vnto them for righteousnesse as it was to Abraham and to testifie that faith to man to make it perfect before God to seale it vp to their owne conscience they are abundant also in good workes which is that other iustification vvhereof Iames disputeth For as in the temple of Ierusalem there were 3. distinctions of roumes the entry or porch where the beasts were killed the altar where they were sacrificed the holiest place of al whither the high priest entred once every yeare so in this repentance of Niniveh there are 3. sortes of righteousnes the first of ceremony in wearing sacke-cloath and fasting the second of morality in restitution the third the iustice of faith and as it were the dore of hope wherby they first enter into the kingdome of heaven We haue heard what the Ninivites did for their partes let vs nowe consider what God for his It is said that he saw their workes and repentâ—d him of the plague intended and brought it not Nay it is saide that God saw their workes God repented him of the plague vvith repetitioÌ„ of that blessed name to let the world vnderstande that the mischiefe was not turned away for the value and vertue of their workes but for the acceptance of his own good pleasure nor for the repentance of the city but for the repentaÌ„ce of his own heart a gracious inclination propension that he tooke to deliver them No marvaile it was if when God saw their workes he bethought him of their deliverance For when the person is once approved received to grace which their faith procured them his blemishes are not then looked vpon his infirmities covered his vnperfect obedience taken in good part nay coÌ„meÌ„ded honored rewarded daily provoked with promises invitatioÌ„s of greater blessednes to come So a father allureth his son the servaÌ„t doth ten times more yet is the recoÌ„peÌ„ce of the son ten times greater for the father respecteth not so much the workes of his child but because he is a father teÌ„dreth followeth him with fatherly affection wheras the hired servant on the other side is but a stranger vnto him Why then were the works of Niniveh acceptable vnto God not of theÌ„selues but for their sakes that wrought them they for their faith for this is the root that beareth theÌ„ al. In that great cloud of witnesses Heb. 11. what was the reason that they pleased God besides the honour of the world that they vvere vvell reported of and obtained the promises which was the garlande they ranne for besides their suffering of adversities subduing of kingdomes vvorking of righteousnesse with many other famous exploites there ascribed vnto them what was the reason I say but their faith which is the whole burdeÌ„ of the song in that memorable bead-role By faith did Abell thus Enoch thus and others otherwise But why not their workes of themselues For is not charity more than faith these three remaine faith hope and loue but the greater of these three is loue 1. Cor. 13. And the first and the greate commaundemente is this Thou shalt loue the Lorde thy GOD c. Math. the two and twentith And the end of the commaundement is loue 1. Tim. 1. And loue is the fulfilling of the lawe Romanes the thirteenth I graunt all this if thou be able to performe it Loue the Lorde thy God with all thy heart c. and thy neighbour as thy selfe and there is nothing wanting vnto thee thou hast kept the commandement thou hast fulfilled the law thou needest not the passion of thy redeemer thou maiest catch the crowne of life by rightfull desert But this thou art not able to performe were thou as righteous as Noe as obedient as Abraham as holy as Iob as faithfull as David as cleare as the sunne and moone as pure as the starres in heaven yet thou must sing and sigh with a better soule than thine owne who saw and sighed for the impurity of all living flesh Enter not into iudgement vvith thy servant O Lorde for no flesh living can bee iustified in thy sight God hath concluded thee and thy fathers before thee and the fruit of thy body to the last generation of the world vnder sinne and because vnder sinne therefore vnder wrath and malediction and death if thou flie not into the sanctuarie to hide and safegarde thy selfe But blessed be the name of Christ the daies are come wherein this song is sunge in the lande of Iudah and through all the Israell of God farre and neare vvee haue a stronge cittie salvation hath God set for wals and bul-workes about it Open ye the gates that the righteous nation which keepeth faith may enter in Which is that righteous nation that shall enter into the citty of God thus walled and fortressed but that which keepeth faith or rather faithes as the Hebrew hath that is all faith not ceasing to beleeue till their liues end They that beleeue thus adding faith vnto faith the Lord vvill returne them as great a measure of his blessing even peace vpon peace in the next wordes because they trust in him We neede no better expositour The righteous man is he that beleeveth and the beleeving man is he that vvorketh righteousnes for these two shall never be sundred and the onlie key that openeth vnto vs the gates of the citty is our faith So then when we see good workes we must know that they are but fruites and seeke out the root of them and when we haue the root we must also haue regarde to the moisture and iuice whereby it is nourished For as the fruits of the earth grow from their root that root liveth not by it selfe but is fedde and preserved by the fatnes of the soile warmth of the sun benefite of the aire vnder which it standeth so good workes grow from faith and that faith liveth in the obiect the merites and obedience of Iesus Christ feeding and strengthning it selfe by the sweet influence and sappe of these heavenly conceites that he came into the worlde to saue sinners and that he died for her sinne and rose to life for her iustification For as we esteeme the worth of a ring of gold not so much in it selfe as in the gemme that it carrieth so are we iustified magnified also in the sight of God by faith in Christ not for this quality of beleeving which is as vnperfite as our works but for the obiect of this quality Christ our mediatour which is the diamonde and iewell borne therein The hand of a leper though never so bloudy and vncleane yet it may doe the office of an hand in taking and holding fast the almes that is given The giver may bee liberall enough and the gift sufficient to releeue though the hand that received it full of impurity So it is not the weakenesse of our faith in apprehending and applying the passion of Christ that
