lust thereof being onely certaine in being vncertaine Secondly things of this world are not satisfactory they doe not fill and content the mind of man The eye cannot be satisfied with seeing nor the eare filled with hearing all things haue an emptinesse and extreme vanity purchasing vnto the possessors nothing but anguish and vexation of spirit and the reason hereof as Viâ—aldus obserues is because the heart of man is made like a triangle and the world round as a circle Now a circle cannot fill a triangle but there will be some corner empty There is nothing can fill the mind of man but the blessed Trinitie when God the Father the most ancient of daies shall fill our memory God the Sonne who is wisdome it selfe shall fill our vnderstanding God the holy Ghost who is contentation and loue shall sit in our will then all the powers of our mind will be at rest when as they shall inioy him who made them But the things of this world afford no perfect and absolute contentment and therefore ne vos configurate seculo isto fit not your selues according to the worlds figure which is a circle but be ye renewed in your mind which is a triangle representing the sacred Trinitie Take a view with the Wise man of all worldly things in briefe doth any pleasure satisfie No pleasure is like lightning Simul oritur moritur it is sweet but short like hawking much cost and care for a little sport The prodigall child wasted both goods and body yet could not haue enough at the lest not enough hogs meat Virgo formosa supernè Desinit in turpem piscem malesuada voluptas Doth learning that incomparable treasure of the mind satisfie No The more a man knoweth the more hee knoweth that hee doth not know so that as Salomon said Hee that increaseth knowledge doth increase sorrow Doth honour content a man No The poore labourer would be written Yeoman the Yeoman after a few deare yeeres is a Gentleman the Gentleman must bee Knight the Knight a Lord the Baron an Earle the Count a Duke the Duke a King the King would Caesar bee and what then is the worlds Emperour content No. Vnus Pellaeo iuueni non sufficit orbis Aestuat infoelix angusto limine munde One world is not enough for Alexander and therefore he weepes and is discontent as if hee wanted elbow roome In the state Ecclesiasticall the begging Frier would be Prior the Prior an Abbat the Lord Abbat a Bishop the Bishop an Archbishop the Metropolitane a Cardinall the Cardinall Pope the Pope a God nay that is not enough aboue all that is called God 2. Thes. 2.4 This made Bernard wonder O ambitio ambientium crux how dost thou paine yet pleasure all men Doe riches content No the more men haue the more men craue and that which is worst of all they are the greatest beggers when they haue most of all He that loueth siluer shall not bee satisfied with siluer As the poore man crieth out Quid faciam quia non habeo so the couetous wretch as fast complaineth Quid faciam quia habeo Luke 12.17 Those drinks are best that soonest extinguish thirst and those meates which in least quantity doe longest resist hunger but here the more a man doth drinke the more thirstie so strange in some is this thirst that it maketh them dig the pits and painfully draw the water and after wil not suffer them to drinke This saith Salomon is an euill sicknesse and a great vanity when a man shall haue riches and treasure and honour â—nd want power and grace to ioy in them Thus you see the world is like a butterflie with painted wings vel sequendâ— labâ—mur vel assequendo laedimur either we faile in pursuing it or else wheÌ„ we haue caught it it is so vaine that it giueth no contentment Herein is the true difference betweene earthly things heauenly things the one are desired much but being obtained they content little the other are desired little but once gained satisfie much and therefore Lay not vp treasure vpon earth where the moth and canker corrupt and where theeues dig thorow steale for these things are neitheâ— vera nor vestra but lay vp treasure for your selues in heauen If ye will not heare the words of Scripture behold the works of nature mans heart is broad aboue narrow beneath open at the top close below to signifie that we should inlarge and spread our affections toward heauen and heauenly things and draw them to as narrow a point as possibly we can concerning earth and earthly things and so by the fashion of our heart we may learne not to follow the fashion of the world Be ye changed by the renewing of your mind We are formed by God deformed by Satan transformed by grace 1. Sacramentally by baptisme 2. Morally by newnesse of life which our Apostle meanes in this place That which followes in the text is expounded Epist. for the next Sunday The Gospel LVKE 2.42 The father and mother of Iesus went to Hierusalem after the custome of the feast day c. THis Gospell is a direction how parents ought to carrie themselues toward their children and how children also should demeane thâ—mselues toward their parents the one by the practise of Ioseph and Mary the other by the paterne of our Sauiour Christ. Parents care touching their children concernes their Soule Bodie Their soule that they bee brought vp in instruction and information of the Lord that is in godlinesse and ciuilitie by the one they shall keepe a good conscience before God by the other they shall obtaine a good report among men the which two conscience and credit must chiefly be sought after in this life For the bodie Parents ought to prouide competent sustenance and maintenance guarding their persons and regarding their estates all which is performed here by Ioseph and Mary toward Christ. First for the soules institution they did instruct him by precept and example precept bringing him to the Temple that he might be taught and that not only this once but often as often as law did require So Iuuencus expressely Ad Templum laetis puerum perducere festis Omnibus annorum vicibus de more solebant This should teach al parents how to teach their children especially that they send them vnto the publike Catechising in the Church and that according to Canon and custome for the common Catechisme which Authoritie commands is fit and full as containing all the vertues necessarie to saluation and the meanes whereby those vertues are receiued and conserued The principal vertues of a Christian are Faith Hope Charitie The Creede is necessarie for faith as teaching vs what wee haue to beleeue The Pater noster is necessarie for hope teaching vs what we are to desire The ten Commandements are necessary for charitie teaching vs what we
manifesting himselfe to the world that he was the Messias of the world As if he should argue thus If you belieue not my words yet credit me for my wonders I make the blind to see the deafe to heare the lame to goe I cure all kind of diseases euen with the least touch of my finger and least breath of my mouth I heale the leper I heare the Centurion The leper was a Iew the Centurion a Gentile the leper poore the Centurion rich the leper a man of peace the Centurion a man of warre Insinuating heereby that God is no accepter of persons but that his benefits indifferently belong to men of all nations and all fashions Iâ— Christ there is neither Iew nor Grecian neither bond nor free Yet Christ did first cure the Iew then the Gentile For saluation was offered first to the Iewes he touched the Iew but cured the Gentile with his word He visited Ierusalem in his owne person but healed other nations by the Preachers of his Gospell In the leper 2. things are remarkable the Weaknesse of his body sicke and sicke of a leprosie Vertues of his mind Faith Adoration Wisdome Patience Confession In Christ also two things are to be considered his Mercy that would so readilie Might that could so easily cure this distressed Lazer Aleper All weaknesse originally proceeds from wickednesse either from some defect in our conception or disorder in our conuersation as Mephibosâ—eth had his lamenesse by falling from his nurse so euery man his sicknesse by falling from the Lord. Christ who was free from sinne was also free from sicknesse but vnto men carying about them bodies of sinne diseases are as it were a sermon from heauen wherein Almighty God accuseth of sins and shewes his wrath against sinners But the condition of a leper as we reade in the law was of all other sicke most insupportable First he must liue alone separated from the fellowship of Gods people as vnworthy to come into cleane company Secondly he did weare foure markes to be knowne by his garments torne his head bare his mouth couered and he must cry I am vncleane I am vncleane For griefe whereof assuredly some pined away being forlorne in their sorrow destitute of all good comfort and company Yet this leper indued with a liuely faith is not hopelesse howsoeuer haplesse For he comes and saith vnto the great Physitian of the world Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me cleane though he knew that his sicknesse in the worlds eye was incurable yet he did beleeue that vnto God nothing is impossible He felt his owne misery to be great yet hoped Christs mercy was more great and therefore comes vnto him as Ludolphus aptly Non tà m passibus corporis quà m fide cordis If thou wilt thou canst A strong faith in a weake body Faith comes by hearing and the reason why this leper extraordinarily desired to heare Christ and heare of Christ was his vncleane disease so that the weaknesse of his body brought him vnto the Physitian of his soule Note then here with Paul that all things happen for the good of such as are good It was good for Dauid that he was in trouble good for Naaman that he was a leper for his vncleannesse brought him vnto the Prophet and the Prophet brought him vnto the sauing knowledge of the true God It was good for Paul that he was buffeted by Satan for otherwise peraduenture through abundance of reuelations he would haue buffeted God Of all herbes in the garden as one wittily Rew is the herbe of grace Many times our woe doth occasion our weale for as pride doth breed sores of salues so faith on the contrarie doth often make salues of sores altogether renouncing her owne merit and wholly relying vpon Christs mercie Tanto desiderantiùs ad Christum contendit quòd suam indignitatem immunditiam probè sentiret as Luther and Ferus accord in this and that so truly that as a Papist said If Bonauentura had not been a Romish saint he would haue been reputed an asse So the Protestant if Ferus had not been a Romish asse he might haue proued in the Church a renowned saint The second vertue to bee considered as a fruite of his faith is adoration a spiritual fee for a spirituall physitian as the bodily Doctor must be paied so the ghostly prayed He therefore worships Christ and that with all humblenes of Thought humblenes of Word humblenes of Deede He comes to Christ as a vassall to his Lord Domine non tanquam ad dominum titularem sed tanquam ad dominum tutelarem If thou wilt thou canst Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh and therefore beleeuing in his heart that Christ was the Lord willing and able to helpe confesseth it also with his mouth If it be for my good I am sure thou wilt and I beleeue thou canst attributing all to Christs might and mercie nothing to his owne either worth or woe Vttering this also with humble gesture For as S. Mark reports hee kneeled and as S. Luke he fell on his face teaching vs in prayer to fall down and kneele before the Lord our maker Hee that worships God irreuerently shewes himselfe not a Christian but a Manichee who thought God made the soule but not the bodie Thirdly note the lepers wisedome who did obserue Circumstances of Place not pressing to Christ on the mount but expecting him in the valley Circumstances of Time not interrupting Christ in his sermon or disturbing his auditory Circumstances of Person speaking in a succinct stile Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me cleane Giuing vs to vnderstand that in suing vnto men which are wise and in praying to God who is wisedome we need not vse many but pithie words See Gospel Dom. 2. quadrages The fourth vertue is his patience who was content notwithstanding his extreame miserie to stay Gods leisure and Christs pleasure First seeking the kingdome of God and then desiring that other things might be cast vpon him In y e first place giuing God glory Lord if thou wilt thou canst In the second praying for his own good Make me cleane not as I will but as thou wilt O Lord prescribing neither the time when nor place where nor manner how but referring all to Christ possessing his soule with patience The last vertue to be regarded in this leper is conâ—ession He knew the Pharisies hated and persecuted al such as confessed Christ yet he calles him Lord and worships him as a Lord and proclaimes him in the presence of much people to bee the Lord. It is well obserued that Gods omnipotent power and infinit mercies are the two wings of our deuotion whereby faith in the midst of all trouble mounts into heauen Here the leper acknowledgeth openly Christs omnipotencie for hee saith not intreate
