thus I haue shewed against Anabaptists and Libertines that the Magistrate is the Minister of God instituted by him in the beginning and to bee continued in his Church vnto the worlds end I come now to the Papists who although they well allow the calling of the Ciuill Magistrate yet doe they curtall his power exempting from his censure both Ecclesiasticall persons and Ecclesiasticall causes As for the Persons of the Clergie wee say with our Apostle Let euery soule bee subiect vnto the authority of the higher powers Euery soule that is euery man putting the principall part for the whole So Gen. 46. 27. All the soules of the house of Iacob which came into Aegypt are seuenty that is as Moses expoundeth himselfe Deut. 10. 22. Seuenty persons and
prize of â—…he Kingdome of England after long and equall combat finding each others worth and valour they cast away their weapons embraced and concluded a peace putting on each others apparell and armes as a ceremony to expresse the attonement of their minds as if they made transaction of their persons one to the other Canutus being Edmund and Edmund Canutus Our iniquities had made a separation betweene God and vs Esay 59 2. And in this warre as the Scripture speakes God did fight against vs and we were his enemies Now Christ our Make-peace did end this quarrell and that was by putting on our clothes and by giuing vs his clothes he tooke vpon him our flesh and in his body did beare our sinnes and wee by faithes hand put on Christ and the long robe of his righteousnes so the Church sings I am my beloueds and my welbeloued is mine Christ and we being married as S. Paul teacheth Ephes. 5. are but one flesh and as it were but one person in law for Christ in taking our nature vpon him is flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone substantially and we likewise by putting him on vs are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone spiritually so that our sinnes are his sinnes and his righteousnesse our righteousnesse Iere. 23 6. The Lord our righteousnesse Psal. 4. 1. O God which art my righteousnesse Being iustified then by faith wee haue peace towards God through our Lord Iesus Christ and this peace is a pleasure that passeth all vnderstanding sinne makes a trembling and heauy heart but assurance that our sinnes are forgiuen in Christ is the rest of our soule making vs like Diues euery day faring deliciously 3 One day spent in the courts of the Lord is better then a thousand in respect of honour Caesar sayd he had rather be the first in a countrey village then the second in Rome though it were then esteemed the worlds Epitome but our Prophet desires rather to bee a doore-keeper in Gods house then to command in the tents of vngodlinesse of the meanest account in the one then of highest honour in the other as one glosseth it I had rather be a Clauiger a subiect yea abeict sitting at the very threshold in the Courts of the Lord then to be a steptrifer Mahumet the great or Soliman the Magnificent in the tents of infidelity So Moses refused to be called the sonne of Pharaohs daughter and chose rather to suffer aduersitie with Gods people So Daniel esteemed the Lyons den better then Darius Pallace So the three children aduentured to meete heauen in the hell of a fiery furnace so the renowned Emperour Theodosius more reioyced in that hee was a member of the Church then head of the State So the blessed Saints in the dayes of Queene Mary desired rather to be pilgrimes among the reformed Churches abroad then Prelats in the kingdome of Antichrist at home To serue God is perfit freedome as diuine Plato determined iudiciously Goodnesse is not in greatnesse but on the contrary Greatnesse is in goodnesse A great Lord conuicted of treason against his Soueraigne hath his blood attaynted himselfe and his posterity disgentred vntill they be restored in blood Adam in Paradise commiâ—…ted high treason against the King of heauen and earth and in him all of vs haue sinned and so by consequent our blood is attainted till it be restored againe by Christ who loued vs and washed vs from our sins in his blood As good Queene Elinor sucked the venome out of the wound giuen her husband Edward the first by an Assassine with a poysoned weapon So Christ our husband hath expelled the poyson out of our woundes inflicted by the deuill our aduersary who was a murtherer from the beginning euery christian then as hauing his woundes healed and his blood purged is a gentleman and the best christian is the best gentleman according to the scripture teaching vs that the men of Berea who receiued the word with all readinesse were more noble then they of Thessalonica The burgesses of Gods city bee not of base Linage but truly Noble For by their second birth all of them are the sonnes of God and the Church is their Mother and Christ their Brother and the Holy Ghost their Tntor Angels their attendants Heb. 1. 