such bridegromes which keepe them for to serue the lustes of their owne bellies haue no care to marrie thē to the Lord. Take you heed you that haue the wealth of the world search and rake in the sinkes of your houses in the stables of your horses in the staules of your oxen and in the harts of your seruants that you may bring soules into the kingdome of heauen a pearle taken out of the dung is as good as that which is hoarded vp in a princes treasurie and a simple soule saued from the walking of horses or turning of spits is as glorious to the Lorde as he that ruleth in the throne Another reason for the çonfirmation of this doctrine our sauiour giueth Iohn 10. 26 27. There are none that heare not Christ which beleeue in Christ and there are none the sheepe of Christ but those that heare the voice of Christ meaning that at that time when he was liuing in the worlde and preaching to the Iewes they could not be his flocke that came not at the call of the Gospell and when he should be dead and taken from the earth they shoulde not bee reckoned for the lambes of his church which flocked not to the cries and sermons of the preachers So that in one word he setteth vs downe thus much that they are none of the Lordes which are not hearers of his worde Therefore one saide well Ecclesiae non iungitur qui ab Euangelio separatur Hee which is separated through ignorance or idlenes from the Gospell is also through infidelitie parted from the church for they which heare not Christ are none of his The weight of this reason must be put into the balance of euery ones hart and let him reason thus with himselfe My poore seruant my drudge my simple slaue my maid my cooke and euery one of my familie they knowe nothing of the Gospell but some voices that there is a Sauiour and a Christ that they must come once in a yeere or peraduenture once in seauen yeere and receiue the Lords Supper and neuer know or thinke more of it they are diligent to me they worke when I play they runne when I ride they watch when I sleepe they fare hard when I feast and they finde me all things keeping nothing to themselues onely indeede through my busines they come not at the church except very seldome they know little more then infants they haue beene baptized when they were yoong they may follow any religion or rather superstition their obedience is so little to the Scriptures yea they hardly can tell me whether there be any Scripture whether the holie Ghost had any hande therein or no if I will let them plaie on the Sundaies according to their pleasures the popes profession the Turkish religion the Infidels practise and all heretikes opinions may be sected in them But what shall become of their soules Surely it greeueth vs that such diligent and faithfull seruants shoulde after a miserable and slauish life haue a mercilesse and a cursed death Yet Christes words are generall they are none of his that heare not his voice and follow not his call O consider this you wealthy and poore people of this lande thinke on the miserable condition of these your owne flesh and fly from that terrible danger which threatneth your soules horror all yea euery mothers childe must be present when the worde is preached bicause this trieth vs whether we bee ashamed of Christ or no. When Dauid was absent from Saules court the king presently missed him and asked after him for his place was voide In like maner if we be absent from the assemblies of the faithfull the king of heauen and earth seeth our roomes be emptie and calleth for our presence Let this therefore perswade vs that we cease not hearing the Lordes word and following his heauenly call least of sheepe we become goates wanton and wilde and so when the generall appeering shall be the Lorde separate the goates from the sheepe and sende them to euerlasting perdition The vses which may arise from this doctrine are these first that sharpe sentence of our Sauiour Mark 10. 14. Suffer little children to come to me and forbid them not for vnto such belong the kingdome of heauen The well minded people desiring the blessing of Christ to rest vpon them their posteritie brought their little babes to be touched by our Sauiours hande the which thing was reprooued and forbidden by the disciples and therefore they were rebuked and reprehended by Christ There is none though they be as yoong as babes as simple as children as weake as women as base as seruants or as bonde as apprentices but if at the ordinarie times of preaching I meane the Sabbaoth they will trauell to the Lords house and there spend their time they must not be restrained they must not be forbidden I am not ignorant of the vaine and wicked authoritie which some chalenge to haue ouer their families thinking that their duties are discharged although their seruants be wandring from the Lorde about their idle busines and seruants thinke themselues satisfied bicause their masters who haue rule ouer their bodies command them thereunto And thus men crosse one line of their reckoning and leaue a whole sheete behinde and race out the condition letting the obligation stande they heape vp one sinne vpon another and while they mende one breach in a christian life they make two more For by this meanes it commeth to passe that masters thinke it lawfull to busie their seruants whom they hire for their money at al times when any smal occasion offereth it selfe sending them on messages in keeping them at home to waite on themselues and in sauing an houre or two or three to worke in the weeke daies they make bolde with the Lorde and giue them leaue on the Sabbaoth daies to visite their friendes Doe we not thinke that the ministers of God may haue their actions of maintenance against such carelesse masters which beare out their seruants and themselues contrarie to the law of God whereby their owne hearts are hardened their neighbours offended the glorious worke of the minister despised the heauenly voice of the Gospell neglected and themselues with their seruants in danger both body and soule to be damned May we not call for the law if not of man yet of God to turne away these euils from vs But Oh lamentable maners in this latter ende of the world which regardeth as little the voice of Christ as wise men do the noise of yoong children Againe sometime the seruants are of godly disposition and would willingly vse the libertie of Christians to goe as the Israelites did and sacrifice to the Lord but then commeth one or other and many times their parents and gouernours of their owne mother wit forbiddiding them to vse it encreasing as Pharaoh did the measure of their workes and forbidding them to come neare vnto Christ as these disciples
father hell is our bondslaue but their hangman We reioice as if we reioiced not but they reioice as if they were borne for nothing else we sorrowe as if we wept not but they haue their eies weeping in life their harts weeping in death and their soules weeping in hell Thinke nowe my beloued that this is our time of lamentation and this is our lamentation of time to see men weeping that should reioice men reioicing that should lament Woe be vnto them for they haue their consolation Therefore if once the worlde turne with the wicked then shall happines be like ise their pleasure like a sommer dewe their friends shall forsake them their feare shall possesse them and their miserie shall ouercome them Seeing therefore this is the case of the wicked that know not nor feare not God hence ariseth this most assured and fearefull and yet comfortable vse to be knowne that such as is the life of the wicked such shal be their end Amo 4. 1 2 3. The prophet in the saide place calling vpon the heads and rich men of Israell by the name of the kine of Bashan that fedde in the mountaine of Samaria telleth them that the Lorde hath sworne that seeing they behaued themselues like beastes he woulde also vse them like beastes for the thornes should stifle them and their posteritie shoulde be taken with fish-hookes and they shoulde go out of the gaps and breaches forwarde like kine and they shal be cast headlong out of the pallaces And these kinde of beastes are the oppressors of the poore the deuourers of meate and drinke the neglecters and despisers of the Lords worship and such as prophane the Lordes sacrifices with their owne inuentions vers 1. 4. 5. Consider nowe if euer there were mo beastes in Israell then are in England O lamentable world wilt thou euer proceed to prouoke the Lordes wrath to oppresse thy owne flesh to spill the life of thy owne brother and to shed the bloud of thy owne soule dost thou not yet knowe that if thou delight in cursing thou shalt receiue cursing and bicause thou louest not blessing it shall be farre from thee Yea I will adde this also thinkest thou not that thy cruell life shall haue a cruell death and thy mercilesse hart shall receiue a mercilesse plague doth not the scripture say That the same measure shal be heaped on thee that thou didst powre vpon other Hast thou lead all thy life in swearing and dost thou thinke thou shalt die with blessing hast thou walked wantonly passed the time pleasantly pampered vp thy owne bodie delicately consumed thy strength lecherously wasted thy wealth prodigally despised the ministerie wickedly frequented euill companie ioyfully vsed all maner of gaming greedily and wilt thou hope for all this to die the death of the righteous and to make a blessed latter ende Then is it not true which is most true that such as men sowe such shall they reape and if their life be the season their death is the haruest Oh that I coulde perswade you to liue well as you perswade your selues to die well then shoulde your times bee happie your liues be godly and all our endes bee blessed Therefore on the other side wee that are in league with the Lorde of glorie howe happie is our case seeing as wee liue so shall wee die our wearied bodies shall rest in his kingdome our sorrowfull soules shall bee refreshed in his kingdome our wounds shall be healed in heauen our teares shall be wiped from our eies our liues shall be disburdened of slaunders and to conclude seeing we being aliue are buried with Christ by our profession wee shall also at our death be raised vp with Christ to his euerlasting possession Secondly another vse which doth arise from this point is this that seeing the wicked are so beastly in their sorrowes and so desperate in their afflictions that sometimes wickednesse is rewarded in this life though not alwaies for their comfortlesse estate is the iust punishment of their wretchlesse behauiour We haue manifold examples hereof in the sacred worde of God who was more cruell then Adoni-bezek who cut off the thumbes and toes of seuentie kings and afterward by the Lords commandement he was so serued himselfe Iudg. 1. 6 7. Who was more proud then Nabuchadnezzar yet in this life was his vnderstanding taken from him and he driuen to eate his meate with brute beastes Tzedechias which burned the booke of God was taken by his enimies had his children slaine before his face and afterward had his owne eies put out and died at Babylon Herod that wicked wretch was eaten of wormes Ananias and Saphira were slaine by the Lord himselfe with a great many of like terrible iudgements of God of which you may read both in the scriptures and in the writings of other There are a viperous broode among vs which are not ashamed openly to professe that they care not so much for the pains in another life if they may escape the plagues of this life that is present and notwithstanding they feare the punishment of their sinnes shoulde bee executed on them in this life to their open shame and in the life to come to their vtter destruction yet they will neuer bee amended by Gospel or iudgemen t let such persons thinke what shall be their danger if they continue in this wicked opinion and wretched life For assuredly as Dauid once saide so will we euer say that the same which the wicked feareth shall come vpon them why shouldest thou bee more ashamed to be punished before a few of thy friends in this life then to bee laide open to the full vnto all the world at the latter day Learne therefore to purge thy hands and hart from sinnes wherein thou dwellest and when they shall bee burned thou shalt bee saued thinke that thou art not better then those which are already named and therefore thou maist be hanged with Absolon be stoned with Achan be cursed with Canaan be brained with Abimelech bee eaten with dogs as Iezabel was bee slaine with the sword as Adoniah was and finally fall from the top of honour to the bottome of ignominie as Haman did Because of the newe wine This is the cause why hee biddeth the drunkards and drinkers to awake because they should loose that which they best loued your newe wine that is so sweete to your mouthes wherein you dwell day and night shall bee taken from you And in this the prophet noteth vnto vs the whole corruption of carnall and wicked men that if they be ioyfull or if they be sorrowfull it is onely for the things of this life present when their barnes and storehouses are filled their fieldes clad with cattell their names exalted with worldly honour then they strike vp the ioyfullest musicke to their harts that they can inuent but when their wealth decreaseth or sicknesse taketh them or the famine vexeth them or the rumors of bloodie and
being in a good pasture doth not reioyce in it or what birde hauing but a twigge to sit on doth not sing in the sunny mornings of the spring and wilt thou being a man or woman bee woorse then birde or beast not to reioyce in the blessings of God towardes thee Augustine telleth of one Paulinus that when hee had lost all his goods hee was so farre from being sorrowfull that this was his praier O Lord thou knowest where all my goods are treasured Take not then to heart euery worldly crosse art thou a husbandman and hast lost thy corne art thou a merchant and hast suffered shipwracke art thou a trauailer and hast beene spoiled by robbers art thou a widowe and hast lost both husbande and wealth yet take not sorrowe to thy hart sleepe from thy eies peace from thy life beautie from thy face nor comfort from thy soule From hence wee learne to make many profitable vses whereof this may be one that seeing worldly and carnall sorrowe is such a wofull iudgement of God therefore most miserable is the estate of worldly wicked men if they pray in it they cannot be heard Esay 16. 12. If they will embrace the Gospell the worlde will not let them and therefore this sorrowe doth torment them Luk. 18. 23. Oh where wil they now become Good men being sorrowfull are comforted by praier Lamen 5. but euill men although they vse the same wordes and lift vp their voices and weepe and woulde teare their heartes out of their breastes and giue as much to God for ioy as the diuell would haue giuen Christ for worship yet their worme shall euer gnaw them and ioy shall neuer come at thē though they change their mindes as Laban did Iacobs wages to encrease his flocke yet shall they still decrease and not preuaile as Labans did if they thinke as the Syrians did that the hilles be not for them and therefore they will descend into the valleyes there euen there also shall they be destroied Consider this I beseech you who in this world minde nothing but ioy and feare nothing but sorrow and thinke that your feare shall come vpon you Doe you imagine that your wealth shall continue your mirth no no said Salomon that is but vanitie and vexation of spirite or doe you suppose that your harts are Stoicall made of stones and therefore nothing shall dismay you but you will take all things without griefe oh consider that God shall bring this iudgement vpon you for other sinnes there is no counsell against the almightie What will you nowe do and where can you hide your selues that God may not finde you cannot he which made a hard rocke a running streame strike also your harde harts and make your liues and eies as full of teares and sorrowes as the wildernesse flowes full of water Yes yes with no labour shall he and will he plague your liues encrease your pangs multiplie your sorrowes cast downe your comforts and therefore cast away your euill conditions Another vse may be this that we take no thought or vexing care for the things of this life Luc. 12. 23 34. Our Sauiour Christ which was the richest that euer was became the poorest that euer coulde bee and therefore giueth this counsell that wee take not thought for foode or raiment who should take care if the poore take not care and yet our Sauiour a poore man biddeth both poore and rich not to vexe themselues for these earthly commodities Relie therefore vpon the word of our Sauiour I am sure thou wilt trust him when he said I came to saue sinners and thou wilt beleeue him when he said he was the sonne of God therefore doe not distrust him in his promise but take no thought for thy life especially such a care as should bee a hinderance vnto thee in thy spirituall duties Why dost thou labour when thou shouldest pray why dost thou trauell when thou shouldest heare why doest thou wearie thy bodie when thou shouldest rest thy soule in the sweete armes and woundes of a mercifull Sauiour If God doe but breath on thy labour it consumeth it if he curse the worke of thy hands it vanisheth and when it is gone where is thy labour and trauell and worke and ioy and comfort and hope but all in the fire Followe therefore thy labour with godlinesse and follow godlinesse with labour ioyne these two together as Simeon and Iudah ioined to driue the Canaanites out of the lande Iudg. 1. 7 8. and so shall not Canaan but heauen be thy sure resting rode and euer abiding inheritance Let not rich men lay vp too much and buy and sell all for gaines why you haue learned a meane in religion and will you neuer learne a meane in riches oh that your riches were godlinesse and godlinesse your riches that your labour which is now but lost might bee bestowed on that foode and wealth and land and life which neuer shall end Another doctrine which ariseth out of these wordes when hee saith that ioy is parted or withered from the sonnes of men is this whereby hee giueth them to vnderstand that those which will not humble themselues shall be humbled whether they will or no. The nature of man being plentifully stored with all manner of benefites neuer thinketh of a day of vengeance but imagineth that his peaceable estate shall bee for euer therefore the Lord willing to shewe vs our vaine hope and transitorie fading pleasures taketh away from vs those comfortes which wee were woont to receiue by the vse of his blessings and changeth our merrie daies into sorrowfull destinies We haue a notable example hereof in Dan. 5. 3 6 22 23. Belshazzar that proude Babylonian king cared not for the miserable captiuitie wherein he detained the people of Israel there was no conscience of his sinne no pitie on his prisoners no feare of the Lordes maiestie no thought of true humilitie but all to maintaine the pride of a prince and therefore harken what befell him At that time when he was at his banket in the middest of his ruffe with all earthly delights the hand of God appeered and wrote on the wall the sentence of his depriuation and this was because hee had not humbled himselfe before in the time of his prosperitie and then followed a fearefull hart a sorrowfull soule an vnquiet minde and a miserable ende Euen so if we cast not downe our selues before aduersitie come trouble shall come and cast downe vs. Harken vnto this you rich men and women in this world say not to your selues that you will be merrie while you may but rather be sorrie while you may be ioyfull nowe fast while you haue abundance now pray while you are in health now weepe while God may be entreated and now afflict your soules while your comfort remaineth for surely if you continue in your pleasant possessions and worldly disports will you nill you the Lord will humble you And were you not
neuer ceaseth to suggest new temptations and wee are seldome able to resist them therefore he neuer is idle but euer proceedeth farther and farther till he haue plunged vs ouer the eares in sinne that so he might drowne vs. When he made Peter denie Christ once then hee made him to denie him thrise so when he hath perswaded vs a little to follow the waies of our owne hearts then he neuer giueth ouer till hee haue made vs to denie him often so that this encreasing in sinne must bee attributed to the diuell for in truth the diuell shall be punished for the sinnes of the whole worlde and yet euerie wicked man shall be punished for his owne Let vs learne then that there is a measure appointed to receiue our sinnes and ifwe cease not till it bee full we cannot cease till it runne ouer and if we suffer it to runne ouer wee cannot hinder it from ouerrunning vs. There is none that woulde bee willing to sell his inheritance to fill a theeues purse with golde Therefore let not any of vs be so simple as to fill the diuels measure full of our sinnes which wee buie by selling away our soules Oh that we were as hard to the diuell when he craueth for a sinne as we are to a begger when he crieth for an almes we thinke well if we bestowe a pennie in a weeke vpon such a person and wee can hardly be drawen in for more but sinne after sinne we commit as fast as haile commeth from the cloudes Let vs then emptie the measure of our sinne and not fill it and be as vnwilling to cast one follie into the diuels hande as manie are to cast one farthing into the poore mans boxe Let vs resist the temptations of sinne as Iacob resisted the voice of his sonnes perswading him to suffer his little Beniamin to goe with them into Egypt and let vs neuer yeeld vnto him let vs not be ouercome rather let vs die For their iniquitie is great These wordes contayne the reason of their iudgement namely because of their sinnes for in truth if men did neuer sinne they should neuer be iudged and therefore seeing euery one that is borne hath sinned euery one borne shall answere for their sinne at iudgement But when he saith it is great hee teacheth vs that euery man shall be punished according to the quantitie of his sinne Luc. 12. 47. Many sinnes many stripes great sinnes great iudgement As in ciuill politicall gouernment there is a difference so also is there in the heauenly regiment for euery one shall bee punished according to the measure of his sinnes Therefore now take occasion to stay the heate of thy sinnes seeing many pleasures many ioyes many thefts many adulteries many othes many lies and many wicked actions shall bring vnto thee manifold indignation Moses would not suffer any of Israel to sacrifice in Egypt because the Egyptians would slay them if feare of death made them cease sacrificing to God then let feare of death make thee cease to sinne against God Some men will not eate the best meates although they loue them well because their price is too costly oh that we could as willingly abstaine from sinne which we loue too well because it will cost so deerely for one howers pleasure will bring a whole worlds paine The first reason because God hath ordained his church to haue seuerall kindes of punishment Matt. 18. whereby he teacheth that he will obserue the same order in the worlde to come to cast out obstinate offenders into the pit that is prepared for heathens and hypocrites for all the actions in the church militant do leade vs to the like in the church triumphant Secondly another reason is or else the greatest wretch of the worlde were in no woorse case then the new-borne babe but this cannot be for then were there not degrees of the Lords iustice as there are in his mercie Let vs learne to make this vse thereof seeing the Lorde woulde haue a man that had stolen any goodes or taken wrongfully from any man to restore it fowerfolde then let vs learne by the greatnesse of our sinnes to aggrauate our sorrowes for surely if we still remaine impenitent in the church of God his wrath will in the end ouertake vs as it did Ioab who was slaine at the hornes of the altar For the slaughter of the Gibeonites which Saul made vniustly God after his death caused seuen of his posteritie to bee hanged because Saul had not pacified the matter himselfe Be carefull therefore to repent thy sinnes with sorrow and to recompence them with obedience least thy desarts fall vpon thy posteritie otherwise thy delight will bee too deere and the fruites of thy pleasure will bee more bitter then wormwood Had Iudas knowen when hee was with Christ at supper that which now he feeleth all the priestes of Iewrie and al the money in their seueral treasuries could neuer haue perswaded him to that treason Trie not the aduenture of thy sinnes for hell is hotter then the fornace of Babylon and they which once come in it can neuer come out againe Learne also to knowe the waight of euery one of thy sinnes that thou maiest easily see they are odious to God infamous to men and dangerous to thy soule how the diuell hatcheth them the flesh nurseth them the worlde maintaineth them and God abhorreth them Looke I say vnto their waight for they are a burden too heauie for thee to beare if thou keepe them they will eate thee if thou striue with them they wil weary thee if thou beare them they will hurt thee if thou forsake them they will follow thee and if thou knowe them they will feare thee therefore learne to measure them and number them and waigh them that thou maiest emptie and lessen and cast them downe neuer to take them vp againe O multitude In this verse is contained the seconde similitude whereby their destruction is decyphered For after haruest commeth threshing and in my opinion in the former verse is set downe their first death and in this verse their second death by reason of the resemblance betwixt the paines of hell and the action of threshing First the stroke of the thresher seemeth to threaten the corne to strike it in peeces but yet it doth not so a man woulde thinke that the paines of hell woulde make an end of them that suffer them but yet they abide them Secondly threshing followeth the cutting of the corne and so hell followeth the death of the body Thirdly threshing is a continuall striking of one sheafe and so hell is a continuall tormenting of one soule for paine followeth paine as stroke followeth stroke But certaine it is a destruction is heere signified and that a more sharpe and seuere one then was noted in the former verse wherefore he calleth vnto them mournefullie O multitude ô multitude The which phrase of speech teacheth vs that God is
preachers tell vs goe forwarde I beseech you in all other sinnes and you shall finde but a verie small number that say I beleeued and therefore I heard The medicine to purge out all these corruptions is a true faith the which if either you leaue at home or lose it by the way the labour is all lost that you take therein Oh how lamentable and damnable a sinne is infidelitie when the iudgements of God are not beleeued and the mercies of God are abused But this greeueth all godly hearts to the quicke that euen in our daies and times there should be such that as a godly father saith are armed with the name of good christians yet fight against the faith of true beleeuers Looke vpon it in time least as death followeth sicknes through want of phisicke so the death of your soules follow their sickenes through want of faith Beleeue saith Christ and al things are possible the dead haue beene raised by faith the sicke haue beene releeued by faith the mountaines may be remooued by faith and the diuell himselfe is droue away by faith therefore bring faith with you vnto the hearing of the sermons the scriptures are the Lords wordes and they are set to sale by the preaching of the ministers themselues beeing his factors faith must buye them as money doth or bee exchanged for them as one thing is for another for there is no crediting vpon wordes no obligations vpon dayes that can get them from vs but present payment of a liuely faith Therefore if any will knowe howe to heare the Gospell with profit and to enioy it with comfort let him bring faith with him that the worde deliuered may bee sealed for truth and sinnes beeing reprooued may bee receiued for truth and suffer no starting holes of infidelitie to carrie our soules from the rocke of God his truth into the sea of heathenish securitie or endlesse aduersitie O yee elders That is you gouernours of the people whom the Lord hath honoured with long life and the world with great authoritie And from hence we note this doctrine that the most honourable must most of all giue eare to the worde of God whether that honour bee in the Church as the ministers or in the common wealth as the magistrates or in the familie as the father thereof or in the warres as the generall thereof all these beeing exalted aboue other haue also a charge aboue other that euerie one walke worthie of his profession which is onely by studying and hearing the word of the Lord. The Lord so commandeth Deut. 17. 19. That the king himselfe shall cause to be wrote a booke for him of the lawe that he keepe it with him and read therein all the daies of his life Those which haue the greatest charge must vse the greatest labour to discharge their places as none could be iudges in Israell till the Lord had giuen them of the spirit of Moses so none can sincerely execute their duetie that the world may be satisfied the Lord may be glorified and their owne soules comforted vnlesse they receiue of the spirit of God and by the ministerie of the word is the spirit deliuered Gal. 3. 2. Hearken therefore you rulers of the Lordes people that which excelleth all glorie being richer then all wealth and wiser then all learning euen the spirit of God may be receiued when the word of God is deliuered Oh how are they deceiued that thinke the ministerie a base profession not meete for any but for the poore to liue by for the lame disfigured for yonger brothers for bankerupt for seruingmen for blunt-headed-schollers and such as can be good in nothing How are they also deceiued that thinke it not an exercise fit for noble men and persons of estate knights and gentlemen and such great ones which haue the world at their wils and the countrey at their pleasures shall these say they make themselues drudges to the Gospell schollers to the preachers and goe on pilgrimage to a publike sermon Yea all these must resigne their crownes of maiestie their gownes of nobility their swords of chiualrie and their estimation of gentrie vnto the voice of the blessed spirit of God speaking in the scriptures and preaching in his ministers And if these must bend their knees we must bow our bodies to the earth and put our necke vnder the yoke of Christ Iesus that he may lift vp our head liues to the participation of glorie The Lord that bindeth kings in chaines and nobles in fetters of Iron and maketh the mountaines to cleaue in sunder at his roaring willeth and commandeth vs from heauen to heare his son and it shal so come to passe that the soule shal be cut off from the Lords people that hath not kissed the prince of glorie and commeth not to offer obedience and seruice to his royall Lord who is able to cast him body and soule into fire euerlasting Let vs therefore study to enter into the courts where the Gospell of Christ soundeth and reigneth least we fall away from grace and glorie after the euill example of those long agoe condemned infidels and reprobated apostataes which gaue their eares to falshood their toongs to blasphemie their liues to vanitie their bodies to luxurie and their soules to euerlasting miserie Let not the graye haires of old men the great wealth of rich men the worship of Magistrates nor the honour of gouernement draw away our hearts from the hearing of this message which being hid from vs maketh vs cursed castawaies but being declared vnto vs regenerateth vs to the hope of eternall happines The reasons of this doctrine are also easily gathered out of the word of God First the same which Samuel vseth in his first booke cap. 12. ver 14. at the annointing or crowning of their new king Saule to perswade them and their king to the diligent hearing of the word and reuerent feare of God he vseth this as a reason That then they shall be the people of the Lord God As if Samuel had said vnto them you know that this is the glorie of our nation that we alone are the selected band and chosen soldiers to fight the Lords battles and this is an honour against all the world beside that they seruing Idoles and worshipping diuels we serue the Lord of hostes if therefore you will indeed be the Lords people you must in truth heare the Lords word what could be said more forcibly to mooue a rebellious nation to a quiet submission And this being the badge and liuerie of the Church of God we may be bold to say openly and defend confidently that they which heare not the Gospell as now it is preached in our English nation are none of the true followers of his heauenly maiestie Euen all whether they be the archenimies of Christ the Papists or the new sectary of Recusants the Brownists or the vaine religion bablers the Newters or the priuy haters of the
rebukes of sin for the Lord. Hos 4. 4. cōplaineth of the desperate estate of the people for he saide they rebuked the prophet This is the sin of England for there are among vs that will teach wise men and themselues being fooles they will controule learned men themselues being ignorant they will sohoole preachers yet they cannot heare they will rule magistrates themselues being subiects and they will seeme to doe all things being able to doe nothing But this is the point woorthie to be stoode vpon they will reprooue the minister of the Gospell If they suspect vs they condemne vs if there be but an vncertaine rumour they make it a certaine sclander so that our life our liuings our doctrine our calling and all our preaching is contemned by them Our life to be idle our liuings to be too great our doctrine to be suspitious our calling to be burdensome and our preaching to be onely for a worldly respect Oh incurable vndurable mischiefe why do men at once set Christ to schoole teach God to be wise refuse the Gospels gouernment and choose the tyranny of sinne Why do they rebuke vs and yet thinke they do well if the rod of magistrates light on vs for our sinnes let vs abide it but to let euery drunkard and ruffian and seruingman and euery base companion to crow against the Gospell and our calling let vs neuer abide They hate vs because they loue sinne they loue liberty because they abhorre discipline they regard not the ministery because they regard not God and therefore looke for a present and speedie calamitie for since that base fellowes became ministers base fellowes haue regarded none so that now we may preach out our hearts and pray out our soules and weepe out our eies yet we shall receiue nothing but scoffes and scornes rebuke and scander for our labor Weepe and howle hauing bidden them to be ashamed now he biddeth them to bee sorrowfull for well hee knew that their hope and health was lost when their corne and fruites were destroyed wherein they trusted more then in GOD. And from hence wee may obserue that if the worshippe of God bee once decaied there is not any so desperately wicked or dissolute but he shall smart for them we may say Esay 9. 10 11 12. That the wicked make great bragges if they were depriued of preaching the word they say they would turne brickes into hewen stone and tymber into Cedar trees but the Lorde telleth them that their enimies shall beset them and he will cut off both honorable and taile So is the course of his iudgement that when hee hath taken away his worship which is a helmet of proofe to keepe his wrath from vs then he sendeth greatest calamitie when we thinke we shall liue in greatest securitie The filthie Sodomites thought that they were well when Lot was gone from among them but there followed presently fire and brimstone from heauen By this our gallants may perceiue that if the Gospell be in the wrath of God translated from our countrey their brauerie and pride and wealth and prosperitie shall be ouerturned into perpetuall miserie They thinke it a burden intollerable to liue vnder the checke heereof but let them know that the little finger of humane tyrannie shall bee heauier on them then the loines and body of all christianitie Oh how do men deceiue themselues with sweete promises of great and incredible ease which they shall reape by the abasing of the ministerie by the decay of good men and the abandoning of all goodnes when they shall haue libertie to commit any kinde of sinne O miserable wretches saith one to whom it is lawfull to do wickedly surely you shall come out of a little brooke and runne headlong into the maine sea The reason of this doctrine is this bicause the wicked shoulde knowe that all goodnesse which they receiue is for the Gospels and godly mens sake Prou. 11. 11. there is not any thing in the worlde which the godly haue not a title vnto insomuch as all the wicked men are but vsurpers of the goods and landes and wealth and dignities they enioy so long as a godly man is liuing The worlde is a bodie religion is the soule thereof which being remooued is dead and fit for nothing The worlde is a building and the worship is the pillar postes thereof which being remooued it must needes fall as the house wherein Sampson slewe the Philistines So that it is most plaine that when our knowledge is turned to ignorance and the preachers of the worde of God cease to speake in the name of God and when the Gospell is banished from our lande and there bee a free libertie to doe what they list then I saie will the heauens threaten destruction the mindes of men shall be made blinde their vnderstanding shall bee taken from them and they shall liue as other people do without God his word to be slaues to their enimies drudges to their labours beastes in their liues enimies to God haters of good things and diuels by their death The vses which commeth from this doctrine is first of all that wee labour with speede to amende those things which are amisse among vs for else that iudgement which the Lorde once threatened to the Ephesian church Reuel 2. 5. shall take holde namely that the Lord will take away his candlesticke from vs if the light bee gone we shal liue in darknes if the word be gone we shall liue in blindnes if God his worship be taken from vs wee shall die in miserie This onely is the meate which if wee want will consume vs it is a sworde and if it bee not in our handes it will wounde vs it is a scepter which if the king of heauen holde not foorth we shall be condemned Feare the want of the Lords worship for if it goe from vs then he will depart if he depart then our prosperitie will cease and there shall not be a man aliue which will not desire to die Consider I beseech you if you haue enioyed great possessions goodly landes faire houses many friends delicate liues and many children but in one night thy aduersarie stealeth away thy euidence whereby thou holdest thy lande and then thou art turned out of possession thy landes are taken from thee thy friendes forsake thee thy children crie on thee and thou bee constrained either to harde labour or vnlawfull beggerie how wouldest thou take it but wish for a thousande deathes to bee deliuered from this shame So shall it bee with thee in the Gospell which is the euidence of thy peace thy health thy landes thy ioy and the kingdome of heauen the which being taken from thee thou canst neuer enioy any of these then thou shalt weepe without comfort sorrowe without hope liue without ioy die without peace and be damned without mercie Oh whose heart is not cleaued asunder to thinke vpon the danger of his soule Loue the
and they sacrificed and none else but they altered and it came to one tribe and they also were abrogated and so it came to men approoued in the church who are deemed the speciall portion of the Lord in this world And surely if the seruants of Salomon were blessed that hearde his wisedome and waited in his court they are much more blessed which waite in the Lords house and heare and see the secrets of the kingdome of heauen It is therefore a most fearefull thing to aduance any vnto this to bee the Lords seruant who is not woorthy to sit in the chaire of Moses and there is no reason why they shoulde minister in the church which are not woorthie to be the porters of the doore Surely the prophanenes of many in these places is so great and so damnable that besides the iniuries done to Christ many run headlong into hell thorough the euill example of their pastours The Lords seruants followe their maister in holinesse and not the world in lewdnesse they looke to the soules but these waite for the fleeces they preach vpon conscience these doe it for fashion they preach onely the truth but these bring the fire of poetrie philosophie and such like to the altar of God to conclude they bee the helpers vnto faith but these quench their owne giftes and keepe other from pure knowledge The reasons are these because the whole life of the minister must be onely exercised in spirituall heauenly matters Act. 6. 2. 4. The apostles would consent to nothing which was not consonant to their ministerie or that might any waies hinder the same And for this cause the Lord hath so prouided that they should be exempted from all worldly businesse and receiue their maintenance from other not onely for themselues but for their children and families The which thing considered would aduertise a number of vs that wee which warre should not entangle our selues with the things of this life we should neuer giue ouer our seruice for that is nothing else but to forsake God wee must neuer cause our sinnes to make vs be thrust out of the ministerie for that will exclude vs from heauen wee must neuer bee idle and vnprofitable seruants in our ministerie for that will worke our curse and wee must neuer be wearie of our places for that will weaken and lessen our giftes But alas once there might come no rasor on the ministers heads but now adaies heads and beards and all are powled if wee shoulde not nowe looke to our owne maintenance wee might soone want sustenaunce and our children are easily suffered to begge though their parents haue well deserued of the Church of God Another reason is because none may offer them any violence but the Lorde accounteth it his owne Exod. 16. 8. and hee saith by the prophet Dauid Touch not mine annointed and doe my prophets no harme How desperate is the case of all men who are daily by wordes and deedes reuiling the ministers of the gospell and thinke themselues happy if they can giue a priest a deadly blowe by their enuenomed toong Truely I will say our owne sinnes were the cause of all this yet if the kisse of Iudas was so mortally punished these mens not kisses but wounds not with lips but with toongs and hands shall neuer escape vnrewarded for as by their toongs they haue killed vs so the Lord with his toong shall condemne them From hence let vs of the ministerie learne our dutie which is seeing we are the Lordes owne seruants let vs labour to present euerie man perfect in Iesus Christ Col. 1. 28. there is no seruant but he desireth not onely to do much worke but that hee may present it faire and beautifull to his masters viewe this is our labour to bring many soules and saints to the Lorde of glory Abraham sending his seruant to fetch a wife for Isaac his sonne he brought him godlie and beautifull Rebecah wee are the Lordes seruants and wee are sent to fetch a wife for Iesus Christ the sonne of God oh let vs be as faithfull vnto God the father and to Iesus Christ as that seruant was to Abraham and Isaac let vs doe our message with diligence let vs execute our charge with praier let vs giue them the golden bracelets of God his truth and let vs with all speede and haste returne againe to him that sent vs. When Iacobs sonnes went into Egypt Iudah promised him to bring Beniamin againe if he woulde let him go or else he shoulde slaie his owne two sonnes and so if wee bring not againe to the Lorde his beloued children he will slaie our bodies and soules for euer and euer for at our hands will he require them Come on therefore my deere and holy annointed brethren we haue the leading of God his children wee haue the keeping of Christs Queene we haue the tillage of the Lords corne we haue the vse of the Lords treasure we haue the price of our Sauiours bloud if we loose his childrē he wil slay ours if we defile his wife he wil curse vs if we neglect his husbādry he will spoile ours if we waste his treasure he wil sel vs to perpetuall bondage and if we spill our Sauiours bloud he shall condemne our bloud body and soule Oh therfore let vs be instāt in preaching holy in liuing earnest in praier zealous in exhortatiō careful in admonition instructing the children correcting the youth and comforting the aged that as Iacob returned with many more soules out of Syria into Canaan then hee brought so may wee come with many soules out of this world into the world to come Another vse shall be for the people that considering wee be the Lordes owne seruants and therefore open and shut the priuie chamber doore which leadeth vnto him and to vs is committed the building of the church then as the Apostle exhorteth you Ephes 4. 11 14. that ye giue heed to them whom the Lorde sendeth you for spirituall guides direct not your praiers to Angels and saints in heauen for they haue not the keeping of the Lordes workes but the ministers which be aliue are the priuie counsellers to the Lordes maiestie whom if you will not beleeue neither can you beleeue though an angell come from heauen vnto you And therefore as all the people were wonte to waite for the comming out of the priest that hee might blesse them so do you all euermore waite for the blessing and mercy and grace and counsell and loue of God to come from them to you As the Lorde turneth the bloude of a woman into milke for the nourishment of hir childe so doth hee turne our wordes and gifts and knowledge and learning and studie and life to be the nourishment of you his church Come to vs for comfort and instruction and edification and saluation you are the Lordes housholde we are his stewards come to vs for your meate of soule and wages
of life When Adam came againe to God hee receiued the promise of life when the creatures came to Noahs arke hee kept them from the floude when the Egyptians came to Ioseph he saued them from famine and when the people came to heare Christ preach he relieued their fainting Come you likewise to the ministerie they will giue you the promises open vnto you the kingdome deliuer you the corne and satisfie your soules most plentifully that you shall neuer faint till you come to the euerlasting abiding place Except the priestes had stoode in the riuer of Iorden the children of Israell coulde neuer haue passed ouer euen so wee stande in the troubles of this world to keepe them from you else you shoulde neuer come into Canaan Oh therefore come while wee stande and beare the Lordes arke or else the waters of heresie and Atheisme will come againe and then farewell your hope your health and your saluation The xiij Sermon Verse 14. Sanctifie a fast call a solemne assemblie gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the lande into the house of the Lorde your God and crie vnto the Lorde THat is call and prepare a fast to the which some may say that they might well enough fast seeing their meat corne was alreadie withered and they had more need to seek to saue their liues then to go to fast to endanger themselues farther Vnto which I answere that the forenamed calamitie was but prophetically foretold therefore as yet there was not such want but only it shoulde bee if they repented not Hee biddeth them prepare a fast that is a general humiliation for all the people wherein shoulde bee nothing but mourning and abstinence and this kinde of fast is a great and good part of the worship of God Esay 58. 13. Therefore from hence wee obserue that God taketh occasion by threatning of his wrath against vs to mooue vs to worship him more earnestly so wee may see Iudg. 20. 26 27. when the Israelites in a good cause had beene ouercome of the Beniamites and lost the liues of many braue men it mooued them againe to goe to humble themselues before the Lorde with fasting and bitter weeping and lamentation And surely this seemeth to be the continual course of the Lords dooing in the church that as the grounde is plowed that it might yeelde more fruite so the church is afflicted that it may giue him more worship Wee are for the most part like the disciples which knew not howe to fast or to afflict themselues till Christ was taken from them and then they fasted Mark 2. 20. So when wee are either generallie molested or particularly endangered howe doe we cleaue to the churches and turne ouer the bibles and runne ouer the worde but in times of more ease wee are more idle and take libertie of sinning when wee feele the greatest liberalitie of our Sauiour If wee haue no other cause to reioice in our pouertie and sicknesse and infamie and danger and hunger and famme and all our tribulation then this that we are by them better fitted for the Lordes seruice yet let this make vs clap our harts and hands that we may any waie glorifie our creator And as the Israelites were as willing to fight with the Canaanites as to possesse their lande so let vs bee as willing to fight with manie troubles as to possesse many pleasures The reasons of this doctrine are these bicause such kinde of miseries lamented by such kinde of worship doth turne away our captiuitie and appease the Lordes wrath Lament 2. 14. and therefore wee may take great comfort in the forewarning of our miseries seeing we may be prepared therby against all danger to auoide all wrath if the Lorde did not by the ministerie of his worde humble vs we shoulde euer be subiect to mortall confusion and immortall condemnation But so hee ordereth all things in his church that as the ouerflowing Nilus maketh the earth more fertill so the floudes of troubles going ouer the bodies and liues of his members maketh them more peaceable once the disease purged the bodie is well quieted and once the pride of our sinne and natures scoured and rubbed awaie the soule is more strengthened Another reason is bicause that the Lorde will haue that thinge worke the good of his church which worketh the desperation of infidels for wicked men in their troubles are at their wits ende as wee may see Mich. 4. 5. so was it in Cain and Edom and the Egyptians and Saule and Herod which all perished through affliction The nature of the wicked is like iron which will neuer swimme though it be neuer so little except it be nailed to some woode or other substance so the wicked being banished from the godly they fall downe and sticke fast in an vnresistable mire of afflictions so that wee may see as the crosse of Christ was the life of the church but the death of the diuell so are many other crosses the life of the Lordes deare children but the death of his despitefull enimies The vses which come from this doctrine are these First seeing wee are by our affections stirred vp to serue the Lorde let vs keepe our soules in continuall chastisement that we may continually be mindfull of the Lordes seruice 1. Peter 4. 7. Those which lie in garrisons although they seldome fight yet euery day they discipline and traine their souldiers so although wee seldome lie vnder great danger of exceeding slaughter yet let vs continue our soules in correction and obedience If Dauid had alway vsed this he had not so easilie forgotten himselfe and brought Vrijah to death and himselfe into filthie adulterie Euen so the want of this priuate chastisement and continuall afflicting of our soules for our sinnes maketh vs wanton in wealth proude in prosperitie presumptuous in health and often subiect to sathans temptations Afflictions may rightly bee compared to a hedge which hath thornes on both sides so that that which is within cannot come out and that which is without cannot come in in like manner when our liues are hedged with troubles the good thinges which are in our soules cannot goe out of vs and the euill thinges which are without vs cannot come into vs. Weepe often for thy sins that thou maiest alway bee sorrowfull pray often for thy amendement that thou maiest still bee penitent Thinke manie times on thy later ende that thou maiest neuer bee arrogant so shalt thou saue thy selfe from many euils and gaine thy conscience great peace and procure thy soule euerlasting blessednes for if this life bee contrary to the life to come then it followeth that as there shall bee neuer ceasing ioy for the ceasing of sinne so heere ought to be a neuer ending sorrow for the continuance of sinne Another vse which commeth of this doctrine is seeing our euils make vs more fit to serue God then is it a miserable thing to be made more vnfit
