to dwell in and sow the fields and plant vineyards which bring forth fruitfull increase for hee blesseth them and they multiply exceedingly and hee diminisheth not their cattell Hee powreth contempt vpon princes and turneth the springs of water into drinesse a fruitful land into barrennesse for the wickednes of them that dwel therin Yet he raiseth vp the poore out of misery and maketh him families like a flocke of sheep The righteous shall see it and reioyce and all iniquity shall stop her mouth And this is that which the holy Psalmist singeth of godly Ioseph more particularly Psal 105.17 18 19 20 21 22 Ioseph was sold for a slaue they held his feete in the stockes and hee was laid in yrons vntill his appointed time came and the counsell of the Lord tried him The King sent and loosed him he made him Lord of his house euen the ruler of the people deliuered him and made him ruler of his substance yea of his Princes and rulers that hee should bind them vnto his will and teach his ancient and wise men wisdome Gen. 45.16.17.18 19.20.21.22.23 And the Lord that thus gaue Ioseph fauour in the eyes of Pharaoh enclined likewise the heart of the King to fauour and loue Iacob the father of Ioseph and his brethren for his sake so that when the tidings came vnto Pharaohs house that Iosephs brethren were come it pleased Pharaoh well and his seruants Moreouer Pharaoh said vnto Ioseph say to thy brethren This doe yee lade your beasts and depart go to the land of Canaan and take your father and your housholds and come to me and I will giue you the best of the land of Aegypt and yee shall eate of the fat of the land And I command thee Thus doe ye Take you chariots out of the land of Aegypt for your children and for your wiues and bring your father and come also regard not your stuffe for the best of all the land of Aegypt is yours And the children of Israel did so and Ioseph gaue them Chariots according to the commandement of Pharaoh he gaue them victuals also for the iourney he gaue them all none excepted change of raiment and vnto Beniamin he gaue three hundreth peeces of siluer and fiue suites of raiment And vnto his father likewise he sent ten hee Asses laden with the best things of Egypt and ten shee Asses laden with wheat and bread and meate for his father by the way And when as Iosephs father and his brethren were come into Aegypt the good King knowing thereof Gen. 46.33 3â— 47.3 4.5 6.11 12. and vnderstanding that their trade for they liued not idle was to be occupied about cattell and sheepe as Sheepheards after that he had admitted them to his presence spake to Ioseph saying Thy father and thy brethren are come vnto thee the land of Egypt is before thee in the best place of the land make thy father and thy brethren dwell let them dwell in the land of Goshen and if thou knowest that there be men of actiuity among them make them rulers ouer my cattell And godly and happy Ioseph placed his father and his brethren and gaue them possession in the land of Egypt in the best of the land euen in the land of Rameses as good bountifull Pharaoh had commanded And the blessed son nourished his blessed father and his brethren and all his fathers houshold with bread euen to the yong children Dauid attained to great riches and honour by practising the rules of this Art 1 Sam. 16 17 2 Sam 2 5 7 8 22. 1 Chron 17 29. 1 King 3 6 Psal 78 70 71.72 hee feared God exceedingly called vpon him continally walking before him in truth in righteousnes and in purenes of his spirit yea he was a man after the Lords owne heart and he that was in his heart was with his heart and in his hand also and blessed him aboundantly Hee chose Dauid his seruant and tooke him from the sheepe-folds euen from behind the ewes with young brought hee him to feed his people in Iacob and his inheritance in Israel So he fed them according to the simplicitie of his heart 1 Sam. 18 18 23. Psal 113.7 and guided them by the discretion of his hands He was as hee saith of himselfe a poore man and of small reputation but God who taketh pleasure in raising vp the poore out of the dust and in lifting vp the beggar from the dongue-hil changed his pouertie into riches his despisednesse into honour his shepheards crooke into a princely scepter his countrey cap into a kingly crowne his base sheep-cote into a stately court and his pasture of small compasse into an ample kingdome In one word God that doth great things tooke him from following the sheep that he might rule ouer his people Israel 1 King 3 11 12 13. 10.21.23.25.27 28. 2 Chron. 1. 8. 