capable of the Church-goods though not pliable to the Churches good Thus hauing prouided for the estate of his Inheritance of his Aduancement of his Carkasse he comes last to thinke of his Conscience I would to God this were not too frequently the worlds fashion Whereas heretofore Primogeniti eo iure Sacerdotes the first-borne had the right of Priesthood now the younger Sonne if he fit for nothing else lights vpon that priuiledge That as a reuerend Diuine saith Younger Brothers are made Priests and Priests are made younger Brothers Yet alas for all diseases Nature prouideth Art prepareth Medicines He is fed in this Country whom that refuseth An estate lost by Shipwracke on Sea may be recouered by good-speede on Land And in ill health for euery sore of the bodie there is a salue for euery maladie a remedie but for the Conscience Nature hath no cure as Lust no care Hei mihi quod nullis anima est medicabilis herbis There is no hearbe to heale the wounds of the soule though you take the whole world for the Garden All these professions are necessarie that mens Ignorance might not preiudice them either in wealth health or grace God hath made men fit with qualities and famous in their faculties to preserue all these sound in vs. The Lawyer for thy wealth the Physitian for thy health the Diuine for thy soule Physitians cure the body Ministers the Conscience The Church of Israell is now exceeding sicke and therefore the more dangerously because she knowes it not No Physicke is affected therefore no health effected She lyes in a Lethargie and therefore speechlesse She is so past sense of her weakenesse that God himselfe is faine to ring her Passing-bell Aarons bells cannot ring lowd enough to waken her God toles from Heauen a sad knell of complaint for her It is I â—hinke a custome not vnworthie of approbation when a languishing Christian drawes neere his end to tole a heauie Bell for him Set aside the preiudice of Superstition and the ridiculous conceits of some olde Wiues whose wits are more decrepit then their bodies and I see not why reasons may not be giuen to proue it though not a necessarie yet an allowed Ceremonie 1. It puts into the sicke man a sense of mortallitie and though many other obiects should do no lesse yet this seasonably performes it If any particular flatterer or other carnall friends should vse to him the susurration that Peter did once to Christ Master fauour thy selfe this shall not be vnto thee though sicknesse lyes on your bed Death shall not enter your Chamber the euill day is farre off feare nothing you shall liue many yeeres or as the Deuill to our Grandmother you shall not dye Or if the May of his yeeres shall perswade himselfe to the remotenesse of his Autumne or if the loue of earthly pleasure shall denie him voluntarie leasure to thinke of Death As Epâ—minondas Generall of the Thebans vnderstanding a Captaine of his Armie to be dead exceedingly wondred how in a Campe any should haue so much leasure as to be sicke In a word whatsoeuer may flatter him with hope of life the Bell like an impartiall friend without either the too broad eyes of pittie or too narrow of partiallitie sounds in his owne eares his owne weakenesse and seemes to tell him that in the opinion of the world hee is no man of the world Thus with a kinde of Diuinitie it giues him ghostly counsell to remit the care of his Carkasse and to admit the cure of his Conscience It toles all in it shall tole thee in to thy graue 2. It excites the hearers to pray for the sicke and when can Prayers be more acceptable more comfortable The faithfull deuotions of so many Christian-neighbours sent vp as Incense to Heauen for thee are very auaileable to pacifie an offended Iustice. This is S. Iames his Physicke for the sicke nay this is the Lords comfort to the sicke The prayer of faith shall saue the sicke and the Lord shall raise him vp and if hee haue committed sinnes they shall be forgiuen him Now though we be all seruants of one familie of God yet because of particular families on earth and those so remoued that one member cannot condole anothers griefe that it feeles not non dolet cor quod non nouit The Bell like a speedie Messenger runnes from house to house from eare to eare on thy soules errand and begges the assistance of their Prayers Thy heart is thus incited to pray for thy selfe others excited to pray for thee Hee is a Pharisee that desires not the Prayers of the Church he is a Publican that will not beseech Gods mercie for the afflicted Thy time and turne will come to stand in neede of the same succour if a more sodaine blast of Iudgement doe not blow out thy Candle Make thy sicke Brothers case thine now that the Congregatioâ— may make thine theirs hereafter Be in this exigent euen a friend to thine enemie least thou become like Babell to be serued of others as thou hast serued others or at least at best in falling Nero's case that cried I haue neither friend nor enemie 3. As the Bell hath often rung thee into the Temple on earth so now it rings thee vnto the Church in Heauen from the militant to the triumphant place from thy pilgrimage to thy home from thy peregrination to the standing Court of God To omit manie other significant helps enough to iustifie it a laudable ceremonie it doth as it were mourne for thy sinnes and hath compassion on thy passion Though in it selfe a dumbe nature yet as God hath made it a creature the Church an instrument and Art giuen it a tongue it speakes to thee to speake to God for thy selfe it speakes to others that they would not be wanting Israell is sicke no Bell stirres no Balme is thought of no Prophet consulted not God himselfe sollicited Hence behold a complaint from Heauen a knell from aboue the Clouds for though the words sound through the Prophets lips who toles like a Passing-Bell for Israell yet they come from the mouth of the Lord of Hoasts The Prophet Ezekiell vseth like words and addes with them the Lord of Hoasts saith it There is no doubt of his spirituall inspiration all the question is of his personall appropriation It is certaine that the Prophet Ieremie speakes here many things in his owne person and some in the person of God Now by comparing it with other like speeches in the Prophets these words sound as from a mercifull and compassionate Maker Why is not the health of my People recouered Mei populi saith God who indeede might alone speake possessiuely Mine for hee had chosen and culled them out of the whole world to be his people Why are not My people recouered There is Balme and there are Physitians as in Esay What could I haue done more for my Vineyard The words are
