vnto Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisedome what to doe teaching and admonishing one another Nay this Solomon tells vs his preacher practised The wiser he was the more he taught the people knowledge He that is wise only for himselfe is a candle his vnder a bushell but he who is wise for others is a candle set in a candlesticke which giveth light to all who are in the house he who is wise only for himselfe is as a box of ointment shut and closed vp he who is wise for others as precious spiknard powred out which yeelds a sweet savour to all that are in the roome he who is wise only for himselfe is a curtaine or carpet rooled vp he who is wise for others as a faire peece of Arras spread abroade and displaid to the veiw of all men As God hath giuen vs eares to learne from others so likewise a tongue to teach others what we haue learned our eares being as the conduite pipes to conuay it to the heart for our owne good and our tongue as the cocke to conuay it forth againe frō the cisterne of the heart for the good of others And the tongue being thus imployed is the Glory of a man Whereas our wisedome being concealed is as a treasure that is hid of which Siracides what profit is there in either of them Such wisedome is none other then the talent wrapped vp in a napkin which was not only taken from the owner of it but himselfe cast into vtter darknesse Neither let vs feare that by drawing out our wisedome for the good of others we shall thereby draw it dry one candle we see may serue for the lighting of a thousand and yet loose nothing of its owne light as the Widdow of Sarepta at the Prophets command drew out of her cruse oile enough for the filling of many vessels yet was not that in the cruse at all diminished nay we are so farre from diminishing the oile or light of our wisedome by this meanes that it rather hereby increaseth as the few loaues and fishes which were distributed among many thousands by Gods blessing multiplied into twelue baskets full or as vessels of gold or siluer of brasse or peuter the more they are vsed the sweeter and brighter they are by teaching others we call to minde many things which we had either altogether or almost forgotten and not only so but thereby we fix and imprint the deeper in our minds such things as we remember and so are vpon all occasions more ready to make vse of them aswell for our owne good as the good of others Now as this office or act of teaching is thus profitable both to our selues and others so is it to God most acceptable as being in sundry places commanded by him and commended vnto vs Neither is it lesse honourable in it selfe then to him acceptable whosoeuer to the doing shall adde the teaching of his commandements the same shall be called great in the kingdome of heauen Tell me I beseech you what were the Patriarks the Prophets the Priests the Fore-runner of Christ the Apostles the Evangelists the Disciples but teachers though Dauid and Solomon were both of them great kings yet is it doubtlesse no lesse honour to them to haue beene Teachers then kings And for our blessed Saviour one speciall end as we knowe of his incarnation why he was apparrelled with our flesh was that he might teach as he was a king to rule and Priest by sacrifice to expiate so likewise a Prophet to teach his Church And surely he taught as neuer man taught not as the Pharises faintly and formally but as one having authority all men wondring at the gratious words which as from an hony-combe dropped from his lipps in so much that a poore woman standing among the throng of the multitude whom he taught could not hold but cryed out Blessed is the wombe that bare thee and the papps that gaue thee sucke When he left the world the last legacie he bequeathed was Goe teach all nations and being ascended he sends downe the Holy Ghost for the same purpose not only to bee a comforter but a teacher according to that promise of his before his ascention hee shall teach you all things And as both God the Sonne and God the Holy Ghost the second and the third Person in Trinity are Teachers so is God the Father to the first Person in the Trinitie They shall be all taught of God Ioh. 6.45 Cathedram habet in coelo qui corda docet He is Doctor of the chaire in heauen who toucheth and teacheth the heart Since then this office of teaching is so profitable both to our selues and others to God so acceptable and in it selfe so honourable Let him who hath this office waite vpon his office not fleecing but feeding the flocke committed to his charge not by constraint but willingly not for filthy lucre but of a readie minde And let men so esteeme of vs as of Teachers dispensers of the mysteries of God we desire not to be better accounted of so we desire to be accounted we expect no more from you neither can you in dutie performe lesse to vs. Philip King of Macedon held it a great part of his sonne Alexanders happinesse that he was borne in that age in which Aristotle might be his teacher Alexander againe ascribed his being to his father Philip but his well being to his master Aristotle and Aristotle himselfe writes that men can neuer yeeld sufficient thanks to the Gods to their Parents to their teachers which if it be true of intellectuall or morall or civill wisedome then much more of spirituall Let them who are taught know that they owe them who teach them by labouring in the word and doctrine a double honour an honour of maintenance and an honour of reverence He who is taught should make him who teacheth him partaker of all his goods and not only so but the very feete of them who preach the Gospell of peace and bring glad tydings of good things should be not only welcome but beautifull vnto vs We should be ready if occasion so required with Cornelius to kisse the very ground they tread vpon nay with the Galatians to pluck out our very eyes to doe them service If they sow vnto vs spirituall things let vs not thinke it a great matter if they reape our carnall things 1. Cor. 9.12 The second act issuing from wisedome but by the interueining of teaching is the turning of men vnto righteousnesse The principall part of our conuersion standeth in faith and faith commeth by hearing now hearing there can not be without teaching nor profitable teaching without wisedome So that wisedome is as the roote teaching as the stalke springing from this roote and this kinde of turning as the flowre shooting forth from this stalke I deny not but men may be and sometimes are turned vnto righteousnesse by miracles by extraordinary reuelations or the ministery
