calling it (a) Deu. 4 wisdome some a (b) Psa 119 light some the (c) Rom 1 power of God and some (d) Eph 6 a sword according to the mighty working and power thereof from the which foundation if any man flée following his owne wyll or the inuentions of men let him be perswaded that his workmanship is in vaine for his building will not stande The third and last disposition of these godly men The thyrd disposition of the godlye differed far from the purpose of the vngodly as appereth euen in the plaine words for the aduersaries sayd vnto Zerubbabell and the rest We seeke and doo sacrifice vnto the Lord your God and Zerubbabell the rest sayd Wee will builde vnto the Lorde our God in the which let vs sée euen the confession of the vngodly in that they haue not the power to name the Lord their God and againe the confession of the godly in that they hold a firme faith assurance to cal the Lord their God nowe in that they are directed the one by Ezer Haddon an Idolater and the other by Cirus a worthy and noble King it dooth appeare that the one fauoured Idolatry and the other true religion for in that Zerubbabel with the reste builded together vnto their God which they farder interpreted to bee the God of Israel they shewed a good a deuout and a godly christian profession for as indéede we ought to offer the sacrifice vnto God and put our trust in God as the prophet sayth so ought we to haue a spirituall care to vnderstand what he is Psal 4 5. whether of right all honor appertaineth vnto him which we shall easily perceiue by beholding hys maiesty his power his strength his mercy his loue his omnipotencye in creating vs and all the worlde in gouerning vs ruling all things in defending vs in redéeming vs in sanctifying vs and in calling vs and in giuing all things necessary for vs in lightning our minds with vnderstanding in refreshing our consciences with good things whereas on the other side for the iudgment of Idolatry we finde not the like vertues consolations in the workmanship of mans hands made to be honored worshipped as a god no nor in any the creaturs vnder heauē nor in heauē as the sun moone stars woods stons calfs hylls gold siluer c. Wherfore this name God being an vnspeakable name among the Iewes dooth minister vnto the godly so many powers and operations that when they shal say Our God they haue a heape of comforts and consolations in their hart which doth worke many godly knowledges and exercises and extinguishe many ignoraunt and Idolatrous opinions As for example if we shold reason this wyth our selues who hath made vs and hetherto preserued vs God who sustaineth the heauens to giue light and to powre downe dewes for the comfort of the earth God who giueth encrease on the earth for our sustenaunce God who giueth all things necessary for vs here on earth God who hath redéemed vs from the bondage of sathan God who hath prepared for vs the kingdome of heauen GOD the same God with hys mightye power worke so in the heartes of all good beléeuers that they may so learne him know him follow him in this world the in the world to come euen in the kingdome of heauen they may haue life euerlasting to the which I beséech God the father the son and holy ghost to send vs all Amen A Sermon shewing what the Temple of God is 1 Cor 6 19.20 Know ye not that your body is the Temple of the holy Ghost which is in you whom yee haue of God and ye are not your owne For ye are bought for a price Glorifie therefore God in your body and in your spirite for they are Gods THe Temple which is consecrated and dedicated to an holy vse for the learning and exercising of holy thinges for the reading of the Lawe couenant and promises of GOD and for the enriching of our selues in the true knowledge of Gods worde and the vse of the Sacraments finally for all godly vses and exercises is the same place where in all the congregation dooth méete together in a deuout minde and pure hart to call vpon God the creator and maker of all things to whom he dooth in the power of hys spirit appeare which place is therefore called the Temple or his house because of the holy exercises and godly seruices which are there doone and for those exercises sake because it is called Gods house it ought to be kept cleane and not defiled neyther ought it to be reserued for any other vse then for the exercise of holy thinges Ioh. 2.15 and for that cause our Sauiour Christ did cast out the buiers and sellers out of the Temple yet buying selling is a lawfull trade among men Howbeit because of the place it was not allowed but shaply and with expulsion reprooued by our sauiour Christ himselfe But now the Apostle speaketh not of a Temple made of stones lyme and sande in this place but of our bodyes which he calleth a Temple because of the vse and exercise which ought to be therein vsed and daily exercised which is godlines therefore it is called the Temple or tabernacle of the holy ghost wherin the holy ghost as a patron president of Gods power dwelleth And as on the one side euery manne and woman should in hys hart reade learne exercise and dayly vse godly meditations godly lawes and godly obseruations and also yéelde the Sacrifice of thanksgiuing and the offering of righteousnes and dayly strengthen the same with a féeling conscience a faithfull hart a charitable mind and