him he carowses the wine he neuer swet for and keeps the poore Minister thirsty The tenth sheafe is his dyet the tenth fleece O 't is a golden fleece he thinkes is his drinke but the wooll shall choke him Some drinke downe whole Churches and steeples but the bells shall ring in their bellies Euery couetous worldling is a great drinker he swallowes aurum potabil◠as his dyet-drinke And like an absolute dissolute drunkard the more he drinks the dryer he is for he hath neuer enough It may be said of him as it was of Bonosus whom the Emperour Aurelian set to drinke with the German Embassador not a man but a rundlet fill'd with wine And my fine precise Artizan that shunnes a Tauerne as the Diuell doth a Crosse is often as drunke as the rankest His language doth not sauour of the pot he sweares not but indeed but trust him and indeed hee will cozen you to your face The loue of mony hath made him drunk And though the Prouerbe be In vino veritas yet as drunke as he is you shall neuer haue truth break out of his lips And the vnconscionable Lawyer that takes fees on both hands as if he could not drinke but with two cuppes at once is not hee a great drinker If what is wanting in the goodnesse of the cause be supplied in the greatnes of the fees O these Foecundi calices quem non fecere disertum Let all thinke these ebrieties must be accounted for How fearefull were it if a mans latter end should take him drunke Take heed to your selues lest at any time your hearts bee ouercharged with surfeting and drunkennesse and so that day come vpon you vnawares In corporall ebriety the soule leaues a drunken body in spirituall the body leaues a drunken soule both desperately fearefull There is yet a last and those a blest sort of Drinkers which drinke in this sweete raine of grace and mercie They doe not onely taste it so do the wicked Verse 4. They haue tasted of the heauenly gift they haue tasted of the good word of God and of the powers of the world to come 2. Nor drinke it onely to their throat as if they did gargarize the word as carnall Politicians and formall Professors doe They must attend they must admit but no further then their throates they will but gargarize the Gospell It shall neuer come into their stomakes neuer neere their hearts But these drinke it in digest it in their consciences take liberall draughts of it and do indeede drinke Healths thereof Common health-maintainers drinke their sicknesse Therefore sayes the moderne Poet honestly Vne salus sanis nullam potare salutem But this is a sauing health such as our Sauiour began to vs when hee dranke to vs in his owne bloud a sauing Health to all Nations And wee are bound to pledge him in our owne faith and thankfulnesse as Dauid I will take the cup of saluation and blesse the name of the Lord. This is a hearty draught of the waters of life the deeper the sweeter Blessed he is that drinkes soundly of it and with a thirsty appetite There is as Diuines say sancta ebrietas such as fell on the blessed Apostles on Whitsunday Acts 2. They were drunke not with new wine but with the holy Ghost This holy plenitude doth as it were inebriate the soules of the Saints They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatnesse of thy house and thou shalt make them drinke of the riuer of thy pleasures The Spouse sings of her Sauiours kindnes He brought me to the banqueting house and his banner ouer me was loue Stay mee with flagons and comfort me with apples for I am sicke of loue In the originall it is called House of wine Christ hath broached to his Church the sweet wines of the Gospell and our hearts are cheared with it our soules made merry with flagons of mercie Come to this wine bibite inebriamini eate O friends drinke yea drinke abundantly O beloued drinke and be drunke with it God will be pleased with this and no other but this Drunkennes The vessell of our heart being once thus filled with grace shall hereafter be replenished with glorie A DIVINE Herball Or THE PRAYSE OF FERTILITY The SECOND SERMON MATH 25. 29. Vnto euerie one that hath shall be giuen and he shall haue abundance AVGVST Magnae Virtutis est cum foelicitate luctari Magnae foelicitatis est à foelicitate non vinci LONDON Printed by George Purslowe for Iohn Budge and are to be solde at his shop at the great South-dore of Pauls and at Brittaines Burse 1616. A DIVINE HERBALL OR The prayse of Fertillitie THE SECOND SERMON HEB. Chap. 6. Vers. 7. For the earth which drinketh in the raine that commeth oft vpon it and bringeth forth herbes meet for them by whom it is dressed receiueth blessing from God THAT difference which the Philosophers put betweene learning and mettals wee may truly find betweene humane writings and Gods Scriptures conferred They that digge in the one finde Paruum in magno a little gold in a great deale of ore They that digge in this rich field which the wise Merchant solde all hee had to purchase finde Magnum in pa◠no much treasure in a few words Wee haue heard how the good earth is beholding to God for his holy Raine the next circumstance obiects to our meditation this earths thankfull fertility It bringeth forth herbes meete for them by whom it is dressed Euery word transcends the other and as it excludes some vicious defect so demonstrates it also some graduall vertue 1. It brings forth It is not barren like a dead ground that yeelds neither herbes nor weedes This is no idle heart that doth neither good nor harme that like a meere spectator of the world sits by with a silent contemplation for whom was made that Epitaph Here lyes he was borne and cryed Liu'd threescore yeares fell sicke and dyed Doing neither profit nor preiudice to the Countrey hee liued in Heere is no such stupid neutralitie nor infructuous deadnesse It brings forth 2. They are not weedes it produceth but herbes A man had as good do nothing as doe naughty things It is lesse euill to sit still then to runne swift by in the pursuite of wickednes They that forbeare Idlenesse and fall to lewdnesse mend the matter as the Diuell in the tale mended his dames legge when he should haue put it in ioynt he broke it quite in pieces It is not enough that this ground brings forth but that it yeelds herbes Of the two the barren earth is not so euill as the wicked earth that men pittie this they curse It brings forth herbes 3. Neither is it a paucity of herbes this ground affordeth but an abundance not one herbe but herbes a plurall and plentifull number There is neyther barrennesse nor barenesse in this ground not no fruites not few fruits but many herbes 4. Lastly they are such
righteousnesse We are easily induced to thinke our selues euery one as Simon Magas some great man There must bee a deiection of this thought an annihilation of our owne worth that we can doe nothing meete for God or worthy his iust acceptance For Serdet in distinctiâ—â—e Iudicis quod fulget in opinione operantis That is often foule in the sentence of the Iudge which shines in the imagination of him that doth it But as Physitians say no man dyes of an ague or without it so seldome any soule dyes of pride or without pride not meerly of pride for though that sicknesse were enough to kill it yet it is euer accompanied with som other disease and vicious wickednes nor without it for it is so inherent vnto mans nature that pride if it doth not prouoke yet at lest holds the dore whiles any iniquitie is doing Hence flow so many errors and factions and singularities For as in the body a raw stomach makes a rhumatick head a rhumatick head a raw stomach So in the soule an indigested conceit of some good thing in vs makes the head rume of some rheumaticke opinion or madde factious singularitie and this petulant rheume in the braine keeps the conscience raw stil that the physicke of repentance or good diet of peaceable obedience cannot helpe it Let vs correct these exorbitant and superfluous conceits which are like proude flesh vpon vs and knowe wee are able to doe nothing of our selues but God is faine to put euen good thoughts in vs. And if wee doe good from him how good soeuer it be as from him yet running through vs it gets some pollution Neither let vs run into the contrary errour as if in a stupid willfullnesse what good soeuer wee did we could not hope that God in Iesus Christ would accept it There is a thresholde of despaire below to stumble at as wel as a post of high presumption to breake our heads at There is a base deiection a sordid humility Barâ—ena the Iesuite told another of his order that when the deuill appeared to him one night out of his profound humility hee rose vp to meete him and prayed him to sitte downe in his chaire for hee was more worthy to sitte there then he This did appeare a strange kind of deiectednes Surely I thinke a man should by Gods word and warrant take comfort in his wel doing and be cheared in the testimonie which a good conscience on good cause beareth to him So Dauid hartned himselfe against all the malicious slanders of his his enemies O Lord thou knowest mine innocence Good workes are the necessary and inseparable effects of a true faith We are by nature all dead in sinne and by sinne concluded vnder death Our Sauiour bore for vs this death and by his passion freed vs from eternal damnation It was not enough to scape hell how shall wee get to heauen Loe we are cloathed with the garment of his righteousnesse hung with the Iewels of his merits So not onely hell is escaped by his sufferings but heauen got by his doings Why should wee then worke what need our gardens stand so full of herbes Good reason Shall God do so much for vs and shall we do nothing for him for our selues If the Lord of a Forrest giues me a Tree it is fit I should be at the cost to cut it downe and bring it home if I will haue it I cannot say that I deserued the tree it was anothers gift but my labours must lead me to enioy that which was freely giuen me Neither can the conscience haue assurance of eternal life so frankly bestowed in Christ without a good conuersation Faith doth iustifie and workes do testifie that we are iustified In a clocke the finger of the dyall makes not the clocke to goe but the clocke it yet the finger without shewes how the clocke goes within Our external obedience is caused by our inward faith but that doth manifest how truly the clocke of our faith goes As a mans corporall actions of sleeping eating digesting walking declare his recouery from sicknesse and present health So his life witnesseth by infallible Symptomes that the disease and death of sinne is mortified in him and that he hath taken certaine hold of eternall life It is meet then that we should doe good workes but all our works are made meete and