Now the power here meant not being that Essential must needs be this Oeconomicall For other power hee hath none and this he hath receiued thereby to giue eternall life But let vs enquire a little farther into the nature of this power There is a double created Power the one Secular and Mundane the other Heavenly and Spirituall Is this Power of Christ Secular and Mundane Surely such a Power the Iewes expected in their Messias and the Apostles themselues were for a while swaied with the like hope concerning Christ. And now also some Papists there are who for the easier advancement of the Pope therevnto would faine haue it so because as here hee saith Power so else where our Saviour saith All power is given vnto me But for these Bellarmine himselfe may suffice to confute them For saith hee every kingdome is acquired by one of these waies either by Inheritance or Election or Conquest or Donation But Hereditary kingdome Christ had none For although he were descended from David and so was of the blood royall yet that he was next of blood vnto the crowne doth not appeare And besides as touching the kingdome the seed of Iecon David had long before determined in Ieconiah neither was any of his race ever after King King also by Election he was none as appeares by that of Iohn that when he perceiued they would come and take him by force to make him a King he departed from them into a mountaine himselfe alone And when he was requested to divide the inheritance betweene two brothers he refused for said he Man who made me a iudge or a divider over you Neither was he so by conquest for he neuer made warre vpon any mortall Prince but only on the prince of darkenesse Nor finally by Donation from God for my kingdome saith he is not of this world and againe my kingdome is not from hence as if he should say a King I am but no secular King Neither did he at any time exercise any kingly power but â—ame rather to minister and to be iudged then to iudge to be ministred vnto Furthermore Kingly authority was neither necessary nor profitable vnto him but superfluous and vnprofitable For the end of his comming was the redemption of mankind wherevnto temporall power was not necessary but only spirituall And whereas it was his office to perswade from the loue of worldly glory wealth and pleasures vnto the contempt thereof temporall power would haue beene not only vnprofitable but also a great let and hinderance therevnto Lastly all the Prophets foretell only of a spirituall and eternall kingdome which should be restored to Israell But temporall is not eternall and how can such a kingdome bee said to be restored seeing it continued still in the hands of the Romans vntill by them they were rooted out from being a nation vpon earth Secular and worldly power therefore our Saviour had none What then Heavenly and Spirituall And this appeareth first by the end of Christs comming and the authority bestowed vpon him For this was Spirituall namely to deliver mankind from spirituall Egypt and Babylon the bondage of Sinne and Satan and to bring them vnto the eternall fruition of God wherein standeth everlasting life Secondly by the meanes appointed for the atchieving of this end For the weapons of his warfare are not carnall but spirituall Outwardly hee worketh through the eare by the preaching of the Gospell inwardly vpon the spirit conscience by the power of his divine spirit wherevpoÌ„ saith the Apostle St Paul The kingdome of God is not meat drinke but righteousnesse and peace and ioy in the Holy Ghost In a word what more frequent in Scripture then to call this power of Christ the kingdome of Heaven Which what other doth it import then that it is no way earthly but altogether heavenly and spirituall But you will say wherein standeth this Spirituall authority of Christ I answere in two things whereof the first is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the enacting of wisdome and good lawes For without lawes no kingdome or state can stand And to him alone it belongs to command lawes who is the soveraigne The soveraigne in this kingdome is Christ. He therefore is Legislator the law maker yea as St Iames saith Vnus legislator the only law maker And by vertue of this power hee prescribeth vnto the subiects of his kingdome both credenda what articles we are by Faith to beleeue facienda what duties we are in life to performe All which least any should pleade ignorance he hath caused publikely to be proclaimed both by word and writing And to perswade the readier obedience to them after the manner of all law-makers he annexeth both promises and threatnings promises of rich and plentifull reward to them that shall be obedient threatnings of rigorous and severe punishment to all that shall be rebellious and disobedient To descend to farther particularity would bee infinite I forbeare therefore and passe to the other part of his power which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 righteous iudgement For lawes without due execution are vaine and to no purpose duly