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A05312	An herbal for the Bible Containing a plaine and familiar exposition of such similitudes, parables, and metaphors, both in the olde Testament and the newe, as are borrowed and taken from herbs, plants, trees, fruits and simples, by obseruation of their vertues, qualities, natures, properties, operations, and effects: and by the holie prophets, sacred writers, Christ himselfe, and his blessed Apostles vsually alledged, and into their heauenly oracles, for the better beautifieng and plainer opening of the same, profitably inserted. Drawen into English by Thomas Newton.; Herbarum atque arborum quæ in Bibliis passim obviæ sunt. English	Lemnius, Levinus, 1505-1568.; Newton, Thomas, 1542?-1607.	1587 (1587)	STC 15454; ESTC S108475	134,297	304

king of Babylon for whose destruction and fall euen The Firre trees and the Cedars of Lebanon reioiced as the Prophet there setteth downe Vnder which metaphor he sheweth how that all the Nobles Dukes Peeres and others subiect to his authoritie and oppression reioiced and were hartily glad for the fall and destruction of such a cruell and bloodie Tyrant This tyrant Nabuchadnezzar is compared for the great magnificence and glorious pompe of his huge empire vnto the goodlie Planet and glittering morning star Lucifer which being seene after the Sunne is gone downe is called Vesperugo and Hesperus and heereof speaketh Virgil where he saith Trudge trudge apace home full fed Goates The Euening Starre appeeres But in the morning preceeding and going afore the Sunne it is called Lucifer and Phosphorus and of the glittering brightnes and amiable beautie and shining colour which it hath named also Venus To this goodly bright and glittering Planet is the king of Babylon resembled for that in the pride of his minde and insolencie of his estate he so far now forgat himselfe to be a man that he suffered diuine honours to be done vnto him oppressing the true and sincere religion of God and with outragious crueltie suppressing the ministers and true beleeuers For arrogant pride and rebellious disloialtie the Lord so vnpatiently took that he tumbled him downe out of his high throne of maiestie wherein he gloried and quite stripped him as an angell of Sathan ambiciously affecting a diuinitie and the next place to God out of all his pompe glorie and royaltie yea threwe him into that degree of ignominie that the honor of buriall was denied vnto him and besides the whole kingdome of Babylon and all the inhabitants thereof lamentably otherwise afflicted Which great fall and sodaine change of such an high and magnificent king emboldened those that afore maugre their wils were wont to behold and reuerence his statelines and pompe now to raile taunt rate scoffe mocke frumpe and insult vpon him as on a dead carcasse or one out of the world They flouted I say and derided him for that of a king a litle while afore so mightie and wealthy that with a becke or a countenance onely he made all the world afraide he was now degraded from so high sublimitie throwne headlong into such miserable and seruile condition that he was not permitted after any princely maner to be solemnly enterred but as Ieremie threateneth to Iehoiakim king of Iuda should be buried at an Asse Meaning that his bodie should be cast out to be deuoured of the Fowles and wilde beasts euen as the carkasse of an Asse or an Horse is To this end is also that ironicall insultation of Isaiah All the Princes of the nations shall crie and say Thy pompe and thy pride is laid downe into the pit so is the melodie of thy instruments that is all thy magnificence roialtie pleasures and delicacies are ceased The woorme is spread vnder thee and the woormes couer thee That is to say Thy dead bodie shall not bee embaulmed as noble kings are woont to be to preserue them from rottennes but shall be gnawen and eaten by woormes euen as the bodie of the poorest and basest pezant in the world How art thou fallen from heauen O Lucifer thou faire morning child How hast thou gotten a fall euen to the ground which diddest weaken the nations For thou saidest in thine hart I will climbe vp into heauen and exalt my throne beside the starres of God I wil sit also vpon the mount of the Congregation toward the North. I wil ascend aboue the height of the cloudes and I will be like the most High But thou shalt be brought downe to the graue to the sides of the pit Whereby he noteth how that he forgetting his fraile estate and exalting himselfe aboue the condition of an humane creature by vsurping the honor due vnto God onely was woorthily depriued both of life wealth and dignitie and finally swallowed vp by a most shamefull end and confusion Which variable intercourse and fickle mutabilitie of worldly prosperitie may serue as a document or lesson not onely for all Kings and Potentates but euen in generall for all estates of men besides to teach them to keepe themselues within their bounds and to remember how soone the case of worldlie iollitie is altered