an humble deuotion So on the other side hath God gyuen hys holy spirit to be resident therein as a pledge of his loue which dayly worketh in vs knowledge desire chéerefulnes ioyfulnes patience loue al heauenly riches assuring our spirits that we are the children of God to our great and endles comfort for which occasions sake we are wylled by the Apostle not to gréeue the same spirit of God by the which we are sealed vnto the day of redemption for in that hée is dwelling in vs and remayning as in an house among vs wee trouble greeue him when we prophane and abuse his tabernacle or dwelling eyther with pryde whoredome drunkennes enuy theft murther idlenes filthy talke surfeyting or like because they are not exercises agréeable for the Temple of God and then yf buying and selling which is lawfull bee prohibited the Temple in respect of the materiall Temple much more these filthy abuses ought to bee caste out of the Temple in respect that it is our bodyes being of greater price and estimation then the building of stone Herevpon the Apostle spake in this place of the abuse of filthy fornication and incestuous incontinencye that it was such a great spot as greatly defiled and polluted the whole body
great charge wherein the notable building of religion and of a common wealth standeth at a stay nay at decay for lacke of those that should take paynes themselues and not estéeme the care of the trauell whereby the building myghte goe forwarde for if Zerubbabel and Ieshua with the Elders of Israell had béene lazy themselues and committed the building to others being Infidels the woorke had neuer béene brought to passe and surely I am perswaded the small care great ease that our chéefe builders haue is the cause that the worke goeth not forwarde I meane that christian religion is not substantially erected and the common welth sufficiently stayed but true it is that the labourer that maketh more account of his wages then of the performance of hys workmanship is so hasty in his labor that the woorke oftentimes shameth his master but in stéede of shame care in these dayes is planted couetousnes and stoutnes the one desireth inordinatly and the other defendeth impudently And yet no man can iustly charge any Prelate Magistrate patron or vsurer in these dayes for bribery extorcion simony or vsury and why because they themselues committe none of these offences but yet they haue factors and dooers for them therefore indéede this is their fault if the building be good they shold doo the worke themselues for if the worke be Gods none is too good to doo it for that cause whom the Quéenes Maiestie hath thought good eyther for the roome of a Counseller Bishop or Iustice is committed to the same place to vse it and discharge it himselfe and not by séelie substitution O howe bothe our common weales would florish if our chéefe menne wold by the example of good Zerubbabell and Ieshua labour themselues and not faint at it And againe I wold they wold follow the other example of them in refusing of them then no doubt that muste néedes be a pleasant Cuppe of wyne vnto the drinker whose dregges are purified clensed so that gouernment especially because in them consisteth the chéefest building must néedes bee good and profitable which doo seperate themselues from brybers extortioners factors and wicked enticers which many times corrupteth a whole country hindereth many a good minde The Lord in any wise would not haue his people to ioyne wyth Infidels least that by touching of pytch they might be defiled Eccle. 13 1 The Prophet Dauid said with the wicked thou shalt bee wicked wyth the frowarde thou shalt learne frowardnes It is dangerous to lay towe by the fire or to ioyne the Lambe to the Wolfe for the wycked doo alwaies more forcibly infect and corrupt then the good doo or may change or alter And what felowship hath Christ with Belial therefore it is the part of all good and godly men vtterly to refuse the company of the wycked although they wyll offer their labors and counterfeyte their simplicity I meane such as are giuen ouer to worke wickednes and in whom there is no hope of reconciliation and amendment of whome S. Paule speaketh of saying 1. Cor 59 11 But nowe I haue written vnto you that ye cōpany not together if any that is called a brother c. An other good and godly example they doo shew in their second disposition Second disposition when they will build together themselues in the which is most notably séene learned the vnity of the builders in that they wyl ioyne together among themselues when they goe about a godly purpose and not the one to drawe backward while the other goeth forward the one to stand styll while the other laboureth the one to slepe while the other watcheth and so forth for that is the spynning of Penelope her webb which was neuer brought to good ende Hence is it that the wiseman commēdeth the vnity of brethren Eccl. 25.1 because it is the fountayne of a good disposition and it is the pricke that setteth forwarde euery good worke it is the cause that religion is profited the common welth profited and euery good and vertuous action commended For this cause is it that S. Paule commaundeth Ephe. 4 3. That euery one endeuour to kéepe the vnity of the spirit for by so dooing the worke shal be both the better and the sooner