sinne that vvhiles men commit it it commits them either to the high-way or the Hedges and from thence either by a Writ or a Warrant an Arrest or a Mittimus to the prison Solomon saith Hee shall not be rich The Gut is a Gulfe that vvill easily swallow all his commings in Meat should be as wise Agur praied food conuenient for thee or as the Hebrew phrase is the food of thy allowance This dish is to feed on all dishes that may pleasâ— the appetite or rather may delight surfet for appetite dares not lodge in an Epicures house This Sinne is instar omnium like the Feast it selfe saue that the Glutton feedes on Gods good â—reatures corporally but on Sathans mysticall boord is set nothing but what is originally euill and absolutely banefull So that here Gluttony that feeds on all Dishes is but a priuate Dish it selfe and though perhaps for the extent and largenesse it takes vp the greater roome yet for the number it is but one It is most rancke Idolatrie sayes Paul and so neere to Atheisme vvith a no-God that it makes a carnall God In mea paâ—ria Deus venter as profound and profane as the Babilonians sacrifice they to their Bell these to their Belly Perhaps you will say they are more kinde to themselues not a whit for they vvrappe vp death in their full morsels and swallow it as Pilles in the Pappe of delicatie They ouerthrow nature vvith that should preserue it as the Earth that is too rancke marres the Corne. They make short vvorke vvith their estates and not long vvith their liues as if they knew that if they liued long they must bee beggars therefore at once they make haste to spend their liuings and ende their liues Full Suppers midde-night Reuels Morning Iunkets giue them no time to blow but adde new to their indigested surfets They are the Deuils crammed Fowles like Aesops Henne too fat to lay to produce the fruites of any goodnesse They doe not dispensare but dissipare bona Domini wisely dispence but blindely scatter the gifts of GOD. They pray not so much for daily Bread as for daintie Bread and thinke God wrongs them if they may not Diues-like fare diliciously euery day Sense is their Purueyour Appetite their Steward They place Paradise in their throates and Heauen in their guts Meane time the state wastes the soule pines and though the flesh be puffed and blowne vp the spirits languish they loue not to liue in a Fenne but to haue a Fenne in them It is not plague enough that GOD withall sends leannesse into their soules but their estates sincke their liues fall away they spinne a webbe out of their owne bowels vvorse then the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Men-eaters they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 selfe-eaters they put a Pleurisie into their bloods a Tabe and Consumption into their states an Apoplexie into their soules the meat that perisheth not is fastidious to their palates that they may feede on that which feeds on them and so at once deuoure and be deuoured drinke of a cup that drinkes vp them 3. The third Viall is Idlenesse a filching water to for it steales away our meanes both to get goods and to be good It is a rust to the Conscience a theefe to the estate The Idle man is the Deuâ—ls Cushion wherevpon he sits and takes his ease He refuseth all works as either thankelesse or dangerous Thus charactered he had rather freeze then fetch wood hee had rather steale then worke and yet rather begge then take paines to steale and yet in many things rather want then begge Ignaui sunt fures saith Melancthon Sluggards are theeues they robbe insensibly the Common-wealth most sensibly themselues Pouertie comes on him as an armed man The Idlesbie is pouerties prisoner if hee liue without a calling pouertie hath a calling to arrest him When the Cisterne of his patrimonie is emptied and seemes to inuite his labour to replenish it hee flatters himselfe with enough still and lookes for supply without paines Necessitie must driue him to any worke and what hee can not auferre he will differre auoyd hee will delay Euery get-nothing is a theefe and lazinesse is a stollen water if the Deuill can winne thee to plye hard this liquour hee knowes it will whet thy stomach to any vice Faction Theeuerie Lust Drunkennesse blood with many Birds of this blacke wing offer themselues to the Idle minde and striue to preferre their seruice Would you know sayes the Poet how Aegistus became an adulterer In promptu causa est desidiosus erat the cause is easie the answere ready hee was Idle Hee that might make his estate good by labour by Idlenesse robbes it This is a dangerous water and full of vile effects for when the lazie haue robbed themselues they fall aboard and robbe others This is the Idle-mans best end that as hee is a Thiefe and liues a beast so to dye a beggar 4. The fourth Cup is Enuie Water of a strange and vncouth taste There is no pleasure in being drunke with this stollen water for it frets and gnawes both in palates and entralls There is no good rellish