worthy in him that bought vs. I will conclude then with that Antheme made by a sweet singer in our Israel Pendemus ate credimus in te tendimus ad te non nisi per te Optime Christe AMEN THE GARDEN Or A Contemplation of the HERBES The THIRD SERMON The Song of Salomon Chap. 6. Ver. 2. My Beloued is gone downe into his Garden to the beds of spices to feede in the gardens and to gather Lillies AMB. super LVC. Non Virtus est non posse peccare sed nolle LONDON Printed by George Purslowe for Iohn Budge and are to be solde at his shop at the great South-dore of Pauls and at Brittaines Burse 1616. THE GARDEN OR A Contemplation of the Herbes THE THIRD SERMON HEB. Chap. 6. Vers. 7. For the earth which drinketh in the raine that commeth oft vpon it and bringeth forth Herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed receiueth blessing from God THat the Herbes of our graces may be meete for the dresser contentful to GOD who hath planted watred husbanded the Garden of our hearts wee will require in them foure vertues Odour Taste Ornament Medicinall Vertue 1. That they haue a good odour God is delighted with the smell of our graces My Beloued is gone downe into his Garden to the beds of spices to feed in the gardens and to gather Lillies The vertues of Christ are thus principally pleasant and all our herbes onely smell sweetly in his Garden Because of the sauour of thy good ointment thy name is as ointment powred forth therefore doe the Virgins loue thee This sauour is sweetly acceptable in the nostrils of God All thy garments smel of Myrrhe Aloes and Cassia It is his righteousnesse that giues all our herbes a good odour and in him it pleaseth God to iudge our works sweet When Noah had built an Altar and sacrificed burnt offerings on it the Lord smelled a sweet sauour and sayd I will not againe curse the ground any more for mans sake Myrrhe and Prankincense were two of the oblations which the Wise-men offered to CHRIST being an Infant Tres Reges regum Regitria dona tulerunt Myrrham homini vncto auruÌ„ thura dedere Deo Tutriafac itidem dones pia munera Christo Muneribus gratus si cupis esse tuis Pro myrrha lacrymas pro auro cor porrige purum Pro thure ex humili pectore funde preces Three kings to the great King three offerings bring Incense for God Myrrhe for man gold for king Thy Incense be the hands a white soule reares For gold giue a pure hart for
myrrhe drop tears The way to make our herbes smell sweetly is first to purge our garden of weedes For if sinne be fostered in our hearts all our workes will bee abominated God heareth not the prayers of the wicked If yee will walke contrary to mee saith the Lord I will bring your sanctuaries vnto desolation and I will not smell the sauour of your sweete odours But being adopted by grace in Christ and sanctified to holinesse our good works smell sweetly Phil. 4. I haue receiued of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you an odour of a sweet smell a sacrifice acceptable well pleasing to God It seemes GOD highly esteemes the herbe Charitie in our gardens Hee that serueth the Lord shall smell as Lebanon hee shall growe as the Vine and his sent shall bee as the wine of Lebanon Man is naturally delighted with pleasant sauours and abhorres noysome and stinking smels But our God hath purer nosthrils and cannot abide the polluted heapes of iniquities The Idle man is a standing pitte and hath an ill-sauour'd smell an ill-fauour'd sight The drunkard is like a bogge a fogge a fenne of euill vapours God cannot abide him Your couetous wretch is like a dunghill there is nothing but rottennesse and infection in him Omnis malitia eructat fumum All wickednesse belcheth forth an euill sauour Wonder you if God refuse to dwell with the Vsurer Swearer Idolater Adulterer There is a poyson of lust a leprosie of putrefaction in them no carryon is so odious to man as mans impieties are to God Yea the very oblations of defiled hands stinke in his presence Hee that sacrificeth a Lambe is as if hee cut off a dogges necke c. As if Ass a foetida was the only supply of their gardens But good herbes giue a double sauour one outward to man another inward to God The sweete smoke of a holy sacrifice like a subtil ayre riseth vp to heauen and is with God before man sees or smels it It also cheares the hearts of Christians to behold Christian workes Reuerence to the Word hallowing the Sabaoths releeuing the poore deeds of mercie pittie piety giue a delightful sent solacing the soules of the Saints and pleasing him that made them both men and Saints Therefore Hearken vnto me ye holy children and budde forth as a Rose growing by the brook of the fielde Giue ye a sweet sauour as frankincense and flourish as a Lilly send forth a smell sing a song of prayse and blesse the Lord in all his workes 2. That they taste well Many a flower hath a sweet smell but not so wholsome a taste Your Pharisaicall prayers and almes smelt sweetly in the vulgar nosthrils taste them and they were but rue or rather worme-wood When the Pharise sawe the Publican in the lower part of the Temple standing as it were in the Belfrey he could cry Foh this Publican but when they were both tasted by his palate that could iudge the Publican hath an herbe in his bosome and the Pharise but a gay gorgeous stinking weede The herbes that the Passeouer were eaten with were sowre yet they were enioined with sweet bread Sowre they might be but they were wholsome Herbes haue not onely their sauour but their nutriment He causeth the grasse to growe for the cattell and herbe for the seruice of man that he may bring food out of the earth Herbs thē are food and haue an alimentall vertue So we may both with the herbes of charitie feed mens bodies and with the herbes of piety feede their soules A good life is a good sallet and in the second place to precepts are vsefully necessary good exāples The bloud of Martyrs is sayd to haue nourished the Church The patience of the Saints in the hottest extremity of their afflictions euen when the flames of death hath clipped them in their armes hath been no lesse then a kindly nourishment to many mens faith It is expounded by an vniuersall consent of Diuines that one of those 3. feedings which Christ imposed on Peter is Pasce exemplo let thy life feed them Blessed Gardens that yeeld herbes like Iothams vine that cheare the heart of both God and man The Poets fain'd that Nectar Ambrosia were the food of their Gods Iupiter Ambrosia satur est est Nectare plenus But the true Gods dyet is the vertues of his Saints wherwith he promiseth to suppe when he comes into their hearts Faith loue patience meeknes honestie these dishes are his dainties If thou wouldest make Christ good cheare in the parlour of thy conscience bring him the herbes of obedience Doe not say I would haue beene as kinde and liberall to my Sauiour as the best had I liued in those dayes when he blessed the world with his bodily presence But now I may say with Mary Magdalen They haue taken away the Lord and I know not where to finde him Damne not thy selfe with excuses Wheresoeuer his Church is there is he exercise thy piety Wheresoeuer his members are there is he exercise thy charity Thou art very niggardly if thou wilt not afford him a sallet a dinner of herbes Yet sayth Salomon A dinner of greene herbes with loue is better then a fatte Oxe with hatred 3. That they be fitte to adorne Herbes and flowers haue not only their vse in pleasing the nostrills and the palate but the eye also They giue delight to all those three senses Good workes are the beauty of a house and a better sight then fresh herbes strew'd in the windores The Chamber where Christ would eate his Passouer was trimmed and the Palace of our Princely Salomon is paued With Loue of the daughters of Ierusalem There is no ornature in the World like good deeds no hanging of Tapestry or Arrase comes neere it A stately building where an Idolater dwells is but a gawdy coate to a Sodome-apple When you see an Oppressour raising a great house from the ruines of many lesse depopulating a Countrey to make vp one Family building his Parlours with extortion and cimenting his walls with the morter of bloud you say there is a foule Minotaure in a faire Labyrinth Be a man dead it is a foolish hope to reare immortalitie with a few senselesse stones Perhaps the Passenger wil be hereby occasioned to comment vpon his bad life and to discourse to his company the long enumeration of such a mans vices So a perpetuall succession of infamie answeres his gay sepulchre and it had bin better for him to haue been vtterly inglorious then inexcusably infamous The best report that can be drawne from him is but this Here lyes a faire Tombe and a foule carcase in it These things doe neither honest a man liuing nor honour him dead Good works are the best ornaments the most lasting monuments They become the house wherein thy soule dwelleth whiles it dwels there and blesse thy memorie when those two are parted A good life is mans
must be Lapathum Patience This Rue is affliction which hath a profitable effect in those that qnietly digest it Of all the herbes in the garden onely Rue is the herbe of grace How much vertue is wrought in the soule by this bitter plant It is held by some a sicknes it is rather Physick a sharpe and short medicine that bringeth with it much and long health This if they wil needs haue it a sicknesse may be compared to the Ague The Ague shakes a man worse then another disease that is mortall At last it giues 〈◊〉 a kinde farewell and sayes I haue purged thy choler and made thee healthfull by consuming and spending out that humor which would haue endangered thy life Affliction in the taste is often more bitter then a iudgement that kills outright but at last it tells the soule I haue purged away thy foulenesse wrought out thy Iustes and left there a sound man So the good Physician procureth to his Patient a gentle Ague that hee may cure him of a more dangerous disease Vt curet spasmum procurat febrim Christ our best Physician deales a little roughly with vs that hee may set vs straight And howsoeuer the Feuer of affliction disquiet vs a while we shall sing in the conclusion with the Psalmist It is good for me that I haue been afflicted that I might learne thy statutes Saepe facit Deus opus quod non est summ vt faciat opus quod est suum GOD by a worke that is none of his effecteth a work in vs that is his He molests vs with some vexations as hee did Iob which is Satans worke immediately not his that thereby hee might bring vs to patience and obedience which is his work immediatly and wholly not Satans So wee are chastned of the Lord that wee might not bee condemned with