men slept the malitious enemy sowed tares among the wheat And it was not discerned vntill the blade was sprung vp and had brought forth fruit When I see the finger of the diall remooued from one to two shall I be so mad as to thinke it standeth still where it was because I could not perceiue the stirring of it In the forehead of the whore of Babylon is written a mystery so Paul calles the working of Antichrist a mystery of iniquity because the man of sinne doth couertly and cunningly wind his abominations into the Church of Christ. Polititians obserue that corruptions are bred in ciuill bodies as diseases in naturall bodies at the first they be not discerned easily but in their growth insensibly they proceed often till it come to passe which Liâ—e said of the Roman State Nec vitia nostra nec remedia ferre possumus We can neither indure the malady nor the medicin Was it so in the Empire of Rome and might it not be so in the Church of Rome The Rhemists acknowledge many barbarismes and incongruities in the vulgar Latine text Cardinall Caietan Sanctes Pagninus Franciscus Forerius Hieronymus Oleastrius Sixtus Senensis all learned Papists ingenuously confesse that beside solecismes in the vulgar translation of Rome there are many grosse faults additions transpositions omissions Isidorus Clauius a Spanish Monke professed that he found in it 8000. errors It is plaine they were so manifest and so manifold as that the Councell of Trent and after it Pope Sixtus Quâ—ntus aâ—d Clement 8. took order for the correcting of it I would know then of a Papist how this cockle was sowen among Gods seed in what yeere this that absurdity first crept into their text as Luke 15.8 domum eâ—ertit for domum euerrit and Exod. 34 29. Moses in stead of a bright countenance is said to haue cornutam faciem a face of horne whereupon the common painters among the Papists vsually paint Moses with two hornes as a cuckold to the great scandall of Christian religion as Augustinus Steuchus and Sixtus Senensis obserue The whole Rhemish Colledge cannot tell in what age confusus est in stead of confessus est entred in Marke 8.38 Pope Sixtus Quintus hath sundry coniectures in the preface prefixed to his Bible vel â—x â—niuriâ temporum vel ex librariorum inâ—uriá vel ex impressorum imperitiâ vel ex temerè emendantium licentiâ vel ex recentiâ—rum interpretum audaciâ vel ex haereâ—icorum scholijs ad marginem If the Pope cannot tell in whose head and hands is all the Churches treasure both for wit and wealth it is enough for the disciple to be as his Master is and the seruant as his Lord. The late Pope Clement 8. corrected the corrections of his predecessor Sixtus Quintus setting forth another Bible which one called vnhappily The new Transgression In these reformed editions of Rome there is such difference that we may say with the Prophet Egyptians are set against Egyptians and the destroier against the destroier one against another and all against the truth In the Roman Mâ—ssals and Breuiaries there were so many damnable blasphemies and superstitious errors that the late Popes euen for shame reformed them and yet they cannot tell in what yeere these corruptions first grew and therefore what need wee tell them at what time this and that popish nouelty was first sowen Is it not enough that we now discerne the tares among the wheat and prooue to the proudest of their side that there was no such darnell in Gods field for the space of six hundred yeeres after Christ I say no such stinking weeds as the single communion of the Priest halfe communion of the people worshipping of the bread creeping to the Crosse supremacie of the Pope which are the most essentiall points of all the Romish religion Secondly this parable makes against the Papists in the question of putting heretikes to death I confesse the words sinite vtraque simul crescâ—re teach not the Magistrates duty but rather shew Gods bounty towards heretikes It is the Princes office to banish imprison mulct and by all meanes possible to suppresse them and in no sort to suffer them as being so pâ—stilent as the plague For as the plague doth instantly strike the heart and by poisoning one infects many â—ic haeresis cor ipsum animae petit cùm vnum inâ—erficit centum alios inficit Heresie strikes at faith and so takes away the life of the Christian for the iust doth liue by faith and then it fretteth as a canker or gangren corrupting all other members of Christs mysticall body we may cry mors in illà as the children of the Prophets mors in â—llâ such cockle then ought to be cropt and topt but not vtterly rooted vp and burnt vntill the great haruest A murtherer and a traitor indued with faith and repentance may passe from the crosse to the crowne as the blessed theefe in the Gospell was instantly translated from his paine to Paradise but an heretike dying in his heresie cannot be saued He therefore that puts an heretike to death is a double murtherer as Luther thinks in destroying his body with death temporall in slaying his soule with death eternall Excommunication exile losse of goods imprisonment depriuation haue bin reputed euermore fit punishments for heretikes but fire and fagot is not Gods law but canon shot enacted first by Pope Lucius 3. An. 1184. and confirmed afterward by Innocentius 3. and Gregory 9. as it appeares in the Decretals and it was executed against the Waldenses and in latter times against the Protestants especially martyring the dead with the liuing the wife with the husband the new borne yea not borne infant with the mother whom they should haue cherished by all lawes and christened by their owne lawes and that not for the denying of any article of the Creed but onely for not beleeuing Transubstantiation and other new quirkes of the Schoole which the most iudicious among them as yet cannot explicate for as one wittilie Corpore de Christi lis est de sâ—nguine lis est deque modo lis est non habitura modum Scotus Cameracensis and other Papists of great note confesse plainly that transubstantiation cannot be inforced by the Gospell nor by any testimonies of the ancient Church And Bellâ—rmin Romes oracle doth acknowledge that it may well be doubted whether there be any place of scripture cleerly to proue transubstantiation otherwise then that the Church hath declared it so to be because many learned and acute men hold the contrary What hellish crueltie then was it in the Bonners of Queene Mary to make bonâ—fires of sillie women for not vnderstanding this their ineffable mystery wherein are nine miracles at the least as Ioannes de Combis affirmes If these gunpowder Priests and fagot Diuines
6. is said to haue done for his Poâ—edome The Lord saith Thou shalt haue no other Gods but me neither in hâ—auen aboue nor in earth beneath nor in the water vnder the earth and yet as the Scripture doth intimate the proud man makes honour his god the couetous man gold his god the voluptuous man his belly his god The first hath his idoll as it were in the aire the second his idoll in the earth and the third his idoll in the water as one pithily notes vpon the second Commandement Secondly some pawne their soules albeit they be not so desperate so giuen ouer to commit sinne with greedinesse as to sell their soules right out yet for their profit and pleasure they will be content to pawne their soules vnto the diuell for a time so Dauid in committing adulterie did as it were pawne his soule Noe when hee was drunke did pawne his soule Peter in denying Christ did also pawne his soule but these being all labourers in Gods vineyard redeemed their soules againe with vnfained and hartie repentance But let vs take heede how we play the merchant venturers in this case for our soule is our best iewell of greater value then the whole world and the diuell is the craftiest vsurer and greatest oppressor that euer was if he can get neuer so little aduantage if we keep not day with him he will be sure at the iudgement day to call for iustice and to claime his owne speaking vnto God as the King of Sodome did vnto Abraham Da mihi animas caetera tolle tibi Giue me the soules which haue been pawned and forfetted vnto me the rest take to thy selfe There is another kinde of pawning of soules and that is vnto God for Princes and Prelates Ministers and Masters are bound to God as it were in goods and bodie for all such as are vnder them as the Prophet said vnto King Ahab Keepe this man if he be lost and want thy life shall goe for his life But if thou dost thy best endeuour though the wicked incorrigible sinner die for his iniquitie thou shalt deliuer thy soule redeeeme thy pawne and when euening is come the Lord of the vineyard shall giue thee thy reward Thirdly some lose their soules as carnall and carelesse Gospellers ignorant negligent people who though they come to Church either for fashion or feare yet alas they seldome or neuer thinke of their poore soule from whence it came or whither it shall goe trifling away the time in the market neither buying nor selling nor giuing but idly gaping and gazing vpon other a fit pray for the cutpurse betraying themselues and their soules vnto that old cunnicatcher Satan who goes about daily seeking whom he may deceiue cunningly snatching and stealing such soules as are vnguarded vnregarded O blockish stupiditie will you keepe your chicken from the kite your lambe from the wolfe your faâ—ne from the hound your conies and pigeons from the vermine and will not you keepe your soule from the diuell but idly lose it without any chopping or changing in the market Fourthly some giue their soules as first the malitious and enuious person for whereas an ambitious man hath a little honour for his soule a couetous man a little profit for his soule a voluptuous man a little pleasure for his soule the spitefull wretch hath nothing for his soule but fretting and heart-griefe like Cain who said of himselfe Whosoeuer findeth me shall slay me Secondly such as finally despaire giue their souls away for the diuell bestoweth nothing in liew thereof but horror and hell of conscience The distressed soule may comfort himselfe with the conclusion of this parable The first shall be last and the last first The last in 〈◊〉 owne iudgement the first in Gods eye Thirdly such as destroy their bodie that the diuel may haue their soule giue themselues away for nothing in one word this is the case of all such as stand idle in the market they serue the diuels turne for nothing for the wages of sinne saith Paul is death and death is none of Gods workes a nothing in nature Why therefore do you stand idle in the market all the day goe into the vineyard saith the Lord and whatsoeuer is right I will giue you Now there be diuers labourers in the vineyard as there be diuers loiterers in the world one plants another waters some dig some dung the householder giues vnto one man a shredding hooke to another a spade to a third an hatchet so there be sundrie vocations and offices in the Church diuersities of gifts and diuersities of administrations and diuersities of operations 1. Cor. 12. But about the trimming of the materiall vine there be three sorts of labourers especialâ—y the first to proyne the second to lay abroad and vnderprop it the third to digge away the old mould and to lay new to the root al which are so necessarie that if any of them faile the vine will soone decay No lesse needfull in Christs Church are these three estates Clergie Magistracie Commonaltie It belongs to the Priest to cut away supersâ—uous branches with the sword of the spirit The Magistrate must protect vnderset and hedge in the vine lest the wilde bore out of the wood roote it vâ— and the wilde beasts of the field deuoure it The common labourer must dig and till the ground that hee may get sustenance for himselfe and other If no Priest what would become of our spirituall life if no Prince what would become of our ciuill life if no common people what would become of our naturall life We must al be labourers and that painfull and profitable painfull called in this our parable thrice workmen Non otiandum in viâ sed laborandâ—m in vineâ There is no roome in y e vineyard for sluggishnes Cursed is he that doth the worke of the Lord negligently But because Satan is the most diligent preacher in the world and heretikes compasse sea and land to make proselyts and to draw disciples after them it is not enough that labourers in the vineyard be painfull except they be profitable for as one said of the schoolemen A man may magno conatu nihil agere take great paine to little purpose toile much and yet not helpe but rather hurt the vineyard The by-word Euery man for himself and God for vs all is wicked impugning directly the end of euery vocation and honest kind of life That our paine may be profitable wee must labour in a lawfull calling lawfully for the good of the vineyard and then as it followeth in the last point of the parable wee shall receiue Gods peny for our paine When euen was come the Lord of the vineyard said vnto his steward Call the labourers and giue them their hire beginning at the last vntill the first Wherein obserue two things especially When at euening What giue theÌ„ their hire the