executed they will not be vnlesse there be a superior to looke vnto it As therefore Christ is the Lawmaker so is he also Iudge ordained by God according as we beleeue in the Articles of the Creed to be the Iudge both of quick and dead A soveraigne Iudge from whom lies no appeale A righteous Iudge who accepteth the person or none but pronounceth sentence precisely according to the worke According I say to the worke For herein standeth his power of judicature namely in dispencing rewards and punishments according to the observation of his lawes or the transgression of them which ever he doth vpon due cognizance of the cause and conviction of the party A power farre aboue the reach of any other creature and incident only to him who subsisteth in the person of the sonne and that by vertue of such personall vnion So that as the Priesthood of Christ is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which cannot passe from him vnto another by the same proportion his kingly power is so proper vnto him as it is vncommunicable to any other whatsoever And thus much of the first poynt Quid what is given Whence wee may obserue first seeing the Power of Christ as he is man be farre aboue all created Powers yet is not infinite it makes against all those who either swallow vp the humane nature into the divine and so turne it into God such as were some of the ancient Heretikes and among them the Eutychians or who shed and poure out all the divine attributes and so the omnipotence and infinite power of God into the humanity such as are if yet now adayes such there be some of the rigider divines in Germanie If there be such I say For perhaps all the late quarrell risen betwixt them and vs grew
Iesus whom yee haue crucified both Lord and Christ. Howbeit this power the Father giues not as the former Donatione naturali by naturall donation sed gratuitâ by free voluntary gift And therefore as notwithstanding the former he was co-equall with the Father so in regard of this hee is subiect to the Father Wherefore in this respect hee saith Pater major me est my Father is greater then I and though he be Lord of all yet the Father calleth him his Servant And the Schoole in regard of his humane nature saith that he is Subiectus sibi ipsi subiect to his owne selfe But it will be obiected that Christ obtained his kingdome by conquest how then could he receaue it from his Father by gift Wherevnto I answere first that the right title he had was from the gift of the Father before he went about to conquer it secondly that the power also whereby he conquered it hee receaued from the gift of his Father In regard whereof the Father sticketh not to challenge the conquest vnto himselfe Sit thou saith he vnto the Sonne on my right hand vntill I make thine enimies thy footstoole Which yet is thus to bee vnderstood that the Father by the Sonne and the Sonne vnder his Father by power receaued from him hath subdued and mastered all his enimies But when receaued he this power from him and how long was he to hold it He receaued it then when hee receaued his vnction His Vnction he receaued in the instant of his Incarnation For assoone as the Personall vnion began so soone was he annointed with the oyle of gladnesse aboue all his fellowes that is with the fulnesse of all such graces as were fit for the menaging of so great power as wisdome counsell zeale of iustice strength and the like And no sooner was he annointed but presently hee was a King Melchizedeck a king of righteousnesse wise to doe iudgement iustice It is true he suppressed this power for a time For the Word emptied himselfe of his glory and his humane nature was to suffer many things Wherevpon it is said He could doe no miracle in his owne country nor might not send his Disciples into the way of the Gentiles It was as a sword in the sheath or as Dauids authority before Sauls death At times indeed he shewed some tokens thereof as in stilling the Sea commanding spirits raising the dead and the like yet the execution thereof could not be plenarie till after his resurrection and when he was set at the right hand of his Father Licet Christus quantum ad divinitatem c. saith Lira Although Christ according to his divinity had from all eternity this power in heauen and earth and authoritativè by way of authority had it he also as man from the first instant of his conception yet executivè by way of execution hee had it not before his resurrection but would be subiect to possibility for our redemption But how long was this power to continue with him Forever For as he was a priest so also was he to be a King for ever after the order of Melchizedecke Thy throne ô God saith David is for ever and ever a text which Saint Paul to the Hebrewes applyeth vnto Christ. And Daniel His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not passe a way and his kingdome that which shall not be destroyed And the Angell Gabriell Hee shall raigne over the house of Iacob forever and of his kingdome there shall be no end Yea but doth not the Apostle say that when he shall haue put downe all rule and all authority and power then the kingdome shall be delivered vp by him to God even the Father and that then the sonne himselfe shall also be subiect vnto him It is true hee saith so But we are further to know that the kingdome of Christ containeth in it two things the mediatory function of his Kingly office and his Kingly glory That he shall lay aside for then there will be no further necessity nor vse thereof He shall not need to fight any more with the prince of darknesse nor to governe his Church as formerly by the word and sacrament For God as he is now something in vs so then shall he be all in all vnto vs. But this hee shall hold for ever as being by the acts of his mediation iustly acquired and according