with it either in tast or digestion Onely it is like that Acidula aqua that Plinie speakes of which makes a man drunke sooner then wine Enuie keepes a Register of Iniuries and graues that in Marble which Charitie writes in the dust Wrong It cannot endure that any should be conferred with it preferred to it Nec quemquam iam ferre potest Caesarue priorem Pompeiusue parem Caesar can brooke no Greater Pompey no riuall Iohn Baptist was of another spirit when he heard that the people had left him to follow Christ he spake with the voice of content My ioy is fulfilled He must encrease and I must decrease Inuidus non est idoneus auditor The enuious man is an incompetent hearer his eares are not fit to his head If hee heares good of another hee frets that it is good if ill he is discontent that he may not iudge him for it If wronged hee cannot stay Gods leasure to quit him he is straight either a Saul or an Esau by secret ambushes or by open hostillitie he must carue himselfe a satisfaction No plaister will heale his pricked finger but his heart-bloud that did it if he might serue himselfe he would take vnreasonable peny-worthes S. Augustine would coole his heate Vis vindicari Christiane Wilt thou bereuenged of thine aduersarie oh Christian tarry a while Nondum vindicatus est Christus Thy Lord and Sauiour is not yet auenged of his enemies Malice is so madde that it will not spare friend to wreake vengeance on foes So Garnet told the Powder-traitours that some innocent mighâ— be destroyed with many nocent if the publicke good could not otherwise be perfected His instance was that in a Towne besieged though some friends were there yet no wrong nor offence at
and the intelligencer betweene the vestall and the Nunne betweene the proud Prodigall and his vnconscionable Creditor Indeede the greatest sinner shall haue the greatest punishment And hee that hath beene a principall guest to the Deuill on earth shall and that on earth were a strange priuiledge hold his place in Hell Reward her euen as she rewarded you and double vnto her double according to her workes in the cup which shee hath filled fill to her double How much shee hath glorified her selfe and liued deliciously so much torment and sorrow giue her Diues that fedde so hartily on this bread of Iniquitie and drunke so deepe draughts of the waters of sinne reserues his superioritie in torment that hee had in pleasure Behold hee craues with more floods of scalding teares then euer Esau shed for the blessing but one drop of water to coole his tongue and could not be allowed it But what if all the riuers in the South all the waters in the Ocean had beene granted him his tongue would still haue withered and smarted with heate himselfe still crying in the language of Hell a non sufficit It is not enough Or what if his tongue had beene eased yet his heart liuer lungs bowells armes legges should still haue fryed Thus hee that eate and dranke with superfluitie the purest flower of the Wheate the reddest blood of the Grape his body kept as well from diseasâ—â— as soft linnen and fine rayment could preserue it here findes a fearfull alteration From the table of surfet to the table of torment from feeding on Iunkets to gnaw his owne flesh from bowles of wine to the want of cold water from the soft foldes of fine silkes to the winding lashes of furies from chaines of gold for ornament to chaines of yron for torment from a bed of downe to a bed of flames from laughing among his companions to howling with Deuils from hauing the poore begging at his gates to begge himselfe and that as that Rich-man for one drop of water Who can expresse the horrour and miserie of this guest Non mihi si centum linguae sint oraque centum Ferrea vox omnes scelerum comprendere formas Omnia poenarum percurrere nomina possim No hart of man can thinke no tongue can tell The direfull paines ordain'd and felt in hell Now sorrowes meete at the Guests hart as at a feast all the furies of hell leape on the Table of his Conscience Thought calls to Feare Feare to Horrour Horrour to Dispaire Dispaire to Torment Torment to Extremitie all to Eternitie Come and helpe to afflict this wretch All the parts of his body and soule leaue their naturall and woonted vses and spend their times in wretchednesse and confusion Hee runnes through a thousand deaths and cannot dye Heauie irons are locked on him all his lights and delights are put out at once Hee hath no soule capable of comfort And though his eyes distill like fountaines yet God is now inexorable His Mittimus is without Bayle and the Prison can neuer be broken God will not heare now that might not he heard before That you may conceiue things more spirituall and remote by passions neerer to sense Suppose that a man being gloriously roabed deliciously feasted Prince-like serued attended honoured and set on the proudest height of pleasure that euer mortallitie boasted should in one vnsuspected moment be tumbled downe to a bottome more full of true miseries then his promontory was of false delights and there be ringed about with all the gory Mutherers blacke Atheists sacrilegious Church-robbers and incestuous Rauishers that haue euer disgorged their poyson on earth to re-assume it in Hell Nay adde further to this supposition that this depth he is throwne into was no better then a vast Charnell-house hung round with lamps burning blew and dimme set in hollow corners whose glimmering serues to discouer the hideous torments all the ground in stead of greene rushes strewed with funâ—rall rosemary and dead mens bones some corpses standing vpright in their knotted winding-sheetes others rotted in their Coffins which yawne wide to vent their stench there the bare ribs of a Father that begat him heere the hollow skull of a Mother that bare him How direfull and amazing