the Quietness and Peace of the same And whereof cometh this Contention Strife and Variance but of Pride and Vain-glory Let us therefore humble ourselves under the mighty Hand of God 1 Pet. 5. Luk. 1. which hath promised to rest upon them that be humble and low in Spirit If we be good and quiet Christian Men let it appear in our Speech and Tongues If we have forsaken the Devil let us use no more Devilish Tongues He that hath been a railing Scolder now let him be a sober Counsellor He that hath been a malicious Slanderer now let him be a loving Comforter He that hath been a vain Railer now let him be a ghostly Teacher He that hath abused his Tongue in Cursing now let him use it in Blessing He that hath abused his Tongue in evil-speaking now let him use it in speaking well All Bitterness Anger Railing and Blasphemy let it be avoided from you If you may and if it be possible in no wise be angry But if you may not be clean void of this passion yet then so temper and bridle it that it stir you not to Contention and Brawling If you be provoked with evil-speaking arm yourself with Patience Lenity and Silence either speaking nothing or else being very soft meek and gentle in answering Overcome thine Adversary with Benefits and Gentleness And above all things keep Peace and Unity Be no Peace-breakers but Peace-makers And then there is no doubt but that God the Author of Comfort and Peace will grant us Peace of Conscience and such Concord and Agreement that with one Mouth and Mind we may glorifie God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ to whom be all Glory now and for ever AMEN HEreafter shall follow Sermons of Fasting Prayer Alms-Deeds of the Nativity Passion Resurrection and Ascension of our Saviour Christ Of the due Receiving of his Blessed Body and Blood under the form of Bread and Wine Against Idleness against Gluttony and Drunkenness against Covetousness against Envy Ire and Malice with many other matters as well fruitful as necessary to the edifying of Christian People and the increase of Godly Living GOD Save the KING THE Second PART OF THE HOMILIES LONDON Printed for George Wells at the Sun Abel Swall at the Unicorn in St. Paul's Church-yard and George Pawlett at the Bible in Chancery-Lane 1687. AN ADMONITION TO ALL Ministers Ecclesiastical FOR that the Lord doth require of his Servant whom he hath set over his Houshold to shew both Faithfulness and Prudence in his Office It shall be necessary that ye above all other do behave yourselves most faithfully and diligently in your so high a Function That is aptly plainly and distinctly to Read the Sacred Scriptures diligently to instruct the Youth in their Catechism gravely and reverently to Minister his most Holy Sacraments prudently also to choose out such Homilies as be most meet for the time and for the more agreeable Instruction of the People committed to your charge with such discretion that where the Homily may appear too long for one Reading to divide the same to be Read part in the Forenoon and part in the Afternoon And where it may so chance some one or other Chapter of the Old Testament to fall in order to be Read upon the Sundays or Holy-days which were better to be changed with some other of the New Testament of more Edification it shall be well done to spend your time to consider well of such Chapters before-hand whereby your Prudence and diligence in your Office may appear so that your People may have cause to glorifie God for you and be the readier to embrace your Labours to your better Commendation to the discharge of your Consciences and their own THE TABLE OF Homilies ensuing I. OF the Right Use of the Church Page 93 II. Against Peril of Idolatry Page 102 III. For Repairing and keeping Clean the Church Page 282 IV. Of Good Works And first of Fasting Page 289 V. Against Gluttony and Drunkenness Page 309 VI. Against excess of Apparel Page 322 VII An Homily of Prayer Page 334 VIII Of the Place and Time of Prayer Page 356 IX Of Common-Prayer and Sacraments Page 370 X. An Information of them which take Offence at certain places of Holy Scripture Page 385 XI Of Alms-Deeds Page 402 XII Of the Nativity Page 421 XIII Of the Passion for Good Friday Page 434 443 XIV Of the Resurrection for Easter Day Page 455 XV. Of the Worthy Receiving of the Sacrament Page 467 XVI An Homily concerning the coming down of the Holy Ghost for Whitsunday Page 480 XVII An Homily for Rogation-Week Page 497 XVIII Of the State of Matrimony Page 539 XIX Against Idleness Page 540 XX. Of Repentance and true Reconciliation unto God Page 556 XXI An Homily against Disobedience and wilful Rebellion Page 583 AN HOMILY OF THE Right Use of the Church or Temple of GOD and of the Reverence due unto the same The First Chapter WHereas there appeareth in these days great slackness and negligence of a great sort of People in resorting to the Church there to serve God their Heavenly Father according to their most bounden duty as also much Uncomely and Unreverent behaviour of many Persons in the same when they be there assembled and thereby may just fear arise of the Wrath of God and his dreadful Plagues hanging over Head for our grievous Offences in this behalf amongst other many and great Sins which we daily and hourly commit before the Lord. Therefore for the discharge of all our Consciences and for the avoiding of the common Peril and Plague hanging over us let us consider what may be said out of Gods Holy Book concerning this matter whereunto I pray you give good Audience for that it is of great weight and concerneth you all Although the Eternal and Incomprehensible Majesty of God the Lord of Heaven and Earth whose seat is Heaven and the Earth his Footstool cannot be inclosed in Temples or Houses made with Mans Hand as in dwelling places able to receive or contain his Majesty according as is evidently declared by the Prophet Isaiah Isaiah 66. Act. 7.17 3 Reg. 8. 2 Par. 2. and 6. and by the Doctrine of St. Stephen and St. Paul in the Acts of the Apostles And where King Solomon who builded unto the Lord the most glorious Temple that ever was made saith Who shall be able to build a meet or worthy House for him If Heaven and the Heaven above all Heavens cannot contain him how much less can that which I have builded And further confesseth What am I that I should be able to build thee an House O Lord But yet for this purpose only it is made that thou mayest regard the Prayer of thy Servant and his Humble Supplication Much less then be our Churches meet dwelling places to receive the Incomprehensible Majesty of God And indeed the chief and special Temples of God wherein he hath greatest pleasure and most delighteth to dwell
thoughts which may hinder thee from Gods true Service The Bird when she will flie shaketh her Wings Shake and prepare thy self to flie higher than all the Birds in the Air that after thy Duty duly done in this earthly Temple and Church thou may'st flie up and be received into the glorious Temple of God in Heaven through Christ Jesus our Lord To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all Glory and Honour Amen AN HOMILY Wherein is declared That common-Common-Prayer and Sacraments ought to be ministred in a Tongue that is understood of the Hearers AMong the manifold Exercises of Gods People dear Christians there is none more necessary for all estates and at all times than is publick Prayer and the due use of Sacraments For in the first we beg at Gods hands all such things as otherwise we cannot obtain And in the other he embraceth us and offereth himself to be embraced of us Knowing therefore that these two Exercises are so necessary for us let us not think it unmeet to consider first what Prayer is and what a Sacrament is and then how many sorts of Prayers there be and how many Sacraments so shall we the better understand how to use them aright August de Spiritu An ma. To know what they be St. Augustine teacheth us in his Book entituled Of the Spirit and the Soul he saith thus of Prayer Prayer is saith he the Devotion of the Mind that is to say the returning to God through a godly and humble affection which affection is a certain willing and sweet inclining of the Mind it self towards God And in the Second Book against the Adversary of the Law and the Prophets August lib. 2 contra Adversariâ—s Legis Proph. August ad Bonifacium he calleth Sacraments Holy signs And writing to Bonifacius of the Baptism of Infants he saith If Sacraments had not a certain similitude of those things whereof they be Sacraments they should be no Sacraments at all And of this similitude they do for the most part receive the self-same things they signifie By these words of St. Augustine it appeareth that he alloweth the common description of a Sacrament which is that it is a visible sign of an invisible Grace that is to say that setteth out to the Eyes and other outward Senses the inward working of Gods free Mercy and doth as it were seal in our hearts the promises of God And so was Circumcision a Sacrament which preached unto the outward senses the inward cutting away of the fore-skin of the Heart and sealed and made sure in the hearts of the Circumcised to promise of God touching the promised Seed that they looked for Now let us see how many sorts of Prayer and how many Sacraments there be In the Scriptures we read of three sorts of Prayer whereof two are private and the third is common The first is that which St. Paul speaketh of in his Epistle to Timothy saying 1 Tim. 1. I will that men pray in every place lifting up pure hands without wrath or striving And it is the devout lifting up of the mind to God without the uttering of the hearts grief or desire by open voice Of this Prayer we have example in the first Book of the Kings in Anna 1 Kings 1. the Mother of Samuel when in the heaviness of her Heart she prayed in the Temple desiring to be made fruitful She prayed in her heart saith the Text but there was no voice heard After this sort must all Christians pray not once in a week or once in a day only 1 Thess 3. but as St. Paul writeth to the Thessalonians without ceasing And as St. James writeth James 5. The continual Prayer of a just man is of much force The second sort of Prayer is spoken of in the Gospel of Matthew Matt. 6. where it is said When thou prayest enter into thy secret Closet and when thou hast shut the door to thee pray unto thy Father in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee Of this sort of Prayer there be sundry examples in the Scriptures but it shall suffice to rehearse one which is written in the Acts of the Apostles Acts 10. Cornelius a devout man a Captain of the Italian Army saith to Peter that being in his House in Prayer at the ninth hour there appeared to him one in a white Garment c. This man prayed unto God in secret and was rewarded openly These be the two private sorts of Prayer The one mental that is to say the devout lifting up of the mind to God And the other vocal that is to say the secret uttering of the griefs and desires of the Heart with words but yet in a secret Closet or some solitary place The third sort of Prayer is publick or common Of this Prayer speaketh our Saviour Christ Mat. 18. when he saith If two of you shall agree upon Earth upon any thing whatsoever ye shall ask my Father which is in Heaven shall do it for you for wheresoever two or three be gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them Although God hath promised to hear us when we pray privately so it be done faithfully and devoutly for he saith Psal 50. Call upon me in the day of thy trouble and I will hear thee And Elias being but a mortal man James 5. saith St. James prayed and Heaven was shut three Years and six Months and again he prayâ—d and the Heaven gave rain Yet by the Histories of the Bible it appeareth that publick and common Prayer is most available before God and therefore is much to be lamented that it is no better esteemed among us which profess to be but one body in Christ When the City of Niniveh was threatned to be destroyed Jonas 3. within forty days the Prince and the People joyned themselves together in publick Prayer and Fasting and were preserved In the Prophet Joel God commanded a Fasting to be proclaimed Joel 2. and the People to be gathered together young and old man and woman and are taught to say with one voice Spare us O Lord spare thy People and let not thine Inheritance be brought to confusion When the Jews should have been destroyed all in one day through the malice of Haman Hester 4. at the Commandment of Hester they Fasted and Prayed and were preserved Judith 8. When Holophernes besieged Bethulia by the advice of Judith they Fasted and Prayed and were delivered Acts 12. When Peter was in Prison the Congregation joyned themselves together in Prayer and Peter was wonderfully delivered By these Histories it appeareth that common or publick Prayer is of great force to obtain mercy and deliverance at our Heavenly Fathers hand Therefore Brethren I beseech you even for the tender mercies of God let us no longer be negligent in this behalf but as the People willing to receive at Gods
have in their Translation in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Saint Jerome in his Translation of the same places in Latin hath Simulachra in English Images And in the New Testament 1 John 5 that which Saint John calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Saint Jerome likewise translateth Simulachrum as in all other like places of Scripture usually he doth so translate And Tertullian a most ancient Doctor and well learned in both the Tongues Greek and Latin interpreting this place of Saint John Beware of Idols that is to say Lib. de corona militis saith Tertullian of the Images themselves The Latin words which he useth be Effigies and Imago that is to say an Image And therefore it skilleth not whether in this process we use the one term or the other or both together seeing they both though not in common English Speech yet in Scripture signifie one thing And though some to blind Mens Eyes have heretofore craftily gone about to make them to be taken for words of divers Significations in Matters of Religion and have therefore usually named the likeness or similitude of a thing set up amongst the Heathen in their Temples or other places to be worshipped an Idol But the like similitude with us set up in the Church the place of Worshipping they call an Image as though these two words Idol and Image in Scripture did differ in property and sense which as is aforesaid differ only in Sound and Language and in meaning be indeed all one especially in the Scriptures and matters of Religion And our Images also have been and be and if they be publickly suffered in Churches and Temples ever will be also worshipped and so Idolatry committed to them as in the last part of this Homily shall at large be declared and proved Wherefore our Images in Temples and Churches be indeed none other but Idols as unto the which Idolatry hath been is and ever will be committed And first of all the Scriptures of the Old Testament condemning and abhorring as well all Idolatry or worshipping of Images as also the very Idols or Images themselves especially in Temples are so many and plentiful that it were almost an infinite Work and to be contained in no small Volume to record all the places concerning the same For when God had chosen to himself a peculiar and special People from amongst all other Nations that knew not God but worshipped Idols and false Gods he gave unto them certain Ordinances and Laws to be kept and observed of his said People But concerning none other matter did he give either more or more earnest and express Laws to his said People than those that concerned the true Worshipping of him and the avoiding and fleeing of Idols and Images and Idolatry For that both the said Idolatry is most repugnant to the right worshipping of him and his true Glory above all other Vices and that he knew the proneness and inclination of Mans corrupt Kind and Nature to that most odious and abominable Vice Of the which the Ordinances and Laws so given by the Lord to his People concerning this matter I will rehearse and alledge some that be most special for this purpose that you by them may judge of the rest In the fourth Chapter of the Book named