13. Eccles 2.4.5.6.7 8.9 Salomon Dauids sonne did attaine to his great riches by practising these rules and namely because he did ask of the Lord vnderstanding to do iudgment and not riches nor honor nor long life nor yet the life of his enemies therfore the Lord gaue him not onely that which he asked but also those things he asked not euen riches and honor more then any in Israel had before him or yet after him So that hee builded houses planted vineyards pleasant gardens and orchards replenished with fruitfull trees purchased great possessions of Beeues and sheep gathered aboundance of siluer and gold yea hee made siluer as plenteous as stones in Ierusalem and exceeded all the Kings of the earth both in riches and in wisdome Iehosophat did attaine to great prosperitie by practising these Rules 2. Chro. 17. He sought the god of his fathers deuoutly and walked in his commandements diligently euen in the waies of his forefather Dauid and therefore the Lord was with him stablished the kingdom in his hand and all Iudah brought presents vnto him so that hee had of riches and honor in aboundance Esther and Mordecai attained to riches and honor by these Rules Esth 2. 6. 8. 10. The vncle the neece both of them feared God and therfore he raised them from low degree vnto princely dignitie from pouertie aduanced them to great riches So that Esther of a poore despised maid became a famous and an honourable queene euen the wife of king Ashuerus the mightie Monarke of the Medes and Persians and Mordecai of a poore despised man was preferred to great riches and honour so that he was made second vnto the king Daniel and his three fellowes Dan. 1 3 6. commonly called the three children practised the Rules of this art They excelled in the feare of the Lord and in wisdom which floweth therefro so that of poore captiues and prisoners hee made them Princes companions they were promoted in the Prouince of Babel to high honours
suffer any void roome therin so it crosseth the law of grace which enioyneth men to be gratious and charitable and commandeth such as haue more to giue cheerefullie or to lend freelie a part of their goods to such as haue lesse Giue to euery man that asketh of thee saith our Sauiour doe good Luke 6.30.35.38 and lend looking for nothing again and your reward shall be great and yee shall be the children of the most high Giue and it shall be giuen vnto you Giue and giue chearefullie 2. Cor. 9.7 for God loueth a chearefull giuer lend and lend freelie looking for nothing again Psalm 37.21.26 for God loueth a free and a frank lender And the righteous man saith Dauid is mercifull and giueth and like mercifull and lendeth and his seed enioyeth the blessing Psalm 15.1.5 And in expresse termes he telleth vs that the vsurer shall not dwell in Gods tabernacle nor rest in his holy mountaine So that the Christian must beware of vsurie and of getting or increasing goods by any such meanes So must hee likewise not onely in his owne person flee whoredome but also all sorts of whoremongerie in regard of others that he vse no such abominable meanes to come by money Deut. 23.17.18 The Lord expresly forbiddeth there should be any whorekeeper among his people and telleth vs that both the whore and her price are an abomination vnto the Lord. Let the whoremonger gather neuer so much goods by his whoremongerie yet both he and his wealth shall perish Eccles 23.17 All bread saith Iesus the sonne of Syrach is sweet to a whoremonger he will not leaue off till he perish Ephes 5.3 And the holy Apostle forbiddeth couetousnesse and vncleannesse once to be named amongst Christians and therefore exhorteth vs to mortifie our earthlie members fornication Colos 3.5.6 vncleannes and euill concupiscence inordinate affection and couetousnesse 1. Thes 4 3.4.5.7 for the which things saith he the wrath of God commeth on the children of disobedience for this is the will of God euen your sanctification and that yee should abstaine from fornication that euerie one of you should know how to possesse his vessel in holinesse and honour and not in the lust of concupisence euen as the Gentiles which know not God 1. Cor. 6.9.10.15 Heb. 13.4 for God hath not called vs vnto vncleannesse but vnto holinesse And as for whores and whoremongers and adulterers such God will iudge neither can they inherit the Kingdome of God saith the same Apostle That is as the blessed Apostle S. Iohn expoundeth it Reuel 21.8.27 they shall not enter into the great citie holy Ierusalem but shall haue their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death Now if Christians bee commanded by God by his Sonne Iesus Christ and by his seruants to mortifie flie abhorre and shunne all vncleannesse and concupiscence doth it not thence most necessarily follow that Christian magistrates may not permit any place for the exercise thereof And if whoredome is not to bee once named amongst Christians how much more ought it not to bee practised by priuate men or permitted by the Prince in the common-wealth for anie respect whatsoeuer and if God will iudge whooremongers and not suffer them to enter into his holy Citty and kingdome then they that are called Gods