14. all other creatures their subiects Psal. 8. 6. The whole world their Inne 1. Pet. 2. 11. and heauen their Home Iohn 14. 2. Fauours of Princes serue sometime more for the benefit of those that giue them then for the profit of those that receiue them and the best honour an earthly Prince can conferre vpon his chiefe fauorite is to make him a Viceroy in some part of his Empire but Christ which is the King of glory maketh all his followers Kings vnto God his father Apoc 1. 6. Kings because God reigneth in vs and because through his sanctifying grace we haue dominion ouer our concupiscenses not suffering sinne to reigne in our mortall bodies and we are not only Viceroyes ouer one prouince but in this respect Lords ouer the whole world more then conquerours a great deale greater then William the Conquerour or Alexander the great or the great Turke for whereas they conquered in many yeres a few parts of the world Hee that is borne of God ouercommeth in one houre with one act all the pompe of the world and all the power of hell also It is but Caesars Veni vidi vici this is the victory that ouercommeth the world euen our faith 1. Iohn 5. 4. The difference betweene the christians honour and the worldlings honour is very plaine The kings daughter is all glorious within Psal. 45. 14. But the worldlings is all glorious without now the Phylosopher hath taught truly That ciuill honour is not in the power of the person honored but in the power of the person honouring and therefore the worldlings glory depending vpon the breath of vaine men and possession of vaine matters is altogether vncertaine But the Christians dignity which is within hauing done good in Israel and toward God and his house cannot be taken away but it flourisheth and remaineth for euer Psal. 112. 9. For conclusion of all I say to you all in briefe that this Doctrine should encourage vs diligently to visit the Temple which is Gods house the Palace where his Holinesse more specially resides Heretofore Hierusalems Temple was instar parochiae sayth Hospinian as a great parish So now euery Parochiall Church is instar templl where God is to be worshipped in the publique congregation and dutifully to honour his anoynted Kings and Princes which are the chiefe gouernours of his house and reuerently to respect his Clergie Bishops Pastors and Curates which are the disposers of his secrets and stewards of his house and cheerefully to delight in his Saints which are the domesticall and
S. Augustine and of Franciscus Arias in his tract Depraesentia Dei cap 2. Who by Gods face vnderstand Gods presence So the Scripture by the face of the wind and by the face of frost and fire meaneth as you know the presence of these things as in Psalme 68. Like as waxe melteth ante faciem ignis before the fires face So let the vngodly perish at the presence of God So Hagar is sayd to flee from the face of her mistresse Sara Gen. 16. 8 So Pharaoh to Moses Exod. 10. 28. Get thee from mee Looke thou see my face no more So Adam is sayd to hide himselfe from Gods face Gen. 3. 8. and Satan Iob 1. 12. Egressus est à facie Domini that is he departed from Gods presence to seeke then euermore Gods face is nothing else but seriously to consider and contemplate that he is alwayes present with vs in euery thought word and deed Plutarch aduiseth vs so circumspectly to demeane our selues as if â—…r enemies alwayes beheld vs Seneca counselleth vs to liue so well as if Cato Laelius or some reuerend Person of great wisdome and account ouerlooked vs Thalis Milesius in the coÌ„mitting of any sin wished vs when we are alone to be afraid of our selues and of our owne conscience which is in stead of a thousand witnesses te sine teste time saith Ausonius S. Paul exhorteth women to cary themselues in Gods house reuerently because of the Angels as being assured that the glorious Angels in heauen obserue their behauiour But our text teacheth vs yet a better way then all these which is to seeke Gods face to remember that God searcheth vs out knowing our downe-sitting and our vprising and that he standeth about our paths and about our beds and spieth out all our wayes A pious exercise highly commended in the Scriptures and in the Fathers and by the practise of holy men in all ages The Scriptures in reporting that Enoch and Noe walked with God intimate that those holy Patriarchs had set God alwayes before them and that they liued so religiously tanquam sub eius oculis as vnder his obseruing and all-seeing eye they walked as St. Luke recordeth of Zacharias and Elizabeth in all the commandements and ordinances of the Lord without reproofe they considered the wayes of God and turned their feete vnto his Testimonies as our Prophet speaks of himselfe Psal. 119. 