Deuteronomy is a notable place Deut. 4. Numb 22. and most worthy with all diligence to be marked which beginneth thus And now Israel hear the Commandments and Judgments which I teach thee saith the Lord that thou doing them mayst liâ—e and enter and possess the Land which the Lord God of your Fathers will give you Ye shall put nothing to the word which I speak to you neither shall ye take any thing from it Keep ye the Commandments of the Lord your God which I command you And by and by after he repeateth the same Sentence three or four times before he come to the matter that he would specially warn them of as it were for a Preface to make them to take the better heed unto it Take heed to thy self saith he and to thy Soul with all carefulness lest thou forgettest the things which thine Eyes have seen and that they go not out of thine Heart all the days of thy Life thou shalt teach them to thy Children and Nephews or Posterity And shortly after The Lord spake unto you out of the middle of Fire but ye heard the Voice or sound of his Words but you did see no form or shape at all And by and by followeth Take heed therefore diligently unto your Souls you saw no manner of Image in the day in the which the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the Fire lest peradventure you being deceived should make to your selves any graven Image or likeness of Man or Woman or the likeness of any Beast which is upon the Earth or of the Birds that flie under Heaven or of any creeping thing that is moved on the Earth or of the Fishes that do continue in the Waters Lest peradventure thou lifting up thine Eyes to Heaven do see the Sun and the Moon and the Stars of Heaven and so thou being deceived by errour shouldst honour and worship them which the Lord thy God hath created to serve all Nations that be under Heaven And again Beware that thou forget not the Covenant of the Lord thy God which he made with thee and so make to thy self any carved Image of them which the Lord hath forbidden to be made For the Lord thy God is a consuming Fire and a jealous God If you have Children and Nephews and do tarry in the Land and being deceived do make to your selves any similitude doing evil before the Lord your God and provoke him to anger I do this day call upon Heaven and Earth to witness that ye shall quickly perish out of the Land which you shall possess you shall not dwell in it any long time but the Lord will destroy you and will scatter you amongst all Nations and ye shall remain but a very few amongst the Nations whither the Lord will lead you away and then shall you serve Gods which are made with Mans Hands of Wood and Stone which see not and hear not neither eat nor smell and so forth This is a notable Chapter and treateth almost altogether of this matter But because it is too long to write out the whole I have noted you certain principal points out of it First how earnestly and oft he calleth upon them to mark and to take heed and that upon the peril of their Souls to the charge which he giveth them Then how he forbiddeth by a solemn and long rehearsal of all things in Heaven in Earth and in the Water any Image or likeness of any thing at all to be made Thirdly what Penalty and horrible Destruction he solemnly with Invocation of Heaven and Earth for record denounceth and threatneth to them their Children and Posterity if they
of them the Pox Saint Roche the Falling-evil Saint Cornelis the Tooth-Ach Saint Apollin c. Neither do Beasts nor Cattel lack their Gods with us for Saint Loy is the Horsleach and Saint Anthony the Swineheard c. Where is Gods Providence and due Honour in the mean season Who saith The Heavens be mine and the Earth is mine the whole World and all that in it is I do give Victory and I put to Flight Of me be all Counsels and Help c. Except I keep the City in vain doth he watch that keepeth it thou Lord shalt save both Men and Beasts But we have left him neither Heaven nor Earth nor Water nor Country nor City Peace nor War to Rule and Govern neither Men nor Beasts nor their Diseases to Cure that a godly Man mâ—ght justly for Zealous Indignation cry out O Heaven O Earth and Seas what Madness and Wickedness against God are Men fallen into What dishonour do the Creatures to their Creator and Maker And if we remember God somtimes yet because we doubt of his ability or will to help we joyn to him another Helper as if he were a Noun Adjective using these sayings such as learn God and Saint Nicholas be my speed Such as neese God help and Saint John To the Horse God and Saint Loy save thee Thus are we become like Horses and Mules which have no Understanding For is there not one God only who by his Power and Wisdom made all things and by his Providence governeth the same And by his Goodness maintaineth and saveth them Be not all things of him by him and through him Why dost thou turn from the Creator to the Creatures This is the manner of the Gentiles Idolaters But thou art a Christian and therefore by Christ alone hast access to God the Father and help of him only These things are not written to any reproach of the Saints themselves who were the true Servants of God and did give all honour to him taking none unto themselves and are blessed Souls with God but against our Foolishness and Wickedness making of the true Servants of God false Gods by attributing to them the Power and Honour which is Gods and due to him only And for that we have such Opinions of the power and ready help of Saints all our Legends Hymns Sequences and Masses did contain Stories Lauds and Praises of them and Prayers to them yea and Sermons also altogether of them and to their Praises Gods Word being clean laid aside And this we do altogether agreeable to the Saints as did the Gentiles Idolaters to their false Gods For these Opinions which Men have had of mortal Persons were they never so holy the old most godly and learned Christians have written against the feigned Gods of the Gentiles and Christian Princes have destroyed their Images who if they were now living would doubtless likewise both write against our false Opinions of Saints and also destroy their Images For it is evident that our Image-maintainers have the same Opinion of Saints which the Gentiles had of their false Gods and thereby are moved to make them Images as the Gentiles did If answer be made that they make Saints but Intercessors to God and means for such things as they would obtain of God That is even after the Gentiles Idolatrous usage to make them of Saints Gods Medioximi Dii called Dii Medioximi to be mean Intercessors and Helpers to God as though he did not hear or should be weary if he did all alone So did the Gentiles teach that there was one chief Power working by other as means and so they made all Gods subject to Fate or Destiny as Lucian in his Dialogues feigneth that Neptune made suit to Mercury that he might speak with Jupiter And therefore in this also it is most evident that our Image-maintainers be all one in Opinion with the Gentiles Idolaters Now remaineth the third part that their Rites and Ceremonies in honouring and worshipping of the Images or Saints be all one with the Rites which the Gentiles Idolaters used in honouring their Idols First what meaneth it that Christians after the example of the Gentiles Idolaters go on pilgrimage to visit Images where they have the like at home but that they have a greater Opinion of Holiness and Virtue in some Images than other some like as the Gentiles Idolaters had which is the readiest way to bring them to Idolatry by worshipping of them and directly against Gods Word who saith Seek me Amos 5. and ye shall live and do not seek Bethel enter not into Gilgal neither go to Beersheba And against such as had any Superstition in the Holiness of the place as though they should be heard for the places sake saying Our Fathers worshipped in this Mountain and ye say that at Jerusalem is the place where Men should worship our Saviour Christ pronounceth John 4. Beâ—ieve me the hour cometh when you shall worship the Father neither in this Mountain nor at Jerusalem but true Worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and Truth But it is too well known that by such pilgrimage-going Lady Venus and her Son Cupid were rather worshipped wantonly in the Flesh than God the Father and our Saviour Christ his Son truly worshipped in the Spirit And it was very agreeable Rom. 1. as Saint Paul teacheth that they which fell to Idolatry which is Spiritual Fornication should also fall into Carnal Fornication and all Uncleanness by the just Judgments of God delivering them over to abominable Concupiscences What meaneth it that Christian Men after the use of the Gentiles Idolaters cap and kneel before Images which if they had any Sense and Gratitude would kneel before Men Carpenters Masons Plaisterers Founders and Goldsmiths their Makers and Framers by whose means they have attained this Honour which else should have been evil-favoured and rude Lumps of Clay or Plaister pieces of Timber Stone or Metal without Shape or Fashion and so without all Estimation and Honour as that Idol in the Pagan Poet confesseth saying Horatius I was once a vile Block but now I am become a God c. What a fond thing is it for Man Adorare who hath Life and Reason to bowe himself to a dead and insensible Image the Work of his own Hand Gen. 23. and 33. Is not this stooping and kneeling before them Adoration of them which is forbidden so earnestly by Gods Word Let such as so fall down before Images of Saints know and confess that they exhibit that Honour to dead Stocks and Stones 3 Reg. 1. Acts 10. and 14. Apoc. 19. which the Saints themselves Peter Paul and Barnabas would not to be given them being alive which the Angel of God forbiddeth to be given to him And if they say they exhibit such Honour not to the Image but to the Saint whom it representeth they are convicted of folly to believe that they please Saints with that
the nature of Charity concluding that because they did pray for men on Earth therefore they do much more the same now in Heaven Then may it be said by the same reason that as oft as we do weep on Earth they do also weep in Heaven because while they lived in this World it is most certain and sure they did so And for that place which is written in the Apocalyps namely that the Angel did offer up the Prayers of the Saints upon the golden Altar it is properly to be understood of those Saints that are yet living on Earth and not of them that are dead otherwise what need were it that the Angel should offer up their Prayers being now in Heaven before the face of Almighty God But admit the Saints do Pray for us yet do we not know how whether specially for them which call upon them or else generally for all men wishing well to every man alike If they Pray specially for them which call upon them then it is like they hear our Prayers and also know our hearts desire Which thing to be false it is already proved both by the Scriptures and also by the Authority of Augustin Let us not therefore put our trust or confidence in the Saints or Martyrs that be dead Let us not call upon them nor desire help at their hands but let us always lift up our Hearts to God in the name of his dear Son Christ for whose sake as God hath promised to hear our Prayer so he will truly perform it Invocation is a thing proper unto God which if we attribute unto the Saints it soundeth to their reproach neither can they well bear it at our hands When Paul had healed a certain lame man Acts 14. which was impotent in his Feet at Lystra the People would have done Sacrifice unto him and Barnabas who rending their clothes refused it and exhorted them to worship the true God Likewise in the Revelation Apoc. 19. when St. John fell before the Angel's feet to worship him the Angel would not permit him to do it but commanded him that he should worship God Which Examples declare unto us that the Saints and Angels in Heaven will not have us to do any Honour unto them that is due and proper unto God He only is our Father he only is Omnipotent he only knoweth and understandeth all things he only can help us at all times and in all places he suffereth the Sun to shine upon the good and the bad he feedeth the young Ravens that cry unto him he saveth both Man and Beast he will not that any one hair of our Head shall perish but is always ready to help and preserve all them that put their trust in him according as he hath promised Isai 65. saying Before they call I will answer and whilst they speak I will hear Let us not therefore any thing mistrust his goodness let us not fear to come before the Throne of his Mercy let us not seek the aid and help of Saints but let us come boldly our selves nothing doubting but God for Christs sake in whom he is well pleased will hear us without a Spokes-man and accomplish our desire in all such things as shall be agreeable to his most Holy Will Chrysost 6 hom de profectu Evang. So saith Chrysostom an ancient Doctor of the Church and so must we stedfastly believe not because he saith it but much more because it is the Doctrine of our Saviour Christ himself who hath promised that if we Pray to the Father in his name we shall certainly be heard both to the relief of our Necessities and also to the Salvation of our Souls which he hath purchased unto us not with Gold or Silver but with his precious Blood shed once for all upon the Cross To him therefore with the Father and the Holy Ghost three Persons and one God be all Honour Praise and Glory for ever and ever Amen The Third Part of the Homily concerning PRAYER YE were taught in the other part of this Sermon unto whom ye ought to direct your Prayers in time of need and necessity that is to wit not unto Angels or Saints but unto the eternal and everliving God who because he is merciful is always ready to hear us when we call upon him in true and perfect Faith And because he is Omnipotent he can easily perform and bring to pass the thing that we request to have at his hands To doubt of his Power it were a plain point of Infidelity and clean against the Doctrine of the Holy Ghost which teacheth us that he is all in all And as touching his good will in this behalf we have express Testimonies in Scripture Psal 50. how that he will help us and also deliver us if we call upon him in time of trouble So that in both these respects we ought rather to call upon him than upon any other Neither ought any man therefore to doubt to come boldly unto God because he is a sinner For the Lord as the Prophet David saith is gracious and merciful yea Psal 107. 1 Tim. 1. his mercy and goodness endureth for ever He that sent his own Son into the World to save sinners will he not also hear sinners if with a true penitent Heart and a stedfast Faith they Pray unto him Yea 1 John 1. if we acknowledge our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness as we are plainly taught by the Examples of David Peter Mary Magdalen the Publican and divers others And whereas we must needs use the help of some Mediator and Intercessor let us content our selves with him that is the true and only Mediator of the New Testament namely the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ For as St. John saith If any man sin 1 John 2. we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous who is the Propitiation for our sins And St. Paul 1 Tim. 2. in his first Epistle to Timothy saith There is one God and one Mediator between God and man even the man Jesus Christ who gave himself a ransom for all men to be a testimony in due time Now after this Doctrine established you shall be instructed for what kind of things and what kind of persons ye ought to make your Prayers unto God It greatly behoveth all men when they Pray to consider well and diligently with themselves what they ask and require at Gods hands lest if they desire that thing which they ought not their Petitions be made void and of none effect There came on a time unto Agesilaus the King a certain importunate suiter who requested him in a matter earnestly saying Sir and it please your Grace you did once promise me Truth quoth the King if it be just that thou requirest then I promised thee otherwise I did only speak it and not promise it The man would not