their iewelles and ornamentes All which and the like singularities Cum Deus iubet seque iubere sine vllis ambagibus intimat quis obedientiam in crimen vocet When God commaundeth them and maketh it a cleare case without any perplexities that so his pleasure is vvho can accuse thy obedience But before be assured in thy conscience that God hath commaunded them tie and vntie a thousand knottes and both make and remooue as many obiections as thy hart can devise The Anabaptistes in Germany framed and fained an imagination to themselues that by the will of God the auncient magistracie must bee quite rooted from the earth they saide and happily beleeued that they had speech with God and that he enioyned them to kill all the wicked in the lande and to constitute a new world consisting only of the innocent VVho perswaded them he that spake vvith GOD concerning Ahab I wil be a lying spirite in the mouthes of all his Prophetes to deceaue Ahab a spirite of errour and falshoode a spirite borne and bread within their owne braine The conceipte was extraordinarye that private men by violence and force of armes shoulde not onelye displace but destroye their rulers and magistrates VVhat slaughter and havocke it caused vvhat profusion of bloude betweene the nobles and the commons Germany then felt and smarted for histories and monuments of time will relate to all posterity and the president thereof may make the worlde take heede how they be drawne by fanaticall spirits into these or such like vnaccustomed and vnprobable courses What disputing skanning vvas there of late within this realme of ours by conference in private by broakers and coursers vp and downe by bookes and balleâ—s in print whether there were not in these daies extraordinarye callings Vpon the perswasion hereof what hasty headlong heathenish endevours to reforme a church to dissolue gouernement to vniointe order to compell a prince and not to tarry her leasure if shee presently agreed not each man hauing a forge in his owne hande to make marre to turne square into round white into blacke church into no church ministery into no ministery sacramentes into no sacramentes this man coyning himselfe a prophet that man a Christ others they knew not vvhat thus travailing and toyling themselues in the fire of their owne fansies till they lost themselues their wittes their grace and some their liues VVhat shall we say heereof but that it was a singular enterprise proceeding from the singular spirits of singular persons and if GOD had not vvrought for vs in mercy the sequele must needes haue beene singular vnhappinesse My conclusion is that by the example of these marriners fearefull and nice to deale in so daungerous a matter wee follow the common rule as the kinges beaten vvay which the lavve of nature engraffed and of the will of God revealed hath prescribed vnto vs and if euer vvee meete with actions which haue not agreement with these two to examine al ambiguities therein and to be certaine of the will of God before vve enterprise any thing That this was the purpose of the marriners is plainelye to bee gathered both by the vvhole contexte and body of the history hitherto continued when though they had many provocations to free themselues and their shippe they with-helde their handes and by a phrase of their further paines most effectually significant wherein as they contended with their ores to bring their shippe to lande so writers haue contended with their wittes howe to expresse their labours Our English hath simplie and in a vvorde the men rowed truely but not sufficiently The latin saieth no more but remigabant vvhich is as much as our English The 70. Interpretours 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they offered violence to the sea and Ierome with an excellent circumlocution rerum naturam vincere cupiebant they desired to exceede nature and to doe more than they coulde doe The originall tongue saith they digged and delved and furrowed the sea vvith their ores as a man the grounde with culters and shares aquae fundum investigabant they searched and sounded the bottome of the vvaters as men that would turne them vpside downe rather then misse the successe of their charitable intention Solon coulde doe no more for Athens than hee did when Pisistratus had taken it he aftervvardes hunge vp his speare and target at the courte gates vvith this protestation O my countrey I haue ayded thee both with vvord and deede so betaking himselfe to his owne house to take his rest Alexanders souldiers tolde him when as they thought hee prepared to goe into an other worlde and to seeke an India vnknowne to the Indians themselues vvee haue done as much as men mighte vndergoe These men heere mentioned to their vttermost power stood and fought for Ionas against the rage of the tempest Qui amat aut non laborat aut ipsum amat laborem Hee that loveth either laboureth not or at least hee loveth and taketh pleasure in his labours As the paines of hunters hawkers and fishers seeme not grieuous