hee is no way obliged though yet such a one is not to be vnkindly intreated Exodus Exod. 22. 21. 22. 21 We doe not so hardly censure him for it but to be vngentle froward and discourteous to those that are neere vnto vs and to whom wee are bound by many strong linkes of nature duty or desert wee commonly hold it for a sauage and vnnaturall part Now christians are all linked one to another in the strictest surest and most inseparable manner which can bee thought we are sonnes of the same Father espoused to the same Master we are heyres of the same promises wee are begotten with the same seed of immortality wee trauell 1 Pet. 1. 23. towards the same Country we are bound for the same hauen and in one word for all wee are members of the same body all flesh of Christs flesh and bone of his bone all fedde at one Gods table all eat 1 Cor. 12. 12. by Faith of one Christs flesh all drinke of one Sauiours bloud all baptised in one Baptisme all professing the same Faith all sanctified 4 Ephes 4. 5. by the same spirit When wee are knit together in so many bands of vnity shall we not consort together in the same Christian affection of loue and Charity If the Brother haue cause to loue the brother and be vnnaturall if he doe it not if the husband haue great reason to affect his wife and be barbarous if hee affect her not if the mother haue cause to tender her child and be accounted cruell if shee regard it not Then how worthily are wee Christians to bee esteemed cruell barbarous vnnaturall if we regard not affect not loue not one another seeing wee are neerer each to other then Parent to Child Husband to Wife Brother to Brother Arctius enim gratiae quam naturae vinculum Austin For the knot is straiter and the band stronger of Grace then of nature the loue of Parents to children is naturall of children to Parents loyall of husband to wife reciprocall of friend to friend mutuall but the loue of Christians is all these and more then these immortall for wee are members of the same body mysticall as neere as the hand to the shoulder the shoulder to the necke the necke to the head the very members of one another Where then are the mutuall 1 Cor. 12. 21. offices which as Pilgrims heere on earth though Citizens in Heauen we should performe one to another When Merchants or trauellers of the same countrey meet together in a strange land as Englishmen in Italy France Spaine or Turkey many of you do know the most of vs may easily cōceiue what a league of loue there is betwixt them what passages of kindnesse exchange of courtesie how forward they will bee to benefit and pleasure one another Syth then we are no other then strangers and Pilgrimes heere in this world all trauelling towards heauen the place of our habitation paulumque morati serius aut citius metam properamus ad vnaem should we not much more imbrace each others acquaintance and striue to expresse our bounden loue by the readyest performance of the best Christian duties wherin we might doe a fauour or bee a furtherance for the good and welfare one of another In a word wee are all tied together by many linkes therefore we should haue much loue Reason 3 Thirdly there is nothing which will make Christians seruiceable and ready to doe good but loue therfore nothing more to be required or desired among Christians than loue for this will make vs all in our seuerall callings whether we be Ministers or Magistrates or Trades-men of the towne or countrey Buyers or Sellers of what estate degree or quality soeuer we be This loue I say will make will make vs prone and willing to employ our wit our wealth our credit our knowledge our counsaile our commodities and all for the good of all All other things without this make vs worse riches will make vs wanton or wilfull to our selues or others iniurious Honour will make vs high minded and in contemning others whom we should countenance ouerhasty and presumptuous Witte will make vs selfe-conceited and either priuately slanderous or publikely schismaticall and seditious Knowledge will make vs swell to be ambitious curious censorious scientia immo omnia haec entia inflant charitas Bern. 1 Cor. 8. 1. solum aedificat Knowledge yea wit honour wealth and all do but blow and puffe vs vp Charity only doth edifie and build vs vp and others and putteth it selfe forth to the vttermost to bee helpfull and beneficiall to all The Prouerbe is Epich ancient excellent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Loue is all communicatiue of a diffusiue spreading nature not for it selfe alone but ready to impart wisdome wealth counsaile credit head tongue hand foote limbes life and all to the parties beloued It maketh the soule of him in whom it resideth to bee more Vbi mat quam vbi animat Bern. Where it loueth then where it liueth or quickneth Yea it is of so soueraigne vertue and power that it not only restraineth vs from rendring Matth 26. euill for good as Iudas did to Christ which was monstrous villany and curbeth vs from doing euill for euill as Ioab did to Abner which was a sinnefull infirmity or 2 Sam. 3. 27. vrgeth vs to doe good for good as Ahashuerus did to Mordecay which Esth 6. 10. was but naturall iustice and equity but it easily draweth vs to recompence euill with goodnesse as Dauid did to Saul and this is without 1 Sam. 24. exception compleat Christianitie Hee therefore that hath a louing heart and heartily affecteth the members of Christ be he what hee may bee for outward respects neuer so base and contemptible he is notwithstanding a profitable and behoouefull member in the Bee-hiue of Christs Church hee bringeth either wax or honny by his payne or his prayers thereunto for the benefit of many 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such a good man is a common Epict. good But on the contrary he that hath an haughty vngentle spirit in whom the grosse humours of pride and couetousnesse haue bred a stoppage or obstruction of all liberality and kindnesse so that in all his connsails cogitations and actions he aymes at his owne proper gaine or glory not a whit regarding his Christian Brethrens good or relieuing them in their woes their wants their wrongs miseries such a one be he whatsoeuer hee be in the eye of the world neuer so great or glorious hee is yet in the vineyard of Christ but as a briar or thorne and in Christs Church but as a humming droan As the Church of Sardy had a name a liue but was dead so hath he And what the Apostle saith of the Reuel 3. 1 1 Tim. 5 6. voluptuous woman 1 Tim. 5. 6. that may truly be said of him that he is dead whiles hee liueth For
the Apostle exhorteth Ephes 4. and loue one another â—phes 4. 15. yea euen our enemies as our Sauiour in my Text commandeth and be no waies partakers of those fornamed grosse sinnes of craft and cruelty which proceede from hatred malice couetousnes and enuy but be euery way abundant in good workes which are the fruits of true Christian loue and liberalitie Vse 3 And now lastly for our instruction sith loue is not onely a necessary implement but also an excellent ornament for a Christian and therefore by our Sauiour so earnestly required at our hands let vs know that it is our duety by humble and hearty prayer to seeke it at his hand let vs therefore beseech him to grant by grace that true loue vnto vs which nature cannot giue let vs humbly intreat him so to shed his Spirit abroad in our hearts that wee may loue his seruants as wee ought that those which are neere and deere to him may be so to vs and where he loueth most wee may there be most inlarged in our loue and kindnesse also that our very soules may fully rest themselues in the liking and embracing of Christians not looking to their present wants and imperfections but to their future perfection and glory not considering what they be in themselues but rightly conceiuing what they be in Christ this prayer this meditation will be an effectuall meanes to make our loue abound wherevnto if we shall adioyne the commendable practise of other Christian duties and in our often meetings conferre and discourse charitably and conscionably of holy things and make one another partakers of the benefit of our reading and hearing especially on the Sabboth day surely this would be as fewell and towe and bellowes too to blow and stirre vp this grace of loue in our hearts and to make it flame in a great measure to our mutuall comfort and commodity 2. Tim 16. Wherefore as euer we would haue louing hearts and bee loued of him that alone knoweth our harts let vs alwaies striue to haue our companies and societies seasoned with holy and religious exercises and in steed of prophane talking ripping vp of other mens faults scoffing and iesting which are things vncomely Ephes 5. and Ephes 5. 