to be obteined for much gold Iob. 28. 15. Gold shal not be giuen for it neither shal siluer be weighed for the price thereof It shall not be vâ—lued with the wedg of gold of Ophir nor with the precious Onix c. Yet seeing God dooth al things by meanes 2. Sam. 14 14. Experience doth shew That mony and goods doo vsually procure learning learning breedeth knowledge knowledge causeth vnderstanding and so oftentimes thorough knowledge and learning procured by mony as by meanes wisedome it seâ—fe is attained So saluation eternall life is the gift of God thorough Iesus Christ our Lord Rom. 6. 23. and is not to bee atteined of our selues nor to be obteined with mony nor any this worldes goods yet seeing God doâ—th giue his gifts by meanes seeing maintenance may procure preaching preaching knowledge knowledge faith and the end of our faith is the saluation of our soules 1. Pet. 1. 9. true it is also that by the good employment of our transitorie goods wee may as our Apostle here vseth the Phrase reape at length life euerlasting It is not that goods properly which causeth this but the preaching of the word the publishing of the Gospell which seeing they by whom it must be preached and published vnto bee men and not Angels and must liue not like Chameâ—eoâ—â— by the aire but as men with ordinarie maintenance hardly can bee had without the laying out of our goods And therefore as Cornelius beeing told that S. Peter should come and speake to him wordes whereby hee and all his house should bee saued knew full well that hee could not haue Peter to speake those words vnto him vnlesse hee would send for Peter receiue him entertaine him which hee did ioyfully and liberallie so in vaine it is for vs to looke to haue the Gospell published the word of God preached the way of saluation opened among vs vnlesse wee will with our goods entertaine those by whom it may and should bee done not standing vpon the charge so wee may haue the thing Looke now which is the best employment Wee see the fruite of the one and of the other What wee lay out vpon worldly vses yeelds vs at the most but worldly profit which of it selfe in time will turne to corruption happely which is worse to destruction to shame and confusion What wee laie out vpon religious vses will yeeld vs at the least the vse of religion of the Gospell of heauenly things among vs happely which is chiefest of all euerlasting comfort and eternall life For the word taught as seed sowen is seldome without good fruite but taketh firme roote in some Why then Seeing wee will not spare to lay out much to get thereby only a little worldly benefit should we bee sparing and loth to lay out but a little to get vs great store of spirituall and heauenly goods As God hath allowed vs sixe daies for our owne labours for worldly works and busines and requireth but the seuenth for his seruice and our spiritual vses so is he content that of our goods we imploy nine parts for earthly purposes for worldly vses and looketh onely that the tenth part his owne portion as the crop and chiefe of our substance be employed to his honour and our owne good If this we refuse and as if we were all body and no soule had hope onely of this life and none of that to come or cared altogether for this earth and dâ—spâ—sed heauen will imploy all our goods wholly and solely vpon the world for earthly profit shall we not shew our selues too vnmindefull of heauen vngratefull to God and 〈◊〉 to our soules And shall not the fault bee onely ours if wee be left without teaching without instruction and consequentlie without saluation For where Prophecie faileth the people perish Prouerb 29. 18. seeing Wee refuse to entertaine such as should teach vs and count the cost and charge thereof as we tearme it better saued It will goe hard with vs at the last day the day of reckoning when euery man must giue account of the employment of all his goods if we shall aunswere that we haue employed all vpon prophane and worldly vses And if being to giue a reason why wee wanted the Gospel and liued without preaching destitute of knowledge and vnderstanding wee bee inforced whether wee will or no for then truth must be vttered dissembling will take no place pretenses and vaine excuses will not serue for God will not be mocked and deluded we be inforced I say to testifie with our owne mouthes It was Because wee refused to imploy our goods to any such vses Let vs not therefore be deceiued for what a man soweth that onely that shall he also reape And hitherto of the former sense 2 Let vs likewise consider of the other sense of the wordes which respecteth the quantitie and intendeth that as a man soweth either sparingly or liberally so shall he reap He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly but he that soweth plentifully shall reap plentifullie signifying that benefits are not in vaine bestowed vpon the ministers of the Gospel for they shall