themselues to labour Nay séeing the deuill himselfe spends not his time idly they are worse then the deuill which suffer the dayes of worke to slide away without labouring in the workes of their vocation Idlenes as Barnard saith is a sink of all lustfull and lawlesse temptations What was the cause that Aegisthus became an Adulterer In promptu causa est desidiosus erat Idlenesse was the cause that prouoked him thereunto And if you will know the cause of so many robberies in the fields ryots in the stréets disorders in euery place in a word all these many more inconueniences procéed and grow from idlenesse for euen as that water that hath no currēt doth in short time corrupt become offensiue so that body or mind which exerciseth it selfe about no imployment becomes a very sinke of all lewdnesse disorder Salomon went by the field of the sluggard and lo it was all growne ouer with thornes and nettles had couered the face thereof And as the field of the slouthfull is couered with nettles and thornes so his body is ouer-growne with infirmities his minde corrupted with the infection of sinne his conscience destitute of a good testimony to it selfe and his soule voyd of all hope of eternall happinesse God hath placed vs in this world as labourers in his vineyard as souldiers in his campe as trauellers to séeke a countrey to rest our selues in as cursitors or runners in a race whereby wee may gather that idlenesse is not our profession for we cannot obtaine except we run the race we cannot ouercome except wée fight manfully we cannot haue that pennie except we labour in the vineyard the fruitles trée must be cast into the fire The vnprofitable seruant must be bound hand and foote and cast into vtter darknes Therefore whosoeuer rests here in this world where he should labour shal labour in the world to come where he thinks to rest Our Sauiour Christ promiseth his disciples that when he should rest they should rest also But when did our Sauiour Christ rest sayth Barnard not in this world for he went about doing good and reioyced as a mighty Giant to runne his course therefore his disciples must not looke to sit and rest them in this world It is a shame sayth Augustine that the Sunne whose going out is from the end of the heauen and whose compasse is to the ends of the same should take any man in his bed for may not the Sunne rightly say to such a sluggard I trauelled a greater iourney yesterday then thou didst and art thou in bed after me this morning It should séeme that in Iobs time there was very straight order taken for such as liued idly and vnthriftily for they were chased foorth from among men and euery one showted at them as at a théefe And the Apostle Saint Paul maketh a strict decrée against them that such as would not labour should not eate So much hath Idlenes bene alwayes detested among good men therefore no maruell if God brought such a fearefull destruction vpon Sodom whose Inhabitants liued in this abominable and detestable sinne But this people was not onely possessed with a carelesse and secure slumber of Idlenes in their bodyes but in their soules also they did not onely liue loosely and remissely in their ordinary vocations and callings but they liued without all feare of any imminent danger or future calamity that should fall vpon them for their wickednesse they liued sinfully in their liues securely in their hearts Their sinnes cryed for wrath but they cryed Peace peace there shall no harme happen vnto vs they prouoked the Lord to vengeance and yet they promised themselues safetie This slumber of the soule is worse then that of the body for it is a present forerunner of destruction when men shal say Peace and safety then shall come vpon them sudden destruction as trauell vpon a woman with childe and they shall not escape Our Sauiour Christ dehorteth vs from this security by the fearefull example of the old world for whiles they in that age did eate and drinke and buy and sell and marry wiues and were marryed the flood came and drowned them all so if wée liue and lye snorting vpon the carelesse beds of sinfull securitie the wrath of God will come suddenly vpon vs and destroy vs. For this cause the Apostle perswadeth the feare of the Lord vnto men And S. Peter exhorteth men to passe the time of their pilgrimage here in this world in feare and Salomon pronounceth those blessed that liue alwayes in feare for they which harden their hearts shall fall into euill This security is one of the signes which shall goe before that great and finall destruction of the world at the last day and it is said that the day of the Lord shall come as a thiefe in the night euen when men are in the dead sléepe of sinne then shall the last iudgement come vpon them Whiles the Mariner sléepes at the helme the ship is soone run against a rocke Iael doth easily strike a nayle in the temples of Sisera whiles he sléepeth vnder a couering Dauid comming vpon the Amalechites