them arraigne them endite them and condemne them and feare them not but still pray for prayer is flagellum diaboli as Augustine calleth it the whippe of the Diuell which he more feareth then all the coniurations of Poperie then all holy water and crossings yea more then the dog doth the whip and as when the dogge heareth the bell at the whips end he runneth out of the house so when Sathan perceiueth a Christian addresse himselfe to prayer though it be neuer so weakely and with great striuing yet he then feareth the rebuke of God and giueth place Oh then let vs pray good brethren euen then then when we are about to giue almes or to heare a Sermon or to preach the word or to reproue sinne boldly or to handle doctrine soundly or to deale roundly with the consciences of men and in all other spirituall exercises and not only in them but also in our ciuill affaires in buying and selling if thou meanest to deale truly and vse plaine and simple dealing and to be at a word Oh then pray also in inuiting thy friends and neighbours to thy house when thou entertainest the preachers of Gods word at thy table when thou art troubled in making prouision and to haue all things cleane and handsome oh then pray when thou callest foorth thy children to shew their wit their aptnesse and towardnes to learne their profiting in learning and such like oh then pray too when thou cariest thy friend to shew him thy house and thy roomes and thy riches and the workes of thine owne hands and thy fine gardens and walkes and thy fruitfull Orchards and thy fatte cattell and thy great dealings and thy daily expenses c. Oh in all these go not without thy whippe of prayer to driue away Sathan and all his theeuish suggestions and vaineglorious cogitations for euen then when thou thinkest to do all for the best thou shalt be circumuented and deceiued of thy reward before thou be aware if thou then euen then I say do not take heede Then shalt thou heare the whispering feel the tickling of a number of spirituall and inuisible theeues in thy hart Oh saith one to him that studeith for a Sermon when he readeth a trim discourse or fine simile that pleaseth himselfe Oh this will do well to grace thy Sermon withall oh men will commend thy wit and thy inuention for this and thy boldnesse for that and thy iudgement in that c. Oh here is a tickling theefe in the heart driue him out by prayer take heed of him yeeld not vnto him but pray then and say Lord none of all these come of my selfe thou art the giuer of them they are thy mercies to me ô Lord I am not able nor worthie my selfe to carrie such treasures of thy Spirite to thy people Lord be mercifull vnto me and sanctifie my heart that I may seeke thy glorie and not my owne Oh hallowed be thy name Lord hallowed be thy name not vnto vs ô Lord not vnto vs but to thy name let the praise be giuen Lord humble my swelling heart with the feeling of my sinne and my speciall corruptions Oh Lord driue out these proud thoughâ—s these vaine imaginations these wicked and sacrilegious affections which go about thus to rob thee of thy honour both in me the speaker and in others the hearers let them not commend thy gifts in me or in any man but alwayes to thy praise and glorie And thus must we be exercised continually while we liue In like sort when thou art about to shew thy reading and discoursing veine at the table pray for then a theefe within thee will be ready to tell thee that all the company will and do admire thee for thy gift that way Yea or if thou sit still and be silent and neuer speakest but when thou art required and then very modestly too yet then watch and take heede for euen then commeth a spirituall theefe perswadeth thee to thinke with thy selfe surely men will commend me aswell for my silence and modestie as such a one for his learning wit but where is the Kings Atturney all this while to pleade for Gods right I meane the spirite of sanctification to perswade thy soule to giue the glorie to God who gaue thee those gifts and that grace with God and man where is he Oh therefore then when thou doest these things euen then I say take heede watch and pray Hallowed be thy name Lord rebuke Sathan quench these his fierie dartes humble my proud heart make it to affect thee and thy glorie aboue all things and in all things In like sort in doing the parts of a ciuill man entertaining of preachers or thy honest friends and neighbours in shewing them thy faire houses thy well contriued roomes thy wealth thy gaines thy great expences thy great reuenewes thy toward children c. doest thou not feele a theefe within thee tickling and dallying with thy false heart and telling thee that thou shalt be highly commended for these things and thy fame shall be spread farre and neare and thou shalt be spoken of for it and reuerenced and admired c. doest thou not feele such a theefe within thee speaking such things And what is all in effect but to perswade thee to rob him who hath enriched thee to disgrace him who hath graced thee and to wound him who hath healed thee whereas thou oughtest then to say I will shew these things and tell what goodnesse I haue receiued of my mercifull God and heauenly father that men may commend his goodnesse therein and spread the fame of his name farre and neare and may reuerence and admire his wisedome and power and mercifull workes towards mortall man and may both feare and loue his Maiestie for the same And to this end let vs watch pray that God in al things and for all things may haue his due praise and glorie In like manner when thou giuest thine almes or buildest anie hospitall or giuest any thing to the poore of such and such a parish c. if thou doest not take great heed and examine thy heart and stand with prayer at the doore then will Sathan be busie and a spirituall theefe will stand vp in thy hart and say Oh now this being knowne how will the poore commend me how will the world commend me I shall now get a name that I am a good man to the poore I hope to come into the Chronicles for my good deeds one day c. Oh then scourge these corrupt and diuelish affections chase them away by prayer let them not dwel in thy heart giue theÌ„ no entertainement desire to giue all the glorie to God and desire others to do the same for thee for that he hath made thee both able and willing to giue and hath made thee his steward and deputie to giue euery one his portion that his fatherly goodnesse hath appointed them The like is to be done of
all that they desire or delight in Giue me the substance of religion saith sinceritie and me the ceremonie saith hypocrisie giue me the bodie of Christianitie saith sincerity and me the shadow saith hypocrisie let me haue praise of God saith sinceritie and me the praise of men saith hypocrisie let not me lack the thing without which I cannot serue the Lord saith sinceritie and me to serue the time and my owne turne saith hypocrisie giue me a good conscience before God saith sinceritie tush conscience was hanged long ago giue me goods and worldly riches saith hypocrisie giue me vertue and honestie saith sinceritie and let me borrow their clokes to play my part in and that shall serue my turne saith hypocrisie giue me peace with God saith sinceritie and me with my honest neighbours saith hypocrisie as for God I shall do well inough with him Handle the matter castè that is purely saith sinceritie cautè that is warily saith hypocrisie Take heede for God seeth thee saith sinceritie nay take heede that the world see thee not and then good inough saith hypocrisie It is against the word of God saith sinceritie therefore leaue it tush so long as he can haue no vantage against me by law I care not saith hypocrisie Qui vadit planè vadit sanè that is he that goeth plainely to worke goeth safely to worke saith sinceritie Qui nescit dissimulare nescit viuere that is he that cannot tell how to dissemble cannot tell how to liue saith hypocrisie You see then the difference between the nature of sinceritie and the nature of hypocrisie The one you see is like a rich King in a beggars cote amongst men Because as Christ our head said of himselfe when he liued poorely and contemptibly vpon earth My kingdome is not of this world and I haue meate to eate that you know not of so must Christs members say we are poore and despised in this life because our riches are not of this world and we haue friends that the world know not of The other is like a King in a play who for the time maketh a braue shew domineering ouer such counterfeits as himselfe is hauing vpon him cloth of gold and with the same perhaps are couered a number of scurfe and scabbes lice and vermine and when the Play is done the poore beggarly fellow must be faine to returne home his borrowed coat againe to the right owner and pay well for the hire thereof Now you haue heard the difference consider the matter consult and giue sentence whether this honest man the hypocrite hath so plaied his part before God or mā that he deserueth stil to go on without noting and neuer to be vncased or no. And so much shall suffise for the vncasing of the hypocrite and descrying of his nature Now it remaineth that you see his reward by that time I hope you wil not greatly desire to be an actor in his Play but of that in the next Sermon Now as for those that thinke I haue too particularly applyed this doctrine let them know that if Eliah did well in telling of Achab that it was he that troubled Israel and if Iohn Baptist did well in telling King Herod that he might not haue his brothers wife and the Ministers of the Gospell haue the same authoritie that they had then do we not amisse to make speciall application of our doctrine as they did Againe if the Apostle said well when he said Those that sinne openly rebuke openly that others may feare 1. Tim. 2. then do not they well which find fault with vs for following the Apostles rule For whom haue I admonished or reproued but publike persons by office and publike abuses and scandals by them committed and giuen to the great dishonour of God and hurt of this Church Lastly if a Preacher may speak to the Prince when he preacheth before the Prince and to the Iudges of Assizes and to the Iurours and to the Lawyers particularly and to the Bishops and to Iustices all being publike persons and charge them in Gods name to looke to their office and amend that which is amisse and that safely without daunger yea boldly with good warrant then do not I see but that any Pastour by his pastorall authoritie may