Antichrist is the Babylonians ioy the Diuell Câ—licuts ioy but onely Christ is our ioy We will reioyce and be glad in thee I am my beloueds and my beloued is mine Christ is so much the Churches as that he is none others ioy for as Cyprian and other Catholike Doctors He that hath not the Church for his Mother hath not God for his Father and he that hath not God for his Father hath not Christ for his Sauiour Per portam Ecclesia intramus in portam paradisi No Church no Christ no Christ no ioy This exultation appertaines only to the Church He that is not a sonne of Sion a Citizen of Hierusalem is in the gall of bitternes and hath no part nor portion in this happines Now concerning the act the matter is to reioyce The maner greatly to reioyce with iubilation and shouting It is a receiued opinion in the world that religion doth dull our wits and daunt our spirits as if mirth and mischiefe wâ—nt alway together but it is taught and felt in Christs schoole that none can be so ioyfull as the faithful that there is not so merry a land as the holy land and therefore Zachary doth double his exhortation Reioyce greatly shout for ioy and Zophony doth triple it Reioyce â— daughter Sion be ye ioyfull ó Israel be glad with all thine heart ô daughter Hierusalem Exulta laetare iubila Now iubilation as the Fathers obserue is so great a ioy that it can neither be smothered nor vttered Hilaris cum pondere virtus In the words of Christ My yoke is easie my burdeâ— is light A new yoke is heauie but when it is worne and dried it waxeth easie Christ therefore did first weare and beare this yoke that it might be seasoned and made light for vs he commanded vs to fast and himselfe did fast he commanded vs to pray and himselfe did often pray he commanded vs to forgiue one another and himselfe pardoned Againe when he saith My yoke is sweet and my burden is light he doth insinuate that the yokes of other are bitter and their burdens heauie that it is a sorie seruice to be Sathans vassall or the worlds hireling so that the good man takes more delight in performing his dutie then the wicked can in all his villanies vanities I was glad saith Dauid when they said vnto me we will goe into the house of the Lord. And Psalm 84.2 My soule hath a longing desire to enter into the courts of the Lord. And Psalm 81. Sing we merily to God c. An vpright Christian is a Musician a Physician a Lawyer a Diuine to himselfe for what is sweeter Musicke than the witnes of a good conscience What is better Physicke then abstinere sustinere good diet and good quiet what deeper counsell in Law then in hauing nothing to possesse all things and what sounder Diuinitie then to know God and whom he hath sent Iesus Christ On the contrary the wicked is wearied in his wayes and discontented in his courses A malitious man is a murtherer of himselfe the prodigall man a theese to himselfe the voluptuous man a witch to himselfe the couetous man a diuell to himselfe the drunkard all these to himselfe a murtherer to his bodie a theese to his purse a witch to his wit a diuell to his soule The blinde Poet saw so much Semitacertè Tranquillae per virtutem â—atet vnica vita Salâ—iaâ—â—s hath pithily comprehended all in a few words Nâ—mo alâ—orum sensu miser est sed suo ideo non possunt cuiusquam falso iudâ—cio esse miseri qui sunt verè suâ— conscientiá beati hoc cunâ—tis beatiores sunt religiosi quia habent quae volunt meliora quà m quae habent omninò habere non possunt Fiâ—ei praesentis oblectamenta capiunt beatisudinis futurae praemia consequentur Hitherto concerning the Prophets exultation his exaltation followeth Ecce rex tuâ—s c. The word Behold in the Bible is like Iohn the Baptist alway the forerunner of some excellent thing and indeed all our comfort consists in this one sweet sentence Behold thy King commeth vnto thee Behold looke no more for him but now looke on him Happy are the eyes which see the things that ye see King a reall and a royall Prince Reall in regard of his right and that by a thrâ—efold title iure creationis merito redemptionis donâ— patris might as being the Lord vers 3. who commands and it is done vers 6. for he can doe whatsoeuer he will and more then he will A royall Prince both in his affections and actions A tyrant doth rob and spoile the people but the Messias is Iesus a Sauiour of his people Matth. 1.21 A tyrant is a wolfe to scatter and destroy the sheepe but Christ is the good shepheard who gaue his life for the sheepe Iohn 10.11 Thy promised vnto thee borne of thee bred vp with thee flesh of thy flesh and bone of thy bone not euery ones King for Satan is Prince of the world but thy King for he is God of Israel his comming was sufficient for the whole world but efficient only for Sion Or thy King because it is not enough to confesse in generall that Christ is a King for the Diuell himselfe beleeues the Maior of the Gospell but the daughter of Sion must assume and beleeue the Minor that Christ is her King Esay 9.6 To vs a child is borne to vs a Sonne is giuen There is great diuinitie saith Luther in Pronouns a great Emphasis in nobis and noster as Bullinger Caluin note Commeth Christ is the way we wanderers out of the way so that if the Way had not found vs we neuer should or could haue found the way nec opibus nec operibus nec opera Vnto thee tibi sicredis contra te si non credis if incredulous against thee but if beleeuing for thee for thy not his good he gaue himselfe for thee Nascens se dedit in socium conuescens in cibum moriens in pretium regnans in praemium See Epist. Dom. 3. Quadrages What could haue been said lesse and yet what canst thou wish for more for if Chrâ—st be a King then he is able if thine then willing if he come he respects not his paine if he come vnto thee he regards not his profit and therefore reioyce daughter Sion shout for ioy daughter Hierusalem These glosses are common in the Fathers and Friars and I shall often touch vpon them especially Epist and Gospell on Christmas day The second part of this Gospell insinuates how wee must entertaine Christ in our Thoughts The second part of this Gospell insinuates how wee must entertaine Christ in our Words The second part of this Gospell insinuates how wee must entertaine Christ in our Deeds For the
saith Hebr. 1.1 that God the Father in olde time spake by the Prophets Esay doth ascribe this vnto the Sonne My people shall know my name in that day they shall know that I am he who sent to them and the reason hereof is plaine because all the workes of the sacred Trinitie quoad extra be common vnto all the three persons and so God the Father and God the Sonne and God the holy Ghost send The persons diuersitie then alters not the sacred Identitie but as Interpreters obserue that text of Malachie compared with this of Matthew proues notably that God the Father and God the Sonne are all one their power equall their maiestie coeternall My messenger In the vulgar Latin Angelum meum Origen therefore thought Iohn was an Angell but other expositours more fitly that the Baptist was Angelus officioÌ„ non naturâ so Malachie cals other Prophets Angels in his 2. Chapt. 7. The Priests lips shall preserue knowledge and they shall sâ—eke the law at his mouth for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts Angelus Domini so Preachers are called Angels in the new Testament that is messengers and ambassadours of God and here the Gospell agrees with the Epistle This is a paterne of S. Pauls precept Preachers are to be respected as the Ministers of Christ and stewards of God for God saith of Iohn the Baptist Behold I send my messenger c. Happily some will obiect if ordinarie Prophets are called Angels how doth this testimonie proue Iohn to be more then a Prophet Answere is made by Zacharie that Iohn is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Prophet here by Matthew that Angell as it were bedell or gentleman vsher vnto Christ. As then in a solemne triumph they be most honoured who goe next before the king so Iohn being next vnto Christ euen before his face is greater then they who went farre off he was the voice Christ the word now the word and the voice are so nâ—ere that Iohn was taken for Christ. Againe Iohn may be called that Angell in regard of his carriage so well as his calling for albeit he did no miracle yet as one said his whole life was a perpetuall miraâ—le first his conception was wonderfull begotten saith Ambrose with prayer Non tà m complexibus quà m orationibus An Angell from heauen auoucheth as much in the first of Luke verse 13. Feare not Zacharie for thy prayer is heard and thy wife Elizabeth shall beare thee a Sonne and thou shalt call his name Iohn It was another miracle that a babe which could not speake yea that was vnborne began to execute his angelicall office and to shew that Christ was neere that dumbe Zacharie should prophesie was a third wonder at his circumcision and so the whole life of Iohn was very strange liuing in the wildernes more like an Angell then a man and in a word those things which are commendable in other seuerally were found in him all ioyntly being a Prophet Euangelist Confessor Virgin Martyr liuing and dying in the truth and for the truth I know not as Ambrose speakes whether his birth or death or life was more wonderfull How Iohn doth prepare the way before Christ is shewed in the Gospell on next Sunday yet obserue this much in generall that it is the Ministers office to shew men the right way to saluation and to bring them vnto God our Sauiour hath promised to come vnto men it is our dutie therefore to knocke at the doores of your heart by preaching faith and repentance to prepare the way for our master that when himselfe knocks he may be let in and so sup with you and dwell with you and you with him euermore Amen The Epistle PHILIP 4.4 Reioyce in the Lord alwaies againe I say reioyce A Text of reioycing against the time of reioycing whereby the Church intimates how wee should spend our Christmas ensuing not in gluttonie and drunkennesse in chambâ—ring and wantonnesse doing the diuel more seruice in the twelue daies then in al the twelue moneths but rather in Psalmes and hymnes and spirituall songs making melodie in our hearts vnto the Lord I say the Church allotting this scripture for this Sunday teacheth vs how this holy Time should be well imploied not in vnholinesse and mad meriments among Lords of misrule but in good offices of religion as it becomes the seruants of him who is the God of order obseruing this festiuall in honour of Iesus not Iacchus alway praising our heauenly Father in louing vs so well as to send his Sonne to saue his seruants and lest we should erre in our spirituall reuels obserue in this Epistle both The Matter Of our ioy The Manner Of our ioy The matter and obiect of our ioy reioyce in the Lord. The manner how Long alway reioyce The manner how Much againe and againe reioyce It is an old rule in Philosophie and it is true in Diuinity y t affections of the mind as anger feare delight c. are in their own nature neither absolutely good nor simply euill but either good or bad as their obiect is good or bad As for exaÌ„ple to be angry or not angry is indifferent Be aâ—grie and sin not saith Paul there is a good anger Whosoeuer is angrie with his brother vnaduisedly saith Christ is in danger of iudgement there is a bad anger So Matth. 10.28 Feare not them that kill the body and are not able to kill the soule but rather feare him which is able to destroy both soule and body in hell So likewise to reioyce or not to reioyce in it selfe is neither absolutely disgracefull nor altogether commendable we may not reioyce in the toyes of the world in frowardnes or doing euill faith Salomon Non in vitijs non in diuitijs saith Bernard Woe bee to you that thus laugh for yee shall waile and weepe but wee may delight in the Lord saith Dauid Reioyce in Christ saith Mary then our ioy is good when as our ioyes obiect is good yea God as Paul here Reioyce in the Lord. As sorrow is a straitning of the heart for some ill so ioy the dilating of the heart for some good either in possession or expectation Now Christ is our chiefe good as being author of all grace in this life and all glorie in the next and therefore we must chiefly reioyce in him and in other things only for him in him as the donor of euery good and perfect gift for him that is according to his will as the phrase is vsed 1. Cor. 7.39 If her husband be dead sâ—ee is at libertie to marrie with whom shee will only in the Lord. So then we may reioyce in other things for the Lord as in the Lord we may reioyce in our selues as being the Lords and in other because they reioyce in the Lord. Psal. 16.3 All my delight is vpon the Saints that are in the earth
on vs his Sonne Fitly when the time was full come Freely for hee was not bought or stolne but sent Gift Christ described heere by his Diuinitie his Sonne Humanity made of a woman Humility bond to the law Effect vers 5. to redeeme them which were bound vnto the law c. The heire as long as he is a child This comparison is taken out of the Roman law by which it is ordained that a pupill albeit he be Lord of all his fathers inheritance should be kept vnder tutors and gouernours vntill hee come to full age to wit vnder tutors till fourteene yeeres vnder Curators vntill fiue and twenty Tutores dantur impubâ—ribus Curatores puberibus Tutors are guardians of the pupils person principally so called Quasituitores atque defensores but Curators are factors especially for his goods and estate Now the Ward during the time of his minority suffers much bondage differing saith Paul nothing from a seruant nothing in respect of any present possession or actuall administration of his owne estate but very much in respect of his right and proprietie being dominus habitu non vsu as hauing free hold in law though as yet not free hold in deede and so the Ward doeth differ from the slaue who was in old time no person in law but a meere chattell and as it were of the nature of cattell It was in Pauls age then a great slauery to be a pupill And Bishop Latuner complained of late that there was not a schoole for the Wards so well as a Court a schoole for their learning so well as a Court for their lands It should seeme Gardians in his daies vsed young Noble men not as Lords but as seruants as Paul here c. In like manner when wee were little children in our nonage we were heires hauing the promise of an eternall inheritance to come which should be giuen vnto vs by the seed of Abraham that is to say by Christ in whom all nations should be blessed but because the fulnesse of time was not yet come Moses our tutor and gouernor held vs in bondage The law doth threaten accuse condemne so long as we be children in vnderstanding dwarfes in faith ignorant of Christ. Saint Paul cals the law rudiments of the world not onely because it is our first schoolemaster and A B C to Christ but because it leaues a man in the world and prepares not a way for him to heauen I kill not I steale not I commit not adultery this outward honest conuersation is not the kingdome of Christ but the righteousnes of the world The law when