ought likewise to punish them and not suffer any such persons to haue any place in their citties or kingdome But rather with godly Iehoshaphat 1. King 22.40 2. King 23.7 and Iosiah they ought to put cleane out of the land all whooremongers and whoorekeepers and breake down burne all their brothel-houses as an abhomination vnto the Lord. Far be it from all such as are called Gods and ought to represse and punish sinne to permit any place in their Citties or kingdomes for the increasing of sinne and the dishonouring of God by the professed practise of sinne Neither doth it suffice to say that Magistrates and Princes for the preuention of the greater euils of priuate Sodomites of vnnaturall copulations and priuate fornications may permit and tolerate the lesser euill of a publicke brothel-house in some place remote from the Citty for besides that the Magistrates care and vigilancy ought to be such that there be no enormious sinne or hainous offence priuately or publikely committed or at least left vnpunished it can not bee otherwise but that one whore-house publickly permitted is more able to pull downe Gods indignation and iudgement against the whole Citty or kingdome aswell Prince as people then an hundreth priuate houses being defiled can do being either not knowne vnto the Magistrate or being punished by him if they be knowne For a smaller sinne being permitted to bee publickely professed practised prouoketh God more then a greater sinne doth if it be by the Magistrate repressed and punished It is not in the Princes power to keep sinne out of his Citty or Kingdome neither is he liable to iudgement punishment for that which commeth not within the compasse of his possibility But it lyeth in his power to keepe out of his kingdome a schoole-house for sinne and a worke-house for wickednesse and therefore if hee doe otherwise for any respect whatsoeuer hee in so doing maketh himselfe and his kingdome obnoxious vnto Gods indignation In one word it is an intolerable shame that Christians who are called to study and learne in Christs schoole mortification and sanctification of the flesh should haue a schoole of sinne opened vp to them wherein they can learne no other thing but to offend God to slay their owne soules to consume their bodies and to wast their substance and in one word to make shipwracke at once of godlinesse goodnesse and their goods Hereunto also it belongeth that no amorous or voluptuous books ballads or songs nor no lasciuious and prophane plaies or representations ought or are to suffered in a Christian Commonwealth For as the whore-house is the diuels schoole-house and whoremongers are the keepers and vshers of the schoole vnder the great maister thereof the spirit of vncleannes so amorous and lasciuious bookes ballads and songs are the bookes that this vncleane schoolemaister maketh his scholers buy to teach them how to defile their bodies and to slay their soules that in the end they may be made fit fewel for hell-fire And lasciuious stage-playes and representations are the same vncleane school-maisters sports pastimes and plaies which he appointeth vnto his schollers for to quicken and encourage them in the study and exercise of sinne Not that I meane to condemne all exercises of stage-playings minstrelzies or musicke for I doubt not but in themselues they are all lawfull and may bee so vsed that men may bee much furthered thereby in the way of vertue But onely that in a Christian Commonwealth great care ought to be had least that any of them be abused to the stirring vp inticing or alluring of men
exaction practised vpon his people whereof if hee had beene guiltie it should haue beene recorded no doubt amongst his other grieuous trespasses Likewise king Dauid who was their first king by Gods absolute approbation and therefore the spirit of God hath begun with Dauid the first Booke of the Kings euen a man after Gods own heart 1. Sam. 13.14 no doubt he exercised the same power ouer his people 1. Chro. 27.1 25 31. as may appeare by the monthly courses of his officers appointed ouer the treasures in the fieldes in the cities and in the villages for the collection custodie and dispensation of his substance And as for Salomon king Dauids sonne and successor it is more then manifest that he did put in practise this foresaid kingly power 1. King 4.7 22 23 27 28. described by the Prophet in taking order for the monthly prouision of his house by his twelue officers whom he appointed each man his month to prouide victuals in the diuers parts and quarters of his kingdome for himselfe and all that came to his table And who will or dare say that Salomon in so doing played the tyrant 1. King 10.23 was hee not a wise King and so wise that hee excelled all the kings of the earth no lesse in wisedom then in wealth and beeing so wise as he was did he not know well enough what