returne with greater fruit euen of worldly increase For euen as the husbandman that soweth his seed in the field doth at haruest receiue the same with great increase So they that be liberall of their goods vnto the preachers of the Gospel and ministers of the word shall at length receiue fruite thereof viz. Gods blessing and increase vpon them euen in temporall things Whereas contrariwise they which thinking all to be lost and as it were so much cast away that the minister hath from them and themselues to be impouerished and hindred by impartiâ—g to them of their goods are therefore sparing and cruell vnto them shal in steed of plentie finde scarsitie and reape according to their deserts and doings penury and want And to this sense seeme our Apostles words verse 9. best to agree where ioyning this particular doctrine of the ministers maintenance with other more generall he concludeth them all in this sort Let vs not be weary of well doing for in due time we shal reap if we faint not As it were intimating That whereas men are loth many times to lay out their goods on necessary and spirituall vses for feare least so themselues should want that indeed such laying out is the very direct way to make the same increase because it is as the casting of seed into the ground which as nature and experience daily teacheth doth and will returne with great profit and increase This sense if we follow as some expositors doe and indeede it agreeth very well with the Scriptures otherwhere the wordes doe yeeld a twofould reason or cause why to be liberall and not sparing this way and that is in regard oâ— the euent that will follow vpon it euen concerning our temporall estate namely penury and want if we be sparing and niggardly 2. plenty and aboundance if we be liberall I wil
the soule it is but equitie therefore as hee receiueth spirituall things that hee render temporall things and that the minister labouring for him whom hee teacheth bee likewise payd by him that is taught for the Labourer is worthie of his hire Naturall common reason without Diuinitie can teache euery man that it is but equitie if hee would haue a man take paines and worke for him that hee dooe pay and content him for it as is fit Sith then that euery man euery parishioner doth looke that the minister stould labour and take paynes for him in his mynisterie as occasion requireth it is meet that hee allow and yeelde him for it condigne recompence Thou wilt not lightly offer that indignitie and iniury to a scholemaister to haue him to teache thy childe in the schoole halfe or a whole yeare to a labourer to worke for thee in thy field or barne a month or a vveeke to a messenger to trauaile on thy busines a day or two or to a Scriuener to write for thee and it bee but an houre or two but that thou will pay the one and the other for his labour and worke as it is woorth he deserueth And wilt thou offer that to thy minister that hee shall attend thee day by day a weeke a month yea a whole yeare together at Church and at home for nothing or that vvhich is as good as nothing But say I these things according vnto man saith not our Apostle the same also who 1. cor 9. 7. reasoneth thus Quis militat propriis stipendiis c. who goeth a warfare at any time of his owne cost who planteth a vineyard eateth not of the fruite thereof or who feedeth a flocke and eateth not of the milke of the flocke Reade the place it is worth the perusing And 1. Tim. 5. 17. writeth thus The elders that rule wel are worthie of double honour specially they which labour in the word and doctrine for saith hee the scripture saith Thou shalt not mousle the mouth of the oxe that treadeth out the corne The labourer is worthie of his wages Where you may note That hee dooth expound himselfe what that double honour is viz. when besides the cōdigne reuerence yeelded to their persons for their office sake the ministers haue such maintenance also yeelded them as is fit and due and by conseq that it denyed or withheld from them they are abused and dishonoured God himselfe doth in his law likewise Num. 18. 21. alleadge this reason as the principal cause why the tenthes and other duties allotted to the sonnes of Leui who were the priests or ministers of God in those daies should accordingly bee payd vnto them Behold saith God I haue giuen to the sonnes of Leui all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance for their seruice which they serue mee in the tabernacle of the Congregation ver 31. It is your wages for your seruice Our Sauiour in like maner liketh this reason so wel that speaking of this matter and shewing his Apostles by what right they might enter into any house eate and drink such things as were set before them and tary in that house without going from howse to house for one meales meate here another there like beggers vseth no other reason for it but this For the labourer is worthy of his hire Math. 10. 