hast sayth he vnto the Lord shewed vnto thy seruant Dauâ—d my father great mercy when he walked before thee in truth and in righteousnesse and in vprightnesse of heart with thee Of Ezechias you heard before But omitting other examples let vs call to mind the example of Enoch by which being the first in this kind we may best conceiue what account the Lord maketh of Integritie For when as he walked before God vprightly the Lord did therfore translate him out of this valley of teares that he should not see death and assumed him into heauen where he might inioy immortall glorie But if neither the golden reason of excellency can moue vs nor the siluer reason of profit allure vs then must the yron reason of necessitie enforce vs to Integrity and vprightnesse of heart For first such is the necessity thereof that without Integritie the best graces we seeme to haue are counterfeit and therefore but glorious sinnes the best worship we can performe is but hypocrisie and therefore abhominable in Gods sight For vprightnesse is the soundnesse of all graces and virtues as also of all religion and worship of God without which they are vnsound and nothing worth And first as touching graces if they be not ioyned with vprightnesse of hart they are sinnes vnder the maskes or vizards of virtue yea as it may seeme double sinnes for as Augustine sayth Simulata aequitas est duplex iniquitas quia iniquitas est simulatio Fained equitie is double iniquity both because it is iniquitiâ— and because it is â—aining Wherefore in the Scriptures it is required that our faith should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnfained that is such a faith as inwardly purifieth the hart and outwardly worketh by loue otherwise it is not a true and a liuely but a counterfeit and dead faith Likewise our loue must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnfained that is as Iohn saith we must loue not in speech and tongue but in deed and truth Or as Paul speaketh our loue must proceed from a pure heart a good conscience and â—aith vnfained Our wisedome also must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without dissimulation not that mixt or Machiuilian prudence which politicke men in the world so greatly praise being mixed with hypocrisie and deceit but that prudence of serpents tempered with the simplicitie of Doues otherwise it is as Iames saith earthly carnall and diuellish Lastly our repentance and conuersion vnto God must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnfained and from our whole hart For it is not the renting of the garments but of the heart that pleaseth God Neither is it the bowing of the head like a Bul-rush but the humiliation the melting the contrition of the heart that is acceptable before him Such as was the repentance of Iosiah 2. King 22. not as that of Achab 1. King 21. nor yet as that of the dissembling Israelites who made semblance of repentance and turning to God but their heart was not vpright with him If therefore without vprightnesse our faith be dead our loue cold our wisedome diuellish our repentance counterfeit then is vprightnes no lesse necessary to saluation then I say not any one of these graces but theÌ„ all But as those graces which we may seeme to haue without vprightnes are couÌ„terfeit so our religion worship of God without it is hipocrisie For although it be the common practise of meÌ„ not only to content themselues with a profession of religion pietie towards God neglecting the duties of charitie towards men but also to rest in an outward and bodily worship notwithstanding it is no true religion before God which is altogether wanting in the duties of charitie neither is the outward worship without the inward acceptable vnto God This is notably declared in the Prophecy of Micah where to the hypocrite demanding wherewith he should come before the Lord and bow himselfe before the high God and making large offers if outward seruice would stand for good payment Shall I come before him saith he with burnt offerings and Calues of a yeare old will the Lord he pleased with thousands of Rammes or with ten thousand riuers of oyle shall I giue my first borne for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sinne of my soule Answer is made He hath shewed thee ô man what is good and what the Lord requireth of thee surely towards men to do iustly and to loue mercie and towards God to humble thyselfe to walke with thy God The reasonable seruice that is the spirituall worship of God is that liuing holy and acceptable sacrifice vnto God For God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth As for bodily exercise that profiteth little yea if it be seuered from the spirituall it hurteth much Therefore the Prophet denounceth the fearefull judgements of God against those who comming neere vnto him with their mouth and honoring him with their lippes do notwithstanding remoue their heart farre from him But the truth of this doctrine