that they might know that as none but God could be the author of these so none but his maiestie coulde bee the sender of them These heauenly signes or rather signes in heauen are described in the two next verses first the shaking of the world secondly the darkening of the lights and thirdly the great and terrible thunders which should then be heard all which is supported by a strong reason vers 11. By this verse we may first of all learne that the extraordinarie signes of heauen are the forerunners and most euident prophets of calamitie and destruction following Isa 29. 6. God which woulde haue all his iudgements not onely felt but feared doth not let them come stealing on the world as if he could not doe them against our will or not hinder them against their nature but proclaimeth them by manifold fearefull signes in heauen The reasons are first because we should knowe that the euill onely proceedeth from him 2. Sam. 5. 24. it doth not any whit distaine the Lords honor to be a reuenger of sinne vpon the bodies and soules of many thousands but rather it maketh for his glorie for hee must iudge the world in righteousnesse Another reason is because by this meanes the Lorde doth most earnestly affect good mens harts and afflict the wicked Ezech. 32. 9. for the sight of terrible signes cannot choose but mooue the brute beastes of the earth much more reasonable men who are more giuen to feare because they are more giuen to sinne and our Sauiour saith in the gospell that mens harts shall faile them because of the signes of heauen The vses are these first let vs not be superstitious or heathenish in fearing the signes of heauen aboue the rule of faith Ier. 10. 2. For alas what can any planet or any signe doe but by the Lordes assignement and therefore in fearing it superstitiously we feare not God we distrust his prouidence we restraine his power and we cast away our owne confidence and faith It was a great signe in heauen when fire came downe and destroyed Sodom and Gomor and all cities cattel and pastures of the plaine Gen. 19. yet little Zoar was saued standing among them when all the residue were burning about it therefore beware of the slauish feare of the signes of heauen for it is the Lorde that gouerneth the starres Another vse as we are not to feare them too much so wee are not to regard them too little but vse them as promptors and furtherances to another life Luk. 21. 28. when you see these saith Christ then lift vp your heads and know that your redemption draweth neere Be it therefore that the heauens be burning the lights be darkening the stars be falling the earth be shaking and the ayre be thundering yet feare it no more then the Israelites did in Egypt but rather now thinke that the Lord will amaze sinners erect his throne of righteousnes to stand for euermore This must much encourage vs in these our later daies wher in euerie hower we looke for the accomplishing of all the signes before Christs comming and let vs watch for the appearing of our Sauiour that we be not comfortles when other shall bee both witlesse and faithles but know that good men shall stand in the middest of all these terrours and fires as the men did walke in the middest of the Babilonish furnace and not haue one haire of our head diminished When he saith that the earth shall tremble he noteth that earth quakes are notable tokens of the Lordes wrath Psal 18. 7. we are not onely to impute it to the ayre shut vp in the furrowes of the earth as in philosophie they do but we must goe to the principall cause which is the hand of God and the finall cause which is to shew his wrath for in his wrath saith the scripture he casteth downe whole mountaines Oh how terrible is this to consider that the whole earth should be shakē at the chiding of God yet man which is made of earth and standeth on earth and liueth on earth and shall returne to earth againe will not shake or tremble for the same I thinke there is more terrour in the dead bones in the graues then in liuing bodies in their houses The reasons hereofare these because the law of wrath was giuen in fire and earth-quakes Exod. 19. 18. Heb. 12. 18. for God did then shew himselfe most terrible when the mountaine seemed to burne and there was nothing but cursing and death for the law that then was giuen did condemne many millions which now do know the same Againe earthquakes do commonly proceede and goe before the alteration of religion Reuel 6. 12. for as when Iehu altered the idolatrie of Baal the prophets and the God were both displaced so when religion is altered God is as it were displaced and all his seruants persecuted which must of necessitie shew the heauie indignation of God for he will not haue his image defaced nor endure that his glorie should be giuen to another Let vs therefore learne that if the strong earth be not able to abide the wrath of God then much lesse shal weake and sinnefull men Num. 16. 1. Againe let vs learne to preach the word more earnestly by the consideration of earth-quakes We may read Amos 1. 2. that two yeere before the earth-quake the Lord sent him to prophesie as it were to plant the minds of his church that they might haue liued without wauering Now it is well knowen that wee haue had one great and terrible earth quake in our times would God it might so worke that the preachers would for that cause preach more diligently and the people heare more attentiuely least it prooue vnto vs a token of the decay of religion Truely as yet blessed be God religion is not altered but it is much defaced and God graunt that as the earth-quake at the death of Christ was the decrease of Iudaisme and Paganisme but the increase of christianitie so that in our time may worke the like effect and may seale vnto vs the decay of Poperie and heresie but may assure vs of the continuance of veritie and pure religion We might also note out of this verse that seeing the heauens and earth are afraide of him therefore the most guiltles creatures of God cannot abide his anger But this we will deferre vnto the next chapter Againe in that the sunne and moone are darkened we may obserue not onely that God is the author of light and darkenes but also that he will not let sinners in his anger haue any benefit of them Isa 13. 9 10. The reasons are First because they are enimies to good men and good things Exod. 10. 22. Secondly bicause they are ashamed of the sinnes of men as we may see at Christs death Matth. 27 45. Let vs therefore so glorifie God in our places as these creatures do in theirs for they
Christ who hath deliuered vs frō wrath to come 1. Thes 1. 10. Christ hath deliuered vs from that wrath that condemned the angels that shooke the heauens that rendeth the earth that killeth the beasts and that tormenteth the wicked Oh what had our estate been without a Sauiour but this to vndergoe the intolerable wrath of God which burneth more then any fire which paineth more thē any death which smarteth more thē any torture which tasteth worse then any bitternesse smelleth worse then any filthinesse where a man and a diuel should for euermore be yoked togither this wrath hath Christ pacified from this damnation hath he redeemed vs But now if thou sinne againe make no account of the blood of Christ the wrath shall be seuen times hotter and thou seuen times more the childe of hell Againe seeing this is the estate of the damned how wretched is their estate which liue in danger therof euery hower of life being aliue they haue no peace and being dead they haue no ease they are borne in filthines they liue in wickednes they die in wretchednesse and damnation is their graue where the fire is their cradle the diuels are their nurses the Lord is their enemie endlesse torments are their rest wrath without remedie is their meate Oh let this make good men desire to forsake this life and let it make euill men long to forsake their sinnes for their pleasurable life shall end in insufferable woes The xix Sermon Vers 12. Therefore also now saith the Lord Turne you vnto me with all your harts with fasting and with weeping and with mourning NOw at the length by the mercifull assistance of the holy Ghost haue wee finished the first part of our first diuision and are come vnto the last wherein the people are exhorted to repentance In this treatise following first of all the prophet sheweth them the manner of their repentance 12. 13. verses and secondly setteth downe certaine reasons to perswade them thereunto The manner of their repentance is either in action or in affection and it respecteth both the people and the priestes In affection as conuersion in hart and renting thereof in action as weeping fasting and mourning The reasons to mooue them hereunto are two first in respect of his nature vers 13. then of his works vers 14. That part which concerneth the priestes doth shew vs first how they should stirre vp the people and secondly how they should pray vers 15 16 17 thus much for the diuision In this that after all the before expressed iudgements the prophet nowe at the length commeth with the flat commandement and worde of God to cause them to bee conuerted Wee are first of all taught that except God giue the preaching of his worde with his heauie iudgements men can neuer bee amended by them Amos 4. 6 7 8. Let him thunder omnipotently let him shake the earth terribly let him darken the light fearefully let him curse the world iustly and multiply his punishments abundantly yet all this without the word of God cannot conuert a soule All this is plaine in the forenamed place of Amos wherein God telleth the people that he had giuen them scarcenesse of bread and no raine insomuch as two or three cities wandered vp and downe to drinke water hee sent blastings and mildeawes and great store of pestilence the yong men lay murdred their horses were taken away and noisom stinks smels infected them yet still God complained that they had not turned vnto him then he biddeth them be prepared to meete their maker So that it is euident that no crosse or iudgement can work repentance The experience hereof is to be seen in our times wherein haue been as great signes and as many woonders as in any place of the worlde beside great thunders feareful earth-quakes terrible darknes mortal pestilence pining famines yet who is conuerted by thē great men are made richer mean men are made poorer poore men are made beggers yet who considereth this The waters haue drowned vs the wars haue deuoured vs want hath afflicted vs and yet still we are as heard harted as wickedly affected and as stiffenecked as euer wee were insomuch as if the whole world were in an vprore our whole land vpon hir death bed well we might complaine but hardly repent The reasons of this doctrine may be these First bicause the Lord sendeth iudgements to take reuenge and not to worke repentance Deuter. 32. 41. The halter is not put on the the eues necke to conuert him but to punish him as Agar was expelled out of Abrahams house not to reclaime hir but to torment hir And here we may learne the end of all the Lordes iudgements which is to take vengeance on our euill liues what is our estate seeing wee are vnder the reuenging hande of God one while our desires are plagued another while our appetites are molested and continually is our life threatened with a longer calamitie But some will saie shall wee not bee repentant during our crosses and aduersitie Oh yes my deere brethren for we haue the worde as well as the rod and therefore we must be instructed by the one as wee are corrected by the other our punishment is a light vengeance but our profession is a great comfort yet we are but as it were led to execution and therefore wee must repent with speede before death catch our soules as dearth hath done our bodies Another reason is bicause the word is of more force then any iudgement whatsoeuer for the conuersion of a sinner is a worke of more value then the destruction of a worlde man was lost by an apple but it cost more to redeeme their soules Is not my worde like fire and like a hammer that breaketh the stone Ierem. 23. 29. and the worde of God is life and liuely in operation Heb. 4. 10. sharper then a sworde lighter then the sunne and heauier then the earth The which thing doth mightily magnifie the worde preached and the publike ministerie thereof being attended by the angels accompanied with the spirit and reuerenced in the church The angell was honorable that slew so many thousands of Saneheribs armie Esay 37. for it was a great iudgement but the ministerie of the worde hath droue more diuels out of the worlde then it slewe or draue Assyrians out of Israell And heereby let vs learne what account we are to make of the worde of God Wee feare drowning in the seas burning on the lande robbing in our iourneies and euery ioint in our body is subiect to many easelesse paines but let vs more earnestly feare the worde of God for those hurt vs when wee feele them and see them but this will harme vs when wee neither feele norsee it they afflict vs but this instructeth vs they punish vs but this doth acquite vs they bring vs the heauie newes of condemnation but this bringeth the
enioiedst them Therefore beholde iudgement and terrour and thunder and fire and the ouerthrowe of all thinges which one daie shall bee that thou maiest feare thy proude and sinfull nature and so behold mercie the resurrection the life to come the face of God and the fellowship of Angels that thou maiest quietlie repose thy soule in the sweete profession of the Lordes Gospell The reasons of this doctrine are these first because they are base minded if not beastly affected which onely looke to the temporall things that they see and not to the heauenly and eternal things which they see not as the Apostle in the before-named place saith and therefore it is farre more honourable that thou shouldest beleeue the things that are to come when we heare them in the word then the things that are past and present which our eies beholde Againe our Sauiour saith Marc. 9. 23. that all things are possible to him that beleeueth which is verified in nothing more then in this when we giue vp our whole harts to the things that are preached and daily waite when they shall be performed And if all things be possible then is saluation and the ioyes of heauen possible for thee if thou canst beleeue them and so liue as thou maiest obtaine them The vses which wee are to make of this doctrine are these first seeing wee must be instructed by the word of God to behold the things that are to come as if they were present then let vs euermore bee faithfull the which thing the Apostle teacheth vs when hee saith that wee stande by faith Rom. 9. 23. so that as our bodies stand vpon our legs so our soules stand vpon our faith And if this be so how many lame soules are there in the world nay they are not lame that neuer had legs but those that had them yet are they monsters and such monsters are faithlesse and infidel men If thy legs be sicke thou wilt goe to thy surgeon and if thy faith be sicke goe to thy Sauiour what comfort hast thou of the worlde if thou canst not walke in the world and what ioy hath thy soule if it haue no faith to walke in the scriptures Stand by faith and fall not beleeue soundly and strongly bring not a woodden leg I meane a woodden faith such as men can make but a true and substantiall faith which the Lorde onely giueth Let not any thing mooue thee for all things are possible to the beleeuer though the earth remooue bee not thou afraide though the heauens passe yet the world shall not passe beleeue all things say not this will be long or that will be late or the other is doubtfull or God is mercifull his minde may alter or the preachers are but men they may be deceiued or the iudgements be conditionall they may be reuersed or the promises be vncertaine they may be recalled Oh beware of an infidell hart Heb. 3. 12. and depart not from the liuing God Moses because hee did but once distrust God he could not enter into the land of Canaan the gouernour that would not beleeue the prophet was trod to peeces the princes which would not beleeue Ieremie were slaine by the Babylonians and the soules which will not beleeue the preachers shall be ouercome by diuels Oh consider how fearefull a thing it will be for you to say as the Iewes Ezech. 33. v. vlt. surely there was a prophet among vs. Therefore as the husbandman looketh to the haruest in the winter when the corne appeereth not as the seruant thinketh on his wages long before it commeth as the birde thinketh on her yoong ones long before she breedeth and the builder thinketh on his dwelling long before it be finished so doe you thinke on the ioyes and woes which shall bee long before they come And account your selues the happiest men aliue whome God warneth with his owne word that you may auoid the day of destruction for if you liued not vnder the check of the gospell and the controulment of preachers you might goe as other barbarous nations doe blindfolded that is vnwitting and vnknowing to the slaughter of your bodies the butcherie of your soules Surely the Lord doth nothing but he reuealeth the same to his seruants the prophets and therfore blessed are they that liue among them but more blessed are they which heare them beleeue thē loue them receiue them regarde them because God hath sent thē Secondly in this vers we may obserue when he saith In those daies and in that time that God wil haue the redemption and deliuerie of his saints and church to bee most certaine and knowen for vpon this occasion doth the prophet double the note of the time as it were noting both the day and the moneth So as once hee tolde Abraham that his seede shoulde be a stranger in another land fowre hundred and thirtie yeeres and no longer to shewe vnto him that they shoulde bee assuredly deliuered So doth hee heere by this prophet though not so precisely note the assurance of their redemption The reasons of this doctrine are these First because wee are not redeemed with any temporall worldly or earthly price but by and with the most precious blood of Christ Iesus 1. Pet. 1. 18. Againe another reason is because as the Apostle saith 1. Timoth. 2. 6. that this was done in due time The vses which come of this doctrine are these First seeing the Lorde will haue the redemption of his people to bee sealed and certainly knowen then let vs looke for that time and that day when Christ shal finally deliuer vs from the wrath to come 1. Thess 1. 10. What shoulde make good men to feare the latter day their redemption is certaine the Lorde is their Sauiour the Sauiour is their head their head is their brother and vntill Christ come they are subiect to wrath but when he is come they are deliuered from death Againe let vs receiue any pledge or token of the Lordes loue and fauour towarde vs which is shedde in our hearts by the holy Ghost Rom. 5. 5. and seeing this is it that we are certainly redeemed and our soules health is not builded vpon peraduentures but it is surely established then let vs certainly perswade our selues that God loueth vs with an euerlasting loue What will hee keepe from vs that giueth vs his owne sonne and will kill him to acquite vs If this perswade vs not to bee penitent and to loue God againe then is not the loue of God nor the bloude of Christ sprinkled in our hearts Naaman woulde haue giuen to Elisha manie thousande poundes bicause the water of Iorden had clensed his leprosie what woulde he haue giuen if Elisha had cured him by medicine But Christ hath cured our soules and bodies by the riuer of his owne bloud and by the losse of his owne life then are we worthie to giue heart for heart bloud for bloud bodie for
and the posteritie of the righteous much happier and godlier if more often with Moses wee remember him to take awaie his wrath by continuing his church Another vse are wee taught Ier. 32. 39. which is that wee likewise pray that our posteritie may haue one and a single hart that they may dwell for euer in the presence of God We can no way so much benefite our posteritie as by praying for them for then wee lay vp their treasure in heauen before the Lord making him the ouerseer of our willes and his kingdome their inheritance So that as hee promised Dauid that he should neuer want a man to sit on his throne if they would continue in his couenant so may euery righteous man assure himselfe that they shall neuer want posteritie if they continue in the Lords worship As there is but one God so men should haue but one hart and as there is but one heauen so men shoulde haue but one soule now the hart is one when it abideth in the worship of God but when it wauereth and is distracted into as many follies as affections there is no hart at all as it is all one to make mo gods and to denie God so is it all one to haue many harts and no hart Therefore pray for thy children whom thou hast nourished in the worlde that they may bee single harted and remaine before the Lorde for euer and euer for surely if they multiply their harts God wil remooue their graces For as Ahab by seeking to winne Ramoth-Gilead lost his owne life because he woulde encrease his territories so shall wee loose our owne soules if wee enlarge our harts for more vanitie Remember that Ierusalem was so built as it was at vnitie in it selfe and so must euery member of Ierusalem that is of the church haue one hart in himselfe that his hart may fit the Lorde and his soule may serue for heauen Secondly wee may obserue in this verse that the policie of wicked men cannot alway preuaile against the good Psal 124. 1 2 3. It was one of the wonders of the world that euer the counsell of Achitophel was so soone confounded that hee tooke against Dauid but the Lords hand was in it for seeing he had promised that Dauid shoulde raigne was not wise Achitophel a foole that woulde assay to breake the couenant and so were these gentiles in taking counsell against the Iewes to keepe them from euer returning to their countrie againe The first reason the Lord will purge iniquitie from his sanctuarie Dan. 8. 13 14. and therefore he will not suffer iniquitie to ouerthrowe his sanctuarie For the policie of wicked men in the destruction of the godly is not so much against mankinde as it is to burie for euer the worship and worshippers of God Would God that this reason might be well waighed of them who are euermore corrupting the sanctuarie of God who broach all the deuises of the world to corrupt the gospell But as the Romaine Image standing in the holy place was called the abhomination of desolation in like manner shall the imaginations of hereticall and proud men standing in the church be called the abhominable desolation of religion Another reason because good men might not fall from God by enduring their iniuries Psal 125. 4. and therefore be assured if God will make one of his owne saints worth a thousand of his enimies then will hee rather destroy their counsels then want his worshippers The vse is let vs then knowe that not all the counsell of men nor all the policie of the diuell nor all the power of the angels shall euer cast downe the members of Christ Apoc. 7. 3. Oh sweete instruction for vs miserable deemed wretches when we neede not to feare all the engins and deuises of the diuell if hee stirre vp princes yet God is greater if wise men God is wiser if strong men Christ is stronger and if learned men yet God catcheth the learned What shall I say more all the diuels in hell cannot take away one soule from the Lord. They are bound they cannot roue they are muzled they cannot rore they are ruled they cannot rage and they are damned they cannot hurt vs. Nay they can neither hurt body nor soule for the same that redeemed soules redeemed bodies and preserueth both Therefore feare not death that hath lost his sting and feare not the diuell that hath lost his force Another vse let this confidence for our raising vp out of miserie into glorie out of iniquitie into holinesse out of death into life and quitteth vs from the wicked stirre vp euery mans soule and hart to cleaue to the Lorde for euermore for as Dinah was safe in her fathers house and none could touch her so shall we be safe in the Lords presence none can hurt vs. Thirdly by this verse when he laieth to their charge the selling of his people that they might neuer return againe which they coulde not bring to passe but yet hee telleth them he woulde punish them wee may note that God punisheth our deuises and thoughts of euill although they proceede no farther as if the thing had beene effected and the sinne perfected Genes 11. 4 8. The builders of Babell thought to builde a tower to reach to heauen but they coulde not preuaile and yet God punished their enterprise by confounding their language So that imagine with thy selfe howe often thou hast stollen by coueting howe often thou hast committed adulterie by lusting and how often thou hast deserued actuall punishment by mentall transgressing wee doe therefore all of vs most iustlie suffer the danger of all kinde of deathes because we liue in the danger of all kinde of sinne neither is there anie man liuing but at one time or other hee hath lusted after euerie sinne that he knewe for if we knewe not sinne we shoulde not sinne And indeede these builders and this building of Babel doth notablie describe and decypher vnto vs the nature of sinners and sinne for as Babell was built without God his consent so is sinne as the builders made the substance and frame thereof of themselues so do wee of sinne As they did it to continue their names that the floud shoulde no more ouerflowe them not trusting to the former promises of God so doe sinners forsake God his promise and for worldly causes fall into many follies Againe as they would build neuer cease building till they had brought it vp to heauen so is the measure of sin it woulde neuer cease till it ascended vp into the sight of God and filled all the space betweene heauen and earth And lastly as the building was not staied but by the confounding of their toongs so shall not sinne be staied but by confounding the soules of men The reasons of this doctrine are these First bicause they which consent to sinne and goe no farther are woorthie of death Rom 1. 32. So that it
is a greeuous thing to bee made priuie vnto any vnlawfull practises and not to reueale and open the same Secondly our corrupt estate is such that our temptations doe drawe vs from God Iam. 1. 14. The first vse Let vs follow the counsell of the prophet Isa 1. 16. That we take away the euill of our hearts Men thinke it lawfull for them to range in conceit vpon any follie or sinne or lust or treacherie whatsoeuer and to plaie with the diuell in imagination suffering his delusions to tickle their delights and delight their soules with an inwarde desire onelie But in truth this kinde of sport is a most vnlawfull game condemned by the Lordes owne statute when he biddeth vs to take away the euill of our harts Clense your handes yee sinners and purge your hearts you wauering minded the diuell first commeth into your hearts by doubting then by entreatie or begging then by delighting when once hee delighteth hee hath erected his throne in thy soule and if thou labour not to cast him out he wil become vnresistable Dallie not with him as Samson did with Delilah for it will betray thee trust him not as Sisera did Iael for it will destroy thee desire him not as Dauid did Bathsheba for it will repent thee chuse him not as Lot did Sodom for in the ende it will vexe thee Remember that God which seeth thy hart will punish the sinne of the hart for in truth thy heart is the principall in euerie offence and the bodie is but accessorie Thy heart prouoketh thee to sinne as the high priestes prouoked Pilate to crucifie Christ and thy bodie obeieth as Pilate did while in the meane time thy conscience giueth thee warning as Pilats wife did him and therefore haue nothing to do with sin which is poison with the knowledge of it for it will infect thee and purge thy soule from euill thoughts as Ezechiah purged Israell from idolatrie Fourthlie when hee saith that hee will render their recompence vpon their owne head Wee may note that the same measure which we offer vnto others shall be repayed to vs againe Isaie 33. As we smite with the sword so shall wee perish with the sword as we shed the blood of other so shal we haue our owne blood shed againe We know that as Ahab and Iezabell did cause Naboth to come to a violent death and the dogs to licke his blood so the dogs did licke vp their blood againe And this falleth out with the most godly in the world as we may see in Dauid who tooke away the life and wife of Vrijah he lost his owne sonnes and escaped himselfe verie narrowly and in the end you know how his sonne Absolom lay with his wiues before all Israell Therfore harken vnto this my deerely belooued that you neuer offer any other things to other but the same that you would haue offered to you againe Take what libertie thou wilt to offend other to waste their goods to shame their liues to open their sinnes to defile their wiues to oppresse their goods to harden thy heart against the poore and to heape vp iniuries in the highest measure for as Salomon saide He that stoppeth his eare at the crie of other shal cry himselfe and not be heard so shalt thou be offended and wasted and shamed and opened and defiled and oppressed and iniuried and reuenged as thou hast deserued We see the king escaped not this law and therefore thinke not thou whether thou be rich or wise or great or noble or worshipfull or poore or strong or weake or yoong or old or learned or ignoraunt but as thou hast reioyced in others harmes so shall other in thine as thou hast defiled others wiues so shall other thine as thou hast stollen other mens goods so shall they steale thine as thou hast reproched other mens liues so shall thine be as thou hast beene pitiful to others so thou shalt receiue pity for this law shall neuer be broken that whatsoeuer we do to other we shall receiue of other againe The reasons First because this is the whole doctrine of the law and the prophets Matth. 712 for surely there is not any thing that sauoureth more of beastly tyranny or lesse of godly pietie then to do that vnto other which we would not receiue of other therefore in the practise of religion betwixt man man let this serue instead of the golden rule whereby the weake shall be neuer offended or the poore bee euer oppressed or the rich be euer enuied or the godly be euer defamed This will take away all bribing from officers all tyrannie from princes al pride from gentlemē al couetousnes from landlords and all malice from enimies Truely truely there was neuer precept giuen better for the church for the common-wealth or for the world for the church for it teacheth to saue soules for who would loose his owne to the common-wealth for it preserueth life for who would kill himselfe and to the world for it keepeth humanitie for who would become a beast Let vs therefore learne to forget iniuries Leuit. 19. 18. for their remembrance prouoke vs to reuenge and all reuenge is damnable before God Oh whose soule is not set on fire to embrace this doctrine which I might follow with all the examples of the world For who can abide to haue his owne blood shed his owne body maymed his owne children murthered and his owne soule damned therefore do not so to other but write this law on the palme of thy hands that it may neuer be out of thy sight It will teach thee all religion it wil saue thee from the strife of toongs the shame of fooles the blame of good men the furie of diuels and the wrath of God for if thou canst beare the iniuries of thy brother and not reuenge them thou wilt also beare the afflictions which God sendeth and the sorrow which good men endure and not repine at it but as Ioseph hauing all his brethren that sold him yet did not hurt one of them so doe thou not hurt any of them that hate thee The xxxviij Sermon Vers 8. And I will sell your sonnes and your daughters into the hand of the children of Iudah and they shall sell them to the Sabeans to a people farre off for the Lord hath spokenat HAuing shewed them that he would doe vnto them as they had done vnto him and his people that is hee would take their sonnes and daughters and giue them into the hands of the children of Iudah whom they had spoiled and the children of Iudah should sell them away to the Sabeans who dwelt in the vtmost partes of Arabia being great merchants which should likewise sende them away into a very farre countrey that so their owne policie might returne to their owne dammage Wherby here commeth a question to be handled namely whether it be lawfull for Christians hauing conquered any nation their enimies to sell
and fro amongst ten thousand waues being full of passengers without either pilote or mariner is in extreme hazard of drowning bicause they haue none to sound the bottomes for to throw foorth their anchor to staie them in the stormes or when the calme commeth they haue not one among them to direct them to the shore euen so when the floudes of troubles shall threaten the ouerthrow of any particular church or nation they hauing no preachers or prophets among them who should perswade them to patience during their aduersitie and to cast out the anchor of their hope during their danger or hauing escaped those fierie and fearefull troubles yet who but the ministers of God shall instruct them in righteousnesse and direct them to heauen In the raigne of Iosiah although his daies were happie through peace and his subiects ioyfull through a good king and religious nobles yet this was the glory of his kingdome that there was one Huldah a Prophetesse the wife of Shallum that tolde him his owne prosperitie bicause his hart melted at the voice of God his worde and also that there is one Helkijah a priest 2. Kings 22. that gaue him the law of his God so are we happie through long enioyed peace being shadowed vnder the wings of a mercifull Prince and religious Magistrates yet this is the glorie of our nation that many Prophets and Preachers haue offered vnto vs the verie word of God the which if it were wanting all were worth nothing therefore if God build not who can reare If he send not who can prosper If he speake not who can prophesie and if he diminish the number of his seruants the preachers we may complaine in our miseries as the Iewes did There is not one Prophet more left and yet remaine comfortlesse The vses which we will briefly make here of are these First the same which our Sauiour Christ teacheth vs vpon this doctrine Mat. 9. 28. Pray saith he the Lord of the vineyard that he would thrust foorth labourers into his haruest There is no more Christian exercise or necessarie practise then with vnfeined soules to desire at the handes of him who ruleth all with his hand that in times of ignorance and neglect of heauenly worship when the corne is ripe and fit to be gathered into the Lords barne that he would haue pitie vpon his wandring sheepe and care of his planted corne euen the worke of his owne handes and not suffer them to be cast away for want of instruction Oh howe would it and doth it grieue a christian soule to consider that the image of God himselfe should be lost which shineth so beautifully in euerie one of mankind pray therefore my beloued in the Lord for hereby onely shall you performe a worke acceptable to God because you are humbled beneficiall to the church because you aske for her labourers comfortable to your selues because you tender your brethrens soules and ioyfull to the verie angels for the conuersion of sinners The ruler of the temple Mat. 9. 18. hauing but his daughter sicke and diseased yet came to our Sauiour and entreated him for her health which he performed and she recouered Let vs therefore in pitie of many thousand sons and daughters of the world come to the courts of the Lords house within the closets of our owne soules and desire with feeling and earnest prayers the Lord Iesus that he would shewe and shine forth his truth by his word in the mouthes of many more ministers of peace to conuert many moe sinners vnto righteousnes to turne the hearts of fathers to their children of mothers to their daughters of princes to their subiects and of the nations to their God There is not any one point that proueth more substantially to a mans soule that hee loueth Christ vnfaynedly then this the practise of it to pray for the increase of heauenly pastors Euen as in the world nothing is so commendable as the workes of mercie as to feede the famished to cloath the naked to deliuer the imprisoned and to acquite him that is wrongfully condemned so in the church of God there is no grace like to the gift of the ministerie the starued are fed by them with the bread of life the naked are cloathed by them with the garments of a Sauiour they which lye fast bound in the verie dungeons of hell and the prisons of darkenes are deliuered by them into the glorious libertie of the sonnes of God and euen they which were condemned to temporall miseries and eternall calamities are acquited discharged and released by their message Let vs all therefore say vnto the Lord Lord increase the number of painefull preachers And if we ought to pray for them how damnable is their estate that pray vpon them if it be the highest seruice of God to promote them then is it the highest seruice of the diuell to persecute them If they be blessed where the word is preached and beleeued then are they accursed where it is not heard nor receiued If Christ blamed his disciples that would haue had him to blame them that cast deuils out in his name then are they to bee blamed which will vpon euerie light and easie occasion labour to the vttermost to stop the mouthes of Gods seruants to discourage the people from hearing the olde men from instructing the yoong men from studying the children from learning the women from asking the seruants frō obeying the word of God Therefore if we haue any care of the Lords seruice any compassion of them that are tyrannously oppressed any conscience of the soules of men then pray for the peace and number of the preachers For as when the teeth are fallen out of the mouth the life is hardly nourished and quickly turnd Euen so when the ministers which are the teeth of the church to grinde the word vnto them are remooued then followeth the graue and sepulchre of the Lords family To Ioel the sonne of Pethuell heerein is no hardnes and euerie one may easily perceiue the meaning hereof for the prophet nameth himselfe and also declareth his parentage and it is very like that his father was a man of good estimation that the Prophet thus barely without any further addition prefixeth his name to this prophesie We obserue out of this description of the ministring cause of this prophsie this doctrine that God preferreth the seruice of men before the seruice of angels in the building of the church he rather choseth and appointeth that his heauenly immaculate word should be manifested by earthly and sinfull men then by celestiall holy angels Act. 1. 8. The Lord Iesus maketh this his ordinance that his disciples shall witnes the redemption in Ierusalem Iudea and Samaria and the vttermost parts of the earth Euen the same Lord which not long before told them that he had the angels at commaund now rather vseth the helpe and ministerie of men Men would thinke it a strange proceeding
that he which is cracked in credit and as it were one prooued periured shoulde come afterwardes in a triall of death and life whereas they which are neuer detected of the like enormities shall be excluded But God his thoughts are not like to mens thoughts nor his waies as mens waies the weakest things of God are stronger then the strongest of men and he choseth the despised castawaies to confound the mightie he looketh on a begger and regardeth not a prince the angels lie in the chaines of darknesse when men are aduanced to their places in heauen Euen this doctrine you may reade in the 1. Cor. 4. 9. where the Apostle teacheth that we are appointed vnto the ministerie as men are condemned to death that we might be made a gazing stocke to the worlde and to angels and to men shewing vnto vs that the very angels are beholders of the labours of the ministerie being present by the appointment of God at the assemblies of his saints that they might be witnesses of our labours vnto God as we are of Christes sufferings vnto the world The reasons of this doctrine may be easilie gathered out of the worde of God whereof this may be one that as our redemption was to be wrought onely in the nature of man not of angels no more was the preaching of the saide redemption to be declared by angels or any other creature saue onely man This reason the apostle seemeth to vse 2. Cor. 5. 18. when he saith All things are of God which hath reconciled vs vnto himselfe by Iesus Christ and hath giuen vnto vs the ministerie of reconciliation where he maketh our reconciliation made by the man Iesus Christ to be the ground or beginning or commission of the ministerie for without Christ and without reconciliation there is no ministerie And this serueth most highly to commend vnto vs the dignitie of the ministerie of the Gospell which is as it were the trumpet of peace and pardon vnto the godly to sounde vnto them those victories which they haue obteined against the kingdomes of darknes and vnto Christ to proclaime his royall maiestie ouer all the kingdomes of the worlde insomuch as those which labour against the preaching of the Gospell as all the Romish Religion-bond-slaues do they bid war vnto the king of glory and as our sauiour tolde Paul Act. 9. They kicke against the pricke and procure their owne paines Then it is manifest that Christ is no where more exalted then where hee is daily and continually preached so is hee no where more denied then where his word is silenced his ministers banished his members afflicted and all good exercises idly and carelesly frequented Then let vs that are the ministers and professors of the Gospell gather this comfort to our selues that we are the soules and persons which haue glorified his maiestie in this world by telling and teaching hearing and studying the praises of him who is blessed and praised for euermore Amen Secondly another reason of this doctrine why the Lorde hath committed the dispensation of his worde rather to men then to angels or anie other creature is this because none can be so neerely touched with the feeling of humane infirmities as men can be who knoweth a mans hart sauing a mā If they preach they speake by experience if they exhort they do it as if they were exhorted And this was one cause wherfore Christ became man that he might taste of our infirmities Heb. 4. 15. For my beloued when a man seeth his own flesh weeping wil he not weep also if he see his owne flesh afflicted wil not he be compassionate toward that if a man should see a father preaching to his sonne a brother to his brother a husband to his wife or one kinsman to another would not this mooue him more to see his deerest friend spending this labour vpon him then if a stranger whose face he neuer saw should perswade him Yes verily euen so the Lord to mooue vs more earnestly to the obedience of his son hath made choise of such dispensers of his mysteries as we know to be men like our selues feeling our paines desiring our pleasures wishing our welfare lamenting our losses and abhorring our sinnes to this intent that when we see them speake vnto vs in the name of God we shoulde thus presently reason with our selues This is a man like my self I am addicted naturally to fulfill my lustes to enlarge my profits to reuenge my malice to care for no pleasure but pastime to feare no displeasure but the worldes but these men although men haue denied their lustes and are become contemptible to the worlde they speake the worde of God boldly and feare no mans person they bring themselues to pouertie their names to ignominie their liues to shame and their friendes to hate them What shoulde be the cause of all this either they haue no wit or we haue no zeale they are not blessed or we are vngodly Reason thus with your selues then will it come to your mindes that surely for your sakes euen for the peoples sakes are the ministers made fooles that they might be wise the preachers poore that they might be rich and the prophets despised that the flocke might be honorable 1. Cor. 5. 10. Therefore my beloued when you see vs earnest in rebuking of sinne or exhorting to righteousnes that then we speak with feeling of those dangers that threaten destruction to all cōming vnto you as the Syrians came to the king of Israell with the halters about their neckes to mooue him to pittie them or rather we come vnto you as the prophet came to Ahab 1. King 20. 35. willingly offering our sides to be gored and our bodies to be wounded that our bloud may be your sorrow by the sight of our wounds you may come to the feeling of your sinnes by the paines we take in this worlde you may consider what are the plagues of the world to come Surely if we make but a calfe to cry in the field all the beasts come roaring running vnto it to succour it how much more ought men of better vnderstāding then beastes hearing their owne kinred and friends crying vnto them the vengeance of God with all speed to runne to the preachers to knowe the cause of their complaint and crie with the Iayler Men and brethren what shal I do to be saued Be not so rude as beastes be not woorse then bullockes The vses which naturally arise out of this doctrine are these first we ought not lesse to esteeme of the ministers of the worde being sinfull men then if they were more honorable creatures The Apostle Paul Gal. 4. 14. expresseth the sincere affectiō which the people ought to bear towards their pastors whē he witnesseth that they receiued him as an angell of God testifying vnto them their great fall which once thought euery worde of his mouth to be a deuine oracle and that his person was more then a
vnfulled which openeth it selfe to euery winde and storme Christ the Sauiour is our enimie and we persecute him and crucifie him the Saints of God we regarde not the promises of God we know not our hope is vanitie and our God is iniquitie Call to your remembrance the houres the daies the weekes the monethes and the yeeres of your life thinke euermore on that mercie and that power that in the ruffe of all this iniquitie forbeareth forewarneth and forgiueth you Thinke thus with your selues I was a helhounde I was a heathen the tyger is better then my parentage and the serpent then my education I was naked without grace and not able to buy it the Lord that solde it was my enimie and I durst not aske vpon credite Howe many enormities haue I runne into against my God which the Lord foreseeing hath forgiuen the curse of my nature he hath remooued the euill of my conuersation he hath remitted the emptines of my soule he hath replenished and the sentence of my condemnation hath he recalled Thus hath the Lorde dealt with my life when I was sinfull he was mercifull when I blasphemed he blessed when I made warre against him hee made peace with me hee tooke my blowes on both cheekes he gaue me his coate and his cloake and to conclude when I walked through the valley of the shadowe of death his rodde and his staffe was my comfort therefore now will I giue my life for his my body for his garment my bloud for his blowes my soule for his sake and my whole person wealth honour dignitie labour and leasure for his saluation Secondlie another vse we may make of recording time past and the seueral works of God with his particular iudgments is the same which the prophet Dauid maketh Psalm 8. which is this after the rehearsall of the glorious workes of God he compareth man with them and saith Lord what is man that thou art mindfull of him or the sonne of man that thou visitest him Euen so when we see and heare of the great workes of God vpon others lay them to your selues by particular application to your soules and reckon them vp in order for your furtherance Little Canaan tolde his father of his grandfathers drunkennes and nakednes and he was accursed and all his posteritie But I haue in my youth done many thousand greater sins yet the Lord doth stil blesse me was the Lord too rigorous against him or too partiall with me that he all his life long wore such a badge as also disgraceth all his progenie but he laieth not to my charge the follies of my youth Moses and Aaron bicause they once distrusted the hande of God they were neuer suffered to enter into Canaan but I not once onely but many hundred times haue distrusted his promise denied his worde and forsaken his truth why do I liue so long in the lande of promise when more righteous then my selfe coulde not set their foote therein Ananias and Saphira kept backe but a part of their owne to serue them in aduersitie and denying the same were sodainly slaine by the Lord but I haue kept backe not mine but the Lordes from the Lorde and haue lied not once to the holy Ghost but many times and yet I liue my credite not impeached my profession is not blamed my life is not shortened and my daies are not ended Oh beholde the seueritie of God towards these that fell but the mercy of God towardes me that standeth And thus may we say of nations and whole people why was Egypt destroyed and Israell saued why were the Canaanites cast out and the Israelites planted in why was Edom made tributarie to Iacob Babylon to Persia Persia to Graecia Ireland to England Surely surely we might haue beene the slaues and they the Lordes we the bondmen and they the freemen Euil wars might haue beene in our daies as it was in our fathers and that which was greatest poperie or heresie or hethenisme might haue beene professed in these our times as it was long agoe Thinke therefore my beloued how many bonds of obedience the Lorde hath bounde vs in and consider what had beene our hap if we had beene those children that were ripped out of their mothers bellies if we had beene those yoong men that perished in battell if we had beene those women that eate their babes to saue their liues and finally how much more are we bound vnto God that we were not Infidels Pagans Papists haeretikes Atheistes or any other kinde of cursed men Let vs also say with the prophet Psal 147. vlt. With euery nation hath he not dealt thus Let therefore euermore the worde of God bee in our mouthes the praises of God be in our hearts the Gospell in our liues and by howe much more we haue tasted of the Lords goodnes aboue other so much more let him taste of our thankefulnes aboue other The fourth Sermon And tell you your children of it and let your children shewe to their children and their children to another generation NOw the prophet hauing bidde them to enquire of their forefathers also willeth them to tell this wonder to them that shall come after namely to their children with this commandement also that they in time to come being made parents shoulde likewise declare this vnto their posteritie Where first of all the prophet giueth vs this doctrine that it is the dutie of fathers that if anie notable and woorthie worke of God happen in their daies to shew the same vnto their children for the wordes are tell your children c. Euen this doth the Lorde warne the Israelites Exod. 13. 14. to shew the wonders in Egypt vnto their posteritie and peculiarly at the eating of the passeouer For in truth this care and conscience of godlie parents is the verie conduit pipe or kings highway whereby all religion all feare of God and the vniforme profession of the truth is preserued By this meanes came Moses to be a fit and able writer of the Scriptures although hee handle matters done two thousand yeeres before he sawe the worlde he had no recordes nor writings to helpe him but that truth which descended as it were by propagation from father to sonne vnto his daies which began to be corrupt the holy Ghost approoued and Moses recorded Therefore the learned haue obserued that in seauen generations it came to Moses Adam say they taught the Historie of the creation and fall of man with other thinges to Methusaleth Methusaleth told them to Sem Sem shewed them to Iacob Iacob to Kohath Kohath to Amram and Amram to Moses And in this sort was this noble story of Genesis with visions places and persons deliuered from hande to hande from father to sonne and from one generation to another that the wordes and workes of God might be euerlastingly remembred This sheweth how by the carefulnes of parents the pure knowledge of God was maintained and the true worship of
