questioned for a non conformitant and entreated by the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury most meekly to subscribe in his priuat study saying that none were present there but only God and themselues and faithfully promising that hee would keepe his counsell answered stoutly that if his Grace could bring him into some roome where God was not present hee would willingly fulfill his desire but sayth he so long as God seeth I little regard who seeth not I report not in dis honour of subscription vnto the decent and commendable ceremonies inioyned by lawfull authority for this Doctour by seeking Gods face found in coâ—…clusion his owne errour and so reforming himselfe do henioye great preser ment in our Church at this day Diocles the monke among other instructions which he gaue to Palladius when he came to visite him vttered this â—…pothegme that a good man if he neglect to see Gods face becomes either a beast or a deuill a beast in hunting after carnall sinnes a deuill by rushing into spirituall wickednesse A valiant souldier fighting in his generals eye carrieth himselfe against all his enemies vndauntedly for that he knows he shal be worthily rewarded eafter victory how much more then ought euery Christian in the spiritual warfare beholding as S. Stephen did his Captaine Iesus standing at the right hand of God couragiously sight against the world the flesh and the â—…ill as being assured that after his good fight is finished a crowne of righteousnesse is layd vp for him and a most excellent and eternall weight of glory Christ pronounceth in the 5 of S. Matthew blessednesse not only to the pure in heart but also to the poore in spirit to those that mourne to the meeke to the mercifull to such as hunger and thirst afâ—…er righteousnesse to peace-makers to Martyrs enduring persecution in a iust cause all which blessednesses arise from this one roote the contemplation of Gods holy presence by this the faithfull are made humble Lord saith Abraham vnto God I am dust and ashes and Paul as clay in the hand of the potter By this the faithfull are mooued to shed teares both of denotion and contrition vnderstanding that all their righteousnesse is as filthy cloutes and that if God should enter into iudgement with them in his sight no man liuing shall be iust fied Psal. 143. 2. By this the faithfull are meeke as hauing their copie still in their eye Learne of mee for I am meeke and lowly in heart By this the faithfull are mercifull imitating as children their father in heauen which is mercifull By this the faithfull hunger and thirst after righteousnesse for the more they seeke Gods face the more they see and the more they see the more they desire to see By this the faithfull are peace-makers as hauing peace with God and in God peace with men and by both a peace with themselues By this the faithfull are more constant and couragiousâ—… in suffering persecution for righteousnesse sake because they beleeue that the Lord is their strength and that he is a rewarder of those that seeke him Heb. 11. 6. To seeke Gods face then is our greatest happines vtterly to neglect this duty the greatest vnhappines and folly it is our chiefe felicity so God to Moses as concerning his people My presence shall goe with thee and I will giue thee rest and Dauid vnto God I will behold thy presence in righteousnesse and when I awake after thy likenesse I shall be satisfied with it To despise this holy denotion is extreame folly for the feare of God is the beginning of wisedome and they that doe thereafter haue a good vnderstanding But such as haue not God in their thoughts and so runne head-long into grieuoâ—…s sinnes in the language of Canaan are fooles and mâ—…d men so foolishas the witlesse Ostrich which as Iob reports in Cap 39. of his booke leaueth his egges in the earth and makes them hâ—… in the dust and forgetteth that the fooâ—…e might scarter them or that the wild beast might breake the 〈◊〉 and as Plinie further addeth hee thrusteth his necke into the stumpe of a hollow tree and so woodcocke-like when he sees no body thinks no body sees him vnwise people when will ye vnderstand he that planted the eare shall not hee heare or he that made the eye shall not he see Whither then will ye goe from his spirit and whither can yee flee from his presence If yee climbe vp into heauen he is there If ye descend downe into hell he is there also If ye say peraduenture the darkenesse shall couer vs instantly the night shall be turned into day yea the darkenesse is no darkenes with him but the night is as cleare as the day the darknes and light to him are both alike The most impious cannot but walke with him in respect of his omni-presence filling heauen and earth and searching out their wordes and actions and the secret corners of their hearts in affectu habent abscondere saith Ambrose non in effectu Well may they before men play least in sight but before God none dwell at Hide etiam solus est praesens his qui longe sunt ab ipso God is nigh vnto those which are furthest off from him albeit their hearts seeke not his face yet his face seekes their hearts euermore Thinke on this all yee that forget God and tremble to consider what extreame madnes it is in the committing of a filthie sinne to shunne the sight of a seely man a wight a worme to shunne I say the dull eyes of a sonne of a seruant of a little child yet not to feare the face of God our Father in heauen our Master our Maker our Iudge which is able to destroy both our soules and bodies in hell â—…ire Thus I haue shewed at large what is to bee sought and in part also vpon the by how to bee sought one poynt only remaineth vntouched and that is in what measure to wit how much and how long the seede of Abraham ought to seekâ—… Gods face Touching the first Esay telleth vs in a word si quaeritis quaerite If yee seeke the Lord seeke him in deed eanrestly seriously sedulously Dauid insinuateth as much in repeating here the word seeke thrise seeke the Lord seeke his strength seeke his face quià saith Hugo Cardinalis Dominus quaerendus est sicut et diligendus As God is to bee loued so to be sought with all our heart and with all our soule and with all our mind that is saith Augustine with all our vnderstanding neuer thinking of him erroniously with all our will neuer contradicting him obstinatly with all our memory neuer forgetting him obliuiously Againe whereas our Prophet saith in the clause going before our text immediatly let the heart of them reioyce that seeke the Lord He doth intimate that God is to be sought not dully but fully not heauily but ioyfully For as God loueth a cheerfull giuer so likewise
another creature should make the Creator and his power is giuen neither to Angell nor Archangell but onely to the holy Priests A doctrine sayth our Church Art 28. Repugnant to the plaine words of Scripture ouerthrowing the nature of a Sacrament and giuing occasion to many superstitions out of doubt as S. Paul telleth vs the lesser is blessed of the greater I demand then of a Romanist how the Priest can blesse the bread after consecration when it is actually transubstantiated and so consequently made Christ. Answere is made that this Priest also represents Christ in that action and so Christ consecrating may be considered as greater then Christ consecrated If this be so then either Christ must bee in the bread as in the Priest only representatiuely or else they must make a new transubstantiation of the Priest into Christ otherwise the bread must be greater then the Priest the bread being the true body of Christ the Priest only representatiue Christ thus as we speake in the schooles one absurdity being granted a thousand follow Lastly for though I were so strong as Hercules I could not at one blow cut off all the heads of this hissing Hydra they remoue the bounds of the Prophets and Apostles in suppressing their writings forbidding Gods people to read them in a knowne tongue wherein as one sayd they deale like cunning theeues who comming to rob an house will be sure first of all to put out the candle lest the light discouer them as the Philistines hauing put out Samsons eyes made sport with him Euen so the Popish Priestes hauing blindfolded the people prohibiting them to read the Scripture which is a lanterne to their feete and a guide to their pathes and suffering them in the businesse of religion to see nothing but only through spectacles haue made themselues exceeding merry the scripture saith Paul is the peoples instruction the scripture say the Papists in a vulgar translation is the peoples destruction the scripture sayth Paul doth make the man of God absolute the scripture say the papists in a knowen tongue makes men heretical and dissolute but the bible makes men Hereticks as the sunne makes men blind and therefore Wickliffe sayd truely To condemne the word of God in any language for Heresie is to make God an Hereticke They well vnderstand that the Scripture would shew their praying in a strange tongue by tale to be most idle their traffique for soules very sacriledge their miracles to be meere iuglings their indulgences to be blasphemies their incontroleable Lord of Rome to bee that Imperious bewitching Lady of Babylon and their worshipping of Images and Saints is flat Idolatry The Princes of Iuda saiâ—…h Hosea were like those that remoue the bounds Hosea 5. 