4. faults too common in our priuat meetings and as it were the puddle water to quench loue and the incentiues to prouoke hatred Let vs on the contrary vse godly conference and delight in the practise of prayers and singing of Psalmes the like duties of Christianity as often as our company in any place is thereto required whereby occasions of hatred may be preuented whereby Christians perceiuing the spiritual excellency which is in ech other may be the faster glewed and linked and obliged in their iudgements wills and affections one to an other Finally to shut vp this point with the exhortation of the Apostle Ephes 5. 1 2. Beloued be ye followers of Eph. 5. 1 2. God as deare children and walke in loue as Christ hath loued vs. And Let euery man please his neighbour in that which is good to aedification Rom 15. 2. and the Ro 15. 2. God of peace and loue grant that in the eternall peace-maker Christ Iesus wee may loue each other aeternally And thus much of the first doctrine and of the seuerall vses and reasons thereof And so the time cutting off the intended handling of the two other points following in the feare of God I commend you all to the grace of his word which is able to build you Act. 20. 32. further and to giue you an inheritance with those which are sanctified and commit that which hath been spoken euen this little graine of loue to the ground of your hearts the blessing thereof to him who is able to make an handfull of corne to proue like the top of Lybanus Psal 72. 16. and the Psalm 72. least graine of mustard-seed to ouertop the trees of the forrest Matth 13. Math 13. though he which sowed the same depart Euen to God the Father the inexhaustible fountaine of goodnes the Sonne the incomprehensible wisdom of the Father and the Holy Ghost the indivisible power of them both To whom being three in persons one in essence the same onely wise immortall and invisible Diety we ascribe and desire to be ascribed all praise power might maiesty and dominion now and for euer Amen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVL AND worthilie regarded Sir ROBERT CHICHESTER Knight of the noble Order of the BATH c. increase of all grace and true happinesse heere and the blessednesse of immortality hereafter SIR Beeing often sollicited by the earnest entreaty of men of no meane quality to publish these slender fruits of some few daies labour and to let them passe to the eie of this censorious world as things in their iudgement worthy longer life then to fade with the houre or two to which they were destinated I haue at length after much reluctancie yeelded consent to satisfie their importunity addressing my selfe with the more alacritie to the businesse because I saw oportunity offered thereby to let the world see how I reuerence your person regard your place and vnfeignedly desire to make publike acknowledgement of my bounden seruice to you for all such beneficiall fauours as haue bin at any time vouchsafed vnto me in that place and calling wherein by Gods grace I stand Sentinell for the soule-sauing good of you and many others I hope whom the Lord of grace hath ordained to glory beeing in duty and conscience obliged so farre as the nature of my ministeriall functioÌ„ shall guide me and the power of my poore ability can reach to returne vnto you the interest of spiritual bles sings the comforts of a better life eternall in lieu of such corporall benefits as vnder Gods prouidence your patronage I do enioy for the maintenance of this fraile life temporall As a pledge of which duty I doe here humbly present vnto your eies that funerall sermon which lately you heard with your eares presuming that by your fauorable acceptance and benigne countenance you will giue vnto the same a kind of second life especially because it was penned preached vpon the occasion of your much esteemed friends death at the solemnising of his buriall In the which if there bee any sentence of instruction rule of direction example of religious resolution whereof your christian wisdom according to the pregnancy of your wit apprehension shall make a conscionable and comfortable vse to the furtherance of your saluation the matter occasioÌ„ of my thanksgiuing to God for his blessing on my poore labours shall hereby greatly be enlarged and my respectfull readines vpon your encouragement to vndergo the like employment shal be much augmented Thus humbly beseeching your Worship to rest assured that how weake and meane soeuer my counsels and endeauours bee my vowes and praiers for your truest happines and honour
wee know that we are translated from 1. Ioh. 3. 14. death to life because we loue the brethren Whereby the Apostle setteth it downe for a sure marke of Gods children to be louing one to another which hee doth more at large amplifie in the 7 8 9 and 1. Ioh. 7. 4. 16. 12 verses of the fourth Chapter and in the 16 verse concludes with this prouerbiall sentence neuer to be forgotten or committed to obliuion alwaies to be practised and by Christians put in execution God is loue and he that dwelleth in loue dwelleth in God and God in him I will not loose my selfe or you in heaping vp any more needlesse proofes in a point so plaine S. Paul Rom 12. Cor 1. 13. Eph 4. 2. Col 3. 12. is very vehement in pressing this argument of mutuall loue but I will leaue his plentifull exhortations to your priuate meditations holding it sufficient for the confirmation of this doctrine that Christ Iesus made his whole life the example of his law this law of louing one another being no other than an irrefragable and most sound axiome arising out of the irreprehensible and most sincere actions of his life who was borne liued and died to restore man to the loue and fauour of God to promote loue and friendship betwixt man and man and to expresse the aeternitie and bounty of his loue to all mankinde who brought loue as the prince of peace and our King conquering death and Sathan the enemies of it who wrought loue as our Priest giuing himselfe to his Father as a peace-offering for it who taught loue as our Prophet abundantly praising and preaching it often pressing and alwaies practising it the more strictly to binde vs thereby to the embracing of it and to the willing obedience and conformitie of our wils to his will therein And so much of the doctrine or lesson it selfe Let vs now consider a few reasons to riuet this doctrine and obseruation the better to perswade our hearts in this behalfe which reasons are especially foure First we are to loue our Christian brethren because God loues â—easons of â—octrine them 2. Because we are neere of kinn and condition and tyed together by many linkes of loue 3. Because this brotherly loue will make vs most seruiceable each to other in Church or Common-wealth 4. Because it will preuent a multitude of mischiefes and inconueniences Let these reasons bee weighed a little in the ballance of our Christian iudgment and we shall soone perceiue if Sathan haue not exceedingly captiuated our senses that the loue of our Brethren is a most requisite and necessarie a most commendable and profitable thing Reason First the Lord of heauen and earth the Creator of vs all and our Father loueth them with whose loue ours should sympathize with whose affections ours should make a perfect harmonie that where he loueth there wee should loue also and that earnestly for it is good in a good thing to loue earnestly Gal 4. and where he hateth much Gal. 4. 