the world Bees are drown'd in honey but liue in vineger and good men grow the better affected the more they are afflicted The poore man for his ague goes to his garden and plucks vp thyme The remedy for this spirituall seuer is true but sensible pâtience Men should feele Gods strokes and so beare them It is dispraiseable either to be senselesse or fenselesse Not to know wee are stricken or not to take the blowes on the target of Patience Many can lament the effectes but not the cause and sorrow that God grieues them not that they grieue God They are angry with heauen for being angry with them They with heauen for iustice that is angry with them for iniustice But Maereamus quod mereamur paenam Let not the punishment but the cause of it make thy soule sorrowfull Know thou art whipp'd for thy faults and apply to the prints the herbe Patience Hearts-case and spirituall ioy DOth sorrow and anguish cast downe a mans hart and may he complain that his soule is disquieted within him Let him fetch an herbe out of this Garden called Hearts-ease an inward ioy which the holy Ghost worketh in him Though all the dayes of the afflicted be euill yet a merry heart is a continuall feast This is Heauen vpon earth Rom. 14. Peace of conscience and ioy of the holy Ghost His conscience is assured of peace with God of reconciliation in the bloud of IESVS and that his soule is wrapp'd vp in the bundle of life This may be well called Hearts-ease it is a holy a happy herbe to comfort the spirits When worldly ioyes either like Rahels children are not or like Eli's are rebellious there is Hearts-ease in this Garden that shall cheare him against all sorrowes certainty of Gods fauoâ—r Let the world frowne and all things in it runne crosse to the graine of our mindes yet with thee O Lord is mereie and plentifull redemption And if no body els yet God will be stil good to Israel euen to those that are of a pure heart Those which we call penal euils are either past present or to come and they cause in the soule sorrow paine feare Euils past sorrow present paine future feare Here is Hearts-ease for all these Miseries past are solaced because God hath turned them to our good and we are made the better by once being worse Miseries present finde mitigation and the infinite comfort that is with vs within vs sweetens the finite bitternesse that is without vs. Miseries future are to vs contingent they are vncertaine but our strength is certaine God Noui in quem credidi I know whom I haue trusted Heere is aabundant ease to the heart Balsamum or Faith HAth the heart got a greene wound by comitting some offense against God for actuall iniquity makes a gash in the soule The good man runnes for Balsamum and stancheth the bloud Faith in the promises of Iesus Christ. He knowes there is Balme at Gilead and there are Physicians there and therefore the health of his soule may easily be recouered He is sure that if the bloud of Christ bee applyed it will soone stanch the bloud of his conscience and keepe him from bleeding to death and that the wounds of his Sauiour will cure the wounds of his soule And though this virtuall healing herbe be in Gods owne Garden yet he hath a key to open it prayer and a hand to take it out and to lay it on his sores faith This is a soueraigne herbe and indeed so soueraigne that there is no herbe good to vs without it It may bee called Panaces which Physicians say is an herbe for all manner of diseases and is indeede the principall herbe of grace for it adornes the soule with all the merits and righteousnes of IESVS CHRIST Saint Iohns-wort or Charitie DOth the world through sweetnesse of gaine that comes a little too fast vpon a man begin to carry away his heart to couetousnesse Let him look in this Garden for the herbe called Saint-Iohns-wort Charity and brotherly loue It is called S. Iohns herbe not vnproperly for hee spent a whole Epistle in commending to vs this grace and often inculcated Little children loue one another And he further teacheth that this loue must be actuall For he that hath this worlds goods and seeth his brother hath need and shutteth vp his cowels of compassion from him how dwelleth the loue of God in him He hath no such herbe as Saint-Iohns-wort in his garden The good Christian considers that he hath the goods of this world to doe good in this world And that his riches are called Bona Goods Non quod faciant bonum sed vnde faciat bonum not that they make him a good man but giue him meanes to doe good to others He learns a Maxime of Christ from the world which the world teacheth but followeth not that is to make sure as much wealth as he can as if it were madnes to leaue those goodes behind him which he may cary with him This policie we all confesse good but faile in the consecution The world
cor All his affections haue a low obiect not out of humilitie but base deiection His hope desire loue ioy are set on these inferiour things and like a Mole he digs still downewards till he come to his Center his owne place Hell Telluris inutile pondus 2 For coldnesse Experience teacheth that the earth is cold coldnes is a natural quality pertinent to it though accidentally there be bred in it fierie vapours The wicked man hath a cold heart frozen vp in the dregs of iniquitie though there be an vnnaturall heat sometimes flaming in him the fire of lust and malice tormenting his bowels but this is no kindly heate to warme his conscience That is deriued from the fire of the Temple that neuer goes out and only giuen by Iesus Christ that baptizeth with the holy Ghost and with fire 3 For foulenesse The squalid earth for we speake not heere of any good ground is called Lutulenta terra miery and noysome yet is it neate and cleane in comparison of a sinne-contaminated soule The body was taken from the earth not the Soule the body shall resolue to the earth not the soule yet the polluted soule is more sordid then either a leprous body or a muddy earth In the eye of GOD there is no beautie so acceptable no foulenesse so detestable as the soules The Doue carried the prayse of beautie from the Peacocke by the Eagles iudgement that though the Peacocke liuing had the fayrer plumes yet dead he hath but a blacke liuer Gods iudgement of all mens fairenesse is by the liuer the cleanesse of the heart in his eye-sight 4 For obscuritie and darkenesse the earth is called a place of blacke darkenesse the land of forgetfulnesse So Iob and Dauid tearme it The wicked Soule is full of darkenesse thicknesse of sight caecitie of vnderstanding not seeing the glorious libertie of the Sonnes of God Our Gospell is hid to those that are lost Whose minds the god of this world hath blinded There is in them Hebetudo mentis which is acutae rationis obtusio carnalis intemperantiae crassis sensibus inducta They are so vtterly ignorant of heauen that as it is in the Prouerbe ne pictum quidem viderunt they haue not seene it so much as in the mappe or picture As to men shut vp in the low cauernes of the earth not so much as the sunne and starres and the lights of heauens lower parts haue appeared Tolerabilior est poena viuere non posse quam nescire Ignorance is a heauier punishment then death sayth the Philosopher Darkenes is their desire because their deeds are euill Perhaps at last after a long dotage on their darke delight earth they come to heare of a better richer countrey and then take onely with them the Lanterne of Nature to find it But so erepto lumine can delabrum querunt Hauing lost the light they grope for the Candlesticke A man that comes into his house at midnight sees nothing amisse in the day-light he finds many things misplac'd Nature is but a darke Lanterne when by it we endeuour to ransacke the conscience Onely the light of grace can demonstrate all the sluttish and incurious misorders in our soules 5 The maine resemblance betweene an euill ground and worse man consists in the ill fruites that they both produce bryers and thornes and such not onely vnhelpefull but hurtfull vices This is the principal analogie which our Apostle intends the pith and marow of this reference But before we come to a particular anatomizing of this Subiect some obseruable doctrines fall profitably to our instruction Obserue therfore 1 The word of God will worke some way It fals not vpon any ground in vaine but will produce herbes or weeds It is such Physicke as will either cure or kill It mollifies one makes another more hard Some hearts it pricks others it terrifies though conuerts not as it made Foelix tremble None euer heard it but they are either better or worse by it We preach Christ crucified vnto the Iewes a stumbling blocke vnto the Gentiles foolishnesse But vnto them which are called both of Iewes and Greeks the power of GOD and the wisedome of God In this Epistle it is called a double-edged sword c. It is either a conuerting or conuincing power sealing receiuers to redemption contemners to reiection The word which I haue preached shall iudge you in the latter day If this doctrine were considerately digested in hearers hearts what a zealous preparation would it worke in their soules It would bring vs to these seats with other minds if we remembred that wee returne not backe to our owne doores the very same wee came out but either somewhat better or much worse Sergius Paulus was turned Elimas obdurated at one Sermon After our Sauiours heauenly Sermon Iohn 6. Some went backe and walked no more with him that Christ bespake his Apostles Will ye also goe away Others stucke more close Lord to whom shall we goe Thou hast the words of eternall life The Prophet Esay speakes fully to this purpose As the raine commeth downe and returneth not backe but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may giue seede to the sower and bread to the eater So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth it shall not returne vnto mee voyd but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it The word that we haue preached shall either saue you or iudge you It shall be either a copy of your pardon or a bill of your inditement at the last day Iohn Baptist cals the Gospell a Fan that will distinguish betweene true and false children betweene Wheate and Chaffe It will make knowne the faithfulnesse of those that with honest harts embrace it and scatter hypocrites like chaffe by reason of their insolid leuity Simeon so prophecied to Mary the Virgin of her Son That he should be the fall and the rising the reparation and ruine of many and whiles he is set for a signe Which shall bee spoken against by this meanes the thoughts of many hearts shall be reuealed The word is like fire that hath a double operation vpon the seuerall subiects it works stubble or gold It fires the one and fines the other Some hearts it enflames with zeale to it other it sets on fire to quench impugne persecute it It is to conuersion if beleeued to confusion if despised Lo Christ himselfe preaching some faithfully entertaine others reiect as the Gergesens that had rather haue their hogges saued then their soules 2. That thornes are produced the fault is not in the good Raine but the ill ground What could I sayth God haue done more to my Vineyard I haue done inough to make it beare good grapes Wherefore then or from what cause brings it forth wild grapes The earth desires the influence
