Goliath like give him a sword for the cutting of our own throats Againe Is it so that in the regenerate so long as he remaineth in this earthly Tabernacle there remain not some few reliques but many fragments of the natural man so that there is a combat between the flesh and the spirit where then be the Papists which maintain justification by works Can a clean thing come out of that which is unclean saith Job and can our minds wils and affections wherein the flesh and the spirit are mixed together produce any effect which is not impure and imperfect and therefore farre short of that perfection and righteousnesse which is required by the Law I do not say that they are sinnes that is but a slander of the Papists but they have some degrees of sins and imperfections joyned with them the best come that groweth in our fields hath some grains blasted the best fruits that we can bring forth are in some part rotten the best gold that we can show is much mixed with dross and cannot abide the touchstone it is an easie matter I confesse for a sinfull and unregenerate cloysterer to say somewhat for the dignitie of workes in justifying a man but when we enter into an examination of our own consciences and find so many sins and imperfections lurking in every corner of our hearts it will make us crie out with Bernard meritum meum miseratio domini my merit is the Lords mercie and again sufficit ad meritum scire quod non est meritum Nay if we look up unto God and consider him not as a mans brain considereth him but as his word describeth him unto us with whose brightness the stars are darkned with whose anger the earth is shaken with whose strength the mountains melt with whose wisdom the crafty are taken in their own nets at whose pureness all seem impure in whose sight the heavens nay the very Angels are unclean we must needs confesse with Job that if we should dispute with God we could not answer him one for a thousand and confesse that he found no stedfastness in his Saints yea and when the heaven is impure in his sight much more is man abominable and filthy which drinketh iniquitie like water and therefore pray unto him with David that he will not enter into judgement with us because in his sight shall no man living be justified but I must leave this point and come unto the second All the dayes of my appointed time c. Every man hath an appointed time by God which he cannot passe Though Adams wisdome was such that he could give names to everie creature according to their nature yet he forgate his owne name because of his affinitie between him and the earth the sons of Adam are like their father they are witty enough about the creatures but they quite forget their own names and their natures too and this is the cause why they be so holden with pride and over-whelmed with crueltie they wil contend with Nebuchadnezzar in Isa to advance themselves even above the stars of God and to match their Grand-father the first Adam who though he was made of the earth would with the wings of pride soare into heaven and care little for being like their elder brother the second Adam which from Heaven came unto earth and took upon him our infirmities and miseries but let them secure themselves never so much the tide will tarrie for no man for their Father eat sowre grapes and his childrens teeth are set on edge their Father for eating a grape of the forbidden Vine had this sentence pronounced against him Unto dust thou shalt returne and his children shall be lyable to it till heaven and earth be removed and there be no more death The tender and dainty women which never adventure to set the sole of their feet upon the ground for their sofness and tenderness as Moses speakes have a day appointed when their mouthes shall be filled with mould and their faces which they will not suffer the sun of the Firmament to shine upon lest it should staine their beautie shall be slimed with that earth which they scorned to touch with the soles of their feet those rotten posts which spend themselves in whiting and painting as though they would with Medea recal their years or with the Eagle by casting their old bill renew their youth have a day set them in which deaths finger shall but touch them and they shall fall in pieces and returne to their dust those which cloth themselves with linnen and build them houses of Cedar and add house to house and and to land as though they should continue for ever or at the least as if their journy to the heavenly Canaan lay all by land and nothing by Sea have a determinate time when their unsatiable desires shall be content with a Golgotha a place of dead mens souls a little part of a potters field asmuch as will serve to hide and cover their earthen vessel Cui satis ad votum non essent omnia terrae Climata terra modo sufficit octo pedum Are not his dayes determined saith Job the number of his moneths are with thee thou hast appointed his bounds which he cannot passe it is not nobility of Parents nor wisdom nor comelinesse of person nor strength of bodie nor largenesse of dominions that can lengthen the thred of a mans dayes Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauporum tabernas regumque turres