specially when a man in the arrogant brauerie of an hawtie stomacke disdainfully swelleth against men and rebelliously opposeth himselfe against the Lord God So doth the Apostle Paule denounce an vnhappie dreadfull and horrible end vnto that Wicked sonne of perdition that exalteth himselfe aboue all that is called God or that is worshipped insomuch that he sitteth as God in the Temple of God shewing himselfe that he is God practising crueltie and exercising all maner of tyrannie against the Saints that would liue godlie in Christ Iesus Whom God in his time will consume with the breath of his mouth and abolish with th● brightnes of his comming wherein all his deceiueablenesse and iugling tricks shall be reuealed and all his pestilent doctrine and counterfeite religion vanish away as smoke to the great woonder of many that were e● sotted with his fraudulent deuises and del● ded by his lieng woonders The 50. Chapter Of Shrubs Shootes Slippes Graffes Sets Sprigges Boughes Branches Twigs yoong Imps Spray and Buds from the which are fetched by the Prophets in their diuine writings sundrie Metaphors and Similitudes IN the sacred scriptures is plentifull store of Metaphors and Similitudes taken not only from the Trees Plants and Herbs themselues but also frō their parts and appertinents as namely from the root from which they are nourished from the trunke and stemme by which the sap is diffused and distributed from the rinde barke or pill wherewith they be couered from the boughes leaues blossoms flowers wherewith they are adorned and beautified and from their seede by the which they are encreased multiplied and propagated So by the Figge tree which had nothing but leaues we are taught how odious and displeasant to God the outwarde shewe and painted appeerance of godlinesse is without an inwarde working faith producing the fruits of Christian life and honest conuersation So also by those vnprofitable trees that bring foorth no good fruite but are to be cut downe with the Axe and cast into the fire are meant the wicked and obstinate that perseuere in their malicious blindnes and indurate disobedience So also Christ in another place by a Similitude taken from the Fig tree when his boughes be yet tender and his leaues newly springing out whereby men knowe that Sommer is nigh at hand armeth and warneth all men of the approching of the latter day And euen so likewise the Apostle most diuinely discoursing of the naturall and of the wilde Oliue tree with the roote and branches thereof beateth downe all arrogancie and hawtie pride of such as insolently glorie in the pretended excellencie

for their extreeme ingratitude towards him greeuously threateneth them vnder the name of a Vineyard for that after such a deale of carefull Husbandrie bestowed on it in steed of sauerie grapes it brought foorth wilde grapes Now therefore saith he I will tell you what I will do to my Vineyarde I will take away the hedge thereof and it shall be eaten vp I will breake the wall thereof and it shal be troden downe and I will lay it waste it shall not be cut nor digged but Briers and Thornes shall growe vp in it By which figuratiue speech he sheweth that he hath bestowed all the labor and diligence that possiblie coulde be for the behoofe and benefite of the Israelites and for the training and instructing of them in the way of godlines with sound holesome and heauenly doctrine and that he omitted nothing which was expedient and needfull for their direction But all in vaine for all trauell labor industry and diligence employed about them was lost and to no purpose Wherefore he vpbraied them with wilfull contempt of their owne aduancement and for the carelesse regarde which they had of their owne saluation And now he therefore heere protesteth that he maketh none other account of them than of persons desperate and forlorne and that for their stubborne refusall of mercie and grace offered vnto them they shoulde runne headlong into all shame and wickednes into vile lustes and filthie affections into dissolute life and lewde maners insomuch that their minds being thus wofully pestered and possessed with beastly vices and no whit garnished with vertues and goodnes shoulde lie like a rugged vntilled and vnmanured fielde which bringeth foorth nothing but weedes and hurtfull herbes Againe in another place he threatneth to plague them with barrennes dearth scarcitie want of Corne and yeerely increase of fruits insomuch that the land should remain as vnder a curse bringing forth nothing but Briers and Thornes So that in what place soeuer there were a thousande Vines woorth a thousandpeeces of siluer they should be turned into Briers and Thornes and all the grounde in the lande should not be able to beare sufficient corne and competent foode to releeue the hungrie necessitie of the sterueling Inhabitants And afterwards in the 34. Chapter he denounceth far more dreadfull and horrible plagues against the Idumaeans that is to say the enimies of God and his Church The riuers thereof shall be turned into