59. They did endeauour and set their hearts to haue not only good credit before men but alâ—… with S. Paul to keepe a cleare conscience before God In this sense God sayd to Father Abraham walke before mee Gen. 17. 1. And Abraham againe concerning God the Lord before whom I walke Gen. 24. 40. So the Prophet Elias and Eliseus speake The Lord God in whose sight â—… stand The text inioyning vs always to pray poynts at this duty that wee should seeke Gods face continually for our desires and thoughts are the voyces and wordes by which our soule speakes If then at any time wee lift our hearts vnto the Lord wee may be sayd and that truely to pray which occasioned Diuines to terme prayer an humble familiarity with God He that will alwayes conuerse with God must alwayes either reade the Scripture saith Augustine or else pray for as often as we read his word he talketh with vs and as often as we pray we talke with him When our Prophet sings in 123. Psalme Vnto thee lift I vp mine eyes O thou that dwellest in the heauens He doth vnderstand not eyes of his flesh only but eyes of his faith also seeing him which is inuisible Heb 11. 27. But the spirit by the mouth of Solomon as yet speakes more plainly Prou. 3. 6. In all thy wayes acknowledge God and he shall direct thy goings in omnibus vijs cogita Deum as the vulgar latine runnes in euery thing thou takest in hand thinke on God or as our translation haue respect vnto him as Tobie to his sonne Set God alwayes before thine eyes behold him as a Iudge and so shame to sinne before the Iudges eye behold him as thy great reward and so faint not in doing good Behold him as authour and finisher of thy faith and so runne with patience the race which is set before thee Behold him as the Donor of euery good and perfit gift and so confesse that he worketh all thy works for thee by whose grace thou art whatsoeuer thou art S. Augustine beginneth his heauenly meditations in this stile Domine Deus meus da cordi meo te desiderare desiderando quaerere quaerendo inuenire inueniendo amare amando mala mea redâ—…mpta non iterare O Lord giue me grace from the very bottom of mine heart to desire thee in desiring to seeke thee in seeking to find thee in finding to loue thee in louing vtterly to loath my former wickednes And in his soules soliloquies or priuat talke with God he prayeth in like manner O Lord who knowest me giue me grace to know thee O my comforter shew me thy selfe let mee see thee which art the light of mine eyes mirth of my spirit ioy of my heart life of my soule It is a good Motto thinke and thanke God there is no moment of time wherein God cares not for vs and therefore saith a Bernard no moment of time wherein we should not seeke him especially when we come to his house to call vpon his Holy Name for how prayâ—…s hee to God who prates in his heart to the world intende quoth the same Father 〈◊〉 qui intendit tibi Christ promised to be with vs in our deuotions euen in the middest of vs Mat. 18. 20. but as Eusebius Emisenus obserueth how shall God bee in the mids of thee if thou be not in the mids of thy selfe If the aduocate sleepe how shall the Iudge awake No maruaile if thou loose thy sute when as in praying thou loosest thy selfe Hilary writing vpon the words of the Psalmist all my wayes are before thee notes that the Prophet making his course before Gods eye to whom all hearts are open and no secrets hid walked not in the counsell of the wicked nor stood in the way of sinners his feete did not goe downe to death and his steps take hold of hell but his whole pilgrimage was a seeking of the Lord and as S. Paul phraseth it he did so runne that he did obteyne Seneca though he were not a Doctour in Diuinity yet he wrote in his 10 Epistle lib. 1. Diuine-like to this purpose Sic viue cum hominibus quast deus videat sic loquere cum Deo quasi homines audiant So conuerse with men as if God did euer see thee so conferre with God as if men did euer heare thee and in another Epistle God is neere to thee with thee within thee so it is Lucilius that a sacred spirit resideth in vs as a custos and obseruer of all that we doe