in his owne congregation speake particularly to a Churchwarden or a Sideman and tell them what they ought to do yea more and charge them to do their office faithfully too yea and more then that if they haue bene admonished priuately and friendly and yet will not be admonished but take vpon them still to dispense with their oath and suffer Gods Church as much as lyeth in them to go to wracke then to reproue them both openly and roundly that themselues may repent if they belong to God or others may feare as the Apostle saith And vntill the Maior of a towne and the Churchwardens and other officers of a parish can shew me by Scripture or common reason that they be of greater state then Kings Queenes and Princes be of or then Noblemen Iudges and Bishops be of or that they be more priuiledged and exempted from the reproofe and censure of the word especially when their offences are publike and desperate then others be whom I haue named before and take to be farre aboue them surely I must and shall by Gods grace both hold my former opinion and as occasion shall serue declare the same by practise that is by making of speciall application of the doctrine to the generall and publike offenders and offences of this congregation Let him that hath an eare to heare heare what I say and let him that hath an heart sanctified consider well of it and let him that hath grace from God make a good vse of that that hath bene said As for the rest I say as Ioshua said let them chuse what they will do whether they will make a conscience of their dutie or dispense with their oath as they haue done I for my part will surely by Gods grace do that which belongeth to a true Pastor of Iesus Christ. And as Saint Iohn said he that is filthie let him be more filthie and he that is froward let him be more froward and he that will be obstinate let him be more obstinate and he that will be an hypocrite let him be more hypocriticall that their sinnes may be full ripe against the day of Gods vengeance But so many as feare the Lord in truth of heart and are truly humbled to endure the sifting and triall of the word of God and are desirous vnfainedly to yeeld obedience to the holy will of God let vs go on forward in our good courses without feare or fainting and God our heauenly Father in whom is our trust will surely keepe vs from finall falling away and in his rich mercie will pardon all our sinnes in the merite of Christ his bloudy passion blessed be his name for euer Amen Now let vs praise God THE VII
euery one that praieth in publike assemblies and heareth the word diligently and turne ouer their Bibles and sing reuerently the holy Psalmes and praises of God confer of that which they heard and call their families to account for that which they haue heard at the Sermon c. all most holy actions but take heed now when thou doest all these or any of these that the messenger of Sathan come not like a cunning companion and poison all these Take heed I say euen then when thou art about these seruices for euen as cut-purses and pilfering rogues watch their times till they see men busie in buying and selling or come in a preasse so do these vagrant affections watch our harts when we are about holy businesse and in deuout conference with our God to rob God of his honour and to poison that which we offer him and if it be poisoned he will none of it A strange thing and a hidden mysterie this is that a man should then rob the Lord of his honour when he is honoring and seruing him that we should take from him that which we giue vnto him Verily so we do if we take not heed and nothing is more common then that euil Thou art deuout in thy prayer in hearing in sighing in singing in eleuating eyes and hands to heauen it is well done but then take heede of the theefe with the poison that thou seest not and that is that affection that maketh thee to cast thy eye aside perhaps to looke whether such a man seeth thee or no and that affection that tickleth thy heart and saith now I am a good man I shall be counted a zealous professor for this I shall be well esteemed for this I shall by this meanes get familiaritie and so commoditie with him her and a thousand such odde conceits that come wharting and crossing of thy heart in the best things that thou canst do All which if thou take not heede of them euen then at that instant and pray against them they will get within thee and plucke off the garment of puritie and holinesse which in Christ Iesus should commend thy action vnto God And thus thou seest how God is robbed when he is serued and therefore euen then without any further delay or dallying take heed and watch ouer thy heart and pray against these vile and vaine affections desiring God to reforme and correct them that so thou maiest giue him his due clad in such holy and pure affections as are desirous that all the glorie should be giuen vnto him from whom and for whom all things are and shall be And in so doing thou maiest safely shew what God hath done for thee Take for example in the old Testament Iacob and in the new Testament the Virgin Mary and Zacharie the father of Iohn Baptist. Iacob he sheweth his brother how God had blessed him since his comming ouer Iordan with onely a poore staffe in his hand and now had giuen him troupes or bands of children and seruants and blessed him with flockes of sheepe beeues and camels but in all these things his desire was that God might he glorified and therefore he said I am not worthy of the least of these mercies that is all that I haue set forth the great and vndeserued fauour of God vnto me So farre was he from seeking thereby to be counted a great man as the maner of the world is So when Elizabeth reioyced with her cosin for the great fauour and goodnesse of the most high in chusing her to be the mother of the Lord Iesus and sayd Blessed art thou amongst women she was not proud thereof but presently gaue the glorie vnto God and sayd My soule doth magnifie the Lord and my spirite reioyceth in God my Sauiour I shall be magnified indeede but he that is mightie hath magnified me and holy is his name and so made that whole song to set forth the glorious praises of God in that singular worke which he had done to her In like sort when Zachary knew that Iohn was borne to be the forerunner of Christ he presently gaue the glorie to God saying Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people c. And thou ô child shalt be called the Prophet of the most high for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare the way before him to giue knowledge of saluation vnto his people for the forgiuenesse of their sinnes But then commeth forth the holy affection wherein God is delighted and saith Through the tender mercy of our God c. And this shall we do if we take heed and still watch ouer our hearts in euerie action by secret prayer vnto God that his name may be hallowed This wise course being taken we shall be able by the grace of God in a short time to discerne a false harted affection from a true and a holy affection a double heart from a single and sincere heart for in euery man that is regenerate there is a double motion the one of the flesh the other of the Spirite the one of God the other of Sathan and in euerie action if he watch narrowly he shall find and feele a striuing betweene them Now here is wisedome to discerne how much is of God and how much of Sathan that we may cherish the one and crush the other in the head before he grow to any strength There will be two fires kindled and both burning together in one heart the one must be quenched and not maintained the other must not be quēched but be maintained for so saith the Scripture quench and quench not quench the firie darts of the diuell but quench not the Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed vp to the day of redemption Now then seeing the glory of God is set vp for one marke to aime at and the good of the Church of God for another let vs learne by our leuelling and aiming at them or besides them to iudge of our affections and cogitations If thy cogitations be studying and deuising how to auoide vaineglorie and how to get glorie to God by casting about to make others to praise God in thy graces and to loue and feare him for the same then is that cogitation kindled by Gods Spirite quench it not but cherish it If thy affections be longing and desiring to bring the same to passe which thy minde by Gods Spirite hath deuised then is that a holy affection of God quench it not but maintaine it reioyce in God for it But if one the contrarie thy mind be deuising what to do and what to say and how to bring things to passe to please men and not God and to win credit and estimation amongst men Gods glory being cast behind thy backe know that those thoughts and affections are fierie darts of Sathans kindling quench them and cherish them not take heede of them in time In taking this
at all or else where is the common distinction of ciuility and religion Of ciuill actions and religious actions The answer is easie and to stand long vpon such a point were but to trifle away the time We speake now of Christians in name and profession at the least and not of the heathen and euery one that professeth himselfe a Christian professeth also the workes of Christianitie in shew at the least which are as hath bene shewed the workes of the second table aswell as of the first which selfe same works may be done both ciuilly and religiously too and so one and the same man in one and the same action may shew himselfe both a ciuill honest man and a religious honest man As for example the law of the Prince commaundeth me to pay my debts to helpe my neighbour to releeue the poore c. As a subiect owing obedience to my prince I do these things and therein I do the part of a ciuill man because I obey vnto ciuill authoritie But if in doing of the same things I haue an eye vnto God who commaundeth the same things and do them in his feare and of loue vnto his Maiestie then do I the same things both religiously ciuilly too As for the heathen or heathenish professors of the Gospell if they do obey ciuill authoritie for feare or for vaineglorie or for any other end then the loue of their neighbour which also must flow out of the loue of God as being the end of the law they also play the hypocrites because they seeme to loue their neighbour when they onely loue themselues And to make all this more full and plaine which hath bene said let vs heare what our Sauiour Christ saith