vnto them and it is the property of loue to transforme and alter a man into that he loueth These men thinke of Ionas I take it as of themselues make it their owne case thus speaking in themselues why should we cast away a man if there bee any meanes to deliuer him See what a bonde they plotte of reciprocall kindnesse one to the other Ionas to the marriners in the former verse willing to forgo his life for preservation of theirs Take mee and cast mee into the sea that it may bee quiet to you and these as earnestly labouring vvith hazard of themselues if it be possible to saue Ionas It is such an image me thinketh of that sociable and mutuall amity that turning and winding and retaling of curtesie which ought to passe betweene man and man as is worthy to leaue behinde it an heedefull observation For what were the life of man vvithout this harmony and consente of friendshippe where there is not date dabitur Givinge and taking lending and borrowing gratifying and regratifying as it were light for light changing of offices and good turnes what were it but the life of beastes vvhich as they are sundry in kindes so there is no communion betwixt them in fellow-like dueties I vvill not novve declame against the inhumanitye of men that one thinge vvhich all men knovve I vvill not so much vtter to others as holde to my selfe that by the biting of a serpent vvee loose our liues but by the biting barking breathing of a man togither with life all that wee haue perisheth The Prophet once cryed O yee heauens droppe downe righteousnesse when righteousnesse was taken vp into the cloudes and the earth voide of it we may cry for lacke of loue amongst vs O yee heauens droppe downe kindnesse and charity into our times that the vncurteous and churlish Nabals of this present generation
vnto him at the resurrection of iust men vvhat then if the waters were come vp evâ—n vnto his soule Or coulde hee perswade himselfe that any depth of vvaters coulde over-reach the iudgementes and counsailes of the Lorde in preserving his Saintes Are not they also abyssus magna as greate and a greater deepe than ever sea had what then if the depth closed him about did hee not know that weedes shoulde rotte and fall away from his head and in steede of weedes the head shoulde bee crowned with mercy and compassion and clothed vvith glory as with the sunne-beames vvhat then though the weedes were bound about his head vvas hee to learne that the Lorde shoulde one day say to all the prisoners of hope though Ossa and Pindus the graves of those Gyants had buried their bodies stande vp and shew your selves and that the gates of hell much lesse the barres of the earth are not of force to resist his ordinances what theÌ„ though hee were descended to the bottomes of the mountaines c. What if his heade and heart also body and soule the vvhole composition and frame of Ionas had susteined a dissolution temporall vvhich the lawe of mortalitye and the common condition of all fleshe had made him subiect vnto is there not a time of refreshing when both the substance and beauty of all these shal be renewed againe Then againe I say what needeth in seculum so deepe a suspition of the goodnesse of the Lord as if it had for ever relinquished him it is an effect which for the most part a vehement griefe worketh in all sortes of men except some of a Stoicall disposition and others of a worse that have seared their heartes with hot irons and can feele nothing So vvee reade in the Lamentations My strength and my hope is perished from the Lorde And for a space of time there is little difference either in speech or thought betwixt precious and reprobate spirites But whereas the nature of desperation is this obligatur consuetudine obseratur ingratitudine impenitudine obfirmatur custome bindeth ingratitude locketh impenitency barreth it vp there is not that custome ingratitude impenitency in Gods chosen ones but though they lay downe their hope they take it vp againe and though they giue over the field to the enimy and seeme to fly away yet they flye to returne and to fight with more courage and vpon better advantage The hope of a Christian man is very nicely and fearefully placed betwixt two extremities as Susanna in the midst of two adulterers Ista duo occidunt animaâ— aut desperatio aut perversa spes Desperation and presumption are two infamous gulfes and here as ill as ever Scylla Charybdis did for the wracke overthrow of in my poore soules For as it is not good on the one side to haue too bold head strong an hope that howsoever we liue whither swearing or fearing an oth we shal be saved eáspe freti sperando pereunt they that so hope perish by so hoping it is the hope of the hypocrite shall come to naught it is as the house of a spider that shal soone be overturned so on the other it is not safe to haue our iealous god alwaies in iealousie stil to diffide whither he be our merciful father yea or not For hope is ever accoÌ„panied with 2. sisters which never depart froÌ„ her sides society faith loue faith the guide to keepe vs froÌ„ desperation loue the rule to keepe vs from presumption For he that hath faith can never distrust of the mercies of God because he beleeveth the promises in Iesus Christ he that hath charity wil never presume of a sinfull and licentious life because he is taught by loue to keepe the coÌ„maÌ„dementes of the most High Ionas made some triall of both these extremities For when he went fiirst froÌ„ the face of the Lord and refused a plaine iniunction what was it els but presumption in him Now to distrust of the mercies of God and stifly to affirme that his miseries shall never be released is a spice of desperation But his wisedome was that at their first invasioÌ„ he treadeth vpoÌ„n the heades of both these serpents assoone as he