are these things to sense Or if Imagination can giue being to a more fearefull place that or rather worse then that is Hell If a poore man sodainely starting out of a golden slumber should see his house flaming about him his louing Wife and loued Infants breaâ—hing their spirits to heauen through the mercilesse fire himselfe inringed with it calling for despaired succour the miserable Churle his next neighbour not vouchsafeing â—o answere when the putting forth of an arme might â—aue him such shall be their miseries in Hell and nor an Angell nor a Saint shall refresh them with any comfort These are all but shadowes nay not shadowes of the infernall depth here expressed You heare it feare it fly it scape it Feare it by Repentance flye it by your Faith and you shall scape it by Gods mercie This is their Poâ—na sensus positiue punishmenâ— There is also Poena damni to be considered their priuatiue punishment They haue lost a place on earth whose ioy wâ—s temporall they haue missed a place in Heauen whose ioy is eternall Now they finde that a dinner of greene hearbes with Gods loue is better then a stalled Oxe and his hatred withall A feast of sallets or Daniels pulse is more cherisâ—ing with mercie then Belshazzars Banket without it Now they finde Solomonâ— Seâ—mon true that though the bread of deceit â—e sweâ—t to a man yet the time is come that the mouth is filled with grauell No no â—he blessing of God onely maketh fat and hee addeth no sorrow vnto it Waters the wicked desired and Bread they lusted after behold after their secure sleepe and dreamed ioyes on earth with what hungry soules doe they awake in Hell But what are the Bread and the Waters they might haue enioyed with the Sainâ—s in Heauen Such as shall neuer be dryed vp Ieâ— thy presence is the fulnesse of ioy and at thy right hand there are pleasures for euermore Happy is the vndefiled soule who is innocent from the great offence all whose sinnes are washed as white as Snow in that blood which alone is able to purge the conscience from dead workes He that walketh righteously c. he shall dwell on high his place of defence shall be the munitions of rockes Bread shall be giuen him his Waters shall be sure His ioyes are certaine and stable no alteration no alternation shall empaire them The wicked for the slight breakfast of this world loose the Lambs supper of glory Where these foure things concurre that make a perfect feast Dies lectus locus electus coetus bene collectus apparatus non neglectus A good time eternitie A good place Heauen A good companie the Saints Good cheere
Glory 1. God himselfe is the feast-maker he is Land-lord of the world and â—illeth euery liuing thing with goodnesse The Eagles and Lions seeke their meate at God But though all the sonnes of Iacob haue good cheare from Ioseph yet Beniamins messe exceeds Esau shall haue the prosperitie of the earth but Iacob goes away with the blessing Ismaell may haue outward fauours but the inheritance belongs to Izhak The King fauoureth all his subiects but they of his Court stand in his presence partake of his Princely graces Gods bountie extends to the wicked also but the Saints shall onely sit at his table in Heauen This is that feaster qui est super omnia et sine quo nulla sunt omnia Of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory for euer 2. The cheare is beyond all sense all science Eye hath not seene nor eare heard nether haue entred into the heart of man the things God hath prepared for them that loue him The eye sees much the eare heares more the heart conceaues most yet all short of apprehension much more of comprehension of these pleasures Therefore enter thou into thy Masters ioy for it is too great to enter into thee 3. The company is excellent the glorious presence of the blessed Trinitie the Father that made vs the Sonne that bought vs the Holy Ghost that brought vs to this place The holy and vnspotted Angels that reioyced at our conuersion on earth much more at our consolation in Heauen All the Patriarchs Prophets Saints before the Law in the Law in the Gospell the full Communion of Saints Here the more the mirrier yea and the better cheare to Oh the sweet melodie of Halleluiahs which so many glorified voyces shall sing to God in Heauen the hoarcenesse of sinne and the harshnesse of punishment being separated from vs with a bill of euerlasting diuorce 4. Admirable is the Banketing place the high Court of Heauen where our apparell shall be such as beseemeth the attendants on the King of Kings euen the fashion of the glorious body of Christ. The purest things are placed highermost The earth as grossest is put in the lowest roome the water aboue the earth the ayre aboue the water the fire aboue the ayre the sphaeres of Heauen aboue any of them and yet thâ— place where this feast is kept is aboue them all the Heauen of Heauens Take here a slight rellish of the cheare in Gods kingdome where your welcome shall be answerable to all the rest Eate oh my friends and make you merry oh well-beloued And then as those that haue tasted some delicate dish finde other plaine meates but vnpleasant so you that haue tasted of heauenly things cannot but contemne the best worldly pleasures As therefore some dainty guest knowing there is so pleasant fare to come let vs reserue our appetites for that and not suffer our selues to be cloyed with the course diet of the world Thus as wee fast on the Eues that we may feast on the Holy-dayes let vs be sure that after our abstinence from the surfets of sinne we shall be euerlastingly fed and fatted with the mercies of God Which resolution the Lord grant vs here which Banket the Lord giue vs hereafter Amen FINIS THE Sinners passing-Bell OR A complaint from Heauen for Mans Sinnes Published by THOMAS ADAMS Preacher of Gods Word at Willington in Bedford-shire 1 CORINTH 11.30 For this cause many are weake and sickly among you and many sleepe AVGVST EPIST. 