finding them eating and drinking and dancing slew euery man of them and recouered all the spoyle So when men feare nothing but passe their time in pleasures delights and vanities without feare of God or his iudgements then doth God come vpon them suddenly and destroyes them without mercy Therefore our Sauiour Christ giues euery one warning of this careles security and accounts him an ill seruant that shall say in his heart My master doth deferre his cōming and so beginneth to eate and drinke with the drunken and smite his fellow seruants The master of this careles and secure seruant shall come in a day sayth our Sauiour Christ when he looketh not for him in an houre that he is not aware of will cut him off and giue him his portion with Hypocrites where shall be wéeping and gnashing of téeth Seing therefore this people of Sodom laboured of so dangerous a Lithargy they were iustly surprised with so strange and fearefull a iudgement The fourth sinne of Sodom was They did not strengthen y e hand of the poore they were vnmercyfull vncharitable and hard-hearted towards the néedy and surely they could not otherwise be for a proud heart a full belly and a vaine careles idle head neuer regards y e distressed estate of those that are in want and misery Other sinnes prouoke God to wrath and indignation but this sinne prouokes him to deny mercy and to become inexorable according to that saying of the Apostle There shal be iudgement merciles to him that sheweth no mercy And the reason why God will shew no mercy to those that are mercylesse vnto the poore eyther in oppressing them or in not relieuing them is because he taketh all vnmercyfull and vncharitable
sayd he is able to giue wisdome vnto men but Alexander is so proud that there is no place for wisdome to take place in him And lastly a proud man is in danger to lose those good gifts and qualities which hée already hath according to that old prouerbe Inficit egregios adiuncta superbia mores Where pride is there all excellent conditions are infected and poysoned so that they eyther dye or grow so weake that they are not able to performe any good office or duety This made Dauid pray Let not the foot of pride come against mee for well he was assured that if pride set in a foot against him hee should haue extreme wrong offered him Pride then being one of the sins of Sodom it is manifest that there was no religion there no séeking after God nor any care of his worship or seruice neither was there any iustice iudgement or equitie in the land but all kinde of oppression and wrong all grace goodnesse was exiled thence neither was there any place for vertue godlinesse in that place and therefore no maruel it was if God brought such a fearefull destruction vpon such a proude place and people for pride brings alwayes destruction with it as Salomon saith Pride goes before destructiō and an high minde before a fall So that a man is neuer néere a mischiefe till hée grow proud for thē he procures Gods hatred towards him as it is in y e Prophet The Lord hath sworne by himselfe I hate the excellency of Iacob And this hatred that God beares against pride prouoketh him to resist the proud to crosse them and by sundry meanes to reuenge himselfe vpon them This shall they haue for their pride sayth the Prophet The Lord will be terrible vnto them as he hath threatned by the Prophet Ieremy saying Behold I come vnto thee O proud man And The proud shall stumble and fall and none shall raise him vp and I will kindle a fire in his cityes and it shall deuoure all about him All these threatnings against pride did the LORD bring vpon Sodom and her Cityes in such sort as they are héere remembred for an example vnto all posterityes the same threatnings he will likewise bring vpon all those that are infected with it The second sinne of Sodom was fulnes of bread By bread is signified all such meats drinks as are vsed for the nutriment of the body which this people of Sodom did vse with such saturity and ingurgitation as did not relieue nature but destroy Grace Nature is content with a little Grace with lesse but where this fulnesse and repletion of bread is there nature is depraued and grace destroyed This sinne is the baite which the diuell vseth to prouoke men to yéeld vnto all his temptations for as the Faulconer when he would call his Hawke to his fist doth not hold out his bare fist vnto her but sheweth her a piece of flesh vnto which shee willingly comes and so is taken so the deuill when he would tempt a man to any sinne he offers him the baite of deliciousnesse knowing that the more the body is repleate the more emptie is the soule of all grace and goodnesse One cause why Diues was so vnmercifull towards poore Lazarus was because he fared deliciously euery day for a full belly is neuer touched with the féeling of others miseries The cause why the Israelites were not sorry for the affliction of Ioseph nor pitied the distressed