was both fit for a King to require at his subiects hands and what was fit for subiects to impart to their Prince yea was he not a iust king and one that did gouerne his people as with wisedome so also with equitie and iustice shall wee thinke that king Dauids prayer for the prosperous estate of his sonne Salomon and of his kingdome was frustrate and without effect Giue thy iudgements to the king Psal 72.1 2 3.4.12.13 14. O God and thy righteousnesse to the kings sonne Then shall he iudge thy people in righteousnesse and thy poore with equity the mountaines and the hilles shall bring peace to the people by iustice Hee shall iudge the poore of the people hee shall saue the children of the needy and shall subdue the oppressor he shall deliuer the poore when hee crieth the needy also and him that hath no helper he shall be mercifull to the poore and needie and shall preserue their liues hee shall redeeme them from deceit and violence and deere shall their blood be in his sight Shall we thinke I say that the holy Prophets prayer and prediction touching the excellencie of his sonnes godly iust and peaceable gouernment was either false or of none effect God forbid farre bee it from vs to thinke that God would haue chosen an oppressor of his people to bee a type of the king of righteousnesse to bee his sonne 1 Chron 22.9 10.11 28.5.6 10. and to build the house of his sanctuarie Hee asked of God wisdome and vnderstanding to doe iudgement and to rule and iudge his people aright 1. King 3.7 8 9 10 11 12 13.28 and the Lord granted him his petition and gaue him besides great wisedome euen honour and riches also and it is said that the people saw that the wisedom of God was in him to doe iustice so that they feared the King Wherefore wee must not thinke that hee was guiltie of tyrannie oppression or exaction in the behalfe of his people but rather that his leuying of the Tenths of his subiects substance was an effect of his diuine wisedome and the lawfull meanes whereby hee gathered together so much wealth and so great riches as he did 1 King 9.20.21 together with the tribute hee did receiue at the hands of many other nations And it is to be noted that the people of Iudah and Israel by their cheerefull readinesse and willingnesse in yeelding vnto Salomon their king the Tenthes of their fruites and of their flockes for the monthly prouision of his houshold procured at Gods hands the blessing of great prosperitie securitie and peace which hee powred vpon Israel and Iudah in Salomons daies 1 Chron. 22.9 1 King 4.20.25 They multiplied as the sand of the sea in number eating drinking and making merrie They dwelt without feare euery man vnder his vine and vnder his figge tree from Dan euen to Beersheba all the daies of Salomon 1. King 10.21 27. during the which there was so great wealth that he made siluer as plentious as stones in Ierusalem And though after the death of Salomon the people did insinuate vnto his sonne Rehoboam 1. King 12.1 2 3 4 11 14. the grieuousnesse of the yoke his father had put vpon them in his life and therefore did present a petition vnto him for the lightening thereof at his entring to the crowne yet wee find no mention made of any such murmuring of the people against Salomon in the time of his owne raigne And therefore wee may well thinke that the people made this complaint and petition not so much as for that they had any iust cause for as I said before Salomon was no tyrant nor yet an vniust exacting king as for that they were become more couetous after the death of Salomon then they had beene in the time of his life and together more factious and seditious then they had beene before Where it is to bee noted that the Lord punished this their couetous and grudging disposition with the diminution of their wealth so that their condition became much vnlike vnto that it had beene in the daies of Salomon 1. King 12. 2. Chron. 10. 11. 12. Besides that this their preposterous loue of commoditie brought them into the guilt of two grieuous sinnes of Rebellion from their lawfull king and of idolatrous defection from the true worship of Almightie God So that not without cause the holy Apostle calleth the loue of money 1. Tim. 6.10 the roote of all euill And certainly Ezek. 45 7 8.9 Prou 28.15.16 as God would not haue his sons to oppresse his seruants that is Princes to grieue their people with vnnecessary exorbitant and cruell exactions and with ill-aduised Rehoboam to make their subiects yoake heauier then it ought to bee Exod. 22 28 29 So would hee not haue the people to bee so vnnaturall vnreasonable and vniust as to abound themselues and in the meane time to see their Princes destitute of prouision answerable to their place As the Prince I say must not with wretchlesse Rehoboam make the peoples yoake more heauie then it ought to bee by right so must not the people with the murmuring and complaining Israelites call that a grieuance or a grieuous yoake which is not so indeede but onely in the apprehension of their couetous conceit 1 Tim. 5 17 18 The Apostle speaking of the maintenance of the ministerie saith That such Priestes as rule well and labour in the word and doctrine are worthy of a double honour And the same may bee well said of a Prince