it is in his principall vse cannot iustifie but accuse terrifie condemne Now these are things of the world which because it is the kingdome of the diuell is nothing else but a puddle of sinne death hell and of all euill and so the whole law especially the ceremoniall are beggerly rudiments of the world I speake not this to disgrace the law neither doth Paul so meane for it is holy righteous spirituall diuine but because Paul is in the matter of iustification it is as Luther obserues exceeding necessary that he should speake of the law as of a very contemptible thing Wherefore when Satan assaults thee with the terrors of the law banish that stutting and stammering Moses far from thee let him vtterly be suspected as an heretike or as an excommunicate person worse then the Pope worse then the diuell himselfe quoth Luther buâ— out of the matter of iustification and conflict of conscience reuerence Moses as a great Prophet as a man of God euen as God In the ciuill life Moses and Christ agree for our Sauiour said he came not to destroy but to fulfill the law but in the spirituall life the one cannot abide the other for no man is iustified by the la but the iust shall â—â—ue by faith And therefore when Christ is presenâ— the law must depart out of the conscience and leaue the bed which is so strait that it cannot hold two to Christ alone Let him onely raigne in righteousnesse in peace ioy life that the soule may sleepe and repose it selfe in the multitude of his mercies sweetly without any terror of the law sinne death hell And thus you see the law tyranniseth ouer our consciences as the cruell tutor doth ouer his vnfortunate Ward till God in fulnesse of time giueth vs freedome by Christ. When the time was full come Not by fatall necessitie but by Gods appointment For there is a time for all things and Almighty God doth all things in his due time he created and redeemed vs in his due time preserueth iustifieth sanctifieth in his due time and he will also glorifie vs in his due time Now the comming of Christ in the flesh is called the fulnesse of time for many respects as 1. For the fulnesse of grace receiued by his comming 2. Because Christ is the fulfilling of the promises of God as being in him yea and amen 3. Because the Law and the Prophets are fulfilled in him 4. Because the times from Christ are the ends of the world and it was fit hee should come so late when the time was full for two reasons especially 1. Because Christ is a Lord yea the Lord and therefore most meete there should be great preparation and long expectation of so puissant a person 2. Because Christ is the grand Physition of the world and therefore very requisite al sinners his patients should throughly feele their sicknesse and misery before hee came to visit and redeeme them vt conuincerentur homines de morbo vt quantum ad defectum scientiae in lege naturae quantum ad defectum virtutis in lege scripta His Sonne God is father of All men and all things by creation generally His elect by adoption specially Christ by nature singularly See before the Creed Art His onely Sonne Made of a woman In expounding this clause we must take heed of sundry wicked heresies on the left hand and on the right On the left first of Paulus Samosatenus and Fotinus affirming that Christ had his being and beginning from his mother Mary whereas the Scripture teacheth plainly that Christ was made of the seed of Dauid according to the flesh not according to his person for that is eternall In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and that Word was God Againe we must take heed of Ebion holding that Christ was not conceiued of the holy Ghost but begot of Ioseph and the reason of his madnesse is taken hence because Mary is called a woman not a virgin Our answere is that a woman in scripture doth not alway signifie the maried or one that hath knowne a man but sometime it doth onely denotate the sex as Gen. 3.12 The woman which thou gauest
dogmaticall conclusions appertaining to beliefe The residue containe morall instructions of honest conuersation and loue wherein our Apostle teacheth how wee should behaue our selues to God and man and that by precept and paterne By precept in the 12 13 14 15. Chapters by paterne in the 16. Chapter This scripture shewes how we must demeane our selues to God in Body vers 1. Make your bodies a quicke sacrifice c. Soule vers 2. Fashion not your selues like vnto this world but be yee changed by the renewing of your mind I beseech you brethren Two things induce men especially to suffer the words of exhortation opportunity and importunity The worth of the matter and zealous affection of the speaker Saint Paul makes his louing affection manifest in these sweet termes I beseech you brethren by the mercifulnesse of God He might haue commanded as he told Philemon but for loues sake he doth rather intreat God the Father appeared in a still and soft voice God the Sonne was not a tiger but a lambe God the holy Ghost came downe not in the forme of a vulture but in the shape of a doue signifying hereby that Preachers ought to vse gentle meanes in winning men vnto God herein resembling the good mother which hath vbera and verbera a teat so well as a rod a dug to restore such as feele their sinne with the spirit of meeknesse Gal. 6.1 but a rod to whip the carelesse and senslesse lest they grow too wanton And therefore Saint Paul who doth heere beseech the Romans out of his loue doth adiure them also by the mercifulnesse of God that is as some construe it I beseech you by mine Apostolical authority committed vnto me by Gods especialll mercy 1. Cor. 7.25 as himselfe expounds himselfe in the third verse of this Chapter I say through the grace that is giuen to me where the Greeke verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be translated I command or By the mercifulnesse of God shewed vnto you for as God is more bountifull so you must bee more dutifull We may not sinne that grace may abound but on the contrary because the grace of God that bringeth saluation vnto all men hath appeared it teacheth vs to denie vngodlinesse and worldly lusts and that wee should liue soberly and righteously and godly in this present world The mercies of God to me the mercies of God to you be many and manifest I beseech you therefore by the riches of his abundant mercy make your bodies a quicke sacrifice c. Thus you see the zealous earnestnesse of the speaker I come now to the worthinesse of the matter concerning the Romans and in them our selues as much as the saluation of our soules I beseech you therefore marke what the Spirit writeth and first obserue Pauls order After iustification hee speakes of sanctification herein intimating that good workes as Augustine said Non praecedunt iustificandum sed sequuntur iustificatum Not goe before but after iustification As the wheele turneth round not to the end that it may be made round but because it is first made round therefore it turneth round so men are sanctified because first iustified not iustified because first sanctified As Aulus Fuluius when he tooke his sonne in the conspiracie with Catiline said Ego te non Catilinae genui sed patriae So God hath not begotten vs in Christ that wee should follow that archtraitor Satan but serue him in holinesse and righteousnesse all the daies of our life making our selues a quicke sacrifice c. There are two kinds of sacrifices Expiatory for sinne which we cannot offer See epist. Dom. 3. Quadragesimae Gratulatory of thanks and praise which wee can and must offer and hereof there are three kinds according to the three sorts of goods of the World hereof there are three kinds according to the three sorts of goods of the Mind hereof there are three kinds according to the three sorts of goods of the Body 1. We must offer our goods of the world Heb. 13.16 To doe good and distribute forget not for with such sacrifices is God pleased He that hath mercy vpon the poore lendeth vnto the Lord. 2. Wee must offer to the Lord the goods of our mind by deuotion and contrition Psal. 51.17 The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit a broken and contrite heart O God shalt thou not despise When by diuine meditation and deuote praier we beat downe the proud conceits of our rebellious hearts we kill and offer vp as it were our sonne Isaac that which is most neere most deere to vs. 3. We must offer to the Lord the goods of our body which are done Patiendo by dying for the Lord. Faciendo by doing that which is acceptable to the Lord. Martyrdome is such a pleasing sacrifice that as Ambrose said of his sister Appellabo martyrem praedicabo satis I will call her Martyr and then I shall bee sure to commend her enough See Epist. on Saint Steuens day S. Paul here meanes a sacrifice by doing Giue your members as weapons of righteousnesse to God For as Christ offered vp himselfe for vs so wee made conformable should offer vp our selues vnto him Interpreters obserue a great Emphasis in the word hostia deriued as Ouid noteth ab hostibus Victima quae dextra cecidit victrice vocatur Hostibus à domitis hostia nomen habet And therefore seeing Christ hath deliuered vs from the hands of all our enemies it is our dutie to sacrifice perpetually to him our selues and our soules and so liue to him who died for vs. Lest we should erre in our offering Saint Paul shewes all the causes Efficient our selues Materiall our bodies Formall quicke and holie Finall acceptable to God Or as other obserue S. Paul sets downe foure properties of a sacrifice 1. Sound and quicke 2. Sanctified and holie 3. Pleasing 4. Reasonable First our sacrifice must be sound and quick not blind not lame not seeble Malach. 1.8 Wee must not offer to the diuell our youthfull yeares and lay our old bones vpon Gods altar his sacrifice must bee the fattest and the fairest he must haue both head and hinderparts hereby signifying that we must remember our Creator in the daies of our nonage so well as in the daies of our dotage for if wee deferre our offering till the last houre when sicknes the bailiffe of death hath arrested vs and paine sicknes attendant dulled our senses it cannot be called a quicke but a sicke not a liuing but a dead offering That our sacrifice therefore may bee quicke let vs I beseech you begin quickly to dedicate our selues vnto God Or quicke That is willing for those things are said to be quicke which moue of themselues and those dead which doe not moue but by some outward violence we may not then be stockes and blockes in Gods holie seruice doing no good
but vpon constraint of law and penaltie of statute such oblations are not acceptable because they bee not quicke The Lord loueth a cheerefull giuer and thanksgiuer Nothing is done well but that only which is done with our will freely readily liuely Or quicke That is quickned through faith for as the soule is the life of the body so faith is y e life of the soule without which he y t liueth is dead for the iust doth liue by faith Hâ—e situs esâ— Vacia said Seneca when he passâ—d by the ground of that voluptuous Epicure Vacia lieth here dead and buried and so Paâ—l of a widow liuing in pleasure She is dead euen while she doth liue That our sacrifice therefore may bee liuing it must proceede from a faith that is liuely Or liuing That is a continuall sacrifice The sacrifices of the Iewes haue now their end but the sacrifices of Christians are without end We must 〈◊〉 giue thanks and alâ—aies pray The fire on our altar must neuer goe out our sacrifice neuer die In the Law beasts appointed for sacrifice were first slaine and then offered and that for two causes especially first as Ambrose notes to put the sacrificer in mind what hee deserued by sinne namely death and secondly because those bloodie sacrifices were types of Christs death on the crosse which is the propitiation for our sinnes In like manner euery Christian sacrifice must bee dead to the world that he may liue to God mortifying his earthly members and crucifying his carnall affections that he may become a new creature in Christ. As death depriues a man of naturall life so mortification destroyes the bodie of sinne which is the sensuall life Moriatur ergo ne moriatur mutetur homo ne dâ—mnetur quoth Augustine We must die for a time in this life lest wee die for euer in the next life Wee must rise againe with Christ saith Paul Now a man must be dead before hee can rise againe first grafted with Christ to the similitude of his death and after to the similitude of his resurrection Hee that liued ill and now demeanes himselfe well is risen againe from the death of sinne to the life of grace mortified and yet a liuing sacrifice the more mortified the more liuing Rom. 8.13 If ye mortifie the deedes of the bodie by the spirit ye shall liue This killing of our beastly desires is verie fit whether we consider our selues as Men. This killing of our beastly desires is verie fit whether we consider our selues as Ciuill men This killing of our beastly desires is verie fit whether we consider our selues as Christian men This killing of our beastly desires is verie fit whether we consider our selues as Eminent men As men that we may leade our life not according to sense but according to reason otherwise wee should be rather sensuall beasts then reasonable men As ciuill men that we may not liue according to lust but according to law though not according to conscience yet according to custome that wee breake not the statutes and disturbe not the common-wealth wherein we liue The Philosophers in old time comprehended all points of mortification in these two words sustine abstine As Christian men for he that will be Christs disciple must deny himselfe abnegare suos sua se. The kingdome of heauen suffereth violence and the violent take it by force that is by mortification and daily fighting against the lusts of the flesh as Basil Chrysostome Augustine Hierome Gregoriâ— Theophylact Euthymius expound it Last of all yet most of all mortification is necessarie for eminent persons either in the Ministerie or Magistracie For great ones ought especially to be good Their sacrifice must be most quicke that they may be paternes vnto other as it were walking statutes and talking lawes to the people Holy The second thing required in our sacrifice so we reade Leuit. 