Deaths Arrow will as soon pierce the strong Castle of a King as the poor cottage of a Countrie Swain be thou more zealou then Moses or stronger then Sampson or beautifuller then Absalom or wiser then Solomon or richer then Job or faithfuller then Samuel Ire tamen restat Numa quo devenit Ancus This is the conclusion of all flesh at the time appointed thou must dye yield thy body to deaths Serjeant to be kept Prisoner in the Dungeon of the earth till the great Assises which shall be holden in the clouds at the last day the conclusion is most certain howevsr the premises be most fallible and doubtfull I say not that the time of our lives are equally lengthened or that the dayes our life consist of like houres some see but a winter day and their breath is gone some an â—quinoctial day and they live till their middle age some a long Summers day and live till old age all of them with the Beast called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall be sure to dye at night the course of mans life is like the journy of the Israelites from Aegypt to Canaan some dye as soon as they are gone out of Aegypt some in the midle way some with Moses come to the edge and borders of Canaan some indeed with Caleb and Joshua enter the promised Land alive such as shall be living at the last day but this is without
disgorge and cast up whatsoever lies on his stomach I doubt not but their apish tricks will in time move the heart and stomach of our gracious and merciful Coeur de Lion and other Magistrates in their places to cast up and shew such tokens of their inward grief as they shall have just occasion to conceive against them and to purge the body politick from these noxious humours wherewith it is endangered And without this there is no assurance of peace For as Jehu said unto Jehoram when he went against the house of Ahab is it peace Jehu said Jehoram What peace said the other while the whoredoms of thy mother Jezabel and her witchcrafts are in great number So say I what peace can be expected as long the whoredoms of the Romish Iezabel and her witchcrafts and inchanting cups wherewith she withdraweth the people from their obedience to their Soveraign and stealeth their hearts from him as did Absolon the hearts of the Israelites from David his father are in great number As long as the Pope can set any foot-hold in Britain he will bestir himself to molest the peace of our Sion Et si non aliquâ nocuisset mortuus esset But enough if not too much of this subject It is a point which I vowed to handle not out of any spleen to any particular person whosoever he that seeth the thoughts of my heart knowes that I lie not but for the love of the truth the zeal of Gods glory the integrity of my conscience and the discharge of my duty And herein liberavi animam meam look ye unto it The third proposition followeth 23 Ye shall die What mettal other creatures were made of whether immediately of nothing or of some preexistent matter I finde no expresse mention in Gods book This I finde that man was made of a matter and that not gold nor silver pearl or pretious stones but of earth the basest and vilest of all the elements yea of the dust of the earth even of dry dust which is good for nothing that if he shall with proud Phaeton in the Poet boast that Apollo God is his father he might presently call to mind that poor Clymene the earth is his mother that he was made of dust that he is but dust and that he shall return to dust And yet I know not how it comes to passe but I am sure it is true that many in authority resemble the dust in no property better then one that as the dry dust in the streets is with every blast of winde blown aloft into the air so are their hearts blown aloft and swelled up with a windie tympanie of their own greatnesse But let them climbe as high as they can God will one day send a shower and lay this dust They are but natural men and the threed of nature as a Poet feigneth is tyed unto the foot of Jupiters chair he can loose it when it shall please him Though Adams wit was such that he could give names unto every creature according to their natures yet he forgot his own name He did not remember that he was called Adam homo ab humo by reason of that affinity that was between him and the earth These sons of Adam are very like their old grand-father they are witty in seeking out the names and properties of other creatures but they forget their own names and their natures too And this is the cause why they be so holden with pride and overwhelmed with cruelties They will with Nebuchadnezzar strive to advance themselves above the stars of God and to match their old grand-father the first Adam who though he was made of earth yet with the wings of pride and arrogancie would needs soar up into heaven and care little for resembling their elder brother the second Adam who took upon him our weaknesse that we might be strengthened our poverty that we might be inriched our nakednesse that we might be clothed our basenesse that we might be exalted our mortality that we might be invested in the robe of immortality and was contented to descend from heaven to earth that he might make a way for us to ascend from earth to