10. Luc. 10. 7. And it is so consonant not only to religion but also to all naturall reason and common humanity that it is hard to finde that man which thinketh it not requisite to bee obserued I say not as I haue alreadye sayd toward his seruants labourers but euen towards his very cattel the beasts of the earth For who is there but will allow his horse prouander that hee may trauell well or his oxe fodder enough that he may plough well Here be goodly comparisons it may bee some will thinke faire proofes What from beastes to men yea and marke it well For the comparison though it bee plaine and homely is not of my inuention I borrowed it from our Apostle S. Paul who likes it so vvell that hee doth vse it in tvvo seueral places of his epistles viz. 1. Cor. 9. 9. and 1. Tim. 5. 18. and hee did borrow it of Moses who receiued it of God as appeareth Deut. 25. 4. where thus it is written Thou shalt not mousle the mouth of the oxe that treadeth out the corne From whence the Apostle doth apply it to his purpose and shewes That God in making such a law did it more for our sakes that bee men and ministers then for the care hee had of oxen though them also hee leaues not vncared for and would thereby giue vs to vnderstand that if it bee an vnreasonable hard course to mousle the mouth of the labouring Oxe and pinch him of his meate much more it is vnreasonable and vnconscionable to deny to a man that labours any way for thee his due hire but most of all to the minister that labours for the good of thy soule nourishment for his body and conuenient necessaries for his life And therefore it may wel bee feared That the keeping and feeding of their oxen and horses will one day be a testimony against many Christians in this behalfe because they offer that measure to the minister which they doo not nor will dooe to the oxe that ploughes in their field or the horse that serueth for their iourney beeing careful that these bee kept well and fed at full as knowing that the better they are kept the better they will labour but very carelesse for those other though they pine for want of food liue in misery for lacke of necessaries yea and yet exclaime and grudge against them too if they be not as laborious as those that bee duely and wel mainteined as against idle and carelesse persons vngodly and slack in their ministery without zeale c. as if they had neuer heard or quite forgottē the old prouerb They that will haue their lampe to giue them light must maintaine it with oyle accordingly The harder that a man dooth worke the better hee deserues as wee commonly account his wages and the more his labours doo profit vs the willinger wee are to pay him his due If other men bee the better worthy of wages because they worke hard of hire for their labour because we get well thereby much more the minister of God and that whether we respect the greatnes of his labour or the goodnes of his worke For it is not as many account it an easie an idle a pleasant loytering kind of life to doo the worke of an Euangelist but one of the hardest and greatest of all others nor a needlesse and fruitlesse worke but of all other the most necessary and profitable that can bee For to speake nothing of that long and laborious preparation whereby a man is made fit for this worke by spending all his time euen from
his cradle till well-neere 30. yeares of age stil wearying himselfe with many studies and wasting the wealth of his friends with great and excessiue charges Is it not thinke you a great labour and an hard to imploy his ministery attend his study and execute from time to time those things that appertaine to his charge They that are any thing acquainted with these kind of exercises can somewhat tell how it incombreth their sences troubleth their mindes breaketh their sleepe wasteth their goods weakneth their bodies impaireth their health and sometimes shortens their daies And as it is a great labour and painfull to them so is it exceeding good profitable to their people These watch but for their soules These fight but to defend them from their spirituall enemies These are pastors but to feed them shepheards to keepe them from the wolfe lights to direct them salt to season them These are ministers to doo them seruice messengers to bring vnto them the glad tidings of saluation Embassadors on the Lordes behalfe to intreat them that they would bee reconciled vnto God These are Gods labourers and they are Gods husbandry these are Gods builders they are Gods building Suffer mee a little to magnifie the office By the Labours of the minister wee are begotten vnto the Faith brought froÌ„ darknes vnto light from the power of Sathan vnto God stirred vnto repentaunce when wee haue sinned exhorted vnto our duetie beeing slacke reprooued when wee offend confirmed beeing strong strengthned beeing weake comforted in heauines humbled in prosperitie instructed beeing ignorant and