to the matter who is the best expositor of his owne mind In the 23. of Matthew he pronounceth wo eight or nine times against the Scribes and Pharisees for diuerse kinds of hypocrisie or diuerse seuerall counterfeit parts which they played all which were not in matters of religion most were but not all First in the thirteenth verse he saith Wo vnto you Scribes and Pharisees hypocrites because yee shut vp the kingdome of heauen before men for ye your selues goe not in neither suffer ye them that would enter to come in There is one kind of hypocrisie his meaning is that they had one deuice or other still to keepe men from the hearing of Christs preaching which was the verie kingdome of Gods grace and the meane to bring them to the kingdom of glorie and for that matter they had diuerse pretences but because the thing they aymed at was to keepe men from hearing of the Gospell preached therefore Christ calleth them hypocrites When I consider well of that place of Scripture it maketh me remember such Church officers as neuer go foorth to cause men to come to Church but when the Sermon is readie to beginne which they neither care perhaps to heare themselues nor would by their goodwils that others should heare Now because the preaching of the word is the kingdome of Gods grace and the meanes to bring men to the kingdome of glorie let them take heede of Christs wo because they shut vp the kingdome of heauen before men for they themselues go not in neither suffer they them to enter that wold come in and all vnder pretence of executing their office in causing men to come to Church Oh cunning diuell that vnder pretence of bringing men to church can keepe men from that which should let them into the kingdome of heauen that is from hearing the word preached In the 14. verse our Sauiour Christ pronounceth wo vnto the same persons for another kind of hypocrisie and that is this Vnder colour of long prayer they deuoured widows houses for which they were to receiue the greater damnation Here is religious hypocrisie condemned that is vnder shew of any religious dutie to practise mischiefe Some abuse long prayer some short prayer some read prayer some weekely prayer to couer their malice and to make the world beleeue they are deuout persons Let such as do so take heede for Christs sentence is already gone foorth against such they shall receiue the greater damnation In the 15. verse he sayth they playd the hypocrites another way and that was in taking great paines to make men of their painted profession and then to nusle them vp in al kind of grosse hypocrisie and wickednesse to which end they would compasse sea and land and vse all kinds of forcible perswasions pretending their soules health c. Of this sort are all Iesuits and Seminary Priestes which in like manner go from place to place to withdraw men from their right faith to God and true allegiance to their Prince and to reconcile them vnto the Church of Rome In the 16. verse he noteth another grosse hypocrisie and that is to make a conscience of swearing by one thing and no conscience of swearing by another as to sweare by the Temple was with them no sinne but to sweare by the gold of the Temple that was a great sinne And to sweare by the Altar was nothing but to sweare by the offering vpon the Altar that was a great sinne Such hypocrites are they that make it no matter of offence to sweare at euerie word by the holy and dreadfull name of God so they sweare not by that precious bloud which he shed or the wounds which he receiued or some part of his most sacred person And to sweare by the creatures of God as by the light by the fire by their siluer by the bread or other things which God made as also by their faith and troth is no sinne so long as they sweare not by God himselfe But marke what our Sauiour Christ saith vnto all such In the 17. verse he saith thus Ye foolish and blind to shew that there are foolish and blind hypocrites which euer through ignorance and folly commit hypocrisie Whether is greater saith he the gold or the temple that sanctifieth the gold the offering or the Altar that sanctifieth the offering whosoeuer therefore sweareth by the Altar sweareth by it and by all things thereon And whosoeuer sweareth by the temple sweareth by it and by him that dwelleth therein And he that sweareth by heauen sweareth by the throne of God and by him that sitteth thereon And euen so by Christs reason he that sweareth by the light or any other creature sweareth by it and by him that made the same and ruleth the same and he that sweareth by his faith or troth sweareth by it and by God from whom is faith and troth be deriued and on whom they be grounded But to proceed In the 23. verse the Lords Iesus taxeth thē for another kind of hypocrisie that is this They tithe mint and annise and cummin and leaue the weightie matters of the law as iudgement mercy and fidelity This he calleth straining of a gnat and swallowing of a
c. So on the other side as making many rich and yet as it were poore giuing nothing To shew what manner of men Christians must be But how can that be will some say that a man should giue almes or do any other good deed and not make himselfe priuy to the matter and count it nothing which he doth Surely very well or else truly do many dissemble and speake against their owne consciences for come vnto them and thanke them for such and such kindnesse bestowed c. they will say Alas sir for nothing I know no such matter it is not so much worth c. as if he should say If I did any such thing it is with me as if I did it not at al I am to begin it againe I keepe no reckning of it my heart was not set vpon it when it went from me I weigh it not c. Againe euery true Christian is in part regenerate and in part vnregenerate the one part is called in Scripture by the name of flesh and the other by the name of spirite the flesh rebelleth against the spirite that is the part regenerate against the part vnregenerate Now this part that is regenerate by the spirite of sanctification and grace may well be called also the right hand of the soule and the other part which is still fleshly carnall and sensuall and not sauouring the things of God may well be called the soules left hand for the vntowardnesse therof to any goodnesse in which sense it may truly be said whē thou doest any good deed let the spirite that is the part regenerate as the right hand of thy soule do it but let not the other part which is so vntoward and not regenerate and fitted for it haue any thing to do in the matter more then if it knew nothing at all of it We must do as men that trauell in company together and are so earnest in talke that they forget the length of their iourney and to such ten miles seeme but as one mile but if a man go alone and thinketh of nothing but his iourney then his left foote shall know what paines his right foote taketh and will keepe account of all his sleps as it were and thinke his iourney long and his paines exceeding great So we in trauelling towards heauen which we must do so long as we liue by walking in such good workes as God hath appointed for vs Ephes. 2.10 must count all things but losse and dung for the excellent knowledge sake of Christ Iesus our Lord to win him and to be found in him not hauing our owne righteousnesse but the righteousnesse which is of God by faith in Christ forgetting that which is past and endeuouring our selues vnto that which is before and follow hard toward the marke for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Iesus And no maruell though the Apostle made so light account of his owne workes or righteousnesse for he knew they were too light to endure the triall of Gods iustice too vncleane to appeare in his most pure presence Our good deedes are like a faire garment with a filthy lining or as the Prophet Esay speaketh like a menstruous cloth The beauty and goodnesse of them is from God the deformity and vncleannesse is of our selues Shal the one part lift vs vp to any proud conceipt of our selues No it is of God giue him all the glory and let the other humble vs. All the gifts and graces of God do beare some part of his image and stampe though giuen to diuerse persons and in diuerse measure and maner like the Princes coine which hath the Princes image and stampe vpō it to put the subiects in mind of their loyaltie and dutie which they owe to their Prince that as Christ said when we see Caesars image and superscription we should remember to giue vnto Caesar that that is Caesars so when we see any thing with Gods image vpon it we may also giue to God that that is Gods The Princes coine commeth out of the Mint faire and bright but when it cometh into our hands it taketh soile and looseth beautie So the good graces of God come to vs with a most heauenly beautie but we cannot returne them so againe for with vs they take soile and loose their beautie As euery peece of coine hath on the one side the Princes image and title certaine so haue all the graces of God Gods image and Christes title to admonish vs of that holy dutie and absolute praise which we must returne vnto him for the same Look vpon thy faith and thou shalt see this superscription vpon it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is the worke of God to beleeue in him whom he hath sent Looke vpon thy patience and thou shalt find this grauen vpon it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to you it is giuen for Christs sake not onely to beleeue in him but also to suffer for his sake Looke vpon thy loue thy knowledge and iudgement and euery one beareth the same stampe that thy faith doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the worke of God and therefore saith Saint Paul this I pray that your loue may abound yet more and more in al knowledge iudgement to shew that they come from God and not from our selues Art thou filled with the fruites of righteousnes thou shalt find this Poesie sent with them They are by Iesus Christ vnto the glorie and praise of God Art thou conuerted vnto God looke vpon the worke of thy conuersion and thou shalt find this withall The worke of God and therfore saith Ioel Turne vs ô Lord and we shall be turned Hast thou a new heart looke vpon it and thou shalt find Gods stampe vpon it and that is this Created of God And ouer all one generall Poesie for all and that is this What hast thou that thou hast not receiued 1. Cor. 4.7 If there be any thing besides this that commeth from God that is of Sathan or else of our selues We commonly looke on the one side of the garment but not on the other Now if we thinke vpon our defectes and staines nay filthie and rebellious pollutions we would neuer take notice to ourselues of any good we do but say whē we haue done neuer so wel as Nehemiah did when he had most zealously reformed the Lords sabbath and set euery thing in very good order Remember me ô God in this and pardon me in thy great mercie and as Christ commaundeth vs When ye haue done all that ye can do saith he say that you are vnprofitable seruants and haue done but that which was commaunded you Further it is to be obserued that Christ saith the right hand must do the worke and the left hand must not know of it He appointeth the right hand to the worke because that is readiest and quickest and handsomest in working The left