God continued Then euery father of a familie was a magistrate to punish a prophet to instruct a prince to gouerne his owne houshould Then was there no writing but much religion few bookes but many faithfull harts all studied in vnitie to preserue vnfained veritie But in Moses time the church grewe to a nation and therefore although as Ierome saith it were Maior numero yet it was Minor virtute the number of professors grew to be greater yet the zeale and power of godlinesse grewe to be lesser And therefore nowe was it to be put in writing or else all had beene cleane forgotten for the harts of men began to be deceitfull and the words of God coulde not safely lodge in the brests of all and therefore coulde not easilie and effectually bee conueied from one to another The Lorde first of all wrote his lawe then grewe the church to another gouernment more generall then before wherein the priestes did publikely care for the seruice of God and soules of the people and euery father and master priuately for himselfe and his familie and euermore this is to bee remembred that the children praied to the God of their Fathers meaning the same God whome their Fathers taught them to serue And this beloued putteth vs in minde what manner of men fathers and masters ought to bee euen such as are able to commend the true worshippe of God vnto others for sithence the worship of God became publique and generall the priuate neglect of this dutie in the gouernours of families hath wrought the poyson of all mankind and the vndoing of all religion For now the common sort thinke that they must not pray but in a church that they are not bound to teach others but the whole charge dependeth on the minister that the preachers and not the people must learne the word and finally it maketh no matter for their faith and manners if their pastours and teachers haue the knowledge of the Gospell Oh lamentable men Oh lamentable maners which onely is to be imputed vnto this neglect of parents duety By this onely gentilisme and heathenisme grow for if Noahs sonnes had taught that to their children which they learned of their father the world had not beene wearied with many diuelish Idolatries if Dauids children had serued that God which Dauid taught them their throne had continued as long as heauen and earth endured neither had so many women beene husbandlesse so many children beene motherles so many old men beene helples and so many of all sorts and degrees beene vtterly destitute of all worldly ease and heauenly blisse the decay of their faith wrought the destruction of their blood If Christians had taught that religion to their children which they receiued without all corruption from Christ and his Apostles so many countries had not been conquered so many cities had not beene laide euen with the earth so many famous churches had not beene buried in obliuion popery had not so much preuailed Mahomet had not so long prospered wicked ceremonies had not raigned in the place of holy truth and where now is the synagogue of Sathan there had beene the Temple of our Sauiour And I feare me beloued least this parents faulte bring foorth once againe the childrens folly and then oh then will the diuels banner aduance it selfe against Christs standard and so that when the Lord shall come he shall finde no faith on the earth Looke to this you fathers of our bodies and let not the blood of our soules cry vengeance against the parents of our liues teach vs what you haue learned charge vs on your blessing and God his blessing as we will answere before the Iudge of men and angels to saue the soules of our children by the precepts of your doctrine The reasons of this doctrine may be these first bicause as Dauid witnesseth that the workes of God are great and ought to be sought out of all that loue them So that this is an argument of vnfeined affection and true loue to the workes of God when with diligence we obserue them and with conscience we declare them and also it is an assurance of sincere pietie and reuerence towards God when as the same prophet speaketh all the day long we meditate on his iudgements and speake his praises This loue of men to the workes of God is then prooued and approoued when they teach them to those whose liues are in their hands and also it is the playnest token of true loue to your children when you keepe no part of the counsell of God from them which you know your selues For the Lords doings are of that maiestie and authoritie that by them tender hearts are nourished wauering harts confirmed and stubburne mindes are perswaded Your kindest friends will be more kinde vnto you when you shew them the kindnes of the Lord and your deadly foes will be more afraide of you when they shall see and heare the workes of God in your mouth and the word of God in your hands Therefore my beloued in the Lord Iesus seeing we haue no more plainer way to know the Lord then by his workes then haue we also no surer token that we loue the Lord then when we loue his doings Let vs seeke them in the cradles of our childhoode and the beds of our old age making as much of the Lords iudgements as we doe of our children whom we desire to leaue behind vs to the ende of the world euen so let vs leaue the Lords works in remembrance for euermore Secondly another reason of this doctrine is declared by Salomon Eccles 3. 14. That what God doth it standeth for euer that men might feare before him The workes of God are affected not as the ground is ploughed which serueth one for one season but as the earth was established which standeth for euer The Lord in euery age accomplisheth many wonderful things and different the one from the other that men might feare him for his iudgements and honor him for his power And therefore being not willing at all times to make triall and shewe of his omnipotencie hee willeth vs to remember the things that are done vnlesse we would haue him once againe open the fountaines of waters that the whole world might be destroyed or once againe raine fire and brimstone from heauen to confound vs as he did the Sodomites or once againe bring a vniuersall darknes ouer our land as he did ouer the land of Iudea or else once againe suffer our fathers to be burned our goods to be rauened our wiues to be shamed and our selues to be murthered for his sake as some haue bin before vs. Therefore by how much more easie it is for our hearts to consider those things then for our eies to behold them so much more carefull let vs be to instruct others by word of mouth least we our selues our posterity feele in ful measure that heauy hand of his wrath then Oh then
more desperate in their sinnes then the godly be resolute in their holinesse Let vs neuer be ashamed of the power of God although in aduauncing there of we detract somewhat from the noble enterprises of men Let vs giue vnto the instruments that which is theirs and vnto God that which is his let vs not glory in our shame but be ashamed of our sinnes and with the three children at Babylon against princes and potentates euen with the hazarde of our liues witnesse the power of God that they may be ashamed of their doings Another doctrine which we may obserue out of these words wherein the fathers are so seuerally commanded to shew their children the works of God is this That we must euermore bee carefull what we commit to posteritie if the credit of men must bee regarded what they vtter one to another one of another while they are liuing togither whē as the truth may be proued and the lie may be conuinced much more must they be carefull what they deliuer to posteritie as it were in their last testament lying on their death-bed that so the liues which they haue lead may be commended for their fidelitie or the soules which they haue expired must bee condemned for their iniquitie Of this matter there is a famous historie in Ios 22. 10 11 12. verses and so foorth to the ende of the chapter when as Israell was planted in Canaan hauing long before by Moses receiued a commaundement that they should make no altars nor assemblies of worship in all their land but where the Lord gaue them commandement so to doe The Rubenites the Gadites and the halfe tribe of Manasseh being seated on this side Iordan in the land of Sihon and Og contrarie to this commaundement as it seemed builded an altar Ioshua being yet aliue This good man with all the Ancients of Israell fearing this mischiefe doubting if they put vp this contempt al religion would soon be forgotten in short time in another age the sacred deitie would be idolatrously denied first they determined a warre against them but after better cōsultation they sent Phinehas ten princes of Israel in ambassage vnto thē to know the cause why they built that altar they answered that they built this altar for a patterne of that other which was in Shiloh least in time to come all that generation being dead their children should be denied to be of the Lords flocke and therefore to haue no portion nor part in Israell and therefore was this altar not built for sacrifice nor for burnt offerings but should be a witnesse to their posteritie that although they were possessed of the lande beyonde Iordan yet they were of Israels seede God his inheritance Which answere satisfied the messengers being declared to their brethrē pacified Israell Heere may you see on both sides an honorable care for the children vnborne Israel would not permit another sacrificing altar least posteritie shoulde be drawne from God and Ruben woulde yet make an altar least their children shoulde be reiected out of the Lordes couenant Israell aduentured his labour to saue his progenie and Ruben offered his life to saue his posteritie Would God our Israel were as iealous of their children and that our brethren were as carefull of their profession then should not so manie presidents of euill like Ieroboams sinnes and Balaams counsell be suffered to stande and offered to other ages Then shoulde not houses of sinne be erected as Theaters of play-houses which gaine more persons to the diuel then the churches can soules to the Lorde Then shoulde it not be saide That the fathers haue eaten sowre grapes and the childrens teeth are set on edge Then should the arguments of Papists and other idolators be easilie answered when they obiect as Laban did that they worship their fathers Gods and followe the follies of their predecessours The longer a sicknesse groweth it waxeth more incurable and the longer our wickednes standeth and the farther we suffer our vices to stretch they waxe the more vnrecouerable insomuch as in other ages they will sweare by idols violate Sabbaoths rent in sunder religion make no conscience of haeresie and embrace atheisme by law and arguments because we haue sported our liues in this manner of vanities But remember as Balaams curse was renewed vpon him fourteene hundred yeeres after he was dead bicause other followed his sin so shall our bodies soules be condemned to more intollerable torments bicause the loosenes of our liues will breed the losse of them that come heereafter And this doctrine hath good reason to establish the same out of the worde of God first bicause there is not any monument so lasciuious or opinion so wicked or worke so abhominable but some if not many will embrace the same the which thing the Apostle Peter in his second Epistle second chapter first and second verses declareth vnto vs. Wherby we may obserue the dangerous condition of men which wil submit themselues vnto euery kind of diuelish slauerie rather then to godlines we reade in the Scriptures that so soone as Core and his companie inurmured that three hundred families followed his ill example We read of an Egyptian in the Actes of the Apostles and one Theudas who by their rebellion drewe great multitudes to finall perdition We haue learned by ecclesiasticall stories that the impietie of Simon Magus who woulde be worshipped as God had ten thousandes of fauorites that the apostasie of Iulian drew infinite companies to hel and for poperie which is a corruption of all religion what nation in this west ende of the worlde receiued not the same euen as once all the easterne countries were generally infected with Arrianisme and after they were reclaimed from that they embraced the errors of Nestorius and Eutyches But Peter saith the damnation of such persons sleepeth not but was prepared long ago as we may see by those lamentable examples of the easterne churches which for the most part are either subiect to the barbarous Turke or else the slaues of some heathen prince or other where remaine not so much as the stones of their temples much lesse the remembrance of any religion and the Lord grant that the like iudgement fall not vpon the west Another reason of this doctrine may be this that if there haue beene any fault in the fathers it may be amended in the children and this the worde of God maketh Psalm 78. 8. 9. it is most dangerous to corrupt the posteritie for it is like to the poison put into meate before men shall eate thereof we must alwaies studie to leaue the worship of God purer to them which succeede vs then we founde it And therefore we must greatly regarde if we haue at anie time gone awry from the marke that we charge our children to beware thereof for as their sinnes are accounted our sinnes bicause we reclaimed them not so their righteousnes shall be accounted ours if
we aduertise them thereof If this be the commendation of all humane artes and worldly trades that each one leaueth more skill and greater perfection behinde him then at the beginning hee founde why shoulde it not then so fall out in heauenlie workes that euery father for his sonne euery pastour for his people euery captaine for his countrey and euerie doctor for religion shoulde leaue more then was before Surely how great an abhomination is it to see all worldly things growe better and better but all spirituall things to waxe woorse and woorse that we shoulde be better Philosophers since Plato better Phisitions since Galen better husbandmen since Virgill and better Poets since Homer but religion and sanctification being wrote by God himselfe and all the Prophets and Disciples of Christ yet is it in woorse estate then it was in the beginning It should be as golde which is more fined by comming through manie furnaces but it is like not of it selfe to the riuer Nylus which the farther it floweth the more dirt and draffe it draweth with it so euerie man patcheth and peeceth the worship of God that fathers leaue it woorser then they founde it The vses which arise from this doctrine as they are founde in the worde of God are these first seeing wee must be so carefull what we commende to our posteritie first that we leaue not any practise or president behinde vs which we haue not learned of the Lord Deut. 24. 8 9. If in the leprosie men ought to be so carefull where they were assured of apparant danger that not in any thing they must forget the Lords ordinance or adde any more to his commandement vpon paine of so heauie displeasure of his highnes then must all the world be carefull also to frame their actions according to the worde which dooing they shall not deceiue nor be deceiued And first of all we must beware of false and foolish prophesies which being but the dreames of many brainsicke persons haue bewitched the hearts of men that heard them and seduced the liues of some that receiued them and we may reade both in the booke of God and out of the Scripture that princes and countries haue been destroyed thereby Many of the learneder sort are much affected with the prophesies of the Sibilles Methodius and others many of the popish sort are continually contemplatours of the oracles of Briget and other papistical and monastical dreames but aboue all the simple and vulgar people imagine that there is no Scripture like to Merlins prophesie If I shoulde stande in the specialties to shew you when where and wherein the vnstable new fangled minds haue bin deceiued I should rather feed the curious then fill the righteous This shall be sufficient to admonish vs that wee neither presume to make our names famous by this meanes by giuing errours nor yet be so base minded as to embrace and receiue the same for truth whosoeuer hee be that vttereth it because Peter telleth vs 2. Pet. 2. 1. That there shal be false prophets in the church whō we must beware least we fall with them into the same perdition Others there are also which regard neither prophesie nor religion or any other spirituall exercise either feigned or vnfeigned but giue their whole liues and trauaile to an vnsatiable desire of gaine to gather landes and lordships by right or wrong and to leaue great store of wealth to their posteritie let these men bee also warned if they woulde bee warned that they commit not the gaine of vngodlinesse the wages of vnrighteousnesse and the Lordes portion for their inheritance For surely as our Sauiour speaketh Matth. 15. 13. Euery plant not planted by his father shall be pulled vp againe Their houses shall bee ruinous their posteritie infamous their possessions troublesome and strangers shall inherite their labours But in our daies also there is another wicked and wretched president for posteritie to be lamented that so many in this golden age of Christes Gospell are tickled with vaine conceites accounting their glorie if they can prooue the founders of new sectes whereby religion is defamed or penne some idle toyes for histrionicall plaiers whereby many good soules are endangered There are few or no Italian follies Spanish inuentions or French-faynedwanton-volumes but in our daies for the times succeeding they are taught to speake English I thinke for this purpose that now whiles religion ruleth it might bee troubled by them and when christianitie is remooued by their meanes iniquitie may be enthronized I haue read many of them and considered of them too long I must freely confesse that they be the voices forerunning and preparing a way for Atheisme idolatrie heathenisme or any kind of impietie And therfore all good Christians should do with them as the Ephesians did Actes 19. 19. with their bookes for I protest vnto you either you must forsake God or them Secondly wee must make one vse more of this doctrine which is this Seeing we must be carefull for posteritie that we suffer nothing to passe from vs or by vs to them that sauoureth of iniquitie let vs also liuing in these times like to the daies of Christ follow the example of Christ which is to pray for them which shall come after Luc. 22. 31 32. where he telleth his disciples that he hath prayed for them that although sathan should haue them in his fanne to winnow them as a man cleaneth wheate yet should not they faile so likewise Iohn 17. Christ praieth for all them which should beleeue in his name to the worldes ende Now my beloued brethren if you consider the causes why Christ did not onely procure the welfare of his children while he was liuing but also praied for their sinceritie when hee should be dead you shall also finde that we haue all as great cause to pray for our children as then our Sauiour had for his disciples One was because as we heard that they lay open to the malice of the diuell who would trie his vttermost either to make them denie him or to die for him So my deere brethren the malice of sathan is as hote against vs as euer it was against them if he could he would turne our countrie into seas our people into diuels our meate into serpents our drinke into poyson our profession into Atheisme our pleasure into hell And will he thinke you be more fauourable to our posteritie No no assure your selues if he may or might worke his will he would make them as poore as beggers as miserable as Iob in aduersitie and as desperate as Iudas to make their owne handes to bee their owne murtherers hee woulde feede the dogs with their blood the birds with their flesh the rauens with their bowels the infidels with their landes the Atheists with their houses and damnation with their soules pray therefore with teares and zeale that the grones of your hart may preserue the fruites of your bodies Another cause why
Christ praied for the disciples and the posteritie of the Church to the worldes ende was this Ioh. 17. 21. that there might bee a vnitie betwixt God and Christ and his members and considering this vnitie the vnbeleeuing worlde might be reclaimed Would not this vnitie doe well also betwixt vs and our posteritie that there might bee like father like sonne like mother like daughter Christians by regeneration and Christians by generation that our religion might abide with our names and our inheritance and that wee might bee ioyned in the affinitie of soules as we are in consanguinitie of bodies But oh wretched men or wicked sathan the oke feedeth okes the vine vines the oliue oliues the beastes engender their kindes and the fishes multiplie their like onely righteous men breede vnrighteous impes and their fruite is not pleasant till they bee graffed Why should not good men haue good sonnes as good seedes bring good corne the question is easily answered though with sorrow considered Religion goeth not by propagation but by adoption they beget such children as themselues were begotten that is the sonnes of wrath for whome we must pray without ceasing weepe without comfort and watch without wearinesse that they may be made the sonnes of righteousnesse The fifth Sermon Vers 4. That which is left of the palmer worme hath the grashopper eaten and the residue of the grashopper hath the canker worme eaten and the residue of the canker worme hath the caterpiller eaten NOw we haue by the mercifull assistance of diuine grace finished the preface of this prophesie let vs also with the same power enter vpon the prophesie it selfe We shewed you at the beginning that from this fourth verse vnto the twelfth of the second chapter is vttered by the prophet those iudgements which are threatened by the Lord. In declaring whereof he obserueth this order First in this fourth verse he sheweth the instrumentall cause or beginners of their miserie vnder God and afterward by exhortations and sundry amplifications he describeth before their eies the force of these hurtfull creatures bred and brought foorth onely for the destruction of these Iewish people The instrumentall causes are named to be these fower the Palmer-worme the Grashopper the Canker-worme and the Caterpiller small creatures comming with great force to inuade this countrey And this is that which made the Prophet so cry and call to the people for audience and attention that so woonderfull a matter should be effected not onely as Esay saith that a woman should compasse a man but that a flocke of little wormes should ouerthrow a whole nation and these beasts should come successiuely the one after the other that whosoeuer escaped the first should be taken by the last and that which was not touched by the former might be consumed by the latter And it may seeme that the foundation of their ouerthrow was wrought by a famine for we must not imagine that at the first these beasts set vpon men but began with their fruits with their corne their vines their trees and their store to cast downe those castles of confidence which they had raised vp in the abundance of their belly-cheere In like manner if it were lawfull for me to compare vs with them and to weigh the euent of our times by that which we feare and not by that which we feele might not all godly minds iustly doubt that whereas there is and hath beene so great an harmony in the transgressions of both people and such a consent in both our calamities that they are both begun with famine the continuance and the end should also resemble theirs I prophesie not what shal be but what may be I cannot say certainely that as their land was wasted their stores consumed their corne accursed and their richest men impouerished so shall ours be or that as they had their sacrifices stayed their temple emptied their law remooued their chiefe glorie the outward worship of God vtterly forsaken so shal ours be or that as they were at one instant time lamenting their losses weeping for their miseries and shedding abundance of teares to see their owne bodies famished their owne children perished and the grauest persons among them to be pitifully tormented hauing their houses filled with cries of people their streetes swarming with dead corpses and their fields and woods ringing with roaring and bellowing of beasts so shal ours be no not so but so may ours be the Lord graunt that this as we feele be not the beginning of sorrowes for verily I perswade my selfe that our countrey which hath receiued great heapes of benefits as the Iewes had and hath rewarded with great heapes of sinnes as the Iewes did shall also if not shortly be finally ouerthrowen with great plentie of iudgements as the Iewes were But now let vs returne to the words and herein looke for some doctrines which may edifie vs and admonish vs for of the other matter we shall haue fitter occasion to speake hereafter Then here we haue the prophet after his crie making his proclamation in the name of the highest king of heauen and earth telling them and vs that there shoulde come an infinite number of palmer-wormes to deuoure their fruits and that which they touched not should the Grashopper deuoure and that which the grashopper left should the canker-worme poison and that which the canker-worme poysoned not should the Caterpiller consume that by a quaternion of successiue spoilers they might be made to feele that which they were not willing to heare But some will say this was a small matter for the prophet to preach on thinketh he that we haue no other busines then to heare a tale of Grashoppers and Canker-wormes which leape in euery medow and hang on euery leafe or doth he imagine that we are such weake hearted souldiers and faint hearted persons that we should be terrified with a muster of fraybugs and little wormes of an inch long indeed these are matters to fray children and not olde men and therefore he must either tell vs of weightier matters or else silence his toong from such trifles And yet if any think thus in these daies as they were neuer more readie to take exception against the preachers I might answere them that they are not trifles which the Lord hath treasured in his word neither are they recorded onely to feare children but also to terrifie yea and condemne old men We must not weigh them in the ballance of naturall reason but lay them to a sound spirituall iudgement and we shall finde them more heauy then moūtaines which we deemed lighter then feathers The waies of God are not like the waies of men First of all we must know and remember vnto you that these fower kinde of beasts had euery one his yeere to worke the hurt that the Lord had assigned him to doe wherin they multiplied exceedingly and preuailed mightily in so much as no industrie of man could counteruaile their forces By this we obserue
that there is a speciall iudgement of God when hurtfull creatures are increased If either the flies or the wormes or any small beasts arise aboue their vsual number thē know for a certain that these little beasts are infallible tokens of the Lords wrath Psal 105. 34. The Psalmist describing vnto vs the woonderfull workers of God which he wrought for his church saith He spake there came Grashoppers and Caterpillers innumerable so likewise the Prophets Ieremy and Ezechiell among the grand and inuincible plagues of God reckon this for one the growing or multiplying of noysome beastes For the Lord which is infinitely wise is able infinite waies to manifest that deuine power of his maiestie whereby once hee created all things of nothing and euery day sheweth vs our sins by changing his good creatures into hurtfull destroyers making the earth to pine vs the heauens to burne vs the aire to benum vs and the silly beasts to annoy vs. The reasons of this doctrine are these First because the Lord by these meanes doth not onely admonish vs all of our transgressions but especially punisheth vs for our singular rebellion Exod. 10. 4. 5. Among all these plagues which were wrought in Aegypt to punish hard harted Pharaoh and the blinde minded Egyptians the Lorde in great number sendeth grashoppers that prince and people might bee brought to destruction And surely if the Lorde haue so many meanes to reuenge the cause of his Saints that hee maketh bruite beastes the executioners of his wrath then let vs learne neuer to molest any in whome any graces of God appeere for then shall wee bring an heauie house of wrath vpon our heads Another reason of this doctrine is because that hee sometimes sendeth and multiplieth plentifullie his good wholesome creatures to the destruction of them that receiue them and if the good creatures of God be sent that he may more freely take vengeance by them vpon our iniquities much more when the noisome hurtfull beastes are increased doth he powre out his wrath and execute his anger We may reade Numb 11. 31 33. that the Lorde brought abundance of quailes vpon the tents of Israell but withall he sent leannes into their soule and his wrath came vpon them while the meate was in their mouthes that the lustes of their mindes cost them the bloud of their bodies and although they seemed to haue a great blessing yet it turned to a heauie curse In like maner they are not alwaies the happiest persons which haue all things at their wish nor yet is it alwaies a good thing to be aduanced to the highest roomes as Haman was to eate of the daintiest meate as the rich man did to be clothed with the softest raiment as the courtiers are to haue the poore bowing to our persons the worlde woondring at our wealth and the voices of all men to commende our workes For notwithstanding all these the soule may be poore naked comfortlesse and despised in the eies of the Lorde and what shall it profite vs to winne the whole worlde and loose our owne soules Let not pouertie dismaie vs for that was on Christ let not riches aduance vs for they were on Herod let not aduersitie trouble vs for good men professe it and let not prosperitie reioice vs for euill men enioy it Now let vs make some vses of this doctrine which may either strengthen our faith or amende our liues Therefore first of all the Lord shewing how manie iudgements he had powred vpon the Israelites Amos 4. 9. telleth them the vse of all which was that they should be cōuerted vnto his maiesty so that as Dauid saith He maketh his angels his ministers in like maner Amos might say He maketh the beastes of the earth to preach repentance vnto men For it is most requisite that when men become beastes in their liues drowning al reason within them then should beastes like themselues in reason though not in bodie come vnto them to reprooue their follie whose blowes should breake their harts that woulde not turne them at the preaching of men Now then the whole course of nature and naturall things do remember vs and helpe vs to worship the Lorde for if they bee subiect to vs and serue to our vses they tell vs that we must be subiect to God serue in his vineyard if they rebel against vs annoy vs with their presence they preach repentance to our liues conuersion to our soules whither then shall we go from the presence of the Lorde If we burie our sins in the earth as the wicked seruant did his talent yet we must bring them foorth againe to receiue our condemnation if we keepe them in secret yet the birdes of the aire shall reueale them if we neglect them and not regard them the lyons of the woode shall requite them if we dissemble them the Lord himselfe in flaming fire shall disclose them and if we continue in them the little woormes the seelie grashoppers and the simple creeping creatures shall reuenge them But wee in our daies haue not much tasted of this fourth plague which is the multiplying hurtfull beastes I meane our lande hath not been giuen to the locusts and our labours haue not beene spoiled by the caterpillers yet we are more troubled with more hurtfull beasts I say in the similitude of men such beasts as wander not in the fields but lodge in our houses being more vnreasonable then the palmer-wormes and more vnresistable then all the heards of canker-wormes The godly may cry out with Dauid the fat buls of Bashan did roare vpon me and with the Apostle that they fight with beastes in the likenes of men and yet Dauid neither feared the buls nor the Apostle fought with beastes indeed But such beasts as haue al reason against reason and no reason to any religion are swarming almost in euery corner of England we may as easily perswade the oxe to eat no grasse the birds to eate no corne the lyons to seeke no pray the lambe to refuse the pap of his dame as reclaime this kinde of beasts from their euill kind of sins Deafe adders they are they wil not heare wittie and politike foxes they will not be taken vipers without feeling the sorrowes of others wanton kine euer kicking against the poore stately lyons rauening whatsoeuer liketh them greedy beares byting al that com nigh them sleepy dogs profiting no body and what shall I say more They depriued themselues of all kind of humanitie therefore let these great beasts mooue vs seeing we haue no feare of little beasts These sleepe in our bosomes eate at our tables gather vp our profits and consume God his benefits Let these I say make vs innocent watchfull warie diligent obedient meeke gratious and zealous in religion that either our liues may conuert them or their beastlinesse amende vs. Another vse of this doctrine is this that as God can vse and also doth these his
their body were changed into wormes as Herods was should not this neither Oh yes but seldome times will you say are these things wrought I graunt it so indeede but much seldomer are men amēded by hearing of them in other or feeling them in themselues Tarry not to conuert I beseech you till these wonders be wrought againe tempt not the Lord of heauen and earth with deferring the day of repentance For bee you assured that contemning the riches of his grace and abusing the patience of his long suffering while his word and Gospell is preached and not beleeued he will verifie that prophesie vpon you that was long agoe pronounced Reuel 19. 17. vpon the enimies of Christes Gospell Come ye foules of the heauen to the great supper of the great God that yee may eate the flesh of kings and captaines and mighty men of horses and riders offree and bond of small and great Oh then will it be too late to cast away pleasures to curse your delaies to imbrace the Gospell and to crie peace when the sword of God is dipped in blood Another vse hereof may be this that seeing the greatest and strongest creatures were by nature and creation subiect to man now not onely they but also all other both great and small through our transgressions are become either our enimies or else our conquerors This must teach vs how odious and abhominable a thing is sinne and wickednesse in the presence of the eternall God and his vnreasonable creatures it was forbidden by God it was condemned by angels it is reuenged by beastes and punished by diuels it droue Adam from paradise it kept Moses from Canaan it destroyed the inhabitants of Ierusalem and hath excluded infinite thousandes from the kingdome of heauen It was committed by the blood of soules it was redeemed by the life of Christ it was reprooued by the death of martyrs and yet it is maintained by the practise of multitudes Oh whose hart is not diuided to see such a monster more made of than all good things which was hatched by the diuell and fed by the life of soules and yet raigneth that it may winne millions of soules to condemnation Shall reasonable men rescue it when vnreasonable beastes fight against it euery creature in his kinde cries vengeance against it It made the angels damnable it made the world abhominable it maketh the beastes corruptible and it maketh men miserable Miserable I say by birth for they are borne in it miserable by life for they are vexed with it and most miserable by death for they are cursed with it We haue already heard that the sinnes of Egypt were punished and reuenged by lice and the sinnes of Herod were requited by wormes and vnto these adde the sinne of the prophet that reprooued Ieroboam 1. Reg. 13. 24. which was rewarded by a lion Thus doth the earth crie woe vnto it for it cursed her thus doth the heauens hate it for it destroyeth her children thus doth the starres fight against it because it dazeleth their light and thus doe wilde beastes warre against it because it encreaseth their grones Oh then let not vs men bring vp that mōster hatch vp the coccatrices egs which so soone as it is deliuered and conceiued it giueth our liues mortall woundes If wicked Herod in slaying the children of Bethleem thinking thereby to slay Christ did not refraine his crueltie from his owne houshold but also put his owne sonnes to death least they should afterward trouble him for his kingdome how much more ought we not to imitate his crueltie but his policie to bridle our natures to chaine our affections to subdue our lustes to conquer our desires and to forsake our pleasures that we might bathe the sword of God his lawe in the blood of our owne sinnes seeing if it liue we must die and if it die we shall liue It commeth vnto vs with the Sirens song it embraceth vs friendly as Ioab did Abner but while it saluteth vs with one hand it stabbeth vs with the other It promiseth vs faire as Iael did to Sisera and it giueth vs milke in steede of water it serueth vs in plate it clotheth vs in purple it lodgeth vs in ease but in the end it slaieth our soules as she did Sisera it maketh much of vs as the high priests did of Iudas it maketh vs gentlemen of rascals it maketh vs rich men of beggers it maketh vs companions of princes it deliuereth vs when others are endangered but in the ende it tieth the halter to our necks and maketh speede for our execution it serueth vs as the harlot did the yoong man Prouerb 7. it kisseth vs it flattereth vs it pleaseth vs and it promiseth vs all sugred ioyes but yet it draweth vs as the oxe is drawen to the slaughter it biddeth vs take our ease followe pastimes auoide preaching loue not the prophets come not at the churches and forget all manner of godlinesse but in the ende it serueth vs as a noble man doth his olde spannell commending some to the gallowes some to the prisons some to noysome sicknesse some to pouertie some to slauerie some to madnesse some to vntimely death and some to vnmercifull hell Therefore heare and follow Salomons counsell Prou. 7. 24. Heare O my children let not your hearts decline to her waies and walke not in her pathes for she causeth many to fall downe wounded and strong men are slaine by her her house is the way vnto the graue which goeth downe to the chambers of death The sixth Sermon Vers 5. Awake O yee drunkards and weepe and howle O yee drinkers of wine because of the new wine for it shall be pulled from your mouth NOw we are to handle the exhortations of the prophet made and grounded on the premised calamitie The which exhortations for our more orderly and formall proceeding I will thus diuide some of them concerne the miserable ouerthrowe of their countrey by famine whereunto they are prepared by the prophets sermons and these are in this first chapter and to the twelfth verse of the second chapter the other generally stirre them vp vnto repentance from the twelfth to the eighteenth The first of these whereby the inhabitants of the land are admonished prepared for the iudgement is either for the people as in ver 5. 8. 11. or for the cleargie or ministerie as in the 13. of the first chapter the first of the second chapter That part which is directed to the people is by speciall names notes of persons described which are of two sorts either for their manners as drunkards ver 5. or for their occupation or trade of life as husbandmen ver 11. And also these exhortations haue their seueral reasons to mooue the people withall as in this we haue in hand he moueth the drunkards either to awake or to lament ver 5. 8. Vpon these causes the first concerne themselues vnto the nienth and from the nienth to the
miserable aduersitie Another reason of this doctrine is that which Dauid giueth Psal 17. 14. They haue no portion but in this life they can haue no comfort of the graces of the Lords children so that when they are perplexed and weaned from these things they are more vexed then other men This is the iust iudgement of God that where men haue most of al set their hart there aboue others they should receiue their hurt Now my deere brethren take vp a taste of this foode which I haue prepared for your soules and lust not after the wilde Doe when the tame kid may serue your turne Vse I beseech you these plaine and easie doctrines to shew vs the miserie of our times wherein we liue and of their liues among whome we liue We are altogether set on eating and drinking as if our soules delighted in wine or should be saued by meate wee regarde not the want which the poore endure wee thinke not on the hand which is ready to strike vs and we feare not the calamitie which doth alreadie compasse vs. Make not your belly your God and take not your portion in this life onely knowe you that a good Christian cannot come to heauen but by often fasting and continuall watchfulnesse and see you not how little this was practised till the dearth came and put vs in minde hereof now then let vs redeeme the time that we haue euill spent and spare that meate for the poore which we may saue for our selues We haue long liued by bread but now let vs liue by the word of God let vs I beseech you cast off our carnall desires and take no rest in our owne houses with Vrijah till the Lords people be in quietnesse let this preuaile with vs that looke how much comfort we take in abusing these so much discomfort shall we finde by forsaking them The vses which offer themselues out of this doctrine are these first that the confidence which the wicked raise vp to themselues in the things of this life shall bee their vtter ouerthrowe Isai 20 5 6. that whereas Egypt and Ethiopia were the comfort of Israell contrarie to the expresse commandement of God the Lorde threateneth to captiuate these nations and to destroy the people in their owne expectation that both the comfort and comforters should be at once confounded Euen so doth he in like manner in these daies where men leane more on the weake staffe of meate and drinke then on the strong rocke of God his word he breaketh the staffe in peeces and maketh the flitters to pearse through our owne harts This is the rewarde of belly-gods that their ioyes are remooued their hope is decayed their consolation confoundeth them and the want of those things wherein they most delighted shal procure them most easelesse paine because they most corrupted them The rich glutton which exceeded in delicious fare and in all abundance of wines and pleasant drinks was tormented without all pitie for want of water The prodigall sonne who lauished out riotously his fathers legacy like our English spend-thriftes at tables at drinking at whooring at gaming in brauerie of apparell horses houndes and delicates was constrained for his office to be a swineheard for his meate to want that which his beastes were fed with for his brauerie to bee basely and beggarly araied and his whole felicitie was turned into most lamentable yet due deserued miserie Harken therefore vnto me my brethren and heare me when I tell you the issues of your pleasures If you be aged thinke what were your sorrowe that if those riches which in youth you laboured for with your hands to comfort you withall when you should be olde should be suddenly taken from you then may you say my yoonger yeeres I consumed in vanitie and elder daies must perish in pouertie If you be yoong men consider with your owne harts that if the libertie you tooke should be abridged the pastimes you plaied should cause you so many stripes and your youthfull daies shoulde bee turned into languishing infirmities would not this amaze you to feele it and discomfort you to consider it Yes yes my beloued when your riches are the coles your desires are the fire your pleasures are the bellowes and your owne liues are the irons to be burned in this miserable miserie I delighted shall one say in hunting and nowe the beasts deuoure me I delighted in dauncing but now my woonted mirth is turned into hellish yelling I delighted in drinking but my cuppes are emptie and the naturall heate of my stomacke deuoureth my body like a fire I delighted in stealing but now doth the world rob me of my life the diuel of my soule I delighted in whooring but alas my diseases are become loathsome to God and man I delighted in slandering and hurting other but my lyes are recompensed with my owne life I was a swearer but the Lords wounds which I blasphemed haue witnessed my death I was a coniurer the diuell hath me I desired large fields but now haue I lost mine owne And thus shall all sinners come to their endes as Esau which louing hunting by his loue lost his blessing Another vse arising from the same doctrine shall be this that seeing we which be most abusers of the Lords benefits shall by their want be most of all punished let vs before this time of aduersitie come humble our soules and amende our sinnes as the prophet calleth vpon Babylon many yeeres before shee was destroyed Isa 47. 1. 23. Come downe and sit in the dust O virgin daughter Babell sit on the ground for there is no throne O daughter of the Chaldeans for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate So my beloued come you downe now while you heare me calling vnto you and while this wrath is but comming vpon you you haue euery one aduanced a throne for your sinnes to sit on but pull it downe or else it shall defile your soules Yet there is time turne you from your euils you drunkards to sobernes you wantons to modestie you swearers to pitie you idle ones to diligence you rich men to humility you gentlemen to religion you women to righteousnes you yoong men to learning you old men to praying and you poore men to patience turne turne I say before this aduersitie that either your chaunge may change the Lords meaning or vse may ease the rigour of your punishment Come downe I beseech you take vp your crosse and follow Iesus Christ let temperance rule you let religion perswade you let your Sauiour win you let his ministers warne you let the earth speake vnto you and be yee all conuerted or else continue in your delights and cease not to offend God which hateth your liues or the church which wisheth your wealth or the poor which pray for your peace or the earth which threatneth want or the diuell that gapeth for your soules Howle allye drinkers of wine Now the prophet telleth