Another sits dallying with the delights of lust vnder a green bush a third is borough'd in the ground mining and intrenching himselfe in the quest of riches Alas how should the deaw of grace fall vpon these Thou wouldst not shelter thy ground from the clouds lest it grow barren oh then keep not thy soule from the raine of heauen You haue heard how the raine is come now heare how it is made welcome The good groūd drinkes it nay drinkes it in Imbibit The comparison stands thus The thirsty Land drinkes vp the raine greedily which the cloudes poure vpon it You would wonder what becomes of it you may finde it in your fruites When your Vines hang full of clusters your Gardens stand thicke with flowers your Medowes with grasse your fields with corne you will say the earth hath been beholden to the heauen That hath rained moisture this hath drunke it in we see it in our fruits The Lord sayth I will heare the heauens and they shall heare the earth and the earth shall heare the corne and the wine and the oyle and they shall heare Iezreel The fruits of corne wine oyle witnesse that the earth hath heard them that heauen hath heard the earth and that the Lord hath heard the heauen The heauens giue influence to the ground the ground sappe to the plants the plants nourishment to vs the Lord a blessing to all The Lord watereth the hills from the chambers the earth is satisfied with the fruit of the workes Hee causeth the grasse to growe for the cattell and herbe for the seruice of man Wine to make glad his heart and oyle to make his face shine and bread to strengthen mans heart c. With such thirsty appetite and no lesse happy successe doth the good soule swallow the dew of grace If you perceiue not when the faithfull take it you may see they haue it for their fruits testifie it It is a most euident demonstration that they haue bin beholding to the Gospell they haue a sanctified life Drinkes it in There bee very many great Drinkers in the world The maine drunkennesse that giues denomination to all the rest is that throte-drunkennesse whereof the Prophet Vae fortibus ad potandum These are they that will not drinke this mysticall wine in the Church so willingly as bee drunk in the tap-house Wine-worshippers that are at it on their knees protesting from the bottomes of their hearts to the bottome of the cups if the health be not pledged actum est de amicitia farewell friendship I haue read of a streete in Rome called vicus sobrius sober street Find such a street in any Citie or populous towne in England and some good man wil put it in the Chronicle It hath beene sayd that the Germanes are great drinkers and therefore to Carowse is giuen to be deriued from them the word being originally to Gar-rowse which is to drinke off all Gar signifying totum so the Germanes are called by themselues Germanni quasi toti homines as if a Germane were All-man according to another denomination of their Country Allmanie And so wee are growne to thinke him that can tipple soundly a tall man nay all-man from top to toe But if England plyes her liquor so fast as shee begins Germany is like to loose her Charter I haue heard how the Iesuits out-stripp'd the Franciscans Indeed Saint Francis at the first meeting sawe sixe thousand Fryers Ignatius because he could not begin his order with so many made vp the number in Diuels The Germanes had of vs both priority and number for drunkards Our English beggars first got the fashion but because their number was short and it was like that the Nation would be disgrac'd it was agreed to make it vp in Gallants No maruell if the Lord for this threaten vs with the rod of famine and to scourge vs with that most smarting string of his whippe God hath layd himselfe faire in his bow already and is ready to draw this arrow vp to the head and send it singing into our bosomes Ferro saeuior fames it is one of Gods sorest iudgements Beasts and Sword kill quickly and the Plague is not long in dispatching vs but Dearth is a lingring death Lament 4. They that be slaine with the sword are better then they that be slaine with hunger for these pine away stricken through for want of the fruits of the field We see how our seasons are changed because we can finde no season to repentance Our Springs haue bin graues rather then cradles our Summers haue not shot vp but withered our grasse our Autumnes haue taken away the flockes of our sheepe And for our latest Haruest wee haue had cause to inuert the words of our Sauiour Luke 10. Hee sayth the Haruest is great but the Labourers are few pray ye therefore the Lord to send forth more Labourers into his haruest But wee might haue sayd the Labourers are many and the haruest is small pray ye therfore the Lord to send a greater haruest for the Labourers God hath thus as it were pulled the Cup from the Drunkards lippes and since hee will know no measure the Lord wil stint him If there will bee no voluntary there shall be an enforced fast Wee haue other great drinkers besides What say you to those that Drinke vp whole townes vnpeople countreys depopulate villages inclose fields that Pharise-like swallow vp poore mens houses drink their goods though mingled with teares of damme and young ones mother children Are not these horrible drinkers Sure God will one day hold the Cup of vengeance to their lippes and bid them drinke their fils The Proud-man is a great drinker It is not his belly but his back that is the drunkard He pincheth the poore rackes out the other fine enhanceth the rent spends his owne meanes and what he can finger besides vpon clothes If his rent-day make euen with his Silkeman Mercer Taylor he is well And his white Madam drinkes deeper then he The walls of the Citie are kept in reparation with easier cost then a Ladies face and the appurtenances to her head The Ambitious is a deepe drinker O hee hath a dry thirst vpon him He loues the wine of promotion extremely Put a whole monopoly into the cup and he will carouse it off There is a time when other drunkards giue ouer for asleeping-while this drinker hath neuer enough Your grimme Vsurer is a monstrous drinker you shall seldome see him drunke at 's owne cost yet he hath vow'd not to be sober til his Doomesdaye His braines and his gowne are lin'd with foxe hee is euer afoxing It may be some infernall spirit hath put loue-pouder in his drinke for hee dotes vpon the deuill extremely Let him take heed hee shall one day drinke his owne obligations and they wil choke him The Rob-altar is a huge drinker Hee loues like Belshazzar to drinke only in the goblets of the Temple Wo vnto
are Gods giftes Iames 1. 17. Bee thankfull then and after the raine of mercy bring forth the herbes of obedience You see what this Fertillitie concludes Thankfulnesse Heare now what it excludes 2. Idlenesse This good ground lyes not dead and barren nor returnes all heauens raine with a naked and neutrall acceptation it brings forth You read Luke 19. of a Seruant to whom when his Lord had intrusted a Talent he hidde it in the ground as an Vsurer his money to keepe it safe And at his Lords returne Domine ecce tuum hee answered his account with Lord behold thine own I knew that thou wert seuerus Magister a hard Master therfore I thought it my securest course to make good thine owne againe But the Lord replyed Ex ore tuo Oh euill seruant out of thy owne mouth I condemne thee Thou shouldst then haue answered my austeritie with thy laborious care of my aduantage Therefore heare his doome Cast ye the vnprofitable seruant into outer darknesse there shall bee weeping and gnashing of teeth Hee did not euill with his talent no it was enough to condemne him he did nothing There is abundance of this dead ground in the world which brings forth nothing Idle wretches that sleepe out time and admonition but their damnation sleepeth not It was neuer sayd Samson hath lost his strength till hee slept in the lappe of Dalila Idlenesse doth neither get nor saue there is nothing more emptie of good fruits nor more abundantly pregnant with euill That man doth ill that doth nothing and he looseth whiles hee gaines not Many beholding with cowardly and carnall eyes what a long and tâ—oublesome iourney it is to heauen sit them downe and fall fast asleepe O barren grounds will ye bring forth nothing Is difficulty made your hindrance that should bee a spurre to your more eager contention Know you not that the violent shall get the kingdome of heauen Some can follow their dogges all day in the fielde others hunt Mammon dry-foote in their shoppes yeare after yeare and neuer complaine of wearinesse Only an houre or two in the Church puts an ach into our bones as if nothing wearyed vs so soone as well-doing Is it feare of too much labour that keepes you from God why doth not the same reason deterre you from seruing the diuell His lawes are true burdens and his seruice drudgerie But Christs yoke is easie and his burden light I'may boldly affirme it your couetous man takes more paines to goe to hell then the godly ordinarily to get to heauen He riseth early and resteth late and eates the course bread of sorrow and after tedious and odious miserie goes to the Diuell for his labour Shall we refuse easier pains for a farre better recompence It is but Satans subtiltie that makes men beleeue the passage to life so extremely difficult that it is impossible Herein the Diuell doth like the inhospitable Sauages of some countries that make strange fires and a shew of dismall terrors vpon the shores to keepe passengers from landing The Sluggard sayes Salomon doth but faine Beares and Lyons as the superstitious doth bugges in the way as apologies of idlenesse that he may sit still and be at ease The slothfull person is the Diuels shop wherein he worketh engines of destruction He is most busie in the lazie But whatsoeuer thy hand findeth to doe doe it with thy might for there is no worke nor knowledge nor deuice nor wisedome in the graue whither thou goest If thy soule be watred with the deaw of heauen thou must needes bring forth What 2. Herbes There is Fertilitie