Pitch and the ground thereof into Brimstone and the lande therof shall be burning Pitch which shall not be quenched night nor day the smoke thereof shall goe vp euermore it shall be desolate from generation to generation none shall passe through it for euer But the Pellicane and the Hedgehog shall possesse it and the great Owle and the Rauen shall dwell in it being Fowles and creatures that loue not the companie or sight of man The Nobles thereof shall call to the kingdome and there shall be ●one and all the Princes therof shall be as nothing that is there shall be no forme of a common wealth no state no order no policie no honor nor dignitie of a Prince no maiesty of a kingdome no gouernment no Counsellers no Peeres but a disordered confusion and minglemangle of the nobility and communaltie togither and a meere ouerthrowe of all law and equitie Moreouer to aggrauate this their miserable plight and wofull condition the palaces of their kings and princes shall be throwne downe and made euen with the ground and all their sumptuous buildings and gorgeous houses vtterly ruinated and being abandoned of any inhabitant shall be nothing else than caues and dennes for wilde beasts and rauenous birdes For thus doth the Prophet both in this and also in other places heape vp the miserable desolation of the Countrie There shall growe in the places thereof thornes and nettles and thistles in the strong Holds thereof as commonly we see in ruinous palaces and castels thrown downe and despoiled by the rage of warre And it shall be an habitation for Dragons and a court for Ostriches there shall walke wicked spirits and Goblins the Satyres and Shrichowles there shall the Hag lodge and there shall the Owle make hir nest and lay and hatch there also shall the Vultures and Kites be gathered togither euerie one with hir Make. By this beadroll and reh●… he setteth downe before the eies an horrible kinde of desolation and a dreadfull pu●…ture of extreme waste the very sight or he● ring whereof driueth a shiuering horror into any mans minde and pearceth it deepely with a quaking and trembling dread to consider how that in a late most flourishing Realme and renowmed Countrie there should be such an alteration and such a state of al things turned vpside downe that there should be no more resort of Merchants and Traffikers no concourse of people no bartering no marting no buieng and selling no chopping and changing but onely a sight of vglie monsters prodigious creatures and rauenous wilde beasts the very sight whereof would affright the stoutest man that liueth Into these deformed monsters and vglie creatures do Diuels and wicked Spirits manie times transforme themselues and assuming their shapes doe with many delusions and apparitions terrifie and affright fearfull and weake people specially those that are not sufficiently strengthened furnished and armed with the knowledge of God and the power of his word Such monsterous obiects and strange apparitions do such persons in their imagination and conceit thinke themselues to see which be Melancholike Frentike Lunatike Doting Droonken Agewy or those that are inwardly tormented in their conscience with remorse of their horrible sinnes and bloodie offences For such persons haue their minds greeuously disquieted with sundrie absurde visions and fantasticall apparitions by reason of the distemperance of their braine and stuffing of their spirit animall with abundance of grosse humors and thicke vapors whereby the head being out of course reason iudgement and memorie is likewise out of frame and pestered with sundrie idle and vaine imaginations of such things as they meete withall or thinke vpon The 19. Chapter Of the Fig tree and of the Fig. THe Fig tree beareth two sorts of fruit the one which groweth till it be ful ripe and then being taken from the tree is dried and put into Frailes the other bee the primitiue and greene Figs which either arriue not at all to ripenes or at least way bee very late ripe For when as other trees doe burgen and bloome the Fig tree shewing foorth no blossoms or flowers at all bringeth foorth the greene Fig. From this tree and his fruit be taken in the Scriptures manie and the same 〈◊〉 proper Similitudes and excellent examples When Christ foretolde to the Iewes the greeuous calamities and lamentable destruction of Ierusalem he stirred vp them and vs all to watchfulnes and heedful vigilancie by many examples least that day of the Lorde shall come vpon them vnawares and the Similitude which