wretches which have no feeling of God within us at all continually to fear not only that we may fall as they did but also be overcome and drowned in sin which they were not And so by considering their fall take the better occasion to acknowledge our own Infirmity and weakness and therefore more earnestly to call unto Almighty God with hearty Prayer incessantly for his grace to strengthen us and to defend us from all evil And though through Infirmity we chance at any time to fall yet we may by hearty Repentance and true Faith speedily rise again and not sleep and continue in sin as the wicked doth Thus good People should we understand such matters expressed in the Divine Scriptures that this Holy Table of Gods Word be not turned to us to be a snare a trap and a stumbling stone to take hurt by the abuse of our Understanding But let us esteem them in a reverent Humility that we may find our necessary Food therein to strengthen us to comfort us to instruct us as God of his great Mercy hath appointed them in all necessary works so that we may be perfect before him in the whole course of our life Which he grant who hath Redeemed us our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory for evermore Amen The Second Part of the Information for them which take Offence at certain places of the Holy Scripture YE have heard good People in the Homily last read unto you the great Commodity of Holy Scriptures ye have heard how ignorant men void of godly Understanding seek Quarrels to discredit them Some of their Reasons have ye heard answered Now we will proceed and speak of such politick wise men which be offended for that Christs Precepts should seem to destroy all Order in Governance as they do alledge for example such as these be If any man strike thee on the right cheek Mat. 5â— turn the other unto him also If any man will contend to take thy coat from thee let him have cloak and all Let not thy lest hand know what thy right hand doth If thine eye thine hand Mat. 18. or thy foot offend thee pull out thine eye cut off thine hand or thy foot and cast it from thee Rom. 12. If thine enemy saith St. Paul be an hungred give him meat if he be thirsty give him drink so doing thou shalt heap hot burning coals upon his head These sentences good People unto a natural man seem meer absurdities contrary to all Reason 1 Cor. 2. For a natural man as St. Paul saith understandeth not the things that belong to God neither can he so long as old Adam dwelleth in him Christ therefore meaneth that he would have his faithful servants so far from vengeance and resisting wrong that he would rather have him ready to suffer another wrong than by resisting to break Charity and to be out of Patience He would have our good deeds so far from all carnal respects that he would not have our nighest Friends know of our well-doing to win vain-glory And though our Friends and Kinsfolks be as dear as our right Eyes and our right Hands yet if they would pâ—â—â— us from God we ought to renounce them and forsake them Thus if ye will be profitable Hearers and Readers of the Holy Scriptures ye must first deny your selves and keep under your Carnal Senses taken by the outward words and search the inward meaning Reason must give place to Gods Holy Spirit you must submit your Worldly Wisdom and Judgment unto his Divine Wisdom and Judgment Consider that the Scripture in what strange form soever it be pronounced is the Word of the living God Let that always come to your remembrance which is so oft repeated of the Prophet Esaias The mouth of the Lord saith he hath spoken it and Almighty and everlasting God who with his only word created Heaven and Earth hath decreed it the Lord of Hosts whose ways are in the Seas whose paths are in the deep Waters that Lord and God by whose word all things in Heaven and in Earth are created governed and preserved hath so provided it The God of gods and Lord of all lords yea God that is God alone incomprehensible almighty and everlasting he hath spoken it it is his Word It cannot therefore be but truth which proceedeth from the God of all Truth it cannot be but wisely and prudently commanded what Almighty God hath devised how vainly soever through want of grace we miserable wretches do imagine and judge of his most Holy Word The Prophet David describing an happy man Psal 1. saith Blessed is the man that hath not walked after the counsel of the ungodly nor stand in the way of sinners nor sit in the seat of the scornful There are three sorts of People whose Company the Prophet would have him to flee and avoid which shall be an happy man and partaker of Gods Blessing First he may not walk after the counsel of the ungodly Secondly he may not stand in the way of sinners Thirdly he must not sit in the seat of the scornful By these three sorts of People ungodly mâ—n sinners and scorners all Impiety is signified and fully expressed By the ungodly he understandeth those which have no regard of Almighty God being void of all Faith whose hearts and minds are so set upon the World that they study only how to accomplish their worldly practices their carnal imaginations their filthy lust and desire without any fear of God The second sort he calleth sinners not such as do fall through Ignorance or of frailness for then who should be found free What man ever lived upon Earth Christ only excepted but he hath sinned Prov. 24. The just man falleth seven times and riseth again Though the godly do fall yet they walk not on purposely in sin they stand not still to continue and tarry in sin they sit not down like careless men without all fear of Gods just punishment for sin but defying sin through Gods great grace and infinite mercy they rise again and fight against sin The Prophet then calleth them sinners whose hearts are clean turned from God and whose whole conversation of life is nothing but sin they delight so much in the same that they choose continually to abide and dwell in sin The third sort he calleth scorners that is a sort of men whose hearts are so stuffed with Malice that they are not contented to dwell in sin and to lead their lives in all kind of wickedness but also they do contemn and scorn in other all Godliness true Religion all Honesty and Vertue Of the two first sorts of men I will not say but they may take Repentance and be converted unto God Of the third sort I think I may without danger of Gods judgment pronounce that never any yet converted unto God by Repentance but continued still in their
mercy and charity which cannot come but of the Spirit of God and his especial grace that they are the undoubted Children of God appointed to everlasting life And so as by their wickedness and ungodly living they shewed themselves according to the judgment of men which follow the outward appearance to be Reprobates and Cast-aways So now by their Obedience unto Gods Holy Will and by their mercifulness and tender pity wherein they shew themselves to be like unto God who is the Fountain and Spring of all mercy they declare openly and manifestly unto the sight of men that they are the Sons of God and elect of him unto salvation For as the good fruit is not the cause that the Tree is good but the Tree must first be good before it can bring forth good fruit so the good deeds of Man are not the cause that maketh Man good but he is first made good by the spirit and grace of God that effectually worketh in him and afterward he bringeth forth good fruits And then as the good fruit doth argue the goodness of the Tree so doth the good and merciful deed of the man argue and certainly prove the goodness of him that doth it according to Christs sayings Ye shall know them by their fruits And if any man will object that evil and naughty men do sometimes by their deeds appear to be very godly and vertuous I will answer so doth the Crab and Choak-Pear seem outwardly to have sometime as fair a red and as mellow a colour as the Fruit that is good indeed But he that will bite and take a taste shall easily judge betwixt the sour bitterness of the one and the sweet savouriness of the other And as the true Christian man in thankfulness of his heart for the redemption of his Soul purchased by Christs death sheweth kindly by the fruit of his Faith his obedience to God so the other as a Merchant with God doth all for his own gain thinking to win Heaven by the merit of his Works and so defaceth and obscureth the price of Christs Blodd who only wrought our purgation The meaning then of these sayings in the Scriptures and other Holy Writings Alms-deeds do wash away our sins and mercy to the Poor doth blot out our offences is that we doing these things according to Gods Will and our Duty have our sins indeed washed away and our offences blotted out not for the worthiness of them but by the grace of God which worketh all in all and that for the promise that God hath made to them that are obedient unto his Commandment that he which is the truth might be justified in performing the truth due to his promise Alms-deeds do wash away our sins because God doth vouchsafe then to repute us as clean and pure when we do them for his sake and not because they deserve or merit our purging or for that they have any such strength and vertue in themselves I know that some men too much addict to the advancing of their works will not be contented with this answer and no marvel for such men can no answer content or suffice Wherefore leaving them to their own wilful sense we will rather have regard to the reasonable and godly who as they most certainly know and perswade themselves that all goodness all bounty all mercy all benefits all forgiveness of sins and whatsoever can be named good and profitable either for the Body or for the Soul do come only of Gods mercy and meer favour and not of themselves So though they do never so many and so excellent good deeds yet are they never puft up with the vain confidence of them And though they hear and read in Gods Word and other-where in godly mens Works that Alms-deeds Mercy and Charitableness doth wash away sin and blot out iniquity yet do they not arrogantly and proudly stick and trust unto them or brag themselves of them as the proud Pharisee did lest with the Pharisee they should be condemned but rather with the humble and poor Publican confess themselves sinful wretches unworthy to look up to Heaven calling and craving for mercy that with the Publican they may be pronounced of Christ to be justified The godly do learn that when the Scriptures say that by good and merciful works we are reconciled to Gods favour we are taught then to know what Christ by his intercession and mediation obtaineth for us of his Father when we be obedient to his Will yea they learn in such manner of speaking a comfortable argument of Gods singular favour and love that attributeth that unto us and to our doings that he by his Spirit worketh in us and through his grace procureth for us And yet this notwithstanding they cry out with St. Paul O wretches that we are and acknowledge as Christ teacheth that when they have all done they are but unprofitable servants and with the blessed King David in respect of the just judgments of God they do tremble and say Who shall be able to abide it Lord if thou wilt give sentence according to our deserts Thus they humble themselves and are exalted of God they count themselves vile and of God are counted pure and clean they condemn themselves and are justified of God they think themselves unworthy of the Earth and of God are thought worthy of Heaven Thus by Gods Word are they truly taught how to think rightly of merciful dealing of Alms and of Gods especial mercy and goodness are made partakers of those fruits that his Word hath promised Let us then follow their examples and both shew obediently in our lives those works of mercy that we are commanded and have that right opinion and judgment of them that we are taught and we shall in like manner as they be made partakers and feel the fruits and rewards that follow such godly living so shall we know by proof what profit and commodity doth come of giving of Alms and succouring of the Poor The Third Part of the Sermon of Alms-Deeds YE have already heard two Parts of this Treatise of Alms-Deeds The first how pleasant and acceptable before God the doing of them is the second how much it behoveth us and how profitable it is to apply our selves unto them Now in the third Part will I take away that let that hindreth many from doing them There be many that when they hear how acceptable a thing in the sight of God the giving of Alms is and how much God extendeth his favour towards them that are merciful and what fruits and commodities doth come to them by it they wish very gladly with themselves that they also might obtain these benefits and be counted such of God as whom he would love or do for But yet these men are with greedy Covetousness so pulled back that they will not bestow one Half-penny or one piece of Bread that they might be thought worthy of Gods benefits and so to come into his favour For
reprove them with these testimonies of Gods Word and such other Whereunto I am most sure they shall never be able to answer For the necessity of our Salvation did require such a Mediator and Saviour as under one Person should be a partaker of both Natures It was requisite he should be Man it was also requisite he should be God For as the transgression came by man so was it meet the satisfaction should be made by man And because death according to St. Paul is the just stipend and reward of sin therefore to appease the wrath of God and to satisfie his Justice it was expedient that our Mediator should be such a one as might take upon him the sins of mankind and sustain the due punishment thereof namely Death Moreover he came in flesh and in the self-same flesh ascended into Heaven to declare and testifie unto us that all faithful People which stedfastly believe in him shall likewise come unto the same Mansion-place whereunto he being our chief Captain is gone before Last of all he became man that we thereby might receive the greater comfort as well in our Prayers as also in our Adversity considering with our selves that we have a Mediator that is true man as we are who also is touched with our Infirmities and was tempted even in like sort as we are For these and sundry other causes it was most needful he should come as he did in the flesh But because no creature in that he is only a creature hath or may have power to destroy death and give life to overcome Hell and purchase Heaven to remit Sins and give Righteousness therefore it was needful that our Messias whose proper Duty and Office that was should be not only full and perfect Man but also full and perfect God to the intent he might more fully and perfectly make satisfaction for mankind Mat. 3. God saith This is my wel-beloved Son in whom I am well pleased By which place we learn that Christ appeased and quenched the wrath of his Father not in that he was only the Son of Man But much more in that he was the Son of God Thus ye have heard declared out of the Scriptures that Jesus Christ was the true Messias and Saviour of the World that he was by Nature and Substance perfect God and perfect Man and for what cause it was expedient it should be so Now that we may be the more mindful and thankful unto God in this behalf let us briefly consider and call to mind the manifold and great benefits that we have received by the Nativity and Birth of this our Messias and Saviour Before Christ coming into the World all men universally in Adam were nothing else but a wicked and crooked Generation rotten and corrupt Trees stony Ground full of Brambles and Briers lost Sheep Prodigal Sons naughty unprofitable Servants unrighteous Stewards workers of Iniquity the brood of Adders blind Guides sitting in Darkness and in the shadow of Death to be short nothing else but Children of Perdition and inheritors of Hell-fire To this doth St. Paul bear witness in divers places of his Epistles and Christ also himself in sundry places of his Gospel But after he was once come down from Heaven and had taken our frail Nature upon him he made all them that would receive him truly and believe his word good Trees and good Ground fruitful and pleasant Branches Children of Light Citizens of Heaven Sheep of his Fold Members