deadly warre disquieteth them then are they heauie then onely are they sorrowfull Reu. 18. 9 10 11. Luc. 17. 27. Hose 7. 14. They account it a speciall madnesse to mourne for the affliction of Ioseph that is to weepe for their owne sinnes for the persecution of the Lords flocke for the decrease of the faithfull and contempt of the Gospell also they thinke it a meere follie for men to reioice at the hearing of a sermon or the reproouing of sinne or the planting of a preaching minister and the remoouing of a cypher or the establishing of religion But let them knowe it is a thing accursed to reioice for vanitie and not for godlinesse to weepe more for the losse of a father or the want of bread or the feeling of sicknesse then for the famine of God his worde or the death of a faithfull man The reasons for confirmation hereof may be these because onely in these temporall and worldly things they place the rest of their soules Luc. 15. 19. The rich man hauing new builded his barnes reaped his corne and filled his storehouses biddeth his soule to take her ease for he had store ynough for many yeeres we maruell then that the losse of these things goeth so neere them when with them they loose the very health of their soules What shall wee say to the greedy cormorants which to gather wealth as this man did reposing therein the hope of their health while vnlawfully they would saue their soules vnrighteously they condemne them Oh let them also beware which being the outwarde professors of the Gospell yet neuer make an ende to encroach more liuing I cannot say they hope to be saued by them but I may be bolde to say that they much distaine the glorie of God while they aduaunce their names they endanger their soules Secondly another reason is because the loue of these carnall commodities banisheth away the loue of God 1. Ioh. 2. 16. How shal men which haue denied God and are become idolaters as all worldly men are Ephes 5. 5. care for any religion or reioice for any goodnesse yea rather lament it or how shall they lament any euill but rather reioyce in it because they are voide of all goodnesse themselues A godly father saide of them in this sort that they account that euill which doth not make them euill as famines sicknesse and other calamities but for swearing drunkennes whooredome and other vices they call them not euils They are not ashamed while they praise good things themselues to be euill and they thinke it a greater disgrace to haue a ragged towne a thatched house an vnhansome legge or a poore estate then to haue an ill life This said hee long agoe and now with teares I may say it againe that men in our times through the want of religion which through abundance they haue loathed and rebellion they haue vomited vp feare no God but the enimy loue no knowledge but their law euidence and they care for no health but bodily medicines and thus they weepe when they should reioice and reioice when they should weepe The vses which arise from this doctrine are these First that these carnall mindes and men shall neuer be eased in their carnall sorrowes or comforted in their worldly comforts Therefore Iames said cap. 4. 2 3. Ye lust and haue not ye enuie and haue indignation and cannot obtaine you fight and warre and get nothing be cause you aske not you aske and receiue not bicause you aske amisse that you might consume it on your lustes Wherein the heauenly Apostle hath set out to the full the nature of al worldly wishers carnal criers wherin these things I be seech you to obserue most diligently First that this is the nature of wicked mē in their praiers being in distresse that they enuie and haue indignation euen at God himselfe thinking that he doth them great iniurie thus to disquiet their ease and to trouble them with want Oh fearefull condition of wicked men that their very praiers are nothing else but murmuring against the Almightie Secondly he noteth the verie cause why the wicked craue any thing at the hand of their creator that saith he they might bestow it on their lustes And surely I am much afraid that the feigned praiers of a great number in this time of dearth and famine haue had the like inward motion which is the cause that the Lord regardeth not our praiers and remooueth not his iudgements Thinke not therefore that euer your cries for corne for bread for meate for plentie for cheapnes and for comfort shall take any effect although you fill the aire with your outcries or the earth with your teares vntill your carnall mindes be banished your enuying spirits be humbled your vniust and vnlawfull suites be silenced yea vntill you haue more regard to your soules then to your bodies to the Gospell then to the corne fields and to the glorie of God aboue wife or children life or saluation Another vse belonging to this doctrine our Sauiour giueth Mat. 6. 31. 32. Take no thought saith he what you shal eat or what you shall drinke or wherwithal you shal be cloathed for after these things seek the Gentiles your heauenly father knoweth that you haue neede of those things but seeke you first the kingdome of God and the righteousnes thereof and all these things shal be ministred vnto you Here may we learne the medicine for our sicknes the supply of our want the comfort of our distresse who shall bid vs mourn because we haue no meate Indeed it is to be lamented yet Christ saith take no thought for it thou art a poore man so was he thou hast a familie so had he thou liuest by thy labour so did he thou liuest in times of scarsitie so did he Then he speaketh by experience sorrow not for thy want he was the sonne of God so art thou it was his meate to do his fathers will so let it be thine Say not as the woman did to Eliah we will eate this and then die but rather we will endure this and then die The Gospell is my meate the sonne of God is my cloathing and the kingdome of heauen is my inheritance shall I lust after other meate or desire a woollen garment and wish for a worldly inheritance No no heauen is all things there is for me and my children Christ is all things he will cloath me and my children and the Gospell is all things it shall feed me and my family my soule shall eate my body my body shall not deuoure my soule Thus let vs comfort the poore members of Christ that want and encourage one another in distresse against distrust let vs weep with them that weepe and mourne with them that mourne that we may reioice with them that shall reioice in the kingdome of heauen For it shal be pulled from your mouth Hauing awaked these persons by calling and troubled them
with mourning least they should esteeme the matter lightly that their sinne could be washed away with teares he telleth them plainly that the wine shal be pulled from their mouth and this he doth in my iudgement to driue them to a deeper conscience of their sinnes and consideration of the Lordes wrath So that he may seeme thus to say vnto them it is alreadie decreed that your euill shall not be turned away therefore lament your calamitie And from hence we may note that all the feigned repentance vncōfortable cries of the wicked shall neuer turne away the wrath of God from them So doth the holy Ghost declare Heb. 12. 17. Gen. 27. 38. when Esau with abundance of weeping cried out for the blessing yet he could not obtaine it Wherein there appeereth their endlesse misery that their teares shal be no more accepted of God then are the cries of a beast in the hand of a butcher The Lord knoweth that they are not humbled for his sake but for their owne and were it not more for the fear of their own misery then of his iudgements they would neuer take his name in their mouthes except to blaspheme him The Lord can and will shewe himselfe froward with them that are froward Psal 18. and haue as deafe eares at their cries as euer they had at our sermons he will be as merciles vnto them as euer they were to their brethren no children which seeme innocent no women which seeme penitent no olde men which seeme religious no yoong men which seeme glorious nor any bloode which seemeth precious shall remooue their paines and reuerse his sentence And this doth the holie Ghost alwaies perswade vnto the wicked bicause hee telleth them in other places as Prou. 15. 8. Mich. 6. 7. That their sacrifices are abhomination vnto him and if they woulde giue him the fruite of their bodies for the sinne of their soules yet will he not be mercifull vnto them What did the Lord in outward shewe better accept then sacrifice and what coulde outwardly shew greater obedience then with Abraham to offer vp their owne children yet it being done of a wicked man or womon all were woorth nothing Secondly the Lorde hath appointed a time wherein he woulde haue our conuersion performed which being passed there can bee no redemption Psalm 95. 7. Cant. 5. 6. To day if you will heare his voice then harden not your harts the fruitlesse tree in the Gospell had a time wherein it should beare fruite which being omitted without all mercy is hewed downe Therefore haue you also a time in the which if you be conuerted then shal your death be deare in the sight of the Lord but if you neglect this time your bloud shall be vile in his presence But when will you say is this time and how shall we knowe it Surely if a man in his last testament giue a legacie of money to his sonne or seruant and name not the time of the payment the lawe doth adiudge it to bee due at the death of the testatour so the Lorde hauing set no time in his testament when thou shalt repent either in yoong or in olde age in the day or in the night he thereby teacheth vs that euery day yea euery minute is appointed for our repentance till we haue repented therefore how much we liue without conuersion so much we loose and euerie day calleth vpon vs to fulfill our fathers testament except we be bastards Seeing now that the case of wicked men is so pitiles at the Lords hande let vs see what exhortations we may gather from hence for our instruction and first of all let vs take that which our Sauiour hath left Luk. 13. 24. Striue saith he to enter in at the straite gate for the time shall come that many shall striue and not be able to enter Labour I beseech you for Religion for the knowledge of the Gospell for obedience to the ministerie that your prosperitie may be continued and your aduersitie may be relieued What a shame is it for men of wealth woorth to be shut out of a noble mans gates or rather what a shame is it that the teares and sute of a sonne being in prison or beggerly shall not mooue his owne parents to clemencie so shall it be with you when you shall haue mercy shut against you bicause you cared not for the bloude of Christ and you shall haue your owne father by creation not once acknowledge you to be childrē or pitty your calamity bicause you disobeied him therfore now striue that then you may enter now obey that then you may be receiued now humble your selues that then you may be lift vp let this prouoke you like an iron grate vnto the embracing of the fear of God Presume not on the Lords mercie despaire not of your owne estates say not it is too soon for that is impietie yea the houre now is thinke not it is too late for that is blasphemie but if now thou canst enter now also thou shalt be receiued Another vse heerof doth the Lorde himselfe make Esay 17 13. That euen the same things wherein we trusted being in prosperitie shall if they can deliuer vs vp when we are in aduersitie when thou criest saith the Lorde the things that thou hast gathered togither shall deliuer thee but the winde shall take them away vanitie shall pull them away but he that trusteth in me shall inherite the lande and possesse my holie mountain The Lord mocketh and derideth at the wicked men as if he should say vnto them in this sorte you olde men you haue gathered many fables you yong men you haue hoarded many pastimes you women you haue laid vp many trifles you rich men haue encroched many purchases you noble men haue encreased your wordly honor now call to these your gods in sicknes in famine in warre in pouertie in miserie in death but I will blow them from you they cannot helpe you you shall onely knowe that they which haue relied on my blessing beleeued in my promise delighted in my truth they onely shall haue the earth for their possession and the heauens for their inheritance How foolish are men that seeke not for these things before hande that knowe not that in their wealth they choose for their life which they must abide and cannot auoide when they are in distresse either godlinesse which procureth their worldly ignominie and their heauenlie glorie or else wickednes and vnlawfull riches that causeth their worldly maiestie but their euerlasting miserie The eight Sermon Vers 6. For a nation commeth vpon my land mightie and without number whose teeth are like the teeth of a lyon and he hath the iawes of a great lyon NOw the Prophet commeth to his metaphoricall allusions whereby sometimes hee mooueth the people somtimes he describeth the persons which are the workers of this calamitie as in this vers where hee resembleth the beastes to a nation
we are not admonished by once or twise wee regarde not till we bee chastened and then like wretches murmur at our paines enuie at our sufferings and rebell at his iudgements wee open that which he would couer that is our pride and we destroy that he would saue that is our soules then shall his weakest instruments worke our greatest calamitie To make my vine waste and to pill off the barke of my figge tree to make it bare and to cast it downe that the branches thereof be made white Now the Prophet telleth them where this nation should conquere that is among the vines and figge trees which were very common in Iudea being the sustentation of the poore and the delight of the wealthie and these should all be broken all bee barren and all bee withered and left fruitlesse From hence we may obserue this doctrine that the fruites of the earth are destroied for the sinne of man what had these vines offended that they should be wasted or what had the figge trees sinned that they should be broken downe Surely nothing but the men that vsed or rather abused them were the onely cause that the iuice was dried and their sweetenesse denied them For this cause said the spirite of God by Dauid Psal 107 34. A fruitfull land maketh he barren for the sinnes of them that dwell therein This is a iudgement worth the noting that we might knowe how to amende our land when it cannot yeelde her increase which is to compasse it with our sorrowfull harts and water it with the teares of our eies And this may serue for euidence in our times against them that thinke all is in good order and there needeth no farther reformation Yes verily the earth it selfe crieth out for a reformation for she may say as Naomi saide to her friends I went out full but I returned emptie or as Iacob saide to his sonnes You haue robbed me of my children it is wee that haue inclosed great fruit in a little storehouse for our sinnes haue blasted it and the earth is made barren The reasons of this doctrine are these because there is nothing that will so mooue vs as want will and therefore we are punished with that which goeth neerest vnto vs. Nehem. 5. 3. 4. The want of corne made the people to sell away their houses and their lands yea their owne children they solde to buy them bread what woulde haue made them thus seruile but famine or what would haue greeued them so farre as this And this selfesame complaint haue many among vs taken vp being ready if any would giue them any money to sell their owne children May not this admonish vs that our land aboundeth with iniquitie that is thus filled with the miserie of the poore yes verily and if it bee not speedily preuented the richest and wealthiest shall feele it as well as the basest The prouerbe is almost verified in famine which was woont to be in warre that the great men make the warres and the poore men beare the blowes so the rich mens sinnes haue made the dearth but the poore men liues abide the death Another reason hereof may be this because by this meanes the best and the greatest come into miserie as well as the smallest not so soone I graunt but in continuance of time it is effected Iere. 14. 3. The noblest send their seruants for water but alas they returne emptie and couer their maisters heads with shame Therefore let vs learne what shall bee the pinching estate of the poore when the noblest men thus wring and how are the seruants plagued when the maisters are thus famished Looke vpon it my deere brethren for not one of you shall escape it if this calamitie continue your iewels shall bee woorth nothing your pearle shall perish with you your money which you haue gotten by oppressing the poore shall rather afflict you then comfort you You haue as it were in sport began to make a dearth and it maketh you laugh inwardly to see the coine come so fast into your cofers beware least the Lord turne it into good earnest and laugh as hartily at you to see the soules goe out of your bodies The vses which we must make of this doctrine are these the first is the same which the prophet exhorteth vnto Hag. 1. 5. That euery one of vs consider our waies since the continuance of this famine came vpon vs. Consider you rich men whether you haue not scored vp many sins that might cause this miserie consider O yee poorer sort whether you haue not added many vnthankfulnesses that thus are reuenged with want Consider O you drunkardes and belly gods whether your appetites haue not brought this scarcitie and your fulnesse this emptinesse thinke with your selues O yoong men if it be not likely that your costly pleasures and chargeable pastimes haue cried for a penurie on the earth and a deere reckoning on the Lords benefites If you finde these things then begin a new consideration and thinke with your selues whether the earth crie not for vengeance and the Lords ministers for repentance Take vp a lamentation and say with our selues O Lord it is we and our fathers house that haue caused thy heauie hand to be powred vpon vs for our sakes haue many poore men laboured many women sorrowed and many children perished we haue their blood vpon vs and thou maist iustly require it at our hands but pardon thou our sinnes increase thou our repentance remooue thou thy iudgements and multiplie the fruites of the earth So shall you not satisfie the iniuries done but the expectation of your brethren and the crie of the poore that are yet liuing For assuredly if you helpe not to beare this burden in your bodies you shall weare it in your soules and if you fast not with vs in this life you shall famish without vs in the life to come Cōsider I beseech you your waies auoide that enimie that by your often sinning would destroy both body and soule Oh our dearth may be perpetuall our griefe is immortall your paines shall be eternall your liberalitie but temporall your want if any want but externall but your and our ioyes shall be continuall therefore consider how long we haue sinned how little we haue amended how much we haue transgressed and how soone wee may bee confounded Amende euery man one then shall families be saued amend families and then shall villages bee blessed amende villages then shall cities be cleansed amende cities then shall countries bee sanctified amende countries and then shall the whole world be conuerted For the world consisteth of countries countries of cities cities of villages villages of families families of seuerall persons therefore if seuerall persons will amende then all the worlde shall be amended Another vse which we may make heereof shall be this to imitate the example of the godly Iewes Ezr. 10. 9. that is that we weepe and tremble for the raines and
haue stumbled and lost the law of righteousnesse because they sought it not by faith so when the Gospell shall be offered as to the Iewes being not rightly receiued it is againe withdrawen that they may say it was once among vs. I feare me my beloued that we haue resisted the lawe of righteousnesse this way as much or woorse then the Iewes for we haue intreaties of peace euery one speaketh and writeth what he pleaseth whereby some are stumbled many are hindred and others are discouraged and what remaineth but that all should be vtterly turned out of the way Now let vs come to some vse of this doctrine will the Lord so punish vs to take away his worde his worship and his Gospell from among vs Verily some will say that is our desire we shall followe our pleasures more freely delight in our sinnes more sweetely and saue much money which we impart to religion Stay a little I pray you how if a famine come and remooue it as here it was or how if the sword come and driue it from you as it hath in other places thinke you then to be so well eased of the Gospell when you shall goe from a sweete church to a stinking prison and in steede of a preachers reproofe you shall endure an executioners rod. Nay but take this with you whensoeuer the Lordes worship is intermitted your liues shall not last and if they doe you shall wish rather to die Ierem. 6. 21. I will saith the Lord lay stumbling blockes before you the father and the sonne shall fall the neighbour and the friend shall perish Here is the calamitie which commeth by the remoouing of the Lordes worship it costeth much blood it bringeth much woe it curseth many soules it shaketh the world darkeneth the sunne it troubleth the waters it maketh God mercilesse it maketh men helplesse it maketh the church comfortlesse the present times smart for it the next age weepeth for it but the last daies shall answere for it the liuing shall be troubled the dead shall be defiled and they which are vnborne shall repent it and to conclude if euer wee liue to see the Lordes worde and worship taken from vs we shall haue a hell of the worlde a wildernesse of the church crueltie in steede of curtesie beastlinesse in steed of humanitie and all impietie in steede of christianitie From the house of God That is from the publike place appointed for the worship of God What then might some say if we cannot in the church then we will in our houses and we can serue God as hartily in our parlors as we can in the temples yet for all this if it could be so the prophet complaineth that it is so I meane that the Lords house is vnfrequented From hence note this that it is a greeuous iudgement of God when the place dedicated to his seruice is not vsed thereto but lieth either waste or else otherwise applied If men come not to the churches as the Lorde appointed being in prosperitie it calleth for vengeance but in aduersitie it betokeneth a iudgement Psal 74. 8. Reuel 2. 5. The Lord threateneth the church of Ephesus to take away the candlesticke from them whereby he sheweth the last and greatest plague that can come vpon a citie which is the laying waste their congregations The which thing I would to God I coulde driue into their harts which make as much account of the churches as they doe of the tauernes and are as diligent to come vnto them as the theeues to the prisons Alas my brethren what harme haue you receiued by following the Lords courtes and assemblies of the saintes that your presence forsaketh them your soules forsweareth them and your liues are more strangers therein then Dauid was at Achis or the Pope now in England is it a iudgement to come and not to finde them and not a plague neither to come nor to finde them Thinke you not being gentlemen and wealthie men whose deuotion will not abide a showre of raine that if you missed but a childe of your owne in your house that you could endure it and not bee sorrowfull how then shall the Lorde endure your obstinate and rebellious absence seeing hee loueth it more deerely then a woman doth her sonne and therefore tendereth our presence most fatherly Beware least it be saide of you they went out from vs because they were not of vs and they that gather not with vs scatter abroad The reasons of this doctrine may be these because then the name of the Lord is forgotten Deut. 32. 18. It cannot be but out of sight out of minde as the common prouerbe goeth and therefore when the churches are not frequented and there is no publike remembrance of the Lords works the Lordes name must needes be forgotten We haue I graunt some profit by our priuate assemblies our families but if once the publike places be neglected then farewell all religion Praiest thou in thy family do so in the church instruct thou thy family bring them also to the preachers hast thou a little church in thy houshold ioyne them also to the great church in the congregation that there they may learne the woonderfull workes of God for when preachers are banished churches are emptied congregations rased hearing despised the places dedicated to the Lords worship violate keepe what order thou canst in thy family yet will religion christianity be soone forgotten Another reason of this doctrine may be this because when these publique meetings places be barred vp then there appeareth no church of God Deut. 12. 5. 1. King 8. 29. What a calamitie is it to see the sunne darkened the earth couered with water and the moone with clouds So is it when the face of the church cannot be seene in the congregation whereby men may learne how odious is their sinne which keepe away themselues and their seruants from publique praying and preaching What do they else but obscure and put out the very church of God they disgrace their owne mother and forsake their fellow members by putting out themselues from our meetings How shall we accompt them of the church which com not to the church or rather how shal we say that they are God his children when they darken the spouse of Christ and giue occasion to the common enimy of saluation to reioice against the godly and aduance his banners aboue our castles The vses which we must make of this doctrine are these First seeing it is a most grieuous plague of God to haue the churches voide of his seruice then let vs runne and flocke with all diligence vnto the cōgregation of the saints the meetings of the godly Isa 2. 2 3. This is the most assured token of the church of God when the people come togither to heare the word and this is a comfortable argument to a mans owne soule that in this life he was ioyned to the church militant and therefore they
shall be of the church triumphant Oh how can they looke euer to come into the heauens which in this life neuer come into the temples nor outwardly obey the Gospell Therefore if euer you will come into ioy and enter into euerlasting pleasures ascend vp to the house of God there dwelleth the Lord you may see him there soundeth his word you may heare it there is giuen the spirit you may receiue it there are gathered the godly you may be with them and there beginneth saluation you may obtaine it If you be high stoope downe to it if you be base arise vp to it if you be rich ride to it if you be strong walke to it if you be lame be carried to it if you be blinde be leade to it if you be sicke long to be in it and if you be old euen there desire to die Runne I beseech you with speed goe with ioy labour with pleasure and desire with zeale to be ioyned to your Sauiour They which forsake it God will forsake them they which despise it God will despise them they which embrace it God will receiue them Let not any thing I beseech you keepe you from the churches seeing you would haue nothing keepe you from heauen Liue with the church pray with the church suffer with the church and die with the church As all the angels appeare before God in heauen so must all the saints appeare before him in earth they which are missed are excluded they which are present shall be blessed Another vse which we must make of this doctrine may be this that it shall be good for vs not only to visite the church but to continue in the assemblies with all diligence Euerlasting is the commendation of Anna Luk. 2. 37. which continued in the temple seruing God day and night and so wee read Act. 20. 7. that the church continued hearing of Paul till midnight It is a thing most strange to see men not onely negligent to come to the church but also being present they are impudent to depart out of the church and who are these but those which come seldome there for by reason therof they haue least taste of spirituall hunger and so are soone wearie of spirituall foode Abide therefore in the congregation for there is alway something behinde woorth the learning when all is done yet tarrie for the blessing as the people did for Zacharie Luk. 1. 21. Come I say with a continued diligence and omit not one time especially vnto that church whereof thou art a member whensoeuer praier or preaching calleth for thee Be assured of this the oftner thou commest the more thou delightest and the more thou art absent the lesse shall be thy comfort If thou wouldest say with Dauid O Lord how sweete is thy word vnto my mouth thou must also first sing with him all the day long is my study therein If woe belong to the Pastor that preacheth not the word then also damnation belongeth to the people that heare not the worde By vse thou shalt thinke a day too little for a sermon and a yeere too little for a praier By continuance thy hard heart will be softened and thy wicked life conuerted A woman married to a stranger by familiar and daily conuersation groweth into great loue where was great dislike so shall thy soule being married to our assemblies which it abhorreth in time to come delight in them most cheerefully which it loathed most wickedly The priests the Lords ministers mourne The better to perswade the people to lamentation hee bringeth in the ministers to moane them shewing that their pastors and spirituall fathers were alreadie in teares for this calamity and therfore also they must follow them By this we may note that the ministers are alwaies the first that come into danger If there be afflictions they are first apprehended if there be famines they are first oppressed and if there be warres they are most spitefully handeled There were seuen thousand good men in Israel but the prophets they were slaine and Eliah being left aboue all other was most of all endangered 1. King 19. 10. 11. There were many faithfull soules in Iewrie at Christs passion but him alone and his Apostles did the Iewes persecute crucifie So that hereby we may appeare to be of all men most miserable The world doth much enuie our honor our liuing and our estimation and our names insomuch as there is not any which hath not beene either enriched by our demesnes or conuerted by our sermons but they holde vs in exceeding hatred Well in this wee will saie with Ieremie This is our portion and we will beare it By this then let them knowe which are entred into our calling or purpose to put on a preachers gowne that his life must be full of danger his danger full of crueltie and he alwaies the foremost in any trouble I will saide the Lord make you to be hated of all men for my names sake Wouldest thou bee a minister of the Gospell thou desirest a woorthie worke Knowe then if thou liue in peace thou shalt bee enuied if in warre thou shalt be derided if thou be rich the world will murmure at thee but if thou bee poore then it will tread vpon thee Thinkest thou to liue easilie thou deceiuest thy selfe thinkest thou to liue in mens fauour thou deceiuest thy soule hopest thou for maintenance beware of flatterie lookest thou for friendship thou shalt receiue enimitie Thou must bee a seruant to seruantes thou must bee a slaue to base mindes and an open marke for wicked toongs Thy owne shall be withholden thy doctrine vpbraided and thy life liue thou neuer so warilie shal be endited Wilt thou please men thou shalt displease God wilt thou please God thou must displease men if thou speake thou shalt bee controuled if thou bee silent thou must be reproched if the worlde laugh on thee the Lord will laugh at thee if it frowne then thou art first in danger The reasons why this should be so are these first bicause in them the Lorde doth punish the whole people Zech. 13. 7. I will strike the shepherd and the sheepe shall be scattered If the pastors be good they are troubled for their people if they bee euill they are troubled for themselues A good man was woont to say that of all creatures a good minister was the best and a bad minister the woorst Therefore they are sometime troubled for the peoples cause yea sometime by the people as Christ died for the people and yet was put to death by the people And the cause is good for if the pastor let any people perish their soules must bee required at his hande so if a good pastor be molested of a bad people not his worde but his bloude shall be reuenged on them So then we are not alway sued for our own debts imprisoned for our owne obligations but being pledges hostages or rather sureties
that if you looke vpon all that is to be done of a faithfull man you shall finde many vnwilling and ineuitable slippes and falles in the purest obedience of all men The church of God hath felt and complained of this miserie in all ages that she coulde neither doe as she woulde nor performe what she ought to the Lordes obedience For if we be rich and neuer so godly then wealth hindreth vs if wee be poore want oppresseth vs if wee be magistrates gouernmēt doth let vs if we be seruants worldly obedience doth staie vs. So that as it cannot be but that in the purest corne there will growe some weedes so in our holiest worship of God there will appeere some wantes Dauid coulde not worship when he was at Gath and the saints of God although they haue willing mindes want powre and meanes to accomplish their desire And therefore let vs not bragge but confesse as our Sauiour saith in the Gospel when we haue preached our whole life long praied with neuer so entire affection and laboured with neuer so great diligence in the kingdome that wee are vnprofitable seruants hauing left moe things behinde which we ought to haue done The reasons of this doctrine are these first bicause that we shoulde neuer leaue of labour more and to encrease farther and farther so long as wee liue in this worlde as the Apostle saide of himselfe Phil. 3. 13. The which lesson I woulde to God were oftener learned and better followed in our daies wherein men thinke if they haue done a little seruice on the Sabbaoth day they holde themselues contented for the whole weeke following and hauing gotten a little knowledge of the common profession they are satisfied and trauaile for no more Oh howe strange is it that men are neuer satisfied and haue their fill of any thing saue onely of religion the which presently cloyeth them bicause they thinke it is no part of their dutie to bestowe their daily labour in some part of godlinesse I knowe this doctrine will please them well that no man can worship God perfectly and therefore they will worship him sparingly and coldly But they must knowe that there is not any man which hath his perfect health and yet he liueth and mooueth and groweth in stature so there is not any mans religion absolute yet it must striue labour for perfection as a sicke man doth for health Another reason of this doctrine is this that considering our imperfection through the sinne of our natures we should more earnestly desire to bee with Christ Philip. 1. 23. for he that is wearie and cannot goe as hee woulde yet he hath this in his wish to desire the perfection of the worship of God Whereby we may note that there is not any thing that may mooue vs to loue the being in the world the world it selfe wil hate thee if thou be a Christian why shouldest thou desire to liue therein thou canst not knowe the maiestie of God thou shalt not feele the loue of Christ and thou canst not enioy the end of the faith If thou wouldest haue the wish of Dauid to liue and to declare the works of God yet it shall be better to die that thou maiest liue in the glorie of God In this life thou art sometimes sicke carefull heauie hated oppressed enuied and hast but a little comfort of God because thou canst not professe him but a little therefore desire the other where friendes and ioies and health and loue and peace and comfort shall be euerlasting and they worship most absolute without sinne or ceasing The vses which arise of this doctrine are these first that although we can neuer be absolute in this life in God his worship but we shal haue as many lets as we haue howres yet let vs not cease to lament them and to desire their absence when Dauid had beene long absent from the place of the Lords seruice he cried out saying How long shall I dwell with Mesech and be constrained to abide in the tents of Kedar why might not Dauid thinke that it was not his fault but his enimies rage that did constraine him to that neglect because he was banished from his people Indeede it is apparant he knew it well enough yet least he should be contented with his miserie he calleth to God for a remedie so although we dwell in sinne and liue in a thousand wants of bodies and soules because they cannot be remooued in this life yet let vs not rest contented herewith but lament this mischiefe that we must so doe and desire a speedie release Art thou lodged in thy chamber through sicknesse or banished from the companie of the faithfull through persecution or kept away by imprisonment or hindered by hard parents or maisters or molested through pinching pouertie all which thou canst not auoide yet that the Lord may knowe and that thy soule may liue desire to bee eased of this burden Thinke not that thou shalt bee excused if thou canst not come and worship as thou oughtest but will the thing thou canst not performe and thinke it long till thy bondage be at libertie thy want be supplied and thy soule remooued from thy bodie that thou maist see God and loue him and liue with him and praise him for euer and euer Art thou a Christian and hast thou not greater cause to wish for heauen then Dauid had for Ierusalem and if you haue then pray with as great zeale that thy will may be turned into action thy lets into helpes thy wants into supplies thy soule into pietie and all thy worship into sinceritie Another vse may be this that men doe not any thing the lesse esteeme of the worship of God because they haue hearde that it is but temporall O this were accursed that a sicke man should be lesse regarded because he is sicke and not rather be the more attended shall a sonne despise his owne father because he is poore this were iniquitie and so is it a greater abhomination that men should lesse serue the Lord because the greatest measure is imperfect Although Dauid might not builde the temple yet he prouided wherewithall to do it and so although thou canst not loue God as thou wouldest and as thou oughtest yet loue him as thou canst and as farre as thou art able be not discouraged because thou art not able to goe through with religion for if thou haue any religion knowe thou that the least things of God are greater then the greatest of the world and the weakest things of God are stronger then the strongest of men Honour them that haue the giftes of God in them although they be imperfect for who despiseth a crased peece of gold or who throweth out of doores a broken siluer pot and therefore who but a mad man would lightly regarde the small graces of God in men But alas it is the miserie of our time wherein religion is measured by wealth and deuotion
by outward shewes and the giftes of the spirite by worldly professions so that if men liue neuer so vprightly and yet be poore or teach neuer so diligently and yet be not famous and pray neuer so feruently and yet be not a flatterer or write neuer so excellently and yet reprooue sinne he is no more accounted then a base and common professour Men will not studie religion because they say the doctors can neuer knowe all things and therefore they will knowe nothing but if none should studie phisicke but he that would cure all diseases sicknesse would quickly ouerthrowe vs and if men follow not religion because they cannot know euerie mysterie the diuell will speedily ouercome their soules Be ye ashamed O ye husbandmen howle O ye vine dressers for the wheate and for the barly because the haruest of the field is perished Now he commeth to the particular persons that dresseth the earth and the fruites thereof bidding them to bee ashamed to see their cunning faile their labour lost their price receiued in vaine because all was destroied whereabout they were imploied From hence we may note that seeing the prophet calleth to these husbandmen it is our dutie that are of the ministerie to speake the word and rebuke sinne and exhort euery kinde of profession vnto religion The princes the nobles the rich the poore the husbandmen the artificers and the seruingmen and the gentlemen must all be exhorted and rebuked by the voice of a preacher And this was the most singular comfort that Paul receiued by his labour Actes 20. 31. That they all coulde beare him witnesse that hee had not ceased daye nor night to admonish euery man of life eternall wherein wee see that the paines of a minister are infinite that must not feare any mans person nor spare any mans profession nor loue any mans sinnes nor bee silent at any mans iniuries nor bee controuled for any iust offence by him rebuked Looke I say to the labours of watchmen in the Lordes house hee warneth them by chiding saith Aug. he instructeth them by preaching he prepareth them by admonition he hath a calling from God to warrant him from the word to enconrage him from the spirit to inflame him and from his conscience to comfort him He must rebuke the rage of great men the folly of old men the vanitie of yoong men the deceit of crafts men the trade of husbandmen the idlenes of seruingmen the wantonnes of women and the sinnes of all men that by wounding them with the word of God both they and he might escape the iudgement of God The reasons of this doctrine may bee these First because as Paul saith in the forenamed place ver 26. 27. that by this means they are free from the blood of all men And we know that the blood of a poore husbandman will staine as much as the blood of the greatest prince in the world But euermore when I haue occasion to talke of the bloode of men which is committed to the preachers and shall bee againe required at our hands me thinkes that the blood and life and hearts and soules should tremble hereat the minister for his charge the people for their danger The captaine doth answere for the body of a man the factor for his masters wealth the scholler for his learning the man for his seruice and the noble man for his princes affaires but the minister must answere for the peoples sinnes Againe what is the danger to keepe thy soule is it not committed to a man hath it not all the diuels in hell to lay siege vnto it and yet wil not men come to their pastors to haue their soules fed being hungrie nor yet cured being sicke nor yet salued being wounded nor yet defended being besieged nor yet to be saued although they be like to bee damned Another reason of this is because our commission must stretch it selfe as far as Christes redemption who is an aduocate for all men that is for all sorts of men and therefore it is most requisite that we speake to all kinds of men that so they may come to the knowledge of redemption Wouldest thou then be exempted from comming to sermons then thou must also be exempted from comming to saluation Is it hard vnto thee and intolerable that the word of God shall restraine thy pleasures then shall it be harder for thee to haue the blood of Christ to annoint thy soule from hell Would not all men come to the kingdom of heauen then wil I open vnto them the gate of the Lord and tell you that obedience to the ministerie is the way and the righteous will enter therein The vses which come of this doctrine are these First seeing that all men must receiue the word of the minister that the ministers flatter not the people and conceale not the iudgements of God from their sinnes Prou. 24. 24. 25. The Lord promised pleasure to them that rebuked the sinne of the wicked and the blessing of goodnes shall bee vpon them What is the hope of the Lords workman we haue already declared But now let me exhort and be exhorted vnto this necessarie doctrine I know that since the world grew to a multitude and the church to a monarchie the great men haue euer enuied the rebukers of sinne I meane the ministerie bicause they liued in greater sinnes themselues and this is the cause why reproofes are so hardly endured that although we speake but generally against a particular sinne yet some or other who is gauled with the conscience thereof will accuse vs for ayming at him and peraduenture threaten vs mortall hatred this was not so in the primitiue church 1. Cor. 14. 24. 25. but rather men obeyed gladly then threatned maliciously but so it is in our church and therefore are the ministery afraid in many places to preach the word least they should offend But harken my deere brethren feare them not for it shal come on vs that the Lord threatned Ieremie If we spare his word he will confounde vs in their presence What is there in them that we should feare they are but men in nature so are we they are many in number so are we they haue the world we haue the word they touch but our names or our bodies our soules are the Lords they cannot accuse vs iustly of sinne but themselues they cannot worke their will but the Lords will their wrath is nothing to the Lordes wrath shall we silence the word because they loue it not Beloued haue not mens persons in admiration the word of God is not bound though we be imprisoned that cannot be hurt though we be blamed our soules cannot be touched though our bodies be martyred Let vs wish with Luther that God would make vs woorthie to die for his word Another vse of this doctrine is that the people of all sorts must heare the worde of the minister let them take heed that they beare the
Gospell that it may tarrie with vs beleeue it that we may liue in it receiue it that we may reioice in it professe it that we may die in it professe I saie for his owne sake and for nothing else let thy eies see it thy eare heare it thy toong speake it thy heart regard it thy feete walke in it that thy hande may worke in it thy owne saluation Let vs amende that which is amisse and repent least all be taken from vs least our enimies reioice in our houses least our women lament in the streets our children cry in the fields our old men lie in the graues and all men die in desperation Let vs therefore to auoide all this mischiefe receiue that exhortation 1. Thess 2. 12. that euery one that nowe liueth in our English dominion in the daies of our most peaceable Salomon Walke woorthy of this vocation whereunto they are called If the Lorde shoulde require any great thing of vs ought we not to doe it seeing wee owe vnto him our owne selues much more ought we to walke like christians seeing we professe christianitie Walke we must and not stande still as the idle doe we must be woorthy of our places and not onely fill the roome as an image doth at a feast as our carnall Gospellers do and called we must be and not refuse to come as the greatest part in our age doth The Gospell is the sunne let vs looke on it it is the wedding garment let vs weare it it is the day let vs worke in it it is the salte of the worlde let vs taste it it is the way to saluation let vs trauaile in it it is the life of all thinges let vs liue in it Oh therefore you which are called refuse not to come you which are liuing lengthen your daies you which can see beholde the miseries of your ioy and you which haue legges to walke withall bodies to liue withall space to returne time to repent leasure to practise soules to saue or any grace of God within you walke woorthie of saluation You must not walke as other doe for Christ is our patterne you must not walke as the most doe for the flocke of God is little you must not walke as you haue done for you must bee newe creatures Walke in knowledge for that will make you wise walke in faith for that will make you zealous walke in loue that will make you Christians walke in cleannesse that will make you saints and walke in patience for that will giue you the Lords kingdome Be shod with preparation of the Gospell of peace and let your strength bee encreased to goe on from step to step from vertue to vertue from teare to teare from trouble to trouble from day to day and from the death of this life to the life of this death for the Lords praise in his truth to our ioy in his kingdome The eleuenth Sermon Vers 12. The vine is dried vp and the figge tree is decaied the pomegranate tree and the apple tree euen all the trees of the field are withered surely the ioy is withered away from the sonnes of men THe prophet oftentimes as we may see telleth them one thing the destruction and ouerthrowe of the fruits of their land in the same words and therfore groundeth still the same exhortation bidding them weepe and howle mourne and lament as if either he tooke pleasure to sing such mournefull songs or else to shewe vnto them that the sorrowes of their harts must recouer the plentie of the land And in dwelling thus long in the Lords iudgements and their repentance he teacheth vs how necessarie a thing it is to stand long on a good text and neuer to be wearie of a good matter although it be bitter to the taste of our harts It is a common thing in the word of God to repeate one thing often and therefore Paul desireth of the Corinthians that it should not be greeuous to heare the same things often for we are of this nature that many things we vnderstand not many things we remember not sometimes we giue that to a naturall cause which belongeth to a diuine iudgement and most times we little regarde the heauenly oracles for all these often repetitions are most necessarie And let vs with often repetition ioine some shew of earnest affection as Paul doth Phil. 3. 18. where he saith of those things I haue tolde you often and now tell you weeping c. Many words and many repetitions without notes of singular passion are or at least may seeme to bee friuolous and therefore let this be the exercise of religious minds when they are driuen to vse againe those admonitions which they once vsed that their words shew their meaning their iterations testifie their earnestnesse and signes of griefe and sorrowe expresse their affection thus this prophet hath told his minde by word and vrged the matter by repetition and confirmed the thing by outward tokens In this 12. verse he bringeth in al other things which groweth on the earth when hee nameth all the trees of the fielde and more especially the apple tree the pomegranate tree and the palme tree whereby hee noteth that not onely those creatures which were good for nourishment were taken away that the people should haue no refuge in worldly confidence but also that the outward ornaments of the earth as the ground-growinggrasse the tall springing-trees which serued for comfort onely were destroied Whereby in generall we obserue that there is not any thing so glorious or so comfortable which the Lord hath created in the world but for the sinne of man he will destroy the same as the prophet sheweth at large Zeph. 1. 13 17. If the earth were all golde and the grasse were all pearle and the trees were all siluer the fieldes were full of corne yet would not the Lord spare any for all this Oh my deere brethren it is not the growing corne nor the springing grasse nor the goodly trees nor the stately towers nor the walled cities nor the pleasant apples or the beautifull abundance of the world that can stay the wrath of God from falling on vs the horse saueth not in battell the armour defendeth not in fight and riches cannot redeeme a soule God which made all is not mooued with any thing saue onely with righteousnesse and obedience and to take vengeance of our disobedience he ouerturneth and ouerthroweth all The reasons of this doctrine are these first because he setteth more by his word then by all the works of his hands Matt. 24. 35. the works of God can but shew him but the word of God teacheth vs to come to him and therefore seeing he careth for our saluation more then for the preseruation of any of his creatures he will not spare them because they shew his glorie or giue vs nourishment but all things shall be confounded for the sinne of man Another reason is because for sinne he spared