estate of their brethren was because they ate the lambs of the flocke and the calues of the stall and drunke their wine in bowles The cause why euery man among them neyed after his neighbours wife was because they did rise in the morning like fed horses And the cause why they committed idolatry and worshipped the golden calues which Aaron made them was because they cram'd themselues excessiuely with meat drinke and that made them forget God which had done so great things for them Whereby it is euident that the repletion of the belly is the confusion of the soule and that the deuill hath the greatest aduantage against vs to tempt vs and wee the least strength to withstand him in this repletion and fulnesse of bread therefore Dauid calleth the table of delicious féeders a snare for euen as birds are caught in that place where they come to féed euen so are they that fare deliciously caught in the Deuils net whiles they féed For this cause the Wise man forbids vs to bée companions with those which cramme themselues with flesh lest by eating and drinking excessiuely we giue the deuil aduantage to tempt vs to some grieuous sinne And in like maner did Almighty God forbid the Prophet to go into y e house of feasting to sit there to eate and drinke for as he saith in another place When men are filled their hearts are exalted and then they forget God And as this fulnesse of bread plungeth the soule into many inexplicable dangers makes it subiect to diuers temptations so is this vnmeasurable féeding hurtfull obnoxious to the body for when the stomake receiueth such aboundance so many kindes of meat and drink it is oppressed rather then relieued Therefore saith Salomon that the saciety of the rich will not suffer him to sleepe his body is so distempered by his féeding that his quiet rest departeth from him We estéem the goodnes of a medicine not by the pleasantnes nor by y e great quantity but by the wholesome good operation of it so ought we to estéeme of meat not by the deliciousnesse of it nor by the abundance of it but by the health it bringeth to our bodyes Nothing bréeds a surfet sooner then this fulnesse of bread out of all doubt this vnmeasureable féeding hath brought many to an vntimely death If therefore thou wilt kéepe thy body in health vse thy meat and drinke as thou vsest medicines that is seldome and in small measure for in fiue things doe wée especially offend in eating and drinking First when wee make it our first worke in the morning being no sooner out of our beds but our minde is vpon our meat for which cause Salomon denounceth a wo vnto that land whose Princes eat in the morning for such as eate in the morning are fit for nothing all the day after Secondly wée offend in eating and drinking when we are too curious and nice in our dyet not contenting our selues with ordinary and common meates and drinkes but longing after strange and vnusuall things and those must be most costly and curiously drest this was the sinne of the Israelites which loathing Manna desired flesh for their lust for which curiositie of theirs God destroyed them euen whiles the meat was in their mouthes And the Emperour Augustus did cause one Erotes a Lieutenant in Egypt to bée naild to the mast of a ship
because hée bought a Partridge and ate it And our Sauiour Christ noteth curious féeding as a fault in the rich Glutton euen because he fared deliciously The third sinne in eating drinking is when we eate and drinke without measure not respecting what will suffice nature Our Tables are called mensae as some thinke a mensura to teach vs to measure our appetite and not to eat drinke vnmeasurably for euen as that raine which comes downe méekely and gently vpon the earth doth most good and makes the earth most fruitfull so that meate which is taken in measure doth most benefit the body and soule and this is the measure wée must obserue wée must not eat much but rather for necessitie then for lust then we must not eate nor drinke often and lastly wee must not eate nor drinke of diuers and sundry sorts for all these things doe make our eating and drinking sinfull and hurtfull Fourthly we offend in this kinde when we study and deuise what to eate or drinke These persons are compared to those beasts which are alwayes either eating or chewing the cud so these persons are either alwayes eating or deuising what to eate This was the sinne of the sonnes of Hely they were not content with those parts of the sacrifice which the Law had prouided for them but they found out new deuices and sometimes they would haue sodden flesh sometime they would haue raw sometime without fat and sometime fat and all These deuisers are they that make their belly their God Lastly we offend in eating drinking when wee gréedily deuoure the creatures like dogs which haue it no sooner in their mouthes but it is down their throats This was y e sin of Esau who comming hungry from hunting desired his brother to féed