in a word saued in the day of the Lord Without them wee could neither know God nor our selues eschew vice or ensue vertue abandon errour nor follow trueth shake off infidelity or receiue the faith to be short neither auoyde hell nor attaine heauen Wherefore their worke labour being so great vnto theÌ„selues and so profitable vnto vs if others bee worthy of wages for their worke they rather of hire for their labour much more they of liberall recompence for their paines they most of all of loue for their diligence they of singular loue of any honour for their indeuours they of double honour that labour in the word and doctrine There must bee an equalitie They to receiue of our labours as wee of theirs and seeing they doo enrich vs in spiritual things wee to keep them from pouertie needines at least in temporal things that so they may labour and euer bee ready and able to labour with ioy and not with griefe for that is as vnprofitable for vs as grieuous vnto them If any take my words as of no moment let him heare yet how the Apostle himselfe 1. Corinth 9. 11. speaketh in the same maner saying If wee haue sowen vnto you spiritual things is it a great thing dooth it seeme such a burthen to your shoulders such a charge to your purses if wee reape your carnall things For is the exchange bad to receiue gold for copper siluer for drosse pearles for stones celestial treasures eternal for worldly and temporary trash Other men looke to reape more then they doo sow for haruest naturally dooth exceed the seed time but wee are content to reape both worse and lesse then wee sow and shall it yet bee thought ouermuch yea where other men sow in teares and reape in ioy shall wee bee inforâ—ed to sow in ioy and reape in teares or more rightly to speake both to sow and to reape in teares Thow seest now Christian Reader a farther interest the minister hath vnto his maintenance It is not only an inheritance and annuitie giuen assigned him by God and so due to him because the Lord hath passed it ouer vnto him by assignation as also wee shal hereafter see but it is also due to him by the Law and rule of equitie because of his labour Hee deserues it at our hands and earnes euery penny thereof dearely before hee hath it And therefore looke what right the seruant hath to his wages the labourer to his hire the very like as great right and interest hath the minister to his maintenance and whatsoeuer is his due As his right is great and the cause why it ought to bee payd him iust and equall so is the fault great and the course very vnequall if it bee not performed In the common opinioÌ„ euen of wordly men hee is counted very vnreasonable and of a bad conscience that will keep away wages from a seruant or not pay a workman and labourer his hire Iudge then what reason or conscience is it to keep backe the ministers maintenance which is his wages to deny or debarre him his due which is his hire God dooth so exactly require the performance of that dutie toward hm that worketh in thy field that in his law hee sets an houre by which it must be payd Leuit. 19. 13. The workemans hire shal not abide with thee vntil the morning Hee must bee payd ouernight the very same day at euen that it is due Deut. 24. 15. Moses addeth a reason why least saith hee hee crie against thee vnto the Lord and it bee sin vnto thee And in Malac. 3. 5. the Lord laies an heauie curse and threatens to be swift in Iudgement against them that keep backe the hirelings wages The Lord beeing thus prouident for the good vsage of the poore labourer in thy barne or field lookes hee not for as good dealing and as due payment vnto those that labour in his owne vineyard and whom he hath sent foorth into his owne haruest or will he not as speedily and seuerely reuenge their cause and right their wrongs when they shall cry vnto him for the iniuries that are offered vnto them and for the wrongs and oppressions they receiue and sustaine at the hands of such as keepe backe their hire pay not theÌ„ their wages but deny them their iust appoynted portions The bread of deceit saith Salomon is sweete to a man but afterward his mouth shal be filled with grauell It is goods cleare gayned so much well saued some may thinke that is gotten from the Church and kept from the Minister but if any proue the richer thereby at length or such goods doe long prosper I am much deceyued For sure I am that there is a God that iudgeth the earth Thus farre of the principall cause why viz. in regard euen of desert people ought to yeelde vnto their Ministers due maintenance Besides which the same wordes of this parcell of scripture in hand viz. let him that is taught and him that teacheth may yeelde vs yet another reason or cause thereof and that is in regard not of that they doe but as I may say in regarde of that they doe not I meane for that they doe not intermeddle for so they should not in the trades occupations and professions of other men but as they are consecrated to god do giue themselues wholly 〈◊〉 the Ministerie and seruice of