10. Ribera the Iesuite construeth it from Theodorete and Theophilact they forsake the lawes of God and embrace traditions of men or as Theodorus Antiochenus they transpose the honour of the liuing God and giue it to dead Idols from which obseruation I will argue thus they who remoue the Bible may bee sayd to remoue the bounds but the Papistes haue remoued from the handes of Gods people the Bible forsaking the fountaines of liuing water and digging pits that can hold no water Ergo the Papists are they that remooue the bounds as they giue you too much Sacrament and too little too much Christs transubstantiated body taking away the cup euen so they giue you too much Scripture and too little too much adding to the Canon Apocrypha too little clapsing it vp that ye may not read it and what is this but to thrust you from the path of Paradise for as Hierome sweetely the Prophets are the way to Christ and Christ is the way to God As the Lord then once sayd to the Iewes If I be your Father where is mine honour So the Prophets and Apostles may well obiect against the Papists If ye repuâ—…e vs Fathers why doe ye remoue the bounds which we haue set If our moderne Papistes admit the Primitiue Bishops of Rome for the Fathers here mentioned our plea still is the same that they haue remoued the ancient bounds and not wee 30. Popes at the first planting of the Church layd downe their heads vpon the blocke successiuely to seale the bond of conscience with the blood of innocencie The Martyrd Popes laying downe their necks at the persecuting Emperours feete but afterward the Mitred antechristian Popes set their feete vpon the good Emperours necks The late learned Earle of Northampton openly deliuered at Garnets arraignment that the Church of Rome in the beginning agreed with Daniels Image in the head of gold for godly gouernment in the breastes of siluer for vnspotted conscience and in the legges of brasse for incessant industry But in succeeding ages the heads of Popes saith hee grew humorous their breastes auaritious and their legs idle Gregrory the great did account him the forerunner of Antichrist that should call himselfe vniuersall Bishop auowing that none of his ancestors euer vsurped that insolent stile censuring it for a title of Nouelty errour impiety blasphemy the poyson of the Church But euery Pope now doth exalt himselfe aboue all that is called God his Soueraigne supremacy is the supreme difference vnto which all other poynts betweene them and vs are subordinate that is the very soule of Popery The Pope forsooth is now the vicar of Christ and vicegod Christ was the Lord of Lords but hee behaued himselfe as a seruant the Pope cals himselfe a seruant but carrieth himselfe as the Lord of Lords Christ the word was made flesh but now flesh is made the word so the Papists our Lord God the Pope To conclude this argument we professe ingeniously with our Iudicious and gracious Soueraigne that wee doe not further depart from Rome then Rome departs from herselfe in her flourishing estate Wee doe not remoue the bounds of old Rome but only shake off the bonds of new Rome Wee confesse the faith of ancient Rome but wee renounce the faction of Antichristian Rome the one being so vnlike the other that we may well exclay me with Ouid. Hen quantum haec Nobie Nobie distabat ab illa If the Papists vnderstand here by Fathers those whom vsually we call Fathers the most ancient doctours of the Westerne and Easterne Churches in life spotlesse in learning matchlesse yet our plea still is the same that they not wee remooue the bounds Not wee for it is a Canon of our Church An. 1571. That no preacher shall vent any doctrine but such as is agreeable to the scriptures according to the collections and expositions of the Catholike Fathers and ancient Bishops but they contrariwise for First we prooue that in stead of true Fathers they cite fayned doctours as Aâ—…philochius Abdias Hipolitus authors altogether voyd of authority Fathers lately found out long looked but neuer missed 2. Wee demonstrate by their owne purging
prize of â—…he Kingdome of England after long and equall combat finding each others worth and valour they cast away their weapons embraced and concluded a peace putting on each others apparell and armes as a ceremony to expresse the attonement of their minds as if they made transaction of their persons one to the other Canutus being Edmund and Edmund Canutus Our iniquities had made a separation betweene God and vs Esay 59 2. And in this warre as the Scripture speakes God did fight against vs and we were his enemies Now Christ our Make-peace did end this quarrell and that was by putting on our clothes and by giuing vs his clothes he tooke vpon him our flesh and in his body did beare our sinnes and wee by faithes hand put on Christ and the long robe of his righteousnes so the Church sings I am my beloueds and my welbeloued is mine Christ and we being married as S. Paul teacheth Ephes. 5. are but one flesh and as it were but one person in law for Christ in taking our nature vpon him is flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone substantially and we likewise by putting him on vs are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone spiritually so that our sinnes are his sinnes and his righteousnesse our righteousnesse Iere. 23 6. The Lord our righteousnesse Psal. 4. 1. O God which art my righteousnesse Being iustified then by faith wee haue peace towards God through our Lord Iesus Christ and this peace is a pleasure that passeth all vnderstanding sinne makes a trembling and heauy heart but assurance that our sinnes are forgiuen in Christ is the rest of our soule making vs like Diues euery day faring deliciously 3 One day spent in the courts of the Lord is better then a thousand in respect of honour Caesar sayd he had rather be the first in a countrey village then the second in Rome though it were then esteemed the worlds Epitome but our Prophet desires rather to bee a doore-keeper in Gods house then to command in the tents of vngodlinesse of the meanest account in the one then of highest honour in the other as one glosseth it I had rather be a Clauiger a subiect yea abeict sitting at the very threshold in the Courts of the Lord then to be a steptrifer Mahumet the great or Soliman the Magnificent in the tents of infidelity So Moses refused to be called the sonne of Pharaohs daughter and chose rather to suffer aduersitie with Gods people So Daniel esteemed the Lyons den better then Darius Pallace So the three children aduentured to meete heauen in the hell of a fiery furnace so the renowned Emperour Theodosius more reioyced in that hee was a member of the Church then head of the State So the blessed Saints in the dayes of Queene Mary desired rather to be pilgrimes among the reformed Churches abroad then Prelats in the kingdome of Antichrist at home To serue God is perfit freedome as diuine Plato determined iudiciously Goodnesse is not in greatnesse but on the contrary Greatnesse is in goodnesse A great Lord conuicted of treason against his Soueraigne hath his blood attaynted himselfe and his posterity disgentred vntill they be restored in blood Adam in Paradise commiâ—…ted high treason against the King of heauen and earth and in him all of vs haue sinned and so by consequent our blood is attainted till it be restored againe by Christ who loued vs and washed vs from our sins in his blood As good Queene Elinor sucked the venome out of the wound giuen her husband Edward the first by an Assassine with a poysoned weapon So Christ our husband hath expelled the poyson out of our woundes inflicted by the deuill our aduersary who was a murtherer from the beginning euery christian then as hauing his woundes healed and his blood purged is a gentleman and the best christian is the best gentleman according to the scripture teaching vs that the men of Berea who receiued the word with all readinesse were more noble then they of Thessalonica The burgesses of Gods city bee not of base Linage but truly Noble For by their second birth all of them are the sonnes of God and the Church is their Mother and Christ their Brother and the Holy Ghost their Tntor Angels their attendants Heb. 1. 14. all other creatures their subiects Psal. 8. 6. The whole world their Inne 1. Pet. 2. 11. and heauen their Home Iohn 14. 2. Fauours of Princes serue sometime more for the benefit of those that giue them then for the profit of those that receiue them and the best honour an earthly Prince can conferre vpon his chiefe fauorite is to make him a Viceroy in some part of his Empire but Christ which is the King of glory maketh all his followers Kings vnto God his father Apoc 1. 6. Kings because God reigneth in vs and because through his sanctifying grace we haue dominion ouer our concupiscenses not suffering sinne to reigne in our mortall bodies and we are not only Viceroyes ouer one prouince but in this respect Lords ouer the whole world more then conquerours a great deale greater then William the Conquerour or Alexander the great or the great Turke for whereas they conquered in many yeres a few parts of the world Hee that is borne of God ouercommeth in one houre with one act all the pompe of the world and all the power of hell also It is but Caesars Veni vidi vici this is the victory that ouercommeth the world euen our faith 1. Iohn 5. 4. The difference betweene the christians honour and the worldlings honour is very plaine The kings daughter is all glorious within Psal. 45. 14. But the worldlings is all glorious without now the Phylosopher hath taught truly That ciuill honour is not in the power of the person honored but in the power of the person honouring and therefore the worldlings glory depending vpon the breath of vaine men and possession of vaine matters is altogether vncertaine But the Christians dignity which is within hauing done good in Israel and toward God and his house cannot be taken away but it flourisheth and remaineth for euer Psal. 112. 9. For conclusion of all I say to you all in briefe that this Doctrine should encourage vs diligently to visit the Temple which is Gods house the Palace where his Holinesse more specially resides Heretofore Hierusalems Temple was instar parochiae sayth Hospinian as a great parish So now euery Parochiall Church is instar templl where God is to be worshipped in the publique congregation and dutifully to honour his anoynted Kings and Princes which are the chiefe gouernours of his house and reuerently to respect his Clergie Bishops Pastors and Curates which are the disposers of his secrets and stewards of his house and cheerefully to delight in his Saints which are the domesticall and
