hee might looke vp vnto him and hath placed the earth vnder his feet to teach him hee must not set his heart vpon it his chiefe affection must not be set on goods but God who giueth them God is the true Bread goods as the crums that fall vnder the table God as an habitation to rest in goods as a thorow-faâ—e to passe by mony is a prisoner wee keepe it vnder locke and key let it not be lord ouer vs make it out master we condemne our selues to our owne gallies make it our God q Col. 3. 5. couetousnesse is idolatry we set vp an idoll in our hearts r Phil. 3. 8. Paul esteemed all things as dung to win Christ esteeme not wee lightly of God to win all things besides Å¿ Mat. 19. 27. The Disciples forsooke all things and followed him doe not we forsake him and follow all things besides lose God for gaine wee lose a golden hooke for a silly fish Weigh God lighter then the world wee are deceitfull vpon the ballance let wealth seeme better in our sight then God from whom it comes t 1 Sam. 11 2. Nahash putteth out our right eyes and bringeth shame vpon vs. Loue the world better then wee loue God wee loue an harlot better then our owne spouse and therefore as Hosea aduiseth Israell wee u Hos 2. 2. must take away our adulteries from betweene our breasts This serueth to reproue those which make gold their hope and say to the wedge of gold thou art my confidence who set vp a new God for the old vpstart Mammon for the Ancient of daies as treason set vp a new King x 2 Sam. 16. 8. Absolon for old King Dauid which make the world bird-lime with which they so belime their affections that they cannot ascend vpward who hang their gold on their soules which like the weights of a clocke drawes them to the earth which no Alchimist can draw out of their hearts though it may be abstracted out of the earth who for loue of gold bury it though euen then they haue themselues one foote in the graue who are y Ps 76. 5. viri diuitiarum men â—friches not possessors of them as lords but possessed of them as seruants who contrary to this commandement doe greatest homage to that which should bee their basest drudge such are those stall-fed beasts in the Gospell which are so z Luc. 14. 18. yoked to their oxen and harnessed to their farmes that being sent for will not come to the supper they are fettered with the things of this life and so manacled they entertaine this World as a Queene and let it so rule in their hearts that the messenger may goe as he came and might haue had better thanks to haue held his peace such a one was the young man forward at first as though he would haue been a disciple of Christ but when it comes to poenam damni that hee must lose some thing that there must bee a parting blow betwixt him and his riches then hee takes his vltimum vale a Mat. 19. 22. and goes away sorrowfull that as the Disciples said of another thing was b Ioh. 6. 60 a hard saying he could not indure it such a one was Demas c 2 Tim. 4. 10. who to embrace this present world bids Paul adieu but loue God as this commandement enioyneth taste and see how sweet he is earthly things as playn dishes will be vnpleasant to vs let heauen become our obiect the earth will become our abiect long we after the water of life wee little regard the water at Iacobs well d â—oh 4 28 but with the woman of Samaria downe goes the pitcher e Mat. 14. 51. with the young man away goes clothing f Mat. 4. 20 22. with the disciples away goes ship and nets the loue of them though not the vse wee will not linger about earthly vanities we will not beat our braines and weary our selues in pursuit of the chase of this world superfluous desire of hauing shall not gnaue our hearts these glowing vanities shall not sticke so fast vnto vs wee will not thirst after them to get them with the losse of the loue of God and with the salue of our owne soules Or loue God plus quam tua more then thy delights and pleasures g Ioh. 2. 16 this followes the loue of the world where the world is our God our deuotion is pleasure and delight when h Mat. 4. 8. Satan the subtile sophister would bring our Sauiour Christ to an absurd conclusion he presseth both the premises together diuitias delitias hee should haue Power and glory the world the pleasures which it did affoord not but that there are iust delights which haue their warrants and their tearmes and therefore as one being asked whether a wise man might not eate sweet delicate meate answered yes except God made bees onely for fooles so if it were asked whether a good man may not vse pleasures it may be answered yes except God made the choise commodities of the earth onely for the wicked I will instance but in one kind of pleasure which we call pastime or recreation There are as well generous delights as ingenius studies and one of them must giue sweetnesse to the other diuers while they haue been so precise that they haue thought they might not delight in any sport at last haue been so out of heart that they delighted nothing but be acquainted with the quality let not sports be base let them not be lawles draw not occasion of delight from such pastimes as we should draw occasion of repentance thinke not the time well spent when we refresh our selues in setting creatures together by the eares sith this was bred by mans fall by our owne fault Be acquainted with the measure bend a bow too much it will breake lose it too much it will be a slugge bend the mind but doe not breake it slake it but do not loosen it Bee acquainted with the due and lawfull times make not play an occupation let it neither be a vocation for God would haue man labour in Paradise and he said fast and pray not feast and play nor yet an auocation from God Lastly Be acquainted with good carriage in it on the one side let it be as voide of rage as full of relaxation fall not out with heauen if thou art crost with an vnseasonable showre as though God did thee wrong if hee did not shine at thine appointed time on the other side ioy not to much if thou beholdest the Sunne when it shineth in his brightnes for by this ouer much delight thou makest a god of thy recreation these be lists and landmarkes within which we must bound the procession of our sports and in the licence of our desires wee must not remoue wee must not ouergoe them 3 Loue God Plus quam te more then thy selfe First more