heaven But let them secure themselves as much as they will their hour-glasse is continually running the tide of death will tarry no man Our father hath eaten a sowre grape and his childrens teeth are set on edge Our grand-father for eating of the forbidden tree had this sentence denounced against him that he should return to dust And his children are liable unto it till heaven and earth be renewed and there be no more death Those great and mighty Gods of the earth which clothe themselves in purple and fine linnen and dwell in houses of Cedar and adde house to house and land to land as if the way to heaven layd all by land have a time appointed them when their insatiable desires shall be contented with a Golgotha a place of dead mens skulls a little portion of the great potters field as much as will serve to hide and cover a dead carkasse in it You which sit on the seat of judgement whom the Lord hath so highly extolled as to be called Gods you have your dayes numbred your moneths determined your bounds appointed which ye cannot passe It is not the ripenesse of your wits nor the dignity of your places nor the excellency of your learning nor the largenesse of your commission that can adde one inch unto the threed of your dayes Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas Regúmque turres Deaths arrow will as quickly pierce through the strong castle of a King as the muddie wall of a countrey swain Were ye wiser then Solomon stronger then Samson richer then Iob mightier then the greatest Monarch of the earth faithfuller in your places then Samuel that faithful Judge of Israel Ire tamen restat Numa quò devenit Ancus This must be the conclusion Ye must die as men and yeeld your bodies to deaths Serjeant to be kept prisoners in the dungeon of the earth till the great and general assizes that shall be holden by our Saviour Christ in the clouds of the skie at the last day The conclusion is most certain howsoever the premises be fallible and doubtful Alexander when by his followers he was called a God forgot that he was to die as a man till by a poysoned arrow he was put in minde of his mortality and then he confessed the truth Vos me Deum esse dixistis sed jam me hominem esse sentio You said that I was a God but now I perceive I am but a man And shortly after he perceived it with a witnesse when he was poysoned by Antipater and then inclosed in a small parcel of ground whose aspiring mind the whole world could not fil Cui satis ad votum non essent omnia terrae Climata terra modò sufficit
in Purgatorie The Beasts of the Land that is the men of this world The fowles of the heaven that is the souls of the blessed which the Pope hath canonized Here are two swords that is the Pope hath the managing of both swords Civil and Ecclesiastical an Exposition not altogether so harsh as that which Baronius brought of late to prove that the Pope had authority not only to feed Christs Sheep but also to punish with death such as resist his Papal dignitie because he which said Peter feed my sheep said also Arise Peter and kill if he had pressed the Text a little further he might by the same Argument have proved his Holy Father to be an Antropophagus or Caniball because it is not simply said Arise Peter and kill but Arise Peter kill and eat unless he had Bellarmines wit who proveth the Popes Supremacy not from the first word kill but from the second word eat But the main fault in Religion which hastened Gods judgements upon Jerusalem was her idolatry She changed her God She forsook the fountain of living waters and digged unto her self even broken pits which would hold no water she played the harlot upon every high mountain and under every green tree She said unto a tree thou art my father and to a stone thou hast begotten me Whether Rome go not beyond her in this particular he that hath but half an eye may plainly see Cur natos toties crudelis tu quoque falsis Ludis imaginibus We do not read of many Idols that were famous amongst the Jews there was Ashtoreth the God of the Sidonians and Milcom the abhomination of the Moabites and Chemosh the abhomination of the children of Ammon and Baal and a few more but the Idols which Papists have invented are so many that Rome can scarce finde room for placing them She is more like to the old Gentiles who did acknowledge one chief Jupiter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Jupiter Omnipotens qui res hominumque Deûmque Aeternis regis imperiis But he had three hundred under him which they worshipped as gods though the Papists acknowledge one supreme power yet are there three hundred to whom they perform that worship which is due onely unto God and as they had twelve which they counted greater gods which Ennius containeth in these old verses Juno vesta Minerva Ceres Diana Venus Mars Mercurius Jovis Neptunus Vulcanus Apollo Whom they hold to be of Gods Privy Councel but many lesser gods and goddesses for particular purposes as for their waters Lympha for her Gardens Pomona for their grounds Terminus c So the Papists have the twelve Apostles which with the Platonists they use as Mediatours betweene them and the high God unto which they have added the Virgine Marie