AN HERBAL FOR THE BIBLE CONTAINING A PLAINE AND FAMILIAR EXPOSITION of such Similitudes Parables and Metaphors both in the olde Testament and the Newe as are borrowed and taken from Herbs Plants Trees Fruits and Simples by obseruation of their Vertues qualities natures properties operations and effects And BY THE HOLIE PROPHETS SACRED WRITERS Christ himselfe and his blessed Apostles vsually alledged and into their heauenly Oracles for the better beautifieng and plainer opening of the same profitably inserted Drawen into English by THOMAS NEWTON Imprinted at London by Edmund Bollifant 1587 TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE MY VERIE GOOD LORD ROBERT EARLE of ESSEX and Ewe Vicount of Hereford and Bourgchier LORD Ferrers of Chartley Bourgchier and Louaine c. Your most humble THOMAS NEWTON wisheth increase of all spirituall gifts long life and happie daies with all felicitie in flourishing honour IF I WERE to yeeld a reason for my boldnesse in presuming to present by way of dedication this my poore trauaile vnto your Honor beside other of sufficient force to moue me thervnto I might and that truly say that the liuely sparks and tried proofe of your L. Heroicall spirite farre and neere with generall voice sounded out and emblazoned 〈◊〉 ●our thankefull welwillers your vndaunted cou●… and valour abroad your surpassing affabilitie and courtly curtesie at home and which most is of all your feruent zeale according to knowledge toward the glorious Gospell of Christ were causes mouing or rather vehemently thrusting me on by this meanes and in this sort dutifully to attempt your Honorable patience Of such force is true Nobilitie accompanied with hir proper adiuncts and inuested with hir peculiar titles that she draweth all men into the loue and admiration of hir So that all men to their incredible comfort do ioyfully note and euidently behold the liuely image and expresse paterne of that Mirror of Nobilitie your late most magnificent father brightly shining in you his sonne being like ynough through Gods good fauor mercifully finishing that which he hath alreadie graciously and richly begun in you if not in ech point to surmount which is scarcely possible yet at least to match which is most Honorable his martiall seruices valorous prowesse woorthie attempts venturous exploits inuincible courage renoumed bountie and most noble generositie The troupe therefore of Vertues deliuered vnto your Honor as it were by hand from your so noble a Parent and togither with the hereditarie succession of his lands left and by nature lineally descended vnto you was the Loadestone that mightily drew me being a rude lumpe of vnwrought Yron to admire your excellent graces and by such meanes as I am able to testifie this my zealous loialtie toward so Honorable a Gentleman so rare a Peere so sure a Botreaux vnto his Countrie so pretious a Paragon of perfect Nobilitie Not doubting but your good Lordship will dispence with my presumption ●…d accept in good part this small token of my faith●●ll hart and loyall minde which being most willing ●…d readie would not stay to performe euen to the ●…termost that which I ought if I could do that ●hich alas I cannot The worke my Lord in my simple opinion for the choise of the Argument raritie of the matter and profit of the circumstance deserueth to be aduisedly read attentiuely considered effectually ruminated and perfectly digested I am the bolder thus much to speake in the behalfe of it euen for Lemnius his sake the chiefe Author thereof whom especially I haue followed although for respects not alwaies as a Votarie precisely tyed my selfe vnto his sentence nor euerie where word for word religiously expressed his discourse But haue vpon occasion in some places added vnto him for the more perspicuitie in some taken away to auoid ●●diousnes and prolixitie in many by conference with other Authors at large explaned that which I thought was too compendiously couched and ouer mystically inuolued in termes of obscuritie but no where perdie otherwise haue I dealt than I knowe to be vsually tolerable and by good presidents a●…g the learned authentically warrantable ●…e frankly confesse and willingly professe my ●… haue beene singularly delighted in reading 〈◊〉 of this mans learned bookes and haue partly testified my good liking thereof tenne yeeres ago by publishing in print a profitable Worke of his vnder the title of The Touchstone of Complexions which I then translated out of Latine into English in my natiue Countrie of Chesshyre and dedicated vnto the Right Honorable my singular good Lord the Baron of Cobham Receiue now therefore Right Honorable into your protection and patrociny these my poore labors and if they seeme woorthie shrowd them from the criticall doome of waiwarde Wranglers and surly Areopagites that without looking into my intent will perhaps be busie ynough to condemne mine attempt Which humble sute as I doubt not but to obtaine at your Honors hands so enioying the same I shall thinke my paines sufficiently recompenced my selfe to enterprise some other thing to your L. liking encouraged and to be ech way as surely garded as Vlysses euer thought himself vnder the shield of noble Aiax From my poore house at Little Ilford in Essex the 26. of May. 1587. Your L. at commandement THOMAS NEWTON MONARCHES KINGS PRINCES PROPHETS AND SACRED Writers haue been singularly delighted and profoundly seene in the skill of Plants and Herbs as by the sundry Metaphors Similitudes and Parables by them in their Works Prophesies and Writings vsed it