will more clearely appeare if we shall descend into the particuler consideration of the seuerall parts of Gods worship As first of prayer to the acceptable performance whereof there is required vprightnesse not onely in the action it selfe but also in the life of him that prayeth For as touching the action it selfe it is not sufficient to moue the lippes or to vtter a certaine number of words as Papists and other hopocrites do but our prayer if it shall be acceptable must also be a prayer of the heart and of the spirit a lifting vp of the soule a lifting vp of the heart with the hands a pouring forth of the soule before the Lord and to pray aright is to pray with our whole heart with an vpright heart out of a pure heart with lippes vnfained finally it is to pray in truth that is in vprightnesse and to this vpright prayer is the promise of hearing our prayer restrained Psal. 145. 18. The Lord is neere to them that call vpon him What to all yea to all saith the Prophet of purpose excluding hypocrites that call vpon him in truth For the Lord in our prayers doth not so much regard our tongue as our heart As for them which draw neare vnto the Lord with their lippes and are remooued from him in their heart they abuse the Maiesty of God whiles crying vnto him but not from their hearts they lye vnto God and go about to deceiue him with their lippes and by their hypocrisie to cast as it were a mist before his eyes But herein they are greatly deceiued For how soeuer masking vnder the vizards of hypocrisie they may hide themselues from men yet before God such maskers do as it were daunce in a net for before him all things
The righteous shall neuer be remoued And so certaine is the saluation of the righteous that the booke of the liuing is the booke of the just eternall glorie is the crowne of righteousnesse the rising againe vnto glory is the resurrection of the just And as justice containeth all those vertues which haue reference to our neighbour so the reward of it is the heape of all rewards namely blessednesse For as the Scriptures testifie blessed are those that worke righteousnesse and not onely they but those also which hunger and thirst after righteousnesse are blessed Wherefore seeing not onely in this place but elsewhere also in the Scriptures eternall life is promised to those that worke righteousnesse the consideration of this reward ought to be a motiue to prouoke and stirre vs vp to the exercise of justice Which I do not speake to this end as though the workes of justice were to be performed with that mind as that we should hope thereby to be justiâ—ied before God or by them to merit eternall life for that is an opinion sacrilegious and blasphemous against Christ whose justice alone apprehended by faith justifieth vs before God and maketh vs accepted vnto eternall life In respect of which justice we are to esteeme all our owne merits if we had any as dung that we may gaine Christ and may be found in him not hauing our owne righteousnesse which is of the Law but that which is by the Faith of Christ the righteousnesse which is of God through faith And therefore if we desire that the workes of righteousnesse which we do performe should be acceptable vnto God they are not to be performed to that end that we might by them attaine to justification or saluation for good works performed to that end are glorious sins but in doing the workes of righteousnes these ends are to be propounded First in respect of God that we may glorifie him for which end we were elected created redeemed regenerated For by the workes of righteousnesse God is glorified Herâ—in saith our Sauiour Christ is my father glorified that ye beare much fruit For which cause Paul prayeth for the Philippians that they might be filled with the fruit of righteousnesse which are by Iesus Christ vnto the glorie and praise of God Neither is God glorified in vs alone but in others also which are the witâ—esses of our good deeds Therefore Christ exhorteth vs so to let our light shine before men that they seeing our good workes may glorifie our father which is in heauen And Peter likewise counselleth vs so to haue our conuersation honest among the Gentiles that by our good workes which they shall see they may glorifie God in the day of the visitation Secondly that we may testifie our thankfulnesse vnto God for all his benefits bestowed vpon vs and may auoid the punishment which is due to vnthankfulnes For whereas the Lord in lieu of all his benefits both temporal and spirituall as election vocation redemption regeneration expecteth at our hands these fruits alone of holines and righteousnes assuredly it were vnthankfulnes vntollerable if either we should be barren of good fruits or bring forth euill fruit For wherefore hath the Lord elected vs that we might be saued howsoeuer we should liue No but he hath elected vs that we should be holy and without blame before him in loue Why hath Christ redeemed vs from the hand of