thinking especially by her intercession to have their desires as the Trojans in the Poet used the mediation of Venus to obtain favour of Jupiter Now for particular matters there is scarce any thing but they have a God or Goddesse for it When they are in feare of the plague they pray to Sebastian against the falling sicknesse to Valentine against sudden death to Christopher against the Ring-worm to Anthony Now then as Pythagoras from the print of Hercules his foote in the games of Olympus did collect the bignesse of his whole body So from these few things which have been spoken you may gather how far Rome hath declined from her former purity and how well she may paralel with Jerusalem in my Text. I might take occasion to speak of that preheminence which the Pope challengeth over all Christian Kings Gods immediate Deputies on earth by reason of a supposed Authority given unto Peter whose successor he pretendeth himselfe to be the very same argument in substance by which the Turk claimeth the Westerne Empire because he succeedeth Constantine or hee that married Tullies wife laid claim to his learning because hee had married his executor all Pinces must hold their Scepters from him all Nations must couch downe before him and all kingdomes must doe him service Here Jerusalem dare not stand out in comparison with Rome her high Priests were never come to that height of impudencie as to set up their heads above the Lords anointed When Tyberius observed the base servitude which the Romanes used towards him hee could not chuse but crie out O homines natos ad servitutem he that considereth how vilely and servilely she which sometime was the Emperesse of the World doth obey him which is stiled a servant of servants he may well use Tyberius his words or those of the Poet. Roma tibi quondam suberant domini dominorum Servorum servi nunc tibi sunt domini but this onely by the way From her religion let us come to her conversation and manner of living Ierusalem was as corrupt in life as she was in religion She did steale murther and commit adulterie and sweare falsly Her Inhabitants from the least to the the greatest were given to covetousnesse and from the Prophet unto the Priest they all dealt falsly In the wings was found the blood of souls of the poor innocents How farre Rome goeth beyond Ierusalem even in this also wee may have a little taste in our holy English Catholicks the remainder of the Romish Church and the onely true Professors if yee will believe them of the ancient faith in this Kingdome but trie them by the works of regeneration the principall bodie of true Christianitie and you shall finde that in prophanation of Gods Sabbath in swearing and blaspheming in lying and cozening in drunkennesse and whoredome in oppression and all unconscionable dealings they are for the most part the very scumme and excrements of this land And why should they make conscience of these sinnes seeing their holy Mother is as it were a faire royall Exchange where any sinne may be bought at a reasonable rate Nothing more common then what do you lack or what will you buy c. A pardon for your sinnes past or for any sinne you shall hereafter commit a toleration for common Stewes for but I dare not name it dispensation for incestuous marriages or any thing else you shall have it if you can agree for the price shall I say all in a word She is a hell of impieties a habitation of Devils and the hold of foul spirits and a cage of every uncleane and hatefull bird And therefore I lesse marvell why Friar Mantuan should be so bitter against her corruptions in his time Sanctus ager scurris venerabilis ara cinaedis Servit honorandae divum Ganimedibus aedes And he saith further Nullae hic arcana revelo It was no shriving secrets the Fryar did disclose but such things as all the world could witnesse to be true Bernard is more sharpe against the abuses of his time though the rotten hmours were but then in
is wronged make complaint rather then to his Father and to whom shall a man have recourse for redress of injuries done to him but to them who are Gods Deputies Fathers of their Countries and living Laws to give every man his owne And if every wrong should be put up with patience it would imbolden such as we speak of to multiply their abuses and with greater impudency to goe on in their lewd courses Veterem ferendo injuriam invitas novam whereupon the Ephori amongst the Lacedemonians did punish a man that had put up many injuries and never made complaint Nam si primum vel alterum accusasset vel jure vindicasset cateri abstinissent But yet it 's not fit that Fathers of great Families such as our reverend Judges should be molested with the petty complaints of every peevish Boy that is in the house In this case there is utterly a weaknesse of mind amongst men especially in these parts so remote from the chief Coures of Justice that they go to Law one with another As for the Wrangler of whom I was last speaking who makes the Law sometimes a Sword to revenge himself of his Brother sometimes a Coak to cover his theft Surely if that law of Pittacus was good that he who committed a fault when he was drunk should suffer a double punishment one for the offence the other for being drunk then this deserves a double one one for abusing the Law the other for wronging his Neighbour to whom he should perform all duties of brotherly love But I leave him and will end this branch with a generall exhortation As we all professe our selves to be children of one father so let us be affectioned to love one another with brotherly love Rom. 12. 