18. we should hate also and that vehemently for as our vehement hatred cannot but bee good if that No which we hate be naught so our earnest loue can neuer be naught if that which we loue be good and how can that bee otherwise then good which God being goodnes it selfe doth effect If then it be a sufficient argument incitement to vs to hates any thing which is an abhomination to God then it cannot be a weake consequent but a strong encouragement for vs on the contrary that where God loueth most we should loue most also Now the Lord loues all his Creatures in a generall manner approuing them as the workemanship of his owne hands and therefore there should be a correspondency in our affections to loue and like all the Creatures as they are his Creatures But as for Christians they are his peculiar Christians Gods peculiar his children the sheepe of his pasture his treasure his chosen generation by all the possessiue relatiue respectiue tearmes of alliance and vnity his as neere and deere to him as the apple of his eye the signet of his right hand alwaies vnder the eye of his protection prouidence vnder the light of his louing countenance the proper obiect of his lookes and loue too Wherefore as he doth tenderly regard them such should be the feruency of our loue and affection â— Iohn 5. 1. toward them for euery one which loueth him which begate will loue them also which are begotten by him and if wee say wee loue God whom we haue not seene and yet hate our brethren whom wee haue seene we are but lyars It cannot be 1. Iohn 4 20. that the fire of our affection should burne hot in the Lord and but like ice that is to say no whit at all towards those which are his sonnes seruants and chiefe friends Wee haue an old Prouerbe somewhat homely but true and by common experience verified Loue mee and loue my dog how much more Loue me and loue my sonne or my wife Seeing then God hath adopted all true Christians bee they neuer so full of infirmities wants and imperfections as sonnes vnto himselfe hath married them in mercy and fidelity giuing them in assurance thereof a ring with sixe spirituall Hose 2. 19. 20. Iewells described by the Prophet Hosea How can we then euer approue our selues to be well affected towards him if our behauiour bee strange our kindnes cold towards them if either with cruell Ahab we preferre our beasts before our brethren in the time of scarcitie as I feare too many haue done Or else with churlish Nabal deny the smallest 1 Kings 18. 5. reliefe to Dauids seruants or to the seruants of the Lord in their extremity 2 Sam. 25. 10. 11. verses as too many amongst vs at this day doe O let vs blush for shame and sigh for sorrow that we cannot that wee doe not affect where the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost conspire with ioynt consent to fauour and let this be a prouocation to vs all to blow vp the dying coales of our almost extinguisht charitable affections and seeing our good things cannot extend to thee Lord in Heauen as the Prophet speaketh Let our Psalm 16. 2. well doing bee extended towards his Saints on earth And because God doth not only loue them but professeth this loue and proclaimeth to the world that to bee done to himselfe which is done to Christians in his name Let vs no way exclude them from the benefit of our best friendshippe which are euery way so much interrested in his bounty and fauour Let vs loue them because GOD our Father loues them and this is the first reason Reason 2 Secondly because there is a neere bond of kinne and condition betwixt vs mutually which doth most iustly challenge kindnes and good affection at our hands If a man doe not shew kindnesse to a stranger to whom
whereby the soule in a spirituall manner doth rest and settle it selfe in the liking and approbation of a Christian man as he is a Christian and according to the excellency of a Christian When therefore in our hearts and soules wee are quietly and fully possessed with the liking and embracing of any of our fellow members and brethren in Christ according to their worth and dignity as they are Christians then doe wee loue them indeed spiritually and as Christians ought to loue one another I say not when we loue and like them as they are men thus and thus be friended thus enriched thus enobled thus outwardly beautified or accomplish'd for this is carnall and partiall loue But when wee louingly regard them as they are Christians considering the spirituall excellency of them in Christ and knowing that diuine perfection which is in Christ for them and in them in some measure as the Apostle speaketh and 2. Pet. 1. 4. accordingly fixing our affections on them and highly esteeming and heartily louing them as God doth both vs and them for Christs sake This this is true Christian spirituall loue that loue which our Sauiour here requireth the which as a golden chaine consisteth of these three linkes the good-will of Threefold cord of charity Bernard the heart the good word of the mouth and the good worke of the hand Triplex enim funiculus charitatis beneuolentia in corde benedictio in ore beneficentia in mann As Bernard well obserueth Wherfore he which in this manner tenderly affecteth his Christian Brethren whatsoeuer they be for outward respects that hee can vnfainedly wish well vnto them in his heart as Moses did vnto the Israelites Exod. Exod. 32. 32 1. Sam. 19. 4. 32. blesse them with his mouth and speake good of them as Ionathan did of Dauid 1. Sam. 19. and can bee willing according to his abilitie to helpe and relieue them in their necessitie as Nehemiah did Nehem. 5. 8. 9. 10. the Iewes by lending to them both corne and money freely in the time of extremitie Nehemiah 5. 10. and all this for Christianities sake he doth rightly and in truth loue them as Christ hath prescribed and in what measure any of vs shall so doe in the same degree we haue obtained that spiritual amity and are possessed of that Christian charity which Christ Iesus doth by so many Commandements as it were extort and with an holy kind of violence wring from vs. Vse 1 Now to make some vse and application of that which hath beene taught First mee thinketh this should strike a terror into vs and make vs all both to blush forshame and sigh for sorrow sith wee haue been so cold and frozen as it were in the performance of this duty of mutuall loue which Christ with such vrgent vehemency doth so often require at our hands Did hee he I say the totall of our loue the hight of our hope the vtmost of our feare the way neuer erring the truth neuer fayling the life neuer ending so precisely prescribe vnto vs the way to loue in truth that we might attaine to life and haue we as the wise man speaketh Ioh. 14. 6. in the error or forwardnesse of life sought death haue wee so much forgotten and neglected or most sparingly practised that lesson of loue which he so abundantly commended vnto vs by precept and the example of his whole life Here then is matter of bewailing and lamenting for the best of vs to consider how we haue beene failing or fainting in this duty and how wee haue come farre short of discharging that charge which Christ hath laid on vs. We cannot deny but Christians are most deare vnto the Lord yet who of vs made them so deare vnto himselfe wee cannot but confesse that wee are tied vnto them many waies and that most strongly but yet whose heart doth so fully embrace them whose hart doth so rest it felfe in the liking of them as they are Christians may not the best say that his affections are strongly setled on such such rather as they bee his friends or kinsfolke his Creditors or Benefactors then as they are good men good Christians and the friends of Christ Iesus If any bee so farre gone that they dare deny this for you shall haue those which neuer had any loue or came neere the dwelling place thereof most ful of boasting that they loue their neighbours as themselues spectemur agendo Let vs come to the trial and make enquiry of our loue by the effects and our common dealing and daily practise will soone conuince vs of the contrary My little children saith Saint Ioh. 1. Ioh. 3. 