our spirituall enemies that being freed from them we might sinne the more freely No but that being deliuered from the hand of our spirituall enemies we might worship him without feare in holinesse and righteousnesse before him all the dayes of our life Wherefore hath he freed vs from the seruitude of sinne that we might haue freedome to sin No he hath freed vs from sinne that we might be the seruants of righteousnesse and being now freed from sinne and made seruants vnto God we haue our fruit in holinesse and the end euerlasting life Why did he beare our sinnes in his body vpon the crosse that we liuing in sin should not die for them No he bare our sinnes in his body on the tree that we being deliuered from sinne might liue in righteousnesse Wherefore doth he regenerate vs by his spirit and as it were create vs anew that we should doe nothing our selues NO Wee are the workmanship of God created in Christ Ksus to good workes which God hath prepared that we should walke in them Why doth hee bestow his temporall benefits vpon vs that like well pampered horses we should kicke against our Lord and Maister No he crowneth vs with his manifold blessing to this end that we might keepe his statutes and obserue his lawes For what else doth the Lord require of thee which art the people of God in lieu of all his mercies but to feare the Lord thy God to walke in all his wayes and to loue him and to serue the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soule that thoukeepe the Commandements of the Lord and his ordinances which he commaundeth thee for thy wealth Let vs remember that we are trees of righteousnesse which the Lord hath planted in his garden that is his Church that we may bring forth the fruit of righteousnesse But if he shall come to seeke fruit as euery yeare he commeth and shall find none howsoeuer he may forbeare for a time yet at the length he shall cut downe the vnfruitfull trees for he cannot abide that they should cumber the ground and make it also barren Let vs remember that we are the branches of the vine which if we be vnfruitfull the Lord wil cut off Let vs consider that the axe is layd to the root of euery tree that euery one which bringeth not forth fruit may be cut off and cast into the fire Againe in respect of our neighbour we are to worke righteousnesse that we may helpe him either with the benefit or the example of our good worke For the benefit of justice belongeth to others For whereas other vertues are referred to the good of him that hath them justice onely seemeth to be the good of another man for justice attendeth the duty of one man to another but in other vertues is attended the duty of the inferiour faculties vnto reason as one saith But thou mayst helpe thy neighbour also by the example of thy good worke For when thou goest before thy brother with the light of thy good example thou shalt gaine him vnto Christ if he be not already wonne vnto him that he also may glorifie God in the day of the visitation Or if he be already ingrafted into Christ by thy good example thou shalt edifie him and as the Apostle testifieth of the Corinthians thou shalt prouoke him to good workes Lastly we are to performe the workes of righteousnesse in respect of our selues
LECTVRES ON THE XV. PSALME Read in the Cathedrall Church of S. Paule in London Wherein besides many other very profitable and necessarie matters the question of Vsurie is plainely and fully decided By GEORGE DOVVNAME Doctor of Diuinitie Whereunto are annexed two other Treatises of the same authour the one of Fasting the other of Prayer LONDON Printed by Adam Islip for Cuthbert Burbie and are to be sold in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Swan 1604. TO THE MOST HIGH AND MIGHTY KING IAMES BY THE GRACE OF GOD KING of great Brittaine Fraunce and Ireland defender of the Faith c. YOVR Maiesties gracious acceptance of my Treatise concerning Antichrist hath emboldened me to dedicat these my labours vnto your Highnesse which are in no other respect worthie of your royall patronage but that they haue bene imployed in the explanation of an excellent Psalme of the royall Prophet Dauid whose writings the holy Ghost hath the rather commended to posteritie that by his example Kings and Princes might be admonished to spend part of their time which they may spare from their royall administration in heauenly meditations and spirituall exercises whereby they might gather assurance to themselues that after their earthly kingdome is ended they shall inherit an euerlasting kingdome in heauen for although it be a singuler fauour of God vouchsafed vnto them that they should so beare the image of his power and authoritie amongst men as that they should bee called Gods yet godly and Christian kings are not so much to glorie in the fruition of their temporall crownes and kingdomes as to solace themselues in the comfortable expectation of that incorruptible crowne of glorie which is laid vp for them in