of his Body Heirs of his Kingdom his true Friends and Brethren sweet and lively Bread the elect and chosen People of God For as St. Peter saith in his first Epistle and second Chapter He bare our sins in his body upon the Cross he healed us and made us whole by his stripes and whereas before we were sheep going astray he by his coming brought us home again to the true Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls making us a chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood an Holy Nation a particular People of God in that he died for our Offences and rose for our Justification St. Paul to Timothy the third Chapter We were saith he in times past unwise disobedient deceived serving divers lusts and pleasures living in hatred envy maliciousness and so forth But after the loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared towards mankind not according to the Righteousness that we had done but according to his great Mercy he saved us by the Fountain of the new Birth and by the renewing of the Holy Ghost which he poured upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour that we being once Justified by his grace should be Heirs of Eternal Life through hope and faith in his blood In these and such other places is set out before our Eyes as it were in a Glass Mat. 2. Mat. 5. John 18. Luke 4. John 8. Mat. 9. Mat. 11. John 12. Coloss 1. the abundant grace of God received in Christ Jesu which is so much the more wonderful because it came not of any desert of ours but of his meer and tender mercy even then when we were his extream Enemies But for the better understanding and consideration of this thing let us behold the end of his coming so shall we perceive what great commodity and profit his Nativity hath brought unto us miserable and sinful creatures Heb. 10. Rom. 3. The end of his coming was to save and deliver his People to fulfil the Law for us to bear witness unto the Truth to teach and preach the words of his Father to give light unto the World to call sinners to Repentance to refresh them that labour and be heavy laden to cast out the Prince of this World to reconcile us in the body of his flesh to dissolve the works of the Devil last of all to become a Propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole World These were the chief ends wherefore Christ became man not for any profit that should come to himself thereby but only for our sakes that we might understand the Will of God be partakers of his Heavenly Light be delivered out of the Devils claws released from the burden of sin justified through faith in his blood and finally received up into everlasting glory there to reign with him for ever Was not this a great and singular love of Christ towards mankind that being the express and lively Image of God he would notwithstanding humble himself and take upon him the form of a Servant and that only to save and redeem us O how much are we bound to the goodness of God in this behalf how many thanks and praises do we owe unto him for this our Salvation wrought by his dear and only Son Christ who became a Pilgrim in Earth to make us Citizens in Heaven who became the Son of man to make us the Sons of God who became obedient to the Law to deliver us from the curse of the Law
fear of bodily Death Phil. 1. when it cometh but certainly as St. Paul did so shall he gladly according to God's Will and when it pleaseth God to call him out of this life greatly desire in his heart that he may be rid from all these occasions of evil and live ever to God's pleasure in perfect obedience of his Will with our Saviour Jesus Christ to whose Gracious Presence the Lord of his infinite Mercy and Grace bring us to reign with him in life everlasting To whom with our Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost be Glory in Worlds without end Amen AN EXHORTATION CONCERNING Good Order and Obedience to Rulers and Magistrates ALmighty God hath appointed and Created all things in Heaven Earth and Waters in a most excellent and perfect Order In Heaven he hath appointed distinct and several Orders and States of Archangels and Angels In Earth he hath assigned and appointed Kings Princes with other Governors under them in all good and necessary Order The Water above is kept and raineth down in due time and season The Sun Moon Stars Rainbow Thunder Lightning Clouds and all Birds of the Air do keep their order The Earth Trees Seeds Plants Herbs Corn Grass and all manner of Beasts keep themselves in order All the parts of the whole year as Winter Summer Months Nights and Days continue in their order All kinds of Fishes in the Sea Rivers and Waters with all Fountains Springs yea the Seas themselves keep their comly course and order And Man himself also hath all his Parts both within and without as Soul Heart Mind Memory Understanding Reason Speech with all and singular corporal Members of his Body in a profitable necessary and pleasant Order Every degree of People in their Vocation Calling and Office hath appointed to them their Duty and Order Some are in high degree some in low some Kings and Princes some Inferiours and Subjects Priests and Lay-men Masters and Servants Fathers and Children Husbands and Wiâ—es Rich and Poor and every one have need of other so that in all things is to be lauded and praised the goodly order of God without the which no House no City no Common-wealth can continue and endure or last For where there is no right order there reigneth all Abuse Carnal liberty Enormity Sin and Babylonical confusion Take away Kings Princes Rulers Magistrates Judges and such Estates of God's order no Man shall ride or go by the way unrobbed no Man shall sleep in his own House or Bed unkilled no Man shall keep his Wife Children and Possessions in quietness all things shall be common and there must needs follow all mischief and utter destruction both of Souls Bodies Goods and Common-wealths But blessed be God that we in this Realm of England feel not the horrible Calamities Miseries and Wretchedness which all they undoubtedly feel and suffer that lack this godly order And praised be God that we know the great excellent Benefit of God shewed towards us in this behalf God hath sent us his high gift our most dear Sovereign King JAMES with a godly wife and honorable Council with other Superiors and Inferiors in a beautiful order and godly Wherefore let us Subjects do our bounden Duties giving hearty thanks to God and praying for the preservation of this godly order Let us all obey even from the bottom of our Hearts all their godly Proceedings Laws Statutes Proclamations and Injunctions with all other godly orders Let us consider the Scriptures of the Holy Ghost which persuade and command us all obediently to be subject first and chiefly to the King's Majesty Supreme Governor over all and next to his honorable Council and to all other Noble Men Magistrates and Officers which by God's goodness be placed and ordered For Almighty God is the only Author and Provider for this fore-named State and Order as it is written of God in the Book of the Proverbs Prov. 8. Through me Kings do reign through me Counsellers make just Laws through me do Princes bear Rule and all Judges of the Earth execute Judgement I am loving to them that love me Here let us mark well and remember that the high Power and Authority of Kings with their making of Laws Judgements and Offices are the Ordinances not of Man but of God And therefore is this Word through me so many times repeated Here is also well to be considered and remembred that this good Order is appointed by God's Wisdom Favor and Love especially for them that love God and therefore he saith I love them that love me Wisd 6. Also in the Book of Wisdom we may evidently learn that a King's Power Authority and Strength is a great Benefit of God given of his great Mercy to the comfort of our great Misery For this we read there spoken to Kings Hear O ye Kings and understand learn ye that be Judges of the ends of the Earth give ear ye that Rule the Multitudes For the Power is given you of the Lord and the Strength from the Highest Let us learn also here by the Infallible and undeceivable Word of God That Kings and other Supreme and higher Officers are ordained of God who is most high And therefore they are here taught diligently to apply and give themselves to Knowledge and Wisdom necessary for the ordering of God's People to their governance committed or whom to govern they are charged of God And they be here also taught by Almighty God that they should acknowledge themselves to have all their Power and Strength not from Rome but immediately of God most High We read in the Book of Deuteronomy Deut. 33. that all Punishment pertaineth to God by this Sentence Vengeance is mine and I will reward But this Sentence we must understand to pertain also unto the Magistrates which do exercise God's room in Judgement and punishing by good and godly Laws here on Earth And the places of Scripture which seem to remove from among all Christian Men Judgement Punishment or Killing ought to be understood that no Man of his own private Authority may be Judge over others may punish or may kill But we must refer all Judgment to God to Kings and Rulers Judges under them which be God's Officers to execute Justice and by plain words of Scripture have their Authority and Use of the Sword Granted from God as we are taught by St. Paul that dear and chosen Apostle of our Saviour Christ whom we ought diligently to obey even as we would obey our Saviour Christ if he were present Thus St. Paul writeth to the Romans Let every Soul submit himself unto the authority of the higher Rom. 13. powers for there is no power but of God The powers that be be ordained of God Whosoever therefore withstandeth the Power withstandeth the Ordinance of God But they that resist or are against it shall receive to themselves damnation For Rulers are not fearful to them that do good but to them that do evil
meant in any condition of the pretenced or coloured Power of the Bishop of Rome For truly the Scripture of God alloweth no such Usurped Power full of Enormities Abusions and Blasphemies But the true meaning of these and such places be to extol and set forth God's true Ordinance and the Authority of God's Anointed Kings and of their Officers appointed under them And concerning the Usurped Power of the Bishop of Rome which he most wrongfully challengeth as the successor of Christ and Peter We may easily perceive how false feigned and forged it is not only in that it hath no sufficient ground in Holy Scripture but also by the Fruits and Doctrine thereof For our Saviour Christ and St. Peter teach most earnestly and agreeably Obedience to Kings as to the chief and Supreme Rulers in this world next under God But the Bishop of Rome teacheth that they that are under him are free from all burdens and charges of the Commonwealth and Obedience toward their Prince most clearly against Christ's Doctrine and St. Peters He ought therefore rather to be called Antichrist and the Successor of the Scribes and Pharises than Christ's Vicar and St. Peter's Successor Seeing that not only in this point but also in other weighty matters of Christian Religion in matters of Remission and Forgiveness of Sins and of Salvation he teacheth so directly against both St. Peter and against our Saviour Christ who not only taught Obedience to Kings but also practised Obedience in their Conversation and Living For we read that they both paid Tribute to the King And also we read that the Holy Virgin Mary Matth. 17. Mother to our Saviour Christ and Joseph who was taken for his Father at the Emperor's Commandment went to the City of David Luke 2. named Bethlehem to be taxed among other and to declare their Obedience to the Magistrates for God's Ordinances sake And here let us not forget the blessed Virgin Maries Obedience For although she was highly in God's Favour and and Christs natural Mother and was also great with Child at the same time and so nigh her Travail that she was delivered in her journey yet she gladly without any excuse or grudging for Conscience sake did take that cold and foul Winter journey being in the mean season so poor that she lay in a Stable and there she was Delivered of Christ And according to the same Lo how St. Peter agreeth writing by express words in his first Epistle 1 Pet. 2. Submit your selves and be Subject saith he unto Kings as unto the chief heads and unto rulers as unto them that are sent of him for the punishment of evil-doors and for the praise of them that do well for so is the will of God I need not to expound these words they be so plain of themselves St. Peter doth not say Submit your selves unto me as Supreme Head of the Church Neither saith he Submit your selves from time to time to my Successors in Rome But he saith Submit your selves unto your King your Supreme Head and unto those that he appointeth in Authority under him for that you shall so shew your Obedience it is the Will of God God will that you be in subjection to your Head and King This is God's Ordinance God's Commandment and God's Will that the whole Body of every Realm and all the Members and Parts of the same shall be subject to their Head their King and that as St. Peter writeth for the Lords sake 1 Pet. 2. Rom. 13. Matth. 22. And as St. Paul writeth for conscience sake and not for fear only Thus we learn by the word of God to yield to our King that is due to our King That is Honour Obedience payments of due Taxes Customs Tributes Subsidies Love and Fear Rom. 13. Thus we know partly our bounden Duties to common Authority now let us learn to accomplish the same And let us most instantly and heartily pray to God the only Author of all Authority for all them that be in Authority according as St. Paul willeth writing thus to Timothy in his first Epistle 1 Tim. 2. I exhort therefore that above all things Prayers Supplications Intercessions and giving of Thanks be done for all Men for Kings and for all that be in Authority that we may live a quiet and a peaceable life with all godliness and Honesty For that is good and accepted or allowable in the sight of God our Saviour Here St. Paul maketh an earnest and an especial Exhortation concerning Giving of Thanks and Prayer for Kings and Rulers saying Above all things as he might say in any wise principally and chiefly let prayer be made for Kings Let us heartily thank God for his great and excellent Benefit and Providence concerning the state of Kings Let us pray for them that they may have God's Favour and God's Protection Let us pray that they may ever in all things have God before their Eyes Let us pray that they may have Wisdom Strength Justice Clemency and Zeal to God's Glory to God's Verity to Christian Souls and to the Commonwealth Let us pray that they may rightly use their Sword and Authority for the maintenance and defence of the Catholick Faith contained in Holy Scripture and of their good and honest Subjects for the fear and punishment of the evil and vicious People Let us pray that they may most faithfully follow the Kings and Captains in the Bible David Ezekias Josias and Moses with such other And let us pray for ourselves that we may live Godlily in Holy and Christian Conversation So shall we have God on our side and then let us not fear what Man can do against us So we shall live in true Obedience both to our most merciful King in Heaven and to our most Christian King on Earth So shall we please God and have the exceeding Benefit peace of Conscience rest and quietness here in this World and after this life we shall enjoy a better Life Rest Peace and the everlasting Bliss of Heaven which he grant us all that was obedient for us all even to the death of the Cross Jesus Christ To whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory both now and ever Amen A SERMON Against Whoredom and Vncleanness ALthough there want not good Christian People great swarms of Vices worthy to be rebuked unto such decay is true Godliness and Virtuous living now come Yet above other Vices the outragious Seas of Adultery or breaking of Wedlock Whoredom Fornication and Uncleanness have not only burst in but also overflowed almost the whole World unto the great dishonour of God the exceeding Infamy of the Name of Christ the notable decay of true Religion and the utter destruction of the publick Wealth and that so abundantly that through the customable use thereof this Vice is grown unto such an height that in a manner among many it is counted no sin at all but rather a pastime a