18. Let vs not loue in word or tongue only for this lip-labour wordy loue is not worthy the name of loue but in deede and truth Well then in Greg. in mor. Neâ—â—â— aliquem amat quâ—m non vult esse meliorem truth and by our deedes let vs in particular by our selues examine our owne soules how wee haue loued our Christian brethren and what seruice wee haue done vnto them for Christs sake What haue wee been desirous that our neighbours amongst whom we dwell or others with whom wee haue conuersed and had comerce and acquaintance should bee the better for vs haue wee left among them some tokens of our goodnes some monuments of our godlinesse haue wee refreshed them in their neede with the sweete sauour of our kindnesse gentlenesse mercifulnesse haue wee beene content that some portion of their sorrowes and disastrous fortunes should be laide on the shoulders of our friendshippe that thereby wee might alleuiate and lesson their weight least they should otherwise sinke vnder the burthen of their wants and woes haue wee in causes of extremitie holpen them by our counsell sustained them by our comfort supplied their necessities by the superfluity of our wealth supported their decaying estate by our credit and countenance haue wee endured much trouble and trauell for their sakes and yet thinke no labor too much to do them good because they are the members of Christ these are buddes blossomes and fruites of Christian loue indeede for true loue as it maketh vs to grieue when the person beloued is decaied in estate or despised so it maketh vs to vse all good meanes for his vpbearing and to reioyce when we see him benefited or aduanced But where is this loue become now when as a number of those that bee accounted and wee must hope are indeed Christians thogh very weake ones doe make their owne profit pleasure and preferment the end of all their doings dealings and endeauours yea â— Phil. 21. when as the most of those which professe Christianity thinke all their riches little enough to feede their fancie to satisfie their pleasure to maintaine their pride and not a penny in a pound bestowed on the poore members of Christ Iesus when by experience we find all their time to be little enough to follow
the morning of the resurrection we may awake to blessed immortality Amen FINIS CHRISTS LARVMBELL OF LOVE RESOVNDED By R. C. Pastor of Sherwell in Deuon 1. IOH. 3. 18. Let vs not loue in word neither in tongue only but in deed and truth AVG. in lib. confess Beatus qui amat te Domine amicum in te inimicum propter te LONDON Printed by Edward Griffin for Francis Constable and are to be sold at his shoppe in Pauls Churchyard at the signe of the White-Lyon 1616. TO THE WORSHIPfull Magistrates and all the well affected Inhabitants of BARNSTAPLE Especially TO HIS APPROVED good friends Mr. Nicholas Downe and Master Iohn Delbridge c. R. C. vnfainedly wisheth the increase of all sauing knowledge sanctified loue and Christian happinesse RIghtly regarded As I am bound to loue where I finde desert so I cannot but endeauour to deserue where I haue euer found loue Hence it is that vpon reiterated importunity exhibiting to publicke view amongst other my ministeriall labours extorted from mee this slender discourse as the first fruits of my loue many yeeres sithence bestowed on you I could do no lesse then by way of dedication put the same into your hands and present it to your eies in the same singlenesse of spirit and spirituall afction wherewith at first it was deliuered to your eares which if it bee worth any respect in many respects belongeth vnto you especially because you had a present propertie and interest therein as soone as it wtas preached by the meanes of a reuerend and religious father * amongst Mr. Doâ—idge you who by earnest intreatie obtained then a true coppie thereof from mee euen word for word as now it is printed I could haue been content to alter some things therein to satisfie those which perchance like not the latinisme or vnfamiliar straine thereof but yet knowing that he which in doing any thing thinketh to preuent all obiections must lie stil and do nothing I haue as you see suffered it to passe through my fingers vnto your hands in its proper primitiue habit without any alteration of forme or matter at all Commending it in liew of some better present and more sightly oblation to your generall acceptance seruice and deuotion especiallie to you two my especially named good friends as a deed of gift wherein I haue bequeathed some part of the goods of my vnfained affection which your many respectful fauours haue worthily deserued I forbeare particulars least my trauelling thoughts should transport me beyond the bounds of an Epistle onely in assurance of my thankefull remembrance of them I recommend this little Tract of Christian loue to your Christian vse obseruation and imitation too beseeching the God of loue that by an attractiue heauenlie vertue and influence from aboue it may powerfull drawe you and others to follow the truth painefullie preached and plentifullie professed amongst you with loue vnfained with zeale well tempered and a conuersation regular and rightly sanctified and that you as chiefe amongst the rest louing each other intirelie in the truth and for the truths sake may as much as in you lieth like two eies one way looking and two hands together working carefullie and conscionably prouide for the preseruation of peace and vnitie and the propagation of true religion and sanctimony in your well ordered societie and corporation Thus with my best vowes and wishes for your Townes welfare in generall and more particular praiers for the increase of all sanctifying graces in you that amongst the manie blazing starrès of these daies who onelie make a shew of godlinesse you may truelie approue your selues in your priuate godlie comportment and publicke gouernment to be fixed in the same firmament with the Sunne of righteousnesse and haue your affections so inclined and enlarged to the pursuite and practise of holinesse here that you may attaine euerlasting happinesse hereafter I rest alwaies prest to bee proued Yours in the Lord Iesus euer assured Richard Carpenter CHRISTS LARVMBEL OF LOVE REsounded IOH. 15. vers 12. This is my commandement that ye loue one another as I haue loued you AS couragious Iudith hauing Iudith 13. 11. beheaded Holofernes returned to the gates of Bethulia crying open for God euen our God is with vs So hauing made headlesse some vprising doubts and difficulties which would haue hindred my approch to this place I appeale this day to the gates of your hearts calling and crying open for God is with vs euen our God the true Emmanuel Christ Iesus In whose name I am at this time to deliuer a message vnto you Right worshipfull and well beloued in the Lord not by way of petition to intreat you or by faire promises and perswasions to induce you but by a precise peremptory commondement to require and charge you to performe a most necessary Christian duty of mutuall loue and charity one towards an other My message is taken out of the 15. Chapter of Iohn the 12. verse the authoritie wherof depends not on the Messenger which brings it but on the maiesty of God which sendeth it Wherfore with reuerence and attentiue regard harken vnto it This is my Ioh. 15. 12. commandement that ye loue one another as I haue loued you Which words commend vnto vs all a lesson of loue fit to be learned and practised not onely on this day of the faire but all the faire daies of our life And so much the more to bee attended vnto because in these last and worst daies iniquity increasing deceipt dissimulation craft couetousnesse hatred and contention euery where abounding the loue of many yea of Math. 24. 12 most is waxen cold For the blowing vp of the dying embers whereof least it be wholy extinguished our Christian hearts ought to giue the best entertainement to that which Christ hath here commanded This is my commandement c. Which charge of our Sauiour being somewhat enlarged vnfolds it selfe to our better vnderstanding in these termes as though he had said My Disciples my friends Paraphrasis textus followers so it is that very shortly I am to finish that great worke of mans saluation for which I was sent into the world and to seale the reuealed mysterie of your redemption by my pretious bloud by my bitter death and passion Wherefore this is my last will and testament this is my commandement not but that all other commandements are mine hauing their authority from the highest heauenly court of Parliament but this in a more especiall manner and meaning and in a kinde of excellency is my commandement which among the rest I would haue all Christians to hold in chiefe regard and estimation to obserue with the greatest diligence care * contention this is my peculiar Emulation commandement which I do most vrge and by mine owne example most plainely teach That ye loue one another That yee which professe Christianity and are ioyned together in my name by my spirit beare a