S. Augustine and of Franciscus Arias in his tract Depraesentia Dei cap 2. Who by Gods face vnderstand Gods presence So the Scripture by the face of the wind and by the face of frost and fire meaneth as you know the presence of these things as in Psalme 68. Like as waxe melteth ante faciem ignis before the fires face So let the vngodly perish at the presence of God So Hagar is sayd to flee from the face of her mistresse Sara Gen. 16. 8 So Pharaoh to Moses Exod. 10. 28. Get thee from mee Looke thou see my face no more So Adam is sayd to hide himselfe from Gods face Gen. 3. 8. and Satan Iob 1. 12. Egressus est à facie Domini that is he departed from Gods presence to seeke then euermore Gods face is nothing else but seriously to consider and contemplate that he is alwayes present with vs in euery thought word and deed Plutarch aduiseth vs so circumspectly to demeane our selues as if â—…r enemies alwayes beheld vs Seneca counselleth vs to liue so well as if Cato Laelius or some reuerend Person of great wisdome and account ouerlooked vs Thalis Milesius in the coÌ„mitting of any sin wished vs when we are alone to be afraid of our selues and of our owne conscience which is in stead of a thousand witnesses te sine teste time saith Ausonius S. Paul exhorteth women to cary themselues in Gods house reuerently because of the Angels as being assured that the glorious Angels in heauen obserue their behauiour But our text teacheth vs yet a better way then all these which is to seeke Gods face to remember that God searcheth vs out knowing our downe-sitting and our vprising and that he standeth about our paths and about our beds and spieth out all our wayes A pious exercise highly commended in the Scriptures and in the Fathers and by the practise of holy men in all ages The Scriptures in reporting that Enoch and Noe walked with God intimate that those holy Patriarchs had set God alwayes before them and that they liued so religiously tanquam sub eius oculis as vnder his obseruing and all-seeing eye they walked as St. Luke recordeth of Zacharias and Elizabeth in all the commandements and ordinances of the Lord without reproofe they considered the wayes of God and turned their feete vnto his Testimonies as our Prophet speaks of himselfe Psal. 119. 59. They did endeauour and set their hearts to haue not only good credit before men but alâ—… with S. Paul to keepe a cleare conscience before God In this sense God sayd to Father Abraham walke before mee Gen. 17. 1. And Abraham againe concerning God the Lord before whom I walke Gen. 24. 40. So the Prophet Elias and Eliseus speake The Lord God in whose sight â—… stand The text inioyning vs always to pray poynts at this duty that wee should seeke Gods face continually for our desires and thoughts are the voyces and wordes by which our soule speakes If then at any time wee lift our hearts vnto the Lord wee may be sayd and that truely to pray which occasioned Diuines to terme prayer an humble familiarity with God He that will alwayes conuerse with God must alwayes either reade the Scripture saith Augustine or else pray for as often as we read his word he talketh with vs and as often as we pray we talke with him When our Prophet sings in 123. Psalme Vnto thee lift I vp mine eyes O thou that dwellest in the heauens He doth vnderstand not eyes of his flesh only but eyes of his faith also seeing him which is inuisible Heb 11. 27. But the spirit by the mouth of Solomon as yet speakes more plainly Prou. 3. 6. In all thy wayes acknowledge God and he shall direct thy goings in omnibus vijs cogita Deum as the vulgar latine runnes in euery thing thou takest in hand thinke on God or as our translation haue respect vnto him as Tobie to his sonne Set God alwayes before thine eyes behold him as a Iudge and so shame to sinne before the Iudges eye behold him as thy great reward and so faint not in doing good Behold him as authour and finisher of thy faith and so runne with patience the race which is set before thee Behold him as the Donor of euery good and perfit gift and so confesse that he worketh all thy works for thee by whose grace thou art whatsoeuer thou art S. Augustine beginneth his heauenly meditations in this stile Domine Deus meus da cordi meo te desiderare desiderando quaerere quaerendo inuenire inueniendo amare amando mala mea redâ—…mpta non iterare O Lord giue me grace from the very bottom of mine heart to desire thee in desiring to seeke thee in seeking to find thee in finding to loue thee in louing vtterly to loath my former wickednes And in his soules soliloquies or priuat talke with God he prayeth in like manner O Lord who knowest me giue me grace to know thee O my comforter shew me thy selfe let mee see thee which art the light of mine eyes mirth of my spirit ioy of my heart life of my soule It is a good Motto thinke and thanke God there is no moment of time wherein God cares not for vs and therefore saith a Bernard no moment of time wherein we should not seeke him especially when we come to his house to call vpon his Holy Name for how prayâ—…s hee to God who prates in his heart to the world intende quoth the same Father 〈◊〉 qui intendit tibi Christ promised to be with vs in our deuotions euen in the middest of vs Mat. 18. 20. but as Eusebius Emisenus obserueth how shall God bee in the mids of thee if thou be not in the mids of thy selfe If the aduocate sleepe how shall the Iudge awake No maruaile if thou loose thy sute when as in praying thou loosest thy selfe Hilary writing vpon the words of the Psalmist all my wayes are before thee notes that the Prophet making his course before Gods eye to whom all hearts are open and no secrets hid walked not in the counsell of the wicked nor stood in the way of sinners his feete did not goe downe to death and his steps take hold of hell but his whole pilgrimage was a seeking of the Lord and as S. Paul phraseth it he did so runne that he did obteyne Seneca though he were not a Doctour in Diuinity yet he wrote in his 10 Epistle lib. 1. Diuine-like to this purpose Sic viue cum hominibus quast deus videat sic loquere cum Deo quasi homines audiant So conuerse with men as if God did euer see thee so conferre with God as if men did euer heare thee and in another Epistle God is neere to thee with thee within thee so it is Lucilius that a sacred spirit resideth in vs as a custos and obseruer of all that we doe
men and for ought I know commendable to prouide some new clothes against the receiuing of the communion at Easter now S. Paul exhorteth vs to put on under mercy kindnesse humblenesse of mind mâ—…ekenesse long suffering for bearing one another and forgiuing one another which Christ himselfe termeth a nâ—…w sutâ—… Iohn 13. 34. A new commandement I giue vnto you that you loue one another This vndoubtedly was an old precept from the beginning but he calleth it new For that he would haue this alway fresh in our memory fresh in our practise leâ—… all our things be done in loue that one chiefly which is called a Communion in respect of the common Vnion among our selues and as being a signe and a seale of our communion with Christ our â—…eace The second kind of confession is for the satisfaction of our owne selues if at any time wee feele our consciences heauily burdened with any grieuous temptation I know Christ is the Priest vnto whom euery sinner infected with a spirituall leprosie must open and shew himselfe being a Priest for euer after the order of Melcâ—…isedec an high Priest that is touched with a feeling of our infirmities Heb. 4. 15. So Chrysostome saith I will thee not to bewray thy selfe before others openly but I counsell thee to obey the Prophet saying Open thy way to the Lord And againe Confesse thy sinnes vnto the Lord who is able to cure thee and not vnto thy fellow-seruant that may vpbrayd thee with them And S. Augustine what haue I to doe with men that they should heare my confession as if they could heale my griefes Yea but what if after all my contrition and confession vnto God I feele not an absolution or any comfort to my poore distressed soule What if after I haue cryed vnto the Father of mercies O God be mercifull vnto me a sinner He do not answere my spirit I am thy saluation What if for one scandall which I haue giuen I haue such an insupportable burden in my conscience as if a milstone were hanged about my necke S. Iames in such a case doeth aduise here Confesse your faults one to another and pray one for another that yee may be healed For the prayer of a righteous man preuaileth much if it be feruent For as a vehement burning feuer is no way to bee cured but with opening a veine whereat the infected blood hauing vent may carry away with it the putrified matter that did molest the body So against strong temptations and afflictions of the mind there is no remedy more secure then to open the heart vnto a wise friend and to let out those raging passions that did disquiet our soule Now because preachers of the word ought to be more skilfull and expert then others in applying the good tidings of the Gospell vnto the poore to binde vp the broken hearted and to comfort such as mourne in Sion It is fit that wee should haue recourse to some learned Pious and discreete Pastour who can and will Minister a word of consolation in due season For Almighty God hath giuen power and commandement to his Ministers to declare and pronounce to his people being penitent the absolution