brought to good passe for wheras there are seuerall sortes of facultyes in building as the Mason the Carpenter the Tyler and so foorth with many other assistants euery one of them conferring hys owne profession with the residue in a full entent to further the building shall make the building the better and bring it the sooner to an ende wheras they shall louingly consent together in vnity euen so among Gods people we haue many orders as the Minister the Lawier the phisition the Magistrate the priuate housholder and so forth and euery one of them a workman to helpe further the building of the Sanctuary If all these doo not consent together in the vnity of fayth in the hand of charity in the study of godlinesse not preferring worldly causes before heauenly they cannot further the buildyng with a beautifull shew nor hasten it to a spéedy perfection therfore these wordes VVe wyll build together be of great importance and doo giue a good example to the godly to consent and agrée together for otherwise as the Mason and Carpenter dissenting wyll neuer build well nor bring the worke to a good ende euen so euery man in his vocation calling some in preaching true religion some in reforming manners some in teaching a godly life and euery man in shaping something or other for the building of true holines if they vary or fall at square they doo greatly hinder the building wherfore as the armes legs eyes féete c in one body doo consent in theyr seuerall offyces to the seruing of one bodye euen so euery calling shoulde in his seuerall vocation serue in the vnity of spyrite to the buildinge of Gods holie Temple but as I sayde if one bee quicke and an other sloe if one buylde vppe and an other plucke downe that workmanshyp wil hardly be brought to good passe no more can it bee wyth true religion if one be of thys mynde and an other of that if one goe forth and an other goe backe What is it but as S. Paule sayth a denying of Christe and a hinderance to knowledge An enuious mynde and selfe wyl be great hinderers in these dayes which in déede doo laye theyr foundation vpon affection and selfe loue and therefore the buildyng can not be good Wherefore they that wyll bee sounde and sufficient builders must laye theyr foundation vpon Gods worde and that is the building that is founded vpon the rocke and wyll not fall by stormes or tempests as our sauiour Christ sayth It is the same foundation that shall stande when heauen and earth shall fayle Math. 7. and therefore all the Prophets Apostles and Martirs builded their knowledge profession therevpon some
of the malefactor which was the Temple ordeined for godly exercises and therfore gyueth this sentence a little before That he that shall defile the Temple of GOD Cap 3 17 him shall God destroy because wee are called not to vncleanenes but to holines not to fulfill the desires of the fleshe nor to satisfie the lusts of our carnal minde but to purge our corruptible man of them and to adorne the Temple with godly ornaments that like as the Temple of Salomon Hagge 2 and the Temple of Zerubbabell were garnished the one with godly ornaments and the other with peace so our Temples I meane our bodyes should bée decked and furnished with ornamentes méete for such an inhabitant as the holye Ghost is and the ornaments méete for this Temple of ours is fayth loue truth mercy pitty chastity knowledge wisedome and so foorth which vndoubtedly are already sent downe by God to vs to garnish this his Temple in vs if by our owne disobedience and wickednes we doo not defile them and banishe them but I am afrayd and it doth partly appeare by this present age of ours that we so gréeue the holy Ghost with worldly affections and filthy delights that wee banish bothe the holy Ghoste and also defile those noble vertues which are giuen vs as ornamēts to pollish our Temple so that both fayth truth mercy loue honesty al are gon to heauen to chalenge the celestiall roome for that the harte of man is so defiled with sin and wickednes that all the whole worlde is corrupted and ouerflowed with iniquity and the inhabitants that now do holde the hart of mā as a dwelling place which are discorde selfe-loue carnall pleasure and worldly loue haue vtterly expelled and quite banished these former noble vertues from the mind and hart of man in so much that if we behold them as they are they worke a great confusion and ouerthrow of all christian order and corrupteth euery good conuersation and are set vp as Idols in the Temple of God for if you looke into the first of these inhabitants or Idols Discord which is discorde or variance that is to say the iarring and secrete malice among housholders citties prouinces and kingdomes yea euen within themselues one detracting and slaundering an other one eating vp an other one ouerthrowing an other one taking away from an other one robbing from an other one murthering an other and one vndooing an other it is euen an hel to sée it and a lamentable matter to sée the renting a sunder of Christes poore members the putting of loue and charity to flight miserable is that estate that shall sée such an exile Sathan dooth worke so mightily by flatterers and mens eares are so ready to heare them that discorde and variance being quickly sowen maketh a speedy haruest and it is so contagious that it