22. that vnhallowed and vncleane persons ought not to touch the things of the Lord. Ye shall be holy for I the Lord am holy this is the will of God euen our sanctification The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is deriued as Plato notes of the priuatiue particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying that holie things are not infected with the corruptions and filth of the world when our throte is an open sepulchre when our mouth is full of cursing and bitternes when our feete are swift to shed blood when our bodies are sinkes of sinne wee cannot be an holie sacrifice for the law is plaine Yee shall not offer any thing that hath a blemish not a beast that is scabbed not a bullocke nor a sheepe that hath a member lacking The drunkard then that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without his head as Clemens Alexandrinus termed him and the coward who wants an heart and the rotten adulterer whose bodie is neither holie nor whole is no sacrifice for the Lord. The Latines haue deduced the word sanctum of sancire quasi sancitum hereby teaching vs that our sacrifice must be constant and continuall That by-word A yong Saint an old Diuell is a wrie word for wee must be good in our youth better in our manhood best of all in our old age wee must grow from grace to grace till wee bee of full growth in Christ dedicating all that is within vs all that is without vs all that is about vs vnto the seruice of God Seruius expounding the words of Virgil Qui foedera numine sancit affrmes that sanctum is sanguine consecratum and so must our sacrifice be consecrated and dipped in Christs blood in whom only God is well pleased and therefore as it followeth in the text if holie then acceptable Now that it may bee well accepted of God two things are required especially 1. That it bee grounded vpon his word 2. That it be performed in faith Obedience is better then sacrifice no sacrifice then is pleasing to God except it bee done according to his will inuocation of Saints adoration of the consecrated host administration of the Sacraments vnder one kinde diuine seruice in an vnknowne tongue praying to the dead mumbling of Masses iumbling of beades worshipping of Images and other like trash which are the very Diana of the Romisâ— religion haue no foundation in holie Scripture not built vpon the rocke Christ but vpon the sands of humane braines and therefore not acceptable but abominable to the Lord. A new religion is no religion To deuise phantasies of God is as bad as to say there is no God Againe courses of life not warranted by Gods owne booke such as are rather auocations from God and goodnesse then vocations as ordinarie cheating brotheldrie coniuring and all other vnlawfull occupations or professions are not a sweete fauour to God but altogether stinking in his nostrels If we
Toward his mother not absolutely denying but onely deferring her suit for a time Nondum venit It shall come though as yet not come His mother said vnto the ministers whatsoeuer he saith vnto you doe it She was not offended or discouraged with Christs answer but belieued his word and submitted her selfe to his will a notable president of faith and obedience teaching vs in all afflictions of body and soule wholly to stay our selues vpon his gracious promises In a word it is a good rule to be followed in all things heare him in all the works of thy calling whatsoeuer he saith vnto thee doe it not onely belieue but doe And there were standing there six water pots of stone The relation of the miracle it selfe containes in it a most liuely picture of the Church militant subiect euen in her greatest happinesse to much want and woe but Christ that keepes Israel doth neither slumber nor sleepe hee knowes her workes and in the midst of her wants euen when she thinks her selfe forsaken here 's her praiers and turnes her water into wine giuing her a garment of gladnesse for the spirit of heauinesse The Fathers and Friers abound with other allegories He that list may reade August tract 9. in Ioan. Bernard ser. 2. post octau Epiphan Rupert comment in Ioan. lib. 2. Luther postil maior Dom. 2. ab Epiphan Ferus ser. 9. Dom. 2. post Epiphan Pontanus bibliothec con tom 1. fol. 222. 223. c. I did alway thinke of glosses as Augustine of graces Alter aliquando fructuosus est donis paucioribus sed potioribus alter inferioribus sed pluribus One man edifieth his hearers with many though meane notes another with few but fit short but sweet I passe therefore from the miracle to the consequent and effect The which is twofold 1. The manifestation of Christs glory 2. The confirmation of his Disciples faith Christ in his morals instructed vs to liue well in his miracles to belieue well And therefore this fact increasing the Disciples faith and illustrating his honour Omne tulit punctum quia miscuit vtile dulci. The Epistle ROM 12.16 Be not wise in your owne opinion c. SAint Paul exhorts vs in this Epistle not to hurt but rather helpe our enemies Not to hurt by Concealing that which is good as Wisdome Be not wise in your owne opinion Sanctimony Prouide things honâ—st in the sight of all men Rendring that which is euill vers 17. Recompence to no man euill for euill and vers 19. Auenge not your selues c. But to help by preseruing Peace vers 18. If it be possible liue peaceably with all men Vers. 20. If thine enemy hunger feed him Patience vers 21. Bee not ouercome of euil but ouercome euill with goodnesse Be not wise Not in your selues nor onely wise to your selues not in your selues and owne conceit If any man among you seeme to be wise let him be a foole that hee may be wise Seest thou a man hastie in his matters anâ— haughty there is more hope of a foole then of him It is recorded as a great fault in Charles Duke of Burgondie that he seldom asked neuer followed the couÌ„sel of other On the contrary Moses a man learned in all wisdome of the Egyptians and mighty both in words and deeds obeied the voice of his father in law Iethro doing according to his aduice Exod. 18.24 Saul hearkened vnto the counsell of his seruant 1. Sam. 9. Agamemnon in Homer wished for ten Nestors Alexander Seuerus neuer determined any thing of moment without twelue or twenty iudicious Lawyers It is a great part of wisdome yea the first entry to knowledge scire quod nescias not to be too wise or in our opinion so wise that wee neglect others helpe The Pope in this respect as Roderigo Bishop of Zamora well obserues is most vnfortunate For though he hath all things at command yet euermore stands in need of one thing to wit a faithfull counseller The Romans at this time being Lords of the world were puffed vp exceedingly with the greatnesse of their gifts and largenesse of their Empire Paul therefore did often as Chrysostome notes inculcate this exhortation in this Chapter twice that it might be remembred once The men of England yea the women of England abusing the great light of the Gospell and long peace are growne so wise that many will take vpon them to teach euen their most learned teachers and therefore we must againe and againe preach and presse this one lesson Be not wise in your owne opinion Let no man presume to know more then is meete for him to know but so iudge of himself that he be gentle and sober according as God hath dealth to euery man the measure of faith Or as other expound it Be not wise to your selues but as Salomon speakes Let thy fountaines â—lâ—w foorth and the riuers of water in the streets according to the measure of grace proceeding from the fountaine of goodnesse communicate thy wisedome to other hide not thy talent To one is giuen by the Spirit y â— word of wisedom tâ—nquaÌ„ luminare maius vnto another y e word of knowledge tâ—nquam luminare minus vnto another prophecie vnto another faith vnto another diuersity of language tanqâ—aÌ„ stellâ—e as starres in the firmament of the Church Our light then must shine before men and we must waste our sâ—lues for the good of such as are in Gods house The candle must not be put vnder a bâ—shell but on a candlestick Scire tuum nihil est nisite scire hoc sciat alter If thou wilt onely be wise to thy selfe thou shalt at last turne foole For as water standing still is soone puddle so the gifts of the minde not employed are empaired Afâ—aniuâ— said truly that vse begate wisedome Vsus me genuit mâ—ter peperit memoriâ— Let not vs then inclose truth and the knowledge therof it is common If we make it priuate wee shall be depriued of it As Auâ—ustine sweetly Non licet hâ—â—ere priuatam ne priâ—emureâ— When Châ—ist asâ—ended vp on high he gaue gifts to men among othâ—r the gift of wisdome for the gathering together of the Saints for the worke of the ministerie for the building vp of his mysticall bodie Wisedome then is not giuen only for thy self but for other among the rest euen for thâ—ne enemies that the Lord God might dwell among them Secondly we may not conceale our sanctimonie Prouide things honest in the sight of all mâ—n as Paâ—l expounds Paul Giue none offence neither to the Iewes nor to the Grecians nor to the Church of God For as a man must haue care of his conscience before God so likewise of his credit before men Some prouide thinges honest Before men but not before God as the vaine-glorious hypocrites Herod within Iohn without painted
the termes of auricular and secret confâ—ssion are seldom mentioned in the Fathers a greater clerke theÌ„ he saith neuer in old time We may then iustifie Caluins challenge lib. 3. Institut cap. 4 sect 7. that auricular popish Confession was not practised in the Church vntill twelue hundred yeeres after Christ instituted first in the Lateran Councell vnder Innocentius the third We reade that there was in the Primitiue Church a godly discipline that such persons as were notorious sinners were put to open penance and that by the direction of the Bishop or Pastor and such as voluntarily desired to make publike satisfaction for their offences vsed to come vnto the Bishops and Priests as vnto the mouth of the congregation But this confession was not constrained but voluntarie not priuate but publike yet hence the priests abusing the peoples weaknes tooke their hint to bring in auricular confession vpon perill of damnation A cunning inuention to discouer the mysteries of all states and all men and to inrich that couetous and ambitious sea for Confessions euermore make worke for Indulgences and Indulgences are a great supporter of the triple crowne The Papists in this case flie from the Scriptures vnto the Councels from the Councels vnto the Fathers and from the Fathers vnto their last starting hole miracles Auricular Confession is Gods ordinance saith Bellarmine because God hath wrought many miracles at auricular Confession It is answered aptly that Dauid saith not thy wonder but thy word is a lanterne Scripture without miracles are a good warrant but miracles without text are insufficient for they were wrought by false prophets in old time by false teachers in our daies It is obserued by Tully that bad Orators in stead of reasons vse exclamations and so Bellarmine for want of arguments is faine to tell a tale or two related by Bonauentura Antoninus and our good countriman Alanus Copus all which is no more but aske my fellow whether I be a theefe That priuate confession as it is vsed among the Papists is neither necessarie nor possible see Calum Institut lib. 3. cap. 4. Iewel defence Apolog. part 2. cap. 7. diuision 2. D. Morton Apolog. catholic part 1. cap. 64. Master White way to the true Church pag. 157.226.227 Offer the gift For the labourer is worthie of his hire This is a witnesse to the Priests that is their right and due by law Yea though the Priest doe not labour yet wee must giue vnto Caesar the things which belong vnto Caesar and vnto God the things which appertaine to God the publike Ministerie must bee maintained although the Ministers bee neuer so weake neuer so wicked And when Iesus was entred into Capernaum there came vnto him a Centurion This miracle doth second the first In it obserue the Fact of Christ Performing that fullie which the Centurion desired faithfullie his seruant was healed in the same houre vers 13. Promising further also that other Gentiles euen from al the quarters of the world shall come vnto him and rest with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the kingdome of heauen vers 11. Faith of the Centurion Perswading Christ to cure his seruant vers 5.6 Disswading Christ to come into his house because it was vnfit vnnecessary Vnfit I am not worthie that thou shouldest come vnder my roofe Surely this Captaine was a man of great worth a deuout man for hee builded a synagogue a good man to the Common-weale wherein hee liued one that loued the nation of the Iewes a man of such a faith as that Christ found none so great in all Israel vers 10. a louing master to his seruants as this act declares a man of command and authoritie vers 9 yet this great Worthie confesseth himselfe vnworthie like the wheat eare which hangs it head downe lowest when it hath most corne By this example learne lowlines of minde When the Sunne is right ouer our heads our shadowes are most short euen so when we haue the greatest grace we must make the least shew Vnnecessarie because Christ can helpe the distressed only with his word euen one word which