to covenant bestowed vpon him by his Father As therefore the Father even now raignes although he haue delivered the kingdome to the Sonne even so then shall the Sonne also raigne although he deliver vp his kingdome vnto the Father And thus hath Christ omnem potestatem in omnia in omnia secula all power over all things and vnto all eternity The vse of this point briefly may be this First seeing Christ vsurped not this power but receiued it by lawfull donation from his Father therefore neither should wee presume vpon any office or place vntill wee be lawfully called therevnto Should we runne without sending wee should but incurre the displeasure of God be authors of much confusion and mischiefe in the Church Secondly seeing he receiued this power together with his Vnction it may lesson vs not to affect any calling till wee be annointed with sufficient gifts for the discharge thereof Go teach baptize all nations saith our Saviour to his Apostles but withall he furnisheth them with cloven tongues and filleth them with the Holy Ghost To adventure on a businesse without due abilities as it proceedeth from abundance of boldnesse so will it be recompenced with equall measure of shame Lastly seeing his power continueth for ever and of his kingdome shall be no end wee may take knowledge that it will bee in vaine for any to oppose themselues vnto it Hell gates shall never be able to prevaile against it how much lesse the policies of mortall men or their strongest attempts For that which is eternall is invincible and can never be destroyed And thus much of the third point A quo from whom The fourth and last is Quorsum to what so great power was given him For wee may not thinke that God doth vse magno conatu nihil agere with much a doe to effect nothing And if nature which is but the creature of God doe nothing in vaine and wise men ever propound some end vnto their actions much more ought we to iudge so of him who is both the author of nature and wisdome it selfe An end therefore was intended and that doubtlesse of highest consequence For otherwise what need so great power and glory to atchieue it If in the creation dixit factum est the word was no sooner said but the thing was done yet here not words no nor so great power without his glorification will not serue the turne this it seemes is of a higher straine then that What then may it be This that to as many as are
of it But before we come particularly vnto them we must needs premise a word or two touching the condition and enquire what it is to come after Christ. Among divers interpretations two there are which to me seeme most likely The first is if any will come after me that is if any will be my Disciple Thus S. Luke himselfe seemeth to expound it where speaking in a manner to the same purpose he saith whosoeuer beareth not his crosse and followeth mee cannot bee my Disciple Wherevnto reason also agreeth for Schollers vse not to goe before their Masters but to come after them whence vsually they are called Followers as the Followers of Plato the Followers of Aristotle In this sence then it is as if our Saviour should say If any will be my scholler But hee meanes a scholler not titularlie and in name only like Apothecaries boxes quorum tituli habent remedia pyxides venena which containe in them poisons hauing the titles of remedies but really and truely one that is so indeed and to speake plaine English a â—rue Christian. The second interpretation is if any will come after me that is if any will arriue at that end to the which I am aspiring before him namely eternall glory Neither is this vnlikely for Christ is the author and finisher of our Faith who for the ioy that was set before him endured the crosse despising shame and is set at the right hand of the throne of God Hee by his blood hath consecrated a new and liuing way for vs into the holy of holies whether he is ascended before vs there to prepare mansions for all such as will come after him And in this sense it is as if our Saviour should say if any will come to eternall life and glory after me Now whether of these two sences shall we take I suppose both for first the circumstances of the Text admit both secondly both agree with the analogie of faith thirdly the safest rule is not to straighten but to enlarge the meaning of the holy Ghost as much as may be and lastly what God hath ioyned together let no man put asunder Now no man can bee a Citizen of heauen vnlesse he be a Disciple of Christ here on earth The Schoole of Christ and the kingdome of heaven are contriued like Marcellus two Temples of Vertue and Honour For as none could enter into the Temple of Honour but he must first passe through the Temple of Vertue so neither can any man passe into the kingdome of glory but by the schoole of grace He that will be glorious there must first be gracious here There is no salvation but only by the Mediation of Christ his Mediation stands in his Priesthood Kingdome and Prophecie Hee is not a Priest to one a King to another and a Prophet to a third but he is all three vnto a man or he is none at all vnto him for Christ is not divided Whence it followeth that whosoeuer will be saued Christ must bee a Prophet vnto him and he must be a Disciple vnto Christ. The meaning then of this condition is as if our Saviour more fully and plainely had said If any will be my Disciple and by being my Disciple will come vnto the kingdome of heaven after me Now let vs descend in due order vnto the counsels and consider both the substance and necessity of them First of the first Let him deny himselfe What is that God saith the Apostle is faithfull he cannot deny himselfe that is he cannot say and vnsay for his promises are not Yea and nay but Yea and Amen neither can he say otherwise of himselfe then he is for he is truth