hath almost infected all the worlde in somuch that it is to be demaunded who is frée from a hatefull harte or from a dysdainfull and malicious stomacke and our nature is such that wee can hardly sustayne it it is a token that we are voyde of good affection for when our neighbour or brother hath offended vs or trespassed vs a small matter to the value of one grote is not our nature ready to spende twentye shyllinges or twenty nobles to be reuenged by extreame Lawe thys procéedeth not frō Iustice to be restored our wrong or from patience as the Apostle sayth to forbeare one an other for then we would looke but for a bare recompence or restitution according to the measure of the damage yea and that with patience but it appeareth that we are hatefull and malicious when we can not endure a grote damage and yet can afoorde the spending of twenty shyllings thys procéedeth altogether from the rankor of stomacke Besides all thys the manner of thys present world is to stomacke at the happy estate of others who are eyther promoted to wealth or lyfted into fauour contemning them with a malicious hart iudging themselues euery man in hys owne opynion to be as worthy of the same happines as they that haue it In this thyng they obserue their malice and looke not into the distribution of Gods purpose gyuing to whom he wyll and taking away from whom he wyll God grant that these discordes doo not admitte our aduersaries boldnesse and courage to our ouerthrowe for if it shoulde come to passe I feare mee a greate manye woulde pray vppon their stomacked neyghbours bending their enuious harts rather then theyr country quarrel The great citty of Numantia being very strong and populous was besieged of Scipid and he layde siedge vnto it a long time and neuer could ransacke it in the ende the Cittizens fell out among themselues and were at variaunce then theyr force weakened and themselues drew not together by means whereof Scipio easily tooke the Citty to theyr great spoyle and ouerthrow Salust sayth Concordia res paruae crescunt discordia magnae chlabuntur By concord small things doo encrease and through discorde Math 18. great things come to decay Our Sauiour Christ sayth Euery kingdome deuided against it selfe can not endure Wherfore as the prophet Dauid saith O howe good and ioyful a thing it is for brethren Psal 133 to dwel together in vnity for that vnity is so swéete comfortable vnto thē as the dewe that falleth vppon Hermon and as the hils haue no other comfort but the dewe of heauen for it hath no running Ryuers to comfort the grasse thereof euen so nothing dooth make a more prosperous estate among men then vnitie as it is a fit ornament for the Temple of God euen so is discorde a foule pollution and a filthy spotte in the members of men An other inhabitant or Idoll Selfe loue that is placed in the Temple of God I meane in the hart of man is selfe loue a quality or disposition altogether purposed to vnfettell good order and to vnioynt the society of man and to extoll himselfe and to throw downe others this happeneth first in those that doo insatiably scratch heape vnto themselues although they take from others to theyr vtter decay these men are vayd of pitty hard of conscience not fearing God nor forcing the Lawe if they chance to be touched with the Lawe they wil alwayes haue a shift eyther to cosen the Law or to blind the Iusticers of law or to bribe the ministers of law and whatsoeuer they doo among the common sorte of people in company pleasure solace or trauell they wyll be sure if they be dealing of nutts How yee shall know them they will reserue the kernels to their owne share These men are knowen sometimes by a fayre flatteryng face as a Scorpion sometimes by groning and making themselues sicke as Achab did sometimes by a suddaine fitte of vnusuall liberality in giuing a cuppe of drinke but then beware the Fox I haue heard it reported that the Fox will tomble and
make sporte before the Connies when he goeth about to catch one Sometimes by a rare fayre salutation as the Iewes that came to take Christe sayde Hayle master but alwayes ye shal know them by the parting blowe for though the Cat play and dally with the Mouse yet in the ende she grypeth him to death and aboue all the markes that I haue spoken of to know this sort of selfe-louers I hold this the chéefest that is they vtterly hate and contemne those men that they be perswaded they can get nothing of An other sorte of selfe-louers are such as cary a proude and a lofty mind accounting themselues the singuler menne of the world dishabling others and discrediting others to be best accounted of themselues these haue a kinde of secrete enuy in theyr harts for if you commend this mā or that man eyther for wisedom honesty welth pollicy manhoode comelines vertue learning or any other good quality straightway he will finde one occasion or other to dishable some of these qualities or vertues you shall quickly espye these kind of selfe-louers either by their séelines or by theyr silence their séelines I account a slender wysedome or a sickly conueiance in theyr talke and communication howbeit they are full of iolity and floe with such strang phrases as they themselues haue but borrowed and are not acquainted withal the other triall is silence which you shall approoue by