And because the men of sinne haue transgressed most on earth it will chiefly cry out against them as hauing beene pondus inutile terrae an vnworthy burden for mother earth to beare 4 Christ wrote on the ground as a very learned Bishop of our Church acutely to shew that hee would haue slanderous accusations written in the dust and trodden vnder foote of those who passe by Solomon saith A good name is better then great riches honor is better then wealth good is better then great for as Plato determined diuinely goodnesse is not in greatnesse but on the contrary greatnesse is in goodnesse Put then according to the rules of Logicke these premises together and the conclusion of it owne selfe will easily follow that a good name is better then great riches He therefore that is an vnworthy backbiter of his brother is worse then a thiefe stealing that away which is more precious then siluer and gold And the rule doubtlesse is verified in backbiting so well as in burglary there would bee no theeues if there were no receiuers If some men had not itching eares to heare false rumours others would not haue scratching tongues like the pens of libellors to make them and moue them it is truely sayd by Bernard the tale-bearer hath the deuill in his tongue the receiuer in his care the one is the foot-post and messenger of Satan and the other lest happily the deuil being now growen an old serpent should fayle in his memory the recorder and register of hell It is reported of Theocritus that being asked on a time what beast hee thought to be most hurtfull and cruell answered on the mountaines Lyons and beares in the cities catchpolles and slanderers a thiefe is sayd to send one to the deuill an adulterer two but the back-biter hurteth at the least three to wit himselfe the party of whom and the party to whom he tels the tale ter homicida quoth Luther he kils three with one blow Bernard goes further multitudinis audientium dum aures infecit animas interfecit And therefore when thou hearest a scandalous information against a brother against an Elder especially follow Christs example write it in the dust haue not eares to heare but expresse both in word and gesture that thou hatest a backbiter euen with a perfit hatred Hitherto concerning the first question and the branches thereof I come now to the second what it was our blessed Lord wrote on the ground S. Ambrose saith hee wrote this sentence Matth. 7. 3. Thou beholdest the mote that is in thy brothers eye but considâ—…rest not the beame that is in thine owne eye As if he should haue sayd in other termes yee Scribes and Pharisees are ready to condemne this adultres yet your selues running a whoring after your owne inuentions adulterating the law with your corrupt glosses and impious interpretations haue committed greater abhominations in the sight of the Lord her carnall vncleannesse is nothing in comparison of your spirituall wheredomes without number Hicrome 〈◊〉 Bullenger and some other haue this 〈◊〉 that hee wrote certaine characters in the pauement which the Pharisees beholding might as in a glasse see their own wickednesse and so blushing at it went their wayes one by one beginning at the first euen to the last one by one they went not out by twoes much lesse by troups but stole away single lest it might appeare that Christ had confounded them and the most ancient went out first as being most guilty For the true Church is compared to a flocke of Lambes and of Lambes it is truely sayd the bigger the better But the wicked are compared to goates of whom it is sayd the elder the worse as they bee the sonnes of many dayes so the fathers of many sinnes or the eldest went out first and the younger imitating their example followed after and so none left in the roome but misera et misericordiae saith Augustine the woman a subiect of misery and Christ the Father of mercy Pride and Hypocrisie being remoued a Sauiour and a sinner agree well enough alone and yet by reuerend Bezaes leaue they were not alone for although his aduersaries and her accusers went out as being conuicted in their conscience yet his owne company stayed with him in the Temple the which is cleare by the words of our Euangelist at the 9. verse stans in mediâ—… she was standing in the midst in the midst of whom If Christ only were present with her Beda Thomas of Aquin and many moe thinke he wrote that sentence which afterward he spake he that is without sinne among you let 〈◊〉 cast the first stone at her The which one word crossed their cauill and answered their question abundantly preseruing hereby both the lawes honour and his owne credit Non dixit as Augustine pithily non lapidetur ne contra legem nèc lapidetur ne contra misericordiam venit enim quaerere quod perierat If he had sayd let her not be stoned that had beene against the law If he had sayd let her be stoned that had beene against the Gospell and himselfe who came to call sinners to repentance to seeke and to saue that was lost He therefore frames this midling answere that quit himselfe of both imputations Here then is verified that of Solomon a word fitly spoken or as the Hebrew hath it a word spoken vpon his wheeles as Castalio translateth oratio râ—…tunde pronuntiata round and sound is like apples of gold in pictures of siluer what could haue beene sayd more shortly yet what more sharply being as Paul speakes a two edged sword on the one side cutting the knot of the proud Pharisees doubt on the other side cutting asunder the bondes of a poore dismayed sinner The precept it selfe teacheth all people that if they contemplate their owne sinnes in the glasse of the word they will not rashly censure of others It is the Rhetoricke with which all of vs were borne to lessen our owne offences to lay them at the doors of others Adam in the beginning as yee know layd his fault vpon the woman and she layd it vpon the serpent and the serpent vpon God it is an old sayd saw non videmus id manticae quod intergo est the sinnes of our brethren are placed in that part of the Wallet which is before vs alway but our owne misdeeds in that part which is behind vs out of sight All of vs in examining our proper errours are like Polyphemus hauing but one eye or like the Popish Priest who had one that was nequam and another nequicquam yea borne blind like the man in the ninth of S. Iohn hauing neuer a seeing eye but in discouering the manifold transgressions of other Argus-like of whom the Poet Centum luminibus cinctum caput Argus habebat Themistus obserued iudiciously that our vnderstanding seldome errs