doth manifestly appeere The first Chapter THat noble Kings and renowmed princes in the old time euen otherwise most busily encombred with garboyles of wars haue beene studiously addicted and singularly delighted in the serch and knowledge of the nature of Plants and Herbs both ancient histories doe sufficiently witnesse and the books of the sacred Bible do largely testifie For the search and skil of these things carrieng with it such pleasant store of delectable varietie and furnished no lesse with profit than pleasure seemed nothing at all derogatorie from the maiestie of Kings nor any whit vnsitting the honorable estate of Princes somewhiles to solace and recreate themselues with these kinds of studies namely specially when and so often as they could as it were breath from their other most vrgent affaires and haue either time or leisure to intermitte their other weightie and serious proceedings And by this kind of studie whereby not onely their minds but their bodies also were singularly solaced their fame and memories became as glorious and renowmed and their honorable magnificence as highlie dignified as by anie other their woorthie acts noble conquests or triumphant victories whatsoeuer Heerby Mythridates the noble king of Pontus hauing vnder him 19. kingdoms through excellent skill in herbs and for that his most singular inuention of the soueraigne Triacle and cordiall preseruatiue against poison and all other contagious and infectiue diseases hath woon vnto himselfe an immortall name among all posterities Lysimachus Eupator Gentius the

of their holinesse and prerogatiue of their estate despising and contemning others in respect of themselues So also the Prophet Isaiah speaking of Christ and his ministerie and setting him downe after a most excellent manner and in most heauenlie termes to the view and consideration of all men describeth him not as any honorable or beautifull personage but as an abiect and outcast despised and reiected of men full of sorrowes and hauing experience of infirmities not regarded not esteemed and accounted of nor any waies intertained with any fauourable kind of curtesie but euery way iudged and deemed as plagued and smitten of God and humbled And he resembleth him to a Spring comming foorth of the stemme of Iesse and to a yoong Graffe or shoot growing out of his roote as it were out of a drie barren vnfertile and vnmanured field so that to man it should seeme to be of no renown hope or likelihood euer to be aduanced into any high sublimitie or by his comming and doctrine to bring men to saluation Yea many were so offended at his basenes and humilitie that scarcely one among a great number would giue any credit to the prophesies and predictions of the holy Writers concerning him For so long as they looked no further than into his outward pouerty and base estate it was no maruell though very few embraced his doctrine sith they accounted him scarcely woorthy to be looked on or to bee kept company withall It would be to long to repeate al that the Prophet in that Chapter at large setteth down concerning the propagation and enlargement of the kingdome of Christ and therefore I refer the Reader to the words of the text it selfe and to the godly expositions of such as haue learnedly written vppon the same Wherein doubtlesse euery good Christian ought diligently to exercise himselfe and zealously to search out the sense and meaning of this Prophet who most liuely effectually displaieth both the glory and also the humilitie of Christ and what benefits ech way we receiue by and through him The blessed Apostle Paule also calleth vs backe to the example of Christ exhorting and animating vs to be Of the same minde that was in Christ Iesus Who being in the forme of God thought it no robberie to be equall with God But made himselfe of no reputation taking on him the forme of a seruant and was made like vnto men and was found in shape as a man He humbled himselfe became obedient vnto death euen the death of the crosse Wherfore God also hath highly exalted him and giuen him a Name aboue euery name that at the name of Iesus shoulde euery knee bow both of things in heauen and of things in earth and of things vnder the earth which is as much to saie as that no power or strength was so great but that it should submit it selfe vnder his empire and dominion But to come againe vnto my first purposed argument The Prophet Isaiah most plentifully and largely euery where throughout his prophecie amplifieng Christs kingdom and aduancing his glory comforteth the afflicted and sorowful which think themselues forsaken and destitute of all releefe and succour and encourageth them to lift vp their harts and to stay themselues in assured hope of Gods infinite mercies vndoubted prouidence and infallible deliuerance For by taking a metaphor from a yoong graffe or slip hee sheweth that the spirituall kingdome of Dauid shall bee restored by Christ and that all the godly which thinke themselues forsaken shoulde haue one that should be their deliuerer and