the poore the lame the maymed and the blind and thou shalt be blessed because they cannot recompence thee for thou shalt be recompenced at the resurrection of the iust that is if thou regardest a good reward indeed then rather call the poore then the rich What recompence this is that shall be giuen in behalfe of the poore Christ also sheweth in Mat. 25.34 where he sheweth that it shall be said to them on the right hand Come ye blessed of my Father inherite the kingdome prepared for you from the beginning of the world for I was a hungred and ye gaue me meat c. for in asmuch as ye haue done it to one of the least of these my brethren ye haue done it vnto me that is I take it as done vnto my selfe which you haue done vnto these poore ones that beleeue in me and for whom I haue died What manner of reward is this We may well wonder at this reward as Mary did at the Angels salutation for the Angell did not salute her as her neighbours vsed to salute her and God doth not reward his children in whom for his beloued Sons sake he taketh delight as men reward their friends Amongst men ye shall haue a dinner for a dinner and one good turne for another but here is a kingdom giuen for giuing a peece of bread or cloth or drinke or cōfortable speeches which they haue not giuē neither as owners therof but as stewards put in trust from God And what kingdome No lesse then the kingdome of heauen And how not as a lease or a farme or a coppie hold for yeares but as an inheritance of their Father for euer And this shall be giuen them in possession with al the grace and glorie that can be not in the presence of some few persons of this place or that countrey but before all the inhabitants of the whole world at the sight and hearing wherof the wicked and vngodly hypocrites who sold their good deedes for worldly praise and filthie lucre as prophane Esau did his birthright for a messe of pottage shall euen gnash with their teeth for griefe and consume away like the smoke against the wind through extremitie of feare griefe and shame being withall at the same instant ouerwhelmed with the most dreadfull and intollerable sentence of Gods euerlasting curse which in like manner is set downe alreadie Depart from me ye cursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the diuell and his Angels from which the Lord for his rich mercies sake in Christ Iesus deliuer vs all Now my brethrē by this time I hope you be perswaded that there is nothing lost by that which a man doth vnto God in secret or vnto any of Gods Church for the loue of God For God that is loue it selfe and infinite in loue cannot but infinitely reward the loue of his children which any way they haue shewed vnto his Maiestie especially seeing as he crowneth not our gifts to him but his owne gifts in vs which we receiued first of him And what can we desire more Would we be seene when we do well behold who seeth vs euen God our heauenly Father who is all in all who cannot deceiue any nor be deceiued by any Wouldest thou be rewarded for that thou doest and would we not loose our labour for a toy or a trifle as many do then behold our heauenly Father is readie able and willing to reward vs with a kingdom of eternal happinesse onely let vs be content with his reward and tarrie his gracious leisure Would we be openly rewarded and graced by some great person before many and before our enemies that they might be ashamed and before our friends that they might with vs reioyce and triumph ouer them then behold we haue our hearts desire our heauenly Father will not onely most bountifully reward vs but also in the open presence view and hearing of all the whole world will blesse vs where all Kings and Emperours and Tyrants shall appeare and stand naked and many of them shall shake and tremble for extreame feare and horrour of their owne conscience and Gods vengeance Blessed be the most glorious name of our heauenly Father for euer Amen As we haue heard what is to be shunned and what is chiefly to be respected in giuing of almes so now it will not be amisse to speake something though but briefly of almes it selfe and therein to see first what this word almes doth signifie Secondly to what end or for what cause God did ordaine that almes should be giuen and taken or why he would haue any occasion thereof in the world Thirdly how men may be moued or induced to giue almes And lastly to whom almes must be giuen For the first the word almes is deriued of the Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth mercie Therefore as that is called grace which is giuen of grace so that is called mercie which is giuen of mercie Almes then is some benefite that is bestowed freely vpon the poore and needie onely of a mercifull and pitifull affection and fellow feeling of his griefe and want So the Samaritane is said to haue shewed compassion and mercie vpon the wounded man when he powred oyle into his woundes and holpe him vp to his beast and laid out money for him at the Inne and gaue his word for him this was a right almes giuer which gaue of pitie and was moued by mercie which is nothing else but a griefe and sicknes of the mind for anothers miserie and makes a man readie to releeue the same And of almes some is true and some is false that is true almes which comes from them that giue of mercie and compassion or feeling of anothers miserie who is sicke and troubled in his mind vntill his brothers miserie be releeued That is a false almes which comes from hypocrites who giue not of any mercie or compassion but of some other straunge affections seeking either to winne fame or to auoid shame or because they are compelled by law to giue something For otherwise if they should see their poore brother in neuer so great need alone and no bodie by them to see them when they giue or if there were not others to giue before them and to wonder at them for their hardnesse of heart or some law to compell them they would go by him and come by him too often inough and let him die too for want before they would part with any thing to saue him That our almes may be true almes or mercies gift indeed it is not so materiall how honest or dishonest how good or how bad he be to whō we giue nor whether it be much or little that we giue but with what mind we giue Discriminat in hac causa non dati sed dantium diuersitas saith a learned Writer It is not the diuersitie of gifts but the diuersitie of giuers that make the difference in this cause
the word of God a painefull searcher of the Scripture a seuere reprouer of sinne and a strict man in his life and conuersation what is their verdict of such a one Forsooth such a one is an hypocrite a Puritane a Precisian oh fie vppon him none are worse then these professours a busie fellow I warrant you a dangerous man an enemy to the state c. But if a man will serue the time and play the pot companion and become an vnthrift a gamster a tauerne hunter or a whore hunter and blaspheme the sacred name of God at euery word and scoffe handsomely at religion then their verdict is this and their bolt is leuelled in this manner Such a man is euen the honestest man that liueth a notable good fellow and no mans foe but his owne A preposterous iudgement they giue on both sides like the Barbarians with whom Paule was either a murtherer or a God But now heare the iudgement of the word concerning these swift iudges their crooked measures Wo be vnto them saith the Prophet Esai that speake good of euill and euill of good which call light darkenesse and darkenesse light sower sweete and sweete sower He that iustifieth the wicked and condemneth the innocent euen both these are abhomination vnto the Lord saith Salomon And in another place He that sayth to the wicked thou art righteous him shall the people curse and the multitude shall abhor him All which places do teach vs two things First that it is lawfull for a man to iudge betweene a godly man and a wicked but then we must beware how we iudge that we condemne not or commend not one for another Secondly that those which rashly and vnaduisedly iudge of men at their owne pleasure are the worst men that liue Let vs learne then to iudge the Lords iudgements It is an easie way that Christ hath taught The tree is knowne by his fruites He that cannot iudge of meate by his taste is sicke So they that cannot iudge of sinne for want of spirituall taste are verie dangerously sicke When God hath set vp a torch and lighted it at noone day and yet we blindfold our selues and will not see it is vnthankfulnesse most peeuish and intollerable which calleth for a most seuere iudgement euen depriuation ipso facto of all spirituall vnderstanding and to be giuen vp of God vnto a reprobate sence But here now groweth a question whether may we iudge of reprobates vnreuealed or no Verily that is a matter that belongeth not to vs but to the high Iudge of heauen and earth Neither doth it follow that because I see such a one is a wicked man therefore such a one is a reprobate and a damned wretch God forbid we should reason so for though I see now what he is yet what he shall be hereafter I know not neither do I know what God hath decreed of him from euerlasting A Iurie of twelue sworne men do find being led thereunto by their euidence that such a one is a theefe and guilty of felonie but further they cannot go to say for certaine that such a one shall dye for it they cannot for the booke may saue him or the Iudge may repriue him or the Prince may pardon him for any thing that they know So a Christian by the euidence that Gods word giueth may find such and such to be guiltie of wickednesse and for the time may by his fruits pronounce that he standeth in the state