most feruent and vnfained affection each to other not but that your enemies and strangers yea all men in whom nothing but nature doth appeare are also to bee beloued but the fellow members of the same misticall body yea brethren by grace and adoption by calling and profession Chtistians begotten by the same word and spirit redeemed by the same bloud Heires of the same promise kingdome are to haue the chiefe seate of loue in your soules and as it were the highest and fairest roome of true affection in the house of your hearts This is my commandement that yee so loue one another 3 As I haue loued you That which I haue commanded in word I haue for your instruction and imitation practised in deede I haue made my life the example of my law and therefore may iustly require that loue at your hands whereof I haue exhibited my selfe a continual patterne before your eyes I haue most authoritie to command and my example should bee of most force to induce you will readilie imitate him of whom you thinke well especially hauing receiued some great benefit from him now of whom should you thinke better then of mee and to whom are you more beholding then to mee who haue indured a miserable life and must suffer a contemptible death for your sakes wherefore my disciples my friends my followers Loue one another as I haue loued you And with cheerefulnesse and constancie follow my example in this principall and most necessarie Christian duty of mutuall charity each to other This beloued is the full sense and meaning the maine drift and substance of my text Which as a fountaine of liuing water diuideth it selfe into three streames and in the diuision thereof commends to the duty of our obseruation these three distinct parts 3 parts 1. A commandement or law prefixed to win the Deuision greater reuerence and attention in these wordes this is my commandement 2. A duty of mutuall loue enioyned to worke in vs the deeper impression in these words That ye loue one another 3. A reason or motiue thereunto grounded on Christs example most worthy of imitation in these words As I haue loued you This is my commandement a commandement Illustratio â—â—â—tus of absolute soueraigntie and therefore to bee obeyed that ye loue one another a worke of excellent vse and commodity and therefore to bee performed As I haue loued you an example or president of singular sufficiencie and therefore to be followed This is my commandement Not an earthly Prince though his ordinance be as full of soueraignty as his seate of maiestie Neither heauenly Angells though in them all things make remonstrance of great power and glorious excellencie gaue this charge But the Lord Iesus the Lord of Angells the King of kings the Destroyer of Sathan the Sauiour of Saints the Conquerour of death the Giuer of life whose goodnesse is such as all are bound to loue him and greatnesse such as none may disdaine to obey him the Lord Iesus Excelsus in honore August enchyr suauis in amore diues in haereditate primus supremus liberrimus The first before all in eternity the highest aboue all in infinite maiestie most free and absolute at his owne libertie by nature essentiall and very God by distinction of â— Heb. 8. â— Ioh 1. â— Heb. persons the Sonne of God by office the word of God by holinesse the expresse Image of God the brightnesse of his glory the sweetnesse of his goodnesse the greatnesse of his power The Lord Iesus the Creatour of our persons out of nothing the Reformer of our natures out of sinne the Redeemer of our estates out of miserie the raiser of our soules from death to life and the exalter both of body and soule vnto glory Whose comming in the flesh the Patriarchs honored by their prefiguration Princes and potentates by their expectation Iohn Baptist by his preparation the three Wisemen by their offrings and oblation the Angells by their song the Sheepheards by their ioy Simeon and Anna by their praise euen the Lord Iesus whose comming into the world was thus honored going now out of the world he thus commanded This is my commandement 2. That ye loue one another That yee the naturall branches of Christ the true vine of whose fulnesse ye 1. Ioh. 16. haue all receiued from whom the soule-sauing-sappe of meekenesse mercy loue liberalitie temperancie and humilitie and all other spirituall graces are alone deriued that ye which are Christians not in name onely but in nature not in outward appearance but in reall existence not only by externall profession but by eternall election and internall regeneration that ye 1. Pet. 1. 21. loue one another Brotherly with a pure heart feruently being of one minde will and affection not hauing your wills diuided your iudgments distracted your affections alienated but supporting one another through loue and alwaies consorting as Brethren therein endeauouring to keepe the vnitie of the spirit in the bond of peace This is Christs commandement Ephes 4. 3. that we which professe Christianitie in sinceritie should loue one an other verè sine fictione purè sine corruptione Hug. Card. constanter sine defectione Truly without dissimulation purely without corruption constantly without flinching or defection 3 As he hath loued vs Who so loued vs that hee made a progresse from dignity to basenes in his incarnation from the ioyes of heauen to the paines of hell in his bitter passion to free vs from sinne and death and to purchase for vs euerlasting life and saluation Who so loued vs that hee turned the white robe of his innocency into the red robe of his martyrdome that the blacks raggs of our sins and sable weeds of sorrow might bee converted into triumphant robes of gladnes and ioy Who so loued vs qui tantus tales tantillos Bern. in lib. de dibde Rom. 5. 10. Ephes 2. 4. 1. Ioh. 4. 14. tantum prior gratis dilexit Who being so great and high in power and dignity loued vs so bad by nature so base in qualitie and that so much and that before wee loued him and that freely Who so loued vs as Bernard speaketh Bern. in Cant. Ser. 20. Suauiter quod carneÌ„ induit prudenter quod culpaÌ„ cauit fortiter quod mortem sustinuit so sweetly investing himselfe with our humanitie so wisely auoiding euery sinne and impiety so strongly in suffering death for vs and triumphing ouer the powers of darknesse victoriously that this his loue in respect of the admirable and vnmatchable perfection thereof may rightly be termed and entituled A None-such Wherevnto there hath not beene beene no nor shall be the like like no not the like in any degree O amor sine exemplo sine gratia sine merito charitas sine modo Ambr Bern O loue without it's like ô grace without merit charitie without measure yet in what manner or measure wee can let vs beloued imitate this his
measureles loue and Loue one another as he hath loued vs. And thus much for the explication diuision illustration of my text Now in the feare of God let vs come to the handling of such plaine and profitable doctrines and obseruations as naturally arise out of the same First in that our Sauiour giueth so especiall strict a charge vnto vs of louing one an other in these words This is my cōmandmēt that ye loue one another c. Thereby to incite vs the rather to loue and to teach vs how to loue one another Doct. 1 The lesson hence to bee learned is that it is a thing which Christ most earnestly requireth all Christians ought most earnestly to labour for that they be tender hearted louingly affected each to other Secondly in that our Sauiour proposeth and setteth downe his example in these words As I haue loued you Hence two doctrines without wresting of the words from their proper scope are to be gathered Doct. 2 The one that the feeling apprehension and consideration of Christs tender loue towards vs is a most effectuall meanes to inlarge our hearts in true affection towards our Brethren Doct. 3 The other that Christians should not content themselues with any measure of loue or thinke they had gotten loue enough but contend rather and striue to come daily nearer to that perfection of loue whereof Christ gaue himselfe an example Of these three points of doctrine their reasons and vses in their order and first of the first namely Doct. 1 The