and endowed with great riches and Daniel was set ouer the whole gouernours and rulers of the kingdome and he and his fellowes prospered exceedingly Obadiah the gouernour of Achabs house 1 Kings 18 3 4 12 13. was a man that feared God greatly euen from his youth and when Iezebel destroyed the Prophets of the Lord he tooke an hundreth Prophets and hid them by fifties in a caue and fed them there So that according to his name hee proued a seruant of the Lord yea a seruant of his seruants who at euery word called himselfe the seruant of Eliah and him his Lord. And no doubt but the Lord blessed him aboundantly and so will he do all such Noble men and Gentlemen as in Kings Courts further either with countenance or maintenance Gods Ministers chiefly in the time of any persecution raised for the Gospell 2 King 4 8.9.10 11.12.13.14.15 to 37. The Shunamite Gentlewoman that harboured the man of God Elisha obserued the rules of this Art Behold said shee to her husband I know that this is an holy man of God that passeth by vs continually let vs make him a little chamber I pray thee with walles and let vs set him there a bed and a table and a stoole and a Candlesticke that he may turne in hither when he commeth to vs. And in recompence of this her pietie and charity God blessed her house yea and her barren wombe at the prayer of the man of God hee gaue her a sonne when as her husband was now waxed old and not onely this but also when the child was dead God by the hand of the prophet restored him from death to life againe Whereby we may learne that it is a worke which bringeth with it great reward to entertaine and cherish Gods seruants and not onely to minister vnto their necessities of our subbstance but also to honour and reuerence them both by gesture and compellation as wee see this worthie gentlewoman did The Prophet was a poore despised man and stood in need of help in outward things and yet because he was the man and seruant of God this noble woman called him at euery word her Lord and her selfe his hand-maid When shee came before him it was her humble demeanour to fall at his feet and to bowe to the ground So did the Bethelite widow behaue her selfe towards the same Prophet 2. King 4.1 2 3 4 5 6 7. and God in requitall of her pietie and reuerence of one little pitcher of oyle shee had filled many vessels euen all the emptie vessels she had borrowed of her neighbours Likewise the widow of Zarephath who ministred vnto Elias a part of her small portion for in the great famine that then was 1. King 17.9 10 11 12.13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 all the victuals shee had were gone except a little meale in a barrell and a little oyle in a cruze was requited of the Lord for her feare of God and her charitie towards his seruant For the meale in the barrell wasted not neither was the oyle spent out of the cruze according to the word of the Lord which he spake by the hand of his Prophet Yea more her dead sonne was restored againe to life at the prayer and supplication of the man of God So that whatsoeuer benefit we bestowe vpon Gods seruants God will aboundantly requite it with spirituall and temporall blessings both in this life and in the life to come Iob practised the Rules of this Art Iob. 1.1 2 3 4 29.4.12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19. 42 10 11 12. hee was an vpright and iust man one that feared God and eschewed euill hee deliuered the poore that cried helped the fatherlesse and him that had none to help him he caused the widows heart to reioyce he was the eies to the blind the feet to the lame a father vnto the fatherlesse a protector of the poore mans right and therefore Gods prouidence was vpon his tabernacle his roote was spread out by the waters and the dewe did lie vpon his branch and his familie was so great that he exceeded all the men of the East For his substance was seauen thousand sheepe three thousand camels fiue hundred yokes of oxen and fiue hundred shee asses besides gold siluer houses and lands And though hee was for a time sorely and heauily afflcted with pouertie sicknesse and sores and so denuded of all his former prosperity yet because he perseuered in Gods feare no lesse in his aduersitie then in his prosperitie hee had done therefore the Lord blessed his last daies more then the first and gaue him euen twise so much as he had before Tobit 1. 2. 8. 10. 11. 