consenting wyth his dislikyng and discommending of al men in those former qualities and vertues but then you must commend it in hym so if you finde him either to stammer or to bee silent vpon your commendation then thinke no other but you haue found the foole for Tully doth so call them saying Qui innititur suae prudentiae stultus est he that stādeth vpon his owne wisedome is a foole Both of these sorts of selfe-louers are filthy and abhominable Idols vnséemly for the decent temple of god howbeit the whole world almost is combred with thē in these present daies 2 Tim. 3 S. Paule himselfe speaketh of them that such shall come in the latter daies as shal be louers of thēselues vnnaturall An other most horrible Idol that doth much defile prophane the temple of the holy ghost is carnal plesure Carnall pleasure which is such detestable desire of the flesh as corrupteth knowledge defileth the conscience deformeth the soule imprisoneth the mynde and polluteth the members It is that deuilish motion which doth wholy carry vs from God and swalloweth vs vppe in shame I say vnto you it is that thing as if it were shaped nothing would seeme more ougly or monsterous for it translateth men into the forme of beasts and into the nature of deuils and therefore an vnfit ornament for the Temple of God whose reward is most horrible eyther wyth shame or with most odious and intollerable diseases or with extreame pouerty or with the blotting out of a posterity or with eternall damnation the Apostle sayth The adulterer and fornicator shal not inherite the kingdome of heauen I beséech thée O Lorde God of heauen to gyue little Englande repentant harts and féeling consciences to purge their Temples of this filthy sin Amen Worldly loue There is an other Idoll in this Temple of ours to whom all honour in these dayes is attributed and which doth onely take away the honor due vnto God and doth most abhominably pollute our harts which is the loue of the world Thys Idoll doth so mightily allure and so strongly prouoke that it doth wholly rauish mēs harts and altogether withdrawe theyr mindes from the true loue of God from the estimation and dignity of hys worde from the Law of nature from mutuall loue from the Kingdome of heauen and from all other good and godly estimations In so much that we may say with the Poet Quid non mortalia pectora cogit auri sacra fames What doth not the cursed desire of mony prouoke It made Iudas sell his master Christ and in these dayes it maketh not onely a great many to sell their master Christ but vtterly to forsake him it is the prouoker of displeasure betwixt man an man it is the ingenderer of theues it hatcheth cosoners extorcioners vsurers pillers pollers periurers murtherers flatterers sycophants it maketh offycers and magistrats blinde that they cannot sée notorious offenders it causeth many to make the ministry theyr refuge to the perishing of many a soule by their ignoraunce it hath disordered the noble estate of matrimony prouoking many to marry for muck and to like for lyuing wheras afterward in hart they hate all dayes of their life A great many harts it defileth with dissimulation contempte enuy vncharitablenes hardnes and so forth It maketh the sonne to wyshe and expect the fathers death in respect thereof It maketh men to buy offices and seeke for dignityes onely to haue the world not regarding Iustice or reformation but cōmodity and aduantage which greatly decayeth a common welth It causeth many a conscience to shutte vppe his compassion from the poore and it is the onely Porter in rich mens gates to barre fast the doore Many a man setteth his sonne to schoole not for vertues sake but for the worldes sake many a one preferreth hys Sonne to the ministry not for to preache but to haue lyuing many a one preferreth hys Sonne to be a Lawyer not so much to doo equity as to get the world and so of euery faculty all is for the world Howe many bee there that purchase Heauen for theyr children and brynge them vppe in such order as they may godlye behaue themselues as meete members for the kyngdome of heauen nay rather they séeke by all meanes to purchase the earth for them howe many séeketh to enrich themselues with the treasure of the kingdome of heauen Euery man séeketh by al meanes to possesse the earth and yet they sée not this difference the one bringeth ioy the other sorrowe the one giueth life the other death the one ioy and felicity the other penury misery sicknes and calamity What reward had the rich man in the Gospell for all his abundance of treasure lands lyuinges goods and delicate fare Luke 16 yet in the ende he was rewarded wyth a miserable death at which instant hee had thrée attendantly that gréedily gaped for hys death that is The rich man his executors the executor for hys goods the wormes for hys carkas and deuil for his soule this was the end and fruit of hys worldly gréedines and insatiable desire such men must néedes runne to a bad ende whose beginning and continuance is naught howe can that mann haue hys part among the godly that hath alwaies fauoured infidelity It is impossible to serue God Mammon they haue serued Mammon therfore his seruants they are to whom they obey whether it bée of sinne vnto death or of obedience vnto righteousnes Thus I haue briefly shewed you howe that wee are the