in Goodnes THe eldest daughter of Idlenesse is to doe nothing the next borne to doe something to no purpose But the good man is not onely doing but well doing Math. 24. Blessed is that seruant whom his Lord when he commeth shall finde so doing This so consists in doing Bonum and Bene. As the former verse may seeme to intimate He giues them meate there he doth good in due season there he doth it well The forbearance of wickednesse is not enough to acquit the soule but the performance of righteousnesse The rich Glutton is tormented in hell not because he did hurt but because he did not helpe Lazarus Non quod abstulerit aliena sed quod non donarit sua sayth S. Chrysost. Not for taking away another mans but for not giuing his owne He would not giue the poore the crummes that fell from his boord and so facere damna lucrum make a gaine of his losses for they were lost that fell from his libertine table and yet would haue refreshed the hungry and famished soule But Diues would not giue a crumme to get a crowne He wore fine linnen but it was his owne Hee was cloathed in rich purple but it was his owne Hee fared sumptuously euery day but hee did eate his owne meate he tooke none of all this from Lazarus Yet hee went to hell God condemned him because hee did not giue some of this to Lazarus Thus it is not only the commission of lewdnesse that sinkes men to hell but euen also the omission of goodnesse Dost thou heare O Earth vnlesse thou bring forth herbes thou shalt be condemned The Fig-tree had no bad fruit on it yet was it cursed because it had none at all The axe that is layd to the roote shall hew downe euen that tree which brings not forth good fruite though it bring forth no euill Fire shall take the barren as well as the vveedie ground Except your righteousnesse shall exceede the righâ—â—ousnesse of the Scribes and Pharises ye shall not enter into the kingdome of heauen Wherein me thinks our Sauiour implyeth a three-fold gradation to heauen First there must be Iustitia Righteousnesse an habituall practise of godlinesse an vncorrupt life which shall only be entertain'd to Gods Hill But the ground must be made good before it can produce good herbes for the person must bee accepted before the worke And this worke must be good both quoad fontem and quoad finem wee must deriue it from an honest heart and driue it to a right ende In the next place this Righteousnesse must bee a mans owne Nisi iustitia vestra Heere that ground which brings forth herbes receiueth blessing not that borrowes them of another For so as stony and barren an heart as Cheapside may be a far richer garden then some of those where those herbes brought thither naturally grew The Pope hath a huge harden of these herbes wherewith hee can store as many as will pay for them Iohn Baptist fasted more then hee was commanded and Mary liued more strictly then God required Now the Church of Rome keepes an Herball of these superabundant workes and money may haue store of them But heauen and Rome stand a great way asunder And as God neuer gaue the Pope authority to make such bargains so he neuer means to stand to
best monument and that Epitaph shall last as if it were written with a pen of iron and claw of a Diamond which is made vp of vertuous actions Good herbes beautifie more then dead stones Wheresoeuer thou shalt be buried obscurity shall not swallow thee Euery good heart that knew thee is thy Tombe and euery tongue writes happy Epitaphes on thy memoriall Thus height vp your soules with a treasure of good works Let your herbes smel sweetly let them tast chearfully let them adorne beautiously So Gods palate his nosthrils his sight shall be well pleased 4. That they be medicinable and serue not onely as Antidotes to preuent but as medicaments to cure the soules infirmities The poore mans physicke lyes in his Garden the good soule can fetch an herbe from his heart of Gods planting there that can helpe him Plinie writes of a certaine herbe which he calls Thelygonum we in English The grace of God A happy herbe and worthy to stand in the first place as chiefe of the garden For it is the principal and as it were the Genus of al the rest We may say of it as some write of the Carduus benedictus or Holy-thistle that it is herba omnimorbia an herbe of such vertue that it can cure all diseases This may heale a man who is otherwise nullis medicabilis herbis Wretched men that are without this herbe The grace of God in their gardens Hysope and Humilitie IS a man tempted to pride and that is a sawcie sinne euer busie among good workes like a Iudas among the Apostles let him looke into this Garden for Hysop Humility of Spirit Of which herbe it is written Est humilis petraeque suis radicibus haeret Let him be taught by this herbe to annihilate his owne worth and to cleaue to the Rocke whereout he growes and whereof hee is vpholden IESVS CHRIST Or let him produce the Camomill which smels the sweeter the more it is trodden on Humility is a gracious herbe and allayes the wrath of God whereas pride prouokes it It is recorded of an english king Edward the first that being exceeding angry with a seruant of his in the sport of hawking he threatned him sharply The gentleman answered it was well there was a riuer betweene them Hereat the King more incensed spurr'd his horse into the depth of the Riuer not without extreame danger of his life the water being deep and the banks too steep and high for his ascending Yet at last recouering land with his sword drawne he pursues the seruant who rode as fast from him But finding himself too ill-hors'd to out-ride the angry King he reyned lighted and on his knees exposed his neck to the blow of the kings sword The King no sooner saw this but he put vp his sword and would not touch him A dangerous water could not with-hold him from violence yet his seruants submission did soon pacifie him Whiles man flyes stubbornely from God hee that rides vpon the wings of the winde postes after him with the sword of vengeance drawne But when dust and ashes humbles himselfe and stands to his mercie the wrath of God is soone appeased This Camomill or Hysop growes very lowe Humblenesse roots downeward yet no herbe hath so high branches We say that proud men haue high mindes they haue not For their mindes only aspire to some earthly honours which are but low shrubbes indeed The humble man aspires to heauen and to bee great in the eternall Kings fauour and this is the true but good height of minde His desires haue a high ayme though their dwelling bee in the vale of an humble heart There are engines that raise water to fall that it may rise the higher A lowly heart by abasing it selfe in the sight of God and men doth mount al the other graces of the soule as high as heauen and the eye of mercie accepts them Pride is a stinking weede and though it be gay and garish is but like the Horse-flower In the field it is of glorious shew croppe it and you cannot endure the sauour At the best the proud man is but like the bird of Paradise or the Estridge his feathers are more worth then his body Let not thy Garden be without this herbe Humilitie It may be least respected with men and among other herbs ouerlooked but most acceptable to God Respexit humilitatem ancillae suae sings the Virgin MARY He had regard to the lowlinesse of his hand-maiden It shall not want a good remembrance a good recompence For the last the least and the lowest may come to be the first the greatest and the highest This is a necessary herbe Bulapathum The herbe Patience IS a man through multitude of troubles almost wrought to impatience and to repine at the prouidence of GOD that disposeth no more ease Let him fetch an herbe out of the Garden to cure this maladie Bulapathum the herbe Patience The Adamant serues not for all seas but Patience is good for all estates Gods purpose cannot be eluded with impatience and man vnder his hand is like a bird in a nette the more he struggles the faster he is Impatience regards not the highest but secondary causes and so bites the stone in stead of the thrower If our inferiour strike vs we trebble reuenge If an equall we requite it If a superior we repine not or if wee mutter yet not vtter our discontent Thinke whose hand strikes it is Gods Whether by a Pleurisie or a Feuer or a Sword or what euer other instrument The blow was his whatsoeuer vvas the weapon And this wound will not bee cured vnlesse by applying the herbe Patience The good man hath such a hand ouer fortune knowing who guides and disposeth all euents that no miseries though they bee sodaine as well as sharpe can vn-heart him If he must dye he goes breast to breast with vertue If his life must tarry a further succession of miseries hee makes absent ioyes present wants plenitudes aâ—d beguiles calamity as good company does the way by Patience A certaine man drew a bowe at a venture and smote the King of Israel betweene the ioynts of the harnesse The man shot at random or as the Hebrew hath it in his simplicitie but God directed the arrow to strike Ahab So Dauid spake of Shimei Let him alone and let him curse for the Lord hath bidden him It may be that the Lord will looke on mine affliction and that the Lord wil requite good for his cursing this day Consider wee not so much how vniust man is that giueth the wrong as how iust God is that guideth it Non venit sine merito quia Deus est iustus nec erit sine commodo quia Deus est bonus It comes not without our desert for God is iust nor shall be without our profite for God is mercifull God hath an herbe which he often puts into his childrens sallet that is Rue and mans herbe wherewith he eates it