heauen For which cause King Dauid thought it to be his dutie to giue all diligence as Peter since hath exhorted vs all to make his calling and election sure and by vndoubted testimonies and infallible tokens to gather assurance vnto himselfe that hee was the true child of God And that he should not take his marks amisse as men are apt to deceiue themselue in this point he intreateth the Lord in this Psalme to reueale vnto him the vndoubted marks of the sons heires of God which hauing learned by the information of the holy Ghost he publisheth them to the common good of the Church Shewing as it were from the Oracle of God that not all that professe the true religion nor all that are able to discourse therof but those that walke worthie of their calling that behaue themselues as it becōmeth the children of the light that is that liue vprightly worke righteousnesse speake the truth from their hearts c. are the sound members of the Church militant vpon earth and shall bee inheritors of glorie in the Church triumphant in heauen The meditation and practise of which things I do so much the more boldly commend to your Maiestie because it euidently appeareth by your former both studies in priuat and also speeches in publicke and writings published you haue propounded Dauid to your selfe as a patterne for imitation And now as a Minister of God I exhort your Highnesse to immitat him still as in speaking and writing so especially in the conscionable practise of Christian duties that you may bee more and more as he was a man according to Gods owne hart walking before the Lord as he did in truth and righteousnesse and vprightnesse of heart and gouerning and guiding the people of God according to the integritie of his heart and the singuler wisedome of his hands So shall the Lord take pleasure in you as he did in him and will not onely giue your Highnesse long and prosperous dayes but will also blesse your posteritie after you and establish them in the throne of these kingdomes for euer to the euerlasting glorie of his name and the perpetuall good of his Church which mercies the Lord graunt for his Christs sake Amen Your Maiesties obedient and loyall subiect George Downame LECTVRES ON the 15. Psalme Verse 1. A Psalme of Dauid Lord who shall soiourne in thy Tabernacle who shall dwell in the mountaine of thy holinesse THis Psalme of Dauid is a Psalme of doctrine wherin the Kingly Prophet sheweth by what markes and notes a sound member of the Church militant and a true citizen of the kingdome of heauen may bee discerned and knowne And it is set downe in forme of a dialogue betwixt Dauid and the Lord consisting on two parts Dauids question Verse 1. and Gods answer in the rest of the Psalme The occasion of the question seemeth to haue beene the disguising and counterfeiting of many professors in all ages who liuing in the Church and not being of it but as goats among the sheepe and as tares among the corne doe notwithstanding by an externall profession of religion and false opinion of true pietie deceiue not only others but sometimes themselues also For many there are who place all religion in the performance of the outward worship And therefore such persons if they frequent the Church heare the word receiue the sacraments call vpon God with the rest of the congregation they imagine that they haue sufficiently discharged their dutie though their life and conuersation be irreligious and vnrighteous Yea and not a few seeme to repose such trust and affiance in the very name of the Church that if they imagine themselues to bee in the true Church and doe not gaine say the doctrine therein professed they take no further care for their saluation but liue securely as though all the members of the visible Church were also members of the inuisible and as though all which haue the externall Church to their mother had also God to their spiritual father in Christ. Wherefore to the end that men should no longer deceiue themselues with vaine opinions fond conceits the Prophet hauing first consulted as it were with the Oracle of God setteth downe certaine marks or notes of a true Christian and citizen of heauen wherby euery man may discerne himselfe And withall he teacheth that in a sound and liuely member of the Church an externall profession of the faith and an outward communion with the Church of God is not sufficient vnlesse the vprightnesse of our life be answerable to our profession And the same is confirmed by our Sauiour Christ Not euery one that saith vnto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdome of heauen but he that doth the will of my father which is in heauen Many shall say vnto me in that day Lord Lord haue not wee prophecied in thy name and cast out diuels in thy name and done great wonders in thy name And then will I professe vnto them saying I know you not depart from me you workers of iniquitie But now let vs search out the true sence and meaning of this question By the names of Tabernacle and Mountaine we are to vnderstand the two parts of the