and pulles out his eyes he tryeth the spirits and retayning the good in a resolute courage throweth Iezabell out at the window On the other side that holy man for so they call him in the 2. counsell of Nice will not leaue worshipping of our Lady though if he will doe it the diuell promiseth by his honesty hee will no longer tempt or trouble him yet all this notwithstanding a Ios 9. 9. idolaters in Ioshua to saue their liues pretend to honour God and receiue his religion but if death all the torments which can be deuised should stand betwixt vs and our God in our iourney to heauen this Commandement enioyneth vs to passe them all rather then giue ouer our loue vnto God for whose sake Esay is content to be killed with a Sawe Ieremie with stones Amos with an yron barre Daniell to be throwne into the Lyons den these were but Originalls there followed Counterpaines which agreed with them Ignatius Polycarpus Irenaeus and others suffered not death without a Copy without an example Paul was content to lose his head Bartholomew his skin Luke to be hanged on an Olyue-tree Steuen to be vnder a heape of many stones and as our Sauiour Christ sayd to Peter and Andrew b Mat. 4. 19 follow mee so they followed him though not Passibus aequis in his life though not with like innocency in his death though not with like constancy these pledged their predecessors in the cup of afflictions and began to their successors and amongst other to our English Martyres who in this time of Queene Mary did sticke ad iguem and to shew they loued God more then their liues were content to goe to him with Elias in a fiery chariot not doubting but that same mantle that same body which they should leaue behinde them should at the resurrection of the iust be restored in a more Glorious sort the former Martyres stood in the forefront of the battayle and therefore c 2 Sam. 11. 15. like Vriah receiued the first in counter violence of their enemies the latter like old beaten souldiers won the field in the rereward all of them when they could not go the white way to God in time of peace to shew they preferred Gods loue before their owne liues were content to goe the red way in time of persecution This serueth to reproue those which can bee contented to follow Christ in a calme but being d Mat. 8. 27 vnlike the disciples will giue him ouer in a troublesome sea who are forward at first but if they perceiue they shall be prickt for martyres shrinke backe as snailes which putting forth their hornes being a little pricked pull them againe who being crased vessels will not hold but breake in peeces when they come to the furnace like the aples which as men write grow about Sodome and Gomorrah pleasant to behold buts vanishing into soote or smoke as soone as a man put his teeth to them or like the Christall which seemes a precious stone till it comes to the hamering such are they which forsake Christ because they will not giue their flesh for him as they in the Gospell e Ioh. 6. 66 forsooke Christ because hee said he would giue his flesh for them who when the sunne of tribulation scorcheth hot are f Mat. 13. 5. 6. like the seede which fell vpon stony ground which sprung vp but when the sunn◠rose vp parched and for lacke of rooting withred away vnlike the Egels young ones who looke directly against the face of the sunne and indure the perching beames thereof whereby the Egle which carryeth them vp to make triall whether they are naturall Egles or bastardly branches acknowledgeth them as her owne which otherwise shee would extrude out of her nest Indeed Gods Church is made stockfish and goes along by weeping crosse g Gē 25. 22 Iacob cannot be quiet for Esay no not in his mothers wombe h Mat. 2. 16 Herod turns his rage vpon the poore infants of Bethlehem when his malice cannot dispatch Christ himselfe i Luc. 13. 34. Our Sauiour compares himselfe to a Hen and his Church vnto chickens because Herod plaies the foxe and lyes in waite for them The Kites and birds of cruell kind deale hardly with the little k Mat 13. 32. which build their nests in the branches of the little mustard seed l Gen. 4 8. A thorne of his owne blood troubles Abell m Ex. 2. 15. Phaaroh seeks for Moses to slay him n Ioh. 21. 18. Peter must bee bound and led whither hee would not in respect of flesh and blood which is vnwilling to this sacrifice not in respect of the inner man and of the spirit o Act. 5. ◠for he went away reioycing when he was whipped but when the persecutors thorough their beastly crueltie and tyger-like tyranny haue sought to racke rent the babes of Christs spouse and like curdogs with their teeth to teare the lambs of Gods pasture euen then life hath not been deere vnto the Saiuts in respect of his loue Reade we the Acts and Monuments of the Church wee shall find that Saunders tooke the stake whereunto he should be chained in his armes and kissing it said welcome the crosse of Christ welcome euerlasting life and being fastened to the stake and fier put to him full sweetly he slept in the Lord and Doctor Taylor comming to the place of his execution thanked God that he was euen at home Carolus according to his name was carelesse of his body in this respect and thirsting after the cup of Martirdome had it last filled vp to the hard brimme Alas saith he I lie p Ioh. 5. 5. like the lame man at the pooles side by Salomons porch and euery man goes into the place of health before me but God will appoint me one one day to put me in these and a thousand besides These were good grapes and feared not the presse were good gold and feared not the fire were good corne and feared not the flayle or grindging of their bodies with the teeth of the wilde beasts they desired to hold life with Christ and therefore feared not death for Christ and if some of them thorough infirmity of the flesh haue a little yeelded to their enemies and stained their cheeks with blushes of recantation yet like valiant souldiers after flying did againe fight and not giue ouer the field till they had finisht their course reioycing that the sentence of death did send them sooner to heauen then the course of nature would haue done and that their aduerfaries did helpe them to euerlasting blisse by their speedy dispatch The next duty to loue enioyned by this commandement is seare Loue and feare are sweetely tempered together in the hearts of the faithfull they loue God fearefully they feare God louingly whereas the vngodly feare him slauishly without loue and therefore are said to q Iob 18. 14 goe to the