hee proues à minori ad maius I am a man vnder the authoritie of another c. I am a man but thou art God I am vnder another but thou art Lord of all I haue souldiers obedient to me For albeit vsually men of that profession are rude yet I say to one goe and hee goeth vnto another come and hee commeth and therefore Sicknes which is thy souldier if thou speake the word onely will depart say to the palsie goe and it will goe say to thy seruant Health come and it will come I haue not found so great faith He might haue remembred in this noble Captaine bountie loue deuotion humilitie but he commends faith most of all as being indeede the ground of all without which one vertue the rest are sinne Rom. 14.23 Heb. 11.6 The Epistle ROM 13.1 Let euery soule submit himselfe c. THis Epistle consists of three parts a Proposition Let euery soule submit himselfe to the authority of the higher powers Reason for there is no power but of God c. Conclusion wherefore yee must needes obey giuing to euery man his duty tribute to whom tribute c. The proposition is peremptory deliuered not narratiuely reporting what other hold meete but positiuely importing what God would haue done not aduised only by Paul but deuised euen by Christ as a command in imperatiue termes expresly Let euery soule bee subiect In which obserue the quality of this duty To submit our selues obserue the equality of this duty Belonging indiffereÌ„tly to all Let euery soule c. First of the last according to the words order in the text Let euery soule That is euery man putting the principall part for the whole So Gen. 46.27 All the soules of the house of Iacob which came into Egypt are seuenty that is as Moses expounds himselfe Deut. 10.22 seuenty persons If any demand why Paul said not Let euery body but euery soule Diuines answere fitly to signifie that we must obey not in outward shewes onely but in truth and in deed Omnis anima quoniam ex animo Not with eye seruice but in singlenesse of heart This vniuersall note confutes as well the seditious Papist as the tumultuous Anabaptist The Papist exempting Clergy men from this obedience to secular powers a doctrine not heard in the Church a thousand yeeres after Christ. Bernard out of this place reasoneth thus with an Archbishop of France Let euery soule be subiect if euery then yours I pray who doth except you Bishops Si quis tentat excipere conatur decipere So Chrysostome Theodoret Oecumenius Theophylact vpon this text expresly Clergy men aâ—e not excepted Ergo not exempted Gregory the Great one of the most learned Popes alleageth this glosse Power saith he ouer all men is giuen to my Lord
loue of God in electing the fellowship of the holy Ghost in comforting is far from them so long as they continue in their sinnes and vnbeliefe so long they be traitours enemies rebels vnto the King of all Kings he proclaimes war and they can haue no peace Thinke on this ye that forget God Yee that ioine house to house and lay field to field till there be no place for other in the land ye that rise vp early to follow drunkennesse and are mighty to powre in strong drinke Ye that speake good of euill and euill of good which put light for darknesse and darknesse for light c. Agree with your aduersary quickly while you are in the way seeke the Lord while he may be found and call vpon him while he is nigh O Ierusalem Ierusalem thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them that are sent vnto thee Suffer the words of exhortation harden not your heart but euen in this day heare the voice of the Crier confesse thy rebellion and come in to the Lord thy God for he is gentle patient and of much mercy desire of him to create in thee a new heart and to giue thee one drop of a liuely faith one dram of holy deuotion a desire to hunger and thirst after righteousnesse Suffer not thine eies to sleep nor thine eie lids to take any rest vntill thine vnrighteousnesse is forgiuen and sinne couered vntill thy peace be made with God and thy pardon sealed O pray pray that thou maist haue this peace O pray pray that thou maiest feele this peace for it is the third kinde the peace of conscience betweene man and himselfe There are foure kinds of conscience as Bernard hath well obserued 1. A good but not a quiet 2. A quiet but not a good 3. Both good and quiet 4. Neither good nor quiet The two good belong properly to the godly the two bad vnto the wicked whose coÌ„science is either too too quiet or else too too much vnquiet in neither peace non est gaudium impijs as the Translators of the Septuagints reade non est gaudere impijs There is no ioy to the wicked Somtime their conscience is too too quiet as Paul speakes euen feared with an hot iron when habit of sin takes away the sense of sinne when as men are past feeling in a reprobate sense giuen ouer to worke all vncleannes euen with greedinesse Ephes. 4.19 This is no peace but a numnesse yea a dumbnesse of conscience For at the first euery mans conscience speaks vnto him as Peter to Christ Master looke to thy selfe Her prick-arrowes as the shafts of Ionathan forewarne Dauid of the great Kings displeasure but if wee neglect her call and will not lend our eares while she doth spend her tongue this good Cassandra will crie no more Now it fareth with the maladies of the minde as it is with the sicknes of the bodie When the pulse doth not beate the bodie is in a most dangerous estate so if conscience neuer prick vs for sinne it is a manifest signe our soules are lulled in a deadly sleepe That schoole will soone decay where the monitor doth not complaine that armie must necessarilâ—e be subiect to surprise where watches and alarums are not exactly kept that towne is dissolute where no clocks are vsed â—o likewisâ—â—ur little citie is in great perilâ— when our conscience iâ—â—ill and sleepie quiet but not good tunc maxime oppugnaris si tâ— nescis oppugâ—ari saith Hierâ—me to Heliodore None so desperatly sicke as they who feele not their disease Saint Augustine notably Quid miserius misero non miserante seipsum and Bernard Ideo dolet charitas mea quòd cùm sis doleâ—dus non doleas inde ma is miseretur quòd cùm miser sis miserabilis tamen non es and Hierome to Sabinian Hoc plango quòd te non plangis When the strong man armed keepes â—is hold the things that are possessed are in peace Where Diuines obserue that vngodly men already possessed with Satan are not a whit disquieted with his temptations As God is at open war so the diuell is at secret peace with the wicked but yet saith Hierome tranquillitas ista tempestas est This calmâ— of conscience will one day prooue a storme For as God said vnto Cain If thou doest ill sinne lieth at the doore Where wickednesse is compared to a wilde beast which dogs a man wheresoeuer hee goeth in this wildernesse And albeit for a time it may seeme harmlesse for that it lieth asleepe yet at length except men vnfainedly repent it will rise vp and rent out the very throte of their soules A guiltie conscience being once roused and awaked thoroughly will make them like those who lie on a bed that is too strait and the couering too short who would with all their heart sleepe but cannot they seeke for peace of minde but there is no peace to the wicked sâ—iâ—h my God As the coÌ„science was heretofore too too quiet so now too too much vnquiet As godly men haue the first fruits of the Spirit and certaine â—asts of heauenly ioyes in this life so the wicked on the contrarie feele certaine flashings of hell flames on earth As there is heauen on earth and heauen in heauen so hell on earth and hell in hell an outward hell and an inward outward in outward darknesse mentioned in holy Scripture where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth at this feast as Bishop Latymer wittily there can bee no mirth where weeping is serued in for the first course gnashing of teeth for the second Inward hell is an infernall tormenting of the soule void of hope faith and loue this hell the diuels haue alwaies in theÌ„ and reprobate forlorne people carrie about theÌ„ insomuch that they can neither disport themselues abroad nor please themselues at home neither comforted in companie nor quiâ—ted alone but in all places and times Erinnys conscieâ—tiae so Melancâ—hon calles it hellish hags and infernall â—uries affright them Auâ—ustine in his â—narration of the 45. Psalm thus liuely describes the wofull estate of a despairing sinner Fâ—giet ab agro ad ciuitatem à publico ad domum à domo in cubiculum He runnes as a mad man out of the field into the citie out of the citie into his house from the common roomes in his house to his chamber from his chamber into his studie from his studie to the secret closet of his own heart ecce hosteÌ„ suum inuenit quo confugerat seip sum quò fugiturâ—s est and then last of all he is content least of all himselfe being greatest enemie to himselfe The blinde man in the Gospel newly recouering his sight imagined trees to be men and the Burgundians as Comiâ—aeus reports expecting a battell supposed long thistles to be launces so the
wicked in the darke conceit euery thistle to be a tree euery tree a man euery man a diuell afraid of â—uery thing they see yea many times of that they doe not see Polydore Virgil writes that Richard the 3. had a most terrible dreame the night before Bosworth field in which hee was slaine hee thought all the diuels in hell halled and pulled him in hideous and vgly shapes Id credâ— non fuit somnium sed conscientia scelerum I suppose saith Polydore that was not a fained dreame but a true torture of his conscience prâ—saging a bloodie day both to himselfe and all his followers The penner of the Latine Chronicle de vitis Archiepiscoporum Cantuariensium in the life of Archbishop Hubert records a will of a couetous oppressor in this forme Lego omnia bona mea domino regi corpus sepulturae animam diabolo The godly mans will alway runnes in this stile Terram terra tegat daemon peccata resumat Mundus res habeat spiritus astra petat I bequeath my bodie that is earthly to the earth my sins which are diuellish vnto the diuell my goods that are worldly to the world my soule that is heauenly to heauen but this vnhappie wretch in great despaire yeelded vp his coyne to the King whom hee had deceiued and his soule to the diuell whom he had serued It is written by Procopius that Theodoricus as he was at supper imagined he saw in a fishes head the visage of Symmachus a Noble man whom hee had vniustly slaine with which imagination he conceiued such terror as that he neuer after enioyed one good houre but pining away ended his vnfortunate daies Cardinall Crescentius the Popes Vicegerent in the Chapter of Trent on a time writing long letters vnto Rome full of mischiefe against the Protestants and cause of Religion had a sudden conceit that the diuell in the likenesse of a huge dogge walked in his chamber and couched vnder his table the which affrighted him so much as that notwithstanding the counsell and comfort both of friends and Physitians hee died a disconsolate death To conclude this argument the diuell Iudas out of the hell of his conscience was Bailiffe Taylor witnesse Iurie Iudge Sheriffe deaths-man in his owne execution Thus as you see the wicked haue no peace with man no peace with God no peace with themselues The very name of peace betweene man and man is sweete it selfe more sweete like the pretious ointment vpon the head of Aaron that ranne downe vnto his beard and from his beard to the skirts of his clothing Yet the peace of conscience is farre sweeter a continual feast a daily Christmas vnto the good man as the rich Epicure Luke 16. so the godly fareth deliciously euery day The man that trusteth in the Lord is fat saith Salomon he feedes himselfe on the mercies of God and merits of Christ. And so the peace of God passeth all these for it passeth all vnderstanding without which one gift all other are rather curses then blessings vnto vs. As Cyril excellently Dominâ— priuante suo gaudio quod esse potest gaudium It is the consolation of Israel and solace of the Church Reioyce greatly ô daughter Sion shout for ioy ô daughter Hierusalem for behold thy King commeth vnto thee That God is our God that Christ is our Christ that the King of all Kings is our King that he is reconciled vnto vs and we to him is a ioy surpassing all ioyes a iubilation as the Scripture termes it which can neither be suppressed nor yet expressed sufficiently How wretched then are the wicked in being debarred of all this sweete of all this exultation of all these iubilees of ioy for if they can haue no peace abroad no peace at home no peace with themselues no peace with other no peace with man no peace with God assuredly the proposition is most true There is no peace to the wicked Yea but you will say there is none good except God all of vs are gone astray if we say wee haue no sinne the truth of God is not in vs. Of what kinde of wicked is this then vnderstood Answere is made that this onely concernes incorrigible malicious impenitent senselesse sinners For when once men feele their sinnes and repent for their sinnes grieuing much because they can grieue no more then in such as sinne aboundeth grace superaboundeth all things worke for their good euen sinne which is damnable to other is profitable to them occasioning repentance neuer to be repented Remember the speech of God to Rebecca The greater shall serue the lesser Albeit our spirituall enemies are stronger and our sinnes greater then we yet they shall serue for our good the greater shall serue the lesse God who can bring sweet out of sower and light out of darknesse shall likewise bring good out of euill Such offenders haue peace with men so far as is possible with all men indeuoring to keep the vnity of the spirit in the bond of peace Secondly being iustified by faith they haue peace toward God in Christ Rom. 51. Lastly Christ dwelling in their heart they want not peace of conscience but abound with ioy in the holy Ghost Rom. 14.17 When sinners are rather passiue then actiue in sinne when it is rather done on them theÌ„ of them albeit their conscience accuse them of the fact yet it doth not condemne them of the fault and so there is all kind of peace to the penitent no kind of peace to the wicked impâ—nitent saith my God Hitherto concerning the thing proclaimed I come now to the person proclaiming in these words saith my God The subordinate proclaimer is Esay the principall God himselfe As heretofore the Prophet so now the Preacher is not onely the mouth of God as Luther cals him but as Iohn Baptist said of himselfe The very voice of God For albeit we speake yet it is Christ who by vs and in vs calleth vnto you 2. Cor. 5.20 See Epist. dom 3. Gospel dom 1. and 4. in Aduent If then the Lord hath said it let no man doubt of it Heauen and earth shall passe but not a iot of his word shall passe he is not like man that he should lie or like the Sonne of man that he should deceiue Yea that we might the better obserue it Almighty God hath spoken once and twice as it is in the 62. Psalme For the Lord had made this proclamation once before in the 48. chapâ—er at the last verse So that as Augustine in the like case verba toties inculcata vera sunt viua sunt sana sunt plana sunt One text repeated twice pressed againe and againe must needs be plaine and peremptory And assuredly beloued if we further examine the person of this Chiefe we shall finde him able to make this war because God and willing to maintaine this war because My God