188. Ipse sibi denegat curam qui Medico non publicat causam Hee hath no care of his owne cure that declares not to the Phisition his griefe LONDON Printed by Thomas Snodham for Iohn Budge and are to be sold at the great South-dore of Paules and at Brittaines-Bursse 1614. TO THE TRVLY-NOBLE KNIGHT Sr. Anthony Sainct-Iohn sauing health Right Worshipfull THe sicknesse of this World is growne so lethargicall that his recouery is almost despaired and therefore his Phisitians finding by infallible symptoms that his consumption is not curable leaue him to the malignancie of his disease For the eye of his faith is blinde the eare of his attention deafe the foote of his obedience lame the hand of his charitie numm'd and shut vp with a griping couetousnesse All his vitall parts whereby he should liue to goodnesse are in a swoune he lies bed-rid in his securitie and hath little lesse then giuen vp the Holy Ghost It cannot be denied but that he lies at the mercie of God It is therefore too late to tolle his Passing-bell that hath no breath of obedience left in him I might rather ring out his knell Yet because there are many in this world that are not of this world many sicke of the generall disease of Sin whose recouerie is not hopelesse though their present state be happelesse and some that if they knew but themselues sicke would resort to the Poole of Bethesda the waters of life to be cured I haue therefore presumed to take them apart and tell them impartially their owne illnesse Oh that to performe the cure were no more difficult then to describe the Maladie or prescribe the remedie I haue endeuoured the latter the other to God who can both kill and giue life who is yet pleased by his word to worke our recouery and to make me one vnworthy instrument to administer his Phisicke Now as the most accurate Phisitians ancient or moderne though they deliuered precepts in their facultie worthy of the worlds acceptance and vse yet they set them forth vnder some Noble Patronage so I haue presumed vnder the countenance of your protection to publish this phisicall or rather metaphysicall Treatise for as the Sicknesse is spirituall so the cure must be supernaturall Assuring my selfe that if you shall vse any obseruation here and giue it your good word of Probatum est many others wil be induced the more redily to embrace it My intent is to doe good and if I had any better Receite I would not like some Phisitians I know not whither more enuious or couetous with an excellent Medicine let it liue and die with my selfe God conserue your either health and giue you with a sound body a sounder faith whereby you may liue the life of Grace heere of Glory hereafter Your VVorships humbly deuoted THOMAS ADAMS THE Sinners Passing-Bell OR A Complaint from Heauen for Mans Sinnes The fift Sermon IEREM 8.22 Is there no Balme in Gilead Is there no Phisitian there why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recouered THis is a world to make Phisitians rich if men loued not their purse better then their health For the world waxeth old and old age is weake and sickly As when death begins to ceaze vpon a man his braine by little and little groweth out of order his minde becomes cloudy and troubled with fantasies the channels of his blood and the radicall moisture the
that actuall applications pierced more then verball explications Nathan by an instance of supposition wrought Dauids hart to an humble confession Hee drew the Proposition from his owne lippes The man that hath done this is worthie of death and then stroke while the iron was hot by an inferred Conclusion Thou art the man The Prophet Ahijah rent the new garment of Ieroboam in twelue pieces and bad him reserue tenne to himselfe in signe That God had rent the Kingdome out of the hand of Solomon and giuen tenne Tribes to him Esay by going naked and bare-foote as by a visible signe lessons Egâ—pt and Ethiopia that after this manner they should goe captiue to Assiria Ieremie by wearing bands and yokes and sending them to the Kings of Edom Moab Ammon Tyre Sidon Iudah giues them an actuall representation a visible Sacrament of their Babilonish captiuitie Ezekiells pourtraying vpon a Tile the Citie Ierusalem and the siege against it is called by God a signe against them Agabus tooke Pauls girdle and bound his owne hands and feete a signe and that from the holy Ghost that hee who ought the girdle should be so bound at Ierusalem and deliuered into the hands of the Gentiles God schooled Ionas in the Gourd by a liuely Apothegme and reall subiection to his owne eyes of his vniust impatience against God and Niniueh It was Gods vsuall dealing with Israell by the afflictions wherewith hee grieued them to put into their mindes how they had grieued him by their sins So Paul as our Prophet here For this cause yee are weake sickely and many dye drawing them by these sensible cords of their plagues to the feeling of their sinnes which made their soules faint in Grace sicke in Sinne dead in Apostasie For this cause c. This Doctrine affords a double vse particular and generall particular to Ministers generall to all Christians 1. To the dispensers of Gods secrets It allowes them in borrowed formes to expresse the meditations of their harts God hath giuen vs this libertie in the performance of our callings not onely nakedly to lay downe the truth but with the helpes of Inuention Wit Art to remoue loathing of his Manna If wee had none to heare vs but Cornelius or Lidia or such sanctified eares a meere affirmation were a sufficient confirmation But our Auditors are like the Belgicke armies that consist of French English Scotch Germaine Spanish Italian c. so many hearers so many