no lesse lyable to this dutie and bound to contribute toward the maintenance of their ministers then those that liue by husbandry tillage by the fruites and increase of the earth Many of that sort of men doo presume that because they haue not lands fields to yeeld them increase therefore they ought to pay little or nothing But that therein they doo deceiue themselues these words of our text doo make it as apparant as the light at noone daies For if that whereby they doo liue bee goods if that which they get by their trades and occupations sciences and industry arte and labour bee goods as wel as that the husbandman getteth by his tillage and increase of the earth and that is already so apparantly conuinced that it cannot be denyed then is it cleare that the minister ought to haue a part with them thereof aswell as with the husbandman in that he possesseth and liues by As the Minister makes no respect in executing of his Ministerie whether those he teacheth be husbandmen or merchants tradesmen or artificers but teacheth all ministereth the word and sacraments to all indifferently so they are to make no difference betweene these and those goods whether they be gotten by land or by sea by trade or by tillage by husbandry or by merchandize by natures increase or arts industrie but by that whereby they doe maintaine themselues and liue by by that and those kind of goods they must helpe to maintaine him too That the Apostle did speake it indifferently of the one sorte of goods aswell as of the other and intended directly it should be a rule for the one sort of hearers aswel as for the other there needs no better proofe nor other argument then the practise of this kind of doctrine in those times For it is most certaine and easie to be conceiued by any that hath neuer so small knowledge and but superficiall vnderstanding in the scriptures That Christians in those daies were for the most part citizens and townesmen tradesmen and artificers and therefore they were the first and most speciall persons that were then to practize thus and did aboue all others impart of their goods vnto their teachers The historie called The Acts of the Apostles is full of examples of this sorte which for breuities sake I leaue to the Reader to be perused 2. If we call to minde the principall cause and reason already noted out of the text why all sorts of men should giue of their goods to this vse is it not the same to one sorte as well as to another If townesmen haue as great neede of teaching as they in the countrey or rather more If they can no more be without a Minister then the other why should they not maintaine him aswell as the other 3. Goe to the rule of Equitie which telles vs that The labourer is worthie of his hire and if by that rule the townesman or tradesman be bound to pay him that worketh for him in his shop his house or other busines which coÌ„cerns his body no lesse then the husbandman is and dooth and will giue as good wages for such causes as hee why should hee not pay his minister likewise that labours for his soule and doth his best worke as largely and bountifully as the husbandman dooth 4. Looke vpon the necessity and state of the minister And hath not hee that liues in the towne need of asmuch maintenaÌ„ce as hee that liues in the country Nay rather hath hee not need of much more For needes not his study to be greater Is not housekeeping is not diet and apparell more chargeable vnto him is there not greater cause of hospitalitie why then where there is greatest need should there bee meanest help and where is most vse of maintenance there least bee yeelded 5. Besides all this Consider wee whence all men haue their goods Is it not God that same God that giueth his blessing aswel vpoÌ„ the labours of them that liue by trades or handicrafts as vpon the increase of the earth that maketh men to prospeâ— whether it bee by sea or by land that giueth the townesman power to get riches aswel as the countryman And then seeing it is euery mans duety that hath receiued ought at Gods hand to honour God therewith and shewe himselfe thankfull to God as to the authour giuer of all things ought not the tradesman the townesman and Citizen doo this aswel as the husbandman When Salomon Prou. 3. 