therefore that liberalitie and free lending should not faile the Scripture oftentimes doth simply and generally condemne vsurie And whereas they say that not all vsurie of money towards the poore is forbidden Exod. 22. 25 but that whereby he is oppressed nor all increase of corne and victuals is condemned Leu. 25. 36 vnlesse it be a multiplied and excessiue increase I answer first that all vsurie imposed vpō the poore and needie is an oppression of them Whereas therefore they vrge that Exod. 22 oppression is forbidden first generally and after particularly in the seuerall sorts of it and that some doe so read that place You shall not oppresse him with vsurie c. themselues do prooue that which I said that all vsurie imposed on the poore is a kind of oppression And yet to say the truth the words of the text Exo. 22. 25 are You shall not impose vsurie vpon him and Leuit. 25. 36 Thou shalt not take vsurie of him The same doth Zanchius and others confesse that there is no vsurie imposed on the poore but it is a biting and hurting of him And it is not likely that the biting of penurie will be healed with the biting of vsurie No man sayth Basil healeth one wound with another 2. Againe I answere that Exod. 22. the Lord doth not onely forbid oppression of the poore but also commaundeth the relieuing of them by loane and withall giueth charge that in lending to the poore and needie they should not onely abstaine from vsurie but also from taking of pawnes And surely if the taking of pawns from the poore be in their opinion an oppression of them whē as by pawnes the creditour onely prouideth for his indemnitie how much more is all imposing of vsurie vpon them an oppression of them seeing thereby he doth not onely prouide for his indemnitie but also requireth more than he lent seeking gaine out of his brothers need The like is to be said of Leuit. 25. 35 36 When thy brother with thee shall fall into want and his hand shall shake that is shall want meanes of his owne to supply his want thou shalt sustaine him namely by loane as it were by putting a staffe into his hand to stay him vp the stranger also and the soiourner that 〈◊〉 may liue with thee Thou shalt take no 〈◊〉 of him nor vantage but thou shalt feare thy God where by the way wee gather that those who take vsurie of the needie haue not the feare of God before their eyes that thy brother may liue with thee From whence also we may inferre that he which imposeth vsurie on the poore taketh a course to eat them vp that they may not liue with him Yea but say they the poore sometimes is relieued by vsurie I graunt he is relieued and eased for a time by the loane though not by the vsurie for that when the principall is to be repaid gnaweth and biteth some part of the poor mans substance from him and so increaseth his want and by little and little eateth him vp Money lent vpon vsurie to a poore man to supply his need may not vnsitly be compared to a piece of new cloth sowed vpon an old garment for that although it couer the rent for a time and seemeth to haue mended the garment yet after a while the new cloth fretteth the old and bringeth away part of it and so maketh the rent much worse This therfore is but a cruell relieuing of the poore and needie For the like might be said of a victualler who selling a penny loafe for six pence to a man readie to die for hunger doth relieue him in his want and preserueth him from death but yet his and the vsurers mercies are cruell as Salomon sayth of all the wicked Thirdly if the Lord straightly commaund free loane towards them that be in need then questionlesse all vsurie be it neuer so small is forbidden towards the poore but the former is certaine as we shall shew out of Deut. 15. 8. c. Luk. 6. 35. And therefore the least vsurie that may be is forbidden towards the poore and that vnder the name of Neshek and Tarbith that wee should no longer dreame that no vsurie is Neshek vnlesse it be great nor Tarbith vnlesse it be excessiue Their fift and last objection is that the law which forbiddeth vsurie is not morall but judiciall and therefore not belonging to vs. They prooue it to be a law judiciall because Deu. 23. 