feeleth them sting he presently armeth himselfe with the grace of God to escape from them Otherwise if as the speech of Ionas was in seculum so the thoughtes of his heart had continued in seculum without revocation then had he also takeÌ„ vp his place amongst those whom God had set on his left hand and made the mirrours to the world of his irrevocable damnation For this were insanabilis plaga as Ieremy speaketh a wound that never can be cured to despaire of the aide of God as if a surgion should promise helpe to a sore and the patient should thrust his nailes into it and answere him nay but it shall not be healed It is the iust state of the damned for when all the people vpon the earth besides liue by hope for he that soweth soweth in hope and he that reapeth reapeth in hope he that liveth liveth in hope and he that dieth dieth in hope yea the whole creature groneth vnder hope and waiteth for that time with a fervent desire vvhen the sonnes of God shall be revealed and it selfe restored these onely are past hope One compareth desperation to the beaste in Daniell that hath no name given to it The first of the fowre was a lion the second a beare the third a leopard but this without distinguishing the kinde was very fearefull and terrible and stronge and had greate iron teeth destroied and brake in peeces and stampt vnder his feete and had hornes enough to push at God with blasphemy at his brethren with iniury and at the soule within his owne bosome with distrust of mercy Other our sinnes are fearfull enough and haue as it were the rage of lions and leopardes and beares to spoile make desolate the soule of man but the finall decay indeede which can never be recovered whilst there standeth a seate of iustice in heaven is desperatioÌ„ The greatest sinnes they say are these which are opposed to the theologicall vertues faith hope charity infidelity to faith desperation to hope hatred to charity amoÌ„gst the which infidelity hatred the one not beleeving the other hating God are in themselues worse but in regard of him that sinneth desperation far excedeth theÌ„ both in the daunger annexed to it For what can bee more miserable than a wretch not pittying himselfe But to acquite the prophet of the Lord from so damned a sin as in the former verses after his deadly downe-fall one would haue thought when his iudgmeÌ„t came from his owne mouth I said I am cast out c. he arose againe set vp a staÌ„dart of coÌ„fort to al the distressed of the world yet will I looke againe towardes thy holy temple so in this 2. fight and fit of his
his wedded conscience is thoroughly seized and possessed with inveterate errours There is but one truth oppugned by falshodes without number like the armes of the sea But the nature and courage of that one trueth is wheresoever she findeth falshode not to dissemble her quarrell and emulation to her enemy but to play the part of truth that is simply ingenuously apparantly to defie her adversary and to withstand her to the teeth FulgeÌ„tius in his first booke to ThrasymuÌ„de king of Vandalles giveth the reason of this orderly proceeding It is almost all one to deny the faith and not to maintaine it He bringeth the reason of that also Because by one and the same silence he strengthneth errour who thorough feare or negligence holding his peace affirmeth not the truth As a sleepy Centenar betrayeth the tentes of the king not that he hath a will perhaps to betray them but because he keepeth not the watch as he ought nor descrieth the enemy which commeth to assault them One heaven holdeth not Michael and the Dragon in peace nor one house the Arke and Dagon nor one wombe Iacob and Esau nor one temple prayer and merchandizing nor one campe the cleane the leprouse nor one bath Iohn and Cerinthus nor one hart God and Mammon nor one tongue God and Milchom nor one conscience truth and falshode religion and superstition This I suppose was the reason why Ionas beginneth his speech with a triumph against idolatours being to magnifie the strong arme of the Lord doth it with disdeine and contempt of all those that seeke vnprofitable meanes Thus much generally touching his order of proceeding The refutation devideth it selfe into two partes an antecedent and consequent a position and privation what they doe whom hee taxeth by his speech and what they loose by so doing If they observe lying vanities which is the former they are sure to forsake their owne mercy which is the latter In both these ioyned togither the partes are so desposed that there is a matching of three with three On the one side 1. They are said to loue to be intentiue and fonde vpon 2. that which they loue is vanity emptinesse nothing 3. that vanitie is lying fraudulent deceitfull vnto them On the other whereas they loved before nowe first they leaue abandon giue over secondly that which they leaue insteed of vanity is mercy which might doe them good 3. that mercy is their owne as proper and peculiar vnto them if they would vse it as ever any thing in their rightful possessioÌ„ Do ye not see the change that wordlings make corne for acornes a state of innocencie immortality incorruption for an apple the prerogative of birth-right with the blessing that belongeth vnto it for a messe of potage belly cheare as Esau did a kingdome vpon earth and the kingdome of heaven also for oxen and asses and sheepe as Saule did Christ his gospell his miracles his salvation for an heard of swine with the Gadarens God for idolles mercy for vanity the comfortablest nature that ever was created for that which profiteth not It is thought by some that the speech here vsed is by a concession or insultation against idolaters and as it were a farewell and defiance vnto them Let them forsake their owne mercy if they like the change so well and will