men and for ought I know commendable to prouide some new clothes against the receiuing of the communion at Easter now S. Paul exhorteth vs to put on under mercy kindnesse humblenesse of mind mâ—…ekenesse long suffering for bearing one another and forgiuing one another which Christ himselfe termeth a nâ—…w sutâ—… Iohn 13. 34. A new commandement I giue vnto you that you loue one another This vndoubtedly was an old precept from the beginning but he calleth it new For that he would haue this alway fresh in our memory fresh in our practise leâ—… all our things be done in loue that one chiefly which is called a Communion in respect of the common Vnion among our selues and as being a signe and a seale of our communion with Christ our â—…eace The second kind of confession is for the satisfaction of our owne selues if at any time wee feele our consciences heauily burdened with any grieuous temptation I know Christ is the Priest vnto whom euery sinner infected with a spirituall leprosie must open and shew himselfe being a Priest for euer after the order of Melcâ—…isedec an high Priest that is touched with a feeling of our infirmities Heb. 4. 15. So Chrysostome saith I will thee not to bewray thy selfe before others openly but I counsell thee to obey the Prophet saying Open thy way to the Lord And againe Confesse thy sinnes vnto the Lord who is able to cure thee and not vnto thy fellow-seruant that may vpbrayd thee with them And S. Augustine what haue I to doe with men that they should heare my confession as if they could heale my griefes Yea but what if after all my contrition and confession vnto God I feele not an absolution or any comfort to my poore distressed soule What if after I haue cryed vnto the Father of mercies O God be mercifull vnto me a sinner He do not answere my spirit I am thy saluation What if for one scandall which I haue giuen I haue such an insupportable burden in my conscience as if a milstone were hanged about my necke S. Iames in such a case doeth aduise here Confesse your faults one to another and pray one for another that yee may be healed For the prayer of a righteous man preuaileth much if it be feruent For as a vehement burning feuer is no way to bee cured but with opening a veine whereat the infected blood hauing vent may carry away with it the putrified matter that did molest the body So against strong temptations and afflictions of the mind there is no remedy more secure then to open the heart vnto a wise friend and to let out those raging passions that did disquiet our soule Now because preachers of the word ought to be more skilfull and expert then others in applying the good tidings of the Gospell vnto the poore to binde vp the broken hearted and to comfort such as mourne in Sion It is fit that wee should haue recourse to some learned Pious and discreete Pastour who can and will Minister a word of consolation in due season For Almighty God hath giuen power and commandement to his Ministers to declare and pronounce to his people being penitent the absolution and remission of their sins Vnâ—…o them he sayd Whatsoeuer yee bind in earth shal be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer ye loose in earth shall bee loosed in heauen And vpon this ground there is in the Church of England a general absolution after a generall confession of sins and a particular absolution after a particular confession and wee teach also that this acte of absoluing belongs vnto the Minister ordinarily Tanquam ex officto But when none of that order is or can bee present another may doe it with good effect according to that old saying In casu necessario quilibet Christianus est sacerdos In one worâ—…â—…ee may confesse our faults vnto good people which are power-full in the Scriptures apt to teach admonish and aduise for our comforts But especially to Godly Pasâ—…ours as being put apart to preach the Gospell of God and to be disposers of his holy secrets This I know to be the Tenet of our Church agreeable to the confessions of other reformed Churches as to the confession of Heluetia Cap. 14. of Bohemia Cap. 5. of Aspurge art 11. of Saxone art 16. As you may reade Harmon confessionum Sect 8. This acknowledgement of our faults is farre different from auricular Popish confession First in that it is not vpon constraint but voluntary Secondly because wee are not enioyned to confesse vnto the Parish Priest or to any one confessour appoynted by the Diocesaâ—… and Ordinary But wholly left at our owne choise Thirdly Because wee are not tyed to any certaine time but only when wee find our selues in our conscience rightly disposed and to bee in the state of true repentance Yet because men are negligent and carelesse in performing of this duty the Church exhorteth vs to confesse at two times aboue the rest To wit In sicknesse and in Lent In sicknes euery Christian ought to make a speciall confession