9. saith Honour the Lord with thy riches or as other translations read With thy substance and with the first fruites of all thine increase dooth hee speake onely of goods that arise by increase of the earth or dooth hee not rather in the first clause speake generally of all goods whatsoeuer and in the latter particularly of such as arise by tillage Read but the note in the margent and consider Thus by the manifest words of the text the practise of the doctrine in the Apostles time the vse of the ministery the rule of equitie the state of the minister and the authour from whom all haue their goods it appeares that they that haue one sort of goods aswel as another ought to pay of that they haue to the minister for his maintenance Let men therefore learne to make more conscience of this matte seeing wee plainely see That as it is a very vnreasonable thing to looke that the minister should teach them labour in his ministery for them for nothing beeing flatly against the rule of equitie so it is also a wicked and vngodly thing beeing a manifest bâ—each of Gods ordinance commaundement who hath ordeined commaunded That euerie one that is taught in the word of those goods that hee hath whatsoeuer they bee should giue a pâ—â—t to him that dooth teach him and so honour the Lord with his substance CHAP. IIII. Sheweth That the right and best maner of payment to the minister is That hee bee payd his parte of euery thing in specie that is in its proper kinde as naturally God dooth send it and not by a set stipend Text. Partaker of all his goods HAuing now seene in generall whereof the minister must haue a parte next wee are to note the same thing in special that is in what sort it ought to bee payd vnto him To which purpose it serueth well that our Apostle saith not only of his goods but which is more of all his goods that is of euery sorte of his goods some Hee must as wee say in this case bee payd in specie in the very kind Otherwise hee may haue a part of his goods but not of all his goods as two pence at Easter a sheafe of corne at haruest c. is a part of a mans goods but not of all his goods But then thou giuest him a parte of all thy goods when then payest him a parte of thy corne thy hey and thy cattell thou hauing corne hey and cattel a part
any sort of people denie or withhold it They that will haue spirituall things must render temporall Otherwise a man hath no reason to account himselfe bound to labour for them as his hearers that will not intertaine him as their teacher They that contrary to the law which saith Forsake not the Leuit all daies of thy life forsake the minister Keeping from him his appointed maintenance leaue him to seeke the bread of his body where he may haue no wrong done them if they be forsaken and left without Ephod and without Teraphim to seeke for the foode of their soules where they wil and are little to be pitied though they wander from sea to sea from the north to the east running to and fro to seeke the worde of God and yet finde it not because they haue brought such famine vpon themselues and reap but such fruites as their owne hands haue sowne Their owne bloud bee vpon their owne heads that will prefer riches before Religion earth before Heauen the world before God the welth of their body to the health of their soul. From proofe let vs come to practise to which purpose if enquirie and search be made all ages and times will affoord vs record sufficient when where by whoÌ„ such tithes haue bin paid The first Tithes that euer wee reade to haue beene paid were those that Abraham paid to Melchâ—zedec And what kind of tithes were they If the common translations of the Bible deceiue vs not the text of holy Scripture Heb. 7. 4. telleth vs They were tithes of the spoiles the tenth of the bootie taken in battell that is Personall tithes 2 Concerning the Isralites whether they paid theÌ„ or no I wil not contend It is as probable yea as no. First by the words of the law which after an enumeratioÌ„ of some particulars vseth this general terme al the teÌ„th in Israel Tithes of al things NuÌ„ 18. 21. 2. Chro. 31. 5. Secondly by their certaine and knowne practise in other things namely in al kind of offerings sacrifices to be performed vnto the Lord. In those there was no difference among them betwixt one and other but the one sort were bound to performe them as wel as the other The law is plaine for it Exod. 12. 49. but specially NuÌ„ 15. 13. Al that are borne of the countrie shall do these things thus and one law and one maner shall serue for both They that had not beasts of their owne for sacrifice must buy them of others c. Now as they were to prouide theÌ„ offerings for the Lord by such goods as they had likely it is they were also to pay tithes for the maintenance of the Leuits and priests of God of such goods as they had Thirdly we do read Num. 31 That being returned from battel the Lord did expressely require by the name of The Lords tribute a certaine parte of the bootie as one of 50. of 500. one lesse indeede a great deale then a tenth yet bearing proportion to a tenth And whether it may be accounted a right personal teÌ„th that is diductis expensis the expenses diducted let others iudge It doth shew vs at least thus much That God would by some part of that which was gotten be acknowledged to be the giuer of the whole and authour of the victorie And that such custome continued in Israel we may not obscurely gather 1. Chro. 26. 