14. Tobias practised the rules of this Art hee walked all his life long in the way of iustice truth he shewed much liberalitie and charitie to those of his nation he offered the first fruits tenths to the priests he gaue much almes to the poore he gaue his bread to the hungrie and his cloathes to the naked he bid to dinner and feasted such as feared God and buried the dead And therefore God blessed him both with spirituall and temporall goods And though his goods were spoyled by Senacherib yet within fiftie fiue daies hee was restored for God made his brothers sonne Achiacharus to find fauour with Sarchedonus the king of Assyria so that he placed him next vnto him to be cup-bearer keeper of his signet and steward of his house And though that afterwards he was also afflicted with blindnesse and brought to that exigent that his wife was constrained to labour for her liuing in taking womens worke to doe yet ere long he was restored vnto his sight and blessed with prosperitie and wealth by the meanes of his sonne Tobiths mariage with Sara the onely daughter and heire of rich Raguel Zacheus of an irregular became a regular student in this Art Luk. 19.1 2 3 7 8. as soone as hee had heard the great Schoolemaster Iesus teach him his lesson in his owne house Beeing a rich man and a receiuer of Tribute hee gaue the halfe of his goods vnto the poore and from whom hee had taken any thing by forged cauillation he restored him foure fold It were a happy thing if our Church-robbers and sacrilegious God-spoylers would follow this happie mans example and make restitution of the Church liuings which they haue impiously possessed and godlesly appropriated to their owne priuate vses Marie the wife of Cleophas Matth. 26.7 27.55 56 61. Luk 8.2 3. 10.38 Ioh. 11.2 29. 12.3 19.25 Act. 12.12 Rom. 16.6 and sister of the blessed virgin Marie the glorious mother of Iesus Marie the mother of Iames and Iohn Marie the mother of Iames and Ioses Marie Magdalen the sister of Lazarus Marie the mother of Iohn Marke Martha Ioanna the wife of Chuza Herods Steward vertuous Susanna together with such
all the world but in Israel Now therefore I pray thee take a blessing of thy seruant And the Prophet hauing refused his reward Naaman said shall there not bee giuen to thy seruant as much of this earth as two Mules may beare for thy seruant will henceforth offer neither burnt sacrifice nor offering vnto any other God saue vnto the Lord. Herein the Lord be mercifull vnto thy seruant that when my maister goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there leaneth on mine hand and I bow my selfe in the house of Rimmon when I do bow downe I say in the house of Rimmon the Lord be merciful vnto thy seruant in this point Thus wee see how that this great and mightie man called himselfe at euery word the seruant of Gods seruant yea moreouer he bare him such honour that when as hee saw Gehezi the seruant of Elisha running after him he lighted downe from his Chariot to meete him and said Is all well Thus wee see how good and godly men and women as well the rich as the poore and as well the noble as the ignoble haue honored the seruants of God and the Gouernors of his Church and called them Lords And yet this is not all the honor the Spirit of God giueth them in the holy Scripture 2 Chron. 17.7 Psal 45.9.13 16. For the Prophet Dauid as he speaking of the future glory of the Catholicke Church vnder Christ the head thereof saith thus The Kings daughter is all glorious within her clothing is of broydred gold Shee shall bee brought vnto the King in raiment of needle-work so prophecying of the future splendour dignitie of the fathers and gouernours of the Church hee vseth these words In stead of thy fathers shall thy children be thou shalt make them Princes through all the earth meaning that of the children of the Church should be chosen such as should bee Fathers and Rulers of the Church as Patriarkes Archbishops and Bishops which should bee honored throughout the whole Christian world as Lords and Princes for the holy Prophet as hee describeth typically Christ as the King of the Catholike Church and none but he to bee King and the Church as the Queene and Spouse of this King so doth hee signifie vnto vs that the Princes of this King and kingdome are the Rulers and Gouernours of the Church aboue named which of children of the Church should be made Fathers of the Church and should be honored as Princes through all the earth for wee must not imagine that the kingdome of Christ is to bee included within the walles and circuite of one Citie whether Rome Ierusalem Geneua or Amsterdam nor yet within the compasse of some three or foure kingdomes but wee must beleeue that the Church of Christ is of farre more ample and spacious bounds then so Psal 45 27. All the ends of the world shall remember themselues saith the Prophet Dauid and turne to the Lord. And all the kindreds of the Nations shall worship before thee 2.8 