thinkes that this assurance is got by purchasing great reuenews or by locking vp gold in a coffer The Christian likes well to saue what he can but hee thinks this is not the waie to do it He considers that the richest hoorder leaues all behind him and carries nothing but a winding-sheet to his graue But he finds out this policy in the Scripturs as Dauid was resolued of his doubt in the Sanctuary that what hee charitably giues aliue hee shall carry with him dead and so resolues to giue much that hee may keepe much Therfore what hee must loose by keeping he will keepe by loosing and so proues richer vnder ground then ere hee was aboue it The poore mans hand he sees to be Christs treasurie there hee hoords vp knowing it shall be surely kept and safely returned him His Garden shall stand ful with Saint-Iohns-wort and Charity is his herbe to cure all the sores of couetousnes Peny-royall and Content DOth pouerty fasten her sharpe teeth in a mans sides and cannot all his good industry keepe want from his familie Let him come to this Garden for a little Peny-royall Content This will teach him to thinke that God who feedes the Rauens and clothes the Lillies will not suffer him to lacke foode and rayment The birds of the ayre neither plow nor sow yet hee neuer sees them lye dead in his way for want of prouision They sleepe and sing and fly and play and lacke not He gathers hence infallibly that God will blesse his honest endeuours and whiles he is sure of Gods benediction he thinks his Peny royall his poore estate rich No man is so happy as to haue all things and none so miserable as not to haue some He knowes hee hath some and that of the best riches therfore resolueth to enioy them and to want the rest with Content He that hath this herbe in his garden Peny-royall contentation of heart bee he neuer so poore is very rich Agnus castus and Continence DOth the rebellious flesh vpon a little indulgence grow wanton and would concupiscence enkindle the fire of lust The good soule hath in this Garden an herbe called Agnus castus the chaste herbe and good store of Lettuce which Physicians say coole this natural intemperate heat His Agnus castus Lettuce are Prayer and Fasting He knowes that if this kind of diuel get possession of the hart it goes not out but by Prayer and fasting It is fasting spettle that must kill that Serpent Mistris Venus dwels at the signe of the Iuy-bush and where the belly is made a barrell stuffed with delicious meates and heating drinkes the concupiscence will be luxurious of turpitudes Sine Cerere Baccho friget Venus Venerie will freese if wine and iunkets doe not make her a fire Lust will starue if flesh-pampering shall not get her a stomach Where there is thin diet and cleane teeth there will follow Chastitie Barly-water or Coole-anger DOth the heate of anger boyle in a mans heart and enrageth him to some violent and precipitate courses Let him extract from this garden the iuyce of many cooling herbes and among the rest a drinke of Barly-water a Tysan of Meekenesse to coole this fire He that hath proceeded to anger is a man he that hath not proceeded to sinfull harmefull anger is a Christian Irasâ—i hominis iâ—iurtam non facere Christiani The most louing man will chide his friend sweetly and he that doth not hates him in his heart Sic vigelit tolerantia vt non dormiat disciplina But hee will not be transported with anger to the losse of his friends of himselfe He considers that God is prouoked euery day yet is long suffering of great goodnes He heares that others speake ill of him he iudgeth not without certaine knowledge Knowing hee suffers not himselfe abused It were sillinesse to beleeue all sullennesse to beleeue none The wrong done to God and a good conscience must moue him Non patitur ludum fama fides oculus A mans name his faith and his eye must not be iested withall Yet when he is most angry he recollects himselfe and clappes vpon his heate a Tysan of meekenesse Parsley or Frugalitie DEclines a mans estate in this world as if his hand had scattered too lauishly There is an herbe in this Garden let him for a while feed on it Parsley Parsimonie Hereon he wil abridge himselfe of some superfluities and remember that moderate fare is better then a whole Colledge of Physicians He will weare good cloathes and neuer better knowing there is no degree beyond decency It was for Pompey to weare as rich a scarfe about his legge as other Princes wore on their heads But the frugall man can clothe himselfe all ouer decently with halfe the cost that one of our gallant Pompeyes caseth his legge He that would not want long let him practise to want somewhat before he extreamely needs I haue read of an English Martyr that being put into a prison at Canterbury tryed when shee had liberty of better fare to liue on a spare dyet as preparing and prearming herselfe with ability to brooke it when necessity should put her to it Frugality puts but three fingers into the purse at once Prodigality scatters it by heapes and handfuls It is reported that Caesars host liued a long time at Dyrrhachium with Coleworts whereof arose the Prouerbe Lapsana viuere to liue sparingly That stocke lasts that is neither hoorded miserably nor dealt out indiscreetly We sow the furrow not by the sacke but by the handfull The wise man knowes it is better looking through a poore lattice-window then through an iron grate And though hee will lend what hee may hee will not borrow till hee must neede Liuer-wort or Peaceable loue IS a man sick in his liuer by accession of some distemperature Doth his charity and loue to some neighbours for their malignancie against him faile and faint in his heart For they say Cogit amare Iecur I stand not here on the distinction betwixt Amare and Diligere Then let him steppe to this Garden for some Iecuraria we call it Liuer-wort Hee askes of his heart for his olde loue his wonted amity if his reason answere that the persecutions of such and such calumnies haue fled her into another countrey he is not at quiet till affection fetch it home again He thinkes that night hee sleepes without Charitie in his bosome his pillow is harder then Iacobs was at Bethel If carnall respects can draw him to loue his friend for his profite or his kinsman for bloud he will much more loue a Christian for his Fathers sake for his owne sake There is a story nothing worth but for the morall of a great King that married his daughter to a poore Gentleman that loued her But his grant had a condition annexed to it that whensoeuer the Gentlemans left side looked blacke or hee lost his wedding ring hee should not onely loose
with prouision while he sits and sings care away But as he is free from idlenesse so also from distrust Hee considers the Rauens and Lillies and knowes that the Lord is the Preseruer of men as well as of Fowles and flowers that hee respects man aboue those and his owne aboue other men Therefore hee throwes all his cares vpon God as if they were too heauy a lode for himselfe Sollicitous thoughtfulnes can giue him no hurt but this herbe Careaway shall easily cure it Holy Thiâ—tle or good Resolution YEeld that hee is pressed with iniuries as who will liue godly in Christ and shall not suffer persecution He is oppressed by force or fraud might or subtilty and cannot helpe himselfe He hath a good herbe in this Garden called Carduus Benedictus Holy thistle a godly resolution that through many miseries he must enter heauen He rests himselfe on God and rather wisheth his harmelesnesse should suffer then himselfe not to giue passiue and patient obedience to lawfull authority Our God whom we serue is able to deliuer vs from the burning fiery furnace and hee will deliuer vs out of thine hand O King But if not be it knowne to thee O King that wee will not serue thy gods nor worship thy golden Image There are many other herbes in this garden as if hee be to deale with craftie aduersaries let him fetch some Sage honest policie and such as may stand with an vntouched conscience For Christ gaue vs this prohibition to bee wise as Serpents though withall a cohibition that we be harmelesse as Doues If he be tempted to ebriety he hath in this Garden Coleworts moderate abstinence Matthiolus on the preface of Dioscorides notes such a naturall enmitie betwixt this herbe and drunkennesse that if you plant Colewort neere to the rootes of the Vine of it selfe it flyeth from them But I excuse my selfe Non ego cunct a meis amplecti versibus opto I would not leaue nothing vnsayd Thus I haue walked you through a sacred Garden of many gracious herbes happy soules thus planted I will stay you no longer then to heare your blessing It receiueth blessing from God THe Reward giues a happy conclusion to this good ground So it pleaseth the Lord to accept our labours that he will reward them not after our owne merit for that is not an atome but after his owne mercy which exceedes heauen and earth Receiue this blessing with a thankfull heart thou hast not earn'd it It is obiected that here it is sayd their workes are meet for God therefore deserue this blessing And Wisd. 3. God proued them and found them meete for himselfe as if they could stand Gods tryall And Paul exhorts vs to walke worthie of the vocation wherewith we are called I answere Deus coronat donâ— sua non merit a nostra God rewards his owne workes not our worth It is giuen Non meritis operantis sed miseratione donantis not for the deserts of the doer but for the mercie of the giuer Datur operatoribus non pro operibus Luke chap. 12. Verse 32. It is my Fathers will to giue you a kingdome Do wee good from whom is it doth not God worke in vs to will and to doe Thou hast done well be comforted be not proud It was Gods worke not thine Omnia merita Dei dona sunt it a homo propter ipsa magis Deo debitor est quam Deus homini All our good workes are Gods giftes and therefore man is more beholding to God for them then God to man If in this Garden any good herbe spring ouer the wall and sawcily challenge to iâ— selfe a prerogatiue of merite deale with it as the Gardiner with supersluous branches prune it off Or as Tor quatus with his ouer-venturous sonne cut it short with the sword of the Spirit for daring beyond the Commission Our Aduersaries oppose this truth very violently both in the Schooles and in the Pulpits but come they to their death-beds to argue it between God and their owne soules then grace and grace alone mercy and onely mercie IESVS and none but IESVS And this euen their great Bell-weather is forced to acknowledge Propter incert it udinem propriae iustitiae periculum inanis gloriae tutissimum est fiduciam totam in sola Dei misericordia benignitate repoâ—ere I will translate his words truly By reason of the vncertainty of our owne righteousnesse and the danger of vaine glorie the saâ—est course is to put our whole trust and confidence in in the onely fauour and mercie of God But perhaps Bellarmine spoke this as a meere Iesuite and now made Papable hee bee willing to recant and vnsay it This blessing then comes not for the Grounds merite but for the Dressers mercie It is sayd Gen. 6. tht God would destroy the World with a floud Because the imaginations of mans heart were onely euill continually And Gen. 8. it is sayd that GOD will no more curse and destroy the ground for mans sake because the imaginations of his heart are onely euill from his youth The same reason that is alleaged why God will not spare the world is also alleaged why God will spare the world It serues plentifully to demonstrate that not for mans merite but for Gods mercie confusion is withholden I am the Lord I change not Therefore ye sonnes of Iacob are not consumed It receiueth SVch is the immense goodnesse of God that he will adde grace to grace aud when hee hath showne mercy hee will shew more mercy As if he expected no other argument of future bounty but his former bounty Whom he did predestinate them also he called and whom he called them also hee iustified and whom he iustified them he also glorified Man is to be considered in a foure-fold estate Confectionis Infectionis Refectionis Perfectionis First God made him happy without misery without iniquity God hath made man vpright but they haue sought out manie inuentions If a glorious heauen aboue him a fruitfull earth vnder him feruiceable creatures about him could giue him solace and folicity hee was not scanted Heere is mans first draught of Gods bountie his originall state 2. Then man fell from holinesse and so from happinesse and lost the fauour of the Creator with the good of the creature that a generall curse fell on the earth for his sake Loe now hee lyes weltring in his gore who shall heale him who shall reuiue him God promised him a Sauiour and kept his word Looke on his owne only Sonne hanging bleeding dying on an accursed Crosse. 3. A Redeemer is come what is man the better for it that hath no power to beleeue on him Faith hee hath none but what God must put into him Againe Lord helpe let vs receiue yet a third mercie make vs beleeuers or we are neuer the better We had as good haue no Sauiour as not to haue him our