20 vsurie is permitted towards a stranger I answere first if it were a judiciall law yet the equitie thereof which is perpetuall would appertaine to vs viz. That vsurie is not to be imposed vpon a brother But behold we Christians are all brethren in Christ this difference of Iew and Gentile being taken away Neither can there any sufficient reason be giuen why we should not deale as charitably one with another as the Iewes were bound to deale among themselues seeing we are not only brethren in Christ but also members of the same bodie whereof Christ is the head especially seeing our Sauiour hath propounded himselfe for a patterne that we should loue one another as he hath loued vs and hath made this mutuall loue the cognisance of true Christians Hereby sayth he all men know you to be my disciples if you loue one another If therfore it were vnlawfull for the Iews to require any vsurie whether it were more or lesse of a brother whether he were rich or poore much lesse is it lawfull for Christians whom it behoueth more than the Iewes to be wained from couetousnesse and worldly cares and to whom some things are vnlawfull which to the Iewes because of the hardnesse of their hearts were permitted But indeed the law forbidding vsurie is morall as diuers of the most learned patrones of vsurie doe confesse whose names because their memorie otherwise is blessed I will conceale For it cannot be denied but that theft oppression and whatsoeuer is vnjust and vncharitable is forbidden in the morall law of God but vsurie is a kind of theft and oppression it is vnjust and vncharitable as hereafter it shall be prooued therefore it is forbidden in the morall law of God 2. The law which commaundeth free lending is not judiciall but morall and is therefore renewed by our Sauiour Christ therefore the law which forbiddeth vsurie or lending for gaine is morall For the same law which commaundeth the affirmatiue condemneth the negatiue 3. Vsurie is reckoned in the Scriptures among the transgressions of the morall law yea somewheres it is raunged among the abhominations that is the most grieuous crimes forbidden in the law as Eze. 18. and 22. 12 where the Prophet as Basil hath well obserued 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 placeth among the greatest euils the taking of vsurie and increase 4. Biting vsurie and excessiue increase is without question forbidden in the morall law as an high degree of theft and oppression But the vsurie which the patrones of
hath turned it into an act of inhumanitie and crueltie For as Basil well sayth In very deed it is an excesse of inhumanitie when the borrower wanting necessaries and seeking to borrow for the comfort of his life the lender should not content himselfe with the principall but should out of the want and necessitie of his needie brother seeke gaine and aduantage vnto himselfe And therefore as it is said of the good man that he is mercifull and lendeth so may it be said of the vsurer that he is cruell and lendeth For that which is said of wicked men in generall may principally be applied to the vsurer That his very mercies are cruell For when he would seeme to support a man he doth supplant him when he seemeth to cure he inflicteth a deeper wound and when he seemeth to haue relieued a man he casteth him into greater want And therefore Luther doubted not to call the vsurer a blood sucker of the people And in the judgement of the wise Cato it is no more lawfull to be an vsurer than to be a murtherer Thus you see how vsury hath peruerted lending conuerting it from a work of charitie liberalitie and mercie into an act of selfeloue couetousnesse and crueltie And for this cause the vsurer is not vnfitly compared by some to the Magicians of Egypt for whereas the Lord hath ordained the contract of lending to be as a staffe which the wealthier man is to put into the hands of his neighbour to stay and support him when his hands doe shake and himselfe doth shrinke vnder the burthen of his want the vsurer hath turned this staffe into a serpent But vsurie doth not only corrupt and depraue the dutie of lending but also extinguish all free loane where it taketh place drying vp the fountaine of loue whose streames were wont to run foorth to the refreshing of others And it doth not onely harden the heart and shut vp the hands and close the bowels of compassion in the vsurers themselues as wofull experience sheweth but in others also it hath made the dutie of free lending to seeme so great a benefit and of so high a price that as Bucer truly sayth A man may seeme now adayes to be very impudent that shall desire to borrow freely For he that lendeth freely doth for the most part make this estimation of his benefit that besides the forbearance of his money wherewith he doth pleasure the borrower he doth as much for him besides as if he gaue him the tenth part of the principall out of his purse And thus by meanes of vsurie charitie is frozen among men and the bowels of compassion shut vp needie men are driuen vnto extremities and the wealthier sort depriued of that great reward which is promised to those that lend freely But I will shew more particularly how vsurie offendeth both against priuat and publicke charitie as being euer hurtfull and pernicious either to the particular men that doe borrow or else to the body of the common-wealth whose common profit is in all contracts especially to be regarded The partie that taketh vp mony vpon vsurie doth either borrow for the supply of his necessitie and want or else to raise a gaine by the employment of the money to his best aduantage Hee that imposeth vsurie vpon him that borroweth for meere necessitie in stead of helping