said we did well to hallow with salt and prayers that by the sprinkling thereof our sins may be forgiuen neither was it onely auaileable for the soule but the water of Canterbury like a certaine Panacea could heale all diseases as feauers fistula gowte tooth-ach palsie consumption falling sicknes leprosie head-ach broken armes maimed legs swelling throtes with infinite other like as a cunning smith with one key should open all manner of locks I need not striue to put downe these they are so weake that they fall of themselues aâ—d the miracles wrought by them were said to bee so many that they loose their owne credit onely a word or two for confutation of that which is alledged in defence of Idols and then an end of the Prohibition In the Prophet Hosea q Hos 4. 17 Ephraim is ioyned to Idols let him alone if we must let him alone why then doe you blame those that keep the statutes of Omry all the manner of the house of Ahab which sacrifice to Baalim which haue borne Siccuth their King Chilum their Images the starre of their Gods which they made to themselues I answer the liberty that the Prophet Hoseâ— giueth vs a permission with indignation as if a father should say to his graceles sonne when hee seeth that hee hath shaken hands with hell and standing at defyance with goodnesse proclaimeth open warre to his soule and will not reclaime himselfe by good admonition but runs riot like a lawles and awles person euery day faster then other because the diuell driues him sirrha run your race take your swinge sape thy felfe in thy sinnes giue head to thy lusts still dance after the diuels pipe I will warne thee no more I will let thee alone see what will come thereof at the last the like speach concerning the same sinne is that of the Lord r Eze. 20. 39. Goe you and serue euery one his I doll seeing that yee will not obey mee the like is that of Salomon concerning an other sinne Å¿ Ec. 11. â— Reioyce o young man in thy youth and let thy heart cheere thee in the dayes of thy youth walke in the waies of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes the like is that of the Angell concerning all sinne t Reu. 22. 11. hee that is vniust let him bee vniust still and hee that is filthy let him bee filthy still otherwise when the Lord speaketh simply plainly he blameth Israell for that they u Ps 106. 28. ioyned themselues to Baal-Peor like the â—arbarian Tyrants which bound the bodies of the liuing to the bodies of the dead till they rotted together Againe some say they worship God in their hearts though they haue images the better to stirre vp deuotion though they kisse these images and bow downe to them yet they bee not so sottish but they know they are but stocks and stones and therefore as the Grecians said they would not worship images lest they should seeme to agree with the Romane Church but yet they would adore pictures or rather as Fredericke the Emperour when he prostrated himselfe in such sort before Alexander the third that the proud Pope troad vpon his necke said non tibi sed Petro I doe not this honour to thee but to Peter So say they when they prostrate themselues before an image non imagini sed Deo they doe not this honour to the Image but to God but this is as if the wife should say she loues her husband in her heart but she will haue another man in her house shee will keepe company with other men when he is abroad shee will set her eyes vpon them she will embrace them but this shee doth not for any loue to them but that by them shee might better remember her husband but this is to bee like Clodia who to excuse her incest said she did company with Metellus as with an husband but with Clodius as with a brother Thus though euery string be out of tune yet the Musicke shall not sound amisse but as Asinus is Asinus quanquam aurea gestit insignia so this whore is a whore though shee set neuer so faire a glosse vpon her sinne and varnish her lewdnesse and in very deed howsoeuer men sooth themselues in this sinne yet are they so sottish that as the Prophet saith x Esa 2. 8. they worship the worke of their owne hands with an ingemination which their owne fingers haue made otherwise why did they forbid ne Sanctorum imagines confringantur the breaking of images inflicting a greater punishment vpon him that should breake an Image then vpon him that should rent and teare God in peeces with his carrion and stinking mouth Why was one Rochus a caruer of Images borne in Brabant burned at Saint Lucas in Spaine Anno 1545. when he did but take vp a chisell and dashing it vpon the image of our Lady did blemish her face though hee alledged for himselfe it was his owne worke and if the workemanship disliked him what had any man to doe with it Why were they so wood and so testy with Testwood Anno 1544 as to threaten to kill him and therefore drew vpon him and that in the Church at Windsore but that he vp with his hand in which he had a key and smiting down a border about an Alablaster Image which the glance chanced to breake off the nose When Thomas Beckets Image was set vp at Mercers Chappell in London in Queen Maries time Anno 1555 why was there such a great reward promised by Proclamation to him which could bring newes who broke away first his two blessing fingers and afterward struck off his head but that this and the other images were prized at a greater valew then they deserued to bee esteemed The word of God is comprised in the Bible yet sometimes the paper thereof is wasted sometimes for that the translation disliketh vs sometimes for that it is old and worne and this we doe without any exclamation but let one breake or burne an Image that is worm-eaten by reason of age or for that it hath been abused Iam faces iam saxa volant furor arma ministrat Men rage as though not a stocke or stone but a true Saint of flesh and bone should be cast in the fire which argueth that they are to much addicted to the image it selfe and haue it into high a veneration but what need I light a candle in the sunshine doe not they themselues write that the image and Crosse of Christ ought to be worshipped with the same honour that is done vnto God doe they not say when we salute the Crosse that procured vs life we doe well to sing thy Crosse Lord doe we adore the speare which opened thy sacred and life-giuing side doe we adore and that you may not meruaile that men are so farre gone as in such sort to forget themselues doe you not see that many a man though