better to weepe for your sinnes in your prosperitie then to weepe in aduersitie for the losse of children of goods or health or houses or wiues or husbandes or friends or libertie or foode or raiment or death and not be comforted remember what the prophet heere saith that ioy shall be withered from you in the daies of worldly aduersitie The reasons of this doctrine may bee these first because they are not moued at the troubles of others Amos. 6. 6. If men looke to themselues they shall see that their estate is neuer so secure but that there is left vnto them one iust cause or other to lament bitterly yet if they finde none in themselues let them looke on other and mourne for the affliction of Ioseph The church of God is neuer freed from inward and outward troubles and therefore euer hath occasion of inwarde or outwarde lamentation Now seeing that we should mourne with them that mourne let vs weepe with the saintes of God that suffer although wee suffer not that being made partakers of their afflictions we may also bee made partakers of their glorie It is a token of an vnmercifull hart that doth not looke on the crie of a beast and helpe an vnreasonable creature from his oppressour howe much more vnmercifull are wicked men which will not bee mooued at the lamentable teares of godly men He that stoppeth his eare at the crie of the poore shall crie himselfe and not be heard In like maner those which will not be humbled for their owne sinnes dangers belonging to them nor for the pittifull oppression of good and godly men they shall come into vnauoidable mischiefes bicause they were not mooued in prosperitie for the righteous saith Salomon shall come out of trouble but the wicked shall come in his steade Another reason is because men which haue fat and hard harts do not onely liue in their pride but also desire to draw other into miserie Psal 137. 2. 8. The Edomites that reioyced and encreased the calamitie of the people of God are destinated to eternall and most assured aduersities wherein we may see that if men do not winne themselues to the church they ioyne themselues to the enimies if they take not part with the repentant they take part with the vnrepentant For if we be not possessed with goodnes of necessitie wee must bee professed in euill Oh therefore seeing we cannot walke in any meane betwixt faith and infidelitie religion and Atheisme let vs speedily resort to the bande and army of Iesus Christ for if he finde vs not among his souldiers he will take vs for his enimies although we fight not against him and if we ioine not with the armie of God the diuell will take vs vp for to be of the companie of accursed creatures The vses which arise from this doctrine are these first let vs iudge our selues that wee be not iudged of the Lord 1. Cor. 11. 31. If our estate be so miserable that we cannot auoide iudgement yet the Lord hath shewed vs a meane to mitigate our extremitie if we be but our owne iudges Abigaijl by condemning her husbands hardnes pacified Dauids wrath and saued her whole family from the sword of vengeance And the Syrians by putting halters on their necks comming willingly to the king of Israell saued all their liues Oh with whom haue we to do with meeke king Dauid or with mercifull Ahab No no but with the father of vs all who is king of heauen and earth whose loue towarde vs is more tender then the loue of a mother and more sure then the faith of a friende and more kinde then the bande of the married Let vs therefore be Abigaijles by offering our liues and our wealth accusing our selues and our natures vnto the Lord of hostes and then will he blesse vs as Dauid blessed Abigaile yea and marrie vs to his owne selfe Arise out of your resting places and goe with ful store to appease the wrath of God if you stay till he come vnto you what shall be your ende Oh what shall be your destruction Now accuse your birth though it be noble as stayned with sinne accuse your life though it be christian as defiled with the diuell accuse your wordes though they be humble as sauouring of euill and condemne your workes though they haue beene charitable as desiring death eternall Iudge your selues worthie of all shame because of pride accompt your selues woorthie of all sorrow because of mirth esteeme your selues lesse then all creatures because of death and professe your selues woorse then all men because of sinne Say of your nature that it is Sathans bondslaue say of your beautie that it is the glasse of iniquitie say of your strength that it is the power to euill say of your youth that it is the time of sorrow say of your wealth they are the prouokers of licentiousnes and say of the world it is the bed of danger What shall I say more vnto you Was not Christ made accursed for vs that we might know that we are cursed for our selues Then think how your eies are cursed beholding vanitie your eares are cursed hearing falshood your toongs are cursed speaking lies your legges are cursed running to euill your armes cursed touching pleasures your children cursed borne in sinne yea thinke all accursed that your soules be not cursed in another world Another vse of this doctrine may serue to reprooue their securitie that thinke it is lawfull for them to be mery while they may and neuer to enter into the house of mourning till their mirth and ioy departeth from them and from hence it commeth that they put far away from them the day of wrath Amo. 6. 3. Children are suffered to be wanton because their yeeres are tender youth is permitted to bee licentious because their age is lustie rich men are mooued with vanitie because it is their portion poore men accustomed with folly because they liue in want and old men drowned in one kinde of superstition or other because they are neere their graues Oh would not this grieue the heart of man to see so many so great so aged so wealthie so tender to abhorre all mortification and the sorrowfull way to life but to embrance all condemnation and the ioyfull high way to hell fire Know you not that ease slayeth the foolish and the restie oxe is prepared for the slaughter why then do you thirst still for more pleasure and hunger after more vanitie Man must not liue by bread onely which maketh him full fedde and thorough fat but by the word of God which maketh him many times to fast being sweeter then his meate and many times to be leane being safer then his health Who is he that accounteth not abstinence a God preseruatiue for health and labour an earnest procurer of a good life euen so there is none but must thinke that it is most necessarie for health and most wholesome for life many
before the Lord when wee euer meete againe about the like occasion and this I would haue practised both in priuate and publike humiliation The reasons that may mooue vs vnto this dutie to be throughly humbled are these first because the Lorde will not looke on our aduersitie without this perfect and absolute contrition Isa 58. 3. for he then especially looketh to the inwarde disposition of euery soule to see who they be which tremble at his word and iudgements and they which then will not nor cannot there is little hope of grace and goodnesse in them The heathen king of Niniueh and all his subiects had that conscience when the Lord sounded their destruction by the prophet Ionah Ahab mourned when he heard the words of Elijah the prophet and when God speaketh to the Assyrians and Moabites he biddeth them come downe into the dust and ashes to lament their miseries Alas why doe I rehearse either precepts or examples to mooue men vnto this which they would not doe for if their owne liues and bloud and soules will not prouoke them hereunto other mens waies will not perswade them yet let them thus consider that it will greeue them more to loose this their counterfeite humilitie as the Iewes doe in the forenamed place when they shall say we fasted we praied we trauelled and we desired to iustifie our soules and yet their fast shall be as vanitie their praier abhomination and their comming into the Lords presence like his which had no wedding garment and therefore was hee and so shall they bee cast into vtter darknesse Another reason is this because that those iudgements which call for this humiliation must teach vs righteousnesse Esa 26. 9. and so we encrease in righteousnesse as we exceede in humilitie and for this cause we must know that the more religion a man hath the more humble he is and the more hee saith hee encreaseth in goodnesse the more he must studie to shew it outwardly As for those which thinke they serue God well enough when they neither pray with their toongs nor bende with their knees nor vncouer their heads nor mooue out of their houses I leaue them to their fancies let euery beast bird of the aire confute their fancies for the Lord which hath assigned euery member his office will haue euery one to execute it himselfe The vses which offer themselues by the consideration of this point are these seeing we must bee throughly humbled therefore let vs auoide all manner of idlenesse in this worship of God Iam. 2. 19. when we are once perswaded of this point we shall not onely lende an eare to this businesse but thinke all time too little that we spend not herein The poore saintes of God in that forenamed place crie in the night watches as these priestes which lay all night in lamentation and so when the feare of the Lords wrath and the conscience of our owne dangers doe once meete together then there is not any thing that will bee so acceptable to vs as praier This feare will driue from vs our sleepe as the windes driue away the cloudes the sicke man will sit vp the olde man will holde vp his hands the weake man will stand for his life the woman will weepe without ceasing and euery one so touched will auoide all worldly actions then will or rather then must the rich man forsake his counting house the farmer leaue his plough the seruant auoide his rest the labourer neglect his meate and the drowsie person hold vp his eies All the Apostles slept till the high priestes seruants came to take our Sauiour but then they awaked fled for their liues but why did they not wake before in praier that thē they might haue slept without danger oh let vs therefore come both great small to appeere in the Lords presence with al diligence let not any long iourney any lack of prouision any loue of ease any losse of health make vs idle Rise early to praier watch late to lament sleepe little that thou maist spende the more time to gaine thy soules health In the day we labour for our bodies in the night let vs labour for our soules My soule saith Dauid thinketh on thee in the night watches and so let our soules thinke on the Lord when other thinke on their rest and their pleasure Another vse which commeth by this consideration is this that seeing we must be throughly humbled or not at all let vs take for our example the paterne of them that mourne for the dead as the prophet exhorteth Ierem. 6. 26. How many are the teares of them which loose their louing husbands their tender children and their loyal friendes Iacob for feare of this said before hand it woulde make his hoare head goe downe into the graue But so slight is the mourning of many among vs that they neither wette their cheekes for their sinnes nor yet would willingly depart with this life for the enioying of the life to come Surely this is woorthy to be noted in them which earnestly lament the dead that they desire to be with them so let vs desire to be free of this feare of death and sinne with the death of our sinnes and liues let vs so bitterly bewaile our time as we may be most willing to change our life for no other cause then to cease from sinne The Israelites bewailed Moses thirtie daies together and let vs with great and long continuance mourne not for Moses who is in heauen but for our selues who would be in heauen When Naomy bid her daughters Ruth and Orpah goe backe into Moab they wept at her words if they were so vnwilling to liue in Moab and to depart with Naomi why are not wee as vnwilling to liue in this world and to depart with Christ seeing he is our head and we his members we must goe to him and he may not come to vs let vs therefore by his example endure many sorrowes and great dangers that we may be more willing to leaue this life The theefe inclosed in the prison ceaseth from stealing and when wee are closed in iaile of many griefes and clogged with the irons of many crosses then let vs know that we cease from many externall and internall abhominations Yee ministers of my God In this that hee calleth the priestes which serued at the altar the ministers of God he thereby giueth vs to vnderstand whose possession are the ministers namely and onely the Lords Num. 3. 12. The Lord challengeth the tribe of Leui to himselfe to be his peculiar and royall priesthood and the Apostle willeth the Corinthians that they should so thinke of him as of the minister of God and disposer of the secrets of his kingdome and therefore writing to the Galathians hee telleth them hee is not by man nor by the will of man but of God Once in steede of the appointed ministerie were the first borne of euery familie
welth nor forsake your life but cast away vaine mirth idle talke wicked hope wretched behauiour leaue your sins to the diuel frō whence they came giue thy soule to the Lord frō whence it came Elisha did but require of Naaman to go into the riuer seuen times he shuld be clean which his seruants tolde him was but a small thing so we require you but to wash your souls with the water of your eies and you shal be as free from death as Naaman was from the leprosie But why should I need to instruct you are you not minded like Ieremie that of himselfe desired riuers of teares to weep for his people so be you not backward but of your own accord so that you may plese the lord desire that you were al teares to lamēt throughly the miseries of the world Oh lament with speed tarrie not or else it wil be too late whē you shal see before your eies the litle infants quartred the aged persons mangled the cruell heathens aduanced the poore christians dying the aire thundering the earth quaking vnder you and the cloudes rayning downe fire and vengeance Another vse is this that we be so minded at the hearing of the Lordes iudgements as if they were presently to be executed It was a great fault in the Israelites that whensoeuer the prophet spake any thing to them they presently thought and saide this shall not bee yet it will be a good while before it come to passe and we neede not care for wee may bee dead and gone out of the way ere this bee fulfilled Ezech. 12. 27. 28. but the Lorde rebuketh that follie and biddeth the prophet tell them that it shall bee shortly performed And so the like rage possesseth the heades and braines of many in our daies which although they knowe that it is true that is tolde them of a destruction yet euery one thinketh it shall not be this yeere nor in our Queenes daies nor so long as the Gospell remaineth and therefore they will possesse al their vanity rather then be humbled But this ought not to beso yea rather hasten out of this securitie as Lot out of Sodom and the Israelites out of Egypt that thou maiest escape it whensoeuer it commeth It is better with the wise virgines to be readie an houre or two or three too soone then with the foolish to tarrie a quarter of an howre too late Therefore admit the danger bee not as yet yet bicause wee are nowe warned let vs now be prepared shall we not make as great account of the Lords louing mercie as of our owne health yes yes my beloued and therefore let vs arise to lamentation bicause the Lord calleth for it although there were no danger following after But wee are like the disciples which coulde not watch but sleepe euen then when Christ was in most danger although our Sauiour did manie times awake them till at length the enimie came vpon them and they were all driuen to forsake Christ so I praie God our like securitie bee not with the like danger awakened for I feare if the mercifull voice of a Sauiour will not mooue vs the terrible crie and swordes of enimies will amaze vs. As a destruction In these wordes is the general cause of the lamentation described bicause the Lords wrath is kindled to make a destruction Wherein there is to bee noted that nothing doth so much feare and terrifie good men as the anger of God Deuter. 9. 17 18. When Moses perceiued that God was angrie hee fell downe flat on his face and besought God neither eating nor drinking for fortie daies and nights togither was not their feare great that made this good man to aduenture his life by so long fasting and his soule by desiring to bee razed out of the booke of life yes verily for the anger of the Lord mooued him more then if he had seene all the worlde on fire about his eares But carnall Gospellers and carelesse Atheists as they thinke it a farre more lesse matter to please God then to please man so they deeme it a lesse matter to haue God angry with them then the prince or some great rich men that may hinder their worldly estimation Alas alas if Saule were fearefull to a thousande Dauid was to tenne thousande and if worldly men may a little terrifie the flesh the God of the worlde may infinitelie plague the spirite Therefore put on this affection that we may knowe what to thinke of the wrath of God if the anger of a prince be the messenger of death much more is the wrath of God the herauld of condemnation When Assuerus was angrie presently Hamans face was couered and he carried to execution woulde not Haman giue all his possessions to haue retained the fauour of the king so likewise aduenture any thing rather then to stirre vp the coales of the Lordes wrath by which thou thy selfe and all thy neighbours shall be burned without mercy Oh therefore studie to knowe howe to auoide his displeasure and to retaine his louing countenance and let not the loue of any sinne so bewitch thee that thou procure his vengeance in working thy desire The reasons of this doctrine are these First bicause none can bee an intercessour or a friende to God being angrie 1. Sam. 2. 25. that is there is not anie mortall man that can doe any such a pleasure as to staie the Lords wrath from falling on him or that may bee able to stande in the gap of the Lordes wrath The which consideration might most effectually admonish all our presumptuous companions which thinke that the Lord is pinned to their sleeues imagining him to be such a childe as might bee lost with an apple and wonne with a trifle againe but they shall finde it a farre more heauie matter when no offers of gold no intreaties offriends no teares of greefe no nor yet the fruit or blood of their bodies shal pacifie or recompence him for their sins This ought to make vs account highly of the mediation intercessiō of Christ and not to tread vnder our feete his glorious blood shedding after we be once reconciled Another reason is because it is a most fearefull thing to fall into the handes of the liuing God Heb. 10. 31. such a fearefull thing as passeth all vnderstanding and therefore who but mad men will run too farre into this danger Although Dauid chose rather to fall into the hands of God then men because he was well assured the iudgement was but a fatherly correction and not a reuenging punishment yet we must know that he knew that it would bee but a corporall or bodily death but we are not assured of halfe so much yea happie were we if the wrath of God did but reach to our bodies and that he would be satisfied for our sinnes if we lost our children and wealth and friendes and health and life or that if we could endure all
worldly tortures to bring vs to death therewith he would bee contented but it is yet a more fearefull thing when we are subiect to all these and more also to leade an endlesse and easelesse life in the euer burning and neuer dying flames of hell The vses which wee must make of this doctrine are these first that wee learne to feare none of them that kill the body but onely him that is able to cast both bodie and soule into the fire of hell Mat. 10. 28. But I know euerie one will subscribe vnto me and say that they feare him aboue all when as this feare is such a weake dampe that it putteth not foorth any sinnes and it holdeth as much godlinesse in their harts as a sieue will holde water in the open aire Moses was afraide of a serpent and it made him run away what feare is this that possesseth our gospellers mindes that will not cause them to be as much afraide of the sting of sinne as Moses was of the sting of the serpent Ioseph saide for the feare of God he could not commit follie with his lady and if the feare of God had any rooting in your harts you could not leade such licentious liues as you doe The Israelites were afraide to sacrifice a sheepe in Egypt because it was abhomination to the Egyptians but you are not afraide to offer your filthy deadly and abhominable lustes to the Lord although they be abhomination to his maiestie yea although there bee an vnmeasurable iudgement hanging ouer your heads Therefore feare the Lord that must rule you and the iudge that must trie you and the sauiour that must keepe you or else you shall feele the deadly paine that shall torment you The poore woman that came before Salomon would rather depart with her childe to her neighbour then suffer it to be diuided in sunder but how much more deere it is to haue your soules cut in sunder feare you not this Therefore with all speede looke vnto the Lorde as humbly as petitioners pray vnto him as mournfully as prisoners tremble at him as fearfully as the hill of Sinai fall downe before him as lowe as Daniel melt at his anger as the waxe before the sunne Another vse is that we alway keepe our confidence in the Lord for if his wrath be but a little kindled then are they blessed that put their trust in him Psal 2. 11. Balaam feared God yet because his faith and confidence was not in the Lord he was slaine among the other enimies of God therefore let me now take occasion to exhort all your harts to a sure confidence in the Lorde because his wrath shall neuer touch those which put their trust in him It is saide Psal 99. 4. that Moses and Aaron and Samuel put their trust in God and he deliuered them This was such a trust as was exercised with all Christian vertues the which you must ioyne with them or else you cannot enioy it Forsake your selues imbrace the Lord loue not the worlde and desire Christes kingdome and then you trust in the Lorde confirme your harts with patience beautifie your minds with knowledge reforme your affections by repentance and amende your liues by the whole Gospell of God and then shall the Lord say you haue trusted in him Oh then blessed shall you be for although the world be drowned you shall bee saued although the citie be burned you shall bee deliuered although the people be captiuated you shall be enlarged and although the earth be cursed yet you shall be blessed If sicknesse weare thy body and anguish vexe thy soule and trouble oppresse thy life and losses catch away thy goodes and enimies spoile thy children and death doe ende thy daies yet shall not the wrath of God consume thy ioyes What wouldest thou haue more if God hate thee not hee loueth thee if hee loue thee he will keepe thee if he keepe thee danger shall not oppresse thee if thou be not oppressed then art thou blessed and if thou be blessed be sure thou shalt be saued The xiiij Sermon Vers 16. And ioy and gladnesse is cut off from the house of our God COncerning the former words of this verse we haue spoken in the verse before and now to the next following where the prophet telleth them or rather the Lord that now men could take no delight nor ioy in the outward seruice of his maiestie which was a most lamentable thing when one should come into the house of God where was woont to be most sweete melodie in the harts and voices of men like vnto another paradise now he should finde it full of teares and cries and yelling and sorrowes and euery one ashamed to shewe his face for griefe this doth the prophet offer to the consideration of God Whereby we will note this that the seruice of God must be performed with ioy and delight Deut. 16. 11. I meane the ordinarie seruice and worship of God But in our daies we may almost complaine as this prophet doth that ioy is parted from the house of our God men come almost as willingly to the churches as some goe to execution and tarrie as ioyfully before the preacher to heare the sermon as other doe before the iudge to heare the sentence When we are at our praier they are at their books when we are at our preaching they are at their sleepe when we are at our psalmes they are in the tauernes Maruell you not to see the ioy of these men in the worship of God vnto whome the church is a iaile the minister is a keeper the Lord is a iudge themselues are the prisoners and their zeales are as ioyfull to them as little ease yet for all this we will reioice in the Lorde our God and account one day spent in his courtes better then a thousande spent else where And as Dauid reioyced to see other men goe so will we reioice when our number is increased when our voices are aduaunced and our Lord Iesus magnified The reasons of this doctrine are these first because this ioy in the seruice of God is a token of the presence of God his spirite in the harts of men Rom. 14. 17. so on the other side when men are lumpish and heauie in this worship and heauenly businesse it is a token they like not the matter but are hindered and blinded by the spirit of malice Shall we then say that they are all giuen to the diuell who haue not beene baptised into the Lords spirit and possessed with a delight in the Lordes seruice then must wee say that all hard harted misers wicked minded ruffians fickle brained yoonglings and wind-wauering women which had rather be playing with their loues or their children or else be disporting in brauerie and wantonnesse or bee mumbling a few Paternosters of old angels or new stuffed barnes then yeeld their eares their hart their soule their minde and their whole man to the Lordes most
saith Psalm 104. 27. That God openeth his hande and giueth them meate in due season And surely as God is most wonderfull in all his workes so is he most humble and gentle to all his creatures not disdaining with his owne hande to feede the basest swine or beast in the worlde But howe vnlike are they to God which doe not heare the voice of dumbe beastes no not of speaking soules and liuing men and if they doe yet their hands must not come neere them but either they must take it vp on the grounde or else receiue of their abridgers I meane their seruants The reasons of this doctrine are these First bicause God hath created them Gen. 2. 2. And for this cause before that euer he made beastes he made all the grasse and herbes of the fielde to be readie for them so kinde and constante is their nature that they neuer forget their creator but we shall finde moe men then are beastes that haue long agoe lost all their knowledge and grace and image of God calling into question whether there be a god or not Oh cursed creatures oh feareful times that bringeth foorth some men like men and some men like beastes and some men like monsters which are in bodies men in manners beasts and in mindes woorse then any creatures yea then diuels for they acknowledge and feare God Another reason is bicause men shoulde haue a taste of the excellencie of the Lordes mercy which saueth both man and beast Psal 36. 6. 7. As for mans sake they were subiect to vanitie so for mans sake they are receiued into tuitioÌ„ again the one was don for his sin the other was for his instruction that as the hainousnes of his sin did bring mo into danger beside himself wherby he might despaire so the greatnes of the Lords mercy might bring mo into fauour againe beside himselfe wherby he might be comforted And thus we may see how for our sakes is the rod of vengeance and the staffe of mercie for our example some are killed some are burned some are hewed and some are damned and for vs againe we may see the angels are maintayned the world is lengthened many good men haue beene preserued and many bruit beasts are continually maintayned The vses which come from hence are these First that we fall not into any despaire of God his goodnes toward vs either for our soules or bodies Mat. 6. 25 26. where our Sauiour biddeth vs to looke to the lyllies and to the yoong rauens for whom the Lord taketh care and verily euery haire on a good mans head is more woorth then all the beasts of the world therefore let vs perswade our selues that seeing God heareth their crie he will not denie our praier and seeing hee looketh on their mourning he will not despise our teares and seeing he regardeth their life he will not cast away our soules he that commandeth vs to be mercifull vnto them hath also bound himselfe to be mercifull vnto vs therefore let vs be assured that we are more woorth then the beasts in the arke or all the creatures in the world But alas why do I tell men of their woorth for they know it too well or of the Lords mercie for they are too proude of it Surely because as Bathsheba teacheth Salomon Prou. 31. 4 5. not to be giuen to excesse or to be wonne with vanitie because he was a king that is a worthie man in the world so I would teach men by telling them their woorth to auoide from their filthie abhominations What shall gold do in the dirt or pearle in a swines trough or money in a madâ—ans puâ—se or authoritie in the hand of fooles o 〈…〉 that we haue all vnder vs and yet be 〈…〉 honor is it to vs to be more worth then al creatures to haue the Lord for our creator and his mercies when we entreat them if in the meane season we be not godly then shal the best become woorst and at the latter ende wee shall wish we had beene woorst of all In the next words he telleth vs how the riuers of waters are dried and how the little countrey cottages wherein poore men cattle were fostered were burnt vp both very woonderfull that the one I meane the waters should loose their spring which seeme to haue an euerlasting assurance of perpetuitie But alas what can be perpetual when God altereth what can continue when he dissolueth it surely nothing for he beÌ„deth the heauens melteth the earth emptieth the sea therefore may easily drie vp the little land-brookes Therefore as on the earth is the safest going because it is lowest so in pouertie is the best estate because it hath nothing Once there were no riuers and so sometimes are not and one day shall cease to be againe so once men had nothing now in their richest estate they haue but little and one day they must forgo all But when he saith that the little cottages are burned vp wee may note that there is not any thing so small or so vile but the hand of God will finde it out Amos. 9. Poore men thinke because they be poore that God neither regardeth their well doing nor thinketh on their euill but they must be of another minde for as fire burneth vp all that standeth against it so doth the wrath of God meete with all that is against his lawe God is in the citie and in the wood and in the village and in the corne-field and in the wildernesse and on the sea he noteth thy doings in thy pallace and in thy house and in thy barne and in thy labour and in thy cottage and in thy ship euen as Christ sawe Nathaniel when he was vnder the figtree Surely the buildings of stone are too high to stand long the buildings of wood are too weake for the little lowe tabernacle with cordes tied togither shall come to an end And thus we see that fire shall be the ende of all as it was the end of Sodom so was it of Zeboijm and as of them so was it of the poore shepherds tents and as of these tents so shall it bee of heauen and earth Thus much for this first chapter The xvj Sermon Chap. 2. V. 1. Blow the trumpet in Zion and showt in my holy mountaine let all the inhabitants of the lande tremble for the day of the Lord is come for it is at hand IT hath beene shewed that the beginning of this chapter vnto the end of the 11. verse was the continuance of the former iudgements spoken of in the first chapter so that this verse belongeth to the charge of the ministers and people wherein the ministers are first exhorted to sound the trumpet and secondly the people are bid to tremble because the day of the Lords wrath is at hand Concerning this blowing of the trumpet wee may reade the right vse and first institution thereof Numb 10. First it was vsed for assembling the
congregation secondly for the remouing of the campe and lastly when they went foorth to warre because the people might bee had in remembrance before God Although it be hard to shew whether in this discourse following the prophet meaneth the comming of the beastes before named or the comming of the Assyrians their enimies yet the matter is not so necessarie as that we should spende much time therein nor so difficult but it may bee decided and therefore I thinke that here is onely meant the comming of the noysome beastes because the description following is set foorth by similitudes taken from warre and not by flat and euident propositions the which course the Lorde doth take in other places when he noteth an inuasion as in Ierem. 50. In this place wee must first of all handle the blowing of the trumpet which was the priestes office and the cause thereof was to put them in minde of a danger for the people were now assembled and had neede to be terrified to the vttermost to make them humble as we may see the effect Amos. 3. 6. for the trumpet might bee hearde farre and neere as an alarme among vs. Wherefore wee may gather from hence that it is the ministers dutie to shewe the people of the Lordes wrath and the danger which they are subiect vnto for the same Ezech. 33. 2 3 4. if they sound not the trumpet the people cannot be prepared and then shall they endure a double condemnation they beare the Lords arke when they stand al must stand and when they goe all must goe and if they sound the trumpet and tell the dangers onely the disobedient come to destruction And thus wee may see how the hardest burthens and most dangerous are laide on the ministers backes for if they preach men will not beleeue them and then they are persecuted if they preach not God will forsake them and then they are damned being also subiect to all those dangers which themselues doe threaten the which thing might discourage men from that holy function but that the Lorde commandeth vs and enforceth vs thereunto And I woulde God that all the crosses and dangers which waite like pages or rather like iailers vpon the ministers office coulde bee sufficient to denie a passage or entrance vnto the vnlearned and vaine headed persons whereby for euer they might bee excluded from our callings but of this matter sufficient hath beene saide alreadie The reasons are these First bicause God openeth to them either ordinarily or extraordinarilie his purpose which hee will doe in his church for there hath not beene any great calamitie in the worlde but the Lord giueth knowledge thereof before it commeth so that his preachers might bee beleeued and destruction auoided Secondly they are the mouth of God to the church and of the church to God Matth. 18. 20. and therefore what they sounde God soundeth what they binde God bindeth and what they discharge God setteth at libertie yet so as their actions must bee guided by the Scriptures if they will haue God to confirme them The vses which wee are to make of this doctrine are these First that wee doe not onely teach the iudgements but ioyne with our doctrine an outwarde testimonie of their feare and a practise that may serue as a patterne for the people to repent by so the Lorde teacheth Ezech. 21. 6. 7. where the prophet is commanded to mourne bitterly as a man that mourneth for the paine of the raines And the cause followeth that when the people shoulde aske him hee might tell them that he mourned bicause euery heart shoulde melt and euery minde shoulde fainte and euery hande shoulde bee weake and euery knee shoulde fall away like water and what heart of stone or desperate minde coulde see his teares and heare his wordes and yet refraine from weeping It hath beene alreadie shewed that the example of the pastour is the best way to perswade the people and wee knowe by lamentable experience that where the preacher liueth ill his life doth more hurt then his preaching doth good Therefore my deere brethren when wee haue cause to threaten any iudgement of God let vs so temper our bodies as if wee felt it within vs as Ieremie did when hee cried out My bellie my bellie as if the calamitie had alreadie seised vpon vs. Let vs preach earnestlie let vs liue zealouslie and let our wordes and teares be heard in the pulpet and our praiers and feare in priuate communication and full often let vs vrge and constraine our affections that by manie passions as it were by many water drops the hardest heart of stone may be pierced thorough But it greeueth our hart that many preachers in many places when they haue taught most singularly on the Sabbaoth day so soone as the doore is shut some goe to tabling some to carding some to shooting some to bowling and some to banquetting which maketh the people thinke they did but mocke them in the pulpit Another vse which commeth by this doctrine is this that when wee haue so preached and so liued then may wee assure our soules of most excellent comfort as the Apostle doth Act. 18. 6. saie nowe are wee free from the bloud of all men so that a good conscience is the reward of a good preacher which is a greater benefite then any Bishopricke or preferment of the worlde when a man may reioice of his labours So that let euery preacher keepe this ioy and defile not his conscience for the conscience of a learned man once stained and corrupted seldome or neuer is quieted againe Looke vpon Eli his conscience and vpon the prophet which came to Ieroboam who was slaine by a lyon and vpon Ionah when hee was cast into the sea and vpon Iudas the most wretch that euer was borne when hee had betraied innocent bloude I coulde bring manie examples out of other writers if I shoulde not be tedious but of my owne knowledge I speake that I haue seene some in the ministerie endued with rare giftes and excellent learning vsing great diligence in their places yet being giuen ouer through naturall infirmitie their daies haue beene very fewe and very bitter therefore maintaine thy conscience with losse of life and liuing for it is an easier matter to beare all the reproches of the worlde then one of thy owne heart for it will turne the sworde of God in thy owne hande and cause it to wounde thy selfe neither shalt thou bee able to auoide it I grant that men of other callings haue no such dangerous slips therfore looke to thy soule for the diuell in dazeling thy light darkneth al thy people and by making thy owne conscience to accuse thee he will make good men to forsake thee the worlde to wonder at thee the spirit of God to depart from thee Sion my holy mountaine Sion was the hill whereupon the temple was builded for the which cause it is called the Holy mountaine
of God bicause thither came all the tribes to do seruice and sacrifice to the Lord therefore sometime it signifieth the church of God and all the members thereof as Psal 51. By these words I might note that although the ministers haue a priuate and a publique charge to warne the people yet they must haue a more speciall regard to the publique place Col. 4. 16. Isa. 66. 6. The reasons are First bicause Christ is alway present in the congregation Mat. 18. 20. and therefore if they haue any loue to their Sauiour there they must heare and see him Againe in the publique ministerie of the worde is giuen the holy Ghost Gal. 3. 2. so that if men would haue the pledge of their eternall inheritance thither they must resort where he is freely offered without money yea let them come from strength to strength that is be thy strength little or much vse the same to come to the church of God there is no more dispensation for weakenes then for health and therefore if thou wilt shew thy obedience and thy zeale to saluation then come when thy health and strength is most endangered for then will it bee like the poore widowes mite most acceptable to God If thou be a gentleman vse the helpe of thy horses and men if a woman take the helpe of thy husband if thou be poore craue thy neighbours hand as he did which was sicke of the palsie Mat. 9. 2. If thou be a seruant take so much the lesse pleasure to heare a sermon for in so doing thou shalt please the Lord and not disprofit thy maister Againe despise not the voice of him that speaketh Heb. 12. 25. for God which speaketh in vs is a consuming fire there was neuer angell that spake but the contempt of his words was seuerely punished and Zacharie because hee did a little doubt of the angels message lost his toong till his child was circumcised The ministers of God are called angels Reuel 2. 1. and therefore if thou beleeue them not then feare the losse of thy eares or thy toong or thy hands or thy heart but if thou contemne them and dally with them wantonly or despitefully oh feare the losse of body and soule for euer and euer but of these things we haue often times before spoken Againe if the voice of a trumpet could awake the Iewes and turne them to the Lord how is it that men and voices and Christ and Gospell cannot awake the men of our times the trumpet was blowen very seldome but the word is euery day and euery where preached and yet are not men prepared Nay verily a trumpet in the streets shall haue moe followers then a sermon in the temples and as Michab saith cap. 2. 11. new wine and strong drinke do make men rise early and goe late to bed that they may be filled therewith but yet the wine of the Lords truth cannot preuaile and therefore the wine of his wrath must make them drunken vnto death But in this that he biddeth the inhabitants to tremble at the sound of a trumpet we are taught that we must stand before the Lord with feare and trembling Ier. 6. 10. Ezr. 10. 9 but in our daies men quake in the congregation as steeples in the sea they are ready to laugh at that which should make them sorrow and to loath that which they should long after He is now accounted a milke-sop that will weepe when he heareth sinne reprooued and a very coward that feareth any euill yea though it bee eternall condemnation It is fearfull to consider that the presence of God shaketh the whole world and the power of his worde maketh the deserts to tremble and yet sillie men and in comparison of those like cornes of sand wil not shake nor tremble nor feare for any of all these And aboue all this mischiefe is to be considered that the longer we liue in the world the lesse feare of God or terrour of iudgement increaseth olde men grow carelesse through age yoong men grow dissolute through pleasure children waxe wanton through euill education and almost all men waxe woorse and woorse What is the church more regarded then an ale-house or a preacher more esteemed then an idoll or a saint more honoured then a diuell or religion more loued then Atheisine or the kingdome of heauen more longed after then an earthly inheritance No no truth yeeldeth to falshood charity to enuie quietnes to contention sobrietie to intemperancie law to vnrighteousnes faith to policie and christianitie to infidelity Helpe O you saints of the Lord to lament this mischiefe although we cannot amend it Put to your teares and your praiers that they may sound before God seeing GOD cannot any longer bee heard among men The reasons of this doctrine are these first because God dwelleth in them that tremble at his word Isa 66. 2. And againe this feare and trembling is a most manifest signe of the power of the worde Heb. 4. 12. so that where this trembling is wanting there can bee no true deuotion whatsoeuer diligence bee vsed because the word cannot haue any free passage in our soules For as a childe careth not for his maister whome he feareth not so a man careth not for the gospell when hee trembleth not Yea on the other side wee rebell against the wisedome of God and spurne his word with our feete when we suffer it not to go through our harts We reade that Og and Sihon two great kings would not suffer the people of Israel to goe through their countries the which discurtesie cost them their liues their land and their subiects and all because they woulde not graunt a path-way euen so if we let not the worde of God pearse cleane thorough vs and quietly with curtesie giue it entertainment in our harts he will take them by force and giue vs to be a miserable spoile to diuels If Iudas had had any grace when he heard our Sauiour curse that man that should betray him hee woulde neuer haue gone farther but let his action fall but hee did as our hearers doe heare his owne condemnation and not beleeue it and therefore they shall doe as he did repent when it is too late giuing their liues in stead of their eares and their blood in stead of obedience and yet alas alas all will not serue their turne The vses hereof are these first seeing we must feare and tremble at the ministerie of the worde then it followeth that we shall be comforted thereby for it is written Blessed are they that mourne for they shall be comforted and thus the Lord assureth his people Isa 66. 5. that for their feare he would giue them safetie and for their trembling hee woulde giue them ioy and their enimies should be ashamed at it Therefore if you would feele the sweete taste of the word of God and receiue the ioyfull newes of your saluation then learne to tremble at the hearing thereof
7. where it is saide that when the worlde shall beholde Christ comming to iudgement all the kindreds of the earth shal waile before him The reasons are First bicause it is the reward of obstinacie Ierem. 15. 8. A guiltie conscience quaketh at the wagging of a leafe and euery little danger doth amaze him Againe it is a most wicked thing to reioice at the hurt of other men either in worde or thought Ezec. 26. 2. Therefore although wee finde ourselues cleere yet wee cannot chuse but sorrowe when it approcheth to other Therfore let vs obserue the times to kensof euill Matt. 24. 33. that wee may alway liue in mourning but especially knowing ourfeare wee may then sorrowe most when danger is neerest that so wee may bee readie to ende our sinnes by repentance and to goe to heauen by affiictions Againe when wee see wicked men taken away and going to destruction let vs feare the searching iustice of God Psalm 52. 6. and say Beholde the man that woulde not beleeue the Gospell nor bee ioyned to our congregation nor forsake his pleasures but persecute good men and flatter euill men and therefore nowe hath hee receiued his recompence Oh let the death of so manie traitours so many theeues and murtherers so many swearers and drunkardes teach vs to feare as a little birde flying from the sparrow-hauke and rather let vs couer our selues in weedes and grasse or in some thinne and open tabernacle then to take the ayre of the sunne or sinne and to abide in the carued and walled cities of the multitude Like the noise of chariots in the tops of the mountaines so shall they leape like the noise of a flame of fire that deuoureth the stubble and as a mighty people prepared to the battle Now he proceedeth to other similitudes wherein I will be short bicause they all touch one thing and the generall is alreadie deliuered In this verse he compareth the voice of their comming to the noise of chariots in the mountaines which keepe a mightie ratling in time of warre for chariots were vsed for great men going to warre as wee may see in the historie of Sisera Ahab and Iehu Againe hee saith They are like the flame that deuoureth the stubble which maketh a kinde of sodaine hollowe and fearefull noise Againe like a people prepared for warre which come with all kinde of warlike instruments and wofull acclamations the which I leaue to euerie mans seuerall consideration whereby they may note howe the Lord can cloth his smallest and basest creatures with infinite power and terror to discomfort euery people in the worlde Oh how much more are the angels of wrath terrible seeing the wormes of the earth are so fearfull wherfore let vs not onely feare the inuasion of Spaniardes or other enimies nor yet serpents lions wolues or wilde dogs but also the seely flies and grashoppers and filthie lice which in time of God his wrath shall haue power to destroy vs Exod. 10. 11. Before his face shall the people tremble all faces shall gather blacknes The meaning ofthese wordes are that in the presence of these beastes shall bee much trembling and feare yea they shall bee verie neere death for blacknes betokeneth death From hence wee may obserue howe God maketh men at their wits ende before destruction Ezech. 26. 16. They goe not to their ruines like sheepe but like swine not like lambes but like lions not peaceablie but furiously The reasons are bicause the feare of the wicked shall come vpon them Prou. 10. 24. Secondly God by this feare and trembling calleth them to repentance Deut. 32. 21. So that if then they coulde bee as angrie with their sinnes as they are with their enimies and fight as christianly with the diuell as they doe manfullie against men although they loose the life of the bodie yet they may keepe the life of the soule Learne therefore to feare God and so thou shalt neuer feare euill Psal 112. 1 6. but thy minde shall bee peaceable in death and not distracted Againe vse thy selfe to mourning before hande Ezechiel 21. 12. that when they come thou maiest more easilie endure them and more happilie auoide them Secondly when he saith all faces shall gather blackenes we may not onely see that the greatest and strongest man in the world can do nothing against the iudgement of God but offer himselfe to death and his heart dieth within him as a stone but we may also see how wicked men in aduersitie become altogither desperate Isa 2. 19. they cry to the hils to saue them to the mountaines to couer them and to the rockes to hide them And this will be then the boldnes and courage of our gallant youthes who in their pride threaten to fight with the diuell and with their oaths will teare the Lord out of heauen who thinke by their worshipfull pedegrees to shame the kirks of Christ and by their golden and silken brauery to dazle the glory of God then then will these things little comfort them But as all the Midianites ran away for the dreame of a barley-cake so shall these runne if they knew whither and take if they knew what and trust if they wist in whom and flie from the great wrath of God if there were any refuge but seeing none they shall fall to the earth as the snow commeth from the cloudes Oh cannot you think of this to put away your sinnes for if you beare them with you they will serue you as Iael serued Sisera and strike into your braines and hart the nailes of deadly poyson there can be no resisting for they haue woon the fort Yet in time craue the helpe of some other to besiege them and to regaine a quiet conscience or else whensoeuer any danger commeth they will do with you as the citizens of Samaria did with Achabs children deliuer you to your enimies and with their owne hands be your butchers and so commend you to the diuels custodie The reasons of this doctrine are these bicause then they haue no hearts to remember what God hath done for them Deut. 7. 18 19. but thinke euermore this is for the sinne this for such an adulterie this is for my pride this for my couetousnes this for my swearing this for my contempt of preaching and all shall be for my damnation Againe then shall they be ouerwhelmed with destruction 1. Sam. 31. 4 5. as Saul was for knowing that his sinne had made God depart from him he slew himselfe in the battle If he had gone to a prophet when hee went to a witch or had beleeued Samuel as wel being aliue as he did the diuel when Samuel was dead his life had then beene spared or if he had put off his sinnes when hee put on his armour to goe to the battle or then fell to prayer when hee fell vpon his sword then had Saul escaped that day But what could the