And let vs know it is for our sinnes that God suffers Vsurers among vs. It may be he permits them as he did the Cananites for a while in Israel lest the wilde beasts should break in vpon them Lest pride and haughtinesse and vncleannesse should spill mens soules by a full estate of wealth God suffers Vsurers like Horse-leeches to suck and soke them thereby possibly to humble them Yet in meane time I may say of them as Iosuah did of those Cananites that they are pricks in our sides and thornes in our eyes 2 What doe you thinke of Adulterie Is it not a Thorne yes a sharpe thorne wounding the purse enuenoming the body condemning the Soule The ground that beares it is lust the sappe that feeds it is fulnesse of bread and Idlenesse the heate that makes it glow grow and shoote is lewd and wanton speech and effeminate gestures infamie is the budde pollution the fruite and the end Hell-fire And as Caietan and Theophilact obserues on 1. Thes. 4. that the Apostle hauing bid men possesse their vessell in holinesse he addes And let no man goe beyond or defraud his brother in any matter that this circumuention may be applied to Adulterie when a man is deceiued of his bosome-spouse who is hired to the subornation of bastards So that lightly concupiscence and cousenage goe together As that wickednesse of all others neuer goes but by couples For Adulterers non possunt ire soli ad diabolum An Adulterer cannot goe alone to the Deuill 3 Corrupt and consciensce-les Lawyers you will confesse to bee sharpe and wounding brambles and exceedingly hurtfull A poore Client among them is as a blind sheepe in a thicket of thornes there is no hope of his fleece it is well if he carry away his flesh whole on his backe A motion this terme an order next instantly al cross'd scarce the twentith order sometimes stands execution is suspended a writ of errour puts all out of course Oh the vncertaine euents of suits I hope sayes the poore bloud-drawne wretch I shall haue an end of my suite next terme nay nor the next terme nor the next yeare Foole thou art gotten into a suite of durance almost an immortall suit And when the vpshot comes perhaps the mispleading of a word shall forfet all It is a lamentable vncertaintie and one politicke addition of ficklenesse to the goods of this world that no man might set his heart vpon them that an estate bought truly payd for and inherited shall bee gone vpon a word sometimes vpon a sillable vpon a very bare letter omitted or mis-written by the Scriuener These are scratching bryers If what is wanting in the goodnes of the cause be supplyed by the greatnes of the fees their tongs shall excuse their tongs for their contra-conscient pleadings The Italians haue a shrewd prouerbe against them The Deuill makes his Christmassepyes of Lawyers tongs and Clerks fingers This prouerbe I leaue with them and come to their kinsmen 4 Corrupted Officers who are also sharpe and sharking brambles Their office is a bush of thorns at their backes and they all to rent the countrey with briberie and extortion These men seeke after authority and commanding-places not with any intent of good to the common-wealth but to fill their owne purses to satisfie their owne lusts As some loue to bee poring in the fire not that they care to mend it but onely to warme their owne fingers 5 We haue Papists amongst vs looke to them they are rankling thornes and renting bryers False Gibeonites they are and howsoeuer they pretend their old shooes the antiquitie of their Church we haue euer found them thornes ready to put out our eyes and if they could the eye of the Gospell They exclaime against vs for persecution and cry themselues lowder then oyster-women in the streets for patient Catholicks Saints Martyrs But match the peace they enioy vnder vs with the tyrannie they exercised ouer vs the burning our Fathers at stakes the butchering our Princes their conspiracie against our whole Realme their continuall bending their weapons against Soueraignes and subiects throtes and you will say they are thornes I haue read of a bird that when men are deuout at their sacrifice takes fire from the Altar and burnes their houses All their blacke treasons and bloudy intendments they deriue from the Altar and pleade the warrant of Religion to set our whole Land in combustion O that these brambles were stock'd vp that Ishmael were cast out of dores that Sara and her sonne Isaac might liue in quiet 6 There are furious male contents among vs a contemptible generation of thorns that because their hands are pinion'd pricke onely with their tongs They are euer whining and vpon the least cause filling the world with importunate complaints These are sauage popular humors that cannot suffer eminency to passe vnreproched But they must vellicate goodnes and gird greatnesse that neither the liuing can walke nor the dead sleepe in quiet Affecters of innouation that are euer finding fault with the present times any thing pleaseth them but what is Euen the best blessings of God scape not their cēsures neither do they esteem by iudgement or pronounce by reason they find fault with things they know not wherefore but because they do not like them Beware these thornes they are like the wheeles of some cunningly wrought fire-workes that flie out on all sides and offering to singe others burne themselues Laudant veteres c. as if no times were so miserable as ours As if the ciuill wars of France or the bloudy Inquisitiō of Spain or the Turkish crueltie in Natolia where hee breeds his souldiers or at home the time of the Barons war or yet later the persecution of a Boner were none of them so cruell as these dayes when euery man sits and sings vnder his owne figge-tree Sure if they had once tasted the bitternesse of war they would better esteem of their peace These are pestilent thornes nothing but feare keeps them from conspiracie Nay so they might set the whole land on fire they would not grudge their owne ashes 7. There are bryers too growing neere the Church too neare it They haue raised Church-liuings to foure and fiue yeares purchase and it is to be feared they will shortly racke vp presentatiue liuings to as high a rate as they did their impropriations when they would sell them For they say few will giue aboue sixteene yeares purchase for an impropriate Parsonage and I haue heard some rate the donation of a benefice they must giue at ten yeares what with the present money they must haue and with referuation of tythes and such vnconscionable trickes as if there was no God in heauen to see or punish it Perhaps some wil not take so much but most will take some enough to impouerish the Church to enrich their owne purses to damne their soules One would thinke it was sacriledge enough to robbe God of his maine
tythes must they also nimme away the shreddes must they needes shrinke the whole cloth enough to apparell the Church as the cheating Taylor did to a dozen of buttons Hauing full gorged themselues with the parsonages must they picke the bones of the Vicaredges too Well sayth S. August Multi in hac vita manducant quod postea apud inferos digerunt Many deuoure that in this life which they shall digest in hell These are the Church-briers which let alone wil at last bring as famous a Church as any Christendome hath to beggerie Politicke men begin a pace alreadie to with-hold their children from Schooles and Vniuersities Any profession els better likes them as knowing they may liue well in whatsoeuer calling saue in the ministery The time was that Christ threw the buyers and sellers out of the Temple but now the buyers and sellers haue throwne him out of the Temple Yea they wil throw the church out of the church if they bee not stayed But some may say to me as one aduised Luther when he began to preach against the Popes vsurpation and tyrannie You had as good hold your peace This wickednesse is so powerfull that you will neuer preuaile against it Get you to your study and say Lord haue mercy on vs and procure your selfe no ill will But be it good will or be it ill will we come hither to speake the truth in our consciences And if these Church-thornes will continue their wickednesse bee it vnto them as they haue deserued If they will needs go to hell let them go we cannot helpe it let them perish I had purposed the discouery of more Brambles but the time forbids it I would to God we were well freed from those I haue taxed THE END Of Thornes THE FIFT SERMON ESA. 9. 18. Wickednesse burneth as the fire it shall deuoure the Bryers and Thornes and shall kindle in the thickets of the Forrest and they shal mount vp like the lifting vp of smoke GREG. lib. 4. Dialog Ad magnam iudicantis iustitiam pertinet vt nunquam mortui careant supplicio qui nunquam viui voluerunt carere peccato LONDON Printed by George Purslowe for Iohn Budge and are to be solde at his shop at the great South-dore of Pauls and at Brittaines Burse 1616. THE END Of THORNES THE FIFT SERMON HEB. Chap. 6. Vers. 8. But that which beareth thornes and bryers is reiected and is nigh vnto cursing whose end is to be burned OVr sinnes are thornes to others some wounding with their direct blowes others with their wipes all with their examples Man only hath not felt their blowes our Sauior also so found them when hee was faine for our sakes to set his naked breast his naked heart his naked soule against them They say the Nightingale sleepes with her breast against a thorne to auoide the Serpent Christ was content to bee wounded euen to sleepe to death with thornes that hee might deliuer vs from that deuouring serpent the great infernall Dragon His head was not onely raked and harrowed with materiall thornes Caput Angelicis spiritibus tremebundum coronatur spinis That head which the Angelical spirits adore and tremble at was crowned with thornes But these mysâ—call thornes our iniquities with fiercer blowes drew bloud of his soule They doe in a sort still Heb. 6. 