and remission of their sins Vnâ—…o them he sayd Whatsoeuer yee bind in earth shal be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer ye loose in earth shall bee loosed in heauen And vpon this ground there is in the Church of England a general absolution after a generall confession of sins and a particular absolution after a particular confession and wee teach also that this acte of absoluing belongs vnto the Minister ordinarily Tanquam ex officto But when none of that order is or can bee present another may doe it with good effect according to that old saying In casu necessario quilibet Christianus est sacerdos In one worâ—…â—…ee may confesse our faults vnto good people which are power-full in the Scriptures apt to teach admonish and aduise for our comforts But especially to Godly Pasâ—…ours as being put apart to preach the Gospell of God and to be disposers of his holy secrets This I know to be the Tenet of our Church agreeable to the confessions of other reformed Churches as to the confession of Heluetia Cap. 14. of Bohemia Cap. 5. of Aspurge art 11. of Saxone art 16. As you may reade Harmon confessionum Sect 8. This acknowledgement of our faults is farre different from auricular Popish confession First in that it is not vpon constraint but voluntary Secondly because wee are not enioyned to confesse vnto the Parish Priest or to any one confessour appoynted by the Diocesaâ—… and Ordinary But wholly left at our owne choise Thirdly Because wee are not tyed to any certaine time but only when wee find our selues in our conscience rightly disposed and to bee in the state of true repentance Yet because men are negligent and carelesse in performing of this duty the Church exhorteth vs to confesse at two times aboue the rest To wit In sicknesse and in Lent In sicknes euery Christian ought to make a speciall confession if hee feele his conscience troubled with any weighty matter earnestly desiring the standers by to pray for him and the discreete Pastour if need be to absolue him As for Lent Although our whole life should be nothing 〈◊〉 but a Lent to prepare our selues against the Sabâ—… our death and Easter of our resurrection Yet seeing the corruption of our dayes and wickednesse of our natures is so much exorbitant as that it is an hard matter to hold the common sort of people within the lists of Piety Iustice and Sobriety It is fit there should bee one time at the least in the yeare and that of a reasonable continuance for the recalling of them vnto some more stayed courses and seuere cogitations and happily these things might haue beene more fitly restored in the reformed Churches vnto their Primitiue sincerity rather then abolished as in some places vtterly The fourth â—…hing required in confession is that it be not defensiue buâ—… accusatiue noted in the word Peccata Now there be diuers partitions of sinnes as First In respect of their beginning so some sinnes are called Originall as being deriued from our first parent Adam other actuall as issuing from our owne corrupt will Secondly In respect oâ—… their obiect and so some sinnes are called carnall aud other spirituall according to that of S. Paul The Virgin careth for the things of the Lord that she may be holy both in body soule For al things in which al offend are either felt by the senses as meate drinke lust so 〈◊〉 be carnall sinnes or apprehended by the vnderstanding as honour knowledge power and â—…o called spirituall wickednesses the first makes vs lâ—…ke beastes the second like deuils Thirdly In respect of the parties iniuried in 〈◊〉 and so some be called sinnes
of the axe saith Gregorie the great to fly from the helme and so they kill vnaduisedly their bretheren And these ghostly Fathers vse Christians as the Iewes did Christ hanging on the Crosse when his thirstie soule called for some comfortable potion they gaue him gall and vineger to drinke The word of God must dwell in vs plenteously but in all wisdome Col. 3. 16. We must heare it in all wisdome read it in all wisdome meditate on it in all wisdome speake of it in all wisdome especially preach of it in all wisdome not only in some but in all wisdom For all is litle enough considering the Lord will not hold him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vaine By Iacob yee which are verst in the Bible know well is ment the seed of Iacob all Gods people descended from his loynes heere called a worme And as Tremellius and our old English translations a little worme in respect of their abiect estate first in Egypt and afterward in Babylon a silly worme In quo saith one nihil est quod quis aut amet aut metuat So the next clause doth expound this in the iudgment of Caluine yee dead men of Israel in such a wretched and base slauerie that ye resemble men which are dead euen past all hope to be restored and raised againe to your former glory Gods people were not dead indeed but as it were dead to many purposes vnder their Captiuity They did not lead vitam vitalem a liuely life being as Socrates and u Plato sayd of marriners neither among the dead nor yet among the liuing And as Saint Paul of a Widdow spending her dayes in pleasure dead while they liue For so the Scripture speaking Hyperbolically calls those dead who liue in extreame perils and deepe dangers as Psalm 116. 3. The snares of death compassed me round about and the paines of hell gat hold vpon me and Psalm 86. 13. Thou Lord hast deliuered my Soule that is my person and life from the nethermost hell euen the pit of the dead or the graue So the Prophet Ezechiel entreating of this argument in his 37. Chapter compares the men of Israel vnder bondage to drie bones in the mids of a field These bones are of the house of Israel behold they say our bones are dryed and our hope is gone and wee are cut off a◅ branches from the tree Therefore Prophecie vnto them and say Thus saith the Lord God behold my people I will open your graues and cause you to come vp out of your Sepulchres and bring you into the Land of Israel againe As there is a spirituall resurrection from sin and an eternall resurrection a◅ the last day from the graue So likewise a temporall resurrection from affliction in this world So the Lawyers terme those ciuilly dead which are banished out of their Country There is between Exilium and Exitium so little difference that it sounds well enouge in a Latine eare to call such as are condemned to perpetuall Exile Capite damnatos men appoynted to dye Other instead of dead men of Israel read few men of Israel as our new Bibles in the margine so the Septuagints and their translator Israel parvulus little Israel and Procopius in his commentarie Perpaucus Israel as being in this aduersitie litle for number and lesse in account despised Israel as the translation Hen. 8. Thus I haue deliuered vnto you the plaine story but for as much as all the faithfull are the Sonnes of Abraham and true Iacobins as Augustine sayd more Israel then Israel it selfe the most and best expositors aswell ancient as moderne extend this not onely to the sonnes of Iacob according to the flesh but also to the seed of Iacob according to the spirit that is to the Church of Christ afflicted and persecuted vnder Antichrist in in spirituall Babylon And so these times haue made a large Commentarie vpon this text For Iacob is a worme troden vnder foot in Italie troden vnder foot in Spaine troden vnder foot in France troden vnder foot in Austria troden vnder foot in Poland troden vnder foot in Germanie Persecuted by the red Dragons might and malice throughout the Wildernesse of the whole world and the friends of Iacob are but louing wormes a few men and they by the designes of Antichrist his bloody ministers the Iesuits appoynted to dye for Christs sake killed all the day long This Scripture then is a parallell vnto that Cant. 2. 2. Like a Lillie among the thornes so is my loue among the Daughters and to that Ecclesiastes 9. 14. There was a little City and few men in it a great King came against and compassed it about and built forts against it And to that of our blessed Sauiour in the Gospell affirming that his Church is a little flocke in the mids of Wolues Now that which is sayd in generall of Christs whole body mysticall is verified in particular of euery member as euery sliuer of a bone is bone So euery sonne of Iacob euery true beleeuer baptized into Christ is a worme and as a man that is dead A worme not in respect of his humane condition onely Iohn 23. 6. Man is a worme euen the Sonne of man but a worme saying to corruption thou art my Father and to the worme thou art my Mother and my Sister But in respect of his Christian estate much more being vilified and accounted in the worlds esteeme a worme and no man a scorne of men and outcast of the people yea the filth of the world and off-scouring of all things 1. Cor. 4. 13. His soule quoth Dauid is filled with the contemptuous reproofe of the rich To good Men and Angels an obiect of pittie To bad Men and Angels an obiect of enuie To both a gazing stocke Bernard Ser. ◅1 Inter paruos sermones And with the despightfullnesse of the proud a gazing stocke to Men and Angels infaelicitatis tabula Calamitatis fabula the Map of miserie the table talke yea tabret as Iob speakes vnto the wicked Yee beleeue this I know because ye daily see this not in the tents of Kedar onely but in the high streets of Hierusalem also the greater doubt is how the Christian is sayd here to bee Dead For the better vnderstanding whereof obserue that spirituall death in Iacob is threefold to witt A Death of Sinne For how shall we that are dead to sin liue therein Rom. 6. 2. The Law Through the Law I am dead to the law Gal. 2. 19. That is saith Luther against that accusing condemning Law I haue an other law which is Grace Libertie which accuseth the accusing and condemneth the condemning Law The world Actiue Whereby the world is dead vnto Iacob renoūcing the pompes thereof and accounting all things losse to winne Christ. Passiue Whereby Iacob is dead to the world which hateth and persecuteth him for Christs sake The summe of all is that a