and are made Bondslaves to the Devil Through cleanness of Life we are made members of Christ And finally how far Adultery bringeth a Man from all Goodness and driveth him headlong into all Vices Mischief and Misery Now will I declare unto you in order with what grievous punishments God in times past plagued Adultery and how certain worldly Princes also did punish it that ye may perceive that Whoredom and Fornication be sins no less detestable in the sight of God and all good Men than I have hitherto uttered In the First Book of Moses we read That when Mankind began to be multiplied upon the earth the Men and Wâ—men gave their minds so greatly to fleshly delight and filthy pleasure that they lived without all fear of God God seeing this their beastly and abominable living and perceiving that they amended not but rather increased daily more and more in their sinful and unclean Manners repented that he had ever made Man And to shew how greatly he abhorreth Adultery Whoredom Fornication and all Uncleanness He made all the Fountains of the deep Earth to burst out and the sluces of Heaven to be opened so that the Rain came down upon the Earth by the space of forty Days and forty Nights and by this means destroyed the whole World and all Mankind eight Persons only excepted that is to say Noah the Preacher of Righteousness as St. Peter calleth him and his Wife his three Sons and their Wives O what a grievous Plague did God cast here upon all living Creatures for the sin of Whoredom For the which God took vengeance not only of Man but of all Beasts Fowls and all living Creatures Gen. 4. Manslaughter was committed before yet was not the World destroyed for that But for Whoredom all the World few only except was overflowed with Waters and so perished An example worthy to be remembred that ye may learn to fear God We read again Gen. 19. That for the filthy sin of Uncleanness Sodom and Gomorrha and the other Cities nigh unto them were destroyed by Fire and Brimstone from Heaven so that there was neither Man Woman Child nor Beast nor yet any thing that grew upon the Earth there left undestroyed whose Heart trembleth not at the hearing of this History Who is so drowned in Whoredom and Uncleanness that will not now for ever after leave this abominable living seeing that God so grievously punisheth uncleanness to rain Fire and Brimstone from Heaven to destroy whole Cities to kill Man Woman and Child and all other living Creatures there abiding to consume with Fire all that ever grew What can be more manifest tokens of God's wrath and vengeance against Uncleanness and impurity of Life Mark this History good People and fear the vengeance of God Do you not read also Gen. 12. that God did smite Pharaoh and his House with great Plagues because that he ungodlily desired Sarah the Wife of Abraham Gen. 20. Likewise we read of Abimelech King of Gerar although he touched her not by carnal knowledge These Plagues and Punishments did God cast upon filthy and unclean Persons before the Law was given the Law of Nature only reigning in the Hearts of Men to declare how great love he had to Matrimony and Wedlock and again how much he abhorreth Adultery Fornication and all Uncleanness Lev. 22. And when the Law that forbad Whoredom was given by Moses to the Jews did not God command that the breakers thereof should be put to death The words of the Law be these Whoso committeth Adultery with any Man's Wife shall die the death both the Man and the Woman because he hath broken Wedlock with his Neighbor's Wife In the Law also it was commanded That a Damosel and a Man taken together in Whoredom should be both stâ—ned to death Numb 25. In another place we also read that God commanded Moses to take all the head-Rulers and Princes of the People and to hang them upon Gibbets openly that every Man might see them because they either committed or did not punish Whoredom Again did not God send such a Plague among the People for Fornication and Uncleanness that there died in one day Three and twenty thousand I pass over for lack of time many other Histories of the Holy Bible which declare the grievous vengeance and heavy displeasure of God against Whoremongers and Adulterers Certes this extream Punishment appointed of God sheweth evidently how greatly God hateth Whoredom And let us not doubt but that God at this present abhorreth all manner of Uncleanness no less than he did in the Old Law and will undoubtedly punish it both in this World and in the World to come For he is a God Psal 5. that can abide no Wickedness Therefore ought it to be eschewed of all that tender the Glory of God and the Salvation of their own Souls 1 Cor. 10. Saint Paul saith All these things are written for our Example and to teach us the Fear of God and the Obedience to his Holy Law For if God spared not the natural Branches neither will he spare us that be but Grafts if we commit the like Offence If God destroyed many thousands of People many Cities yea the whole World for Whoredom let us not flatter ourselves and think we shall escape free and without Punishment For he hath promised in his Holy Law to send most grievous Plagues upon them that transgress or break his Holy Commandments Thus have we heard how God punisheth the Sin of Adultery Let us now hear certain Laws which the Civil Magistrates devised in their Countries for the Punishment thereof that we may learn how Uncleanness hath ever been detested in all well-ordered Cities and Common-wealths and among all honest Persons The Law among the Lepreians was this That when any were taken in Adultery Laws devised for the Punishment of Whoredom they were bound and carried three days through the City and afterwards as long as they lived they were despised and with shame and confusion counted as Persons void of all honesty Among the Locrensians the Adulterers had both their Eyes thrust out The Romans in times past punished Whoredom somtime by Fire somtime by Sword If any Man among the Egyptians had been taken in Adultery the Law was That he should openly in the presence of all the People be scourged naked with Whips unto the number of a thousand Stripes the Woman that was taken with him had her Nose cut off whereby she was known ever after to be a Whore and therefore to be abhorred of all Men. Among the Arabians they that were taken in Adultery had their Heads stricken from their Bodies The Athenians punished Whoredom with death in like manner So likewise did the barbarous Tartarians Among the Turks even at this day they that be taken in Adultery both Man and Woman are stoned straightway to death without mercy Thus we see what godly Acts were devised in times past of
one into the Heresie of the Anthropomorphites thinking God to have Hands and Feet and to sit as a Man doth which they that do saith St. Augustine in his Book De fide symbolo cap. 7. fall into that Sacriledge which the Apostle detesteth in those who have changed the Glory of the incorruptible God into the similitude of a corruptible Man For it is wickedness for a Christian to erect such an Image to God in a Temple and much more wickedness to erect such an one in his Heart by believing of it But to this they reply that this reason notwithstanding Images of Christ may be made for that he took upon him flesh and became Man It were well that they would first grant that they have hitherto done most wickedly in making and maintaining of Images of God and of the Trinity in every place whereof they are by force of God's Word and good Reason convicted and then to descend to the Tryal for other Images Now concerning their Objection that an Image of Christ may be made the Answer is easie For in God's Word and Religion it is not only required whether a thing may be done or no But also whether it be lawful and agreeable to God's Word to be done or no. For all wickedness may be and is daily done which yet ought not to be done And the words of the reasons above alledged out of the Scriptures are that Images neither ought nor can be made unto God Wherfore to reply that Images of Christ may be made except withal it be proved that it is lawful for them to be made is rather than to hold ones peace to say somewhat but nothing to the purpose And yet it appeareth that no Image can be made of Christ but a lying Image as the Scripture peculiarly calleth Images lies for Christ is God and Man Seeing therefore Rom. 1. that for the Godhead which is the most excellent part no Images can be made it is falsly called the Image of Christ Wherefore Images of Christ be not only defects but also lies Which reason serveth also for the Images of Saints whose Souls the most excellent parts of them can by no Images be presented and expressed Wherefore they be no Images of Saints whose Souls reign in joy with God but of the Bodies of Saints which as yet lie putrefied in the Graves Furthermore no true Image can be made of Christ's Body for it is unknown now of what Form and Countenance he was And there be in Greece and at Rome and in other places divers Images of Christ and none of them like to other and yet every of them affirmeth that theirs is the true and lively Image of Christ which cannot possibly be Wherefore as soon as an Image of Christ is made by and by is a Lye made of him which by God's Word is forbidden Which also is true of the Images of any Saints of Antiquity for that it is unknown of what Form and Countenance they were Wherefore seeing that Religion ought to be grounded upon Truth Images which cannot be without Lies ought not to be made or put to any use of Religion or to be placed in Churches and Temples places peculiarly appointed to true Religion and Service of God And thus much that no true Image of God our Saviour Christ or his Saints can be made Wherewithal is also confuted that their allegation that Images be the Lay-mens Books For it is evident by that which is afore-rehearsed that they teach no things of God of our Saviour Christ and of his Saints but Lies and Errors Wherefore either they be no Books or if they be they be false and lying Books the teachers of all Error And now if it should be admitted and granted that an Image of Christ could truly be made yet it is unlawful that it should be made yea or that tho Image of any Saint should be made specially to be set up in Temples to the great and unavoidable danger of Idolatry as hereafter shall be proved And first concerning the Image of Christ that though it might be had truly yet it were unlawful to have it in Churches publickly it is a notable place in Irenaeus Lib. 1. c. 24. who reproved the Hereticks called Gnostici for that they carried about the Image of Christ made truly after his own proportion in Pilate's time as they said and therefore more to be esteemed than those lying Images of him which we now have The which Gnostici also used to set Garlands upon the Head of the said Image to shew their affection to it But to go to Gods word Be not I pray you the words of the Scriptures plain Beware lest thou being deceived Levit. 26. Deut. 5. Sculptile Fusile Similitudo Deut. 27. make to thy self to say to any use of Religion any graven Image or any Similitude of any thing c. And Cursed be the Man that maketh a Graven or Molten Image abomination before the Lord c. Be not our Images such Be not our Images of Christ and his Saints either Carved or Molten or Cast or Similitudes of Men and Women It is happy that we have not followed the Gentiles in making of Images of Beasts Fishes and Vermines also Notwithstanding the Image of an Horse as also the Image of the Ass that Christ rode on have in divers places been brought into the Church and Temple of God And is not that which is written in the beginning of the Lords most Holy Law and daily read unto you most evident also Thou shalt not make any likeness of any thing in Heaven above in Earth beneath or in the Water under the Earth c. Could any more be forbidden and said than this Either of the kinds of Images which be either Carved Molten or otherwise Similitudes Or of things whereof Images are forbidden to be made Are not all things either in Heaven Earth or Water under the Earth Exod. 20. And be not our Images of Christ and his Saints likenesses of things in Heaven Earth or in the Water If they continue in their former answer that thâ—â—â— prohibitions concern the Idols of the Gentiles and not ouâ— Images First that answer is already confuted concerning the Images of God and the Trinity at large and concerning the Images of Christ also by Irenaeus And that the Law of God is likewise to be understood against all our Images as well of Christ as his Saints in Temples and Churches appeareth further by the Judgment of the old Doctors and Primitive Church Epiphanius's renting a painted Cloth wherein was the Picture of Christ or of some Saint affirming it to be against our Religion that any such Image should be had in the Temple or Church as is before at large declared judged that not only Idols of the Gentiles but that all Images of Christ and his Saints also were forbidden by Gods Word and our Religion Lactantius affirming it to be certain that no true Religion can
wisely ordained that in time of necessity we should humble our selves in his sight pour out the secrets of our heart before him and crave help at his hands with continual earnest and devout Prayer By the mouth of his Holy Prophet David he saith on this wise Call upon me in the dayâ— of thy trouble Psal 50. Mat. 7. and I will deliver thee Likewise in the Gospel by the mouth of his well-beloved Son Christ he saith Ask and it shall be given you knock and it shall be opened for whosoever asketh receiveth whosoever seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shall be opened 1 Tim. 2. Phil. 4. Col. 5. James 1. St. Paul also most agreeably consenting hereunto willeth men to pray every where and to continue therein with thanksgiving Neither doth the blessed Apostle St. James in this point any thing dissent but earnestly exhorting all men to diligent Prayer saith If any man lack wisdom let him ask it of God which giveth liberally to all men and reproacheth no man Also in another place James 5. Pray one for another saith he that ye may be healed For the righteous mans prayer availeth much if it be fervent What other thing are we taught by these and such other places but only this that Almighty God notwithstanding his Heavenly Wisdom and fore-knowledge will be prayed unto that he will be called upon that he will have us no less willing on our part to ask than he on his part is willing to give Therefore most fond and foolish is the Opinion and Reason of those men which therefore think all Prayer to be superfluous and vain because God searcheth the Heart and the Reins and knoweth the meaning of the Spirit before we ask For if this fleshly and carnal Reason were sufficient to disanul Prayer then why did our Saviour Christ so often cry to his Disciples Luke 22. Watch and Pray Why did he prescribe them a Form of Prayer saying When ye pray Mat. 6. Acts 1. pray after this sort Our Father which art in Heaven c. Why did he Pray so often and so earnestly himself before his Passion Finally why did the Apostles immediately after his Ascension gather themselves together into one several place and there continue a long time in Prayer Either they must condemn Christ and his Apostles of extream folly or else they must needs grant that Prayer is a thing most necessary for all men at all times and in all places Sure it is that there is nothing more expedient or needful for mankind in all the World than Prayer Pray always saith St. Paul with all manner of prayer and supplication Ephes 6. and watch therefore with all diligence Also in another place he willeth us to pray continually 1 Thess 5. without any intermission or ceasing meaning thereby that we ought never to slack or faint in Prayer but to continue therein to our lives end A number of other such places might here be alledged of like effect I mean to declare the great necessity and use of Prayer but what need many proofs in a plain matter