bodie of Saul doe when his soule was so laden with sin for he knew that the Philistines must needes haue his life and the diuell his soule in like manner will the enimie bewitch you when you are in aduersitie Therefore cast down your castles and defences for sin as the Lord exhorteth Hos 10. 14. before the diuell make them inuincible For as the raigne of Abimelech was the slaughter of Gedeons sonnes and the raigne of Athaliah was the ouerthrow of all the kings seede so is it betwixt vs and our sinnes if they raigne we must die if we put them downe we shall liue Let vs therefore cast them downe betimes for as the Israelites did at the first spare the Canaanites afterwarde they could neuer destroy them so if at the first we dallie with our sinnes in the end they will grow vnresistable Oh that we might liue to say of our sinnes as Christ said of the temple that there might not one sinne be left vpon another Let vs bury our sinnes as Ieremy said Iehoijakim should be buried Ierm 22. 18 19. that their deaths be not lamented but let them be cast out of our soules as a dead asse is cast out of a citie for as a dead corps procureth nothing but wormes and stinke and feedeth fowles so our sinnes cause nothing but woe and sorrow and feed diuels Againe let vs not onely cast away our sinnes in heart as many say they haue done but in words and works professe and shew the same Hos 14. 3. for by our words we shall be saued and by our words we shall be condemned A repentant man is knowne by his confession as Rahabs house was knowne by the thred that was tied in her window which caused her all her kindred to be spared and so if we would be spared at the great day of the Lord let vs confesse our selues to be of his family Many I know there be which thinke it sufficient to leaue sin and neuer to make confession thereof so also there be many that thinke it sufficient to beleeue the Gospell although they neuer professe it but in my opinion the one and the other are both deceiued For wee must not bee of Abrahams heart and of Belials life wee may not beare the soule of Dauid and the shewe of Pharisees Good king Iehoshaphat being in shewe like wicked Ahab was in danger to be slaine for Ahab so are all those in danger of death who haue inwardly good heartes and outwardly euill liues Confesse thy sinnes thy faith thy God thy sinnes to thy brethren thy faith to the church and thy God to the whole worlde that thou maiest bee as farre from note of euill as euer is light from the shewe of darknes The xviij Sermon Vers 7. They shall runne like strong men and goe vp to the wall like men of warre and euery one shall goe forwarde in his way and they shall not staie in their paths NOwe the Prophet commeth to the last similitude wherein he compareth these deuourers to souldiours for in truth there is not any mischiefe like to the mischiefe of warre which is well termed the slaughter house of mankinde and the hell of this worlde And in this treatise following I must enter into martiall affaires that as I haue hitherto taught you to be christians so now I must instruct you to bee soldiours and learne you the arte of warre Wherein this Prophet toucheth two things The first is the order of an armie vers 7. 8. Secondly the ouerthrowe or sacking of the conquered For the first he noteth what manner of men souldiors shoulde be namely Strong men Exod. 17. 10. For God hath so ordeined that all men haue their crosses and callings to humble them If thou be bee wise thou art emploied in gouernment if thou bee strong thou art busied in warre if thou be weake thou art tormented in want if thou be a woman thou art vnder subiection if thou bee a foole thou liuest in contempt Therefore thou which art a souldier make this vse of this point that thou encrease thy strength and cast away feare Deuter. 31. 8 Vndoe not thy strength by quarrelling or drinking or watching or fasting or feasting or whooring but keepe thy body in strength to benefite thy countrey Againe make another vse which the Lorde taught Iosuah the most noble captaine and souldier of the worlde who had the leading of sixe hundred thousand men and ouercame thirtie and one seuerall kinges in a little time this exhortation is set downe Ios 1 8. That alway in warre thou looke to the worde of God whether thy cause bee iust thy heart bee willing and thy calling be lawfull whether thy handes strike when God biddeth and thy foote stande when God calleth Looke to this I saie and robbe not kill not and fight not but against a lawfull enimie But alas Iosuah is dead and al those which sawe his doings now in warres there is gaine in steade of godlines courage in steade of equitie bloudthirstines in steade of valour policie in steade of iustice and you seldome see a souldier of any religion and neuer praieth till he bee in danger of death Another instruction ariseth out of this verse when the prophet saith Like men of warre whereby we obserue that souldiers should bee disciplined and instructed before they be sent into wars or else they cannot be like men of war This benefite Dauid acknowledged that he receiued of God Psal 18. 34. it is a dangerous matter to aduenture a whole army vpon yoong souldiers and more dangerous it is to vndoe any through want of skill The reason is bicause men must not onely haue strength but wisedome and cunning in their weapons and sometime vse the stratagems of warre where policie and experience is woorth tenne thousand mens handes as wee may see in Iosuah cap. 8 4 5 6. and in the Israelites Iudg. 20. Wherfore make this vse in thy warfare of this doctrine howsoeuer thy cause be good thy strength be great and thy experience much yet neuer fight til thou haue cōmended the victorie to God 2. Sam. 10. 12. for God is the warrior which daunteth euery enemy and directeth euerie dart to the person appointed Be not too bold as the Israelites were Deut. 1. and were chased backe againe by the Amorites but vse deuotion to God and discretion in thy busines remember well that the sword cannot cut except the Lord whet it that thy arme cannot strike except God enable it that the enimie will not flie except he discomfort him and that victorie will not follow thee except God be on thy side Againe if thou bee an able man for the warre both in strength and skill come willingly when thou art called and refuse not to fight in a good cause although it bee against thy own brother Yeeld obedience to them that shall teach thee and as the captaine in the Gospell said that his souldiers did
and speake for thy conuersion Seest thou not the danger of life worse then death so long as thou liuest in an vnrepentant state there is but a little aire twixt thee and death there is but a little time twixt thee and hell Repentance is the Lordes gift and he giueth it to them that aske it I dare be bolde to saie that of all suites commenced before God this was neuer denied and if thou haue any minde to bee saued praie that thou maiest be conuerted Art thou dissolute in life and resolute in vanitie yet hearing some sermons of death and fearing some iudgements for thy sinnes wouldest willingly wish that thou couldest doe better and dost thou sometime wring out teares to see the preacher so earnest and yet by no meanes thou canst reforme thy life then commune with thy soule and praie to the Lorde that thou maiest so liue as hee hath taught and so die as thou shalt wish Praie I say not onely in companie but secretlie not for a season but continually not with an indifferent minde but with an earnest affection and then I assure thee drunkennes shall not drowne thee couetousnes shall not preuaile with thee pride shall not deface thee whoredom shall not vndoe thee stealing shall not shame thee the worlde shall not deceiue thee nor the flesh shall euer condemne thee Another vse is this seeing wee must aske repentance of God we must needes know our sinnes before we can repent them Ierem 3. 13. So then if thou wouldest praie most earnestly for thy conuersion and bring all thy euidence into the Lordes sight that hee might pronounce sentence on thy side thou must not come with general words say I am a sinner as other men are I haue liued sinfully as my neighbours haue done and I knowe I haue offended thy maiestie greeuously But thou must knowe thy sinnes thou must account them to knowe the number so neere as thou canst possible thou must weigh them vprightly fee which were directly against God and which were against thy neighbour thou must aggrauate them mightilie and make them as heinous as the greatest thou must condemne thy selfe open thy whole soule and abhor thy owne life Then shalt thou knowe thy sinnes that their number is infinite their rewarde is damnation that their power is execrable that their presence is intollerable Tell them as a couetousmā doth his siluer look on them as the husbandman doth his furrowe consider them as the carrier doth his loade condemne them as the iudge doth the theefe pray against them as a marriner against a storme fight against them as a souldier against an enimie accuse them as a lawyer doth his aduersarie and forsake them as a lambe doth a lyon Then shalt thou knowe that one sinne is woorth a soule that one drop of mercy is worth a world and that true repentance hath winges to beare thee vp to heauen If the preacher tell thee thy sinnes then knowe them if the lawe tell thee them then remember them if thy conscience accuse them then repent them if thy brother rebuke them then euer after loue him if the church reprooue then yeelde vnto it and if thy enimie cast them at thee yet receiue it for this will make thee know them and if thou know them thou wilt pray against them and if thou praie against them thou wilt repent them Turne you vnto me By this sentence wee may obserue that God neuer regardeth any of our sufferings or crosses till wee be repentant Or more plainly be it that our houses are burned our children murthered our inheritances remooued and our owne liues tormented yet all this doth not appease his wrath except wee adde contrition the which thing the prophet insinuateth when hee maketh this conclusion vpon all the former iudgements Therefore nowe saith the Lorde turne vnto me c. As if hee had vsed more wordes saying you O people haue had your land wasted with beastes your liues pined with famine your cattle mourning for foode the heauens obscured with darknes the earth quaking to trouble you and terrible thunders roaring to disquiet you yet for all this is not the Lord contented with you except you be repentant The selfe-same thing may wee see Esay 57 3 4 5. where the Lorde telleth them that it was not their fasting and sorrowes that he regarded but their vnfeined conuersion As a father hauing an euill sonne is not pleased with him bicause hee is whipped openly in the streetes or imprisoned and so arraigned for his follie except he bee repentant euen so is it with the Lorde hee regardeth not the punishment saith Augustine but the person that suffereth It is not our sufferings voluntarie or inuoluntarie our sicknes warre famine pouertie or bloud that can satisfie the Lord or saue our soules insomuch as after thou hast endured harde fits wicked slanders wrongfull oppressions many hungrie daies manie sharpe stripes and many dangers of death yet for all this without the ornaments of a christian thou are neuer the neerer to God Some will saie this is harde meate to be digested that the Lorde is not pleased nor pacified although hee punish vs why are not all these sufferinges the punishments of sinne and when wee are punished heere is not the Lorde too rigorous to punish vs also hereafter I answere wee suffer for our sinnes but not to satisfie for our sinnes for the rewarde of sinne is death euerlasting and all miseries which may bring vs to our ende Therefore excuse not your selues for pouertie or sicknes or famine or labour or slauerie or seruice or anie other crosse for a man may haue all this and yet bee a cast away The first reason heereof is Matth. 24. 8. That all the sufferinges of this life are but the beginning of sorrowes they are not one quarter of that vengeance which the Lord will take for our sinnes except we repent Oh consider the intollerable hande of the Lordes wrath which regardeth not our bloude nor woulde looke on a burnt sacrifice made of a whole nation and yet regardeth the broken harts cast down soules what are the plagues in the worlde to come and the wages of sinne in another life if heere wee may haue a pining sicknes a despised life an easelesse heart and an endlesse feare one man neuer lyeth in bed another neuer eateth bread another neuer liueth merrie day som lie tormented in a burning fire some bed-redden with the gout some tormented with a collicke some scalded to death some cut in peeces inchmeale some are put into furnaces of burning lead and yet all these are but the beginning of sorrowes and without repentance if it were possible for one man to endure all yet afterwarde he might goe to hell fire Another reason is bicause the sufferings of this life are alike common to good and bad vncircumcised and the people of God Ezec. 32. 28. Although God chasten euerie one that hee loueth yet he
reason hereofmay be this because no man can haue a perfect faith without the totall conuersion of the hart Rom. 10. 9. and men can neuer liue well that beleeue not well saith Augustine If thou haue one part of thy heart with the Lord bicause thou knowest the truth thou hast another part with the world in louing thy life so in part thou beleeuest God and beleeuest the diuell Canst thou brag of faith when thy heart is distracted louing and liking two contrarie maisters no verily thou deceiuest thy selfe thou canst not loue gold and beleeue in God thou canst not haunt thy pleasures and yet delight in the Gospell Therefore if thou wouldest haue a sound faith thou must first haue a sound hart conuert thy hart and then thy faith will follow if it bee thoroughly thou shalt haue a perfect faith but if thou doe it in part then is it but a painted bodie which can neither goe nor see Another reason because regeneration maketh the heart to bee one Ierem. 32. 39. Indeede they which wander in wickednes haue a hart and a hart but when we come to the Lord we must haue but one hart for the hart is the man wherein are treasured all kind of vnderstanding and knowledge therefore it must not be halfe of flesh and halfe of stone Ezech. 11. 19. but either all flesh or all stone for he that is in part prophane and in part a christian in very deede is no man And for this cause is hypocrisie of all sinnes most abhominable which maketh a man no man dissembling with God the world and himselfe with God in his hart with the world in his life and with himselfe in that he dissembleth Of all sinners fewest hypocrites are conuerted and of all persons are they most odious and therefore hell is called the lake burning with fire and brimstone prepared for hypocrites vnlesse then we will liue as they liue and die as they die we must turne our whole hearts to the Lord. The vses are these First that we draw neere vnto the Lord with a pure hart Heb. 10. 22. Puritie is ioyned with integritie therefore when our hearts be purest then are they fittest for the Lord. In olde time there straite steps to our feete least that which is halting be turned out of the way Heb. 12. 12. 13. we are in great danger by prolonging our amendment to haue all marred and turned out of the way therefore let vs awake ouer our soules that wee may saue those parts which are vnsound for there is not any man but hee hath some woundes and maymes in his soule which must bee speedilie cured or else the longer they runne the more miserable they growe It is a lamentable thing to see men to deferre their conuersion saying one yeere they will doe it next yeere and the next season they will plowe their harts and sowe it with the worde It is also a thing dangerous to lodge but one night in a knowne sinne and therefore as the Apostle saide of anger so we must of euerie other transgression Let not the Sunne goe downe thereon Make speede I beseech you to amende your liues to reclaime your hearts to forsake your vanities to renounce your errours and to put away your pleasures for if your hart delight in any thing beside God it denieth God if it keepe hir naturall corruption and cast it not foorth it blasphemeth God if it delay to returne it abuseth his mercie it despiseth his grace and condemneth it selfe Say not saith Salomon I will giue thee to morrowe when thou maiest to day The whole time of this life is a time of repentance and therefore looke howe much thereof wee spende not in repentance so much we shall want to doe it in which must euery day make vs neerer to the Lorde or neerer to hell The xx Sermon HAuing handled the exhortation vnto repentance nowe let vs proceede to the manner thereof With weepings fastings and mournings the which wordes require a seuerall treatise And first in that they are commanded to weepe we may obserue that with inwarde repentance there must be ioyned outwarde signes thereof and in occasion of greater and more forcible feeling of our sinnes wee shall wring out sorrowes more abundantly This thing is taught by the prophet Hos 14. 3 4. where hauing exhorted the Israelites to a newe life hee biddeth them to take the wordes of repentance and to make a publike profession thereof Peter repented and it was with teares for the Scripture saith hee wept bitterly The selfe same thing doe good men finde in themselues at this day for as where the bodie is wounded there issueth foorth some bloude so where repentance hath wounded the soule there will follow some bloud I meane the teares therof Carnall men thinke they haue repented if they say God forgiue me or I am sorrie for it although afterward they liue neuer so lewdly Looke vpon thy life and see what gutters the teares haue made in thy face which haue distilled from thy eies for thy sinnes looke also vpon the sacrifices of thy lips how lamentable thy praiers haue been before the Lord account with thy self where when thou diddest offer them for without praier thou couldest neuer be conuerted It may be thou hast not wept by reason of some natural infirmity but it must be that thou hast praied or else it cannot be that thou hast repented Therefore let not any man deceiue himselfe think that he hath repented till his life be turned from the world his minde from pleasure his face from ioye and his bodie from desire of sinning The first reason hereof may be this because the Lord hath redeemed vs Isa 44. 22. that is as the Lord hath shewed open tokens of his fauour toward vs so we must shewe open tokens of our repentance towarde him The which reason well considered will teach vs that there ought to bee as great loue in vs for our saluation as was in Christ for our redemption He cared not for his life that hee might saue vs why then should wee care for our owne liues and spare our sinnes he shed his blood and we sent our follies he gaue himselfe for our sinnes and yet we will not let him haue them There is none that is ignorant of this except he had repented hee must haue perished and therefore if thou repent not thou must be damned The Lord hath not beene carefull for thy soule that thou shouldest bee secure but his loue must be a patterne for thee to loue thy selfe All that he did was for thy soule he was reproched he was empouerished he was condemned and crucified for it that thou mightest endure all shame to repent them all pouertie to preuent them all iniuries to lament them and all deaths to mortifie them He walked many miles watched many nights fasted many daies and endured many afflictions that thou mightest labour much watch carefully abstaine continually and endure
thee a broome to sweepe thy passage that nothing hinder thee it is the key that openeth the gate of Christes mercie and a sure friende to sue out thy pardon Another reason is because Christ will not come but to such spirits Luc. 19. 10. so that if thou wouldst goe vp to Christ thy sorrow will lende thee wings if thou wouldest haue Christ to descend to thee thy sorrowe will perswade him Christ is the phisition of the minde and he will not come till thy minde be sicke As in winter the most raine falleth so in distresse of conscience most comforts come downe this doctrine bringeth great ioy of glad tidings which shal be to all harts where godly sorrow dwelleth But let vs not alway lament these sorrowes or rest in the graues of our easelesse cares but let our praiers be multiplied as our dangers are increased so doe the godly Hos 6. 1. Flie therefore to the Lord when thou feelest any smart in thy soule and let not musicall delights or pleasant companions entise with conceites to banish this greefe but let thy greefe be thy meate and drinke and the meanes to stirre thee vp to praier It is to be feared that many haue beene either vtterly condemned or desperately endangered by vsing worldly medicines for these heauenly sores for so soone as their harts waxe heauie by reason of their sinne they call for worldly delights which either driue them to desperation or harden them to condemnation Drinke is good to the thirstie but it is dangerous to them that are sicke of burning feauers in like sort vnto them that haue eaten poison so mirth is good but vse it not to driue away godly sorrow but abide it patiently with praier and fasting As thou seest thy sinnes so let the Lord heare thy praiers and as thy greefe for them is increased so let thy cries against them be multiplied Thinke whome thou hast offended wherewithall thou art greeued and how thou canst be pacified If thou be rich let thy closet bee thy sanctuarie if thou be poore let the woods and secret places be thy temple if thou haue little knowledge resort to them that haue more if thou be heauie and feelest no comfort yet pray still and giue not ouer for the ende shall bee blessed although the beginning bee desolate Againe as Hoseah teacheth chap. 14. 5. let vs in our mourning take with vs the hope of pardon or else a Christian soule shoulde haue no more feeling then a desperate wretch for we may lawfully perswade our selues how sharpe soeuer we feele our pangs and soule-fits yet there is neuer taken from vs the hope of pardon yea if faith bee not vtterly couered we may bee bolde to assure ourselues of victorie What then how if hope and faith be buried and we yeeld vnto death denying the sweete promises of Christ is not this desperation no verily for as there may bee life in the body although men cannot perceiue it so there may be in the soule although none discerne it for although Dauid said This is my death yet he recouered both life and peace of conscience Therefore a contrite spirit is alway regarded of God and if he euermore loue it in other hee doth also like it in thee Be patient the same hand which made the wounde shall heale the greefe and if thou feele a decay of grace stirre vp thy selfe more earnestly by calling on God and hold fast till the Lord come Receiue good comfort in the middest of thy sorrowes as a watchman espying the dawning long before it bee light although it be bitter in thy mouth it shall bee sweete after digestion and say I will abide the Lords leisure I will drinke his potion it is a cup but not of deadly wine I will receiue it for the purgation of my sinne although it make me sicke The xxj Sermon Vers 13. And rent your harts and not your garments and turne to the Lord your God for he is gracious and mercifull slow to anger and of great kindnes and repenteth him of the euill THese words are another part of the Prophets exhortation vnto repentance wherein hee noteth the greatest measure of Repentance vnder this metaphor Rent your harts Meaning the most extreme and comfortlesse paines in the action thereof not that indeed men should rip vp their breasts and rend in twaine their harts no more then when our Sauiour biddeth vs cut off the arme or plucke out the eie that offendeth vs wee should dismember our bodies for euery fall or ouersight But by the rending of the hearts wee are taught that the paines of true repentance exceede all other paines death excepted neither whipping of the body as the Iesuites do nor launcing it with kniues as the priests of Baal did or pricking it with bodkins or sickenes or famine or trauaile are comparable to repentance for these may bee quickly eased by man but the other cannot bee redressed but by God Vpon this the godly Israelites pray Iudg. 10. 15. that God would deliuer them meaning from the terrours of their sinne and lay whatsoeuer pleased him vpon them besides The insufferable wounds of a tormented minde are the onely paines which are like to the paines of hell so that neither brimstone nor fire commeth any thing so neer vnto it as this doth Wherupon it was said that good men haue their hell in this life meaning that the paines of repentance are so smart vnto them that it differeth many times verie little from the plagues of the other life Now I beseech you that are godly that haue long rested in this restles harbour to acknowledge with me the truth hereof and you that haue perswaded your selues that not onely teares but easie sighing grones doe goe for payment of your sinnes Learne of me this one lesson that your minds must be more perplexed and your hearts more inwardly vexed not onely for a day but for a longer time yea peraduenture a whole life that you may sing with all the godly The paines of hell came about me The first reason bicause that repentance is the dressing of the soules wound so that as the soule is more dangerous than the bodie so the wound therein must needs be more painfull then a wound in the flesh And for this cause are the ministers charged with the soules of men Heb. 13. 17. because they dresse not their woundes and shew not their sinnes that lie secret in their soules The which account is now a daies little regarded of many ministers ' and lesse of many people one careth not for their sinne and the other regardeth not their soule but the more they be the more is the pitie or rather the more shall be their iudgement Neither let vs be amazed to heare of these vnspeakable gripes of minde for they crie continually in the eares of God for mercie as a wound calleth for a salue Another reason because in repentance men feele the wrath of God against
fruitfull abounding with many a pleasant herbe let not thy hart be barren and stuffed with filthie stinking sins Come to the spirituall gifts of God see how many preachers thou hast to moue thee to repentance it is the end of preaching the fruit of hearing the motion of praier the sacraments signifie it the Spirit worketh it and the whole church of God liueth in it the bishop watcheth for it the doctor teacheth for it the worker of myracles doth witnesse it the poore mans boxe doth prooue it I cannot run ouer al it is sufficient that euery one do prooue it I would to God that any might preuaile The reason because God woulde be neere vnto all that call vpon him Psa 145. 18. he wil cōpasse vs about with a world of witnesses that they may draw vs to him or else to accuse our disobedience whom the heauēs could not win or the earth admonish or the church perswade or the spirite instruct that all these which could not work our health may further our death And seeing in euery place these are manifest in so much as we despise all warnings of God and his creatures it is most equall that we be pnnished with all torments of hell fire Seeing all things are notes vnto vs of the Lords fauour then assuredly if men will shew any care to serue him hee will neuer hide his face or punish vs extremely 2. Chron. 30. 9. Oh what a comfort is this to a troubled soule to haue all the creatures of the world to witnesse the Lords fauour the birds flying the beastes eating the corne standing the grasse growing and the houses ouer our heads are pledges vnto vs of the grace of God Then turne thee and consider not two or three but euery one in their kinde and thou shalt finde inestimable ioy Why doe men complaine for want of grace when all the world is ful of grace it pearseth the stones it cleaueth the rocks it shaketh the trees it quickeneth the beastes and it descendeth to the bottome of the earth onely the soules of men are not capable thereof Beginne now with thy selfe set these creatures as iudge arraigne thy soule as guiltie bring foorth thy guiltie conscience and waite for the sentence of condemnation Oh no saue thy selfe from these frowarde inuentions Turne I say a little shew a willing minde bring a ready hart pray for an ounce of godly sorrow and let the world and the gospell the creatures and the spirite the earth and the church the angels and the beastes encrease the same gather thou the wood they will blowe the fire thy care shall be augmented as the widowes oile by Elishah that thy debts shall be discharged thy trouble shall be eased thy life shall be amended and thy soule shall be blessed Seeing all the creatures of God doe remember vs of his grace then let euery creature be deere and precious vnto vs Gen. 1. 31. as a pledge of his fauour for the Lorde cōmendeth them all to be good And if he which wrought them doe so then much more ought wee for whose sake they were created Let vs then often meditate on the frame of the world the bodies of men the proportion of beastes and the little greene leaues shall minister vnto vs much instruction to reforme our liues we shall finde not one of them made for themselues but all of them for one another and especially for vs. Wherefore it cannot bee that we were borne for luxurie riot pleasure profite sorrowe loue ioy or hatred no not for the possession of our selues but for the possession of the Lord. Consider these things and thou shalt finde all time too little not spent herein and all ioy but vanitie that is not applied to this When thou canst not heare the worde reade it when thou canst not reade then meditate on it when thou art wearie of meditation then turne to the creatures and solace thy selfe in them as in a most pleasant garden of many sweet flowers marke their diuersitie in colour strange in number infinite in making contrarie and yet in vse all one euen for thy sake that thou mightest be for the Lords glorie Marke their growth that thou maist growe so and their death for thou shalt die so and their spring for thou shalt arise in the sommer of all pleasures with them in the kingdome of heauen Mercifull The second reason is taken from the Lords mercie and that therefore if they will repent he will pardon Wherein I might tell you many thinges woorth the learning of the Lordes mercie and shew you by many arguments howe the scripture in many places doth expresse it sometime naturally as to men and beasts Psal 36. 6. sometime to good and bad Mat. 5. to his church through Christ Luc. 1. 78. and all these he meaneth in this place when hee saith that God is mercifull not simply through Christ whereby he saueth his church but also through himselfe whereby he loueth al his creatures From hence obserue that the mercie of God must leade men to repentance 1. Sam. 12. 24. The which is cleane contrary to the course of the worlde which take it for a libertie of sin and make it not a necessitie to repentance but a good childe is more afraid of a gentle and a kind father then of a sterne and seuere and we if we be the children of God must be as much terrified from sinne with the sweete songs of Sion as with the loud thunder claps of Sinai be as subiect to the Lords censure in his sweete mercies as other in the fearfull curses of the Law Therefore let not our time of peace our healthie bodies our large possessions our heaps of treasure our sweete children and all other mercies of God make our harts fat but let vs vse all these to awake vs from sinning and to restraine vs from offending him that defendeth vs with them yea let vs weepe moe teares for hauing them then for wanting them that we may enioy the promises of this life and of the life to come The first reason because they are mercifull which loue mercie and therefore blessed Matt. 5. 7. If we would see a token of our pitifull harts then let vs thinke how the sweete promises of the Gospell haue pearced them It is no wonder to see such bloodie minds in Papists because they make small account of the Lords mercie teaching vs that men may satisfie for their sinne and for this cause they thirst after blood for the breach of their canons But yet let vs beware how we perswade men to relie on the mercie of God for they say wee teach men to trust to mercie and to liue vily but let vs exhort one another in the Lord that we walke woorthie of his mercie and vse his abundant clemencie for a promptor vnto repentance Another reason because God is more delighted with his mercie then with our sacrifice Hos
doe not alway mooue him and shall we then tempt him to our and others euerlasting destruction in his wrath hee is an vnquenchable fire an vnresistable flood an vnpacifiable iudge and a destroyer of all that come in his way But alas with teares we may lament to see him prouoked euery day who is so sicke that sinneth not against him who is so weake that striueth not with him who is so vnwise that pleadeth not with him Looke with teares ouer all sorts of men the poore despise him the lame run from him the blinde come not at him the dumbe speake against him the rich will not feare him and the dead will not confesse him By all meanes we prouoke his wrath by tempting by murmuring by denying by abusing and abasing his glorie We tempt him in thinking he will pardon whatsoeuer we commit we murmur when wee haue not all our desires we denie him when we esteeme not his gospell we abuse him vsing our wealth to luxurie and our meate to gluttonie and wee abase him when wee more feare a mortall mans displeasure then the wrath of the highest When we see the Lord being angrie and so hardly pacified let vs vse all meanes to please him againe although it bee with the hazard of our owne liues as Moses did Deut. 9. 18 19. perceiuing the Lord to be mooued to wrath he fell downe on his face to entreate him for his people tarrying with him fortie daies and fortie nights neither eating nor drinking yea he desired God to be pacified with his people although he rased his name out of the booke of life What coulde bee done with greater zeale or more earnest affection the Lorde was angrie who coulde appease him but Moses and how could he be satisfied but with offering his body to death through fasting and his soule vnto condemnation Marke it I beseech you that we al learne with more zeale to entreate the Lord to be turned towarde vs. Offer we must our bodies to pining our members to tortures our health to sicknesse our wealth to pouertic our pleasure to paine and our life to death rather then the wrath of God shoulde proceede vpon vs. Oh let vs come vnto the Lord and offer him his whole man to satisfie his mercies neither be afraide to doe so but put it in speedie practise Come to him though thou be lame run to him though thou be blinde pray to him though thou be sicke and trust in him though thou be poore Abide not one miserie but all miseries that thou maist dwell with him neither care for the rage of man the want of maintenance the loue of friends or the feare of death for if thou loue these more then him thou art not woorthy of him Hauing willed the sucking babes to come to mourning he also inuiteth the new married folkes bridegroomes and brides to leaue of their vsuall dalliance and come among their neighbours to this sorrowfull banket From whence we obserue that wee must not in any thing be it neuer so lawfull hinder true repentance or the profession of godlinesse For there is nothing more honaurable then marriage more lawfull then a wedding feast more vsuall then pleasant mirth and more commendable then a ioyfull marriage day but all these being hinderances vnto repentance must bee laide aside as a mourner doth his daily attire Wee may reade Luc. 14. 21. how they were cursed that came not to the Lords feast among whome there was one that had married a wife it shall be no excuse before the Lord that they did but the course of the world in vsing these things it were better for vs to forsake our wiues then to loose our soules to renounce our mirth then to relinquish our liues to deferre our pleasure then to depart from the Lord. Let this I beseech you be your care in the Lord that you offend him not in the vse of his creatures neither let those comforts which you receiue in wedlocke in feasting in riches in beautie and the like worke your euerlasting discomfort in another worlde Liue not in mirth for then thou canst not repent reioice not in youth for it is but vanitie distrust thy ioyes for they are deceitfull be not alway mourning for thou canst not be thankfull bee euer repentant that thou maiest bee faithfull One reason heere of is giuen by the Lorde himselfe Ierem. 7. 34 bicause a desolation shall come and of all reasons there is none more forcible then the rod of vengeance and desolation so that in this sort might Ieremy and Ioel and other the Lordes ministers reason with the worlde Laie away your mirth let not the voice of musicke the day of marriage the means of ioyfulnesse or the comfort of pleasure bee had or heard among you for a desolation shall come Drawe the childe from the breast the elders from their ease the married from their loue and the people from their vanitie for a desolation commeth Houses shall be desolate without inhabitants parents shall be desolate without children cities shall be desolate without citizens and whole kingdomes shall bee desolate without professors Therefore put away this ioy like an vnlawfull wife come againe to the Lord with much weeping and reioice not in thy youth or thy age or thy wealth or thy friends or thy marriage Another reason bicause by this kinde of mirth we growe to hardnes of hart and neglect the wrath of God Amos 6. 1 5. It is much that men esteeme not the faire promises and sweete blessings of God but yet it is more fearefull when they make light account of his heauy iudgements Now if you marke who they be that care not for iudgement you shall see that they are those who eate in abundance liue in pleasure enioying wealth and children at their will and want is not knowne vnto them Againe poore people liuing in continuall scarsitie and are content with simple allowance hauing learned the feare of God a shower of raine and a cloudie day humbleth their knees to the earth and lifteth their praiers to heauen Let vs learne not to reioice in any vnlawfull manner all the time that the church of God is in aduersitie Psal 137. 2 3 4. Good men in captiuitie commanded by their enimies to sing one of the songs of Sion refused it bicause they were in a strange lande and so if we hope for mirth and ioy in another worlde let vs refuse it as much as may be in this life present for we be but strangers and pilgrims on the earth And verily if wee consider the matter well we haue as many causes to lament olde and yoong married and vnmarried as these people had to whom Ioell preached Famine was threatned to them but felt of vs they were vnder the Babylonian gouernment and we are subiect to the tyrannie of sathan they had abused manie benefites and prophets of God and so haue we they had reioiced in many worldly pleasures and
eares and hand and heart to theirs when they are humbled fall thou downe when they are praying praie with them when they are hearing heare with them when they are singing sing with them and when they are mourning lamenth with them If they ioine in petition to God oh account it happinesse for thee to subscribe thy name for they are blessed that are ioyned to the fellowship of the saints Another vse if wee must seate our selues in most conuenient place to heare then let vs also frequent the places of praier and religion When the church was compelled to a riuers side in steede of a cathedrall church Act. 16. 15. Lydia the purple woman resorted thither and once she had her hart opened and conuerted to the Lord In like manner let vs resort to the churches for at one time or other we may boldly assure our selues that we shall receiue the pledge of life eternall But in our daies men are so affected to this doctrine that the diuell laugheth at it and good men lament it for either they come not at all as the ghestes which were bid to a wedding or else they come without conscience as he did without a wedding garment or else they are present without attention as Eutyches that fell on sleepe at Paules preaching or else they depart out of our assemblies as Iudas did from Christ when hee went to betray him Standing times of praier in the church some say are of Poperie and in the house they are of other condemned for puritanisme so that godly praiers being the sword of the spirite are now growen rustie and dull that few mens sins or liues or harts are parted therewith But my deere brethren come to the times of praier and binde your selues not onely publikely but also priuately with seuere vowes and pay them to the Lord for so shall the fire of the spirite be kindled in you the holy Ghost shall raigne in you the saints shall be comforted by you and you shall trie that all things are possible to a Christian Spare thy people Now we are come to the praier which the prophet teacheth the priestes to make for the people which is thus much in effect Wee haue no refuge but to flie to thee O Lord we are guiltie of the punishment but yet thou maist stay thy hand and spare our liues Giue vs not ouer wee pray thee that our enemies reioice not ouer vs and blaspheme thy blessed name we are the fields of thine owne inheritance reuenge our cause from the handes of strangers oh spare vs that we may serue thee First out of the beginning of this praier we may note that petitioners and those which are suiters to the throne of grace must alway pleade guiltie in the presence of God Luc. 18. 12 13. The example of the Publican prooueth this that the Lord loueth vs better when we tell him of our follies then when we shew him our vertues The Lord which will seldome helpe till there be no helpe but in his mercie biddeth vs alway to condemne our selues so that when wee thinke most basely of our natures and speake most vilely yet truly of our liues and confesse most bitterly against our selues then are we most nigh to the end of our praiers For this cause let vs meditate before praier that we may sufficiently waigh our miseries and more lamentably bewaile our wants and more ardently pray for his mercie that we may more comfortably enioy his fauour The reasons hereof because there is not one man liuing that can bee iustified before God Psal 143. 1 2. but euery man is an vnprofitable seruant for which cause we must alway accuse our sins and call for pardon at the Lords hand This reason being knowen of the baser and wickeder sort they imagine that they haue gained a sufficient charter to continue in their euill why say they the most righteous are guiltie in the Lords sight and what are we more Doe what wee can yet we shall sinne and we can but craue pardon of him for many as well as for few but this is a wicked and an accursed reason For although the best fall into many enormities yet ought not you to sinne good men fall into sinne but you dwell in sinne they are sorrie for them but you delight in them Dauid sinned was therefore Absolom or Achitophel vnpunished because Peter denied his maister might therefore Iudas betray him or because one man falleth into debt by sicknesse may you therefore fall into debt through riot if a sound body doe now and then fall into sicknesse then hee which hath a crazie body had neede to looke to himselfe so if men of sound soules doe fall into euils you which haue sicke soules must bee much more carefull of your health Another reason our Sauiour giueth Luc. 18. 14. for the Lord resisteth the proude and giueth grace to the humble and meeke therefore ought wee to increase in the numbring of our sinnes that the Lord may aduance vs to the beholding of his mercie Let vs be assured if we pray without sorrow we doe but mocke the Lord but if we sorrow with earnest praier we prepare many ioyes for our soules First let vs learne that our praiers must bee ardent and continuall in the eares of the Lord as the Israelites were Iudg. 10. 3. to 13. for as we haue a continuall occasion of sinning so we must take continuall occasion of praying Who is he that hath beene but a little while in the practise of christianitie and hath not learned this lesson My sinnes are euer in my sight too heauie a burden for me to beare therefore as he which is vexed with a continuall want laboureth in a continuall worke and hee which hath a continuall sicknesse turneth on euery side to finde ease so must we which are euermore oppressed with sinne be euermore praying for helpe As the greatest burdens make the porters sweate the greatest drops so will our sinnes if we feele them make vs sweate drops of blood to be released of them therefore pray till thou be heard and take for thy example the poore widow which woulde neuer giue ouer till the iudge had righted her cause neither doe thou cease to pray til thy soule doe cease to sinne Many pray through want but not with want and for grace but not with grace they are cold and not continuall in their suites Who is so hard harted seeing a poore man with as many sores as his body can beare running after him a mile or twaine and begging but a penny that coulde denie him in like manner if wee shewe all our sores and sinnes and miseries vnto the Lord continually that when our voice is wearie our harts may speake and when our harts are sleepie our wounds may crie for mercie so that we may neither eate nor sleepe till we know our sinnes be pardoned Let vs neuer be afraide to come to the Lord notwithstanding we finde
our selues neuer so sinful Psal 9. 9 10. although we bee neuer so poore in spirit yet let vs know that ours is the kingdome of heauen So that if thou reason with the diuell himselfe who will if it be possible deceiue thy soule telling thee that thou art more vile then others and therefore it is but follie for thee to call on God for mercie yet say to thy soule that the Lord neuer despiseth the sighings of the poore although I haue sinned yet I haue sorrowed although I haue neglected grace yet with the Lord there is more grace be it that I haue no goodnesse in me the more neede haue I to goe to God the author of goodnesse Men seeke not to the phisition in health but in sicknesse and the more desperate is their disease the more speedily they sollicite him and a good phisition commeth quickly so I want the health of my soule and I see death standing at the doore and knocking for me therfore my praier shall goe to the Lord my physition and I knowe that he will speedily come vnto me He abhorreth not my weakenesse he hateth not my person he willeth not my destruction and therefore wil I pray for saluation I am exceeding base but he will bende to me I am very poore but he will giue mee the riches of the spirite I am a sinner and he is a Sauiour why shoulde I not goe vnto him and fall downe lowe vpon his footestoole for hee neuer despiseth the sighing of the contrite Giue not thine heritage That is the people whom thou diddest take vnto thy self aboue al the nations of the world from hence we may obserue as in a singular metaphor how deere the church is vnto God Deut. 4. 20. euen as deere as any mans inheritance is to himselfe for indeed an inheritance doth very fitly resemble and shadow out vnto vs the nature and condition of the church First because it is not woorth any thing except a man do plant sow the same and so is it in the church wherin if the Lord plow not and sow not there can no good thing grow therein Againe an inheritance is sometimes sold away for the barrennes thereof so when the church groweth secure and bringeth not foorth good fruits the Lord giueth it ouer for a season to be spoyled by strangers Againe if an inheritance will no way be amended then is it accursed and burned Heb. 6. 8. so if no means will reclaime the world from their wicked life then he accurseth them and giueth them ouer to the fire of hell Also as a man taketh singular comfort in his inheritance so the Lord doth in his church and as a man hedgeth and encloseth his inheritance to keepe it from being wasted euen so the Lord hath set a brazen wall about his church the which all the diuels in hell shall neuer be able to ouerthrow but men and angels shall fight for their safegarde and maugre sinne and hell they shall endure as the earth doth euen for euer and euer The first reason because hee might powre his blessing on it Esa 19. 25. for hee hauing many most excellent benefits in store hath made choise of his church to powre foorth all that he hath thereupon for whether we consider the blessings of this life or the benefits of the life to come they are all ordained for the good of them that be godly He is wise to instruct vs he is mightie to defend vs he is liberall to maintaine vs he is mercifull to receiue vs for our sakes were the heauens created the earth established the waters remooued and the fruits appointed for our sakes were the angels condemned the sonne of God crucified and the age and yeeres of the world is plunged Another reason because we should be holy vnto him Deut. 19. 2. Of all the creatures of this worlde there is none that can bee holy vnto the Lord saue onely mankinde for they are the image of God and if the lande whereupon Moses stood was holy much more is the land of our harts holy whereupon the Lord himselfe standeth for he raigneth in vs. And this is the cause why the Lorde hath made vs his inheritance that we should serue him in holines and righteousnes all the daies of our life for the heauens are holy whither wee are going the angels are holy with whom we shall dwell the church is holy wherein we liue and therefore we must bee holy or else we are accursed Seeing we are the inheritance of God purchased by his sonne then let not any of vs liue to our selues but to him that redeemed vs 2. Cor. 5. 15. how many waies might I vrge this doctrine that as the earth beareth not fruit for it selfe but for vs so should not we eate the fruits of our owne labours but offer them to the Lord. Our harts are the grounds our bodies are the hedges God his law is the plough the worde is the seede and himselfe is the husbandman Oh let vs not be ploughed and planted in vaine let vs not frustrate the Lords expectation and our soules saluation If we were but seruants yet we ought to worke for our hire but being his inheritance we must liue and die day and night to beare him fruit wee cannot put him away but he may put vs away our fruits do not profit him and yet the want of them will curse vs. Let vs not be for the weedes of sinne nor for pleasures to feede on as bullockes do on pasture-land but let vs bee his garden of sweete flowers his vineyard of fruitfull grapes his field of fine planted wheat and his possession for an euerlasting inheritance Let our words be as gratious fruit let our religion be as pretious pearle let our loue be as rockes of golde and let our bodies bee as fruitfull garners let vs bring him all for first fruits tenthes and offerings and sacrifices that we may be his blessed land vnto the worlds end Another vse seeing we are the Lords inheritance we may see that the Lorde will be very hardly driuen to forsake vs for he gaue a lawe Numb 27. that none shoulde sell awaie their inheritance but at the ende of fiftie yeeres euery one should reclaime thereunto So that if the Lord shall giue ouer his inheritance as hee did Israell Hos 5. 15. the case is very desperate but not perpetuall A man that hath manie barren fieldes doth not presently sell them away no more the Lorde which hath many barren soules in the compasse of his church doth presently forsake them but rather dresseth them by the ministerie of the worde that they may be made fruitefull Oh heare this you that are in the Lordes folde although he beare for a season with your barren hearts and suffer you manie yeeres to lie in rest thinking at the last you will bring him some profit bring it foorth with speede or else knowe that the Lorde which redeemed you from