of reprobation so long as he so continueth but that he shall dye in that case is more then he knoweth for the booke of God may be a meane of his conuersion and God the iudge of quicke and dead may repriue him to a further time of repentance and in the end God for his mercies sake in Iesus Christ may pardon him all his sinnes and so receiue him to mercy but this is more then any man can assure himselfe of if he continueth in his wickednesse therefore let no man presume to be a wicked man still in hope of mercy for he may so deceiue himselfe The Church perceiued that Iulianus the Apostata or backesliding Emperour had sinned against the holy Ghost and therefore was a reprobate that way whereupon they made a decree that all the Church should pray against him Paule by a speciall spirite of discerning discerned of Alexander the Copper-smith to be a reprobate and so did our Sauiour Christ discerne of Iudas to be a diuell incarnate and so a reprobate but these are no presidents nor warrants for priuate persons to hold by while they giue finall sentence vpon any And so much shall suffice for the second point where we see how farre we may safely go in the iudging of other men by the description of Belial and how farre not and now let vs come to the third circumstance and see what we may learne from the coherence or ioyning of this text with the rest of the Chapter In this Chapter Salomon maketh a diuision of sinnes and dealeth against diuerse kindes of sinne as namely against rashnesse and vaine-glorie in suretiship but not against suretiship it selfe as more at large I haue shewed in my Caueat for sureties and then he taxeth those that liue idlely for want of a lawfull calling and negligently in their calling and vnprofitably both as before I haue declared according to my poore measure in my Rowsing of the sluggard the greatest enemy I confesse one of them that euer I had to deale withall in my selfe And these sinnes he prosecuteth vnto the 12. verse From those he ariseth and encountreth with greater and grosser sinnes both of men and women vnto the ende of the Chapter from whence we may note that the fanne that God sifteth sinne withall shall find out all and is like the net that bringeth all to the shore Some thinke to go away with their sinnes as many theeues do with their pilfers and not to be espied but it cannot be for if Gods word may haue free passage it will find them out How fondly then do they deceiue themselues which will haue the word to be sincerely deliuered and throughly applied and yet thinke that they should be exempted from the censure and reproofe of the word and not be touched Of such we reade in the Gospell and namely of a certaine Lawyer who hearing our Sauior Christ inueying against some great fault amongst that profession steppeth vp and bestirreth himselfe as a fish that felt himselfe masked in the net and sayth Maister in so saying thou puttest vs to rebuke also Where we see that there are some sinnes that can be contented to sit stil see their fellows arrested but being attached themselues they storme and startle at the very sight of the officer yea at the very glimering of the light when it commeth to them supposing themselues to be priuiledged by reason that they belong some to Princes
and the paines that follow sinfull pleasures and then let our soules be fed and nourished with the sweet foode of the heauenly word of God And then feare not for as Abraham found a sacrifice where he looked for none euen so if we be as readie to sacrifice our sinnes as he was to sacrifice his sonne at Gods bidding we shall find new comforts and pleasures where we looked for none And as Sampson first slue the lion and afterward found a sweet hony combe in the dead lions belly so if we wil arme our selues to slay our sinnes which like ramping lions do meete vs in the way we shall by the power of Gods spirit ouercome them and after that find a most sweet hony comb of Gods mercy in Christ Iesus by whom we haue ouercome sinne and Sathan to our euerlasting peace and consolation He that can truely say with Dauid vnto God Thou shalt guide me by thy counsell shall follow with Dauid and say assuredly Afterward thou wilt receiue me to glorie And he that is not come to that point is as yet at a miserable passe for the Lord in the first of Prouer. sheweth that because he hath called to the foolish to make them vnderstand his words and they haue refused to be instructed or to be guided by his counsell he will laugh at their destruction and mocke when their feare cometh vpon them yea when their feare shall come vpon them like desolation and their destruction like a whirle wind When affliction and anguish shall come vpon them then shall they call vpon the Lord and he will not heare them they shall seeke him early but they shall not find him Thus saith the holy Ghost they shall eate of the fruite of their owne way and be filled with their owne deuises To which the Apostle agreeth and telleth the men of Belial that as they regard not to know God euen so God wil deliuer thē vp to a reprobate mind to do things that are not conuenient And moreouer saith Christ Those mine enemies which would not that I should raigne ouer them bring hither and slay them before me A fearefull thing therfore the children of God pray heartily Thy will be done in earth ô heauenly Father as it is in heauen and with the Church in the Psalme Not vnto vs ô Lord not vnto vs but to thy name giue the praise fighting continually against their affections because they fight against their soules And as the oxe is not readie to worke vntill he be vnder the yoke so Gods children thinke not themselues readie to serue God vntill they haue put on the yoke of Christ and then they say as Dauid said I am readie ô Lord to do thy will And this shall be a singular comfort vnto vs at the houre of death to remember that we haue striuen against our affections and earnestly laboured and prayed to obey God which the man of Belial or lawlesse dissolute person neuer did And so much of the wicked mans first name The second tearme or name that is here giuen to the wicked man is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ish auén vir nihili saith Tremelius that is a man of no worth Auen signifieth both iniquitie and vanitie therfore the house of idols is called Beth-auen because idols are vaine things and idolaters are vaine wicked persons therefore lawlesse loose men are called Ishim auen because such are both vaine and wicked yea more full of vanitie and iniquitie First they are vnprofitable pursuing as it were the wind and the smoke secondly they are practisers of mischiefe and wrong This is profanenesse from which the Apostle dehorteth vs in the twelfth to the Hebrewes and 16. verse where Esau is propounded as a most liuely image of such prophane persons as preferre earth before heauen the world before the word gold before godlinesse the bodie before the soule and the shadow before the bodie as Esau did a messe of pottage before his birthright and as the Israelites preferred onions before Manna and as the Iewes did Barrabas before Christ. Such were they that said in Ier. 43. It was well with vs when we made cakes for the Queene of heauen as many say now adaies It was neuer merry world since we had so much preaching it was a good world when we could go to the Abbeys and other religious houses and haue our bellies full of good cheare for nothing Ieremie is a babler said they and preaching is babling say these But what were they and these too Surely but Ishimauen prophane persons This vaine profanenesse and prophane vanitie is called finenesse of wit now adaies whereby many prophane and vaine persons get their liuing which is nothing else but plaine and lewd shifting This is a matter that men make no reckening of but such a one is viler then the earth Yet the custome of the wicked is to commend such saying such a one is a good honest man and doth no bodie any harme which is vntrue For Ish-auen the vaine man is also a wicked man that is hurtful vnto others And if it were granted that he did no man harme yet is he no good man but a prophane beast and most wicked to Godward An honest man they say he is but of what religion is he what religious exercise doth he frequent How doth he serue God with his familie what striuing hath he against his imperfections When doth he enter into priuate prayer for strength against his speciall sinnes and temptations What care hath he to bring vp his children in the feare of God He may be an honest man and yet a prophane man for honestie is two fold ciuill and religious Some are ciuill honest men and not religious some are religious honest men and scarce ciuill some are neither ciuill nor religious and some are both ciuill and religious Examples we haue in the Scriptures of all these The Barbarians in Miletum were ciuill honest men whose ciuill courtesie and courteous ciuility appeared in that kind entertainment which they gaue and that abundance of necessaries which they ministred vnto Paul and his weather beaten company But religious honest men they were not that is to say such as giue God his due for they had not so much as the knowledge of the true God amongst them as doth appeare by those extremities that they ran into at the sight of Paul For one while they rashly iudged him to be a murderer and that was when the Viper leaped vpon his hand another while they did superstitiously suppose him to be a God and that was when he shooke off the Viper and had no harme In the first of Kings the 14. chapter and thirteenth verse it is said of Abijah the sonne of Ieroboam that when he dyed all Israel mourned for him because there was found in him some goodnesse toward the Lord God of Israel that is he was a man carefull to giue