thing which Christ doth chiefly require at our hands and we are especially to labour for is to haue a tender regard each of other to loue one another vnfainedly As if there were no other commandment nor any other duty so expresly doth hee prefix his owne authoritie to this precept saying This is my commandment there being nothing which our Sauiour doth vrge more and call for nothing which wee his seruants should more study and striue for then this vicissitude of loue and commerce of kindnesse and practise of mutuall charitie and good-will To haue our hearts enlarged to our Christian Brethren and the dores of our soules and kinde affections set wide open to the Saints is that wherein hee taketh most pleasure and contentment and wherein we must take most paines and vse our chiefest endeuour and employment And indeed if we may iudge either of the necessitie of a duty on our parts or the acceptablenesse of a duty on his part by the often and earnest repetition of a commandement then this wanteth not that proofe For besides that the whole life of Christ from the day of his conception to the day of his passion was nothing else but an actuall seruice and continuall preaching of loue and charitie euen now when hee was to take his last farewell of his disciples and to sing his dying song as he went along to the place of his apprehension where Iudas was to betray him most vnnaturally and that for thirty peeces of siluer most basely and that to the murdrous Iewes most cruelly and that without cause most vniustly euen now did he thrice repeat this precept and three seuerall times exact this duty In the 13. chapter of his gospell and 34 verse he doth as I may say for feare of failing twice repeat in one sentence the same precept A new commandment giue Ioh. 13. 34. I vnto you that yee loue one another As I haue loued you that yee also loue one another He calls it there a new commandment not because it was then first brought forth but because the most absolute and excellent patterne thereof was then seene in himselfe as also because he would haue it new and alwaies fresh in their remembrance as ◠charge newly giuen that they might not suffer it at any time to bee cancelld out of their mindes and memories and therefore not content to speake it once he doubleth it saying that ye loue one another that yee also loue one another As if he had said of all things forget no◠this loue this is an inexhaustible fountaine which cannot be drawne dry a precious mine wherein the more yee digge the more treasure yee shall finde this is so sweet a grace Mel in ore melos in aure iubilaeum in corde as Beruard speaketh and so full of profit and pleasure and so fully taught by my example that at any hand yee should not forget this To loue one another So likewise in this place which is my text you see how hee vrgeth it as a matter of great consequence and importance and as the famous Troiane Aeneas encouraged his sonne Ascanius Disce puer virtutem ex me verumque laborē So doth our Sauiour here from his Ioh 15. 17. owne example make way for the better entertainment of this commandment Loue one another as I haue loued you Againe in the 17th Ioh. 17. 21. verse of this chapter he in generall tearmes redoubleth the charge These things I command you that yee loue one another And yet not content to giue the same commandment with so many repetitions he commendeth this dutie also to his Fathers care chap. 17. begging of Ioh. 17. 21. him that hee would keepe all his in one meaning both that they might be kept one with him and not to be plucked from him by the violence of any temptation affliction or sinfull affection and also continue in vnitie and amitie amongst themselues not hauing their iudgements distracted or their affections estraunged from one another but bee vnited and knit each to other in an indissoluble band of loue and good-liking These proofes would suffice to make plaine the necessitie of this duty but because our Sauiour vrgeth it so much his best beloued disciple S. Iohn forgetteth not to presse it and that often and that hard and close vnto the soule I will not striue to shew this out of the Ecclesiasticall history Where it is recorded of him that hee Euseb Socrat. would shut vp many of his discourses and maine sentences of his Sermons with this sweet Epiphenema and exhortation My little children loue one another The euidence hereof is most pregnant in all his Canonicall Epistles in the third 1. Ioh. 3. 23. Chapter and 23 verse 1. Epist hee putteth vs in minde of Christs commandement in these expresse words That is his commandment 1. Ioh. 3. 11. that we beleeue in the name of Iesus Christ and loue one another as hee hath commanded and in the 11th verse of the same Chapter as also in the 5. verse of the second Epistle 2. Ioh. 5. v. he commends this from its antiquity for a good thing the more ancient the more excellent This is the message or commandment that yee had and heard from the beginning that yee loue one another It is a duty as old as Adam wherein wicked Cain failed in that hee slew his brother and thereby abideth in death but on the contrary
their delights their bowling dycing carding hawking hunting and not an hower in the weeke to bee spent for the good of poore Christians either in relieuing their wants or in redressing their wrongs When all their mony is little enough to make bargaines to purchase land to chest vp in their Treasurie or to set foorth to vsurie and not a shilling in the hundred imploied for the vse and benefit of their needy neighbours or distressed brethren Nay is it not almost euery where come so to passe that a wanton Gallant or rich Glutton though he be an open prophane man and a knowne Whore-master Drunkard or blaspheming Swaggerer shall yet haue more kinde entertainment at our house and better vsage at our hands than the best Christian being of meane estate and in some manner of want Are we not for the most part caried as the blinde world is with that squint-ey'd partialitie so much condemned by the Apostle Iam. 2. Iam. 2. 2. Let one come in with a gold ring on his finger in gorgious apparel we vse him with passing kindnesse a chaire and a cushion presently you are heartily welcome I am glad to see you well the best cheer the best lodging the best attendance all is too little much adoe and more then needeth But let a poore Christian come to craue helpe at neede either the fatherlesse for releife being distressed or the Widdow for iustice or right being oppressed a scornefull eye a short answere cold comfort a neere hand a needy reward all is too much little done for such and that as good as nothing Is not this the common fashion and the corrupt affection of the most of vs O my brethren beloued in Christ Iesus is this to loue one another with a true Christian loue as Christ hath commanded No No Christianitie Christianity godlinesse the Image of God in the poore members of Christ and true godlinesse it selfe is the proper obiect of this spirituall loue A man for his wisedome is much to be regarded for his religion more highly to bee esteemed but if eminent sanctitie beautifie his profession he is more entirely to bee embraced euery excellency in morall vertues carrieth with it a sweete grace and motiue to amability but such is the bright luster of Christianitie that it alone causeth a more sollide friendship loue and amitie whom we affect for this and that earnestly them wee loue indeed heere Christian loue will poure foorth it selfe here it thinketh all that is don too little no cost too much here it will spend and extend it selfe to the vttermost Hence it was that Saint Paul was so kinde to the Galathians of whom he was disgraced and so louingly deuoted to the vnkinde Corinthians who the lesse loued him by how much the more he loued them surely the loue of Christ and Christianitie as he confesseth moued yea constrained him hereunto That sweete influence 2. Cor. 5. 14. of kindnesse which the spirit of God infused into his soule testifying to his heart that Christ was his Redeemer and had done so much for him would not suffer him to be vnkinde but did euen offer an holy violence vnto him and compell him to loue all men in Christ and to seeke to gaine all men vnto Christ This was it which made the three thousand which were conuerted Acts 2. to be so aboundant in charity that they communicated each to other whatsoeuer hee had euery one esteeming his purse as it is indeed the common treasurie and his house a common Inne for all the members of Christ This caused Lydia and the Iay lour Acts 16. to Acts. 2. 