humours the same diuersity of men and mindes That as guests at a strange dish euery man hath a rellish by himselfe that all our helpes can scarce help one soule to heauen But of all kindes there is none that creepes with better insinuation or leaues behinde it a deeper impression in the Conscience then a fit comparison This extorted from Dauid what would hardly haue ben graunted that as Dauid slew Goliath with his owne sword so Nathan slew Dauids sinne with his owne word Iotham conuinced the Shechemites folly in their approued raigne of Abimelech ouer them by the tale of the Bramble Euen temporall occasions are often the Mines to digge out spirituall instructions The people flocke to Christ for his bread Christ preacheth to them another bread whereof hee that eates shall neuer dye The Samaritane vvoman speakes to him of Iacobs Well hee tells her of Iesus Well whose bottome or foundation was in Heauen whose mouth and spring downewards to the earth crosse to all earthly fountaines contayning waters of life to be drawne and carried away in the Buckets of faith She thought it a new Well she found it a true Well whereof drinking her soules thirst was for euer satisfied The Creeple begges for an Almes the Apostle hath no money but answeres his small request with a great bequest health in the name of Iesus Nihil additur marsupio multum saluti His Purse is nothing the fuller his body is much the happier This course you see both Christ and his Apostles gaue vs in practise and precept In practise When the woman blessed the wombe that bare Christ and the pappes which gauâ— him sucke he deriueâ— hence occasion to blesse them which conceiue him in their faith and receaue him in their obedience Blessed are they that heare the word of God and keepe it Euen as Mary her selfe was rather blessed percipiendo fidem quam concipiendo carnem Christi in receauing the faith then conceauing the flesh of Christ. So the newes of his kinred in the flesh standing at the doore taught him to teach who are his true kinred in the Spirit In precept to his Apostles If they will not receaue and beleeue you Wipe off the dust of their Citie that cleaueth to your feete against them If they will not be moued with your words amaze them with your wonders Heale the sicke cleanse the leapers raise the dead cast out Deuils We cannot now worke miracles yet we can speake of miracles Euen we must also as obey his Documents so obserue his doings and follow him in due measure both in his words works though non passibus aequis not with equall steps Our imitation must be with limitation aptly dâ—stinguishing what we must onely admire in our mindes what admit in our manners 2. To all Christians that wee climbe vp by the staires of these inferiour creatures to contemplate the glorious power of the Creatour A good Christian that like the Bee workes honey from euery flower suffers no action demonstration euent to slip by him without a question All Obiects to a meditating Solomon are like wings to reare mount vp his thoughts to Heauen As the old Româ—nes when they saw the blew stones thought of Olympus so let euery Obiect though low in it selfe eleuate our mindes to Mount Syon A meane scaffold may serue to raise vp a goodly building Courtiers weather-driuen into a poore Cottage etiam in caula de Aula loquuntur gather hence opportunitie to praise the Court Wee may no lesse euen ex hara de ara dicendi ansam sumere from our Tabernacles on earth be induced to praise our standing house in Heauen So as the Philosopher aymed at the pitch stature of Hercules by viewing the length of the print of his foote Wee may by the base and dwarfiâ—h pleasures on our earth guesse at the high and noble ioyes in Heauen How can we cast vp our eyes to that they were made to behold and not suffer our mindes to transcend it passing through the lower Heauen which God made for Fowles Vapours Meteors to the Firmament wherein he fixed his Starres and thence meditating of the Empyreall Heauen which he created for himselfe his Angels his Saints a place no lesse glorious aboue the visible then the visible is aboue the earth Read in euery Starre and let the Moone be your Candle to doe it the prouident disposition of God the eternitie of your after-life But
round about you and whiles you quake at the plagues so naturall to our neighbours blesse your owne safetie and our God for it Behold the Confines of Christendome Hungarie and Bohemia infested and wasted with the Turkes Italy groning vnder the slauerie of Antichrist which infects the soule worse then the Turke infests the body Behold the pride of Spâ—ine curbed with a bloody Inquisition Fraunce a faire and flourishing Kingdome made wretched by her Ciuill vnciuill warres Germany knew not of long time what Peace meant neither is their warre ended but suspended Ireland hath felt the perpetuall plague of her Rebellions And Scotland hath not wanted her fatall disasters Onely England hath line like Gedeons fleece dry and secure when the raine of Iudgements haue wetted the whole earth When God hath tossed the Nations and made them like a wheele and as the stubble before the winde onely England hath stoode like Mount Syon with vnmoued firmenesse Time was she petitioned to Rome now she neither feares her Bulls nor desires her Bulwarkes The destitute Brittaines thus mourned to their conquering Romanes Aetio ter Consulâ— gemitus Britannorum Repellâ—nt nos Barbari ad mare Repellit nos mare ad Barbaros Hinc oriuntur duo funerum genera quia aut iugulamur aut submergimur To the Romane Consull the Brittaines send groaning in stead of greeting The Barbarous driue vs vpon the Sea The Sea beates vs backe vpon the Barbarous Hence we are endangered to a double kinde of death either to be drowned or to haue our throates cut The Barbarous are now vnfeared enemies