if hee feele his conscience troubled with any weighty matter earnestly desiring the standers by to pray for him and the discreete Pastour if need be to absolue him As for Lent Although our whole life should be nothing 〈◊〉 but a Lent to prepare our selues against the Sabâ—… our death and Easter of our resurrection Yet seeing the corruption of our dayes and wickednesse of our natures is so much exorbitant as that it is an hard matter to hold the common sort of people within the lists of Piety Iustice and Sobriety It is fit there should bee one time at the least in the yeare and that of a reasonable continuance for the recalling of them vnto some more stayed courses and seuere cogitations and happily these things might haue beene more fitly restored in the reformed Churches vnto their Primitiue sincerity rather then abolished as in some places vtterly The fourth â—…hing required in confession is that it be not defensiue buâ—… accusatiue noted in the word Peccata Now there be diuers partitions of sinnes as First In respect of their beginning so some sinnes are called Originall as being deriued from our first parent Adam other actuall as issuing from our owne corrupt will Secondly In respect oâ—… their obiect and so some sinnes are called carnall aud other spirituall according to that of S. Paul The Virgin careth for the things of the Lord that she may be holy both in body soule For al things in which al offend are either felt by the senses as meate drinke lust so 〈◊〉 be carnall sinnes or apprehended by the vnderstanding as honour knowledge power and â—…o called spirituall wickednesses the first makes vs lâ—…ke beastes the second like deuils Thirdly In respect of the parties iniuried in 〈◊〉 and so some be called sinnes
thou wert created after the likenesse of God is not condemned but crowned 3. That Image of God after which Adam was created is by his fall vtterly lost and extinguished for otherwise this Image needed not to be renewed or reuiued in vs as it is by Christ in whom all true beleeuers are new creatures and new men and a new lumpe but the substance of the reasonable soule with all the naturall powers thereof are not altogether lost in vnregenerate men ergo this Image principally consisted in the gifts of grace To this purpose S. Augustine sayd that the whole man both in his inward and outward parts inueterauit is waxen old and decayed by sinne but the inward man is new reuiued by grace and the outward man hereafter shall be restored in the resurrection Another question is moued here whether the man only was created after this image of God not the woman and the reason of this doubt is grounded vpon the words of S. Paul man is the Image and glory of God the woman the glory of man Answere is made by Moses in the very next verse to my text God created man in his Image male and female created he them As for the place man is the glory of God woman the glory of man It is to be construed of the preheminence and authority giuen vnto man aboue the woman in which one respect the Image of God is expressed in the man more then in the woman But if we consider the principall part of that Image consisting in holinesse and righteousnesse the woman was created according to it as well as the man in Christ as the blessed Apostle teacheth vs there is neither male nor female but all are one women are the daughters of God so well as men are the sonnes of God Now beloued because the day present is a Sabbath and the Sabbath in the beginning was instituted in honour of the creation and man of all the creatures is the most excellent It is our duty so long as either man or woman hath any being all the dayes of our life but vpon the Sunday more principally to magnifie the Lord for his infinite rich mercy who created vs not liuelesse as stones are nor senselesse as the plants are nor witlesse as the beastes are but according to his owne likenesse in nature knowledge holinesse righteousnesse glory appointing vs to be Lords of this ample vniuerse making all things for man and man for himselfe 2. This ought to teach vs to take heed of corrupting our selues by sin or our neighbours through our lewd examples and to hate our sinnes as a serpent by meanes whereof the likenesse of God is so miserably defaced in vs for man in his originall integrity created to the likenesse of God is by the foulenesse of sin a deuill and a very vermine humana sub cute plurimae latent ferae sayd Carolus Bouillus The Scripture saith as much in calling a subtile dissembler a foxe Luke 13. 32. a soule-murthering prophet a rauenous wolfe Mat. 7. 15. a vaine man a wild asses colt Iob. 11. 12. A proud man in honour like horse and mule without vnderstanding Psal. 32 10. A voluptuous man giuen ouer to worke all vncleannesse euen with greedinesse a Sow wallowing in the myre 2. Pet. 2. 22. In a word the children of men set on fire to doe mischiefe whelpes of Lyons Psal. 57. 4. and generations of vipers Mat. 3. 7. 3. This should make vs to labour earnestly for true faith in Christ Iesus by whom this Image shall againe be restored and as new borne babes doe desire the sincere milke of the word that wee may grow from strength to strength and from vertue to vertue till wee bee of full growth in Christ and haue this Image throughly repayred in vs. 4. This should incite vs to giue the God of our saluation humble and hearty thankes for redeeming vs with his precious blood when we were thus vtterly lost and made by sin vnlike to God and our selues as the Fathers in their deuotions vse to speake If we doe owe to God our selues for creating vs after his Image then vndoubtedly more then our selues for redeeming vs and restoring in vs his defaced Image through originall sinne in Adam and actuall sinne in our selues 2. SAM 24. 