seeing there is no man so ignorant but he knoweth no man so blind but he seeth that Prayer is a thing most needful in all estates and degrees of men For only by the help hereof we attain to those heavenly and everlasting Treasures which God our Heavenly Father hath reserved and laid up for his Children in his dear and well-beloved Son Jesus Christ John 16. with his Covenant and Promise most assuredly confirmed and sealed unto us that if we ask we shall receive Now the great necessity of Prayer being sufficiently known that our minds and hearts may be the more provoked and stirred thereunto let us briefly consider what wonderful strength and power it hath to bring strange and mighty things to pass We read in the Book of Exodus Exod. 1. that Josua fighting against the Amalekites did conquer and overcome them not so much by vertue of his own strength as by the earnest and continual Prayer of Moses who as long as he held up his hands to God so long did Israel prevail but when he fainted and let his hands down then did Amalek and his People prevail Insomuch that Aaron and Hur being in the Mount with him were fain to stay up his hands until the going down of the Sun otherwise had the People of God that day been utterly discomfited and put to flight Also we read in another place of Josua himself Josua 10. how he at the besieging of Gibeon making his humble Petition to Almighty God caused the Sun and the Moon to stay their course and to stand still in the midst of Heaven for the space of a whole day until such time as the People were sufficienly avenged upon their Enemies And was not Jehosaphat's Prayer of great force and strength 2 Par. 26. when God at his request caused his Enemies to fall out among themselves and wilfully to destroy one another Who can marvel enough at the effect and vertue of Elias Prayer 1 Kings 18. He being a man subject to affections as we are prayed to the Lord that it might not rain and there fell no rain upon the Earth for the space of three years and six months Again he prayed that it might rain and there fell great plenty so that the Earth brought forth her increase most abundantly It were too long to tell of Judith Esther Susanna and of divers other godly Men and Women how greatly they prevailed in all their doings by giving their minds earnestly and devoutly to Prayer Let it be sufficient at this time to conclude with the sayings of Augustin and Chrysostom Aug. Ser. 26. de temp Chrys sup Mat. 22. whereof the one calleth Prayer the Key of Heaven the other plainly affirmeth that there is nothing in all the World more strong than a man that giveth himself to fervent Prayer Now then dearly Beloved seeing Prayer is so needful a thing and of so great strength before God let us according as we are taught by the example of Christ and his Apostles be earnest and diligent in calling on the Name of the Lord. Let us never faint never slack never give over but let us daily and hourly early and late in season and out of season be occupied in Godly Meditations and Prayers What if we obtain not our Petitions at the first yet let us not be discouraged yet let us continually cry and call upon God he will surely hear us at length if for no other cause yet for very importunities sake Luke 18. Remember the Parable of the unrighteous Judge and the poor Widow how she by her importunate means caused him to do her Justice against her Adversary although otherwise he feared neither God nor man Shall not God much more avenge his Elect saith our Saviour Christ which cry unto him day and night Thus he taught his Disciples and in
them all other true Christian men to Pray always and never to faint or shrink Remember also the example of the Woman of Canaan Mat 15. how she was rejected of Christ and called Dog as one most unworthy of any benefit at his hands yet she gave not over but followed him still crying and calling upon him to be good and merciful unto her Daughter And at length by very importunity she obtained her request O let us learn by these examples to be earnest and fervent in Prayer assuring our selves that whatsoever we ask of God the Father in the Name of his Son Christ John 16. and according to his will he will undoubtedly grant it He is truth it self and as truly as he hath promised it so truly will he perform it God for his great mercies sake so work in our hearts by his Holy Spirit that we may always make our humble Prayers unto him as we ought to do and always obtain the thing which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory World without end Amen The Second Part of the Homily concerning PRAYER IN the First Part of this Sermon ye heard the great necessity and also the great force of devout and earnest Prayer declared and proved unto you both by divers weighty Testimonies and also by sundry good Examples of Holy Scripture Now shall you learn whom you ought to call upon and to whom you ought always to direct your Prayers We are evidently taught in Gods Holy Testament that Almighty God is the only Fountain and Well-spring of all Goodness and that whatsoever we have in this World we receive it only at his hands to this effect serveth the place of St. James James 1. Every good and perfect gift saith he cometh from above and proceedeth from the Father of Lights To this effect also serveth the Testimony of Paul in divers places of his Epistles witnessing that the Spirit of Wisdom the Spirit of Knowledge and Revelation yea every good and heavenly gift as Faith Hope Charity Grace and Peace cometh only and solely of God In consideration whereof he bursteth out into a sudden Passion and saith O man 1 Cor. 4. what thing hast thou which thou hast not received Therefore whensoever we need or lack any thing pertaining either to the Body or to the Soul it behoveth us to run only unto God who is the only giver of all good things Our Saviour Christ in the Gospel teaching his Disciples how they should Pray sendeth them to the Father in his Name saying Verily verily John 16. Matt. 6. Luke 11. I say unto you whatsoever ye ask the Father in my Name he will give it unto you And in another place When ye Pray pray after this sort Our Father which art in Heaven c. And doth not God himself Psal 50. Acts 1. by the mouth of his Prophet David will and command us to call upon him The Apostle wisheth Grace and Peace to all them that call on the Name of the Lord and of his Son Jesus Christ Joel 2. as doth also the Prophet Joel saying And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved Thus then it is plain by the infallible word of Truth and Life that in all our necessities we must flee unto God direct our Prayers unto him call upon his Holy Name desire help at his hands and at none others whereof if we will yet have further reason mark that which followeth There are certain conditions most requisite to be found in every such a one as must be called upon which if they be not found in him unto whom we pray then doth our Prayer avail us nothing but is altogether in vain The first is this that he to whom we make our Prayers be able to help us The second is that he will help us The third is that he be such a one as may hear our Prayers The fourth is that he understand better than we our selves what we lack and how far we have need of help If these things be to be found in any other saving only God then may we lawfully call upon some other besides God But what man is so gross but he well understandeth that these things are only proper to him which is Omnipotent and knoweth all things even the very secrets of the Heart that is to say only and to God alone whereof it followeth that we must call neither upon Angel nor yet upon Saint but only and solely upon God Rom. 10. as St. Paul doth write How shall men call upon him in whom they have not believed So that Invocation or Prayer may not be made without Faith in him on whom they call but that we must first believe in him before we can make our Prayer unto him whereupon we must only and solely Pray unto God For to say that we should believe either in Angel or Saint or in any other living Creature were meer horrible Blasphemy against God and his Holy Word neither ought this Fancy to enter into the Heart of any Christian man because we are expresly taught in the Word of the Lord only to repose our Faith in the Blessed Trinity in whose only Name we are also Baptized according to the express Commandment of our Saviour Jesus Christ Mat. 28. in the last of St. Matthew But that the truth hereof may the better appear even to them that be most simple and unlearned let us consider what Prayer is De spi lit cap. 50. De summo bono cap. 8. lib. 3. St. Augustin calleth it a lifting up of the mind to God that is to say an humble and lowly pouring out of the Heart to God Isidorus saith that it is an affection of the Heart and not a labour of the Lips So that by these places true Prayer doth consist not so much in the outward sound and voice of words as in the inward groaning and crying of the Heart to God Now then is there any Angel any Virgin any Patriarch or Prophet among the dead that can understand or know the meaning of the Heart The Scripture saith Psal 7. Apoc. 2. Jer. 17. 2 Par. 6. It is God that searcheth the Heart and the Reins and that he only knoweth the Hearts of the children of men As for the Saints they have so little knowledge of the secrets of the Heart that many of the ancient Fathers greatly doubt whether they know any thing at all that is commonly done on Earth And albeit some think they do yet St. Augustin Lib. de cura pro mort agenda c. 13. De vera Râ—l cap. 22. Esay 63. Lib. 22. de civit Dei cap. 10. a Doctor of great Authority and also Antiquity hath this Opinion of them That they know no more what we do on Earth than we know what they do in Heaven For Proof whereof he
alledgeth the words of Esay the Prophet where it is said Abraham is ignorant of us and Israel knoweth us not His mind therefore is this not that we should put any Religion in worshipping of them or praying unto them but that we should honour them by following their vertuous and godly Life For as he witnesseth in another place the Martyrs and Holy Men in times past were wont after their death to be remembred and named of the Priest at Divine Service but never to be invocated or called upon And why so because the Priest saith he is Gods Priest and not theirs whereby he is bound to call upon God and not upon them John 5. Thus you see that the Authority both of the Scripture and also of Augustin doth not permit that we should pray unto them O that all men would studiously read and search the Scriptures then should they not be drowned in Ignorance but should easily perceive the Truth as well of this Point of Doctrine as of all the rest For there doth the Holy Ghost plainly teach us that Christ is our only Mediator and Intercessor with God and that we must not seek and run to another 1 John 2. If any man sinneth saith St. John we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the Propitiation for our sins 1 Tim. 2. St. Paul also saith There is one God and one Mediator between God and man even the man Jesus Christ Whereunto agreeth the Testimony of our Saviour himself John 14. witnessing that no man cometh to the Father but only by him who is the Way John 10. the Truth the Life yea and the only Door whereby we must enter into the Kingdom of Heaven because God is pleased in no other but in him For which cause also he crieth and calleth unto us that we should come unto him Matt. 11. saying Come unto me all ye that labour and be heavy laden and I shall refresh you Would Christ have us so necessarily come unto him and shall we most unthankfully leave him and run unto other This is even that which God so greatly complaineth of by his Prophet Jeremy saying My People have committed two great offences they have forsaken me the Fountain of the Waters of Life and have digged to themselves broken Pits that can hold no Water Is not that man think you unwise that will run for Water to a little Brook when he may as well go to the head-spring Even so may his Wisdom be justly suspected that will flee unto Saints in time of necessity when he may boldly and without fear declare his grief and direct his Prayer unto the Lord himself If God were strange or dangerous to be talked withal then might we justly draw back and seek to some other Psal 145. Judith 9. But the Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him in Faith and Truth And the Prayer of the humble and meek hath always pleased him What if we be sinners shall we not therefore pray unto God or shall we despair to obtain any thing at his hands Why did Christ then teach us to ask forgiveness of our sins saying And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us Shall we think that the Saints are more merciful in hearing sinners than God David saith Psal 103. Ephes 2. that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy slow to anger and of great kindness St. Paul saith that he is rich in mercy toward all them that call upon him And he himself by the mouth of his Prophet Esay saith Esay 51. For a little while have I forsaken thee but with great compassion will I gather thee For a moment in mine anger I have hid my face from thee but with everlasting mercy I have had compassion upon thee Therefore the sins of any man ought not to withhold him from Praying unto the Lord his God But if he be truly penitent and stedfast in Faith let him assure himself that the Lord will be merciful unto him and hear his Prayers O but I dare not will some man say trouble God at all times with my Prayers We see that in Kings Houses and Courts of Princes men cannot be admitted unless they first use the help and means of some special Noble-man to come to the speech of the King and to obtain the thing that they would have To this reason doth St. Ambrose answer very well Ambros supper cap. 1 Rom. writing upon the first Chapter to the Romans Therefore saith he we use to go unto the King by Officers and Noble-men because the King is a Mortal man and knoweth not to whom he may commit the Government of the Common-wealth But to have God our Friend from whom nothing is hid we need not any helper that should further us with his good word but only a devout and godly mind And if it be so that we need one to intreat for us why may we not content our selves with that one Mediator Heb. 7. which is at the right hand of God the Father and there liveth for ever to make Intercession for us As the Blood of Christ did Redeem us on the Cross and cleanse us from our sins even so it is now able to save all them that come unto God by it For Christ sitting in Heaven hath an everlasting Priesthood and always prayeth to his Father for them that be Penitent obtaining by vertue of his Wounds which are evermore in the sight of God not only perfect remission of our sins but also all other necessaries that we lack in this World so that this only Mediator is sufficient in Heaven and needeth no others to help him Matt. 6. James 5. Coloss 4. 1 Tim. 2. Why then do we Pray one for another in this Life some man perchance will here demand Forsooth we are willed so to do by the express Commandment both of Christ and his Disciples to declare therein as well the Faith that we have in Christ towards God as also the mutual Charity that we bear one towards another in that we pity our Brothers case and make our Humble Petition to God for him But that we should Pray unto Saints neither have we any Commandment in all the Scripture nor yet Example which we may safely follow So that being done without Authority of Gods Word it lacketh the ground of Faith and therefore cannot be acceptable before God Hebr. 11. Rom. 14. Rom. 10. For whatsoever is not of Faith is sin And the Apostle saith that Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God Yet thou wilt object further that the Saints in Heaven do pray for us and that their Prayer proceedeth of an earnest Charity that they have towards their Brethren on Earth Whereto it may be well answered First that no man knoweth whether they do Pray for us or no. And if any will go about to prove it by