redeemer out of the thraldome and tyranny of Sathan For There shall come foorth saith he a Spring rod shoote or set out of the stocke of Iesse a graffe shall growe out of his roote And the spirite of the Lord shall rest vpon him the spirite of wisedome and vnderstanding the spirite of counsell and strength the spirite of knowledge and of the feare of the Lord. Whereby he signifieth Christ being without measure inestimably furnished with all gifts and wherof he giueth by measure to those that be his The same Similitude doth he afterwarde continue and prosecute eftsoones repeating it and saieng that in That day the roote of Iesse which seemed in that decaied state of the Iewes to be in a maner rotten and like a drie sticke Shall stande and be set vp for a signe vnto the people and all nations shall seeke vnto it that is all people and kindreds of the earth shall fixe their eies vpon Christ as on a token or marke and al nations shall come flocking to him and doe vnto him homage But from the Roote of trees and Plantes which draineth moisture out of the earth and diffuseth vitall sap and iuyce proportionablie throughout all the braunches and boughes be taken and borrowed in the holie Bible sundry very proper and apt Similitudes applied by the Prophets partly to prosperitie and florishing seasons partlie to aduersitie and desperate times as namely when desolation death and destruction is threatened and denounced to the gracelesse and wicked So the holy Patriarch Iob mentioning what wealth power dignity and abundance he had aforetime enioied when the princes and peeres of the Countrey did vnto him honor and reuerence saith My roote was spred out by the water side and the dew lay vpon my corn By which metaphores taken from trees conueniently and holesomely watered and from fields comfortably moistened with the sweet dew of heauen he meaneth that all thinges went prosperously forward with him and that no losse or hinderance did betide him And as the Root is the foundation wheron trees are staied and whereby they receiue their nourishment so doth God by his prophet Hosea promise vnto all those that are penitent and sorrowfull for their sins and leane onely vnto his mercy and protection the continuance of all prosperous and happy successe I will be saith he as the dew vnto Israel he shall grow as the Lillie and fasten his rootes as the trees of Lebanon Signifieng that their felicitie shoulde not be fading and vanishable but as strong trees perdurable and lasting Solomon also describing the vaine and transitorie hope of the wicked which shall be disappointed of their desires and misse their wished welfare saith that The desire of the vngodly is a net of euils that is to say they imagine and deuise such things as bring destruction and breede their owne mischeefe But the roote of the righteous bringeth foorth fruite So doth Wisedome pronounce and saie of hir selfe that She tooke roote in an honourable people euen in the portion of the Lords inheritance and that she is exalted on high as a Cedar in Libanus and as a Cypers tree vpon mount Hermon that is she distributeth and disperseth hir vertues far and wide comfortably shadowing and refreshing all hir louing children Contrariwise when God denounceth destruction to the wicked and protesteth that all their power be it neuer so

strong and mighty shall not continue he pronounceth that their Roote shall be plucked vp As in that saieng of Iob I haue seene my selfe when the foolish was deepe rooted and sodainely I cursed his habitation Whereunto also agreeth that which he saith in another place The vngodly man sorroweth all the daies of his life and the number of a tyrants yeeres are vnknowne He shall not be rich neither shall his substance continue neither shall his prosperity take deepe roote vpon earth The flame shall dry vp his branches and he shall go away with the breath of his mouth Al these words and terms do shew that all the pompe glory insolencie and pride of the wicked shall be quite turned vpside downe and brought to nothing No lesse terrible plagues doth the Prophet Dauid denounce against the wicked who trusting in his worldly wealth and vncertaine riches oppresseth the innocent God saith he shall destroy thee for euer he shall take thee and plucke thee out of thy tabernacle roote thee out of the land of the liuing Thereby signifieng that he should vtterly be rooted out plucked vp euen by the rootes and there shoulde be left no hope to him of any posteritie The same metaphor vsed Christ when as he rebuked the Pharisees and Scribes for transgressing the commandements of God by their owne hypocriticall traditions and appeased his disciples who were offended at him for speaking so plainely and freely vnto those high Rabbines for he saith Euery plant which my heauenly father hath not planted shall be rooted vp Signifieng that all doctrine religion and institution of life that is not warranted and staied vpon the sure and sound foundation of Christ but sauoreth more of phantasticall superstition than of