him quickly or to suffer him to deuoure those red pottage But he had better haue taken more leysure and eaten more aduisedly for he lost the prerogatiue of his birth-right by his gréedinesse And because man should not deuoure his meat and drinke with gréedinesse Nature hath giuen man a lesse mouth then many creatures which are lesse then he to teach man by so small a receptacle to receiue his meate drinke with time and leysure Thus haue we heard the fiue things wherein wee offend in eating and drinking Now this fulnesse of bread is such a grieuous sinne in the sight of God that hee hath sworne hee will neuer purge it And the reason is because we are called to other duties Non nati sumus ad libidinem hoc possimus facere sed non est opus nostrum Wée are not borne into the world neither do we liue in the world to giue our selues to delicious full féeding to feasting and banquetting nor to fulfill our owne lusts and desires wée may doe these things if wee will runne head-long into our owne mischiefe but this is not our calling it is not that wee are bound to doe it is not the worke which we are commanded and inioyned to performe and therefore as it is Crimen laesae maiestatis a capitall and treasonable crime for an Embassadour to execute his charge contrarie to the limitation of his profession euen so it is most displeasing vnto Almightie God when we walke contrary to our calling crossing the end of our creation No maruell then if Almightie God tooke such a fearefull vengeance vpon this people which walkt so contrary vnto him filling themselues with bread and cramming themselues with flesh when indéed the Lord calles men to wéeping and mourning to baldnesse and girding about with sackcloth The third sinne of Sodom and her people was idlenesse which was twofold in this people First they gaue themselues to their ease to vnthriftinesse and sluggishnesse not following their callings laboriously and industriously but liuing loosely and remissely giuing themselues to all dissolute and vnthriftie courses This may be gathered out of the 19 Chapter of Genesis the 4. verse where it is said that all the men of the Citie euen from the yong to the olde all people out of all quarters compassed Lots house about to haue the mē brought out vnto them that they might know them From whence it may be gathered that they were an idle and vnthrifty company giuing themselues to no good employment but rather to vaine dissolute exercises The second kinde of idlenes in this people was a careles security a certaine respectles regard wherewith they were so possessed that they neuer thought vpon dangers they feared nothing Abraham had slaine y e fiue kings which would haue made them tributarie hee recouered all the spoyle and gaue it to the King of Sodom so that now they had no enemie to be afraid of they had peace plenty and therefore they liued idly that is securely carelesly fearing no dangers preuenting no mischiefes As the pride of this people prouoked God to resist them and as their fulnes of bread gaue the deuill a greater aduantage to ouercome them by his manifold temptations so their Idlenes made them a burthen to the Earth They were a coomber and a surcharging trouble to y e place of their abode liuing vnthriftily vnprofitably both to themselues and to the land where they dwelt The figge trée in the Gospell being barren and vnfruitfull is sayd to trouble the ground so those persons which liue idly do but trouble the world ouercharge the earth for which cause the Bée driueth from the hiue the Drone which takes no paines but deuoures the hony which others by their great labour do get bring in teaching the Magistrates of the earth their duty which is to correct with all sharpnes of discipline those vnthrifty and vnseruiceable Drones which liue idly in the common wealth trifling out their time in continuall lazines as though there neuer had a law bin giuen to the sonnes of Adam to labour nor to the daughters of Eue with the sweat of their browes to get their liuing Salomon sendeth the sluggard to the Pismire to consider her wayes and to learne wisdome for she hauing no guide gouernor or ruler prouideth meat in Summer gathereth food in haruest Man therfore may be much ashamed of himselfe that hauing reason to guide him nature to direct him law to gouerne him grace to rule him lims strong able for performance yet prouideth not gathereth not laboureth not but like a Drone consumes his dayes in idlenes liuing vnprofitably and vnseruiceably both to himselfe and others God sanctified not his rest before he had finished his labour The Angels in heauen attend in their places and stand before their Creatour and with all alacrity readinesse and industry fulfill his will The deuill himselfe is said to compasse the earth and to walke about séeking whom he may deuoure Séeing therefore God Angels Bees Pismires and the despised wormes of the earth do all of them in their kindes places giue