14. Let vs fall now into the hand of the Lord for his mercies arâ—… great and let mee not fall into the hand of man THree things vsually succeed one another in the Church great blessings great sins great punishments The people mentioned in this History had receiued great blessings of the Lord He dealt not so with any nation as the Prophet sings in the 147. Psalme verse last In the ruffe of their prosperity turning the graces of God into wantonnesse They committed many great sinnes and now the righteous Iudge of the whole world threatneth to bring great punishments vpon them and yet in his wrath remembring mercy He giues Dauid their King by the Prophet Gad a free though hard choice whether he would haue seuen yeeres of famine come vpon the land or flee three moneths before his enemies or that there be three dayes of pestilence Now Dauid being in a great strait returns in the words read to Gad and so consequently to God his resolution and the râ—…ason of his resolution 1. His resolution Let vs fall into the hand of the Lord and not into the hand of man 2. The reason of his resolution is for his mercies are great For the better vnderstanding of the whole text one clause needeth explanation and that is what is here meant by falling into the hand of the Lord Because Susanna did wish and Saint Paul as it should seeme writ the quite contrary Susanna sayd to the lustfull Elders It is better for me to fall into your handes and not to doe it then to sinne in the sight of the Lord answere is made that Dauid makes his comparison here betweene diuers kindes of punishment but Susannes comparison is there betweene the doing of euill and the suffering of euill as the schoole speakes betweene malum culpae and malum poenae She therefore resolued worthily that it was better to suffer reproach and shame before men then to commit an horrible sinne in the sight of the Lord. So the renowned Eleazar answered those who menaced him with exquisite torments If hee would not breake one commandement of Gods law that he would suffer himselfe to be sent into hell and the graue that is that he would rather be killed and cut in pieces and to sinke a thousand degrees vnder the ground with infinite dolours and agonies then to fall into such a fault So reuerend Anselme protested that if hee should behold all the paynes of hell deuoyd of sinne on the one side and on the other the horrour but of one deadly sinne onely deuoyd of punishment and that I must of necessitie chuse one of these two I
Chap. 6. vers 5. Woe is me for I am vndone This kind of woe nothing at al or very litle concernes our present Text that other is two fold to witt a woe of instruction and a woe of destruction or in plainer termes a woe denounced and a woe executed The woe whereof I am now to treate and many moe both after and before these words As woe to them that ioyne house to house and field to field Till there be no place for others in the Land Woe to them who rise vp early to follow drunkennesse Woe to them who speake good of euill and euill of good are but warnings and so by consequent armings against that heauy woe of destruction which in the end of the Chapter is threatened by a nation that shall come from farre with arrowes that are sharpe and all their bowes bent with horses hauing hoofes like flint with Chariots hauing wheeles like whirlwinds roaring as the Lyon or as the roaring Seas Executing the iudgements of God vpon the men of Iudah and inhabitants of Ierusalem in such sort that none shall deliuer them In the dayes of security to sound out the woes of seuerity is not welcome though it be wholsome it is harsh vnto flesh and bloud vnto such as are at ease in Sion vnto such as haue made a league with death and with hell agreement vnto such as dreame of peace when there is no peace Saying to the seers see not and to the Prophets prophesie not vnto vs right things but speake flattering things Esay 30. 10. But the Thundering of woe is wholsome to such as haue hearts and eares to suffer the words of exhortation It is so farre from either bringing or hastening of woe as that if it worke true repentance it doth often deferre and sometime deliuer vs from a woe hanging ouer our heads Howsoeuer the wicked had rather once feele then euer feare destruction and woe yet it is an argument of Gods infinite rich mercy who desires not the death of a sinner first to become a Preacher and then a punisher First to sound a woe before hee send a woe First to speake to vs in his wrath before hee vexe vs in his sore displeasure Psal. 2. 5. So we read that he did inioyne his Prophets to cry aloud to lift vp their voyce like a Trumpet in shewing his people their trangressions and to the house of Iacob their sinnes And Christ albeit he were the Prince of peace Esay 9. 6. did chuse some for his Apostles who were the Sonnes of Thunder so well as others who were the Sonnes of Consolation and after ascending vp on high and giuing gifts vnto men Ephes. 4. 8. He bestowed vpon his Apostles not onely clouen but all so fiery tongues Acts. 2. 