and the Sea is rather our Fort then our Sepulcher A peacefull Prince leads vs and the Prince of peace leads him And besides our peace wee are so happy for Balme and Physitians that if I should sing of the blessings of God to vs this should still be the burden of my Song What could the Lord doe more for vs There is Bâ—lme at Gilead there are Physitians there Will there be euer so Is there not a time to loose as well as to get Is whiles the Sâ—nctuarie is full of this holy Balme Gods word if whiles there is plenty of Physitians and in them plenty of skill the health of Israell is not restored how dangerous will her sicknesse be in the priuation of both these restoratiues They that grow not rich in peace what will they doe in warre Hee that cannot liue well in Summer will hardly scape staruing in Winter Israell that once had her Cities sowne with Prophets could after say Wee see not our signes there is not one Prophet among vs. They that whilome loathed Manna would haue beene glad if after many a weary mile they could haue tasted the crummes of it He whose prodigallity scorned the bread in his Fathers house would afterwards haue thought himselfe refreshed vvith the huskes of Swiâ—e The Sâ—nne doth not euer shine there is a time of setting No day of iollitie is without his euening of conclusion if no cloud of disturbance preuent it with an ouer-casting First God complaines men sing daunce are Iouiall and neglectfull at last man shall complaine and God shall laugh at their destructions Why should God be coniureâ— to receiue his Spirit dying that would not receiue Gods spirit liuing All things are whirled about in their circular courses and who knowes whither the next spoake of their wheele will not be a blanke Euen in laughter the heart is sorrowfull and the end of that mirth is heauinesse If the blacke stones of our miseries should be counted with the white of our ioyes we should finde our calamities exceeding in number as well as they doe in nature Often haue wee read our Sauiour weeping but neuer laughing Wee cannot chuse but lament so long as we walke on the bankes of Babilon It is enough to re-assume our Harpes when we come to the high Ierusalem In Heauen are pure ioyes in Hell meere miseries on Earth both though neither so perfect mixed one with another Wee cannot but acknowledge that wee begin and end with sorrow our first voyce being a crie our last a groane If any ioyes step in the midst they doe but present themselues on the Stage play their parts and put off their glories Successiuely they thrust vpon vs striuing either who shall come in first or abide with vs longest If any be more daintie of our acquaintance it is ioy It is a frequent speech fuimus Troes we haue beene happy Cum miserum quenquam videris scias cum esse hommem cum vero gloriosum sciâ—s cum nondum esse Herculem If thou seest one miserable that 's a man but if thou seest another glorying yet that 's no God There is no prescription of perpetuitie It is enough for the Songs of Heauen where Saints and Seraphins are the Choristers to haue no burden as no end belonging to them Let that be the standing house where the Princes of GOD shall keepe their Court without griefe or treason our Progresse can plead no such priuiledge We must glad our selues here with the intermission of woes or interposition of ioyes let that place aboue chalenge and possesse that immunitie from disturbance where eternitie is the ground of the Musicke Here euery day is sure of his night if not of clouds at noone Therefore mutet viâ—am qui vult accipere vitam let him change his life on earth that lookes for life in heauen Tu quamcunque Deus tibi fortunauerit horam Grata sume manu nec dulcia differ in annum Take the opportunitie which Gods mercie hath offered thee It is fit that God should haue his day when thine is past Your saluation is now neerer then you beleeue it but if you put away this acceptable time your damnation is neerer then you feare it Mourne now for your sinnes whiles your mourning may helpe you Thaâ— is the Mourners marke yet the last letter of the Alphabet for an vltimum vale to sinne Euery soule shall mourne either here with repentance or hereafter in vengeance They shall be oppressed with desperation that haue not expressed contrition Herodotus hath a tale of the Pipeâ— that comming to the Riuer side began to play to the fishes to see if they would daunce when they were little affected with his musicke he tooke his Net and throwing it among them caught some which were no sooner cast on the dry ground but they fell a leaping to whom the Piper merrily replied that since they had erst scorned his Musicke they should now daunce without a Pipe Let it goe for a fable Christ saith to vs as once to the Iewes Wee haue piped vnto you the sweet tunes of the Gospell but ye would not daunce in obedience time will come you shall runne after vs as the Hinde on the barren Mountaines but then you may daunce without a Pipe and leape Leuolto's in Hell that haue daunced the Deuils Measures on Earth This is the time you