not receiue warning as he in the comedy let him sinke wast and consume all that he hath I will never speake word vnto him more Against sinners past grace you shal often finde renouncements vnto them Lay iniquitie to their iniquitie and never let them come into thy righteousnes When they haue â—oâ—de themselues to sinne and hate to bee reformed this is the mercy that befitâ—eth them Reprooue not â—â—â—orner saith Salomon least he hâ—â—e thee If there be any amongst vs with whoÌ„ the mercie of God is so vile and contemptible that it is 〈◊〉 of force to over-sway lying vanitie but vanitie is the stronger 〈◊〉 and keepeth the house against mercy let them goe on in vanâ—â—y still and as Christ gaue over the Scribes let them fulfill the â—â—asure of their vvretched choice But let them knowe withall that as the prodigall sonne forsooke his fathers house for a strange countrie his fathers favour and inheritance for a bagge of monie father and kindred and friendes for vnhonest and vncurteous harlots and the breade in his fathers house for the husks of beanes which the swine abroad fed vpon his soule desired so they forsake God for this present world heaven for earth the pleasure of sinne for a season for everlasting pleasures at Gods right hand and finally their owne mercie as faithfull and true vnto them as ever was their soule to their body for vvhorish and forreine vanities which liue and die in an instante of time and leaue no substance behinde them O how happy were our lives thinke wee if these two might stande togither vanitie for a while till wee had satisfied our selues therewith afterwardes mercy with a wish Let me first goe kisse my father and take my leaue of friendly delightes let me not suffer the flowre of mine age to passe without garlandes of rose-buddes and sweet ointments then I will come and follow thee It must not bee The Lion and the bullocke leoparde and kidde may feede and lye togither but vanitie vvaited vpon as my text speaketh serviceably pursued officiously diligently embraced and drawne with cordes as an other prophet hath and the mercy of God haue no agreement In the former and positiue member of the refutation vvee are directed to three particulars First their habite and affection of whome hee speaketh who are not content to thinke of or sometimes to commit a vanity but they loue observe attende vpon it They keepe it and make much thereof saieth Ierome as if they had founde a treasure Lyra noteth perseveraunce Mercer pertinacie as of a thing that in no case they can be perswaded to forgoe Secondly the nature of that which their affections are set vpon vanitie that which is not as Narcissus loved the shadowe that the water cast vp Nay vanities The singular is not enough to expresse their folly They run thorough al the classies and rankes of vnity the kennel and sinke of as much as their harts can devise Thirdly the qualitie of these vanities that which must needes accompanie them vnlesse they could cease to bee vanities that they are lying and vnprofitable having no solidity in them The first noteth their superstition in that they are so diligent and observant The second their folly indiscretion in making so bad a choice The third their confusion that they trust and are tied to that wherein no substance no succor is They that loue lying vanities I know not so wel the reason but I finde that conclusion every where prooved which our Saviour laieth downe in the gospell The children of this worlde are wiser in their
gourd c. WE are at length come to the last parte of the Chapter which was the scope whereunto all the sayings doinges of God were referred coÌ„prehended in these 2. last verses containing generally an earnest contentioÌ„ plea for the iustification of his goodnes in sparing Niniveh For what other purpose had God in the whole course of his speaches actioÌ„s by the words of his mouth once againe iterated by the sensible image of the gourd obiected to the eies of Ionas than by irrefragable demonstration by the concession of the adversary himselfe to cleare deliver his mercy from iust reproofe God first drew him by demauÌ„ds as it were by captious Socraticall interrogations whither he would when he had him in snares theÌ„ inferreth vpon him which no maÌ„ could deny that were not too prefract and obstinate thou hast had pitty on the gourd c. shall not I spare Niniveh thou on a light teÌ„porary plant which was not thine wherin there was neither value nor coÌ„tinuance nor any propriety beloÌ„ging vnto thee shal not I much more spare Niniveth c. The argumeÌ„t standeth in coÌ„parison froÌ„ the lesse to the greater both the meÌ„bers thereof coÌ„pared are so strengthned set forth that he must needes shew himselfe forsaken of coÌ„mon sense that doth not assent vnto it Ionas hath not now to deale with Chrysippus who was able to speak probably of any thing brought in question but with the most expert schoole-man that ever spake with tongue with the God of heaven who bindeth with arguments as with chaines of iron leaveth no evasioÌ„ For vnlesse Ionas would except against the reasoÌ„ing of God as those whoÌ„e Tully scoffeth at who wheÌ„ they were brought to an incoÌ„venience in disputatioÌ„ had no other refuge but to craue that those inexplicable argumeÌ„ts might be left out Tully answered theÌ„ again that then they must goe to an officer for they should never obtaine that exception at his hands what should he do to rid himselfe of this strong opposition Before you haue heard 1. of the affliction of Ionas the sun the East-winde following the sunne the same tract pace by pace confederate with him working his woe a fervent East-winde beating vpon his backe sides no but vpon his head the most dainty daÌ„gerous place by reason of the senses his fainting wishing in his soule to