3. That they might not onely direct but also correct as St. Paul speakes improue rebuke c. As Nazianzen wrote of Basil that they might lighten in their doings and thunder in their doctrines In this Chapter at the 6. verse the preachers are compared vnto cloudes I will command the cloudes that they raine no more raine vpon my Vineyard That is the pastours teachers that they preach no more When the Lord saith Augustine by the mouths of his ministers denounceth a woe then he thunders in the cloudes But when they bring the glad tidings of saluation he distilleth as it were drops of his mercy sending a ioyfull raine thaâ—… refresheth his inheritance God as an exquisite musician twines the strings of our hearts euery way that he may put vs in tune he hath a longing desire that the teares of our repentance may quench vtterly the Coales of his displeasure for albeit the Axe bee layd vnto the roote of the tree yet shall it not be hewen downe so long as there remaines any hope for fruites of amendment It is true that God if men will not turne hath his Bow bent and ready but as hee that shootes to hit another hath the string of his Bow vpon his owne breast Euen so God in drawing the Bow to shoote the bitter arrowes of his wrath against vs hath his hand on his heart and in the middest of his anger hee remembers mercy Abacuc 3. 2. Denouncing a great many woes before hee will execute as much as one woe This exceeding kindnesse and long suffering in God commendat et emendat as Augustine speakes it recommends God as a patterne teaching vs to be mercifull as our Father in heauen is mercifull Is the Lord gratious full of pitty long suffering and of great goodnesse Then I beseech you be followers of God as deere children Ephes. 5. 1. As God sayd vnto Moses Exod. 25. 40. So I say to thee fac secundum exemplar performe that which is good according to the patterne Doe not rashly iudge much lesse condemne any man before the time but expect amendment in thy greatest enemie hope the best euen of the worst although he draw iniquity with cordes of vanity and sinne as it were with cart-ropes Secondly the bountifulnes and long suffering of God lead vs to repentance Rom. 2. 4. For that which is counted of man slackenesse is in God patience desiring that no man should perish but all should amend and be saued 2. Pet. 3. 9. If we shall harden our hearts and neglect the woes of instruction vndoubtedly the woes of destruction will one day come vpon vs. If we continue not onely to sinne but to delight in sinne and not only to delight in sinne but to boast of sinne and not only to boast of sinne but also to iustifie sinne As to make good euill and euill good drawing iniquity with cordes of vanity and sinne as it were with a carte rope What do we but heape vpon our selues wrath against the day of wrath and of the declaration of the iust iudgement of God The diseases of our age through a long peace grow for the most part by riot and excesse and consequently haue not so much vse of restoratiues as need of launcing and corrasiues when the woundes of the people saith Cyprian are tumentia then the preachers as good Chirurgions must open the swelling veynes of pride launce the puffed-vp impostumes of greedy desires then it is their duty to cry woe be to those that are mighty to drink wine woe be to those that are wise in their own sight woe bee to those who iustifie the wicked for reward In a word the best musicke for our times is that of the Angell Apocalyps 8. 13. Woe woe woe to the inhabitants of the earth And because men haue despised the Prophets and stoned if not with hard flint yet with hard speeches and vsage such as haue beene sent vnto them early late Therefore God makes the very dumbe creatures to Preach and sound out his woes in the middest of a peruerse generation The foundations of the earth quaking and shaking
among swine by the rules of the Gospell and Lawes of our Land he that wil not labour ought not to eate he that will not learne of the Pismire to prepare his meate in Summer and to prepare his food in haruest hee that is a Ludouicus nihil agens a Lewis Doe nothing should haue nothing of our liberalitie but in extreame necessitie to conclude the loyterer is to bee punished but the labourer to bee cherished If thou bee neighbour to such an one breake thy bread to his hungrie Soule call him to thine house couer him and comfort him There bee foure strings of Gods whip mentioned Ezechiel 14. 21. the Sword Famine Noysom beasts and Pestilence Now the most greiuous of thē all is Famine For what noysome beasts the Sword and the Pestilence kill in a moment there bee many lingring deathes in hunger Famine saith Basile is a disease that doth soone torture yet slowly consume destroying by little and little Well then if the greater miserie be the better obiect of mercy deale thy bread to the hungrie So God which is the father of mercy d satisfied the thirsty soules of Israel in the Wildernesse and filled their hungrie soules with aboundance So Christ which is our way for example so well as trueth in doctrine filled the hungrie with good things Luke 1. 53. This was Solomons precept Pro. 25. 21. If thine enemie bee hungrie giue him bread and it was Tobits practise I gaue my bread to those that were Hungrie Tobit 1. 16. And in the last day the first good deed of the godly remembred by Christ and rewarded is I was hungrie and ye gaue me meat And the first ill obiected vnto the damned I was hungrie and yee gaue mee no meat I thirsted and yee gaue mee no drinke The third point to bee further examined is quid dandum and that is Bread now there bee three sorts of bread mentioned in holy Bible Sacramentall 1 Cor. 11. 28. Let a man examine himselfe and so let him eate of this bread Doctrinall Iohn 6. Labour not saith our Sauiour for the loaues and for the meat which perisheth but for the meate and bread that endure to life euerlasting Corporall Math. 4. 4. Man shall not liue by bread onely but by euery word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God The bread here principally spoken of is neither mentall nor sacramentall but corporall and this kind in a strict acception is the loafe made of wheat or the like graine Gen. 14. 18. Melchisedech King of Salem brought forth bread and wine but in a more generall and large signification it is vsed in holy Scripture pro omni Comestibili for all kind of food as Gen. 3. 