it selfe cannot lye Must we thus deny our selues God forbid For then how can we resemble our heavenly Father and be perfect as hee is perfect for he neither doth nor can deny himselfe And seeing Christ is the expresse image of his Father and wee are to be conformed vnto the image of Christ it cannot be that he should advise vs to bee so vnlike either to his Father or himselfe as in this sense to deny our selues No this we leaue to cheating Priests and Iesuits who haue devised a new doctrine of Equivocation and Mentall Reservation If yee aske of a Priest art thou a Priest Hee will confidently and boldly deny himselfe and say I am no Priest reseruing in his minde of Baal or of Apollo which speech and reservation put together make vp they say one entire and true sentence I am no Priest of Baal or Apollo And this is the starting hole which these Foxes haue provided for themselues in the time of danger But O thou thrice blessed Lord and Saviour Christ and O yee blessed and holy Apostles and Martyrs of Christ how simple and ignorant were yee that yee knewe not this doctrine Had you knowne it how easily might you haue avoided those many troubles vexations and torments that yee endured Thou O Christ being demanded whether thou were the Christ mightst readily haue answered I am not with this reservation such as yee looke for yee Apostles and Martyrs of Christ being questioned whether yee were Christians might easily haue replyed we are not reseruing only in your mind such as yee slander vs to be devourers of young children incestuous and the like But the schoole of Machiavel and Loiola was not yet opened and Christians hitherto were trained vp only in the schoole of Christ all were of the minde of that Bishop who as Augustin saith was Firme both in name and deed who being demanded by persecutors for a Christian whom he had hidden answered roundly and without all Equivocation neither is it for a Christian to lie nor for a Bishop to betray a Christian and therefore I will not tell you I feare me when these Deniers of theÌ„selues shall appeare before Christ at the last day mentall reseruation will hardly excuse them and because they would not be knowne to be the Priests of Christ for so they pretend neither will Christ knowe them to bee of his flocke But of this enough being but by the way To Deny then in this place is not litterally and properly to be vnderstood but thus to disclaime to renounce to reiect to despise to make no reckoning and to take no notice of When our Saviour threatneth that hee will deny them before his Father in heauen whosoeuer shall deny him before men what meaneth he but this Hee will renounce them and not owne them for his Even as it is said of Levi to his great honour He said vnto his Father and to his mother I haue not seene him neither did he acknowledge his brethren nor knewe his owne that is he regarded them not nor tooke any notice of them But what must wee thus Deny Our selues He saith not Father Mother Brother Sister Wife children Friends Honour Wealth Pleasure and yet these things must be denied too but hee
philosophâ sententiâ I detest those men whose mouthes are full of the rules of Morality yet practise none of them But in a Minister of the Gospell it is yet a fouler incongruity if their words and workes disagree When Demades saw king Philip dancing I wonder ô Philip quoth he seeing thou bearest the person of a King that thou dost the workes of Thersites Much more rightly may I say of these I marvell that hauing taken vpon them the office of Phinees with what face they can act the part of Zimri Impudent beyond measure must they needs be who being guiltie none more of drunkennesse adultery blasphemy and the like yet lift vp their voices like trumpets and presume in open pulpit bitterly to inveigh against the same sinnes in others Every one will say to such a one Medice cura teipsum Physitian heale thy selfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you take vpon you to cure others being your selues full of boyles and vlcers It is altogether preposterous for a strumpet to take vpon her the reformation of the stewes Manus quae sordes abluit munda esse debet saith Gregory the hand had need to bee cleane that cleanseth other things The Spartans when an evill man gaue them good counsell caused an honest man to say the same then imbraced it What speake I of Spartans God cannot abide that a wicked mā hating to be reformed should once take his covenant in his mouth A more dangerous pestilence then a lewd Minister there cannot be the contagion of his life quickly infecteth euery one thinketh it not only lawfull but safe also to follow his guide And thus I feare doe they many times reason the Preacher indeed earnestly disswades from sinne and perswades vnto sanctitie of life threatning hell vnto the one and promising heauen vnto the other but if he beleeued verily that there is a heauen or a hell doe you thinke hee would liue such a deboisht and dissolute life as he doth He knowes well enough what he doth none better let vs doe as hee doth eat and drinke and be merry for to morrow wee shall die And thus Hophni Phinees behauing themselues like the sonnes of Belial are the very causes of Atheisme and prophanenesse in the world and by this meanes draw contempt not only on themselues but also vpon the sacrifices and religion of God But contrarily whosoever saith our Saviour Christ shall doe the commandements of God himselfe and teach others to doe them too shall be called great in the Kingdome of Heaven Of such a one it will bee reported that God is in him of a truth The Saints will receiue him as an Angell of God even as Christ Iesus and be ready to plucke out their eyes to giue them to him As for others he cannot but finde approuement in their consciences for as the wise