degree or state soever they be In which place he maketh mention by name of Kings and Rulers which are in Authority putting us thereby to acknowledge how greatly it concerneth the profit of the Common-wealth to pray diligently for the Higher Powers Neither is it without good cause that he doth so often in all his Epistles crave the Prayers of Gods People for himself Colos 4. Rom. 15. 2 Thess 3. For in so doing he declareth to the World how expedient and needful it is daily to call upon God for the Ministers of his Holy Word and Sacraments that they may have the door of utterance oppened unto them Ephes 6. that they may truly understand the Scriptures that they may effectually Preach the same unto the People and bring forth the true Fruits thereof to the Example of all other After this sort did the Congregation continually Pray for Peter at Jerusalem Acts 12. and for Paul among the Gentiles to the great increase and furtherance of Christs Gospel And if we following their good Example herein will study to do the like doubtless it cannot be expressed how greatly we shall both help our selves and also please God To discourse and run through all degrees of Persons it were too long Therefore ye shall briefly take this one conclusion for all Whomsoever we are bound by express Commandment to love for those also are we bound in Conscience to pray But we are bound by express Commandment to love all men as our selves therefore we are also bound to Pray for all men even as well as if it were for our selves notwithstanding we know them to be our extream and deadly Enemies For so doth our Saviour Christ plainly teach us in his Gospel saying Love your enemies Matt. 5. bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you pray for them that persecute you that ye may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven And as he taught his Disciples so did he practice himself in his life-time Luke 23. praying for his Enemies upon the Cross and desiring his Father to forgive them because they knew not what they did As did also that Holy and blessed Martyr Stephen Acts 7. when he was cruelly stoned to death of the stubborn and stiff-necked Jews to the example of all them that will truly and unfeignedly follow their Lord and Master Christ in this miserable and mortal life Now to entreat of that Question whether we ought to pray for them that are departed out of this World or no Wherein if we will cleave only unto the Word of God then must we needs grant that we have no Commandment so to do For the Scripture doth acknowledge but two places after this life The one proper to the Elect and Blessed of God the other to the Reprobate and Damned Souls as may be well gathered by the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich man Luke 16. Lib. 2. Evang. quaest 1. cap. 38. which place St. Augustine expounding saith in this wise That which Abraham speaketh unto the Rich man in Lukes Gospel namely that the Just cannot go into those places where the Wicked are tormented what other thing doth it signifie but only this that the just by reason of Gods Judgment which may not be revoked can shew no deed of Mercy in helping them which after this life are cast into Prison until they pay the uttermost farthing These words as they confound the Opinion of helping the dead by Prayer so they do clean confute and take away the vain Error of Purgatory which is grounded upon the saying of the Gospel Thou shalt not depart thence until thou hast paid the uttermost farthing Now doth St. Augustine say that those men which are cast into Prison after this life on that condition may in no wise be holpen though we would help them never so much And why Because the Sentence of God is unchangeable and cannot be revoked again Therefore let us not deceive our selves thinking that either we may help other or other may help us by their good and charitable Prayers in time to come For as the Preacher saith When the tree falleth whether it be toward the South Eccles 11. or toward the North in what place soever the tree falleth there it lieth meaning thereby that every mortal man dieth either in the state of Salvation or Damnation according as the words of the Evangelist John do also plainly import saying John 3. He that believeth on the Son of God hath eternal life But he that believeth not on the Son shall never see life but the wrath of God abideth upon him Where is then the third place which they call Purgatory or where shall our Prayers help and profit the dead Lib. 5. Hypogno Chrysost in Heb. 2. Homil. 5. in Cyprian contra Demetrianum St. Augustine doth only acknowledge two places after this life Heaven and Hell As for the third place he doth plainly deny that there is any such to be found in all Scripture Chrysostom likewise is of this mind that unless we wash away our sins in this present World we shall find no comfort afterward And St. Cyprian saith that after death Repentance and Sorrow of pain shall be without fruit Weeping also shall be in vain and Prayer shall be to no purpose Therefore he counselleth all men to make provision for themselves while they may because when they are once departed out of this life there is no place for Repentance nor yet for satisfaction Let these and such other places be sufficient to take away the gross Error of Purgatory out of our Heads neither let us dream any more that the Souls of the dead are any thing at all holpen by our Prayers But as the Scripture teacheth us let us think that the Soul of man passing out of the Body goeth straightways either to Heaven or else to Hell whereof the one needeth no Prayer the other is without Redemption The only Purgatory wherein we must trust to be saved is the death and blood of Christ which if we apprehend with a true and stedfast Faith it purgeth and cleanseth us from all our sins even as well as if he were now hanging upon the Cross The blood of Christ 1 John 1. Heb. 9. saith St. John hath cleansed us from all sin Thâ— blood of Christ saith St. Paul hath purged our Consciences from dead works to serve the living God Heb. 10. Also in another place he saith We be sanctified and made holy by the offering up of the body of Jesus Christ done once for all Yea he addeth more bidem saying With the one oblation of his blessed Body and precious Blood he hath made perfect for ever and ever all them that are sanctified This then is that Purgatory wherein all Christian men put their whole trust and confidence nothing doubting but if they truly repent them of their sins and die in perfect Faith that then they
shall forthwith pass from death to life If this kind of purgation will not serve them let them never hope to be released by other mens Prayers though they should continue therein unto the Worlds end He that cannot be saved by Faith in Christs Blood how shall he look to be delivered by mans Intercessions Hath God more respect to man on Earth than he hath to Christ in Heaven 1 John 2. If any man sin saith St. John we have an Advocate with the Father even Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins But we must take heed that we call upon this Advocate while we have space given us in this life lest when we are once dead there be no hope of Salvation left unto us For as every man sleepeth with his own cause so every man shall rise again with his own cause And look in what state he dieth in the same state he shall be also judged whether it be to Salvation or Damnation Let us not therefore dream either of Purgatory or of Prayer for the Souls of them that be dead but let us earnestly and diligently pray for them which are expresly commanded in Holy Scripture namely for Kings and Rulers for Ministers of Gods Holy Word and Sacraments for the Saints of this World otherwise called the Faithful to be short for all men living be they never so great Enemies to God and his People as Jews Turks Pagans Infidels Hereticks c. Then shall we truly fulfil the Commandment of God in that behalf and plainly declare our selves to be the true Children of our Heavenly Father who suffereth the Sun to shine upon the good and the bad and the rain to fall upon the just and the unjust For which and all other benefits most abundantly bestowed upon mankind from the beginning let us give him hearty thanks as we are most bound and praise his Name for ever and ever Amen AN HOMILY OF THE Place and Time OF PRAYER GOD through his Almighty Power Wisdom and Goodness created in the beginning Heaven and Earth the Sun the Moon the Stars the Fowls of the Air the Beasts of the Earth the Fishes in the Sea and all other Creatures for the use and commodity of Man whom also he had created to his own image and likeness and given him the use and government over them all to the end he should use them in such sort as he had given him in charge and commandment and also that he should declare himself thankful and kind for all those benefits so liberally and so graciously bestowed upon him utterly without any deserving on his behalf And although we ought at all times and in all places to have in remembrance and to be thankful to our gracious Lord according as it is written Psal 103. I will magnifie the Lord at all times And again Wheresoever the Lord beareth rule O my Soul praise the Lord Yet it appeareth to be Gods good will and pleasure that we should at special times and in special places gather our selves together to the intent his Name might be renowned and his glory set forth in the Congregation and Assembly of his Saints As concerning the time which Almighty God hath appointed his People to assemble together solemnly it doth appear by the fourth Commandment of God Remember saith God that thou keep holy the Sabbath Day Upon the which day as is plain in the Acts of the Apostles Acts 13. the People accustomably resorted together and heard diligently the Law and the Prophets read among them And albeit this Commandment of God doth not bind Christian People so straitly to observe and keep the utter Ceremonies of the Sabbath day as it was given unto the Jews as touching the forbearing of work and labour in time of great necessity and as touching the precise keeping of the Seventh day after the manner of the Jews For we keep now the First day which is our Sunday and make that our Sabbath that is our day of Rest in the honour of our Saviour Christ who as upon that day rose from death conquering the same most triumphantly Yet notwithstanding whatsoever is found in the Commandment appertaining to the Law of Nature as a thing most godly most just and needful for the setting forth of Gods glory it ought to be retained and kept of all good Christian People And therefore by this Commandment we ought to have a time as one day in the Week wherein we ought to rest yea from our lawful and needful works For like as it appeareth by this Commandment that no man in the six days ought to be slothful or idle but diligently to labour in that state wherein God hath set him Even so God hath given express charge to all men that upon the Sabbath day which is now our Sunday they should cease from all weekly and work-day labour to the intent that like as God himself wrought six days and rested the seventh and blessed and sanctified it and consecrated it to quietness and rest from labour even so Gods obedient People should use the Sunday holily and rest from their common and daily business and also give themselves wholly to Heavenly Exercises of Gods true Religion and Service So that God doth not only command the observation of this Holy Day but also by his own example doth stir and provoke us to the diligent keeping of the same Good natural Children will not only become obedient to the Commandment of their Parents but also have a diligent Eye to their doings and gladly follow the same So if we will be the Children of our Heavenly Father we must be careful to keep the Christian Sabbath day which is the Sunday not only for that it is Gods express Commandment but also to declare our selves to be loving Children in following the example of our gracious Lord and Father Thus it may plainly appear that Gods Will and Commandment was to have a solemn time and standing day in the Week wherein the People should come together and have in remembrance his wonderful benefits and to render him thanks for them as appertaineth to loving kind and obedient People This Example and Commandment of God the godly Christian People began to follow immediately after the Ascension of our Lord Christ and began to chuse them a standing day of the Week to come together in Yet not the seventh day which the Jews kept but the Lords day the day of the Lords Resurrection the day after the seventh day which is the first day of the Week Of the which day mention is made by St. Paul on this wise 1 Cor. 16. In the first day of the Sabbath let every man lay up what he thinketh good meaning for the Poor By the first day of the Sabbath is meant our Sunday which is the first day after the Jews seventh day And in the Apocalyps it is more plain whereas St. John saith I was in the Spirit upon the Lords
Hell to the intent to put us in good hope that by his strength we shall do the same He paid the Ransom of sin that it should not be laid to our charge He destroyed the Devil and all his Tyranny and openly triumphed over him and took away from him all his Captives and hath raised and set them with himself among the Heavenly Citizens above Ephes 2. He died to destroy the rule of the Devil in us and he rose again to send down his Holy Spirit to rule in our hearts to endow us with perfect Righteousness Thus it is true that David sung Psal 84. Ephes 4. Captivam duxit captivitatem Luke 2. Veritas de terra orta est justitia de coelo prospexit The truth of Gods promise is in Earth to man declared or from the Earth is the everlasting Verity Gods Son risen to life and the true righteousness of the Holy Ghost looking out of Heaven and in most liberal largess dealt upon all the World Thus is glory and praise rebounded upwards to God above for his mercy and truth And thus is Peace come down from Heaven to men of good and faithful hearts Psal 48. Misericordia veritas obviaverunt sibi Thus is mercy and truth as David writeth together met thus is peace and righteousness embracing and kissing each other If thou doubtest of so great wealth and felicity that is wrought for thee O man call to thy mind that therefore hast thou received into thine own possession the everlasting Verity our Saviour Jesus Christ to confirm to thy Conscience the truth of all this matter Thou hast received him if in true faith and repentance of Heart thou hast received him If in purpose of amendment thou hast received him for an everlasting gage or pledge of thy Salvation Thou hast received his Body which was once broken and his Blood which was shed for the remission of thy sin Thou hast received his Body to have within thee the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost for to dwell with thee to endow thee with grace to strengthen thee against thine Enemies and to comfort thee with their presence Thou hast received his Body to endow thee with everlasting righteousness to assure thee of everlasting bliss Ephes 5. and life of thy Soul For with Christ by true Faith art thou quickned again saith St. Paul from death of sin to life of grace and in hope translated from corporal and everlasting death to the everlasting life and glory in Heaven where now thy conversation should be and thy heart and desire set Doubt not of the truth of this matter how great and high soever these things be It becometh God to do no small deeds how impossible soever they seem to thee Pray to God that thou mayest have Faith to perceive this great Mystery of Christs Resurrection that by Faith thou mayest certainly believe nothing to be impossible with God Luke 18. Only bring thou Faith to Christs Holy Word and Sacrament Let thy Repentance shew thy Faith let thy purpose of amendment and obedience of thy heart to Gods Law hereafter declare thy true belief Endeavour thy self to say with St. Paul Phil. 4. From henceforth our conversation is in Heaven from whence we look for a Saviour even the Lord Jesus Christ which shall change our vile bodies that they may be fashioned like his glorious body which he shall do by the same power whereby he rose from death and whereby he shall be able to subdue all things unto himself Thus good Christian People forasmuch as ye have heard these so great and excellent benefits of Christs mighty and glorious