the other side of Iordan The fetching ouer their Merchandise was no long nor dangerous voyage Yet was this spirituall Balme neerer to them it lay like Manna at their dores Venit ad limina virtus The Kingdome of Heauen is among you saith Christ. There needed no great iourney for naturall Phisicke but lesse for spirituall comfort Behold God himselfe giues his vocall answeres betweene the Cherubins Yet alas as it was once iustly prouerb'd on the Monkes and such spirituall or rather carnall Couents in that night of Popery that the neerer they were to the Church the further from God So it was euen verefied of the Iewes that by how much they were of all next to the Sanctuary by so much of all remotest from sanctitie And therefore he that once said Gilead is mine and of the Temple in Iuda this is my house called by my name afterward left both the hill of Gilead and the Mount Syon and the holy Sanctuary a pray to the Romanes who left not a stone vpon a stone to testifie thâ— ruines of it or for succeeding ages to say This was the Temple of God Thus saith the Prophet Hosea Gilead is a Citie of them that worke iniquitie and is polluted with blood Therefore God turned that fruitfull Land into barrennesse for the wickednesse of them â—hat dwelt therein For not content with the fertillitie of their soile they manured it with blood saith the Prophet Hence no maruell if it became at last like the cuâ—sed Mountaines of Gilboah that drunke the blood of Saul and Ionathan You haue heard the Balme the next subiect that offers it selfe to our speech is the Phisitians Is there no Balme at Gilead is there no Phisitians there The Prophets are allegorically called Phisitians as the word is Balme So are the Ministers of the Gospell in due measure in their place To speake properly and fully Christ is our onely Phisitian and wee are but his Ministers bound to apply his sauing Phisicke to the sickly soules of his people It is he onely that cures the carkasse the conscience 1. No Phisitian can heale the body without him The Woman with the bloudy issue was not bettered by her Phisitians though she had emptied all her substance into their purses till Christ vndertooke her cure The Leper in the 8. of Mathew was as hopelesse as haplesse till hee met with this Phisitian and then the least touch of his â—inger healed him Phisitians deale often not by extracting but protracting the disease making rather diseases for their cure then cures for diseases prolonging our sicknesses by Art which Nature or rather natures defect hath not made so tedious Therefore as one saith wittily the best Phisicke is to take no Phisicke or as another boldly our new Phisicke is worse then our old sicknesse But when our diseases be committed to this heauenly Doctour and hee is pleased to take them in hand our venture is without all peraduenture wee shall be healed The least touch of his finger the least breath of his mouth can cast out the euill in vs that can cast out the diuell in vs he can hee will cure vs. 2. No Minister can heale the Conscience where Christ hath not giuen a blessing to it Otherwise he may lament with the Prophet I haue laboured in vaine I haue spent my strength for nought Or as the Apostle I haue fished all night and caught nothing yet at thy command c. Who then is Paul or who is Apollo but Ministers by whom â—ee belieued â—uen as the Lord gaue to euery man I haue planted Apollo watered but GOD gaue the increase If any be blinde Hee is the Oculist if any be lame He sets the Bonâ—s if any be wounded Hee is the Chirurgion if any be sicke Hee is the Phisitian They write of the Indian Phisitians that they cure the wound by sucking the poison Christ heales after a manner I know not whither more louing and strange by taking the disease vpon himselfe Who his owne selâ—e bare our sinnes in his owne body on the tree He was wounded for our transgressions hee was bruised for our iniquities and with his stripes we are healed And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquitie of vs all As the scape-goaâ—e was said to beare vpon him the sinnes of Israell so saith the Prophet of his antytipe Christ morbos portauit nostros hee hath borne our griefes too vnsupportable a burthen for our shoulders able to sincke vs downe to hell as they did Caine and Iudas if they had beene imposed Tulit Iesus Christ carried our sorrowes Neuer was such a Phisitian that changed healths with his sicke Patient But Hâ—e was humbled for vs. Mans maker is made man the worlds succourer takes sucke the Bread is hungry the Fountaine thirsty the Light sleepy the Way weary the Truth accused the Iudge condemned Health it selfe is become sicke nay dead for our saluation For mans sake such was our weaknesse Christ descended such was his kindnesse tooke one him to cure vs such was his goodnesse and performed it such was his greatnesse It was not Abanah nor Pharphar nor all the riuers of Damascus not the water of Iordan though bathing in it 70. times not Iobs â—now-water nor Dauids water of Isope not the poole of Bethesda though stirred with a thousand Angels that was able to wash vs cleane Onely fusus sanguis Medici factum medicamentum phrenetici the bloud of the Physitian is spilt that it may become a medicine of saluation to all beleeuers This is the Pelican that preserues her young with her own blood This is the Goat that with his warme gore breakes the adamants of our harts This is that lambe of God that with his owne blood takes away the sinnes of the world When the Oracle had told the king of Athens that himselfe must dye in the battaile or his whole army perish Codrus then King neuer stucke at it but obtruded his owne life into the â—awes of ineuitable death that hee might saue his peoples The King of heauen waâ— more freely willing to lay downe his for the â—edemption of his Saints when the eternall decree of God had propounded him the choise Is there no means to recouer the sicke world but I must dye that it may liue then take my life quoth Life it selfe Thus pro me doluit qui non habuit quod pro se doleret He was made sicke for me that I might be made sound in him This then is our Phisitian in whom alone is sauing health As Sybilla sung of him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Virginij partus magnoque aequaeua Parenti Progenies superas coeli quae missa per auras Antiquam generis labem mortalibus aegris Abluit obstructique viam patefecit Olympi Hee wrought all things with his word and healed euery disease with his power To Him let vs resort confessing our sores our sorrowes They that be