our Prophet saith in the next words If thou deale thy bread to the hungrie then shall thy light breake forth as the morning and thy health shall grovve speedily For his Ciuill estate that is reputation and honour Learning and Valour are the vertues for which a man is most admired but humblenesse and bountifulnesse are the vertues for which a man is best beloued The loynes of the naked blesse him and the tongues of the poore praise him and the hearts of all men honour him his memoriall is blessed and had in an euerlasting remembrance sweet as hony in all mouthes and pleasant in all eares as musicke at a banquet of wine For this Spirituall estate the dealing of bread to hungry soules is acceptable to God for his almes ascend and come vp in remembrance before God Act. 10. 4. Where that he hath done faithfully to the least of Christes little ones shall be Construed as done to Christ himselfe and it is very comfortable to himselfe also which occasioned the blessed Martyr Tyndall to terme monday and Saturday which he vsually spent in visiting the sicke and relieuing the poore his owne dayes of pastime an happy recreation as Ambrose speakes in alieno remedio Vulnera sua curare To benefit our selues by helping other For his eternall estate the poore man is the Mercurit saith our Church set by God in the way to Hierusalem aboue whosoeuer will go thither must goe by his doore pointing at the path of Paradise directly Hee that Couers the naked shall put on Christ and bee Clothed with the long white robes of righteousnes couering all his sin hee that bringes the poore Cast-out into his house shall be receiued into euerlasting habitation he that hides not himselfe from his owne flesh shall enioy the presence of Christ and see God face to face He that deales bread to the hungry shal be satisfied with the plenteousnes of Gods house drinking of heauenly delights as out of the riuer he shal haue for a cup of Cold water which is the least almes a Crowne of glory which is the greatest of rewardes euen fulnesse of Ioyes and pleasures at Gods right hand for euermore GEN. 1. 26. And God sayd let vs make man in our Image after our owne likenesse THe Scripture considers man in a fourefold estate the first of his confection as being in his originall integrity created according to Gods owne likenesse The 2. of his infection as hauing by sinne defaced this imprinted Image The 3. of his refection as being renewed againe by Christ which is the brightnesse of Gods glory and expresse Character of his person The 4. of his perfection in the Kingdome of glory when he shall enioy Gods presence seeing him as the blessed Apostle speakes euen face to face Our present text is a briefe Chronicle reporting his first estate namely the creation of man wherein two poyntes are to be discussed especially 1. The mystery of the most high and sacred Trinity creating 2. The dignity of man Created The first is closely couched vnder these two words faciamus and Imago let vs make in the plural number noting the Trinity but in the singular Image not Images noting the vnitie the word our imports moe then one the word likenesse one and no moe this then in the Iudgement of all orthodoxe Diuines is meant of the three in heauen the Father the Word the Holy Spirit which three are one 1. Iohn 5. 7. Hereupon elswhere termed according to the Hebrew phrase God our makers Iob. 35. 10. psal 149. 2. Esay 54 5. and Eccle. 12. 1. Remember thy Creators in the dayes of thy youth If this note seeme to be forced and vnkind beside the streame of all antiquitie there be manifest and manifold reasons euidently demonstrating the same 1. Man is the workemanship of the whole Trinity Ergo these wordes of God let vs make concern the whole Trinity the antecedent is indeniable because opera Trinitatis quoad extra sunt cōmunicabilia that is all the works of the Trinity without it selfe are communicable the workes of the Trinity within it selfe are incommunicable So God the father is sayd only to beget God the sonne to bee begotten and God the holy Ghost to proceed but all the workes of the Trinitie without it selfe are common vnto three persons and therefore Moses saith in the beginning of this chapter according to the wordes originall in principio dij creauit intimating the creation of the world to bee the worke of the whole Trinitie Creauit dij three persons but one God It is bad latine yet good diuinitie for God the sonne did create so well as God the father Iohn 1. 3. by him al things were made and God the holy Ghost also aswell as God the sonne for the spirit moued vpon the waters Gen. 1. 2. where by spirit we neither vnderstand an Angel which is Caietans idle phansie nor yet the winde as Tertullian and Dauid Kimchi conceited nor the piercing aire as Theodorete imagined but it was Gods owne spirit whereby the creatures were fostered and formed Iob. 26. 13. His spirit hath garnished the heauens and so diuines ascribe the work of creation in the masse of the matter vnto God the father In the disposition of the forme vnto God the sonne in the continuance and conseruation of both vnto God the holy spirit the consultation or rather agreement in saying let vs make man is of the whole trinitie wherein God the father as the first in order speaketh vnto the sonne and holy Ghost and the sonne and the holy Ghost speake it and order it with the father the which because it is written for mans instruction is also spoken after the manner of men 2. To whom I pray sayd God let vs make man If not to God the son and holy Ghost vnto some Demi-gods as Philo Iudaus a scholler of Plato most absurdly coniectured or because the workes and actions of men are partly good and partly bad that God he spake to some Cacodamon as the Manichees impiously dreamed refering the making of that which is good vnto God but the making of that which is bad vnto some badspirit Ista referre est refellere the very repetition of these fantasies is a sufficient confutation of them vnto you who know that all which God made was good yea very good and that God in the beginning made man righteous but they haue sought many inuentions Eccl. 7. 31. Or did God speake this in the plurall after the maner of great Princes only for his honour Nos Radulphus Romanus Imperator mandamus As some Iewes haue fondly construed it nb vcb vbi Answere is made that the stately stile Nos is not ancient at the least not so gray headed and Christian interpreters obserue from Aben Ezra who was himselfe a Iew That the Scripture doth not afford such an example of any King
heere distinguish betweene Image and likenesse Saint Basil in Hexam Hom. 10. Ambrose lib. De dignitate conditione humanae Lomb. 1. sent Dist. 16. and Aquin. vpon our text referre Image to the naturall giftes of the soule will vnderstanding memory but likenesse to the supernaturall gifts of grace holinesse and righteousnesse which occasioned Eucherius to say Imago est omnium similitudo paucorum Aquine doth auow that Gods Image may be seene in the most admirable frame of the body but the likenesse in our mindes onely For as Bernard obserues the mind of man is properly Gods similitude wherein there be three powers or faculâ—…ies Memory Vnderstanding Will. In our memory wee resemble God the Father which is the ancient of dayes Dan. 7. 9. In our vnderstanding God the Sonne in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdome and knowledge Colos. 2. 3. in our will God the holy Ghost by whom his grace worketh all in all 1. Cor. 12. 6. The which opinion Augustine fauoureth in his 102. Epistle and S. s Ambrose in his Treatise concerning mans dignity saith as the Sonne is begotten of the Father and the Holy Spirit proceedeth from both euen so the will is begotten as it were by the vnderstanding and memory proceedes from both Now beloued howsoeuer it be true that these naturall giftes of reason and supernaturall giftes of grace were conferred by God vpon man in his creation Yet if wee compare one Scripture with another it will appeare that Moses here makes no difference betweene likenesse and Image But that as Caluin and u other obserue they doe signifie the same thing For in the next verse without any mention of the word likenesse it is sayd that God created man in his Image in the Image of God created hee him And in the 5. Chapter at the 1. verse without any mention of the word Image God created Adam in the likenesse of God made he him And so the meaning of our text in our Image according to our likenesse is nothing else but in our Image which is likest vs. As if the Lord had sayd let vs make man in our Image that he may be as a creature may be like vs and the same his likenesse may bee our Image But wee shall vnderstand more fully what is Gods Image by considering in what part of man it was placed u Audius the founder of the monstrous Anthropomorphite heresie supposed it was placed in the figure of the body which lest happily there should be raysed any wicked errour which they would not acknowledge for their owne the Papistes are content to like well and defend in whose Churches and other places of deuotion it is euery where to find the likenesse of God the Father depictured vpon their walles and windowes in the figure of a man As if they had learned of Zeuxis to draw his Physiognomy and they professe it lawfull both to haue such Images and to worship them also from our text that God created Adam in his likenesse But it is a strange peruersenesse quoth Tertullian aduersus Marcion Lib. 2. Cap. 27. To thinke that there are humane thinges in God rather then diuine thinges