hell will once againe commit and bequeath you to condemnation as the fruitles fig tree was Thinke not your selues happie that you liue so long before you bee called to beare for verily long agoe were you appointed and called to yeelde him his haruest If therfore you wil not striue to yeeld it thinke that God wil reape where he did not sowe and gather where he did not lende and hee will tarrie no time for the figge tree bore no fruit bicause the time of fruites was not come yet was it reprobated So if God come to thee although thou neuer were able to yeelde him any commoditie yet he will regarde himselfe and not thee his expectation and not thine his glory and not thy welfare for he which is hardlie prouoked is more hardly pacified neither sparing in his rage man woman beast or angell That the heathen These wordes containe another grounde of their praier wherein they desire that the Lorde woulde spare them least that by reason of famine they shoulde be driuen to the Lordes enimies for succour or else they feared that when their scarsitie shoulde bee noised abroade the heathen woulde come conquer them From hence we may obserue that there is not any thing more odious to godly mindes then that the heathen idolatrous men without religion should rule ouer them Psal 74 4 5. As it is vnnaturall and dangerous that men shoulde bee ruled by beastes sheepe by woolues and little birdes by the great hauke euerie minute threatening to teare them in peeces so is it when good men are driuen through want or warre or loue or feare of life to seeke harbour among the enimies of God Well they know that their libertie is woorse then imprisonment and that the highest place of dignitie among the wicked is inferior to the lowest in the church of God as Dauid saide I had rather keepe a dore in the house of God then to dwell in the tents of wickednes What pleasure haue we of sight liuing in darknes or of health liuing in imprisonment or of strength liuing in bondage or of meate liuing in sickenes and no more shall we haue of all worldly things when we are in the lande of heathens The first reason bicause in the dominion of the wicked there is no conscience of bloode or care of equitie Ezech. 22. 27. They turne their subiects to slauerie their widowes to destruction their children to beggerie and they send heapes of dead carkeises at one time to the graue they care not for religion neither respect the king of heauen and earth Although the streetes flowe with bloode and the liuing be not sufficient to burie the dead yet if they may raigne they care not Life and liuing and honestie is nothing woorth among them They denie God persecute his church and burne his worde most wickedly they regard not olde men rauish women and murther children villanouslie They take away houses landes rentes goods patrimonies and wiues from them that possesse them and therefore there is no greater crosse then to liue vnder the gouerment of a heathen Another reason bicause their wickednes shall be a continuall heart-burning vnto them 2. Pet. 2. 7. Psalm 120. 5. Their eares shall heare their blasphemies their eies shall see their idolatrie and their liues shall feele their treacheries All thinges shall bee lawfull among them saue goodnes for nothing is lawfull that tendeth to godlines Oh how will this grieue a godly soule to heare his Sauiour reuiled true religion slandered the godly to be hated the worlde to bee loued the diuell to bee worshipped and heauen to bee neglected Hee must not speake for feare of death he must not pray but in secret hee shall not dare to disclose himselfe hee shall finde no neighbours nor friends nor followers nor comfort among them The first vse Let vs therefore forsake the fellowship of vnbeleeuers Esay 52. 12. whose presence is damnable whose liues are abhominable whose profession is execrable and whose ende is condemnation of these the worlde is filled and yet we must auoide them Let vs not bee defiled with their sinnes nor corrupted with their manners nor allured with their pleasures but go out from the middest of them They are hated of God possessed of diuels bewitched with vanities and professed miscreants Howe shall wee loue God and dwell among them but either the anger of God or the loue of the worlde or the baite of lustes or the inchantments of vanities will drawe vs away Oh let vs take our selues to desolate places and rather dwell with the brute beastes then with these godles persons we cannot trust them we may not liue with them we must flie from them or else be condemned among thē therefore put them from your houses and from your tables and from your conference and from your friendship I knowe you woulde bee ashamed to bee seene daily conuersing with an open and shamelesse harlot therefore much more be ashamed and forsake their company whose liues are like beasts whose hearts are like heathens whose faces are like harlots and whose actions proceed of euill I tell you their waies do leade vnto death and their lodgings are chambers of hell Where is nowe their God That is either they are not the Lordes people that are thus afflicted or else their God is no God that cannot deliuer them From hence wee may gather that it is the propertie of wicked men if they get aduantage against a professour of religion then presently they turne it against God himselfe and fall to reuiling his glorious maiestie Psal. 74. 10. So in our times if any haue any small profession of religion and doe fall into the handes of the worlde then presentlie they scoffe and scorne and laugh and deride Christ the Gospell religion and all the followers thereof If they happen to be poore why wil an atheist say canst thou not get thy liuing by hearing of Sermons If they bee rich men their faults shall be aggrauated The reason heereof is bicause they might be knowne to be not so much enimies to the godly as to God himselfe like the Iewes that crucified Christ Matth. 27. Let vs rather lament them that fall into their enimies handes then reioice at their sinnes and ouerthrowes let vs know that the Lord will surely take their cause into his owne hande and seuerely punish such intollerable blasphemie as he did in Rabsakeh and the king of Syria Esay 37. although their wordes bee great their pride be infinite their power glorious their mindes ambitious and their crueltie extreme yet will and shall the Lorde defende his name and truth and children from all their blasphemies and this shall bee a cause of their more speedy destruction The xxvj Sermon Vers 18. Then will the Lorde be iealous ouer his people and spare his land NOw at the length by the mercifull assistance of the Almightie are we come to the last part of this prophesie wherein as in the
former wee haue heard the wonderfull troubles vpon the afflicted Iewes so now we shall heare the same spirite assisting vs the singular comforts and promises which the prophet maketh vnto them vnto the ende of this prophesie These comforts are either the restitution of their owne abundance in this whole chapter following or the promise for the ouerthrow of their enimies in the last chapter vnto themselues in this chapter he promiseth worldly benefits vnto the 27. vers and spirituall benefites or graces from the 27. to the ende The worldly blessings are of two sortes First that hee will spare them from farther vengeance vers 18. Secondlie that he will heape on them many benefites In this vers he promiseth to be iealous ouer his land and spare his people Meaning that hee will watch ouer them with a reuenging hand to annoy and destroy all those that rise against them For iealousie signifieth an inordinate loue tending to reuenge Num. 25. 13. In this verse considering the order which the prophet maketh in that he first exhorteth them to repentance to praier and so presently descendeth to these sweete promises following wee may obserue that so soone as a man hath repented so soone is he capable of the tender mercies of God All this while wee haue heard of no mercie but iudgements threatning and thundering most fearefull wrath but now at length after some woorthie exhortations to repentance commeth this cheerefull promise of mercie to tell vs that we can no sooner repent on earth but the Lord will seale our remission in heauen Iob. 11. 14. 15. Naamans seruant told him that the Prophet bad him an easie thing when hee said goe wash and bee cleane and therefore if he would not wash he should not be cleane so is it but a short commaundement that wee should be repentant and then be saued therefore if men will not repent it is no pitie if they be not saued Oh I would to God that they might goe out of this life as free from sinne as Naaman went out of Israell free from leprosie but if the promises of God cannot be had without repentance no more then a cable roape can goe through the eie of a needle except it be spun as fine as any thread then are they like to lye on the Lords owne hand for there are but few that will buye them so deerely rather had they passe a short life without promises in the possession of vanities then lead a sorrowfull life in the fruition of godlines so that the contrarie shall bee saide to them that heere the Prophet speaketh God will neuer bee iealous ouer them and spare their soules The first reason because in repentance we mitigate the intolerable wrath of God Ion 3. 3. that thing which the euerlasting paines of hell cannot performe may be redressed by the sorrowes of our harts the teares of our liues for no blood no money no riches no torments nor any friends can appease the Lords wrath but a sorrowfull perplexed spirit can doe away all For as the ground is fit for the seed when it is ploughed so a heart is fit for the Lord when it is broken By this we may see what is the folly of wicked men for if by repentance good men escape damnation then without repentance euill men shall possesse damnation Tell me haddest thou leifer be drunk one meale and then fast for euer after or fast at one meale and then eate for all thy life following Canst thou not abide two or three blowes with a rod to auoide ten thousand with an iron scourage or were thou not better haue thy nailes pared then suffer thy fingers to be cut off and rather suffer a little blood to be taken from thee then let all thy life be lost so endure here mourning for an hower rather then in hell for euer and abide here the chastisement of God his worde rather then in hell the punishment of diuels let thy life loose all her ioy rather then thy soule should loose her saluation Another reason because it worketh or bringeth life eternall Act. 11. 28. now life eternall is all in all he that can haue this what matter is it though his life be poore his bodie be starued his name be odious his miseries be tedious his libertie be closed vp in irons his health be layed vp in sickenes and his friends be turned into mortall foes what are all these if a man be assured of heauen surely lighter then feathers easier then soft beds and welcommer then a long life Nay rather what are all things without life eternall great liuings daintie fare many friends obedient seruants goodly houses easie daies soft beds and long life but as the pleasant sting of a serpent which a while doth so tickle the veines and sinewes of the bodie that it delighteth euery member but in the end it swelleth the body poysoneth the blood breaketh the veines and destroyeth the life so are the goods of this life without the goods of the world to come Let vs therefore make this vse thereof that if it be but to dwell in our land let vs be repentant Ierem. 25. 5. God will not spare our land till we haue repented Oh how fearfull is it to thinke that we should begge in Italy or Spaine or Fraunce when we may enioy our reuenewes in England Let vs weepe at home that we lament not in other lands let vs sorrow in our houses that we complaine not in forreine prisons Now would the Lord feed vs with the finest flower the sweetest hony the fattest oxen and the best lambes in the flocke Oh why should we abuse all these to be carried where wee shall want all sustenance for life Some men hold their landes by suite of law and continuall danger let vs bestow as much for repentance to hold ours as they do to defend theirs Let vs repent for our selues for our possessions for our wiues and children and for our bodies and soules or else all will be taken from vs. Another vse God will neuer withdraw his mercy from a repentant man Zech. 1. 3. and this was it that our Sauiour meant when he said that all things are possible to him that beleeueth namely that he should begin continue and end well Feare not the assistance of God in any trouble or triall or death or affliction if thou haue repented for thou shalt hold out to the end Repentance made Abraham to trauell longer and be well contented it made the Israelites to waite for Christ it incouraged the Martyres to die for Christ therfore if thou haue repented thou maiest boldly assure thy self that thou shalt haue patience in euery trouble zeale in all thy life and comfort in any distresse and abilitie for euery temptation with power to abide death and glorie to reward thy soule For although thou maist slip after thou hast repented yet thou canst not finally perish for all the sinnes done after
grace he giueth more also as Salomon asking for wisedome obtained wisedome and riches or as Ruth desiring to gleane after the reapers Boaz gaue hir leaue to gather among the sheaues and at length made hir ladie and mistresse of all hee had Seeke therefore the kingdome of God and the righteousnesse thereof and all other thinges as godly children obedient families plentie of victuals peace of life length of daies and glorie euerlasting shall be heaped on thee Againe if abundance followe the profession of religion then it is manifest that when plentie faileth religion also faileth Ierem. 9. 12 13. For as there can bee no preaching when there is no minister so there can be no plentie when there is no professing Oh this cutteth our nation to the quicke for the Lorde by this dearth doth auouch to our faces that there is among vs as great decay of his church as of corne and the seede of the worde hath beene as much choaked and drowned in the hearts of men as the seede of the earth hath beene choaked and drowned in the fieldes of men and what remaineth but as the Prophet saith that the Lorde feede vs with wormewoode and giue vs the bitternesse of gall to drinke I feare greatly if our miserie continue our religion will be cleane abolished and if our want be now redressed we shall be shortly cast into a bed of comfortles troubles for as yet I cannot see any generall or continuall repentance in lamentation Thirdly when the Lorde promiseth them to deliuer them from the reproch of the heathen we may note that it is a great blessing of God to be deliuered from slander Iob 5. 21. To liue without slander it is impossible except wee coulde liue without sinne And therefore if at any time thou bee suspected and defamed praie vnto the Lorde to bee deliuered from it The reasons First bicause life and death are in the power of the toong Prouer. 28. 21. So then who can continue life or bring death but God alone Secondly slanderous toongs doe hate them that are in affliction that is they will then more greeue them and belie them bicause they thinke then will euery body beleeue them Marke this thing well and you shall see that it is the common practise of this age Let vs not open our eares to euerie tale or take heede or aske what other men saie of vs Eccle. 7. 23. for that will hurt vs. And let vs refraine our toongs frō slander or else we haue no religion Iam. 1. 26. The xxvij Sermon Verse 20. But I will remooue farre off from you the northren armie and I will driue him into a lande barren and desolate with his face toward the east sea and his ende to the vtmost sea and his stinke shall come vp and his corruption shall ascende because he hath exalted him selfe to do this AFter the promise of plentie followeth the remoouing away of the Northren armie which are the Locusts palmers and the other noisome beastes who came by a northren winde and therefore are called the Northren armie whom hee will driue away into the wildernesse where they shall all starue and neuer come againe with their face or forefront to the east sea that is the dead sea which lay eastwarde so called bicause neuer any fish coulde liue therein And this is that sea which now couereth all the lande of Sodom and Gomorhe called the lake Asphaltite And his end to the vtmost sea That is the great sea which is called the Mediterranean sea And his stinke shall ascende Meaning there they shoulde lie vnburied and their filthines ascend and remaine odious to God and men From hence when he saith that he wil driue away wee must note that it is onely the Lorde that must take away from vs all noisome and hurtfull things Deut. 32. 39. We haue touched this doctrine alreadie when we shewed in the former chapter that no iudgement can bee remooued by naturall meanes The first reason bicause by this meanes hee is knowne to be the God of the world Exod. 7. 17. Againe as his hand sendeth euill Amos 3. 7. so his hande must remooue euill Esay 49. 9. Let vs therefore learne howsoeuer wee bee annoied to seeke for helpe of God and as we haue beene often admonished let the afflictions of the body wring foorth the teares and praiers of the soule Againe seeing God will driue from vs all hurtfull thinges let vs not feare the sting of death nor the power of the graue Hos 13. 14. And if we beleeue that God shall raise vs vp from death to life why shoulde we thinke that beastes or birdes or afflictions shall euer preuaile against vs It is the better for vs that God alone doth this thing and not our selues for our power is often weakned but his hande and strength is alway mightie Secondlie when he bringeth in the wildernes and dead sea to receiue these deuouring beastes Hee teacheth vs that there is as good vse of the barren as of the plowed lande and of the sea where nothing liueth as of the sea where all engender for these are made to destroy as the other are made to builde vp Whereby we may see that all the creatures of the worlde doe helpe God against his enimies to performe his wrath Ios 10. 12. The cloudes throwe downe stones and the Sunne stoode still a whole day till Iosuah had discomfited all his enimies The first reason bicause they wil not helpe them that God persecuteth Esay 15. 6. Dauid woulde not spare the men that slew Ishboseth his enimie and much more will not the creatures spare or helpe them that are enimies to God Againe the day of wrath is a day of affliction Esay 22. 5. and therefore the creaatures are afraide of iudgement themselues And as Iezabels messengers followed and turned after Iehu hir enimie so all the creatures of God turne after him when he is in war to destroy sinners Let vs therefore learne to look vpon our creator Esay 17. 7. that in this time when time of repentance may be had For as the inhabitants of Ceilah woulde haue betraied Dauid to Saul that hee might slaie him so woulde all the creatures of the Lorde deliuer and betraie vs vnto him though more iustly that he may make an ende of vs. God is almost forgotten among men to be their creator for they giue more reuerence to their parents then to him therefore will the creatures forget vs and deliuer vs vp for spies and enimies as Ioseph gaue Simeon his brother into prison Againe let this generall obedience of the creatures cause vs to walke more righteouslie Esay 33. 15. 16. or else they will one day be reuenged bicause wee haue caused them to bee subiected vnto vanitie What a greeuous thing is it that these dumbe creatures shoulde receiue when God giueth and giue when God asketh and obey when God commaundeth
Againe let rich men especially looke to themselues Iam. 5. 1. for they for the most part esteeme more of gaine then of grace and of a great gentleman though he be an infidell then of a poore and true member of Christ Let them remember how fewe good rich men are named in the Scriptures and let them alway set before their eies that most dreadful saying of our Sauior It is easier for agable to goe thorough the eie of a needle then for a rich man to enter into heauen Let them bee liberall to good vses courteous to euery christian sparing in all expenses humble in all authoritie not gorgeous but clothed with Christ not couetous but open handed not ambitious but content with their place and not infidels but as farre exceede other in faith as they doe in wealth He shall giue you the first raine In those countries they had ordinarily two raines in the yeere especially desired wherof the first was most acceptable when they first sowed their seede and the latter raine was in the spring of the yeere which is here called the first moneth answering in some part to our March and Aprill because the world was made as it were in the spring of the yere But in this that the Prophet promiseth them the first and the latter raine we must obserue that it is the Lord that ruleth the cloudes giuing al seasonable and vnseasonable weather 1. King 18. 1. The reasons are bicause he will onely be knowen to blesse the workes of our hands Deut. 28. 1. Againe it is onely hee which decketh the heauens with clouds Psal 147. 8. Let vs therefore learne to feare the Lord by the consideration of raine Ierem. 5. 24. for hee reserueth for vs the appointed weeks for haruest Me thinkes that euerie creature of God do so admonish vs of our duetie that not so much as the little drops of raine but they teach vs to feare him Oh that our soules could so thirst for the mercie of God as the earth thirsteth for the water drops or the grace of God might so fall from heauen on our hearts as the raine doth issue from the cloudes on the ploughed land Againe let vs seeke for the testimonie of the Lords fauour towards vs in them Act. 14. 17. the Apostle sheweth the raine of the clouds the spring of the earth and the encrease of temporal things to be a sufficient meanes for the old world to haue searched for and found out God but yet they did not search into it and so is it now a good meanes for many ignorant soules to leade them to God at the first if they consider the world continueth the grasse groweth the corne increaseth the raine falleth down from heauē that by these as it were by the crosse-row of letters they might com to greater knowledge in religion When he saith that their barnes shall be full of wheat and their presses shall abound with oyle and wine he noteth thereby that their decaied houses shall be builded againe and their full ioy restored And also that if God do once begin to do good to his people hee neuer thinketh any thing too much that is bestowed on them if they be repentant The xxix Sermon Vers 25. And I will render vnto you the yeeres that the grashopper hath eaten the caterpiller and canker-woorme and palmer-woorme my great hoste which I sent among you NOw he toucheth the restitution of their goods lost in famine telling them that all their former yeeres deuoured by the beasts shall bee restored againe By which we may note a woonderful example of the Lords kindnes that he wil giue to the repentant whatsoeuer they haue lost in trouble It were enough for him yea more then he oweth vs if he did onely ease our miserie yet is he not contented therewith but giueth vs as much as we desire and beyond our desires as much as we lost so he dealt with Iob. cap. 42. 10. giuing him a thousand for fiue hundred sixe for three fourteene for seuen The first reason because he would haue none to be like him in mercie and liberalitie Mich. 7. 18. Secondly that the wicked may note a difference betwixt the iust and the vniust Mal. 3. 18. therefore let not any thing in the worlde hinder thy conuersion Ierem. 7. 14. for thy sinnes shall bee chaunged into much holines thy pouertie into great wealth thy sorrow into double ioy and thy short life into twise so many daies If thou hadst little ease now it shall be more or little peace it shall be increased or little grace it shall bee augmented or little ioy it shall be multiplied and thus will God take away curse and change it into blessing and turne our punishment into pardon Againe let vs hereby be instructed that there shall neuer be any hinderance to the ioy of the Lords saints Isa 40. 2 3. the crooked shal be made straight the high shall be made low the low shall be made high the weake shall be made strong the sicke shall be made whole the lame shall be made wel limmed the sorrowfull heart shall bee reioysed and the contrite soule shall be glorified the great power of sathan shall not hinder the tyrannie of sinne shall not preuaile nor the space twixt heauen and earth shall keepe vs from ascending to ioies Oh come on my brethren with hope and comfort and bestow your labour in the word more cheerefully that our single sorrowes may receiue double ioyes So you shall eate and bee satisfied and praise the name of the Lorde your God that hath dealt maruellouslie with you and my people shall neuer bee ashamed Hauing signified vnto them their plentie nowe hee granteth vnto them the free and lawfull vse of euerie creature telling them they shoulde eate and drinke them and praise the name of God for them When hee saith They shall eate and bee satisfied we may note a great blessing of God vpon meate temperately receiued for it satisfieth vs meaning it nourisheth and maintaineth life Hag. 1. 6. but when it is riotously and gluttonously deuoured then men fall into sicknesse in steade of health into raging in stead of quietnesse and this is the very cause why our affraies and quarrels are begunne at tauernes and alehouses and at great idoll and glutton feastes bicause men receiue them not in moderation but in excesse The first reason bicause meate so taken giueth strength to the body 1. Sam. 1427. Ionathan tasted but a drop of hony and his wearied body was strengthened and his eies almost blinde recouered their sight Another reason because meate thus taken cheereth the hart of man Ruth 3. 7. Let vs therfore learn what a singular benefit it is to eat be satisfied with the labours of our owne hande Eccle. 5. 16. 17. for if the Lord should breath thereon then were our trauaile in the dust meate hath no life in it and yet it
keepeth life in vs who is able to shewe the cause heereof but the Lorde who knoweth all and if this one blessing shoulde faile vs although our possessions were as great as Salomons yet they woulde not serue vs. Againe let euery man in his place gather this meate and comfort for his life Esay 62. 3. that so we may perfourme the olde commandement of God to Adam that wee eate our meate in the sweate of our faces The Bees will not suffer one drone among them and so let not vs suffer them that are carelesse to prouide some thing whereby their dutie may be discharged to God and their liues preserued in the worlde Secondly he telleth them with what affection they should receiue their meat With praise and thankesgiuing to God Whereby wee may see one principall token of a temperate receiuer in that hee can giue thankes to God for his meate 1. Cor. 10. 25. but gluttons and belli-gods take their meate as Swine doe although with more manners yet with as little reuerence sitting downe to fill their bellies and rising vp to fulfill their pleasures and through immeasurable fulnes their teeth put their mouth to silence and sleepe falleth on them that their harts doe not onely forget their feeder but their maintainer also The first reason bicause it is a token they loue God Deut. 12. 11. and they that loue neuer offend for loue is the fulfilling of the lawe Againe meate is onely blessed vnto them that ioine thankesgiuing with it 1. Sam. 9. 13. So that whatsoeuer is not thankfully receiued must needes be accursed And surely if Paul saide he had rather neuer eate meate as long as hee liued then eate to the offence of his brother wee may more lawfully pine in famine starue in want and perish in distresse of meate rather then God shoulde bee offended Theeues which steale for meate coseners that deceiue for meate beggers that counterfaite for meate idle persons that worke not for meate and rich men that praie not for meate can neuer bee thankefull for that which they eate but all is accursed vnto them Let vs therefore for feare of the curse and especiallie for conscience of death liue soberly in praier in our eating and drinking working and resting sleeping and waking bicause wee knowe not whether wee eate our last morsell as the Israelites which died with meate in their mouthes or worke our last day-worke as the poore man that was stoned for gathering stickes on the Sabbaoth or sleepe our last sleepe neuer wake againe Surely as Iacob ended his life when he had blessed his children so shall we be happy if wee ende our liues when we haue praised God Againe let vs not tempt God for meate whatsoeuer distresse wee liue in but seeke it humblie in praier Psal 104. 27. that wee may eate more cheerefully and bee assured that God will continue his blessings for what shall it profite to feede our bodies to the full and let our soules goe starue and pine away to death That the Lord hath This clause is added vnto their praises at meate because then they ought to remember the Lordes benefits the which thing ought to driue away all vaine and foolish table-talke wherein men silence the mercie of God and praise the taste of their meate or the liberalitie of the feast-maker alway thanking him and neuer thinking on God whereas they are bound to do both We may note in these words that God doth not onely vse his ordinarie power in the deliuerie of his church but also his extraordinarie whereby he worketh maruels and woonders 1. Pet. 1. 5. for by the woonderfull power of God are we continued in our profession contained in the church and preserued to life eternall God told Dauid 2. Sam. 12. that if he had not done ynough for him yet he would haue done much more for him so that he hath not limited his power nor his mercie toward the faithfull The reasons first because we should knowe that we are saued through grace and the great power of God 1. Cor. 1. 18. as it is not a light matter to enioy a kingdome so is it not a small matter to climbe vp into heauen but the vnspeakable power of God must be vsed therein Againe the more power he vseth in his church the more must be his glorie Mark 7. 17. and this is the cause why all good men thinke they can neuer praise God ynough although euery day they renewe their thankesgiuing in heauen is the power of God most of all seene and therefore there the angels and saintes doe nothing but praise the power of God And therefore we may hereby learne that all miracles which God doth in the world doe call vs to bee partakers of his kingdome Matt. 12. 28. and if we refuse them and doe not come the same power shall be vsed in our condemnation that is promised in our saluation Neither let vs euer forget the works which God doth for vs Psal 106. 21 22. but remember them in our meate in our beds in our labour in our ease in our watching and in our reioicing that our God may still continue to doe them as we doe still perseuere to remember them Lastly in this verse hee promiseth that they should neuer be more ashamed of any reproches Whereby we may note that religion doth not commit any thing that either we may be ashamed of or repent 1. Cor. 15. 58. for our labour in religion is not in vaine If any thorough the feare or commaundement of God should slay their children as Abraham would or deceiue their maisters as Iacob did or beguile their husbands as Rebecca did or disobey their princes as Moses did or murther their enimies as Sampson did or loose their liues as Christ did yet shall they neuer neede to repent any of them Oh what a maruellous benefite hath a man by religion which he cannot haue by any other thing in the world There is nothing in all the life of man but wee may repent except it bee the feare of God We repent our words our works our expences our gettings our wanderings our negligence our diligence our sleepe meate and money and all We are ashamed of our thoughts our to yes trifles plaies childishnesse wantonnesse loue hatred lust pouertie nakednesse and the very parts of our body but of no part of religion Thou shalt neuer repent that thou forsookest the worlde beleeuedst in the Lord mournedst for thy sinnes studiedst in the scriptures heardest the preachers was obedient to the gospell praiedst many howers watched many nights fasted many daies endured many troubles and shalt die any death for the Lords sake seeing heauen is thy rest Nay rather we see many men in their death-beds wish with teares that they had hawked and hunted and plaied and laboured and loued and hated much lesse for now in their sicknesse their sinnes come on them as the Philistines came on Sampson when
tell them to our parents our wiues our children our seruants our friendes and our neighbours that they may bee signed by the same seale and saued by the same grace Thirdly God will haue none other to bee knowen in Israel but himselfe alone Whereby wee are taught not to stand in doubt whom where whē we ought to beleeue feare loue or worship but onely and perfectly to relie on the Lord. 1. King 18. 21. It is not good to halt betwixt two opinions but either we must bee constant professors or obstinate blasphemers I would they woulde consider this that say they know not whether to be papists or protestants for both liue alike and therefore both shall be saued alike But they must knowe that Cham escaped the flood as well as Sem but yet he escaped not damnation so easily and so wicked professors in this life doe many times as well as good but death and iudgement shall trie the cause The reasons first because the halting part is often turned out of the way Heb. 12 13. and indeede it is fearefull that alway euill doth surpasse goodnesse as weedes ouergrowe corne and sicknesse ouer commeth health Therefore let vs beware least when we doubt what is best we take the worst as Ieroboam did Moreouer while we doubt in religion wee are carried away by the craftie deceit of men Ephes 4. 14. For heretikes and euill men doe alway labour first to drawe vs into wauering and then to bring vs into condemnation Let vs then abide in that which we haue heard 1. Ioh. 2. 24. for that which is first is truth and that which is last is falshood Let vs not haue tickling and itching eares such as many in our daies haue which like not our doctrine our preachers our praiers our gouernment our sacraments our people and our prince and what will they doe shortly but fall in dislike with our God and all manner of religion Let vs also learne to bee constant 2. Tim. 3. 14. that we be not mooued from it but as Ioab would not come out of the temple but would die holding the altar by the hornes so let vs die holding fast by our altar Iesus Christ And that seeing we must die let vs die in his armes for his sake to his glorie and our owne saluation The xxx Sermon Vers. 28. And afterward I will powre out my spirite vpon all flesh and your sonnes and your daughters shall prophesie your olde men shall dreame dreames and your yoong men shall see visions 29 And also vpon your seruants and your maidens in those daies will I powre our my spirite THese two verses containe the second part of the spirituall benefits to be powred on them namely the spirite and the graces thereof for when hee saith that he will powre foorth his spirite he meaneth not to diuide the holy Ghost into parcels but by a vsuall figure of the scripture hee putteth the spirite for the graces because wheresoeuer any one grace is there is the holy Ghost 1. Cor. 12. 6 11. By this we may see that the olde fathers and the prophets had some knowledge of the Trinitie of persons in the Godhead for not onely here but in many other places is mention made of the Spirit and we knowe the name of sonne is and was very familiar in the scriptures Hee saith he will powre out his Spirite by a vsuall metaphor taken from water because the holy Ghost is resembled to water Heb. 10. 22. meaning also that hee woulde giue it abundantly in more plentifull manner then heeretofore so that all this pertaineth properly to the kingdome of Christ as Peter sheweth Act. 2. 17. and not to their returne from Babylon By the cohaerence of this verse with the former where is promised knowledge as is heere the holy Ghost wee may note that after God hath giuen vs knowledge hee also will giue vs the holy Ghost Act. 15. 8. so that there is not any one that can assure himselfe that he knoweth God by the word preached but he may also be assured that he is made the temple and dwelling house of the holy Ghost Ioh. 1. 12. this is the onely rewarde in this world of the obedience to the Gospell that we haue the spirit dwelling in vs and opening vnto vs the things of God If the affaires of Potiphar were blessed because he had Ioseph in his house much more blessed are the workes of a christian because he hath the holy Ghost in his hart Oh learne I beseech you to know the Lord by the scriptures for then shall you haue the Lord dwelling in you for then shall not sinne hurt you nor the diuell annoy you you shall not feare any danger nor any death for the spirit shal still comfort you and carrie your spirits into heauen The reasons First because we should euermore haue him in our soules Ioh. 14. 16. the Lord knoweth that wee haue a great deale of sorrow to suffer in the world and therefore he hath prouided for vs a comforter that may helpe vs to beare it and they which care not for their profession care not for the spirit and they which care not for the spirit care not for the Lord. By which we may see how fearefull a thing it is to forsake the profession of the Gospel for then the Lord forsaketh vs seeing vs giue ouer his spirit also the Spirit of the Lord is fire and if it purge vs not it will burne vs. Another reason bicause it may perswade vs that we are in the truth Ioh. 15. 26. for if our profession were but barely gathered out of the scriptures by men then might it be altered as the ministers thereof haue beene altered but the spirit abideth for euer and doth assure our hearts that this Gospell this faith this hope this obedience and this kingdome is the same that Christ taught the saints beleeued good men receiued the disciples liued and all the faithfull haue obtained So that if thou stand in faith and dost peaceably enioy the profession of religion and knowest by the infallible word of God thou art in the way of saluation then reioyce boldly because the holy Ghost is in thy heart as Simeon did when he had Christ in his armes But yet many haue peace in their harts thorough the diuel which are in errour in Poperie in Mahometisme and Idolatrie being perswaded they are in the truth but this perswasion is but counterfaite like as the miracles of the Magitians in Egypt were but counterfaite to the miracles of Moses and therefore not euerie one that is perswaded he is in the truth is to bee thought to haue the holy Ghost but onely they that are perswaded by the scriptures and relye vpon nothing in the world besides Let vs then trie whether as yet we haue had the holy Ghost giuen vnto vs or not for the Lord teacheth Iohn 16. 8. when the holy Ghost is come he will reprooue the
idolatrie and the monarchie of the diuel the which I pray God for euer destroy But in this that we said that the abundance of the spirit vnder the time of the kingdom of Christ is shadowed foorth vnder these types of the olde testament so that the kingdome of Christ consisteth of such members as are heere described to bee possessed with the spirit of God to prophesie and such like Whereby we learne that those which auoide the ministerie and other spirituall functions do as much as they can darken and deface the kingdome of Christ Ioh. 5. 39. so that a continuall and an vnwearied studie must be applyed vnto the same there is no wit so fine but herein it may be busied there is no profession so needefull but it must giue place to this For Diuinitie is like Sara and other arts and sciences like Agar and although humane arts haue conceiued with child and gotten more followers then Diuinitie yet they must know they are but handmaides and must be subiect to their mistresse The reasons First because the ignorance of the scriptures is the mother of all abhomination and errour Matth. 22. 25. so that take away religion and Diuinitie although their sciences could make golde yet they cannot stand Secondly in the profession of faith and of religion consisteth the ground-worke and foundation of the church Matth. 16. 18. and therfore they which giue not themselues hereunto doe not onely pull downe the building of christianitie but raze downe the verie foundations thereof I haue followed these things more at large in the beginning and therefore I now touch them lightly Let vs therefore exercise the commandements of God and purge our impure liues by their rule Psalm 119. 9. for so long as our eares are open to his word our liues shal be couered from shame as Ioas prospered all the daies of Iehoijada so shall we so long as the Gospell and religion ruleth in our soules Let vs take that which the angels brought Act. 7. 53. for they brought the law and in nothing are we so like the angels as in the studie of Diuinitie for they behold the face of God in heauen and wee behold him in the scriptures Thirdly when he saith that their sonnes and their daughters shall prophesie we may note that there are not any in the church too rich or too good for the studie of diuinitie Isaie the Prophet was of the kings seed and Salomon the richest and wisest king that euer was would be called a preacher in his wisest and best daies Our gentlemen scorn this priestly trade but set their sonnes to marchandize or to the lawe or to one golden trade or other but they set their sonnes as much to Diuinitie as their daughters yea they thinke their whole family is disgraced if there bee any of their name a priest for so they odiously terme vs otherwise the name is too good for them or vs. The reasons First bicause bodily exercise profiteth little but godlines is profitable to all 1. Tim. 4. 8. One was woont to say that the world was destroyed by three sortes of men by Lawyers for they destroy mens goods by Phisitions for they kill mens bodies and by ignorant Diuines for they damne mens soules now verily I thinke that so it is with vs for there was neuer more contention for wealth or more cost laide foorth on phisicke and neuer lesse care for saluation Such ignorant diuines haue marde all whose heads are as full of learning as a flint stone is of oyle and their liues correspondent to their knowledge so that now adaies there is no difference betweene Aaron and the priests of Egypt betwixt Nadab and Phinehas betwixt Sadoc and Abiathar betwixt Michaiah and Zidkijah betwixt Ieremie and Shemaiah betwixt Christ and the Pharisees betwixt Peter and Simon betwixt the Phisition and the patient betwixt Balaam and his Asse Studie doth not commend a Diuine but a noble mans letter and an angell is more woorth then a preacher Another reason it will amend euery mans way Psal 119. 9. Let therefore the word of God dwell among vs plentifully Col. 3. 16. and let vs exercise the scriptures from our childhoode 2. Tim. 3. 15. that so wee may haue God in our selues religion in our hearts and holines in our liues that our auncients may teach better our youth may liue better our children may learne better that our houses our hearts our liues our fathers our sons our daughters may bee blessed Fourthly hee saith Hee will powre foorth his spirite vppon their seruaunts and maidens who in olde time were baselie accounted of especially if they were not of their owne nation From hence wee may note that it is the dutie of christians that liue in these times since this Gospell was fulfilled to haue care to make their seruants religious Prou. 14. 35. or else to make choise of such when they want A good christian wil be alway a good seruant and therefore if thou wouldest haue good seruants make them good christians He is a better seruant that liueth well then hee that laboureth well for thinke not that hee will euer make conscience of thy businesse that maketh not conscience of the Lordes businesse Col. 3. 22. The reasons First because thou maiest safely giue all into his handes as was in Ioseph Gen. 39. 8. Againe hee may profit thy sonnes and doe them more good then thou canst Prouerb 17. 2. Therfore let seruants bee handled like christians not like slaues like men and not like beastes Leuit. 25. 39. They are your brethren despise them not 1. Timoth 6. 2. They are the Lordes free men abuse them not 1 Cor. 7. 22. Command them no euill offer them no wrong hinder not their faith torment not their liues forsake them not in age nourish them in sicknesse pay them their hire feede them sufficiently empaire not their credite reuile them not correct them for euill commende them for godlinesse and be such masters to them as Christ is to you Againe let seruants make choise of christian maisters not where they may haue most wages but where they may haue most instruction not where they may haue most ease but most information 1. Timot. 6. 6. You were better eate herbes with a godly master then a fatte oxe with a wicked you were better fare harde and worke harde where your soules may bee gouerned then fare well and worke little where your soules are endangered Be subiect to thy master 1. Pet. 2. 18. Serue not an Atheist for any money nor a papist for any meat nor a neuter for any hire nor a knowne hypocrite for any wages but serue thy master looke to his wealth tranaile for his profite mispende not his substance defende his credite make much of his children and praie for his saluation Care not for ease spende nothing in riot carie no tales keep within the house and remember God in thy worke that
shall bee more against them then all the worlde and their helpes of nature shall giue them ouer and they left destitute of all hope shall be deliuered into the hande of diuels and surely they which scorne the companie of God his saints on the earth are woorthie to bee torne by the teeth and clawes of diuels in hell But hast thou no grace to consider this before hand and to thinke with thy selfe howe thou shalt see an infinite companie of Angels driuing thee to iudgement and then presently all the diuels in hell haling thee to damnation Be willing therefore to come to God in earth that thou maiest bee desirous to goe to God in heauen for bee assured that if thou feare iudgement and wishest it might neuer be thou art in a pitifull case for thy conscience doth alreadie condemne thee and if thou despise iudgement and watch not for it thou art more retchlesse for thou resistest God but if thou crie for the last day and say Come Lorde Iesus come quickly thou art a happie man for the Lorde is in thee Christ hath clensed thee sinne is dying in thee thou louest God his kingdome and therefore thou shalt possesse his kingdome Oh that we coulde willinglie submit our hearts to the Gospell and then shoulde wee not vnwillingly offer our soules to iudgement The reasons of this doctrine are these First because they shall be compelled by the power of God Matth. 26. 64. They which will not feele the power of God in sauing them shal feele it in condemning them and therfore as the power of God made Pharaoh to yeeld to Moses and Aaron and made Sisera to yeelde to Deborah and made Goliah to yeelde to Dauid and made the temple to rende a sunder when Christ was crucified and the sunne to loose hir light shall compell the wicked to the iudgement seate of God Another reason is bicause their hope for helpe or mercie or pardon is but in vaine Lam. 4. 17. And therefore although they woulde escape yet their hope shall deceiue them as the mother and wife of Sisera which told of the victorie when in the ende it turned to their owne ouerthrow I doe but briefly touch these things bicause I haue handled them more at large alreadie The vses which arise from hence are these First that wee come willinglie to the throne of grace Rom. 5. 2. or else we shall be vnwillingly drawne to the throne of wrath Come to all godlie exercises ioyfully heare the Gospell diligently reade the scriptures zealously loue the godly tenderly and praie to the Lorde comfortablie and then shalt thou come to grace not to wrath to glorie not to shame to life not to death to heauen not to hell Make no excuses for thy absence admit no delaies for thy hinderance suffer no temptations for thy allurement and let not the wife of thy youth keepe thee from praier and the throne of grace Feare God more than loue the worlde hate euill more than loue thy wife Saie vnto all cumbrancers awaie from mee for I will keepe the Gospell of my God I had rather loose my finger than my hande my haire than my heade my bodie than my soule my friendes than my GOD. I will feare the Lorde before wrath that I may reioice in iudgement Againe let vs learne to acknowledge and perswade our selues of this terror of God 2. Cor. 5. 11. for except wee consider before hande howe the heauens shall be consumed howe the earth shall bee burned howe the worlde shall bee ended and howe the Lorde shall be manifested the Gospell will be but a weake worde and an idle tale vnto vs But if thou canst beleeue the last iudgement and with the eie of faith beholde it a farre off and tremble at the secret meditation thereof then thou maiest easily feele the power of life vnto life and happily forsake the sentence of death Therefore euermore remember iudgement at thy feast in thy bed on thy table in the morning at thy labour before thy sleepe and with thy friendes that thou and they be not of the kindreds of the earth which shall waile and lament before the comming of Christ Reuel 1. 7. There will I pleade with them Hauing finished the gathering togither of the wicked into the place of iudgement now it remaineth that wee goe on to the causes of their destruction which the Lord heere openeth as pleaders do in their courts at the law and therefore he saith that he will plead with them for his people alluding to the manner of worldly iudgements so that heere wee may see that the Lord is both iudge counsellor for his church which may greatly comfort vs and discomfort our enimies for the Lord who is to tally for vs and eagerly against them hath the whole law in his owne hand But in this that he saith he will plead with them we may note that God will open all the sinnes of the wicked in iudgement Eccles 11. 9. For pleaders will not omit any thing which may discredit their aduersarie or the cause against which they speake yea they will suspect those things which they cannot gainesay and condemne those things very peremptorily which they can any way blemish In like sort the Lord when he shall draw thee to iudgement will there open all thy life and tell thy secret whooredome thy hidden theft thy often blasphemies thy idle words thy vaine expences thy proud gestures thy idle worship thy friend-pleasing vanitie and all thy hypocrisie Thy charitie he will defame with vaine-glorie thy prayers hee will account abhomination thy fasting he will call dissembling and thy gentle nature shall be accounted a flattering vertue All this will hee bring to iudgement hee will prooue it by thy conscience he will condemne it by his Gospell and he will punish it by condemnation oh then shall thy faults be written in thy forehead that al may know them and thy priuie doings blowen with a trumpet that all may heare them and thy forsworne sinnes opened by a crier that all may loath them Oh wretched wretches which had rather abide this iudgement of God then that which is in this life but if thou haue any meanes to perswade thy soule vnto goodnes or to terrifie thy flesh from euill let this helpe it forward that God shal open all thy faults at the day of iudgement and discredit all thy vertues be they neuer so many or neuer so glorious Thinke not that thy good deedes shall ouercome thy euil but as one blemish disfigureth a whole bodie so one sinne will disgrace a whole bodie of vertues The reasons of this doctrine are these because the counsell of euerie hart shall then be manifested whether it be good or euill 1. Cor. 4 5. and if the counsels of men be opened much more their sinnes Another reason is because they are remembred before God Reuel 20. 12. and if all the sinnes of the wicked be in the Lords