sonnes Noahs Gen. 7. 7. 13 wife and his sonnes wiues to shew that when iudgement is toward they which haue wiues should be as though they had none that they may giue themselues vnto prayer but when they goe out of the Arke God ioynes them together goe forth of the Arke thou and thy wife thy sonnes and thy sonnes wiues with thee to shew that when iudgement is past they must come together againe that Satan tempt them not for their incontinency 1. Cor. 7. 5. but this note came but in by the way and shall not carry me so far out of the way but I will keepe my selfe resident vpon my Text let euery man haue his wife saith Saint Paul his wife 1. Cor. 7. 2. not his concubine his wife not his wiues and they two not they three shall be one flesh to shew that none must be sicke of a Plurisie Edh. 5. 31. or be like the diuell which sowed another mans ground Mat. 13. 25 if God had dispensed with any it is like Kings should haue had this priuiledge that they might haue had an heire of their owne body to succeede them when their owne wiues went childles but euen Kings come within the compasse of this prohibition neither shall any of them take him many wiues when Deâ— 17. 17 a man seeth his flesh grow prowde and boyleth vnto lust of necessitie he must take a wife or else fall but if he fall hauing taken a wiâ—e he is like a Pilot which suffereth shipwracke when he is come to the hauen or like Lots wife which is cast away though she hath escaped out of Sodome and might haue been saued in Zâ—ar It was therefore a good answere which a Gen. 19. 29 married woman in Lacedemonia made to a young man who desired her company young man quoth she I would grant that thou askest were it mine to grant but that which thou demandest while I was single was my parents they had a care to preserue it now I am married it is my husbands only hee must haue it it was as good which the Lady Gray made vnto King Edward the 4 the first of our English Kings who married a subiect for when he being enamored of her would haue proceeded further she hearing of a mariage concluded for him in France and of a precontract with the Lady Lucy plainely tolde him she knew her selfe too simple to be his wife and thought her selfe to good to be his concubine The example of Alexander is worth the remembrance who hauing conquered Darius and alwaies hauing in his host the wife of the same Darius would after he had once seene her beautie neuer after haue her once come in his presence saying it would be a great shame to him who had conquered the husband now to be subdued by the wife It is written of the Parthians that they forbid their wiues not only to conuerse with men but not so much as to talke with them or cast an eye vpon them yet they themselues marching vnder Venus banner will haue many wiues but this is as much as if they should bid them fight against enemies fight against pleasures to which they would yeeld themselues the man is the head of the woman the head 1. Cor. 11. 3 should goe before the members follow after if the woman liue more chastly then the man the house is out of order and the head doth hang downeward The meanes to keepe chastitie is loue betwixt man and wife for as hee which loues an harlot hates his wife so hee which loues his wife hates an harlot and therefore Salomon dehorting from the strange woman wisheth vs to reioyce with the wife of Pro. 5. 8. 18 19. our youth and delight in her loue continually this loue is armour of proofe and will not suffer vnchast thoughts to enter into the heart First therefore knit hearts before you strike hands first be heart fasted then hand fasted first chose your loue then loue your choise like the bridegrome and the spouse in the Canticles call one another loue therefore the husband the first yeare hee was married was freed from the warre that Deu. 24. 5. loue might grow vp as the water cresses little by little but with a deepe roote where this is in the man another womans person shall not be the prison of his heart nor lodge within his breast his eyes shall not looke vpon strange women nor his flesh yeeld to the seruice of Venus where this is in the woman she girdeth her loynes with strength her heart is not deceiued by a man where this is wanting in man or woman they are ready to embrace the bosome of strangers to ouerflowe the bankes of chastitie to set fire to their honesty to violate the rites of matrimony and set forth marriage to all râ—proach and villany for though they dwell together in one house yet are they like two poysons in one stomacke one is sicke of another like Eles in the pot which would faine be out like Spaâ—iels coupled which hale one one way another another way and if they goe any time quietly together it is because they cannot goe a sunder and though matrimony be a coniunction yet in such it is a coniunction disinuctiue as are ioyned in body but disioyned in affection hereupon it comes to passe that some in these dayes are as ready to venture their liues for a common wench as other in former times haue been forward to hazard them for the common-wealth hereupon it comes to passe that man and wife alledging some foule plea to clowt vp their foule play seeke to be separated one from the other those whom God hath ioyned together man should not put a sunder the woman is bound by the law to the man while Rom. 7. 2. he liueth and on the other side the man to the woman Kings are bound with these chaines and Nobles with these linkes of yron but when man and wife loue not they will not be tyed with this tackling they breake these bonds a sunder cast away these cordes froÌ„ them the hart of the husband must cleaue to his wife the heart of the wife must cleaue to her husband the wife is the glory of the man euery man loueth his glory they two are one flesh as God at first made two of one by resolution Gen. 2. 22. so marriage makes one of two by composition they are two boughes of one tree together beare one fruite as a sience taken from one tree and grafted in another stocke and as children are a mans selfe multiplyed so the wife is a mans selfe diuided Adam saith she is flesh of my flesh if any man hateth Gen. 2. 23. his owne flesh he is carried to Bedlem and is like c 1. Kin. 18. 28. the Baalits which wounded their owne bodyes d Leu. 19. 28. contrary to the Commandement Man had his make made of his owne flesh and