be merry These and such like speeches are rife in the world but it is onely amongst the men of Belial and Ishim auen lawlesse and dissolute persons vaine and foolish people such as haue cast off Gods yoke from them and like them that sayd of Christ. We will not haue this man to raigne ouer vs come let vs breake their bands asunder and cast their cords from vs our tongues are our owne we may speake what we list who shall controule vs and so are our eyes too and our fingers too and our feete too we will looke and go and gesture it as we list and what hath any man to do with our gestures These are right men of Belial indeed whom the Lord that sitteth in the heauens doth laugh to scorne and shall haue in great derision when destruction shall come suddenly vppon them in his wrath yea he shall vexe them in his sore displeasure and breake them in peeces like a potters vessell if they be not wise vnto repentance in time euen before his wrath be kindled yea but a little This precisenesse that the profane Belials of the world haue in so much contempt is nothing else but that circumspect walking which is commended and commanded vnto vs by the Apostle from the Lord in Ephs. 6. Walke circumspectly saith he like wise men as if our life were a iourney to be walked vpon a narrow bridge ouer a deepe water ouer which there is no safe passage if a man go leaping and skipping and gazing about him as those that wander and roue at scope in the wide fields but we must looke to our feete and to euerie step that we set or else we are quickly gone and being downe very hardly recouered againe without Gods great mercy and grace So much for the first point Now the second thing that we haue to obserue is the tyranny of sinne hauing once gotten possession in the hart If lewd things lodge in the heart surely they will take vp all the outward parts of the body to serue at their pleasure and from one member to another will leudnesse fetch his continual walke Therefore saith the blessed Apostle Let not sinne raigne in your mortall bodies to obey the lustes thereof neither giue you your members as weapons of vnrighteousnesse and vncleannesse To shew what a tyrant sinne is who when he hath gotten hold in the heart of a wicked man will domineere ouer his whole bodie and euery member shall serue as a weapon to fight withall in the defence of sinne and to the offence of vertue When a tyrant raigneth no man that is vnder him is his owne man no man can say what is his owne so where sinne raigneth the most cruell subtill and vnsatiable tyrant that euer was is or can be euery member of the body and euery cogitation and affection of the soule is held in most miserable bondage and slauery nothing is free to serue the Lord but all are at Sathans becke and ready to obey his suggestions This tyrant wil not be closed vp in the heart but will looke out at the eyes as at a window will walke abroad nay rather be caried abroad like a Pope vpon mens shoulders the hand must feele and reach him that which he liketh and giue what he will bestow and where he will bestow it and strike whom he liketh not The eye must seeke out such pleasures as he delighteth in and the tongue must call for them Yea of such bewitching power is this tyrant sinne that he poysoneth like the Crocodile with his very sight and countenance he hath greater power ouer his seruants the members of the body nay his seruants the members haue greater power ouer others then the Centerion in the Gospell had ouer his souldiers I say to one come and he commeth to another go and he goeth saith the Centurion but this tyrant doth but looke vppon men and they feare him he doth not fawne vpon men and they affect him he doth but make a signe with his eyes and signifie with his going and instruct by holding vp of his finger and it is inough to make men go and come at his pleasure And all his fawning flattering terrifying of mē is for nothing else in the world but to get in to a man and to raigne ouer a man which he can easily do He can by little and little yea with a little intreating where Gods grace is not to make resistance enter in at the eye or at the eare or by touching the body and tickling the senses and so from thence into the heart and there he sitteth like a commander and a cruell tyrant euen ouer al those members and affections by which he was first let in and which first gaue him any entertainement Adonijah begged onely Abishag the Shunamite to wife when Dauid had done with her a small request in shew but he had a further reach his mind was to the kingdome which wise Salomon perceiued well inough So Sathan will request but a little dalliance with the fingers and will but borrow they feete to carry him to such a place such a place to heare or see a play or the like vanity and thy countenance to braue or beard such such or thy eye to looke out at as theeues that will craue a standing in a mans shop to see some straunge sight when they meane to rob and steale a small request in shew But sinne is deceitfull and Sathan is an old subtill serpent trust him not he hath a mind to a kingdome and that is to rule like a hellish tyrant in thee to get all the members of thy body and all the affections of thy soule from out of Gods seruice into his slauery and subiection and this can none espie but those that haue heauenly wisdome as Salomon had And therefore as Adonijah made his subtill request against his owne life when wise Salomon had espied his treachery so let all wise harted Christians who by the light of this doctrine haue receiued any inckling of the subtill pollicy of sinne and Sathan in entring and of their tyranny being entred into the heart desire of God by continuall and earnest prayer that through the gracious assistance of his blessed Spirit his feare keeping the passage all these fawning treacherous motions solicited in the vnsanctified gestures and behauiour of the body may be made against their owne life that is that they may be so crushed and checked at the first that neither eye nor eare nor hand nor foote nor tongue nor looke may euer haue any list or ioy to serue sinne or Sathan or the man of Belial any more And so much briefly for the tyranny of sinne which hath all the parts of the body at commandement Now come we to the third point and let vs see how the sinne of hypocrisie in particular doth breake foorth and appeare in the very
their soules health in English Well let vs take heede that we continue not stil so vntoward to serue God to learne his most glorious will least God giue vs ouer againe in his iust iudgemēt to walke in ignorance to beleeue lies Popery groweth apace in many places Papists are very bold doubtlesse they see it is to be feared too much inclinatiō aptnes both in som teachers much of the people to receiue their Popish trash again that is the matter Popish pictures shew thēselues in euery shop street almost many think there is great deuotiō stirred vp by the sight of thē yea they hope of a mery world towards And doubtlesse the Papists cannot brew so fast but as they hope others will be as ready to drinke Well the Lord in mercy looke vpon vs our Christian gouernors that we may be more more forward apt to the embracing setting forth of his holy truth Gospell to our liues end Amen Now let vs pray THE V. SERMON PROV 6.14 Leud things are in his heart WE haue heard before how vaine and lawlesse the man of Belial is how froward and peeuish how counterfeit cunning in his outward behauiour now we are come to the cause of all and to the digging vp of that which is the fountaine of all his distemperature and disorder and that doth the holy Ghost here shew vs when he saith Leud things are in his heart as if he should say it is no maruell though his behauiour be so bad and barbarous so vile and full of leud actions when his heart which is the fountaine of all his actions is full of leude things Then first here let vs consider what is meant by the hart And next what profitable doctrines may be gathered from this sentence and the coherence thereof with the rest of the wicked mans description By hart in this place he meaneth not the fleshly and materiall heart which is the good creature of God but the corrupted and depraued qualities of the heart For the heart is put sometime for the whole inward man as in 1. Pet. 3.4 Let the hid man of the heart be meeke and quiet sometime for the thoughts and affections for the will and vnderstanding as in 1. King 3.9 Giue me an vnderstanding heart the prayer of Salomon That is giue vnderstanding vnto my hart mind or soule for hee had a hart before So that in the heart is vnderstanding but in the wicked it is leud vnderstanding because he vnderstandeth leude and vile things best And in Gen. 6.5 it is said The imaginations of the thoughts of mans heart were euill continually to shew that thoughts and imaginations lodge in the heart but in the man of Belial they are leude and wicked In the 23. of the Prou. 26. the Lord saith My sonne giue me thy heart that is the affections of thy heart as thy desire thy loue thy ioy thy feare thy trust thy zeale thy delight thy sorrow as if he shold say if thou desirest any thing desire me if thou louest any thing loue me if thou ioyest in any thing ioy in me if thou fearest any thing feare me if thou trustest any trust me if thou be zealous for any thing be zealous for me if thou sorrowest for any thing be sorrowfull that thou canst not do thy dutie to me as thou oughtest and these things I leaue not to thy choise but see thou do them indeed Now all these affections are in the wicked man of Belial but they are leud and not for the Lord. In the fourth of the Hebrewes 12. the word of God is called a deuider of the thoughts and intents of the heart so that in the heart lye thoughts and intents that is purposes conclusions and determinations but in the wicked they are all leud and naught So that the meaning of these words Leud things are in his heart is that the man of Belial vnderstandeth leud things he thinketh and studieth leud things he purposeth and intendeth leud things he desireth and affecteth leud things yea he deuiseth and contriueth nothing else but leud things This anatomizing and discouering of Belials hart in this sort with the rest of his behauiour in other parts of his bodie teacheth vs many excellent pointes of doctrine for our instruction 1. That the man of Belial is no better within then without 2. That whatsoeuer a man is without yet God doth iudge of him by that which is in his heart 3. That the cause of all outward disorder is in the heart 4. That a man cannot be a good man vntill the hart be reformed 5. That the word of God is of that nature that it discouereth the hidden things in the heart 6. That the same word of God which sheweth vs the corruptions of our hearts doth also shew vs to reforme the heart Of the first That a wicked and prophane man such as Salomon here speaketh of is no better within then he is without but rather worse is euident both by this and diuers other places of holy Scripture Here he saith that as he is froward in his speeches and dissolute in his outward behauiour so his heart is leud and wicked So that if the hart be naught all is naught If there be any goodnes in his heart it must be either in his vnderstanding or his will or his affections but the subiect of all these is leudnes therfore within there is no better then without but rather worse In the 6. of Gen. verse 5. it is said That mans wickednesse is great and his heart is also euill continually The Psalmist saith The foole meaning a wicked man hath said in his heart there is no God his waies are corrupt and become abhominable there is not one that doth good no not one The Apostle Paul searcheth euery part of the naturall man within and without and findeth all alike Roman 3. from verse 11. to 19. Let him be asked the question and heare his answer And first of his vnderstanding What vnderstanding hath the vnregenerate or naturall man None There is none that vnderstandeth saith he meaning the things of God How are their affections bent What do they not desire to know God No saith the Apostle There is none that seeketh God What is there none better then another No saith the Apostle They haue all gon out of the way they are made altogether vnprofitable there is none that doth good no not one But let vs make a better search it may be there is some goodnesse in some secret corner or in some of their members What say you of their throat Their throat saith the Apostle is an open sepulcher from whence proceedeth nothing but stinke and rottennesse to infect the aire How are their toungs vsed To deceipt saith the Apostle What is vnder their lippes The poison of Aspes And what in their mouths Abundance of cursing and bitternesse They are swift