die professing in open tearmes that it was better for him so to than to liue 2. of the reproofe of God in controlling that impatience 3. of his obfirmed hereticall maintaining of it which was his greater offence for there is no man that falleth not as there is no pomegranate wherein there is not some kernel amisse but when a fault is espied conuicted then to defend it with pertinacy is another fault And the milder punishmeÌ„t is evermore due to modesty It is the fact of meÌ„ to erre but of beasts to persist persevere in error TheÌ„ said the Lord by way of conclusion inferred vpoÌ„ the auÌ„swer grant of Ionas vouchsafing to reply vpon him whose auÌ„swere before was more worthy of stripes than speach by continued remembrances as by bandes of loue pulling his prophet out of the fire who had burnt to ashes in the coales of his indignation if God had not staied him even that mercifull and patient Lord who when he beginneth to loue loveth to the end who spake within himselfe though he haue often refused my word and dealt vnfaithfully with my commauÌ„dement yet once more will I shake the heavens and speake vnto him I wil not loose a soul for want of admonition It is true in men that he twise sinneth who is over-indulgent favourable to a sinner God is a debter to no man yet of his grace and benignity he doth often admonish vs. Then the Lord said The dignity of the person addeth great authority to the speach the Apostle vrdgeth the credite of the speaker strongly in his epistle to the Hebrews If the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every transgression and disobedâ—ence receiued a iust recompence of reward how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the first beganne to be preached by the Lord and afterwardes was confirmed vnto vs by them that heard him God bearing witnesse thereunto by signes c. Againe see that you despise not him that speaketh for if they escaped not vvhich refused him that spake on earth shall vvee escape if vvee turne avvaie from him that speaketh from heaven Therefore doe the prophetes Haback aub Zacharie becken with the hand as it were to the whole earth and to all flesh to giue eare when the Lord speaketh the Lord is in his holy temple let all the oerth keepe silence before him and let all flesh be stil before the LORD for he is raised vp out of his holy place Thou hast had pitty tu parcis thou favourest or desirest that it maie bee preserved tu doles thou art grieved all vvhich constructions are included in the demaund that went before Dost thou well to be angry For whereas other affections are simple anger is compounded and mixed of divers partly of griefe for the iniurie received partely of commiseration of the thing iniured partely of desire and pleasure to revendge the wronges But I sticke not in the vvordes I I proceed rather to the argument which is so mightily invincibly shaped that Ionas frameth no auÌ„swere vnto it It must needs be that as the plate sincketh down in the ballaÌ„ce when waight is put into it so the mind must yeeld it selfe captiue vnto the truth when things are evidently perspicuously proved Geometricians professe that their art staÌ„deth not vpon perswasion but vpon coaction inforcement their principles theoremes are so firmely grouÌ„ded But let all artes giue place al actions bow all Logicke submit it selfe vnto him who is admirable in couÌ„saile excelleÌ„t in his works incomparable for his wisdoÌ„e The maÌ„ner of speach which God vseth being not plaine affirmatiue I wil spare Niniveh as thou pitiest the gourd but by interrogation negation shall not I spare Niniveh sheweth what indignity is offered vnto him as if soÌ„e right of his were kept backe To set some order in my speach the comparison here formed consisteth of 2. parts the antecedent or that which goeth before the lesser inferiour weaker part in the 10. verse the consequeÌ„t or stronger in the 11. The persons ballaÌ„ced togither thou I thou art moved shal not I pittie The things weighted one against the other are for their substaÌ„ce a gourd Niniveh For their accidents 1. of the gourd Ionas had not labored for it Ionas had not brought it vp it was neither of his making nor of his cherishing Ionas had not right in it it was not his worke besides the continuance was so small that he had no reason
and kennings in some sort but not sufficient measures to skanne it by It is well observed by Cassiodore vpon the 51. Psalme that the beginning thereof Have mercy vpon me O Lord is the onely voice quae nunquam discutitur sed tranquille semper auditur which is never examined suspended delaied deliberated vpon but evermore heard with peace and tranquillity from God And in the Psalme 136. you shall finde his mercye both the mother that bread and the nurse that to this day feedeth and to the end of the world shal cherish and maintaine al the workes of God It standeth there like a piller or bounder at the end of every verse an endlesse and durable mercy not onely to beautifie the Psalme but to note that the whole frame of the world and every content thereof in particular touching both creation and government oweth not onely their being but their preservation and sustenance to Gods goodnes 4. To leave the persons and to examine the thinges themselves what was a gourd a matter of nothing and in nature but a vulgar ordinary plant for there is a difference in trees as Deut. 20. there is a law made that in besieging a citty they shall not destroy the trees thereof by smiting an axe into them the reason is for thou mayest eate of them therefore thou shalt not cut them downe For the tree of the fielde is mans life Onelye those trees vvhich thou knowest are not for meate those thou shalt destroy and make fortes against the citty Nowe of this tree there vvas none other vse