him increaseth his need vnder a shew of relieuing him he seeketh his vndoing for such a one commonly the more and the longer he borroweth the more vnable he is to pay and so at length is brought vnto extreame penurie vsurie hauing turned all his substance into debt and eaten him out of house and home And therefore though the vsurers sometimes doe vaunt how kindly they deale with their debtours in forbearing them from yeare to yeare yet the truth is the longer they forbeare the greater is their gaine and though they deferre the borrowers misery yet in deferring it they do increase it and therefore by some are not vnfitly compared to the greedy cat which though for a while she plaieth with the silly mouse yet in the end she will be sure to deuour it And here I cannot omit that notable speech of the authour of the worke vnfinished vpon Matthew though it be commonly cited by those which write of this argument Christ therefore sayth he commaundeth vs to lend but not vpon vsurie For he that lendeth vpon vsurie at the first sight seemeth to giue his owne but indeed he is so farre from giuing his owne that he taketh that which is another mans for he seemeth to relieue a mans necessitie but indeed casteth him into a greater necessitie He looseth him of one bond and binds him with more neither doth he lend for the righteousnesse of God but for his owne gaine For the vsurers money is like the biting of the Aspe for euen as he which is bitten of the Aspe goeth to sleepe as if he were delighted and through the pleasantnesse of his sleepe dieth so he which borroweth vpon vsurie is delighted for a time as one that had receiued a good turne and so through the pleasure of the imagined benefit be doth not perceiue how he is taken captiue For euen as the poyson of the Aspe secretly conveying it selfe into all the members corrupteth the whole bodie so vsurie dispersing it selfe through all the borrowers goods conuerteth them into debt And euen as leauen which is put into meale infecteth the whole lumpe drawing it to it selfe turneth it into the nature of leauen so when vsurie entreth into any mans house it draweth all his substance vnto it and turneth it into debt But the patrones of vsurie themselues confesse that vsurie imposed vpon a man that borroweth for need is euer a biting and damnifying of him and that men ought by the commaundement of God to lend to such freely and therefore I shall not need to prooue such vsurie to be vncharitable If therefore the borrower taketh vp mony to imploy it to his gaine it may be that hauing vsed all his skill and employed all his industrie in the occupying of it he shall not be able to gaine so much clearely as will pay the vsurer but allowing more than all his gaine to the vsurer and getting nothing but his labour for his pains and gaining nothing towards his liuing but losse at length becommeth a bankrupt And that this also is vncharitable I shall not need to prooue seeing the patrones of vsurie themselues allow no vsurie but that which is part of the borrowers gaine But suppose the borrower doe gaine yet notwithstanding the contract of vsurie is neuerthelesse vnequall and vncharitable because the vsurer couenanteth for certaine gaine out of the borrowers vncertaine traffique and whether he gaine or loose whether he sinke or swim or whatsoeuer become of the principall whether it be lost by fire or be taken away by theeues or miscarrie by any other
are to imploy them as our Lord and maister appointeth and seeing our Lord and maister appointeth vs and that vpon paine of damnation to communicat them to the necessities of our brethren as their need shall require and our abilitie afford it behoueth vs as we tender our owne saluation so also to tender the distressed estate of our poore brethren The second impediment is couetousnesse joyned with distrust for when as men are couetous they will not lay forth any thing vnlesse it be for their aduantage and being distrustfull they imagine that what is giuen is lost But hereunto I will oppose as an antidote the gracious promises of God made to those who are gracious to the poore whether by free giuing or free lending Thou saist thou wilt not giue because thou knowest not what want thy selfe may haue but what saith the holy Ghost To him that giueth vnto the poore shall be no want but to him that hideth his eyes shall be plentie of cuâ—ses Thou wilt not lend to the needie because thou doubtest that what is lent to them will neuer be repaid But what saith the spirit of God He that hath mercy on the poore lendeth vnto the Lord and the Lord will recompence him that which he hath giuen To which you may adde Deut. 15. 10. 23. 20. Luke 6. 