so had no creature beside and therefore man should exceed all other creatures in the loue of his make and therefore Darius aforesaid when Alexander the great had ouercome him yet shewed himselfe stoute and inuincible till he vnderstood his wife was taken prisoner at hearing whereof his heart did melt his knees did smite together sorrow was in all his loynes being more grieued for her imprisonment then losse of his owne liberty victory credit and estimation Againe concerning the woman shee was taken out of the side of man neere the heart when she was first made and when shee is married there is a ring put by her husband on the fourth finger of her left hand where there is a veine which goes to the heart to teach their to loue him from the heart The Chronicle stores vs with a cluster of many singular examples of this loue some for loue to her husbands haue been content to hazard their estate as Some haue been content to leaue their Countrey when Lâ—ntulus Crustelio was banished into Sicily Sulpicia followed Gen. 12. her husband like Sarah for when Abraham by Gods commandement left his Countrey shee without commandement left her Countrey also as if shee should say to her husband as Ruth to Naomi whither thou goest I will gâ—â— and where thou dwellest Ruth 1. 16. 17. I will dwell where thou diest I will die and there will I bee buried the Lord doe so to mee and more also if ought but death depart thee and mee Some haue been content to loose their goods to loose their good name to loose their liues When Guelfus and other Noble men with their wiues were taken prisoners after a siege in the Castle of Winsberg the women hauing leaue to goe away and carry with them whatsoeuer they could beare on their shoulders they leauing all other things tooke vp their husbands and away they went A woman as we read in the Acts and Monuments defamed herselfe to deliuer her innocent husband it was Calaway a Gold-smith in London who should haue been cast away had it not been for his wife for he being indited of a crime which was death by the law and might not haue the benefit of his clergy because hee had married a widow for the law was that Bigamus might not haue his booke and he was accounted bigamus who had been twise married himselfe or else had married a woman whose former husband was dead his wife came forth before the Iudges and deposed that shee neuer was married to him that was accounted her first husband but liued in adultery with him When Nero condemned Seneca to dye he gaue him leaue to chuse what death he would dye whereupon he caused his veines to be opened in a Bath his wife Paulina of her owne accorde did the like choosing rather to dye with him then liue without him I cannot omit one example of an English Queene and that is Eleonor wife to King Edward the first for when he going to the holy Land was wounded by a Morian with a sword so enuenomed that art and medecine could not cure him this good louing wife with her owne mouth did day by day sucke and drawe out the venemous humour and without hurting herselfe helped her husband cured and closed his wound in remembrance of whose great affection King Edward did build her many monuments A second breach of this law and branch to bee cut off is Fornication which though it be not so great sinne as Adultery as I haue already proued yet flye Fornication for these 1 Cor. 6. 18 things are common to both these sinnes a diseased body a damned soule a poore purse a shamefull name a wronging of posterity and of the party with whom the folly is committed For the first these finne against their owne bodies wasting their strength in pleasure as the flame consumeth the candle and therefore are like Sparrowes which Aristotle saith doe therefore liue but a short time because of their common copulation they procure to themselues such infectious diseases as will hasten their death and such as will sticke by them when their best friends giue them ouer Concerning their soules Saint Paul excludeth them from 1 Cor. 9. 6 the Kingdome of heauen as he will haue them separated from 1 Cor. 5. 9 11. 13. the company of men vpon earth Concerning their estate pouerty commeth vpon them as one that trauaileth by the way and necessity like an armed man this sinne is purgatory to the purse though it be paradise to the desires Danae doth then like Iupiter when he comes vnto her in the forme of a showre of golden rayne and therefore the Poet saith Nuda Venus picta est nudi pinguntur amores Nam quos nuda capit nudos dimittat oportet How soone had the prodigall childe consumed his portion Luc. 15. 14 when once he light among harlots but you will say this sinne may bring a meane man to pouerty and a poore man to beggery but great ones may wallow in this sinne and yet their estate neuer be empaired nay women are like enough to gaine by the trade for they be receiuers with e Mat. 26. 15. Iudas they are at their Quantum dabis as if their louers bring any thing they are welcome if any of them say with Peter g Act. 3. 6. Siluer and f Gen 38. 16. gold haue I none ibit for as there is no entertainement for him f Thamar the string of their hearts reach to the pulse of their hands and must be rubbed with gold Concerning Name men haue a care of their credit and would haue a good reputation among men next to the approbation of God and the testimony of a good conscience for if a mans name be once tainted with iust reproch postea nullus erit but is like a garment which once rent is like to be torne on euery nayle now he that committeth adultery with a woman looseth his name a bad report is his portion while he liueth a bad heyre when he is dead and such a one as shall outline all his posterity his reproach shall neuer be put away and â—ro 6. 33. it were well if onely he himselfe did pay for it but this is not all but euen the children vnlawfully begotten doe feele the smart of it for first the staine remaineth to them and bastardy is their blemish then which what can be a greater and therefore when the holy Ghost would brande the Israelites with a marke of greatest reproch he cals them the seede of Esa 51. 3. the Adulterer and of the whore Againe parents are not so carefull of the good education of such children their birth is not so base but their bringing vp is as base as their birth such fathers care not though with the Israelites they offer such sonnes and daughters vnto diuels they haue no care to correct them they care not though they haue their swinge though