6. They crucifie to themselues the Sonne of God a fresh and put him to an open shame Not in himselfe for they cannot but can them no thankes they would if they could and to themselues they doe it Wretched men will you not yet let Iesus Christ alone and be at rest will you still offer violence to your blessed Sauiour and labour to pull him downe from his throne to his Crosse from his peaceful glorie at the right hand of his Father to more sufferings You condemne the mercilesse Souldiers that platted a crowne of thornes and put it on his innocent head Sinfull wretch condemne thy selfe Thy sinnes were those thornes and farre sharper Thy oppressions wrongings and wringings of his poore brethren offer him the violence of new wounds thy oathes thy fraudes thy pride scratch him like bryers Heare him complaining from heauen Saul Saul why persecutest thou mee These Thornes grow on earth yet they pricke Iesus Christ in heauen Oh wee little know the price of a sin that thus play the executioners with the Lord of life Thinke thinke Christ felt your sinnes as sharpe thornes Lastly you finde them thornes your selues if Christ did not for you When God shall enliuen and make quicke the sense of your nummed consciences you shall confesse your owne sinnes â—ruell thornes to your soules 2. Cor. 12. A thorne in your flesh that shall buffet you with terror For a while men are insensible of their iniquities Christ Math. 13. 22. calls the riches of this world thornes which choke the good seede of the Gospell The common opinion of the world is that they are goodly fine and smooth things furres to keepe them warme oyle to cheare their faces and wine to their hearts of a silken softnesse to their affections But Christ saith they are thorns stinging and choking thornes And the couetous conscience shall one day perceiue in them Triplicem puncturam a threefold pricking Laboris in acquisitione they are gotten with trouble Timoris in possessione they are kept vvith feare Doloris in amissione they are lost with griefe Men commonly deale with their sinnes as hedgers do when they go to plash thorny bushes they put on tyning gloues that the Thornes may not pricke them So these harden their hearts that their owne thornes may giue them no compunction But all vanities are but like the fooles laughter which Salomon compares to the crackling of thornes vnder a pâ—t they make a noise and suddenly go out But sinne neuer parts with the wicked without leauing a sting behind it Luther saith there are two fiends that torment men in this world and they are sinne and a bad conscience The latter followes the former or if you will the former wounds the latter for sinne is the thorne and the conscience the subiect it strikes This thorne often pricks deepe to the very heart Acts 2. to the very bones Psal. 38. There is no rest in my bones because of my sinne Vis nunquam esse tristis bene viue Nunquam securus est reus animus Wouldest thou neuer be sorrowfull liue well A guilty mind cannot be securely quiet An euill mind is haunted and vexed with the thornes of his owne conscience Sinne to the affections whiles it is doing is oleum vngens supple oyle Sinne to the conscience when it is done is tribulus pungens a pricking thorne What extreame contraries doe often wicked conceits runne into In their time of securitie they cannot be brought to think sinne to be sinne At last desperately they thinke it such a sinne that it cannot be forgiuen At first they are delighted with the
is good for our Soules Repentance without which the euill ground is neere to cursing as it were at next dore by and it shall come on him with a speedy visitation nisi interueniente poenitentia This is the Bulwarke to defend vs from the shot of Gods thunder from heauen this hedgeth vs in from his iudgements on earth Woe to sinfull man without this for he is neere to cursing and his end is to be burned Blessed Soule that hath it Wheresoeuer it dwels mercie dwels by it If England hath it it shall ease her of her thornes Ezek. 28. There shall be no more a pricking bryar vnto the house of Israel nor any grieuing Thorne of all that are round about them 3 The last and forest degree of the Punishment is Burning I will not discourse whether the fire of that euerlastingly-hote furnace be materiall or spirituall Surely it is strangely terrible and wee are blessed if wee neither vnderstand it nor vndergoe it The miserie of the damned is vsually distinguished into the Paine of losse and the paine of sense Both implied in this verse and expressed Thessalonians the second Chap. 1. Verse 8 9. Christ shall take vengeance on such as know not God and obey not the Gospell of Iesus Christ there is paine of Sense They shall be punished with euerlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power there is paine of losse 1. This Poena damni or priuation of blessednesse may seeme to be implyed in the first degree here mentioned Reiection The reprobate are cast away of God Much like that forme of the last sentence Math. 25. 41. Depart from me yee cursed a fearefull sentence a terrible separation From Me sayth Christ that made my selfe man for your sakes that offered my bloud for your redemption receiued these these wounds for your remedie From Me that would haue healed would haue helped would haue saued you From Me that inuited you to mercy and you would not accept it From Me that purchased a kindgome of glory for such as beleeued on me and will wrappe their heads with crownes of eternall ioy Depart from Me. This is a fearefull Reiection My friendship my fellowship my Paradise my presence my heauen where is fulnesse of ioy and pleasure for euermore are none of yours They might haue been they are lost Neither shall they onely loose Christ but all the companie with Christ the Quire of glorious Angels the society of his blessed Mother the Prophets Apostles Martyrs all the happy and holy Saints with the whole host of heauen They shall fret and vexe and bee ready to eate their owne galls to see those triumphing in glory whom they on earth persecuted martyred tortured They could here exercise their sauage tyranny ouer them not onely denying their owne bread but taking away theirs they could despise beate maligne vndoe burne them at stakes now the estate of both is changed as Abraham told Diues They are comforted and thou art tormented 2. This is not all The priuation of blessed ioyes is not enough there must follow the position of cursed torments For their Punishment is proportioned to their sinne Ier. 2. They haue committed two euils They haue forsaken the Lord the fountaine of liuing waters and hewed them out cisternes broken cisternes that can hold no water As they turned from their Maker so their Maker turnes from them there is Poenadamni As they fastned their delights on the creatures so the creatures shall be their tortures there is Poena sensus They reiected God and hee reiects them they adhered to wickednesse and it shall adhere to their bones for euer and bring them to burning Their torments which are here expressed by Fire haue two fearefull conditions vniuersality and eternitie 1. They are vniuersall vexing euery part of the body and power of the soule It is terrible in this life to be pained in euery part of the body at one time To haue ache in the teeth gowt in the feete collick in the reines c. and to lye as it were vpon a racke for innumerable diseases like so many executioners to torture him is intollerable But the largest shadowe of these torments to their substance is not so much as a little bone-fire to the combustion of the whole world 2. They are eternall If it had but as many ages to burne as there be trees standing on the earth there would bee some though a tedious hope of their end But it is such a Fire as shall neuer be quenched This word Neuer is fearefull Though they raine floudes of teares vpon it they shall bee but like oyle to encrease the flame for the worme neuer dyes the fire neuer goes out You see the end of Thornes Wickednes burneth as the fire it shall deuoure the bryers and thornes and shall kindle in the thickest of the Forrest and they shall mount vp like the lifting vp of smâ—kâ— I resolued against prolixity The generall and summary doctrine is this That since the wicked ground which beareth thornes and bryers is neere vnto cursing and the end thereof is eternall fire it followes necessarily that all they which lay the foundation of vngodlinesse must needs build vpon condemnation Let no man deceiue you He that committeth sinne is of the Diuell If the course of a mans life be wicked couetous vncleane malicious idolatrous adulterous drunken hee layes the ground-worke of his owne destruction and precipitates himselfe to the malediction of God Hee that layes the foundation in fire-work must looke to be blowne vp Perhaps this meditation though it bee of vnquenchable Fire may yet worke coldly in our hearts and leaue no impression behinde it yet you cannot deny this to be true He that would denie it must deny my Text must turne Atheist and reiect the holy word of God Nay he must thinke there is no God no reuenge of wickednesse no diuell no hell And he vndertakes a very hard taske that goes about to settle this perswasion in his mind No no. Let no man deceiue you with vaine words for because of these things cometh the wrath of God vpon the children of disobedience And in this passage I must value all men alike of what stuffe or of what fashion soeuer his coate be if his life be full of bryers and thornes his end is to be burned What shall we then doe vnto thee O thou preseruer of men that wee may escape it what but Repent and beleeue the Gospell Let the commination of hell instruct vs to preuent it as the message of Niniuehs ouerthrow effected their safetie 1. Let vs flie by a true faith into the armes of our Redeemer that God reiect vs not 2. Let vs poure forth flouds of repentant teares that wee bee not nigh vnto cursing 3. And let vs bring forth no more bryars and thornes that our end may not be to bee burned Faith Repentance Obedience this same golden