in man and to conceiue of God to haue the Image of a man rather then a man to haue the Image of God Other affirme that the likenesse of God is placed in the mind only For saith Ambrose who sayd let vs make man in our Image Was it not God and what is God flesh and bones or a spirit Christ answereth in the 4. of S. Iohn at the 24. verse God is a spirit Ergo man is like to God as being endued with an vnderstanding spirit But because God created the whole man in his Image consisting of a body made of the dust of the ground and of a soule that was the breath oâ—… life which being vnited by the spirit became a liuing soule It is euident so farre as their seuerall nature could conteine that God creaâ—…ed in that Image both body and soule But as waxe is more apt then clay to receiue a print So the soule being a spirit was much more capable of the impression of the Image of God Yet that which the body could receiue it did in very notable sort expresse being so wonderfully framed of such an excellent proportion and beauty that no creature in the world may be compared with it and moreouer of so sound a temperature that had not Adam sinned it would haue continued without corruption for euer But the soule being a spirit as God is a spirit it is apter a great deale to beare Gods Image For in the very substance of the soule there is a liuely print thereof not as though the soule were of the substance of God for as Augustine pithily distinguisheth it is 〈◊〉 deo non de deo But first in that it is a substance spirituall and immortall as God is the liuing God Heb. 10. 31. Secondly for that it is indued with vnderstanding and memorie which are the very character of Gods wisdome Thirdly in respect of quicknesse and agility conceiuing at one time so many matters so different so farre distant which is the shadow of Gods vbiquity But St. Paul in saying man was in the beginning created after the Image of God in knowledge Colos. 3. 10. And the same in righteousnesse and holinesse Ephes. 4. 24. Shewes plainely that this Image consists not so much in the substance of the soule or in the naturall faculties thereof as in the supernaturall giftes of grace knowledge illumination holinesse Iustice of the soule For Adam had an illuminated vnderderstanding and a rectified will louing God aboue all things and his neighbour as himselfe The two wordes of S. Paul Holinesse and Righteousnesse conteine mans whole duty holinesse his duty to God righteousnesse his duty to man In this Image man was created and so consequently this Image consists in the soule more then in the body and in the supernaturall graces of the soule more then in the naturall powers of the soule For 1. If this Image consisted onely in the soules spirituall essence then it would follow that wicked spirits and wicked men should haue Gods Image because the substance of the spirit and soule remaineth in them but the scripture teacheth expresly that the wicked haue not Gods Image but the deuils stampe So Christ affirmed of Iudas haue not I chosen you twelue and one of you is a deuill and S. Peter when he committed a foule fact come behind me Sathan Mat. 16. 23. and of the Pharisees yee are of your father the deuill Iohn 8. 44. And the text is plaine 1. of Iohn 3. 8. he that committeth sin is of the deuill 2. God cannot properly be sayd to damne his owne Image or to send it into hell fire but the soules of reprobate sinners are damned Ergo this Image is not altogether in the soules substance that Image saith Ambrose wherein
being nothing else but a type of the new and the new nothing else but a trueth of the old The whole saith Iacobus de Valentia consists of one Syllogisme the Law and the Prophets are the Maior all that Christ did and sayd the Minor the writings of the blessed Euangelists and Apostles inferre the conclusion or the Gospell is hidden in the Law like the conclusion in the premises But albeit the Scriptures be deepe yet as Gregory speakes it is a riuer wherein the little lambe may wade so well as the great Elephant swimme it is the rolle of a booke spread abroad and written within and without Ezec. 2. 9. 10. In some places it is rolled vp from the most searching wits in other spread abroad to the capacities of the most simple Testamentum est testatio mentis Gods word therefore being his Testament reueales as much of his will as is to bee knowen In it wee may find the Father from whom and the Son by whom and the holy Ghost in whom are all things and therefore should bee much in our handes in our eyes in our eares in our mouthes but most of all in our hearts as Fulgentius saith it affordes enough abundantly for men to eate and children to sucke Maximus compares it to a man The old Testament resembling the body and the new Testament the soule or the letter of the Prophets is the body and the meaning is the soule and as the mortall part of man is seene but that which is immortall vnseene So the letter of the Scriptures is plaine but the spirit in some places inuolued and not easily discerned One deepe calling vpon another deepe S. Augustine and Hugo de S. Vict vnderstand it thus the depth of Gods knowledge findeth out the depth of mans heart for the Lord searcheth vs out he knoweth our downe-sitting and our vprising hee is about our paths and about our bed and spieth out all our wayes and vnderstandeth all our thoughts long before Psal 139. It is the duty then of euery Christian especially tempted to sinne to resolue with holy Ioseph How can I do this great wickednesse and so sinne against God Is there any thing so secret that shall not be disclosed If I commit it in the wood shall not a bird of the aire cary the voice that which hath wings declare the matter Ecclesiastes 10. 20. If I sinne in the forrest am I now to learne that a beast hath spoken Or if birdes and beasts happily should hold their peace would not as Christ sayd in the like case the very stones cry Luke 19. 40. If in my closet or study shall not my bookes of deuotion especially the Bible witnesse against mee There is one that accuseth you quoth our Sauiour to the Iewes euen Moses that is Moses law the which as it was once spoken by God so it dayly speakes in Gods cause to God Or if all these be silent shall not the sinne it selfe like the blood of Abel cry for reuenge Plutarch aduiseth vs so circumspectly to demeane our selues as if our enemies alway beheld vs. Seneca counselleth vs to liue so well as if Cato Laelius or some reuerend person of great wisedome and account ouerlooked vs. Thales Milesius in the committing of any sinne wished vs when wee were alone to bee afraid of our selues and our owne conscience which is instead of a thousand witnesses a thousand Iuries a thousand Iudges te sine teste time saith Ausonius S. Paul exhorts women to carry themselues in Gods house reuerently because of the Angels obseruing their behauiour But our text tels vs yet a better way then all these which is to remember alway that the depth of Gods science calleth vnto the depth of our conscience If any be deiected in his mind for that hee cannot remember the good lessons hee dayly reads in bookes and heares in sermons let him bee comforted againe because this one precept concerning Gods omni-presence comprehends amnia media et remedia all meanes and medicines for the curing of his sicke soule If he beare still in mind this one poynt that all things are naked to Gods eye Heb. 4. 13. Yea hell it selfe Iob 26. 6. To his eye which is all eye Ten thousand times brighter then the Sunne Ecclesiasticus 23. 19. He hath already commenced Doctor in Israel and is a liuing and a walking library knowing so much as may serue for the well ordering of his whole life Gregory the great construeth our text thus one iudgement of God calleth vp another for his iudgements are a great depth Psal. 36. 6. So deepe that they be past finding out Rom. 11. 33. When as therefore for feare of Gods iudgement we iudge our selues one deepe occasioneth another and that at the noyse of the water pipes or cloudes which are the preachers exhorting vs as S. Paul his Corinthians If yee would iudge your selues yee should not be iudged Arnobius expoundeth it thus one deepe calleth another deepe When Christ on earth and in the nethermost hell also called to God the Father in the Highest Heauen the strong crying of our Blessed Sauiour vnto God with teares Heb. 5. 7. Was a very deepe base and Gods counter-verse was sung with an exceeding high voyce from heauen of heauen This is my beloued sonne in whom I am well pleased Mat. 3 17. One deepe calleth another deepe when as truth flourished out of the earth and righteousnesse looked downe from heauen Psal. 85. 11. Hugo Cardinalis and Lyra thus Abyssus abyssum inuocat that is peccatum peccatum prouocat As one deepe calleth another deepe So one sinne prouoketh and calleth vp another sinne Pride to maintaine her selfe calleth vp Nigardise Gluttony calleth vp Wantonnesse Malice calls vp Murther Vnthriftinesse calls vp in great ones Oppression In the poore theeuery an vncleane thought calls vp vnsauoury wordes and bad wordes corrupt good manners and corruption in manners breeds a custome in sin and custome in sinne brings men to sencelesnesse in sinne such as giue themselues ouer or sell themselues to commit iniquity proceed from euill to worse Ieremy 9. 3. and fall from one wickednesse to another Psalme 69. 28. First there is walking in the counsell of the vngodly then standing in the way of sinners last of all sitting in the seate of the scornefull Hee that blowes a feather into the ayre or throwes a piece of paper into the riuer knowes not where it will settle So hee that begins with a sinne knowes not when or where it will end Herod happily began with a little dalliance but afterward he committed incest and that darling sinne caused him to adde yet this aboue all the rest of his faults to shut vp Iohn in prison And so Dania glutted with a large meale lusted after Bath saba and that fire did rage till hee had committed vncleannesse with her and for the couering of that foule fact