euill hard-hearted flagella Reipublicae flabella seditionis that they would deuoure a whole Parlament-house and could well digest it if Ierusalem were made an heape of stones And shewing mercy vnto thousands of them that loue me and keepe my Commandements Our Sauiour Christ saith to Martha thou art Luc. 10 41 troubled about many things but one thing is necessary so wee are troubled about many things some about their farmes some Luc. 14. 18 about their oxen some about their wiues all these in the beginning of Ecclesiastes are vanity of vanities and all vanity Eccl. 1. 2. but one thing is nâ—câ—ssary and that is in the end of Ecclesiastes Ec. 12 13. feare God and keepe his Commandements but here the Lord doth not say feare but loue mee and keepe my Commandements to shew that all the duty wee performe to God must proceede from loue the law saith Saint Paul is not giuen to 1 Tim. 1. 9 the righteous man either to condemne him or to compell him for he will doe good of a good affection without further constraint God will haue the Israelits bring offerings for the making Ex. 25. 2. of the Tabernacle but hee will not straine vpon any but euery one shall giue as his heart doth encourage him and Ex. 35 21 as his spirit doth make him willing Sonne goe and worke today Mat. 21. 28 in my vineyard vineyard therefore a fit place to day therefore a fit time sonne therefore a fit person for he will goe with good will as readily as Samuell comes at a call Here am I 1 Sam. 3. 5 not that thou compelledst mee but here am I for you calledst Ex. 8. 25. mee The obedience of the wicked is wrested from them as was Pharaohs and their good deeds are spoiled in the working as many a good tale is mard in the telling but the godly yeeld freely to obedience for loue are not haled and dragged by force my heart is ready saith Dauid with an ingemination Ps 57. 7. my heart is ready ready for aduersity ready for prosperity ready to bee humbled ready to be exalted ready to doe whatsoeuer thou commandest This must teach vs to take heede wee doe not good things amisse that is true of the Canon Lawyers God loues aduerbs better then adiectiues not quam bonum but quam bene Luc. 18. 4. and therefore a good deed must be well done Iustice readily and therefore fye vpon the vniust Iudge Almes willingly for 2 Cor. 9. 7. grudging like Colloquintida spoiles the whole potte of pottage A good mind cannot free a man from offence when 2 Sam. 6. 6. he doth ill and therefore Vzzah doth ill to put his hand vnto the Arke but a bad mind may make a man sin in doing good and therfore Iudas was not without great fault in saluting Christ Mat. 26. 49 to betray him First therefore we must looke what wee doe for the matter to know this wee must aske counsell at the mouth of the Lord his word must bee a touch-stone to try our actions and the standard from which wee must not depart Secondly we must looke how we doe it for the manner whither of loue or of feare of a cheerefull or grudging mind and to know this wee must consult with our owne hearts with Moses put our hands into our bosomes rip vp our consciences Ex. 4. 6. take our soules to taske and with the possessed returne vnto our owne house virtus uolentium nulla est He that Luc. 8. 39. doth good against his will doth ill God will haue vs voluntary men good deeds must not be wrung out of vs as veriuyce out of the crabs when they are pressed nor beaten out Ex. 17. 6. of vs as waters came out of the rocke when Moses smote it with his rod but they must sweetly flowe from vs as riuers Ioh. 7. 38. from the fountaine The seruice we doe to our neighbours is not accepted with God except it proceede from loue If I giue all that I haue to feed the poore saith the Apostle and haue not 1 Cor. 13. 3 loue it profiteth me nothing If I giue and not lend which is not so great liberality mine owne which I haue not another mans for many rob Peter and pay Paul build Almes-houses with the superfluity of their vsury make Hospitals with racking their rents inclosing of commons with that which they haue gotten by briberie oppression and extorting from other which indeed is not their owne againe if I giue not a part but all at the onely hearing whereof the young man Mat. 19. 22 shrunke backe and went away sorrowfull not to the rich but to the poore for that were but to cast water into the sea if I did all this to feed them and as you would say to put life into them when they were ready to perish for want of sustenance yet all this notwithstanding if loue be lacking there is wanting the best flowre in the garden without which the rest yeeld no sweet smelling sauour to God so likewise God accepteth no seruice we doe vnto himselfe except loue as in this place like a Gentleman Vsher doth go before it and therefore Saint Paul wisheth vs to offer vp our bodies a quicke sacrifice vnto God quicke not onely because wee must offer Rom. 12. 1. them quickely against those which say of the temple of their Hag. 1. 2. bodies as the Iewes of the Temple of Ierusalem it is not yet time to build the Temple of the Lord but because that which is quicke doth loue to be stirring is ready and willing to moue of it selfe And keepe my Commandements Loue and obedience are GeÌ„ 38. 30. twins and one followes the other as Zarah came after Pharez out of Tamars wombe mixe the one with the other and then is compounded the cup of saluation This maketh against Hypocrites and proud boasters which will inable themselues with their tongues and say they loue God but there is no such matter for then would their outward workes beare witnesse of their inward affection Gods spirit worketh in a spirituall man and makes him bring forth fruits of loue as nature worketh in a naturall man whose loue doth creepe where it cannot goe and inclosed as wee see in Ioseph shineth as a candle thorough the chinkers GeÌ„ 43 34. The Angell put on the shape of man that Manoah might Iud. 13. 1â— see him and loue must put on obedience that the world may see it Gideon must haue none to bee his souldiers but such as Iud. 7. 6. 7 vse as well their hand as their tongue let no man therefore glory more to bee a linguist then a realist The Church is a widdow for as shee is called a mother because shee bringeth forth children to God and nourceth them with the milke which streame out of her two breasts the Old and New Testament as shee is