heathen said Adeò gratiosa est virtus vt insitum etiam malis sit probare meliora so gratious a thing is vertue that even wicked men by the instinct of nature allow and commend that which is good And thus much of the third and last part the redresse of our contempt Now it remaines before I dismisse you briefly to make some particular application And here though I well might yet will I not extend my exhortation farther then our Apostle doth his hee restraineth his to Titus that is to the Minister so will I mine First therefore if according to our hopes and desires wee might now haue enioyed the presence of the reverend Father of this Diocesse I would humbly haue intreated him to See that Titus be not despised That to this end he would haue speciall care whom hee admits into this holy order for Non ex quolibet ligno fit Mercurius every man is not fit to make a Minister Farre be it from so reverend a Bishop either with Ieroboam to make Priests of the basest of the people or with Caligula to destinate his horse Incitatus to the Consulship That also hee would be pleased to beare an eye vpon those that are already admitted to countenance those that walke worthy of their places and severely to censure such as either by their idlenesse or misliuing scandalize their profession But I represse my selfe and from him that is absent turne my speech vnto you that are present and haue delegate power and authority from him You and those that depend vpon you doe I earnestly beseech to see to it also that Titus be not despised Good reason haue I thus to beseech you for your exorbitations and abuses redound to the dishonour of your Lord though he neither act them nor approue them and from him descend to the skirts of his clothing vs his inferiour Ministers Shall I tell you a story David sonne to Philip the good Duke of Burgundy being Bishop of Vtrecht would needs one day not by his Poser but by himselfe make triall of those that offered themselues to holy orders and finding them vnsufficient reiected all but three His officers therewith offended said it would be a foule shame to the Church if of three hundred three only should be admitted To whom the Bishop it would bee a fouler shame if insteed of men asses might be admitted Yea but say they this age breeds not Pauls and Hieroms you must take such as it affords I require not such quoth the Bishop but asses will I not admit Then must you increase our wages say they for by such asses doe wee liue Thus you see that inferiour officers sometime commit errors which the superiors know not of wherewith notwithstanding hee is charged and that they seeke more their owne advantage then the dignity either of the Church or the Churches Ministry It was the complaint of Saint Bernard in his time that Church officers studied more how to empty mens purses then to reforme their vices I feare these times are little better and that our mony is rather visited then our manners so the fees come in roundly no matter how irregularly men liue O that your principall aime were to redresse abuses to remoue scandalls out of the Church how pretious would your name bee among the Saints and what honour might you gaine both to Church and Churchmen What shall I farther say No more but this Your Courts are called Christian God grant your carriage may be so Christian in them that they may ever truly be as they are called My last addresse shall be to you my brethren and fellowes in the Ministry whom I adiure in the name of Iesus Christ carefully to see that no man despise you And to this end Hoc agite Take heede both to your selues and the flocke over which the holy Ghost hath made you overseers To your selues that you may proue Good men to your flocks that you may approue your selues Good Ministers Either by it selfe will not serue the turne what God hath joyned together may not be put asunder Liue
them so farre as to hold the bason and ewer to him to serue in the first dish at his table to hold his stirrop to lead his horse yea to bee his horses too and to carry him on their shoulders All this I marvell by what right Aaron aduanced not himselfe aboue Moses Christ denied his kingdome to be of this world Peter claimed no such power ancient Popes acknowledged Kings and Emperours to be their good Lords and Masters The first that vsurped it was a mushrom of the last night that brand of hell Hildebrand whom therefore Baronius makes the patterne of a perfect Pope as Machiavel doth that monster Caesar Borgia of a perfect Prince Secondly as they subject all Monarchs to the Bishop of Rome so he exempteth all Clerkes from their jurisdiction etiam vnctos culinae their cookes and skullions too erecting to himselfe a Monarchie in euery state possessing a third part in them affirming that Kings may not punish his Clarkes because they are not their subjects threatning theÌ„ with a thunderbolt from the Vatican if they shall presume so to doe This also I maruell by what law Divine we haue demonstrated the contrary Humane Princes cannot grant such priuileges as derogate from their soueraignty But since the Church of Rome is turned into a Court no maruell if Christian liberty also bee changed into temporall franchises and immunities Finally they teach that if a Prince become a tyrant or be an hereticke or excommunicate it is lawfull then to arme against him to set vpon him with dags kniues poisons yea if need be to vndermine and blow vp whole Parliaments with gunpouder and if any of them for such practises be convented before the Magistrate they may elude their examinations with equivocations and mentall reservations as they tearme it in their canting language but in true and plaine speech hellish lying and perjury Certainely for these traiterous and more then heathenish doctrines yee may be sure in scripture they haue