26. where we read That of the battailes and spoiles taken in warre Dauid the king the chiefe Fathers the captaines ouer thousands hundreds and all the captaines of the armie and besides them Samuel the Seer Saul that had bin King Abner the son of Ner Ioab others had dedicated according as the Lord commanded Nu. 31. say some expositors such an abundance of treasure that there were treasurers men of great name elected deputed for keeping therof Fourthly The Leuits themselues hauing none inheritance of lands c. yet did pay to the priests the tenth of their tenth that was accounted vnto theÌ„ as we read Nu. 18. 27 as the corne of the barne abundance of the winepresse If the Leuits themselues that receiued tithes of others must did pay tithe of that they had is it not probable that others of what condition soeuer they were for whom the Leuits serued did pay of that they had which might be acounted vnto theÌ„ as the corne wine to the husbaÌ„d-maÌ„ as the tenth of the tenthto the Leuits doth it not intimate that by such meanes as a maÌ„ hath doth himself liue by he ought to coÌ„fer to the maintenance of the minister who must liue by him because hee laboureth for him Fifthly Luk. 18. 12. our Sauiour brings in a Pharisie speaking proudly I graunt yet truely thus I giue tithe of all that euer I possesse Herevpon I aske first whether in the person of this one Pharise bee not expressed vnto vs the actions of them all and in this point of the whole nation then whether all Pharisies were husbandmen onely or whether â—t bee not probable That some of them were artificers as Paul Lawiers as Gamaliel townesmen as they that dwelt at Ierusaelem c And thirdly if beeing townesmen tradesmen and artificers they did giue tithe of all that they possessed whether it must not necessarily follow That they gaue Tithes of their trades labours stipends c. seeing goods gotten that way bee part of that a man dooth possesse aswell as cattell corne c. and is the same to him that the field the tree the beast c. is to the husbandman Sixtly Admit contrary to so euident probabilities that the Iews did not pay any personall tithes yet it followes not by and by that therefore Christians ought not For the case is not altogether like Because their priests and Leuits dwelt together either at the house of God or in other their owne Cities assigned them as their peculiar possession by the lot of God vnder the hand of Iehoshuah and did not dwell so dispersed as the ministers of the Gospell doo and must viz. in euery Citie towne and village Our maner of habitation therefore dooth necessarily require that which theirs did not that is That the minister of euerie place haue his maintenance according to the place viz. by prediall tithes where are prediall and by personall tithes where are personall Otherwise seeing in Lawe and equitie too there is no compartition betwixt ministers of the Gospell as was among Leuits for their tithes either such places where prediall Tithes are not must bee without ministers for lacke of maintenance or else the ministers hauing little or nothing must as commonly they doo but woe bee to them by whom it commeth liue not like their brethren that haue prediall tithes minister like but as if they were the drudges and dregs of the world deseruing no reward beggarlike And to this agree the words of the Apostle who
vse them soberly and without excesse if they get keep them without the detriment iniury of others specially if they goe one degree farther I meane if they bestow some small contemptible portion to some charitable vses they haue discharged their dutie to the vttermost and God requireth no more at their hands But indeed wee must know yet farther That as wee cannot honour God rightly vnlesse both our bodies soules bee imployed sometimes meerely in his seruice and as wee cannot with our bodies and soules religiously duly serue God vnlesse some part of our times as the seauenth day bee taken cleane away from our wordly busines vses and imployed wholly in his so wee doo not and cannot truely and throughly honour him vnles wee giue vnto him likewise a part of our substance For are not our goods his aswell as our daies and as our selues why should wee not then honour him with a speciall part of the one as well as of the other And vnles with part thereof we acknowledge his supreame Dominion by whose beneuolence wee haue the whole how doo wee giue honour to whom honour belongeth or how hath God the things that are Gods I would know what nation in the world did euer honour God and did not thinke it a point of their duetie to doo him honour with their goods So that this we may blodly set downe as a principle cleare in nature an axiome which ought not to bee called in question a truth manifest infallible That men are eternallie bound to honour God with their substance in token of thankefull acknowledgement that all they haue is from him To honour him I say with