liue and moue and haue our being and a maruellous mercie of the most high that we are not consumed in our sinnes And let vs take heed that euen now while this matter doth sound in our eares we harbour not leud things in our hearts but pray God to giue repentance and grace to expulse them and faith in the bloud of Iesus Christ to cleanse our harts O let vs take heede I say for we are in his powerfull hands who can either smite vs as we sit before his holy presence or else harden our hearts in his iust vengeance vnto a greater iudgement As Dagon fell downe at the presence of Gods Arke so God giue grace that all leud thoughts imaginations al wicked purposes and determinations all leud vnderstanding and misconstruings if there be any may fall downe out of our harts at the presence and hearing of his word And so much for the second point which is this that howsoeuer a man may carrie himselfe in outward shew to the great admiration of the world yet God doth looke further and iudge him according to the leud things that are in his heart Now let vs come to the third point and therin consider that the cause of all that euill and disorder which appeareth in the outward parts of the bodie is in the heart For when the Lord hath ripped vp the outward parts of Belial as his mouth his eyes his fingers and his feete then he saith presently Leud things are in his heart as if he should say No maruell though his outward man be so ill occupied for there is one within that setteth him a worke and that is a leude heart which is the cause of his froward mouth c. A leude heart or a heart not regenerated is like Achan among the tribes of Israel who secretly played the theefe and brought all out of quiet for whose sake all were plagued And as Achans leude act was the cause of Israels trouble so his owne leud heart was the cause of his leud act and of his owne trouble When Israel was plagued in king Achabs daies Achab blamed Eliah for it little dreaming that himselfe was the cause thereof Achabs humour liueth still in most men though Achab be dead for euery one looketh one vpon another and saith that such and such are the causes of the troubles and stirres that are amongst them when it may be if they searched well they should find the cause most part of it if not all to be the leudnesse and coruption of their owne hearts Some set vpon the Preachers as Achab set vpon Eliah and crie out that they are troublesome and preaching hath marred all but are they not deceiued as Achab was For ask them Is it not the truth that we teach and that they are so much disquieted withall they cannot they will not deny it Oh but say some they liue not according to their doctrine Well admit that to be true as it is in many which yet is an accusation more generall then true and is more maliciously then truly or Christianly obiected yet are not they found lyers which say that preaching of the Gospell is the cause of euill For first they confesse that we preach well and that our doctrine is of God and is sound and good Then of that which is good properly can come nothing but good For qualis causa talis effectus such as the cause is such is the effect saith reason If there follow any euill effect of a good cause it is per accidens through some euill accident that came betweene or vpon as when wheat was sowed tares came vp the wheate was not the cause of the tares but an ill accident happened vpon the sowing of the wheate and that was this while the keepers slept the enuious man came and sowed tares Indeed Christ is called a rocke of offence as though he were the cause of offences which yet is not so for he is the doore of eternall life And the doctrine of the Gospell is continually matched with many offences yet it is the way to saluation For where Christ commeth and the Gospell is preached we meete with many lets which either lead vs awry out of the right way or else do stoppe vs lying in our way or giue occasion of falling and yet of all these nothing can be imputed to Christ or to the Gospell Not to Christ for first it is his office to leade vs by the hand the right way to heauen Secondly he is the light of the world by which we are guided thither Thirdly he is the path by which we come thither Fourthly he is the doore by which we enter in thither and therefore none of these lets or stumbling blockes can be imputed to Christ nor to the Gospell for it is the nature of the Gospell by taking away all lets to set vs open an easie accesse vnto the kingdome of heauen and therefore it is called glad tidings Nothing therefore is more disagreable to the nature of Christ and his Gospell then offence and disorder But this offence happeneth through the leudnes of mens hearts for as soone as Christ appeareth by and by men are wrapped in with offences or rather of themselues runne headlong into them Thus is he the stone to stumble at not because he giueth occasion of stumbling but because occasion is wilfully taken And so the Gospell which is the doctrine of vnitie and peace as Maister Caluin both learnedly and largely doth shew in his Treatise of offences is the occasion of great troubles and garboiles in the world because the wicked take occasion thereby to set all things in a broile Therefore if any euill follow the doctrine of the Gospell it ariseth from some other cause which is this Leud things are in his hart who receiueth euill by the truth And such men turne euen the best things to a bad end so soone as they touch his leud heart like the spider who being full of poison turneth euery thing into poison that she sucketh If therfore men wold leaue raking abroad in the doctrine of the Gospell and the liues of Preachers and other professours and search at home in themselues they shall find the cause of most of that hatred and contention and wilfull mistaking and rash iudging and bitter censuring and wicked liuing that is in our Christian Churches to be in some an ignorant and prophane heart in some an idolatrous and superstitious hart in some a proud and ambitious heart in some a couetous and worldly heart in some a drunken and a voluptuous heart in some a dissembling and Machiuilean heart in some a scoffing and scorning heart in some a cruell and Herodian heart in some a trecherous and Iudas-like heart Now when all these chaunce to ioyne together against the truth as Herod and Pontius Pilate did against Christ then know that the Deuill whose name is Legion is vp in armes against
same condition is to the iust and to the wicked 12. Neither doth man know his time but as the fishes which are taken in an euill net and as the birdes so are the children of men snared in the euill time when it falleth vpon them suddenly Yet this difference remaineth between the wicked and the godly whensoeuer wheresoeuer or howsoeuer they be suddenly taken to the godly death is a vantage to the wicked it is a losse for then the one changeth his hellish earth for heauen and the other then changeth his earthly heauen for hel and therefore of the godly sort it is said commonly that they sleepe when they die as Christ sayd of Lazarus he is not dead but sleepeth but of the other it is said that they perish and are destroyed The one shall recouer the other shall neuer recouer Without recouerie desperate is that disease that will neuer be recouered fearefull indeed is that estate which is alwaies feareful The wicked man dreameth of long life and repentance at the last gaspe but what promise hath he of repentance at that time if he despise the long suffering of God al his life long and neglect or abuse the meanes of repentance or what charter hath he of his life one houre longer then he doth now liue God may and will no doubt haue mercy vpon whom he will but yet that he will haue mercie vpon thee that goest on stil in thy wickednesse without any feare of wandring or any desire of returning is more then thou knowest He that doth so is threatned with the contrarie for custome of sin saith S. Paul breedeth impenitencie and impenitencie maintaineth custome in sin and both do heape vp wrath against the day of wrath and the reuelation of the iust iudgement of God Why did not Cain and Iudas and Elymas and Ananias and Saul and Esau diuers others repent that they might haue bene saued If it had bene in their power when they had listed as miserable Papistes dreame doubtlesse they would haue repented for they were as vnwilling no doubt to be damned in hell as any other but wicked Balaam knew and confessed that the end and death of the righteous is so blessed that it is to be wished of all men No no for the most part it falleth out otherwise then men looke for in stead of repenting and confessing their sinnes they lie rauing and cursing and blaspheming and talking leudly of their wickednes lying like blockes and dying like beasts that so Gods prouerbe here may be verified vpon them he is destroyed suddenly without recouerie And howsoeuer it be that God is good to Israel and mercifull to