19. In the sweate of thy face thou shalt eate bread 2 Sam. 9. 10. King Dauid sayd to Ziba Mephibosheth thy Masters Sonne shall eate bread alway at my Table that is hee shall fare so well as I fare so well as one of the Kings Sonnes as it is sayd verse the 11. And in the Pater Noster giue vs this day our daily bread Where Panis is Pan euery thing fit and necessarie for our present life Well then if in asking of bread from God thou wilt haue it of the largest extent take heed how you curtall it in this and other commandements concerning the giuing of bread to thy poore brethren As you begge bread of God so breake bread to the hungrie deale to him as occasion is offered more then either Crust or crumme of thy loafe Giue so much as is necessarie for his reliefe bring him to thine house couer him and hide not thy face from thy flesh The fourth point is de quo dandum and that is expressed in the word Tuum not the goods of another but thy bread si tuus almes are a sacrifice pleasing vnto God now wee may not present an offering to God of that which cost vs nothing as King Dauid speakes 2 Sam. 24. 24. Honour the Lord with thy riches cast thy bread vpon the waters giue thy garments vnto the naked and of thine aboundance to such as haue neede It must bee thine first and that acquired lawfully not by Bribes or oppression or Forgerie but thine by descent or purchase thine by the sweat of thy Browes in some honest occupation or thine by the sweat of thy braines in some commendable profession Almes are not to bee giuen as one wittily sayd except they first haue sweat in a mans hand It is not an act of Charity to rob Peter and pay Paul or to build an Hospitall for a few by the ruins of many for so you shall haue more to curse you then to blesse you If thou giue giue that which is fit ont of thine ovvne Cesterne and owne Well and owne substance deale thy bread Or thy bread that is such as thou thy selfe dost eate qui tuus thy dole may not bee panis lapidosus as Fibius Verucosus speakes in Seneca so hard to digest as a stone no mouldy bread no mustie bread but wholesome and sauourie such as thou wouldest haue wert thou to begge thy bread Or thy bread that is when it is thine dum tuus est as the blessed Apostle Gal. 6. 10. While thou hast time make thine owne hands executors and thine own eyes ouerseers and thine owne sonns and seruants in thy houshold witnesses of thy wil in doing good Halfe a loafe broken vnto the hungrie while thou liuest hast it in thine own power and purse procures thee more friends in the court of Heauen then a whole loafe giuen after thy death by heires and asignes If bread bee thine thus as I haue told you si tuus qui tuus dum tuus deale thy bread to the Hungrie A good worke is in it selfe a sufficient reward Pro. 21. 15. It is ioy to the iust to doe Iustice much more to shew mercy for hee which is full of pitty rewardeth his owne soule Pro. 11. 17. Blessed is hee that considereth the poore and needy Psal. 41. 1. Blessed in His Temporall Ciuill Spirituall Eternall Estate Blessed in his temporall estate both in respect of wealth and health As for wealth there is that scattereth and yet is increased more but hee that spareth more then his right shall surely come to pouertie The liberall person shall haue plenty or as other read the soule of blessing shall bee made fatt and hee that watereth shall also haue raine God makes an hedge about him and about his house and about all that hee hath Iob. 1. 10. As for his health the Lord preserueth him and keepeth him aliue that hee may bee blessed vpon earth the Lord deliuers him in the time of trouble the Lord comforts him when he lyeth sicke vpon his couch and makes all his bed in his sicknesse To my remembrance saith Hierom I neuer read of any that dyed an vnhappy death who lead a mercifull life concerning both health and wealth
O Father of mercies wee know that thou canst not deny thy selfe and nothing is more thy selfe then thy mercy which is aboue all thy workes it is it wee want most it is it wee craue most it is it thou doest vse to giue most haue mercy then vpon vs according to the multitudes of thy louing kindnesses of old that forthe dayes wherein wee haue suffered for euill we may now from thy fulnesse receiue grace for grace PSAL. 84 10. One day in thy courts is better then a thousand THe most excellent thing in the world is man and the most excellent thing in man is the soule and the most excellent thing in the soule is religion and the most excellent thing in religion is to seeke God here that wee may see him hereafter in whose most amiable dwellings one day sayth our Prophetâ—… is better then a thousand For by the Courts of God in the iudgement of most and best expositors is here meant either the Church militant which is heauen on earth or the Church tâ—…umphant which is heauen in heauen and the least of time â—…pent in either of them is better then a thousand days or moneths or yeeres or ages elsewhere to wit as may bee supplied by the verse following in the tents of vngodlinesse Concerning the first it is well obserued by Placidus Parmensis and other that this one day is Christs day which Abraham reioyced to see Iobâ—… 8. 56. The day of sulâ—…ation and acceptable time 2. Cor. 6. 2. Wherein all of 〈◊〉 haue receiued from his fulnesse and grace for grace the day which the Lord hath made and all his Saints are glad in it Psal. 118. 24. One houre whereof among the faithfull in the true worship of God is better in respect of profit then a thousand in the market better in respect of pleasure then a thousand in the theater better in respect of honour then a thousand in the palaces of Princes For profit our euidence is cleare 1. Tim. 6. 