44. be so kinde to the Apostles so full of loue in heart and outward behauiour to the rest of their fellow Christians they felt in themselues Acts 16. the life of Christianitie and the hope of the life to come through Christ and in consideration hereof were liberall and bountifull of whatsoeuer good things the liberality of Christ had made them partakers and Stewards of O that we did liue now in that louing and giuing age to Christians O that our fathers charitable deuotion sequestred from superstition were more abounding in vs. O that wee did not liue in the winter of the world wherein charity is growne chilling cold and the fire of true Christian loue is as it were put out and quite extinguished by the water and frost of selfe loue the loue of the world and worldly couetousnesse But alasse so it is that there is a generall defection in this duty of Christian loue and our eyes may with Dauid gush foorth Psal 119. 136. riuers of teares yea our soules may droppe downe teares in secret for the same Vse 2 And to come a fresh vpon our soules with a new charge reprehension whose heart doth not in steed of loue giue often and long harbour vnto hatred whose lips are not polluted with breathing forth of mallice and malitious conceits whose hands are free from offence in this behalfe Doe not all of vs come within compasse of iust reprehension for that wee haue so much neglected and transgressed this commandement of loue so often proclaimed and earnestly pressed by our louing Sauior whence is it that the false surmise of a stale wrong doth leauen our hearts with malice and enuie and euill intentions for twice twelue monthes together so that we can neither thinke well or speake well of some of our neighbours much lesse do any good vnto them is it not because we haue not tasted one sponefull of the sacred liquor of Christian loue which is able to quench the fiery fury of any conceiued wrong whence is it that Christians meeting together in a seeming loue at Gods table do at their owne tables so seuerely censure vpbraide backbite and slander one another little regarding the Apostles admonition if ye backbite one another take Gal. 5. 15. heed least ye bee deuoured one of another When is it that they are so quick-sighted to see and open mouthed to speake of their neighbours imperfections not before God in praier for them or in their bosome with griefe in secret to reclaime them but in publicke amongst friends foes to disgrace them Is it not for want of the holy sparke of spirituall loue Whence is it that Nero-like we write our enemies in marble register their vnkindnesses with deepe Characters in the Tables of our minds memories and vpon euery light occasion vex them with sutes in law or lawlesse sutes And in briefe arme both our tongues and our hearts and our hands to doe mischiefe to the name goods and persons of those whom we should call Brethren Is it not because this christian loue the seasoner of our life which maketh vs full of good words and good works is banished from our society Oh where is that loue now wherof S. Paul maketh mention vnto the Corinthians and 1. Cor. 15. 5. 6. 7. setteth it out by 15. properties viz. That it
Is not this the bloud of these men which went in ieopardy of their liues for it are not these vain pleasures the very price of our foules far be it therefore from vs to touch them or taste them or to be caried away with the alluremēts of thē least at length we bee fully fearefully and finally tormented for them Remember saith Abraham to Luk. 16. 25. the rich Glutton thou in thy life time receiuedst thy pleasures but now thou art tormented Remember that thou didst disport thy time in wanton daliance solace thy selfe in fond pastimes fare deliciouslie euery day defending pride to be a point of gentry drunkennes good fellowship wantonnes a tricke of youth At nunc cruciaris But now thou which inclosedst all pleasures to thy selfe in earth takest vp thy rents and hast thy full payment of paines in hell So true it is that intollerable torments there are ordained as the wages of fleshly pleasures here yea the more the pleasures the greater the torments for the Lord doth proportion his iudgements according to the measure of mens vanities So much as shee liued in pleasure so much giue ye to her torment Reu. 18. 7. and sorrow O that those which are led with sensuality would consider of this wages of vnrighteousnesse 2. Pet. 2. 13. which they are to receiue O that all which follow wantonnes euen with greedines would remember that whilst they liue they are dead 1. Tim. 5. 6. and though they think themselues in Dothan yet if they had grace to lift vp their eies they should perceiue themselues to bee in the midst of sinfull Samaria though 1. King 6. in the worlds iudgement they seeme with Capernaum to be lifted vp to heauen yet behold they are in the very confines of Hell O turne you turne you for why Ezek. 33. 11. Rom. 6. 12. will you die saith the Prophet Let not sin raigne any more in your mortall bodies but if you haue stricken handes with it heeretofore shake handes with it now for a farewell Moriantur ante te vitia saith Seneca Sen. Epist 12 Bernar. in Sen◠Morere saith Bernard antequam moreris sic quando moreris non morieris Die vnto sinne before thou diest so shalt thou liue when thou art dead As God said to Moses Ascende vt moriaris so say I to thee ô man morere vt Deut. 32. 49. ascendas Die to thy earthly desires mortifie thy fleshly lusts that thou maiest ascend and mount towards heauen in an holy life As Lot forsooke Sodom looking Gen. 19. to Zoar his sanctuary so let vs all flie from this world in affection meditate on our heauenly beeing and striue for perfection forgetting Phil. 3. 13. 14. what is behind and following hard towards the mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Iesus Amarescat mundus dulcescat Berit Christus Let the world bee bitter that Christ may bee sweet vnto vs let no gaude of earthly glory or blaze of worldly beuty withdraw our loue from him who when wee were his enemies so loued vs that Rom. 5. 10. he voluntarily indured vnconceiuable torments in body and soule vnto death to procure for our bodies and soules the inheritance of eternall life Arise and depart for here is not your rest Mich. 2. This is the Prophets watch-word to the Iewes Mich. 2. 10. and it will stand vs in good steade if wee marke it well and that wee may marke it well once I will rehearse it often Arise and depart c. Arise sleepe not in security depart abide not in iniquity for here is not your rest in heauen alone is true tranquility For as the Doue sent out of the Arke found no rest for her feete Gen. 8. 9. whilst she flickered on the flouds but was restles vntill she returned to the Arke againe So our soules sent from heauen finde no restfull footing on the glassie Sea of this Reu. 15. 2. world vntill they returne to the true Noah our sauing rest Christ Iesus againe Arise then and flie from the world that Christ may come to liue in thy heart by grace depart prepare to die and goe out of the world that thou maist come to liue in heauen with Christ in glory As Iacob said to Laban this long haue I serued thee and looked to thine affaires and now it is time to looke to my selfe and to trauell for Gen. 30. 30. mine owne house So say thou to this Laban-like world this many yeeres haue I serued thee seeking the profits and pleasures of a transitory life Now now it is high time to make prouision for my soules health and to labour that mine infinite debts towards God in regard of mine innumerable sinnes may by repentance bee discharged and my Title to an heauenly inheritance by faith in Christs merits and newnes of life be maintained and iustified Arise stand vp from the dead and Christ shall giue thee life Some lie in their sinnes as children in their Ephes 5. 