into one ballance and thy soule into the other and thou shalt vnderstand that the saying of thy soule is better in it sefe and much more better vnto thy selfe then all the world yea more worth then as many worldes as there be men in the world thy soule is better in it selfe for all the things of the world are vanities of vanities Mâ—…ndus transit et concupiscentia eius The pomps of the world and the world it selfe is mutable but the soule is an immortall and heauenly substance breathed into thee by God and if thou dwell in his Courts and continue faithfull in his seruice to death it shal be blessed euerlastingly And to thy selfe it ought to bee more precious then all the treasures of Empires for according to the â—…ules of charity that ought to bee dearest vnto thee which is neerest vnto thee but nothing as diuine Plato said is so much thy selfe as thy soule The sauing whereof is the principall and mayne businesse and all other affayres are to bee respected or reiected as they more or lesse tend to the furthering of this one most important employment If therefore thou loue thy profit desire to dwell in the Courts of the Lord for the Church as Iohn Baptist shewes thee is Christ and Christ is the way to God and godlinesse is great gaine by which is obteyned an inheritance which is immortall vndefiled and neuer fading away granted in our election promised in our vocation assured in our iustification actually possessed of vs in our glorification 2 One day spent in the Courts of the Lord is better then a thousand in the tentes of vngodlinesse in respect of pleasure An old disciple of Christ being asked the cause why he was euer such a merry man answered When I was a yong man I studied how to liue well and when I was an old man I studied how to dye well and so desiring to seeke God in his kingdome of grace and hoping to see him in his kingdome of glory one day to me was better then a thousand vnto those who weary themselues in the wayes of wickednesse and destruction Doe ye desire to please your eare no musicke is comparable to the Gospels harmony that is newes of great ioy that comforts Hierusalem at the very heart Doe yee desire to please your taste O taste and see how gracious the Lord is it is hee that feedeth and filleth euery liuing thing with his plenteousnesse and his word is sweeter then hony or the hony combe Psal. 19. 10. Doe ye desire to please your eye what beauty like to that of Christ as being fayrer then all the sonnes of men or what beauty like to that of the Temple for ouâ—… of Sion hath God appeared in perfit beauty Psal. 50. 4. That which Ouid sayd of one kind may bee verified of euery sort of worldly delight breuis est et non vera voluptas it is short and not sound Heb 11. 25. The pleasures of sinnes are but for a season as the night doeth ouertake the day and the day driue away the night so worldly lusts runne one after another and the best of them all endures not long it is but a baite and a bayt is but a bit it may stay the stomacke for a while but it is not able to giue full content the eye sayth Solomon is not satisfied with seeing nor the eare with hearing the reioycing of hypocrites is but a moment Iob. 20. 5. Againe worldly delights are no true pleasures but bitter sweets hauing like the peacocke faire feathers but foule feete or like the Meremayd quoth Horace Mulier formosa supernè desinet in turpem piscem or like a tragedy mirthfull in the Prologue dolefull in the Epilogue and therefore we should doe by pleasures as great Princes doe by banquets come and looke a little vpon them and turne away To speake more particularly the lips of a strange woman drop as an hony combe sayth Solomon and her mouth is more soft then oyle but the end of her is bitter as wormewood and sharpe as a two edged sword her feete goe downe to death and her sleppes take hold on hell Laeâ—…a venit Venus tristis abire solet It may bee that the beginnings of ryotus meetings are good fellowship and merriment but euen in laughing the heart is sorrowfull and the end of such mirth is heauinesse it is like Ioabs kisse attended with a secret stab happily the gamester is pleased enough at play but when he hath made away all he is ready to make away himselfe also As for the pleasures of other sinnes an enuious man is a murtherer to himselfe a prodigall man is a thiefe to himselfe a proud man a witch to himselfe a couetous man a deuil vnto himselfe for as the riuers of sweete waters runne their course to dye in the salt sea so the hony of all earthly pleasures doe end in the gall of griefe On the contrary the goodman and godly delights in the law of the Lord and exerciseth himselfe therein day and night hee serues God with gladnesse other it may bee they haue legem in corde they know the Law but he sayth Hugo de victor hath Cor in lege his heart is set on the law to performe the workes thereof and to him it is ioy to doe well and his ioyes are solide being ioyes of the soule ioyes in the holy Ghost whatsoeuer happeneth outwardly his heart is established and his mind setled intus bene And his ioyes are permanent a good conscience being a continuall feast a dayly Christmas a standing Holiday a ioy that no man or deuill is able to take away whatsoeuer he doeth or suffereth all things worke together for his good he takes pleasure in reproaches in necessities in anguish for Christs sake when he is weake then is hee strong afflicted on euery side but not in distresse death it selfe which other account the worst of all is to him best of all ipsa paenarum vltima mors Christiano ludus est as Prudentius sings of S. Vincent and a Protestant Martyr being at the stake in the middest of furious and outragious flames cryed out Behold yee Papists yee looke for miracles and here now yee may see a miracle for in this fire I feele no more payne then if I were in a bed of downe yea it is to me like a bed of roses Godlinesse in euery sickenesse is a Physitian in euery contention an aduocate in euery doubt a schoole-man in all heauinesse a Preacher and a comforter vnâ—…o whatsoeuer estate it commeth it sayth as the blessed Apostles peace bee to this house Peace be to this man Peace to this heart which occasioned one to say that the life of a good christian is a perpetuall Halleluiah In the duell of Essendon as we read in our English Chronicle betweene Canutus and Edmund Ironside for the
ordinary seruants of his house and eagerly to hunger and thirst after his Sacred word and blessed Sacraments which are the foode of his house and to put on holinesse and righteousnesse which are the hangings and ornaments of his house But aboue all euen with all our heart soule mind to loue the Lord Iesus which is the founder and foundation of this house that after we haue soiourned in his earthly tabernacle wee may rest vpon his heauenly mountaine where wee shall be abundantly satisfied with the pleasures of his house For as Bernard sweetly si sic bonus es sequentibus te qualis futurus es consequentibus If thou Lord be so good vnto those that seeke thee what wilt thou be vnto such as find thee doubtlesse one day spent in the kingdome of glory surpasseth a thousand in the kingdome of grace T is true the profit pleasure honour of a good christian is better a thousand times then all the treasures and iollities of the wicked yet so long as wee dwell in houses of clay clothed with flesh and blood in this valley of teares euer and anon wee shall haue troubles on euery side fightings without and terrours within and through many tribulations wee must enter into the Kingdome of God but when once wee shall arriue there all teares shall be wiped from our eyes all cares from our hearts assoone as we shall enter into the vpper Courts of the Lord we shall haue fulnesse of ioyes and pleasures at his right hand for euermore This one day sayth Augustine is the day of eternity which is alway the same one and no more for the heauenly Hierusalem hath no need of the Sunne neither of the Moone to shine because God and the Lambe are the light of it Apoc. 21. 23. and in his light all the children of light enioy that day which is euerlasting without any night or end And now most gracious Soueraigne vpon bowed knees I beseech your Highnesse by the mercies of God suffer a few wordes of exhortation as you haue most christianly heard a great many poynts of doctrine 〈◊〉 Kings are stiled Gods and their houses should be like Churches as Eusebius writes of Constantines Court euery chamber a chappell euery person a Priest offering vp spirituall sacrifices acceptable to God Aboue all I most humbly beg of your Maiestie to continue your studiousnesse of peace that howsoeuer you mainteyne iust and honourable warres abroad yet peace may be within your walles at home which is the greatest gaine pleasure honour of all Christian Courts and Kingdomes The deuill is the authour of confusion and schisme but the Lord is the God of order and King of peace he vnited heauen and earth two diuerse diuided parts of the vniuerse and made them both one world he vnited sea and land two diuerse deuided elements and made them both one globe he vnited soule and body two diuerse diuided substances and made both one man he vnited Iewes and Gentiles two diuerse people and made them both one Church hee vnited Adam and Eua two diuerse diuided sexes and made them both in marriage but one flesh and that which is yet more wonderfull he vnited God and man two diuerse diuided natures and made them both one Christ. As the Lord therefore sayd to Moses In the Lords Name giue mee leaue to speake to you Most high and mighty Prince fac secundum exemplar Imitate God as his deare Sonne and seruant diuide et impera sauours too much of the serpent vtraque fecit vnum is our comfort Your great grandfather King Henry the 7 vnited the Roses and that was an happy worke Your renowned Father vnited the kingdomes and that was a more happy worke But if your selfe borne for all greatnesse shall vnite the different factions and fractions about some points in religion and make your people from Dan to Bershe-ba speake the same thing and pronounce the same Shiboleth it will vndoubtedly proue the most happy worke of all As your blessed marriage began with a league of peace so wee pray night and day that your issue may bee children of peace your Nobles and men of Councell Princes of peace your Clergie studients and messengers of peace your Iudges and Iustices gardians of peace your Commons and people followers of peace all of vs in our seuerall offices and orders honouring the God of peace and aduancing his Gospell which is glad tidings of peace wee may take vp euermore the wordes of my text One day spent in the Courts and countreyes of our Lord King Charles is better then a thousand else where PSAL. 105. 