35. Seeing therfore the Lord hath made such gracious promises to those that are mercifull towards the poore and needie were it not extreme infidelitie to imagine that by our liberalitie towards the poore we should become loosers seeing he hath promised to repay what is lent and to reward what is giuen Nay so farre shalt thou be from losse or hinderance by the charitable communicating of thy goods as that this is the surest way not onely of sauing them that they be not lost but also of laying them forth to increase For whereas we are stripped of all other our goods by death which turneth vs as naked out of this world as we came into it these which we haue charitably giuen do remaine vnto vs after death And therefore as they which trauell into forraine countries doe not cary their mony with them partly for feare of robbing by the way and partly because it would not be currant in the countrey whereunto they trauell but deliuer it to the bankers vpon a bill of exchange whereby they may be assured to receiue their money so we being to depart out of this life for as much as we cannot take our money with vs neither is it currant in heauen ought to commit it to the poore and needie as it were the Lords bankers vpon his promise in his word as it were his bill of exchaunge whereby he assureth vs of full recompence in the life to come Wherefore that which we commit to the poore according to the rules of charitie Illud non amittimus sed promittimus That we do not loose but as it were send before vs. And that is it which our Sauiour saith Make you friends of this Mammon of iniquitie c. For it is most certaine that we shall be put out of the stewardship by death neither shall the administration of these temporal goods any longer appertaine vnto vs. What course therefore may we take that when we are put out of our stewardship we may haue some benefit and comfort by the imployment of our goods in the time of our stewardship we are by the charitable exposing of our goods to make vs friends of this vnrighteous Mammon that when we shall be put out of this stewardship we may be receiued into euerlasting tabernacles Againe the charitable exposing of goods in the Scriptures is compared to sowing of seed in the ground 2. Cor. 9. 6 Therefore as the husbandman casteth his seed into the ground in hope of good increase in time of haruest although his seed do rot in the meane time and die in the earth so we should cast our seed vpon the poore as it were the Lords plowed land in certaine assurance of a plentifull increase in the great haruest at which time it shall be sayd Come you blessed of my father inherit the kingdome which is prepared for you for when I was hungrie you gaue me meat when I was thirstie you gaue me drinke c. That therefore which hindereth men from giuing almes that is a couetous desire of bettering our estate would chiefly stirre vs vp thereto if we yeelded any credit to the promises of God Wouldest thou then thriue by vsurie lend not vpon worldly vsurie to men who will pay thee but ten in the hundred but lend vpon spirituall vsurie vnto the Lord who hath promised to repay an hundred fold The third and last impediment is hardnesse of heart shutting vp the bowels of compassion in the richer sort and taking from them all feeling and regard of other mens necessities For the remoouing whereof let the richer sort consider first that the poorest Christian that liueth is his owne flesh Esay 58. 7. Secondly that he is his brother in Christ redeemed by the same most precious bloud of Christ. Yea thirdly that he is a fellow member of the same bodie whereof Christ is the head and therefore in the fourth place that Christ esteemeth that giuen to him which is giuen to his poore members and that to be denied to himselfe which is denied to one of them Consider then with me if any man ought to deny vnto Christ an almes who hath not denied himselfe to vs or if any should whether he were not to be esteemed a most wicked and hard hearted man If you shall say farre be it from vs that we should deny any thing to Christ our Sauiour and yet are hard hearted towards the poore I would aduise you to call to mind the excuse which the wicked shall make at the day of judgement with the answer of Christ the judge When say they did we see thee hungrie or thirstie or a stranger or naked or sicke or in prison and did not minister vnto thee To whom our Sauiour answereth Verily I say vnto you in as much as you did it not to one of the least of these you did it not to me Mat. 25. 44 45 where also we may obserue that the sentence of saluation and condemnation shall be pronounced at the last day according either to the performance or neglect of this dutie Wherefore as we tender the saluation of our soules so let vs thinke our selues bound not onely to abstaine from all worldly vsurie which I proued to be a damnable sinne but also to practise this spirituall vsurie wherin we hauing lent vnto the Lord shall be sure to receiue a plentifull reward THere remaineth the tenth and last note of the sound Christian and citisen of heauen in these words Nor taketh reward against the innocent Now rewards are taken either by way of briberie to pâ—ruert judgement or by way of trecherie to betray innocent bloud