sincere and true holines shall be destroied and plucked vp Al such things as are attempted and vndertaken either for ostentation or lucre by the adle deuise of mans foolish braine without the warrant of Gods holy word and authority of the sacred Scriptures neuer attaine to any good effect but are scattered and come to naught Of the Plant it selfe and of the yoong sprigs buds or slips may the like be said For from thence are there Similitudes borowed taken appliable either to the good or euil part So saith Isaiah The house of Israell is the vineyard of the Lord and the men of Iudah are his pleasant plant Againe in the same Chapter it is vsed in the woorse part As the flame of fire deuoureth the stubble and as the chaffe is consumed of the flame euen so the roote of the wicked shall be as corruption and their bud shall rise vp like dust That is the wicked shall be destroied and neuer grow to any bignes Againe where the same Prophet comforteth the people and assureth them that the grace of their Redeemer shall not faile them he saith In that day shall the bud of the Lord be beautifull and glorious and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent Whereby he sheweth that great honor glory and dignitie shall befall to them that continue stedfast in faith and hope through the mercy and fauour of Christ to obtaine saluation To this purpose also tendeth that surpassing ioy which the godly inwardly in spirite enioieth and for the which he so exceedingly reioiceth that he is adorned and enriched with so many and so great blessings For he ascribeth all and euery the good gifts wherwith he is indued vnto Almightie God with humble and hartie giuing of thanks for the same I will greatly reioice in the Lord saith he and my soule shall be ioyfull in my God For he hath clothed me with the garments of saluation and couered me with the robe of righteousnes he hath decked me like a Bridegroome and as a Bride attireth hirselfe with hir Iewels For as the earth bringeth forth hir bud and as the garden shooteth forth his seede so will the Lord God cause righteousnesse and praise to flourish forth before al the heathen In which words he sheweth how he is graciously adorned with al kinds of vertues and that through the free mercie and benefit of God to whom for the same is due all praise and glorie For as the earth being fertile and fruitful and beautified with the gallant verdure of fresh flowers and greene herbes is an argument of the bountifull goodness of God towards vs euen so righteousnes peace tranquillitie and other vertues wherewith the mind and soule of man is garnished declare the exceeding great goodnesse and loue of God toward mankinde so that these most gracious gifts of God woorthily ought to prouoke and stir vs vp to al praise and thankfulnes The Vine branches which spreade themselues abroad and giue comfortable shadow against the heate of the Sunne signifie in the Scriptures felicitie honour dignitie magnificence worship and renowme So doth the princely Prophet Dauid by an elegant Allegorie of the Vine and hir branches reckon vp the prosperous estate of the Hebrewes which was afterward sauced with sower and bitter calamities For thus doth he reason with God Thou hast brought a Vine out of Egypt to wit the people of the Iewes thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it that is thou bestowedst great diligence in trimming manuring and dressing it She stretched out hir branches vnto the sea and hir boughes vnto the riuer that is she inlarged the bounds and limits of hir dominion Why hast thou then broken downe hir hedge So that all they which go by plucke off hir grapes That is doe despoile ransacke teare asunder and dismember the roiall power of the Iewish nation and that bicause they want thy defence and protection The very same argument handleth Isaiah in a Similitude taken from the Vineyard and the buds or branches of the Vine There is in Ezechiel a notable place shadowed vnder an aenigmatical Parable of a great ●auenous Egle by the which the Lord meaneth the king of Babylon who greedily gaped ●or the kingdome of Israel and of a flourishing Vine with great and wide spreading branches Whereof the whole drift is to shew that there is in this world nothing steadie permanent durable or of continuance and that there is no trust to be reposed in anie mortall creature or worldlie Potentate for that the leagues amities and pacts of Kings and Princes and all their societies confederacies and flourishing principalities be liable to ruine and subiect to mutabilitie For God at his pleasure somewhile subuerteth and ouerturneth them euen as a Vine is pruned and lopped when it is too ranke of leaues branches and boughes and many times extolleth dignifieth and aduanceth those things that in sight seeme to bee abiect base and contemptible as in the end of that Chapter he plainly affirmeth in these words And all the trees of the field shall knowe that is all the proud stately and pompous Kings shall well vnderstand that I the Lorde haue brought downe the