all that is therein euermore willing to fight in this quarrell The red sea did ouerwhelme proud Pharaoh and all his host euen all his horses his chariots and horsemen Anno 1588. the sea and fish in the sea fought against the superstitious Spaniard enemy to God and his true religion a wonderfull worke which ought to be had in perpetuall remembrance I say wind and water ouercame that inuincible army prepared for our destruction in such sort that the popish Relator heâ—reof confessed ingenuously that God in that sea-fight shewed himselfe a very Lutheran and meere Protestant The floods and inundations which happened in diuers parts of this kingdome within these few yeeres here should not be passed ouer with dry eyes If the Lord had not according to his infinite greatnes and goodnesse fettered the waters of our seas as Xerxes did the waters of Hellespontus If God had not gathered the waters together on an heape and laid them vp in the deepe as in a treasure house Psalme 33.7 If hee had not spoken to the flood IIitherto sâ—â—lt thou goe but no further and here shall it stay thy proud waues assuredly there had followed a great doomesday to this Iland The waters saw thee O Lâ—rd the waters saw thee and were afraid Blessed be the Lord God euen the God of Israel which only doth wondrous things and blâ—ssed be the nâ—me of his Maiesty for euer and let all the people 〈◊〉 Amen Amen I passe to the shore to drie land which opened and swallowed vp quicke Corâ—â—h Dathâ—n and Abâ—ram In this one Prouince are sundrie rankes of fighting souldiers armies oâ— fell dragons of hissing serpents of roring lions of deuouring wolues of other wilde beasts in the forrest and cattell vpon a thousand hils all which named and all other not named are readie with force and furie to crush the wicked and at Gods alarum to breake them in pecces like a potters vessell Euen the least of these creatures is strong enough if God set them to fight an host of frogges an armie of grashoppers a swarme of flyes able to dismay Pharao and all his people a few rats troubled all the citizens of Hamel a few wormes deuoured Herod a little gnat choked a great man yea the greatest monarch in his own conceit Adriâ—n the Pope The very senselesse creatures haue sense and feeling of the wrong done to God In Siloam as we reade in the Gospell a tower fell vpon eighteene pâ—rsons and slew them In Rome fiftie thousand men were hurt and slaine with the fall of a Theater as they were beholding the games of the Sword-players Anno 25. Reg. Elizâ—b the scaffold about Parisgarden vpon a Sunday in the afternoone fell downe which instantly killed eight persons and hurt many moe A faire warning to such as profane the Sabbath and delight more in the crueltie of beasts then in the workes of mercie which are exercises of the Lords day The time will not suffer me to name much lesse to mufter all the rest of Gods warâ—iers on earth I will only remember one whom I thinke you feare most namely the plague fitly called by the Canonists bellum Dei contra homâ—es the warre of God against men and by the Scripture the sword of God and arâ—oâ—r of his anger In the yeere 1006 there was such an vniuersall plague thoroughout the whole world that the liuing were not able to burie the dead as Sigisbertus and other report Anno 1342. there was in Venice such a pestilence that the hundreth person was scarsly lâ—ft aliue insomuch that the State made a law that whosoeuer would come and dwell at Venice two yeeres he should instantly be made free About the yeâ—re 1522. there died of the plague in Millaine fiftie thousand within the space of foure moneths In Norwich from the first of Ianuarie to the first of Iuly 57104. In Yarthmouth within the space of one yeâ—re 7052. In London and the liberties thereof from the 23. of December 1602. vnto the 22. of December 1603. there died of all diseases as was accounted weekely 38244. whereof of the plague 30578. and from that time to this day the Citie not yet free This last yeere past as appeares in your own bils there died 2262. Lay this heauie iudgement to your heart heare this proclamation againe and againe There is no peace to the wicked As the stones of the field are in league with the righteous and the beasts at peace with the godly they may dwell safe in the wildernes and sleepe in the woods Ezech. 34.25 so contrariwise the stone shall crie â—ut of the wall and the beame out of the timber against the wicked Habacuk 2.11 Their sinne begets their sorrow their faults increase their foes euen their tables are made snares and their iâ—orie beds accusâ—rs and their seeled houses witnesses against them all things which were giuen for blessings are become curses vnto them and that which is most strange beside these two great bands of souldiers one common in earth another select in heauen there is yet a third of rebels euen of the very diuels in hell for albeit they be reserued in euerlasting chaines vntill the iudgement of the great day yet God infinite in his power and wisedome who brings light out of darknesse doth make good vse of these bad instâ—uments It is said in the first of Sam. chap. 16. that the euill spirit of the Lord vexed Saul it was Gods spirit which came vpon Dauid but it was a malignant spirit which was on Saul and yet this spirit is called sâ—â—riâ—us Domini the spirit of the Lord because the Lord sent that euill spirit and suffered it to torment Saul as Augustine and Lombard haue well expounded that place So likewise wâ—e reade in the Gospell that the foule spirits made some dâ—ase some dumbe casting one into the water another into the fire all which actions as they were actions proceeded from God for the Scripture tels vs plainly there is no power but of God Happily some will say the diuels assault the good so well as the bad We wrestle saith Paul against principalities against powers against the prince of darknes for Satan goes about like a roring lion seeking whom he may deuoure Answere is made that God suffers Satan to tempt his children onely to trie them but suffers him to tempt the reprobate so farre as to destroy them the temptations of the good are instruction of the bad destruction vtter ruine of bodie and soule In what a miserable case then is euery wretch irrepentant drawing iniquitie with cords of vanitie and sinne as it were with cart-ropes heaping vp wrath against the day of wrath For the number of his enemies is without number the number of the blessed Saints is innumerable Apocalyp 7.9 After these things I beheld and loe a great multitude which no
hath been to vs then curiously to seeke what he is in himselfe But as for the secrets of his kingdom he reueales them vnto the heires of his kingdome these mysteries may yea must be knowne and therefore Christ cried He that hath eares let him heare Teaching hereby that in making our election sure we must not begin à priori but à posteriori such as with a good heart heare the word and keep it and bring foorth fruite through patience shall inherit the kingdome of God but the kingdom of God shall be taken away from such as are fruitlesse from such as are faithlesse This is the parable Bare reading without vnderstanding is bare feeding the true meaning of the Scripture is the true Manna for as a man so the Bible consists of a bodie and a soule The sound of the letter is the bodie but the sense is the soule this indeed is the scripture this is the parable The seede is the word of God The sower is Christ who went out ab occultô Patris in mundum à Iudaeá in Gentes à profundô sapientiae in publicum doctrinae The Preacher is not properly the sower but the seedcod at the most an vnderseed man The sower went out to sow Not to reape Now many goe out into Gods field only to gather in haruest tâ—nquam Stratocles Dromoclidâ—s ad auream messem intending to reape things carnall more then sowing things spirituall The sower sowed his seede for the seed is the word of God not of Angell or man and this seede hath in it generatiue power in it selfe it is liuely yea the word of life So that if it bring not forth fruit the fault is not in the seed but in the grouÌ„d being either vnplowed or stony or thorny The seed is the word of God And therefore such as corrupt it as heretikes or choke it as hypocrites or keepe it downe from growing by force as tyrants or thrust oâ—her seed into it as Papists doe shall one day feele the 〈◊〉 wrath of God for as he gaue pure seed so will he requâ—re pure câ—rne He left this in the Church euen in the garners of the Prophets and Apostles and therefore whosoeuer adulterate iâ— before it be sowen or nip it when it doth spring or cut it downe before the Lord haruest are not Gods husbandmeâ— but Satans hirelings and you may know them saith Christ by their fruit that is by their doctrine For Gods husbandmen sow Gods seed but the diuels factors as Saint Paul plainly the doctrines of diuels As for example this is pure seed Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serue But to worship Angels and Saints and to giue the same kind of worship to the crucifix which is due to Christ is sophisticate seed This was not at the first sowen by the sower but ouersowen after by the malitious enemie while men slept Those that are bâ—â—â—de the way Three parts of foure are bad yea the most of such as heare the word confesse Christ are vnprofitable Striue then to enter in at the strait gate Remember that couetous cares and voluptuous liuing are the thornes which vsually choke Gods seed in our heart riches vnto the couetous are thornes in this and the next life their pricks are threefold in this life namely punâ—tura lâ—boris in acquisitione timoris in possessione doloris in amissione The true reason why so many men are delighted with them is because they put on wants or tiâ—ning gloues and so their hearts and hands being hardened they feele not their pricking but in the next world they will bee thornes againe when Christ shall say to the couetous Hence from me yee cursed into euerlasting fire for I was an hungred and ye gaue me no meat I thirsted and ye gaue me no drinke c. Here pause good Reader and pray with Ludolphus O Domine Iesufac me de veteri vita exire ne semen verbi tui quod in meô intellectu boni propositi quod in meô affectu boni operis quod in meô actu seminâsti comedatur à volucribus inanis gloriae ne conculcetur in viâ assiduitatis ne areat in petrâ durae obstinationis ne suffocetur in spinis solicitudinis sed potiùs in terra bonâ cordis humilimi centesimum fructum edat in patientiâ fac etiam me haec omnia intelligere facere ac verbô vel saltem exemplô alios docere Amen The Epistle 1. COR. 13. Though I speake with tongues of men and Angels c. THe Bible is the body of all holy religion and this little Chapter is as it were an abridgement of all the Bible for it is a tract of loue which is the complement of the law and supplement of the Gospell All the scripture teaching nothing else saith Augustine but that we must loue our neighbour for God and God for himselfe Nihil praecipit nisi charitatem nec culpat nisi cupiditatem it forbids nothing but lust and inioines nothing but loue for without loue there is no true faith and without faith all our righteousnesse is sinne S. Paul therefore doth extoll in this Chapter aboue all other this one vertue 1. largely shewing that it surpasseth al other graces in two things Vse vers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. Continuance ver 8 9 10 11 12 13. 2. briefly by way of recapitulation in the last verse Now abideth faith hope and loue euen these three but the chiefe is loue Charity doth excell in vse for all other gifts without it are nothing auaileable to saluation as Paul proues by this induction If I speake with tongues of men and Angels c. All vertues are either Intellectuall in accurate speech vers 1. other knowledg vers 2. Morall in doing v. 3. Though I feed the poore with al my goods suffering Though I giue my body to be burned c. Though I speake with the tongues of men That is of all men If I had vnderstanding in all languages and Art to parle in them all if a man could speake so many tongues as our late Soueraigne of blessed memory Queene Elizabeth of whom the diuine Poet as a Diuine truly not as a Poet flatteringly That Rome Rheine Rhone Greece Spaine and Italy Plead all for right in her natiuity If a man could discourse in so many languages as Mythridates of whom Volaterane reports that he well vnderstood 22. sundry tongues or as other 25. If a man could thunder in an Oration as Aristophanes said of Pericles or tune his note so sweetly that hee could moue mountaines and stony rockes with Orpheus or feâ—ch soules out of hell as fabulous antiquity fained of Mercury Though a man could hold the people by the â—ares and cary them vp and downe the Country like pitchers as Socrates did