Aske of mee saith the eternall father to the sonne and I shall giue thee the Heathen for thine inheritance and the ends of the earth for thy possession his dominion shall bee from sea to sea 72.8.11 and from the riuer vnto the ends of the land yea all kings shall worship him all nations serue him But to passe ouer this matter of the large extent of the Catholick Church and to returne to the honour the people owe vnto her gouernours we reade what was the demeanour of the Iayler toward Saint Paul and Silas being prisoners Acts 16.24.25 to 34. whose hands and feet the Lord loosed as also opened the doores of the prison by the meanes of a mighty earth-quake so that the Iayler came trembling and fell downe before Paul and Silas and brought them out and said Sirs or as the word in the originall also importeth my Lords what must I doe to be saued And they said beleeue in the Lord Iesus Christ and thou shalt bee saued and thine houshold And they preached vnto him the word of the Lord and to all that were in his house and when he had brought them into his house and had washed the stripes and wounds of their bodies and likewise they the spirituall stripes and wounds of the soules of him and his houshold by baptisme hee set meate before them and reioyced that hee with all his houshold beleeued in God Lastly Reuel 1.11.19.20 11.8.12.18 3.1.7.14 Saint Iohn writing to the Bishops of the seuen Churches of Asia calleth them by the name of seuen Angels or rather our Sauiour and Soueraigne himselfe calleth them so who also expoundeth the seuen starres to bee the Angels of the seuen Churches and biddeth him write vnto the Angell of the Church of Ephesus thus and vnto the Angell of the Church of the Smyrnians thus and so vnto the other Angels of the other Churches Where note that although that in euery one of these Churches were more Ministers then one yea there was many in euery one of them and namely in Ephesus as is more then cleare by the tenour of Saint Pauls Epistle to Timothie 1 Tim. 13.4 3.1.2 the first Bishop of Ephesus yet the name of Angell is by the spirit of God the mouth of Christ and the penne of the Apostle appropriated vnto onely one of the Ministers of the foresaid Churches euen vnto him who was Bishop amongst them And as the foure and twentie Elders glorifie Christ for making them Kings and Priests vnto God so the holy Apostle and Prophet Saint Iohn Reuel 5.10 Reuel 1.4.5.6 writing vnto the said seuen Angels or Bishops of the said seuen Churches in his salutation ascribeth all glory and dominion to Iesus Christ the Prince of the Kings of the earth who saith he hath made vs Kings and Priestes vnto God the Father And thus haue I verified mine assertion that the holy Scripture honoreth the Gouernors Rulers of the Church with the honourable Titles and names of Fathers Lords Princes Kings and Angels And therefore let no man thinke that I haue said too much for yet I could say more and yet no more then the word of God doth warrant me to say And therefore I wish all vs Lay-men to think that it is not the peaceable spirit of Gods Church but the popular perturbing spirit of Amsterdam or some such other respectlesse priuate spirit that moueth men to dislike of the giuing of honourable titles to the Gouernors and Prelates of the Church But as the example of Cornelius his demeanour in the presence of the great Apostle doth teach vs Lay-men humility and reuerence in the behalfe of Gods Ministers so doth the example of the modest demeanour of the first of the Apostles in the behalfe of godly Cornelius teach all Pastours and Prelates all Patriarks Archbishops and Bishops to shew and Practise all Christian modestie in the peoples behalfe by letting them
Prophet Ieremie complaineth Ierem. 5.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8.25 26 27 28. that in Ierusalem iustice and iudgement were not executed no not for the fatherlesse the widow and the poore And that their fulnesse was accompanied with adulterie and whoredome for they assembled themselues by companies in the harlots houses so that their yong men spent the day-time in wine and the night-time they spent in venerie Also amongst them were found wicked persons entrappers setters of snares and makers of pits to catch men As a Cage is full of birdes so were their houses full of deceit 6.13 8.10 and thereby they became great waxed rich fat and shining From the least to the greatest they were generally giuen to couetousnesse 9 3.4 5 6 7 8 9. and from the Prophet euen to the Priest they all dealt falsely Yea they did bend their tongues like their bowes for lies euery one did deale deceitfully and they taught their tongues to speake lies Ezek. 22.7.12.13.27.29.31 Also the Prophet Ezekiel complaineth of the like enormities of the oppressing of strangers of vexing the fatherlesse and the widow of taking of gifts of spoyling the poore of taking of vsurie and the encrease of defrauding their neighbours by extortion and such other courses of their couetousnesse and loue of lucre Therefore saith the Lord I haue smitten mine hands vpon thy couetousnesse that thou hast vsed I haue powred out mine indignation vpon them and consumed them with the fire of my wrath their own waies haue I rendred vpon their heads Ierem. 