4. Seeke his face euermore MAn was elected before there was any time created in the beginning of time redeemed in the fulnesse of time for this end to seeke God on earth and to see God in heauen Our text poynteth at both exhorting the seed of Abraham and the children of Iacob That is all faithfull people so to seeke Gods face that in fine they may see Gods face for euermore For the better vnderstanding whereof I must euidently cleare two poynts especially 1. What is to be sought and that is expressed to be Gods face 2. How to be sought to wit by what meanes and that is implyed to bee by contemplation in this world and by vision in the next In what measure how much earnestly seeke the Lord seeke his strength seeke his face how long euermore For the first a great many and a good many Diuines vnderstand here by Gods face Gods fauour as if the Prophet should haue sayd in all time of wealth and in all time of woe call vpon the Lord seeke him and his strength onely seeke not to witches because they seeke to the deuill and the deuill is a murtherer from the beginning an accuser of the faithfull our aduersarie walking about like a roaring lyon seeking whom he may deuoure Seeke not to Bell or Baal or any false God for an Idol cannot helpe it selfe much lesse other Wisd. 13. 16. The Apostle saith an Idol is nothing and the Philosopher saith of nothing comes nothing seeke not to secular powers and potentates O put not your trust in Princes nor in any child of man for there is no helpe in them Psalm 146. 2. The king of Egypt is a broken staffe of reed hee that leaneth on him and trusteth in him is sure to fall to the ground alas man is like a thing that is nothing when his breath is gone foorth hee returneth againe to his earth and then all his thoughts perish Seeke not to your owne strength trust not as Goliah did in your sword and shield for cursed bee the man that makes flâ—…sh his arme Iere. 17. 5. Seeke not to your owne wit for the Lord catcheth the Wizards in their owne craftinesse and the counsell of the wicked is made foolish Seeke not to your owne worth and holinesse as the Pharisee stood vpon
acknowledge their sinnes in any case yea when other mens examination hath found them out excuses already non feci si feci non mali feci si mali feci non multum malè si multum malè non malâ intentione aut si malâ intentione tamen aliena suasiene That is either I did not doe it or if I did do it it was not ill Or if ill it was not much ill Or if much ill it was not with an ill intention Or if with an ill intention it was vpon anothers perswasion I sayd I will confesse my sinnes quoth Dauid But the foole saith in his heart I will neuer confesse my faults and if I perish I perish Our sins are termed in the Scripture sicknesse sores ful of corruption as then a bodily wound cannot be exactly healed vnlesse it first be opened and searched by some cunning chirurgion vnto the very core So the griefes of a wounded conscience cannot be throughly cured vnlesse they bee reuealed vnto some friendly Physitian apt and able to bind vp the broken hearted and to comfort such as mourne in sinne If thy confession in this case be forced and not free palliated and not plaine what doest thou but fester a wound and foster a sore within thy owne bosome I will end this argument in the words of â—… Solomon He that hideth his sinnes shall not prosper but hee that confesseth and for saketh them shall haue mercy The second condition of confession is that it be Plenarie and not Partiall and that is implied in the preposition Con as Aquine vpon the place Confitemini id est simul fatemini confesse one fault with another as you confesse your faults one to another Conscience before sinne is fraenum a bâ—…idle but after sinne Flagrum a whip If the reuerend man and Martyr of God Father Latymer tooke speciall care to the placing of his wordes in his examination after he heard the pen walking in the chimny behind the cloth of Arras how circumspectly should wee looke to our wayes seeing conscience recordeth all our actions in bookes that are to bee shewed at the day of iudgement being either a witnesse for vs or against vs excusing or accusing Rom. 2. 15. If any grieuous crime then afflict thy soule confesse it and so confound it as Simon of Cyrene did helpe to beare Christs Crosse So thou mayest vndoubtedly find some good and discreete friend who will in such a case helpe to beare thy crosse confesse your faults one to another saith S. Iames and so beare one anothers burden saith S. Paul Galat. 6. 2 〈◊〉 in dissembling a part of their debts vnto their fathers and other deare friends which are ready to take some good course for the payment of them often vtterly ruine their whole temporall estate For one hundred pound not confessed and left vnpaâ—…d is a brood egge to mul iply new debts vntill they be so dangerous and desperate as the old sinnes are debts as Christ teacheth in his absolute forme of prayer and sinners are ding-thrifts as Christ teacheth in his parable of the prodigall sonne mentioned Luke 15. The concealing then of one heynous crime that is a burden to the conscience from our Father in heauen and from our good friends on earth able to Minister wordes in time to him that is wearie Like Apples of gold in pictures of siluer may proue the mother of many foule sinnes vnto the finall vndoing of our spirituall and Ghostly welfare Hee which is to take possession of a Church or a common house will according to the tenour of our law be sure to shut out of the doores man woman and child that may disturbe his quiet taking of seising Christ stands at the doores of our hearts and knocks he desires a peaceable possession of our bodies and soules as being his Temples and houses O then I beseech you let vs cast out of our doores man woman and child euery crying crime that rebelleth against him If there remaine but one fault not confessed it may keepe possession for the deuill and so the King of glory will not enter in and sup with vs and dwell in vs but the foule spirit returnes againe bringing seauen other spirits worse then himselfe and then alas our end shall be worse then our beginning Luke 11. 26. The Lord commanded Saul to smite Amalek and to destroy all that perteined vnto him and to slay both man and woman both infant and sucklings both oxen and sheepe both camels and asses our sins are Amalekites that burne our Ziklag and set on fire the little city captiuating our senses and making them prisoners vnto their lustes If then we spare but one Agag it may cost vs a kingdome and such a kingdome as is farre better then the kingdome of Saul a kingdome that cannot be shaken an inheritance which is immortall and neuer falles away 1. Pet. 1. 4. The third condition here required in confession is that it be Transitiua to wit a confession vnto another And therefore Cardinall Bellarmin and other Papists vsually cite this Scripture to prone their auricular confession of sinnes vnto the Priest vpon payne of damnation euery yeare But Melancton in his Apology for the confession of Augusta Caluin in the third booke of his institutions Chap. 4. sect 12. Erasmus Fulke Marlorate Bullenger Vpon the place haue well obserued that the word Inuicem intimates plainly that this text is to be construed not of Sacramentall confession as the Papists vse to speake but of a mutuall confession and so consequently the Priest if he haue done any wrong is inioyned by this Canon to confesse his faults vnto his Parishioners aswel as the Parishioners are bound to confesse their faults vnto their Priest If they haue trespassed him Nay the Rhemists are so modest as to say that it is not certaine S. Iames here speaketh of Sacramentall â—…fession and Cardinall Caietan of all the Doctours in his age the most accuratly learned as â—… Pererius the Iesuite writes of him a man addicted so much vnto Poperie g that had he liued a little longer hee had beene chosen Pope confesseth ingeniously Non est hic sermo de confessione facramentali vt patet ex èo quod dicit confitemini inuicem sacramentalis enim confessio non fit inuicem sed sacerdotibus tantum As for Popish auricular confession our Diuines affirme truly First that it is a nouelty Beatus Rhenanus a Papisticall authour auowes that it was vnknowne in the dayes of Tertullian who liued about two hundred yeeres after Christ and Peter Lambard saith Happily it was not vsed in S. Ambrose time who liued about foure hundred yeares after Christ and Erasmus in his annotations vpon S. Hieroms Epistle to Oceanus touching the death of Fabiola writes peremptorily that it was not ordeined in S. Hieroms age The Greeke Church as Theodorus reports hath no