6. Godlines is great gaine that is gaine of great things as Caietan or greater gaine so Theophilact or the greatest and enough gaine so Caluin as if the Blessed Apostle should haue sayd gaiâ—…e and more then gayne riches and better then riches as when the Scripture would difference the true liuing God from dumbe and dead Idols it calleth a great God and a great King aboue all gods So speaking of godlinesse which is the riches of the soule termes it great riches heauenly riches inâ—…stim able riches vnchangeable riches euerlasting riches For to spend our time well is the best husbandry saith Seneca to giue to the poore the best vsury sayth Augustine to coâ—…et spirituall giftes hereby to winne soules is the best auarice saith Hierome to buy the truth is the best bargaine sayth Solomon to bee rich in good workes is the best opulencie saith Paul 1. Tim. 6. 18. Other gaines are not without their inconueniences and incommodities as hauing in them an emptinesse and neuer enough as Bernard told his brethren nec verâ—… sâ—…t 〈◊〉 vestrâ—… but godlinesse affordeâ—…â—…way contentation either in dâ—…ed or desire In deed as hauing prâ—…mia reposita and prâ—…posita the promises both of the life present and of that which is to come the blessings of the right hand and of the left hand Prouerb 3. 16. The Lyons doe lacke and suffer hunger sayth our Prophet But they that feare the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good The couetous that goe about like roaring Lyons seeking whom they may deuoure by their oppression and cruelty sometime misse their prey yea the more they haue the greater is their hunger and thirst after the thinges of this world The Chronicle reportes of Peirce Gaueston that the more he was inriched the worse was his estate But they who seeke the Lord which is vnto those that serue him all in all things haue their meale so multiplyed in the barrell and oyle in the cruse that they want no manner of thing that is good habent omnia qâ—…ia habent habentem omnia It may bee some good thing is wanting in their estate but happily not good for them it was good for Naaman that he was a leper good for Dauid that hee was in trouble good for Bartimeus that he was blind as a nurse knowes what is best for her infant so God our heauenly Father knowes what is best for vs his children If he giue the subsâ—…iue saluation hee will afford like wise the adâ—…ectiue things necessary for this life Mat. 6 33. Caetera ad jeintur 〈◊〉 If hee giue his Son for vs how shall hee not with him giue vs all things also Rom 8. â—… Howsoeâ—…er godlinesse affordes contentation in respect of the desire because godly men If they haue not estatâ—… according to their minds they wil haue mindes according to their estates hauing nothing and yet possessing all things 2. Cor. 6. 10. The couetous is only poore and the content is only rich omnia famulantur famulanti Deo The seruant of God is Lord of all as Christ sayd If the soâ—…e make you free then are you free indeed so deare Christians If godlinesse make you rich then are yee rich indeed a great deale more rich then they which of their corne and wine and oyle haue full encroase the Pompous Prelate who sayd hee would not loose his part in Paris for his part in Paradise nay Leo the 10. who got so much and in the Holy sea spent so much of S. Peters inheritance that Guicciardine writes in his history Whereas other were Popes no longer then they liued he was sayd to be Pope many yeeres after hee was dead was not so rich as Martine Luther a poore preacher who professeth of himselfe that of all faults hee was euer least subiect to the dirty sin of euil coueting If any then aske the question in the third of Malac 14. what profit is it to serue God answere is made by the father of lies in this truely Iob. 1. 9. doth Iob serue God for nought hath hee not made an hedge about him and about all that he hath on euery side the like may be sayed of euery man which is vpright and feares God is he not rich and his godlines gaine being blessed in his field blessed in his fold blessed in his corne blessed in his cattle loe thus shall the man be blessed that fâ—…areth the Lord On the contrarie sinnes are termed by Saint Paul vnprofitable works of darknes what fruite had ye saith he to the Romans in those things wherof ye are now ashamed he doth answere himselfe in the same place the wages of sin is death bad worke sad wages But our Sauiours question in the 16 of S. Matthew puts this matter out of all question what shall a man gayne though he winne the whole world and loose his owne soule put the whole world
a cherefull thankesgiuer one that serues him with gladnesse and comes before his presence with a song It is a seely thing for a Priest or people to dissemble with God and to become Hermaphrodites in the businesse of religion A seely thing to halt betweene God and Baal A seely thing to receiue the wages of the Gospell and to doe the worke of Antichrist A seely thing to looke vp to Hierusalem and to goe downe to Iericho to gaine preferment in the Church of England and yet vnder hand craftily to repaire the tottering walles of Babylon the Lord knoweth who are his and he knowes those which haue but a sâ—…cret marke of the beast as well as wee know those which openly worship a wodden blocke magnifie the masse make new sauiours yea for king killers a new heauen and for such as please not their confessours well a purgatorie which is a new hell and so withall that is within them and all that is without them exalt the man of sinne aboue all that is called God Beloued if ye desire to seeke the Lord happily seeke him heartily and that not only once or twice during the sun-shine of prosperity or in the time of trouble in the houre of death in the day of Iudgment only But as our Prophet exhorâ—… euermore When a man hath done his best he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 againe saith Ecclesiasticus he that 〈◊〉 he hath sought enough is like to find bâ—… 〈◊〉 saith Leo the great so Bernard qui dixit suffâ—…t d ficit continually to seeke is constantly 〈◊〉 seeke neuer to fâ—…int in doing this duty Happily some will obiect if the Lord bee found of such aâ—… seeke him faithfully what need is there to seeke any more Are christians in this respect like to the foolish gossips of whom St. Paul euer learning and yet neuer able to come to the knowledge of the trueth or like carnall Israel who following the law of righteousnesse could not attaine to the law of righteousnesse Rom. 9. 