either for meate or for ought besides that he knew save onely for shadow From this difference of things our Saviour argueth Luke 14. when hee healed the man sicke of the dropsy vpon the sabboth day vvhich of you shall have an asse or an oxe fallen into a pit and will not straight way pull him our on the sabboth day For if they tendered the welfare of their beastes much more might he regard the life of man which was far more precious And it is there said that they were not able to aunswere him againe in those things they were so plainely evicted 5. Touching the accidents of this gourd if Ionas had planted nursed it vp which he did not he should have regarded it none otherwise than as a gourd he should not have doted vpon it as Xerxes is reported to have loved a plane-tree in Lydia and he could hardly be drawne away from it and Passienus Crispus twise Consul of Rome a mulberry tree they seeme to have beene some notable bovvers which they fel so in love with The nature of man is to love the works of his owne handes The Poet describeth it in the fable of Pigmalion arte suâ miratur hee is surprised with the liking of his owne arte Who planteth a vineyard saith the Apostle and eateth not of the fruite thereof For this is the ende why he planted it It is confessed Eccles. 2. to be the hand of God that wee eate and drinke and delight our soules with the profit of our labours Nabuchadonozor Dan. 4. boasteth of his greate pallace not which his fathers and progenitours had left vnto him but himselfe had built for the honour of his kingdome The Apostle telleth the Corinthians that hee had laid the foundation amongst them and that others did but builde vpon his beginninges and that although they had tenne thousand maisters in Christ yet had they not many fathers for in Christ Iesus hee had begotten them through the gospell Wherfore he requireth them in equity to be followers of him because they were his building and children and he had a right in their consciences which other men coulde not challendge Novv this vvas a tree wherein Ionas bestowed no labour nec arans nec serens nec rigans neither in preparing the ground nor in setting nor in dressing it was not his worke whereas the Ninivites were Gods creatures neither belonged that to his tuition or chardge to see it preserved whereas that people had evermore lived vnder Gods providence 6. If the continuance and diuturnity of time had bred any liking in Ionas towards the gourd because we coÌ„monly loue those things wherwith we are acquainted his passion might the better haue bene tolerated Nathan doth the rather amplifie the fault of David in taking away the poore mans sheepe because he had had bought it and nourished it vp and it grew vp with him and vvith his children Length of time commendeth many things It commendeth vvine vvee say the olde is better It commendeth wisedome Counsaile must be handled by the aged speres by the young It commendeth truth Id verius quod prius The first is truest It commendeth custome thou shalt not remoue the auncâ—ent boundes which thy fathers haue set It commendeth friendshippe thine owne friend and thy fathers friend forsake thou not forsake not an olde friend for a new will not bee like vnto him It commendeth service in the fielde dost thou despise the souldiours of thy father Philippe saith Clytus to Alexander and hast thou forgotten that vnlesse this olde Atharias had called backe the young men when they refused to fight wee had yet stucke at Halicarnassus Lastly it commendeth our dwellinge places possessions Barzillai telleth David vvho vvoulde faigne haue drawne him alonge vvith him I am foure-skore yearee olde let mee returne to mine ovvne citâ—ye and be buryed in the graue of my father and mother And Naboâ—h telleth Ahab the Lorde keepe me from giving the inheritance of my father vnto thee It would somwhat more haue commended the gourd if Ionas had long enioyed the vse thereof which he did not it was but the child of a night both in rising and falling sodainely sprung vp and sodainely dead againe So there is neither price in it because it is but a gourd nor propriety because he had not laboured for it nor prescription of long acquaintance because it was soone dead Now that which is set against the gourd on the other side is by name Niniveh by forme a citty by quantity a great citty and shall not I spare Niniveh that great citty Niniveh at this time the heade of Assiria the fame and bruite wherof filleth the world and holdeth the people in awe by reason of her soveraigne government Niniveh no villadge or hamlet of the East but a citty that had walles gates for so is the nature of a citty described we haue a strong citty salvation shall God set for our walles and bulwarks Esay 26. and the people wherof are inclosed within orders and lawes as the buildinges within fences Niniveh no small citty in Assiria as Bethlehem was in Iudah or as the litle city of Zoar which Lot fled into but a lardge and spacious citty in circuite of ground but for the number of inhabitants most populous and abundant Now the greater the place is the