9.15 15.1 2 3 4. Behold I will feed this people with wormewood saith the Lord and giue them waters of gall to drinke Such as are appointed to death vnto death such as are for the sword to the sword and such as are for the famine to the famine and such as are for the captiuitie to the captiuitie I will appoint ouer them foure kindes the sword to slaie the dogges to teare in peeces the fowles of the heauen to deuoure and the beasts of the field to destroy 24.10 29.16 17 18. I will scatter them also in all kingdomes of the earth And vpon them that goe not into captiuitie I will send the sword the famine and the pestilence and will make them like naughtie figges that cannot be eaten they are so naughtie I will make them a terrour to all kingdomes of the earth and a curse and astonishment and an hissing and a reproach among all the nations Isay 24. Thus the Lord for the sinnes of his people made their land emptie and waste scattered the inhabitants and made them desolate spoyled the rich debased the proud weakened the mightie and powred contempt vpon their princes He made the earth to defraud them of their bread and the vine to withdrawe from them their drinke and instead of sweet wine 51.17 18 19 20. Habbak 2.15 16. that maketh the heart glad hee reached them a cup of sowre wine that maketh their hearts sad euen the vineger of his wrath the cup of trembling the cup of his right hand that is a cup of strong drinke which hee made them to drinke out dregs and all in recompence of their early rising to follow drunkennesse This cuppe was so strong that it brought the strongest powrer in of strong drinke soone vpon his backe and turned the drunkards glorie in drinking into shamefull spewing Thus finally the Lord turned Ierusalems ioy into woe her solace into sorrow her mirth into mourning her laughing into lamenting her feasting into fasting her fulnesse into famine her aboundance into indigence her plentie into penurie her glorie into shame her praise into reproach her blessednesse into cursednesse her honour into hissing her triumphs into terrour her statelinesse into astonishment her security into ieopardy her libertie into captiuity Thus I say hee smote her gate with destruction and her Citizens with desolation Conclusion Thus you see most noble Cities what hath beene the fortune and fall of a most noble Citie and a citie if euer any in the wide world beloued of God yee see the greatnesse of her desolation and that her great sinnes for commonly in great Cities dwell great sinnes did occasion the same Considering the which my thrise hearty wish vnto God for you is that her desolation may serue for your edification and her lamentable destruction may be vnto you a profitable instruction That auoiding and shunning her sins and all kinde of enormous and heinous impietie all sacriledge idololatrie pride adulterie couetousnesse crueltie deceit briberie extortion oppression vsurie and vnmercifulnesse to the poore Finally all prophanation of Gods holy name by vnreuerent and vnrespectfull naming thereof by swearing and forswearing and all vnhallowing of his holy name in whole or in part by flying from the congregation and following our owne waies of profite and of pleasure and forsaking the Lords waies of piety and of charitie yee may likewise escape her plagues ye may be free from her wormwood bread her waters of gall her famine her sword her pestilence her captiuity her scattering her reproach her astonishment her shame her seruitude her desolation and destruction That so right noble and flourishing Cities yee may long continue noble and long flourish in piety and prosperity your Citizens and inhabitants may be long rich and euery day more and more rich both in goods and goodnesse that being rich in God heere on earth yee may be rich with God hereafter in heauen And that this Art may end whereas it did begin euen at God who as he is the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the ending of all things so me thinketh is it good reason that he be the Alpha and the Omega of this Art Psal 119.36 Let euery man that desireth to see good things pray to God with good King Dauid Lord incline mine heart vnto thy testimonies and not vnto couetousnesse Prou. 30.8.9 And with wise King Salomon his sonne Giue me not pouertie nor riches too much Feede mee with food conuenient for me least I bee full and denie thee and say Who is the Lord or least I bee poore and steale and take the Name of my God in vaine Amen FINJS