31. Answere is made by Augustine that wee seeke Gods face by faith and they seeke it more by hope Melior fit quaerens tam magnum â—…m quod et inueniendum quaeritur et quaerendum inuenitur nam et quaeratur vt inueniatur dulcius et inuenitur vt quaeritur auidius He doth alwayes better himselfe who seekes so great good which is to bee sought that it may be found and found that it may be sought sought that it may be found with greater delight and found that it may bee sought with greater desire Now we behold Gods face by faith and hope through a glasse darkely but we shall hereafter see him as S. Paul speakes euen face to face and then as wee shall euer loue him so doubtlesse euer seeke him and as the want of the beautifull vision in the iudgement of Diuines is the hell of hell so the fruition of Gods face contrarily the heauen of heauen The Father of mercy bee mercifull vnto vs and blesse vs and shew vs the light of his countenance that wee may grow from strength to strength and goe from grace to grace from seeking him in this earthly tabernacle to seeing him vpon his holy mountaine Hierusalem aboue where with him and of him and through him and for him we shall haue fulnes of ioyes and incomparable pleasures for euermore Amen IOHN 8. 6. Iesus stouped downe and with his finger wrote on the ground THere be so many questions vpon this text that the text it selfe is a little called into question it being in the iudgment of Erasmus Caietan Iansenius Beza rather a patch then a parcell of the Gospel If any list to be contentious hee may read Erasmus answered by Bellarmin de verbâ—… dei lib. 1. Chap. 16. Caietan answered by his Antagonist Ambros us Catharinus in his annotations against the nou ll opinions of Caietan § de historia adulterae Iansenius answered by Maldonate Beza by Melancton Caluin Aretius Piscator in their commentaries vpon the place For my part I was euer and am still an oâ—… 〈◊〉 of the Church hearing the instâ—…uction of my Father and not forsaking the eaching of my Mother and therefore beholding this pecce with the eyes of all antiquity to bee prot 〈◊〉 and altogether authenticall I foâ—…beare further inquisition and come presently to the worke of this houre which is to deliuer vnto you first an explication of the wordes and then an application of the doctrines arising from the same Our text then is a Iudicious answere of Christ vnto a captious question of the Scribes and Pharisees in the words immediatly going before Master this woman was taken in the very act of adulterie now Moses in the law commanded vs that such should be stoned but whatsayest thou hereby tempting him that they might haue to accuse him either before the Priests or the people before the Priests If contrary to the commandement of Moses hee should absolue this adulteresse before the people If contrary to the profession of his meekenesse and mercy he should vtterly condemne her and therefore being in a great strait he doth answere by not answering or he giueth vs his answere by deed whereas they did obiect by word this action of deed is two fold 1 He stouped downe to the ground 2 He wrote with his finger on the ground In stouping downe to the ground he doth intimate that if they would set apart their supercilioâ—…s pride descend into themselues and contemplate that in the beginning they were dust and in the end shall againe returne to dust If they would consider seriously that it is appointed vnto men once to dye and after death a iudgment followeth in which all receiue their doomes according to their deedes If they would examine their owne selues and vnderstand their owne case they would not bee so foreward in censuring nor so malitious in condemning others O earth earth earth heare the word of the Lord thou which art earth by procreation earth by sustentation earth by corruption in principio sperma faetidum in medio 〈◊〉 corumi in fine cibus vermium Heare the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord what word euen that of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sauiour Mat 7. 1. Iudge not that yeâ—… bee not iudged Iudge not rashly Iudge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iudge not vnseasonably lest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the whole world conâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So S. Paul expounds his Lord â—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—… If we would iudge our selues wee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 iudged Iâ—… is a conclusion in architecture that the foundation requires the most exact care for if that happen to dance it will marre all the mirth in the house and it is another rule he that will build high must lay his foundation low So beloued it is in the spirituall building of Gods house which are we Heb. 3. 6. 〈◊〉 euer exalteth himselfe shall be humbled and 〈◊〉 that humbleth himselfe shall be exalted The proâ—…d