14. swathling cloathes and so sinne of infirmity some as sicke men in their beds and sinne of obstinacy some as dead men in their graues and sinne desperately to all these in the name of Christ who raised three from the dead Iairus daughter Mat. 9. Luk. 7. Ioh. 11. the widow of Naims sonne and Lazarus to shew that no degree of death in sinne is incurable when he comes to heale is my commission directed Arise cast off the workes of darkenes put on the armour of light depart not without some fruit of this Doctrine of the resurrection Euen at this instant couenant with thine owne soule to rise from dead workes to serue hence-forward the liuing God not God and Mammon too not God and thy belly too but the liuing God alone walking before him in sincerity and truth with an vpright hart as good old Ezekiah 2. Kin. 20. 2. Chro. 34. and godly yong Iosiah did To this purpose first rowse thy selfe ô yongue man whatsoeuer thou art shake off the fetters of folly suffer not the bud of thy youth to bee blasted in the very sprouting the Sunne to be darkened in the very rising giue not thy wine to the world keeping the lees for the Lord giue not thy prime daies to the Diuell reseruing the dog-daies for God Let not Lady Dalila dandle thee on her Iudg. 16. knee till shee haue shaued all thy strength and goodnes from thee giue thy youthfull pleasures a bill of diuorce for their baggage dealing neuer to haue more familiarity with them discharge thy sinne betime least in thine age thou beare the reproach of thy youth and be forced to cry without comfort or remedy O vtinam Remember that of Ambrose Momentaneum Ambrose est quod delectat aeternum quod cruciat a Sea of torture for a drop of pleasure And thou ô man of age and grauity of what calling and degree
is patient bountifull not puffed vp that it disdaineth not seeketh not her owne thinketh not euill reioyceth not iniquity but in the truth hopeth all things beleeueth all things endureth all things and so forth Was loue then neither malicious nor disdainfull nor suspitious NemineÌ„ enim suspicit Bern. in Cant. Serm. 59. amor nec dispicit quidem as Bern. speaketh Was it liberall then and not auaritious humble not ambitious surely then is loue chang'd much since the Apostles time or else terâ—as astrea reliquit Loue with Iustice is fled from the earth or couched in a narrow corner thereof so that it is most rare to find being vtterly exiled from the coÌ„mon society of men as appeareth euen at this day For otherwise how coÌ„meth it to passe tbat in buying and selling mutuall marchandizing men vse so many false weights false lights and craftie sleights Mille actus veâ—itos mille piacula tentant to deceiue one another and to hurt their brethren whom they are bound to helpe is it not for lacke of the holy sparke of spirituall loue Whence is it that the swallowers of the poore and those yron hearts against whom the Prophet Amos lifteth vp his siluer Amoâ—â— 5. trumpet doe waite when opportunitie will buzz into their eares the desirous newes of a new moone or Sabbath that they may set forth their wheat and make the Ephah small and the shekle great and falsifie the weights by deceit and buy the poore for siluer and the needy for shooes is it not because their hard hearts are not softned by the holy fire of true christian loue And that I may lead you along as the Prophet Ezekiel was Ezek 8. 13. by the spirit from abhomination to abhomination and each greater than other Whence is it that subtilty setteth on fire the tongue of the crafty buyer so that as the Wiseman speaketh he cryeth out It is naught it is naught but when Prou 20. 14. he is gone boasteth of his bargaine and giueth his tongue the lye Whence is this dissimulation and diuision betwixt the tongue and the thought and breaking forth euen for a little red or white earth into lying swearing and forswearing too is it not for want of a dram of spirituall-vpright-dealing loue Whence doe these corrupt streames of extortion vsury oppression bribery mercilesnes and cruelty and the like crying sinnes noysome in quality haynous in degree dangerous in effects proceede and flow is it not from the fountaine or rather the dead sea of an vnlouing vncharitable frozen heart In a word hence it is that some I feare too many of this place rightly termed Latrones puluinarij gracious theeues doe fill their coffers and enrich their treasury by the Diuells Alchymistry by Iewish vsury little better than Achans the euery Iosh 7. Iosh 7. Hence it is that others iustly called griping Extortioners and mercilesse oppressors doe enlarge their liuings and possessions by damnable designments as bad as Ahabs cruelty 1. King 21. Hence it is that the Rulers say with shame 1. King 21. Bring yee Hosea 4. 15. and not onely Hosea 4. 15. superiours but inferiours too maintaine their estate by vniust dealing cogging collusion and Trades more sinfull and shamefull than Gehezies bribery 2. Kin 5. To conclude hence it is that Monopolites 2. King 5. 7. ingrossers regraters forestallers transporters and cormorant like corne hoorders qui in loculis includunt salutem inopuÌ„ Stella in Luc. in tumulis sepeliunt vitam pauperuÌ„ doe secretly laugh at the publique want and penury and make an exceeding benefit of the times extremity and sacrifice to their yarne nets of policie Hab 2. 16. and Habac 2. 16. grind the faces of the poore without measure without mercy sowing in hardnes of heart now and I feare hereafter reaping in horror of conscience for iudgement mercilesse shall be to those which shew no mercy Iam 2. 13. euen Iames 2. 13. because their corrupt hearts are not seasoned with the soueraigne sauory salt of Christian loue and charity The hauing whereof as it is an Antidote and preseruatiue to keep vs from running into mischeife and impiety so the want thereof is the originall of all vngodlines and villany Witnes this that without exception most horrid and diuelish powder-treason plot and damnable proiect of our Antichristian aduersaries quibus nulla fides nullus amor nisi quantum expedit according to the rule of the Parthians with whom no conscience no religion no band of nature consanguinity alleageance alliance affinitie oath or Sacrament standeth good so it withstand their mischiefe plotting purpose Witnes this I say that their barbarous bloudy purpose and designement of cutting of all the heads of our Land as it were vpon one and the same shoulder by one Catholique blow of blowing vp the Parliament house and so Iudas like purchasing a field of bloud with no lesse price then the life of King Queene Prince and the cheife State of this Land Alas had they beene possessed but with one graine of that truely Catholique Christian charitie whereof they doe so fondly boast they would neuer haue harboured the thought much lesse haue set forward the practise of so vnheard of a villanie of a sinne so exceeding sinfull that no pretence of religion can excuse it no shadow of good intention extenuate it God and the heauens condemne it men and the earth detest it But certaine it is they had set apart all bowells of compassion and naturall affection all thoughts of humanitie pricks of conscience sparks of reason and barres of religion all feare of God and reuerence of men in being authors of so execrable a worke of darknes and desolation which to heare would make a mans eares to tingle and his heart-strings to tremble and in steed of the spirit of loue they were possessed with the Angell of the bottomles pit the spirit Abadon the spirit Apoc 9. 11. of destruction and devastation I would to God this spirit did not raigne and reuell so much now adaies also in the middest of them and euen in their desperate hopes make them to beare deadly hatred to this our Sion so that they cry downe with it downe with it to the ground but so it is that notwithstanding the discouery and defeysance of their manifold mischieuous designments and our miraculous deliuerance for which the Almighties mercy be euer magnified amongst vs they continue still our irreconcilable enemies in their erronious bitter crosbiting books they professe it by their daily machinations and practises they shew it God grant wee doe not hereafter to our greater wrack and woe feele and finde it Howsoeuer let vs be confident and commending the protections of our persons and the defence of our cause to the God of truth who hath hitherto gratiously deliuered and defended vs from those massacring bloudy-minded vnderminers of his truth and gospell Let vs follow the truth in loue as