Resurrection as how that he hath ransomed Sin overcome the Devil Death and Hell and hath victoriously gotten the better hand of them all to make us free and safe from them and knowing that we be by this benefit of his Resurrection risen with him by our Faith unto life everlasting being in full surety of our hope that we shall have our bodies likewise raised again from death to have them glorified in immortality and joyned to his glorious body having in the mean while his holy Spirit within our hearts as a Seal and Pledge of our everlasting Inheritance By whose assistance we be replenished with all righteousness by whose power we shall be able to subdue all our evil affections rising against the pleasure of God These things I say well considered let us now in the rest of our life declare our Faith that we have in this most fruitful Article by framing our selves thereunto in rising daily from sin to righteousness and holiness of life For what shall it avail us saith St. Peter to be 2 Pet. 2. escaped and delivered from the filthiness of the World through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ if we be entangled again therewith and be overcome again Certainly it had been better saith he never to have known the way of righteousness then after it is known and received to turn back again from the holy Commandment of God given unto us For so shall the Proverb have place in us where it is said The Dog is returned to his vomit again and the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire again What a shame were it for us being thus so clearly and freely washed from our sin to return to the filthiness thereof again What a folly were it thus endowed with righteousness to lose it again What madness were it to lose the Inheritance that we be now set in for the vile and transitory pleasure of sin And what an unkindness should it be where our Saviour Christ of his mercy is come to us to dwell with us as our Guest to drive him from us and to banish him violently out of our souls and instead of him in whom is all grace and vertue to receive the ungracious spirit of the Devil the founder of all naughtiness and mischief How can we find in our hearts to shew such extream unkindness to Christ which hath now so gently called us to mercy and offered himself unto us and he now entred within us Yea how dare we be so bold to renounce the presence of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost For where one is there is God all whole in Majesty together with all his power wisdom and goodness and fear not I say the danger and peril of so traiterous a defiance and departure Good Christian Brethren and Sisters advise your selves consider the dignity that ye be now set in let no Folly lose the thing that Grace hath so preciously offered and purchased let not wilfulness and blindness put out so great light that is now shewed unto you Ephes 6. Only take good hearts unto you and put upon you all the Armour of God that ye may stand against your Enemies which would again subdue you and bring you into their thraldom Remember ye be bought from your vain conversation
Cursing the Godly with Bell Book and Candle as also in Absolving the Reprobate which are known to be unworthy of any Christian Society Whereof they that Lust to see Examples let them search their Lives To be short look what our Saviour Christ pronounced of the Scribes and Pharisees in the Gospel the same may be boldly and with safe Conscience pronounced of the Bishops of Rome namely that they have forsaken and daily do forsake the Commandments of God to erect and set up their own Constitutions Which thing being true as all they which have any light of Gods Word must needs confess we may well conclude according to the Rule of Augustin That the Bishops of Rome and their adherents are not the true Church of Christ much less then to be taken as chief Heads and Rulers of the same Whosoever saith he do dissent from the Scriptures concerning the Head August contra Petilian Donatist Ep. cap. 4. although they be found in all places where the Church is appointed yet are they not in the Church a plain place concluding directly against the Church of Rome Where is now the Holy Ghost which they so stoutly claim to themselves Where is now the Spirit of Truth that will not suffer them in any wise to err If it be possible to be there where the true Church is not then is it at Rome otherwise it is but a vain brag and nothing else St. Paul as you have heard before saith If any man have not the Spirit of Christ the same is not his And by turning the words it may be truly said If any man be not of Christ the same hath not the Spirit Now to discern who are truly his and who not we have this Rule given us that his Sheep do always hear his Voice And St. John saith John 10. John 8. He that is of God heareth Gods Word Whereof it followeth that the Popes in not hearing Christs voice as they ought to do but preferring their own decrees before the express Word of God do plainly argue to the World that they are not of Christ nor yet possessed with his Spirit But here they all alledge for themselves that there are divers necessary Points not expressed in holy Scripture John 16. which were left to the Revelation of the Holy Ghost Who being given to the Church according to Christs promise hath taught many things from time to time which the Apostles could not then bear To this we may easily Answer by the plain words of Christ teaching us that the proper Office of the Holy Ghost is not to institute and bring in new Ordinances contrary to his Doctrin before taught but shall come and declare those things which he had before taught John 16. so that it might be well and truly understood When the Holy Ghost saith he shall come he shall lead you into all truth What truth doth he mean Any other than he himself had before expressed in his Word John 16. No. For he saith He shall take of mine and shew unto you Again he shall bring you in remembrance of all things that I have told you It is not then the Duty and part of any Christian under pretence of the Holy Ghost to bring in his own Dreams and Phantasies into the Church but he must diligently provide that his Doctrin and Decrees be agreeable to Christs holy Testament otherwise in making the Holy Ghost the Author thereof he doth Blaspheme and Belie the Holy Ghost to his own Condemnation Now to leave their Doctrin and to come to other Points What shall we think or judge of the Popes intolerable Pride The Scripture saith that God resisteth the Proud and sheweth grace to the Humble Also it pronouceth them blessed which are Poor in Spirit Matt. 5. Matt. 14. promising that they which humble themselves shall be exalted And Christ our Saviour willeth all his to learn of him because he is humble and meek As for Pride St. Gregory saith it is the Root of all Mischief And St. Augustin's judgment is this that it maketh Men Devils Can any Man then which either hath or shall read the Popes Lives justly say that they had the Holy Ghost within them First as touching that they will be termed Universal Bishops and Heads of all Christian Churches through the World we have the judgment of Gregory expresly against them Lib. 3. Epist 76.78 who writing to Mauritius the Emperor condemneth John Bishop of Constantinople in that behalf calling him the Prince of Pride Lucifers Successor and the fore runner of Antichrist Serm. 3. de resur Dom. St. Bernard also agreeing thereunto saith What greater Pride can there be than that one Man should prefer his own judgment before the whole Congregation as though he only had the Spirit of God Dialogorum lib. 3. And Chrysostom pronounceth a terrible sentence against them affirming plainly that whosoever seeketh to be chief in Earth shall find confusion in Heaven and that he which striveth for the Supremacy shall not be reputed among the Servants of Christ Again he saith To desire a good work it is good Chrysost sup Mat. but to covet the chief degree of Honor it is meer Vanity Do not these places sufficiently convince their outragious Pride in Usurping to themselves a Superiority above all other as well Ministers and Bishops as Kings also and Emperors But as the Lion is known by his Claws so let us learn to know these Men by their Deeds What shall we say of him that made the Noble King Dandalus to be tied by the Neck with a Chain Sabell Ennead 9. lib. 7. and to lie flat down before his Table there to gnaw Bones like a Dog Shall we think that he hath Gods holy Spirit within him and not rather the Spirit of the Devil Such a Tyrant was Pope Clement the VI. What shall we say of him that proudly and contemptuously trod Frederick the Emperor under his Feet applying the verse of the Psalm unto himself Thou shalt go upon the Lion and the Adder Psal 60. the young Lion and the Dragon thou shalt tread under thy foot Shall we say that he hath Gods holy Spirit within him and not rather the Spirit of the Devil Such a Tyrant was Pope Alexander the III. What shall we say of him that Armed and animated the Sun against the Father causing him to be taken and to be cruelly famished to death contrary to the Law both of God and also of Nature Shall we say that he had Gods holy Spirit within him and not rather the Spirit of the Devil Such a Tyrant was Pope Pascal the II. What shall we say of him that came into his Popedom like a Fox that reigned like a Lion and died like a Dog Shall we say that he had Gods holy Spirit within him and not rather the Spirit of the Devil Such a Tyrant was Pope Boniface the VIII What shall we say of him that made
Heirs for ever for whom they might purchase Livings and Lands as natural Parents do take care and pains and to be at great costs and charges and universally instead of all Quietness Joy and Felicity which do follow blessed Peace and due Obedience to bring in all troubles sorrow disquietness of Minds and Bodies and all Mischief and Calamity to turn all good Order upside down to bring all good Laws in contempt and to tread them under feet to oppress all Vertue and Honesty and all vertuous and honest Persons and to set all Vice and Wickedness and all vicious and wicked Men at liberty to work their wicked Wills which were before bridled by wholsom Laws to weaken to overthrow and to consume the strength of the Realm their natural Country as well by the spending and wasting of the Mony and Treasure of the Prince and Realm as by murdering the People of the same Prov. 14. their own Country-men who should defend the honor of their Prince and liberty of their Country against the Invasion of Foreign Enemies And so finally To make their Country thus by their mischief weakned ready to be a prey and spoil to all outward Enemies that will invade it to the utter and perpetual captivity slavery and destruction of all their Country-men their Children their Friends their Kinsfolk left alive whom by their wicked Rebellion they procure to be delivered into the hands of the Foreign Enemies as much as in them doth lie In Foreign Wars our Country-men in obtaining the Victory win the praise of valiantness yea and though they were overcome and slain yet win they an honest commendation in this World and die in a good Conscience for serving God their Prince and their Country and be Children of eternal Salvation But the Rebels how desperate and strong soever they be yet win they shame here in fighting against God their Prince and Country and therefore justly do fall headlong into Hell if they die and live in shame and fearful Conscience though they escape But commonly they be rewarded with shameful Deaths their Hands and Carcasses set upon Poles and hanged in Chains eaten with Kites and Crows judged unworthy the honor of Burial and so their Souls if they repent not as commonly they do not the Devil hurrieth them into Hell in the midst of their mischief For which dreadful execution St. Paul sheweth the cause of Obedience Rom. 13. not only for fear of Death but also in Conscience to God-ward for fear of eternal damnation in the World to come Wherefore good People let us as the Children of Obedience fear the dreadful Execution of God and live in quiet Obedience to be the Children of everlasting Salvation For as Heaven is the place of good obedient Subjects and Hell the Prison and Dungeon of Rebels against God and their Prince so is that Realm happy where most obedience of Subjects doth appear being the very Figure of Heaven and contrariwise where most Rebellions and Rebels be there is the express similitude of Hell and the Rebels themselves are the very Figures of Fiends and Devils and their Captain the ungracious pattern of Lucifer and Satan the Prince of darkness of whose Rebellion as they be Followers so shall they of his damnation in Hell undoubtedly be partakers and as undoubtedly Children of Peace the inheriters of Heaven with God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost To whom be all Honor and Glory for ever and ever Amen Thus have you heard the First Part of this Homily Now good People Let us pray The PRAYER as in that time it was Published O Most mighty God the Lord of Hosts the Governor of all Creatures the only giver of all Victories who alone art able to strengthen the Weak against the Mighty and to vanquish infinite multitudes of thine Enemies with the Countenance of a few of thy Servants calling upon thy Name and trusting in thee Defend O Lord thy Servant and our Governor under thee our Sovereign Lord the KING and all thy People committed to his charge O Lord withstand the cruelty of all those which be Common Enemies as well to the truth of thy Eternal Word as to their own natural Prince and Country and manifestly to this Crown and Realm of England which thou hast of thy Divine Providence assigned in these our days to the government of thy Servant our Sovereign and gracious KING O most merciful Father if it be thy holy Will make soft and tender the stony Hearts of all those that exalt themselves against thy Truth and seek either to trouble the quiet of this Realm of England or to oppress the Crown of the same and convert them to the knowledge of thy Son the only Saviour of the World Jesus Christ that we and they may joyntly glorifie thy mercies Lighten we beseech thee their ignorant Hearts to embrace the Truth of thy Word or else so abate their cruelty O most mighty Lord that this our Christian Realm with others that confess thy holy GOSPEL may obtain by thy aid and strength surety from all Enemies without shedding of Christian Blood whereby all they which be oppressed with their Tyranny may be relieved and they which be in fear of their cruelty may be comforted and finally that all Christian Realms and especially this Realm of England may by thy Defence and Protection continue in the Truth of the Gospel and enjoy perfect Peace Quietness and Security And that we for these thy Mercies joyntly all together with one consonant Heart and Voice may thankfully render to thee all Laud and Praise that we knit in one godly Concord and Unity amongst our selves may continually magnifie thy glorious Name who with thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost art one Eternal Almighty and most merciful God To whom be all Laud and Praise World without end Amen The Fourth Part of the Homily against Disobedience and Wilful Rebellion FOr your further instruction good People to shew unto you how much Almighty God doth abhor Disobedience and Wilful Rebellion specially when Rebels advance themselves so high that they arm themselves with Weapon and stand in the Field to sight against God their Prince and their Country It shall not be out of the way to shew some Examples set out in Scriptures written for our eternal Erudition We may soon know good People how heinous an offence the treachery of Rebellion is if we call to remembrance the heavy wrath and dreadful indignation of Almighty God against Subjects as do only but inwardly grudge mutter and murmur against their Governors though their inward Treason so privily hatched in their Breasts come not to open Declaration of their doings as hard it is whom the Devil hath so far enticed against Gods Word to keep themselves there no he meaneth still to blow the Coal to kindle their Rebellious Hearts to flame into open Deeds if he be not with Grace speedily withstood Num. 11. a Num. 12.