neither precept nor example out of the Scripture the only presidents they can haue are the ancient Pharisees whom Iosephus reporteth to haue beene great enimies vnto kings and Mahumetan Assasins whose profession it was to murther Christian Princes and for cogging and cheating the Priscillian hereticks whose rule was Iura perjura secretum prodere noli sweare forsweare and bewray not in any case the mysteries of our sect and profession But besides Anabaptists and Papists there are others whose doctrines are sound and good yet out of an evill habit and custome yeeld not vnto Magistrates their due honour And are there not among vs too many of this kinde What muttering what whispering what censuring what sinister construction set vpon euery action what discouering what blazing of infirmities what so high but we will reach at what so deep but wee will bee sounding the bottome of Is this the honour is this the obedience is this the thankfulnes wherewith we requite our gouernours You will say they are vnjust tyrants oppressors bribers God forbid yet suppose it were so What if parents wrong their children and husbands bee froward to their wiues shall children therefore dishonour their parents and wiues their husbands As we delight in faire weather so must wee also patiently endure stormes and tempests when they come Hard Rehoboam must haue subjection as well as David and servants must be subject not only to good and courteous but also to froward Masters Happily our sins haue deserued such chastisement and then in wrath God sendeth evill Magistrates A certaine holy man they say expostulated on a time with God why he had permitted Phocas being so cruell a man to bee Emperour to whom a voice answered that if a worse man could haue beene found he should haue beene set over them the wickednesse of the world requiring it In these cases the only weapons of Christians are preces lachrymae fasting and prayer and whatsoeuer Magistrates be stâ—â—l wee must needs be subiect Wee must be subiect for feare of wrath for there is no mocking with princes Durum est scribere contra cos qui possunt proscribere it is dangerous to contest with them that can outlaw vs and turne vs out of all wee haue and to jest with those that can gladio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 returne the iest backe againe with the sword But to be subiect for Wrath only is no pleasing sacrifice vnto God nimis angusta est innocentia ad legem tantùm bonum esse it is but a poore innocence that is forced by law No wee must bee subiect for Conscience for the Lords sake If the heathen man being damned what he had learned by the study of Philosophy could answere to doe that willingly which others doe by compulsion should not a Christian bee ashamed not to learne so much by Christian religion The first lesson that Christian religion teacheth is humility if this be once learned Conscionable subiection will soone follow For where pride raignes Omnes dominari nemo servire vult every one will be a King none will be subiect but Humility is a vertue that fits vs Obedience and to doe the commandements of others As for you my Lords to whom according to your place subiection is due giue mee leaue to addresse my speech vnto you in the words of the Apostle to Titus See that no man despise you Neither let the speech seeme strange vnto you for if you be despised it proceeds mostly from your owne default either you are not such men or such Magistrates as you should be It is a great incongruity to looke for honour while your actions are dishonourable and to bee called and counted Lords being servants vnto base lusts and affections First then if you will haue others to be subiect vnto you bee you subiect vnto God kisse the sonne honour and obey him and God will honour you While man liued in subiection vnto God all the rest of the creatures stood in awe of him but when once he rebelled against God by eating of the forbidden fruit they rebelled against him also In like manner will it be with you if yee honour him men shall honour you if otherwise he knoweth how to poure contempt vpon princes also Next it behooueth you to carry yourselues in your places as becometh you that is as Iudges not as marchants not as marchants to buy and sell mens rights but as just Iudges to giue vnto every man his right And to this end it may please you to remember that the Scripture calleth you Gods and therefore that yee should bee like vnto God not accepting the persons of any nor suffering your selues to bee corrupted by any meanes but in every thing to giue righteous iudgement Remember I beseech you also that God standeth in the congregation of Gods and although in places of judicature an empty throne be not now set for him as it was among the Ethiopians yet be assured that he is alwaies present with you and will
certainly iudge you as he sees you iudge others Remember farther that they are men whose causes yee iudge made of the same stuffe bearing the same image of God redeemed by the same pretious bloud of Christ quickned by the same spirit heires of the same Kingdome with you Oh then tender them as your owne bowels let their bloud and right be deare and pretious in your eyes Remember lastly that though yee be Gods yet yee are men also and shall dye as men In Nabucadnezars image the head was gold the breast and arme siluer the belly and thighs brasse the leggs iron but all â—â—od on feete of clay Oh then when you are in your â—â—â—â—unalls thinke sometime of these feete that when they â—â—all faile you conscience of doing justice may support you Iudge yee therefore now as your selues would be iudged in the last day weigh every cause in even ballance let nothing but right sway you Draw forth the sword of your authority and strike at wickednesse couragiously Never more need