those that call vpon his name in truth of heart and faith in Christ which feare his name and keepe his couenant which are displeased with themselues and breake off their wickednes by righteousnesse as it is in Daniel yet is he most wise and seuere against the obstinate and lawles against their faces he hath set his bow and prepared his instruments of warre vpon their heads will he raine fire and brimstone and stormes and tempests and snares this shall be their portion to drinke yea and as Iob saith When wickednesse is sweete in his mouth and lie hidden vnder his tongue when he sauoured it and will not forsake it but keepe it close in his mouth then his meate in his bowels shall be turned the gall of Aspes shall be in the middest of him he hath deuoured substance and he shall vomit it out for God shall draw it out of his belly He shall sucke the gall of aspes the vipers tongue shall slay him he shall not see the riuers nor the flouds and streames of hony and butter he shall restore the labour and shall deuoure no more for he hath vndone many he hath forsaken the poore and destroyed houses that he builded not Surely he shall feele no quietnesse in his bodie there shall be none of his meate left therefore shall none hope for his goods In abundance he shall be filled with paine and the hands of all the wicked shall be against him when he is about to fill his belly God shall raine vpon him his meat in his fierce wrath He shal flie from the iron weapons and the bow ef steele shall strike him through The arrow shall be drawne out of his body it shall shine of his gall and so shall feare come vpon him All darknenesse shall be in all his secret places the fire that is not kindled shal deuoure him that which remaineth in his tabernacle shal be destroyed The heauen shall declare his wickednes and the earth shal rise vp against him the increase also of his house shal go away it shal flee away in the day of the Lords wrath Lo this is the portion of the wicked man from God and the heritage of God for his words If then this be the portion of the wicked man from God what reason haue the wicked to hope for saluation and not to feare destruction how can he imagine that he should recouer when the hand of the Lords wrath shall thus cast him downe if not in this life then not at all For from hell there is no redemption meaning for those that are there And as the tree falleth saith the Preacher so shall it lie therefore both falsly and wickedly do the Papists talke of helping and releeuing mens soules by their Dirges and Masses and Mattens and I wot not what else after their departure out of this life Falsly I say because they crosse the course of the Scripture in broching such an errour and wickedly because by such kind of vaine and false hope they do strengthen the hands of the wicked that they care not for repenting in this life neither do they regard the iudgements of the Lord when they are threatned because they hope to be releeued and released for their money when they are dead Therfore is that fire which shal deuoure the wicked called vnquenchable which it were not if dirges and other popish dirt or any thing else in the world could quench it Some kind of fire is quenched with water some with vineger and some with milk but nothing wil quench Topheth which is prepared of old saith the Prophet euen for the King the Lord hath made it large and wide the burning thereof is fire and much wood the breath of the Lord like a riuer of brimstone doth kindle it And if his wrath be once kindled yea but a little happy are they that kissed the Sonne of God before he was angrie and blessed are all they that put their trust in him for as by faith in his bloud they quench the firie darts of Sathan here so by the same faith shall they and do they quench those firie flames of hell which shall burne torment the wicked and vnbeleeuers for euermore Therefore if any here are or haue bene such as haue bene described by
the Anatomie of Belial that is loose lawlesse prophane vaine froward leud surmising suspitious and contentious let them seeke vnto the Lord by timely and vnfained repentance let them embrace righteousnesse and true holinesse and so mercie shall embrace them let them forsake their loosenesse their prophaneness their leudnes and their vanities and by a liuely faith working by loue take hold of Christ as of the hornes of Gods altar and and so assuring themselues of Gods loue in the merites of Christ they may escape this irrecouerable destruction or else not for otherwise my text saith that they shall be destroyed speedily suddenly and without recouerie Many vses may profitably be made of this doctrine but before we come to them I thinke it not amisse to meet with certaine obiections that may be made by Atheists and scoffers against this that hath bene said yea and which do many times arise in the minds of Gods deare children through the weaknesse of their faith in extremity of grieuous temptations sore afflictions Which obiections forasmuch as I find them moued and sufficiently answered by many learned and godly but especially by that excellent learned noble man of France Mornay du Plessy in his booke of the trunesse of religion I wil put them downe euen as he hath done and for answere vnto them will briefly shew you the substance and effect of his answeres supposing them to be so full and sufficient to the purpose that nothing can well be added vnto them to more purpose or of more sufficiency surely whatsoeuer others can I freely confesse my ignorance I see not what I can The first obiection is this if God be iust in his threatnings and that the wicked shall be destroyed and haue such a portion of plagues as hath bene shewed out of Iob. 20 and other places of Scripture then why haue they so much good and the godly so much euill here To this his answere is that if by good we meane riches honour health c. the question is absurd for godlinesse and vertue is the true good The pouerty of Lazarus being a vertuous man is better then the wealth of the rich man the sicknes of a wise man with his wisedom is better then the health of a foole What goods soeuer a man hath he cannot be a good man so long as he him selfe is euil and these outward things are common to good and bad If a man must be termed a good man for hauing these goods then a foole may be termed a wise man in a rich gowne All these false goods are meanes to the wicked to make them worse and worse and riches to corrupt them and others authoritie to do violence health doth make them lustie to do mischiefe so the euils which men terme euils are meanes to the good to make them better as pouertie serueth to bridle lust basenesse to humble them incumbrances to driue them to God and to teach them to succor others But why are these goods common Surely because God cannot be but good insomuch as he maketh his raine to fall and his Sunne to shine vp all A father that keepeth his heritage for his sonne will not apparell him like a slaue in his seruants liueries Princes make their pay common to al souldiers but the garland is giuen to the valiantest Kings cast their largesse at all aduenture among the people but their honors and dignities they bestow on them whom they do specially fauour So God for his honor will not reward the trauels of his seruants with trifles God being liberall and iust will reward thee according to his honour and not according to the basenes of thy heart and that for two causes First because he regardeth not thy workes but his owne in thee Secondly because the reward is not giuen according to thy desert but according to the worthinesse of him that bestoweth it Alexander the great told a seruitour in his warres that a hundreth crownes were inough for him to receiue but not for the Emperour to giue Corne and foode and rayment and money c. are things common to all not peculiar to his children therefore beg not these as the best giftes But what are the goods then that good men haue in this life Many and excellent first they haue grace to make their life allowable to God that knoweth them Secondly in him they repose themselues Thirdly they haue peace in their consciences for if God increase not their present estate they abate their desires Their foes commend their vertues all the world bemoneth their wants those which haue the distributing of goods and honours are blamed for not considering them Lastly the very asking of that question be thou a Christian or a Heathen is vnto them an inestimable treasure If God would not giue me more why haue I forgone those which I had Surely because he saw that if he had not taken them from thee they wold haue taken thee frō him We pluck kniues frō children when they cry to haue them we suffer the Phisition to take from vs our meats which we loue and to abridge vs of our pleasures yea and our of bloud too because he hath seen our water or felt our pulse And shal not God that made vs and gouerneth vs and knoweth best our state what is good for vs haue that honor liberty ouer vs which Phisitions haue Another obiection is this if it be true that the wicked shall be destroyed speedily sodainly and without recouery how is it true that Salomon saith in his booke of the Preacher Chap. 7.17 I haue seene a iust man perish in his righteousnesse and a wicked man continue long in his malice And to this agreeth in shew the complaint of the Prophet The righteous perisheth and noman regardeth it in heart and mercifull men are taken away It should seeme that this plague threatned against the wicked taketh place vpon the godly for they perish and are taken away in their righteousnesse The answere to this is not hard for death is but the common passage and what skils it whether we passe it by sea or by land by our own corruption or by the corruptnes of common weales And if God bring his children to that point for one fault and the iudge for another what iniustice is in God Oh what a thing were it if we could see what fruite the Lord draweth out of their death The child that seeth his father tread grapes blameth him for it thinking they should be kept not conceiuing to what end the treading serueth but the father who knoweth the goodnesse of them better then the child considereth that within two moneths they would wither and drie away and therefore to preserue the vertue of them treadeth them when the child commeth to discretion he museth at his owne folly and yet as then he thought himself wiser then his father After the same maner doth the child when