disputes in lib. 1. de Iustificat cap. 4. wrought by charitie but contrariwise charitie doth arise from faith It is then an idle dreame to suppose that charitie is inclosed in faith as a diamond is in a ring for Christ is the pretious pearle which giues life and lustre to the ring The iust liue not by loue but by faith in him It is an improper speech as our Diuines obserue to say that faith worketh by loue as the bodie by the soule the matter by the forme for the soule rather worketh by the bodie then the bodie by the soule The matter is passiue the forme actiue Secondly we say that Paul in that text faith which worketh by loue doth not intend iustification but y e whole course of a Christian aftâ—r his iustification hee shuts out of Gods kingdome nullifidians and meritmongers on the left hand nudifidians and carnall Gospellers on the right In Christ neither circumcision auaileth any thing neither vncircumcision that is to say no merit nor worshipping No religious order in the world but faith alone without any trust in workes auaileth before God On the right hand he doth exclude slothfull and idle persons affirming that if faith only doe iustifie then let vs worke nothing but barely beleeue Not so yâ— carelesse generation enemies of grace for faith is operatiue working by loue Paul therefore sets foorth in that excellent sentence the whole perfection of a Christian in this life namely that inwardly it consists in faith toward God and outwardly in good workes and loue toward our neighbours so that a man is a perfect Christian inwardly through faith before God who hath no neede of our workes and outwardly before men whom our faith profiteth nothing by loue Faith is the Christians hand Now an hand hath a propertie to reach out it selfe and to receiue a gift but it can not cut a peece of wood without an hatchet or saw or some such like instrument yet by help of them it can either cut or diuide Such is the nature of faith it doth receiue Christ into the heart but as for the duties of the fiâ—st and second table faith cannot of it selfe bring them forth no more then the hand can cut of it selfe yet ioine loue to faith and then as our Apostle â—â—ith worketh through loue performing all duties so well to man as God The propertie of true faith is to receiue in to it selfe The nature of true loue is to lay out it selfe vnto other faith then alone iustifieth apprehending and applying Christs merits vnto it selfe but it cannot manifest it selfe to other except it be ioyned with loue Shew me thy â—â—ith out of thy workes And thus as you see that inward worke of iustification is ascribed in holy Scripture to faith onely but outward workes of sanctâ—fication holinâ—sse and righteousnesse to faith and loue ioyntly I refâ—â—re the distressed soule to the comfortable Commentaries of Mâ—rtin Lâ—â—â—er vpon the Galathians and the curious Diuine to Doâ—tor Abbot his Apologie for the reformed Câ—tholike Tiâ— Iâ—â—tiâ—ication For I will ingenuously confesse that my conscieâ—â—e was neuer quieted more then in reading the one and my curiositie neuer satisfied more then in examining the other Though I bestoâ— all my goods to â—eed the poore â— Mâ—rcifull workes are pro sacriâ—iciâ—s imâ— prae sacriâ—iciâ—s accepted of God as sacrifice Heb. 13.16 yea more then sacrifice Hosea 6.6 I will haue mercie not sacrifice To be mercifull is the sole worke common to man with God It is then an higher step of perfection to distribute goods vnto the poore then to spâ—ake with the tongues of men and Angels or to be furnished with all varietie of knowledge yet Paul saith If I bestow my goods all my goods not vpon the rich but vpon the poore to feede not to feast them and had not loue it profits me nothing Where note fiue degrees of this amplification the first is to giue for most men as it is in the prouerbe are better at the rake then at the pitchforke readier to pull in then to giue out The second is to giue not another mans but our owne goods If I bestow my goods According to that of Salomon Ecclesiastes 11.1 Cast thy bread vpon the waters Paâ—is si tuus qui tuus The third is all our goods not some small portion or great summe but all according to that of Christ If thou wilt be perfect sell all that thou hast and giue it to the poore The fourth is to giue not to the rich but to the poore Frange panem esurienti saith the Prophet Deale thy bread to the hungry The last is to giue to the poore not superfluously to feast but necessarily to feede them If a man performe this and more then this out of vaineglorious ostentation or idle prodigalitie not out of loue to Christ and compassion of his members it were but so much as nothing Though I gaue my bodie to be burned Loue is seene more in deedes then in words and in suffering more then in doing and of all suffering death is most terrible and of all kindes of death burning is most fearfull Here then are many degrees in this one speech as Interpreters obserue first si tradidero not if I be forced but if of mine owne accord I giue my bodie to be burned as it is said of Christ he gaue himselfe for vs a sacrifice Secondly si tradidero corpus if I suffer losse not of goods onely though that be very commendable Heb. 10.34 Ye suffered with ioy the spoiling of your goods But affliction in body which is far dearer then our wealth as the father of lies in this truly Skinne for skinne and all that euer a man hath will hee giue for his life Thirdly Sâ—traâ—â—dero corpus meum if I giue not onely the body of my child though a woman is highly magnified for such an act in the 2. of Maccabees 7. but my hod not onelie flesh of my flesh but flesh which is my flesh not onely to suffâ—r a naturall death but a violent and of all violent the most terrible to be rosted yea consumed in the fire If any suffer all this and want charity to particular persons espâ—cially toward the common body of the Church it is no better or rather indeed worâ—e then nothing I beseech you therefore by the mercifulnesse of Gâ—d whatsoeuer you speake whatsoeuer you study whatsoeuer you doe whatsoeuer you suffer let all be done in loue Vniuersa inutilitèr habet qui vnum illud quô vniuersis vtatur non hâ—bet Vnprofitably quoth Augustine hath he all who wants that one whereby he should vse all As the same father in another place QuaÌ„ta est charitas quae si desit frustrà habentur caetera si adsit rectè habentur omnia How great is loue for if it be wanting all other graces lose their grace but if present all are profitable So the text
The two Testaments are two pence bearing the same Kings image though not of the same stampe for all things being now fulfilled written by the Prophets of the Sonne of man our Sauiours picture ingrauen in the Gospell is more full and cleere then that imprinted in the law Now God hath shewed vs the light of his countenance Psal. 67.1 Let vs therefore search the Scripture for that is the way to Christ and Christ is the way to God For hee shall be deliuered vnto the Gentiles and shall bee mocked Hee did particularly foretell the manner of his suffering that his disciples might see that as God he did foresee these things that they might be strengthened at his Crosse when as they should vnderstand all things to be fulfilled as they were told by Christ and foretold by the Prophets That he should be betraied was foretold Psal. 41.9 mocked was foretold Ps. 69. v. 7.12.22 spitted on was foretold Esay 50.6 scourged was foretold Esay 53.5 put to death was foretold Psal. 22.17 Christ was deliuered vnto the Gentiles as we reade in the Gospell especially by three Iudas the Iewes Pilat By Iudas out of couetousnesse as the text expresly What will ye giue me and I will deliuer him to you For a little siluer and that not paied but onely promised he sold his friend yea that which is worse his Master yea that which is worst of all his Maker See the Gospell the Sunday before Easter By the Iewes out of malice Matth. 27.18 Pilat knew well that for enuy they deliuered him By Pilat through feare for the Iewes said vnto him If thou set him free thou art not Caesars friend for whosoeuer maketh himselfe a King speaketh against Caesar. And therefore Pilat chose rather to crucifie the Lord eternall then to displease Caesar a Lord temporall In like sort all couetous all malitious all cowardly professors betray Christ daily The couetous who make their coine their Creed and their penny their Pater noster and their bils their Bible betray Christ with Iudas It is but what will you giue them and they will deliuer vp the Gospell vnto you Enuious men who persecute the Saints and disgrace their graces betray Christ in his members with the Iews euen for meere malice speaking to their Christian brother as Antoninus Caracalla to his naturall brother Sit diuus modò non vinus Cowardly profâ—ssors vse to betray Christ with Pilat For as soone as tribulation or persecution commeth for the word they feare more the threats of Caesar an earthly Prince who can kill onely the body then the wrath of God who being King of all Kings is able to destroy both body and soule in hell The second point touching Christs passion is illusio Now Christ was mocked in foure places especially 1. In Caiphas house where the keepers blindfolded him and smote him on the face and asked him saying Prophecie who is it that smotâ— thee In Herods company when as the souldiers arraied him in white In the Common hall where they stripped him and put vpon him a scarlet robe In Golgotha when he was crucified First as Saint Matthew in the 27. Chap. by the passengers wagging their heads and saying Thou that destroiest the Temple and buildest it in three daies saue thy selfe c. Then by the Scribes and Pharises Hee saued other but he cannot saue himselfe Last of all some peruerted his words affirming that he called for Elias when as he praied Eli Eli c. The popish Clergy mocke Christ with Caiphas in that they blindfold the people by denying them the Scriptures and then mocke them for their ignorance Samson hauing his eiâ—s out was a laughing stocke to the Philistins and so the blinde laymen are the Priests pastime Though a Iesuit or a Seminary buffet them euery day yet can they not prophecie who smote them Either Samson must pull downe the Colledges of these Philistins or else he shall neuer see but thorow their spectacles They mock Christ with Herod who retaine foule consciences in a white rochet who conforme themselues in habit but reforme not themselues in heart The Babylonian whore mocks Christ with the souldiers in putting on skarlet betokening zeale and charity when her actions are cruell and bloudy They mocke Christ with the Iewes in Golgotha who distort the words of Scripture for their aduantage making Elias of Eloi Like the popish dolt who reading the subscription of Pauls 2. Epistle to the Thessalonians in the vulgar Latine Missa fuit ex Athenis instantly cried out that he had found a plaine text for the Masse Or like that foppish Anabaptist who gathered out of Christs words in English Goe and teach all nations and baptise c. that it is not lawfull for a Clergy man to ride on a faire palfrey much lesse as the Bishops in a stately coach Or as that Fen-man alias Fin-man standing vpon a marsh customâ— iustified his not paiment of Tithes out of Paul Custome to whom custome but his Pastor replied aptly the Churches of God haue no such custome So the blasphemous mouth spits on Gods face the tyrants openly crossing the Gospels proceeding scourge Christ and all such as slide from the profession of the faith are said in scripture to crucifie againe the Sonne of God And therefore the Church hath allotted this Gospell for this weeke most fitly For at this Carniual gut tide many deliuer Christ vnto y e Gentiles in their chambering and wantonnes drunkennes gluttonie making such as are no Christians to blaspheme Christianitie seeing such vncomely behauiour and mad meriments among profâ—ssors of holy religion As a louing wife which hath her husband slaine to moue compassion in the Iudges and to make the fact most odious and hatefull tels of his deadly wounds and describes his gastly lookâ—s and shewes some garment of his embrued in blood so the Church at this time doth offer vnto our considerations how Christ her deare Loue was betraied and mocked and spitted on and scourged and put to dâ—ath hereby recalling vs from our horrible sinnes which as another Iudas betray Christ as another Herod mock Christ as another Pilate condemne Christ as another Longinus wound Christ as another band of Iewes recrucifie Christ. And the third day he shall rise againe Christ is large in â—he report of his ignominie but short in this of his gloâ—ie for he deliuered fiue points as concerning his humiliation but he remembers onâ—ly two yea for the matter but one touching his exaltation And the third day hee shall rise againe Yet this one is the locke and key of all Christian faith on which all other articles of holy beleefe depend See before the Creed and after the Gospell on Easter and S. Thomas day The Prophets vsually mingle the sweet of Christs exaltation with the sower of his humiliation as Gen. 49.9 Esay 53.7 8. Psal. 4.9