d Ap. 13. 10 if any kill with a sword hee must bee killed by a sword If a man did smite his seruant that he died vnder his hand though among the Romanes such a master went free because he bought his seruant with his money yet because the life is more worth then money God will not free him e Ex. 21. 20 puniendo punietur hee shall be surely punished If men did striue and hurt a woman with childe though there were no intent to kill either the mother or the child f Ex. 21. 22. yet if death followed life should be paid for life A man would thinke it had been no great matter if he had killed a theefe that should come and vndermine his house or breake it vppe but yet if this were done in the day time by the iudiciall law of Moses g Ex. 22. 2. hee that did it must dye for it a Deu. 21. 1 If one were found slaine in the field and he not knowne that committed the murther the next City should beare the blame should offer sacrifice protest before God that they were cleere of that fact desire God to be mercifull to them and not lay innocent bloud vnto their charge If a man did not lay waite for bloud but had b Ex. 21. 14. killed any vnawares he might take Sanctuary and flie to the Altar but if he had killed any wilfully the holynes of the place should not defend him and therefore Salomon biddeth Benaiah to smite Iâ—ab because he smote two men more righteous and better then he and slew them with the sword though c 1 Kin. 2. 28 Ioab had caught hold on the hornes of the Altar God would take vengeance on d Gen. 9. 5. beasts generally for the life of man particularly e Ex. 21. 28 the goaring Oxe that killed any should be stoned to death to shew that beastly minded man should not goe vnpunished who sheds his brothers bloud like water who oppresseth him round about for his soule and causeth his head to goe downe to the graue with bloud The lawes of other Nations as well as Gods lawe to the Iewes doe meete with this sinne and cutting them off from other men rewards them to their face to bring them to destruction which lift vp their hands against other to destroy them To let passe forraigne Countries in our land if a man did run into a premunire he should be put out of the Kings protection his lands goods and cattles forfaited to the King but yet there was a law made Eliz 1o. against such as should slea euen such a man as was attainted in premunire King Richard the first making orders for sea-faring men ordained that if one slew an other on the shippe-boarde he should be bound to the dead body and throwne into the sea if on the land he should be bound to him and buried with him quicke The land is clensed of the bloud that is shed in it by the bloud of him that shed it and therefore the statute law takes away all murderers like drosse walking more stubbornly and taking greater vengeance on those which shall imbrue their hands in the bloud of them to whom by nature or duty they are most bound by nature as if a woman since her husband and shee are one flesh shall kill her husband shee shall be accounted a paricide by the Ciuill law and by the Statute of the land a traitor and be punished accordingly by duty as if a seruant kill his master it is petie treason if one kill any Iudge sitting in his place it is high treason and such a man shall drinke more depely of the cuppe of vengeance but let one sâ—ay a man bee he neuer so meane feloniously his least punishment is suspension his death-bed is the gallowes say he doth escape and be not taken then the Towne where the murder is committed shal be amerced say the matter be compounded yet God himselfe will take the matter into his owne hand his vengeance by iustice shall waite his destruction that doth commit it he will euen set his face against the person and will cut him off from among his people for sometime he stirreth vp f Gen 6. 9. some other man to shed the bloud of him thar sheddeth bloud and therefore g GeÌ„ 4. 14 Cain is afraid that euery man that findeth him will slay him That valiant Hercules did cast Diâ—medes King of Thrace who fedde his horse with mens flesh to horses to bee deuoured Perillus was inforced to make tryall how his brasen Bull would roare and when the Tyrant Phalaris had burned many in it his owne Citizens falling vpon him put him into the same Bull and made him end his life with like kinde of death It is remarkable how the Duke of Burgundy dealt with a murderer A cruell minded man had taken a noble man prisoner his wife whose heart did cleaue vnto her husband was an earnest suiter for his life that no hand might be vpon him to put him to death the cut-throate answered if he might goe vp to her bed imbrace her bosome take his fill of loue and his pleasure in dalliance he would set her husband at liberty shee thought it were as death to her to breake her faith plighted in marriage yet so great was her loue that shee did deliberate and first craued leaue to confer with her husband who though this thing were grieuous vnto him because of his wife yet gaue her leaue that he might haue his deliuerance the deed done and this varlet hauing lyen with her fleshly and vsed her at his pleasure he notwithstanding the next day chopt off her husbands head and sent it vnto her whereupon shee complained to the Duke who sent for him compelled him to marry her that so she might challenge a right in his possessions and then causing him to drinke of the same cup cut off his head It is true that the Psalmist saith a Ps 5 5. 23 the bloud-thirsty man shall not liue out halfe his daies one dies fettered in prison another scalded in the brothel house many in warre when the land of the enemies doth eate them licke them vp as an Oxe lieketh vp grasse of the field when their enemies chase them as Bees vse to doe so that they cannot stand in the day of battaile but their carcasses fall to the earth and cannot escape thus the roaring of the Lyon the voyce of the Lyonesse and the teeth of the Lyons whelpes are broken This made Rebecâ—ah speaking of Esau and Iacob to say b Gen. 27. 45. Why should I be depriued of you both in one day not thinking that Iacob being of a gentle disposition would rise vp against his brother Esau and so they kill one another but her meaning was that if Iacob did not auoid the countrey Esau considering that Iacob had the birthright and the blessing would kill him then some iudgement of God would