10. Now then as the elect of God children of one father holy and beloved put on the bowels of mercie kindnesse meeknesse long-suffering forbearing one another and forgiving one another if any man have a quarrell against another even as God for Christs sake forgave you And let the peace of God rule in your hearts and the God of peace shall be with you O holy Father sanctifie them whom thou hast given unto thy Christ the sheepe of thy little flock keep them in thy name pour into their hearts the spirit of peace and unity That they may be all one as thou thy sonne are one Last of all Is Almighty God the great Judge of the World Is he a Father to his little flocke Here then Judges and Magistrates and the great ones of this World and all those whom the great God of Heaven and Earth hath set over others and stiled with his owne name are to be exhorted to imitate him whose person they beare in this relation of Paternity remembring bring that as they are called Gods so are they also named Fathers so Job a Judge or as some think a King is stiled Job 29. 16. And David speaks to his Subjects as unto children Psal 34. Come ye children Naamans servants call their Master father 2 King 5. 13. And Joseph when he was made ruler over Aegypt was called Abroch that is tender Father and the Philistims called their Kings Abimilech as who should say the King my Father So amongst the old Romans the worthiest of their Senators were called Fathers as Juvenall speaks of Tullie Roma patrem patriae Ciceronem libera dixit They must then as Jer. exhorts not only abstain from violence and shedding of innocent blood but after Gods example deliver the oppressed from the hands of the Oppressor as much as in them lies shew themselves fathers and protectors of the righteous This God requires at their hands and those that purposely neglect it shall one day hold up their hands and answer for it when the Judge of the world shall sit on the Bench. And this they are the rather to look too because the more eminent their places are the more conspicuous will their faults be if they neglect their duties As a blaine on the eye beseems worse then a wart on the face and a wart on the face worse then a wenne on the back or other part that is not seen That which others may doe great men and those that are in authority may not Quibus omnia licent propter hoc ipsum multa non licent saith Seneca other men may looke out at a window and observe passengers in the streets Sophocles when he is on the bench may not Praetorem decet non manus solum sed oculos habere abstinentes another man may stoop and take up something that lies in his way Themistocles may not Others may weare Sycionian Pantophles but they become not Socrates though fit for his feet Magistrates play Gods part and a Fathers on the stage and therefore have need to remember Jehosaphats rule Take heed what ye doe They walk upon the top of a steep Rock they have need to tread warily And if their places and their names put them in mind of their duties especially of protecting the innocent after Gods example a shame befall those Courts and Magistrates and Advocates too who by the greatnesse of their places think to manage and inlaw the foulest enormities Vbi is qui sedet crimina vindicaturus admittit as Cyprian complains Or as Aeneas Sylvjus once said of the Court of Rome where Justice is made the lure Suiters the fowls Attorneyes and Solliciters the drivers Pleaders the fowlers the Law the net and he that should sit in the gate to protect the cause of the Innocent sits lurking in the theivish corners of the streets that hee may ravish the poore and such as he gets into his net It was a bold but a true Speech of Diomedes a Pirate to Alexander the Great when he was convented before him for Piracy I who robb with one poor Pinace am called a Pirate and thou that dost it with an invincible Navy art called a Monarch I because I robb one private man am called a Theife and thou because thou robbest and wastest whole Kingdomes to which thou hast no right art called an Emperour I by the misery of a few have purchased a name of disgrace and thou by the misery of a great part of the World hast got the Sirname of Magnus If I had thy Navy by Sea and thy Forces by Land to command I should be saluted Emperour if thou wert alone and a poor prisoner as I am the whole World would condemne thee for a notable Theife For in the cause we differ nothing save that he is the worse who doth more manifestly forsake Justice and more notoriously impugne the Laws those whom I flee thou persecutest whom I after a sort reverence thou scornest it was the iniquity of Fortune and want of necessaries that made me it 's intollerable pride and insatiable avarice that made thee a Theife had I more I would be better thou the more thou hast the worse