the sins of this land are crying and spreading among the rest the pestilence of Drunkennesse infecteth every where There was a street in Rome called Vicus sobrius the sober streete but is there a village in England that may be called Villa sobria the sober village Every house almost is now become an ale-house and they are the very schooles of all rogery and villany yet by our country Magistrates are too much winked at and favoured Against these and the like enormities my Lords there is neede of your greatest severity Qui non vetat peccare cum potest iubet hee bids men sinne who 〈◊〉 power forbids them not Let not your remissenesse eithâ—â— harden the wicked or dishearten the good but rise vp 〈◊〉 with David to destroy all the wicked of the land Iustice requireth it at your hands wisdome requireth it justice that offendors may be cut off wisdome that others may be preserued from contagion and the state from Gods vengeance which otherwise will light vpon it if yee purge it not from such pollutions But your honours are wise and vnto the wise one word had beene sufficient Yet before I conclude I cannot but intreat my brethren of the cleargy also seeing them here so frequent to haue care that Magistracy be not despised As wee are desirous to be assisted by theÌ„ so let vs in our places assist them Let the sword of God Gedeon the sword of the mouth the mouth of the sword goe together while they labour 〈◊〉 make men subiect for wrath let vs endeavour to make them subiect for Conscience Wrath belongs vnto the Magistrate but Conscience is the taske of the Minister Oh theÌ„ let vs apply our selues diligently vnto this taske and speake home vnto the conscience first by our holy life and conversation and then by our powerfull and effectuall preaching Let our end and aime bee in all our Sermons not so much to please as to profit nor to tickle the eare with quaint phrases as to establish the heart with grace that the mind being enlightned the spirit fortified and flesh repressed vice may bee loathed and detested and the way of vertue facilitated and sweetned So shall wee make good subiects indeede such as if there were no wrath to terrify them yet meerely for conscience would submit themselues Yea so shall wee prepare both them and our selues also to bee meete subiects for that glorious Kingdome whose King is Trinity whose law Charity whose reward perfect blessednesse whose measure Eternity FINIS A DEFENCE OF THE LAVVFVLNESSE OF LOTS IN GAMING AGAINST THE Arguments of N. N. OXFORD Printed by I.L. for E. F. 1633. A DEFENCE OF THE LAWFVLNESSE OF LOTS IN GAMING NOT that I hope to purchase any great reputation to my selfe by confuting so slight a Pamphlet nor yet that I desire to afford the least countenance to those irregular Gamesters who loue not to keepe due compasse in their play but for sundry other important and weighty reasons haue I vndertaken this Defence of Lot-games Among the rest first to cleare the truth rightly to informe the vnderstanding that what wee doe or leaue vndone in this case bee not sinne vnto vs. For practice without knowledge is little better then Presumption and abstinence vpon errour is little lesse then Superstition Secondly to arme and settle weake and tender Consciences least happily some honest and religiously affected hearts who haue at times without scruple vsed these Games receiue some wound from these Arguments and be brought into a needlesse labyrinth and perplexity vnlesse they be provided of some buckler against them or threed to disintangle them Thirdly lastly to reforme the affection and to worke those that are contrary minded to a little more Charity that seeing vpon how slender and sandy a ground they haue wronged the people of God in their Christian liberty tying them farre shorter and straiter then God himselfe doth they may be moued hereafter not to censure their brethren with so much superciliousnesse to hold a better correspondence with them These are the cheefest ends I aime at for which I haue chosen rather to adventure my selfe into these lists then out of I know not what imaginary feare of encouraging idle and immoderate Gamesters to forbeare True it is debausht and lewd companions are not to bee humoured in their vanities howbeit it is a very preposterous course because of the abuse to condemne the lawfull vse and to labour the redressing of a misdemeanure in life either by breeding or fomenting an errour in judgement An errour in judgement will you say That is not yet demonstrated neither will it bee accounted so vntill the contrary Arguments bee sufficiently answered Let vs therefore in Gods name trie examine the force and strength of them N. N. Meere Lots vnlawfull in light matters as at play with Cards and Dice and the like exercises DEFENCE A Lot is nothing else but a casualty or casuall event purposely applied to the determination of some doubtfull thing Of Lots some are Meere some are Mixt. Meere Lots are those wherein there is nothing else but a Lot or wherein there is nothing applied to determine the doubt but only meere casualty Mixt Lots are those wherein something else besides casualtie is applied to determine the doubt as namely wit skill industrie the like These termes being thus cleared I answer first that by the tenor of your words you seeme to allow Mixt Lots in Gaming and only disallow Meere Lots Whereas notwithstanding you dispute anon against the vse of all Lots in light matters So that you haue not exprest your selfe distinctly enough and thereby giue iust occasion to suspect that you apprehend of this matter but confusedly Secondly I deny this Proposition affirming the Lots both Mixt and Meer are lawfull even in the lightest matters and consequently that cards and dice and tables and all other Games of the like nature are lawfull and may