their worldly goods not onely by spending them in lawfull maner by vsing them without offence in the world but also by alienating from themselues some reasonable part or portion thereof and by offering vp the same to him as a signe that they gladly confesse his sole and singular Dominion ouer all as a dutie which all men are bound vnto and a part of that very worship of God which as the Law of God and nature it selfe requireth so wee are the rather to thinke all men no lesse strictly bound therevnto then to any other naturall dutie inasmuch as the hearts of men doo so cleaâ—e to these earthly things so much admire them for the sway they haue in the world impute them so generally either to nature or chance so little thinke vpon the grace and prouidence from which they come That vnles by a kinde of continual tribute men be inured to acknowledge Gods Dominion it may bee doubted that in short time men would learne to forget whose tenants they are and imagine that the worlds is their owne absolute free and independant inheritance Thus it appeareth by the Testimonie of God himselfe and of godly men from time to time that as God out of the whole masse of mankind hath reserued to himselfe some whom he calleth his elect out of the habitations of the sâ—nnes of men their earthly buildings some which he calls his temple his house of times seasons some his Sabbaths his solemne feasts of seruants attendants some his Priests ministers So likewise of the goods wealth that meÌ„ enioy vpoÌ„ the earth soe portioÌ„ vnto himself viz. his Tithes oblations as his proper right portion and inheritance That God ought to haue some parte of our goods sanctified and offered vnto him wil happely be soone graunted of the most part to be but necessary iust reasonable But may it be possible to shew any reason or cause why God should vouchsafe to make choise of the tenth part rather theÌ„ soe other either greter or lesser The maine surest reason of al is his will against which he hauing once reuealed that his will is to reserue the tenth part as his owne who may dispute He is not bound alwaies to giue vs a reason of his will which wee know cannot but be iust and wise what euer it be Of daies and times why he hath sanctified to himselfe the seuenth day we haue the reason and cause euidently taught vs viz. because on that day herested froÌ„ al his work which he had created GeÌ„ 2. 3. Exo. 20 therfore it behoued that day not the 6. or 8. or any other to be celebrated If we haue not y â— like for our goods yet that it is no lesse reasonable and iust we may not doubt 2 And reason it selfe must needes teach vs that it is no reason if we must giue to God some part of our goods that it should bee any contemptible portion as if it were fit to honor God as we relieue the poore of the parish With some cold beneuolence and therfore that Centesima an hundreth or which is worse though oft practised Millesima the thousandth parte of our goods were enough for him We shame to bring vnto a Noble man a prince a king any other then some royall and notable present the best and goodliest we can get such as may wel beseeme vs to giue and him to receiue such as may argue our affection toward him and procure win his liking toward vs. How much more then being to come into the presence of God and to offer to him of our goods should both reason and religion mooue vs to the end it may be the better accepted to offer to him no beggarly nor niggardly parte but such as may shew a thankfull hearte and liberall mind nor of the worst and scruffe but of the fattest fayrest and best of our goods according as God did by expresse law require of his people Leuit. 22. 19. Deut. 15. 21. 17. 1. Exech 43. 22. and being not performed did in them sharpely reprooue as yee may read Mal. 1. 8. Wherefore seeing reason teacheth this it cannot but conclude withall That must be a tenth or thereabout 3 But the likeliest reason that I can coniecture is the end speciall vse whereunto God assigned intended to depute this his portion which is as after I shall shew at large the maintenance of his ministers for whom it seemeth he accounted the tenth to be a portion so coÌ„petent as by which ordinarily together with his offerings they might in some sufficient and fit measure be able liue which they could not do vpon a lesse as the 15. or 20. parte And this reason I thinke the whole world in manner heathen Iewish christian hath in all ages as if not obeying at least yet imitating God approued respected in condiscending to yeeld as a portion to that vse so competent that any other more coÌ„petent it were not possible for the wit of man to deuise that parte to the maintenance of the priests and Ministers of God and his Church The farther froÌ„ reason religion I wil not say this present age which dissenting froÌ„ the iudgement of God of ancient best Christians besides Iewes and heathen account the hundredth yea many