5. They sell them for bread and for olde shooes And so wee may see the rich man in the Gospell that esteemed more of his dogs then of Lazarus and so Nehe. 5. 3 4 5. the poore were driuen to sell their children to slauerie for to buie them bread Such hard hearted men were and shall be for euer which make not any account of their poore brethren The reasons are First because they are vnmercifull Pro. 21. 10. and therefore howe can they be mercifull to them whom they hate seeing they are not mercifull to them whom they loue Another reason is because they do not thinke good men woorthy to liue Ioh. 19. 15. and therefore they care not howe they abuse them The vses which wee are to make heereof are briefly these First that wee giue not to wicked men any commendations Prouerb 24. 24. What is there in any vngodly man woorth the noting except it bee sinne and shall wee commend any bodie for their sinne But I thinke that in our times either euery man is righteous and none are euill or else many men are beside the exhortation of the wise man For there is not anie Vsurer nor anie briber nor any tyrant nor any Atheist nor any papist nor any rich man but they are all commended by one or other No landlord so hard no gentleman so leud no minister so ignorant no whoremonger so filthie although he die of the French disease but wee haue some epitaphes of his commendation although they liued without praise and died without repentance Whereunto will the worlde come and who will desire to liue therein if thou commend euill men how canst thou dispraise euill for euill doth not make the man but the man maketh the euill Yea we haue of our noble and royall preachers that will in a funerall sermon tell of the good deedes of manie blasphemers and misers and couetous and filthie and ignorant and gamsters and I thinke for money of witches and coniurers and rebels pronounce in the pulpet that they are in heauen but beware and bee as wise in saying that a man is saued as thou wilt be warie in affirming that any is damned Another vse which we may make of this doctrine is the same that God asked of sathan Iob 1. 8. Whether hee had considered his seruant Iob Insinuating vnto vs that we ought to weigh measure the dignitie of a godly man howe there is none like vnto him in all the worlde And truely if wee did often call to our mindes the blessings that righteous men do bring vnto the world we should account them as happie that liue with them as the Queene of Saba did those which liued with Salomon but since no man considereth either their life or their death as the Prophet speaketh men grow to so peruerse corrupt a iudgment concerning the world that they thinke there is no difference betwixt the iust and the wicked Sodom neuer knewe what a good man was till the fire came and the worlde will not knowe the benefite of a christian till Christ come to iudgement But do not men consider what righteous men are yes verilie for they trie them as the diuell did Iob they vexe them with many troubles load them with many euils and offende them with manie outrages and grieue them with many slanders you shal heare in the open streetes open reuiling of God his deere children and now adaies there is not a plaie or an enterlude but there are som scoffes at religion many scornes at good christians and infinite abuses offered to the preachers What considering is this but grieuing of the righteous spirite of the Lorde that dwelleth in them and studying howe to improoue their sinnes to the vttermost But it shall bee sufficient for vs to know that the Lorde of glorie will not doe so vnto vs. And therefore be not discouraged my beloued brethren golde is golde although it lie in the dirt and pearle is pearle although it bee buried in a dunghill so a christian is a christian although he be trode vnder the feete of helhoundes and be buried aliue in the companie of serpents Consider them that feare God to honour them not to vexe them to helpe them not to hurt them to loue them not to tempt them to liue after them not to accuse them Thinke they are the starres that giue light in the night they are captaines that are formost in seruice they are the soules that shield others from danger Nowe if there be no starres and no captaines and no shieldes howe shall we walke in the night of this worlde or fight in the battle of Christ or be saued from the fierie darts of sathan The xxxvj Sermon Vers 4. Yea and what haue you to do with me ô Tyrus and Zidon and all the coasts of Palestina will yee render me a recompence and if yee recompence me swiftly and speedily will I render your recompence vpon your head THis verse containeth a question of the Lord vnto the neerest enimies of the church namely the marchants of Tyrus and Zidon insinuating that they did all the before named villanie to the Iewes as it were to wrecke their malice vpon God and therefore he asketh them whether they wil recompence him and if they do but once thinke so to do then will he fully repay them home againe And first of all wee may heere note that it is in vaine to be angrie with God for he saith what haue you to do with me c and so the Lord chastiseth Ionah Ion. 4. 9. that he might learne not to repine against his creator The world now adaies as they care little to please God so they care lesse to offend God and like mad people if their dooings be but a little crossed they sweare stare against God himselfe they like not his gouernment sometime he sendeth too much drought another time too much raine another time they are angrie for the losse of their cattle and most times for the reproofe of their sinnes So that thus they lye tossed like an vnquiet sea fretting and foaming against God and heauen but what haue they gayned by their repining or what are they eased by their swearing Surely nothing but their wound is greater and their sore is made more incurable learne therfore to be more quiet and open not thy mouth against thy creator If thy sores be as thy haires and thy paines be as thy thoughts and thy wounds be as thy daies and thy losses be as thy life yet be not angrie with God he is more inclined to our patience then to our wrath for the patient spirit shall inherit the land The reasons hereof are these First because sinne will slay vs as the Lord told Cain Gen. 4. 7. Again we cannot possibly be angrie or repine against God be it but the least motion but we shall sinne against him And therefore in all extremities let euerie good christian say with
old Eli it is the Lord let him do what he wil let him take my goods for he gaue them let him haue my children for hee made them let him remooue my health for he sent it let him chaunge my friends for he wonne them let him trouble my conscience for he can giue it peace and let him take away my soule for he can giue it saluation The vses that we may make hereof are these First that we waite patiently vpon the Lord Psal 37. 7. we shal see in the end our harts desire cōmit our whole care to his protection who is able wil be willing to effect the same Waite patiently for there is no master so kinde but hee hath some attendance of his seruant and therefore how canst thou be the seruant of God if thou neuer attend vpon him A good seruant of a willing minde doth obey his maister euen in those things that are hard to be perfourmed and so although it be hard for thee yet endure the calamitie that somewhat presseth and oppresseth thee Naamans seruants said to him that the Prophet bid him but a small thing that was wash and be cleane and then he washed and was cleansed and so I say vnto you it is but a small thing I exhorte you waite and you shall be eased Oh that I might perswade any sicke man to waite for health or any poore man to waite for reliefe or any old man to waite for death or any yoong man to waite for Christ happie were I but more happie were they that so could be taught to be so cured Waite in the morning for a blessing and in the day for a comfort and in the night for a light in the morning that thou maist worke in the day that thou maist continue and in the night that thou maist receiue thy reward oh tarrie but a little while and thou shalt see an end of all miserie Another vse of this doctrine is this that we take heede how we by our wrath prouoke the wrath of the holy Ghost against vs and so grieue the spirit by whom we are sealed We were farre better let our soules goe foorth of our bodies then let the Spirit goe foorth of our soules I meane it were better for vs to die then to liue without the holy Ghost Yea let vs eate sorrow as we eate meate and grieue our consciences rather then grieue the holy Ghost Dauids seruants were afraid to tell him of the death of his childe because it would grieue him oh therefore let vs be more afraid to grieue the Spirit of God then they were to grieue the king of Israell Now if thy sinnes be reprooued amend them if thy life be threatned abide it if thy goods be wasted fret not at it if thy enimies reioice at thee bee not desperate if thou be offended sweare not rashly if thou be punished curse not outwardly and if thou be accused yet answer not bitterly grieue not the spirit of promise For ye haue taken my siluer and my gold This is the fifth cause specified in their enditement for the which the Lord calleth them to iudgement for that they ransacked his temple and tooke away all his golde and siluer which was appointed for his seruice and carried into their idoll-temples whatsoeuer was ordained for the performing of his worship And first of all we may obserue in this place that whatsoeuer hath been lawfully giuen and appointed vnto the maintenance of religion can neuer bee taken away againe or else in vaine had the Lord blamed these infidels for that in their lawfull conquest they had spoiled his temple also and this selfesame thing doe the godly complaine of Psal 74. 6 7. So that if any lands haue beene giuen or any houses haue beene builded or any priuileges haue beene graunted or any money haue beene deliuered for the furtherance of the Lordes worship it is sacrilege to transferre them violently or couetously or craftily to any other vses Oh how shall they be iudged that liue vpon the spoile of the church and share the Lords portion so neere and so narrow that they haue made it too little to fit his glorie Doe they not knowe that the Lorde shall call them to a reckoning for his siluer and his golde and then oh then how deere wil their daintie fare their silken suites their veluet slippers their french-hoods their golden borders and their blew-coate-hirelings cost them that they haue gained and maintained by the robberie of churches The reasons of this doctrine are these first because the goods of the church are holy things 2. Chron. 20. 19. and therefore not to be prophaned which is then done when they are withdrawen from the Lords seruice For certainly although in substance the golde and treasure of the church be the same that all other is of as the water and the bread and wine in the sacraments in substance bee all one with other water wine and bread yet in regarde of the vse there is a difference for they are made holy by dedication and therefore as it were horrible villanie to abuse the elements in the sacraments so is it execrable robberie to prophane the treasure of the church Another reason is this because if it were not lawfull for Ananias and Saphira vnder pretence of religion to sell their land as if they would haue giuen it to the church and yet kept away part thereof Act. 5. 4. then is it much more vnlawfull to keepe away any part from the church which we neuer gaue but it was rightly the churches possession before wee were borne And the vses which may be made hereof may bee these first that these church-robbers and sacrilegious persons knowe that the iudgement of God doth continually hang ouer their head as often as euer they abuse and take any of these hallowed and sanctified treasures as it did ouer Belshazzar Dan. 5. 3 5. who was then sentenced to destruction when he was drinking wine in the cups of the temple And surely we were better weare camels haire for our garments as Iohn Baptist did and haue not a house to rest our heads vpon as Christ had not and lappe vp our drinke as Gedeons soldiers did out of the running streame then so to be clothed and lodged and delicately nourished with the goods of the church and the curse of the Lorde What though some kings of Iudah did buy peace with them and Dauid did eate of the shew-bread yet they did it for necessitie to maintaine the common-wealth and to preserue life and so verily I thinke may be done nowe But blessed be God we neuer yet tasted of the like necessitie and so long as there shall be one penny of money or one foote of land in the possessions of priuate men so long must the treasurie of the church be left vntouched O yee gentlemen and rich men and vnhappie men which haue filled your priuate cofers with the Apostles
goods whereas you should haue laide your goodes at the Apostles feete what will ye doe when the mouth of God shall pronounce your destruction for medling with his tithes and his offerings and his sacrifices and his liuings as the hand of God did Belshazzars depriuation on the wall surely not your knees will bend but your harts wil quake not your countenance will change but your conscience wil tremble not your loines wil be loosed but your liues not your wealth shall be only destroied but your soules bodies for euer euer Secondly we may obserue out of this vers when he saith that they haue caried into their temples his goodlie pleasant things that God accounteth preciouslie of the meanes of his worship howe basely soeuer the world and all worldlings doe iudge thereof Leuit. 1. 2. for he calleth them his goodly and pleasant things The which thing I woulde haue most diligently obserued that wee may so thinke of the thinges of God as the spirite of God doth deliuer them vnto vs that we finde them goodlie as full of grace and pleasant as filled with delight that we may all saie Oh Lorde howe sweete are thy lawes vnto our hearts yea sweeter then honie to our mouthes For carnall minded men see no more grace in a church then in a tauerne nor no more delight in a christian then in a ruffian nor esteeme any whit better of a preacher then a craftesman or finde any more sweetenesse in a sermon then a plaie or take any more delight in the Gospell then in a little pedlars french Oh howe basely are you minded that cannot thinke better of the Lords matters One of you thinke that there is great goodnesse in an eare of wheate another findeth great delight in a fielde flower another sporteth himselfe with the smell of a rose but none of you can feele any pleasure in that corne that bringeth bread of life or that flower that sheweth the worke of life or that rose that offereth the smell of heauen Laie away thy base thoughts of spirituall matters and knowe that the church is the Lordes house who is greater then a king that the preachers are the Lordes stewardes who are better then lordes that the Gospell is thy soules food sweeter than any iuncate that a christian is the Lordes friend better than any rich man that a sermon is thy Sauiours praise higher then any prince and that the fellowship of saints is more woorth then the valour of knights Thinke I saie howe goodly and pleasant are the wordes full of grace the companie full of goodnesse the praiers full of sweetenesse the Psalmes full of melodie and the soules full of sorrowe which are gathered togither before the Lorde in his church The reasons of this doctrine are these First because hee euermore regardeth what himselfe hath appointed Cant. 5. 1. His church is his garden and therefore he hath planted euery flower growing therin wherewithall hee cannot chuse but bee highly delighted as he was at the beginning when hee sawe that all his workes were good Another reason is bicause he punisheth them seuerely that contemne any part of his ordinance Heb. 2. 2. 1. Cor. 11. 30. and therefore he accounteth preciously of his worde which hee defendeth by his power and of his poore saints whom hee maintaineth by his angels and of his mercie which hee manifested in his sonne and of the neglect of his Gospell which hee punisheth by condemnation Let vs therefore honour whom God honoureth Act. 10. 15. and that which God accounteth precious let vs not cast awaie as vile Because Assuerus honoured Haman all the people of his kingdome did him reuerence and therefore because the Lorde thinketh well of the worde and of the Sacraments and of praier and of preaching and of hearing the Gospell let him bee a dead dogge that speaketh against the same But alas alas as Vasthi would not come although the king hir husband sent for hir so will not our Vasthies men women olde and yoong followe religion and come to the Gospell although God our father and Christ our husband send for them neuer so earnestly but she was rewarded for hir disobedience and was diuorced from the king and so I feare will bee the ende of verie many in our daies to be put out of the Lordes fauour and diuorced from the blessings of Christ And again let vs learne to put on our eies of faith that wee may commend that which God commendeth for except wee can beholde the workes of God and the Gospell of God with spirituall eies it shall neuer bee goodly and pleasant before vs and cast away the blockish dulnesse that oppresseth your braines like a drouzie nap in a shining daie which will not suffer you to beholde the light with any comfort But lift vp your eies as the children of light that you may see the beautie of Christes church the riches of the Lords spirit the treasures of the Lordes saintes the ornaments of a faithfull soule and the glorie of another life The children also of Iudah and the children of Ierusalem haue ye sold vnto the Grecians that yee might send them farre from their border This verse contayneth the last cause of the Lordes iudgement vpon his enimies for that they had sold his seed and seruants vnto the heathen nations with this policie because when they were carried far from their own countrey they should liue like slaues without hope euer to returne home againe These Grecians to whom they solde the people of God were Gentiles or heathens the posteritie of Iauan the sonne of Iaphet who was the eldest sonne of Noah And in this that the Lorde now calleth them to a reckoning because they had solde away his people although they were their captiues vnto infidels we may obserue that it is not lawfull to commit the children of the beleeuers into the handes of vnbeleeuers And for this cause it is reported Gen. 12. 5. that when Abraham was commaunded by God to goe out of Haran where all were fallen to idolatrie into the promised lande of Canaan he tooke with him Sarai his wife and Lot his brothers sonne for he would not leaue him in the hands of Terah Abrahams father and Lot his grandfather because with the residue he then was fallen to idolatrie And this example is a sufficient proofe of the matter to teach vs that we should so loue the soules of the righteous seede that we leaue them not resident among the infidels or Atheists or Papistes or other prophane wretches but to our owne cost and labour redeeme them from the diuels tyranny But in this we may lament First that euen in our times we may see many of yeeres of discretion to runne away into papistical and heathenish warres or else to sauegarde themselues vnder the liueries of them that are open enimies to the Gospell and many to binde and put their owne children the fruit of their bodie
away their children whom they had taken prisoners vnto heathens and infidels as the Lord here saith that the Iewes should sell them to the Sabeans who were infidels First for the opening of this place it was lawfull for the Iewes so to doe because they had the expresse commaundement of God as it is here set downe and if at the commaundement of God they must in their warres kill man woman and childe much more at his commaundement may they sell their prisoners to heathens Secondly wee must not make this place any rule or example for vs to imitate but take it for a speciall curse vpon the enemies of the Iewes at this time because they should sell them as they had sold theirs Then to the question I thinke it not lawfull for vs to sell any vnto heathens yea though they be heathens and our enemies The reasons are these first because Deut. 20. 11 12. the Lord propoundeth an euerlasting lawe for warre standing vpon these conditions first that they offer peace secondly if they ouercome their enimies then shall they make them their tributarie seruants and not sell them away or if they refuse peace being offered then shall they destroy them all so then selling of men and women becommeth barbarous and heathen men and not the children of God Secondly by selling away our enimies wee doe not weaken the common enemie of our faith but rather strengthen him for a bond-slaue can fight as well against the gospell as a free man therefore it is better to slay them outright than to make a gaine of them vnto heathens or men of no faith Thirdly it is not lawfull to sell them because it is an vnnaturall thing for one man to buie another or to sell another as we may see in the historie of Ioseph Fourthly they were better bee among vs and bee the least in our congregation where they may possibly come to learne Iesus Christ than to be among heathens where Christ is hated and so I cannot see how wee can wash our hands cleane from the guilt of their damnation So that now it appeereth that men must looke especially that they vndoe not those whom the Lord hath commended to their safetie and preseruation besides many other reasons which I could adde vnto the former And againe by this verse we may see how the children of the wicked beare their fathers faultes for here are the sonnes and daughters to bee solde so may wee reade Psal 127. 9. that they are blessed that reuenge the fathers crueltie on the children Oh my deere brethren let your tender babes procure pitie and pietie in your soules for you see how their liues shall pay for your wrongs and their butcherie for your tyrannie It were an easier calamitie if the hand that sinned should onely be cut off but wee see that if the right hand slay a man the whole body must perish thereby It is a singular blessing of God to be descended of godly parents yea the wicked brag thereof Ioh. 8. 39. Matt. 3. 9. Therefore if you will make your posteritie happie and blessed make your owne soules godly and your works holy Let not your children be made slaues to the wicked and bondslaues to the diuell for your follie but be you gentle that they may liue bee you patient that they may be beloued bee you honest that they may bee honoured and be you good to the godly that they may possesse your reuenues Publish this among the Gentiles prepare warre wake vp the mightie men let all the men of warre drawe neere and come vp Nowe are wee come to the second meanes whereby the Lorde taketh vengeance on the enimies of his church that is by warre for as by warre they had wasted the Iewes so by warre shoulde themselues be confounded In this warre we are to consider First the preparation thereof by souldiers verse 9. then the instruments or weapons verse 10. Secondly the execution in the verses following First then in this verse he calleth for the souldiers and biddeth that the warre shoulde be proclaimed and that all the men fitted thereunto shoulde come vp to fight Whereby wee must first of all obserue that warre must bee proclaimed before it be waged Ios 22. 12. For it becommeth not anie prince or great person so to deale with his enimies that he ouercome them before they haue intelligence of him The reason First bicause peace must be first of all offered Deuter. 20. 10. For warre which is the slaughter of mankinde must be the last meanes for princes to right and trie their iniuries It must be taken in hande for necessitie not for pleasure and it must bee executed with mercie not with crueltie Another reason bicause victorie onely dependeth on God 2. Chron. 13. 12. and therefore wee must vse all good meanes in the vndertaking thereof least beginning without the Lordes counsell wee ende with his curse being guiltie of our own death others Let vs not then in this latter age of the world fear any of the rumours of warre Mat. 24. 6. for the Lord of hostes is the great warriour whose souldiers wee are and if hee can vse the roaring of the diuell to driue vs from hell then thinke also he will vse the trumpets of warre to bring vs into heauen Feare not I say all the rumours of warre in France Flanders Hungarie Turkie or in other places of the worlde for if the wicked die in them it is for sinne if good men by the punishment for sinne they kill sinne and all this shall promote the Gospell and preserue the church Secondly when he biddeth to awake the mightie men we may note that men of greatest courage and valour are fit for the warres 2. Sam. 10 9. But of this matter we haue spoken in the second chapter Againe when he calleth them to draw neer and to come vp we note that souldiers should beware that they haue a calling from God and a commandement from him to fight 1. King 22. 7. Iehoshaphat woulde not fight with Ahab against the Syrians till hee had inquired of the Lorde and this wee may see in Dauid many times For seeing warres are the cause of many mens death let vs beware that we adde not curse to curse like the king of Moab who being ouercome by the Israelites went home and sacrificed his owne sonne in the fire The reasons are First because they cannot prosper that waite not for the Lordes calling Ios 1. 17 18. Secondly he giueth power to fight Psalm 18. Let vs therefore bee so minded in warres that wee neuer vndertake them when the Lorde disalloweth them Numb 14. 44 45. The Israelites fighting with the Amorites contrarie to the Lordes wil were slaine and driuen backe againe whereas at other times they lost not a man but returned in victorie Againe let souldiers learne to keepe themselues from euill Deuter. 23. 9. For the battle or warfare is like a mans
euer admitted none can be exempted from religion because they are honourable or from the gospell because they are rich or from sermons because they are learned or from the churches because they are tender or from praier because they are sicke or from warre because they are weake but the weake must say I am strong Rather pray the more and goe the farther and heare the oftener and obey the willinglier and professe more earnestly because God hath made thee sicke or poore or weake or rich or tender or honourable or learned for I tell thee that there is no excuse from comming into the Lords vineyarde Thou canst not come into heauen by a proxee or substitute another to heare the gospell for thee but in thy owne person and soule and strength or weakenesse thou must enter into it Therefore now looke to the matter if euer thou wilt obtaine grace for although we satisfied the wrath of God by another namely by Christ yet we cannot be sanctified in any mans person but in our owne All the lazers and lame diseased men of Israel came from all quarters thereof to be laide by the poole of Bethesda to be washed and cured and none suffered any let to keepe them away in like manner let all the weake and lame soules of the world come to worship the Lord and let not any hinderance keepe them backe The xxxix Sermon Vers 11. Assemble your selues and come all yee heathen and gather your selues togither round about there shall the Lord cast downe thy mightie men 12. Let the heathen be wakened and come vp to the valley of Iehoshaphat for there will I sit to iudge all the heathen round about AS in the former verses he called the souldiers which shoulde bee the ministers of his wrath to destroie his enimies so nowe againe the second time hee calleth the heathen to iudgement to prepare them for the execution and although their destruction shoulde come of themselues yet the Lorde calleth them to battle that they might knowe it proceedeth from him Concerning the first part of these two verses namely the gathering of the heathen into the valley of Iehoshaphat wee haue alreadie spoken in the seconde verse of this chapter Therefore we wil brieflie touch that which is not hādled already I might first note vnto you that the Lord careth not for all the multitude of the world althogh they were vp in armes against him when hee saith Assemble your selues and come all yee heathen meaning to warre and defende themselues against his souldiers before called Secondly in these words I might shew you how the heathen and infidels in all their warres trust to their multitudes and bring all the force they can make as we may reade of the Madianites against Gedeon and the Philistines against Barac but it is the Lorde that ouerthroweth the horse and the ryder I will cast downe thy mightie men By these wordes the prophet telleth vs that God will deale with the strongest and confounde them Luk. 1. 52. The Lorde who is of great wisedome and infinite strength and power doth buckle alway with them that are of greatest account suffering the pride of the lesser to be punished by men but he himselfe controuleth the oppressions of the mightie Whereby wee may see that there is no cause why wee shoulde feare anie force or furie or rage of man for hee can and doth take the mightiest to ouerthrow them When we see any lifting vp themselues aboue their brethren then are wee to thinke their pride is ascending vp before the Lorde to be crossed This is a sweete instruction and comfort for the poore members of Christ for as there are none in the worlde more humble than themselues so there are none more oppressed by the pride of other than they are But they may heere learne that their mightiest foes are neerest to the vengeance of God The reasons First because his name is omnipotent Exod. 15. 4. this was the reason that Moses gaue of the ouerthrowe of Pharaoh and therefore it is no maruaile if any man or army or nauie or castle or king or emperour be throwne downe as the snowe falleth from heauen for the omnipotencie of his name remaineth for euer By it he drowned the giants he burned the Sodomites he ouerthrew the Egyptians hee slewe the Cananites hee captiuated the Israelites hee hath changed the liues of great princes and shall at the latter day iudge both quicke and dead Another reason bicause strong and mightie men doe mightily abuse their strength as we may see in Goliah who knowing his owne strength came and defied all Israell And surely heerein we may greatlie lament the estate of the worlde for men doe abuse all the benefits of God Such is the corruption of sinne in Adams children that their riches are the coales of iniquitie their authoritie a libertie to transgresse their health a patent for worldly vanity their strēgth a sufficient charter to reuile God and oppresse man But as Dauid the least in Israel cut off that monsters head so shall the least part of the Lordes power take reuenge vpon our highest abuses Let vs therefore learne to be humbled vnder the hande of God 1. Pet. 5. 6. For if we be poore and base men will punish vs but if we be high rich God himselfe will plague and cast vs downe But alas we are neuer humble till it be too late namely till we be laide in our graues for while wee liue pride is rooted in vs that it will not out of vs there is such league betwixt the life of man and the sin of man as was betwixt Naomi and Ruth for nothing but death can part them in sunder Who would be rich to be spoiled by theeues who woulde be wicked to be damned by diuels and who would be proud to be plagued by God Aduance not thy soule for thy birth or thy wealth or thy friendes or thy office or thy libertie or thy strength for God will cast downe the mightie men distrust thy vertues and thy cause and thy fauour and thy health and thy ioy and thy life for if thou bee exalted in anie of these God will surelie humble thee to thy shame Let the heathen bee wakened Nowe hee sheweth vs that the heathen after they had spoiled the church grewe to securitie and therefore hee calleth on them to bee awaked for there were no manhood in it to slay them in their sleepe By which we may note that the wicked in their greatest securitie shall be drawen vnto iudgement Ier. 22. 23. when their buildings are stately their bodies healthie their mindes loftie their wealth abundant and their liues past feare then then commeth the alarme of their miserie waking them from their soft beds heauie sleepe sweete loue pleasant pastime easie health and happy ioy to gather them into the slaughter-house of hell Oh that men would mitigate their desire of pleasure and once distrust their
verie sorie to execute his wrath vpon the wicked for so our Sauiour expressed his griefe for Ierusalem Luk. 13. 34. when hee cried out O Ierusalem Ierusalem howe often woulde I haue gathered thee c. The which thing putteth vs in minde of the infinite loue of God whereby hee woulde pittie our losse reuoke his sentence silence his wrath and saue vs from heauie destruction But such is our nature as is the nature of children in their birth which thinke not vpon the paines of their mothers in trauaile although they die in extremitie yet they forget them when they bee olde and so doe we both the anger and the loue of God we regarde not his mercies nor his iudgements nor his gospell nor his teares nor the bloud of our Sauiour The reasons of this doctrine First in regard of vs because we knowe not the things that belong to our peace Luke 17. 42. So wretched is the estate of men that they are not able to discerne when God blesseth them or curseth them when hee wisheth them well and when he wouldeth them euill This is cleerer then the sunne for Christ and his Gospell being offered to the worlde and preached to euery degree of men you shall see nothing more vilely esteemed or basely regarded insomuch as wee may say that the men of our time doe not knowe the thinges that belong to their peace For if the Lorde threaten them then they spurne if he blesse them then they are wanton if he punish them then they murmure if hee honour them then they are proude and euerie one thinketh that the Gospell serueth but for a time and they shall doe as well without it as with it They knowe not that nowe is their visitation or that nowe they worke their death or life or that nowe they are married to God or the diuell Surely if men beleeue not the Gospell and walke not thereafter they are sathans bond-slaues although their wealth be as great as Salomons and their authoritie as great Hamans but if they ioyfullie embrace it in the ministerie of the worde then are they the wife of the lambe and the elected heires of grace Another reason secondly in regard of God because hee rather willeth repentance then vengeance of this wee haue often spoken Let vs make this vse First when we see the froward and wicked disposition of the world that will not bee reclaimed by any warning or any mercy of God let vs doe as Christ doth for the Pharisies Marke 3. 5. Mourne for the hardnesse of their heartes It is the custome of some vaine professours for so I may terme them to raile odiously at them that will not bee ruled by their wordes and so it is of some cholericke and vnwise preachers who will take libertie in their pulpits rather to reuile men then to reclaime them except at the first they come and lay their hands vnder their feete in the one it is foolish zeale in the other vaine folly Learne therefore by our Sauiour how to be affected when thy people or thy children or thy seruants or thy friends or thy neighbours will not bee gouerned by thy instruction namely to mourne for their hardnes of hart and no maruell for thou seest God to mourne for them when thy words can no longer preuaile then let teares and if they will not be mooued by warning let them be by mourning Hardnes of hart is a sickenes sent by God and it lyeth not in the power of man to cure the same therefore cast not away a man when he is sicke not a soule when it is hard but let sorrow and prayer speake for it to God when there is no helpe in mans phisicke Another vse seeing God is vnwilling and therefore mourneth for our destruction and so do all good men also oh let vs not despise and neglect all their sorrowes and cares and teares which they powre foorth for vs it is vngodlines not to regard the Gospell but it is vnnatural not to regard the sorrowful In heauen is nothing but ioy oh wretches that wee should make the Lord sorrowful for vs in the church there is al sorrow oh vnkinde and pitilesse men that we should encrease their sorrow and mourning and teares and adde to their affliction but that which is worst of all wee are hardened and will not care for their cries Be mooued to repentance and conuersion and holines and religion for God and men do mourne for thy rebellion let their teares make thee weep in this life or else they will make thee roare in another life Secondly we may obserue in this verse when hee calleth vpon the multitude to come to destruction that God careth no more for a multitude then for one man and will as easily cast many into hell as one soule as we may see in the drowning of the old world Gen. 7. 21. The reason because all are but flesh Gen. 6. 3. that is but vile made of earth but weake wanting strength and abhominable corrupted with sinne Now what should the Lord striue and stand with earth or weaknes or sinne he hath not an angell but it is stronger then a world and therefore a multitude are as easily giuen to damnation as one or two Let vs learne not to doe euill after the example of a multitude Exod. 23. 2. Although many be blasphemers or Atheists or heathens or papists or whooremongers or neglecters of the Gospell despisers of preachers and such like yet bee not thou so for it is no ease to haue company to hell Againe when he calleth them to come into the valley of threshing meaning the place of wrath vsing no other meanes to draw them thither but his call we may note that the onely word of God shal bring men to iudgement Psalm 50. 1 2 3. and the reason is because he is strong that giueth the word Ierem. 30 7. Oh therefore that the same word might stirre vs vp to saluation which shall prepare vs to condemnation and iudgement 2. Thess 3. 1. For verily if it be so powerfull as to bring all the world in one companie togither and to raise the dead out of their graues and make liuing men out of the dust of the earth in whom I beseech you is the fault that it gathereth not vs to heare it when the Lord speaketh in the congregation and rayseth vs not vp to the life of righteousnes surely as the Lordes hand is not shortened so his word is not weakened The xlj Sermon Vers 15. The sunne and the moone shall be darkened and the starres shall withdraw their light 16 The Lord also shall roare out of Zion and vtter his voice from Ierusalem and the heauens and earth shall shake but the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the children of Israel AS in the former chapter when the destruction and calamities of the Lords owne people the Iewes were threatened the heauens were said to be
soule that it may stande in all stormes swimme in all seas abide in all dangers liue in all deathes and raigne in all glorie So you shall know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion my holy mountaine then shall Ierusalem be holy and no strangers shall goe through her any more Now the Prophet drawing to a conclusion of his Sermons shutteth them vp with many sweete promises of the Lords fauour as first of all his presence then his bountie his presence in this verse which shall sanctifie them and keepe them from enimies Concerning the former part of this verse where the Prophet saith they shall know him to be their God dwelling in Zion sufficient hath beene alreadie spoken and I will not stand any longer thereon but referre you to the former chapter This therefore his promise vnto Ierusalem that it should be holy teacheth vs the perfection or greatest honour of the church namely Holines Ephes 1. 4. when the Lord promiseth that his church should bee holy hee thereby teacheth vs that all gifts and goodnes and mercy and glorie and dignitie of the church proceedeth from this that she is holy neither can the Lord in this world bestow any greater benefit vpon his church then hir sanctication This Holines consisteth not in learning nor in studying nor in knowledge nor in prophesie nor in miracles nor in church-offices but in a good life and in all them so that a holy man is a perfect christian Now verily when the Lord promiseth Ierusalem to be Holy he giueth hir all things for he giueth hir grace to be righteous his fauour to be honorable and his benefits to be glorious Without holynes men are heathens but with it they are christians without it they cannot enioy the earth but with it they may enioy the heauens without it they are sathans slaues but with it they are the Lords sonnes and to conclude Holines is the will of God the ende of our redemption the fruit of the Spirit the cloathing of our soules the ioy of the godly and the perfection of the church By Holynes landes are established euil is banished kings thrones are maintained and it maketh a nation dwell without danger no enimie can touch them no famine can dismay them no misery can ouerthrow them because they be holy and so may euery mans soule by Holynes driue away the diuell continue in the church and obtaine the kingdome of heauen The first reason because in nothing do we resemble God more then in holines Exod. 22. 23. who is only holy Reuel 15. 4. Holines and righteousnes was the image wherein God created vs and therefore he caused to bee wrote vpon the breast of the high Priests roabes Holines to the Lord. Contrarie vnto this holines is prophanesse when men abuse whatsoeuer is appointed to be holy whereby I see that they are verie iustly termed prophane men who haue no maner of shew of holines God his fearefull name which is holy they blaspheme the sabbaoths which are holy they prophane religion which is holy they contemne the congregation which is holy they persecute praiers which are holy they seldome vse and to be briefe al the lawes of God which are holy they violate these are carnall men these are miserable men these are subiect to all abhominations So that as there is no blessing but it belongeth to the holy so there is no curse but it belongeth to the prophane Another reason is because holynes is freed from sin hell Isa 11. 8 9. now to be freed from sin is the greatest blessing in this world to be freed frō hel is the greatest blessing in the world to come indeed one followeth another for whosoeuer is freed from sin is also freed from hell But there are many that thinke it a great paine vnto them to be free from sin because they cannot endure to be free from the meanes of sinning yet let vs know that this is or ought to be our prayer that wee may once be freed from committing of sinne that whereas we haue a minde to idolatrie or Poperie it may be turned from it or if we be inclined to swearing we may fall to leaue it and hate it and if we be addicted to be enuious we may be charitable or to lusts we may be chaste or to falshood we may bee true or to couetousnes we may be liberall or ignorance of the scriptures we may be learned in them and finally if to any vaine or vnlawfull thing we may no more desire it then children do the rod oh happy were we if we were thus cleansed from sinne that we might be thus sanctified Let vs learne that exhortation of the Apostle 1. Pet. 1. 15 16. That seeing God which hath called vs is holie so let vs bee holie that wee may purge our selues from all filthinesse of the flesh and spirite And surely this reason of the Apostle is very effectuall to mooue vs vnto holinesse when hee telleth vs that God which called vs is holie Therefore looke to thy selfe that hearest the Gospell preached and leadest a lewde and prophane life for I tell thee that this very call of God whereby thou art seuered from Iewes and Turks shall at the latter day tell thee of thy euill which wouldest not walke in holinesse although God which called thee were holie The first image of God created in thee is decaied and it can neuer be repaired but by holinesse wouldest thou be glorified thou must first be sanctified thy bodie must be holy abstaining from pleasure thy soule must be holy not yeelding to temptation thy affections must be holy not corrupted with vanitie and thy life must be holy not drowned in sinne Oh be holy as God is holy it is a part of his essence so let it be of thine it is neuer parted from him so let it be euer with thee it is alway found in him so let it be alway found in thee God is holy in the earth so be thou he is holy in the church so be thou he is holy in the day so be thou he is holy in the night be thou so also and he is holy in heauen oh that we may be so his iudgements are holy so let thine be his words are holy so ought thine to be and his works are holy so let thine be Oh that we could be holy as he is holy that we might be perfect as he is perfect holy without sinne holy without want holy without loue without sinne that they were pardoned without want that all graces might be supplied and without loue that life and health and world and pleasure and lands may giue place to holinesse for holy people are redeemed of the Lorde but the wicked and prophane are damned to hell Another vse is that now we are exhorted to holinesse let vs learne how to bee holy which Iohn teacheth vs 1. Ioh. 3. 2 5. which is first by expectation of Christs
which are negligent in this action and the estate of their gouernment the estate of their families and estate of their children Surely most dangerous aboue others for as when they performe this they are noted through a whole countrey and thereby they growe famous so the neglect hereof is spred farre and thereby they growe infamous For this cause hath the holy Ghost left vs in his word sundry examples where light and gracelesse fathers haue brought their lewde and godlesse children with themselues to destruction Looke on Elie 1. Sam. 3. 12. and Saul and Haman Esth 8. 13. who was the destruction of the fathers but themselues and who was the destruction of the children but the fathers If Helie had harkened to God and corrected his sonnes the Arke had not been taken the Philistines had not preuailed his sonnes had not been killed and he had saued his owne necke from breaking Oh consider this I beseech you my reuerende and gray headed fathers your age shall not discharge you this man wanted but two yeeres of an hundred yeere olde he was priest and iudge of Israell yet when he forgat himselfe he forgot the Lord also then had hee no pitie of his yeeres no mercie on his children and no compassion of his owne life Samuel tolde Saul that there was no sacrifice like to the hearing of the worde of God then if you will offer the best sacrifice heare the word of God The Lord you see which made the eares requireth but the eares againe why should you bring your children into the curse out of the couenant why should you driue the Lord to reiect you as he did Saul because you heare not his word Are you the fathers of our bodies be also I beseech you the fathers of our faith the authors of our profession and the ensamples of our obedience As Esau cried to Isaack blesse me my father so we crie vnto you to blesse our countrey to blesse your owne posteritie and to blesse the liues of them whose soules you haue in your handes Let the elders among vs know for a certaintie that if they heare vs not though wee bee yoong that speake vnto them yet wee will vse them as the woman did the wicked iudge ouercome them by importunitie And let euery man knowe his dutie euen to pray that their fathers and masters and magistrates and gouernours may bee as willing to grace the Gospell with their presence as they are to defende it by their policie surely we can hardly imbrace that which we see the chiefe commanders to neglect But yet I beseech you for your owne soules and for our liues for the children borne and vnborne and for the generall comfort of our whole countrey fulfill that heauenly voice Matt. 17. 4. Heare the heauenly sonne of God The third Sermon Harken ye all inhabitants of the land whether such a thing hath beene in your daies or yet in the daies of your fathers ALl the inhabitants By these words we obserue this doctrine that there must not any liue in the church of God but such as doe and will at the least outwardly humble themselues to the ministerie of the word the church of God is the company of selected saints chosen before all worlds to the worship of God and if they be chosen from the contemners as good wheate is from the chaffe then must they not endure the hazarding of their soules by harbouring the children of disobedience Wee may reade in Nehem. 8. 2. that when he brought foorth the lawe of God Ezra read it before the congregation both of men and women and all that could vnderstand it And in the next verse he addeth that he read it in the streetes and all the people harkened to the booke of the law As in the common wealth there is a lawe which euery one vndergoeth vnlesse they be wearie of life so in the church of God this is a lawe Let him that hath eares to heare heare except he will bee banished from the land of the righteous and cut off from the body of Christ Surely as the Apostle saide Woe is me if I preach not the Gospell So must all the ministers of the Lorde euery day sound alowde to their people woe be vnto you if you heare not the Gospell The reasons of this doctrine may thus be gathered out of the word of truth First that which Moses hath recorded Gen. 17. 14. where the Lorde wil not haue any to be of Abrahams familie but they which would bee circumcised and if any would not receiue this wounde as our Sauiour calleth it in the flesh the Lorde commanded him to be cut off from his people Nowe wee knowe that the church is the familie of Abraham who was made the father of all the faithfull that they being made partakers of his beleefe shoulde also be partakers of his obedience There is not a prince or a noble man or a learned man or a rich man or a preacher or any base person among the common people but hee may challenge this priuilege if he beleeue in the Lord of glorie that he is the sonne of promise as Isaac was and therefore the sonne of Abraham as Isaac was All are not the children of promise that heare and are borne vnder the preaching of the Gospell but there are Ismaelites also which haue outwardly the badge of a true sonne though they bee but bastarde Christians yet olde Abraham ready for the graue must be circumcised before he die and yoong Ismaell if he will euer be blessed of God must be circumcised although he were heire apparant to the land of Canaan for as yet Abraham had no other sonne and the shepherdes the neatherdes the seruingmen and euery kitchin-boy receiue the signe or else be banished from their masters tents Euen so must the hoare headed father the greene headed yoong man the wanton youth the simple plow-man the gallant ruffian and the poore turne-spit be present and obedient to the voice of the minister Many I graunt of the better sort thinke their dutie discharged if in their owne persons they learne to knowe the Lord and for their families they let them doe as they list but you must remember that this was the commendation that Abraham receiued of God That hee woulde teach his children after him Genes 18. 17. and therefore if you will bee Abrahams sonnes teach that to your families which you haue learned your selues Oh how lamentable is it to see consider of a great number that set as good faces on the Gospell as the best when on the Lords own day some send their seruants many miles iourney suffer silly persons to waite in their kitchins I mean cōtinually as if there were none that had any soules but those that are called the rulers of families We may say of them as Bernard saide of the church cōmitted to careles clergie men O miserandam sponsam talibus creditā paranimphis O miserable soules lead by