King of feare The godly know God to be a mercifull father therefore they loue him they know him to bee a powerfull Lord therefore with Iob r they are strucken in feare to stand in awe of his Maiesty q Iob. 23. 15. Dauid makes a sweet coniunction of both Å¿ Psal 5. 7. I will come vnto thee in the multitude of thy mercies there is the first and in feare will I worshippe towards thy holy temple there is the second Loue without feare makes vs presume feare without loue makes vs dispaire therefore as in God mercy and truth are met together so in the godly loue and feare doe kisse each other by the first they reioyce according to the ioy in haruest as men reioyce when they diuide a spoile their mouth is filled with laughter and their tongues with ioy in respect of the second they say with Iob t Iob 23. 15 I am troubled at his presence and in considering it I am affraid of him In respect of both the Prophet saith u Ps 2. 11. serue the Lord with feare and reioyce vnto him with reuerence both concurre in the godly in their iourney to heauen as they did in the woman x Mat. 28. 8. who departed from the sepulchre with feare and great ioy y Mat. 22. 7. The Scripture compareth God vnto a King and Goran hath obserued foure things commendable in a King the greatnesse of his power the depth of his wisdome the seuerity of his iustice the serenity of his mercy such a King is God of great power Quantus Deus est qui deos facit he is not shaken with feare for z â— Sam. 1. 3 he is the Lord of hosts he is not seduced by error for he is wisdome it selfe he is not corrupted with affection for he is iustice it selfe hee is not subuerted by fury for he is mercy it selfe accidents in others are essences in him we must reuerence him for the first heare him for the second feare him for the third and loue him for the fourth In the Gospell the a Mat. 25. 15. Talents are deliuered the charge is giuen the account is taken The deliuery to one fiue to another two to another one sheweth that God bestoweth gifts and graces on his seruants in seuerall measures one shall haue an Ephah full which containeth ten pottles an other shall haue but an omer full b Ex. 16. 36 which is but the tenth part of the Ephah The charge occupie till I come teacheth vs to vse those gifts and graces to Gods glory and the benefit of his Church the account that he comes and reckones with them foresheweth that hee will one day say to vs as the rich man to his steward c Luc. 16. 2 Giue an account of thy stewarshippe Wee must loue him because as a good God he deliuers his talents feare him because as a iust iudge he will take an account The Prophet d Es 8. 12. 1 3. Esay exhorting vs to this feare doth first dehort vs from two sorts of feare which hinder it First feare not those things which the wicked feaâ—e Secondly feare not the wicked themselues and now I am entred into so large a field that in it I may easily leese my selfe but my speech shall drawe it selfe vp within some few of their feares which my charity serues me to particularize First the wicked are brought in feare where no feare is they frame to themselues feares out of their owne imaginations and as e Iud. 9. 36. Zebul said to Gaal The shadow of the mountaines seeme men vnto thee so are they many times afraid of a shadow which makes their hare to stand vpright their bodies to shake their hearts to throb their senses to faile and wits to faint it is said of Antenor allied to Priamus King of Troy that hee would either haue a target borne ouer his head or close his coche on euery side whensoeuer he went out of his house he did feare as a sparrow out of Egypt and as a doue out of the land of Ashur f Mar. 8. 24 The blind man in the Gospell when hee began to recouer sight thought trees to bee men so it is written of the Burgundians that expecting a battle they thought longe thistles were launces their eye was a false glasse which did not represent things vnto them in their right proportion God doth send a faintnesse into the hearts of the wicked in the land of their enemies g Leu. 26. 36. and the sound of a leafe shaken shall chase them and they shall flie as flying from a sword and they shall fall no man pursuing them so that as he saith in Martiall Non amo te Sabidi nec possum dicere quare Hoc tantum possum dicere non amo te I do not loue thee but I cannot tell why I doe not loue thee and as the malecontent Antipodes euer contradicting will not walke in the beateÌ„ path of the Church yet cannot tell why they seeke by pathes so those are brought in feare yet cannot tell why they are afraid in Arithmeticke of nothing comes nothing yet they feare where no feare is What neede I speake of Cardinall Crescentius who feared that which indeed neuer was nor neuer had any but a fancyed being for while he was busie about writing letters to Rome against the Protestants h Act. 8. 2. as Saul was to haue letters written to Damascus for persecuting the Christians vpon a sudaine he did thinke verily that the Diuell walking in his chamber like a great masty curre at last coucht vnder his table and this conceit he did finde so vnsportable for waight that let his friends comfort him what they might his Phisitions counsell him what they could in a melancholy humour hee died comfortles The superstitious man deserues not so much to bee spoken of as to bee laughed at with disdain who intending to take his iourney for feare alters his minde if he stumbleth at the threshold at his setting out of doors who â—utending to take his dinner for feare alters his colour if the salt fall towards him and is as much afraid of that fall as of the eleuation of a Comet which hee thinketh alwaies to presage some fatall and finall ruine if any of these fearefull or foolish conceits call at the goodmans doore hee vseth them as passengers with slight respect they shall not lodge with him but away they shall as Posts vpon the spurre Another thing that the wicked feare is the constellation of the starres and as in time past they did attribute a certaine power to the planets to worke in men good or bad effects so at this day Astrologers make Calenders which are full of good and bad aspects Saturne they say is a terrible Venus a milde Planet and so of the rest and as they thought men and their affaires were gouerned by the Sunne and Moone and Starres and influence of the heauens and