but he is better thaÌ„ they all though they all were equall in dignitie and authority and had power in their hands and counsaile by their sides yet were they inferiour vnto him in the care of Gods service To haue compared him with Manasses his grand-father or Amon his father who went next before him and whose steps he declined contrary to the maner of childreÌ„ for vvho would haue thought when Manasses did ill and worse than the Amorites and Amon no better that Iosias would not haue followed them or to haue matched him with a few given him preheminence within some limited time say for an age or two or three had sufficientlie magnified him But all times examined chronicles and recordes sought out the liues and doings of kings narrowly repeated Iosias hath the garland from them all the paragon to all that went before him and a preiudice to as many as came after him The reason is because he turned His father grandfather went awry they ranne like Dromedaries in the waies of idolatry but Iosias pulled back his foot David turned to his armed men strength of souldiours Salomon to the daughters of Pharao Moab RehoboaÌ„ to his young couÌ„sailers Ieroboam to his golden calues Ezechias to the treasures of his house contrary to the word of the Lord Deut. 17. hee shall not provide him many horses neither shall he take him many wiues neither shall he gather him much silver and gold Some had even solde themselues to worke vvickednes had so turned after the lusts of their owne hearts that they asked who is the Lord but Iosias turned to the Lord the onely strength of Israell as to the Cynosure and load-starre of his life as that which is defectiue maimed to his end perfectioÌ„ as to his chiefest good as to the soule of his soule as to his center and proper place to rest in They said like harlots we will goe after our lovers that giue vs breade and water wooll flax but Iosias as a chast and advised wife I will goe and returne to my first husband The maner measure of his turning to the Lorde was with all his heart withall his soule c. You seeme to tell me of an Angell of heaven not of a man that hath his dwelling with mortall flesh and that which God spake in derision of the king of Tyrus is true in Iosias thou art that anointed Cherub for what fault is there in Iosias or how is he guilty in the breach of any the least commandement of the law which requireth no more than is here perfourmed Least you may thinke Iosias immaculate and without spot vvhich is the onely priviledge of the sonne of GOD know that he died for sinne because he coÌ„sulted not with the mouth of the Lord he was therfore slaine at Megiddo by the king of Egypt But that which was possible for flesh bloud to do in an vnperfect perfection rather in habite thaÌ„ act endevor than accomplishment or compared with his forerunners followers not in his private carriage so much as in his publike administration in governing his people and reforming religion all terrors difficulties in so weighty a cause as the chandge of religion is for chandge it selfe bringeth a mischiefe all reference to his forefathers enmity of the world loue to his quiet set apart he turneth to the Lord with all his hart c. So doth the law of loue require God is a iealous God cannot endure rivals hee admitteth no division and parâ—ing betweene himselfe Baal himselfe Mammon himselfe and MelchoÌ„ his Christ Beliall his table the table of devils his righteousnes the worlds vnrighteousnes his light and hellish darknes I saie more he that forsaketh not I say not Baal Mammon Melchom Beliall but father mother wife brethren sisters landes life for his sake loveth not sufficiently For as God himselfe ought to bee the cause why we loue God so the measure of our loue ought to bee vvithout measure For hee loveth him lesse than he shoulde vvho loveth any thing with him What not our wiues children friendes neighbours yea and enemies to Yes but in a kinde of obliquity our friendes and the necessaries of this life in God as his blessings our enemies for god as his creatures so that whatsoever we loue besides God maie be carried in the streame of his loue our loue to him going in a right line and as a direct sun-beame bent to a certaine scope our loue to other either persons or things comming as broken reflexed beames froÌ„ our loue to God You see the integritie of Iosias in every respect a perfect anatomy of the whole man every part he had consenting to honour God and that which the Apostle wished to the Thessalonians that they might be sanctified throughout and that their whole spirite soule and body might be kept blamelesse vnto the comming of Iesus Christ their spirit as the reasonable and abstract part their soule as the sensuall their bodie as the ministeriall and organicall is no way wanting in Iosias For whatsoever was in the hart of Iosias which â—yra vpon the sixth of Deut. S. Augustine in his first booke of Christian Learning expound the will because as the hart moveth the members of the body so the will inclineth the partes of the soule whatsoever in his soule vnderstanding sense which Mat. 22. is holpen with another word for there is soule minde both whatsoever in his strength for outward attempt performance all the affection of his heart all the election of his soule all the administration of his bodie the iudgment vnderstaÌ„ding of the soule as the Lady to the rest prosecution of his will excecution of his strength he wholy converteth it to shew his service and obedience to almighty God Bernard in a sermon of Loving God in his 20. vpoÌ„ the Canticles expoundeth those words of the law thus thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart that is kindly affectionately with all thy soule that is wisely discreetly with all thy might that is stedfastly constaÌ„tly Let the loue of thy heart enflame thy zeale towards 〈◊〉 let the knowledge of thy soule guide it let the constancie of thy might confâ—â—me it Let it be fervent let it be circumspect let it be invincible Lastly the rule which he fastneth his eie vpon was the law of Moses and the whole law of Moses other rules are crooked and 〈◊〉 this only is straight as many as minde to please God must 〈◊〉 themselues wholy to be directed thereby not turning eithâ—â— to the right hand or to the left This history considered I pray you what hindereth the commauÌ„dement government of the king both in causes and over persons of the church For 1. in the building of the temple Iosias giveth direction both to Shaphan